Hollywood is waiting with bated breath as the 2017 Oscar nominations are due to be announced later on Tuesday. Among the favorites are the hit musical “La La Land,” starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, which scooped up a record seven Golden Globes earlier this month. Other top contenders include the dramas “Moonlight” and “Manchester by the Sea,” while Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, Denzel Washington and Casey Affleck are expected to join Stone and Gosling in the top acting categories. The little golden statuettes will be handed out in the annual lavish gala on February 26 in Los Angeles. 

Late night talk show host Stephen Colbert will host the 2017 Emmy Awards in September, organizers announced on Monday. This will be the first time Colbert hosts a major awards show, but he follows in the footsteps of other late night comedians like Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers in hosting the TV awards show. The host of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” won nine Emmy awards for his previous show “The Colbert Report.” He was also previously a correspondent on “The Daily Show”. The Emmy Awards ceremony will be held in Los Angeles on September 17. 

Actor Gordon Kaye, best known for his role as lovable but grumpy French bistro owner Rene Artois in the BBC comedy “’Allo ‘Allo!” has died, aged 75. The actor passed away on Monday at a care home, the BBC reported. No other details were given. Kaye had his first big break in long-running British soap opera “Coronation Street” and appeared in numerous other TV shows and movies. But it was his comedic turn as Rene in “’Allo ‘Allo!”, set in France during World War Two, that endeared him to legions of TV viewers. Former co-stars paid tribute to the actor, with fellow “'Allo 'Allo!” actress Vicki Michelle tweeting, “brilliantly talented actor, consummate professional… There’ll never be another Rene.”

Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg and his brother Paul, a chef, are looking to expand their “Wahlburgers” family restaurant business to China, Xinhua reported. The chain announced last week it will open three restaurants in Shanghai, Wuhan and Hangzhou in 2017, on top of the dozen it currently has in the US and Canada. Paul Wahlberg said the new menu will keep its authentic American flavor, but will also adapt to Chinese tastes, according to the Xinhua report. Mark Wahlberg is best known for his movies “Boogie Nights” and “The Departed,” for which he received multiple Oscar nominations. 

It’s Spring Festival again and this time it will usher in the Year of the Rooster. People born in that year are said to be faithful and hard-working. Here are some ”roosters” who will get to say this is their year: Oscar-winning actors Natalie Portman (1981) and Matthew McConaughey (1969), “Friends” stars Matthew Perry (1969) and Jennifer Aniston (1969), and singers Beyonce (1981), Justin Timberlake (1981), Alicia Keys (1981) and Jennifer Lopez (1969).