Reuters Entertainment News Summary

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Bosnian band cheers up fans with weekly online 'Quarantine Show'

Bosnia's most popular band, Dubioza Kolektiv, invites its audience to "stay connected and disinfected" during a weekly "Quarantine Show" online to cheer up fans locked in their homes due to the coronavirus. Bosnia, like most states in Europe, has introduced lockdown in an attempt to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus which has so far infected close to 800 people and caused 30 deaths in the Balkan country.

Japanese celebrity redesigns signature song as hand washing melody

Japanese social media celebrity Pikotaro returned as a leading twitter trend in Japan with a coronavirus hand washing song that repurposes his signature Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen (PPAP) to Pray-for-People-and-Peace. The video was among the top five in a Twitter trend ranking in Japan on Monday.

Country folk singer John Prine dies at 73 of coronavirus complications

Grammy-winning singer John Prine, who wrote his early songs in his head while delivering mail and later emerged from Chicago's folk revival scene in the 1970s to become one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, died on Tuesday. He was 73. Prine was hospitalized in Nashville on March 26 suffering from symptoms of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to his wife, Fiona Whelan Prine, who was also his manager.

British Bond girl Honor Blackman dies aged 94

British actress Honor Blackman, who was best known for playing Bond girl Pussy Galore, has died at the age of 94, her family said on Monday. Blackman died of natural causes at her home in Sussex, southern England the family said in a statement to the Guardian newspaper.

Quibi tests market for quick-hit videos with A-list stars

LeBron James, Liam Hemsworth and other celebrities starred in a new type of quick-hit entertainment that debuted on Monday to a changing media market as Americans sheltered at home to help fight the coronavirus. A new service called Quibi is a gamble by Hollywood that it can carve out another category in the crowded streaming video landscape. It offers slickly produced movies, reality shows and news, but in chunks of 10 minutes or shorter, and delivered only to mobile phones.

Mobile-only Quibi sees more than 300,000 downloads on launch day: Sensor Tower

Mobile-only streaming service Quibi racked up more than 300,000 downloads on its launch day, industry site Sensor Tower said on Tuesday, as stay-at-home viewers lapped up its short films starring Hollywood A-listers. The service is founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg, the former chief of Walt Disney Co's movie studio and Dreamworks Animation, and headed by former eBay Inc and Hewlett Packard Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman.

'Harry Potter' author J.K Rowling says fully recovered from likely coronavirus

"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling said on Monday she had recovered from a suspected case of COVID-19 after two weeks of illness. "For last 2 weeks I've had all symptoms of C19 (tho haven't been tested)," Rowling said on her Twitter account. She also shared a video of a breathing technique that she said had helped her manage her worst symptoms and had been recommended by her husband, who is a doctor in the U.K.

Lady Gaga announces star-studded coronavirus benefit telecast

Pop music superstar Lady Gaga on Monday announced a worldwide telecast featuring Paul McCartney, Lizzo, Billie Eilish and others to support healthcare workers responding to the global coronavirus outbreak. The event, called "One World: Together at Home," will be shown on multiple television and digital networks around the world on April 18. It will be hosted by late-night television comedians Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert.