4th Impact wrap up X Factor UK tour
The Filipino girl group and X Factor UK stars 4th Impact have just concluded their 20-city concert tour across the United Kingdom. The four sisters Almira, Irene, Mylene and Celina Cercado expressed their gratitude at the completion of the tour. "Thank you for accepting us. Thank you to The X Factor," they wrote. "This has been the best and most amazing journey for us."
In an online poll organised by entertainment website Telly Mix, 4th Impact was voted by readers as the best act on the The X Factor tour, commanding 92 per cent of the votes.
Fans continue to wait for the group’s first album since finishing fifth place back in December. The sisters are apparently still in negotiations with two international recording companies, one of which is rumoured to be Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment.
In an earlier interview, youngest sister Celina said they have received offers to tour abroad, including the UAE. “We’ve been getting offers to perform in the Philippines as well as messages from the US, Australia, Canada and Dubai asking us to perform there. I hope they all materialise.”
Mendoza and Teng win at Kids’ Choice Awards
Two Filipino stars took home trophies during last weekend’s Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards. Maine Mendoza, one half of the popular supercouple AlDub, won the Favourite Pinoy Personality award, while basketball player Jeron Teng won as Favourite Asian Sports Star. Mendoza beat out fellow Filipino television actors Kathryn Bernardo, Enrique Gil and James Reid. In a recorded video message, she told her fans: “I’m away for holiday — maybe this will do for now. I love you all. ”Meanwhile, Teng beat out Singapore’s Irfan Fandi, Indonesia’s Kim Kurniawan and Malaysia’s Pandelela Rinong.
“I just feel really blessed right now,” Teng said in his message. “I just hope I can inspire kids to be a student-athlete like me.”
Held in a ceremony in California, the Kids’ Choice Awards was hosted by country singer Blake Shelton.
Marian Rivera has world’s 19th most-liked Facebook
Television and film actress Marian Rivera has been included in a new list of the world’s most-liked Facebook pages. According to social media analytics website Quintly, Rivera’s page — with almost 15 million likes — is the 19th most-liked page of a public figure on Facebook. Rivera is the sole Filipino in the top 20, which is led by the fictional character Mr Bean (65 million) and followed by Nicki Minaj (43m), Kim Kardashian (28m), Ellen DeGeneres (24m) and Hugh Jackman (22.3m). The Egyptian preachers and television personalities Mustafa Hosny and Amr Khaled placed sixth (22.2m) and ninth (19.9m), respectively. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan placed twelfth with 17.6m likes, while Aamir Khan placed 17th with 15.2m. After Rivera, the next Filipino on the list is actress Cristine Reyes, who placed 36th. “Wow, thank you,” Rivera posted on Instagram. “The only Filipino in Top 20 and beating some of the biggest names in Hollywood like Kourtney Kardashian (#21), Oprah (#27) and Tom Cruise (#30).”
After Berlin, eight-hour film heads to four festivals
Fresh off of winning the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival last month, Lav Diaz’s eight-and-a-half-hour opus Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis (A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery) is headed to four more international festivals. The film, which chronicles the rich revolutionary history and mythology of the director’s impoverished homeland of the Philippines, will screen at the Hong Kong International Film Festival on March 27. On the same day, it will be shown at the Courtesan Festival in Ghent, Belgium. On April 2, it heads to the 21st Vilnius International Film Festival in Lithuania, then a week later it will screen at the Istanbul International Film Festival in Turkey.
Headlined by actors Piolo Pascual and John Lloyd Cruz, Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis will finally open in select cinemas around the Philippines on March 26, bagging a distribution deal with Star Cinema, one of the country’s biggest production studios.
During the film’s single, sold-out screening in Berlin, audience members were reported to have brought inflatable pillows and smuggled snacks into the cinema, shaking hands in solidarity with those in neighbouring seats before the screening began. During his acceptance speech in Berlin, Diaz said: “I want to dedicate this to all filmmakers who think that cinema can affect change.”
artslife@thenational.ae
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Company Profile
Company name: Fine Diner
Started: March, 2020
Co-founders: Sami Elayan, Saed Elayan and Zaid Azzouka
Based: Dubai
Industry: Technology and food delivery
Initial investment: Dh75,000
Investor: Dtec Startupbootcamp
Future plan: Looking to raise $400,000
Total sales: Over 1,000 deliveries in three months
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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Surianah's top five jazz artists
Billie Holliday: for the burn and also the way she told stories.
Thelonius Monk: for his earnestness.
Duke Ellington: for his edge and spirituality.
Louis Armstrong: his legacy is undeniable. He is considered as one of the most revolutionary and influential musicians.
Terence Blanchard: very political - a lot of jazz musicians are making protest music right now.
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more from Janine di Giovanni
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
