Thursday, May 26, 2011

OPRAH WINFREY


Oprah Winfrey (born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television host, actress, producer, and philanthropist, best known for her self-titled, multi-award winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011. She has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history, and was for a time the world's only black billionaire. She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.

Winfrey was born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother and later raised in an inner-city Milwaukee neighborhood. She experienced considerable hardship during her childhood, claiming to be raped at age nine and becoming pregnant at 14; her son died in infancy. Sent to live with the man she calls her father, a barber in Tennessee, Winfrey landed a job in radio while still in high school and began co-anchoring the local evening news at the age of 19. Her emotional ad-lib delivery eventually got her transferred to the daytime talk show arena, and after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place she launched her own production company and became internationally syndicated.

Credited with creating a more intimate confessional form of media communication, she is thought to have popularized and revolutionized the tabloid talk show genre pioneered by Phil Donahue, which a Yale study claims broke 20th century taboos and allowed LGBT people to enter the mainstream. By the mid 1990s, she had reinvented her show with a focus on literature, self-improvement, and spirituality. Though criticized for unleashing confession culture and promoting controversial self-help aids, she is often praised for overcoming adversity to become a benefactor to others. From 2006 to 2008, her support of Barack Obama, by one estimate, delivered over a million votes in the close 2008 Democratic primary race.

Winfrey was called "arguably the world's most powerful woman" by CNN and Time.com, "arguably the most influential woman in the world" by the American Spectator, "one of the 100 people who most influenced the 20th Century" and "one of the most influential people" from 2004 to 2010 by Time. Winfrey is the only person in the world to have appeared in the latter list on all eight occasions.

At the end of the 20th century Life listed Winfrey as both the most influential woman and the most influential black person of her generation, and in a cover story profile the magazine called her "America's most powerful woman". In 2007 USA Today ranked Winfrey as the most influential woman and most influential black person of the previous quarter century. Ladies Home Journal also ranked Winfrey number one in their list of the most powerful women in America and senator Barack Obama has said she "may be the most influential woman in the country". In 1998 Winfrey became the first woman and first African-American to top Entertainment Weekly's list of the 101 most powerful people in the entertainment industry.[99] Forbes named her the world's most powerful celebrity in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010 In 2010 Life magazine named Winfrey one of the 100 people who changed the world, along side such luminaries as Jesus Christ, Elvis Presley and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Winfrey was the only living woman to make the list.

Columnist Maureen Dowd seems to agree with such assessments: "She is the top alpha female in this country. She has more credibility than the president. Other successful women, such as Hillary Clinton and Martha Stewart, had to be publicly slapped down before they could move forward. Even Condi has had to play the protegé with Bush. None of this happened to Oprah — she is a straight ahead success story. Vanity Fair wrote: "Oprah Winfrey arguably has more influence on the culture than any university president, politician, or religious leader, except perhaps the Pope. Bill O'Reilly said: "this is a woman that came from nothing to rise up to be the most powerful woman, I think, in the world. I think Oprah Winfrey is the most powerful woman in the world, not just in America. That's — anybody who goes on her program immediately benefits through the roof. I mean, she has a loyal following; she has credibility; she has talent; and she's done it on her own to become fabulously wealthy and fabulously powerful.

In 2005 Winfrey was named the greatest woman in American history as part of a public poll as part of The Greatest American. She was ranked #9 overall on the list of greatest Americans, however polls estimating Winfrey's personal popularity have been inconsistent. A November 2003 Gallup poll estimated that 73% of American adults had a favorable view of Winfrey. Another Gallup poll in January 2007 estimated the figure at 74%, although it dropped to 66% when Gallup conducted the same poll in October 2007. A December 2007 Fox News poll put the figure at 55%. According to Gallup's annual most admired poll, Americans consistently rank Winfrey as one of the most admired women in the world. Her highest rating came in 2007 when she was statistically tied with Hillary Clinton for first place. In a list compiled by the British magazine New Statesman in September 2010, She was voted 38th in the list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".

Monday, May 23, 2011

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER


Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, model, businessman and politician who served as the 38th Governor of California (2003–2011).

Schwarzenegger began weight training at the age of 15. He was awarded the title of Mr. Universe at age 20 and went on to win the Mr. Olympia contest seven times. Schwarzenegger has remained a prominent presence in the sport of bodybuilding and he has written several books and numerous articles on the sport. Schwarzenegger gained worldwide fame as a Hollywood action film icon. He was nicknamed the "Austrian Oak" and the "Styrian Oak" in his bodybuilding days, "Arnie" during his acting career and more recently the "Governator" (a portmanteau of "Governor" and "Terminator").

As a Republican, he was first elected on October 7, 2003, in a special recall election to replace then-Governor Gray Davis. Schwarzenegger was sworn in on November 17, 2003, to serve the remainder of Davis's term. Schwarzenegger was then re-elected on November 7, 2006, in California's 2006 gubernatorial election, to serve a full term as governor, defeating Democrat Phil Angelides, who was California State Treasurer at the time. Schwarzenegger was sworn in for his second term on January 5, 2007.

Schwarzenegger has been married to Maria Shriver for over 25 years and the couple has four children together. In 2011 it was revealed that he had fathered a son fourteen years earlier with an employee, Mildred Baena, leading to Shriver's separation from him.

Schwarzenegger was born in Thal, Austria, a small village bordering the Styrian capital Graz, and was christened Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger. His parents were the local police chief, Gustav Schwarzenegger (1907–1972), and Aurelia (née Jadrny; 1922–1998). His father served in World War II with the German Army as a Hauptfeldwebel of the Feldgendarmerie and was discharged in 1943 after contracting malaria. They were married on October 20, 1945 – Gustav was 38, and Aurelia was a 23-year-old widow with a son named Meinhard. According to Schwarzenegger, both of his parents were very strict: "Back then in Austria it was a very different world, if we did something bad or we disobeyed our parents, the rod was not spared." He grew up in a Roman Catholic family who attended mass every Sunday.

Gustav had a preference for his stepson Meinhard, over his son, Arnold. His favoritism was "strong and blatant," which stemmed from unfounded suspicion that Arnold was not his child.[ Schwarzenegger has said his father had "no patience for listening or understanding your problems... there was a wall; a real wall." Schwarzenegger had a good relationship with his mother and kept in touch with her until her death. In later life, Schwarzenegger commissioned the Simon Wiesenthal Center to research his father's wartime record, which came up with no evidence of atrocities despite Gustav's membership in the Nazi Party and SA. Ironically, Schwarzenneger's father's background received wide press attention during the 2003 California recall campaign, in contrast to the absence, ever, of press reporting of Schwarzenneger's opponent's family history during, or since the gubernatorial recall election in 2003, that the then Governor, Gray Davis's grandfather, William Rhodes Davis, was described in the press after WWII to have been a Nazi Abwehr agent accused of funding republican presidential candidate, Wendell Wilkie in the 1940 U.S. presidential election campaign.

At school, Schwarzenegger was apparently in the middle but stood out for his "cheerful, good-humored and exuberant" character. Money was a problem in their household; Schwarzenegger recalled that one of the highlights of his youth was when the family bought a refrigerator.

As a boy, Schwarzenegger played many sports, heavily influenced by his father. He picked up his first barbell in 1960, when his football coach took his team to a local gym. At the age of 14, he chose bodybuilding over football (soccer) as a career. Schwarzenegger has responded to a question asking if he was 13 when he started weightlifting: "I actually started weight training when I was 15, but I'd been participating in sports, like soccer, for years, so I felt that although I was slim, I was well-developed, at least enough so that I could start going to the gym and start Olympic lifting." However, his official website biography claims: "At 14, he started an intensive training program with Dan Farmer, studied psychology at 15 (to learn more about the power of mind over body) and at 17, officially started his competitive career." During a speech in 2001, he said, "My own plan formed when I was 14 years old. My father had wanted me to be a police officer like he was. My mother wanted me to go to trade school." Schwarzenegger took to visiting a gym in Graz, where he also frequented the local movie theaters to see bodybuilding idols such as Reg Park, Steve Reeves and Johnny Weissmuller on the big screen. "I was inspired by individuals like Reg Park and Steve Reeves." When Reeves died in 2000, Schwarzenegger fondly remembered him: "As a teenager, I grew up with Steve Reeves. His remarkable accomplishments allowed me a sense of what was possible, when others around me didn't always understand my dreams ... Steve Reeves has been part of everything I've ever been fortunate enough to achieve." In 1961, Schwarzenegger met former Mr. Austria Kurt Marnul, who invited him to train at the gym in Graz. He was so dedicated as a youngster that he broke into the local gym on weekends, when it was usually closed, so that he could train. "It would make me sick to miss a workout ... I knew I couldn't look at myself in the mirror the next morning if I didn't do it." When Schwarzenegger was asked about his first movie experience as a boy, he replied, "I was very young, but I remember my father taking me to the Austrian theaters and seeing some newsreels. The first real movie I saw, that I distinctly remember, was a John Wayne movie."

In 1971, his brother Meinhard died in a car accident. Meinhard had been drinking and was killed instantly. Schwarzenegger did not attend his funeral. Meinhard was due to marry Erika Knapp, and the couple had a three-year-old son, Patrick. Schwarzenegger would pay for Patrick's education and help him to immigrate to the United States. Gustav died the following year from a stroke. In Pumping Iron, Schwarzenegger claimed that he did not attend his father's funeral because he was training for a bodybuilding contest. Later, he and the film's producer said this story was taken from another bodybuilder for the purpose of showing the extremes that some would go to for their sport and to make Schwarzenegger's image more cold and machine-like in order to fan controversy for the film.[21] Barbara Baker, his first serious girlfriend, has said he informed her of his father's death without emotion and that he never spoke of his brother. Over time, he has given at least three versions of why he was absent from his father's funeral.

CROWD CONTROL IS NEEDED

I was called by the school administration this morning. It was all about the visitation of the governor of the province in the area. The school admin wanted to make the place safe for the governor and crowd control must be well maintained. Last year, when a top province official visited the school, there was chaos. This time, the admin wanted to make the visit peaceful and organized.

I already submitted the things that must be present like the stanchions, velvet rope and the barricades to prevent the supporters from rushing in the venue without control. I have few days left to make the place secured. With all the things needed around, I know I won't have any problem at all.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

CHARLIE SHEEN THE ACTOR


Carlos Irwin Estevez (born September 3, 1965), better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen.

His character roles in films have included Chris Taylor in the 1986 Vietnam War drama Platoon, Jake Kesey in the 1986 film The Wraith, and Bud Fox in the 1987 film Wall Street. His career has also included more comedic films such as Major League, the Hot Shots! films, and Scary Movie 3 and Scary Movie 4. On television, Sheen is known for his roles on two sitcoms: as Charlie Crawford on Spin City and as Charlie Harper on Two and a Half Men. In 2010, Sheen was the highest paid actor on television, earning US$1.8 million per episode of Two and a Half Men.

