Casey Johnson (September 24, 1979 – January 4, 2010) was an American socialite. She was also one of the great-great-granddaughters of Robert Wood Johnson I, co-founder of Johnson & Johnson.
Early life
Johnson’s father was Robert Wood Johnson IV, the owner of the New York Jets.Her mother was Sale Johnson. She was also the cousin of Jamie Johnson who directed the documentary Born Rich. She was diagnosed with diabetes at age 8, and her father was involved with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, working to find a cure for the disease.
Career
At the age of 14, Johnson co-wrote a book with her father entitled Managing Your Child’s Diabetes.She appeared as herself on the television shows The Fabulous Life of… and E! True Hollywood Story. In addition she was a popular Hollywood socialite known for making outrageous headlines. Johnson was friends with other socialites such as Paris & Nicky Hilton (with whom she grew up), Nicole Richie, and several others.
Personal life
In 2006, Johnson spoke about a falling out she had with her aunt Elizabeth Ross “Libet” Johnson upon discovering through intimate e-mails that her aunt had stolen her boyfriend, John Dee.
In 2007, Johnson adopted a daughter, named Ava from Kazakhstan.Socialite Nicky Hilton is the child’s Godmother.
Johnson openly declared her sexuality as a lesbian. One of her ex-girlfriends was Courtenay Semel (whom she dated on and off during 2008–2009 and who set Johnson’s hair on fire in January of 2009, after a fight). On November 30, 2009, Johnson was arrested for allegedly stealing jewelry, shoes, 600 pages of a legal document, clothing, and underwear from Jasmine Lennard, who was tipped off by Semel (whom she was seeing at the time). Johnson allegedly left a used vibrator and wet towel as a calling card.
On December 9, 2009, Johnson and Tila Tequila announced that they were engaged.
Death
At 1:12 a.m. on Dec. 29, 2009, the 30-year old socialite Tweeted: “Sweet dreams everyone, I’m getting a new car.” Seven days later, on January 4, 2010, a maid found Johnson’s body in the bedroom of her West Hollywood home.The cause of death is yet to be determined (pending coroner’s toxicology report), however authorities reported “no evidence of foul play”. Tequila said Johnson had not answered her phone since December 29, 2009.Tequila later posted to her Twitter that Johnson was not dead, but in a coma. She later revised the statement, saying Johnson was, in fact, dead.According to TMZ, a law enforcement source claimed it appeared that Johnson had been dead for several days before her body was discovered.
Danica Sue Patrick (born March 25, 1982) is an American auto racing driver, currently competing in the IndyCar Series, as well as a model and advertising spokeswoman. Patrick was named the Rookie of the Year for both the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and the 2005 IndyCar Series season. With her win in the 2008 Indy Japan 300, Patrick became the first woman to win an Indy car race. Patrick currently drives the #7 GoDaddy.com Honda/Dallara for Andretti Autosport. In 2010, Patrick will race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, driving the #7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Impala for JR Motorsports part-time. She also has an equity stake in her #7 team.[1] She placed 3rd in the 2009 Indianapolis 500, which was both a personal best for her at the track and the highest finish by a woman in the event’s history.
Early racing career
Born in Beloit, Wisconsin, Patrick grew up in Roscoe, Illinois. She began go-karting in 1992 at the age of 10,and won several World Karting Association championships. She moved to England at 16 in to advance her racing career. Patrick raced in Formula Ford and Formula Vauxhall, earning a second-place in Britain’s Formula Ford Festival, the highest finish by a woman in the event.
In 2002, Patrick started driving for Rahal Letterman Racing in the United States. After making several starts in the Barber Dodge Pro Series, she moved to the Toyota Atlantic Championship for 2003. Patrick won one pole position and was a consistent podium finisher (top three); however, she never won a race. In 2004, Patrick finished third in the Championship.
Patrick at the 2006 Indianapolis 500
After the 2004 racing season, Rahal Letterman Racing officially announced that Patrick would drive in the IRL IndyCar Series for 2005.
On May 29, 2005, Patrick became the fourth woman to compete in the Indianapolis 500, following Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James and Sarah Fisher. After posting the fastest practice speed of the month (229.880 mph/369.956 km/h) during the morning practice session on the first day of qualifications (May 15), she made an error in the first turn of her first qualifying lap, and failed to capture the pole position, which went to Tony Kanaan. Patrick’s fourth starting position, however, was still the highest ever attained for the race by a female driver.
Patrick became the first female driver to lead the race at Indianapolis, first when acquiring it for a lap near the 125-mile (201 km) mark while cycling through pit stops, and late in the race when she stayed out one lap longer than her rivals during a set of green-flag pit stops. Patrick overcame two crucial errors to finish fourth, the same position she started in. Patrick’s car stalled in the pits about halfway through the 500-mile (800 km) race, dropping her to the middle of the field; and shortly after reclaiming a spot in the top 10, Patrick spun on a caution period just before an intended green flag leading to a four car accident. The accident caused damage to Patrick’s car that was limited to the nose and front wing. Her pit crew promptly made repairs, and due to the subsequent yellow, Patrick was able to rejoin the field having lost only one position. When the leaders pitted for fuel on lap 172, Patrick stayed out to take the lead. On lap 194, eventual race winner and 2005 series champion Dan Wheldon passed her as she was forced to slow in order to conserve fuel. Patrick was subsequently passed by both Bryan Herta and her teammate Vitor Meira. Patrick’s fourth place was the highest ever finish for a female driver at the Indy 500, besting the previous record of ninth set by Janet Guthrie in 1978. Patrick led 19 laps overall.
On July 2, 2005, Patrick won her first pole position, leading a 1-2-3 sweep by Rahal Letterman Racing at Kansas Speedway. She became the second woman to accomplish this feat in the IndyCar Series, the first being Sarah Fisher in 2002 at Kentucky Speedway. On August 13, 2005, she won her second pole at Kentucky Speedway, although this time, rain prematurely ended qualifying and position was determined by speeds achieved during practice. She took a third pole at Chicagoland Speedway which tied her with Tomas Scheckter’s record for number of pole positions earned in a rookie season.
In 2005, Patrick finished 12th in the IndyCar Series championship, with 325 points. She was named Rookie of the Year for both the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and the 2005 IndyCar Series season.
During the offseason following the 2005 racing year, Patrick competed in the Rolex 24 at Daytona along with co-driver Rusty Wallace in January 2006.
2006
Patrick competed in the 2006 IndyCar Series season giving her another chance at qualifying and racing in the Indianapolis 500. In the first race of the season, the Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead, Patrick qualified third behind the Penske Racing teammates of Helio Castroneves and Sam Hornish, Jr. However, tragedy struck as RLR teammate Paul Dana was killed in a crash during practice the morning of the race. Patrick and Buddy Rice withdrew from the race immediately. The two resumed their 2006 IndyCar campaign with the second race of the year at St. Petersburg
At the Indy 500, Patrick started eighth and finished eighth. After Watkins Glen, RLR switched to the Dallara chassis and the team struggled to adapt. Patrick struggled to remain competitive, but her fourth place finishes at Nashville and Milwaukee tied her career best IndyCar finishes. At Michigan, Patrick’s car ran out of fuel with three laps to go and she fell to 17th. She rebounded at Kentucky and Infineon to finish 8th in both races.
In her final race with RLR at Chicagoland, Patrick recorded a 12th place finish and a 9th place finish in the IndyCar Series Championship point standings, besting her 12th place points finish as a rookie.
In November, the March of Dimes awarded her the title of Sportswoman of the Year in celebration of her dedication and success [5].
2007
Danica Patrick after qualifying for the 2007 Indianapolis 500
On July 25, 2006, Patrick announced she had signed a deal to drive for Andretti Autosport, replacing Bryan Herta in the number 7 Dallara Honda car beginning in 2007.[6] Patrick’s car is sponsored by Motorola, XM radio and Go Daddy.[7][8]
In Patrick’s first race with Andretti Autosport at Homestead on March 24 she finished 14th after crashing into the pit wall on lap 154. She finished 8th at St. Pete and 11th at Japan. At Kansas she had her best finish of the year at that point, finishing 7th.
In April 2007, Patrick launched her official fan club The Danica Maniacs to help foster greater interaction between her and her fans.
Patrick ended up starting and finishing eighth in the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500. She ran as high as 2nd to Tony Kanaan after the mid-race rain delay. After a pit stop, she dropped back in the field. Patrick was working her way back to the front until the race was ended under the caution caused by Marco Andretti’s accident due to the subsequent rain on lap 166.
At Milwaukee, Patrick started second to last but moved quickly to 5th before contact with Dan Wheldon. Patrick managed to keep the car from hitting anything, but the wreck caused aerodynamic damage. She used a caution to regain the lead lap and finish 8th. After the race, she and Wheldon had a heated exchange when she tried to confront him about the wreck.
Patrick rebounded at Texas in the Bombardier Learjet 550. She ran with the lead pack through the entire race and led a race for the first time since 2005. She finished less than a second behind the winner, Sam Hornish, Jr., a then career-best third and her first “podium” finish.
She was involved in a crashes at Iowa and finished 13th. At Richmond she ran in the top 10 all night before finishing 6th.
She had an 11th place finish at Watkins Glen, before running in the top 5 all day and finishing 3rd at Nashville. At Mid-Ohio she finished 5th (her best road course finish) despite being involved in a lap 1 accident that sent her into the grass briefly.
Patrick had bad luck at Michigan International Speedway, where previous years saw her retire early due to fuel and other problems. In 2007, a flat tire late in the race forced Patrick to pit and dropped her to finish 7th.
Her bad luck continued at Kentucky, and she ran in the lead group all night and appeared headed towards another podium finish when she spun out exiting pit road with less than 50 laps to go. After restarting from that spin, a rear tire on Patrick’s car blew leading to a crash and forcing her to retire from the race.
Her luck would get a little better at Infineon as she ran in the top 10 and finished 6th. However a series of slow pit stops kept her from what could have been an even better finish.
At Belle Isle, Patrick started 11th and was involved in two accidents from which she was able to restart without damage, eventually driving to the front and leading 9 laps of the race before falling back after having to pit. On the final lap, while Patrick was running in 5th, Buddy Rice, Scott Dixon and teammate Dario Franchitti were involved in an accident immediately in front of her. Patrick was able to avoid the wreck and finish in second place, a career-high in the IndyCar Series and tying her with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing driver Sarah Fisher for best finish in IndyCar racing by a female.
At the season finale in Chicagoland Speedway, Patrick ran most of the race in the top 6, but had to make a pit stop for fuel with 7 laps to go. When entering pit lane, Patrick spun-out but avoided damage to her car. With assistance from her pit crew, Patrick was able to refire the engine, make a complete pit stop and reenter the race, finishing 11th overall.
For the 2007 season as a whole, Patrick scored her first three career podium finishes to finish with 4 top 5’s and 11 top 10’s while leading 17 laps on the season. She also scored her career best championship points finish of 7th with 424 points.
2008
Patrick won her first IRL race at the 2008 Indy Japan 300, and became first woman to win an IndyCar Series race.
To begin the 2008 season, her second with Andretti Autosport, Patrick scored her best career Homestead finish of 6th. She followed that up with another top 10 by scoring a 10th place finish at St. Petersburg.
Patrick won at Twin Ring Motegi in the Indy Japan 300 on April 20, 2008, becoming the first woman to win an IndyCar race,[1] joining the ranks of drag racer Shirley Muldowney, who won three NHRA Top Fuel Championships,[9] as a “first female” winner in the top tier of American motorsports. Patrick took the Indy Japan 300 after the race leaders were forced to pit for fuel in the final laps. She finished 5.8594 seconds ahead of the Brazilian pole-sitter Helio Castroneves, who ran out of fuel in the final turns on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) Twin Ring Motegi oval.
Her team owner, Michael Andretti, commented, “I’m thrilled for her that the monkey is finally off of her back.”
A mechanical problem late in the race RoadRunner Turbo 300 at Kansas Speedway forced Patrick to retire early from the race.
During practice for the 2008 Indianapolis 500, Patrick’s car struck a member of Dale Coyne Racing’s pit crew when she came into the pits on May 9. During the Indianapolis 500 on May 25, 2008, she retired from the race early after a collision in the pitlane. As Ryan Briscoe exited his pitbox the two cars collided, damaging Patrick’s left rear suspension and eliminating both from the race. After being pushed back to her own pit, Patrick left her car and headed down pit road towards Briscoe’s pit at which point IMS security intervened, preventing an on-track confrontation.
Following Indy, Patrick finished 9th at Milwaukee and 10th at Texas, with both races ending under yellow flag conditions. At Iowa and Richmond she stayed out of the many crashes during these races and finished 6th in each event.
Overall, she finished the 2008 IndyCar Series season in sixth place – the highest championship finish among American drivers for the 2008 season.
During the offseason following the 2008 racing year, Patrick made her second appearance in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January 2009
2009
Patrick’s car as it appears during the 2009 IndyCar season.
On May 24, Patrick raced at the Indianapolis 500. She finished third behind winner Helio Castroneves and second-place Dan Wheldon.It was her best finish in five attempts, one spot better than her 2005 finish, and a new record high finish for a female driver in the race. The following weekend in Milwaukee Patrick raced to 5th position at the flag. On June 6, she finished the Bombardier Learjet 550 in 6th place, dropping her to fifth place in the IndyCar Series point standings.
