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Alappuzha (Kerala), Dec 29 (IANS) The popular tourist destinations of Kottayam and Alappuzha in Kerala were Tuesday evening agog with rumours that popular US singer Britney Spears was arriving on a private visit with her kids.

Speaking to IANS, Tomy Pullikattil, who owns a fleet of houseboats on the Vembanad Lake, said he had been flooded with phone calls asking if the news was correct.

“I must have received a 100 calls including from abroad asking if Britney is indeed visiting. Even the district collector called me to inquire if it was true, and to all I have given the same answer – that I too have heard about it. I also got a few calls from anxious resort owners from Kumarakom,” said Pullikattil.

Meanwhile, a report from London said the pop star has apparently cancelled the visit after learning that the paparazzi have already reached here.

A few years ago another hugely popular singer Paul McCartney went unnoticed even after moving around in the capital city attending a temple festival. It was only after he boarded the aircraft did his travel agent reveal that the singer had been in Thiruvananthapuram.

London, Dec 29 (IANS) Pop diva Madonna has reportedly paid 6 million pounds for a horse ranch.

The singer splashed out the enormous sum for the estate, which includes 30 acres of land and is situated in the Hamptons area of New York State, reports contactmusic.com.

“Madonna is thrilled the ranch is now hers,” said a source.

Madonna bought the Wild Ocean Farm ranch from designer Calvin Klein’s ex-wife Kelly.

It is currently being used to train show horses, and Madonna was only allowed to buy the ranch on the understanding she kept it as a working equine centre.

The singer who is a keen horse-rider is also believed to be interested in a 1.5 million pounds adjoining plot of land and is making enquiries into buying it so she can build a mansion there.

London, Dec 29 (IANS) Singer Rihanna, who endured a turbulent year after being assaulted by her now ex-boyfriend Chris Brown in February, is impressed by Lady Gaga’s bold image and success.

“Lady Gaga has a very bold, fearless image and I have so much respect for original artistes who aren’t afraid to do what they do. That is what I respect the most. She is awesome,” femalefirst.co.uk quoted Rihanna as saying.

The 21-year-old singer recently admitted that 2009 had been the toughest year of her life because of the attack that left her with cuts and bruises and traumatised her emotionally as well.

“Before this, every young girls thought my life was perfect. Now they realise it’s not. Nobody’s perfect. I am living the same human life that they are, just with a more public career,” said Rihanna.

“Looking back at this incident, I feel as if it was the beginning of a new era almost like a wake-up call for me. It was a massive turning point for me in my life,” she added.

New York, Dec 29 (ANI): American rapper Kanye West and his model beau Amber Rose did their bit for the homeless people of Los Angeles after Christmas by serving them lunch.

West, 32, and Rose, 27, were seen helping out at the Los Angeles Mission the day after Christmas.

“It’s just important to [give back] when you’re blessed,” the New York Daily News quoted him as saying.

“It’s nice to spread your blessings and take time out,” he added. (ANI)

Washington, Dec 29 (ANI): Pop princess Britney Spears was recently seen stepping out with a new hairdo.

The Toxic singer, who was spotted being dropped off at the swanky Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood on December 28, had dyed her blonde hair brunette, reports Radar Online.

Spears, 28, tried to sneak into the hotel unnoticed, but unfortunately even with her new hair colour she was easily recognized.

Meanwhile, the singer’s beau, Jason Trawick, has reportedly met with her ex-husband Kevin Federline to ask for his blessings to marry her. (ANI)

Nevada (US), Dec 29 (ANI): Oscar winner musician A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire) has come up with “The Best of A.R. Rahman” album which is selling at his official web-Store for 16.49 dollars.

Titled as “The Best of A.R. Rahman: Music and Magic From the Composer of Slumdog Millionaire”, this CD by Legacy label claims to compile “much of A.R. Rahman’s finest work in one comprehensive package”.

It lists 14 tracks: Rang De Basanti, Khoon Chala, Barso Re, Tere Bina, Mayya, Ghanan Ghanan, Radha Kaise Na Jale, Dheeme Dheeme, So Gaye Hain, Gurus of Peace, Yeh Rishta, Ae Nazneen Suno Na, Shakalaka Baby, and Warriors in Peace (Hindi version).

Acclaimed Indo-American statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, commended Rahman for creating pride and respect among India’s youth about their own rich musical heritage. Zed, who is chairperson of Indo-American Leadership Confederation, credited Rahman for opening new doors to East-West relationship in music.

Rahman, who has reportedly recorded sales of over 300 million, was called “Mozart of Madras’ by Time magazine. Rahman sees music “as a way to connect to spirituality and embrace it” and for “creating harmony in troubled times”. (ANI)

London, Dec 29 (IANS) Thanks to her famous pout and thick hair, Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has been named the Beauty Icon of the Decade in a new poll conducted by Superdrug, Britain’s second-largest health and beauty retailer.

