Ramana Vieira

Ramana Vieira "This Is My Fado" (Live at the Gallo Center for the Arts) from Jose Alfaro on Vimeo.

Ramana Vieira is a contemporary American singer of the traditional Portuguese Fado. She has been called "The New Voice of Portuguese World Music." Vieira was born to Portuguese immigrants who settled in San Leandro, just east of San Francisco, California. She attended local San Leandro schools, then studied the performing arts at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. As a young performing artist, she immersed herself in the study of Portuguese language and culture, especially the music of her parents' native island of Madeira, Portugal. Vieira's interest in performing the Portuguese Fado developed during this period. "Hailed as the new voice of Portguese music," Ramana Vieira sings with such a wide range of emotions one cannot help but be mesmerized by images of “old world” Portugal that emerge from the depths of her soul. Her extraordinary gift of bringing this 15th century style into modern times is her unique trademark. This powerful vocalist is making her mark as one of the premier contemporary Fado artists. According to the Portuguese, Fado is a melancholy and often-mournful music similar to the American blues as it tells stories of heartache and disappointment. The essence of the poetry is the quality of “saudade,” a word that is difficult to translate as it expresses a myriad of feelings. "Fado songs put me in touch with the deep heritage of being Portuguese and wake up my soul." Ramana’s personal relationship to Fado music lies deep in her family history, as her grandfather was a famous musician and composer from Madeira Island, Portugal. Born in San Leandro, California to Portuguese immigrants, Ramana was fortunate to be exposed to the voices of Portugal’s past at a young age. “During my childhood, I sang with my mother to Amália Rodrigues and other fabulous fadistas that were part of her special record collection,” said Ramana in a recent interview. Her mother quickly observed her daughter’s gift for music and by the age of ten she bought a piano so that Ramana could study classical music. Her passion for music continued as she matured and eventually she attended The American Conservatory Theatre where she did her vocal training with Faith Winthrop, San Francisco's grande dame of song and one of the most respected singers and vocal coaches on the scene today. Along with singing, Ramana studied drama and dance as well as performing in many theatrical productions. Although she had dreams of a Broadway career her direction shifted abruptly when a famous music producer inspired her to embrace her Portuguese roots. Shortly after that she found herself on an unexpected journey to Portugal where she had the opportunity to perform with the local Fado singers and musicians bringing the house to it’s feet with her authentic, yet individual style. “It was there I discovered that there was nothing in the world more gratifying to me than singing Fado.” Called a “rising star in World Music” by the San Francisco Examiner, Ramana has solidified her place as an artist who understands the tradition of Fado singing and continues to creatively construct a path into the future by combining new musical textures and original compositions. Many of the songs on her recordings are inspired by Ramana’s main influence, Amália Rodrigues, known as the "Rainha do Fado" ("Queen of Fado") and who is attributed to popularizing the Fado worldwide. According to Ramana, “nobody else is doing what we are doing with Fado. Take the feel and groove of Shakira and the melodic textures of Dulce Pontes and that is how I would describe our music.” Some of the highlights of Ramana's performance career include: opening for fadista Mariza; performing her original song “Unido Para Amar” for the 2006 Winter Olympics video montage; making her international debut with RPT TV Portuguese network; and chosen to sing for the Grammy’s 50th Awards special Music Cares benefit to honor Aretha Franklin. Her two prior recordings, “Despi A Alma (I Undressed My Soul)” and “Sem Ti” helped her to gain recognition, win awards, and appear on the cover of “Mundo Portuguese” Magazine. However, Ramana’s truly magical spirit comes alive in her newest release on the Pacific Coast Jazz label, “Lágrimas De Rainha (Tears of a Queen).” The emotional concept of “Lágrimas De Rainha” paints sonic pictures that support Ramana’s desire to invent a fresh Fado sound blooming from the ground of her own family roots and features an outstanding group of musicians, lyricists, and arrangers such as Marcie Brown (cello), Jeffrey Luiz (classic and electric guitars), Stephen La Porta (drums and percussion), Alberto Ramirez (electric bass), and special guests, Helder Carvallheira (guitarra or Portuguese guitar), Didier Bouvet (guitar), and Golden Reel Award winning film composer and arranger, Robert Randles, Victor Owens (“The English Patient,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” and “Amadeus”)."Lagrimas De Rainha" Peaked at number 43 on the world music radio charts.

