Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Monday, October 18, 2010

Sunday, October 17, 2010

[Google Fast Flip] Fast Track: Minka Kelly is Esquire's 2010 sexiest woman alive

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Fast Track: Minka Kelly is Esquire's 2010 sexiest woman alive

Meanwhile, Cox's former "Friends" co-star David Schwimmer confirms he's been secretly married since June. (Popeater) Great Scott! Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly in "Back to the Future"? (Hollywood Reporter) Carl Icahn supports Lions Gate's proposal to merge with MGM. (Company Town) Reality star Kim Kardashian poses nude again, this time on W magazine's cover -- for the art issue, naturally. (W magazine) Rhys Ifans has been cast as the villain in the upcoming "Spider-Man" reboot. (Los Angeles Times) Fox plans a cartoon version of the 2004 film "Napoleon Dynamite." (New York) ABC, meanwhile, is turning the website Awkward Family Photos into a TV show. (ABC) Princess Leia actress Carrie Fisher admits she took cocaine on the set of "The Empire Strikes Back" -- but she didn't like it. (Los Angeles Times) Disney pulls Miramax films "The Debt" and "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" from release due to Miramax's pending sale. (Company Town) A group called Life Is Art sells marijuana to help finance art projects. (New York Times) Whoops! A car used in a chase scene in "Transformers 3" smashes into a real Washington, DC, police SUV. (Fox News) Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Marisa Miller is the new face of the NFL. (Hollywood Reporter) Laura Ling, who was detained in North Korea while working for Current TV, will host a new investigative show on E! ... (Media Decoder) ... while Chelsea Handler signs on for a comedy series on E! (Variety) As expected, NBC cancels the Jimmy Smits legal drama "Outlaw." (Los Angeles Times) Demi Moore puts two 19th century paintings up for auction -- she wants to go more modern. (New York Times) AFI to honor Morgan Freeman with a Life Achievement Award. (Los Angeles Times)...

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Friday, October 15, 2010

Adriana Lima


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Adriana Lima



Adriana Lima, April 30, 2007

Birth name Adriana Francesca Lima

Date of birth June 12, 1981 (1981-06-12) (age 28)

Place of birth Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)

Hair color Brown

Eye color Blue

Measurements 86-61-89 (34-24-35)

Dress size 4 (US)

Shoe size 9 (US)

Agency Marilyn Agency

Spouse(s) Marko Jaric (2009-present)



Adriana Francesca Lima (born June 12, 1981) is a Brazilian model best known as a Victoria's Secret Angel since 2000 and a spokesmodel for Maybelline cosmetics from 2003 to 2009. At age 15, Lima finished first place in Ford's "Supermodel of Brazil" competition and took second place the following year in the Ford "Supermodel of the World" competition before signing with Elite Model Management in New York City.



Lima never thought about being a model, although she had won many beauty pageants in elementary school. However, she had a friend at school who wanted to enter a modeling contest and didn't want to enter alone, so Lima entered with her. Both sent in pictures, and the contest sponsor soon asked Lima to come out for the competition. Soon after, at the age of 15, she entered and finished in first place in Ford's "Supermodel of Brazil" model search. She subsequently entered the 1996 Ford "Supermodel of the World" contest and finished in second place. Three years later, Lima moved to New York City and signed with Elite Model Management. After acquiring representation, Lima's modeling portfolio quickly began to expand, and she appeared in numerous international editions of Vogue and Marie Claire. As a runway model, she has walked the catwalks for designers such as Vera Wang, Christian Lacroix, Emanuel Ungaro, Giorgio Armani, Fendi, Ralph Lauren and Valentino, among others. Lima became a guess girl in 2000, appearing in that year's fall ad campaign. She also appeared in the book A Second Decade of Guess? Images.



Lima continued to build upon her portfolio, doing more print work for Maybelline, for whom she worked as a spokesmodel from 2003 until 2009, the same year she appeared in the company's first calendar, a limited edition run also featuring Kemp Muhl, Jessica White, Julia Stegner, and Anna Wang. Lima has also worked for notable fashion brands bebe, Mossimo, Armani, Bulgari, De Beers, FCUK, Intimissimi, Keds, Swatch, Versace, and BCBG. She also appeared on the covers and in the editorials of other fashion magazines such as Harper's Bazaar, ELLE, GQ, Arena, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire. Her April 2006 GQ cover was the highest-selling issue that magazine for the year, while her April 2008 cover brought a record number of hits to the magazine's website. She also appeared in the 2005 Pirelli Calendar and became the face of Italy's cell phone carrier, Telecom Italia Mobile, a move that earned her the nickname, "the Catherine Zeta-Jones of Italy."



In 2006, Sao Paulo Fashion Week released a calendar featuring twenty-five Brazilian models, including Lima. The calendar was accompanied by a movie containing interviews with the models, which was broadcasted at GNT in Brazil and then hit the shelves as a DVD.



