Melanie Amaro Performs “Earth Song” Before Jackson Family at X Factor (VIDEO)

Melanie Amaro performed “Earth Song” on Wednesday’s “X Factor.”


One day after Conrad Murray was sentenced to the maximum of four years behind bars at the L.A. County Jail, the Jackson family came together for “Michael Jackson Night” at the competition show.


Watching Amaro’s rendition of “Earth Song” were Michael Jackson‘s mom Katherine, brothers Jackie, Tito, and Marlon, and his kids Paris, Prince, and Blanket.

Check out the video below, and tell us what you think of Amaro’s performance.

British Museum given $1.6M set of Picasso etchings

The British Museum says it has been given a complete set of 100 etchings by Pablo Picasso thanks to a donation from a financier.


Picasso called the etchings, made between 1930 and 1937, a ”visual diary.” They include images of his studio and his then-muse, Marie-Therese Walter, as well as scenes inspired by Greek mythology.


The museum says fund manager Hamish Parker bought the prints for about 1 million pounds ($1.6 million) as a gift for the museum.


Known as the Vollard Suite, the etchings were commissioned and published by Paris art dealer Ambroise Vollard. Some 313 sets were printed, and the set acquired by the museum is considered one of the best impressions.


The museum said Tuesday that it will put the etchings on display next year.

Tree of Life’ and ‘Beginners’ win Gotham Awards

 The 21st Annual Gotham Awards honoring independent films were handed out in New York City on November 28, kicking off the film award season.


Best Feature was a tie between Beginners by Mike Mills starring Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor and The Tree of Life by Terrence Malick starring Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain.


Beginners, a comedy/drama about a father who announces to his son that he has terminal cancer — and a young male lover — also won best ensemble performance for the cast. Tree of Life, set in the 1950s, follows a couple’s family drama. It also stars Sean Penn.


Best Breakthrough went to Felicity Jones from Like Crazy, a film about a British college student who is banned from the US after overstaying her visa and gets separated from her American boyfriend. Five winners in this category out of the last seven have gone on to receive Oscar nominations.


An award unique to the event is for Best Film Not Playing at a Theater near You, which was given to Scenes of a Crime, a crime documentary about a 10-hour interrogation that ended in a disputed confession.

Guy Ritchie Has ‘No Regrets’ About His Marriage to Madonna

Director Guy Ritchie has worked on some great films — “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” “Snatch” and “Sherlock Holmes” among them — but he’s probably best-known for surviving his nearly decade-long marriage to known man-eater Madonna.


Since they split in 2008, Ritchie has been mostly mum about their union, but he recently opened up to Details magazine about it.




The former couple share custody of their two children — adopted son David Banda and biological son Rocco — and Ritchie got a nice payout in the divorce, reportedly upwards of $92 million. So it’s not surprising that even though he probably knows where every skeleton is buried, he’s still not willing to hand out any treasure maps.

Demi Moore Dating New Guy?

HollywoodLife, which has offered some of the most laughable “reporting” about Demi Moore in recent memory, is at it again.


The site twists a New York Post item about the actress having dinner at Tower Bar in Hollywood, making it a story about how she’s supposedly “dating again” after splitting from Ashton Kutcher.


The Post reports that Moore was spotted at the establishment with an unidentified man, and quotes an eyewitness as saying, “Demi looked good, and like she was ready to be seen out. She was in deep conversation with her male companion, but it didn’t look like a romantic date.”The site goes even further, writing that Moore is “hitting the town with sexy guys!”


No, she’s not.


Basically, HollywoodLife cut and pasted someone else’s reporting – and then got it wrong.


At some point, Moore will start dating again – but we’re pretty sure the fact-challenged blog won’t be the first to report it.

Breaking Dawn Passes $500 Million at Box Office in 12 Days

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 has passed the $500 million mark.

The film grossed $508 million in global ticket sales in only 12 days since the film’s release on November 18, 2011.


