Sunday, January 13, 2008

Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus




Destiny Hope "Miley" Cyrus[1] (born November 23, 1992)[2] is an American actress, singer and songwriter. She is perhaps best known for starring as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel Original Series, Hannah Montana.

Cyrus became an overnight sensation after she was cast in Hannah Montana. Following the success of the show, in October 2006, a soundtrack CD was released in which she sang eight songs from the show. In December 2007, she was ranked #17 in the list of Forbes Top twenty earners under 25 with an annual earning of US$3.5 million.[3] As of December 2007, she is working on a movie spin-off from Hannah Montana, titled Hannah Montana: The Movie which is due to be released late 2008 or early 2009.

Early life

Born in Franklin,Tennessee,[1] Miley Cyrus attended Heritage Middle School,[5] but now has a private tutor.[6] She grew up on her parents' farm outside of Nashville.[7] Cyrus is the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus and Leticia "Tish" Cyrus,[1] and the granddaughter of the late Ron Cyrus and Ruth Ann Cyrus. She has two elder half-brothers, Christopher Cody and Trace, the latter being the vocalist and guitarist of an electronic rock band, Metro Station in California.[8] She also has an elder half-sister, Brandi, a younger brother, Braison, and a younger sister, Noah, who is also an actress.[9] She was named Destiny Hope because her parents believed that she would accomplish great things.[1] Cyrus gained her nickname "Miley" because she kept smiling ("Smiley") as a youngster.[1] In an interview with USA Today, Cyrus was quoted as saying her faith is "the main thing" and is the reason why she works in Hollywood.[10] When interviewed by Parade, she added that she attends church regularly with her family.[11] She also has many pets, including horses, dogs, cats, fish and chickens.[12]

Career

Cyrus became interested in acting at age nine when the family briefly lived in Toronto, Canada. Her first acting role was as a guest star on her father's television series Doc, in which she played a girl named Kylie.[13][2] In 2003, she played "Young Ruthie" in Tim Burton's Big Fish and was credited as Destiny Cyrus. She was also featured in Rhonda Vincent's music video for "If Heartaches Have Wings", and appeared on Colgate Country Showdown with her father, who was hosting the program.

Cyrus was eleven years old when she originally auditioned for Disney for the lead as well as the "best friend" roles;[14] Disney Channel executives then judged her to be "too small", however Miley was persistent in her desire to be part of the show, so Disney called her back for further auditions when she turned 12. According to Disney Channel Executive Vice President Gary Marsh, Cyrus was chosen for Hannah Montana because of her energetic and lively performance and was seen as a person who "loves every minute of life",[15] with the "everyday relatability of Hilary Duff and the stage presence of Shania Twain".[7] She spent several years to get rid of her Southern accent, but in the end Disney wanted her to revive it. Later in an unusual twist, Cyrus had to audition her own father, Billy Ray Cyrus, to see if he would fit the role as Hannah's dad.[16] Cyrus currently stars in Hannah Montana as the lead character Miley Stewart, whose alter ego is the pop music sensation Hannah Montana. Cyrus also performs in character as Hannah Montana for albums and concerts.

In 2004, Cyrus became a spokesperson for Daisy Rock Guitars, when she was presented with her first Daisy Rock guitar— the Stardust Series Acoustic Electric Pink Sparkle. It was given to her by her parents from her father's Country Music Television fan meet-and-greet when she was twelve years old.[17]

On June 22, 2006, a performance of a Hannah Montana concert (featuring Cyrus as Hannah Montana) at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon in Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida was recorded for the Disney Channel. Cyrus spent the rest of 2006 opening for The Cheetah Girls on 20 dates of their 39-city tour.[18] Cyrus also appeared in the Disney Channel Hannah Montana promotion, "Hannah Montana's Backstage Secrets", in which she portrays Hannah Montana in a fictional interview set in the show's canon.

Walt Disney Records released the Hannah Montana soundtrack on October 24, 2006. The soundtrack included eight of the songs that Cyrus performed as Hannah Montana. Cyrus also signed a four-album major record deal with Hollywood Records for her own albums. On December 25, 2006, Cyrus performed as Hannah Montana at the Walt Disney Christmas Parade, singing her version of the holiday classic "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree".
Cyrus at the 2006 Disney Channel Celebrity Rock n' Bowl.
Cyrus at the 2006 Disney Channel Celebrity Rock n' Bowl.

On June 26, 2007, exactly eight months after the release of the first soundtrack, Cyrus released a double album, Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus. The first disc served as the second Hannah Montana soundtrack, while the second disc was Cyrus' debut album as herself. She co-wrote, eight of the ten songs and was credited as "Destiny Hope Cyrus". Cyrus had a brief cameo in High School Musical 2 credited as "Girl at Pool", where she danced in front of the pool wearing a yellow baby doll top before the end credits.

While attending the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix premiere, Cyrus stated that they are working on ideas for a Hannah Montana movie. The feature-length film is to be produced by Cyrus's both on and off-screen dad, Billy Ray Cyrus.[19]

Disney released a Hannah Montana clothing collection in late summer. Cyrus helped to design some of the pieces from the collection. "It's not a costume. A tween girl isn't doing dress-up, they want to look like they could be Hannah Montana's friend. This is a fashion line."[20]

Cyrus is performing both as herself and in character as Hannah Montana on a North American Best of Both Worlds Tour that started on October 18, 2007 in St. Louis, Missouri; the tour was extended, due to high demand, until January 31, 2008, with 69 total dates, 14 more than previously planned. The Jonas Brothers are the opening act for most of the tour.[21] Tour tickets for each date have been selling out in record time after they have gone on sale, disappointing large numbers of fans.[22]

In 2007, Cyrus guest-starred as Yatta on Disney Channel's The Emperor's New School. In December 2007, she was ranked at #17 in the Forbes Top 20 Earners Under 25, with an annual earning of US$3.5 million.[3]

Pregnancy rumor hoax

On September 24, 2007, rumors began circulating that Cyrus was pregnant.[23] The cause of the rumor was an image of a page of J-14 Magazine circulating on the Internet entitled "Miley's Meltdown" and saying among other things "Miley herself confirmed the pregnancy rumors during a J-14 interview".[24] J-14 immediately responded saying that, "Someone doctored the "This Just In" article that appeared on page 16 of J-14's July 2007 issue" and that "this story is completely fabricated!"[25][26] The real story on J-14's Page 16 magazine was about 'Miley's Gross Habits' told by her co-stars on the set of Hannah Montana.

Personal life

Cyrus is good friends with fellow Hannah Montana co-stars Emily Osment and Mitchel Musso, often texting and conference calling each other during busy days.[6] Miley Cyrus also taught Emily Osment how to play the guitar and Osment taught Cyrus how to knit. She is also friends with the stars of the highly successful TV movie High School Musical, including Ashley Tisdale[27], Vanessa Hudgens and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody stars including Brenda Song.[28]In an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, she stated that she looks up to Hilary Duff as her role model.[27]

Thursday, January 10, 2008

kelly brook

kelly brook




Kelly Brook (born Kelly Ann Parsons on 23 November 1979) is an English model, actress, and occasional swimwear designer and television presenter.

After leaving school in Rochester, Brook studied at the Italia Conti stage school in London for three years before becoming a professional model. Kelly attended The Thomas Aveling School in Warren Wood, Rochester, Kent.

[edit] Model

Brook's modeling career began at 16 after winning a beauty competition, her early work was in a range of advertising campaigns, including for the new "Bravissimo" company that specializes in bras and lingerie for big breasted women, and for Foster's beer. Brook is 5 feet, 6 inches (168 cm) tall, and her voluptuous figure caught the eye of the editorial team of the Daily Star who began featuring her as a Page Three girl.

She then appeared in a Pulp video Help the Aged with Huck Whitney of the cult band The Flaming Stars, in a slow dance sequence.

Brook's picture soon began appearing in other lad mags such as FHM (repeatedly landing in its list of the "100 Sexiest Women of the Year") and Loaded. She topped the 'FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005' list, which was said to have polled 15 million people. In a poll over 5,000 women in April 2005 for Grazia magazine she was considered to have the best British female body. She ranked 5th at 'FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006' list.

Brook has also done a large amount of commercial swimwear, sportswear, and hosiery modelling, and a limited amount of nude & semi-nude modelling. Some modelling work for Triumph Bras caused quite a stir because of specially commissioned 50-foot high billboards of Brook's bust.

In 2005, Brook shot a ten page, mostly nude black and white portfolio with photographer David Bailey. The shoot featured in British design magazine November 2005 issue of Arena magazine.

In 2006, she released successful ranges of swimwear and lingerie at New Look stores nationwide.

In February 2007, it was announced that Kelly had signed a contract, reported to be worth £1m, to be the new face and body of Unilever's Lynx body spray, known as Axe in the US and on continental Europe. Kelly has been on billboards, in newspapers and online as part of the advertising campaign.[1]

[edit] Presenter

In 1997, still barely 18, Brook started getting work presenting youth television programmes on MTV, Granada and Trouble TV.

Brook had a breakthrough into mainstream presenting in January 1999 when she was chosen to replace Denise van Outen as the female half of The Big Breakfast presenting team, alongside Johnny Vaughan. Brook's tenure was not a success. Some say she failed to recreate the on-screen chemistry that van Outen had achieved with Vaughan, while others commented she was perfect for the job, and that it was time in fact, that Vaughan left the show. After some some debate, she decided to leave the show in July, 1999.[2]

Brook picked up roles presenting for MTV again. In 2005 she presented the reality television programme Celebrity Love Island for ITV.

[edit] Actress

Kelly Brook has appeared in minor roles in a string of movies including Sorted and Ripper. She played the girlfriend of Clark Kent/Superman's best friend Lex Luthor in four episodes of Warner Brothers' Smallville during the show's first season (2001 - 2002). She has also completed assignments as a movie actress in Canada and made a short appearance as Lyle's girlfriend in the 2003 movie The Italian Job. In 2004 she played character Nikki Morris in the video game Need for Speed Underground 2, alongside Brooke Burke. Brook's first starring role was in School for Seduction, a 2004 film.

In 2005 she appeared in the Philippe Vidal film House of 9, a thriller about nine seemingly unconnected strangers captured and locked in a house together. The people are forced to compete against one another, in order to survive.

She recently starred in a Marple drama on ITV. She caused a minor controversy over her most recent film Survival Island (previously known as Three), in which she co-starred with fiancé Billy Zane, when Brook and Zane requested her nude scenes be excised from the final cut, which the producers refused to do.

[edit] Theatre work

In December 2000 she played lap dancer Anya in the play Eye Contact at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, a role that gathered considerable tabloid publicity as the finale of the show involved Brook stripping naked.[citation needed]

[edit] Strictly Come Dancing

On 13 September 2007 it was announced that Brook is participating in the 2007 celebrity dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing on BBC1 with professional ballroom dance partner Brendan Cole. During the series, her father Kenneth died from cancer[1], and although originally deciding to continue with the show, she later withdrew from the competition

Kelly Ripa Pictures & Bio

Kelly Ripa




Kelly Maria Ripa (born October 2, 1970) an American Daytime Emmy Award-winning actress, television personality and talk show host. Since February 2001[2], she has served as the co-host of Live with Regis and Kelly.

Earlier in her career, Ripa played Hayley Vaughan Santos on All My Children; She also played Faith Fairfield on Hope & Faith, both television series on ABC.

While attending Eastern High School in Voorhees Township, New Jersey, Ripa began acting in high school plays.[citation needed] This led to roles at local theaters and a regular spot on the USA Network's Dance Party USA – an afternoon teen music program.

She was then cast as gothic teen turned suffering heroine Hayley Vaughan on the soap opera All My Children. Starting on the show in 1990, the character of Hayley quickly drew a large following.[citation needed] While she was selected to work alongside Regis Philbin for the long-running talk show, Live, Ripa was on double duty, but the following year in 2002, Ripa left All My Children.

In September 2003, Ripa was back on double duty when she co-starred (with Faith Ford) on Hope & Faith, a situation comedy. She portrayed Faith Fairfield, a former soap star whose character is killed off and who moves in with (and subsequently wreaks havoc on) her sister Hope's family. Hope & Faith survived for three seasons before a ratings decline led to its cancellation.

In June 2004, Ripa agreed to continue as Live co-host for at least five more years, at a salary that the tabloid television show Extra reported was $8 million/year.[2]

In October 2006, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos, also a actor, were partnering with producers from Hope & Faith on a sitcom for The CW Television Network that would be loosely based on the couple's experiences as soap opera actors.[3]

In April 2007, Ripa hosted the 2007 TV Land Awards.[4]

In May 2007, Ripa stated that she most likely is done with acting for the time being.[5]

[edit] Controversies

* On August 14, 2002, guest Judith Light created a stir on Live with Regis and Kelly when she got into a shouting match with Kelly after Kelly corrected Judith's pronuciation of "worcestershire".[citation needed] This became a recurring topic on the show, with the on-air talent frequently making light of the incident. On November 3, 2002, Light made a public apology to Kelly.[citation needed]
* On November 17, 2006, Clay Aiken was a guest host on Live with Regis and Kelly. During an interview, Aiken covered Kelly Ripa's mouth with his hand.[6][7] There was considerable reaction after Kelly mentioned the incident on her show 4 days later.[8][9] Aiken mocked the controversy on the 2006 American Music Awards a few days later with Tori Spelling.[10]

[edit] Awards and honors

Ripa won five Soap Opera Digest Awards for playing Hayley on All My Children in 1996, 1998 & 2000. She has been nominated for 8 Daytime Emmy Awards. Three of these nominations were for playing Hayley on All My Children, and 5 were for performing hosting duties alongside Regis.

In April 2006, she won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Special for co-hosting the 2005 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade with Regis Philbin and Ryan Seacrest.

On September 15, 2006, Ripa broke the Guinness World Record for custard pie throwing, tossing 24 banana cream pies in one minute at actor Wilmer Valderrama, as part of a Guinness World Record Breaker theme week on Live with Regis and Kelly. She beat the record broken by NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth on the previous day, when he threw 17 pies at Ripa herself.[11]

[edit] Personal life

Ripa was born in Camden County, New Jersey to Joseph and Esther Ripa.[1]

In 1995, Ripa met Mark Consuelos, her co-star on All My Children; the two married on May 1, 1996. The couple have three children — Michael Joseph Consuelos, born June 2, 1997; Lola Grace Consuelos, born June 16, 2001; and Joaquin Antonio Consuelos, born February 24, 2003.

Ripa's father has been a freeholder for Camden County, New Jersey since January 2004.[1]

[edit] Television work

* Dance Party USA (1986-1992) (frequent regular)
* All My Children (cast member from 1990-2002)
* Someone to Love (2001)
* Live with Regis and Kelly (2001-present)
* It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)
* Hope & Faith (2003-2006)
* Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time (2003) (voice)
* Kelly Ripa's E! True Hollywood Story (2006)
* 50 Funniest Women Alive, Oxygen (2007) (also placed #6)
* Go, Diego, Go! - mother wolf (voice) (2006)
* 6abc Boscov's Thanksgiving Day Parade (annual appearance)

[edit] Filmography

* Marvin's Room (1996) Coral
* The Stand-In (1999) Jennifer
* Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003) (voice) (direct-to-video) Dr. Roxanne "Rocky" Ballantine
* Cheaper by the Dozen (2003) herself
* Fly Me to the Moon (2007) (voice) Nat's mom
* Delgo (2007) (voice) Kurrin

Renée Zellweger Official Site Pictures & News

Renée Zellweger




Zellweger was born in Baytown, Texas[1] and moved to Katy, Texas, a suburb of Houston, at the age of nine with her family. Zellweger's mother, Kjellfried Irene (née Andreassen), is Norwegian-born and of Lapp Sami origin;[2] she is a nurse and midwife, and moved to the United States in order to work as a governess for a Norwegian family in Texas.[3] Zellweger's father, Emil Erich Zellweger, is a Swiss-born mechanical and electrical engineer who worked in the oil refining business.[4][5][6][7] Zellweger was raised in a family of "lazy Catholics and Episcopalians".[8] In high school, she was a cheerleader and gymnast, and participated in the drama club. She graduated from Katy High School in 1987. After high school, she went to the University of Texas at Austin to major in English. Though she took a drama class only because she needed a fine arts credit to complete her degree, it made her appreciate how much she loved acting.[3] During this time, she supported herself by taking a series of jobs in Austin, Texas, including working as a waitress at a topless bar (though working there fully clothed), an experience that she has said taught her as much as university did.[3][9]

[edit] Film career

While still in Texas, Zellweger appeared in several films, including Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.[3] She subsequently moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting, winning roles in the films Reality Bites, Empire Records, The Whole Wide World, and 8 Seconds.[3] Zellweger first became widely known to audiences around the world with her role in 1996's Jerry Maguire, where she played the romantic interest of Tom Cruise's character.[3] She won the role over Mira Sorvino and Marisa Tomei. Since then, Zellweger has won acclaim in roles such as One True Thing opposite William Hurt and Meryl Streep, and in Neil LaBute's Nurse Betty opposite Morgan Freeman.[3] The role garnered the actress her first of three Golden Globe Awards, but she was in the bathroom when future co-star Hugh Grant announced her name.[3] Zellweger later protested: "I had lipstick on my teeth!"

In 2001, Zellweger gained the prized lead role in the film Bridget Jones's Diary, amid much controversy since she was neither British nor overweight.[3] During casting Zellweger was told she was too skinny to play the chubby Bridget, so she very quickly embarked on gaining the required weight. She gained 20 pounds to be the part. Her dramatically personal yo-yoing weight has been the subject of much media interest. Along with receiving voice coaching to fine-tune her English accent, part of Zellweger's preparations involved spending three weeks working undercover in a "work experience placement" for British publishing firm Picador in Victoria, London.[10][3] As a result of her considerable efforts to effect author Helen Fielding's character, Zellweger caught the attention of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and received her first Best Actress Academy Award nomination.[3]

In 2002, she starred with Michelle Pfeiffer in White Oleander and in Rob Marshall's Best Picture winning film Chicago opposite Catherine Zeta Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, and John C. Reilly. Zellweger earned her second Academy Award nomination as Best Actress, as well as the Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe Award.[3] In 2004, Zellweger finally received an Academy Award, this time as Best Supporting Actress in Anthony Minghella's Cold Mountain opposite Jude Law and Nicole Kidman. Zellweger has since starred in the sequel to Bridget Jones' Diary in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, lent her voice to the animated feature Shark Tale, and starred in the 2005 Ron Howard film Cinderella Man opposite Russell Crowe and Paul Giamatti. On May 24, 2005, Zellweger received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She also appeared in Miss Potter, based on the life story of acclaimed author Beatrix Potter, with Emily Watson and Ewan McGregor, released in December 2006.

Zellweger and Marc Forster, took part in the 2005 HIV prevention campaign of the Swiss federal health department.[11] Zellweger was the subject of an Israeli pop song Renée by Ariel Horowitz, where Horowitz describes his love to Zellweger, and says that he would like to marry her and bring her back to Israel with him, where they would live a simple life and she could play in Moshe Ivgy's movies. She is also the subject of another song entitles Renee by American Christian artist Scott Krippayne, where Krippayne describes seeing Zellweger from afar at a coffee shop and empathizing with her Hollywood lifestyle while longing to see her become born-again.

[edit] Personal life

Zellweger dated Josh Pate, whom she began seeing in November 1996 after the filming of "Deceiver". She also was rumoured to have dated George Clooney.[12] Her first high-profile romance was with actor/comedian Jim Carrey. The relationship ended in a broken engagement in December 2000. Zellweger notably poked fun at the prior relationship when she ended her opening monologue on Saturday Night Live by reading an entry from her own "diary", marked "Dear Diary, I can't believe I am dating Jim Carrey".[13]

For two years, Zellweger dated The White Stripes singer Jack White, who is six years her junior. However, it was felt that White didn't want to settle down, and they broke up.[14][15]

On May 9, 2005, Zellweger married singer Kenny Chesney in a ceremony at the island of St. John. They had met in January at a tsunami relief benefit concert. Zellweger missed out on the engagement ring since the wedding was planned over a short span of time.[16] On September 15, 2005, after only four months of marriage, they announced their plans for an annulment because Zellweger wanted to decorate their new home and Chesney did not approve. Zellweger cited fraud as the reason in the related papers.[17] After media scrutiny of her use of the word "fraud", she released the following statement: "(The term is) simply legal language and not a reflection of Kenny's character. I would personally be very grateful for your support in refraining from drawing derogatory, hurtful, sensationalized or untrue conclusions. We hope to experience this transition as privately as possible." The annulment was finalized in late December 2005. When interviewed on Late Show with David Letterman in December 2006, she was still reluctant to answer questions over the relationship.[18] Since her marriage annulment, she has been linked to various personalities, including actor Luke Perry of Beverly Hills, 90210 fame.[19]

Zellweger sold her home in the Hollywood Hills,[20] and after renting for a while she now again owns a home in Bel Air. She admits that she gets scared at home alone, and has considered buying a gun for reasons of personal security.[21]

Zellweger is an avid fan of British chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, in which she admits to staying up late to watch it.

naomi watts official pictures & news

naomi watts




Early life

Watts was born in Shoreham, Kent, England, the daughter of Myfannwy "Miv" (née Roberts), an antiques dealer and costume and set designer, and Peter Watts, a road manager and sound engineer who worked with Pink Floyd (her father's manic laugh and mother's comment about "cruisin' for a bruisin'" are featured in Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon).[1][2][3] Watts is pictured, in her mother's arms, with her father, brother, Pink Floyd, and other crew members, in the hardback edition of Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason' autobiography of the band Inside Out.[4] Watts has one brother, Ben Watts, a year older and now a photographer in the United States (Watts confessed that they fought like cats and dogs as children). Watts' parents separated when she was four years old, and when she was seven, her father died. Following her father's death, her mother relocated the family to Llanfawr Farm, on the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales, where they lived with Watts' maternal grandparents, Nikki and Hugh Roberts.[5]
Watts at the London Film Festival in October 2007
Watts at the London Film Festival in October 2007

Watts described her mother as a hippie "with passive-aggressive tendencies" and no money, who used to threaten to send her and her brother to foster care in order to get her parents to provide for them. Although her mother occasionally moved the family around Wales and England, usually to follow boyfriends, she always ended up returning to Llangefni. Watts lived there until she was 14. Then, during a trip to Australia, her mother became convinced it was "the land of opportunities"[citation needed] and moved the family to Sydney in 1982. Her grandmother was Australian, which made it easier to obtain the documentation necessary, since Naomi and her family were entitled to Australian citizenship. Of her nationality, she has said, "I consider myself British and have very happy memories of the UK. I spent the first 14 years of my life in England and never wanted to leave. When I was in Australia I went back to England a lot".[6]

In Sydney, Watts attended several acting schools (and in the very first lesson in the first school, she met Nicole Kidman, with whom she shared a taxi home from class and are still best friends).[citation needed] In 1986 she took a break from acting and went to Japan to work as a model, but the experience, which lasted for about four months, was fruitless as Watts did not have the physical requirements for a professional runway model and could only hope to be working in promotions, which did not excite her. Watts describes it as one of the worst periods of her life. Upon returning to Australia, she went to work for a local department store and from there she went to work as assistant fashion editor with an Australian fashion magazine. She only returned to acting when a casual invitation from a colleague to participate in a small play rekindled her passion for the scenic arts and prompted her to quit her job and dedicate herself to succeeding as an actress.

[edit] Career

Watts' career began in Australian television, where she appeared in commercials and television melodramas such as Home and Away and Brides of Christ. She was featured in a supporting role in the acclaimed 1991 Australian indie film Flirting, which starred future Hollywood up-and-comers Nicole Kidman and Thandie Newton. As Watts made the transition from Australia to the United States, she landed a supporting role in the cult 1995 film Tank Girl, playing the part of "Jet Girl".

Finding quality roles in the Hollywood system at first proved difficult for Watts. She appeared in the short-lived series Sleepwalkers and numerous B-list productions such as films like Children of the Corn IV. Gradually, Watts garnered supporting roles, such as Dangerous Beauty.
Watts with filmmaker David Lynch at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001.
Watts with filmmaker David Lynch at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001.

In 2001, Watts starred in David Lynch's highly acclaimed Mulholland Drive. The film, which premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, earned Watts mixed reactions amongst critics, with some doubtful of the believability of her acting. However, she won the National Society of Film Critics Award as Best Actress and the National Board of Review award as Breakthrough Performance of the year.

Watts worked with director/screenwriter Scott Coffey on Lynch's Mulholland Drive, where Watts had her breakout performance. Her next film, the semi-autobiographical Ellie Parker, grew out of the friendship forged between Watts and Coffey. In 2002, she starred in one of the biggest box office hits of that year, the English language remake of the Japanese horror film, The Ring. The following year, she starred in the film Ned Kelly opposite Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, and Geoffrey Rush; as well as the Merchant-Ivory film Le Divorce with Kate Hudson. It was her performance opposite Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro in director Alejandro González Iñárritu's 21 Grams that earned Watts her first Academy Award nomination as Best Actress.

She produced and starred in the well-received independent picture We Don't Live Here Anymore. She reunited with Sean Penn and Don Cheadle in The Assassination of Richard Nixon, teamed up with Jude Law and Dustin Hoffman in David O. Russell's ensemble I ♥ Huckabees, and starred in the sequel to the Ring, The Ring Two. Aside from balancing both independent projects as Ellie Parker, she managed to star in the biggest remake of them all, 2005's King Kong. The role, which was immortalized by Fay Wray in the original, proved to be Watts' most commercial film yet. Directed by The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, the film won high praise and grossed $550 million worldwide.

Watts starred in The Painted Veil with Edward Norton and Liev Schreiber, released in December 2006. She has since finished the films Funny Games (a remake of an Austrian movie) with Tim Roth and Eastern Promises with Viggo Mortensen.

The press has labeled her the "queen of remakes" because she has starred in so many remakes, and she is scheduled to star in the remake of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963).[7]

In May 2006, Watts was named a special representative to the U.N. program for HIV/AIDS.

On July 24, 2007, The Courier-Mail reported that Naomi Watts had been cast as Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, with Stuart Townsend and Joseph Fiennes, the younger brother of Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort), also being cast in unspecified roles.[8] On the next day, representatives of Watts, Townsend and Fiennes said that the rumors were not true.[9]

[edit] Personal life
Watts with her partner Liev Schreiber
Watts with her partner Liev Schreiber

Watts previously dated director Daniel Kirby, playwright Jeff Smeenge, director Stephen Hopkins and actor Heath Ledger for a couple years, her co-star in the film Ned Kelly. Since spring 2005, Watts has dated actor Liev Schreiber. They co-starred in The Painted Veil. The couple's son, Alexander Pete, was born on July 26, 2007 in Los Angeles.[10]

Watts is a close friend of Benicio del Toro, with whom she co-starred in 21 Grams. After filming The Painted Veil, she converted to Buddhism, claiming, "I have some belief but I am not a strict Buddhist or anything yet. There was a lot of excitement and energy there".[11]

nicole scherzinger





Nicole Prescovia Elikolani Valiente Scherzinger (also known as Nicole Kea) (born June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and occasional actress best known for her work as the lead vocalist for the Pussycat Dolls.

Scherzinger was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to a Filipino father and a Hawaiian/Russian mother.[1] Her mother Rosemary was 18 at the time of Nicole's birth, and separated from her father when Nicole was a baby.[2] Then they moved to Louisville, Kentucky with her sister Ke'ala and German-American stepfather Gary Scherzinger, who adopted the children. She has described her upbringing as "conservative Catholic".[3] She began her life as a performer in Louisville, attending the Youth Performing Arts School at duPont Manual High School and performing with Actors Theatre of Louisville. Scherzinger majored in theater arts at Wright State University, but put her studies on hold in 1999 to sing backing vocals for the rock band Days of the New.

[edit] Recording career

[edit] 1999 – 2001

Scherzinger appeared on the second album by Days of the New, released in 1999. She also recorded two songs with Barry Drake's F.O.B, which were released in 2001.

[edit] Eden's Crush

Main article: Eden's Crush

In 2001, Scherzinger competed in the premiere season of The WB's television show Popstars, on which she earned a spot in the all-girl pop group Eden's Crush. She became one of the main vocalists for the group. The group's 2001 single "Get Over Yourself" peaked at #1 in sales and hit the top ten on Billboard Hot 100. "Love This Way" was the second single chosen from the Popstars album; however, their record company, London-Sire Records, folded and the group eventually disbanded. Songwriter Kara DioGuardi contributed one track to the album, and later went on to co-write with Scherzinger for PCD and Her Name is Nicole.

In November 2007, Scherzinger talked of her time in Eden's Crush
“ ...it was hell... I was in a band with five other girls and every day was torture for me. We were on TV all the time and the atmosphere was awful. I was the one nobody liked and there was nothing I could do to stop that. Maybe it was because I was the pretty one. The other girls thought I was bitchy and ambitious. They would all say things about me, both to my face and behind my back... Every day I was in that band I cried my eyes out. The band was meant to be fun and frivolous but the reality was that it was miserable... I was too sensitive back then, but I got toughened up. I couldn't have gone into the Dolls without my experience in Crush.[4] ”

[edit] 2001 – 2003

After the disbanding of Eden's Crush, Scherzinger made a few promotional solo appearances under the stage name of Nicole Kea, including covering "Breakfast in Bed" for the soundtrack to 50 First Dates in 2003.

Scherzinger worked with Yoshiki Hayashi on in his Violet UK project. She sang the English version of "I'll Be Your Love" live with the Tokyo Symphonic Orchestra. The track also appeared on the 2003 Various Artists album Exposition of Global Harmony.

