2007

Penelope Cruz

"The most important lesson I've learned in this business is how to say no. I have said no to a lot of temptations, and I am glad I did." -Penelope Cruz

biography

Penelope Cruz Sanchez was born in Madrid, Spain, on April, 28, 1974. Raised along with brother Eduardo and sister Monica, Penelope was always fond of the arts, particularly ballet and jazz dancing. Her passion for dance led to her decision to abandon traditional schooling, focusing her time and energy instead on the graceful art of classical ballet.

"Pe," as she is nicknamed, may not have her high school diploma, but she is very much educated. Before making the transition to acting, Penelope had completed nine years of classical ballet training, three years of Spanish ballet training and four years of theater at Cristina Rota's New York school.

penelope cruz in belle epoque
Penelope Cruz's big break in Spanish film came in 1992's Jamon, jamon. 1992 also witnessed her first foray onto international screens, with her role in Belle epoque -- a massive success that garnered eight Goya Awards (Spanish Oscars), as well as an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. It was with Belle epoque that Penelope's star power received its first worldwide exposure.

penelope breaks into american films
After starring in other Spanish films such as Alegre ma non troppo (1994) and La Celestina (1996), Penelope resurfaced in America again in Abre los ojos (a.k.a. Open Your Eyes), which screened at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. Penelope took on a few English-language films in the late '90s, but it was a production from her native land that finally launched her into the spotlight.

Pedro Almodvar's Todo sobre mi madre (1999) premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews, then went on to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Penelope stood out in this project as a pregnant nun, and shortly thereafter made her American film debut with Woman on Top (2000).

Next, Penelope starred alongside Matt Damon in All the Pretty Horses (2000). This movie flopped, but that didn't hinder Penelope's rise to fame.

penelope in blow and vanilla sky
2001's Blow, starring Johnny Depp, wasn't a commercial hit, but both projects gave Penelope the visibility she needed at the time. It was her role in Vanilla Sky that same year that catapulted her into the spotlight.

Vanilla Sky was an American adaptation of 1997's Abre los ojos, and while Penelope played the same character, Tom Cruise replaced the Spanish leading man. By the time the film was released, word had spread that Tom and Penelope were an item, hot off the heels of Tom's separation from Nicole Kidman.

penelope cruz in gothika and sahara
2003 saw Penelope alongside Halle Berry in Gothika and a host of talent that should have known better in Bob Dylan's vanity-disaster, Masked and Anonymous.

In 2004, Penelope took on roles in Chazz Palminteri's Noel and with Charlize Theron in Head in the Clouds. She was also cast opposite Matthew McConaughey (one of her many costars-turned-boyfriends) in Sahara (2005).

In 2005, she added Chromophobia, Bandidas (with Salma Hayek) and Tu vida en 65 minutos to her resume. She was also cast in Pedro Almodvar's Volver (2006) which won her a Golden Globe nomination.

Penelope cruz's charities
Extremely active in social causes, Penelope has volunteered for NGOs overseas and donated her proceedings from certain films to charities. She also likes to keep stray cats.

Alicia Silverstone

Alicia (pronounced Uh-liss-ee-uh) Silverstone was born on October 4, 1976 in San Francisco, California. The daughter of Monty, a real estate investor and financial consultant, and Didi, a former airline stewardess, Silverstone traveled to England with her family during summer vacations to visit relatives.

Silverstone's time in the spotlight began as a model at the age of 6, after her father began taking pictures of her to submit to modeling agencies. Although her heart was really in acting, Silverstone landed several modeling gigs for companies such as Levi's Dockers and Marshalls. The modeling jobs led to television commercials -- such as a spot in a Domino's Pizza ad -- which eventually led to appearances on sitcoms, most notably as a "dream girl" in The Wonder Years in 1992.

alicia silverstone in the crush

In 1993, Alicia Silverstone finally landed her first starring role in a feature film, entitled The Crush. Playing a teenager obsessed with an older man, Silverstone refused to pose nude in the film and a body double was hired for "behind" shots. Actually, Silverstone refuses to pose nude to this day. The film -- dubbed a Fatal Attraction for teenagers -- was a hit and earned Silverstone MTV Movie Awards for Best Villain and Best Breakthrough Performance in 1994. A couple of made-for-TV movies followed, namely Torch Song and Scattered Dreams, which were both released in 1993.

alicia silverstone is the aerosmith chick

Marty Callner, the director of the Aerosmith videos, caught Silverstone's performance in The Crush and knew she would be perfect for the Aerosmith video "Cryin'." This was to be the first of a now famous trilogy of Aerosmith videos, as Silverstone was also cast in those for "Crazy" and "Amazing" (co-starring Steven Tyler's daughter, Liv Tyler). When "Cryin'" was released, it was voted the No. 1 video of all time on MTV.

alicia silverstone stars in clueless

Before hitting it big with the sleeper hit of 1995, Clueless, Silverstone worked on three other films that were released in 1995: Hideaway, The Babysitter and Le Nouveau Monde. But it was Silverstone's role as spoiled rich girl Cher Horowitz in Clueless that launched her career.