Summit Entertainment’s Co-Chairmen Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger stated: “We couldn’t be more pleased with the success of this film and a franchise that the fans have continued to support over the past several years. Thank you to all involved with the films from the actors, filmmakers and Stephenie Meyer to the most important group of all, the global fan base that continues to drive a desire for more Edward, Jacob and Bella.”


In a release sent to Gossip Cop, the studio says Breaking Dawn “also reached an additional milestone domestically, having generated $223 million and putting it in the top 12 films to reach $220 million in 10 days.”

India not considering a boycott of London Games: official

The Indian Olympic Association are not considering boycotting the London Olympics despite local demands to do so over a Games sponsorship deal with Dow Chemical, the IOA’s acting president told Reuters on Monday.


Dow bought US chemical firm Union Carbide, whose Bhopal plant in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh leaked toxic gases in 1984, killing thousands of people in the world’s worst industrial accident.


Dow will foot the bill of a temporary decorative wrap over London’s Olympic Stadium much to the dismay of Shivraj Singh Chauhan, chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, who has urged the Indian government to boycott the Games.


“We are meeting next week but it’s not about boycotting the games. Some people have raised a concern about the sponsorship issue and we will discuss that, along with some other issues,”


IOA acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra told Reuters by telephone.

Federer tames Tsonga to end year on high

LONDON: Roger Federer became the first player to win the ATP World Tour Finals six times but had to weather a storming fightback by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga before retaining his title with a 6-3 6-7 6-3 victory at the O2 on Sunday.


The 30-year-old, playing in the title match of the tournament for the seventh time in 10 years and contesting his 100th Tour final, squandered a match point in the second set but eventually extinguished Tsonga’s fire to claim the 70th title of a career that burns as bright as ever.


On yet another record-breaking day for the 16-times grand slam champion, Federer not only edged clear of five-timers Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras in the tournament’s roll of honour but he also gained the distinction of being the oldest player to win the season-ender since Ilie Nastase in 1975.


It took all his years of experience and a few moments of magic to withstand Tsonga’s force, however, as the explosive Frenchman thrilled the 17,500-capacity crowd with a barrage of winners that threatened to turn the contest on its head.


After levelling the match Tsonga threw everything at Federer in the decider but he was stopped in his tracks when he dropped serve at 3-4 and this time there was no escape as the Swiss pounded away a volley to triumph in two hours 18 minutes.


“I couldn’t be more happy and I couldn’t be more exhausted because Jo sucked all the last energy out of me today,” Federer said on court after sealing the $1.63 million jackpot for going through the tournament undefeated for the second year in a row.


Despite not winning one of the year’s majors for the first time since 2002, Federer ended 2011 on a 17-match winning streak and with a hat-trick of indoor titles and claimed his triumph in London ranked alongside his greatest moments.Federer kept his nose in front in the deciding set despite some ferocious hitting from Tsonga and, just like he did in the first set, broke in a gripping eighth game when Tsonga sent a volley long under enormous pressure.


Serving for the match for the second time, Federer made sure there was no mistake, setting three match points with an ace and then swatting away a volley.


Tsonga can take heart from winning over another army of fans and can look forward to threatening the Big Four next year.


“Tonight I can look at myself in the mirror and say I fought enough,” he told reporters.
Belarussian Max Mirnyi and Canadian Daniel Nestor beat Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 7-5 6-3 to win the doubles title.

Anne Hathaway is Engaged

Anne Hathaway is a Lady-in-Waiting. A rep for the Rachel Getting Married actress has confirmed that Hathaway and her longtime beau Adam Shulman are engaged to be married.




At least someone walked away from the holiday weekend with more than an expanded waistline!


Hathaway was snapped in Brooklyn over the weekend sporting her engagement ring, which her rep confirms was a design collaboration between the future groom — a jewelry designer and sometime actor — and Kwiat Heritage. The wedding announcement comes a little less than a year after Adam and Anne began sharing a Park Slope apartment together. The bride-to-be gushed about her relationship with Shulman in a June interview with Harper’s Bazaar:


“So far, it’s worked out great. Which has its wonderful side, of course, but also it was exhausting and sometimes it would freak me out. Mellow doesn’t always make for a good story, but it makes for a good life.”