Sheen's personal life has also made headlines, including reports about alcohol and drug abuse and marital problems as well as allegations of domestic violence. He was fired from his role on Two and a Half Men by CBS and Warner Bros. on March 7, 2011. Sheen subsequently announced a nationwide tour.

Sheen was born Carlos Irwin Estevez in New York City, the youngest son and third of four children of actor Martin Sheen and artist Janet Templeton. Sheen has two older brothers, Emilio Estevez and Ramon Estevez, and a younger sister, Renée Estevez, all actors. His parents moved to Malibu, California, after Martin Sheen's Broadway turn in The Subject Was Roses. His first movie appearance was at age nine in his father’s 1974 film The Execution of Private Slovik. Sheen attended Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica, California, where he was a star pitcher and shortstop for the baseball team.

During his days at Santa Monica High School he showed an early interest in acting, making amateur Super-8 films with his brother Emilio and school friends Rob Lowe and Sean Penn, at the time still using his birth name. A few weeks before graduation, Sheen was expelled from the school for poor grades and attendance. Deciding to become an actor, he took the same stage name as his father, who had adopted it in honor of the Catholic archbishop and theologian Fulton J. Sheen.

Sheen's film career began in 1984 with a role in the Cold War teen drama Red Dawn with Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, and Jennifer Grey. Sheen and Grey reunited in a small scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), where he portrayed a drug dealer. He also appeared in an episode of the anthology series Amazing Stories. Sheen had his first major role in the Vietnam War drama Platoon (1986). In 1987, he starred with his father in Wall Street. Both Wall Street and Platoon were directed by Oliver Stone. In 1988, Stone asked Sheen to star in his new film Born on the Fourth of July (1989), but later cast Tom Cruise in place of Sheen. Sheen was never notified by Stone, and only found out when he heard the news from his brother Emilio. Sheen did not take a lead role in Stone's subsequent films, although he does have a cameo role in Money Never Sleeps, Stone's sequel to Wall Street.

In 1987, Sheen was cast to portray Ron in the unreleased Grizzly II: The Predator, the sequel to the 1976 low budget horror movie Grizzly. In 1988, he starred in the baseball film Eight Men Out as outfielder Happy Felsch. Also in 1988, he appeared opposite his brother Emilio Estevez in Young Guns and again in 1990 in Men at Work. In 1989, Sheen, and John Fusco, Christopher Cain, Lou Diamond Phillips, brother Emilio Estevez, and Kiefer Sutherland, were honored with a Bronze Wrangler for their work on the film Young Guns.

In 1990, he starred alongside his father Martin Sheen in Cadence as a rebellious inmate in a military stockade and Clint Eastwood in the buddy cop action film The Rookie. The films were directed by Martin Sheen and Eastwood, respectively. In 1992, he starred in Beyond the Law with Linda Fiorentino and Michael Madsen. In 1994, Sheen was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1997, Sheen wrote his first movie, Discovery Mars, a direct-to-video documentary revolving around the question, "Is There Life on Mars?" The next year, Sheen wrote, produced and starred in the action movie No Code of Conduct.

Sheen appeared in several comedy roles, including the Major League films, Money Talks, and the spoof Hot Shots! films. In 1999, Sheen appeared in a pilot for A&E Network, called Sugar Hill, which wasn't picked up. In 1999, Sheen played himself in Being John Malkovich. He also appeared in the spoof series Scary Movie 3 and follow up Scary Movie 4. Sheen appears as Dex Dogtective in the unreleased Lionsgate animated comedy Foodfight.

On May 20, 1998, Sheen overdosed while using cocaine and was hospitalized. On August 11, 1998, Sheen, already on probation for a previous drug offense, had his probation extended for an extra year and entered a rehab clinic. In a 2004 interview, Sheen admitted that the overdose was caused by his experimentation with injecting cocaine.

In 2009, Sheen was arrested and released from jail after posting an $8,500 bond. Sheen was charged with felony menacing, as well as third-degree assault and criminal mischief. On August 2, Sheen pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault as part of a plea bargain that included dismissal of the other charges against him. Sheen was sentenced to 30 days in a drug rehab center, 30 days of probation, and 36 hours of anger management.

On October 26, 2010, the police removed Sheen from his suite at the Plaza Hotel after he reportedly caused $7,000 in damage. According to the NYPD, Sheen admitted to drinking and using cocaine the night of the incident. He was taken to a hospital for observation and released.

On March 7, 2011, CBS and Warner Bros. fired Sheen from Two and a Half Men. The official statement read: “After careful consideration, Warner Bros. Television has terminated Charlie Sheen's services on Two and a Half Men effective immediately.” In the aftermath of his dismissal, Sheen remained vocally critical of the show's creator, Chuck Lorre, and repeatedly attacked him in an eight minute Ustream video.

In February 2010, Sheen announced that he would take a break from Two and a Half Men to enter a rehab facility voluntarily. In March, Sheen's press representatives announced that he was preparing to leave rehab and return to work on the popular sitcom. On May 18, Sheen signed an agreement to return to the sitcom for another two years for a reported $1.8 million per episode.

On October 26, 2010, the police removed Sheen from his suite at the Plaza Hotel after he reportedly caused $7,000 in damage. According to the NYPD, Sheen admitted to drinking and using cocaine the night of the incident. He was taken to a hospital for observation and released.

On January 27, 2011, Sheen was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center by paramedics. Sheen's representative said the actor was suffering from "severe abdominal pains." On January 28, Sheen began undergoing a substance rehabilitation program in his home and CBS announced that Two and a Half Men would go on hiatus. The network subsequently announced that the current season, already under way and due to shoot its last four episodes, had been canceled after Sheen made derogatory comments about Chuck Lorre on the February 24 edition of a radio broadcast hosted by Alex Jones. On February 28 it was reported that Warner Bros. officially banned Sheen from entering the Warner Bros. production lot.

