name	The New York Times
logo
type	Daily newspaper
format	Broadsheet
foundation	1851
price	US$1.25 Monday-SaturdayUS$4.00 SundayUS$4.00/5.00 Special Editions
owners	The New York Times Company
founders	Henry Jarvis RaymondGeorge Jones
political position
publisher	Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr.
editor	Bill Keller
maneditor	Jill AbramsonJohn M. Geddes
newseditor	Richard L. Berke
opeditor	Andrew Rosenthal
sportseditor	Tom Jolly
photoeditor	Michele McNally
staff	1,150 news department staff
circulation	876,638 daily1,352,358 Sunday
headquarters	The New York Times Building620 Eighth AvenueManhattan, New York
issn	0362-4331
oclc	1645522
website	}}

''The New York Times'' is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. ''The New York Times'' has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization. Its website is the most popular American online newspaper website, receiving more than 30 million unique visitors per month.

Although the print version of the paper remains both the largest local metropolitan newspaper in the United States, as well the third largest newspaper overall, behind ''The Wall Street Journal'' and ''USA Today'', its weekday circulation has fallen since 1990 (not unlike other newspapers) to fewer than one million copies daily, for the first time since the 1980s. Nicknamed "the Gray Lady", and long regarded within the industry as a national "newspaper of record", ''The New York Times'' is owned by The New York Times Company, which also publishes 18 other newspapers including the ''International Herald Tribune'' and ''The Boston Globe''. The company's chairman is Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., whose family has controlled the paper since 1896.

The paper's motto, printed in the upper left-hand corner of the front page, is "All the News That's Fit to Print." It is organized into sections: News, Opinions, Business, Arts, Science, Sports, Style, Home, and Features. ''The New York Times'' stayed with the eight-column format for several years after most papers switched to six columns, and it was one of the last newspapers to adopt color photography.

Access to the newspaper's online content is through a metered paywall. Frequent users (over 20 articles per month) have to purchase digital subscriptions, but access remains free for light users. There are apps to access content for various mobile devices, such as the iPhone and Android devices.

History

''The New York Times'' was founded on September 18, 1851, by journalist and politician Henry Jarvis Raymond, who was then a Whig and who would later be the second chairman of the Republican National Committee, and former banker George Jones as the ''New-York Daily Times''. Sold at an original price of one cent per copy, the inaugural edition attempted to address the various speculations on its purpose and positions that preceded its release:

The paper changed its name to ''The New York Times'' in 1857. The newspaper was originally published every day except Sunday, but on April 21, 1861, due to the demand for daily coverage of the Civil War, ''The New York Times,'' along with other major dailies, started publishing Sunday issues. One of the earliest public controversies in which the paper was involved was the Mortara Affair, an affair that was the object of 20 editorials in ''The New York Times'' alone.

The paper's influence grew during 1870–71, when it published a series of exposés of Boss Tweed that led to the end of the Tweed Ring's domination of New York's City Hall. In the 1880s, ''The New York Times'' transitioned from supporting Republican candidates to becoming politically independent; in 1884, the paper supported Democrat Grover Cleveland in his first presidential election. While this move hurt ''The New York Times'' readership, the paper regained most of its lost ground within a few years. ''The New York Times'' was acquired by Adolph Ochs, publisher of the ''Chattanooga Times'', in 1896. The following year, he coined the paper's slogan, "All The News That's Fit To Print"; this was a jab at competing papers such as Joseph Pulitzer's ''New York World'' and William Randolph Hearst's ''New York Journal'' which were known for lurid yellow journalism. Under his guidance, ''The New York Times'' achieved international scope, circulation, and reputation. In 1904, ''The New York Times'' received the first on-the-spot wireless transmission from a naval battle, a report of the destruction of the Russian fleet at the Battle of Port Arthur in the Yellow Sea from the press-boat ''Haimun'' during the Russo-Japanese war. In 1910, the first air delivery of ''The New York Times'' to Philadelphia began. ''The New York Times'' first trans-Atlantic delivery to London occurred in 1919. In 1920, a "4 A.M. Airplane Edition" was sent by plane to Chicago so it could be in the hands of Republican convention delegates by evening.

In the 1940s, the paper extended its breadth and reach. The crossword began appearing regularly in 1942, and the fashion section in 1946. ''The New York Times'' began an international edition in 1946. The international edition stopped publishing in 1967, when ''The New York Times'' joined the owners of the ''New York Herald Tribune'' and ''The Washington Post'' to publish the ''International Herald Tribune'' in Paris. The paper bought a classical radio station (WQXR) in 1946. In addition to owning WQXR, the newspaper also formerly owned its AM sister, WQEW (1560 AM). The classical music radio format was simulcast on both frequencies until the early 1990s, when the big-band and standards music format of WNEW-AM (now WBBR) moved from 1130 AM to 1560. The AM radio station changed its call letters from WQXR to WQEW. By the beginning of the 21st century, ''The New York Times'' was leasing WQEW to ABC Radio for its Radio Disney format, which continues on 1560 AM. Disney became the owner of WQEW in 2007. On July 14, 2009 it was announced that WQXR was to be sold to WNYC, who on October 8, 2009 moved the station to 105.9 FM and began to operate the station as a non-commercial. ''The New York Times'' is third in national circulation, after ''USA Today'' and ''The Wall Street Journal''. The newspaper is owned by The New York Times Company, in which descendants of Adolph Ochs, principally the Sulzberger family, maintain a dominant role. , the paper reported a circulation of 906,100 copies on weekdays and 1,356,800 copies on Sundays. According to a 2009 ''The New York Times'' article circulation has dropped 7.3 percent to about 928,000; this is the first time since the 1980s that it has fallen under one million. In the New York City metropolitan area, the paper costs $2 Monday through Saturday and $5 on Sunday. ''The New York Times'' has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper.