Patrick began the season with the Motorola sponsorship from her previous two seasons with AGR, however her car was rebranded for Boost Mobile following the Kansas race. The changes were made public with a drive down the tarmac at the Indianapolis International Airport.
In what was a difficult Honda Indy Toronto qualifying and practice for the entire Andretti Autosport team, Patrick started the race in the 18th position (her teammates also starting in the rear of the field in 17th, 20th, and 22nd). Patrick had the best finish of the Andretti Autosport team moving up 12 positions to finish 6th, putting her only three points behind Castroneves for the 4th position in the 2009 points championship.
Danica finished the season 5th overall in the point standings, her highest finish to date. This 5th place finish was not only the highest of any of the Andretti Autosport drivers, but of any non-Penske or Ganassi driver for the 2009 season.
Formula One speculations
In the end of 2008, Patrick was scheduled to test for Formula One team Honda in November 2008,however this was ultimately called off due to the Honda F1 pullout.[18] Future American F1 team Team US F1 has allegedly considered testing Patrick for 2010.However, she has stated that she has not been contacted by anyone from the new American-based Formula One team and has no plans to leave the IndyCar Series for Formula One at this time.
NASCAR/ARCA career
Patrick will drive a part-time schedule in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for JR Motorsports and her sponsor GoDaddy.com.Her first competitive stock car experience will be driving the green and orange #7 Chevrolet in an ARCA race on February 6, 2010 at Daytona International Speedway.She’s marked the Feb. 20, 2010 race at California’s Auto Club Speedway for her NASCAR debut.
Critics
Some drivers have critically commented on Danica Patrick’s presence in auto racing and her success in promoting herself as a female driver.While many drivers and racing professionals have supported both her and other female drivers,[26] some have voiced hesitancy over the entry of women into the sport.Former driver Richard Petty stated, “I just don’t think it’s a sport for women, and so far, it’s proved out. It’s really not. It’s good for them to come in. It gives us a lot of publicity; it gives them publicity. But as far as being a real true racer, making a living out of it, it’s kind of tough.”After Patrick’s IRL win, she was praised by many drivers, including NASCAR driver and former IRL champion Tony Stewart, who said “I think obviously she’s got talent; she’s been successful in every form of racing she’s been in so far and I don’t see why she wouldn’t be successful here [in NASCAR].”
Patrick at the 2007 Red Dress Collection for the Heart Truth campaign.
Patrick has hosted several TV shows on Spike TV, including the “Powerblock”, and she was featured in the 2005 documentary Girl Racers. On the August 23, 2007 episode of Diggnation, hosts Alex Albrecht and Kevin Rose shot live at Infineon Raceway, where they were treated to a lap around the track in the IndyCar Safety Car driven by Patrick. On April 24, 2008, Patrick was a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night With Conan O’Brien on April 25, 2008.
Patrick was featured on the cover of the June 6, 2005 issue of Sports Illustrated, making her the first Indianapolis 500 driver on the cover since Al Unser, in victory lane, following his upset fourth victory in 1987. After her participation in the 2005 Indianapolis 500, she was asked by Playboy to have her pictures taken to be published in a future edition of its magazine. She declined the offer, but she did participate in a “20 Questions” interview with Jason Buhrmester for the magazine’s July 2007 issue.[31] She had also previously posed for FHM, appearing in the April 2003 issue. She was on the cover of the September/October 2006 issue of travelgirl magazine and the October 2006 issue of American Libraries. Patrick appears in the February 15, 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She is featured in a 4-page photo spread.
She appeared in commercials for Secret deodorant in 2005 and 2006 until she was replaced by Rihanna in 2007. She also appeared in Jay-Z’s music video “Show Me What You Got,” where she drives a Pagani Zonda Roadster. A spot for the Honda Civic Coupe features Patrick trying to avoid a speeding ticket.
Patrick on Pole Day at Indy, 2007.
Patrick was featured in an ESPN “This Is SportsCenter” commercial, which showed then-anchor Dan Patrick towing her IndyCar due to a reserved space misunderstanding (the space in question being reserved for “D. Patrick”). She can also be seen in award winning corporate training videos Four Weeks In May and T.E.A.M.W.O.R.K. In May 2006, she published her autobiography, Danica: Crossing the Line.
During testing at Phoenix International Raceway, GoDaddy filmed a commercial with Patrick that has also aired nationally. During the same test, at the invitation of GoDaddy, Patrick met with Paul Teutul, Sr. and Mikey Teutul, and subsequently appeared on an episode of American Chopper. Patrick was also in a 2008 “inspirational, feel-good” Go Daddy commercial called “Kart” that features a young girl who aspires to be like Patrick.[33] On February 1, 2009, Patrick appeared in two GoDaddy.com commercials advertised during Super Bowl XLIII. The Most Watched Super Bowl commercial of 2009, according to TiVo, was Patrick’s “Enhancement” ad for GoDaddy.com.
Recently she was voted sexiest athlete in Victoria’s Secret “What is Sexy” list. Patrick also was voted #42 in 2006 and #85 in 2007 in FHM’s 100 sexiest women in the world.
Patrick made a second appearance in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in February 2009, posing with a Shelby Cobra 427.
Patrick is represented by IMG talent agency.
Recently starred in a Boost Mobile commercial to advertise their prepaid unlimited telephone plans.
Personal life
Patrick’s parents, T.J. and Bev Patrick, met on a blind date at a snowmobile event in the 1970s when Bev was a mechanic for a friend’s snowmobile.[36][37] T.J. raced snowmobiles, motocross, and midget cars. They have owned a Java Hut and a plate glass company.
Prior to getting into auto racing, she was a cheerleader at Hononegah Community High School near Beloit in 1996.[38] She dropped out of high school and attained a GED.
Currently, T.J. helps his daughter by driving her motor coach and managing her Web site and merchandise trailer and Bev handles Patrick’s business affairs. Patrick is married to Paul Edward Hospenthal, who had previously been her physical therapist while she was recovering from a yoga injury.[40] She converted to Roman Catholicism upon marrying Hospenthal in 2005.
She won the 2008 Kids Choice Award for favorite female athlete.
She has received two speeding tickets in her hometown of Scottsdale, Arizona. The first, in 2007, was for driving 57 mph (92 km/h) in a 40 mph (64 km/h) zone, for which she was ordered to attend traffic school; the second, in 2008, was for going 54 mph (87 km/h) in a 35 mph (56 km/h) zone, and she paid a $196 fine.
Shaheed Benazir Bhutto got the honour to be the first woman prime Minister of a Muslim country. She was young when she was popularly elected as the outstanding leader of the people of Pakistan and assumed the responsibilities as the Prime Minister. She proved her capabilities by leading the country and the people surprising the whole world with her political and diplomatic skills. In most part of the world, Pakistan was identified with her name as Prime Minister. In no time, she had developed her influence on the world scene bringing people and countries closer to Pakistan using the style of people’s diplomacy.
Benazir Bhutto remained Prime Minister of Pakistan twice. She led the popular masses and won popular votes from all corners of Pakistan. Being a popular leader of the broad masses, she attracted large crowd on special occasions. When returned from forced exile for the first time in 1986, more than 1.8 million people gathered at the Lahore Airport to greet the most outstanding leader of the people of Pakistan. When she came to Karachi, more than two million people gathered at the Karachi Airport to greet Shaheed Benazir Bhutto.
She was again forced to leave the country following unceremonious dismissal of her Government by former President Farooq Leghari on concocted charges. When she returned before the scheduled general elections during the military regime of General Pervez Musharraf, again, more than two million people gathered at the Karachi Airport to greet the greatest leader.
In the course of controversy, the military regime of General Pervez Musharraf was afraid of the huge public gatherings and advised her to avoid holding mass public rallies, public meetings and demonstrations during the election campaign. She contemptuously rejected it as she considered the huge gathering as symbol of real political power of any party or leader and she would continue to lead such processions.
For her defiance, the enemies of the people of Pakistan targeted her and made the first serious attempt on her life by exploding a huge car bomb when the huge procession reached close to Karsaz in Karachi. More that 180 innocent people, all PPP workers, were martyred and hundreds of others injured, score of them maimed. But such cowardly attacked did not deter the great leader to stop his close links with her people at any stage of history. She continued her political campaign in all parts of Pakistan. The second attack was planned when she was in Lahore. Finally, the assassins succeeded in Rawalpindi when she addressed the huge public meeting at Liaquat Bagh.
Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver (July 10, 1921) is a member of the Kennedy family and helped to found Special Olympics in the 1960s as a national organization. Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S.A., she is the fifth of nine children of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Kennedy (née Fitzgerald).
Personal life
Kennedy was educated at The Convent of the Sacred Heart, Roehampton, London, England, and in 1944 graduated from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, with a Bachelor of Science in Social Science/Social Thought, after which she went to work for the U.S. Department of State, in the Special War Problems division. In 1950, she became a social worker at the then-named Federal Industrial Institution for Women in Alderson, West Virginia, and the following year she moved to Chicago, Illinois, to work with the House of the Good Shepherd and the Chicago Juvenile Court.
On May 23, 1953, she married Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr. at Roman Catholic St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, New York.
Her husband served as the U.S. Ambassador to France from 1968 to 1970 and was the Democratic U.S. Vice Presidential candidate in 1972 (with George McGovern as the candidate for U.S. President).
They have five children: Robert Sargent Shriver III (born April 28, 1954), Maria Owings Shriver (November 6, 1955), Timothy Perry Shriver (August 29, 1959), Mark Kennedy Shriver (February 17, 1964), and Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver (July 20, 1965).
With her husband, she has nineteen grandchildren, the second-most of any of the children of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Kennedy. Her late brother U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy had eleven children who have produced thirty-two grandchildren.
Upon the death of her sister, Rosemary Kennedy, on January 7, 2005, Shriver became the eldest of the four then-surviving children of Joseph and Rose Kennedy. (Her sister, Patricia Kennedy Lawford, later died on September 17, 2006, leaving just her brother U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy and her sister, former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith.)
Shriver, who is believed to suffer from Addison’s disease,has had several health setbacks in recent years, and on November 18, 2007, she was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts;she spent several weeks there.
Political career
Shriver actively campaigned for her elder brother, U.S. President John F. Kennedy, during his successful 1960 U.S. presidential election.
In 1968, she helped Ann McGlone Burke nationalize the Special Olympics movement and is the only woman to have her portrait appear, during her lifetime, on a U.S. coin – the 1995 |commemorative Special Olympics silver dollar.
Her daughter, Maria, is married to actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger who is currently Governor of California (elected 2003). Shriver, a lifelong Democrat, supported her Republican son-in-law’s successful bid. During the 1992 Democratic presidential campaign of Bill Clinton, she was one of several prominent Democrats including Governor Robert P. Casey of Pennsylvania, Bishop Austin Vaughan of New York, who signed a letter to the New York Times, protesting the Democratic Party’s plank in favour of abortion, in its platform.
She and her husband are opponents of abortion, and she has been a supporter of Feminists for Life of America,the Susan B. Anthony List,[6] and Democrats for Life of America.
On January 28, 2008, she was present at American University, Washington, D.C., when her brother, U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, announced his endorsement of Barack Obama’s U.S. presidential campaign.
[edit] Charity work and awards
A longtime advocate for children’s health and disability issues, Shriver was a key founder of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), a part of the National Institutes of Health, in 1962, and has also helped to establish numerous other health-care facilities and support networks throughout the country.
In 1968, Shriver founded the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Center for Community of Caring at The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.
She was awarded the nation’s highest civilian award, the (U.S.) Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 1984 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, because of her work on behalf of those with mental retardation.
For her work in founding the Special Olympics, Shriver received the Civitan International World Citizenship Award.Her advocacy on this issue has also earned her other awards and recognitions, including honorary degrees from numerous universities.
Shriver received the 2002 Theodore Roosevelt Award, an annual award given by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
In 2008, the U.S. Congress changed the NICHD’s name to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Rare Halo Display: Portrait of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, David Lenz, 2009 / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Commissioned as part of the First Prize, Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2006
On 9 May 2009, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., unveiled a historic portrait of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the first portrait the Gallery has ever commissioned of an individual who had not served as a U.S. President or First Lady. The portrait of Mrs. Shriver depicts her with four Special Olympics athletes (including Loretta Claiborne) and one Best Buddies participant and was painted by David Lenz, the winner of the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition in 2006. As part of the Portrait Competition prize, the National Portrait Gallery commissions a work from the winning artist to depict a living subject for the collection. Lenz, whose son, Sam, has Down syndrome and is an enthusiastic Special Olympics athlete, was inspired by Mrs. Shriver’s dedication to working with people with intellectual disabilities.
Shriver involved Dorothy Hamill’s special skating program in the Special Olympics after her Olympic skating win.
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American recording artist. She began playing in clubs in the New York City area while also working at Interscope Records as a songwriter for several established acts, including Akon, who signed her to a joint deal with his own label, Kon Live Distribution after hearing Gaga sing. She then started to work on new material for her first studio album.
She began working with a collective called the Haus of Gaga in 2008, and released her debut album The Fame. The album peaked in countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada, and topped the Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart in the United States. To date, the album has spawned the international number one singles “Just Dance” (nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 51st Grammy Awards) and “Poker Face.” After opening for New Kids On The Block and the Pussycat Dolls, Gaga headlined her first tour, The Fame Ball Tour.