Sheen was accused of anti-Semitism for referring to Lorre by his Hebrew name. In an interview with TMZ, Sheen denied being anti-Semitic, saying, "I wanted to address the man, not the bullshit TV persona. So you're telling me, anytime someone calls me Carlos Estevez, I can claim they are anti-Latino?" Later in March, Sheen went on Access Hollywood Live and said that because his mother is Jewish, he is also Jewish and therefore not anti-Semitic.

On February 28, 2011, during a national television interview in his home, Sheen publicly demanded a 50% raise for the show Two and a Half Men. Already the highest-paid actor on television, Sheen demanded $3 million per episode, claiming that in comparison to the amount that the series is making, he is "underpaid." He later retracted that demand. A March 3, 2011, telephone survey of 1,000 people found that 71% of them had an unfavorable impression of Sheen and 16% had a positive opinion of him.

Charlie Sheen is in deed a sound maker with all of his escapades. His The Violent Torpedo of the Truth has gain popularity across America and Canada. Charlie Sheen is a good man only misguided by his actions.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American pop musician and actor. He has won six Grammy Awards as well as two Emmy Awards. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez. Timberlake became famous in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the boy band 'N Sync, whose launch was financed by Lou Pearlman.

In 2002, he released his debut solo album, Justified, which sold more than 7 million copies worldwide. The album was a commercial success, spawning the hits "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body". Timberlake continued his success with his second solo album, FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006), debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, and produced the US number-one hit singles "SexyBack", "My Love", and "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around".

Timberlake's first two albums made him one of the most commercially successful singers in the world, each selling in excess of 7 million copies. Aside from music, he has also begun an acting career, while his other ventures include record label Tennman Records, fashion label William Rast, and the restaurants Destino and Southern Hospitality.

Timberlake was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Lynn Harless (née Bomar) and Randall Timberlake. Timberlake is of English descent, and has also claimed unconfirmed American Indian ancestry. His paternal grandfather, Charles L. Timberlake, was a Baptist minister, and Timberlake was raised Baptist, though now considers himself more "spiritual than religious".

Timberlake's parents divorced in 1985, and both have remarried. His mother, who now runs an entertainment company called Just-in Time Entertainment, remarried to Paul Harless, a banker, when her son was five. His father, a choir director at a Baptist church, has two children, Jonathan (born c. 1993) and Steven Robert (born August 14, 1998), from his second marriage to Lisa Perry. Timberlake's half-sister, Laura Katherine, died shortly after birth on May 14, 1997, and is mentioned in his acknowledgments in the album *NSYNC as "My Angel in Heaven." Timberlake grew up in Shelby Forest, a middle class crime-free suburb between Memphis and Millington. His first attempts at a singing career were country music songs on Star Search as "Justin Randall."

In 1993, Timberlake joined the cast of The Mickey Mouse Club. His castmates included future girlfriend and pop superstar Britney Spears, future tourmate Christina Aguilera, and future bandmate JC Chasez. The show ended in 1994, but late in 1995 Timberlake recruited Chasez to be in an all-male singing group organized by boy band manager Lou Pearlman that eventually became 'N Sync.

In April 2007, Timberlake was seen entering a London studio with Madonna, thus confirming rumors that he was collaborating with her. A song "4 Minutes", was first played by Timbaland at Philadelphia's Jingle Ball on December 17, 2007. When released on March 17, 2008, "4 Minutes" was revealed to be a duet between Timberlake and Madonna, with backing vocals by Timbaland. It was lead single from Madonna's eleventh studio album Hard Candy, which featured four other song-writing collaborations with Timberlake. The single was an international hit, topping the charts in over 21 countries worldwide. Timberlake also appears in the music video, which was directed by Jonas & François. On March 30, 2008, Timberlake performed the song at Madonna's Hard Candy Promo Show at Roseland Ballroom in New York City. On November 6, 2008, Timberlake performed the song with Madonna on the Los Angeles stop of her Sticky & Sweet Tour.

Around June 2007 Timberlake co-wrote, produced and provided vocals for the songs "Nite Runner" and "Falling Down" for Duran Duran's album Red Carpet Massacre, released on November 13, 2007. "Falling Down" had been released as a single in the UK on the previous day.

Also in 2007, Timberlake made an appearance on 50 Cent's third album, Curtis. Timberlake, along with Timbaland, is featured on a track called "Ayo Technology", which was the album's fourth single. Also, another possible collaboration was to occur with Lil Wayne for his album Tha Carter III with Nelly Furtado and Timbaland.

With the wrapping up of the FutureSex/LoveSounds tour of Australasia and the Middle East in November 2007, Timberlake resumed his film career. Projects underway early in 2008 were starring roles in Mike Myers' comedy The Love Guru (released June 20, 2008) and Mike Meredith's drama The Open Road (released August 28, 2009). In March 2008 it was announced that he was be an executive producer in an American adaptation of the hit Peruvian comedy My Problem with Women for NBC.

On November 20, 2008, TV Guide reported that Timberlake’s next single, "Follow My Lead", which also featured vocals by Timberlake’s protégée, former YouTube star Esmee Denters, would be available for exclusive download through MySpace. All proceeds would go to Shriners Hospitals for Children, a charity dedicated to improving pediatric care for sick children.