Anne and Adam — who previously starred on the defunct NBC drama American Dreams — began dating in 2008, shortly after the actress’ highly publicized and dramatic breakup with Raffaello Follieri. Follieri is a con man accused of bilking millions from investors, many of them elderly. He pled guilty to 14 counts of fraud, money laundering and wire fraud — but not before federal agents seized all of the jewelry Raffaello had purchased for Anne with stolen dough. Hathaway later said that her experience with Follieri rattled her trust in people:


“It takes a minute for me to let my guard down, but once I do and I get to know someone, I’m very open, very trusting. Some might say too trusting.”

Egypt hails election as successful ‘democracy test

 Egypt’s first post-revolution election entered its second day on Tuesday amid pride and triumphalism over the high turn-out and the orderly start to the country’s complex transition to democracy.


“The birth of the new Egypt,” declared the state-owned Al-Akhbar newspaper on Tuesday, hailing the “huge turnout, free voting in a secure atmosphere” witnessed on Monday.


“The people have passed the democracy test,” headlined the independent daily newspaper al-Shorouk on Tuesday. “On the road to democracy,” said English-language Egyptian Mail.


Egyptians in Cairo and the port city Alexandria waited in long queues on Monday to cast ballots for a new parliament – the start of multi-stage elections that are the first since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in February.


On Tuesday, polls opened again, but the volume of people was a trickle rather than the deluge seen the day before.


“I decided to come today to avoid the crowds,” 30-year-old Rafik told AFP in the Heliopolis area of Cairo. “It was important for me to vote because I feel it’s the first time that my opinion is taken into account.”


The formerly banned Muslim Brotherhood, a moderate Islamist group, is widely expected to emerge as the largest power, but without an outright majority, when results for the election are published on January 13.


The backdrop to the vote was ominous after a week of protests calling for the resignation of the interim military rulers who stepped in at the end of Mubarak’s 30-year rule. Forty-two were killed and more than 3,000 injured.


The largely successful first day will be seen by the interim military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi as vindicating his insistence that voting should go ahead on schedule despite calls for a delay.The stakes are high for Egypt, the cultural leader of the Arab world – and the conduct and results of the election will have repercussions for the entire Middle East at a time of wrenching change caused by the Arab Spring.

Scarlett Johansson and Dean Martin Duet on “I’ll Be Home For Christmas

Scarlett Johansson has a knack for reviving old musical favorites, and her latest project is a holiday duet with Dean Martin.


The actress lends her voice to “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” which appears on the late Rat Pack singer’s new compilation My Kind of Christmas.


“Growing up in New York City, Christmas was never Christmas without Dino,” says Johansson in a press release. “Recording in the studio with Mr. Martin in my headphones felt as though he were standing right next to me, crooning with that mischievous gleam in his eye.”


She continues, “When I was asked to sing on this album, it was literally a childhood dream come true.”


Listen to the track below!


What do you think?

British director Ken Russell dies aged 84

British film director Ken Russell, who was nominated for an Oscar for “Women in Love” in 1970 during a prolific and eccentric career, has died at the age of 84, his son said on Monday.


The director also took charge of “Tommy”, the film version of The Who rock opera album, and the 1988 cult horror flick “Lair of the White Worm”, which gave an early role to Hugh Grant.


Russell is believed to have been ill for some time and died in hospital on Sunday.


Michael Winner, the director of the “Death Wish” movies who first met Russell in the mid-1960s, said he was a “one-off”.


“He was so innovative. He was so daring. He had a unique style and ploughed a unique furrow,” Winner told BBC television.


“He was very jovial when you met him privately. He wasn’t the sort of mad sadist which you might think from seeing some of the movies.


“He obviously had this duplicity of mind. So he pushed the barriers completely, got away with it sometimes and didn’t get away with it at other times.”


Once considered an enfant terrible of the British movie world, Russell started his career in television before making his name as a director with a sexually graphic adaptation of D H Lawrence’s “Women in Love”.

