Belinda: Young and beautiful and then some...

2010-06-30T18:29:00Z

Belinda was born in Madrid, Spain on August 15, 1989 to a Spanish father, Ignacio Peregrín and French mother, Belinda Schüll. She has a younger brother named Ignacio. Peregrín and her family moved to Mexico City when she was four years old and have lived there since.

Television career

At a very early age Belinda showed an incredible talent for singing, acting and making home videos that she wrote and filmed herself. When she was 10, she starred in her first TV series entitled ¡Amigos X Siempre!, produced by Televisa in Mexico and contributed to a soundtrack for the program. Her second role was playing Violeta in the telenovela Aventuras En El Tiempo, that also starred Christopher Uckermann. Following the success of ¡Amigos X Siempre! and Aventuras En El Tiempo, Belinda starred in the dual role playing identical twins, Mariana Cantú and Silvana Del Valle, who were separated at birth in the popular children's telenovela, Cómplices Al Rescate. She recorded a soundtrack for the show, and received her first Latin Grammy nomination for her work on the soundtrack. Before the second season started, Belinda dropped out of the show in order to pursue other projects. For the remainder of the series, her role was played by Mexican actress and singer, Daniela Lujan.

In 2006 Belinda returned to the small screen in the Disney Channel Original Movie The Cheetah Girls 2, playing the role of Marisol. The movie premiered on August 25, 2006 and it received a total of over 8.1 million viewers. Belinda also contributed a total of 4 songs to Soundtrack, the album was released on August 15, 2006 and debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200 and it has sold 1.4 million copies to date in the US.

Belinda has recently been seen in a new telenovela called Camaleones. Where she plays a prefect for a high class high school, and doubles as a thief with her love interest who is also a teacher at the school where Belinda works.

Music career

Her international self-titled debut album Belinda was released in Mexico by Sony BMG and RCA Records on August 5, 2003 and became as great a success in many different countries, as it was in Mexico. The album was produced by Graeme Pleeth and Rudy Pérez. It included singles such as Lo Siento, Boba Niña Nice, Ángel, and Vivir, which was also chosen as the main theme song for Corazones al límite, another soap opera she briefly appeared in. There were 4 different versions of the album released: the original version "Belinda", Belinda (Repackage) which featured 1 extra track: No Entiendo featuring Andy & Lucas, Belinda (Enchanced) which featured 2 Remixes and 2 Multimedia Tracks, and Belinda: Edición Especial which included a CD with 18 tracks and a DVD that contained five videos. The albums titled "Belinda", "Belinda (Enhanced)"^] and "Belinda: Edición Especial" are the only albums that are being sold today, the rest were limited editions. In 2005, she collaborated with the Mexican rock band Moderatto on their single Muriendo Lento, which is a cover of one of Timbiriche's songs, a Mexican pop group from the 1980s.

Utopía

Her second studio album Utopía reached #3 on the Mexican Charts. Belinda revealed in a program aired by Televisa, "Bailando por un Sueño" and "Bailando por la Boda de Tus Sueños", that EMI wanted her to spend one week in Los Angeles recording "Utopía 2", her first album in English which was released in Europe and North America by EMI International on September 25, 2007. This new CD included tracks in English and a DVD. She also appeared as a guest star in Buscando Timbiriche la nueva banda.

Belinda was nominated in two categories in the 2007 Latin Grammy Awards which were held on November 8. Her nominations include Song of the Year for "Bella Traición" and Best Female Pop Album for her hit album, "Utopía". On October 18, 2007, Belinda won two awards, Video of the Year for "Bella Traición" and Best Solo Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards Latinoamerica. Belinda also provided vocals for the Spanglish remix of "Te Quiero" by DJ Flex.

Carpe Diem

On August 18, 2009, "Sal de Mi Piel" was released on iTunes.

On August 27, 2009, EMI Televisa posted a video teaser of Belinda's new song "Sal de Mi Piel." It also announced the new name of her third album, Carpe Diem, which was released in March 23, 2010. Two days after its release, the album was certified gold in Mexico on March 25, 2010, after 30,000 copies sold. Her first single for the album is "Egoísta" featuring Pitbull, which was released in February 8 on radios.

Discography

2003: Belinda
2006: Utopía
2010: Carpe Diem

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
2006	The Cheetah Girls 2	Marisol Durán	Disney Channel Original Movie
2008	Despereaux: Un Pequeño Gran Héroe	Princess Pea	Latin America Spanish voiceover
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	¡Amigos X Siempre!	Ana Capistrán Vidal	Main role
2001	Aventuras En El Tiempo	Violeta/Rosenda	Main role
2002	Cómplices Al Rescate	Mariana Cantú/Sillvana Del Valle	Main role
2004	Corazones al límite	Elena 'Elenita' Arellano Gómez	Supporting Role
2009	Camaleones	Valentina Izaguirre / Valentina Jaramillo	Main role

Awards

2000

Palmes d'Or-Child-Best Actress – Won

2001

TV y Novelas Awards - Best Artist-disclosure – Won
Premios Eres-Singer and Best Actress – Won

2002

Hey Soloist Awards - Best Grupero (Mariana / Cómplices Al Rescate) – Nominated

2003

Latin Grammy Awards - Best Children's Album [Cómplices Al Rescate] – Nominated
Premios Tu Musica [Puerto Rico] - Revelation of the Year – Won

2004

MTV Video Music Awards Latinoamerica - Best New Artist – Won
MTV Video Music Awards Latinoamerica - Best Artist North – Nominated
Oye Awards - Best Pop Singer – Won
Oye Awards - Album of the Year [Belinda] – Nominated
Oye Awards - Video of the Year [Ángel] – Nominated
Billboard Awards - Album of the Year: Pop Category – Nominated

2005

Premios Juventud - Combinacion Perfecta – Nominated
MTV Video Music Awards Latinoamerica - Best Pop Artist – Nominated
MTV Video Music Awards Latinoamerica - Best Female Artist – Nominated
Oye Awards - Video of the Year [Muriendo Lento] – Won
Oye Awards - Song of the Year (Muriendo Lento) – Nominated
TV y Novelas Awards - Best Song (Vivir) – Nominated

2007

Lo Nuestro Awards - Video of the Year – Nominated
Juventud Awards - Favorite Rock Artist – Nominated
Orgullosamente Latino Awards - Latin Solo of the Year - – Nominated
Oye Awards - Best Female Solo Singer – Won
Oye Awards - Best Basic 40 – Nominated
Latin Grammy Awards - Song of the Year (Bella Traición) – Nominated
Latin Grammy Awards - Best Female Pop Album – Nominated
MTV Video Music Awards Latinoamerica - Best Solo Artist – Won
MTV Video Music Awards Latinoamerica - Best Pop Artist – Nominated
MTV Video Music Awards Latinoamerica - Best Artist North – Nominated
MTV Video Music Awards Latinoamerica - Video of the Year (Bella Traicion) – Won
MTV Video Music Awards Latinoamerica - Fashionista – Nominated
MTV Video Music Awards Latinoamerica - Artist of the Year – Nominated
Latin Music and Sports Awards - Best Artist New Generation of the Year – Won
Premios Principales España - Best Artist International – Nominated
Premios Principales España - Best Artist Mexico – Nominated
Mi TRL Awards - CHICA OF THE YEAR (Female of the year) – Nominated
Mi TRL Awards - “YOU COMPLETE ME” AWARD (CO-HOST OF THE YEAR) – Nominated
Mi TRL Awards - “SHOULD HAVE DVR’D IT” AWARD (SURPRISING MOMENT) – Nominated
Terra Awards - Song of the Year (Bella Traición) – Won
Terra Awards - Better disclosure artist of the year – Nominated

2008

Premio Lo Nuestro 2008 - Female Artist (Pop) – WON
TRL Awards Italia - Best New Artist – Nominated
Premios Juventud - Pop Artist – Nominated"
Premios Juventud - Rock Artist – Nominated'
Orgullosamente Latino - Best Latin Singer – Nominated'
Premios Principales España - Best Artist International – Nominated
Premios Principales España - Best International Song - Bella Traicion – Nominated

2010

TV y Novelas Awards - Best Song (Sal de Mi Piel) – Nominated
TV y Novelas Awards - Best Teen Actress – Nominated

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Benjamin Bratt: Classy and Cool

2010-06-02T12:01:00Z

Benjamin Bratt (born December 16, 1963) is an American actor. He is most famous for his role as Rey Curtis on the TV series Law & Order; and his appearances in the movies Blood in Blood Out, Miss Congeniality, Traffic, and Piñero. He starred on the A&E Network drama The Cleaner.

Early life

Bratt was born in San Francisco, California, the son of nurse Eldy (née Banda) and a sheet metal worker father. Bratt's mother is a Peruvian Indigenous activist of the Quechuas tribe; born in Peru, she moved to the U.S. at age 14. His father was an American of German and English descent. They married December 30, 1960, in San Francisco, but divorced in September 1967. Bratt's paternal grandfather, George Cleveland Bratt (March 5, 1893-March 29, 1984), was a Broadway actor who married his grandmother Wiltrude Hildner on August 6, 1920, in Detroit, Michigan.

As a child, Bratt went with his mother and siblings to participate in the 1969 Native American occupation of Alcatraz. Today Bratt is an active supporter of such Native American causes as the American Indian College Fund and We Shall Remain, a mini-series and multi-media project, narrated by Bratt, that establishes Native history as an essential part of American history from PBS' acclaimed series American Experience.

His brother, Peter Bratt, wrote and directed Follow Me Home, casting Benjamin as Abel. Also "La Mission" (2010 Indie Film) casting as Che

Bratt has been a strong supporter and board member of San Francisco Bay Area's Friendship House Association of American Indians and Native American Health Center for years.

Schooling

In San Francisco, Bratt attended Lowell High School, where he developed his dramatic and oratory skills as a member of the Lowell Forensic Society. Bratt earned a B.F.A. at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he also joined the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Although accepted into the M.F.A. program at the American Conservator Theater in San Francisco, he left before receiving his degree to star in the television series Juarez.

Personal Life

In 1998, he began dating actress Julia Roberts. He escorted her to the March 25, 2001, Academy Awards ceremony, at which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Three months later, in June 2001, they announced that they were no longer a couple.

Less than a year later, he married his pregnant girlfriend, actress Talisa Soto, on April 13, 2002, in San Francisco. The two met ten years earlier during the casting audition of Blood In Blood Out and afterwards off and on they saw each other. It was not until while filming Piñero that they began to develop a relationship. Their first child, daughter Sophia Rosalinda Bratt, was born on December 6, 2002; their second child, son Mateo Bravery Bratt, was born on October 3, 2005, in Los Angeles.

In April 2010, he revealed a new tattoo on his right upper arm. The reveal occurred on the Wendy Williams show, and was her catch phrase "How You Doin'?"

Career

Bratt's best-known role has been that of Det. Rey Curtis on the television show Law & Order. In 1999, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his work on the series. His more popular films include Miss Congeniality, Blood in Blood out and Traffic. On June 23, 2009, Bratt appeared on The View to promote The Cleaner.

On October 14, 2009, it was announced that Benjamin Bratt will guest-star on ABC's hit comedy, Modern Family, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Bratt will play the ex-husband of Sofia Vergara's Gloria.

On October 23, it was announced that Bratt will return as Detective Reynaldo Curtis on Law & Order, TVGuide.com has confirmed. Curtis reunited with his former boss, Lt. Anita van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson), which aired on December 11, 2009. Bratt was nominated for a best supporting actor Emmy for the role in 1999. After four seasons, he left the show that same year to pursue a film career.

In 2009, Bratt performed in The People Speak (film) a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on Historian Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States”.

Awards and Nomination

ALMA Awards

2009 Category: Best Actor in Drama (Year in Television) for The Cleaner (2008) (TV)

2002 Category: Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for Pinero (2001)

1999 Category: Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990)

1999 Category: Outstanding Actor in Made-for-Television Movie or Mini-Series for Exiled (1998) (TV Movie)

1998 Category: Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990)

Blockbuster Entertainment Awards

2001 Category: Favorite Supporting Actor - Comedy for Miss Congeniality (2000)

Emmy Awards

1999 Category: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990)

Imagen Foundation Awards

2009 Category: Best Actor - Television for The Cleaner (2008) (TV)

NCLR Bravo Awards

1996 Category: Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990)

PRISM Awards

2009 Category: Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline for The Cleaner (2008) (TV)

Razzie Awards

2005 Category: Worst Screen Couple for Catwoman (2004) shared with Halle Berry; Sharon Stone

2001 Category: Worst Screen Couple for The Next Best Thing (2000) shared with Madonna; Rupert Everett

Screen Actors Guild Awards

2001 Category: Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture for Traffic (2000) shared with Steven Bauer; James Brolin; Don Cheadle

2000 Category: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990) shared with Angie Harmon; Steven Hill; Jesse L. Martin

1999 Category: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990) shared with Angie Harmon; Steven Hill; Carey Lowell

1998 Category: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990) shared with Steven Hill; Carey Lowell; S. Epatha Merkerson

1997 Category: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990) shared with Jill Hennessy; Steven Hill; Carey Lowell

1996 Category: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for Law & Order (1990) shared with Jill Hennessy; Steven Hill; S. Epatha Merkerson

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Bratt

Christina Aguilera: She's Back and Mixing It Up.....AGAIN

2010-05-03T21:01:00Z

Christina María Aguilera (born December 18, 1980) is an American pop singer and songwriter. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The New Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994. Aguilera signed to RCA Records after recording "Reflection" for the film Mulan. She came to prominence following her debut album Christina Aguilera (1999), which was a commercial success spawning three number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. A Latin pop album, Mi Reflejo (2001), and several collaborations followed which garnered Aguilera worldwide success, though she was displeased with her lack of input in her music and image.

After parting from her management, Aguilera took creative control over her second studio album, Stripped (2002), The album's second single, "Beautiful", was a commercial success and helped the album's commercial performance. Aguilera's third studio album, Back to Basics (2006), included elements of soul, jazz, and blues music, and was released to positive critical reception. Aguilera's fourth studio album Bionic will be released in June 2010.

Aside from being known for her vocal ability, music videos and image, musically, she includes themes of dealing with public scrutiny, her childhood, and female empowerment in her music. Apart from her work in music, she has also dedicated much of her time as a philanthropist for charities, human rights and world issues. Aguilera's work has earned her numerous awards, including four Grammy Awards and a Latin Grammy Award, amongst fifteen and three nominations respectively. Rolling Stone ranked her number fifty-three on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, ranking as the youngest and only artist on the list under the age of thirty. She has become one of the most successful recording artists of the decade, selling more than 43 million records worldwide.

Early life and career

Aguilera was born in Staten Island, New York, to Fausto Wagner Xavier Aguilera, a Sergeant in the U.S. Army at the time, and Shelly Loraine (née Fidler), a teacher of Spanish. Aguilera's father was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Her maternal grandmother emigrated from County Clare, Ireland. while her maternal grandfather is of German, French, English, and Dutch ancestry.Her father was stationed at Earnest Harmon Air Force Base in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador and Japan. Aguilera lived with her father and mother until she was seven years old. Aguilera grew up hearing Spanish and thus understands the language, although she is more fluent in English. When Aguilera's parents divorced, her mother took her, and her younger sister Rachel, to her grandmother's home in Rochester, Pennsylvania, a town outside of Pittsburgh. According to both Aguilera and Fidler, her father was very controlling, as well as physically and emotionally abusive. She later sang about her difficult childhood in the songs "I'm OK" on Stripped, and "Oh Mother" on Back to Basics. Although her father has written to Aguilera, she has ruled out any chance of reuniting with him. Since then, Fidler has married a paramedic named Jim Kearns, and changed her name.

As a child, Aguilera aspired to be a singer. She was known locally as "the little girl with the big voice", singing in local talent shows and competitions. According to VH1's Driven, whenever competitors learned they would be up against her in any given week, they would immediately withdraw, prompting insiders to claim it was "like sending a lamb to the slaughter". Her peers soon became jealous of her and would frequently subject her to ridicule, ostracism, and, in one gym class, attempted assault. Acts of vandalism around her house included the slashing of the tires on the family car. Eventually, the family relocated to another suburb in the Pittsburgh area (this time, Wexford) and took to secrecy about Aguilera's talent lest another backlash occur. She attended Marshall Middle School near Wexford and North Allegheny Intermediate High School until she was later home schooled.

On March 15, 1990, she appeared on Star Search singing "A Sunday Kind of Love", but lost the competition at number 2. Soon after losing on Star Search, she returned home and appeared on Pittsburgh's KDKA-TV's Wake Up with Larry Richert to perform the same song. People remarked that the then ten-year-old "sounded 20".

Throughout her youth in Pittsburgh, Aguilera sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Pittsburgh Penguins hockey, Pittsburgh Steelers football and Pittsburgh Pirates baseball games, including during the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals. Her first major role in entertainment came in 1993 when she joined the Disney Channel's variety show The New Mickey Mouse Club. Her co-stars included Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Ryan Gosling and Keri Russell, the show lasted another year until its cancellation. According to the documentary Driven, Aguilera's co-stars called her "the Diva". One of her most notable performances was of Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing".

At the age of fourteen, Aguilera recorded her first song, "All I Wanna Do", a hit duet with Japanese singer Keizo Nakanishi. In 1997, she represented the United States at the international Golden Stag Festival with a two-song set. Aguilera entered talent contests on "teen night" at the Pegasus Lounge, a gay and *** nightclub in Pittsburgh. She would later debut in Pittsburgh in mid-1999 at Lilith Fair.

1998–2001: Pop music beginnings and Christina Aguilera

In 1998, Aguilera sang the high "E" in full voice (and again on the song "Candyman" from her Back To Basics album for a full 8 seconds) on a cover of Whitney Houston's "Run to You, which she had recorded with a tape recorder in her bathroom. She was then selected to record the song "Reflection" for the Disney production of Mulan (1998). Recording "Reflection" led to Aguilera earning a contract with RCA Records the same week. "Reflection" peaked within the top twenty on the Adult Contemporary Singles Chart, and it was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for "Best Original Song" in 1998. Under the exclusive representation of Steve Kurtz, Aguilera's self-titled debut album Christina Aguilera was released on August 24, 1999. It reached the top of the Billboard 200 and Canadian album charts, selling eight million copies in the U.S. and over seventeen million copies worldwide. The album is also included in the Top 100 Albums of All Time list of The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) based on US sales. Her singles "Genie in a Bottle", "What a Girl Wants" and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)" topped the Billboard Hot 100 during 1999 and 2000, and "I Turn to You" reached number three. According to the album's songwriters, Aguilera wanted to display the range and audacity in her voice during the promotion of the album, and performed acoustic sets and appeared on television shows accompanied only by a piano. She ended the year on MTV's New Year's Special, as she performed and was MTV's first artist of the millennium. At the 42nd Grammy Awards Aguilera received a Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy nomination for "Genie in a Bottle" and despite earlier predictions, she won the award Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

In 2000, Aguilera began recording her first Spanish-language album with producer Rudy Pérez in Miami. Later in 2000, Aguilera, first emphasized her Latin heritage by releasing her first Spanish album, Mi Reflejo on September 12, 2000. This album contained Spanish versions of songs from her English debut as well as new Spanish tracks. Though some criticized Aguilera for trying to cash in on the Latin music boom at the time. According to Pérez, Aguilera was only semi-fluent, while recording. She understood the language, because she has grown up with her father, who is a native of Ecuador. He added "Her Latin roots are undeniable".The album peaked at number twenty-seven on the Billboard 200 and went number one on the Billboard Latin charts for a record 20 weeks. In 2001, it won Aguilera a Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album. The album went Gold in the U.S. She also won the World Music Award as the best selling Latin artist that year. Aguilera also released a Christmas album on October 24, 2000 called My Kind of Christmas. It peaked at number twenty-eight on the Billboard 200, and has been certified Platinum in the U.S. Ricky Martin asked Aguilera to duet with him on the track "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" from his album Sound Loaded; released in 2001 as the album's second single. The single reached number one on the World Chart.

In 2001, Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa, and Pink were chosen to remake Labelle's 1975 single "Lady Marmalade for the film Moulin Rouge! and its soundtrack. The song peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks and was the most successful airplay-only single in history. It also reached number one in eleven other countries and earned all four performers a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Aguilera's appearance in the music video was compared to that of Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider. The video won two MTV Video Music Awards including Video of the Year in 2001, where Aguilera accepted the award saying, "I guess the big hair paid off."

That same year, the single "Just Be Free" emerged into record stores which was one of the demos Aguilera recorded when she was around fifteen years old. When RCA Records discovered the single, they advised fans not to purchase it. Months later, Warlock Records was set to release Just Be Free, an album which contains the demo tracks. Aguilera filed a breach of contract and unfair competition suit against Warlock and the album's producers to block the release. Instead, the two parties came to a settlement to release the album. Aguilera lent out her name, likeness and image for an unspecified amount of damages. Many of the details of the lawsuit remain confidential. When the album was released in August 2001, it had a photograph of Aguilera when she was fifteen years old.

Although Aguilera's debut album was very well received, she was dissatisfied with the music and image her management had created for her. Aguilera was marketed as a bubblegum pop singer because of the genre's upward financial trend. She mentioned plans of her next album to have much more depth, both musically and lyrically. Aguilera's views of Steve Kurtz's influence in matters of the singer's creative direction, the role of being her exclusive personal manager and overscheduling had in part caused her to seek legal means of terminating their management contract. She revealed while recording her then upcoming album, "I was being overworked. You find out that someone you thought was a friend is stealing money behind your back, and it's heartbreaking. I put faith in the people around me, and unfortunately, it bit me in the butt." Kurtz was terminated and Irving Azoff was hired as her new manager.

2002–2003: New image and Stripped

On October 29, 2002, after much delay, Aguilera's second full-length English album, Stripped, was released, selling more than 330,000 copies in the first week and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200. Unlike previous work, the album showcased Aguilera's raunchier side. The majority of Stripped was co-written by Aguilera (who had recently signed a global music publishing contract with BMG Music Publishing) and was influenced by many different subjects and music styles, including contemporary R&B, gospel, soul, balladry, pop rock, and hip hop. The majority of the album was produced by Scott Storch and singer-songwriter Linda Perry who produced her more personal records. Rockwilder and singer Alicia Keys also contributed a track each. Upon initial release, the album was very well-received by critics, although Aguilera's vocals were overlooked as she began to cultivate a more sexually provocative image. After the release of the album, she took part in photoshoots for magazines, many of these photographs featured her nude or semi-nude. Her cover for Rolling Stone, featured the singer only wearing boots and a well-placed electric guitar. It was during this time Aguilera referred to herself as "Xtina", even getting a tattoo of her nickname on the back of her neck and several piercings.