Gaga has been influenced by fashion and has been appreciated for her provocative sense of style and her influence on other celebrities. Musically, she is inspired by glam rockers such as David Bowie and Queen, as well as pop singers such as Michael Jackson and Madonna.
Biography
1986-2004: Early life and education
Gaga was born in Yonkers, New York, the eldest child to Italian American parents.[1] Her father, Joseph Germanotta, is an internet entrepreneur, and her mother, Cynthia, works as a telecommunications assistant.[1][2][3] By the time she was eleven, Gaga was set to join Juilliard School in Manhattan,[4] but instead attended the private Catholic school Convent of the Sacred Heart.[5] Having learned piano at the age of four, Gaga went on to write her first piano ballad at thirteen and began performing at open mic nights by the age of fourteen.[6] At the age of seventeen, she gained early admission to the New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied music.[6] She improved her songwriting skills by composing essays and analytical papers focusing on topics such as art, religion and socio-political order.[7] Gaga later withdrew from the school.[8]
2005-2007: Career beginnings
Grayscale image of two young women standing side-by-side. The woman on the right is blond and wears a leotard while tilting her head back. She keeps her body straight and holds her waist with her left hand. The other woman is a brunette. She stands facing the blond woman. Her hands are raised up to her head with her fingers spread. She wears a silk robe that comes up to her knees. Her face has a hint of smile.
Lady Gaga (left) and Lady Starlight at their weekly party New York Street Revival and Trash Dance.
Gaga first signed with Def Jam Records when she was nineteen years old; it happened after record executive L. A. Reid heard her singing down the hallway from his office. However, she claims Reid never met with her. After three months, she was dropped from the label.[10] She moved out of her parents’ house and started performing downtown, in the Lower East Side club scene with bands Mackin Pulsifer and SGBand.[11] Wanting to differentiate herself from the prevalent rock and roll scene, she chose to focus on pop music and started taking drugs and performing at burlesque shows.[12] Gaga said her father could not look at her for several months and “just didn’t understand” her drug use and performance in the shows.[5] One day music producer Rob Fusari compared her vocal style to that of Freddie Mercury. He nicknamed her Gaga after the 1984 Queen single “Radio Ga Ga.” She started using it as her stage name and was known thereafter as Lady Gaga. It was Fusari who helped her to write some of her earlier songs, including “Disco Heaven,” “Dirty Ice Cream,” and “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich.”
Throughout 2007, Gaga collaborated with the similarly named Lower East Side rock DJ, go-go dancer and performance artist Lady Starlight, who helped Gaga create her onstage fashions.[13] The pair began playing gigs at downtown club venues like Mercury Lounge, The Bitter End, and Rockwood Music Hall,[9] with their live performance art piece known as “Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue.”[14] Billed as “The Ultimate Pop Burlesque Rockshow,”[15] their act was a low-fi tribute to 1970’s variety acts.[16] In August 2007, “Lady Gaga and The Starlight Revue” were invited to play at American music festival Lollapalooza, where they awed the crowd with their performance.[17] The show was critically acclaimed and their performance received rave reviews.[6][9] Having initially focused on avant-garde, electronic dance music, Gaga found her musical niche when she began to incorporate pop melodies and the vintage glam rock of David Bowie and Queen into the mix.[18]
During this time, she was noticed by music executive Vincent Herbert and was signed to Interscope in January 2008. She began writing for artists signed to Akon’s Konvict label, as well as Fergie, the Pussycat Dolls, Britney Spears, and New Kids on the Block after her songwriting abilities left an impression.[5] Around the same time, Akon, hearing her sing a reference vocal for one of his tracks, formed the opinion that she was also a good singer.[19] He ultimately convinced Interscope’s chairman Jimmy Iovine to sign her for a joint deal with his own label, Kon Live Distribution,[10] and would later call Gaga his “franchise player.”[20] Through her affiliation with Akon, Gaga started to work on her own new material for her debut album with producer RedOne. Already having a solid selection of electro-glam, David Bowie-esque, and Queen-inspired songs, Gaga wanted to mix her retro dance beats with urban melodies, a pop chorus and still retain a rock and roll edge. The first song they produced was a mash-up of Mötley Crüe’s single “Girls, Girls, Girls” (1987) and AC/DC’s single “T.N.T.” (1976)[12]
2008-present: The Fame
A distnat image of a blond woman performing onstage. She is clad in a white leotard. She is singing onto a microphone in her left hand. Her right hand is held by somebody whose appearance is not clear. On her left, two African dancers imitate a pose where they appear to be looking at the woman throuogh a camera.
Gaga performing at the New Kids on the Block: Live tour
By 2008, Gaga had relocated to Los Angeles, working closely with her record label to finalize her debut album The Fame.[12] For the album, Gaga stated she combined a lot of different genres, “from Def Leppard drums and handclaps to metal drums on urban tracks.”[10] She started to work with a collective called the Haus of Gaga, who collaborate with their muse on clothing, stage sets and sounds.[5]
The Fame received mostly positive reviews from critics; according to the music review aggregation of Metacritic, it has received an average score of seventy-one out of hundred.[21] Times Online described the album as “a fantastic mix of Bowie-esque ballads, dramatic, Queen-inspired midtempo numbers and synth-based dance tracks that poke fun at celebrity-chasing rich kids.”[5] The album’s lead single, “Just Dance,” was released on April 8, 2008, and has topped the charts in six countries – Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.[22] It received a Grammy nomination for the Best Dance Recording, but lost to Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.”[23] The second single, “Poker Face”, was released on September 29, 2008, and has reached number one in nearly twenty countries, including almost all major music markets in the world. “Poker Face” became Gaga’s second consecutive number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 2009.[24] The Fame peaked at number one in Austria, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Ireland, and number four in Australia and the United States.[25][26] Worldwide sales stand at 2.3 million copies.[27]
A blond woman in a bob-cut, sitting cross-legged on a transparent platform which is full of bubbles and lit from inside in pink. The woman is wearing a dress made of transparent bubbles of varying sizes. She is holding a microphone in her left hand and appears to be smiling.
Gaga wearing a plastic bubble dress while performing a concert on The Fame Ball Tour.
Afterward, the Haus of Gaga turned its focus further upon the American market with Gaga going on her first ever concert tour with fellow Interscope pop group, the reformed New Kids on the Block. Gaga started her stint with them in Los Angeles on October 8, 2008, and continued through the end of November.[28] She appeared as a guest artist on the song “Big Girl Now” from their new album, The Block.[29] Gaga’s first North American tour, The Fame Ball Tour, began on March 12, 2009. It was critically appreciated.[30][31] Gaga’s opening for the Pussycat Dolls in Australia in May was well-received, with a reviewer claiming that she upstaged the Dolls with her performance.[32][33] The music video for her third single, “LoveGame,” was banned by the Australian channel Network Ten, who refused to play the video reasoning that it contained sexually explicit imagery.[34]
Gaga appeared semi-nude, wearing only plastic bubbles on the cover of the annual ‘Hot 100′ issue of Rolling Stone in May 2009.[27][35] In the issue she discussed that while she was making her beginnings in the New York club scene, Gaga was romantically involved with a heavy metal drummer. Gaga described their relationship and their break-up, saying of it, “I was his Sandy, and he was my Danny [of Grease], and I just broke.” He later became an inspiration behind some of the songs on her debut album The Fame.[36] Gaga also stated that she is bisexual and is inspired by beautiful women. According to her, it’s an aspect of her sexuality that makes her boyfriends “uncomfortable.”[36] A month before, she had told a crowd at one of her concerts that her song “Poker Face” deals with fantasizing about a woman while being in bed with a man.[37] In June 2009, she revealed plans of touring with Kanye West.
Musical style and image
Lady Gaga “Just Dance”
Play sound
A 30-second sample of Gaga’s “Just Dance” featuring the chorus sung by Gaga and Colby O’Donis in the range of B3 to C♯ backed by a synth marching beat. The song became Gaga’s first international hit single.
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Gaga has been primarily influenced by glam rockers such as David Bowie and Queen, singers Michael Jackson and Madonna, artist Andy Warhol, poet Rainer Maria Rilke, fashion icon and entertainer Grace Jones, and fashion as a whole.[34][10][39] Gaga’s vocals have drawn frequent comparison to Madonna and Gwen Stefani, while the structure of her music is said to be reminiscent of classic 1980s pop and 1990s europop.[40] Gaga is said to have “a husky voice kept mostly in reserve” with the “gumption of vintage Madonna” and the “unlikely pop persistence of Taylor Swift.”[41] Author Baby A. Gil of The Philippine Star asserts that her voice is “just right for the mix of dance and rock that she does.”[42] As an artist, Alexis Petridis of The Boston Globe commented that although Gaga lacks originality, “[p]op music doesn’t have to be blindingly original or clever to work: it needs tunes, and Lady [Gaga] is fantastically good at tunes.”[40]
Gaga has stated that she is “very into fashion” and that it is “everything” to her.[5][43] Her love of fashion came from her mother, who was “always very well kept and beautiful.”[3] Gaga stated:
“When I’m writing music, I’m thinking about the clothes I want to wear on stage. It’s all about everything altogether – performance art, pop performance art, fashion. For me, it’s everything coming together and being a real story that will bring back the super-fan. I want to bring that back. I want the imagery to be so strong that fans will want to eat and taste and lick every part of us.”[43]
Gaga has said she channels Versace in everything she does, and considers Donatella Versace as her muse in many ways.[5] Melissa Magsaysay of Los Angeles Times commented, “[Gaga's] aversion to wearing a top and bottom at the same time [...] swigging champagne and being fanned by oily men in Speedos [is] very Donatella-esque.”[44] Gaga has her own creative production team called the Haus of Gaga, which she handles personally. The team creates many of her clothes, stage props, and hairdos.[45] Gaga is a natural brunette, but her hair is dyed blonde because she was often mistaken for fellow musician Amy Winehouse.[3]
Towards the end of 2008, comparisons were made between the fashion sense of Gaga and American recording artist Christina Aguilera, noting similarities in their styling, hair, and make-up.[5] Aguilera later claimed she was “completely unaware of [Gaga]” and “didn’t know if it [was] a man or a woman.”[5] Afterward, Gaga released a statement in which she welcomed the comparisons due to the attention providing useful publicity.[46] Gaga said, “She’s such a huge star and if anything I should send her flowers, because a lot of people in America didn’t know who I was until that whole thing happened. It really put me on the map in a way.”
John Hughes, Jr. (February 18, 1950 – August 6, 2009) was an American film director, producer and writer. He made some of the most successful comedy films of the 1980s and 1990s, including National Lampoon’s Vacation; Ferris Bueller’s Day Off; Weird Science; The Breakfast Club; Some Kind of Wonderful; Sixteen Candles; Pretty in Pink; Planes, Trains and Automobiles; Uncle Buck; Home Alone and its sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
Biography
Personal life
Hughes was born in Lansing, Michigan, to a mother who volunteered in charity work and John Hughes, Sr., who worked in sales.[1] A 1968 graduate of Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Illinois, Hughes used Northbrook and the adjacent North Shore area for shooting locations and settings in many of his films, though he usually left the name of the town unsaid, or referred to it as “Shermer, Illinois”, Shermerville being the original name of Northbrook. In high school, he met Nancy Ludwig, to whom he was married from 1970 until his death. They had two sons, John Hughes III, born in 1976, and James Hughes, born in 1979.
Career
Hughes began his career as an ad copywriter in Chicago. During this time, he created what became the famous Edge “Credit Card Shaving Test” ad campaign.
His first attempt at comedy writing was selling jokes to well-established performers such as Rodney Dangerfield and Joan Rivers. This led him to pen a story, inspired by his family trips as a child, that was to become his calling card and entry onto the staff of the National Lampoon Magazine. That story, “Vacation ‘58″, became the basis for the film Vacation. Subsequent stories such as the April Fool’s Day classics “My Vagina” and “My Penis” gave an early indication of Hughes’ ear for the particular rhythm of teen speak, as well as the various indignities of teen life in general.
His first credited screenplay, Class Reunion, was written while still on staff at the magazine. The resulting film became the second disastrous attempt by the flagship to duplicate the runaway success of Animal House. It was Hughes’ next screenplay for the imprint, National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), however, that would prove to be a major hit, putting the Lampoon back on the map.
His first directorial effort, Sixteen Candles, won almost unanimous praise when it was released in 1984, due in no small part to its more realistic depiction of middle-class high school life, which stood in stark contrast to the Porky’s-inspired comedies being made at the time. It was also the first in a string of efforts set in or around high school, including The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Weird Science and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (See also Brat Pack).
To avoid being pigeonholed as a maker of teen comedies, Hughes branched out in 1987, directing Planes, Trains & Automobiles starring Steve Martin and John Candy. His later output would not be so critically well received, though films like Uncle Buck (one of the first films to display the change in teenager’s choice of music from rock to rap) proved popular. Hughes’s greatest commercial success came with Home Alone, a film he wrote and produced about a child accidentally left behind when his family goes away for Christmas, forcing him to protect himself and his house from a pair of inept burglars. Home Alone would be the top grossing film of 1990, and remains his most successful live-action comedy of all time. His last film as a director was 1991’s Curly Sue.
He has been noted as an inspiration for many in the film industry, including Wes Anderson.[citation needed] He also wrote screenplays using his pseudonym, Edmond Dantès (protagonist of Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Count of Monte Cristo).
