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22 May 2013
Last updated at 16:36 GMT

Hill said it was “great” that Cowell (right) was backing the musical “4500%”

The forthcoming X Factor musical written by comedian Harry Hill has been titled I Can’t Sing! and will open at the London Palladium in March 2014.

Hill described it as an “all singing, all dancing, all mickey-taking spectacular”.

The musical features 19 original songs by Steve Brown, whose TV work includes Spitting Image and Hill’s TV Burp.

It is a joint venture between Stage Entertainment and Simon Cowell’s company Syco Entertainment.

“We’d been umm-ing and ahh-ing about the title for a while… then it hit us… I Can’t Sing!” said Hill and Brown in a statement.

“It also happens to be the title of one of the funniest songs in the show and we hope hints at the direction we’re taking this production.

“We’re pretty certain that you won’t have seen anything like it before and it’s great that Simon is backing it 4500%.”

Casting has yet to be announced.

According to its producers, the musical will go “behind the microphone and under the judges’ desk to reveal the (not necessarily accurate) story of heartache and laughter that keeps millions tuning in every week”.

It will be directed by Sean Foley, whose West End credits include the recent productions of The Ladykillers and What the Butler Saw.

I Can’t Sing! will open at the London Palladium will begin previews on 27 February with an opening night scheduled for 26 March.

The X Factor was created by Cowell and launched on ITV in 2004. Acts that have emerged from the show include One Direction and Leona Lewis.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22626588#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

22 May 2013
Last updated at 10:20 GMT

Fast Furious 6 (left) took more than twice as much as The Great Gatsby

Action sequel Fast Furious 6 races ahead of The Great Gatsby in this week’s UK and Ireland box office chart.

The latest instalment in the car-based franchise took more than £8.7m in its opening weekend, more than double the amount that Baz Luhrmann’s film made between Thursday and Sunday.

Gatsby’s £4.1m tally puts it just ahead of Star Trek Into Darkness, the weekend’s third most profitable title.

The sci-fi sequel has now taken £15.6m since opening on 9 May.

Fast and Furious 6, which sees Vin Diesel return as fugitive race car driver Dominic Toretto, opened in 462 locations across the UK and Ireland, 60 fewer than The Great Gatsby.

On a screen by screen basis, however, the film proved much more successful, earning an average of £18,869 per screen compared to Gatsby’s £7,845.

British actress Carey Mulligan, who stars alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Luhrmann’s film, attended its star-studded premiere in Cannes last week.

But the cast’s promotional efforts did not help the F Scott Fitzgerald adaptation earn widespread critical acclaim, with the Daily Telegraph’s Charles Moore calling it “terribly, terribly bad“.

The latest instalment in Marvel’s Iron Man series added £1.4m to its earnings in its fourth weekend in cinemas, taking its overall total to £33.8m.

Children’s dance movie All Stars completes this week’s top five, earning £196,579 in its third weekend on release.

US drama Mud, starring Matthew McConaughey as a drifter who befriends two young boys, climbs one place to six, while DreamWorks’ animated comedy The Croods falls two places to seven.

Comedy 21 and Over, action thriller Olympus Has Fallen and Pedro Almodovar’s I’m So Excited are ranked eighth, ninth and tenth.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22622158#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

22 May 2013
Last updated at 09:47 GMT

Rowling’s personal annotations cover 43 pages

A rare first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, with annotations and drawings by author JK Rowling, has sold for a record price.

After a bidding war between two buyers the book sold for £150,000, a new record for a printed book by Rowling.

It was part of a sale of annotated first edition books by 50 UK and Commonwealth writers.

The sale raised a total of £439,200 for English PEN, which campaigns for freedom of expression.

“The sale room fell silent as two determined bidders vied for the prized edition,” said a spokesperson for Sotheby’s in London.

“Bidding leapt in increments of up to £25,000 and the hammer finally fell, to a round of applause, on a £150,000 telephone bid.”

A sleeping baby Harry on the Dursleys’ doorstep is one of 22 original illustrations by JK Rowling

The second-highest price of the auction was achieved by a copy of Matilda by Roald Dahl, with new illustrations by Quentin Blake, which sold for £30,000.

The sale was attended by a number of authors whose works were featured in the sale, including Helen Fielding, Colm Toibin, Jeanette Winterson, Frederick Forsyth, Ben Okri, Margaret Drabble, Andrea Levy and Wendy Cope.

Dr Philip W Errington of Sotheby’s called the books “the ultimate first editions” due to the “remarkable personal insights that the authors have granted us, through their annotations”.

