Series six of Game of Thrones is ‘the best yet’

Series six of Game of Thrones is ‘the best yet’

The writers and producers behind Game of Thrones say the latest season is their best yet. David Benioff and Dan Weiss told Entertainment Weekly that after watching the final cuts of all 10 episodes of series six, they said they were better than they hoped. "We're always reluctant to say it's 'the best season yet' because so much of that is in the eyes of the beholder," said Weiss. "And Dan and I are so close to it that it's impossible to be unbiased. But that's my sense – watching them all together now, this is the best one we've done. It's also the one I'm proudest of, because it was the hardest." Game of Thrones returns to HBO on April 24. – The National staff

Presenters announced for MTV Awards

Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth and Jessica Chastain are among the star-studded line-up of presenters at the first round of the 25th anniversary edition of the MTV Movie Awards. The three actors all feature in The Huntsmen: Winter's War, a fantasy film set for release next month. Seth Rogen and Zac Efron from Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, Olivia Munn from X-Men: Apocalypse and supermodel Gigi Hadid will also present gongs. The awards will be broadcast on April 11 and hosted by Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson. – The National staff

Rihanna is back on top of the charts

R&B star Rihanna reclaimed the top spot on the weekly US Billboard 200 album chart on Monday. Anti, her eighth album, moved to No 1 from No 3, with sales of 54,000 units from albums, songs and streaming activity, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Anti has sold nearly 300,000 copies in the United States since its February release. Apart from sales, a million copies were given to fans who signed up for music-streaming platform Tidal. Rihanna's Anti world tour also kicked off last week and the singer will play in Europe this summer. British singer Adele's 25 album is in the No 2 spot and Canadian pop star Justin Bieber's Purpose climbed two spots to No 3. – Reuters

Katy Perry to duet with Dolly Parton

Country singer Dolly Parton and pop star Katy Perry will perform together at next month's Academy of Country Music Awards, where Parton will receive the Tex Ritter Award on April 3 in Las Vegas for her 2015 NBC movie Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors. The honour is given to a movie receiving major exposure featuring country music. The pair are expected to sing the title track Coat of Many Colors. Other performers include Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney and Chris Stapleton. – AP

Emma Stone to play JFK’s sister in new movie

The Spider-Man actress is set to play Rose Marie (Rosemary) Kennedy in a new film, according to Variety. The film, which is still in the very early production stages, will be produced by Steve Golin and Doug Wald, whose movie Spotlight won Best Film at the Oscars this year. The script tells the story of the first-born daughter to Rose Fitzgerald and Joseph Kennedy Sr and the eldest sister of President John F Kennedy and senators Robert F Kennedy and Ted Kennedy. After displaying behavioural problems that caused her to fall behind the achievements of her siblings due to a mental disability that was a long-kept secret, Joseph Kennedy arranged one of the first prefrontal lobotomies for her when she was 23. The procedure was botched and left her permanently incapacitated. – The National staff

Amanat Ali blames weather for bad vocals

Pakistani singer Shafqat Amanat Ali, who gave a patchy rendition of his country’s national anthem at the India-Pakistan World T20 cricket match in Kolkata on Saturday, says the weather was to blame, although Indian superstar Amitabh Bachchan sang his country’s national anthem without a hitch. Amanat Ali faced the ire of his fans on social media, who accused him of forgetting the lyrics to the anthem and bringing bad luck to the cricket team, which lost to India. “The only thing which is to be blamed was weather as it rained a lot on Saturday and it upset the whole schedule,” said Amanat Ali. “We couldn’t do anything with the rain, due to which we couldn’t do an audio check and I was not aware of the problem waiting for me out there.” – IANS