Melissa Baker Biography and Photos

Melissa Baker is an American model who appeared in the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Melissa Baker was born in Akron, Ohio and grew up in nearby Cuyahoga Falls, graduating from Stow-Munroe Falls High School. She had been a competitive gymnast in her youth. Her family, which is at least partly Greek in origin, still resides in Ohio. Her mother's name is Becky, and she has a twin brother, Brandon.

Career

Baker is known for being curvaceous. She is represented by Click Model Agency in New York and Los Angeles, and by Women's Model Management in Milan and Paris.

She has modelled for Abercrombie & Fitch, Express, McDonalds, Sisley and appeared on the cover of Bridal Magazine. Baker has been photographed by Bruce Weber, Terry Richardson, Sylvia Krivickova, Richard Phibbs, Raphael Mazzucco, Antoine Vergas and many more. She has appeared on V and Maxim. She walked for the Malan Breton Spring 2009 Runway collection during New York Fashion Week.


Melissa Baker Sexy Photos

Resolusi 2011, semangat beruang!

Hari ini sudah hari keempat di tahun 2011. Saya baru akan memetakan rencana-rencana apa saja yang telah saya lakukan, dan apa yang telah terjalani selama 2010. Sedikit terlambat memang, karena penghujung tahun kemarin merupakan saat-saat yang hectic. Stress melanda, ditambah tekanan dari sana sini.



Apa yang telah terjadi sepanjang 2010? Sepertinya banyak yah. Bisa jadi tahun lalu merupakan tahun yang penuh drama. Ada banyak peristiwa penting yang terjadi. Such as :

1. Kerja.
Gak nyangka sudah setahun terjalani dengan pekerjaan menjadi abdi Negara. Sebuah title yang terkadang menjadi beban tersendiri. Apakah memang benar jalan ini yang tepat? Apakah memang saya tidak menyia-nyiakan ribuan kesempatan yang tergelatak diluar sana? Beberapa kali pertanyaan ini berjibaku. Ketika saya sedang berada di low-limit point. Semuanya terlihat salah, semuanya terlihat membosankan. Belum lagi kebiasaan yang masih ingin main kesana-kemari. Masih ingin nongkrong disana-disini. Pelan-pelan semuanya berubah dan harus memilih skala prioritas.

Setidaknya saya bersyukur. Masih memiliki satu pekerjaan tetap. Memiliki tempat untuk beraktifitas. Ini yang sekarang menjadi pengingat bahwa semuanya harus berjalan seimbang. Bahwa sudah saatnya berhenti mengeluh.

2. Hati.

Sepertinya memang ini 2 hal terbesar yang terjadi. 2010 penuh dengan hal yang tak disangka. Selama ini saya hanya bisa memikirkan bagaimana rasanya terjebak dan merasakan cinta yang salah. Akhirnya saya mengalaminya sendiri. Beradu napas, mengolah janji, sampai pisah yang tak terhindarkan. Semuanya kembali kesadaran diri sendiri. Sampai kapan bermain api?

Sampai datang dia. Di penghujung Agustus semuanya menjadi lebih indah. Walaupun jarak Bandung-Makassar menjadi masalah, ternyata memang indah ketika ada seseorang yang menemani dalam keseharian. Entah hanya sekedar bertukar kabar, ataupun menertawakan hidup yang semakin menunjukkan kelucuannya. Tapi sekali lagi saya harus kehilangan dia. Ternyata egois masih mengambil peran besar dalam diri. Sekian tahun hidup menyendiri, membuat sulit untuk menerima kehadiran orang lain. Ini yang menjadi pelajaran, bahwa sekali lagi semuanya akan berpasangan. Semuanya akan mencari jalan hidupnya bersama, tidak perlu malu ataupun takut untuk membuka diri. Toh sendirian itu tidak pernah mengenakkan.

3. Keluarga
Kalau tidak ada drama yang terjadi dalam setahun, rasanya pasti aneh. Hal ini sepertinya sudah menjadi pola dan membuat pattern tertentu. Inilah salah satu tahun terbaik, dimana saya sekeluarga bisa menikmati banyak quality time bersama. Entah hanya sekedar makan malam bersama, jalan bersama, ataukah hanya sekedar menikmati seporsi terang bulan sambil menonton acara di televisi. Semuanya terasa lebih berbeda, karena rumah rasanya tidak pernah senyaman ini. Walaupun ada beberapa episode yang tidak mengenakkan, overall semuanya berjalan sempurna.

4. Teman
Semuanya berubah, semuanya mencari hidupnya masing-masing. Seperti itulah keadaan teman. Pelan-pelan menghilang dan akhirnya kesendirian tetap menjadi teman sejati. Tapi tahun ini menjadi salah satu tahun yang terhebat. Saya mengetahui dan beruntung dikelilingi sahabat-sahabat di Komunitas Blogger Makassar, AngingMammiri, teman-teman berkejahatan di kantor, dan banyak teman baru di komunitas twitter.