In 1994, Hughes retired from the public eye and moved to Wisconsin,rarely granting or giving interviews or photographs to the media save a select few interviews in 1999 to promote the soundtrack album to Reach the Rock, an independent film he wrote.[3] The album was compiled by Hughes’ son, John Hughes III, and released on his son’s Chicago-based record label, Hefty Records.[4] He also recorded an audio commentary for the 1999 DVD release of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.[5] A photograph of him visiting his son on the set of his son’s film in 2001 was the last photo taken of him in public. In the later years of his life, he was a farmer in Illinois.
Death
Hughes died suddenly of a heart attack on August 6, 2009, while walking in Manhattan, where he was visiting his family.In addition to his widow and sons, Hughes is survived by four grandchildren.
Solange Piaget Knowles (born June 24, 1986), who performs under the mononym Solange, is an American recording artist, actress, model and dancer. She is the younger sister of R&B singer and actress Beyoncé. Knowles was born and raised in Houston, Texas. Showing an interest in music recording at an early age, she eventually broke into the music scene at 16. She has released two studios albums: Solo Star in 2003 and Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams in 2008.
Aside from recording, Knowles has ventured into film, modeling, and entrepreneurship. She co-launched the junior apparel collection Deréon, a sister line to House of Deréon that was established by her mother and sister. Knowles has been compared to her sister by the media, but she dismisses the notion, saying they are artistically different.Early life
Solange Knowles was born on June 24, 1986,in Houston, Texas, to Mathew and Tina Knowles. Solange is the second child of Mathew and Tina, and the younger sister of Beyoncé. Her father is African American and her mother is Creole (French, African American and Native American descent). Her maternal grandparents are Lumis Beyincé and Agnéz Deréon, (a seamstress). As a child, Knowles studied dance and theater. At the age of five, she made her singing debut at an amusement park. She began writing songs at the age of nine At 13, she decided to pursue recording, but her parents initially advised her to wait.At the age of 15 Knowles replaced a departed dancer and performed with her sister’s group Destiny’s Child on tour.During the group’s opening stint for American pop singer Christina Aguilera’s tour, Knowles temporarily replaced Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland after Kelly broke her toes backstage during a costume change.[5] When Knowles was 16, her father, who was then also her manager, signed her to his recording company, Music World Entertainment.
Recording career
2001-2003: Early career and Solo Star
Managed by her father Matthew, Knowles’ first foray into the music business was in 2001 as the lead singer, backed with Destiny’s Child, on the title theme song for the animated television series The Proud Family.She also was a featured performer on “Hey Goldmember” for the soundtrack to the 2002 film Austin Powers in Goldmember, as well as a backup singer on the track “Little Drummer Boy” on her sister’s group’s 2001 holiday album 8 Days of Christmas. In 2002, she was featured on Lil Romeo’s second studio album Game Time, singing portions of Luther Vandross-penned “So Amazing” on the single “True Love”, and on Rowland’s debut solo album Simply Deep, for which she also wrote the title track and “Alone”. In 2001 she was also Lil’ Bow Wow’s date in his Puppy Love video.
In June 2003, Mathew Knowles excitedly announced that he was considering adding Solange to Destiny’s Child when the group reunited in 2004, thus turning them into a quartet for the first time since short-lived member Farrah Franklin left in 2000. Mathew Knowles said he was testing the reactions, and, judging by what he had heard, “it seems like a good idea”.[9] Later in August, however, Beyoncé said it was only a rumor and Destiny’s Child would remain a trio. Rowland added, “She’s a Solo Star,” namedropping Knowles’ debut album.
At the age of 14, Solonge Knowles started working on her debut album Solo Star, which involved American producers such as Jermaine Dupri, The Neptunes, Linda Perry and Timbaland among others. The album is primarily uptempo R&B, although Knowles said there are pop, rock, reggae and hip hop influences. Knowles co-wrote and co-produced some of the 15 tracks in the album, including its lead single, “Feelin’ You (Part II)”. The song failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100, but reached number three on both the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales and Hot Dance Singles Sales chart.Solo Star was released on January 21, 2003 in the United States, where it debuted at number 49 on the Billboard 200 and reached number 23 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.Solo Star had a mixed critical reception: William Ruhlmann of Allmusic called it a “state-of-the-art contemporary R&B album”, but deemed Knowles “lost somewhere in the mix”. As of mid-2008, the album had sold 112,000 copies domestically according to Nielsen Soundscan.
2004-present: Career break and Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams
After the release of her debut album, Knowles started acting in films, followed by a career break.[18] When she was married, her family moved to Idaho, and, while staying there, resumed writing songs including the singles “Get Me Bodied” and “Upgrade U” off her sister’s second solo album, B’Day. Knowles earned the R&B and Hip-Hop Song accolade for “Get Me Bodied” at the 2008 ASCAP Awards. She had also written songs for Destiny’s Child, and members Rowland and Michelle Williams. In 2004, while pregnant with son Daniel, she made a cameo appearance in Destiny’s Child’s music video for “Soldier”.
After the divorce, Knowles returned to Houston to began working on her second album. Knowles renewed her management, signing a record deal with Geffen and a publishing deal with EMI. Knowles finished working on her second studio album in 2008 and titled the project Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams. It includes production by Cee-Lo Green, Soulshock & Karlin and Mark Ronson as well as appearances by Lil Wayne and Bilal. A collection of 1960s- and 1970s-influenced songs, it is seen as a departure from her pop-oriented debut, with what Billboard magazine called “more of a modern twist on hip-hop and R&B flecked with tinges of blues and jazz”.The album was released on August 26, 2008 in the United States. By December 2008, the album had sold over 114,000 copies according to Nielsen Soundscan.The album was positively received by critics, some of whom considered it far better than her debut.The album’s lead single, “I Decided”, was released in April 2008, and reached the top of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play;Rolling Stone magazine labelled it her breakthrough single.In support of the album, Knowles began the Solange Presents Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams Tour in Britain in November 2008.
Solange announced, via her blog HadleyStreetJournal.com, that she will be releasing a series of mixtapes, to coincide with the album. The first mixtape, “I Can’t Get Clearance…”, includes the leaked track “Fuck the Industry (Signed Sincerely)”. On this record, Knowles expresses her views on the current state of the music industry. The lyrics to the song name check some major artists such as Mary J. Blige, Ashanti, Keyshia Cole, and Beyoncé, although she made a point of stating that it does not have “a negative light to any of.
In an interview with MTV, Knowles revealed that she is currently determining the type of sound for the follow up to Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams.
Other ventures
Aside from recording, Knowles ventured into film, modeling, and entrepreneurship. According to her father Mathew Knowles, her goal of merging music and film was part of the overall plan for her career.Knowles appeared as a nubile teenager in the 2004 comedy film Johnson Family Vacation, starring alongside American actors Cedric the Entertainer, Vanessa Williams and Bow Wow.[10] She provided a song for its soundtrack-”Freedom”, a collaboration with the Houston-based funk-jazz band Drop Trio. Although the reviews were generally negative, Knowles earned praise from Variety magazine: “Solange Knowles is nearly as dazzling as big sister Beyoncé and does little more than smile winningly in her first bigscreen outing.”In 2006, she starred as a cheerleading captain in the film Bring It On: All or Nothing, the third installment of the Bring it On series, alongside American actress and singer Hayden Panettiere. What little critical reaction the low-budget, direct-to-DVD movie got was negative, and Knowles was described as an “affordable young starlet”.Knowles uses her full name for her acting, rather than just the first name she uses when singing; for Bring It On: All or Nothing, she was billed as Solange Knowles-Smith,reflecting her married state at the time.
Knowles also appeared in several television series. In 2002, she lent her voice for the character Chanel, the cousin of the protagonist Penny Proud, in the episode “Behind Family Lines” to the animated television series The Proud Family.In 2004, she guest starred in the episode “The Catch” to the sitcom One on One.
Knowles and sister Beyoncé model for their families’ clothing line, House of Deréon, named after their grandmother, Agnéz Deréon. She also helped launch Deréon, a junior apparel collection and a sister line to House of Deréon.[40] Both sisters model for Deréon, and are featured in most of Deréon’s marketing campaigns. They were featured in a “Got Milk?” campaign ad, while still wearing House of Deréon. In 2008, Knowles was named as ambassador for Giorgio Armani’s younger diffusion line, Armani Jeans. Armani said Knowles epitomizes the style, which is a “vision of a young, independent, casual lifestyle with a strong and cool, fashion sensibility”.
Knowles has been promoting Baby Jamz, a hip hop-styled toy line for pre-schoolers.It was inspired by her son, Julez, who is fond of hip hop music.[23] She is the executive producer of the CD, composed of updated hip hop inspired nursery rhymes, which is featured in all of the toys.
Personal life
Knowles, at age 17, married football player Daniel Smith in February 2004. Knowles met Smith at a high school party through mutual friends. He was in high school at the time and Knowles was 13 and in middle school; they called themselves high school sweethearts.On October 18, 2004, Knowles gave birth to their son, Daniel Julez Smith, Jr. Knowles has partly expressed regret that she bore a child at an early age, but calls her son the greatest unplanned blessing. A song she wrote for her baby, “An Ode to Julez”, was included on Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams.
After Daniel Julez’ birth, the family moved to Moscow, Idaho, where Knowles’ husband continued studying in college.[26] In October 2007, Solange confirmed in an interview with Essence magazine that she and Smith had divorced. Both of them co-parent the child.After the divorce, Knowles and her child moved to Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, where they established their new home.
Artistry
Knowles cites as her influences Motown girl groups such as The Supremes and The Marvelettes, and Martha Reeves, lead singer of Martha and the Vandellas.She also listened to the music of English pop singer Dusty Springfield, and according to Knowles, her “greatest music influence” is her mother, Tina Knowles, who was a one-time member of the 1960s harmony group The Veltones.
Knowles says her first passion is writing songs. She has been doing this since she was nine years old, and has collaborated with a number of songwriters and producers.On her debut album, Knowles had no control over which kinds of music to produce, because “when you’re 14, everyone else is older and more seasoned and you trust their decisions”. Knowles was more concerned with pleasing her record label by submitting to their desires. Her musical influences were better expressed on Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams, when she considered herself mature and was able to write and produce songs as she wished, without worrying about the expectations of others. Knowles’ lyrics tackle relationships, world issues, and deceased friends, with her second album focusing on events in her life, such as marriage, divorce, and parenthood.
Aside from recording, Knowles occasionally paints as her hobby: “I think that painting, for me, is such an affirmative expression in that sometimes you don’t know what the outcome is gonna be and each stroke and each brush for me is an emotion and, in the end, it comes out as a piece which is the most amazing thing. … It definitely provides a different outlet.”
Public image
Knowles has always been compared by the media to her sister, Beyoncé, whom she considers one of her role models. She has expressed her opinion of the comparison in the lyrics to “God Given Name”: “I’m not her and never will be”- which was purposely set as the album’s opening track to show their differences. In her review for the album, Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone magazine referred to the lyrics a declaration of independence. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Knowles commented: “People think there should be this great rivalry between us, but there’s never been any competition. There’s a big age gap and we are two very different characters.”In another interview, Knowles said that she would not live by her sister’s level of stardom, stressing that she and Beyoncé are artistically different. Beyoncé was unwilling to bring her sister into the recording industry, reasoning that it “involves a lot of pressure”. Knowles countered by saying, “It’s good to have her advice, but we really have different goals”.
Discography
Main article: Solange Knowles discography
* Solo Star (2003)
* Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams (2008)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a 2009 fantasy-adventure film based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth film in the Harry Potter film series. It is directed by David Yates, the director of the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. David Heyman and David Barron are producing the film,[5] and Steve Kloves, screenwriter of the first four films, has returned as screenwriter for this film.[6] Filming began on 24 September 2007, and the film was originally planned for a UK and North American release on 21 November 2008,[6][7] but on 14 August 2008, it was announced that the release date for the film was to be delayed to 17 July 2009, a date later changed to 15 July 2009.[1][8] Unlike the previous film, the sixth film will not be simultaneously released in regular cinemas and IMAX 3-D, due to a Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen several week commitment.[9] The film will instead be released in IMAX 3D on 29 July, two weeks after its original release.[10] The film was also released into midnight showings on 14 July, the day before the film came out.
Plot
Further information: Plot of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
In December 2007, Warner Bros. released its official plot summary:
Emboldened by the return of Lord Voldemort, the Death Eaters are wreaking havoc in both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that new dangers may lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. He needs Harry to help him uncover a vital key to unlocking Voldemort’s defenses critical information known only to Hogwarts’ former Potions Professor, Horace Slughorn. With that in mind, Dumbledore manipulates his old colleague into returning to his previous post with promises of more money, a bigger office and the chance to teach the famous Harry Potter.
Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as adolescent hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry’s long friendship with Ginny Weasley is growing into something deeper, but standing in the way is Ginny’s boyfriend, Dean Thomas, not to mention her big brother Ron. But Ron’s got romantic entanglements of his own to worry about, with Lavender Brown lavishing her affections on him, leaving Hermione simmering with jealousy yet determined not to show her feelings. And then a box of love potion-laced chocolates ends up in the wrong hands and changes everything. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof with far more important matters on his mind. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.