In 2009, ''The New York Times'' began production of local inserts in regions outside of the New York area. Beginning October 16, 2009, a two-page "Bay Area" insert was added to copies of the Northern California edition on Fridays and Sundays. ''The New York Times'' commenced production of a similar Friday and Sunday insert to the Chicago edition on November 20, 2009. The inserts consist of local news, policy, sports, and culture pieces, usually supported by local advertisements.

In addition to its New York City headquarters, ''The New York Times'' has 10 news bureaus in New York State, 11 national news bureaus and 26 foreign news bureaus. ''The New York Times'' reduced its page width to from on August 6, 2007, adopting the width that has become the U.S. newspaper industry standard.

Because of its steadily declining sales attributed to the rise of online alternative media and social media, ''The New York Times'' has been going through a downsizing for several years, offering buyouts to workers and cutting expenses, in common with a general trend among print newsmedia.

The newspaper's first building was located at 113 Nassau Street in New York City. In 1854, it moved to 138 Nassau Street, and in 1858 it moved to 41 Park Row, making it the first newspaper in New York City housed in a building built specifically for its use. The paper moved its headquarters to 1475 Broadway in 1904, in an area called Long Acre Square, that was renamed to Times Square. The top of the building is the site of the New Year's Eve tradition of lowering a lighted ball, that was started by the paper. The building is also notable for its electronic news ticker, where headlines crawled around the outside of the building. It is still in use, but is not operated by ''The New York Times''. After nine years in Times Square, an Annex was built at 229 West 43rd Street. After several expansions, it became the company's headquarters in 1913, and the building on Broadway was sold in 1961. Until June 2007, ''The New York Times'', from which Times Square gets its name, was published at offices at West 43rd Street. It stopped printing papers there on June 15, 1997.

The newspaper remained at that location until June 2007, when it moved three blocks south to 620 Eighth Avenue between West 40th and 41st Streets, in Manhattan. The new headquarters for the newspaper, The New York Times Building, is a skyscraper designed by Renzo Piano.

''Times v. Sullivan''

The paper's involvement in a 1964 libel case helped bring one of the key United States Supreme Court decisions supporting freedom of the press, ''New York Times Co. v. Sullivan''. In it, the United States Supreme Court established the "actual malice" standard for press reports about public officials or public figures to be considered defamatory or libelous. The malice standard requires the plaintiff in a defamation or libel case prove the publisher of the statement knew the statement was false or acted in reckless disregard of its truth or falsity. Because of the high burden of proof on the plaintiff, and difficulty in proving what is inside a person's head, such cases by public figures rarely succeed.

The Pentagon Papers

In 1971, the Pentagon Papers, a secret United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political and military involvement in the Vietnam War from 1945 to 1971, were given ("leaked") to Neil Sheehan of ''The New York Times'' by former State Department official Daniel Ellsberg, with his friend Anthony Russo assisting in copying them. ''The New York Times'' began publishing excerpts as a series of articles on June 13. Controversy and lawsuits followed. The papers revealed, among other things, that the government had deliberately expanded its role in the war by conducting air strikes over Laos, raids along the coast of North Vietnam, and offensive actions taken by U.S. Marines well before the public was told about the actions, and while President Lyndon B. Johnson had been promising not to expand the war. The document increased the credibility gap for the U.S. government, and hurt efforts by the Nixon administration to fight the on-going war.

When ''The New York Times'' began publishing its series, President Richard Nixon became incensed. His words to National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger included "people have gotta be put to the torch for this sort of thing..." and "let's get the son-of-a-bitch in jail." After failing to get ''The New York Times'' to stop publishing, Attorney General John Mitchell and President Nixon obtained a federal court injunction that ''The New York Times'' cease publication of excerpts. The newspaper appealed and the case began working through the court system. On June 18, 1971, ''The Washington Post'' began publishing its own series. Ben Bagdikian, a ''Post'' editor, had obtained portions of the papers from Ellsberg. That day the ''Post'' received a call from the Assistant Attorney General, William Rehnquist, asking them to stop publishing. When the ''Post'' refused, the U.S. Justice Department sought another injunction. The U.S. District court judge refused, and the government appealed. On June 26, 1971 the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take both cases, merging them into ''New York Times Co. v. United States'' 403 US 713. On June 30, 1971, the Supreme Court held in a 6–3 decision that the injunctions were unconstitutional prior restraints and that the government had not met the burden of proof required. The justices wrote nine separate opinions, disagreeing on significant substantive issues. While it was generally seen as a victory for those who claim the First Amendment enshrines an absolute right to free speech, many felt it a lukewarm victory, offering little protection for future publishers when claims of national security were at stake.

