MacFarlane won’t host Oscars

    Seth MacFarlane won’t be back at the Oscars, likely pleasing his legions* of critics.

    MacFarlane tweeted on February 26 that he would not host Hollywood’s annual movie awards show again.

    A spokeswoman for MacFarlane declined* to comment further but confirmed the comic sent the tweet. A spokeswoman for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which runs the Oscars, did not respond to a request for comment.

    ‘Voice of China’ Season 2 launched

    The second season of popular Chinese singing contest “The Voice of China” was launched on February 27 in Beijing.

    The identities of the coaches for the second season, which is scheduled to start airing in June, have not been decided yet, according to Jin Lei, the show’s director. Jin said they planned to invite pop legends Faye Wong, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Liu Huan, again, to be this year’s coaches. Negotiations are still in process.

    Lawrence’s clothes auctioned

    Clothes worn by Jennifer Lawrence in “Silver Linings Playbook” were sold for US$12,000 at auction in the days following her Oscar win for best actress, far exceeding the expectations of a Los Angeles auction house.

    “The whole world seems to be captivated by Jennifer Lawrence,” Nate D. Sanders, founder of the auction house that bears his name, said in a statement. “We estimated that each of her wardrobe pieces would bring between US$500 and US$1,500, but what happened is that dozens of bidders* from all over the world furiously bid against one another.”

    Brightman to tour China

    British soprano Sarah Brightman will tour six Chinese cities in June, which she says will be her last tour before flying into space in 2015.

    Shortly after the China tour, she will begin six months of “arduous*” training for her trip to the International Space Station (ISS). She will travel to Guangzhou, Shanghai, Taipei, Shenzhen, Nanning and Beijing in June’s tour.

    She has accepted medical examinations and various tests since 2012 for her 10-day space adventure, in which she will join an elite list of paying passengers to the ISS.

    (SD-Agencies)