Cast
Further information: List of Harry Potter cast members
* Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, who is now entering his sixth year at Hogwarts, with the wizarding world at war.[5]
* Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, one of Harry’s two best friends.[5] He develops a relationship with Lavender Brown.[12]
* Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, one of Harry’s two best friends.[5] Watson considered not returning for the sixth film,[13] but eventually decided that “the pluses outweighed the minuses” and could not bear to see anyone else play Hermione.[14]
* Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore.[6] The legendary wizard and headmaster of Hogwarts. The revelation of Dumbledore’s sexuality prompted Gambon to “camp up” around the set when off camera,[15] but his on-screen performance is expected to remain unchanged from the previous films.[16]
* Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn, the newly appointed Hogwarts Potions master. Broadbent described his costumes as “tweedy”, and his character as “comic”,[17] while Radcliffe noted that “[Slughorn's] tragedy will outweigh the comedy”.[18]
* Alan Rickman as Severus Snape,[6] the former Potions master, who finally achieves his goal of becoming Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.
* Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy,[6] a rival of Harry’s, whom Harry suspects of carrying out a task for Voldemort across the year. Son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy and nephew to Bellatrix Lestrange. Unknown actor Tony Coburn will play young Lucius Malfoy in a Hogwarts flashback.
* Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, one of Voldemort’s principal Death Eaters, older sister of Narcissa Malfoy, aunt to Draco, and cousin of Sirius Black, whom she murdered in the previous film.[6]
* Helen McCrory as Narcissa Malfoy, Draco’s mother and younger sister of Bellatrix. McCrory was originally cast as Bellatrix Lestrange in Order of the Phoenix, but had to drop out due to pregnancy.[19] Naomi Watts was previously reported as having accepted the role,[20] only for it to be denied by her agency.[21]
* Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid,[6] the Hogwarts gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Harry’s first friend from the magical world.
* Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall,[6] the Hogwarts Transfiguration teacher, deputy headmistress and head of Gryffindor. McGonagall is a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
* David Thewlis as Remus Lupin,[6] former Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Lupin is a werewolf and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
* Natalia Tena as Nymphadora Tonks,[6] a member of the Order of the Phoenix, who is in a relationship with Lupin in this film.
* Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew, former member of Harry’s father James’s group of friends, he betrayed Harry’s parents to Voldemort. Now one of Voldemort’s principal Death Eaters, despite being weak magically. He goes by the nickname “Wormtail”.[22]
* Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley,[6] Ron’s younger sister in her fifth year, for whom Harry develops romantic feelings.
* Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom,[6] a friend of Harry, Ron, and Herminone, who helps them in times of need.
* Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood,[6] a dreamy girl with odd ideas and a friend of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny.
* James and Oliver Phelps as Fred and George Weasley, Ron and Ginny’s elder brothers.
* Mark Williams and Julie Walters as Arthur and Molly Weasley respectively,[6][23] Ron, Fred, George and Ginny’s parents. They treat Harry like another son.
* Jessie Cave as Lavender Brown,[12] Ron’s new girlfriend. Watson described her as “perfect for the role,”[24] although Cave did not attend the open auditions.[25] An open casting call was held for the part on 1 July 2007. Over 7,000 girls turned out for the audition and read from a scene with Madam Pomfrey, Hermione and Ron.[26] Yates said he planned to test Grint with the top five choices for Lavender, reading certain lines and kissing, to see which pairing had the best chemistry.[27]
Hero Fiennes-Tiffin and Frank Dillane each play Tom Riddle, the child who becomes Lord Voldemort, at age eleven andkjggectively.[6] Tiffin is the 10-year-old nephew of Ralph Fiennes, who plays the adult Voldemort in the fourth and fifth films.[28] Christian Coulson, who played Riddle in Chamber of Secrets, expressed an interest in returning;[29] Yates responded that Coulson was too old, nearing 30, to be playing the role.[27] Jamie Campbell Bower, who appeared in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, previously noted that he had his “fingers crossed” he would be cast as a young Riddle.[30] Bower was, however, later cast as the teenage Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. An open casting call was held for the part in July 2007, with applicants reading from a scene involving Riddle trying to persuade Horace Slughorn to explain what Horcruxes are.[31]
Dave Legeno appears as Fenrir Greyback, the most savage werewolf ever to live and greatly feared in the wizarding world. Leader of the werewolves.[32] Ralph Ineson plays Amycus Carrow and Suzanne Toase plays Alecto Carrow,[33][34] while Lord Johnpaul Castrianni and Rod Hunt play Yaxley and Thorfinn Rowle respectively. Tom Moorcroft portrays Regulus Black.[35] Tony Coburn plays a young Lucius Malfoy.[36]
Both Clémence Poésy and Chris Rankin were interested in returning,[37][38] but in October 2007 Poésy noted that she will not be reprising her role of Fleur Delacour,[39] and Rankin has stated that he thinks Percy Weasley will be cut.[40] Miriam Margolyes, who has not appeared in her role as Pomona Sprout since Chamber of Secrets, will be in this film.[41] After Bill Nighy expressed an interest in appearing,[42] Yates confirmed that Nighy would be his first choice for the role of Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour, providing the character made it into the final screenplay.[43] Yates told Wizard that he was “struggling with [fitting Scrimgeour in the script] at the moment, and he’s in one moment and he’s out the next.”[43]
Early auditions took place in England in April 2007, though reports would not state for which role the audition was. One actor who auditioned for the role was Icelandic Jón Páll Eyjólfsson, who went to school with screenwriter Steve Kloves.[44] Official casting news was scarce even as filming began.[30] It was reported that Jack Davenport, Stephen Rea, Peter Rnic, Stuart Townsend, and Joseph Fiennes were each offered unspecified roles,[20][45] although representatives of Townsend and Fiennes denied the reports.[21] Warner Bros. announced in a press release on 16 November 2007 that casting for the film had been completed.[6][31]
Production
Development
Before David Yates was officially chosen to direct the film, many others had been offered the job[citation needed], and previous directors had expressed an interest in returning. Alfonso Cuarón, the director of the third film, stated he “would love to have the opportunity” to return.[46] Goblet of Fire director Mike Newell declined a spot to direct the fifth film, and was not approached for this one.[47] Terry Gilliam was Rowling’s personal choice to direct Philosopher’s Stone. However, when asked whether he would consider directing a later film, Gilliam said, “Warner Bros. had their chance the first time around, and they blew it.”[48]
From the fifth film, Yates has retained composer Nicholas Hooper, who, judging by the background music on the Official Harry Potter website, has included a reworking of John Williams’s Hedwig’s Theme, which has recurred in all scores including Patrick Doyle’s. Also maintained are costume designer Jany Temime, visual effects supervisor Tim Burke, creature and make-up effects designer Nick Dudman, and special effects supervisor John Richardson from the third film.[6] Since February 2007, Stuart Craig, the production designer of the first five films as well, has been designing sets, including the cave, and the astronomy tower, where the climax of the film takes place.[49] Academy Award nominated Bruno Delbonnel is the film’s cinematographer.[6] David Yates remarked Bruno’s work on the film as “The choice of angles, the extreme close-ups, the pacing of the scenes…It’s very layered, incredibly rich.”[50]
Yates and Heyman have noted that some of the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows may influence the script of the film.[51]
Sets
The film’s production designer is Academy Award winner Stuart Craig. Several new sets have been introduced in this film, including Tom Riddle’s Orphanage, Astronomy Tower and the Cave. In one of the sneak peeks for the film, Stuart Craig said that Tom Riddle’s Orphanage is based on buildings in Docklands, Liverpool and it is designed from Victorian-Georgian architecture. The exterior of the Orphanage uses Victorian glaze bricks, to give the set a very hard structure.[citation needed]
He noted that the film used several CGI sets, noticeably the interior of the Cave where Harry and Dumbledore both go for hunting Horcruxes. The exterior of the cave scene was filmed in Cliffs of Moher in the west of Ireland. The interior of the cave is made up of geometric crystal formations. Craig noted “Apart from the point at which Harry and Dumbledore first arrive and the island formation on which everything inside the cave happens, the set is entirely virtual, designed in the computer. We’d had our first totally virtual set on the last film, so we approached this one with a bit more confidence.”[52]
Filming
Hero Fiennes-Tiffin as Tom Riddle Jr.
Following a week of rehearsals, principal photography began on 24 September 2007 and ended on 17 May 2008.[7] Before filming commenced, there was belief that filming might move from the UK, where all of the previous five films have been shot. This is North Scotland reported that the filming would take place in New Zealand, due to the “more agreeable economy and climate” and lack of Scottish funding.[53] The Sunday Business Post in Ireland noted that the film’s producers and WB executives had been scouting there, specifically Leinster and Munster because they “believe they have now exhausted possible locations in Britain.” They are “particularly keen on Ireland, as the landscape is similar to Britain and will appear similar to the settings of the previous films.”[54] The crew also scouted around Cape Wrath in Scotland, for use in the cave scene.[55] Filming returned to Glen Coe and Glenfinnan, both which have appeared in the previous films, to preserve the continuity of the landscape.[56]
On the weekend of 6 October 2007, the crew shot scenes involving the Hogwarts Express in the misty and dewy environment of Fort William, Scotland.[56] A series of night scenes were filmed in the village of Lacock and the cloisters at Lacock Abbey for three nights starting 25 October 2007. Filming took place from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily, and residents of the street were asked to black out their windows with dark blinds.[57][58][59] On set reports indicated that the main scene filmed was Harry and Dumbledore’s visit to Slughorn’s house.[59] Further filming took place in Surbiton railway station in October 2007,[60] Gloucester Cathedral, where the first and second films were shot, in February 2008,[61] and at the Millennium Bridge in London in March 2008.[62]
Though Radcliffe, Gambon and Broadbent started shooting in late September 2007, some other cast members started much later: Grint did not begin until November 2007, Watson did not begin until December 2007, Rickman until January 2008, and Bonham Carter until February 2008.[63][64]
Visual effects
Tim Burke and Tim Alexander are visual effects supervisors for the film. Tim Alexander said completing inferi-attack scene took several months. He said, “It’s [inferius] certainly much bolder and scarier than we imagined that they’d ever go in a ‘Potter’ movie. Director David Yates was really cautious of not making this into a zombie movie, so we were constantly trying to figure out how not to make these dead people coming up look like zombies. A lot of it came down to their movement – they don’t move fast, but they don’t move really slow or groan and moan. We ended up going with a very realistic style.” He also noted that inferius are skinnier, waterlogged and grey.[65]
About Dumbledore’s ring of fire, he noted that the effect will look like someone sprayed propane and then lit it. He added, “We did a lot of research on molten volcanoes, which have a lot of heat going on but no actual flames, and collected a bunch of other references, including flares that burn underwater, and showed them to the Potter folks.” The visual effects team emulated these six fire parameters: heat ripples, smoke, buoyancy, viscosity, opacity, and brightness. Since the whole fire scene was very time consuming, computer graphics artist Chris Horvath spent eight months for finding a faster way to conjure flames.[66]
Differences from the book
There are a number of changes from the book in the film. Much of the book’s ending has been changed, with the climactic battle and Dumbledore’s funeral being removed. Heyman commented that the end battle was removed to “(avoid) repetition” with the forthcoming adaptation of Deathly Hallows. The funeral was removed as it was believed it did not fit with the rest of the film.[67] The collapse of a Muggle bridge mentioned briefly in the book serves as the film’s opening sequence.[68] Scenes of Diagon Alley being demolished by Death Eaters and an attack on the Burrow, Known as “The Burning of the Burrow” by Bellatrix Lestrange and werewolf Fenrir Greyback are added, as can be seen in the trailers. All but two of the memory scenes, including that of the Gaunts, have been cut. Only the flashbacks of Tom Riddle at the orphanage and Riddle asking Slughorn about Horcruxes, shown twice, remain.[68] Yates said they made the decision to compress the memories, but still “got some really cool ones”.[69] Characters who are cut include the Dursleys, Kreacher, Dobby, Bill and Fleur, Rufus Scrimgeour, Cornelius Fudge and the Muggle Prime Minister. However, Quidditch,[70] being excluded from the previous film, returns. Bellatrix Lestrange will also participate in the battle of the astronomy tower, whereas she did not in the book, as seen in a picture with the Carrows and Greyback, celebrating Dumbledore’s death. This scene also shows Harry hiding on a floor underneath Dumbledore and his adversaries as he is acting on Dumbledore’s wishes to stay put.
In the book, on the Hogwarts Express, after he is paralysed and hidden under his Invisibility Cloak by Draco Malfoy, Harry is rescued by Nymphadora Tonks. In the film, Luna Lovegood saves him instead, using her Spectrespecs to find him.