Obama sees Pakistani deaths as tragedy: spokesman

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama sees the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a Nato raid as a tragedy, the White House said Monday, but argued that crisis-wracked US-Pakistani ties were vital to both sides.


White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama believed Saturday’s attack which threw US-Pakistani ties into turmoil was “a tragedy,” adding that “we mourn those brave Pakistani service members that lost their lives.” “We take this matter very seriously,” said Carney, adding that two inquiries by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and US Central Command would examine what took place.


“As for our relationship with Pakistan, it continues to be an important cooperative relationship that is also very complicated,” Carney said.


“It is very much in America’s national security interest to maintain a cooperative relationship with Pakistan because we have shared interests in the fight against terrorism,” Carney said.


Pakistan earlier vowed no more “business as usual” with the United States but stopped short of threatening to break the troubled alliance altogether.


Nato and the United States are trying to limit fallout from the attack but Islamabad has shut vital supply routes to the 140,000 foreign troops serving in Afghanistan.


Pakistan called the strike “unprovoked,” worsening US-Pakistani relations which were already in crisis after the killing in May of Osama bin Laden north of Islamabad by US special forces.


The Wall Street Journal, following a similar report by Britain’s Guardian newspaper, cited three Afghan officials and one Western official as saying the air raid was called in to shield allied forces targeting Taliban fighters.Nato and Afghan forces “were fired on from a Pakistani army base,” the unnamed Western official told the Journal. “It was a defensive action.” An Afghan official said the Kabul government believes the fire came from the Pakistani military base — and not from insurgents. Afghan-Pakistani relations suffer from routine mutual recriminations.

Angelina Jolie Opens Up on “60 Minutes” About Her Directing Debut & Personal Life

Angelina Jolie  opened up on Sunday’s “60 Minutes” about her feature directorial debut, In The Land of Blood and Honey, as well as her personal life.

She says when she announced she was doing a film, set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War, people thought she was “crazy.”

Nevertheless, she made the film because “I felt there was just so much I didn’t know about that time… that it was something important for us to talk about and revisit and learn from.”

The film, which focuses on a Serbian man and a Bosnian, Muslim woman who embark on a relationship on the eve of the war, stars Goran Kostic, Zana Marjanovic, and Rade Serbedzija.

Jolie also says in the “60 Minutes” interview that she truly enjoyed being behind the camera.

Lily Allen Welcomes Baby Girl One Year After Miscarriage

Lily Allen has something to “Smile” about — She’s reportedly given birth to baby girl.




According to a Twitter post by her ex-boyfriend, DJ Seb Chew, the outspoken singer welcomed her first child in the UK on Friday. He Tweeted:


“sending out love to lily, sam and mini cooper…… YES.”Britain’s Mail reports the newborn is a little girl, but Lily’s publicist has refused to confirm the news. The hitmaker, 26, married Sam Cooper in June and the couple announced the baby news at the wedding reception. The singer’s pregnancy joy comes three years after she suffered a miscarriage while dating Chemical Brothers star Ed Simons. Last year, she and Cooper were expecting a son when Lily tragically suffered a miscarriage four months before delivery.

‘Peanuts’ Beat Lady Gaga in the Battle of the Thanksgiving Specials

Never underestimate the power of a Peanut: In the battle of the Thanksgiving Special — Charles Schultz’s animated holiday classic, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, now in its 38th year, edged out reigning pop queen Lady Gaga in the ratings. Charlie and the rest of the Peanuts Gang amassed about 400,000 more viewers than A Very Gaga Thanksgiving, according to Nielsen numbers.


Of course, neither special was any match for a recycled edition of The Big Bang Theory.

Warner named in inexperienced Australia test squad

Explosive opening batsman David Warner is set to earn his first test cap after he and three uncapped fast bowlers were named in an inexperienced Australia squad on Saturday to face New Zealand in Brisbane.


Limited overs specialist Warner is likely to start the first test at the Gabba on Thursday in place of all-rounder Shane Watson, who is one of five players unavailable for the team due to injuries sustained in South Africa.


Patrick Cummins, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris were all also ruled out of selection on Friday with their fitness to be assessed next week.