[edit] Pussycat Dolls

Main article: Pussycat Dolls

In May 2003, Scherzinger joined The Pussycat Dolls burlesque troupe, who were being re-cast as recording artists. She had first seen them performing on The Late Show with David Letterman in November 2002, where Carmen Electra sang "Big Spender" from the Bob Fosse musical Sweet Charity. In 2006, Scherzinger said "It caught my eye because I’d played Velma Kelly in [Fosse's] Chicago in college."[5] The Pussycat Dolls now have world-wide status as a popular singing group; their Billboard top five hits "Don't Cha", "Buttons","Stickwitu", and "Wait a Minute" and the top 20 hit "Beep". The album PCD went double-platinum in 2006. Scherzinger sang nearly all lead vocals on the album, with Melody Thornton and Carmit Bachar also contributing.

Scherzinger is the only group member with songwriting credits on PCD; she co-wrote "I Don't Need a Man" with Kara DioGuardi and producer Rich Harrison, and co-wrote "Buttons" with producer Sean Garrett. Another collaboration with DioGuardi, "Flirt", became a B-side to "Stickwitu" and a bonus track on PCD.

In 2006, Scherzinger toured with the Pussycat Dolls for their album promotion. It was revealed in 2006 that the Dolls are salaried employees of Interscope Records, giving the label a high level of control over the group's finances and business decisions. Scherzinger's PCD nickname is "Lead Doll" or "Queen Doll".[citation needed]

She was ranked #22 on Maxim's Hot 100 in 2006.[6]

[edit] Duets

Following the popularity of "Don't Cha" and the continuing rise of the Pussycat Dolls, Scherzinger recorded a series of duets or "guest appearances", predominantly with male vocalists. In 2005, she appeared on recordings by Shaggy, Vittorio Grigolo, and Will Smith. The following year she sang on Avant's single "Lie About Us" and P. Diddy's hit "Come to Me" (which she also co-wrote). Other appearances are listed in her discography.

[edit] Vocal And Dancing Abilities

Scherzinger has been dancing her whole life and has stated in many interviews that Hula dancing was the first thing she knew how to do. She has the most vocal range out of all the Dolls and like Thornton she is able to hit the falsetto register which is very noticeable in Baby Love. According to her official website, Scherzinger possesses a five-octave vocal range.

Spice Girls Official Site Pictures & News

Spice Girls




The Spice Girls are one of the biggest girl pop groups of all time, and were formed in London in 1994. Consisting of Victoria Beckham (née Adams), Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell and Melanie Chisholm the girls signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe", in 1996. The song went on to spend seven weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart and helped establish the group as an "international phenomenon".[1] They went on to release three studio albums and ten singles, selling in excess of 55 million records worldwide.[2]

Under the guidance of their long time mentor and manager Simon Fuller, the group embraced merchandising and became a regular feature of the British press. Each member of the group was given an alias by Top of the Pops Magazine in 1996, aliases which were adopted by the group and media alike. According to biographer David Sinclair, "Scary, Baby, Ginger, Posh and Sporty were the most widely recognised group of individuals since John, Paul, George and Ringo", and the group was "a social phenomenon that changed the course of popular music and popular culture".[3]

The members went their separate ways in 2001 (although a break-up was never formally announced) to focus on their solo careers. On 28 June 2007 all five re-formed before the launch of their ongoing World Tour in November, alongside the release of their Greatest Hits album.

Contents [hide]
1 Group history
1.1 Beginning
1.2 Spice
1.3 Spiceworld
1.4 Goodbye
1.5 Forever
1.6 Break-Up
1.7 Solo Careers
1.8 Reunion
2 New Album
3 Cultural impact
3.1 The British music scene
3.2 "Girl Power"
3.3 "Cool Britannia"
3.4 Icons of the 1990s
4 Career records and achievements
5 Discography
5.1 Singles
5.2 Albums
6 Tours
7 References
7.1 Citations
7.2 Book references
8 External links



[edit] Group history

[edit] Beginning
In early 1990s, father-and-son management team Chris and Bob Herbert set about creating an all female group that could compete with the onslaught of equally popular boy bands that dominated the pop music scene in the early to mid 1990s: "the whole teen-band scene at the time was saturated by boy bands. It was all clones of New Kids on the Block and Take That. That was all a bit of a yawn for me, and only appealed to female audiences...I felt if you could appeal to the boys as well, you'd be laughing".[4] In February 1994, Heart Management – which comprised the Herberts together with financier Chic Murphy – placed an advertisement in The Stage trade magazine asking "are you street smart, extrovert, ambitious and able to sing and dance".[5] Hundreds of girls responded and the applicants were whittled down to a final five that included Victoria Adams, Lianne Morgan, Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell, and Michelle Stephenson.[5] The group was given the name "Touch",[5] and moved into a house together in Maidenhead, Berkshire, (owned by Murphy) where they were subsidized by Heart Management and each was claiming unemployment benefit. However Lianne Morgan was axed from the lineup due to her age and was replaced by Melanie Chisholm who was the same age. During the first two months the group worked on demos and dance routines at the Trinity Studios in Knaphill. According to Stephenson, the material the group was given was "very, very young pop" and included the song "We’re Gonna Make It Happen", a record that never came to light.[6] It soon became apparent that Stephenson did not have the drive and belief that the rest of the group had, so the decision was made to fire her from the group. Bob Herbert stated that "she just wasn't fitting in...she would never have gelled with it and I had to tell her to go".[7] However, Stephenson stated it was her decision to leave the group because of the illness of her mother, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. Victoria later dismissed this claim saying she "just couldn't be arsed" to put in the work the rest of the group was doing.[8] The Herberts searched for a replacement and first came across Abigail Kas, who did not impress, and then were led to eighteen-year-old Emma Bunton at the suggestion of vocal coach Pepe Lemer. Bunton instantly impressed the Herberts and was invited to meet the group in July 1994, who welcomed her with open arms: "Straight away I knew she was the one", stated Halliwell.[9]

After Bunton joined the girls there was growing discontent amongst the group with the management team. The group felt insecure about the lack of a contract and were frustrated by the direction in which Heart Management was steering them. They persuaded Bob Herbert to set up a showcase performance for the group in front of industry writers, producers and A&R men in December 1994 at the Nomis Studios in Shepherds Bush where they received an "overwhelmingly positive" reaction.[10] Due to the large interest in the group, the Herberts quickly set about creating a binding contract for the group. Encouraged by the reaction they had received at the Nomis showcase the five girls delayed signing contracts on the legal advice from, amongst others, Victoria's father Tony Adams. In March 1995, because of the group's frustration at their management's unwillingness to listen to their visions and ideas, they parted from Heart Management. In what biographer David Sinclair calls an "incredibly self-serving and underhand" ploy, the group stole the master recordings of their discography from the management offices in order to ensure they kept control of their own work.[11] That same day the girls tracked down Sheffield-based producer Eliot Kennedy, who had been present at the showcase, and persuaded him to work with the group.

In October 1994, armed with a catalogue of demos and dance routines, the group began touring management agencies. The group was introduced to record producers Absolute, who in turn brought them to the attention of Simon Fuller of 19 Management. The girls began a relationship with Fuller and finally signed with him in March 1995.[12] During the summer of that year the group toured record labels in London and Los Angeles with Fuller and finally signed a deal with Virgin Records in September 1995. From this point up to the summer of 1996 the girls continued to write and record tracks for their debut album while extensively touring the west coast of America, where they had signed a publishing deal with Windswept Pacific.'[12]


[edit] Spice
On July 8, 1996 the Spice Girls released their debut single "Wannabe" in the United Kingdom. In the weeks leading up to the release, the video for "Wannabe", (directed by Johan Camitz and shot in April at St Pancras Chambers in London), had dominated the music channels. In July 1996 the group conducted their first interview with Paul Gorman, the contributing editor of music industry paper Music Week, at Virgin Records' London headquarters. His piece recognised that the Spice Girls were about to institute a change in the charts away from Britpop and towards out-and-out pop. He wrote: "Just when boys with guitars threaten to rule pop life, an all-girl, in-yer-face pop group has arrived with enough sass to burst that rockist cherry!!" The song entered the charts at number 3 before moving up to number 1 the following week and staying there for seven weeks. The song proved to be a global hit, hitting number 1 in 31 countries and becoming not only the biggest selling debut single by an all-female group but also the biggest-selling single by an all-female group of all time. "Wannabe" also proved to be a catalyst in helping the Spice Girls break into the notoriously difficult U.S. market when it debuted on the Hot 100 Chart at number 11. At the time, this was the highest-ever debut by a British (or non-American) act in the US, beating the previous record held by The Beatles for "I Want to Hold Your Hand".[12] "Wannabe" reached number one in the US four weeks later.

In November 1996 the Spice Girls released their debut album Spice in Europe. The success was unprecedented and drew comparisons to Beatlemania due to the sheer volume of interest in the group[13]. In just seven weeks Spice had sold 1.8 million copies in Britain alone,[14] making the Spice Girls the fastest selling British act since The Beatles. In total, the album sold 3 million copies in Britain[14] and peaked at number one for fifteen non-consecutive weeks. In Europe the album became the biggest-selling album of 1997 and was certified 8x Platinum by the IFPI for sales in excess of 8 million copies.[15] In the United States Spice became the biggest-selling album of 1997, peaking at number one and being certified 7x Platinum by the RIAA[16]

Riding a wave of publicity and hype, the group released their next singles, "Say You'll Be There" (replacing 'Love Thing') and "2 Become 1(the Christmas Number 1)", in October and December respectively. The two tracks continued the group's remarkable sales by topping the charts in over fifty-three countries and cementing the group's reputation as the biggest pop act in the world.