Discrimination in employment

Discriminatory practices restricting women in editorial positions were part of the history, correlating with effects on the journalism published at the time. The newspaper's first general woman reporter was Jane Grant, who described her experience afterwards. She wrote, "In the beginning I was charged not to reveal the fact that a female had been hired". Other reporters nicknamed her Fluff and she was subjected to considerable hazing. Because of her gender, promotions were out of the question, according to the then-managing editor. She was there for fifteen years, interrupted by World War I.

In 1935, Anne McCormick wrote to Arthur Hays Sulzberger, "I hope you won't expect me to revert to 'woman's-point-of-view' stuff." Later, she interviewed major political leaders and appears to have had easier access than her colleagues did. "Even those who witnessed her in action were unable to explain how she got the interviews she did." Said Clifton Daniel, "[After World War II,] I'm sure [chancellor of West Germany Konrad] Adenauer called her up and invited her to lunch. She never had to grovel for an appointment." Covering world leaders' speeches after World War II at the National Press Club was limited to men, by a Club rule. When women were eventually allowed in to hear the speeches, they still were not allowed to ask the speakers questions, although men were allowed and did ask, even though some of the women had won Pulitzer Prizes for prior work. ''Times'' reporter Maggie Hunter refused to return to the Club after covering one speech on assignment. Nan Robertson's article on the Union Stock Yards, Chicago, was read aloud as anonymous by a professor, who then said, "'It will come as a surprise to you, perhaps, that the reporter is a ''girl,''' he began... [G]asps; amazement in the ranks. 'She had used all her senses, not just her eyes, to convey the smell and feel of the stockyards. She chose a difficult subject, an offensive subject. Her imagery was strong enough to revolt you.'" ''The New York Times'' hired Kathleen McLaughlin after ten years at the Chicago Tribune, where "[s]he did a series on maids, going out herself to apply for housekeeping jobs."

Ownership

The Ochs-Sulzberger family, one of the United States' newspaper dynasties, has owned ''The New York Times'' since 1896. After the publisher went public in the 1960s, the family continued to exert control through its ownership of the vast majority of Class B voting shares. Class A shareholders are permitted restrictive voting rights while Class B shareholders are allowed open voting rights. Dual-class structures caught on in the mid-20th century as families such as the Grahams of The Washington Post Company sought to gain access to public capital without losing control. Dow Jones & Co., publisher of ''The Wall Street Journal'', had a similar structure and was controlled by the Bancroft family; the company was later bought by the News Corporation in 2007.

The Ochs-Sulzberger family trust controls roughly 88 percent of the company's class B shares. Any alteration to the dual-class structure must be ratified by six of eight directors who sit on the board of the Ochs-Sulzberger family trust. The Trust board members are Daniel H. Cohen, James M. Cohen, Lynn G. Dolnick, Susan W. Dryfoos, Michael Golden, Eric M. A. Lax, Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr. and Cathy J. Sulzberger.

Turner Catledge, the top editor at ''The New York Times'' for almost two decades, wanted to hide the ownership influence. Sulzberger routinely wrote memos to his editor, each containing suggestions, instructions, complaints, and orders. When Catledge would receive these memos he would erase the publisher's identity before passing them to his subordinates. Catledge thought that if he removed the publisher's name from the memos it would protect reporters from feeling pressured by the owner.

Content

Sections

The newspaper is organized in three sections, including the magazine. # News: Includes International, National, Washington, Business, Technology, Science, Health, Sports, The Metro Section, Education, Weather, and Obituaries. # Opinion: Includes Editorials, Op-Eds and Letters to the Editor. # Features: Includes Arts, Movies, Theatre, Travel, NYC Guide, Dining & Wine, Home & Garden, Fashion & Style, Crossword, ''The New York Times Book Review'', ''The New York Times Magazine'', and Sunday Review.

Some sections, such as Metro, are only found in the editions of the paper distributed in the New York–New Jersey–Connecticut Tri-State Area and not in the national or Washington, D.C. editions. Aside from a weekly roundup of reprints of editorial cartoons from other newspapers, ''The New York Times'' does not have its own staff editorial cartoonist, nor does it feature a comics page or Sunday comics section. In September 2008, ''The New York Times'' announced that it would be combining certain sections effective October 6, 2008, in editions printed in the New York metropolitan area. The changes folded the Metro Section into the main International / National news section and combined Sports and Business (except Saturday through Monday, when Sports is still printed as a standalone section). This change also included having the name of the Metro section be called New York outside of the Tri-State Area. The presses used by ''The New York Times'' allow four sections to be printed simultaneously; as the paper had included more than four sections all days except Saturday, the sections had to be printed separately in an early press run and collated together. The changes will allow ''The New York Times'' to print in four sections Monday through Wednesday, in addition to Saturday. ''The New York Times'' announcement stated that the number of news pages and employee positions will remain unchanged, with the paper realizing cost savings by cutting overtime expenses. According to Russ Stanton, editor of the ''Los Angeles Times'', a competitor, the newsroom of ''The New York Times'' is twice the size of the ''Los Angeles Times'', which currently has a newsroom of 600.

Style

When referring to people, ''The New York Times'' generally uses honorifics, rather than unadorned last names (except in the sports pages, Book Review and Magazine). It stayed with an eight-column format until September 1976, years after other papers had switched to six, and it was one of the last newspapers to adopt color photography, with the first color photograph on the front page appearing on October 16, 1997. In the absence of a major headline, the day's most important story generally appears in the top-right hand column, on the main page. The typefaces used for the headlines are custom variations of Cheltenham. The running text is set at 8.7 point Imperial.