Genesis of Quidditch

Rowling’s personal annotations cover 43 pages and include references to the Harry Potter series as a whole and also the film adaptations.

Her notes include a reflection on an anomaly in chapter four about snapped wands and a section of text she refused to cut.

Rowling also talks about the genesis of the game of Quidditch.

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First Editions, Second Thoughts sale

Other titles sold on Tuesday include:

• Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day – £18,000
• Seamus Heaney’s Death of a Naturalist – £17,000
• Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall – £16,000
• Colm Toibin’s The Heather Blazing – £15,500
• Fear Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson, illustrated by Ralph Steadman – £14,500
• Edmund de Waal’s The Hare with Amber Eyes – £14,500
• Julian Barnes’ Metroland – £14,000
• Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader – £11,000

Quidditch, she writes “was invented in a small hotel in Manchester after a row with my then boyfriend.

“I had been pondering the things that hold a society together, cause it to congregate and signify its particular character and knew I needed a sport.”

The broomstick-based pursuit, she continues, “infuriates men… which is quite satisfying given my state of mind when I invented it.”

Rowling’s 22 original illustrations include drawings of an Albus Dumbledore chocolate frog card, a brooding Snape, Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback dragon and a man with two faces.

The largest amount paid for a JK Rowling book was the £2 million fetched in 2007 by a handwritten copy of Tales of Beedle the Bard.

Rowling wrote and illustrated seven copies of the collection of fairy tales, but only auctioned one to raise funds for her Children’s Voice charity.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22622194#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

22 May 2013
Last updated at 21:13 GMT

Davis’s only novel to date, The End of the Story, was published in 1995

American writer Lydia Davis has been awarded the Man Booker International prize for her “achievement in fiction on the world stage”.

She beat nine other nominees to take home the £60,000 biennial award.

Judge Prof Sir Christopher Ricks said Davis’s stories “fling their lithe arms wide to embrace many a kind.”

The award recognises an author’s continued creativity, development and overall contribution to literature, rather than a single work.

“There is vigilance to her stories, and great imaginative attention,” Sir Christopher added.

The British literary critic and scholar was joined on the judging panel by authors Elif Batuman, Aminatta Forna, Yiyun Li and Tim Parks.

Davis, the fifth recipient of the prize, is currently professor of creative writing at the University at Albany in New York state.

Her work includes one novel, The End of the Story (1995), and seven story collections, including Break It Down (1986), Almost No Memory (1997), Samuel Johnson is Indignant (2002) and Varieties of Disturbance (2007).

She has translated a number of French philosophy and literature works, most notably Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust and Flaubert’s Madame Bovary.

A new collection, Can’t and Won’t, is due to be published next summer in the UK.

The last recipient of the honour, 2011 winner Philip Roth, was also American.

The other winners are Albanian writer Ismail Kadare (2005), Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe (2007) and Canadian short story writer Alice Munro (2009).

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22625777#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

22 May 2013
Last updated at 17:18 GMT

Kristen Scott Thomas said she took the role in Only God Forgives so she could work with Refn (left)

Ryan Gosling’s new film Only God Forgives has divided critics at the Cannes Film Festival with its extreme violence.

There were walk-outs and boos at its screening earlier but it has still earned some glowing reviews.

Gosling plays a drug smuggler in Bangkok who is compelled by his mother to avenge his brother’s death.

Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian gave the film five stars but said it might “have people running for the exits.”

The film reunites Gosling with director Nicolas Winding Refn, who won the best director prize at Cannes for their 2011 collaboration Drive.

Bradshaw praised Refn’s “bizarre infernal creation”.

“An entire created world of fear, really is gripping. Every scene, every frame, is executed with pure formal brilliance,” he wrote.

Speaking to reporters at Cannes, Refn said he felt powerless to resist a compulsion to depict violence on screen.

“Art is an act of violence,” he said on Wednesday. “Art is about speaking to our subconscious and our needs at different levels.”

Gosling did not attend Cannes this year, being currently in Detroit directing his first movie How to Catch a Monster.

Cannes director Thierry Fremaux read a letter from the Canadian actor at the film’s press conference apologising for his absence.

Ryan Gosling in Only God Forgives

“Can’t believe I’m not In Cannes,” Gosling wrote. “I was hoping to come but I’m on week three shooting my film in Detroit. Miss you all.

“Nicolas, my friend, we really are the same persons in different dimensions. I’m sending you good vibrations.”

Kristin Scott Thomas is cast against type in the film as Gosling’s garishly dressed American mother.