In 2008 a collaboration between Timberlake and T.I., "Dead and Gone" featured on T.I.'s sixth studio album, Paper Trail, and was released as its fourth single late in 2009. In November 2008, it was confirmed that Timberlake would make a guest appearance and produce some tracks on R&B/pop singer Ciara's upcoming album Fantasy Ride due out May 5, 2009. Timberlake featured on Ciara's second single "Love Sex Magic", the video being shot on February 20, 2009. The single became a worldwide hit, reaching the top ten in numerous countries and peaking at number one in several countries including Taiwan, India, and Turkey. The single was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 52nd Grammy Awards.

Timberlake and his production team The Y's, along with Mike Elizondo, produced and co-wrote the song "Don't Let Me Down" for Leona Lewis's second studio album, Echo, released (in the US) on November 17, 2009.

Timberlake also co-wrote and performed on "Carry Out", the third single from Timbaland's album Shock Value II, released on December 1, 2009.

Timberlake appeared at the 2010 MTV VMAs on September 12, 2010.

Timberlake has co-owned or provided celebrity endorsement for three restaurants in the United States: "Chi" opened in West Hollywood, California in 2003, and "Destino" and "Southern Hospitalty" in New York opened in 2006 and 2007, respectively. He also has his own brand of tequila called 901; the name comes in part from the area code of his hometown of Memphis.

In 2005, Timberlake launched the William Rast clothing line with childhood friend Juan ("Trace") Ayala. The 2007 line contained cord jackets, cashmere sweaters, jeans and polo shirts. The pair reports inspiration from fellow Memphis native Elvis Presley: "Elvis is the perfect mixture of Justin and I," Ayala says. "You can go back and see pictures of him in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat and a nice button-down shirt, but then again you can see him in a tux and a collared shirt with rhinestones on it and slacks. We like to think 'If he was alive today, what would he be wearing?'" Target has announced that a William Rast collection, including denim, outerwear and sportswear for men and women, would launch in December and be available for a month.

Timberlake provides celebrity endorsement for many commercial products, this aspect of his business being managed by IMG Sports & Entertainment since April 2008. Major endorsements in 2009 included Sony electronic products, Givenchy's men's fragrance "Play", Audi's "A1", and Callaway Golf Company products.

An avid amateur golfer, in 2007 Timberlake purchased the run-down Big Creek Golf Course in his home town of Millington, Tennessee, which he redeveloped as the eco-friendly Mirimichi Golf Course at a cost of some $US16 million. It was reopened on 25 July 2009 but closed again on 15 January 2010 for further improvements expected to take six months.

Early in 1999, Timberlake began what eventually became a high-profile celebrity relationship with fellow pop singer Britney Spears, with whom he had worked on the New Mickey Mouse Club. This ended abruptly in March 2002, amidst tabloid press speculation on Spears' infidelity with choreographer Wade Robson, a mutual friend of Spears and Timberlake. Lynn Harless says as a mother she too was devastated regarding the break-up, but to this day speaks warmly of Spears, "Britney grew up on my living room floor. I still love her to death. They (Justin and Britney) were together 10 or 11 years and had, from day one, instant chemistry between them. She's a sweet girl. I just hate what she's going through now." The breakup influenced the lyrics and theme of Timberlake's hit "Cry Me A River", one of the most popular singles from Justified.

Post-Spears, Timberlake has generally refused to discuss his personal life with the media, as a result of which his relationships have been the subject of much speculation in the tabloid and celebrity press. He was involved with singer-actress Stacy Ferguson prior to 2001. He was romantically linked with actress-dancer Jenna Dewan (in mid-2002) and actress-singer Alyssa Milano (between September and October 2002). Timberlake began dating actress Cameron Diaz soon after they met at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in April 2003. Regular rumours of break-ups reported in the tabloid press were either ignored or occasionally denied. On the December 16, 2006 episode of Saturday Night Live, Diaz introduced Timberlake as the night's musical guest, and the couple officially split shortly afterwards. After the tabloid press alleged an affair between Timberlake and Scarlett Johansson, with whom he had shot the video for his single "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around Interlude", Diaz and Timberlake issued a joint statement on January 11, 2007.

KEEP THE PERIMETER SAFE AND SECURED

There is an upcoming concert in the city and the mayor told me that I will be assigned as the ground control in case there will be a rush of crowd in the concert area. The duty of being a crowd control is not easy because you need to make sure that the crowd won't be harmed from the controls that you are going to implement. I have an experience on this job because every time there is a major concert in the city I am always assigned to it.

In this assignment, I have already requested for barricades in the entrance area for security reason. In the previous event like this, many fans rushed to the entrance area. They even used cars just to break through the barricades in the event. I want to make sure that nothing like this happens again. I also asked for velvet rope, several length of them. The velvet rope will be used for the VIP of the event. The area where the velvet rope will be the entrance of the VIP's of the concert. In an event with so many VIPs, it is advisable to high security system implemented in the venue where the event will be happening. it is not good to be lenient in the security. There will also be stanchions placed in the ticket booth area in case there will still be fans buying for their tickets. This will minimize the rushers who will be buying their tickets on the concert day. Keep the perimeter safe and secured, that's the order of the mayor of the city.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

MILEY "HANNAH MONTANA" CYRUS


Miley Ray Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus; November 23, 1992) is an American actress and pop singer. She achieved wide fame for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana.