Joining a roster of other major American newspapers in recent years, including ''USA Today'', ''The Wall Street Journal'' and ''The Washington Post'', ''The New York Times'' announced on July 18, 2006, that it would be narrowing the size of its paper by one and a half inches. In an era of dwindling circulation and significant advertising revenue losses for most print versions of American newspapers, the move, which was also announced would result in a 5 percent reduction in news coverage, would have a target savings of $12 million a year for the paper. The change from the traditional broadsheet style to a more compact 48-inch web width was addressed by both Executive Editor Bill Keller and ''The New York Times'' President Scott Heekin-Canedy in memos to the staff. Keller defended the "more reader-friendly" move indicating that in cutting out the "flabby or redundant prose in longer pieces" the reduction would make for a better paper. Similarly, Keller confronted the challenges of covering news with "less room" by proposing more "rigorous editing" and promised an ongoing commitment to "hard-hitting, ground-breaking journalism". The official change went into effect on August 6, 2007.

''The New York Times'' printed a display advertisement on its first page on January 6, 2009, breaking tradition at the paper. The advertisement for CBS was in color and was the entire width of the page. The newspaper promised it would place first-page advertisements on only the lower half of the page.

Reputation and awards

It maintains bureaus across a large platform of politically and socially important locations. ''The New York Times'' has established links regionally with 16 bureaus in New York State, nationally, with 11 bureaus within the United States, and globally, with 26 foreign news bureaus.

The recipient of 106 Pulitzer Prizes, ''The New York Times'' won three awards in the 2010 version of the proceedings. Sheri Fink was awarded the best investigative report; given for her piece on the reaction and dedication of a hospital after Hurricane Katrina. Michael Moss was recognised for his contribution to explanatory reporting and ensuing policy, given for his coverage of the trials experienced a young salmonella victim paralysed by ''E. coli''. His article led to significant changes in federal regulation on the matter. Matt Richtel was also credited for his article on the dangerous effects of using a cellphone while driving.

Web presence

''The New York Times'' has had a strong presence on the Web since 1996, and has been ranked one of the top Web sites. Accessing some articles requires registration, though this could be bypassed in some cases through ''Times'' RSS feeds. The website had 555 million pageviews in March 2005. The domain ''nytimes.com'' attracted at least 146 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com study. ''The New York Times'' Web site ranks 59th by number of unique visitors, with over 20 million unique visitors in March 2009 making it the most visited newspaper site with more than twice the number of unique visitors as the next most popular site. Also, , nytimes.com produced 22 of the 50 most popular newspaper blogs.

In September 2005, the paper decided to begin subscription-based service for daily columns in a program known as ''TimesSelect'', which encompassed many previously free columns. Until being discontinued two years later, ''TimesSelect'' cost $7.95 per month or $49.95 per year, though it was free for print copy subscribers and university students and faculty. To work around this, bloggers often reposted TimesSelect material, and at least one site once compiled links of reprinted material. On September 17, 2007, ''The New York Times'' announced that it would stop charging for access to parts of its Web site, effective at midnight the following day, reflecting a growing view in the industry that subscription fees cannot outweigh the potential ad revenue from increased traffic on a free site. In addition to opening almost the entire site to all readers, ''The New York Times'' news archives from 1987 to the present are available at no charge, as well as those from 1851 to 1922, which are in the public domain. Access to the ''Premium Crosswords'' section continues to require either home delivery or a subscription for $6.95 per month or $39.95 per year. ''Times'' columnists including Nicholas Kristof and Thomas Friedman had criticized ''TimesSelect'', with Friedman going so far as to say "I hate it. It pains me enormously because it's cut me off from a lot, a lot of people, especially because I have a lot of people reading me overseas, like in India ... I feel totally cut off from my audience."

The newspaper's publisher announced on March 17, 2011, that starting on March 28, 2011 (March 17, 2011 for Canada), it would charge frequent readers for access to its online content. "Visitors can enjoy 20 free articles (including blog posts, slide shows, video and other multimedia features) each calendar month on NYTimes.com, as well as unrestricted access to browse the home page, section fronts, blog fronts and classifieds." The paywall and digital subscriptions started globally on March 28, 2011 (Canada on March 17), and cost from $15 to $35 per four weeks depending on the package selected. Home delivery subscribers to the print edition of ''The New York Times'' or ''The International Herald Tribune'' receive full and free access to online content without any added charge.

''The New York Times'' was made available on the iPhone and iPod Touch in 2008, and on the iPad mobile devices in 2010.

''The New York Times'' is also the first newspaper to offer a video game as part of its editorial content, ''Food Import Folly'' by Persuasive Games.

reCAPTCHA is currently helping to digitize old editions of ''The New York Times''.

Mobile presence

The ''Times Reader'' is a digital version of ''The New York Times''. It was created via a collaboration between the newspaper and Microsoft. ''Times Reader'' takes the principles of print journalism and applies them to the technique of online reporting. ''Times Reader'' uses a series of technologies developed by Microsoft and their Windows Presentation Foundation team. It was announced in Seattle in April 2006 by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., Bill Gates, and Tom Bodkin. In 2009 the ''Times Reader'' 2.0 was rewritten in Adobe Air.