Initially, the raunchy image had a negative effect on Aguilera in the U.S., especially after the release of her controversial "Dirrty" music video. She denied that this change was a matter of publicity, claiming that the image better reflected her true personality than did the image she cultivated back in 1999. While the video for "Dirrty" became very popular on MTV, it disappointed on the U.S. singles chart. However, the single was a hit worldwide, reaching number one in the UK and Ireland. The second single, "Beautiful" received critical praise. The classically influenced ballad reached number one in several countries and peaked at #2 in the US. "Beautiful" earned Aguilera the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Three more singles ("Fighter", "Can't Hold Us Down" featuring Lil' Kim, "The Voice Within") were released in the following two years and were hits that helped the album stay on the charts for the next two years. Stripped stayed on the U.S. and UK album charts well into 2004, and went on to be certified four-times platinum in the U.S. with over thirteen million copies sold worldwide. It appeared at number ten on Billboard's year-end album chart and she was Billboard's top female artist for 2003. Kelly Clarkson's second single "Miss Independent" was co-written by Aguilera, having been half-finished for Stripped.

Aguilera joined Justin Timberlake that June on the final leg of his international Justified tour, held in the U.S. This portion of the tour became a co-headliner called the Justified/Stripped Tour. In August, an overhead lighting grid collapsed from the ceiling of the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, causing major damage to the sound and video equipment below. Because the collapse occurred hours before the show, only a few stagehands were injured, but a few shows were cancelled or postponed. In the fourth quarter of that year, Aguilera continued to tour internationally without Timberlake, and changed the name of the tour to the "Stripped World Tour". She also dyed her hair black. It was one of the top-grossing tours of that year, and sold out most of its venues. Rolling Stone readers named it the best tour of the year. That same year she hosted the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards and was a special guest performer with the Pussycat Dolls' dance troupe performing at the Roxy Theatre and Viper Room in Los Angeles. She also appeared on a Maxim spread alongside them, her second Maxim cover that year set record sales for the issue making it the top selling issue to date. By the end of the year she topped the annual Hot 100 list later saying, "We had fun working with certain clothes, or the lack thereof."

After much delay, Aguilera's first DVD live-recording from a concert tour, Stripped Live in the U.K., was released in November 2004. In light of the tour's success, another U.S. tour was scheduled to begin in mid-2004 with a new theme. The tour however was scrapped because of the vocal cord injuries Aguilera suffered shortly before the tour's opening date. In a tribute to Madonna's performance at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards, Aguilera performed a kiss with the singer-actress at the 2003 edition of the ceremony in August. The incident occurred during the opening performance of Madonna's songs "Like a Virgin" and "Hollywood" with fellow popstar Britney Spears.

2004–2007: Artistic development and Back to Basics

Aguilera later decided to embrace a more mature image; this move was met with more praise than criticism, with articles using punch lines such as "From Crass to Class." She eventually dyed her hair cherry blonde and recorded a jingle, "Hello", for a Mercedes-Benz ad. Shortly after, she dyed her hair flaxen blonde and cut it short, and took on a Marilyn Monroe look; she is one of the main proponents (along with Dita Von Teese, Gwen Stefani, and Ashley Judd) in bringing back the 1920s–1940s Hollywood glamour look.

In late summer 2004, Aguilera released two singles. The first, "Car Wash", was a remake of the Rose Royce disco song recorded as a collaboration with rapper Missy Elliott for the soundtrack to the film Shark Tale. The second song was also a collaboration, but this time as a second single from one of Nelly's double-release albums, Sweat, titled "Tilt Ya Head Back". Both singles failed commercially in the U.S., but did considerably better in other parts of the world. Aguilera collaborated with jazz artist Herbie Hancock on a cover of Leon Russell's "A Song for You" recorded for Hancock's album Possibilities, released in August 2005. Aguilera and Hancock were later nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. She helped open the 50th Anniversary for Disneyland performing "When You Wish upon a Star", and she also collaborated with Andrea Bocelli on the song "Somos Novios" for his album Amore.

Aguilera's third English studio album, Back to Basics, released August 15, 2006, debuted at #1 in the U.S., the UK and eleven other countries. Aguilera described the double CD as "a throwback to the 20s, 30s, and 40s-style jazz, blues, and feel-good soul music, but with a modern twist." The album received generally positive reviews, although many critics commented on the album's length saying, "At one disc, this would have been nothing short of masterful." A review in AllMusic adds, "Back to Basics also makes clear that Stripped was a necessary artistic move for Christina: she needed to get that out of her system in order to create her own style, one that is self-consciously stylized, stylish, and sexy." The critically acclaimed lead single "Ain't No Other Man" was a substantial success, reaching #2 on the World Chart, #6 in the U.S., and #2 in the UK. Producers on the album included DJ Premier, Kwamé, Linda Perry, and Mark Ronson. The follow-up singles did very well in different regions, "Hurt" in Europe and "Candyman" in the Pacific. She co-directed both music videos, the former with Floria Sigismondi who directed her "Fighter" video, and the latter, "Candyman", with director/photographer Matthew Rolston which was inspired by The Andrews Sisters. Back to Basics has sold 4 million units worldwide.

In late 2006 Aguilera collaborated with Sean "Diddy" Combs on a track, titled "Tell Me", from his album Press Play. She also began the "Back to Basics Tour" in Europe followed by a 41-date North American tour in early 2007. After this, she toured Asia and Australia, where it was supposed to end on August 3, however she canceled her dates in Melbourne and her final two in Auckland due to an illness. Her extravagant arena tour included cabaret, three-ring circus and juke joint sets and 10 piece costumes designed by Roberto Cavalli. The tour grossed nearly 50 million by the end of the year in North America and an additional 40 million worldwide in her Europe and Australia dates, grossing almost 90 million by the end of the tour. It was the most successful US tour by a female in 2007. In early 2008, she released her concert DVD Back to Basics: Live and Down Under.

At the 49th Grammy Awards, Aguilera again won the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Ain't No Other Man". She made a noteworthy performance at the ceremony paying tribute to James Brown with her rendition of his song "It's a Man's Man's Man's World". In January 2007, she was named the 19th richest woman in entertainment by Forbes, with a net worth of US$60 million.

Aguilera performed "Steppin' Out With My Baby" with Tony Bennett on his NBC special Tony Bennett: An American Classic and on Saturday Night Live. They performed at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards where both specials received Emmys. "Steppin' Out" was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.

2008–present: Greatest hits and Bionic

In 2008 Aguilera was featured on the soundtrack to the film, Shine a Light, from a live recording of the song "Live With Me" with The Rolling Stones. To commemorate Aguilera's ten years in the music industry, RCA Records released, Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits on November 11, 2008 exclusively at Target stores in the U.S. The greatest hits included her first three number one singles, and other songs released from her previous three albums. "Lady Marmalade" and several Spanish singles from Mi Reflejo were included in the worldwide releases. The album's only single, "Keeps Gettin' Better", was premiered at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, and debuted and peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, her highest debut on the chart. Aguilera was one of Billboard's Top 20 Artists of the Decade in their year-end charts.

After a long hiatus, Aguilera's fourth English studio album, Bionic, will be released on June 8, 2010. Australian singer-songwriter Sia, was one of the first confirmed producers. Other producers and collaborations include M.I.A., Santigold, Goldfrapp, Le Tigre, Linda Perry and Ladytron among others. She also worked with Tricky Stewart who revealed, "She's mixing it up again. She's singing R&B again, she's doing pop. She's doing it all, but she's found a way to make it all meet in the middle because she's so many different things. She's a real serious musician".The album's lead single "Not Myself Tonight" produced by Polow da Don premiered on her official site on March 30, 2010, and on iTunes on April 13, 2010.

Philanthropy

Throughout her career, Aguilera has been involved with certain charities. She signed a letter from PETA to the South Korean government asking that the country stop its alleged killing of dogs for food.During her 2007 tour she unknowingly wore a fur stole during the beginning of her tour, which designer Roberto Cavalli provided without informing Aguilera. After receiving a video from PETA Vice President Dan Mathews on the treatment of foxes, she replaced the stole with faux fur for the remainder of her tour. Aguilera was reportedly upset adding, "I only ever wear fake fur". In 2010 Aguilera auctioned off tickets for her upcoming tour for Christie's A Bid to Save the Earth. Proceeds benefit nonprofit environmental groups Conservation International, Oceana, Natural Resources Defense Council, and The Central Park Conservancy. Aguilera also supports Defenders of Wildlife, Missing Kids, National Alliance of *** Cancer Organizations, Women's Cancer Research Fund, and Cedars-Sinai Women's Cancer Research Institute. She has also worked alongside nonprofit organization Do Something saying, "Every individual has the power to inspire young people across the country." She was featured in the campaign for photographer, Brie Childers with the goal of helping women of all ages, races and lifestyles feel beautiful and confident about themselves and the body and skin they were born with. Proceeds from benefit several women's charities nationwide.

Aguilera is still a major contributor in her hometown of Pittsburgh contributing regularly to the Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh. According to her official website, she toured the center and donated $200,000 to the shelter. She also has auctioned off front row seats and back stage passes for the Pittsburgh-based charity. She has continued her donations and visits to the shelter, and plans to open an additional one. She also supports the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Refuge UK. Since then she has worked with Lifetime Television's 'End violence against women' campaign. Her work there included a public service announcement which aired on the network and during her 2007 tour.

In 2009 Aguilera became the global spokesperson for World Hunger Relief appearing in advertisements, online campaigns and a public service announcement.Aguilera and her husband traveled to Guatemala with the World Food Programme to bring awareness to issues such as the high malnutrition rate in that country. She met with families of the villages and some of the beneficiaries of WFP's nutrition programmes. Aguilera adds, "The people of WFP do such a great job helping hungry children and mothers. I'm thankful for the opportunity to be part of such a wonderful project. She was honored at Variety's annual "Power of Women" luncheon in late 2009 alongside other women in entertainment for her contribution to philanthropic and charitable causes. In response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Aguilera donated a signed Chrysler 300 which was auctioned for relief efforts. She was one of the many artists who appeared on the Hope for Haiti telethon on January 22, 2010, donations directly benefited Oxfam America, Partners In Health, Red Cross and UNICEF. She later appeared on a second public service announcement with World Hunger Relief alongside sports icon Muhammad Ali to raise funds for the United Nations World Food Programme's efforts to bring food to survivors of the earthquake.

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Molly Robbins: Creator, Designer, and Leader

2010-03-31T20:13:00Z

Born In Mexico City, entrepreneur Molly Robbins is the creator and owner of LicenZing LLC, a company founded in 2003 to serve in brand-building through PR, marketing, and product licensing. LicenZing works with clients in fashion including Zinc and Self Esteem as well as clients in other areas like music, fitness, and technology.