Cyrus recorded music for the soundtracks, Hannah Montana (2006) and Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus (2007), released by Walt Disney Records. With the success of the Hannah Montana franchise she established herself as a teen idol. In 2007, Cyrus signed to Hollywood Records to pursue a solo career. She went on the Best of Both Worlds Tour the same year, in which she performed as both herself and in character as Hannah Montana. The tour was eventually turned into a high-grossing concert film entitled Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert (2008). In July 2008, Cyrus released her first solo album, Breakout (2008), which was commercially successful.

She began her foray into film by providing the voice of "Penny" in the animated film Bolt (2008). Cyrus earned a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for her performance of Bolt's theme song, "I Thought I Lost You". She also reprised her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana in Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009). The Hannah Montana: The Movie' soundtrack introduced her to new audiences within country and adult contemporary markets.

She began to cultivate an adult image in 2009 with the release of The Time of Our Lives (2009), an extended play which presented a more mainstream pop sound, and by filming The Last Song (2010), a coming-of-age drama film. The former included Cyrus's best-selling single, "Party in the U.S.A." (2009). A studio album titled Can't Be Tamed was released in 2010 and presents a new dance-pop sound. The music video and lyrics of the album's lead single, "Can't Be Tamed", portrays a more sexualized image for the entertainer. Cyrus ranked number thirteen on Forbes' 2010 Celebrity 100.

Cyrus was born on November 23, 1992 in Nashville, Tennessee to parents Leticia "Tish" (née Finley) Cyrus and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. Her parents named her Destiny Hope because they believed that she would accomplish great things with her life. They gave her the nickname "Smiley", which was later shortened to "Miley", because she smiled so often as a baby. Cyrus suffers from a mild heart condition causing tachycardia which, though not dangerous, is often bothersome.

Against the wishes of her father's record company, Cyrus's parents secretly married a month after Cyrus's birth on December 28, 1992. The marriage gave Cyrus three half-siblings: Trace and Brandi, Tish's children from a previous relationship, and Christopher Cody, Billy Ray's son from a previous relationship. Billy Ray adopted Trace and Brandi when they were toddlers and paid child support for Cody, who was also born in 1992 and grew up with his mother in South Carolina. The couple later gave birth to Cyrus's two younger siblings, Braison and Noah. Cyrus's godmother is entertainer Dolly Parton. Cyrus was very close to her paternal grandfather, Democratic politician Ronald Ray Cyrus. Cyrus has paid her grandfather several tributes since his death in 2006, including eventually changing her middle name to "Ray". According to Cyrus's father, "A lot of people say Miley changed her name to Miley Ray because of Billy Ray, but that's not true. She did that in honor of my dad, because the two of them just loved each other to pieces."

Cyrus grew up on a 500 acre farm in Franklin, Tennessee, approximately an hour away from Nashville, and attended Heritage Elementary School. She was raised Christian and was baptized in a Southern Baptist church prior to moving to Hollywood in 2005. She attended church regularly while growing up and wore a purity ring. Cyrus displayed an affinity for performing as a toddler, although she would not seriously consider acting until she was eight. Several of Cyrus's siblings also eventually entered the entertainment business: Trace became a vocalist and guitarist for the electronic pop band Metro Station, Noah became an actress, and Brandi became a guitarist.

1998–2005: Early work

In 1998, when Cyrus was six, she and her family moved to Toronto, Canada while her father filmed the television series Doc. Cyrus said watching her father film the show inspired her to pursue acting. After Billy Ray took her to see a 2001 Mirvish production of Mamma Mia! at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Cyrus grabbed his arm and told him, "This is what I want to do, daddy. I want to be an actress." She began taking singing and acting classes at the Armstrong Acting Studio in Toronto. In her first role, Cyrus played a girl named Kylie on Doc. In 2003, Cyrus was credited under her birth name for her role as "Young Ruthie" in Tim Burton's Big Fish.

At age 11, Cyrus learned about the casting for what became Hannah Montana, a Disney Channel children's television series about a school girl with a secret double life as a teen pop star. Cyrus sent in a tape auditioning for the show's best friend role, but received a call asking her to audition for the lead, "Chloe Stewart". After sending in a new tape and flying to Hollywood for further auditions, Cyrus was told that she was too young and too small for the part. However, her persistence and ability to sing in addition to act led the show's producers to invite her back for further auditions. Cyrus eventually received the lead, renamed "Miley Stewart" after herself, at the age of twelve.

As Cyrus's career took off, Tish Cyrus made several critical decisions regarding her daughter's representation. She signed Cyrus with Mitchell Gossett, director of the youth division at Cunningham Escott Slevin Doherty. Gossett, who specializes in creating child stars, had arranged for Cyrus's auditions for Hannah Montana and is credited with "discovering" her. For Cyrus's music career, Tish followed the advice of Dolly Parton, Cyrus's godmother and a singer herself, and signed Cyrus with Jason Morey of Morey Management Group. "Dolly said the Moreys are people you can trust around your daughter," Tish Cyrus recalls, "and she said they have good morals, which is not always the case in this business." According to trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter, Parton's advice was "the best advice [Tish] could [have gotten] on who should rep her daughter." Tish also recruited Billy Ray's business manager to manage her daughter's finances. Tish herself continues to co-manage or produce many of Cyrus' career decisions. For her education, Cyrus enrolled at Options for Youth Charter Schools[25] and studied with a private tutor on the set of her television show.

Hannah Montana became an instant hit and propelled Cyrus to teen idol status, according to The Daily Telegraph. The series premiered on March 26, 2006 to the largest audience ever for a Disney Channel show and soon became one of the highest-rated series on basic cable, elevating Cyrus's wealth and fame along with it. Time magazine reports that Cyrus's "phenom[enal]" success is due partially to her talent and partially to "Disney learning to use its vast, multimedia holdings" and market Cyrus and Hannah Montana appropriately. Cyrus eventually became the first artist to have deals in television, film, consumer products, and music within The Walt Disney Company.