Overall, tahun 2010 salah satu tahun tersibuk yang pernah saya jalani. Hari berganti hari, mimpi demi mimpi perlahan dijalani. Semuanya memiliki memori masing-masing. Lantas apa yang menjadi resolusi untuk tahun ini?
1. Exercise!
Oke, sepertinya bobot tubuh saya menjadi bertambah, dan ini hanya berarti satu hal. Renang dan fitness menjadi jalan satu-satunya. Siapa yang mau mati muda?
2. Trip to Anywhere
Liburan ataupun jalan-jalan. Entah apa namanya. Yang pasti sudah ada beberapa destinasi yang menjadi tujuan. Gili trawangan atau Padang? Semuanya memiliki pesonanya masing-masing.
3. Kursus Bahasa Asing
Yang masih menjadi prioritas sih bahasa Inggris, untuk memperbaiki TOEFL ataupun IELTS. Persiapan untuk hunting beasiswa. Tapi sepertinya bahasa Prancis atau Jepang bisa juga.

Sebenarnya masih banyak to-do list yang ingin saya lakukan tahun ini. Yang paling penting sih sebenarnya fokus. Tidak grapa-grepe lagi dalam mengerjakan sesuatu. Semangat tuan beruang! Hari esok menantimu!

Dixie Chicks - Not Ready To Make Nice

Forgive, sounds good.
Forget, I'm not sure I could.
They say time heals everything,
But I'm still waiting

(Dixie Chicks - Not Ready To Make Nice)

Shania Twain Biography and Photos

Shania Twain, OC (pronounced /ʃəˈnaɪ.ə ˈtweɪn/; born Eilleen Regina Edwards; August 28, 1965) is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the mid 1990s with her album The Woman In Me (1995), and achieved worldwide success with her 1997 album Come On Over, which became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician, and the best selling country album of all time. It has sold over 39 million copies worldwide and is the 9th bestselling album in the U.S.

A five-time Grammy Award winner, Twain has also achieved major success as a songwriter, winning 27 BMI Songwriter awards. Twain is one of the first country artists to achieve major crossover success in pop music. She is the only female musician to have three albums certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America and is also the second best-selling artist in Canada, behind fellow Canadian Céline Dion, with three of her studio albums being certified double diamond by the Canadian Recording Industry Association. Twain has sold over 80 million albums worldwide, including 48 million in the U.S. She is ranked as the 10th best-selling artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era, with approximately 33.5 million in sales through April 2008. She was also ranked the 72nd Artist of the 2000–10 decade by Billboard.

Early years

Shania Twain was born Eilleen Regina Edwards in Windsor, Ontario, daughter of Clarence and Sharon Edwards. Her parents divorced when she was two, and her mother then moved with Eilleen and her sister Jill to Timmins, Ontario, where she married Jerry Twain, an Ojibwa. He adopted the girls, legally changing their last name to Twain. Because of her connection to her stepfather, in the past, people had presumed Twain's ancestry was Ojibwa, but she stated in an interview that her biological father was part Cree. Through her mother she is a descendant of Zacharie Cloutier. Her maternal grandmother, Eileen Pearce, emigrated from Newbridge, Kildare, Ireland.

One of five children, Eilleen Twain had a hard childhood in Timmins. Her parents earned little, and there was often a shortage of food in the household. At one point, while Jerry was at work, her mother drove the rest of the family 425 miles (684 km) to a Toronto homeless shelter for assistance. She did not confide her situation to school authorities, fearing they might break up the family. In the remote, rugged community, she learned to hunt and to chop wood. Aside from working at an Ontario McDonald's restaurant, Twain began to earn money by singing in local clubs and bars from a very young age to support her family. She was singing in bars starting at the age of eight to try to make ends meet, often earning twenty dollars between midnight and one in the morning performing for remaining customers after the bar had finished serving. Although she has expressed a dislike for singing in such a smoky atmosphere at such a young age, Shania believes that this was her performing arts school on the road to becoming a successful singer. Twain has said of the ordeal, "My deepest passion was music and it helped. There were moments when I thought 'I hate this'. I hated going into bars and being with drunks. But I loved the music and so I survived".

Twain wrote her first songs at the age of ten, Is Love a Rose and Just Like the Storybooks which were fairy tales in rhyme. As a child, Twain has been described by a close childhood friend Kenny Derasp as "a very serious kid who spent a lot of time in her room." The art of creating, of actually writing songs, "was very different from performing them and became progressively important".

In the early 1980s, Twain spent some time working on her father's reforestation business in northern Ontario, a business that the family was heavily involved in and employed some 75 Ojibwe and Cree workers. Although the work was very demanding and the pay very low, Twain has spoken of her experience, "I loved the feeling of being stranded. I'm not afraid of being in my own environment, being physical, working hard. I was very strong, I walked miles and miles every day and carried heavy loads of trees. You can't shampoo, use soap or deodorant, or makeup, nothing with any scent; you have to bathe and rinse your clothes in the lake. It was a very rugged existence, but I was very creative and I would sit alone in the forest with my dog and a guitar and would just write songs".

Music career Career as Eilleen Twain

At 13, Eilleen Twain, the future "Shania" Twain, was invited to perform on CBC television's Tommy Hunter Show. While attending Timmins High and Vocational School in Timmins, she was the singer for a local band called "Longshot" which covered Top 40 music.