Prior to establishing LicenZing LLC, Molly was Vice President of Licensing for All Access Apparel, Inc. While at All Access, Molly extended the Self Esteem brand from junior tops into other categories such as footwear and girls' apparel, soon making it one of the top ten junior brands in the US today. Before joining All Access, Molly was Director of Licensing for the fashion brand bebe and prior to that was with Levi Strauss & Co. for ten years in national and international licensing for Levi's and Dockers brands (McKinney).

In addition to LicenZing LLC, Molly Robbins has most recently established fashion brands Palomita and Chucho after obtaining exclusive rights to use trademarks and vintage art from Latino companies and translating the logos and characters to apparel for junior girls’ and young men. The brands feature vintage graphics from beverages,clothing detergents, pastries, confections, and original designs.

In 2007, Robbins established the Palomita Education Fund. It is a non-profit organization that encourages and supports education, professional and leadership development in the Latino community. The objectives of the organization are to: provide scholarships to Latinos planning to enroll in college; encourage participation of the Latino community in higher education and professional growth and promote a productive and high-quality life. Most recently she had her second annual fund raising event Piensa Mas Alla... Think Beyond...that was written up in the local San Francisco and celebrity designs were featured in People in Espanol Magazine.

Molly Robbins and her brands have been featured by media outlets including: Royalties magazine, Teen, The Licensing Book, San Francisco Chronicle, Latina Magazine, Poder Magazine, Hawaii Hispanic News, California Apparel News, Bay Area Business Women, San Francisco Business Times, North Bay Business Journal, Women's Wear Daily, Avance Hispanoand many others. She has also appeared on KGO's The View from the Bay, Univision's Despierta America and Al Despertar to discuss entrepreneurship and her girls' apparel brand, Palomita. She has also appeared on Telemundo's Tu Voz and Evening Newsto discuss the progress of the Palomita Education Fund and fund raising efforts.

Molly Robbins was born in Mexico City and educated in the US, obtaining a bachelor of science in Legal Studies from UC Berkeley. She is bilingual in English and Spanish and fluent in French.

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Zoe Saldana....Making A Difference !

2010-01-11T03:07:00Z

Zoe Saldana (born Zoe Yadira Zaldana Nazario; June 19, 1978; also known as Zoë Saldana, Zoe Saldaña, and Zoë Saldaña) is an American actress, known for her roles as Neytiri in the 2009 James Cameron film Avatar, Anamaria in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Peal, and Uhura in the 2009 film Star Trek.

Early life

Saldana was born in East Hanover, New Jersey, to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother. Her first languages were English and Spanish. When she was 10 years old, she and her family moved to the Dominican Republic, where they would live for the next 7 years. Saldana enlisted in a ballet class at one of the most prestigious dancing schools in the Dominican Republic.After returning to New York at age 17, she began performing with the Faces theater troupe, which put on plays geared to providing positive messages for teens, via themes dealing with issues such as substance abuse and sex. These performances not only gave her valuable experience but also a source of great pride, as she knew that she was making a difference in the lives of young people like herself. While performing with the Faces troupe and also the New York Youth Theater Zoe was recruited for a talent agency. Her dance training years before, coupled with her acting experience, greatly helped her land her first big screen role as Eva, the talented and headstrong ballet dancer in the film Center Stage, in 2000.

Career

Saldana was still a member of the program when she got her first screen experience on an episode of Law & Order (titled Merger) which first aired in 1999. She left school after Center Stage, which film led to appearances in the Britney Spears vehicle Crossroads (2002) and the drama Drumline (2002). She played the pirate Anamaria in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and has appeared in a number of television shows and movies, including The Terminal (2004) and Guess Who (2005). Saldana was also the lead in the video for Juan Luis Guerra's song "La llave de mi corazón", and played Uhura in the 2009 movie Star Trek. Recently, she played Neytiri, the Na'vi princess, in James Cameron's Avatar (2009).

Saldana has a keen interest in fashion and has her own fashion line, called Arasmaci, most of her designs for which are influenced by her Dominican heritage.

Awards and nominations

ALMA Awards
- 2009, Best Actress (Film): Star Trek (nominated)

Black Movie Awards
- 2006, Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Guess Who (nominated)

Black Reel Awards
- 2010, Best Supporting Actress: Avatar (nominated)
- 2006, Best Actress: Guess Who (nominated)

NAACP Image Award
- 2010, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Avatar (nominated)
- 2006, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture: Guess Who (nominated)

MTV Movie Awards
- 2003, Best Kiss: Drumline Shared with Nick Cannon (nominated)

Scream Awards
- 2009, Breakout Performance-Female: Star Trek (nominated)
- 2009, Best Science Fiction Actress: Star Trek (nominated)

Teen Choice Awards
- 2009, Choice Movie Actress (Action/Adventure): Star Trek (nominated)
- 2006, Choice Movie Actress (Breakout): Guess Who (nominated)

People's Choice Awards
- 2009, Favorite Breakout Movie Actress: Star Trek (nominated)

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Justice Sonia Maria Sotomayor....Simply The Best !

2009-08-08T23:23:00Z

Sonia Maria Sotomayor (born June 25, 1954) is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace retired Justice David Souter. Her nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 6, 2009, by a vote of 68-31, and she was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts on August 8. Sotomayor is the Court's 111th justice, its first justice of Latin-American descent, and its third female justice.

Sotomayor is of Puerto Rican descent and was born in the Bronx. Her father died when she was nine, and she was subsequently raised by her mother. Sotomayor graduated with an A.B., summa *** laude, from Princeton University in 1976 and received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979, where she was an editor at the Yale Law Journal. She worked as an assistant district attorney in New York for five years before entering private practice in 1984. She played an active role on the boards of directors for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the State of New York Mortgage Agency, and the New York City Campaign Finance Board. Sotomayor was nominated to the U..District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H. W. Bush in 1991, and her nomination was confirmed in 1992.

Sotomayor has ruled on several high–profile cases. In 1995, she issued a preliminary injunction against Major League Baseball which ended the 1994 baseball strike. Sotomayor made a ruling allowing the Wall Street Journal to publish Vince Foster's final note. In 1997, she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Her nomination was slowed by the Republican majority in the Senate, but she was eventually confirmed in 1998. On the Second Circuit, Sotomayor heard appeals in more than 3,000 cases and has written about 380 opinions. Sotomayor has taught at the New York University School of Law and Columbia Law School.

Early Life

Sonia Maria Sotomayor was born in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. Her father, Juan Sotomayor (born 1921), had a third–grade education and did not speak English. He was from the Santurce area of San Juan. Her mother, Celina Báez (born 1927), was from the neighborhood of Santa Rosa in Lajas a still mostly rural area on Puerto Rico's southwest coast.They left Puerto Rico, met, and married during World War II after Celina served in the Women's Army Corps. He worked as a tool–and–die worker and she as a telephone operator and then a practical nurse. Sonia's younger brother, Juan Sotomayor (born c. 1957), is a physician and university professor in the Syracuse, New York, area.

Sotomayor was raised a Catholic and grew up among other Puerto Ricans who settled in the South Bronx and East Bronx; she self–identifies as a "Nuyorican".At first, she lived in a South Bronx tenement. In 1957, the family moved to the well–maintained, racially and ethnically mixed, working–class Bronxdale Houses housing project in Soundview(which has at times been considered part of both the East Bronx and South Bronx). Her relative proximity to Yankee Stadiumled to her becoming a lifelong fan of the New York Yankees.The extended family got together frequently and regularly visited Puerto Rico during summers.

Sonia was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age eight and began taking daily insulin injections. Her father died of heart problems at age 42, when she was nine years old. After this, she became fluent in English.Sotomayor has said that she was first inspired by the strong–willed Nancy Drew book character, and then after her diabetes diagnosis led doctors to suggest a different career from detective, she was inspired to go into a legal career and become a judge by watching the Perry Mason television series.She reflected in 1998: "I was going to college and I was going to become an attorney, and I knew that when I was ten. Ten. That's no jest."

Celina Sotomayor put great stress on the value of education; she bought the Encyclopædia Britannica for her children, something unusual in the housing projects. Sotomayor has credited her mother with being her "life inspiration". For grammar school, Sotomayor attended the parochial Blessed Sacrament School in Soundview,where she was valedictorian and had a near–perfect attendance record. Although underage, Sotomayor worked at a local retail store; she also worked at a hospital. Sotomayor passed the entrance tests for, then commuted to, the academically rigorous parochial Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx.Meanwhile, the Bronxdale Houses had fallen victim to increasing heroin use, crime, and the emergence of the Black Spades gang. In 1970, the family found refuge by moving to Co–op City in the Northeast Bronx.At Cardinal Spellman, Sotomayor was on the forensics team and was elected to the student government. She graduated as valedictorian in 1972.

College and law school

Sotomayor’s 1976 Princeton yearbook photo.

When Sotomayor entered Princeton University on a full scholarship, there were few women students and fewer Latinos (about 20).She knew only of the Bronx and Puerto Rico, and she later described her initial Princeton experience as like "a visitor landing in an alien country."^[ She was too intimidated to ask questions for her first year there;her writing and vocabulary skills were weak, and she lacked knowledge in the classics^.She put in long hours in the library and over summers, worked with a professor outside class, and gained skills, knowledge, and confidence. She became a moderate student activis^] and co–chair of the Acción Puertorriqueña organization, which looked for more opportunities for Puerto Rican students and served a a social and political hub for them.^[ She worked in the admissions office, travelling to high schools and lobbying on behalf of her best prospects.^] Sotomayor focused in particular on faculty hiring and curriculum; at the time, Princeton did not have a single full–time Latino professor nor any class on Latin America.Sotomayor later addressed the curriculum issue in an opinion piece in the college paper: "Not one permanent course in this university now deals in any notable detail with the Puerto Rican or Chicano cultures." After a visit to university president William G. Bowen in her sophomore year did not produce results, the organization filed a formal letter of cmplaint in April 1974 with the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, saying the school discriminated in its hiring and admission practices. Sotomayor told the New York Times at the time that "Princeton is following a policy of benign neutrality and is not making substantive efforts to change," and she wrote opinion pieces for The Daily Princetonian with the same theme. The university began to hire Latino faculty, and Sotomayor established an ongoing dialogue with Bowen.Sotomayor also successfully persuaded historian Peter Winn to create a seminar on Puerto Rican history and politics. Sotomayor joined the governance board of Princeton's Third World Center and served on the university's student–faculty Discipline Committee, which issued rulings on student infractions. She also ran an after–school program for local childrenand volunteered as an interpreter for Latino patients at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital.

A history major, Sotomayor received almost all A's in her final two years of college. Sotomayor wrote her senior thesis at Princeton on Luis Muñoz Marín, the first democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico, and on the territory's struggles for economic and political self–determination. The 178–page thesis, "La Historia Ciclica de Puerto Rico: The Impact of the Life of Luis Muñoz Marin on the Political and Economic History of Puerto Rico, 1930–1975",won honorable mention for the Latin American Studies Thesis Prize. As a senior, Sotomayor won the Pyne Prize, the top award for undergraduates, which reflected both strong grades and extracurricular activities. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. In 1976 she was awarded an A.B. from Princeton, graduating summa *** laude. Sotomayor has described her time at Princeton as a life–changing experience.

