Film noir meets musical comedy -- Maurice Bejart's "Le Concours" represented another change in genre for the Vienna State Ballet as it premiered here Sunday.

A murder mystery set at an international dance competition, the performance -- the latest premiere in Manuel Legris's first season as ballet director -- showed a new side of the company, after it already presented contemporary medleys and full-length modern and classical ballets this year.

Three operas opening at the Salzburg Easter Festival in the coming years -- Richard Strauss' "Salome", Georges Bizet's "Carmen" and Richard Wagner's "Parsifal" -- will move to Madrid under the direction of Briton Simon Rattle with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

This was announced by the director of the Easter Festival, Peter Alward and the director of Madrid's Teatro Real, the Belgian Gerard Mortier, at a press conference on Sunday.

Kate Middleton's parents will pay nearly £100,000 ($163,000, 113,000 euros) for their daughter's wedding to Prince William later this month, a report said Sunday.

Hotel suites, bridal gowns, bridesmaids' dresses, the maid of honor's outfit and the honeymoon will all be paid for by Carole and Michael Middleton, The Sunday Times newspaper said, without citing its sources.

Hollywood actress and pop singer Jennifer Lopez tops People's magazine's annual list of the most beautiful people of 2011, set to hit newsstands Friday, the magazine announced.

"Rarely am I left speechless, but I feel honored," said J-Lo, 41, who is the mother of twin toddlers with husband Latin music crooner Marc Anthony.

Australian thieves have made off with a life-size cutout of Prince William and his bride in a midnight heist from a luxury hotel offering special wedding stays, a spokeswoman said Friday.

The cardboard couple had become something of a draw-card since being erected in the lobby of Melbourne's Hotel Windsor earlier this year, bringing a steady crowd of guests and locals keen for a happy snap.

Designers laughed off the economic crisis at Milan's annual furniture fair this year, ditching staid luxury for jocular hammock sofas, tilting chairs, bar stools with pedals and robot bookcases.

The Salone Internazionale del Mobile -- the biggest event in the design calender -- celebrated its 50th year with over 2,700 companies on exhibit and expected over 100,000 people to flock through its doors.

Sushi lovers in Paris, and they are many, are questioning the origin of the salmon at the end of their chopsticks since the Fukushima nuclear disaster unfolded.

And Asian restauranteurs in the French capital are striving to reassure them that, even if the cuisine is Japanese, the ingredients are most probably not.

Luxury Italian fashion group Salvatore Ferregamo submitted a request to list its shares on the Italian stock exchange on Wednesday, according to a company statement.

Ferragamo "presented an admission request to the Italian stock exchange today to list its shares," and appointed Mediobanca Banca di Credito Finanziario SpA and J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. as deal coordinators.

Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones has checked into a mental health clinic to treat her bipolar disorder after helping her husband Michael Douglas fight against cancer, a publicist said Wednesday.

"After dealing with the stress of the past year, Catherine made the decision to check into a mental health facility for a brief stay to treat her bipolar II disorder," her representative Cece Yorke said in a statement.

John Travolta says his upcoming performance as an infamous New York mafia boss will offer audiences a movie they can't refuse.

The star, set to play late Gambino crime family boss John Gotti joined director Nick Cassavetes and the mobster's son John "Junior" Gotti to reveal details about the film "Gotti: Three Generations."