The research, which included answers from 3,000 people, revealed that Jolie’s famous pout, thick hair and strong character made her the envy of women around the world, reported telegraph.co.uk

“Angelina Jolie is not a conventional beauty but her strong character shines through her fabulous features to give her a unique standing in the beauty world,” said Steve Jebson, commercial director, Superdrug.

“It’s worth noting that while everyone talks about Angelina’s pout we find that its her long thick lustrous hair that really makes British women envious, as well as a figure made for red carpet posturing,” he added.

Second place went to Jennifer Aniston, who is ex-wife of Jolie’s partner Brad Pitt.

Australian pop star Kylie Minogue came third in the poll followed by Welsh actress Catherine Zeta Jones.

Top 20 beauty icons of the decade

1.Angelina Jolie

2.Jennifer Aniston

3.Kylie Minogue

4.Catherine Zeta Jones

5.Cheryl Cole

6.Scarlett Johansson

7.Keira Knightly

8.Beyonce Knowles

9.Liv Tyler

10.Halle Berry

11.Kate Winslet

12.Myleene Klass

13.Kelly Brook

14.Nigella Lawson

15.Kate Beckinsale

16.Megan Fox

17.Eva Longoria

18.Joanna Lumley

19.Holly Willoughby

20.Charlize Theron

Washington, Dec 29 (ANI): Most American women would like to kiss George Clooney under the mistletoe this year, says end-of-year honours list by Parade magazine.

In order to come up with list, the popular U.S. supplement asked readers to vote in a range of quirky categories, including most surprising celebrity split of the year and celebrity you would most like to kiss under the mistletoe, reports Contactmusic.

Some of the highlights are:

Which celeb would you most like to kiss under the mistletoe this year? Men – George Clooney: 56 per cent

Which celeb would you most like to kiss under the mistletoe this year? Women – Jennifer Aniston: 50 per cent

Most surprising celebrity split of the year – Mel Gibson and Robyn Moore: 32 per cent

Who is your favourite young sensation? – Taylor Swift: 61 per cent

Which celebrity’s death in 2009 saddened you most? – Patrick Swayze: 45 per cent

What well-hyped movie was the biggest disappointment? – Bruno: 32 per cent

Who is your all-time favourite singing diva? – Barbra Streisand: 36 per cent

Which celebrity needs to take a break from Twitter (or other social networking)? – Lindsay Lohan: 33 per cent

Who is the sexiest athlete? – David Beckham: 44 per cent

Who do you think is the most charitable celebrity? – Oprah Winfrey: 43 per cent

Who’s the cutest celebrity offspring? – The Jolie-Pitt brood: 42 per cent

Which celeb’s looks are fading fastest? – Mickey Rourke: 28 per cent

Which celebrity just keeps getting better with age? – George Clooney: 40 per cent

Which celebrity do you think has the biggest ego? – Kanye West: 46 per cent. (ANI)

New York, Dec 29 (ANI): Angelina Jolie has admitted that her temper flares when her partner fails to admit his mistake.

The Hollywood beauty also revealed that she gets so mad that she tears off his shirt when he acts defiantly.

‘The sparks fly at home if the nice Brad fails to see that he’s wrong and reacts in a defiant way,’ the New York Daily News quoted Jolie as saying.

‘Then I get so angry that I tear his shirt.’ Hmm… hopefully their kids know that violence is not the answer,’ she added. (ANI)

London, Dec 29 (ANI): Angelina Jolie has pipped love rival Jennifer Aniston to become Beauty Icon of the Decade.

The poll was conducted by Superdrug, reports The Daily Star.

Steve Jebson from Superdrug said: ‘Angelina is not a conventional beauty but her strong character shines through.’

Aniston, 40, is the ex-wife of 34-year-old Jolie’s partner Brad Pitt, 46. (ANI)

London, Dec 29 (ANI): ‘X Factor’ theme tune ‘O Fortuna’ has topped the list of UK’s most widely heard classical tracks since records began.

The song, a Carl Orff composition from his 1937 oratorio Carmina Burana, emerged as the most played classical recordings of the past 75 years.

The piece has also featured in scary movie ‘The Omen’ and in the Old Spice aftershave ads.

The list was compiled for BBC Radio 2 by royalties collection body PPL from songs played on TV, radio, online streaming and in public places such as shops.

Standing second in the list was Vaughan Williams’ ‘Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis’.

At the third place was Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, while Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ and Schumann’s ‘Romance In F Sharp Major Op 28/2’ stood at fourth and fifth place respectively.