The last release from Spice was a double A-side of "Mama"/"Who Do You Think You Are", which once again saw them at number one.[12]


[edit] Spiceworld
In November 1997 the Spice Girls released their second album, Spiceworld. Preceded by the single "Spice Up Your Life", the album proved to be an instant global best seller. It set a new record for the fastest-selling album over two weeks when it shipped 7 million copies. Gaining favourable reviews,[17] the album went on to sell over 10 million copies in Europe,[18] Canada,[19] and the United States [16] combined. Criticised in America for releasing the album just nine months after their debut there and suffering from over-exposure at home, the Spice Girls began to experience a media backlash. The group was criticised for the number of sponsorship deals signed – over twenty in total – and they began to witness diminishing international chart positions. Nevertheless, the Spice Girls remained the biggest-selling pop group of both 1997 and 1998. Further singles released from the album included "Too Much", "Stop" and "Viva Forever" – with "Stop" being the only track not to hit number one in Britain (it entered and peaked at number two). The track, along with their first single after their June 2007 reunion, Headlines (Friendship Never Ends) remain their only two singles not to go to number one in the UK.

In June 1997 the group began filming their movie debut, Spiceworld: The Movie, with Absolutely Fabulous and Fawlty Towers director Bob Spiers. Meant to accompany the album, the comical style and content of the movie was in the same vein as The Beatles' films in the 1960s such as A Hard Day's Night. The light-hearted comedy, intended to capture the spirit of the Spice Girls, featured a plethora of stars including Roger Moore, Elton John, Jennifer Saunders, Richard E. Grant, Michael Barrymore and Meat Loaf. Released in December 1997, Spiceworld: The Movie proved to be a hit in revenue taking in over 100 million dollars in the box office and DVD sales.[20] The movie received a lukewarm reception from critics; however it was nominated for seven awards at the 1999 Golden Raspberry Awards where they won the award for "Worst Actress".[21]

On November 7, 1997 the Spice Girls fired Simon Fuller. It was reported on the front page of The Sun newspaper and around the world. Many commentators speculated that Fuller had been the true mastermind behind the group, and that this was the moment when the band lost their impetus and direction. According to their various autobiographies, it was mainly Geri and Melanie B who pushed for Fuller’s dismissal. They cited that he had become too controlling by restricting their personal and artistic freedom. The group quickly found the burden of managing themselves time consuming, so they assigned various responsibilities to each member of the group, Melanie B's: Tour Control, Geri's: Sponsorship, Emma's: Personnel, Schedule and Charities, Victoria's: Merchandising and Finance, Melanie C's: Record Company, Singles and Formats. They later built their own team, headed by Nancy Phillips, to deal with their affairs. Two of the Spice Girls Emma Bunton and Victoria Adams, later returned to Fuller's stable once it was clear the impetus behind the group was starting to disappear.

In early 1998 the Spice Girls embarked upon the world tour that Fuller had set up for them covering Europe and North America. The Spiceworld Tour kicked off in Dublin, Ireland on February 24, 1998 before moving on to mainland Europe and then returning to Britain for fourteen gigs at Wembley Arena and Birmingham’s NEC Arena. It was here that recordings were made for a planned live album, which was confirmed by the group: "We've shown everyone we can do the business on stage, so now we want to do a live album for fans". Despite masters of the recording being made, the idea was eventually dropped.


[edit] Goodbye
On May 31, 1998 Geri Halliwell announced her departure from the Spice Girls. Through her solicitor she issued the following statement: "Sadly I would like to confirm that I have left the Spice Girls. This is because of differences between us. I'm sure the group will continue to be successful and I wish them all the best".[22] Halliwell claimed that she was suffering from exhaustion and wanted to take time out. However rumours persisted that she had fallen out with one of the other girls (reportedly Melanie B; ironically, she physically left a day before Melanie B's birthday, though she announced her departure two days later, the fact she abruptly left while on tour fuels this rumour more). Geri’s departure from the group shocked fans and became one of the biggest entertainment news stories of the year, making news headlines the world over.[23] The four remaining girls were adamant though that the group would carry on and that their approaching North American tour would continue as normal. Geri Halliwell's departure threw most of the group's plans into disarray. It was cited as the reason the planned live album was cancelled. It also meant that most of the material the girls had recorded throughout the first half of 1998 at Dublin's Windmill Lane Studios with long-time collaborators Richard Stannard and Matt Rowe was eventually scrapped. A rumoured animated venture by Disney also failed to materialise.

"Viva Forever", was the last single taken off Spiceworld. The video for the single was made before Geri's departure and features the girls in animated form – a decision made because there was no time to produce a video due to the heavy world tour schedule. Originally planned as a double A-side with "Never Give Up On The Good Times", the idea was dropped for several reasons, mainly due to time restraints (since there was no time to re-record and edit out Geri's vocals or make a video for the track). While on tour in America the group continued to record new material and they released a new song, "Goodbye", in Christmas 1998. Although written before her departure, the song was nevertheless seen as a tribute to Geri and when it topped the British chart it became their third consecutive Christmas number one – equalling the record previously set by The Beatles. The song also became one of the most successful songs of the 1990s in Canada, where it stayed at number one for sixteen weeks.


[edit] Forever
1999 was dedicated to solo projects with the release of Melanie C's solo debut album and two singles were released by Emma Bunton and Melanie B.

At the end of 1999 they performed live for a UK-only Christmas tour, named Christmas in Spiceworld, in London and Manchester.

In November 2000 the group released Forever. Sporting a new edgier R&B sound, the album received a lukewarm response[24] and achieved only a fraction of the success of its two best-selling predecessors. In the US it peaked at number thirty-nine on the Billboard 200 albums chart. In the UK the album was released the same week as Westlife’s Coast To Coast album and the chart battle was widely reported by the media, Westlife won the battle reaching number one in the UK, leaving the Spice Girls at number 2. The lead single from "Forever", the double A-side "Holler" / "Let Love Lead The Way", did enjoy some success – it became the group's ninth number one single in the UK. However the song failed to break onto the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart stateside, instead peaking at number seven on the Bubbling Under chart. "Holler" did peak at number thirty-one on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play in 2001.

The only major performance of the lead single came at the MTV Europe Music Awards in November 2000 and, a few TV performances aside, the group did little meaningful promotion, their last performance was in December 2000. The Spice Girls came back at the 2000 Brits, and it was announced that they had received the Lifetime Achievement Award. In an attempt to cover more ground, the girls split up and covered different countries separately; for example Victoria and Emma headed to North America while Melanie B and C concentrated on Europe. Further planned single releases off the album never materialised. Promo singles of "Tell Me Why", "Weekend Love" and "If You Wanna Have Some Fun" came into circulation but to fans' dismay the "Forever" project was abandoned as the girls each began to concentrate on solo careers.


[edit] Break-Up
Rumours of Melanie C quitting the band began to spread as she said that she no longer felt comfortable in the band and doesn't intend to do any more work with them.[citation needed] In February 2001, the group announced that, despite only coming back in late 2000, they were having a break and going apart for the foreseeable future, concentrating on their solo careers. Though saying in March 2001 that they will still be together, conflict began to break out amongst the members; in mid-2001, Mel B was dropped by Virgin Records. Emma Bunton once stated that they may do a tour in 2002, however, Melanie B and Victoria sacked their manager Nancy Phillips in October 2001. Nancy would later be working with Melanie C on her solo career under Melanie's independent label Red Girl Records from 2004[citation needed].


[edit] Solo Careers
The Spice Girls are one of the few bands in which all the members have gone on to achieve some success as solo artists. Melanie C and Geri Halliwell have achieved the most solo success. Mel C's debut album Northern Star went triple platinum in the UK and sold 3 million copies along with two UK #1 singles. Melanie C would score another hit record with 'Reason' which went Gold. Her third album 'Beautiful Intentions' sold over a million copies in Europe; she also holds a record for co-writing more UK number-ones than any other female artist (equal to Madonna). Geri Halliwell's debut album 'Schizophonic' went double platinum in the UK and sold 2 million copies worldwide. Geri's second album went on to sell over a million copies worldwide. Geri has had the most hits as a solo artist with four #1 hits. Emma Bunton has scored a string of Top 10 hits in the UK, along with two Gold albums and a Silver album. Mel B and Victoria Beckham have largely failed as solo artists. Both struggled to sell many albums in their native UK. Mel B's album 'Hot' did spawn a UK #1 single though.Victoria Beckham is the only member not to have a UK #1 solo single.


[edit] Reunion
On June 28, 2007 the group held a press conference at The O2 in London, formally announcing their intention to reunite.[25] The plan to reform had long been speculated by the media,[26] but the group now confirmed their intention to embark upon a world wide concert tour, starting in Vancouver on December 2, 2007.[27] Filmmaker, Bob Smeaton, will direct an official documentary on the reunion. It is entitled Spice Girls: Giving You Everything and was first aired on Australia's Fox8 on December 16, 2007,[28] and aired on BBC One in the UK, on December 31.[29]


The Spice Girls in concert at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.Ticket sales for the first London date of "The Return of the Spice Girls" World Tour sold out in 38 seconds.[30] It was reported that over one million people signed up in the UK alone and over five million worldwide for the ticket ballot on the band's official website.[30] Sixteen additional dates in London had been added[31] and have since sold out. In America, the Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Jose shows also sold out, prompting additional dates to be added.[32] It was announced that the Spice Girls would be playing dates in Chicago and Detroit (Auburn Hills) and Boston, as well as additional dates in New York to keep up with the demand. On the very first concert in Canada, they performed to an audience of 15,000 people, singing twenty songs and changing a total of eight times.[33]

Along with the current tour sell-out, the Spice Girls have licensed their name and image to Tesco's UK supermarket chain.[34] The band have reportedly been paid £5 million for their appearances in Tesco advertisements.[35]

The group's comeback single, "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)", was announced as the official Children in Need charity single for 2007 and was released 5 November. The first public appearance on stage by the Spice Girls was made at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, where the group performed at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. They performed two songs, 1998 single "Stop" and the lead single off their greatest hits album, "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)". The show was filmed by CBS on November 15, 2007 for broadcast on December 4, 2007.[36] They also performed the song live for the BBC Children in Need telethon on November 16, 2007 from Los Angeles,[37] in elegant Roberto Cavalli gowns.[37] The release peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart, making it the groups lowest charting British single to date. However the album faired better, peaking at number two on the UK Albums Chart behind Leona Lewis' record breaking debut.[38] Australia was the only country for the album to debut and reach number 1.[39] This is the first Spice Girls album to reach number 1 in Australia. To date, their Greatest Hits album has been declared platinum in Australia and the UK, and gold in the United States, Argentina, Canada, Brazil and New Zealand. Headlines has sold over 65,000 copies in the UK, still meaning it was a hit, if not as successful as previous releases.