“Watching her in Only God Forgives is like waking up to discover your much-loved pet cat has morphed overnight into a saltwater crocodile,” wrote the Daily Telegraph’s Robbie Collin.

“Kristin Scott Thomas easily upstages Ryan Gosling’s near-catatonic turn,” wrote Variety‘s reviewer.

Scott Thomas admitted to reporters that the film was “really not my thing,” admitting she did not enjoy watching films “where this kind of violence happens”.

But she said she took the role to be able to work with Winding Refn and play a “wild, savage person”.

The film, out in the UK on 2 August, is one of 20 in the race for the festival’s Palme d’Or prize.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22630029#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

Sharon Osbourne is to return to The X Factor as a judge for the new series in 2013.

Osbourne, who last appeared on the show in 2007, will join Gary Barlow, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh.

Dermot O’Leary will continue as a presenter for the ITV show.

Speaking of her return Sharon Osbourne said: “I can’t wait to give Gary Barlow a big hug, sit next to the gorgeous Nicole, and of course throw water on dear Louis. Yay!”

Last year’s series had some of the lowest ratings since the show began nine years ago.

Changes coming

However, Simon Cowell has promised to change some parts of the next X Factor series.

This year, contestants will face two sets of auditions – firstly with judges in an audition room – and if they’re successful a second rehearsal in front of a live audience.

On Tuesday (May 21), Tulisa Contostavlos tweeted to confirm that she will not be returning as a jugde for the 10th series.

Continue reading the main story

Three words I never thought I’d say… Welcome back Sharon!”

Simon Cowell

On her official Twitter account she said: “Just wanted to let you all know that I won’t be part of The X Factor panel this year.

“I’ve had a great time on the show, but this year it’s time to do something different.

“I’d like to thank everyone on The X Factor for two amazing years.”

Last year’s competition was won by James Arthur, whose single Impossible went on to sell more than a million copies.

Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/22625961#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

22 May 2013
Last updated at 15:48 GMT

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Ai Weiwei’s single has been blocked in China

Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei has released an expletive-ridden heavy metal music video criticising abuses of state power in China.

The track, given the English-language title Dumbass, reconstructs his 81-day detention in 2011, including what he says is an exact model of his cell.

The video shows impassive prison guards accompanying Ai as he eats, sleeps, showers and even sits on the toilet.

Ai himself sings the lyrics, few of which are fit to print.

They include: “Stand on the frontline like a dumbass, in a country that puts out like a hooker… tolerance be damned, to hell with manners, the low-life’s invincible.”

Ai admits his voice is unpolished, but says the video is “dedicated to all those people who do not have the opportunity to raise their voice, who will never be able to raise their voices…

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

When I was detained there was a paramilitary officer who asked me to sing a song… I realised that the guards felt just like me. They just wanted to hear songs”

End Quote
Ai Weiwei

“In the past 60 years there have been innumerable amounts of people who have been killed or sent away from their homes, even tortured to death.”

It is no surprise, correspondents say, that the song and video are being blocked on the Chinese internet – along with the search term “Ai Weiwei”.

Crabs

The video – shot by famed Australian cinematographer Christopher Doyle – opens with Ai in a hood marked “criminal” which is whipped off.

His mugshot and fingerprints are taken and he begins his detention.

Images of Ai undergoing the mundane activities of daily prison life are interspersed with surreal shots, including a toilet full of crabs, and other animals. China analysts say animals have come to be used as code by activists resisting state censorship.

Guards are shown dancing with lingerie-clad women and the video culminates with Ai shaving his head and appearing in women’s clothes and heavy make-up.

Ai says his experience of detention still causes him nightmares, and that writing the song was a form of therapy.

“When I was detained there was a paramilitary officer who asked me to sing a song,” Ai said.

“I was extremely frustrated at the time and felt terrible. But then I realised that the guards felt just like me. They just wanted to hear songs.”

Ai, who authorities say was detained for tax evasion, later tried unsuccessfully to mount a legal challenge against a 15m yuan ($2.4m; £1.5m) state bill for back taxes.

He now says he is unable to travel outside of China as authorities have taken his passport.

He plans to release a hard-rock album titled The Divine Comedy later in the year.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22627605#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

22 May 2013
Last updated at 14:11 GMT

Correspondances was performed in January to celebrate Dutilleux’s birthday

Henri Dutilleux, one of France’s leading modern composers, has died in Paris aged 97, his family has confirmed.

Born in Angers in 1916, he was a prolific composer of predominantly instrumental works, including symphonies and orchestral pieces.

His latest work, Correspondances, was recorded for the first time in January this year to celebrate his birthday.

