Reuters Entertainment News Summary

Music streamer Spotify revenues topped 1 billion euros in 2014

Online music streaming service Spotify's revenues leapt 45 percent to top 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) last year, though its operating loss widened due to product development and expansion costs, its holding company said. Stockholm-based Spotify, which provides free on-demand music or ad-free tunes for paying customers, posted an operating loss of 165 million euros, compared with a loss of 91 million euros in 2013.

Poll: Americans favor Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert over conservatives for punditry

Jon Stewart has spent 16 years skewering U.S. politicians and media as the liberal host of television's "The Daily Show" - and many Americans think he gets it right on the issues with his satirical look at the news. In a Reuters/Ipsos online poll, the Comedy Central comic topped a list of 10 pundits, with more than half of respondents saying they agreed with him on at least some issues. Only 12 percent did not agree with him on any issues at all.

Bollywood star's jail term deferred pending appeal in hit-and-run case

An Indian court postponed a five-year prison sentence handed down to Bollywood star Salman Khan on Friday pending an appeal, two days after a criminal court convicted him of killing a man in a hit-and-run accident 13 years ago. The postponement and bail extension drove up shares of at least one firm having commercial ties with Khan, one of Bollywood's most bankable actors who is working on several projects worth millions of dollars.

Jackie Chan warns Singapore youth on drugs after son's detention

Jackie Chan was named Singapore's first celebrity anti-drug ambassador on Thursday and the kung fu movie star sought to warn the city state's youth off illegal substances as he spoke of his son's drug crimes. The Hong Kong actor's son, Jaycee Chan, was released from a Chinese jail in February after serving a six-month sentence on drugs charges.

Guy Carawan, known for civil rights anthem' We Shall Overcome', dies

Guy Carawan, whose rendition of the song "We Shall Overcome" became an anthem of the U.S. civil rights movement, has died at his home in Tennessee, The New York Times reported. He was 87. Carawan, a white folk singer, did not write the song, which has a long oral history that can be traced back to a church hymn in the late 19th Century that was taken up as a rally cry among labor activists in the 1940s.

Reese Witherspoon pursues polar opposite in comedy 'Hot Pursuit'

If Reese Witherspoon showed she can go raw and unglamorous in the drama "Wild," in her new comedy, the actress dons sensible shoes and big underwear to play the uptight cop to Sofia Vergara's voluptuous widow in teetering heels. "Hot Pursuit," opening Friday in U.S. and Canadian theaters, is a buddy comedy by women, about women, and mostly for women, and it started when Witherspoon - wearing her producer's hat - saw the potential of a comic pairing with Vergara.

Fonda, Tomlin bare septuagenarian souls in 'Grace and Frankie'

Tripping on muscle relaxants and peyote on the beach, two discarded wives portrayed by Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin work through their anger and heartbreak and then ask "now what?" How an uptight Grace (Fonda) and a bohemian Frankie (Tomlin) bounce back from the indignity of abandonment by their husbands at an advanced age is the comic fodder for the new Netflix Inc series "Grace and Frankie" that debuts Friday with 13 episodes available for streaming.

Fairground rides and butterflies as Mariah Carey opens in Las Vegas

On a fairground set and with a wardrobe of glittering gowns, Mariah Carey opened her Las Vegas residency, hitting many of the high notes she is famous for. One of the best-selling women solo artists of the last two decades, Carey is performing her 18 No.1 hits in "Mariah #1 to Infinity" at The Colosseum at Caesar's Palace.

'You Sexy Thing' singer Errol Brown dies aged 71

Hot Chocolate lead singer Errol Brown has died at the age of 71 after suffering from liver cancer, his manager said on Wednesday. Hot Chocolate was known for hits such as "Emma," "Every 1's a Winner" and "You Sexy Thing."

Actress Charlize Theron urges women to stand up for equal pay

After negotiating a salary equal to her male co-star for her upcoming movie, Hollywood actress Charlize Theron has called on other women to take a stand when it comes to equal pay. Theron said she was outraged when leaked Sony emails showed a gap in what male and female actors were paid for the film "American Hustle" and she insisted on being paid on par with co-star Chris Hemsworth for the Snow White sequel "The Huntsman".