“The absence of these players obviously provides a great chance for David Warner, James Pattinson, Ben Cutting and Mitchell Starc to come into the squad and perform on the international stage and I know that is an opportunity they are all looking forward to,” chairman of selectors John Inverarity said in a statement.


“Although injuries to those key players are not ideal, this provides an opening for these promising young players to come into the Australian squad and further their development.


“David, James and Mitchell have been in and around the Australian limited overs squad at various times recently and showed that they have the talent and skills required to perform on the international stage.”


Fast bowler Cutting has been called into the 12-man squad for the first time while fellow quicks Starc and Pattinson have been involved in limited overs squads previously.He will be disappointed but will work hard with New South Wales and I have no doubt he will again be putting his hand up for inclusion with good performances for his state.”


Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin will take over the vice-captain role until Watson returns to the side, Inverarity said.


Australia squad: Michael Clarke , Phillip Hughes, David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Ben Cutting

Three killed, 17 injured in Indonesia bridge collapse

JAKARTA: Cars and a public bus plunged into a river when a concrete bridge collapsed in Indonesia’s Borneo Island on Saturday, killing at least three people and injuring another 17, a local official said.


The accident took place at 4:30 pm local time in Kutai Kartanegara district in East Kalimantan province on Borneo island, search and rescue agency head Harmoni Adi in East Kalimantan province said.


“Three people were killed. The death toll is likely to increase,” he told AFP, adding that 17 people were injured, including broken bones, and receiving treatment in a nearby hospital.


He said that the search and rescue members were scouring the Mahakam River in Tenggarong town in Kutai Kartanegara district looking for bodies or survivors who were trapped in their cars in the water.


Provincial Governor Awang Faroek on local radio ElShinta said that at least three cars and one public bus fell into the river when the bridge built in 2002 collapsed.

Kristen Stewart’s a “Fashion Pariah”

Star claims “very few” stylists want to work with Breaking Dawn lead actress Kristen Stewart.

According to the supermarket tabloid, Stewart’s “grubby nails, ratty sneakers and a bad attitude” have made her “a fashion pariah.”

The low-brow magazine then quotes a so-called “source” as saying, “Very few people want to work with [Stewart], because she doesn’t want to look good.”

Really?

Not only does a Stewart confidante dismiss Star‘s report as “absolute BS,” but even a casual look at Stewart recently in L.A. or London, proves the tabloid once again wrong.

Angelina Jolie Planning Political Run?

 Angelina Jolie wants to “run for office,” according to Life & Style.


The tabloid’s so-called “insider” says, “Angie’s putting out feelers to see how people would react to the idea of her running for office. She sees it as the next stage of her life, and it’s something she’d really like to do.”


Really?


So has the actress spoken about her desire to enter politics?


Does Life & Style have any inside info about her public service ambitions?


No and no.


Instead, the magazine reasons that Jolie is a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations, “so running for governor or senator could be her next step.”


Life & Style‘s “expert” doesn’t think her controversial history should affect Jolie’s hypothetical candidacy, explaining, “She’s already admitted to drug use in the past, so it’s no longer news. Plus, she certainly has the radiance to run for office.”


But despite Jolie’s qualifications as a radiant former drug user, don’t expect her to leap to the political stage anytime soon.

Rebecca Tan.

Born to an Australian mother and Singaporean father, Rebecca started modeling in her hometown in Melbourne at 16 yrs old. Since then, she has worked all over Asia. Taiwan, Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, Beijing, Korea, Bangkok, Indonesia, Malaysia and finally setting up home in Singapore. She has also the opportunity to have been photographed in New York, Miami, South Africa and Milan.


Rebecca won Singapore's Model of the Year in 2003. In 2004, she won Babe of the Year from MediaCorp and was the host for Fashion Forward, an infotainment-based program on Channel 5.


Her immense portfolio includes 80 television commercials and 90 magazines covers globally. She has also been requested by top Hong Kong megastars like Aaron Kwok, Leon Lai and also top Thai singer Dom to star in their music videos.