Radio 3′s Tom Service said he composed music of “amazing sensual power”.

“Dutilleux’s exquisite catalogue of pieces is becoming, rightly, ever more popular with performers and listeners all over the world,” he added.

Composer Laurent Petitgirard said his compatriot had been “one of the very rare contemporary composers” whose work entered the classical repertoire in his lifetime.

Dutilleux attended the Paris Conservatoire in the mid-1930s, studying under the composers Henri Paul Busser and Maurice Emmanuel.

In 1951 he received international acclaim with his Symphony No. 1, the first of his two symphonies.

Apart from symphonic works, he also composed chamber music, solo concertos and ballet music.

“If you hear any of his orchestral music – his symphonies, concertos, or his song-cycle Correspondances – you’re immersed in an irresistible kaleidoscope of instrumental colour and, above all, a world of heightened feeling,” said Service.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22625786#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

22 May 2013
Last updated at 15:22 GMT

The handwritten lyrics to Strawberry Fields Forever will sit next to the Magna Carta in the British Library’s Treasures Gallery

Beatles biographer Hunter Davies has donated letters and lyrics by John Lennon to the British Library as part of a new tax relief scheme.

His collection, which includes handwritten lyrics to Strawberry Fields Forever, is the first donation through the new Cultural Gifts Scheme.

The initiative, which was introduced in March, encourages people to give gifts to the nation for a tax reduction.

Davies said the British Library was the “perfect home” for his memorabilia.

Culture minister Ed Vaizey said the “incredibly generous” donation was a “testament to the strong culture of philanthropy” in the UK.

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A total funding of £30 million is available annually for the Cultural Gifts Scheme, which will allow recipients to reduce their tax by 30% of the value of the object over five years.

It is estimated that Davies, who wrote the only official biography of The Beatles in 1968, will reduce his tax by £319,500.

“I want my Beatles collection to be kept together, in one place, and on public display, and the British Library is the perfect home for it,” the 77-year-old said.

“I’m really pleased the cultural gifts scheme has helped me make this a reality.”

The British Library’s Roly Keating said he was “delighted” to receive the “iconic items on behalf of the nation”.

The collection also includes an early draft of lyrics from In My Life, which featured on 1965 album Rubber Soul, with a line about Penny Lane crossed out.

Davies received letters from Lennon, whom he befriended in the 1960s, and has collecting other correspondence from the legendary musician.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22624400#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

22 May 2013
Last updated at 15:10 GMT

Emmerdale producer Kate Oates said Thorp had a “brilliant sense of humour”

Actor Richard Thorp, Alan Turner on Emmerdale for more than 30 years, has died at the age of 81.

He had been the longest-serving cast member on the ITV soap, having made his first appearance on 23 March 1982.

Thorp also starred as squadron leader Henry Maudslay in iconic 1955 film The Dam Busters.

In a statement, the show remembered him as a “true professional and a complete gentleman” who would be “greatly missed”.

“Richard’s death is a sad loss to Emmerdale, of which he was at the heart for so many wonderful years,” said Kate Oates, Emmerdale’s series producer.

“He will be missed by every single member of our production whose lives he touched.”

Thorp’s character started out in the show as the hard-drinking, womanising and bullying manager of Home Farm.

But he mellowed over the years, going on to be landlord of the Woolpack pub and open a BB.

Thorp’s breakthrough role in The Dam Busters came at the age of 23. The actor had auditioned for a smaller role but was given the part of Maudslay because he looked like him.

He went on to appear in The Barretts of Wimpole Street and There’s Always a Thursday before joining hit TV series Emergency Ward 10.

Before joining Emmerdale, Thorp appeared in a number of TV shows including Crossroads and To the Manor Born.

Thorp (second from left) is here seen in a 1963 BBC recording of Noel Coward’s Fallen Angels

The actor told the Daily Mail in 2010 he was “too lazy” to pursue a career in Hollywood and admitted he liked the security of regular soap income.

The same year, he told the Radio Times that he “ought to have regrets about staying” at Emmerdale for so long but did not.

“There was no point in me moving on because I wasn’t good enough,” he said.

Past and present cast members have been paying tribute.

Chris Bisson, who plays Jai Sharma on the soap, said he was sorry to hear the news and that Thorp “was always a gentleman”.

Adele Silva, who played Kelly Windsor on the soap, said he was a “lovely man and [the] coolest guy I’ve seen with a Harley!”

Danny Miller, who played Aaron Livesy, said it was “devastating news”. “A legend and a true gentlemen, he will be missed dearly!” he wrote.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22624674#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa