Tinashe Sibanda

THREE of the country’s top musicians, Victor Kunonga, Chiwoniso Maraire and Hope Masike will on February 9 perform together at a concert dubbed “Tribute to Adam Chisvo” in Harare.

AS Aziz Bouallouchen walks into the foyer of a plush cinema in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, he is given not a pair of 3D glasses that one can expect to find in many cinemas around the world but a pair of headphones.

ACTOR Ryan Reynolds gave co-star Denzel Washington a black eye while filming Safe House in South Africa.
The incident occurred when Reynolds –– who plays new CIA detective Matt Weston in the movie is forced to watch over a dangerous fugitive for his first job –– became involved in a car scuffle with the 57-year-old star’s criminal character, Tobin Frost.

“INTERESTING” is a neutral sort of a word for a restaurant review.
But I found newly-opened (yep, another one!) Steak Out, at Avondale, very interesting, at lunch last Thursday.

STANDING on a large floor map in a Jeddah art gallery, Hamza Serafi places a yellow sign inscribed “Caution: revolution (take 2)” over Egypt and then turns to Saudi Arabia.

AFTER a memorably splendid lunch, when torrential rain briefly eased, I’ll swear I saw 50 shades of green before my eyes!
NO!  I’m not writing about the Emerald isle of Ireland or Wales’ wickedly wet hills, but the quite lovely sylvan view from the stoep of yet another newcomer to the Harare eating out scene.

Khulani Nkabinde

ACCLAIMED Russian pianist Alexis Golovin is set to present a recital of classic works by Chopin and Liszt at the Academy of Music early next month.
The show is being organised by Alliance Francaise de Bulawayo in partnership with the Russian embassy, Performing Arts Bulawayo and Eco Logical Safaris. It will be held on the evening of February 7.

A contestant in the Brazilian version of Big Brother is being investigated for the suspected rape of a fellow housemate while she was asleep.
Male model Daniel Echaniz, 30, has been questioned by police after live images were shown of him in bed with 23-year-old Monique Amin.

Tinashe Sibanda

HARARE’S budding performers will have an opportunity to showcase their talents when Reps Theatre hosts yet another edition in the Harare’s Got Talent (HGT) series on January 28.

THE best laid plans of mice and men…!
I’d heard that the long awaited eatery at Avondale, replacing the beastly, bog-standard former Wimpy Bar was open and had received mixed reports.
It rejoices in the name Steak Out, a nice pun. There was a Steak Out for many years less than 300m from the present Avondale pitch. They cooked great grills but catered for some of the city’s more heroic drunks, serving hooch long before (and after) permitted hours.

MARC Cherry is staying true to his longstanding plans for the Desperate Housewives finale: He’s had the ending in mind for more than seven years, and he’s going to follow through on plans to cameo in the episode.

TEEN idol Justin Bieber turns 18 in March with a long and ambitious to-do list— to still be around at 30, to be as famous as Michael Jackson, and to avoid singing about sex and drugs.

A MINI-SERIES about former South African president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela is being planned by three production houses, with the producers including his grandson.

NEW York Times correspondent Jodi Kantor’s  biography The Obamas has been criticised for not being entirely accurate by some, but one thing is certain about the book: It’s certainly generating its share of headlines.

I’D heard people in the know say that — when it finally opened –– 360º would be totally stunning.

COMEDY is the focus in the New Year production on stage at Harare’s Reps Theatre, where the classic farce Boeing Boeing has been running since a full house saw its opening night on New Year’s Eve.

IMAGINE Paul McCartney standing for prime minister. Or Sting having a crack at Britain’s plum political job. What if Bob Geldof had attempted to extend his Live Aid campaigns into a stab at real, drab, everyday politics? None of these propositions could have ended in anything but tragicomic farce.

GRAMMY award-winning singer Aretha Franklin is engaged to her long-time boyfriend William Wilkerson. The couple is considering tying the knot on a yacht in Miami Beach, Florida.

IT’S nice to find a new (or newly revamped, refurbed and re-branded) outlet that can be recommended to readers with confidence.
Brento’s is the latest in a line of restaurants/coffee shops… wine bars even… all boasting different names, that either  flourished or failed dismally at what was the former Honey Dew Farm, opposite the Red Fox in Greendale.

IN a village near South Sudan’s capital, Juba, two women tentatively approach a small corrugated iron hut. They have come from the north to reclaim the land that was theirs before a two-decade conflict between Sudan and what is now South Sudan.