In February 2008, she was featured on the cover of Esquire, re-creating the classic 1966 Angie Dickinson cover on Esquire's 75th anniversary along with fellow Victoria's Secret Angels Alessandra Ambrosio, Karolina Kurkova, Izabel Goulart and Selita Ebanks. She appeared only in shoes, diamonds and gloves for the November 2007 issue of Vanity Fair celebrating 20 years of supermodels with her fellow Angels. In February 2008, she was chosen to be the face of Mexico's Liverpool department store chain and launched the partnership with a press conference, runway show, and summer campaign. Lima returned to the high fashion runway in 2009, walking for Givenchy. That same year, after visiting Turkey, Lima signed a contract with Doritos to appear in print campaigns and commercials which began airing in Turkey in April. She is also one of the faces of Givenchy for the Fall/Winter 2009 season, alongside Mariacarla Boscono and Iris Strubegger.



In 2006, Lima ranked as the fifth highest paid supermodel. In 2007 and 2008, she ranked as the world's fourth highest paid supermodel by Forbes Magazine.



==Victoria's Secret==

Lima is probably best known for her work with Victoria's Secret. Her first fashion show for the company came in 1999, and since being contracted as an Angel in 2000, she has appeared on subsequent shows ever since, opening the show in 2003, 2007, and 2008, in which she also closed the opening segment. Lima has appeared on several television ads for the brand, including the praised and criticized "Angel in Venice" commercial of 2003 with Bob Dylan and her solo Victoria's Secret's Super Bowl XLII ad, the single most-seen ad of the game, watched by 103.7 million viewers. 2008 continued for Lima with hosting the What Is Sexy? program for the E! Entertainment Network and a July tour for the BioFit Uplift Bra launch, with stops in Long Island, Boston, and Miami Beach. She was also featured in November's Miracle Bra relaunch. Topping the year off, Lima wore the "Fantasy Bra" for the 2008 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. In 2009, Lima launched the company's new makeup line, "Christian Siriano for VS Makeup."



==Acting==

Lima's first acting role was the wife, alongside Mickey Rourke and Forest Whitaker, in The Follow (2001), a short film in BMW's series The Hire, starring Clive Owen. She also appeared with her fellow Angels in a guest spot playing herself in the series How I Met Your Mother in November 2007.



In 2008, Lima appeared on the American television series Ugly Betty, where she played herself and made friends with the series' title character, played by America Ferrera. According to her publicist, Liza Anderson, "Adriana has always been a huge fan of Ugly Betty and is thrilled for the opportunity to make a guest star appearance."



==Reception==

Since her rise to fame, Lima is often cited by popular media as one of the world's sexiest women. Lima was listed in the 2005 Forbes' edition of The World's Best-Paid Celebrities Under 25. Also, she ranked No.99th in the 2006 Forbes' edition of The Celebrity 100 (Forbes' Highest Paid and Powerful Celebrities in the World). Lima was chosen to be a part of People magazine's 100 most beautiful people in the world list, sharing that space with the Angels, with whom she also received a star on the Hollywood "Walk of Fame" prior to the 2007 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. That same year, she ranked 7th on FHM's "100 Sexiest Women 2007" list and was awarded as the "Hottest Girl on the Planet" at the first Spike TV Guys' Choice Awards, although the category was not mentioned in the actual broadcast. Lima was also voted on the Maxim "Hot 100" 2007 at the #53 spot. She was voted #1 as the Most Desirable Woman in 2005 by visitors of the men's lifestyle website, Askmen.com (she placed 4th in 2006 and 2007, 10th in 2008, and 19th in 2009). Lima is also listed in the 2009 Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest model on Forbes' Celebrity 100 List. As of November 2008, Models.com featured her at No.1 on the list of the Sexiest Models today. In 2009, she was voted sixth in "FHM's Sexiest Women In The World".



==Public image and Personal life==

Victoria's Secret Angels Adriana Lima (left), Marisa Miller and Selita Ebanks ride in the Guantanamo Bay Christmas Parade Dec. 1, 2007



In addition to her native Portuguese, Lima speaks English, French, and a bit of Italian. Lima was shy around boys when she was younger, not receiving her first kiss until she was 17 years old. Afterward, the boy went directly to her mother to ask if he could marry her. She is a devout Catholic who attends church every Sunday. In April 2006, she told GQ that she was a virgin. "Sex is for after marriage," she explained. "They have to respect that this is my choice. If there's no respect, that means they don't want me." Staying true to her religious roots, she is known for taking a Bible backstage to read.



She has been romantically linked to musician/singer Lenny Kravitz and Prince Wenzeslaus of Liechtenstein. In 2009 she married Serbian basketball player Marko Jaric'; they wed in a private civil ceremony in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Valentines Day. The couple originally planned on a large wedding in Salvador in June 2009, but the couple decided to opt for a wedding in each of their hometowns; both are scheduled to take place at the end of 2009.



Lima and Jaric' are reportedly expecting their first child together in December 2009. Lima's representative told People magazine: "Adriana and Marko are overjoyed that they are expecting their first child together and are excited to share the happy news and start their family together." She has also recently applied for Serbian citizenship in order to promote a positive image of Serbia abroad.



==Charity==

Lima does charitable work helping with an orphanage, "Caminhos da Luz" (Ways of Light), located in her hometown. She helps with construction to expand the orphanage, and buys clothes for poor children in Salvador, Bahia. She appeared on Var Yok musun, the Turkish version of Deal or No Deal, where her prize money went to a hospital in Istanbul for children fighting leukemia.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

[Music News] Fast Track: Lady Gaga is challenged to a $1-million sing-off

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Fast Track: Lady Gaga is challenged to a $1-million sing-off

An LA singer challenges Lady Gaga to a televised sing-off with a $1-million prize. (Billboard) Before she was Lady Gaga, the singer had a small role in "The Sopranos." (MTV) Sorry, "Jersey Shore" fans: The Situation doesn't make the cut in "Dancing With the Stars." (Los Angeles Times) George Clooney meets with President Obama to talk about Sudan. (Los Angeles Times) Speaking of the president, a genealogy site says Obama is related to Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh. (Time) In case you were wondering, Joan Collins thinks Angelina Jolie is gorgeous but that Jennifer Aniston is just "cute." (Hello!) Authorities say you can thank Orange County band Imperial Stars for that holdup on the 101 Freeway on Tuesday. The impromptu road show jammed traffic for hours, and now band members are singing the jailhouse blues. (Pop & Hiss) Singer Christina Aguilera and music executive husband Jordan Bratman have separated after nearly five years of marriage. (Los Angeles Times) Add Broadway producer to actress-singer Bette Midler's credits as she joins the "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" team. (New York Post) Howard Jacobson pulls an upset to win the 2010 Man Booker Prize for "The Finkler Question." (Jacket Copy) Another intruder is arrested outside Paris Hilton's home in the gated Mulholland Estates. Maybe it's time for new gates? (LA Now) Bad news for CNN as the cable news network posts its worst ratings in more than a decade. (Los Angeles Times) Heidi Klum and Brad Garrett go head-to-head with rival "Kids Say the Darndest Things"-type shows. (Popeater) "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" director Oliver Stone says Michael Douglas, who is battling throat cancer, is in a "precarious" state of health. (Digital Spy) The DreamWorks animated film "How to Train Your Dragon" will become a television series on the Cartoon Network. (Los Angeles Times) "The Social Network" screenwriter Aaron Sorkin says there's a reason for the misogynist depictions in the movie. (Los Angeles Times) E! plans a real rockers' housewives show. (Hollywood Reporter) Eminem and Lady Antebellum lead the 2010 American Music Award nominations. (The Envelope) No, really, Chelsea Handler is not dating 50 Cent. (MTV)...

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[Music News] Eminem, Lady Antebellum Lead American Music Award Nominations

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Eminem, Lady Antebellum Lead American Music Award Nominations

by Megan Vick, NY | October 12, 2010 2:30 EDT Eminem and Lady Antebellum lead the nomination race for the 2010 American Music Awards, both with five nominations. The nominees were announced today (Oct. 12) in Los Angeles by emcees Taio Cruz and Demi Lovato. Eminem's nominations include Artist of the Year, as well as both Pop/Rock and Rap/Hip-Hop genres for Favorite Male Artist and Favorite Album awards. Lady Antebellum is nominated for Favorite Band, Duo or Group in the Pop/Rock and Country categories, as well as Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist, Breakthrough Artist and Favorite Country Album awards. Justin Bieber received four nominations, while Katy Perry, Ke$ha, BoB and Usher all tied for third with three nominations each. Bieber and Perry join Eminem in the Favorite Pop/Rock Album category, as well as the Artist of the Year category alongside Lady Gaga and Ke$ha. Usher's nominations include Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist, Favorite R&B/Soul Male Artist and Favorite R&B Soul Album for "Raymond v Raymond." Drake holds down the Favorite Rap/Hip-Hope Male Artist and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album categories alongside Eminem, while Gaga, Alicia Keys and Sade also walk away with two nominations each. Taylor Swift grabbed one nomination for Favorite Country Female Artist, with Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert also nominated. Underwood was also nominated for Favorite Country Album for "Play On" alongside Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" and Jason Aldean's " Wide Open." For Favorite Soundtrack, the Gleeks will have to battle the fans of Twilight since both "Glee, The Music: Volume 3 The Showstoppers" shares the category with "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse." Or AC/DC may pull a surprise win with the band's work on the "Iron Man 2" soundtrack. The AMAs will air live on ABC on Sun. Nov. 21 at 8pm ET and feature performances from Ke$ha, Katy Perry, Usher, Pink and Bon Jovi. For the fourth consecutive year, the winners will be determined by viewer voting on ABC.com and AMAvote.com....

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[Music News] Documentary Screening Draws Lennon Fans to Central Park

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Documentary Screening Draws Lennon Fans to Central Park

by Jillian Mapes, NY | October 12, 2010 5:34 EDT John Lennon's 70th birthday may have come and gone with quite the hullabaloo, but a rumored 20,000 New Yorkers spent the day celebrating the musician's legacy at Central Park. With a little help from the city of New York, Lennon fans enjoyed a free screening of the new American Masters documentary "LENNONYC" Saturday night at Central Park's Rumsey Playfield. The documentary, which chronicles Lennon's New York residency from 1971 to his assassination in 1980, kicked off with an introduction from a another famous New York musician, Lou Reed. "To write something as moving as 'Mother' and 'Jealous Guy' is reason enough to be inducted into a hall of great songwriters," Reed told the thousands of New Yorkers who turned out to see the film, adding that Lennon was akin to a New York landmark. While thousands were admitted to the "LENNONYC" screening, thousands more celebrated Lennon within the park's confines, whether it was watching the movie from behind the gates, or singing his songs near the "Strawberry Fields" memorial. Lennon's spirit was fully felt in Central Park that night. Yoko Ono did not attend the screening, as she was in Iceland presenting the LennonOno Grant for Peace Award, but she sent a video message, which played before the film. "I know John would not have expected so much love to come from you, but he would have been very happy to know it," she told fans. "LENNONYC," which will air nationwide on PBS on Nov. 22 at 9pm, features a slew of unseen concert footage and unheard in-studio recordings, making the biographical film engaging for even the most well-informed Lennon fan....

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Music News Bon Jovi, U2, Lady Gaga, AC/DC Among Billboard Touring Awards Final...

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Bon Jovi, U2, Lady Gaga, AC/DC Among Billboard Touring Awards Final...

by Ray Waddell | October 13, 2010 11:00 EDT Bon Jovi, U2, AC/DC, Lady GaGa, Brad Paisley, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift are among the top artists, tours, venues, and live entertainment firms recognized as finalists for the 2010 Billboard Touring Awards, which will be handed out at a special reception in New York on Nov. 4. The awards are primarily based on global box office numbers reported to Billboard Boxscore from Oct. 1, 2009, through Sept. 30, 2010. The finalists for the Top Tour and Top Draw awards, which acknowledge the top grossing and ticket selling tours, respectively, are the same three global treks: U2's ongoing 360 tour, AC/DC's Black Ice tour, and Bon Jovi's The Circle tour. The Top Package award, which goes to the top-grossing tour with three or more artists on the bill throughout its run, is designed to reward synergistic packaging and value offered to consumers. Finalists include Brad Paisley's H2O tour, with such artists as Darius Rucker, Justin Moore, Easton Corbin, Steel Magnolia and Josh Thompson the bill; Tim McGraw's Southern Voice tour, with Lady Antebellum, and Taylor Swift's 2010 tour with Kellie Pickler and Gloriana on board. The Breakthrough Award goes to the top-grossing artist appearing for the first time among the highest grossing tours that is still in their first decade as a national headlining act. Three artists enjoyed remarkable touring breakthroughs this year: Lady GaGa, Justin Bieber, and Tiesto. Dane Cook, Robin Williams, and Chelsea Handler are finalists for the Top Comedy Tour. The Top Boxscore award recognizes the highest-grossing single engagement for the time period. Two of the Boxscore finalists are from AC/DC: a three-night, sold-out stand at ANZ Stadium in Sydney and three more sellouts at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne; both were in February. The third finalist for Top Boxscore is the Download Festival Castle Donington in the UK Global concert promoters Live Nation and AEG Live are joined by Sao Paulo promoter Time 4 Fun (T4F) as finalists for the Top Promoter award. T4F is also a finalist, with Chugg Entertainment, Australia, and MCD in the UK, for the Top Independent Promoter, International, category. Five-time winner Jam Productions in Chicago, 2007 winner C3 Presents in Austin, and New Orleans-based Beaver Productions are finalists for Top Independent Promoter, US Other than the Boxscore-related awards, the Billboard Touring Awards also includes the Concert Marketing & Promotion Award, determined by a panel of judges, and the Eventful Fans' Choice Award, determined by online voting. Additionally, Rush will be named 2010 Legend Of Live, Jack Johnson will receive the Humanitarian Award, and Yo Gabba Gabba Live! will receive the Creative Content Award....

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Music News Justin Bieber's Memoir: 10 Awesome Quotes

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Justin Bieber's Memoir: 10 Awesome Quotes

by Jason Lipshutz, NY | October 13, 2010 12:45 EDT Although Justin Bieber has a 3D movie, nail polish line and comic book all in the works, the pop star gave fans "the story of how my world changed so much, so fast" when his autobiography, "First Step 2 Forever: My Story," hit bookstores yesterday. The "100% official" memoir offers a 240-page account of Bieber's humble beginnings, his YouTube stardom and his romantic history, including his first date (at a buffet restaurant!). With a list price of $21.99, "First Step 2 Forever: My Story" is a must-have for Bieber fanatics. Here are ten of our favorite quotes from the autobiography: "Singers aren't supposed to have dairy before a show, but we all know I'm a rule breaker. Pizza is just so good!" -page 15 "The day I was born, March 1, 1994, Celine Dion was solid at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "The Power of Love." Not a bad song to start your life on." -page 26 "Dare to be a sucky skateboarder or a lousy video editor or a completely crappy golfer. If we do only the stuff we're good at, we never learn anything new." -page 52 "Now I'm really glad that I speak French, because, let's face it, girls dig it when a guy speaks French. They call it the language of love, and that ain't no coincidence. Plus, I love my French fans! Très jolie!" -page 60 "Nothing ever got my pulse racing (in a good way) like hockey. Well, nothing except Beyonce, but that wasn't until I was twelve or so. Then, all of a sudden, it was like I opened my eyes one day and noticed that the world is full of beautiful girls, and I've had a hard time thinking about anything else ever since." -page 71 "I got up there and sang my little eighth-grade butt off, thinking this was possibly the greatest moment of my entire life -- of anyone's life -- better than hockey, better than 'Star Wars,' better than Grandma's turkey and gravy." -page 88 "I'd just gotten the ugliest haircut of my life the day before. My trademark swoosh was hacked off into this squarish situation that kind of reminded me of Bart Simpson." -page 124 "I couldn't believe things were finally coming together. I was almost afraid to believe it. The only thing I can compare it to is when I bungee-jumped off a bridge in New Zealand not long ago. It was a long journey to get there, but, at the last minute, there I was. Standing there. Ready. I had no idea what this was going to be like, but I knew it was going to be awesome." -page 143 "If I can do just one-tenth of the good Michael Jackson did for others, I can really make a difference in this world." -page 177 "My foot was broken. In the middle of a song. In front of twelve thousand people. And Taylor Swift. I won't tell you the words that went through my head." -page 199...

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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

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Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber: Killer video stars

Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber: Killer video stars


Lady Gaga Biography   Birth name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta  Born March 28, 1986 (1986-03-28) (age 24)  Origin Manhattan, New York City, U.S.  Genres Pop, dance, electronica  Occupations Singer, songwriter, musician, dancer  Instruments Vocals, piano, synthesizer, keytar  Years active 2006-present  Labels Interscope, Streamline, Kon Live, Cherrytree, Def Jam  Website http://www.ladygaga.com   Lady Gaga (born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta; March 28, 1986) is an American recording artist. She had enrolled at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts to study music, but left the college and began performing in the rock music scene of New York City's Lower East Side. She soon signed with Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records, upon its establishment in 2007. During her early time at Interscope, she worked as a songwriter for fellow label artists and captured the attention of Akon, who recognized her vocal abilities, and got her signed to his own label, Kon Live Distribution.  Her debut album, The Fame, was released on August 19, 2008. In addition to receiving generally positive reviews, it reached number one in Canada, Austria, Germany and Ireland, and topped the Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart. Its first two singles, "Just Dance" and "Poker Face", co-written and co-produced with RedOne, became international number-one hits, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States as well as the charts of other countries. The album later earned a total of six Grammy Award nominations and won awards for Best Electronic/Dance Album and Best Dance Recording. In early 2009 she embarked on her first headlining tour, The Fame Ball Tour. By the fourth quarter of the year, she had released her second studio album The Fame Monster, with the global chart-topping lead single "Bad Romance", as well as having embarked on her second headlining tour of the year, The Monster Ball Tour.  Lady Gaga is inspired by glam rock musicians such as David Bowie and Freddie Mercury, as well as pop music artists such as Madonna and Michael Jackson. She has also stated fashion is a source of inspiration for her songwriting and performances. In December, 2009 Lady Gaga was ranked the #73rd Artist of the Decade by Billboard Magazine. As of May 2010, she had sold over 11.5 million albums and over 40 million singles worldwide. In May 2010, Time magazine included Gaga in its annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.  Contents  1 Biography  1.1 1986-2004: Early life  1.2 2005-07: Career beginnings  1.3 2008 onwards: The Fame and The Fame Monster  2 Musical style and influences  2.1 Public image  3 Discography  4 Tours  5 Awards and nominations      ==Biography== 1986-2004: Early life Stefani Germanotta was born on March 28, 1986, the eldest child of Italian American parents Joseph and Cynthia Germanotta (née Bissett), in New York City. She learned to play piano from the age of four, went on to write her first piano ballad at 13 and began performing at open mike nights by age 14. At the age of 11, Germanotta attended Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private Roman Catholic school. An avid thespian in high school musicals, Germanotta portrayed lead roles as Adelaide in Guys and Dolls and Philia in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. She described her academic life in high school as "very dedicated, very studious, very disciplined" but also "a bit insecure" as she told in an interview, "I used to get made fun of for being either too provocative or too eccentric, so I started to tone it down. I didn’t fit in, and I felt like a freak." Acquaintances dispute that she did not fit in school. "She had a core group of friends; she was a good student. She liked boys a lot, but singing was No. 1", recalled a former high school classmate. Referring to her "expressive, free spirit", Gaga told Elle magazine "I'm left-handed!"  At age 17, Germanotta gained early admission to the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. There she studied music, and improved her songwriting skills by composing essays and analytical papers focusing on topics such as art, religion, social issues and politics. Germanotta lived in a NYU dorm on 11th Street but felt that she was more creative than some of her classmates. "Once you learn how to think about art, you can teach yourself," she said. By the second semester of her sophomore year, she withdrew from the school to focus on her musical career. Her father agreed to pay her rent for a year, on the condition that she re-enroll for Tisch, if she was unsuccessful. "I left my entire family, got the cheapest apartment I could find, and ate shit until somebody would listen," she said.  2005-07: Career beginnings Germanotta had initially signed with Def Jam Recordings at the age of 19, after Island Def Jam Music Group Chairman and CEO L. A. Reid heard her singing down the hallway from his office. After three months, she was dropped from Def Jam, although they introduced her to songwriter and producer RedOne, whom they also managed. The first song she produced together with RedOne was "Boys Boys Boys", a mash-up inspired by Mötley Crüe's "Girls, Girls, Girls" and AC/DC's "T.N.T.". She moved into an apartment on the Lower East Side, and from there she started the Stefani Germanotta Band with some friends from NYU. They recorded an EP of their Fiona Apple-esque ballads, at a studio underneath a liquor store in New Jersey, becoming a local fixture at the downtown LES club scene. She began taking drugs soon after, while performing at burlesque shows. Her father did not understand the reason behind her drug addiction and could not look at her for several months. Music producer Rob Fusari, who helped her write some of her earlier songs, compared her vocal style to that of Freddie Mercury. Fusari helped create the moniker Gaga, after the Queen song "Radio Ga Ga". One day, Germanotta was in the process of trying to come up with a stage name, when she received a text message from Fusari that read "Lady Gaga". He explained, "Every day, when Stef came to the studio, instead of saying hello, I would start singing 'Radio Ga Ga.' That was her entrance song. Lasy Gaga was actually a glitch; I typed 'Radio Ga Ga' in a text and it did an autocorrect so somehow 'Radio' got changed to 'Lady'. She texted me back, "That's it." After that day, she was Lady Gaga. She’s like, "Don’t ever call me Stefani again."    Gaga performing at a barShe was known thereafter as Lady Gaga. Throughout 2007, Gaga collaborated with performance artist Lady Starlight, who helped create her onstage fashions. The pair began playing gigs at downtown club venues like the Mercury Lounge, The Bitter End, and the Rockwood Music Hall, with their live performance art piece known as "Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue". Billed as "The Ultimate Pop Burlesque Rockshow", their act was a low-fi tribute to 1970s variety acts. In August 2007, Gaga and Starlight were invited to play at the American Lollapalooza music festival. The show was critically acclaimed, and their performance received positive reviews. Having initially focused on avant-garde, and electronic dance music, Gaga found her musical niche when she began to incorporate pop melodies and the vintage glam rock of David Bowie and Queen into her music.  Fusari sent the songs he produced with Gaga to his friend, producer and record executive Vincent Herbert. Herbert was quick to sign her to his label Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records. She credited Herbert as the man who discovered her, adding "I really feel like we made pop history, and we're gonna keep going". Having already served as an apprentice songwriter under an internship at Famous Music Publishing, which was later acquired by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Gaga subsequently struck a music publishing deal with Sony/ATV. As a result, she was hired to write songs for Britney Spears, and labelmates New Kids on the Block, Fergie, and the Pussycat Dolls. While Gaga was writing at Interscope, singer-songwriter Akon recognized her vocal abilities, when she sang a reference vocal for one of his tracks in studio. He then convinced Interscope-Geffen-A&M Chairman and CEO Jimmy Iovine to form a joint deal, by having her also sign with his own label Kon Live Distribution, and later called her his "franchise player." Gaga continued her collaboration with RedOne, by working with him in the studio for a week on her debut album, spawning the future singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". She also joined the roster of Cherrytree Records, an Interscope imprint established by producer and songwriter Martin Kierszenbaum, after co-writing four songs with Kierszenbaum including the single "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)".  2008 onwards: The Fame and The Fame Monster By 2008, Gaga had relocated to Los Angeles, working closely with her record label to finalize her debut album The Fame. She combined a lot of different genres on the album, "from Def Leppard drums and hand claps to metal drums on urban tracks." The Fame received positive reviews from critics; according to the music review aggregation of Metacritic, it garnered an average score of 71/100. The album peaked at number one in Austria, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Ireland, and the top-five in Australia and the United States. Its lead single "Just Dance", topped the charts in six countries  Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States  and later received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Dance Recording. The following single, "Poker Face", was an even greater success, reaching number-one in almost all major music markets in the world, including the United Kingdom and the United States. It won the award for Best Dance Recording at the 52nd Grammy Awards, over nominations for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. The Fame was nominated for Album of the Year; it won the Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album. Although her first concert tour happened as an opening act for fellow Interscope pop group, the reformed New Kids on the Block, she ultimately headlined her own concert tour, The Fame Ball Tour, which began on March 2009.    Gaga at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.The cover of the annual 'Hot 100' issue of Rolling Stone in May 2009, featured a semi-nude Gaga wearing only strategically placed plastic bubbles. In the issue she discussed that while she was beginning her career in the New York club scene, she was romantically involved with a heavy metal drummer. She described their relationship and break-up, saying of it, "I was his Sandy, and he was my Danny of Grease, and I just broke." He later became an inspiration behind some of the songs on The Fame. She was nominated for a total of nine awards at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, winning the award for "Best New Artist", while her single "Paparazzi" won two awards for "Best Art Direction" and "Best Special Effects." In October 2009, Gaga received Billboard magazine's Rising Star of 2009 award. She attended the Human Rights Campaign's "National Dinner" on October 10, 2009, before marching in the National Equality March in Washington, D.C. In November 2009, Gaga released The Fame Monster, a collection of eight songs that dealt with the darker side of fame as experienced by her over the course of 2008-09, while travelling around the world and are expressed through a monster metaphor. Her second concert tour, The Monster Ball Tour, was announced in support of The Fame Monster and began in November 2009. "Bad Romance" was released as the first single from the album and topped the charts in eighteen countries, while reaching the top-two in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. "Speechless", a song from The Fame Monster, was performed at The 2009 Royal Variety Performance where Gaga met and sang for Queen Elizabeth II.    Gaga performing on The Monster Ball TourGaga was chosen as of one the '10 Most Fascinating People of 2009' by Barbara Walters during Walters' annual ABC News special. When interviewed by the journalist, the singer went to dismiss the claim that she is intersex as an urban legend, responding to a question on this issue by stating: "At first it was very strange and everyone sorta said, 'That's really quite a story!' But in a sense, I portray myself in a very androgynous way, and I love androgyny." On January 7, 2010, she was named chief creative officer for a line of imaging products for Polaroid, stating that she will create fashion, technology and photography products. In the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Gaga donated all of her proceeds from the January 24 show of The Monster Ball (ticket sales, merchandise, etc.), and from her online store; the total amount donated was over $500,000. She also collaborated with artist Cyndi Lauper, for MAC AIDS Fund's VIVA Glam campaign, which raised over $160 million to fight against AIDS and HIV, and bring awareness about the diseases to women around the world. The second single "Telephone", which features R&B singer Beyoncé, became her fourth UK number-one single, while reaching the top three in Australia, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Canada and the United States. On March 19, 2010, Rob Fusari sued Gaga's production company Mermaid Music LLC, claiming that he was entitled to a 20% share of its earnings. Gaga's lawyer Charles Ortner described the agreement with Fusari as "unlawful" and declined to comment. In an interview with MTV United Kingdom, Gaga stated that she had begun work on her new studio album. She said that shes "already written the core of it" and that "it's certainly my best work to date." On April 16, 2010, her music videos gained over one billion viral views, becoming the first artist to reach this milestone. Later that month, Gaga was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of the year. Cyndi Lauper, who wrote the article in TIME about Gaga, called her "a performance artist" saying that "she herself is the art, she is the sculpture."  ==Musical style and influences== Gaga has been influenced by glam rock musicians such as David Bowie and Freddie Mercury, as well as pop music artists such as Madonna and Michael Jackson. The Queen song "Radio Ga Ga" inspired her stage name, "Lady Gaga". She commented: "I adored Freddie Mercury and Queen had a hit called 'Radio Gaga'. That's why I love the name Freddie was unique one of the biggest personalities in the whole of pop music." Madonna told Rolling Stone that she sees "herself in Lady Gaga." In response to the comparisons between herself and Madonna, Gaga stated: "I don't want to sound presumptuous, but I've made it my goal to revolutionise pop music. The last revolution was launched by Madonna 25 years ago." Actress and singer Grace Jones was also cited as an inspiration by her. She has often been likened to Blondie singer Debbie Harry.  Gaga's vocals have drawn frequent comparison to Madonna and Gwen Stefani, while the structure of her music is said to be reminiscent of classic 1980s pop and 1990s Europop. While reviewing her debut album The Fame, The Sunday Times asserted "in combining music, fashion, art and technology, Lady GaGa evokes Madonna, Gwen Stefani circa 'Hollaback Girl', Kylie Minogue 2001 or Grace Jones right now." Similarly, The Boston Globe critic Sarah Rodman commented that she draws "obvious inspirations from Madonna to Gwen Stefani... in her girlish but sturdy pipes and bubbly beats." Though her lyrics are said to lack intellectual stimulation, "she does manage to get you moving and grooving at an almost effortless pace." Music critic Simon Reynolds wrote that "Everything about Gaga came from electroclash, except the music, which wasn't particularly 1980s, just ruthlessly catchy noughties pop glazed with Auto-Tune and undergirded with R&B-ish beats.  Gaga has stated that she is "very into fashion" and that it is "everything" to her. She considers Donatella Versace her muse. Gaga has her own creative production team called the Haus of Gaga, which she handles personally. The team creates many of her clothes, stage props, and hairdos. Her love of fashion came from her mother, who she stated was "always very well kept and beautiful." She said that: "When I'm writing music, I'm thinking about the clothes I want to wear on stage. It's all about everything altogether performance art, pop performance art, fashion. For me, it's everything coming together and being a real story that will bring back the super-fan. I want to bring that back. I want the imagery to be so strong that fans will want to eat and taste and lick every part of us." The Global Language Monitor named 'Lady Gaga' as the Top Fashion Buzzword with her trademark 'no pants' coming in at No. 3. Entertainment Weekly put her outfits on its end of the decade "best-of" list, saying, "Whether it's a dress made of Muppets or strategically placed bubbles, Gaga's outré ensembles brought performance art into the mainstream."  ==Public image== Gaga wearing a plastic bubble dress while performing on The Fame Ball Tour.Contrary to her subsequent outré style, the New York Post described her early look as like "a refugee from Jersey Shore" with "big black hair, heavy eye makeup and tight, revealing clothes." Gaga is a natural brunette, however she bleached her hair blonde, because she was often mistaken for Amy Winehouse. She often refers to her fans as her 'little monsters' and got a tattoo with that inscription as a tribute. She has another six known tattoos, among them a peace symbol, which was inspired by the late John Lennon who she stated was her hero, and a curling German script on her left arm which quotes the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, her "favorite philosopher," commenting that his "philosophy of solitude" spoke to her:  In the deepest hour of the night, confess to yourself that you would die if you were forbidden to write. And look deep into your heart where it spreads its roots, the answer, and ask yourself, must I write?  Rainer Maria Rilke Toward the end of 2008, comparisons were made between the fashions of Lady Gaga and recording artist Christina Aguilera, noting similarities in their styling, hair, and make-up. Aguilera later said she was "completely unaware of Gaga" and "didn't know if it was a man or a woman." Gaga released a statement in which she welcomed the comparisons, due to the attention providing useful publicity, saying, "She's such a huge star and if anything I should send her flowers, because a lot of people in America didn't know who I was until that whole thing happened. It really put me on the map in a way." Comparisons continued into 2010 when Christina released the music video of her single "Not Myself Tonight". Critics noted similarities between the song and its accompanying music video with Gaga's video for "Bad Romance".    Gaga delivers a speech at the National Equality March, October 11, 2009.Gaga attributes much of her early success as a mainstream artist to her gay fans and is considered to be a rising gay icon. Early in her career she had difficulty getting radio airplay, and stated, "The turning point for me was the gay community. I've got so many gay fans and they're so loyal to me and they really lifted me up. They'll always stand by me and I'll always stand by them. It's not an easy thing to create a fanbase." She thanked FlyLife, a Manhattan-based LGBT marketing company with whom her label Interscope works, in the liner notes of her debut studio album, The Fame, saying, "I love you so much. You were the first heartbeat in this project, and your support and brilliance means the world to me. I will always fight for the gay community hand in hand with this incredible team." One of her first televised performances was in May 2008 at the NewNowNext Awards, an awards show aired by the LGBT television network Logo, where she sang her song "Just Dance". In June of the same year, she performed the song again at the San Francisco Pride event. After The Fame was released, she revealed that the song "Poker Face" was about her bisexuality. In an interview with Rolling Stone, she spoke about how her boyfriends tended to react to her bisexuality, saying "The fact that I’m into women, they’re all intimidated by it. It makes them uncomfortable. They’re like, 'I don’t need to have a threesome. I’m happy with just you'." When she appeared as a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in May 2009, she praised DeGeneres for being "an inspiration for women and for the gay community". She proclaimed that the October 11, 2009, National Equality March rally on the national mall was "the single most important event of her career." As she exited, she left with an exultant "Bless God and bless the gays," similar to her 2009 MTV Video Music Awards acceptance speech for Best New Artist a month earlier.  ==Discography== Main article: Lady Gaga discography The Fame (2008)  The Fame Monster (2009)  Tours The Fame Ball Tour (2009)  The Monster Ball Tour (2009-2011)  Awards and nominations Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Lady Gaga  Related Websites: http://www.ladygaga.com/ http://www.ladygaga.com/telephone/ http://www.ladygaga.com/news/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Gaga http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrO4YZeyl0I http://twitter.com/ladygaga http://www.facebook.com/ladygaga?v=app_157391050947062 http://www.myspace.com/ladygaga http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/lady_gaga/artist.jhtml
Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber: Killer video stars

Most viewed: Videos by Lada Gaga and Justin Bieber have compiled some astounding statistics
An odder pop couple doesn't exist: Justin Bieber with his heartthrob looks and Mayberry sweetness, and Lady Gaga with her outrageous costumes and kinky persona.
And yet behold the king and queen of today's music video scene, taking over for MTV-era monarchs Michael Jackson and Madonna.
At their torrid mouse-click pace — in September, Bieber was getting 3.7 million views a day, Gaga 1.8 million — the singers will be the first entertainers to top 1 billion YouTube views each, Gaga by Oct. 25 and Bieber by Nov. 3, says David Burch of TubeMogul, which monitors online video traffic.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Justin Bieber and Susan Boyle
Contributing heavily to their staggering stats are Bieber's Baby, with 353 million views (with a playing time of 3:45, that's roughly 2,518 years of screen time), and Gaga's Bad Romance, which has tallied 291 million views (at 5:08, 2,832 years).
The distant runners-up? Jackson and Britney Spears, each with about 600 million total views.
"No one comes close to Gaga and Bieber in terms of compiling this sort of statistic in this short a time," Burch says. "Clearly, they are tapping into something big."
That would be a keen understanding of the interactive nature of today's media consumers. In contrast to the passive days of watching videos on TV or hearing songs on the radio, today's music fans can actively promote an artist through repeated viewings and forwarding videos to friends, says Monica Herrera, news editor at Billboard.
"Today's model involves keeping the content coming in short bursts and staying very visible with fans, compared to days when being unseen might be viewed as cool," Herrera says. "When you click on your mouse, you get to be with the star."
YouTube spokesman Chris Dale says that for many music fans, "clicking on a video is like a form of competition — the more they do it, the more they wind up helping their favorite artist," he says. "Bieber and Gaga have figured out that there's a core overlap between what they do and what this generation wants."
Video is central to the careers of both stars. Gaga's elaborate creations, which often enlist the help of divas such as Beyoncé, almost demand to be seen more than heard.
And Bieber literally owes his livelihood to YouTube: Amateur videos of him singing are what led to his being signed by R&B star Usher. It also appears the teen is angling for a career in front of the camera: He's playing a troubled teenager in episodes of CBS' CSI.
"Justin Bieber is the first teen phenomenon in the era of universal access" to stars, says Bob Lefsetz, author of music-industry watchdog blog the Lefsetz Letter. "He's showing that the Internet really is providing new opportunities for the music business.

"And the production values of (Gaga's) clips prove the music video is not dead."