Silent movie "The Artist" shone at home on Friday, netting best film and a string of other awards at France's annual Cesars, held two days before the Oscars in which the black-and-white film is a top favorite.

Michel Hazanavicius won both best film and best director for his tribute to Hollywood's golden age, about a silent movie star struggling after the arrival of the "talkies", at the 37th Cesars ceremony at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris.

Sacha Baron Cohen has threatened Academy Award "Zionists" with "unimaginable consequences" if they ban him from Sunday's Oscars, in a spoof riposte to a warning against staging a publicity stunt.

In full regalia as the military dictator from his latest film, the colorful British actor gave them a deadline of noon Sunday to approve his attendance at Tinseltown's biggest awards show that evening.

From winners sobbing uncontrollably to shocking political outbursts, bizarre snubs and streakers, the Oscars have seen it all -- and Sunday's Academy Awards could provide fresh drama of its own.

Organizers of Hollywood's biggest night are white-knuckled as they brace for more unscripted moments that could anger viewers or throw the finely-calibrated global telecast off schedule.

Guitar legend Carlos Santana plans a two-year headlining gig at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, switching venues from his previous home at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Representatives for the House of Blues say Santana will have a run of shows in May and June, then return in September with the residency running through 2013. Tickets go on sale March 3.

The London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony will be "an elegant mash-up of British music" that recognizes the country's long and varied creative heritage, artistic director Kim Gavin said Thursday.

Those fortunate enough to secure tickets for the August 12 show can expect a seamless mix incorporating tunes from cutting edge stars like Adele and Coldplay to classical composers including Elgar and Holst, Gavin revealed.

Italy is recovering from the harshest cold snap in decades, but Fendi's collection on the Milan Fashion Week catwalks Thursday seemed aimed at women fighting to survive, and seduce, in chilly climates.

Layering was one of the key themes in designer Karl Lagerfeld's creations, with a heavy use of leather, knitwear and furs, stitched together or worn one on top of another, in a rather impractical look likely to attract true fashion lovers only.

With social network sites and smartphone apps making rapid inroads into the fashion world, observers say Italy risks falling behind even as its luxury brands feel the pain from the economic crisis.

"Milan is always really ahead of everyone in fashion but behind everyone in technology," fashion blogger Olga Rink said outside the Gucci show during Milan Fashion Week, as she took pictures of leggy models in goth-style outfits.

Hits from The Beatles have finally joined the chorus of ringtones available for mobile phones.

Catchy 30-second snippets from more than two dozen of the famed 1960s British rock band's top tunes are available exclusively at Apple's online iTunes shop, a message said Wednesday on official website thebeatles.com.

Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan has been chosen to host an episode of the popular U.S. sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live" next month -- a decision that has some up in arms.

The show's producers said on Twitter that the former child star -- commended by a judge Wednesday as "back on track" after repeated run-ins with the law -- would host the program on March 3, with Jack White as the musical guest.

Just days from learning whether his latest film, "Midnight in Paris," will win an Oscar, Woody Allen spent the evening in New York talking about his first love -- radio.

The famed director and New Yorker met late Tuesday with a large audience at 92Y Jewish cultural center in Manhattan's Upper East Side and screened his 1987 movie "Radio Days" at an event in honor of early radio pioneer Himan Brown.