After graduating from Timmins High in July 1983, Twain was eager to expand her musical horizons. After the demise of her band Longshot, Twain was approached by a covers band led by Diane Chase called "Flirt" and toured all over Ontario. She began taking singing lessons from Toronto-based coach Ian Garrett and often in not having the money to pay for her lessons would clean his house in payment. In the autumn of 1984 Twain's talents were noticed by a Toronto DJ Stan Campbell who wrote about her in a Country Music News article, "Eileen possesses a powerful voice with an impressive range. She has the necessary drive, ambition and positive attitude to achieve her goals". Campbell happened to be making an album by Canadian musician (and present-day CKTB radio personality) Tim Denis at the time and Twain featured on the backing vocals on the song Heavy on the Sunshine. Campbell later took Twain to Nashville to record some demos, which Twain found particularly difficult to finance. Around this time Twain became acquainted with a regional country singer Mary Bailey who had had some country chart success in 1976. Bailey had seen her perform in Sudbury, Ontario, saying "I saw this little girl up on stage with a guitar and it absolutely blew me away. She performed Willie Nelson's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" and Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". Her voice reminded me of Tanya Tucker, it had strength and character, a lot of feeling. She's a star, she deserves an opportunity". Bailey later said "She sang a few songs that she had written, and I thought to myself, this kid is like nineteen years old, where does she get this? This is from a person who's lived sixty years".

Mary Bailey bought the contract from Stan Campbell and Twain moved into Bailey's home on Lake Kenogami where she practiced her music every day for hours. In the fall of 1985, Bailey took Twain down to Nashville to stay with a friend, record producer Tony Migliore, who at the time was producing an album for fellow Canadian singer Kelita Haverland and Twain featured on the backing vocals to the song Too Hot to Handle. She also demoed songs with Cyril Rawson but without success, partly due to Twain's wish to become a rock singer, not a country artist and after five months she returned to Canada and moved in with Bailey in a flat in downtown Kirkland Lake.

There she met a rock keyboardist Eric Lambier and drummer Randy Yurko and formed a new band, moving three months later to Bowmanville, near Toronto. In late summer 1986 Mary Bailey had arranged Twain to meet John Kim Bell, a half Mohawk, half American conductor who had close contacts with the directors of the Canadian Country Music Association. Bell recognised Twain's ability as well as looks and the two began secretly dating, despite their clash of backgrounds. In the fall of 1986 Twain continued to express her desire to be a pop or rock singer rather than country, which led to her falling out with Mary Bailey for two years and was not met with any success. Her first break came on February 8, 1987 when Bell staged a fundraiser for the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation at the Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto where Twain performed with Broadway star Bernadette Peters, jazz guitarist Don Ross and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Her performance received little acclaim but it convinced Bell, who loathed pop music, that Twain should stay well away from it and concentrate on country music.

On November 1, 1987, Twain's mother and adoptive father died in a car accident. Twain took care of her siblings, moving with her half-brothers Mark and Darryl and half-sister Carrie Ann to Huntsville, Ontario, where she supported them by earning money performing at the nearby Deerhurst Resort.

1993–1994: Shania Twain

After Twain's siblings moved out on their own, she assembled a demo tape of her songs, and her manager set up a showcase for Twain to present her material to record executives. Twain caught the attention of a few labels, including Mercury Nashville Records, who signed her within a few months. During this time, she changed her name to Shania, an Ojibwa word which means "on my way".

Twain's self-titled debut album was released in 1993 in North America, garnering audiences outside of her own country. The album only reached #67 on the US Country Albums Chart, but it gained many positive reviews from critics. The album yielded two minor hit singles in the United States with "What Made You Say That" and "Dance with the One That Brought You". It was more successful in Europe, where Twain won Country Music Television Europe's "Rising Video Star of the Year" award.

The album failed to sell significant copies initially, although Twain's future success generated enough interest for the album to be certified platinum six years later by the RIAA, denoting sales of over a million.

That same year, Twain sang harmony vocals on Sammy Kershaw's "Haunted Heart" album.

1995–1996: The Woman in Me/popularity established

When rock producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange heard Twain's original songs and singing, he offered to produce her and to write songs with her. (Twain's manager, Mary Bailey, initially had no idea who he was.) After many telephone conversations, they met at Nashville's Fan Fair in June 1993. Twain and Lange became very close within just weeks. Lange and Twain either wrote or co-wrote the songs that would form her second studio album, The Woman in Me.

The Woman in Me was released in the spring of 1995. The album's first single, "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?" went to #11 on the Billboard Country Chart. This was followed by her first Top 10 and #1 hit single, "Any Man of Mine". Twain had further hits from the album, including the title track which peaked at #14 and three additional #1 hits: "(If You're Not in it for Love) I'm Outta Here!", "You Win My Love", and "No One Needs to Know". As of 2007, it had sold more than 12 million copies. The album was a quick breakthrough. Shania performed selected international venues and television shows with Nashville guitarist Randy Thomas (co-writer of the song "Butterfly Kisses") and Stanley T., formerly with the Beach Boys. Mercury Record's promotion of the album was based largely upon a series of sexy music videos. The Woman in Me won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album as well as the Academy of Country Music award for Album of the Year; the latter group also awarded Twain as Best New Female Vocalist.