On December 22, 2007, the Spice Girls performed "2 Become 1" on the final of Strictly Come Dancing.[40]


[edit] New Album
During a recent interview backstage of one of their 02 Arena gigs in December 2007, Melanie C said "the music industry had changed" since their inital success, and, following the relative disappointment of "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)", the possibility of a new album was very small. However, it has been recently reported that EMI had offered the girls a one-album £8million deal to release a new album. Material would need to be written and recorded. Although this story is yet to be officially confirmed, EMI replied saying "We never discuss future or current contracts". It is also rumoured that the girls will make plans to release a Live album, with the recordings made in the 02 arena tipped for use. The song "Woman" was preformed in the Christmas In Spiceworld tour in 1999, and was never used on the "Forever" album, due to its pop vibe not fitting in with the R'n'B sound of the album, however, rumours it would be released as a single came to light in August 2007 in Star Magazine, and Showbiz editior of the News Of The World, Rav, also reviewed it as a single shortly after, once "Headlines" was confirmed as the single, rumours persisted that a new version with all 5 members would be released as a b-side to the single. The song is yet to be released or leaked. But, a digital release could be on the cards toward the end of the tour, but, these rumours are yet to be confirmed or denied by bandmembers or management.


[edit] Cultural impact

[edit] The British music scene
After being shut out by the Brit Pop revolution that occurred in the early 1990s when bands like Oasis, Pulp and Blur dominated the charts, pop music found a voice again. The image of the Spice Girls was deliberately aimed at young girls, an audience of formidable size and potential; reinforcing the range of appeal within the target demographic were the bandmates' five distinctive personalities, which encouraged fans to identify with one member or another. This marketing was helped in no small way by the aliases assigned to each member of the group. Shortly after Wannabe’s release, the group appeared in "Top Of The Pops" magazine where each member was given a nickname based upon their image: Victoria became "Posh Spice", Emma became "Baby Spice," Melanie B was named "Scary Spice", Geri was named "Sexy Spice" (quickly changed to "Ginger Spice" due to issues with the word "sexy" on children's television), and Melanie C became "Sporty Spice".[41] These nicknames quickly caught the imagination of the tabloids and they stuck with the girls throughout their careers.


[edit] "Girl Power"
The "Girl Power" slogan was met with varied reactions, both positive and negative. The phrase was a label for the particular facet of feminist empowerment embraced by the band: that a sensual, feminine appearance and equality between the sexes need not be mutually exclusive. This concept was by no means original in the pop world; both Madonna and Bananarama had employed similar outlooks, and the phrase was most likely first coined by Welsh indie band Helen Love in 1993 and made famous by British pop duo Shampoo in 1995. However, the Spice Girls' version was distinctive. Its message of empowerment appealed to young girls, adolescents and adult women, and it emphasized the importance of strong, loyal friendship among females. In all, the focused, consistent presentation of "girl power" formed the centrepiece of their appeal as a band.[42] Some critics dismissed it as no more than a shallow marketing tactic, while others took issue with the emphasis on physical appearance, concerned about the potential impact on self-conscious and/or impressionable youngsters. Regardless, the phrase became a cultural phenomenon, adopted as the mantra for millions of girls and even making it into the Oxford English Dictionary.[43] In summation of the concept, author Ryan Dawson said, "The Spice Girls changed British culture enough for Girl Power to now seem completely unremarkable."[44]


[edit] "Cool Britannia"
The term "Cool Britannia" became prominent in the media and represented the new political and social climate that was emerging with the advances made by New Labour and Tony Blair. Coming out of a period of 18 years of Conservative government, Tony Blair and New Labour were seen as young, cool and very appealing, a main driving force in making Britain look fashionable again. Although by no means responsible for the onset of "Cool Britannia", the arrival of the Spice Girls added to the new image and re-branding of Britain, and underlined the growing world popularity of British, rather than U.S., pop music[citation needed]. This fact was underlined at the BRIT Awards in 1997. The group won two awards[45] but it was Geri Halliwell's Union Jack dress that appeared in media coverage over the world and eventually became a symbol of "Cool Britannia".


[edit] Icons of the 1990s
The Union Jack dress Geri wore has acquired something of an iconic status, and sold at a cancer charity auction for for £36,000 after interest from a frenzy of bidders.[46] The dress was one of many items of Spice Girls memorabilia sold at the auction, where total sales reached £146,511 for charity.[46]

The Spice Girls are revered as Gay Icons, especially in the UK. By a market survey of the homepage onepoll.com more than 5,000 gays and lesbians from the UK voted the members Victoria Beckham place 12 and Geri Halliwell place 43 to the Top 50 gay icons of all time.[47] Geri joked at the Video Music Awards in 1998 about her appearance as Ginger Spice: "As you have noted, I am no longer dressed like a drag queen". Emma Bunton, during an interview, explained why the Spice Girls have so many gay fans: "We were really flattered with having such a huge gay fan base because they know about fashion and they know about songs...I'm so flattered that we've got such a huge gay following, it's amazing."[48]

Ten years after the release of their debut single The Spice Girls were voted the biggest cultural icons of the 1990s by 80% in a UK poll of 1,000 people carried out for the board game Trivial Pursuit, stating that "Girl Power" defined the decade.[49]


[edit] Career records and achievements
Total record sales in the region of 55+ million. As of February 2000, the Spice Girls had certified sales of 35 million albums and 18.2 million singles:[2]
Certified sales of 13 million albums in Europe,[15] 11 million in the US,[16] and 2.2 million in Canada.[19]
Total of nine number one singles in the UK - tied with ABBA behind Take That (ten), The Shadows (twelve), Madonna (twelve), Westlife (fourteen), Cliff Richard (fourteen), The Beatles (seventeen) and Elvis Presley (twenty-one).
Three consecutive Christmas number one singles in the UK for: ("2 Become 1," 1996; "Too Much," 1997; "Goodbye," 1998)[50]
"Wannabe" is the biggest selling single by an all female group. Sales are in the region of 6 million copies.[51]
First (and only) female act to have their first six singles ("Wannabe", "Say You'll Be There", "2 Become 1", "Mama/Who Do You Think You Are", "Spice Up Your Life" and "Too Much") make number one on the UK charts. (Their run was broken by "Stop", which peaked at number two in March 1998.)
The Spice Girls achieved the highest ever annual earnings by an all female group in 1998 with an income of $49 million.[52]
"Spice" is the 13th biggest-selling album of all time in the UK with over 3 million copies sold. It topped the charts for 15 weeks (non-consecutive), the most by a female group in the UK.[53]
Highest international debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at number five with "Say You'll Be There". (This record still holds to date.)
"Spiceworld" shipped 7 million copies in just two weeks, including 1.4 million in Britain alone - the largest-ever shipment of an album over 14 days.[54]
Spiceworld: The Movie broke the record for the highest-ever weekend debut for Super Bowl Weekend (January 25, 1998) in the US, with box office sales of $10,527,222. This record has since been beaten by The Butterfly Effect in 2004.[55]
Spiceworld: The Movie topped the UK video charts on its first week of release, selling over 55,000 copies on its first day in the shops.[56]
Received several awards including four BRIT Awards, three American Music Awards, three MTV Europe Music Awards, one MTV Video Music Awards and three World Music Awards.
23,000 tickets for Spice Girls reunion shows in London sold out in 38 seconds.[

Jessica Seinfeld

Jessica Seinfeld



essica Seinfeld (nee Nina Danielle Sklar, born September 12, 1971 in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York) is the wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld and author of a cookbook for preparing food for children. She graduated from the University of Vermont, and worked in public relations for Golden Books Entertainment [1], as well as for Tommy Hilfiger.

She met her current husband at a Manhattan gym in 1998, just before she married Broadway scion Eric Nederlander, on June 13 of that year. [2] After she returned from her honeymoon, Sklar took up with Seinfeld, and her husband filed for divorce in mid-October. Sklar and Seinfeld became engaged in early November 1998, and were married on December 25, 1999. They now have a daughter, Sascha, and two sons, Julian Kal and Shepherd Kellen.

In 2000, Seinfeld launched Baby Buggy, a charity that provides clothing and gear for the infants and young children of low-income women. The organization works with 60 social services agencies to distribute nearly 100,000 baby products a year. [3]

[edit] Cookbook controversy

In 2007, Seinfeld published the cookbook Deceptively Delicious, which contains strategies and recipes for making healthy food appealing to young children. She was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and the book reached Number 1 on Amazon.com, Number 2 on the USA Today best-seller list, and Number 1 on the The New York Times Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous list. The book, however, stirred controversy when it was alleged that more than a dozen of the same recipes in Seinfeld's book appeared in another author's cookbook, The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine, published earlier that year. [4] The unusual combinations that appear in Lapine's recipes — such as spinach in brownies, avocado in chocolate pudding, and sweet potato in grilled cheese sandwiches — also appear in Seinfeld's book. [5] Lapine had twice unsuccessfully shopped her manuscript to Seinfeld's publisher (HarperCollins) only months before it chose to publish Seinfeld's instead. Seinfeld's agent is Jennifer Rudolph Walsh.

In response to the accusations, Seinfeld told The New York Times: "I don’t need to copy someone’s idea. I’ve got enough going on in my life." [6] Her husband, in an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, called Lapine a "wacko" and said his wife was being "accused of a Watergate-style break-in."

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Victoria Beckham

Victoria Beckham



Victoria Caroline Beckham (née Adams; born 17 April 1974)[1][2] is an English pop singer, songwriter, dancer, turned fashion designer, author, businesswoman, and occasional actress.