References : Wikipedia

John Tavares

John Tavares is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected first overall by the Islanders in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Tavares then signed a three year entry-level contract in July 2009.

Tavares was born on September 20, 1990 in Mississauga, Ontario, to Barbara and Joe Tavares, who are of Polish and Portuguese descent, respectively. His maternal grandparents Bolesław and Josephine Kowal immigrated from Poland to Sudbury, Ontario, and his paternal grandparents Manuel and Dorotea Tavares immigrated from Portugal to Toronto.
Although he was born five days after the September 15 cutoff date for eligibility in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, there was a significant effort made to allow Tavares into the draft. Following his 72-goal campaign in 2006–07, Tavares' agents asked the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) to make an exception for Tavares similar to the one the OHL had made in 2005. The attempt was unsuccessful, and Tavares was forced to wait until 2009 to participate in the entry draft. However, in October 2007, it was reported that Toronto Maple Leafs general manager John Ferguson, Jr. had offered the 17-year-old Tavares a spot with their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. Like the NHL, the AHL declined to amend its by-laws, and Tavares returned to the OHL.
The NHL International Scouting Services ranked Tavares as the top draft prospect in the world, ahead of defenceman Victor Hedman, Swedish forward Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson, and Canadian forward Matt Duchene in its March 2009 update. The 2009 draft class was led by Tavares, who was taken first overall by the New York Islanders.

On July 15, 2009, Tavares signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the New York Islanders. Tavares' first NHL game was in the pre-season, against the Edmonton Oilers. Tavares spent 22 minutes and 50 seconds on the ice with linemates Doug Weight and Sean Bergenheim during the Islanders' 3-2 loss. Weight, a veteran NHLer, said that "John’s going to be a big piece of [an Islander rebuilding effort]." Tavares recorded his first career NHL goal and assist in his first ever professional game, scoring on a backhander against Marc-André Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 3, 2009.

Tavares has led NHL rookies in scoring throughout much of his first season. In December, 2009, Tavares scored five consecutive Islander goals, over a 4-game span, to tie the club record for most consecutive goals by one player. Tavares scored an empty-net goal vs Atlanta on December 3, and both Islander goals on both December 9 in Philadelphia and December 10 in Toronto. The Islanders were shutout on December 5 in Tampa. The record was originally set by Bryan Trottier, when he scored five consecutive goals in a 1982 game against the Flyers, and was equaled by Mariusz Czerkawski over a three-game span in 1998.

References : Wikipedia

Brooke Burke

Brooke Lisa Burke (born September 8, 1971) is an American television personality, model, and occasional dancer, known for hosting Wild On! (1999–2002), Rock Star (2005–2006), for winning the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars and for co-hosting Dancing With the Stars starting in 2010 (Season 10).
Burke is the oldest of nine children born to Donna and George Burke. Her mother is Jewish and she identifies herself as Jewish; She is also of Irish, French, and Portuguese ancestry.

She was born in Hartford, Connecticut and raised in Tucson, Arizona. She attended both Sahuaro High School and Palo Verde High School in Tucson, and later studied broadcast journalism at the University of Lincoln, UK.
Burke worked as a model for Venus Swimwear and Frederick's of Hollywood. From 1999 to 2002, Burke became known while hosting Wild On!, a travel series on the E! Entertainment Television channel, replacing previous host Jules Asner. As part of the series, she traveled the world extensively, profiling many popular travel destinations. Burke first appeared nude during her early modeling career for the website BlueNudes, and most notably after gaining fame in the May 2001 and November 2004 issues of Playboy. She also appeared in men's magazines such as Maxim, Stuff, and FHM. In 2007, she was listed as one of Blender's hottest women of film and TV.