Worldwide success

1997–2000: Come on Over

In 1997, Twain released her follow-up album, Come on Over. This was the album that would establish her as a successful crossover singer. Slowly, the album started racking up sales. It never hit the top spot, but with the multi-chart hit single "You're Still the One", sales skyrocketed. Other songs like "Don't Be Stupid", "You've Got A Way", "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!", "That Don't Impress Me Much" and "From This Moment On" joined the 12 songs that eventually saw release as singles. "From This Moment On" is a duet with singer Bryan White and even a pop version as well solo.

The album stayed on the charts for the next two years and Come on Over went on to sell 39 million copies worldwide, making it the biggest-selling album of all time by a female musician. It is also the eighth biggest-selling album by any type of artist in the US.

Songs from the album won four Grammy Awards over the next two years, including Best Country Song and Best Female Country Performance (for "You're Still the One" and "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!") for Twain. Lange won Grammys for "You're Still the One" and "Come on Over".

Despite the album's record sales it wasn't able to top the Billboard 200, peaking at #2. In 1999, the "Come on Over" album was remixed for the European market as a pop album with less country instrumentation and actually gave her the big breakthrough in Europe she and her producer husband were looking for. "Come on over" went to #1 on the UK album charts for 11 weeks. It became the biggest selling album of the year in Great Britain and a bestseller in other big European markets as well, selling more than one million copies in Germany and nearly 4 million in the UK alone. The songs that had finally drawn European attention to the album were the pop remixed singles "That Don't Impress Me Much", a #3 in the UK and Top 10 hit in Germany in the summer of 1999, and "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" which peaked at #3 in both the UK and France in autumn of that year. Additionally, the album set the record for the longest ever stay in the Top 20 of the Billboard 200, remaining in the Top 20 for 99 weeks.

Twain's mainstream pop acceptance was further helped by her appearance in the 1998 first edition of the VH1 Divas concert where she sang alongside Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan and Aretha Franklin, and by VH1's 1999 heavily aired Behind the Music treatment of her, which concentrated on the tragic aspects of her early life as well as her physical attractiveness and Nashville's early resistance to her bared-midriff music videos.

In 1998, Twain launched her first major concert tour, aided by her manager Jon Landau, a veteran of many large-scale tours with Bruce Springsteen. The Come on Over Tour shows were enthusiastically received by audiences around the globe and answered critics[who?] who speculated that she could not perform live.

In 2000, Twain was initially scheduled to release a Christmas album, but plans to release one was cancelled later in the year.

2002–2004: Up!

After a change in management — QPrime replaced Landau — and a two year break, Twain and Lange returned to the studio. Up! was released on November 19, 2002. About a year later, Twain kicked off the Up! Tour in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on September 25, 2003.

Up! was released as a double album, with three different discs—pop (a red CD), country (a green CD), and international (a blue CD). For North American markets, the pop disc was paired with the country disc and in international markets, the pop disc was paired with the world music disc. Up! was given four out of five stars by Rolling Stone magazine, and debuted at #1 on the Billboard albums chart, selling 874,000 in the first week alone. It remained at the top of the charts for five weeks. Up! reached #1 in Germany, #2 in Australia and the Top Five in the UK and France. In Germany, Up! was certified 4x platinum and stayed in the Top 100 for one and a half years.

The international music disc was remixed with Bollywood-style orchestral and percussion parts recorded in Mumbai, India. The new versions were produced by Simon and Diamond Duggal, brothers from Birmingham, England. They were originally invited to contribute parts to the pop version of "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" which retained the Bollywood influence.

Twain's popularity in UK was reflected by numerous appearances on the long-running music show Top of the Pops, performing singles from Come on Over from 1999. In 2002 an entire special show was dedicated to her on sister show TOTP2, in which Twain herself introduced some past performances of her greatest hits and new singles from Up!

The first single from the album, "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" became a top 10 country hit in the US, after debuting at an impressive #24 after only five days of airplay; but only made the Top 40 on the pop charts. It was a much bigger hit on the other side of the Atlantic, released in a pop version, the single hit the Top Five in the UK and Australia as well as the Top 15 in Germany and France. The follow-up single "Up!" reached the Top 15 in the US country charts but failed to reach the pop Top 40.

The second European single became the mid-tempo song "Ka-Ching!" (which was never released as a single in North America) with lyrics where Twain was criticizing unchecked consumerism. The song eventually became another smash hit in the important European markets, reaching #1 in Germany and Austria and other European countries, the UK Top 10 and the Top 15 in France.

The third single from the album would be the most successful in the US. The romantic ballad "Forever and For Always" was released as a single in April 2003 and peaked at #4 on the country chart and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and made as well the Billboard Top 20. Again success was even bigger on the other side of the Atlantic with "Forever and For Always" again reaching the Top 10 in both, the UK and Germany. Further singles were "She's Not Just a Pretty Face" a country Top 10 hit, while the last US single, "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing", made the Top 20 on both Country and AC.

Due to the enormous European success of Up! and its first three singles, two more singles were released in the second half of 2003 with up-tempo "Thank You Baby" (#11 in the UK, Top 20 in Germany) and just before Christmas the romantic, acoustic ballad "When You Kiss Me", at least a minor hit in both territories. The title track "Up!" also saw a single release in a limited edition of European countries, such as Germany, in early 2004. In January 2008, Up! had sold 5.5 million copies in the U.S. and was certified by the RIAA as 11x platinum (the organization counts double albums as two units).