On August 14, 1976, just after graduating from Princeton, Sotomayor married Kevin Edward Noonan, whom she had dated since high school, in a small chapel at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. She used the married name Sonia Sotomayor de Noonan.He became a biologist and a patent lawyer.

In the fall of 1976, Sotomayor entered Yale Law School, again on a scholarship This, too, was a place with very few Latinos.She fit in well and was known as a hard worker, but she was not considered among the top stars of her class.Yale General Counsel and professor José A. Cabranes was an early mentor to her and helped her to understand how she could be successful within "the system". She became an editor of the Yale Law Journal and was also managing editor of the student–run Yale Studies in World Public Order publication, which is now known as the Yale Journal of International Law^[ Sotomayor published a law review note on the effect of possible Puerto Rican statehood on the island's mineral and ocean rights.She was a semi–finalist in the Barristers Union mock trial competition.She was co–chair of a group for Latin, Asian, and Native American students, and in her advocacy pushed for hiring more Hispanics for the faculty of the law school. In her third year, she filed a formal complaint against the established Washington, D.C., law firm of Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge for suggesting during a recruiting dinner that she was only at Yale via affirmative action.Sotomayor refused to be interviewed by the firm further and filed her complaint with a faculty–student tribunal, which ruled in her favor. Her action triggered a campus–wide debate, and news of the firm's subsequent December 1978 apology made the Washington Post. In 1979, she was awarded a J.D. from Yale Law School. She was admitted to the New York Bar in 1980.

Early legal career

On the recommendation of Cabranes, Sotomayor was hired out of law school as an assistant district attorney under New York County District Attorney Robert Morgenthau starting in 1979. She said at the time that she did so with conflicted emotions: "There was a tremendous amount of pressure from my community, from the third–world community, at Yale. They could not understand why I was taking this job. I'm not sure I've ever resolved that problem."It was a time of crisis–level crime rates and drug problems in New York, Morgenthau's staff was overburdened with cases, and like other rookie prosecutors she was initially fearful of appearing before judges in court. Working in the trial division, she handled heavy caseloads as she prosecuted everything from shoplifting and prostitution to robberies, assaults, and murders.She also worked on cases involving police brutality. She was not afraid to venture into tough neighborhoods or endure squalid conditions in order to interview witnesses. In the courtroom, she was effective at cross examination and at simplifying a case in ways that a jury could relate to.She helped convict the "Tarzan Murderer" (who acrobatically entered apartments, robbed them, and shot residents for no reason) in 1983 in her highest–profile case^] She felt lower–level crimes were largely products of socioeconomic environment and poverty, but she had a different attitude about serious felonies: "No matter how liberal I am, I'm still outraged by crimes of violence. Regardless of whether I can sympathize with the causes that lead these individuals to do these crimes, the effects are outrageous."^[ Hispanic–on–Hispanic crime was of particular concern to her: "The saddest crimes for me were the ones that my own people committed against each other." In general, she showed a passion for bringing law and order to the streets of New York, displaying special zeal in pursuing child pornography cases, unusual for the time. She worked 15–hour days and gained a reputation for being driven and for her preparedness and fairness. One of her job evaluations labelled her a "potential superstar".Morgenthau later described her as "smart, hard–working, [and having] a lot of common sense,"^[58] and as a "fearless and effective prosecutor."She stayed a typical length of time in the post and had a common reaction to the job: "After a while, you forget there are decent, law–abiding people in life."

She and Noonan divorced amicably in 1983; they did not have children .She has said that the pressures of her working life were a contributing factor, but not the major factor, in the breakup.

In 1984, she entered private practice, joining the commercial litigation practice group of Pavia & Harcourt in Manhattan as an associate. One of 30 attorneys in the law firm, she specialized in intellectual property litigation, international law, and arbitration. She later said, "I wanted to complete myself as an attorney."Although she had no civil litigation experience, the firm recruited her heavily, and she learned quickly on the job. She was eager to try cases and argue in court, rather than be part of a larger law firm.Her clients were mostly international corporations doing business in the United States;^[ much of her time was spent tracking down and suing counterfeiters of Fendi goods. In some cases Sotomayor went on–site with the police to Harlem or Chinatown to have illegitimate merchandise seized, in the latter instance pursuing a fleeing culprit while riding on a motorcycle. She said at the time that Pavia & Harcourt's efforts were run "much like a drug operation", and the successful rounding up of thousands of counterfeit accessories in 1986 was celebrated by "Fendi Crush", a destruction–by–garbage–truck event at Tavern on the Green. At other times she dealt with dry legal issues such as grain export contract disputes.In a 1986 appearance on Good Morning America that profiled women ten years after college graduation, she said that the bulk of law work was drudgery, and that while she was content with her life she had expected greater things of herself coming out of college. In 1988 she became a partner at the firm; she was paid well but not extravagantly.She left in 1992 when she became a judge^.

From 1983 to 1986, Sotomayor had an informal solo practice, dubbed Sotomayor & Associates, located in her Brooklyn apartment.She performed legal consulting work, often for friends or family members.

In addition to her law firm work, Sotomayor found visible public service roles. She was not connected to the party bosses that typically picked people for such jobs in New York, and indeed she was registered as an independent. Instead, District Attorney Morgenthau, an influential figure, served as her patron. In 1987, Governor of New York Mario Cuomo appointed Sotomayor to the board of the State of New York Mortgage Agency, which she served on until 1992.As part of one of the largest urban rebuilding efforts in American history, the agency helped low–income people get home mortgages and to provide insurance coverage for housing and AIDS hospices. Despite being the youngest member of a board composed of strong ersonalities, she involved herself in the details of the operation and was effective.She was vocal in supporting the right to affordable housing, directing more funds to lower–income home owners, and in her skepticism about the effects of gentrification, although in the end she voted in favor of most of the projects.

Sotomayor was appointed by Mayor Ed Koch in 1988 as one of the founding members of the New York City Campaign Finance Board, where she served for four years. There she took a vigorous role in the board's implementation of a voluntary scheme wherein local candidates received public matching funds in exchange for limits on contributions and spending and agreeing to greater financial disclosure. Sotomayor showed no patience with candidates who failed to follow regulations and was more of a stickler for making campaigns follow those regulations than some of the other board members.She joined in rulings that fined, audited, or reprimanded the mayoral campaigns of Koch, David Dinkins, and Rudy Giuliani^.

Based upon another recommendation from Cabranes, Sotomayor was a member of the board of directors of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund from 1980 to 1992. There she was a top policy maker who actively worked with the organization's lawyers on issues such as New York City hiring practices, police brutality, the death penalty, and voting rights. The group achieved its most visible triumph when it successfully blocked a city primary election on the grounds that New York City Council boundaries diminished the power of minority voters.

During 1985 and 1986, Sotomayor served on the board of the Maternity Center Association, a Manhattan–based non–profit group which focused on improving the quality of maternity care.^]

Since President Barack Obama's election there had been speculation that Sotomayor could be a leading candidate for a Supreme Court seat if one became available on the court during Obama's term. New York senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand wrote a joint letter to Obama urging him to appoint Sotomayor, or alternatively Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, to the Supreme Court if a vacancy should arise on the Court during his term. The White House first contacted Sotomayor about the possibility of her being nominated on April 27, 2009.On April 30, 2009, Justice David Souter's retirement plans leaked to the media, and Sotomayor received early attention as a possible nominee for the seat to be vacated in June 2009. On May 13, 2009, the Associated Press reported that Obama was considering Sotomayor, among others, for possible appointment to the United States Supreme Court On May 26, 2009, Obama nominated Sotomayor to the court. If confirmed, this would make her the Supreme Court's first Hispanic or Latino justice.However some attention has been given to Justice Benjamin Cardozo, a Sephardic Jew of Portuguese descent – as the first Hispanic on the court when appointed in 1932. However, the term "Hispanic" was not in use as an ethnic identifier at the time, and Portuguese are sometimes excluded from its meaning. Sotomayor would also be the third woman to serve on the Court, following Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her appointment would give the Court a record six Roman Catholic justices serving at the same time.

Sotomayor's nomination won praise from Democrats and liberals, and Democrats appeared to have sufficient votes to confirm her. The strongest criticism of her nomination came from conservatives and some Republican senators regarding a line that she used in some form in a number of her speeches and that became best known for its use in a 2001 Berkeley Law lecture: "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." Sotomayor had made similar remarks in other speeches between 1994 and 2003, including one she submitted as part of her confirmation questionnaire for the Court of Appeals in 1998, but they had attracted little attention.^[182] The rhetoric quickly became inflamed, with radio commentator Rush Limbaugh and former Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich calling Sotomayor a "racist" (although the latter later backtracked from that claim),while John Cornyn and other Republican senators denounced such attacks but said that Sotomayor's approach was troubling. Backers of Sotomayor offered a variety of explanations for and defenses of the remark.White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs stated that Sotomayor's word choice in 2001 had been "poor". Sotomayor subsequently clarified her remark via Senate Judiciary Committee chair Patrick Leahy, saying that while life experience shapes who one is, "ultimately and completely" a judge follows the law regardless of personal background. Of her cases, the Second Circuit rulings in Ricci v. DeStefano received the most attention during the early nomination discussion,and in the rest of her confirmation process the Supreme Court overturned that ruling on June 29. Some of the fervor with which conservatives viewed the Sotomayor nomination was due to the history and grievances of federal judicial nomination battles going back to the 1987 Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination.

A Gallup poll released a week after the nomination showed 54 percent of Americans in favor of Sotomayor's confirmation compared with 28 percent in opposition, similar to public support figures for most past nominees who gained Senate confirmation.On June 8, Sotomayor suffered a small fracture in her ankle while travelling to Washington to meet with senators.A June 12 Fox News poll showed 58 percent of the public disagreeing with her "wise Latina" remark but 67 percent saying the remark should not disqualify her from serving on the Supreme Court. The American Bar Association gave her a unanimous "well qualified" assessment, its highest mark for professional qualification. Following the Ricci overruling, Rasmussen Reports and CNN/Opinion Research polls showed that the public was now sharply divided, largely along partisan and ideological lines, as to whether Sotomayor should be confirmed.

Sotomayor's confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee began on July 13, 2009. During them, she backed away from her "wise Latina" remark, declaring it "a rhetorical flourish that fell flat" and stating that "I do not believe that any ethnic, racial or gender group has an advantage in sound judgment." When Republican senators confronted her regarding other remarks from her past speeches, she pointed to her judicial record and said she had never let her own life experiences or opinions influence her decisions. Republican senators said that while her rulings to this point might be largely traditional, they feared her Supreme Court rulings – where there is more latitude with respect to precedent and interpretation – might be more reflective of her speeches.Sotomayor defended her position in Ricci as following applicable precedent.When asked whom she admired, she pointed to Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo. In general, Sotomayor followed the hearings formula of recent past nominees by avoiding stating personal positions, declining to take positions on controversial issues likely to come before the court, agreeing with senators from both parties, and repeatedly affirming that as a justice she would just apply the law.On July 28, 2009, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Sotomayor's nomination; the 13–6 vote was almost entirely along party lines, with no Democrats opposing her and only one Republican supporting her.

On August 6, 2009, Sotomayor's appointment was brought up for a vote on the floor of the Senate. She was confirmed by a vote of 68 to 31. All Democrats and the two independents who caucus with them voted in favor of confirmation, with the exception of the ailing Sen. Ted Kennedy, who was unavailable to vote due to health issues. Thirty-one Republicans opposed the nomination, and nine supported it.