Futhermore this film includes a few Ginny/Harry scenes that were not in the novel. Also Cho Chang is cut out of the film entirely. In the film the blossoming love between Harry and his best friend’s sister Ginny is heavily focused on, more so than in the books or previous films.[71]
Marketing
Warner Bros. has spent an additional estimated $155 million to market and distribute the film.[4] The special edition two-disc DVD for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix contained two sneak peeks of the film,[23][72] while the US edition included an additional clip.[73] A 15-second teaser for the film was shown alongside the IMAX release of The Dark Knight.[74] The first full-length domestic teaser trailer was released on 29 July on AOL’s Moviefone website.[75] An international teaser was released on 26 October and the U.S. theatrical trailer was released on 14 November. Another trailer was screened on the Japanese TV station Fuji TV during a screening of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on 18 January 2009.[76][77] Scenes from the film were aired during ABC Family’s three day Harry Potter movie marathon, which aired from 5-7 December 2008.[78] On 5 February 2009, the first three promotional teaser posters were released, featuring Dumbledore and Harry.[79] On 5 March and 16 April 2009, new trailers were released by Warner Bros.[80]
Warner Bros and MSN ran an online Order of the Phoenix quiz, with the prize being a walk-on part in the film.[81] As with the previous films, EA Games will produce a video game based on the film.[82] On 10 March 2009, it was announced that there would be a video game soundtrack, which was released on 17 March 2009.[83] On 27 March six character posters were released: Harry, Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione, Draco, and Professor Snape.[79] An English version of the international trailer since a Japanese international trailer was released online 10 April.[84] On 8 May, CW Channel aired 30-second TV Spot, which focused on the romantic side of the movie.[85] On 20 May, first clip from the film was released through The Ellen DeGeneres Show’s official website, showing love-struck Ron.[86] Another clip of the film, showing Dumbledore visiting Tom Riddle’s Orphanage was released on 31 May 2009 at MTV Awards.[87] Also a short clip featuring the Weasley twins’ shop Weasleys’Wizard Wheezes was released on 22 June.[citation needed]
Release
The film was released in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Canada, United States, Australia, Taiwan, New Zealand and Brazil on 15 July 2009[1][88]. It was originally set to be released on 21 November 2008 (UK, US, CAN, IRE) and 11 December 2008 (AUS, NZ),[8] but was pushed back by eight and seven months to 17 July, despite being completed. Warner Bros. executive Alan Horn noted that the move went ahead “to guarantee the studio a major summer blockbuster in 2009,” with other films being delayed due to the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike.[89] The box-office success of summer WB films Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and The Dark Knight also motivated the decision.[90] An unnamed “rival” studio executive told Entertainment Weekly that the move was to “stop next year’s profits from looking seriously underwhelming after the phenomenal success of The Dark Knight,” as “they don’t need the money this year anymore.”[91] Dan Fellman, WB head of distribution, said that the studio had considered the date change for three to four weeks prior to the announcement, but gave it serious consideration a week before they came to their final decision.[92]
The date change was met with a heavily negative reaction by Harry Potter fans, as the Los Angeles Times noted: “Petitions were circulating, rumors were flying and angry screeds were being posted on Internet sites within minutes of the Thursday announcement.”[90] The move was mocked by Entertainment Weekly who had Half-Blood Prince on the cover on their “Fall Preview Issue”. Despite each being owned by Time Warner Inc., EW were unaware of the change until it was publicly announced by WB and noted that readers would now be in possession of a “Dewey Defeats Truman collectible”.[91] Several days after the announcement, Horn released a statement in response to the “large amount of disappointment” expressed by fans of the series.[93] Following the date change, Half-Blood Prince’s release slot was taken by Summit Entertainment’s Twilight.[94]
Three months before its release in July, the date was again changed by 2 days from 17 July to 15 July in the United States and Canada.[95] It was later confirmed the same date change applied to the UK as well. The Australia and New Zealand release dates which were then 16 July, were also changed to 15 July. The premiere dates for the movie are 6 July in Japan, 7 July in the UK (Leicester Square, London) and 8 July in the US. The Belgium premiere is on 11 July.[96]
The sixth film didn’t simultaneously released in regular cinemas and IMAX 3D, due to a conflicting agreement in which Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will be given a four week window by itself in IMAX. Therefore the IMAX 3D version of the film will be released on 29 July 2009. However, is releasing in India, Mexico and Australia in both 2-D and 3-D simultaneously, on 15 July.[97] The film’s opening sequence featuring the destruction of the Millennium Bridge will be in 3D.[98] The film had been chosen to be screened at the 2008 Royal Film Performance on 17 November,[99] but was not shown. Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund chief executive Peter Hore noted he was “very disappointed” with Warner Bros’ decision.[89]
Advanced ticket sales on fandago.com for Half-Blood Prince surpassed advanced ticket sales for Transformers 2 at the same point in sale cycles. It is also MovieTickets.com’s top 25 advance sellers of all time, promising a very successful cinematic run.[100]
The film is 153 minutes (2 hours 33 minutes and 19 seconds) long,[101] making this movie the third longest of the series so far, coming behind Chamber of Secrets (161 minutes) and Goblet of Fire (157 minutes). The movie was also released into midnight showings 14 July.
Soundtrack
Main article: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (soundtrack)
The soundtrack based on the film was released on 14 July 2009. The primary composer is Nicholas Hooper who previously scored the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix soundtrack.[102]
Reception
As of 15 July 2009, the film holds a 95% “Certified Fresh” rating on the film review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 123 reviews,[103] and 96% of those referred by the website as “Top Critics” have given it positive reviews.[104] Also, the movie holds a 85/100 normalized rating at metacritic.net, which represents Universal Acclaim.[105]It stands as the most critically acclaimed Harry Potter film. Nearly all of the early reviews for Half-Blood Prince have been very positive. Critics such as BBC News’s Tim Masters have praised the film’s cinematography and special effects, as well as the film’s darker plotline.[106]
The first review of the film came three weeks before the official release. Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com ranked the film with The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and called the film a “possible Oscar contender”. He highly praised the performance of Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman and Daniel Radcliffe. He commented, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a tour-de-force that combines style and substance, special effects and heart and most importantly great performances from all of the actors young and not-so-young”.[107] Another early review came from the UK tabloid The Sun, whose anonymous reviewer called the film “masterful” and “very emotional”. The reviewer praised David Yates’ directing and called Jim Broadbent’s portrayal of Horace Slughorn “perfect”.[108] Devin Faraci of Chud.com called the film not only the best Harry Potter film yet, but also one of the best films of the year.[109]
Andrew Pulver of The Guardian also wrote a positive review, and gave the movie 3 out of 5 stars rating.[110] Todd McCarthy of the trade magazine Variety said that the film is “dazzlingly well made” and “less fanciful than the previous entries”. He praised Alan Rickman’s performance and he described Helena Bonham Carter as “mesmerizing” and Jim Broadbent as “grand eccentric old professor”.[111] The Hollywood Reporter’s Kirk Honeycutt noted that the film’s first half is “jerky and explosive”, but in the second half, the film finds better footing. He adds, “Composer Nicholas Hooper, cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel and designer Stuart Craig deliver a singularly muscular and vigorous chapter”.[112] Screen Daily called the film “[s]tunningly shot by Bruno Delbonnel in metallic hues leavened by buttery tones and the thumping beats of Nicholas Hooper’s score bear little resemblance to the original and the overall effect is much less twee, much more grown-up”.[113]
Chris Tilly of IGN UK commented on the length of the movie, saying “while on occasion it drags, the 153 run-time never feels too long, thanks in no small part to the astonishing visuals and (largely) marvellous performances,” and goes on to say, “This is by far the best-looking of the Potter films thus far,” commending the “beautiful” Quidditch match and the “stunning” finale.[114] However, Dave Golder of SFX Magazine found some aspects of the film to be a disappointment, largely due to the large amount of opportunities the director had sacrificed to devote “huge swathes of the film to subplots of Harry and his chums’ teenage romances,” but nevertheless found the film to be a large enjoyment, praising the performances of Jim Broadbent and Alan Rickman.[115]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3/4 stars, saying he “admired” the film, stating that it “opens and closes well, and has wondrous art design and cinematography as always, only more so.”
One band isn’t enough for Jack White, or even two. The co-founder of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs is the driving force behind yet another project, dubbed Dead Weather. Whereas he sings and plays guitar in his two other groups, White largely confines himself to drumming in Dead Weather, with Kills’ singer Alison Mosshart handling most of the lead vocals and Dean Fertita (of Queens of the Stone Age) on guitar. But the project has White’s distinctive fingerprints all over it. His production and songwriting once again embrace a raw, fuss-free vibe, with robust guitar riffs and drums that force the action. “Horehound” (Third Man Records/Warner Brothers) has a you-are-there immediacy, with dramatic swings in volume and density and touches of sci-fi keyboard atmosphere. Obsession permeates lyrics that could serve as a B-movie script or the outline for a pulp novel: “I like to grab you by the hair/And sell you off to the devil.” The music grinds and lurches, as if writhing through a fever dream or crawling through glass. It’s tense and claustrophobic, with Mosshart sounding appropriately misbegotten, while Fertita’s guitar jabs in and out. The low end positively vibrates at times, the rock equivalent of a gangsta-rap rumble. All that’s lacking are truly great songs. Beneath the noir garage-rock and prickly attitude, the melodies are just ho-hum.
Chris Daughtry became the most successful fourth-place finisher in “American Idol” history in 2006 when his debut album sold 4 million copies. Tucking “Idol” ballad bombast inside a rock-band chassis turned the North Carolina singer-guitarist into a shaven-headed star, the first rocker to emerge from Simon Cowell’s diva-maker franchise. On the follow-up album (on RCA), Daughtry co-writes with a host of mainstream rock hitmakers, including members of Lifehouse, Three Days Grace and Nickelback. First-album producer Howard Benson returns to buff every hook to stadium-rock proportion and jacks up every arrangement until the arrangements sound uniformly shrill, devoid of dynamics or drama. The femmes fatales in these songs leave the narrators howling, usually in gang-style choruses that start to blend together after a few listens. Maybe that’s because emotional power plays combined with sanitized rock riffs makes for a hit-single formula that’s been around since the dawn of REO Speedwagon. “Leave This Town” is what happens when a formula turns into a cliché.
Andrew Stephen “Andy” Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American professional tennis player, and a former World No. 1. His best surfaces are hard court and grass.
He is ranked 6th in the world, and the top-ranked American player, as of March 23, 2009. He became a Grand Slam singles champion when he won the title at the 2003 U.S. Open. Roddick has reached four other Grand Slam finals (Wimbledon three times, and the U.S. Open), losing to Roger Federer each of the first three times with their 2009 Wimbledon finals matchup still to be decided. He and Federer are the only players to have finished the season in the ATP top 10 each of the past seven years. Roddick is known for his powerful serves, and holds the fastest serve recorded in professional tennis, clocked at 155 mph (249.5 km/h).
Roddick was on the United States Davis Cup team which won the 2007 Davis Cup. Roddick defeated Dmitry Tursunov of the Russian Davis Cup team, the defending champions, in the final.
Personal life
Roddick was born in Omaha, Nebraska[3] to Jerry and Blanche Roddick. Roddick’s father was a businessman and his mother was a school teacher. She now directs the Andy Roddick Foundation. Roddick has two older brothers, Lawrence and John (All-American tennis player at University of Georgia (1996-98) and head tennis coach at the University of Oklahoma), who were both promising tennis players at a young age.
Roddick lived in Austin, Texas, from age 4 until he was 11, then moved to Boca Raton, Florida in the interest of his brother John’s tennis career,[4] where he lived, first attending Boca Prep International School which Mardy Fish and later Jesse Levine also attended,[1] until graduating from Highlands Christian Academy in 2000.[5] Roddick played varsity basketball in high school alongside Davis Cup teammate Mardy Fish, who trained and lived with Roddick in 1999. During that time period, he sometimes trained with Venus and Serena Williams; he later moved back to Austin.
Roddick began dating singer Mandy Moore in 2002. Moore, after reading a magazine article about him, thought he was “really cute”, so she sent her mother, who was attending a tournament in Toronto, to invite him to her set on a movie she was shooting nearby, How to Deal. Roddick accepted and they began dating.Roddick ended the relationship in March 2004.
While flipping through the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Roddick spotted Brooklyn Decker, a fashion model. He had his agent contact her. The two dated since at least the 2007 Davis Cup. On March 31, 2008, Roddick announced on his website that he and Brooklyn had become engaged and they were then married in Austin on April 17, 2009.[9]
Career
Breakthrough
Roddick seriously considered quitting competitive tennis at the age of 17, when he had a losing streak in the juniors. His coach, Tarik Benhabiles, talked him into giving tennis four more months of undivided attention.Roddick finished as the # 6 junior in the U.S. in 1999-2000, and as the # 1 junior in the world in 2000. He won six world junior singles and seven doubles titles, and won the US Open and Australian Open junior singles titles in 2000.In March in Miami, in the first round Roddick had his first major victory as he beat world # 41 Fernando Vicente of Spain, 6-4, 6-0. In August in Washington, DC, he beat world # 30 Fabrice Santoro of France, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Roddick played the Banana Bowl in the city of São Paulo and won, beating Joachim Johansson in the final match. Roddick also won the Australian Junior Open, defeating Mario Ancic in the final. In 2001, Roddick defeated Michael Chang in 5 sets in the second round of the French Open. During Wimbledon, he further showed potential by taking a set from eventual winner Goran Ivanišević. He also defeated 7-time Wimbledon champion, world # 4, and fellow American Pete Sampras, at the age of 19, at the Miami Masters, 7-6 (2), 6-3 in March, and world # 1 Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2 in August.
Roddick’s breakthrough year was in 2003, in which he defeated Younes El Aynaoui in the quarterfinals of 2003 Australian Open. Roddick and the Moroccan battled for five hours, with the fifth set (21-19 in favor of Roddick) being the longest fifth set in a Grand Slam tournament during the open era, at 2 hours 23 minutes. (This was surpassed in 2007 during a Wimbledon men’s doubles second round match, when Brazilians Marcelo Melo and André Sá beat Paul Hanley of Australia and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe in a 3 hour 5 minute set, winning it 28-26.) Despite a lackluster French Open, Roddick enjoyed success in the United Kingdom by winning Queen’s Club (beating world # 2 Agassi 6-1, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6) along the way) and reaching the Wimbledon semifinals, where he lost to eventual champion Federer in straight sets. He avenged that loss in August, beating world # 3 Federer in Montreal, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3).