Her recent works include being the face for VISA ads in Thailand, appearing in a full ad campaign for Canon cameras inclusive of an impressive TVC. She has also lent her charm to local milk brand HL, appearing on the full range of advertising mediums. In 2008, Rebecca also represented Singapore for the Triumph fashion show in Beijing.


Rebecca has ventured into some fishy business by setting up Kampong Fish Therapy with a few industry friends. She has also recently finished her interior design course and hopes to one day setup her own interior design outfit and help beautify homes. Her goal and desire is to one day star and do her own stunts in an action movie.


Catch Rebecca on Channel 5 as the host of Beauty Files where she shares with viewers her vast experience of looking good.

Thousands in Cairo’s Tahrir ahead of new mass rally

Thousands of Egyptians streamed into Tahrir Square on Friday ahead of a new mass rally to demand the end of military rule, capping a week of protests and deadly clashes just days before the first polls since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster.


“Last Chance Friday… stability or chaos,” ran the headline of the flagship state-owned daily Al-Ahram.


The call for protest comes amid uncertainty over who will lead the next government; after privately-owned television channels reported that former premier Kamal al-Ganzuri had been given the job.


There was no immediate official confirmation but Al-Ahram said on its website that Ganzuri had agreed to lead a government of national salvation.


Ganzuri is an economist who served as prime minister under Mubarak from 1996 to 1999.


If confirmed, the move would mark the latest attempt by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to regain the initiative after days of deadly clashes between security forces and protesters since Saturday.


The violence, in which at least 41 protesters have been killed – 36 of them in Cairo – and more than 2,000 injured, led to the resignation of caretaker premier Essam Sharaf’s cabinet on Tuesday.


The call for new protests in Tahrir Square came despite an apology by the military rulers on Thursday for the deaths of protesters at the hands of police.

Leonardo self-portrait in rare Italy display

 A rare self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci that has only been publicly shown twice and is insured for 50 million euros ($67 million) has gone on display in the city of Turin in northern Italy.


The self-portrait of the Renaissance master as an elderly man is kept in the Royal Library in Turin where it has only gone on show in 1929 and 2006. It is being displayed under special shock-proof glass case filled with sensors.


It will be on show until January 29 at the Reggia di Venaria, a 17th-century former royal residence near Turin as part of an exhibition entitled “Leonardo: The Genius and the Myth” including 30 drawings and writings about the work.


“It’s a sort of introduction to the major exhibition that will be held in Amboise (in central France) from May 2, 2019 for the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo,” said the exhibition’s curator, Carlo Pedretti.


Da Vinci lived and died in a manor house in Amboise in 1519.

Kubica to miss start of 2012 season

 Renault’s Robert Kubica will miss the start of the 2012 Formula One season after the Polish driver conceded that he would not have regained full fitness following a near-fatal accident in February.


The 26-year-old has been sidelined for the entire 2011 season after spending two months in hospital.


He suffered arm, leg and hand injuries and lost a huge amount of blood in the rally accident in Italy and has undergone a series of operations.


Despite taking on an intensive training programme to regain full fitness, Kubica doubts he will be ready for the start of 2012 season in March.


“Even if I’ve been working very, very hard over the course of the last few weeks, I came to the conclusion that I am not yet certain to be ready for the 2012 season,” Kubica said in a statement.


“This was a difficult decision to make, but it is the most reasonable one. My recovery is still very encouraging and my doctors keep being impressed. I just need more time, as I want to be 100 percent ready before I commit to anything driving related.”However, he has taken a very mature decision, acting in the best interests of Lotus Renault. As a team and as a family, we remain 100 percent behind him and we’ll help as much as we can.


Germany’s Nick Heidfeld took Kubica’s place for the first 11 races of the season with Brazilian Bruno Senna taking over the seat for the final eight races, including this weekend’s closing round at Interlagos.

Djokovic floored by Ferrer

LONDON: David Ferrer, the lesser known Spaniard in the ATP World Tour Finals, burst out of Rafa Nadal’s shadow to reach the last four on Wednesday with a demolition job on world number one Novak Djokovic at the O2 Arena.