Sotomayor was sworn in on August 8, 2009, by Chief Justice John Roberts. She will be invested in the court, when it reconvenes, on September 8, 2009, in a special session

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Sofía Margarita Vergara....What A Story !

2009-07-06T13:23:00Z

Sofía Margarita Vergara (born July 10, 1972) is a Colombian model, actress and entrepreneur. Since she was raised bilingual in English and Spanish, this has been an expedient in her making the transition from being a performer in Latin America in Spanish to becoming one in the United States in the English language. Dubbed "Sofia Viagra", Vergara was already rather well-known in North America from her modeling work, and her first notable acting job in English was in the movie Chasing Papi.

Personal life

Vergara was born in Barranquilla, Atlantico, Colombia.Her mother is a homemaker and her father produced cattle for the meat industry. "Toti" was the nickname given to Vergara by her five brothers and sisters and many cousins, including television news anchor and reporter Carlos Vergara, who works for WTVJ in Miami, Florida. She grew up in her hometown of Barranquilla and was raised in a well-off family, attending a private bilingual Spanish/English school. Vergara was married at the age of 18 to her childhood sweetheart, and she gave birth to her son Manolo in 1992 at the age of 20.After the break-up of her marriage, Vergara studied pre-dentistry at a university in Colombia for three years. Then, many opportunities arose to work in modeling and in show business, and Vergara decided to pursue these in Latin America. Soon she decided to move to Miami, Florida, to take advantage of opportunites and to move away from unrest in Colombia (her older brother had been murdered in 1998 during an attempt to kidnap him that went awry). She brought her son, mother, and sister with her.

Vergara's son Manolo lives in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, where he goes to high school.

Career

Vergara was discovered by a photographer while walking on a Colombian beach. Soon she was presented with attractive offers in modeling and television work, and she considered accepting them. Having been raised rather conservatively and religiously, this was confusing at first. According to an article in the January 2002 issue of Maxim, Vergara was "apprehensive about doing her first television commercial—until her Catholic schoolteachers gave her their personal permission to take the assignment." Vergara made her first appearance as a performer at the age of 17 in a Pepsi commercial that was widely broadcast in Latin America. In order to support her son, mother, and younger siblings who needed her financial support in the absence of her father, who had left the family, Vergara dropped out of college to earn an income.

Vergara moved to Bogotá at age 20, where she worked as a model on the runway and on television. From 1995 to 1999, she was co-host with Fernando Fiore on Fuera de Serie ("Out of the Ordinary" or "Over-the-Top"), a travel series that sent her to exotic places around the world. It was telecast on the international Univision Spanish-language television network, and it made her a star in the Latin American market. It also gave Vergara television exposure in the United States via the Univision stations there. She co-hosted the Univision show A que no te atreves ("I Dare You"). She appeared as a guest star in the season-four opening of the HBO series Entourage.

Besides runway and catalog modeling work, Vergara did independent projects. She was photographed for posters and swimsuit calendars in 1998, 2000, and 2002. These were wide sellers in Latin America, and they also appeared in the North American market. Vergara appeared in Spanish-language television ads, and she posed in swimsuits for posters for Miller Lite beer.

Vergara is 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) tall, and she has naturally light brown/sunbleached-blonde hair (for movies and television, she is sometimes asked to color it brunette to make her look more typically Latina). Vergara was under an exclusive television contract with Univision for several years, and after it expired she accepted a role with the ABC network in the United States. Vergara appeared on the ABC situation comedies Hot Properties and The Knights of Prosperity. She is set to star in the sitcom Modern Family starting in September 2009.

Vergara plays Alicia Oviedo in the Colombian version of the television show Desperate Housewives, which is called Amas de Casa Desesperadas. She also appears on the ABC drama Dirty Sexy Money as Jeremy Darling's love interest. Vergara has made guest appearances in the Mexican telenovela Fuego En La Sangre.

In 2002, Vergara was diagnosed and treated for thyroid cancer.

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Enrique Iglesias: Heart Throb Plus

2009-06-03T00:46:00Z

Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (born on May 8, 1975), better known as Enrique Iglesias, is a Spanishsinger, songwriter, model, and actor. Iglesias also has Maltese citizenship.

Iglesias started his musical career with Mexican indie label Fonovisa, which helped turn him into one of the most popular artists in Latin America and in the Latino market in the United States, selling more Spanish language albums than any other artist in that period of time.

Before the turn of the millennium he made a crossover into the mainstream English language market, signing a unique multi–album deal with Universal Music for an unprecedented $48,000,000, with Universal Music Latino to release his Spanish albums and Interscope to release English albums.

Iglesias has sold over 60 million albums worldwide,has had two Billboard Hot 100 #1s and one #3, and holds the record for producing 19 number #1 Spanish–language singles on the Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks.

Early life and career

Iglesias was born in Madrid, the third and final child of Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and Filipina socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler.His parents divorced in 1978, and the following year their father moved to Miami, Florida to continue with his musical career.

In 1985, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga was kidnapped by the terrorist group ETA. Fearing for his grandchildren's safety, Enrique and his brother were sent to live with their father in Miami.

In America, he lived the life of a typical Miami teen. Though his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. In 1993 he graduated from Gulliver Preparatory School and went on to study business at the University of Miami.

Enrique did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career, and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. Borrowing money from his family nanny he recorded a demo tape which consisted of one Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist Fernan Martinez, the two shopped the demo tape under the stage name 'Enrique Martinez' with the backstory of being an unknown from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed by a then small indie record label called Fonovisa. Dropping out of college he went to Toronto, Ontario, Canada for six months to record his first album.

Public Image

From the beginning of his career Iglesias's public image has been that of a heartthrob with a lot of his early music videos portrayed him as a Boy next door. This image proved instantly popular with fans, and after Iglesias's first television performance he was mobbed by crowds of young girls and he had to resort to lying on the floor of a taxi to leave the studio undetected^;

This would become the norm for Iglesias when promoting his music but reached fever pitch In 1999 in support of the Cosas Del Amor album Iglesias visited Chile to perform at Viña del Mar International Song Festival. His visit to the country was highly publicised for the Beatlemania-esque reaction it caused, with thousands of young girls packing the streets of the airport and outside Iglesias's hotel. Iglesias drew record crowds to the event and received much praise for his set

His visit to the festival the following year however would be remembered for much different reasons. When presented with the award called La Gaviota, Iglesias lightly tossed the award into the first few rows of the audience. At first this evoked no visible reaction from the audience but when the presenter expressed offense and demanded that the award be passed back the crowd reacted negatively. The next day the media reacted negatively to what was seen as a slight by Iglesias, at a press conference Iglesias explained that he meant to show that the award was for his fans. Despite continued strong sales in Latin America Iglesias has never been invited back to the Festival and the incident is often brought up when he visits Chile.

In June 2000, radio personality Howard Stern received a tape of a supposedly off-key MP3 of Iglesias singing, along to the track "Rhythm Divine". Stern played this humorous clip throughout the week on his radio show insinuating that Iglesias lip synched and couldn't sing well outside the studio, even suggesting that Iglesias himself did not sing on his albums, comparing him to Milli Vanilli. Iglesias flew straight in to New York from Italy where he had just performed with Pavarotti, and appeared on Stern's show, singing acoustic versions of "Rhythm Divine" and "Be with You", after which Stern told Iglesias he had silenced his critics. Iglesias would go on to say that controversy and his appearance on the show was the best promotion he could have.

Personal life

Since the beginning of his career the media have linked Iglesias to many women, though due to his generally private nature it is difficult to know which claims are true and which are fabrications. Most notably Iglesias has been linked with Sofia Vergara, Alexandra Cheron, Samantha Torres, and allegedly dated Alicia Machado for a brief period. After crossing over into English he was strongly linked in the media to Jennifer Love Hewitt, with whom he remained friends and who co–starred in the music video for Hero a year later.

For six years now he publicly has dated tennis star Anna Kournikova, whom he met on the set of his music video Escape. Many reports showed up since 2007 of their splitting. In 2008, after Enrique made a publicity joke,there were reports of the couple's having been married formerly and now divorced. Enrique has stated subsequently in interviews that it was simply a joke, and that they are still very much together.

Iglesias has publicly stated he suffers from insomnia,and that even heavy-duty sleep aids often do not work for him.

In 2003, Iglesias had his trademark facial mole removed.

Iglesias is very well known for not taking the media seriously and has consistently joked about a wide variety of matters including the state of his relationship - as mentioned above - as well as the size of his manhood. The latter story persisted for so long Iglesias had to retract his earlier statement and try to set the record straight

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Salma Hayek: A Well Rounded Lady

2009-05-04T20:16:00Z

Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez (born September 2, 1966) is a Mexican actress, director, and television and film producer. Hayek has appeared in more than 30 films and performed as an actress outside of Hollywood in Mexico and Spain. Hayek's charitable work includes increasing awareness on violence against women and discrimination against immigrants.

Hayek is the first Mexican national to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She is one of the most prominent Mexican figures in Hollywood since silent film actress Dolores del Rio. She is also, after Fernanda Montenegro, the second of three Latin American actresses (the other being Catalina Sandino Moreno) to achieve a Best Actress Oscar nomination.

In July 2007, The Hollywood Reporter ranked Hayek fourth in their inaugural Latino Power 50, a list of the most powerful members of the Hollywood Latino community. That same month, a poll found Hayek to be the "sexiest celebrity" out of a field of 3,000 celebrities (male and female); according to the poll, "65 percent of the U.S. population would use the term 'sexy' to describe her". In December 2008, Entertainment Weekly ranked Hayek number 17 in their list of the "25 Smartest People in TV."

Hayek was born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, the daughter of Diana Jiménez, an opera singer and talent scout, and Sami Hayek, an oil company executive.Hayek's father is Mexican of Lebanese descent while her mother is Mexican of Spanish descent. Her first given name, Salma, is Arabic for "peaceful" or "calm". Raised in a wealthy, devoutly Catholic family, she was sent to the Academy of the Sacred Heart, Grand Coteau, Louisiana, at the age of twelve.While there, she was diagnosed with dyslexia. She was also an accomplished gymnast aspiring to compete in the Olympics, but her father prevented her from being recruited by the Mexican national team. The religious sisters running the Academy ejected Hayek, citing behavioral problems, so she returned to Mexico. She was later sent to live with her aunt in Houston, Texas, where she stayed until she was 17 years old. She attended college in Mexico City, where she studied International Relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana. To the surprise of her family, she dropped out to pursue a career as an actress.

Early Hollywood acting work

Hayek moved to Los Angeles, California in 1991 to study acting under Stella Adler.^[12] She had limited fluency in English, which was attributed to her suffering from dyslexia.Robert Rodriguez and his producer wife Elizabeth Avellan soon gave Hayek the break she needed, a starring role opposite Antonio Banderas in 1995's Desperado.The movie caught Hollywood's attention, as moviegoers proved to be dazzled by Hayek as Rodriguez had been. Due to Hayek's loyalty to the director, she would later decline playing the role Catherine Zeta-Jones eventually took in The Mask of Zorro after Rodriguez abandoned the project. She has also appeared in the Spy Kids trilogy.

