Josh Groban beats Tim McGraw to top of Billboard 200 album chart

LOS ANGELES: Singer Josh Groban scored his third No. 1 on Wednesday as his latest album shot to the top of the Billboard 200 album chart, edging out new entries from Tim McGraw and rock band Coheed and Cambria.
"All That Echoes," Groban's sixth studio album, sold 145,000 copies in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan, making it the singer's third chart-topping album since 2007's holiday set, "Noel."
Country crooner McGraw debuted at No. 2 with his 12th studio album, "Two Lanes of Freedom," selling 107,000 copies. McGraw and his country singer wife, Faith Hill, were also presenters at Sunday's Grammy Awards.
"Now 45," the latest installment of the "Now Music" compilations featuring chart hits by One Direction, Maroon 5 and Pink, landed at No. 3 this week.
British folk band Mumford & Sons' album "Babel" climbed the chart from No. 7 to No. 4, following the band's big Grammy night win on Sunday for Album of the Year.
The album is likely to get a bigger boost from the Grammy Awards win, to be reflected in next week's chart, which accumulates all sales from a Monday to Sunday weekly cycle.
Other new entries on this week's top 10 include Nashville rock band Red with their fourth studio album, "Release the Panic," at No. 7 and New York rockers Coheed and Cambria at No. 9 with their latest set, "The Afterman: Descension." (Reuters)

REUTER

London celebrates the BAFTA film awards

 
LONDON: Stars of the silver screen have braved London’s chilly winter rain for the annual British Academy of Film Awards. There was good news for James Bond fans and special recognition for British director Alan Parker.
The awards, presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, are seen as an indicator of success leading up to Hollywood's Oscars.
The James Bond film "Skyfall” was named best British film, while Iran hostage drama "Argo" - now a front-runner for the Oscars best picture award - won the best movie drama prize.
Daniel Day-Lewis scooped the best actor prize for "Lincoln," while France's veteran screen presence Emmanuelle Riva won best actress for "Amour."
In the supporting actress category, Anne Hathaway emerged as the winner for her performance in the British musical "Les Miserables." Austrian actor Christoph Waltz, who owns a German citizenship, won best supporting actor for his role in Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained."
Steven Spielberg's stately presidential biopic "Lincoln" garnered the most nominations at 10.
"Les Miserables" and Ang Lee's magical realist film "Life of Pi" each received nine nominations. "Skyfall" received eight nominations and "Argo" garnered seven.
Best director nominees included German-born Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke for "Amour," Quentin Tarantino for "Django Unchained," Ang Lee for "Life of Pi" and Kathryn Bigelow for "Zero Dark Thirty." In the end the winner was Ben Affleck for "Argo."
British director Alan Parker received a BAFTA Fellowship, the academy's highest honor, for a career that includes "Midnight Express," ''Fame" and "Mississippi Burning."