Burke has fronted infomercials promoting a Swiss ball video home fitness workout named Gunnar Peterson's Core Secrets, and appears in the first video of the series titled 20 Minute Full Body Workout. The infomercials have screened in New Zealand and Australia.

In 2005 and 2006, Burke hosted the CBS summer reality show Rock Star, an American Idol-like series in which aspiring singers competed to become either the frontman or frontwoman for a rock band.

She was the voice and face of "Rachel Teller" in Electronic Arts' video game Need for Speed: Underground 2, and asks the "People and Places" questions in the video game Trivial Pursuit Unhinged. Burke starred as a playable character in the Burger King advergaming title PocketBike Racer and in Big Bumpin'. Burke has also landed roles in several television commercials for Discover Card, Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, and M Professional Cosmetics.

In 2007, Burke started a company called Baboosh Baby, which offers wraps for pregnant women. The company's website features a blog from Burke about her children.

In 2009, Burke hosted NBC's pre-show for the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards with Tiki Barber and Nancy O'Dell.

Burke, along with Derek Hough as her partner, won Season 7 of Dancing with the Stars. As of March 2010, Brooke is replacing Samantha Harris as co-host of the program. Burke also starred in the TV show host edition of The Weakest Link. In August 2010, Burke will host the third season of the TV Land series She's Got the Look , a modeling competition show for women over 35.

References : Wikipedia

Sam Mendes

Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes CBE (born 1 August 1965) is an English stage and film director. He has won two Laurence Olivier Awards for his London stage productions The Glass Menagerie and Company in 1996, and Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya in 2003. He also received a Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Musical for the Broadway revival of Cabaret in 1998. His debut film American Beauty (1999) earned him an Academy Award for Best Director. He is married to British Actress Kate Winslet. In March 2010, the couple announced that they have separated.

Mendes was born in Reading, Berkshire, England to Jameson Peter Mendes, a university professor, and Valerie Helene Barnett, an author of children's books. His father is from Trinidad's ethnic Portuguese community and his mother an English Jew. His grandfather is the Trinidadian writer Alfred Mendes. He attended Magdalen College School, Oxford and graduated from Peterhouse, Cambridge, with a BA in 1987.

Mendes made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed and box-office success American Beauty, starring Kevin Spacey. The film grossed US$356.3 million worldwide and had a 2373% ROI. The film won the Golden Globe Award, the BAFTA Award and the Academy Award for

Best Picture. Mendes won a Directors Guild of America Award, a Golden Globe Award, and the Academy Award for directing American Beauty.

Mendes's second film, in 2002, was Road to Perdition, which grossed US$181 million. The aggregate review score on Rotten Tomatoes was 82%; critics praised Paul Newman for his performance. The film was nominated for 6 Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor, and won one for Best Cinematography.

In 2005, Mendes directed the war film Jarhead. The film received mixed reviews, receiving a Rotten Tomatoes aggregate of 60%, and a gross revenue of US$96.9 million worldwide. The film focused on the boredom and other psychological challenges of wartime, instead of being a traditional combat-action film.

In 2008, Mendes directed Revolutionary Road, starring his wife, Academy Award-winner Kate Winslet, along with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kathy Bates.

Mendes most recently completed work on a comedy-drama called Away We Go, which opened the 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival. The film follows a couple searching across North America for the perfect community in which to settle down and start a family. The film stars John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Catherine O'Hara, and Melanie Lynskey. Mendes is also starting pre-production on a film adaptation of the acclaimed 1971 Tony-winning Broadway musical Follies and has announced his intentions to film an adaptation of the novel Middlemarch in the near future.

On January 5, 2010, news broke that Mendes is currently in negotiations to direct the 23rd installment of the James Bond franchise. Plans for the production are underway and filming could begin as early as June, with an eye toward a 2011 release. Previous Bond writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are set to write the screenplay, along with Frost/Nixon screenwriter Peter Morgan. Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are producing, and Daniel Craig will continue his run as 007.


References : Wikipedia