World No. 1
Roddick’s hardcourt record in 2003 included his first Masters Series titles – coming at Canada and Cincinnati – and his first Grand Slam title. At the U.S. Open, Roddick rallied from two sets down and a match point against him in the semifinals to beat David Nalbandian 6-7 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-1, 6-3. He then defeated world # 3 Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3. At the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston he defeated world # 7 Carlos Moya of Spain, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, and world # 4 Guillermo Coria of Argentina, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3, before losing to Federer in the semifinals. By the end of the year, at age 21, he was ranked # 1, the first American to finish a year at # 1 since Andre Agassi in 1999. He also became the youngest American to hold this rank since computer rankings were started in 1973.
Roddick’s reign at #1 ended the following February, when Roger Federer ascended to the top position after winning his first Australian Open. In April Roddick again beat world # 6 Moya, this time 5-7, 6-2, 7-5. In June, Roddick advanced to his first Wimbledon final, and after taking the first set from defending champion Federer, lost in four sets. Roddick was knocked out during the 2004 U.S. Open in a five-set quarterfinal against another big server, Joachim Johansson. Later in September in Bangkok he beat world # 9 Marat Safin of Russia, 7-6 (1), 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2). At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Roddick lost to Chilean Fernando González, the eventual bronze medal winner, in the third round. In November he beat world # 7 Tim Henman of Great Britain 7-5, 7-6 (6), world # 4 Safin, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (4), and world # 6 Coria 7-6 (4), 6-3. Later that year, Roddick teamed up with Mardy Fish and Bob and Mike Bryan on the U.S. Davis Cup team that lost to Spain in the final in Seville. Roddick lost his singles match against Rafael Nadal, who would in the following year win the French Open. Towards the end of 2004, Roddick fired his coach of 18 months, Brad Gilbert, and hired assistant Davis Cup coach Dean Goldfine. Roddick finished 2004 ranked as the world # 2, the U.S.’s # 1, and the player with the most aces (1,017). In 2004 Roddick saved fellow tennis player Sjeng Schalken and other guests (including close friends Ben Campezi and Dean Monroe) from a hotel fire.
Roddick’s first 2005 tournament victory was the SAP Open in San Jose, California, where he became the first to win the event in consecutive years since Mark Philippoussis in 1999 and 2000. The top-seeded Roddick defeated Cyril Saulnier 6-0, 6-4 in 50 minutes, the event’s first championship shutout set since Arthur Ashe beat Guillermo Vilas in 1975. In March he defeated World No. 7 Carlos Moya 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-1. In April, Roddick won the U.S. Men’s Claycourt Championships, reclaiming the title he won in 2001 and 2002. (He lost in 2003 to Agassi, and in 2004 to Tommy Haas.) In May, Roddick had match point against Spain’s Fernando Verdasco. Verdasco was attempting to save the match point on his second serve, when the linesman erroneously called the serve out. If this call had held, Roddick would have won the match. Roddick motioned to the umpire, pointing to the clear ball mark on the clay indicating the ball was in, and the call was consequently changed. Verdasco went on to win the match. At the French Open, Roddick lost to the unseeded Argentine José Acasuso in the second round, and at Wimbledon, Roddick lost to Federer in the final for the second consecutive year. In August, he defeated World No. 3 Lleyton Hewitt, 6-4, 7-6 (4) at the Masters Series tournament in Cincinnati. At the US Open, Roddick was defeated by World No. 70 Gilles Müller in the first round. Roddick’s last US Open first round loss had been in 2000. At the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, Roddick defeated Gaël Monfils to wrap up a tournament without losing a set or getting his serve broken.
New coach
Roddick’s first ATP event of the year was the Australian Open. There he reached the fourth round before being upset by unseeded and eventual finalist, Marcos Baghdatis. At the French Open Roddick retired in the first round, after sustaining a foot injury during the match. Two weeks later at Wimbledon, Roddick was upset in the third round by British hopeful Andy Murray. This loss caused Roddick to fall below the top 10 for the first time since 2002. After Wimbledon, Roddick began working with a new coach, tennis legend Jimmy Connors. In his first event with his new coach, Roddick reached the final of Indianapolis before losing to good friend, and fellow American, James Blake. His resurgence finally came at the Cincinnati Masters, where he won the event by defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final, making this the first masters event he won since 2004. At the U.S. Open, Roddick easily won his first two matches against Florent Serra and Kristian Pless. He then played a thriller five-set match against Fernando Verdasco, winning 6-2 in the final set. Next he beat Benjamin Becker, who was coming off a huge win against recently retired Andre Agassi. In the quarterfinals, Roddick beat Lleyton Hewitt, avenging his loss in 2001, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. Now in the semifinals for the first time since he won in 2003, Roddick played Mikhail Youzhny, and beat him 6-7, 6-0, 7-6, 6-3. In the finals of a Grand Slam for the first time since Wimbledon a year prior, Roddick was to play world # 1 Federer. He lost however, 2-6, 6-4, 5-7, 1-6. He then qualified for the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup, where he defeated world # 4 Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-4, 6-7 (9), 6-1, but lost in the round robin to world # 1 Federer 6-4, 6-7 (8), 4-6 in a tough three-set battle.
Roddick at the Legg Mason tennis tournament Washington, DC, August 2007.
Roddick entered the 2007 Australian Open as the sixth seed. In his first round match, he lost a marathon first-set tiebreak 20-18, but eventually won the match in four sets against wild card Jo-Wilfried Tsonga from France. Roddick defeated 26th-seeded Marat Safin in the third round, and 9th seeded Mario Ančić in a five-set fourth round match. Roddick won his quarterfinal match against fellow American Mardy Fish 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. His run ended in the semifinals by world # 1 Federer, who defeated him in straight sets 6-4, 6-0, 6-2, making his head-to-head record against Federer 1-13. In first round Davis Cup action, Roddick helped the U.S. defeat the Czech Republic, winning his singles matches against Ivo Minář and Tomáš Berdych. Roddick reached at least the semifinals of his next two tournaments. He bowed out to Andy Murray in the semifinals of the SAP Open in San Jose, California, a reprise of 2006. Roddick then defeated Murray in the semifinals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee, before losing in the final to defending champion Tommy Haas 6-3, 6-2. Reaching the final, however, enabled Roddick to overtake Nikolay Davydenko for the world # 3 position, his first week inside the top three since March 6, 2006. At the first ATP Masters Series tournament of the year, after beating world # 8 Ljubicic 6-4, 6-7 (9), 6-1, Roddick reached the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, lost to world # 2 Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-3.
Series of injuries
Roddick then played the Miami Masters, where he retired from his quarterfinal match against Andy Murray due to a left hamstring injury. Roddick then helped the U.S. defeat Spain and advance to the Davis Cup semifinals, winning his lone singles match against Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (5), 6-1, 6-4. However, Roddick re-aggravated his hamstring injury during the Davis Cup tie, and was subsequently forced to pull out of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas. Roddick also announced that he would withdraw from the Monte Carlo Masters, citing the injury. His next tournament was at the Internazionali d’Italia. After a first round bye, he won his first match against Gastón Gaudio, where he saved all three break points and fired nine aces. However, he was unable to stop Juan Ignacio Chela in the third round, losing 6-0, 6-4. Roddick then withdrew from the Masters Series Hamburg tournament because, according to his website, he needed time to physically prepare himself for the upcoming French Open. Roddick was seeded third at the French Open, but was eliminated in the first round by Russian Igor Andreev in four sets 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 4-6. Roddick was victorious at the Stella Artois Championships for the fourth time when he defeated Nicolas Mahut in the final 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2). At Wimbledon, Roddick was seeded third and considered one of the pre-tournament favorites behind Federer and Nadal. He reached the quarterfinals after wins against Justin Gimelstob of the U.S., Danai Udomchoke of Thailand, Fernando Verdasco of Spain, and Paul-Henri Mathieu of France. In the quarterfinals, Roddick lost in five close sets to Richard Gasquet of France 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3), 8-6.
During the summer hardcourt season, Roddick played four tournaments in four weeks. Roddick made it to the semifinals of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships, where he was upset by Frank Dancevic of Canada 6-4, 7-6 (1). The next week, however, Roddick claimed his second ATP title of the year by winning the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C. for the third time, when he beat American newcomer John Isner 6-4, 7-6 (4). He then lost in the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal to Novak Đoković, and in the third round of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio to David Ferrer of Spain. At the U.S. Open, Roddick defeated Gimelstob in the first round 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-3. He won his next three matches, one in straight sets and the other two when his opponent retired. In the quarterfinals, Roddick once again lost to Federer 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-2, bringing his head-to-head record with Federer 1-14. There were no breaks of serve and only one break point total in the first two sets, that being on Federer’s serve. Two weeks later, Roddick anchored the U.S. Davis Cup team during its 4-1 semifinal defeat of Sweden. Roddick won both his singles matches, opening the tie with a defeat of Joachim Johansson 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3, and clinching it with a 6-2, 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory over Jonas Björkman. This was the ninth time in nine tries that Roddick has clinched a tie for the American team.[citation needed]
Roddick’s then set his sights on the Madrid Masters, but pulled out, citing a knee injury. At his next tournament two weeks later in Lyon, France, Roddick lost in the first round to frenchman Fabrice Santoro 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-4. Roddick then withdrew from the Paris Masters, incurring a $22,600 fine for not fulfilling his media obligations at the tournament.[14] At the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, Roddick defeated world # 4 Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in his first round-robin match, and then defeated world # 7 Fernando González in his next match to become the first player to qualify for the semifinals of the tournament. In his third and final round-robin match, Roddick lost once again to Federer, 6-4, 6-2 for the 15th time in 16 career matches. In the semifinals, Roddick lost 6-1, 6-3 to # 6 seed David Ferrer, who had won all three of his round-robin matches. This was Roddick’s third semifinal finish out of the last five years at the Tennis Masters Cup (he reached the semifinals in 2003 and 2004, withdrew in 2005, and failed to advance to the semifinals in 2006 after a 1-2 round-robin record). Roddick finished the year by helping the U.S. defeat Russia and win the 2007 Davis Cup, its 32nd Davis Cup victory but first since 1995. Roddick won his rubber against Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, before James Blake and Bob and Mike Bryan completed the victory. Having secured the tie with an unassailable 3-0 lead, Roddick decided to sit out his second singles match of the tie.
Roddick started 2008 strongly, defeating Ljubičić 6-3, 6-0, and Safin 6-3, 6-3 to reach AAMI Kooyong Classic final for four consecutive seasons. In the final, he defeated Baghdatis 7-5, 6-3 to win the tournament for the third consecutive year. Roddick was seeded sixth in the 2008 Australian Open. In the first round, he defeated Lukáš Dlouhý of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. In the second round, he defeated German Michael Berrer 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. He then lost to the # 29 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in the third round in a 5-set match 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (9), 7-6 (3), 6-8. Despite losing, Roddick served a career-high of 42 aces in a match. Roddick won his 24th career title and his 3rd title at the SAP Open in San Jose, California. He defeated the Czech Radek Štěpánek in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5. Roddick’s next tournament was the Dubai Tennis Championships. He made it to the semi-finals by defeating world # 2 Rafael Nadal of Spain 7-6 (5), 6-2, his first victory over Nadal since the second round of the 2004 US Open. The win also marked Roddick’s first victory over a player ranked in the top two since June 2003. He progressed through to the finals by defeating world # 3 and 2008 Australian Open Singles Champion Novak Djokovic 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the semi-final. By making it to the final, he became the first American to reach the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships final in the tournament’s 16-year history. In the final he defeated Feliciano López 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-2, to win his 25th career title.
Split with coach
Following Roddick’s quarterfinal match in Dubai, he announced that he had split with his coach of two years, Jimmy Connors. Connors had resigned a week earlier, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.[15] Roddick would continue to be coached by his brother, John Roddick. He then fell to former world # 2 Tommy Haas at the Indian Wells Masters in the 2nd round, 6-4, 6-4. At the 2008 Miami Masters, Roddick advanced to the semifinals after defeating world # 1 Federer 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 an hour after proposing to Brooklyn Decker, bringing his head-to-head record against Federer to 2-15. Roddick improved to 3-0 against top-3 players in 2008. Roddick lost in the semifinals to Nikolay Davydenko 6-7 (5), 2-6. Roddick’s next tournament was the Masters tournament in Rome. There he equaled his best result by reaching the semifinals, where he retired against Stanislas Wawrinka in the pair’s first encounter, due to a back injury.
Roddick was forced to pull out of the 2008 French Open due to a shoulder injury. After a visit to a doctor in New York it was determined this was nothing more than an inflammation of the rotator cuff. His first tournament after the shoulder injury was the Artois Championship, his annual Wimbledon preparation, where he was the defending champion after winning the title last year, one of four wins at the tournament. In the tournament, Roddick defeated Mardy Fish and Andy Murray before losing to eventual champion Nadal in the semifinals. In the 2008 Wimbledon, Roddick suffered a 2nd round defeat to Serbia’s Janko Tipsarević 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (4). This was his earliest exit at Wimbledon. Roddick was beaten at the Toronto Masters in the third round by Marin Čilić, 4-6, 6-4, 4-6. He was then forced to pull out of the Cincinnati Masters following a neck injury, which he said may have been caused by a poor sleeping posture. He stated in an interview that the neck injury had nothing to do with his shoulder injury. Roddick did not participate in the 2008 Summer Olympics, with his reason being to concentrate on the 2008 US Open.[16] In order to prepare for the US Open, Roddick then played in the smaller hard court tournaments in the US Open Series, including those at Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. At the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles, Roddick lost to Juan Martín del Potro in the final, 1-6, 6-7 (2).