The top 30 most played works over the past three quarters of a century were revealed in Radio 2 programme The People’s Classical Chart, presented by comic and musician Bill Bailey.

German composer Orff’s chart-topper was inspired by a medieval Latin poem and the stirring, slightly sinister-sounding tune has been featured in anything from Michael Jackson tours to pre-match warm-ups for clubs such as Fulham and Doncaster Rovers.

However it has become best known in recent years as a tension builder for hit ITV1 talent show ‘The X Factor’.

The Munich Radio Orchestra’s recording of O Fortuna from 1973, featuring the Bavarian Radio Chorus & Tolzer Children’s Choir, is the one which has been most played, according to PPL.

The most-featured work in the top 30 is Gustav Holst’s ‘The Planets’, with four different recordings, including one by Manchester’s Halle Orchestra – who recently recorded with rock band Elbow – at number eight.

Britain’s Philharmonia Orchestra was the ensemble with most recordings in the top 30 with four.

‘O Fortuna is a timeless piece of music that continues to be played, performed and loved over 70 years after its composition and this is a wonderful recording of the work,” the Telegraph quoted Radio 2′s head of programming, Lewis Carnie, as saying.

The top 30 (Conductor or featured artist in brackets):

1. Orff – O Fortuna From Carmina Burana (Kurt Eichhorn)
2. Vaughan Williams – Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis (Bernard Haitink)
3. Rimsky-Korsakov – Scheherazade (Charles Mackerras)
4. Tchaikovsky – The Sleeping Beauty (Mikhail Pletnev)
5. Schumann – Romance In F Sharp Major Op 28/2 (Joseph Cooper)
6. Delibes – Sylvia (Richard Bonynge)
7. Rachmaninov – Symphony No 2 (Vladimir Ashkenazy)
8. Holst – The Planets (James Loughran)
9. Tchaikovsky – The Sleeping Beauty (Valery Gergiev)
10. Schubert – Symphony No 5 (Neville Marriner)
11. Rachmaninov – Piano Concerto No 2 (Vladimir Ashkenazy)
12. Bizet – Carmen (Giuseppe Sinopoli)
13. Holst – The Planets (John Eliot Gardiner)
14. Vaughan Williams – The Lark Ascending (Sarah Chang)
15. Zipoli – Elevazione For Cello And Oboe (Robert Clark)
16. Beethoven – Symphony No 6, Pastoral (John Eliot Gardiner)
17. Grieg – Piano Concerto (Krystian Zimerman)
18. Tchaikovsky – Swan Lake (Charles Dutoit)
19. Litolff – Scherzo (From Concerto Symphonique No 4) (Peter Donohoe)
20. Holst – The Planets (Simon Rattle)
21. Vivaldi – The Four Seasons (Nigel Kennedy)
22. Rodrigo – Concierto De Aranjuez (Julian Bream)
23. Saint-Saens – Symphony No 3, Organ (Myung-Whun Chung)
24. Elgar – Cello Concerto (Jacqueline Du Pre)
25. Bruch – Violin Concerto No 1 (Maxim Vengerov)
26. Mendelssohn – Symphony No 4 In A Major, Italian (John Eliot Gardiner)
27. Orff – O Fortuna From Carmina Burana (Riccardo Muti)
28. Rimsky-Korsakov – Scheherazade (Seiji Ozawa)
29. Holst – The Planets (David Mathias Lloyd-Jones)
30. Mendelssohn – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Yoel Levi) (ANI)

London, Dec 28 (IANS) Hollywood actress Kate Hudson has been shopping with Australian model Elle Macpherson to help herself get over her split from Alex Rodriguez.

The duo ended their seven-month relationship earlier this month and she has been surrounding herself with her female friends during her festive break in Aspen, Colorado, reports contactmusic.com.

“Kate is a serial dater, but it seems like she wants to take some time off and just be with her girlfriends,” said a source.

Over the weekend, Hudson and Macpherson were spotted shopping at Ralph Lauren before grabbing ice cream cones.

London, Dec 28 (IANS) Socialite heiress Paris Hilton has vowed never to appear on reality TV show “I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!” even though the producers have been bombarding her with lucrative offers.

The series, which originated in Britain, sees stars packed off to a jungle for several weeks and forced to endure gruelling challenges such as eating bugs to gain their food rations and Hilton is adamant she won’t be appearing on it, reports imdb.com.

“They’ve asked me to do that show so many times. I wouldn’t want to do that, I couldn’t eat bugs and do all those crazy challenges. I might do it for fun, on a camping trip with friends but not on national TV,” she said.

London, Dec 28 (IANS) Singer Rihanna is upset as she won’t be able to do her usual raunchy stage show in Abu Dhabi on New Year’s Eve because the organisers have told her to dress “conservatively”.