In 2008, ''The New York Times'' created an app for the iPhone and iPod touch which allowed users to download articles to their mobile device enabling them to read the paper even when they were unable to receive a signal. In April 2010, ''The New York Times'' announced it will begin publishing daily content through an iPad app. , ''The New York Times'' iPad app is ad-supported and available for free without a paid subscription, but will transition to a subscription-based model in 2011.

In 2010, the New York Times also launched an App for Android smartphones.

In Moscow

Communication with its Russian readers is a special project of ''The New York Times'' launched in February 2008, guided by Clifford J. Levy. Some ''Times'' articles covering the broad spectrum of political and social topics in Russia are being translated into Russian and offered for the attention of Russia's bloggers in ''The New York Times'' community blog. After that, selected responses of Russian bloggers are being translated into English and published at ''The New York Times'' site among comments from English readers.

Pricing

The newspaper's publisher announced on March 17, 2011, that starting on March 28, 2011 (March 17, 2011 for Canada), it would charge frequent readers for access to its online content. Readers would be able to access up to 20 articles each month without charge. However any reader that wanted to access more would have to pay for a digital subscription. This plan would allow free access for occasional readers, but produce revenue from heavy readers. Depending on the package selected, digital subscriptions rates for four weeks range from $15 to $35. Subscribers to the print edition of the newspaper would get full access without any additional fee. Some content, such as the front page and the section fronts will remain free, as well as the Top News page on mobile apps.

The NYTimes.com paywall, which reportedly required millions of dollars to design, was dismissed by some sources as "plain vanilla" and easily circumvented. Soon after it was announced, a Canadian developer announced the creation of a bookmarklet, NYTClean, featuring four lines of code that would allow unlimited access to the website. Subsequently, the New York Times threatened legal action on the grounds that the bookmarklet's name was a trademark violation.

Missed print dates

Due to strikes, the regular edition of ''The New York Times'' was not printed during the following periods:

December 9, 1962 to March 31, 1963. Only a western edition was printed.

September 17, 1965 to October 10, 1965. An international edition was printed, and a weekend edition replaced the Saturday and Sunday papers.

August 10, 1978 to November 5, 1978. A multi-union strike shut down the three major New York City newspapers. No editions of ''The New York Times'' were printed. Two months into the strike, a parody of ''The New York Times'' called ''Not The New York Times'' was given out in New York, with contributors such as Carl Bernstein, Christopher Cerf, Tony Hendra and George Plimpton.

No editions were printed on January 2 of 1852–1853 and of 1862–1867. No editions were printed on July 5 of 1861–1865.

Issues over coverage

Political persuasion overall

''The New York Times'' has been variously described as having a liberal bias or described as being a liberal newspaper.

According to a 2007 survey by Rasmussen Reports of public perceptions of major media outlets, 40% believe ''The New York Times'' has a liberal slant and 11% believe it has a conservative slant. In December 2004 a University of California, Los Angeles study gave ''The New York Times'' a score of 73.7 on a 100 point scale, with 0 being most conservative and 100 being most liberal. The validity of the study has been questioned by various organizations, including the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters for America. In mid-2004, the newspaper's then public editor (ombudsman), Daniel Okrent, wrote a piece in which he concluded that ''The New York Times'' did have a liberal bias in coverage of certain social issues such as gay marriage. He stated that this bias reflected the paper's cosmopolitanism, which arose naturally from its roots as a hometown paper of New York City. Okrent did not comment at length on the issue of bias in coverage of "hard news", such as fiscal policy, foreign policy, or civil liberties, but did state that the paper's coverage of the Iraq war was insufficiently critical of the George W. Bush administration.

On nations and ethnicities

Iraq War

Reporter Judith Miller retired after criticisms that her reporting of the lead-up to the Iraq War was factually inaccurate and overtly favorable to the Bush administration's position, for which ''The New York Times'' was forced to apologize. One of Miller's prime sources was Ahmed Chalabi, who after the U.S. occupation became the interim oil minister of Iraq and is now head of the Iraqi Services Committee. However, reporter Michael R. Gordon, who shared byline credit with Miller on some of the early Iraq stories, continues to report on military affairs for ''The New York Times''

Israel and the Palestinians

For its coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, some have claimed that the paper is pro-Palestinian; and others have claimed that it is pro-Israel. A controversial book, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, by political science professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, alleges that ''The New York Times'' sometimes criticizes Israeli policies but is not even-handed and is generally pro-Israel. On the other hand, the Simon Wiesenthal Center has criticized ''The New York Times'' for printing cartoons regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that were claimed to be anti-Semitic.

''The New York Times'' public editor Clark Hoyt concluded in his January 10, 2009, column, "Though the most vociferous supporters of Israel and the Palestinians do not agree, I think ''The New York Times'', largely barred from the battlefield and reporting amid the chaos of war, has tried its best to do a fair, balanced and complete job — and has largely succeeded."

Central America in 1980s

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, a progressive media criticism organization, has accused ''The New York Times'' of following the "Reagan administration's PR strategy" in the 1980s by "emphasizing repressive measures in Nicaragua [by the leftist Sandinista government] and downplaying or ignoring more serious human rights abuses elsewhere in Central America" (namely in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, countries with governments backed by the Reagan administration).