While Nadal’s place in the semi-finals is still in doubt after his thrashing at the hands of Roger Federer on Tuesday, world number five Ferrer made sure he will be around at the weekend with a 6-3 6-1 defeat of the year’s outstanding player.


In the day’s other match, Czech Tomas Berdych saved a match point against Djokovic’s fellow Serb Janko Tipsarevic to seal a 2-6 6-3 7-6 victory which means the calculators may be needed to decide who finishes runner-up in Group A on Friday.


The complications mean Djokovic could beat Davis Cup team mate Tipsarevic, a stand-in for injured Briton Andy Murray, and still fail to go through while a defeat, providing Ferrer beats Berdych, would see him survive.


Whatever the maths, Djokovic said he would need to play “50 percent” better in his next match.


“I have no words to explain this match,” Djokovic, who went on a 41-match winning rampage at the start of the year and claimed three of the year’s four majors, told reporters.


“Nothing was going well. I don’t play at least 50 percent better than I did tonight, I don’t think I’ll have any chance.

Dylan cover discs to benefit Amnesty International

NEW YORK: A sprawling new collection of Bob Dylan cover songs is being released in January to benefit Amnesty International.


The human rights organization says Wednesday that all of the songs on the 4-CD collection will be new or previously unreleased versions, with the exception of Dylan’s title cut, ”Chimes of Freedom.”


The disc, to be released in the US on Jan. 24, is being produced by the same music executives who made a 2007 benefit album for Darfur featuring John Lennon songs.


Participating artists range from 19-year-old Miley Cyrus to 92-year-old folk legend Pete Seeger. Cyrus recorded ”You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” and Seeger, with a children’s chorus, does ”Forever Young.

Disney comes to YouTube

AN FRANCISCO: Disney films were available for rent on YouTube on Wednesday in the latest bid by the Google-owned website to transform into an online stage for the gamut of digital video content.


The first of hundreds of films from Disney studios including Pixar and DreamWorks joined the array of Hollywood titles that can be viewed as streaming rentals at youtube.com/movies.


Movies available for rent include “Alice in Wonderland” and all four films in the blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, according to YouTube movies and television marketing manager Minjae Ormes.


“Even more of the great Disney classics and new releases will be added in weeks to come, including our YouTube Movie Extras with behind-the-scenes clips, interviews, and more,” Ormes promised in a blog post.


Earlier this month, YouTube and The Walt Disney Co. said they were teaming up to produce an original video series and feature “family-friendly” Disney programming on the popular video-sharing site.


Disney Interactive and YouTube said the programming will be available on Disney.com and on YouTube and the “complementary online video destinations” will launch in early 2012.The first project will launch in February and will be an original video series based on Disney’s mobile game “Where’s My Water?”


YouTube, which Google bought for $1.65 billion in 2006, has been gradually adding professional content in an effort to generate revenue and announced last month that it is adding about 100 channels of original programming.


YouTube remains the top online destination for amateur video, but it faces stiff competition when it comes to professional content from services such as Apple’s iTunes, Hulu and Netflix.

James Taylor, Selena Gomez join Swift onstage

NEW YORK: Taylor Swift closed her ”Speak Now World Tour” with her best friend and the man her parents named her after.


The 21-year-old brought out James Taylor and Selena Gomez at her concert Tuesday night at New York’s Madison Square Garden.


Swift said her parents named her after Taylor, and the two performed his hit ”Fire and Rain.” Taylor also played the guitar while Swift performed her song ”Fifteen.”


Gomez joined the country singer earlier in the night, and the two sang a duet version of Gomez’s hit tune ”Who Says.”


Swift’s tour has featured guest appearances from Nicki Minaj to Usher to T.I. to Jason Mraz. She also performed at MSG on Monday.

Last act of ‘Mad Men’ to be set in 2011

WASHINGTON: Don Draper, the dashing but troubled hero of the cult television drama “Mad Men,” will be a withered octogenarian when the series eventually comes to an end, its creator said Wednesday.


The highly-stylized show, set in the Camelot years of the early 1960s, is wildly popular for its portrayal of American life in the days of three-martini lunches, guilt-free smoking and ever-shifting social values.