During her rise to fame with 1990s pop group the Spice Girls, she was dubbed Posh Spice, a moniker first coined by the British tabloid press. Since the Spice Girls followed separate careers, Beckham has dabbled with pop music, scoring four UK Top 10 singles as a solo artist. Her first single to be released, "Out of Your Mind", reached number two in the UK Singles Chart and is her highest chart entry to date. During her solo music career she has been signed to Virgin Records and Telstar Records.

However, Beckham has found more success as an internationally recognized and photographed style icon. She has had a significant career in fashion, designing a line of jeans for Rock & Republic and later designing her own denim brand, dvb Style. Beckham has brought out her own range of sunglasses and fragrance, entitled Intimately Beckham which has been released in the UK and America. In association with the Japanese store, Samantha Thavasa, she has produced a range of handbags and jewellery. In addition, she has released two bestselling books, one her autobiography, the other a fashion guide.

In her television ventures, Beckham has had five official documentaries and reality shows made about her, some of which include Being Victoria Beckham and The Real Beckhams. Her last documentary to date was Victoria Beckham: Coming to America which documented her move to America with her family in 2007, but it was poorly received by American critics. She since made a cameo appearance in an episode of American TV series, Ugly Betty.

Universally referred to as "Posh", she is married to English football player David Beckham with whom she has three sons. Their joint wealth is estimated at £112 million.
Early life

Beckham was born to Anthony and Jacqueline Adams and raised in the prosperous area of Goff's Oak, Hertfordshire.[3] Beckham's father was an electronics engineer[3] and the success of the family business meant a wealthy upbringing for Beckham and her siblings,[1] Louise and Christian.[4]

Beckham attended St. Mary's High School in Cheshunt and Jason Theatre School in Hoddesdon. She was embarrassed by her family's wealth and often begged her father not to drop her off outside the school in their Rolls Royce.[5] During her schooling days, Beckham was a victim of bullying, being made to feel like an outsider. She commented "Children were literally picking things up out of the puddles and throwing them at me. And I just stood there, on my own. No one was with me. I didn't have any friends."[6]

After Beckham had watched the musical, Fame, it inspired her and she subsequently decided that she wanted to become famous.[7] It was then that her parents enrolled her at Jason Theatre School.[1] At 17, she attended Laine Theatre Arts College in Epsom, Surrey and studied dance and modelling.[1][2] She was also in a band called Persuasion.[8]

[edit] Career

[edit] Spice Girls

Beckham (known then as Victoria Adams) joined the all-girl group Spice Girls, first called "Touch," in 1994, with Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, Melanie Brown and Melanie Chisholm. She had previously answered an advertisement in The Stage in March 1993 which required girls who were "street smart, extrovert, ambitious and able to sing and dance".[3]

The group's first single, "Wannabe," went to number one in the UK and the United States, and would be followed by eight other successful number one singles from their albums, Spice and Spiceworld.[2] Each member of the group received a nickname from the media; Beckham became "Posh Spice". The group was one of the most successful pop acts of the 1990s, selling over fifty-five million records worldwide.[9] After the release of their third album, Forever (UK#2), which was much less successful than their previous two albums, the Spice Girls stopped recording, leading Beckham to try to build a solo career.
Victoria Beckham on Spice Girls tour.
Victoria Beckham on Spice Girls tour.

In 2007, the Spice Girls reformed and announced plans to embark upon a comeback tour,[9] from which they are said to make £10 million each.[10] Beckham had previously stated that she and her former Spice colleagues were enjoying their solo careers in various fields. She said "We're all still doing our own thing."[11] Their "Greatest Hits" album was released in early November, and the tour began on 2 December 2007. Beckham has stated "I wanted my children to see that Mummy was a pop star. It was the last opportunity for them to stand in a crowd full of people screaming for the Spice Girls."[12] When Beckham had her hair coloured brown for the reunion tour, she stated that her sons immediately reacted by saying "Oh my goodness, it's Posh Spice. She's back."[13] During one Spice Girls performance at London's The O2 Arena, her three sons accompanied her on stage during one song, along with the other Spice Girls' children.[14] She is the only member of the group not to sing alone on the tour, instead doing a makeshift catwalk and pose in the style of a fashion show, whereas the others each perform a song from their solo careers.[15] Filmmaker, Bob Smeaton, has also directed an official documentary on the reunion. It is entitled Spice Girls: Giving You Everything and was first aired on Fox8 in Australia. It later aired in the United Kingdom on 31 December 2007 on BBC One.[16]

As well as the sell-out tour, the Spice Girls have been contracted to appear in Tesco advertisements, for which they were paid £1 million each.[17]

[edit] Solo music artist

On 14 August 2000, Victoria released her first solo single, "Out Of Your Mind" in collaboration with Dane Bowers and Truesteppers.[3] The week of release coincided with the release of "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" by Spiller ft. Sophie Ellis-Bextor, resulting in a chart battle dubbed 'Posh vs. Posher' by the tabloids.[18] Following a huge publicity campaign, "Out Of Your Mind" was outsold by Ellis-Bextor, and debuted at number two in the UK Singles Chart.[19] Before the single's release, on 8 July 2000 she made her public solo debut at London's Hyde Park at a concert to raise money for the Prince's Trust charity. She sang "Out of Your Mind" to a 100,000-strong audience.[20]

Beckham then signed recording contract with her group label Virgin Records.[2] Her next single as a solo artist, "Not Such An Innocent Girl", was released on 17 September 2001.[1] Again, she faced competition in another hugely hyped chart battle, this time with Kylie Minogue's single "Can't Get You Out Of My Head".[21] Despite a huge promotional campaign, Beckham was outsold eight to one, and the single debuted at number 6.[22] Beckham's debut album, eponymously entitled Victoria Beckham, was released on 1 October 2001, and reached number 10 in the UK album chart.[23] The album cost a reputed £5 million to produce and it sold a modest 50,000 copies.[24]

The second and final single to be released from the album was "A Mind of Its Own" on 11 February 2002. The single reached number 6 in the UK[25] and sold 56,500 copies.[26] Rumours soon started spreading that Beckham was soon to be dropped by her label for not charting in the top 3. These were strongly refuted at the time.[27] Beckham commented "You know what newspapers are like, they just like to put all the negative stuff in, but as far as I'm concerned and the record company is concerned it is all great."[27]

A third single, "I Wish", was promoted but never materialized. The single version was a remix featuring Robbie Craig, and was performed on TV on Friday Night's All Wright.[28] Following the announcement of Beckham's second pregnancy, the single was shelved. Beckham was then departed from the label Virgin Records.[29][30] A statement was issued, which read "No-one has been dropped. The Virgin deal has come to a natural end and both parties have decided not to continue."[29]

Telstar Records signed Beckham in 2002 in a deal made with Simon Fuller's 19 Management.[24] The contract was worth £1.5 million.[2] Beckham spent much of 2002 recording a pop-influenced album called Open Your Eyes, but she allegedly chose not to release it after being disappointed with the results.[31][32] Instead of pop, Beckham wanted to record tracks with a more RnB and hip hop influence, creating a more urban sound.[25] She began working with urban producer Damon Dash.[24] During this time, it was reported that Dash slighted Beckham, stating "If we can make Victoria hot, we can make anybody hot."[25] When he was first asked why he was working with Beckham he stated "Because I see how much she gets photographed over here."[2] A Dash-produced track "It's That Simple" featuring M.O.P. was created, and received a premiere on radio stations in July 2003.[25] This generated mixed reviews,[25] and further criticism, with the feeling being that Beckham was far from convincing as an urban act.[33]

Beckham's first single with Telstar Records, "Let Your Head Go / This Groove",[25] was released in the UK on 29 December 2003, following heavy promotion and many TV appearances across the Christmas period. The single charted at number 3 in the UK.[25] This double A-side remains Beckham's last single release to date. She is currently the only Spice Girl never to have had a British solo number one, though she is also the only Spice Girl to have all her single/album releases go Top 10. Outside of the UK, Damon Dash had plans for Beckham in the United States, including a potential release of "Let Your Head Go / This Groove" under the name of "Posh Spice Victoria Beckham". The release was proposed for sometime between March to May 2004, but never occurred.[34]

With the UK media describing her solo music career a failure, and combined with a rumoured fall-out between Dash and Fuller, her hip hop album, Come Together, was not released.[1][35] To try and salvage her music career, Beckham again began work on pop-styled tracks in 2004. It is known that she recorded a track she had written with Cathy Dennis entitled "My Love Is For Real" (not to be confused with the Paula Abdul song of the same name). Amidst the collapse of Telstar Records, this song was not officially released, and remaining plans for Beckham's music career were cancelled.[36] Beckham has said that she has no plans to return to music.[37]

[edit] Books
That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything In Between - first edition
That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything In Between - first edition

Beckham's autobiography, entitled Learning to Fly, was released on 13 September 2001.[38] The title was taken from a line in a song from the musical Fame, which Beckham enjoyed as a child. The verse that inspired the title goes "I'm gonna live forever, I'm gonna learn how to fly".[39] The book documents her childhood, time during the Spice Girls, her marriage and family life, as well as her career at the time.[40] Learning to Fly became the third best-selling non-fiction title of 2001 and the total UK sales stand at more than 500,000 copies.[41] When the book was first released, it went to number 1 in the book charts after four weeks of release, sending Robbie Williams' book to second.[22] A high-profile appearance on Parkinson, watched by 9 million people, helped to promote the book.[22] Before the publishing of the book, Hello!, The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday joined to buy the rights to preview and serialise the book before its release. The figure paid was thought to be near £1 million.[8]

Beckham was quoted by a Spanish journalist in 2005 as saying "I've never read a book in my life".[42] She later claimed this was a mistranslation from the original Spanish in which the interview was printed, saying she actually stated that she never had time to finish reading a book because she was always too busy looking after her children.[43]