Hayek had a starring part opposite Matthew Perry in the romantic comedy Fools Rush In. She followed her success in Desperado with a brief but memorable role as a vampire queen in From Dusk Till Dawn, where she provocatively danced on a table. In 1999, she co-starred in Will Smith's big-budget Wild Wild West, and played a supporting role in Kevin Smith's Dogma.In 2000, Hayek had an uncredited acting part opposite Benicio del Toro in Traffic. In 2003, she reprised her role from Desperado by appearing in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, the final film of the Mariachi Trilogy.

Around 2000, Hayek founded film production company Ventanarosa, through which she produces film and television projects. Her first feature as a producer was 1999's El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba, Mexico's official selection for submission for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars.

In April 2007, Hayek finalized negotiations with MGM to become the CEO of her own Latin themed film production company, Ventanazul. The following month she signed a two year deal with ABC to develop projects for the network through her production company, Ventanarosa.

Hayek is developing and producing La Banda, a Spanish-language romantic comedy set in Mexico, written by Issa Lopez.

Hayek is set to star as the wife of Adam Sandler in a currently untitled comedy that also costars Chris Rock (who costarred with her in Dogma) and Kevin James.

Personal life

Hayek is a naturalized U.S. citizen.She dated actor Edward Norton between 1999 and 2003, and then Josh Lucas in 2003. She has friends in Los Angeles and Mexico and is best friends with Spanish actress Penélope Cruz. The two co-starred in the 2006 film Bandidas. Hayek studied at Ramtha's School of Enlightenment. Her brother, Sami Hayek,is a designer with his own line of products at Target and clients that include Louis Vuitton, Brad Pitt, and the Mexican Government.

Hayek often uses method acting to play characters. While she was cast as Frida Kahlo, Hayek had to smoke for the role using real cigarettes. As a result in her own admission she became a smoker and is currently trying to kick the habit.

On March 9, 2007, Hayek confirmed she was expecting her first child with PPR CEO François-Henri Pinault. On September 21, 2007, she gave birth to daughter Valentina Paloma Pinault at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. Singer Prince wrote and recorded a song titled "Valentina" for his album MPLSoUND (which is part of his 2009 3-Disc set LOTUSFLOW3R), as a dedication to her. On July 18, 2008, Hayek and Pinault announced the end of their engagement. They later reconciled and were married on Valentine's Day, 2009 in Paris. On April 25, 2009, they were married a second time in Venice.

Advocacy

On July 19, 2005, Hayek testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary supporting reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. In February 2006, she donated $25,000 to a Coatzacoalcos, Mexico, shelter for battered women and another $50,000 to Monterrey based anti-domestic violence groups.

Since the birth of her daughter, Hayek has worked to help mothers in developing nations worldwide, teaming up with Pampers and UNICEF to help stop the spread of life-threatening maternal and neonatal tetanus. She is a global spokesperson for the Pampers/UNICEF partnership 1 Pack = 1 Vaccine to help raise awareness of the program.

Hayek also advocates breastfeeding, because of its benefits, including building stronger infant immune systems. During a UNICEF fact-finding trip to Sierra Leone, she breastfed a hungry week-old baby whose mother could not produce milk.

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Shakira: In Control

2008-11-16T18:07:00Z

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.

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Penelope Cruz... A Real Talent !

2008-09-14T22:28:00Z

Penélope Cruz Sánchez ; (born April 28, 1974), better known as Penélope Cruz, is a Spanish actress. She gathered critical acclaim as a young actress for films such as Jamón, jamón, La Niña de tus ojos and Belle époque. She has also starred in several American films such as Blow, Vanilla Sky, and Bandidas.

Cruz has been awarded two Goyas, two European Film Awards and the Coppa Volpi for her work. She is the first Spanish actress ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Pedro Almodóvar's 2006 Spanish film Volver.

Early life

Cruz was born in Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain, the daughter of Encarna Sánchez, a hairdresser, and Eduardo Cruz, a retailer and auto mechanic.Her younger sister is Spanish dancer Mónica Cruz. As a toddler, she was already a compulsive performer, re-enacting TV commercials for her family's amusement. Initially, Cruz decided to focus her energies on dance. After studying classical ballet for nine years at Spain's National Conservatory, she continued her training under a series of prominent dancers. She received three years of Spanish Ballet training with Ángela Garrido. She also had jazz dance training with Raúl Caballero and studied at Cristina Rota (mother of Juan Diego Botto) school in Madrid. At 15, however, she followed another calling after besting more than 300 other girls at a talent agency audition.

Career

Cruz first achieved fame when she appeared in the Lucio Villalba-directed video clip La fuerza del destino for the Spanish synthpop group Mecano. She later started a relationship with Nacho Cano, a member of the group. A TV presenter for the teen-oriented program La Quinta Marcha, she also had early exposure in Série Rose, a French erotic TV serial. In one episode she played the role of a blind prostitute and in another played a young noble woman pretending to be a young nobleman in a comedy of errors. She also directed Nacho Cano's video of "El waltz de los locos", in 1994.

Cruz's first major films were Jamón, jamón and Belle Époque, a film which won an Academy Award for Foreign Language Film. In 1997, she starred as Sofía Pangia, alongside Eduardo Noriega in Abre los ojos, directed by Alejandro Amenábar, while in 1999 she appeared in Pedro Almodóvar's Todo sobre mi madre (All About My Mother), which won an Academy Award for Foreign Language Film. In 2000 she appeared with Matt Damon in All the Pretty Horses.

For Cruz, the early 2000's were a period of mediocre reviews and mixed commercial success. In late 2001, she appeared in the film Vanilla Sky, the Hollywood remake of Abre los ojos. Cruz co-starred with her best friend, Salma Hayek in the 2006 film, Bandidas.In 2006, Cruz received highly favourable reviews for her performance in Pedro Almodóvar's Volver. She won a Best Actress ensemble award at the Cannes Film Festival and has been nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and BAFTA Award. She is the first Spanish Actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

In May 2007, it was announced that Penelope and her sister Mónica would be designing a 25-piece collection for the Barcelona-based fashion chain, Mango. On 7 July 2007, Cruz presented at Live Earth. In late 2007, she starred in the Jaume de Laiguana-directed video for her brother's first single, named "Cosas que contar", along with her friend Mía Maestro and her sister Mónica. Cruz had previously shown a keen interest in fashion and is a model for L'Oreal and its "Telescopic" mascara. In July 2007, the British Advertising Standards Authority rapped L'Oréal for a television advert on its “Telescopic” mascara, featuring Penélope Cruz, for failing to state that the model was wearing false eyelashes.

In 2008, she starred in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona as María Elena, Javier Bardem's mentally-unstable ex-wife. Her performance has received much praise, and is widely tipped to earn her her second Academy Award nomination.

Personal Life

Cruz has a younger brother, Eduardo, a singer, and a younger sister, Mónica, who closely resembles her: a similarity exploited for some Spanish TV ads. In the 2000s, Mónica left her dancing career and achieved note on her own in the youth-oriented TV series Un Paso Adelante.

Cruz claims to be a vegetarian since 2000, though this fact is disputed.She speaks four languages: Spanish, Italian, French and English. Cruz has also donated a considerable amount of money and time to charity. In 1997 she volunteered in Uganda for two months.

After appearing in the 2001 film Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise, they had a three-year relationship which ended in January 2004. After filming Sahara in February 2005, she began dating actor Matthew McConaughey. In May 2006, they released a joint statement to People, saying that they "have decided to take time off as a couple." Later that year they announced that they were "no longer intimate and separating was the best thing to do at this time".At the start of 2007, Penélope Cruz and U2's Bono were rumored as having an affair after being photographed holding hands. This rumor quickly expired.

Apart from being a close personal friend of the actress Salma Hayek, Cruz is also a good friend of Colombian singer Shakira.

In April 2007 Cruz, who was single at the time, stated that she would like to have children one day and she feels the need to adopt. "Of course I want to have kids," Cruz, 34, told the Spanish edition of Marie Claire in its April issue. "I want to have my own kids, but also adopt. For a while I've had the feeling that my life won't be complete if I don't adopt".

As of August 2008, Cruz is currently dating Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem, her costar in both her debut film, Jamón jamón, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Roselyn Sanchez : What A Lady !!!

2008-06-02T01:38:00Z

Early life

Sánchez was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the youngest of four siblings - having three older brothers. She received her primary education in San Juan. At a young age, she showed an interest in both dancing and acting and would put on shows for her family. Sánchez enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico, where like her father and brothers she was to study marketing.However, this was not her calling and after three years she left the course. In 1991, at the age of 18, Sánchez moved to New York City, where she took classes in dancing, acting and singing.She returned to Puerto Rico and in 1992, she made her movie debut, having landed a small part as an island girl in the movie Captain Ron, which was partly filmed on the island, starring Martin Short and Kurt Russell.

Rise to fame

In Puerto Rico, she gained public attention as a dancer and co-host of an island's variety show called Que Vacilon. At that time, in 1993, Roselyn won the Miss Puerto Rico Petite contest and in 1994 she won the international title of Miss America Petite. The contest rose Sanchez to international fame. Sanchez has been named to numerous annual lists of beautiful women including Maxim Magazine Hot 100 in 2001, 2002 and 2006; AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women in 2005 and 2006; FHM Magazine 100 Sexiest Women in 2005 and 2006.

Sánchez in Hollywood

In 2001, Sánchez was cast as "Isabella Molina", an undercover United States Secret Service agent who was Jackie Chan's love interest in the hit movie Rush Hour 2. In 2003, she played the role of "Lorena" in the movie Chasing Papi starring alongside Jaci Velasquez and Sofia Vergara. Sanchez has already acted in 20 movies, including the role of Maria in Edison as well as the role of Karen Lopez in Underclassman. She also starred in the Puerto Rican film Cayo released in 2005. Also in the fall of 2005, she joined the cast of Without a Trace, where she plays Agent Elena Delgado.

She composed the musical Yellow, about a singer/dancer/actress who leaves Puerto Rico to hit the big time in New York, in which she played the principal part. The movie was filmed in 2005 and released in 2007.

Also in 2007, she acted as Monique, Peyton's ballet teacher, in The Game Plan, and appeared in the movie "Venus & Vegas". She is currently preparing for her role in The Perfect Sleep, a neo-noir drama, where she is co-staring with Patrick Bauchau, Tony Amendola, Isaac Singleton, and Peter Lucas.

Music career

In 2005, her first musical recording Borinqueña was released. The album first single "Amor Amor" gained a lot of attention as well as a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Music Video. She appeared in Craig David's music videos Hidden Agenda and Personal and in the Fabolous video for "Make Me Better".

Personal life

Sánchez was married to actor Gary Stretch from 1999 to 2001. After her divorce, she started a relationship with Puerto Rican salsa singer, Víctor Manuelle. However, in December 2005, she announced that she had ended their relationship. The separation was amicable. Currently, she is engaged to actor Eric Winter.

Sánchez is a supporter of animal rights and active member of PETA. She recently appeared nude in a PETA ad in support of anti-fur campaign efforts.