At the 2008 US Open, Roddick defeated Fabrice Santoro in the first round 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. Roddick then won his next 3 matches against Ernests Gulbis, Andreas Seppi, and Fernando González. In the quarterfinals, Roddick lost to the World No. 3 and reigning Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic 2-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5) bringing his head-to-head record to 1-2.
Success in Asia
Roddick captured his 26th ATP title in Beijing at the China Open on September 28, 2008. He defeated Dudi Sela of Israel, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3. The victory was part of Roddick’s strong showing in Asia, as he reached the semifinal round of the AIG Japan Open where he lost to eventual champion Tomáš Berdych after squandering a 5-3 lead in the third and deciding set. In the third round of the Madrid Masters he lost to Frenchman Gaël Monfils in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 3-6. Two weeks later, Roddick reached the quarterfinals of Paris Masters by defeating Frenchman Gilles Simon, 6-3, 7-5, before losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Due to his performance in the tournament, Roddick automatically qualified for the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup. At the Masters Cup in Shanghai, he played Andy Murray in his first round robin match and lost 4-6, 6-1, 1-6. He was then scheduled to play Federer, but retired due to an ankle injury and was replaced by Štěpánek.
Bouncing Back
He hired Larry Stefanki as his new coach, and started working with him on December 1. Stefanki had previously trained John McEnroe, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Fernando González, and Tim Henman. Under his guidance both Marcelo Rios and Kafelnikov became world number one, and Fernando Gonzalez reached the final of the Australian Open.
After losing the exhibition championship Capitala World Tennis in Abu Dhabi, Roddick began his 2009 season by playing at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. He defeated Ivan Navarro, Arnaud Clement, and Victor Hanescu in the early rounds. In the semifinals he beat Gaël Monfils in a closely fought match, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, to set up a final with Andy Murray, which he lost 6-4, 6-2. At the first round of the 2009 Australian Open, Roddick beat Bjorn Rehnquist, before Roddick battled from a set down to defeat Xavier Malisse 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (1), 6-2 in the second. After following this up with victories over Fabrice Santoro and 21-seed Tommy Robredo, Roddick played the defending champion and world # 3 Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. Djokovic retired in the fourth set, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2, 2-1, allowing Roddick to reach the fourth Australian Open semifinal of his career and brings his head-to-head record to 2-2 against Djokovic. Roddick was defeated in the semifinals by eventual runner-up Federer, 6-2, 7-5, 7-5, bringing their head-to-head series to 2-16.
In the SAP Open, Roddick beat qualifier Michael Ryderstedt 6-0, 7-6 (3) in 62 minutes. He defeated his next opponent, Ernests Gulbis, 6-3, 7-6 (3). Roddick saved four break points on serve in the second set, and converted on his first of three match points in the tie-break to secure the win in one hour and 20 minutes. He then snapped a three-match losing streak against Tommy Haas in his quarterfinal match, securing the 7-5, 6-4. Roddick, whose last win against Haas had come in the 2005 San Jose semifinals, now has a 4-7 head-to-head record against the former World # 2 tennis player. Roddick lost in the semifinals to Radek Stepanek, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 4-6. It was the first time in five matches between the two players that Roddick had lost. In the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, Roddick beat Steve Darcis of Belgium 7-6 (1), 6-2 in the first round, and quickly defeated Robby Ginepri 6-2, 6-3 in the second. He defeated Sam Querrey 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the semifinals. There Roddick defeated Australian Lleyton Hewitt 2-6, 7-6 , 6-4, to reach the final. He took his first title of the year by beating Stepanek in the championship match, 7-5, 7-5. He had to recover from being up a break and losing serve in the first set, but broke serve to take the opener. The two remained on serve throughout the second set until Roddick broke to take the match.
Roddick chose not to defend his Dubai title, with prize money of over $2 million, to protest the UAE’s refusal to grant Israeli Shahar Pe’er a visa for the WTA event. “I really didn’t agree with what went on over there,” Roddick said.[17][18]
Roddick entered the 2009 BNP Paribas Open as the number 7 seed. He received a bye in the first round and beat Daniel Koellerer 6-1, 7-6 (3) in the second. In the third round, he beat veteran Nicolas Kiefer 6-4, 7-6 (4). He defeated David Ferrer in the fourth round 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3 to secure his place in the quarterfinals where he met defending champion Novak Djokovic whom he’d beaten earlier in the year and against whom he held a 2-2 win/loss record. Roddick prevailed in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. His run was ended by World # 1 Rafael Nadal, 4-6, 6-7 (4). However, he managed to win the doubles title partnering Mardy Fish, defeating Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram 3-6, 6-1, 14-12 in the final. It was his fourth doubles title overall, and his second partnering Fish.
At the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Roddick was given a first round bye and defeated Diego Junqueira 6-1, 6-1 in the second. In the third round he defeated the number 25 seed Dmitry Tursunov 7-6 (9), 6-2. He beat Frenchman and number 9 seed Gaël Monfils 7-6 (2), 6-2 to secure a place in the quarterfinals and a meeting with Roger Federer, whom he had beaten in the same round in 2008. This year, however, he was beaten after fighting off three break points in the second set; 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, bringing their head-to-head record to 2-17.
As of April 11, Roddick had the second-best winning percentage among Americans on clay; .663 to .714 of Wayne Odesnik.
Roddick returned to action at the ATP Masters Series in Madrid. In his first match at Madrid, Roddick overcame 2 match points in the second set tiebreaker to defeat Tommy Haas 1-6, 7-6(9), 6-4. In the third-round , Roddick was scheduled to face Nikolay Davydenko, but due to a leg injury, Davydenko withdrew, thereby sending Roddick to the quarter-finals via a walk over. In quarter-finals, Roddick lost to Roger Federer 5-7, 7-6(5), 1-6, bringing their head-to-head series to 2-18.
Roddick defeated his first opponent at the 2009 French Open, wild-card Romain Jouan in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. After that he defeated Ivo Minar in the second round, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 and moved into the 3rd round. He went on to beat his previous record in 2001, shutting out Marc Gicquel 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. This was the best result that Roddick had ever had at Roland Garros. He was knocked out in the Round 4 by Gaël Monfils 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.
At the Aegon Championship, he advanced to the semi-finals before retiring in his match against James Blake due to a twisted ankle. Roddick stated that the injury was not serious and that he expected to be fit to play at Wimbledon.[19][20]
At the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, Roddick was seeded sixth. He won his first round match versus Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 and his second round match versus Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. He beat his third round opponent Jurgen Melzer 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3. Roddick defeated Tomas Berdych in the fourth round in straight sets 7-6, 6-4, 6-3. He defeated Lleyton Hewitt in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-7 (10), 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-4, serving a career-high 43 aces, and defeated the third seed, Briton Andy Murray, in the semifinals, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5).[21] He will face Roger Federer for the Wimbledon championship, the third time the two have met in the Wimbledon finals, and the fourth time in a major final, all previously won by Federer.
Davis Cup
With his 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 win over Paul-Henri Mathieu on April 13, 2008 for the deciding victory in the best-of-five 2008 quarterfinal Davis Cup match with France, Roddick improved to 10-0 in clinching situations for the United States. In his second singles victory in three days, he was held to 17 aces, down from 30 against Michael Llodra a few days prior. Roddick improved to 31-11 for the US in Davis Cup matches, trailing only John McEnroe (41). His win against the 12th-ranked Mathieu was part of a strong month in which he beat the tour’s top three players — Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic.
Nicknames and on-court behavior
Roddick is often called “A-Rod,” referring to his first initial and the first three letters of his last name,[23] and a reference to baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez who already has that nickname.
Roddick is known for frequent outbursts against umpires on the court. His most famous quote is to umpire Emmanuel Joseph in his Australian Open 2008 match: “You’re an idiot! Stay in school kids, or you’ll end up being an umpire.”
Equipment
Roddick uses a discontinued version of the Babolat Pure Drive, extended to 27.5 inches. The racquet itself is heavily customised with additional weight placed in the head via the use of lead tape. The resulting racquet exhibits a more head heavy balance point and a higher swingweight than the stock model with a higher overall weight, though this is similar to the model he endorses at approximately 12oz. Modifications of this sort are not uncommon for professional players.
Roddick’s racquets are painted to resemble the Pure Drive Roddick Plus with Cortex racquet in order to market a current model which Babolat sells. The cortex in particular is visibly painted onto the racquet. For marketing purposes Roddick endorses the Pure Drive Roddick GT Plus Cortex Racquet, a signature racquet designed for him by racquet sponsor Babolat, which is slightly heavier (11.9 oz), stiffer (Babolat RDC index 72), and longer (27.5″) than the standard Pure Drive Series (11.3 oz, Babolat RDC 71, 27″). The racquet is designed for a strong service due to its weight, stiffness, and length.[25] According to Tennis Warehouse, it is the best one for this fundamental. He strings with a custom hybrid (Pro Hurricane Tour + VS). Roddick’s tension varies, but he mostly strings his racquets to a tension of roughly 64 or 65 pounds.
Roddick also uses Babolat Propulse II tennis shoes, which are his signature gear.[26] In matches, Roddick wears shirts, shorts, and caps manufactured for him by Lacoste.
Playing style
Roddick is known for his powerful first serve, usually serving at around 130-150 mph (209~242 km/h), which he uses to earn free points with aces and unreturnable serves.[27] His first serve is known to some as the “Roddick Serve” since he abbreviates the serve by removing part of the motion. He usually targets the two corners to win aces. As for his second serve, he usually employs a heavy kick serve, then tries to use a variety of spins, slices, and angles in the rally to throw off his opponent. He is noted to use heavy topspin on both his serves and his twist serve is probably the highest-kicking serve anyone hits.Roddick will also occasionally use the serve-and-volley tactic on both first and second services to surprise his opponent, though he generally prefers to remain near the baseline after a serve. Despite all this, Roddick is sometimes criticized for his lack of variety; however, he has developed a more all-court playing style compared to the aggressive baseline style he played with for most of his early career. Under new coach Larry Stefanki, he has been in the fittest shape of his career, as well as developing his volleying skills.Roddick’s backhand is also considered to have improved over the course of his career.
Appearances
On April 5, 2002, Roddick guest-starred on the television show Sabrina, the Teenage Witch as himself. In the episode, Sabrina summoned him so he could give her tennis lessons.
Roddick appeared on the The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn talk show in 2002 and 2003, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and Live with Regis and Kathie Lee in 2003, Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2004 and 2005, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2005 and 2007, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2006.[31] Roddick also appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on June 8, 2007. The two had humorous conversations about life beyond the court, other players, and on-court fashions. At one point during the interview, Ross sat on Roddick’s lap to try to make him feel uncomfortable.
Roddick hosted Saturday Night Live on November 8, 2003, becoming the second tennis player to host (Chris Evert being the first).
Roddick also appeared on a 2004 episode of the Anne Robinson Version of The Weakest Link, but ended up being voted off.[33]
Roddick is in a This is SportsCenter ad with Stuart Scott, in which he confronts the Sports Center anchor about the anchors not calling him “A-Rod,” and asks him “Did Alex Rodriguez put you up to this?” Scott replies “Who?” Roddick says “A-Rod!” Scott gets a sneaky look on his face, and Roddick leaves disgusted.
The June/July 2007 issue of Men’s Fitness magazine carried an article on Roddick. The cover shot featured the tennis ace in a t-shirt, straining to contain massive, pumped-up biceps and hulking shoulder and chest muscles. The image set off widespread online speculation that the magazine had altered Roddick’s likeness, a suspicion echoed by Roddick himself. Roddick has quipped that he saw the photo, and that Nadal wanted his arms back.
In March 2009, Andy Roddick appeared in the “Speed Feels Better” music video for singer/songwriter Michael Tolcher. Other athletes in the video included Amanda Beard, Barry Sanders, Kimmie Meissner, and Rick Ankiel.
Awards and Record Serve
In 2004, Roddick produced the fastest serve in professional tennis: 249.5 km/h (155 mph) during a Davis Cup semi-final match with Vladimir Voltchkov on hard court in Charleston. Earlier that year, Roddick had the fastest serve in U.S. Open history: 244 km/h (152 mph) against American Scoville Jenkins.Roddick also won the 2004 ESPY Award for Best Male Tennis Player.
That same year he won the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award of the Year because of his charity efforts, which included: raising money for the survivors of the tsunami following 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake through Serving for Tsunami Relief and other efforts; auctioning off several rackets and autographs to raise money for UNICEF; and creating the Andy Roddick Foundation to help at-risk youth. The foundation is partly funded through the sale of blue wristbands inscribed “No Compromise,” inspired by Lance Armstrong’s yellow Livestrong wristbands.
In 2007 Roddick and the Andy Roddick Foundation was awarded by the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health. Roddick was the first male tennis player ever to receive the award.
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