This movie, a '90s version of Emma, earned Silverstone many awards, including the American Comedy Award for Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture, The National Board of Review of Motion Picture Award for Best Breakthrough Performer, the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Female Newcomer, as well as the MTV Movie Awards for Best Female Performance and Most Desirable Female. In 1996, Alicia appeared in True Crime.

After the success of Clueless, Barry Josephson of Columbia Pictures signed Silverstone to a $10 million three-picture deal, the first of which was Excess Baggage (1997). Silverstone not only starred in the film, but it was also the first film produced by her company, First Kiss Productions. Unfortunately, Excess Baggage did not enjoy the same box-office numbers as Clueless.

alicia silverstone does batman & robin

Silverstone's next film role was as Batgirl in Batman & Robin (1997), the fourth release of the Batman series. Batman & Robin did, on the other hand, attract moviegoers. In 1999, things started to pick up for Silverstone, as her role in the romantic comedy Blast from the Past was more impressive and reminiscent of the Silverstone audiences saw in Clueless.

Silverstone was next seen in the summer release Love's Labour's Lost (2000), directed by Kenneth Branagh (whom she was rumored to have been dating; Alicia denies the rumors). She took lessons for her part in the musical adaptation of the William Shakespeare play.

In 2001, she produced the animated family television series Braceface, a project to which she also lent her voice. Then she starred in Rock My World (2002) and the crime comedy Scorched (2003), alongside Rachael Leigh Cook and Woody Harrelson. In the meantime, Alicia proved she could do theater work by touring North America in 2002 with a production of The Graduate, sharing the stage with Kathleen Turner and Jason Biggs.

alicia silverstone in miss match

Seemingly out of the spotlight for a while, she made a comeback in the fall of 2003 with a starring role in the NBC series Miss Match, earning her a Golden Globe nomination. Although the show won a lot of acclaim, it was canceled after only one season. Recently, she padded her resume with Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Silence Becomes You (2004), Beauty Shop (2005), and she acted alongside Ewan McGregor in 2006's Stormbreaker.

The owner of many dogs, Silverstone is actively involved with several animal rights groups, such as The Ark Trust and PETA.

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Kate Winslet

Kate Elizabeth Winslet, born 5 October 1975, is a BAFTA Award-winning English actress. She is noted for having played a wide range of diverse characters over her career. Though her best known role may be that of Rose DeWitt Bukater in the highest-grossing film of all time, Titanic (1997), she was also highly regarded for her first role as Juliet Hulme in Heavenly Creatures (1994).

Although Winslet has not won an Academy Award, she has been highly favoured by the Academy, and holds two records in that area: the youngest person to receive two Oscar nominations, and the most Oscar nominations of any actor before the age of 30 (having received a total of four nominations by that age). In addition, there have been only two occasions where two actors playing the same character in the same film have both been nominated for an Oscar; Winslet was a nominee in both instances (for "Titanic" and "Iris").

On November 22, 1998, Winslet married director Jim Threapleton. The two have a daughter, Mia Honey, who was born on October 12, 2000. After a divorce in 2001, Winslet began a relationship with director Sam Mendes, whom she married on May 24, 2003, on the island of Anguilla in the Caribbean. Their son, Joe Alfie, was born on December 22, 2003.

The media, particularly in England, have enthusiastically documented her weight fluctuations over the years. Winslet has been outspoken about her refusal to lose weight in order to conform to the Hollywood ideal. In February 2003, the British edition of GQ magazine published photographs of Winslet which had been digitally enhanced to make her look dramatically thinner than she really was; Winslet issued a statement saying that the alterations were made without her consent.

She has exceptionally big feet which she claims to have inherited from her mother. (She was bullied and teased about them as a child, as well as for being obese). Her feet are so big in fact (size US 11, although she is only 5'6" 1/2 tall) that she mostly wears heavy-duty men's workboots. She claims she likes wearing them since they make her feel as though her feet are "firmly on the ground".

"Demanded" the role of Rose DeWitt Bukater in Titanic, insisting to director James Cameron, "I am Rose. I don't even know why you're seeing anyone else!"

Is good friends with actress Emma Thompson and has been since they filmed Sense and Sensibility together. Thompson said that if Winslet slimmed herself down to movie-star shape, Thompson would never speak to her again.
Winslet has earned four Oscar nominations and four Golden Globe nominations, as well as one BAFTA Award and three further BAFTA nominations. Premiere Magazine named her performance as Clementine Kruczynski in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind the 81st greatest film performance of all time.

She has also received numerous awards and nominations from other organizations, including the Screen Actors Guild and the Evening Standard British Film Awards.

Winslet won the Los Angeles Film Critics' Association (LAFCA) award for Best Supporting Actress for Iris. For Holy Smoke!, she was Best Actress runner-up at both the New York Film Critics' Circle (NYFCC) and the National Society of Film Critics (NSFC). Winslet was also NYFCC's Best Actress runner-up for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

(Source)

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez (born July 24, 1969), commonly nicknamed J-Lo or J.Lo., is a well-known American actress, pop/latin/R&B singer, fashion designer, and dancer who is currently married to singer Marc Anthony.

Jennifer Lopez (born July 24, 1969), commonly nicknamed J-Lo or J.Lo., is a well-known American actress, pop/latin/R&B singer, fashion designer, and dancer who is currently married to singer Marc Anthony.

Angelina Jolie

Biography
Born June 4, 1975 in Los Angeles, Angelina Jolie Voight is one of the 'in' women in Hollywood. Jolie meaning "pretty little girl" in French, catapulted from being model daughter of a famous acting pair Mircheline Bertrand and Jon Voight, to a top billed actress winning three Golden Globes and an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in the film "Girl ,Interrupted".
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She is Extraordinary not only for her exotic looks but also for her first screen debut the age of five with her father. At the age of 11, she began studying acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. At the age of 16, she started to work as a professional model in London, New York and Los Angeles and appearing in music videos for the likes of Meatloaf, the Lemonheads, Lenny Kravitz and the Rolling Stones. However her love for acting and theatre brought her back to New York where she followed film studies before moving to Los Angeles to study acting in a more formalized setting at the Met Theatre Group amongst esteemed actors such as Ed Harris and Holly Hunter. Films like "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow", "Alexander" and "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" make big headlines in 2004-2005 and remind us why we love Angelina. During filming of the latter she met actor Brad Pitt and the two started dating. It was rumored that they finally tied the knot in November 2005 with a secret Buddhist ceremony; Angelina is a devout Buddhist. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are now proud parents of baby girl Shiloh .

Jolie has also been a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees since 2001. She is very committed in helping others and frequently travels to Third World countries in order to bring media attention to the problems of the Third World.

Eva Mendes

Biography
Mendes was born in Miami, Florida (although many sources incorrectly state her birthplace is Houston, Texas) and was raised in Los Angeles. She attended California State University, Northridge but dropped out to seek a career acting. She worked her way up through commercials to music videos to guest roles in TV series to supporting film roles. While she has not had any lead roles, she has received attention in the supporting roles she has played. Mendes has worked in interior design and written children's books.

More:
Dropping out of school soon after being randomly discovered by an agent, Mendes appeared in a few made-for-television productions and hammed it up with Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan in A Night at the Roxbury before being cast in a prominent role in Urban Legends: Final Cut. Working against typecasting despite her teen horror resumé, Mendes next took roles in Exit Wounds, Training Day, and All About the Benjamins. Mendes next began work on a children's book titled Crazy Leggs Beshee in which she wanted to introduce art, history, vocabulary, and values to children in a fun and easily comprehendable medium.

In 2003, Mendes' career took off, with the actress taking on large roles in an ecclectic quartet of high-profile films. In 2 Fast 2 Furious she played a customs agent working with Paul Walker to bring down a Miami drug cartel. Out of Time found her reteaming with Training Day costar Denzel Washington. Flexing her comedic chops, Mendes was the love interest of half a pair of conjoined twins in the Farrelly brothers' Stuck on You. And in Once Upon a Time in Mexico she played another government agent, this time opposite Johnny Depp.

Kim Kardashian

Birthday: October 21, 1980 (age 27)

Bio
Kim Kardashian stars on Keeping up with the Kardashians. The Hollywood socialite had sex with Ray J on tape and, well, sticks out her rear end a lot. That's the extent of her talent. She's a former close friend of Paris Hilton and girlfriend of Nick Cannon.

As 2007 draws to a close, it’s time to reflect and pay tribute to the stars who made this a year to remember. On that note, The Hollywood Gossip is announcing its 10 finalists for its first annual Celebrity of the Year award.

They’ve given us their best, their worst and, in a more than a few cases, their naked pictures. Now it is time for us to give a little something back with this special feature, because without these celebrities, we are nothing.

We previously profiled promiscuous drug addict Lindsay Lohan at #3. Now, without further delay, we present Celebrity of the Year finalist #2 … Kim Kardashian!

In 2007, Kardashian proved just how far a giant pair of boobs, large rear end and penchant for the spotlight can take a young lady born into millions of dollars.

Hilary Duff

Birth Name
Hilary Duff

Birth Date
09/28/1987

Birthplace
Houston, Texas

Angelina Jolie

Raised mostly by her mother after her parents divorced while she was still a baby, Jolie moved around a lot with her mother and brother. She also did a fair amount of traveling as a professional model, living in such places as London, New York, and Los Angeles before settling for a time in New York as a student at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and New York University, where she first started acting in theater productions. The fledgling actress soon moved on to film with a small role in 1993's Cyborg 2, followed in 1995 by her turn as a computer hacker in the more widely seen Hackers. The film gave her her first taste of recognition, as well as an introduction to Trainspotting's Jonny Lee Miller, to whom she was married for a short time.

After appearing in a number of mediocre films, Jolie finally hit it big in 1997 with her Golden Globe-winning performance as George Wallace's wife in the highly acclaimed TV movie George Wallace. The role, coupled with her Emmy-nominated performance in the title role of HBO's Gia, provided Jolie with a new level of professional respect and recognition. She was soon appearing on talk shows and in magazines, answering questions about everything from her multiple tattoos to her famous father to her brief marriage.

She was also netting roles in high-profile projects: In 1998 Jolie headlined an ensemble cast that included Sean Connery, Gena Rowlands, Anthony Edwards, Gillian Anderson, Ryan Phillippe, and Madeline Stowe in Playing By Heart. The following year, she was part of another high-voltage cast in Mike Newell's Pushing Tin, co-starring alongside John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, and Cate Blanchett. Although the film was neither a critical nor a financial success, it did little to diminish the rapid ascent of the career of the actress, who was in hot demand for projects that would further elevate her already rising star. In 2000, Jolie's star received one of its greatest boosts to date when the actress won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of a volatile mental patient in Girl, Interrupted. Later that year, her personal life also got a boost in the form of her April marriage to Billy Bob Thornton.

Onscreen, Jolie was hard to miss in 2000. She starred in a number of films, including the crime thriller Gone in Sixty Seconds, in which she co-starred as a car thief alongside Nicolas Cage, and Original Sin, a thriller that featured her as the bad-seed bride of a Cuban tycoon (Antonio Banderas). If she was hard to miss in 2000, Jolie was impossible to escape in 2001 with her turn as shapely video-game adventuress Lara Croft in the long anticipated film adaptation of the popular Tomb Raider video-game franchise. Carrying on the tradition of video-game movies that are light on plot but heavy on the action, Tomb Raider (2001) and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life (2003) scored with summer audiences and quickly shot to number one at the box office despite disparaging reviews citing an incoherent story line, unlike Life or Something Like It, the 2002 romantic comedy-drama that critics and audiences alike would rather not have seen.

On July 18th, 2002, Jolie filed for divorce from Billy Bob Thornton, claiming that their priorities no longer meshed after having adopted a child. Though the famously quirky couple were no longer, Angelina's film schedule remained hectic. In 2003 she would play a rich-girl-turned-humanitarian in Beyond Borders, while 2004 promised a host of parts for Jolie, including a role in Oliver Stone's Alexander; an epic biography of Alexander the Great starring Colin Farrell, as well as a role alongside fellow Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow in The World of Tomorrow, and a turn as a tough FBI agent in Taking Lives.

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez's first serious screen role in Gregory Nava's 1995 Latino melodrama My Family followed years of training in television movies and series. Like Rosie Perez, Lopez began her career as a Fly Girl -- a dancer on the sketch comedy series, In Living Color -- and appeared in music videos by Puff Daddy and Janet Jackson. Her big break came in 1997 when she appeared in the title role of Nava's Selena, the story of the successful Tejano singer who was tragically murdered in 1995.

Lopez was at first cast as a femme fatale -- due in no small part to her classic Latina beauty (she was born in the Bronx to parents of Puerto Rican descent) -- and worked almost exclusively with acclaimed directors: Francis Ford Coppola (Jack, 1996), Oliver Stone (U-Turn, 1997), and Bob Rafelson (Blood and Wine, 1996). In 1998, she had one of her most acclaimed roles, starring opposite George Clooney in Out of Sight, Steven Soderbergh's adaptation the Elmore Leonard novel. Cast as a deputy federal marshal who falls for a charming criminal (Clooney), Lopez won raves for her tough, sexy performance, and in the process, she became the highest paid Latina actress in Hollywood history. That same year, she earned an introduction to a new generation of fans by lending her voice to the popular Antz (1998). The lavish but much more adult-oriented thriller The Cell (2000) followed shortly thereafter, bringing Lopez one of her first number-one openings.

In an attempt to curry favor from the rom-com crowd, Lopez lightened things up a bit opposite Matthew McConaughey in 2001's romantic comedy The Wedding Planner. Though Lopez was consistently smooth in her frequent transitions from actress to songstress, her next role in the supernatural romance Angel Eyes (2001) failed to click with audiences and critics alike, and her role in the cathartic revenge thriller Enough (2002) likewise disappeared from theaters shortly after its release. Though Maid in Manhattan (2002) was ultimately relegated to a similar fate as her last few films, few could anticipate the outright hostility with which her 2003 comedy Gigli would be greeted. In the movie, Lopez was cast as a female gangster assigned to keep an eye on a kidnapper (played by then-real-life-boyfriend Ben Affleck) who is holding a psychologically challenged young boy hostage. The harsh public backlash against the film was likely due (at least in part) to over-saturated media coverage of the duo's tumultuous off-screen relationship. Though the film's failure wasn't exactly what one would call a career-ender for either star, their shoddy onscreen dynamic reportedly led director Kevin Smith to excise most of Lopez' role in the Affleck-starrer Jersey Girl.

Finally, in 2005, it appeared the actress' string of bad box-office luck had possibly reached its end. Teaming up with Jane Fonda for the latter thespian's first feature in over a decade, Lopez scored a modest hit with the comedy Monster In-Law. The Lasse Hallstrom-helmed drama An Unfinished Life followed later the same year with Lopez opposite heavy-hitters Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman.

In 2006, Lopez tried her hand at producing with Bordertown, a thriller she also starred in opposite Antonio Banderas.

In addition to her screen work, Lopez has also enjoyed a successful singing career on the dance-pop circuit.

Paris Hilton

Socialite Paris Hilton was born on February 17, 1981 in New York City into the Hilton family and, along with her three younger siblings, is heir-apparent to the vast Hilton hotel and real estate dynasty. Her childhood was spent in palatial dwellings in the priciest neighborhoods on both coasts and featured a brief flirtation with the educational system, including high schooling at the ultra-exclusive Dwight School, from which she dropped out and ultimately earned her high school GED.

Living the glitzy socialite life from a relatively early age, attending exclusive parties and being covered by the gossip press, Hilton apparently became hooked on obtaining celebrity status, which was perhaps furthered by the example of her mother, Kathy Richards, who had a brief acting career herself, mostly on TV. Hilton began a remarkable and well-financed campaign to put herself in the public eye, on screen, on television and in music. This effort has included a substantial amount of physical alteration. A naturally pleasant-looking girl, Hilton underwent extensive plastic surgery, hair coloring and tinted contact lenses in her attempt to reinvent herself as "hot". Sadly, money could not buy alteration of the physical attribute she most dislikes about herself: her exceptionally-large feet.

Some skeptics have guessed that the endless parade of inane inter-celebrity feuds centering around Hilton are, in fact, publicity stunts, another front in the campaign to keep her exposure level high. It has even been argued that the infamous home video of Hilton with then-boyfriend Rick Salomon, in which Hilton performs explicit romantic activities with Rick Salomon, was part of this campaign as well. If it was, it worked. For better or for worse, it made Hilton a household name overnight, and was even widely marketed as a video, 1 Night in Paris (2004) (V).

Eventually Hilton's efforts paid off and she got some modeling work, the designers presumably relying on her notoriety. She has been an increasing presence on-screen too, in TV commercials, on TV series and in the movies, at first bit parts in movies such as Zoolander (2001), Wonderland (2003), The Cat in the Hat (2003) and guest-star roles on TV shows such as "The O.C." (2003) and "George Lopez" (2002), but later more substantial roles in horror flick House of Wax (2005), the direct-to-DVD _Bottom's Up (2006)_ and her own TV show, the fish-out-of-water reality series "The Simple Life" (2003).

Hilton also has plans to become a player in the music business, has recorded an album and even started her own music label, Heiress Records, in order to release it.

Hilton is widely scorned for what some see as her narcissism, shallow intellect and materialism and for other things besides, but she seems to be aware of the old adage that there's no such thing as bad publicity and it should be evident even to her detractors that she is ambitious and driven to achieve, rather than simply basking in her family's vast fortune, as do so many other socialites. In fact, performing is only part of her many activities and she has dabbled in designing, writing (one hastens to add, with a professional writer on the team), nightclub management and even marketing video games - all of which feature Paris Hilton, front and center.

Shakira

After achieving superstardom throughout Latin America, Colombian-born Shakira became Latin pop's biggest female crossover artist since Jennifer Lopez broke down the doors to English-language success. Noted for her aggressive, rock-influenced approach, Shakira maintained an extraordinary degree of creative control over her music, especially for a female artist; she wrote or co-wrote nearly all of her own material, and in the process gained a reputation as one of Latin music's most ambitiously poetic lyricists. When she released her first English material in late 2001, she became an instant pop sensation, thanks to her quirky poetic sense and a sexy video image built on her hip-shaking belly dance moves.

Shakira Mebarak (full name: Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll) was born February 2, 1977, in Barranquilla, Colombia, into a poor family. Her mother was a native Colombian and her father was of Lebanese descent, and so as a child Shakira soaked up music from both cultures; she also listened heavily to English-language rock & roll, listing her favorite bands in later interviews as Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, the Police, the Cure, and Nirvana. Shakira wrote her first song at age eight, began entering (and winning) talent competitions at age ten, and started learning the guitar at age 11; one story runs that around this age, she was kicked out of her school choir for singing too forcefully. In 1990, at age 13, Shakira moved to Bogotá in hopes of pursuing a modeling career, but wound up signing a record deal with Sony's Colombian division instead. Her 1991 debut album, Magia (Magic), was comprised of songs she'd written over the past five or six years, including some of her earliest efforts. Although it didn't break internationally, the record started to make a name for her in her home country. Dissatisfied with the pop inclinations of the follow-up, 1993's Peligro (Danger), Shakira changed direction for a time, joining the cast of the Colombian soap opera El Oasis in 1994.

When Shakira returned to recording in 1995, she asserted more control over the direction of her music, and worked more rock & roll rhythms -- as well as occasional Arabic tinges -- into her Latin pop material. The first results were Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet), which was initially released in 1995; a slow seller at first, the album gradually caught on thanks to "Estoy Aqui," which became a hit all over Latin America, as well as Spain. After that breakthrough, Pies Descalzos just kept spinning off singles: "Dónde Estás Corazón?," "Antología," "Pienso en Ti," "Un Poco de Amor," "Se Quiere, Se Mata." The album hit number one in eight different countries and eventually went platinum in the U.S. as well; Shakira toured for nearly two years promoting it (she finally left El Oasis in 1997).

Seeking to build on her success, Shakira signed Emilio Estefan -- Gloria's husband and a highly successful music-biz insider -- as her manager and producer. The move paid off when her follow-up album, 1998's Dónde Están los Ladrones? (Where Are the Thieves?), became an even bigger worldwide hit than its predecessor. What was more, it cracked the lucrative U.S. market wide open, spending 11 weeks at number one on Billboard's Latin album chart and producing two U.S. number ones (on the Latin chart) with "Ciega, Sordomuda" and "Tu." The album's signature track, however, was the worldwide hit "Ojos Así," her most explicit nod yet to the Arabic music she'd picked up from her father (not to mention its latent belly dancing connotations). Dónde Están los Ladrones? was also the most effective presentation yet of Shakira's strong-willed persona; her self-analysis made her even more popular among female fans, while her anger over love gone wrong drew comparisons to Alanis Morissette.

When Gloria Estefan offered to translate "Ojos Así" into English, the prospect of a crossover suddenly seemed tangible, and Shakira decided that the most effective way to maintain control over her material was to learn English well enough to write in it herself. In the meantime, she set the stage for her crossover bid with a performance on MTV Unplugged, the channel's first Spanish-language broadcast. MTV Unplugged was released as an album in early 2000, and topped the Latin charts for two weeks on its way to becoming her third straight platinum album; it also won a Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album. At the inaugural Latin Grammy Awards ceremony in 2000, Shakira delivered a much-discussed, show-stopping performance of "Ojos Así" and took home Unplugged-related trophies for Best Female Pop Vocal ("Ojos Así") and Best Female Rock Vocal ("Octavo Dia").

Mainstream pop stardom beckoned. Shakira dyed her long brown hair blonde, romanced Antonio de la Rua (son of the former president of Argentina), and went to work on her first (mostly) English-language album, Laundry Service. The single/video "Whenever, Wherever" was released in advance of the album in late 2001, and made her a star in the English-speaking world almost overnight. Laundry Service entered the American pop charts at number three, and "Whenever, Wherever" climbed into the Top Ten of the singles chart, peaking at number six. The follow-up, "Underneath Your Clothes," also hit the Top Ten, halting at number nine; less than a year after its release, Laundry Service had gone triple platinum. Reviews of Laundry Service were divided as to the effectiveness of Shakira's English lyrics, but nearly all agreed on her unique poetic imagery.

Extensive touring to support Laundry Service led to a long break for the singer, so a remix collection (2002's Laundry Service: Washed and Dried) and a live album (2004's Live & Off the Record) appeared in lieu of a new album. Revitalized, Shakira began the writing process for her next release and soon had 60 songs ready to go, some in English, some in Spanish. Twenty of the songs were selected and divided up by language to make two different albums. Both appeared in 2005 and both hit the Top Ten, with the Spanish-language album Fijacion Oral, Vol. 1 leading the way in June with a number four placing and the English-language album, Oral Fixation, Vol. 2, following in November at number five. As sales of Oral Fixation began to slow in early 2006, Epic reissued the album in March with a bonus track, "Hip Don't Lie." The newly recorded song went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart in June, becoming one of the summer's biggest hits and reviving sales of Oral Fixation as well as Shakira's entire back catalog. Steve Huey, All Music Guide.

Britney Jean Spears

Birth Name: Britney Jean Spears Date of Birth: 02 December 1981 Place of Birth: Kentwood, Louisiana, United States Height: 5' 2½" Occupation: Actress, Musician Education: Professional Performing Arts School in New York, New York Off-Broadway Dance Center in New York, New York Mickey Mouse Club Relations: Husband: Kevin Federline (engaged in June 2004; married on September 18, 2004) Jason Allen Alexander (married on January 3, 2004; annulled on January 5, 2004),Father: James Parnell Spears (born in 1952; building contractor; divorced),Mother: Lynne Irene Bridges (born in 1956; former second grade school teacher; divo,Sisters: Jamie Lynn Spears (actress; born on April 4, 1991),Brothers: Bryan Spears (actor; born on April 19, 1977),Grand Father: June Austin Spears (born in 1930; paternal grandfather), Barnett O'Field Br,Grand Mother: Emma Jean Forbes (born in 1933; died in 1966; paternal grandmother), Lillia,Sons: Sean Preston Federline (born on September 14, 2005 at the Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center before 1 PM), Kaleb (born on Tuesday, July 20, 2004 in Orange County; mother: Shar Jackson), Kori (born on Wednesday, July 31, 2002 in Orange County; mother: Shar Jackson)