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Christina Milian.....Shooting For The Top

2008-04-01T20:46:00Z

Christina Milian Biography:
Cuban-American Christina Milian was born in New Jersey but raised in Maryland, making her debut as an actress at a very young age while playing a role in a children-oriented musical, working as junior journalist for The Walt Disney Company, and making guest appearances on Sister Sister and Clueless, among other popular TV shows. Milian became seriously involved in music after singing on Ja Rules' "Between Me and You," in addition to co-writing Jennifer Lopez's "Play" and P.Y.T.'s "Same Ol Same Ol" while recording her self-titled R&B/pop debut album in 2001. Though the album fared far better in the U.K., "AM to PM" reached the Top 30 of the Hot 100 chart in the States. 2004's It's About Time, anchored by the Top Ten hit "Dip It Low," was much more successful. Milian's third album, So Amazin', helmed almost entirely by Cool & Dre, was released in 2006.

2008: New Album

Currently, Milian is working hard to release her 4th studio (3rd in North America) album in late 2008, as stated in her MySpace blog. Milian has confirmed J. R. Rotem, Nate (Danja) Hills, The Matrix, Missy Elliott, Lil Jon, Lisa Maffia, Cool & Dre, Polow da Don, and Ryan Tedder will be featured producers, and Rick Ross and Frankie J will be featured guest stars. Milian has signed with Myspace Records, and will release her fourth album under the brand new label.So far there is no confirmed title or release date for the album, but she has stated on her MySpace blog that the album will have similar sound to her last album, So Amazin'. One of the tracks, the Benjamin Franklin produced ballad "That One" has been leaked on YouTube. She also stated in a video that "Blissville" will be the first single, which features Rick Ross.

Acting career

Milian's first significant role was as a reporter on the Disney Channel's Movie Surfers show in 1998 billed as Tina Flores.While in this role, she also appeared in minor roles in the movies A Bug's Life and American Pie and in guest appearances on the television series Sister, Sister, Smart Guy, Clueless, Get Real, Charmed, The Amanda Show, and The Steve Harvey Show. In 2002, Milian was appointed to host of the television show Wannabes on MTV. She met director Joseph Kahn on an episode of Wannabes who suggested she audition for a lead role in the film Torque opposite Ice Cube. Her audition was successful, which later got her a lead role in Love Don't Cost a Thing in 2003. Milian was nominated for her acting in Love Don't Cost a Thing at the Teen Choice Awards for Choice Breakout Movie Star - Female. In 2005, she had roles in the films Man of the House opposite Tommy Lee Jones and Be Cool with John Travolta and Uma Thurman. She played a main role in the horror film Pulse, released in August 2006, starring alongside Veronica Mars actress Kristen Bell. She made an appearance in the music video for Jessica Simpson's single "A Public Affair," alongside Christina Applegate, Eva Longoria, Maria Menounos, Ryan Seacrest and Andy ***; and was also named #10 in Maxim's Hot 100.

In October 2007, Milian guest starred on the CW's hit TV series Smallville, in the episode Action.On December 15, 2007, she starred as the main character in the Christmas movie for ABC Family entitled Snowglobe, alongside Lorraine Bracco. The Nielsens ratings for December 10–16 showed that "Snowglobe" was rated the sixth most watched show for the week on cable, with 4.4 million viewers. She will be the leading character in The CW's new show "Eight Days A Week" as Olivia, alongside Mario Lopez.Milian is also set to star in The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner, with a February 19, 2009 release date.She also made an appearance in the music video for Flo Rida's single "Elevator," alongside DJ Khaled, Rick Ross, Brisco, Gunplay of Triple C's, Dre and Lil Boosie.

Romantic history

Milian is currently dating Dre from producing group Cool and Dre. After being together for nearly two and a half years, in the summer of 2005, Milian broke up with actor Nick Cannon. In an interview with Angie Martinez, she spoke about how she found out about Cannon cheating on her. According to Milian, while she was away filming Pulse in Romania, she attempted to log in to his T-Mobile account by entering in random passwords. After succeeding with one of the passwords, she was able to read his messages to and from other women with whom he had romantic relationships. When she returned to the states, she decided to play dumb, pretending she was completely oblivious to his cheating, before bashing him with the news that she knew he was cheating.Nick Cannon later revealed he refused to stay faithful to Christina Milian because their relationship was becoming too much like a Christian romance.

On August 6, 2005, Milian co-hosted The Reign at the Gerald W. Lynch Theatre in New York City with singer Eric West. The event was designed by a group of inner-city children in 2003 to raise funding and awareness for HIV/AIDS prevention education for men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS through the Elton John Aids Foundation, as well as working with the Fresh Air Fund to continue to help other inner-city children and family's. Both Milian and West were awarded Outstanding Achievement Awards for their humanitarian efforts. Soon after, various media outlets also reported that Milian was dating West. Both deny they were dating, and Milian posted on her MySpace that she "[has] no idea who Eric West is" although she had co-hosted an event for Elton John's AIDS foundation in August 2005, and been photographed with West at the last New York Fashion Week. Months after her interview with the New York Daily News, AOL News reported West and Milian were spotted together once again at a New York Hotel, saying "Singer-actress Christina Milian spotted looking nervous as she left the Hotel Gansevoort in New York's Soho district as she ran into actor Eric West. The two made headlines when Milian posted a MySpace blog saying she "[has] no idea who Eric West is" despite having co-hosted an event for Elton John's AIDS foundation in August 2005, and being photographed with West at the last New York Fashion Week. My mole said she kept apologizing to West during the chance encounter..."

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Eva Mendes...Not The Girl Next Door !!!

2008-03-01T19:33:00Z

Eva Mendes

Early life

Mendes was born in Miami, to Cuban-American parents and was raised in Los Angeles by her mother after her parents' divorce; Mendes has said that her mother "suffered so much to make my life OK" during her early years. Her father is a car salesman and her mother, Eva, is now an elementary school principal. She is the youngest of four children (she has two sisters and a brother). She was raised Catholic and aspired to be a nun. As a child, Mendes was teased about her "buck teeth".

As a young child, her parents moved frequently, and she lived in both Miami, Florida, and Los Angeles, California. She never saw herself as an actress while she was young and deigned to pursue other interests. She attended Hoover High School in Glendale, California and later attended California State University, Northridge to study Marketing, but dropped out after meeting boyfriend Zedrick Threatt, who helped her to seek an acting career. She studied with Ivana Chubbuck.

Career

Her debut in acting came because she needed a little extra spending money and appeared as an extra on various films. One day she caught the eye of an agent who convinced her to pursue acting more steadily. Mendes worked her way up through commercials to music videos (including an appearance in Will Smith's video "Miami" and the Pet Shop Boys music video for "Se a vida é (That’s the way life is)" in 1996 and Aerosmith's video "Hole in My Soul" in 1997) to guest roles in soap operas and supporting film roles.

Mendes made her big-screen debut in 1998 in the horror film Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror. Later that year she had a memorable role in A Night at the Roxbury starring opposite Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan. "It was only my second job in the business," she says, "and seeing them work and have fun made me decide that I could do it too."

She received her first big-screen break when she appeared in the award-winning and critically-acclaimed Training Day. That performance led to roles in Stuck on You, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and as the female lead in the comedy Hitch opposite Will Smith. Her role in Once Upon a Time in Mexico also gave her a nomination at the Teen Choice Awards. Mendes has also been in commercials for Gushers, Revlon, and Levi's. Mendes costarred in Ghost Rider with Nicolas Cage, and most recently she starred alongside Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, and Robert Duvall in the film We Own the Night.

Along with acting, Eva is employed by Revlon Cosmetics as an international spokeswoman. She joins such elite actresses and models as Julianne Moore, Halle Berry and Cindy Crawford, who appear in Revlon's television and print ads. She is also a passionate supporter and active participant in Revlon's fight against *** cancer.

Maxim ranked her #7 in its 2007 Hot 100 issue. Mendes also made her second Maxim cover in the November 2007 issue.

Mendes, despite resisting offers from Playboy, appeared naked in Flaunt Magazine. Although her breasts weren't exposed, readers did get to see her bare back and buttocks. Mendes said about the shoot, "I actually did a little nude shot. You won't see anything. I was covering myself... but I love Flaunt. I think their artwork is some of the best artwork out there as far as photography is concerned, so I took it off. I felt really comfortable,it was fun. There's something really liberating about it."

In December 2007, Mendes posed nude for the anti-fur campaign of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) alongside the tagline "Fur? I'd rather go naked." Mendes is also a spokesmodel for the 2008 Calendar of Campari, inspired in fairy tales, by photographer Marino Parisotto

In 2008, Eva starred in The Women, a comedy ensemble film featuring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening and Debra Messing. The film, which was produced by Victoria Pearman and Mick Jagger of Jagged Films, Bill Johnson of Inferno Productions, and English, is being released by Picturehouse, a joint venture of HBO and New Line Cinema.

Mendes was voted as No. 4 in the 2008 edition of AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women.

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Eva Longoria....Knows Where She Is Going And Is Determined To Get There

2008-01-30T23:57:00Z

Eva Longoria

Eva Longoria Biography:
Opinionated and outspoken Desperate Housewives Latina starlet Eva Longoria is almost as well known for her risqu? sense of style as she is for her role as the oversexed nymph on the aforementioned ABC hit, on which she stars opposite television veterans Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman, and Nicollette Sheridan. Crediting her remarkable success in Hollywood to an unwavering determination to succeed and a strong sense of personal discipline, Longoria has enjoyed a steady rise to fame that shows no signs of slowing anytime soon. Considered in her youth as the "ugly duckling" among her three siblings due to her dark complexion, the future sexpot nevertheless had a happy childhood growing up on her family's Corpus Christie ranch, and by the time she earned the title of Miss Corpus Christie in 1998, any insecurities that might have resulted from her unfortunate family title had long faded. Though Longoria had numerous career options after earning her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from Texas A&M-Kinsville, a new and empowering sense of self-confidence found the aspiring starlet opting instead to try her luck among the glitz and glamour of the Hollywood.

Of course, it didn't take Tinseltown talent agents too long to notice a good thing when it came their way, and after procuring an agent and making her stage debut in a production of +What the Rabbit Saw, Longoria was soon cast in a small role on the hit television series Beverly Hills 90210. A subsequent stint on the long-running daytime drama The Young and the Restless found Longoria's steady ascent to stardom perfectly on track, and although her trajectory may have been momentarily derailed due to roles in such forgettable efforts as the small-screen Dragnet revival in 2003 and a pair of throwaway straight-to-video features (Snitch'd and Se?orita Justice), 2004 proved the year that everything came together for the determined actress when Desperate Housewives emerged as a surprise hit -- revitalizing an ailing ABC and setting breakout beauty Longoria back on the fast track to fame. Her role as a glamorous former runway model who is having an affair with her 17-year-old gardener showcased both Longoria's undeniable sensuality as well as her remarkable comedic skills, and fans were further impressed when Longoria took the duel roles of star and producer in the hit comedy/variety show +Hot Tamales Live. The same year of her breakout success on Desperate Housewives, Longoria appeared opposite Anne Heche in the made-for-television thriller The Dead Will Tell, with subsequent roles in Carlita's Secret, Harsh Times, and The Sentinel pointing to a lucrative feature career in addition to her success on the small screen. Briefly married to actor Tyler Christopher from 2002 to 2005, Longoria moved further into the spotlight when she was chosen as the new face of cosmetics powerhouse L'Or?al in April of 2005.

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