In part, this reflects the fact that some of the first rich people to back Labour came from the arts men like David Puttnam, a film maker, and Melvyn Bragg, a television presenter. (Both men are now peers.) But it also illustrates a keenness to cultivate opinion makers.

ECONOMIST: The new establishment

Big Breakfast presenter Denise Van Outen has shot her first feature film role - playing a flirt on the London Underground.

BBC: denise van outen

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, film stars Robert de Niro, Will Smith and Forest Whittaker and TV presenter Oprah Winfrey are among those attending celebrations that will climax with the three-hour concert on June 27.

CNN: Mandela concert hails legend's life

So far, no scientific studies have backed up his claim, but British physicist and TV presenter professor Brian Cox, who came here in 2010 to film scenes for his BBC documentary series Wonders of the Universe, has said that he holds similar beliefs.

BBC: In Venezuela, nature��s most electrifying lightning show

Those who stood up to cheer the most emphatically when presenter Dustin Hoffman announced Tarantino's name were African-American actors in the film, including Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington.

CNN: With 'Argo' win, Hollywood air-kisses itself