In 2003, Twain participated in the Dolly Parton tribute album Just Because I'm a Woman, covering Parton's classic "Coat of Many Colors", with backing vocals by Alison Krauss. The cover peaked at #57 on the Hot Country Songs charts as an album cut. During the Super Bowl XXXVII halftime show Twain performed two songs, "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" and "Up!"

2004–2005: Greatest Hits

In 2004, she released the Greatest Hits album, with three new tracks. As of 2008, it has sold over four million copies in the U.S. The first single, the multi-format duet "Party for Two", made the country top ten with Billy Currington, while the pop version with Sugar Ray lead singer Mark McGrath made top ten in the United Kingdom and Germany. The follow-up singles, "Don't!" and "I Ain't No Quitter" did not fare as well. The former made Top 20 on Adult Contemporary, while the latter did not gain enough airplay to crack the Country Top 40.

On November 19, 2004, she appeared on the BBC charity telethon Children in Need. In addition to performing "Up!", she also acted as one of the celebrity assistants in an "all-star" magic act, in an illusion called "Clearly Impossible", in which she was sawed in half inside a clear-sided box.

In August 2005, she released the single "Shoes" from the Desperate Housewives soundtrack.

2006 onwards

At the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 16, 2007, Twain said she was currently writing songs for a new album, and was doing a "lot of soul searching" and "indulging in the writing."

Twain joined Canadian singer Anne Murray on the song "You Needed Me" on Murray's Anne Murray Duets: Friends and Legends album released November 13, 2007 in Canada, and on January 15, 2008 in the U.S. On November 12, 2008 Twain made her first television appearance since her split from ex-husband Robert "Mutt" Lange, where she appeared as a surprise presenter at the 42nd CMA Awards.

In early January 2009, Internet forums were reporting that Twain was planning to make an announcement regarding her new album on January 26, 2009 but on the 22nd a spokesperson from Mercury Nashville told Country Weekly that no new album would be coming "anytime soon".

In June 2009, Twain released a letter to her fans explaining the delays in the release of her next album. In August 2009, at a conference in Timmins, Ontario, a spokesman for Twain's label said a new record from the singer is still "nowhere in sight". On August 17, 2009, EW announced that Twain would be a guest judge on American Idol in Chicago, for the show's August 30 and 31 episodes. On January 1, 2010, Shania carried the Olympic Torch through her hometown as part of the 2010 Winter Olympics torch relay.

In April 2010, Twain announced plans for her own TV show, entitled Why Not? With Shania Twain. The show is scheduled to debut in April 2011 on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. Twain returned to American Idol as a guest mentor for a week where the top 6 contestants showcased her songs.

In September 2010, it was confirmed that Twain was to release an as of yet untitled autobiography in Spring 2011.

Endorsements and other ventures

Twain's commercial ventures outside the music industry included a series of cosmetic ads in 1999 based on "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" for Revlon. She also starred in ads for Candie's shoes and Gitano jeans, who also sponsored her 1998-1999 Come On Over Tour.

In January 2005, Twain joined Scentstories by Febreze to create a limited edition scent disc with the proceeds going to America's Second Harvest.

Late in 2005, Twain partnered COTY to produce her namesake fragrance "Shania by Stetson". A second fragrance was released in September 2007, called "Shania Starlight".

Personal life

Twain married music producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange on December 28, 1993, and they have a son, Eja D'Angelo (pronounced "Asia") who was born on August 12, 2001. On May 15, 2008, a spokesperson for Mercury Nashville announced that Twain and Lange were separating after Lange had an affair with Twain's best friend, Marie-Anne Thiebaud. Their divorce was finalized on June 9, 2010. On December 20, 2010, Twain's manager confirmed that Twain was engaged to Swiss business executive Frederic Thiebaud, the ex-husband of Marie-Anne Thiebaud. They were married on January 1, 2011 in Rincon , Puerto Rico.

Twain practices Sant Mat, which calls for daily meditation and vegetarianism.

In a 2009 study to determine what measurable parameters create "beauty", scientists correlated a set of measures for the positions of various facial features in women with ratings of attractiveness. According to the study, beauty is a product of having as many features as close to the average measurement for each feature as possible. Shania Twain was noted in a BBC News article concerning the study due to the fact that her face is a close approximation to the ideal measurements found by the study.

One of Twain's practices for her skin is using ointment known as Bag Balm, which is applied to cows' udders during winter months to protect them from harsh weather. Twain says she uses it on her legs and face for softer skin.

Awards and honors

In addition to her various awards for her singles and albums, Twain has received a number of personal honors:

* She was named the 1999 Entertainer of the Year by both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association; Twain was the first non-US citizen to win the CMA award.
* Twain was ranked #7 in Country Music Television's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music in 2002.
* In 2003, Twain was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.
* The city of Timmins (located in Ontario, Canada) renamed a street for her, gave her the key to the city, and built the Shania Twain Centre in her honour.
* On November 18, 2005, Twain was invested as an Officer in the Order of Canada.

Discography

Studio albums

* Shania Twain (1993)
* The Woman in Me (1995)
* Come On Over (1997)
* Up! (2002)

Compilations and other albums

* The Complete Limelight Sessions (2001)
* Greatest Hits (2004)

source : wikipedia

Karaoke Massal, sebuah penyatu kehidupan.

Pada tanggal 29 Desember yang lalu, kita telah diperlihatkan sebuah hal yang mengagumkan. Bagaimana perhelatan Final AFF Suzuki Cup menjadi salah satu alat pemersatu bangsa yang handal. Setelah kalah dari Malaysia pada leg 1 di Bukit Jalil, seluruh euphoria dan dukungan ditujukan kepada Timnas. Inilah saatnya, bahwa memang bangsa masih bisa bersatu. Bangsa kita masih bisa menunjukkan nasionalisme, dan bangsa kita masih bisa menunjukkan sportivitas yang tinggi.

Apakah ruang karaoke mempunyai dampak yang sama? Dilihat dari perspektif yang sama, bisalah ditarik kesimpulan bahwa ya, karaoke mempunyai dampak yang sama dalam menyatukan minat. Semuanya bersuara dan menikmati musik yang dinyanyikan. Bukankah musik adalah sebuah bahasa yang universal?

Permasalahannya kemudian adalah, bagaimana ketika berbagai umur, jenis kelamin, profesi dan genre musik berbeda dijadikan satu? Apakah akan terjadi sebuah perang besar? Perang dalam memperebutkan siapa yang diatas siapa, dan berhak menjadi vokalis utama.

Disinilah kita belajar berdemokrasi. Menghargai selera masing-masing orang. Biasanya banyak orang yang memandang aneh ketika kami, Komunitas Blogger Makassar AngingMammiri melakukan kopdar. Kami ini kumpulan apa? Dari segi umur, beda. Dari segi profesi, beda satu sama lain. Apalagi ketika sesi kerokan massal dihelat, maka semakin nampaklah perbedaan ini.



Saya, yang merupakan anak kekinian, mendengarkan Amy Winehouse dan Rihanna, bisa menyanyikan Arti Kehidupannya Mus Mujiono yang merupakan keahlian Daeng Nuntung, bisa menikmati alunan dangdut Rhoma Irama yang dinyanyikan oleh Kak Anchu, ataupun kembali ke era lawas bersama Bohemian Rhapsody yang dihentakkan oleh Rara dan Intan.

Semuanya saling berkait satu sama lain. Bukankah memang kita bisa menikmati musik apapun? Walaupun mereka terkadang mengernyitkan dahi ketika melihat list lagu pilihan saya. Hahaha. Sepertinya kebiasaan ini telah menjadi hobby, kalau mau dikatakan. Sekedar melepas penat dan emosi setelah beraktifitas selama hari kerja.
Diruang karaokelah proses menghargai bisa terjadi. Ketika memberikan kesempatan kepada semua orang untuk bersuara, ataupun sekedar menjadi suara dua. Semua menekan aksi egosi masing-masing dan menekankan kenyamanan bersama. Kalau ingin konser tunggal, kenapa tidak pergi sendirian saya karaokeannya? Hihihi.

Jadi perhitungan sederhananya adalah semua orang mempunyai kesempatan yang sama. Semua orang memiliki potensi yang sama, dan semua orang akan menghargai kemampuan orang lain. Keadaan apa yang lebih baik dari itu? Yah, mungkin kecuali merasa minder kali dengan suara yang dimiliki. Kalo saya sih, peduli amat. Toh yang penting bersenang-senangnya kan?

Aubrey O'Day Biography and Photos

Aubrey Morgan O'Day (born February 11, 1984) is an American singer, dancer, actress, songwriter, fashion designer, and former member of the girl group Danity Kane. On an October 2008 episode of the reality show Making the Band, O'Day was declared no longer a member of the girl group.

O'Day has also modeled for magazines such as Blender and Playboy, and has acted on Broadway in Hairspray.

Early life

O'Day developed a passion for entertaining at age five, after performing on stage for the first time. "I lived on the stage, and even at six, slept behind the seats of the theatre," she stated in an interview. According to her mother, when O'Day was four, she was at a performance of The Nutcracker and started to cry. Her mother asked her what was wrong and O'Day replied, "I'm sad that I'm sitting here and not up on stage." O'Day recalls that moment as the one in which she "officially" realized her love for entertainment.

O'Day played lead characters in various musical productions, including Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Carmen in Fame, Sandy in Grease, Liesl in The Sound of Music, Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof, and Mimi in Rent. She also appeared in Annie. O'Day's childhood leaned heavily toward auditions and acting gigs more than school. The Notorious B.I.G. and Sean "Puffy" Combs were her primary influences as a child.

O'Day attended La Quinta High School (La Quinta, California) in the early 2000s. She later majored in political science and drama at the University of California, Irvine, and was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority.
Career

2004–05: Making the Band 3

O'Day was discovered in 2004 on the MTV reality show Making the Band 3, founded by Sean "Diddy" Combs, and emerged as the show's breakout star. During Season 2 of Making the Band 3 while the competition was still ongoing, Blender magazine contacted O'Day to pose for their September 2005 issue. The magazine described her as the contestant "who bared calm resolve and tanned hip bones in beating out almost 10,000 girls for the chance at singing and strutting in a P. Diddy–steered girl group". O'Day expressed anxiety about competing to be in the group. "I’ve been in the ‘cut’ situation several times," she stated. "It’s hard to stand in a room and know that the dream I want is all in [Combs’s] hands." O'Day had dropped out of college in order to participate in the competition. She had been thinking of attending Columbia Law.