World War II

On November 14, 2001, in ''The New York Times'' 150th anniversary issue, former executive editor Max Frankel wrote that before and during World War II, the ''Times'' had maintained a consistent policy to minimize reports on the Holocaust in their news pages. Laurel Leff, associate professor of journalism at Northeastern University, concluded that the newspaper had downplayed the Third Reich targeting of Jews for genocide. Her 2005 book "''Buried by the Times''" documents the NYT's tendency before, during and after World War II to place deep inside its daily editions the news stories about the ongoing persecution and extermination of Jews, while obscuring in those stories the special impact of the Nazis' crimes on Jews in particular. Professor Leff attributes this dearth in part to the complex personal and political views of the newspaper's Jewish publisher, Arthur Hays Sulzberger, concerning jewishness, anti-semitism, and zionism.

During the war, ''Times'' journalist William L. Laurence was "on the payroll of the War Department". Another serious charge is the accusation that ''The New York Times'', through its coverage of the Soviet Union by correspondent Walter Duranty, intentionally downplayed the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s.

Ethics incidents

In May 2003, ''Times'' reporter Jayson Blair was forced to resign from the newspaper after he was caught plagiarizing and fabricating elements of his stories. Some critics contended that Blair's race was a major factor in ''The New York Times'' initial reluctance to fire him.

Suzanne Smalley of ''Newsweek'' criticized The ''Times'' for its "credulous" coverage of the charges of rape against Duke lacrosse players. Stuart Taylor, Jr. and KC Johnson, in their book ''Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case'', write: "at the head of the guilt-presuming pack, ''The New York Times'' vied in a race to the journalistic bottom with trash-TV talk shows."

In the mid to late 1950s, "fashion writer[s]... were required to come up every month with articles whose total column-inches reflected the relative advertising strength of every ["department" or "specialty"] store ["assigned" to a writer]... The monitor of all this was... the advertising director [of the ''Times'']... " However, within this requirement, story ideas may have been the reporters' and editors' own.

In February 2009, a ''Village Voice'' music blogger accused the newspaper of using "chintzy, ad-hominem allegations" in an article on British Tamil music artist M.I.A. concerning her activism against the Sinhala-Tamil conflict in Sri Lanka. M.I.A. criticized the paper in January 2010 after a travel piece rated post-conflict Sri Lanka the "#1 place to go in 2010". In June 2010, ''The New York Times Magazine'' published a correction on its cover article of M.I.A., acknowledging that the interview conducted by current ''W'' editor and then ''Times Magazine'' contributor Lynn Hirschberg contained a recontextualization of two quotes. In response to the piece, M.I.A. broadcasted Hirschberg's phone number and secret audio recordings from the interview via her Twitter and website.

See also

List of newspapers in the United States

List of Pulitzer Prizes awarded to The New York Times

List of The New York Times employees

Periodical publication

The New York Times Best Seller list

New York Times Index

References

External links

New York Times Timeline 2001 – present at The New York Times Company

"Talk to the Newsroom: Executive Editor", ''The New York Times'', January 28, 2009

The New York Times Index 1915

The New York Times Index Vol 6 Issues 1-2 Jan-Mar 1918

The New York Times Index Vol 8 Issue 4 Oct-Dec 1920

The New York Times Index Vol 9 Issue 2 Apr-June 1921

The New York Times Index Vol 10 Issue 1 Jan-Mar 1922

Category:Investigative news sources Category:Media in New York City Category:National newspapers published in the United States Category:Newspapers published in New York City Category:Publications established in 1851 Category:Pulitzer Prize winning newspapers Category:Worth Bingham Prize recipients

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name	Jennifer Lopez
background	solo_singer
birth name	Jennifer Lynn Lopez
alias	J.Lo
birth date	}}

| origin = | genre = Pop, R&B; | occupation = Actress, singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, television personality, fashion designer, television producer | years_active = 1986, 1991–present | label = Epic, Island, Work | website = }} Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969) is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, fashion designer, and television producer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program ''In Living Color''. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller ''Money Train''. Her first leading role was in the biographical film ''Selena'' (1997), in which she earned an ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress. She earned her second ALMA Award for her performance in ''Out of Sight'' (1998). She has since starred in various films, including ''The Wedding Planner'' (2001), ''Maid in Manhattan'' (2002), ''Shall We Dance?'' (2004), ''Monster-in-Law'' (2005), and ''The Back-up Plan'' (2010).

Lopez came to prominence within the music industry following the release of her debut studio album ''On the 6'' (1999), which spawned the number one hit single "If You Had My Love". Her second studio album, ''J.Lo'' (2001), was a commercial success, selling eight million copies worldwide. ''J to tha L–O!: The Remixes'' (2002) became her second consecutive album to debut at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, while her third and fourth studio albums – ''This Is Me... Then'' (2002) and ''Rebirth'' (2005) – peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200. In 2007 she released two albums, including her first full Spanish-language album, ''Como ama una Mujer'', and her fifth English studio album, ''Brave''. Lopez returned to music and released her seventh studio album, titled ''Love?'', on April 19, 2011. Its single, "On the Floor", has impacted charts worldwide. Her contributions to the music industry have garnered her numerous achievements, including two Grammy Award nominations; two Latin Grammy Award nominations; three American Music Awards, amongst six nominations; and the estimated sale of over 55 million records worldwide. ''Billboard'' ranked her as the 27th Artist of the 2000s decade. Lopez is currently a member of the judging panel of American reality television competition ''American Idol''.