Cyrus's first single was "The Best of Both Worlds", the theme song to Hannah Montana, which was released on March 28, 2006. "The Best of Both Worlds" is credited to "Hannah Montana", the pop star Cyrus portrays on the series by the same name. As with other songs credited to Montana, Cyrus typically dressed as the character when performing the song live. Cyrus's first release under her own name was a cover of James Baskett's "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", released on April 4, 2006 on the fourth edition of DisneyMania. Dressed as Hannah Montana, Cyrus opened for The Cheetah Girls on twenty dates of their The Party's Just Begun Tour, beginning on September 15, 2006. On October 24 of same year, Walt Disney Records released the first Hannah Montana soundtrack. Of the nine tracks on the soundtrack performed by Cyrus, eight were credited to "Hannah Montana" and one, a duet with her father titled "I Learned from You", was credited to Cyrus as herself. The album peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart.

After the end of the Best of Both Worlds Tour in January 2008, Walt Disney Pictures released Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, a 3D concert film of the tour, on February 1, 2008 for what was expected to be a one-week run. The film earned $29 million at the box-office and an average of $42,000 per theater, twice the expected total, convincing Disney executives to extend the release for an indefinite run. "We don't want to turn away kids from the theaters who couldn't get into the concerts," said Chuck Viane, Disney's chief of distribution. The film's soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records/Hollywood Records on March 11, 2008 and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200.

On July 22, 2008, Cyrus released her second studio album under her own name, entitled Breakout. Cyrus said Breakout was inspired by "what's been going on in my life in the past year." Cyrus co-wrote eight out of twelve songs on the album. "Songwriting is what I really want to do with my life forever, [...] I just hope this record showcases that, more than anything, I'm a writer." The album debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and its lead single, "7 Things", peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. She hosted the 2008 CMT Music Awards with her father in April and the 2008 Teen Choice Awards by herself in August. Cyrus provided the voice of Penny in the 2008 computer-animated film Bolt, which was released on November 21, 2008 to critical acclaim. Cyrus also co-wrote and recorded the song "I Thought I Lost You" as a duet with John Travolta for the film, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. In September 2009, she participated in the charity single "Just Stand Up!" in support of the anti-cancer campaign Stand Up to Cancer and in the City of Hope Benefit Concert in support of cancer research and training programs. She also became involved in Disney's Friends for Change, an environmentalist group, for which she recorded the charity single "Send It On" along with several other Disney Channel stars.

Cyrus had already begun transitioning to a more grown-up image in late 2008, when her representatives negotiated a deal for novelist Nicholas Sparks to write the screenplay and novel basis for a film that would serve as a star vehicle for Cyrus by introducing her to audiences older than the young fans she had gained through Hannah Montana. Sparks and co-writer Jeff Van Wie developed The Last Song. It was important to Cyrus that she not be type cast as a singer: "I didn't want to be a singer in another film. I don't want to do that anymore. You have no idea how many musicals show up on my door. I want to do something a little more serious." In March 2009, Cyrus published Miles To Go, a memoir co-written by Hilary Liftin chronicling her life through age sixteen. Cyrus starred as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana in Hannah Montana: The Movie, released April 10, 2009. Both the film and its soundtrack, which contained twelve songs performed by Cyrus, achieved commercial success. The soundtrack's lead single, "The Climb", became a Top 40 hit in twelve countries and introduced Cyrus to listeners outside her typical teen pop audience. Cyrus had considered ending Hannah Montana after its third season, which finished production on June 5, 2009, but Disney retained and exercised its option for a fourth season.

Production on The Last Song lasted from June 15, 2009 to August 18, 2009. In between, Cyrus launched the third Hannah Montana soundtrack, recorded the extended play The Time of Our Lives, and released the EP's lead single, "Party in the U.S.A." Cyrus said The Time of Our Lives "is a transitioning album. [...] really to introduce people to what I want my next record to sound like and with time I will be able to do that a little more." "Party in the U.S.A." debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for her best-ever ranking on the chart. The Time of Our Lives was released in conjunction with a clothing line co-designed by Cyrus and Max Azria for Walmart.

From September 14, 2009 to December 29, 2010, Cyrus toured on her Wonder World Tour to promote Breakout and The Time of Our Lives.[citation needed] On December 7, 2009, Cyrus performed for Queen Elizabeth II and numerous other members of the British Royal Family at the Royal Variety Performance in Blackpool, North West England.

In 2008, Cyrus earned $25 million, up from her earnings of $18 million in 2007, and was ranked number 35 on Forbes magazine's "Celebrity 100" list. Parade magazine reported she was the richest teenage celebrity and that her franchise would be worth approximately $1 billion by the end of the year. With Cyrus's increased success came increased media attention. In a May 2008 interview with The Los Angeles Times, Francois Navarre, the proprietor of the X17 photo agency, said Cyrus's market value had picked up considerably after the Vanity Fair photo controversy: "She's started to sell more. [...] It used to be $300, and now it's $2,000 for a picture." Estimates for a picture of the then-15 year old's first kiss ranged from $30,000 to $150,000. Navarre noted that Cyrus rarely behaved against her wholesome image or went out without a parent and stated, "She has people waiting for the moment she starts to be less traditional. [...] It's natural. Any teenager. But it's going to come very fast. [...] As soon as her mom lets her go out by herself. It's going to start to be interesting." Time magazine included her on the 2008 Time 100, the magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Her write-up was written by former child star Donny Osmond, who warned, "As an idol to tweens the world over, singer-actress Miley Cyrus, 15, is riding a huge tidal wave at the pinnacle of her career; this is as it should be. I hope she enjoys it. [...] Within three to five years, Miley will have to face adulthood. [...] As she does, she'll want to change her image, and that change will be met with adversity."