After seeing her dance, Combs was convinced that O'Day had "Black in her family" and further expressed this sentiment after watching her sing a version of "At Last" at a club during Season 1 of the show. This, along with what viewers saw as natural charisma, helped endear her to become a consistent favorite among judges and fans. Former Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync manager Johnny Wright, who served as one of the judges on the show, stated from her first audition in Los Angeles they knew that she was "a star". "It’s extreme," O'Day relayed of the competition. "There’s a lot of ‘I love to be in the spotlight’ types—including myself." In response to being told that Combs wanted the type of stars who were stars when they were age 2, O'Day stated, "Well, I was Aubrey when I was 2. A diva from the beginning."

2006–08: Danity Kane

O'Day was eventually chosen to be in the group, and was the first member included. The band became known as Danity Kane, and their first album debuted on August 22, 2006, at #1 on the Billboard 200 charts. The group was the opening act for Christina Aguilera on the U.S. leg of her Back to Basics Tour with the Pussycat Dolls.

O'Day's fame and physical features found appealing by magazines helped her broaden her career beyond the group. In addition to other musical projects, she posed for several "sexy" magazine spreads. On the August 28, 2008 episode of Making the Band, due to being consistently frustrated with O'Day's "oversexed" new image, Combs called O'Day "one of the worst dancers" in Danity Kane. He told O'Day that she no longer looked like the girl he signed and that she used to be one of the best. Combs bluntly accused O'Day of trying to expand her fame at the expense of the entire group, and that she liked flaunting her breasts and wearing big hair — referring to an incident where she had rubbed her cleavage on the arm of a television host. Furious, Combs asked himself on television why he was keeping O'Day in the group.

On the October 7, 2008 episode of Making the Band, after continued debate with O'Day about the well-being of the group, Combs declared O'Day no longer a member of Danity Kane. An official announcement, however, had not been made from Bad Boy Records. When asked by Boston Herald whether she was still in the group, O'Day was reluctant to answer and stated, "I can’t comment on anything, I’m sorry."

Speculation arose that Combs firing O'Day was a ratings ploy and that he had no intention of truly dismissing her. When discussing her career, O’Day would still refer to herself as a "member of a girl band" and "the official party girl of Danity Kane". On the October 14, 2008 episode of Making the Band, however, O'Day's departure from the group was confirmed, as well as fellow bandmate and then-best friend D. Woods. In the live section of the episode, Combs explained that the reason he let O'Day go was that she was not the same person he signed, that the fame had changed her. When O'Day came on to reply, she stated: "I would rather be hated every damn day of my life for being real than loved for being something I'm not." In a backstage interview before the finale, she said:

Tonight is a representation of the end of a chapter in my life; it's not the end of the book. I will do everything possible to make my mark on this industry, and Danity Kane and [Combs] provided me with this amazing opportunity to go out and really touch people's hearts. I think the way that we were able to inspire people was something that I will never be able to achieve in that way again in my life.

MTV News gauged fan reactions to the dismissals of O'Day and Woods. Fans left impassioned, long and detailed comments on the MTV News site about their discontent regarding the group's breakup. The 2009 season of Making the Band was expected to include new members auditioning as "replacements" for O'Day and Woods in Danity Kane, but instead showed the official end of the group. The complete breakup of the group was originally thought to be the result of O'Day and Woods, along with group member Shannon Bex, declining the offer to return to the series and the group. This was later argued by O'Day, who stated that while she was unsure if Woods was asked back, she herself was not asked to return. O'Day said that if offered, she would have returned and is not against returning. She was "officially" released from her Bad Boy Records contract by Combs in the April 16, 2009 episode of Making the Band.

In the April 23, 2009 finale of the show, O'Day returned with three former members of the group to clear up any misconceptions about the group's breakup. She said that she has forgiven being released from the group, and people who blamed her for the group's demise. Combs said that if he ever puts the group back together, O'Day and the group's other four members would be returning as Danity Kane.

2008–present: Broadway, and acting career

O'Day landed the role of Amber Von Tussle in the Broadway musical Hairspray on July 16, 2008. She appeared in the 2009 comedy American High School costarring Nikki Ziering, and is currently reading scripts for consideration in starring in feature films. Recently, she has been pursuing a solo music career, and has been in the studio with Shanell Woodgette, as well as Grammy Award-winning producer Maestro, recording a remastered version of Sharam's remix hit "Party All the Time". She released a track titled "Never Fallin", and also joined the cast of Jerry Mitchell's musical Peepshow in the role of "Peep Diva" at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada from September 2009 to late December 2009. Additionally, O'Day was featured on Donnie Wahlberg single "I Got It."

O'Day will be starring in her own reality series on the Oxygen Network, to premiere in 2011.
Other work

In 2006, O'Day ranked #86 on Maxim's Hot 100 list, #81 on Blender's 100 Hottest People list, and posed for the magazines. She walked the catwalk at Heatherette's Fall 2007 runway show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week held on February 6, and recorded a song with R&B singer Cupid written and produced by D. Harold; Mischke, and T. Thomas, whose title is "Do Yo Dance" and was the new single from Cupid's album Time For A Change.