She led ''People en Español''s list of "100 Most Influential Hispanics" in February 2007. She has parlayed her media fame into a fashion line and various perfumes with her celebrity endorsement. A fashion icon, several of her dresses have received considerable media attention, most notably the Jungle green Versace dress which she wore at the 43rd Grammy Awards in 2000—voted the fifth most iconic dress of all time. Outside of her work in the entertainment industry, Lopez advocates for human rights and vaccinations, and is a supporter of Children's Hospital Los Angeles. In 2011 she was named the most "Beautiful Person" by ''People'' magazine in its annual issue.

Early life

Jennifer Lopez was born on July 24, 1969, in the Bronx, New York, and was raised on Blackrock Avenue in the borough's Castle Hill neighborhood. She is the daughter of Puerto Rican parents Guadalupe (née Rodríguez), a kindergarten teacher, and David Lopez, a computer specialist, both born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Lopez was raised as a Roman Catholic. She has two siblings, Lynda and Leslie. Lopez spent her entire academic career in Catholic schools, finishing at the all-girls Preston High School in the Bronx. She financed singing and dancing lessons for herself from the age of 19. After attending Baruch College for one semester, Lopez divided her time between working as a notary public in a legal office, dance classes, and dance performances in Manhattan night clubs. She had a small part in the 1987 film ''My Little Girl'' at the age of sixteen. After months of auditioning for dance roles, Lopez was selected as a dancer for various rap music videos, a 1990 episode of ''Yo! MTV Raps'', and as a backup dancer for the New Kids on the Block and their performance of their song "Games" for the American Music Awards in 1991. She gained her first regular high-profile job as a "Fly Girl" dancer on the television comedy program ''In Living Color'' from 1991–1993. Soon after, Lopez became a backup dancer for Janet Jackson and made an appearance in her 1993 video "That's the Way Love Goes".

Music career

1999–01: ''On the 6'' and ''J.Lo''

Lopez's debut album ''On the 6'', a reference to the 6 subway line she used to take growing up in Castle Hill was released on June 1, 1999, and reached the top ten of the ''Billboard'' 200. The album featured the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one lead single, "If You Had My Love", as well as the top ten hit "Waiting for Tonight". The album also featured a Spanish language, Latin-flavored duet "No Me Ames" with Marc Anthony (who later would become her husband.) Though "No Me Ames" never had a commercial release, it reached number one on the U.S. Hot Latin Tracks. ''On the 6'' featured guest artists such as Big Pun and Fat Joe on the track "Feelin' So Good", which had moderate success on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Let's Get Loud", the final single, earned Lopez a Grammy Award nomination in the "Best Dance Recording" category in 2001 Grammy Awards. "Waiting for Tonight" was nominated for the same category the previous year. "No Me Ames" received two nominations at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards – "Best Pop Duo/Group with Vocal Performance" and "Best Music Video".

Lopez's second album, ''J.Lo'', was released on January 23, 2001 and debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200. This album was more urban oriented than ''On the 6''. When Lopez film ''The Wedding Planner'', a film in which Lopez falls in love with the groom of the wedding she is planning, achieved number one shortly after, Lopez become the first actress-singer to have a film and an album at number one in the same week. The lead single, "Love Don't Cost a Thing", was her first number-one single in the United Kingdom and took her into the top five on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. She followed it up with "Play" which gave her another top 20 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and reached number three in the UK. Her next two singles were "I'm Real" and "Ain't It Funny" which were quickly rising up the charts. To capitalize on this, Lopez asked The Inc. Records (then known as Murder Inc.) to remix both songs, which featured rap artists Ja Rule (on both) and Cadillac Tah (on the "Ain't It Funny" remix). Both remixes reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for several weeks. She re-released ''J. Lo'' on her 32nd birthday with the remix of "I'm Real" as a bonus track. Also, "Si Ya Se Acabó" was released in Spain, due to the success "Que Ironia." In 2001, Lopez performed on tour on the ''Let's Get Loud "Live in Puerto Rico" Concert''.

2002–04: ''J to tha L–O!: The Remixes'' and ''This Is Me... Then''

Following the success of the re-release of ''J. Lo'', Lopez decided to devote an entire album to the remixing effort, releasing ''J to tha L–O!: The Remixes'', on February 5, 2002. This album debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, becoming the first remix album in history to debut at the top on the chart. Featured artists on ''J to tha L-O!: The Remixes'' included P. Diddy, Fat Joe, and Nas, and the album included rare dance and hip hop remixes of past singles. It is the fourth all-time biggest-selling remix album in history, after Michael Jackson's ''Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix'', The Beatles' ''Love'' and Madonna's ''You Can Dance''.

Lopez released her third studio album, ''This Is Me... Then'', on November 26, 2002 which reached number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 and spawned four singles: "Jenny from the Block" (featuring Jadakiss and Styles P), which reached number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100; "All I Have" (featuring LL Cool J), which spent multiple weeks at number one; "I'm Glad"; and "Baby I Love U!". The album included a cover of Carly Simon's 1978 "You Belong to Me". The video for "I'm Glad" recreated scenes from the 1983 film ''Flashdance'', leading to a lawsuit over copyright infringement, which was later dismissed.