On October 8, 2009, Cyrus deleted her account on the social networking site Twitter, citing a desire for more privacy. She also told Parade magazine, "I deleted my Twitter account because I said on there that I believed in gay marriage because everyone should have the right to love each other, and I got such hate mail about my being a bad person." Cyrus was very popular on the site: her account was watched by approximately 2 million Twitter users in addition to the general public at the time of deletion.

Cyrus celebrated her 16th birthday at Disneyland with a charity fundraiser for Youth Service America, a youth volunteer service organization.

At the end of 2009, Billboard magazine ranked Cyrus the fourth best-selling female artist[100] and the fifth best-selling singer overall. Forbes ranked her #29 on the Celebrity 100 and reported she had earned a total of $25 million.

n December 2007, a brief controversy emerged when photos Cyrus had posted on her private MySpace account, depicting her and a female friend sharing a piece of licorice, were spread across the internet. "For me, I was like, That's two girls—it's not a big deal. But they got spread around. Like someone copied and pasted and said, Omigod, look at this, and blah blah blah," said Cyrus.

In April 2008, several provocative images of Cyrus in her underwear and swimsuit were leaked onto the web by a teenager who hacked Cyrus's Gmail account. Cyrus described the images as "silly, inappropriate shots" and stated, "I am going to make mistakes and I am not perfect. I never intended for any of this to happen and I am truly sorry if I have disappointed anyone." On April 25, 2008, the televised entertainment program Entertainment Tonight reported that Cyrus, then 15, had posed topless for a photoshoot taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair. On April 29, 2008, The New York Times clarified that though the pictures left an impression that she was bare-breasted, Cyrus was wrapped in a bedsheet and was actually not topless. Some parents expressed outrage at the nature of the photograph, which a Disney spokesperson described as "a situation [that] was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines." Gary Marsh, president of entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide, was quoted by Portfolio magazine to have said, “For Miley Cyrus to be a 'good girl' is now a business decision for her. Parents have invested in her a godliness. If she violates that trust, she won't get it back." In response to the Internet circulation of the photo and ensuing media attention, Cyrus released a statement of apology on April 27, 2008: "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about." Leibovitz also released a statement: "I'm sorry that my portrait of Miley has been misinterpreted. The photograph is a simple, classic portrait, shot with very little makeup, and I think it is very beautiful."

In May 2008, Gossett, Cyrus's longtime acting agent, left Cunningham Escott Slevin Doherty for United Talent Agency, partially with the hope of "giving Cyrus the major-agency backing that would support a widening career", according to The Hollywood Reporter. About a year later in June 2009, Cyrus left both Gossett and UTA, which had recently negotiated her deals for The Last Song and the fourth season of Hannah Montana, and joined the Creative Artists Agency, which had already represented her for music. Nikki Finke, who broke the news, reported, "Is this fair to UTA? Of course not. But I hear the decision was made by Miley's mother Trish [sic] Cyrus".

Cyrus's performance of "Party in the U.S.A." at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards incited a media uproar, with some viewers criticizing Cyrus's provocative outfit and inclusion of a brief pole dance as inappropriate for her age, then sixteen, and for her young fans. Conversly, Newsday reported that her sexualization "has been coming for some time." Ian Drew, senior editor of US Weekly, said, "She already has this risque image, so it really wasn't much of a stretch. That's how Britney [Spears] took off. She was the good girl gone bad, and it looks to be working for Miley as well." Cyrus was also criticized that year for dating Gaston, five years her senior,[119] and for a photo displaying Cyrus and friends making "slant-eyed" expressions, which the Organization of Chinese Americans claimed was offensive to the Asian community. Cyrus apologized for the photo on her website, defending her actions and saying, "In NO way was I making fun of any ethnicity!"

Later in 2010, TMZ released a video of Cyrus, then 16, giving Adam Shankman, producer of The Last Song, a lap dance at the film's wrap party. Cyrus's father defended her actions, saying Miley was just "having fun" and that "it's what people her age do".

At the end of 2007, Cyrus broke up with her boyfriend of two years, Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers. Cyrus told Seventeen magazine that she and Jonas had been dating for two years and "were in love", but were "fighting a lot" by the end. After the break-up, Cyrus says that she initially "rebell[ed] against everything Nick wanted me to be. And then I was like, I've got to be by myself for now, and just figure out who I really am." In February 2008, Cyrus and her friend Mandy Jiroux opened a YouTube account and began posting videos of what they called The Miley and Mandy Show. The show, described as a "YouTube hit," is said to be filmed for fun by Cyrus and Jiroux and to be entirely their work, with Cyrus and Jiroux editing the footage together. Cyrus filed a petition to have her name changed to "Miley Ray Cyrus", her middle name reflecting that of her paternal grandfather's, on March 18, 2008. The change became official on May 1, 2008.

In June 2009 Cyrus ended her nine month relationship with model Justin Gaston shortly before flying to Georgia to film The Last Song. While filming later that month, Cyrus began dating her co-star in The Last Song, Australian actor Liam Hemsworth. She later called him her "first serious boyfriend". In August 2010, it was confirmed that her relationship with Hemsworth had ended. Cyrus and Hemsworth were seen together a month later, and are reportedly back together.