In January 2008, O'Day briefly became the face of Famous Stars and Straps. She later made a cameo appearance in Estelle's music video for "Pretty Please" in August 2008. Further utilizing her success, she started her own clothing line called Heart on My Sleeve, which features T-shirts and accessories available only online. She posed topless for men's magazine Complex, their November 2008 issue. The publication stated, "With All Due Respect to the other girls in Danity Kane, it's easy to see why [Combs] built his group around Aubrey O'Day. Simply put, Aubrey is that chick: the stunner who attracts paparazzi and Broadway producers alike, and the talent least likely to fall into post-reality-show abyss." The magazine additionally commented on the animosity O'Day receives from several outlets, such as blog sites, as well as from message board fans, who have come to despise the attention she attracts from the media and the current image she has crafted of herself.

In late 2008, O'Day made a guest appearance on the reality show 50 Cent: The Money and the Power. She later agreed to be the covergirl for Playboy for the March 2009 issue. Additionally, she has been featured on the covers of Jadore, Image, Palm Springs Life, King, Right On!, Dub and Envy. She has done features for GQ, In Touch Weekly and Us Weekly.

On the April 23, 2009 finale of Making the Band, O'Day revealed that she will have her own reality television show for which she is filming in the spring of 2010. The show is entitled "The Aubrey O'Day Project" and is expected to premiere at the beginning of 2011 on the Oxygen Network.

Personal life

After graduating from high school and deciding to go to college, O'Day spent a semester at sea where she developed a passion for helping charities. She worked with service organizations while touring in different countries, as well as refugee centers, orphanages, and mostly with children with AIDS. She volunteered as a Big Sister to an organization called Pink Project, and helped victims of the Hurricane Katrina devastation. Motivated by her passion for charity, O'Day soon created her own organization, called F*A*N (Fighting Aids Now). The charity's goal is to give therapy and art to children in hospitals.

While competing to be in the band, O'Day formed a strong connection with fellow contestant Aundrea Fimbres. The two made it through two seasons together, and gained a large and loyal fanbase before Combs chose them to be in the group, O'Day first and Fimbres last. Viewers named the two "the AUs" and "Aubrea" (portmanteux of their first names put together), and O'Day declared Fimbres her best friend in the Season 2 finale of the series. O'Day's friendship with Fimbres, however, later became distant. However as of 2010, O'Day and Fimbres have reunited on numerous occasions and have claimed to always have been friends. She also has been best friends with another Making The Band 3 contestant Melissa Molinaro whom appeared with Aubrey on the MTV Show Exposed and were last seen on screen together in the VH1 pilot The Aubrey O'Day Show which wasn't picked up. On the show they had an onscreen falling out and seem to no longer be friends.


On The Wendy Williams Show on August 12, 2008, O'Day stated that she previously dated DJ Cassidy. She dispelled rumors of ever having plastic surgery or dating boss Sean Combs. In addition, she declared then-bandmate D. Woods her best friend and porn legend Jenna Jameson one of her good friends. In September 2008, she told Complex that she likes to watch porn as a hobby and that her favorite porn star is Jameson.

In an August 2008 interview with Broadway.com, O'Day stated she was increasingly irritated with people pigeonholing her sexuality; stating that she looks for "incredible passion and honest love" and not at gender. On December 15, 2008, Fox News reported that O'Day attended a party accompanied with her girlfriend/lover, according to an anonymous friend in attendance. When questioned by UsMagazine.com regarding the gay rumors, O'Day did not confirm or deny the speculation about her sexuality, and once again stated that she could not say "one way or another" what her sexual preference is at this point in her life. In 2009, while on the show Chelsea Lately, when asked about being bisexual, she replied, "Generally, I don't like to label myself... I want to find someone I'm passionate about, and I don't want to limit myself to one segment of the population."

During the 2008 presidential election campaign in the United States, O'Day supported Barack Obama for President. Earlier, before her departure from the group, she got Danity Kane's bar codes from their albums tattooed on the back of her neck.

She recently appeared in Silent Library

Discography

Albums

* TBA (2011)

Singles

* "Automatic" (2010)

source : wikipedia

Tahun (yang) tidak lagi baru.

Seperti hari yang terus berjalan, selalu ada yang terlewati ketika mimpi pelan-pelan buyar menjadi kenyataan. Menjadikan batas antara realitas dan khayalan menjadi semakin dekat. Apakah memang pekat akan terus menggantung?



Selalu ada harapan untuk hari yang baru. Selalu ada mimpi yang lain ketika satu mimpi telah tercapai. Bukankah itu yang membuat kita masih sanggup untuk menapak hari? Masih sanggup berjuang sekuat hati dan tenaga meraih segalanya.

Kini tahun tidak lagi baru. Dia hanya menjadi penanda. Pembatas yang dibuat oleh manusia. Untuk mengingatkan batas dan waktu. Bahwa semuanya terus berjalan, tanpa pernah menunggu siapapun.

Tahun lalu telah terlewati dengan penuh drama. Sebuah tahun yang penuh dengan keringat, perjuangan, kerja keras, dan mimpi yang pelan-pelan terwujud satu demi satu. Selalu ada harapan menanti dikala mentari pelan menyinari. Dengan harapan menjadi orang yang lebih baik lagi tahun ini. Semoga.

Image Source : TrekEarth