In a public talk in Los Angeles, summarized on men’s website Grantland.com, Matthew Weiner said its central character, New York advertising executive Draper, will be transported into the present when the series wraps up.


That means that Draper, who is in his 40s after four seasons on the AMC cable channel, will end up end a wizened gent in his mid-80s. Jon Hamm, the actor who plays him, now is 40 himself.


“What I’m looking for, and how I hope to end the show, is like – it’s 2011,” said Weiner, noting that “Mad Men” is appreciated not only as entertainment, but also as social commentary.


“Don Draper would be 84 right now,” said Weiner, who is also the show’s head writer and an executive producer of the now-completed HBO mob-family drama “The Sopranos”.


“I want to leave the show in a place where you have an idea of what it meant and how it’s related to you.”


Weiner said the multiple Emmy-winning series – which begins its fifth season in March next year – will aspire at its end to depict the arc of Draper’s complex life.


“It came to me in the middle of last season,” he said. “I always felt like it would be the experience of human life, and human life has a destination.”

Ricky Gervais to host Globes again, despite row

LOS ANGELES: British comic Ricky Gervais is to host the Golden Globes again despite ruffling feathers with his close-to-the-bone humor at the last show, organizers and the unpredictable star said Wednesday.


And Gervais, who launched off-color barbs at stars including Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. from the Globes stage in January, made it clear he won’t tone down his performance this time.


“’BOOM! @rickygervais back hosting Golden Globes. Be afraid, Hollywood egos, be very afraid.’ It’s gonna be biblical,” he posted on Twitter, retweeting a comment by CNN celebrity talk show host Piers Morgan.


The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organizes the Globes event, said the decision was taken after talks with US broadcaster NBC, which airs the event to be held January 15.


“After weeks of rumors, it’s finally official – Ricky Gervais will be back to host the Golden Globes for a third year,” it said.Then in an exchange with Morgan, who was asking Gervais for a post-show interview, he posted: “’Dear @rickygervais – please can I have the first ‘Sorry if I offended anyone.’ What if I’m not sorry? Like last time. Ha ha.”


Gervais came under fire for remarks in January about Gibson’s alleged anti-Semitism, Downey Jr’s past drug problems and Charlie Sheen’s reputation for hard partying.


He also took a shot at the HFPA for allegedly taking bribes, and quipped that before coming on stage, he had to get then HFPA head Philip Berk “off the toilet and pop his teeth back in.”


The winners of the Golden Globes are selected by a relatively small number of journalist members of the HFPA – in contast to the Oscars, chosen by some 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.


Gervais joked openly about the credibility of the HFPA leadership at the last show, asking how the widely-panned Angelina Jolie-Johnny Depp movie “The Tourist” managed to get nominated.


“I’d like to crush this ridiculous rumor that the only reason ‘The Tourist’ was nominated was so that the foreign press could hang out with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.

US actor Bradley Cooper declared “sexiest man alive”

LOS ANGELES: He’s a Georgetown University graduate who cooks, rides motorcycles and speaks fluent French, but US actor Bradley Cooper can now add “sexiest man alive” to his bio, People said Wednesday.


In picking Cooper for its annual designation, the magazine said the 36-year-old remains modest despite his “dazzling baby blues” and “killer smile.” And he’s also close to his mother Gloria, especially after his father Charles died in January.


“I think it’s really cool that a guy who doesn’t look like a model can have this,” the “Hangover” star told People. “I think I’m a decent-looking guy.Sometimes I can look great, and other times I look horrifying.”Cooper, who was with actress Renee Zellweger for two years until they split up in March, has been seen with Jennifer Lopez, but insisted he is no Casanova.


“If you’re a single man and you happen to be in this business… you’re deemed a player. But I don’t see myself as a ladies’ man,” he said.


And Cooper said his first thought at being crowned top hunk was “my mother is going to be so happy.”Past winners – mostly actors – have included Ryan Reynolds, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Mel Gibson who was the first to get the male attractiveness nod, in 1985.