Biography

Born. 2nd December 1981, Kentwood, Louisiana, USA. One of the last teenage superstars of the millennium, Spears enjoyed her breakthrough success at the end of 1998. She appeared in local dance revues and church choirs as a young girl, and at the age of eight auditioned for The Mickey Mouse Club. Although she was too young to join the series, a producer on the show gave her an introduction to a New York agent. She subsequently spent three summers at the Professional Performing Arts School Center. She appeared in a number of off-Broadway productions as a child actor, including Ruthless (1991). She returned to the [ Walt ] Disney Channel for a spot on The Mickey Mouse Club, where she was featured for two years between the ages of 11 and 13. She began to audition for pop bands in the New York area, her demo tapes eventually landing on the desk of Jive Records' Jeff Fenster. ''Her vocal ability and commercial appeal caught me right away,'' he recalls. She was expensively groomed by Jive, who put her in the studio with Eric Foster White (producer and writer for Boyzone, Whitney Houston and others). They employed top R&B writer Max Martin (of Backstreet Boys fame) to produce her debut single, ''... Baby, One More Time'', and an album of the same title. They also set up a promotional free phone number where fans could listen to Spears' music and interviews throughout the summer of 1998. She toured American venues for a series of concerts sponsored by US teen magazines, eventually joining 'N Sync on tour. The careful planning paid off when her debut album and single went on to top the American charts at the start of 1999. The album and single enjoyed similar success in the UK and Europe. The ballad ''Sometimes'' and the funky ''(You Drive Me) Crazy'' were also substantial transatlantic hits. ''Born To Make You Happy'' topped the UK charts in January 2000. The demand for new Spears material was satisfied when her sophomore set, Oops! ... I Did It Again, was released in May. The album contained the expected quota of well-produced, expertly crafted pop songs alongside a risible cover version of (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.
Spears' personal life has attracted considerable media attention. Some people feel that she has courted it by cultivating, in her early years at least, a chaste, God-fearing and "wholesome" image. It was somewhat at odds, not only with the traditional pressures, temptations and opportunities of "pop 'n' roll," but with the increasingly sexualized content of her own image and songs. Spears' kiss with Madonna at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards received much media attention, as have her romantic relationships. Spears is frequently on magazine covers, discussing her marriage and motherhood.
The sexualized public image of Spears once again became a topic of debate as a result of her 2003 semi-nude photo spread for the men's magazine, Esquire. Prompted by this, Playboy reportedly offered the star over one million USD to pose nude for their magazine, but Spears publicly declined. In an interview with Diane Sawyer, she was asked if she had ever gone further than she wished she had with the sexualized photo shoots. Spears responded, "No, I don't think so, no." After the Esquire photos were held up in front of her, she said, "Okay. Now those are a little much. Yeah, those are a little much. That's one picture, I must say, that I felt kind of weird about, yeah."

The 2004 Onyx Hotel Tour brought new criticism. While Spears and her on-stage dancers performed her songs "Touch of My Hand" and "Breathe on Me," they were seemingly nude and were performing routines simulating gay sex, orgies and masturbation. As there were underage fans in the audience, there was some outrage at the alleged lack of decency of the performances, as well as reports of adult chaperones angrily storming out with children they brought to the concert. Spears has responded to parents' concerns by stating she is "not their babysitter. It's the parents' responsibility. If you don't like it, turn the TV off. The only person I want to be a role model to is my sister, Jamie Lynn." (From ABC's Primetime interview with Diane Sawyer)

In December 2005, Spears sued US Weekly for a story the magazine published in the column "HOTstuff" of their October 2005 publication. The column, with the headline "Brit & Kev: Secret Sex Tape? New parents have a new worry: racy footage from 2004." claimed that Spears and her husband had made a sex video and feared it would be distributed. Spears denies the existence of any such tape while the magazine claims to have a credible source, which they failed to mention in the article, and stands by its story without any evidence or eyewitnesses.

Spears' detractors have accused her of being derivative of Paula Abdul, Madonna and especially Janet Jackson. This is a claim Spears has not outwardly denied nor confirmed, saying "I grew up loving a wide variety of music." There has also been some controversy over her singing abilities, with some even accusing her of lacking them or depending too much on backup singers, backing tracks or digital alterations.

Spears has also been criticized for lip synching. Most critics and musicians publicly express a negative view on this way of performing, arguing that live entertainment should literally be what it suggests, singing included. Some argue that Spears, like other performers, can't practically sing while being engaged in complicated and demanding dance moves. This has led to the counter-argument that performers shouldn't focus on things like dance moves, and instead focus more on singing.

For the film Chicago, producer Harvey Weinstein wanted Spears for the role that eventually went to Lucy Liu. Spears was also offered a role in Scary Movie, but was forced to turn it down due to concert scheduling. She was considered for the part of Allie Hamilton in The Notebook, but was beat out by Rachel McAdams. She also wanted the role in I ♥ Huckabees that went to Naomi Watts. Spears had also expressed interest in the role of Daisy Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard, but fellow pop singer Jessica Simpson was given the part.

She is friends with Sarah Michelle Gellar. She was asked to appear in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "I Was Made to Love You," but turned down the role due to scheduling conflicts. She is also friends with Natalie Portman. Portman was an understudy in the off-Broadway play, Ruthless!, in which Spears had a role. At a Manhattan hotel in 2003 they co-hosted a carnival-themed New Years Eve party together.

The birth of Spears' son was the inspiration behind a statue by Daniel Edwards, Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston, which was unveiled in March 2006. The statue features an idealised Spears giving birth in a provocative pose while hunched on all fours and clutching a bearskin rug. Controversy was further stoked by it being partly supported by the Manhattan Right to Life Committee. The statue has no way been recognised by Spears and is therefore unofficial. It has also sparked controversy as Spears gave birth by caesarean section, unlike the natural birth depicted in the statue.

Photos published on February 7, 2006, showed Spears driving her SUV on the Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angeles with her infant son, Sean, perched on her lap rather than strapped into a car seat in the back. The photos show Spears holding the wheel of the car with one hand, and her 4-month-old baby with the other. In a statement to People, Spears said she did it because of a "horrifying, frightful encounter with the paparazzi" and that "I was terrified that this time the physically aggressive paparazzi would put both me and my baby in danger. I instinctively took measures to get my baby and me out of harm’s way, but the paparazzi continued to stalk us. I love my child and would do anything to protect him." She later told Access Hollywood, "It's kind of like I made a mistake and so it is what is, I guess." No charges were pressed. Later that month, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, speaking at an event at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to mark the start of Child Passenger Safety Week said, "Recent photos of Britney Spears driving with her infant son on her lap are troubling...and while Ms. Spears has acknowledged her mistake, her actions still send the wrong message to millions of her fans."

On April 1, 2006, Spears' 7-month-old son fell and bruised his head after slipping from his nanny's arms as she was lifting him from his high chair and "something snapped in the chair." After an initial examination, he was thought to be fine but six days later Spears and her husband took him to the Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center for a second checkup. He got the all clear once again. Following this visit, child welfare officials, as well as a sheriff's deputy, visited the Spears home. "While there was an automatic report by the hospital to the Department of Children and Family Services, DCFS immediately responded and determined there was no problem and no reason to open a formal investigation," Spears's attorney Marty Singer told People. "They determined that the parents were not involved in any injury and that nothing improper was done within the home."

Spears' younger sister, Jamie Lynn, is an actress and singer and is currently starring in the Nickelodeon show Zoey 101. Spears wrote the theme song "Follow Me" for Zoey 101, though it is sung by Jamie Lynn. Spears' older brother, Bryan, is one of her managers.

She publicly declared her trust in President George W. Bush, as reported in an interview on Crossfire and featured in the film Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore: "Honestly, I think we should just trust our president in every decision that he makes and we should just support that, you know, and be faithful in what happens." George W. Bush and top Republicans banned her from appearing at the 2004 Republican National Convention citing "We're a serious political party and don't need Britney to promote us. Besides which, with the headlines she's been recently attracting we think she'd do more harm than good to the Bush cause," mainly for her raunchy behavior.

In May 2004 Spears had a Hebrew tattoo (מהש) inked into the nape of her neck. She was under the impression that it meant "new era," but Hebrew speakers insist that word (which would probably be pronounced "mahash") is gibberish, though it can be seen as an anagram of a Hebrew term for God (השמ), which literally translates to "the name." A source said, "She's taken Kabbalah pretty seriously and this was a big deal for her." This echoes a similar incident in 2003 when Spears was informed by her friend, actress Taryn Manning, that her hip tattoo (the Chinese character 奇) read "weird" rather than "mysterious"

Spears' other tattoos include pink dice on her inner wrist (her husband, Kevin Federline, has matching blue dice), a fairy on her lower back, a daisy on her right toe, a butterfly on her left foot, and a Japanese flower that she reportedly got "down there." Her foot is adorned with many symbols which represent freedom.

She is rumoured to have had "flings" with Colin Farrell and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst and has been romantically linked with Wade Robson.

Spears is the best selling female artist of the 2000s (2000–2005). She was named "Woman of the Century" by VH1, and has had record sales topping 85 million according to the IFPI and TIME magazine.[15]. Having thirty-one million RIAA-certified albums sold in the U.S., Spears ranks as the eighth best-selling female artist in American music history.

Also, she is the only female artist in SoundScan history to have her first four albums debut at number one. In the U.S., Spears, Madonna, Céline Dion, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Dixie Chicks,and Shania Twain are the only female artists with multiple diamond (shipped over ten million copies) albums (Spears has two: '...Baby One More Time and Oops!... I Did It Again). Additionally, she holds the record for youngest artist (at age seventeen) to have his or her first single ("...Baby One More Time") and first album (...Baby One More Time) simultaneously reach number one on the Billboard charts.

In the UK, she holds the record for biggest first-week sales for a greatest hits compilation by a female artist (225,341 copies) with Greatest Hits: My Prerogative. Her album "...Baby One More Time" was the UK's biggest selling single of 1999, and is the 18th best selling single of all time worldwide.

Besides albums, she has grossed over $145 million USD from tour ticket sales and over $30 million USD in merchandise from her tours. She has also topped Yahoo!'s annual list of the most-searched names three times in the past four years.

According to Forbes her net worth is estimate to top $150 Million dollars.

Spears' role in pop music has been largely disputed. While she is often derided as untalented, she's nonetheless become a modern day icon for popular culture. She was ranked number 20 out of the 200 top popculture icons of all time by VH1 and People. Singles such as "...Baby One More Time," "Oops!... I Did It Again," "I'm a Slave 4 U" and especially "Toxic" have gone on to become major successes and pop music classics. She topped FHM magazine's 2004 U.S. and world polls for sexiest woman.
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