“Rihanna is tearing her hair out over what to do. She wanted to put on her most eccentric and provocative show here. A huge part of her show is her sexy stage gear. But the dress code in Abu Dhabi does not encourage excessively revealing outfits,” contactmusic.com quoted a source as saying.

Now Rihanna, 21, and her team are busy devising a new show complete with modest outfits which don’t show off too much of her body and won’t offend audiences in conservative Abu Dhabi.

Mumbai, Dec 28 (IANS) Rubina Ali and Azhar Ismail, the child actors who shot to fame after working in Oscar-winning movie “Slumdog Millionaire”, have finally enrolled full-time in a school here and are living in far better conditions.

Azharuddin, who played the youngest version of the main character’s brother Salim in the film, has moved with his family into a $55,874 (about Rs.2.5 million) flat in the Santa Cruz area of Mumbai.

Rubina and her family are still in the Garib Nagar slum but have upgraded their home and are waiting to be moved into a modern apartment, reports express.co.uk.

Both young stars receive a monthly allowance equivalent to $120 (about Rs.5,500) which is administered by a charitable trust. But they only get the money if their attendance record at school is above 70 percent.

Melbourne, December 28 (ANI): Jennifer Aniston may convert to ancient Jewish mysticism Kabbalah after her friendship with follower Demi Moore.

The former ‘Friends’ star is said to have been heavily influenced by Moore and is reportedly pondering over to make the switch from Buddhism.

‘Jen and Demi first met a few years ago through a lifestyle guru in Hollywood, but they bumped into each other at a Mont Blanc party in New York last month,’ the Daily Telegraph quoted a source as telling Mail on Sunday newspaper in the UK.

‘They spent ages talking and Demi was waxing lyrical about how life-changing and wonderful Kabbalah is, and how much it helps her in her day-to-day life.

‘Jen seemed enthralled by what Demi had to say and was hanging on her every word,’ the source added. (ANI)

New York, Dec 28 (DPA) James Cameron’s 3D science fiction epic “Avatar” led the US cinema to its highest earning weekend ever.

Box offices took in nearly $300 million in North America over the Christmas weekend, initial studio estimates showed.

Avatar earned $75 million in its second weekend, after breaking the US record for December releases in its opening. Since opening 10 days ago, the much-hyped Avatar has brought in $212.3 million in the US and Canada and $467.9 million worldwide.

British director Guy Ritchie’s unorthodox take on detective “Sherlock Holmes” earned $65.4 million in second place. While animated sequel “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” landed at third place with $50.2 million.

Romantic comedy It’s Complicated starring Meryl Streep and Steve Martin earned $22.1 million in its opening weekend for fourth place. Up in the Air starring George Clooney rounded out the top five with $11.8 million.

London, Dec 27 (IANS) Former “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston is said to be converting to the faith of Kabbalah, after learning about the religion from her close friend and Kabbalah devotee Demi Moore.

The actress dabbled with Buddhism after her split from Brad Pitt, but now she is considering forsaking that and converting to the faith made popular among Hollywoods’ elite by pop diva Madonna, reports dailymail.co.uk.

Aniston and Moore have been friends since they started sharing the same Hollywood lifestyle guru several years ago, but recently they have become close friends again after attending a Mont Blanc party in New York last month.

Demi Moore has enthused about the life-changing aspects of Kabbalah and has apparently sold the religion based on ancient Jewish mysticism to Aniston.

Another friend of Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow recently converted to Kabbalah and is also believed to have recommended the religion to her.

London, Dec 27 (IANS) Teen sensation Miley Cyrus is trying to coax her pop singer friend Taylor Swift into getting the same tattoo as hers.

The 17-year-old reportedly wants Swift to get the words “Just Breathe” which she has inked under her left breast, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Taylor on the other hand has no body art and is said to be horrified at the thought of getting a tattoo.

“My mom would kill me! Besides I hate needles,” Swift, 20, reportedly told Cyrus.

London, Dec 27 (IANS) Britney Spears’ boyfriend Jason Trawick reportedly had a meeting with the pop diva’s ex-husband Kevin Federline to seek his permission to marry her.

“Jason not only professed his love for Britney, he told Kevin he absolutely adores his two sons (Sean Preston, 4, and Jayden James, 3). Jason acknowledged that Kevin will always be the boys’ real dad, but respectfully asked his blessing as a future co-parent. Jason has been spending lots of time with the boys to try and bond with them,” imdb.com quoted a source as saying.

The meeting between the two is said to have gone well with the guys hugging each other at the end of the discussion.

“Kevin couldn’t be happier, he trusts Jason. The guys agreed to be in close touch and Britney’s thrilled to know she’s now one step closer to her goal of marrying Jason and living happily ever after,” said the source.