Beckham's second book, a fashion advice guide, entitled That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything In Between, was published on 27 October 2006.[44] That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything In Between includes tips from Beckham on fashion, style and beauty[44] and also contains photography by Mario Testino, Annie Leibovitz and Steven Meisel. The book became another bestseller[45] and has sold 400,000 copies in Britain alone since it was published in hardcover.[46] The rights have since been sold to the United States, Holland, Japan, Portugal, Lithuania, Russia, and most recently China.[46]

[edit] Television

Beckham has shot five official reality documentaries. The first, dated 11 January 2000, was called Victoria's Secrets, a programme only shown in the UK on Channel4 which involved Beckham being followed by cameras while also discussing and interviewing other British celebrities, such as Sir Elton John.[47] The second of the reality shows, which aired on ITV1 on 4 March 2002, was called Being Victoria Beckham and showed Beckham discussing her career as a solo artist, with the release of her first album, also showing her at various photo shoots and recording sessions. The documentary attracted a strong audience of 8.83 million,[48] coming top in its timeslot.[49] One critic described her as "so clearly level-headed, happy with her not inconsiderable lot and seemingly unfazed by the madly intrusive nature of her monumentally ridiculous fame".[50] The third, The Real Beckhams which aired on 24 December 2003 on ITV1, focused on the Beckhams' move to Madrid from London after David Beckham was signed to Real Madrid. It also featured Victoria Beckham re-launching her solo career and showed her mocking the tabloid stories she reads in the paper every day. The special received an audience of 6.10 million viewers[51] and was later released on DVD on 2 February 2004.[52]

The fourth was entitled Full Length & Fabulous: The Beckhams' 2006 World Cup Party, which followed Victoria and David Beckham organising and making preparations to host a 2006 World Cup Party at a marquee in the grounds of their mansion in Hertfordshire, which aimed to raise money for their charity.[53] Two tickets to attend the ball were auctioned online for charity, and sold for £103,000.[54] The documentary aired on 28 May 2006 and showed the event itself, where the menu was designed especially by friend and chef Gordon Ramsay and the charity auction was hosted by Graham Norton.[55] Ramsay catered for 600 guests, with the aid of 40 chefs and 100 waiting staff.[55] The ITV documentary attracted an average of 7.56 million viewers.[56]

To document Victoria Beckham's preparations for her family's move to America, she signed a deal with NBC for six episodes of a half-hour unscripted reality TV series. Despite the originally planned six episodes, the show was cut to a one hour special only as there "just wasn't enough (material) for a series."[57] The show, called Victoria Beckham: Coming to America, aired on 16 July 2007 in America and Canada. It was heavily scrutinized by the American media and critics, with The New York Post describing it as "an orgy of self-indulgence" and also describing Beckham as "vapid and condescending".[57] However, it was the third-most-watched programme in its time-slot and received viewing figures of 4.9 million in America, beaten by a repeat of Wife Swap and two sitcoms.[58] The programme aired in Britain on 17 July 2007 on ITV with 3.84 million viewers tuning in.[59] The programme was produced by Simon Fuller who managed her and the Spice Girls on their come-back tour.[60]
Victoria Beckham as herself in the season 2 episode of Ugly Betty.
Victoria Beckham as herself in the season 2 episode of Ugly Betty.

In July 2007, it was announced that Beckham was shortly to begin filming a cameo appearance playing herself in an episode of the second season of ABC's TV series Ugly Betty.[61] The episode, "A Nice Day for a Posh Wedding", aired on 9 November 2007 in the United States and on 23 November in the United Kingdom.[62] Beckham's first line was "It's major", said when bursting through a curtain at a dress fitting for a wedding, in which she was the bridesmaid.[62] Beckham has said she only agreed to the part because of her interest in fashion, and not for the acting opportunity.[62] Despite her forays into television, Beckham has denied plans to embark upon an LA movie career.[63]

[edit] Fashion

Beckham has become better recognized as an international style icon, rather than a music artist.[9][64] In 2000, Beckham made a guest appearance on the catwalk for Maria Grachvogel, making this her debut at London Fashion Week as a model.[65] Beckham also acted as British ambassador for Dolce and Gabbana[66] and was briefly the face of Rocawear in 2003.[67]

In 2004, Beckham designed a limited-edition fashion line for Rock & Republic called VB Rocks, consisting mainly of jeans for the high end of the market, retailing at approximately $300 in the U.S.[68] She had previously "hit it off instantly" with Rock & Republic designer, Michael Ball, in Los Angeles. He commented "She not only understands fashion and trends but has been a trend-setter and fashion icon for years."[69]

On 16 January 2006, Beckham walked the runway for Roberto Cavalli at Milan Fashion Week and was for a period exclusively dressed by him for red-carpet and social events.[70] For the March 2006 issue of Harper's Bazaar, Beckham acted as fashion editor when she styled her close friend, Katie Holmes, for a fashion shoot.[71] In July 2006, Beckham released a line of sunglasses, called dvb Eyewear.[72][73] She has admitted to a personal love of sunglasses, saying "I'm quite obsessed with sunglasses. I collect vintage Guccis and Carreras — they can make virtually any outfit look cool."[7] After Beckham's departure from Rock & Republic, in September 2006, she furthered her fashion ventures when she launched her own denim label of which she acts as creative director. The new line of Beckham's jeans collection is called dvb Style.[46][68] In the same month, Intimately Beckham, a his-and-her fragrance line, was launched at a lavish press conference in Venice.[72][73] Beckham then launched her new official website dvbstyle.com which promotes her fashion work.[74][75] She also produced a range of handbags and jewellery in association with the Japanese store, Samantha Thavasa.[72][73]
Beckham wearing a "J'adore Dior" t-shirt
Beckham wearing a "J'adore Dior" t-shirt

On 5 June 2007, she won two British Glamour Magazine Awards, one for "Woman of the Year" and another for "Entrepreneur of the Year," which celebrated her fashion achievements.[76] On 14 June 2007 Beckham launched her dvb Denim collection in New York at the high-end Saks Fifth Avenue, along with unveiling her eye-wear range in the United States for the first time.[77] In the same month Beckham made her first appearance at London's annual Graduate Fashion Week as a judge alongside Glenda Bailey, the editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, and Alber Elbaz, to choose a winner to receive the River Island Gold Award, worth £20,000.[78] In August 2007, Intimately Beckham perfume hit American stores for the first time.[79][80] Victoria Beckham has stated "We are not just saying, 'We are celebrities, put our name on it.' I love to be involved with the whole process."[81] The Intimately Beckham line has been predicted to sell over $100 million worth of sales internationally, doubling this estimate in 2008.[81] In September 2007, Beckham released Intimately Beckham Night a new range of his-and-her fragrances,[82] and her debut cosmetics line V-Sculpt was unveiled and launched in Tokyo.[83]

It has been announced that Beckham will be the new face of Marc Jacobs for Spring 2008 in a campaign shot by Juergen Teller[84] and that she has styled Jack Nicholson for a forthcoming shoot in Parade magazine.[85]

Beckham has voiced her anti-fur beliefs and promotes an animal friendly wardrobe filled with faux/synthetic furs. Beckham's stand against the fur industry has generated admiration from animal rights organizations, including PETA. Of PETA anti-fur campaigns, Beckham stated that she is "supportive of its high-profile anti-fur campaigns," and pledged "never to work with fur in any of [her] own fashion collections".[86]

[edit] Personal life

Victoria Adams started dating football player David Beckham in 1997 after they had met at a charity football match, prompting David to request a meeting with her.[87] The couple announced their engagement in 1998 and were dubbed "Posh and Becks" by the media.[88] The two were married at Luttrellstown Castle, Ireland on 4 July 1999, with the wedding attracting tremendous media coverage.[89] Beckham's team-mate Gary Neville was the best man,[87] and the couple's four month old infant son Brooklyn was the ring bearer.[90] Most of the media were kept away from the ceremony, as the Beckhams had an exclusive deal with OK! Magazine, but the couple released photographs showing them sitting on golden thrones.[91] A total of 437 staff were employed for the wedding reception, which was estimated to have cost £500,000.[92] In 1999, the couple bought what would become their most famous home for £2.5 million, set in 24 acres of land.[93] After it was renovated with £3 million, it was dubbed Beckingham Palace by the media.[93]

The couple have three children, Brooklyn Joseph Beckham (born 4 March 1999 in London),[94] Romeo James Beckham (born 1 September 2002 in London),[95] and Cruz David Beckham (born 20 February 2005 in Madrid, Spain).[96][97] Elton John and David Furnish are reportedly the godparents of Brooklyn and Romeo.[98] The Beckhams have stated that they would like to have more children, especially a daughter.[99]

In 2004, allegations surfaced that David Beckham had had a brief affair with a former personal assistant, Rebecca Loos.[100] The affair had apparently taken place when David had moved to Madrid, although he denied all the allegations.[100] After the Rebecca Loos scandal, Victoria Beckham moved to join David in Madrid,[72] adamant that their relationship would survive, stating "We have been through a lot worse than this."[100] In 2006, she stated "I think we are a very strong family. We love each other to pieces. You work things out if you really love someone."[72]

The Beckhams moved to Los Angeles, California on 12 July 2007 as a result of David Beckham being signed to play for the LA Galaxy. On arrival in America on 12 July 2007, the couple were met by hundreds of paparazzi and media representatives, causing a media frenzy.[101] They are now residing in a $22 million Beverly Hills mansion with 10 security guards.[102] To create publicity for their move to America, the couple were photographed in their underwear for the fashion magazine, W.[101] In an interview for the magazine, Victoria Beckham said that David's supposed affair with Loos made their relationship stronger.[101]

In October 2007, it was reported that Beckham had turned down the opportunity to appear in Sex and the City: The Movie. She stated in an interview: "...asked to be in the Sex and the City film, which I would have loved to have done, but because I am in full-on Spice Girls rehearsal mode, unfortunately, I can't do it."[103]

Beckham's marriage, and career as a singer have made her the 52nd richest woman in Britain[104] and the 619th richest person in Britain with husband David, with an estimated joint wealth of £112 million.[105]