Shilpa Shetty was supposed to perform with the American R&B star Akon at the Indian Premier League (IPL) finals but decided to opt out at the last minute as she couldn't get time to prepare for the act.

"I was just not prepared. It was an international platform, not some village nautanki. I had to be fully ready. And I just didn't get time to rehearse. So I regretfully had to say no. But I'd rather not give anything less than my best when I'm representing my country," Shilpa said.

Shilpa, who co-owns the IPL team Rajasthan Royals with beau Raj Kundra, says she was happy to be just a spectator at the finals.

"So what if my team wasn't playing. I think I'm sporting enough to enjoy the game as just a part of the audience," she added.

Katrina Kaif joined reggae music legend Eddy Grant Sunday night as he sang his anti-apartheid hit Gimme Hope Jo'anna. Choreographer Shiamak Davar also showed some musical talent as he sang the song with Grant. Bollywood ace choreographer Shiamak Davar too joined Grant on stage.

Shilpa Anand, the first Riddhima of Dill Mill Gaye, can’t understand why the producers of her old show are talking bad about her. Cinevistas Siddharth Malhotra was recently quoted as saying that they had approached Shilpa for returning to the Star One medical drama after Sukriti Khandpal had quit, but the deal did not work out for she was quoting an amount higher then even Smriti Irani or Akshay Kumar would ever ask! Shilpa retorts, “How can I even think of doing such a thing, its quite silly. I had quoted a figure, which they refused, end of story. Its weird, why can’t they move on. To be honest, I was not really interested in returning, for DMG is not only a closed chapter for me, but over the past year, the show has lost it sheen as well.”

Shilpa further wondered why did they call her back, for last year when she had quit the production house had gone to town saying she had attitude problems, “The real reason they returned to me was that they wanted somebody who was very easy going and cool. Siddharth himself called me and apologized for the wrong behavior and requested me to come back, but things did not work out,” she says.

After a year’s break Shilpa is all set to return, “I was out of the country for most of last year. “ She did not say whether it would be the small screen or big screen, ”I have something interesting lined up, just wait and watch. And in preparation she has even got a new look, which is completely different from Riddhima.