2005–08: ''Rebirth'', ''Como ama una Mujer'' and ''Brave''

After a year away from the music scene, Lopez released her fourth studio album, ''Rebirth'', on March 1, 2005. Although debuting and peaking at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200, the album quickly fell off the charts. It spawned the hit "Get Right", which reached the top 15 in the U.S. and became her second Platinum hit (after "If You Had My Love"). "Get Right" was also successful in the UK, becoming her second number-one single there. The second single, "Hold You Down", which featured Fat Joe, reached number 64 on the U.S. Hot 100; it peaked at number six in the UK and ascended to the top 20 in Australia. Another song, "Cherry Pie", was slated for a release in late 2005, but the plans to make a video were canceled. It was released to radio stations in Spain. ''Rebirth'' was certified Platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA. Lopez was then featured on LL Cool J's single "Control Myself", which was released on February 1, 2006. It reached number four on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart. It was Lopez's first U.S. top ten hit in three years. Rebirth has had most success in the UK, where overall most of her singles have reached the top five.

Lopez officially released her first full Spanish-language album, ''Como ama una Mujer'', in March 2007. Her husband, singer Marc Anthony, produced the album with Estefano, except for "Qué Hiciste", which Anthony co-produced with Julio Reyes. The album peaked at number ten on the ''Billboard'' 200, number one on the U.S. Top Latin Albums for four straight weeks and on the U.S. Latin Pop Albums for seven straight weeks. The album did well in Europe peaking at number three on the albums chart, mainly due to the big success in countries like Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Greece, Germany, Austria, and Portugal. On July 24, 2007 ''Billboard'' magazine reported that Lopez and husband Marc Anthony would "co-headline" a worldwide tour called "Juntos en Concierto" starting in New Jersey on September 29. Tickets went on sale August 10. The tour was a mix of her current music, older tunes and Spanish music. In a later press release, Lopez announced a detailed itinerary. The tour launched September 28, 2007 at the Mark G. Etess Arena and ended on November 7, 2007 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. The lead single, "Qué Hiciste" (Spanish for "What Did You Do"), was officially released to radio stations in January 2007. Since then, it has peaked at 86 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number one on the Hot Latin Songs and the Hot Dance Club Play. It also went top ten on the European chart. The video for the song was the first Spanish-language video to peak at number one on MTV's ''Total Request Live'' daily countdown. The second single released is called "Me Haces Falta" and the third is "Por Arriesgarnos". Lopez won an American Music Award as the Favorite Latin Artist in 2007. With ''Como ama una Mujer'', Jennifer Lopez is one of the few performers to debut in the top 10 of the ''Billboard'' 200 with a Spanish album.

Lopez released her fifth English studio album (sixth studio album overall) ''Brave'' on October 9, 2007, six months after ''Como Ama una Mujer'' was released. She collaborated with producers Midi Mafia, J. R. Rotem, Lynn and Wade and Ryan Tedder, with Rotem working on some tracks with writing partner Evan "Kidd" Bogart. Earlier, on August 26, 2007, ABC premiered a promo for the fourth season of ''Desperate Housewives'', featuring a snippet of the song "Mile in These Shoes". "Do It Well" was released as the lead single and reached the top 20 in many countries. "Hold It, Don't Drop It" was released as the second single in certain European territories only. The third single was set to be the title track "Brave", and it was even posted on director Michael Haussman's official website that filming of the music video for the song had completed, however, the release of "Brave" as a single was eventually scrapped, most likely due to low album sales.

2009–present: Departure from Sony and ''Love?''

From her 2007 pregnancy Lopez had been writing her seventh studio album, ''Love?''; release had been planned for Summer 2010. It features productions from Danja, Jim Jonsin, Darkchild, Chris n Teeb (from Dropzone), Tricky Stewart, The-Dream, D'Mile Mike Caren, Jean Baptiste and The Neptunes. A song titled "Fresh Out the Oven" featuring Miami rapper Pitbull surfaced online in October 2009 but her record label said that it was simply a buzz single. It has since topped the Hot Dance Club Songs chart. The project's official lead single, "Louboutins", had its radio debut on November 23, 2009, following the song's premiere and performance at the 2009 American Music Awards. The song only managed to enter the ''Hot Dance Club Play'' chart six weeks after release and reaching number 1, however, it failed to enter any other chart, including the ''Billboard Hot 100''. In late February 2010, it was confirmed that Lopez and Epic Records have parted ways.

Lopez's manager, Benny Medina confirmed the news saying "Jennifer had a wonderful relationship with the Sony Music Group, and they have shared many successes together, but the time was right to make a change that best serves the direction of her career as an actress and recording artist, she is grateful and appreciative to everyone at Sony for all that they accomplished together." Lopez later released a statement to the media where she said that she had already completed her contractual obligations with Sony Music Entertainment and Epic Records and decided it was for the best to end the partnership on amicable terms. She added that she found a new "home" [record label] for the album 'Love?' and it will be coming out Summer 2010. Shortly after being spotted talking to Island Def Jam Music Group's chairman and CEO L.A. Reid, it was confirmed on March 19, 2010 that Lopez signed with Island Def Jam, and is working on new material for ''Love?'' with RedZone Entertainment (Kuk Harrell, The-Dream and Tricky Stewart). In January 2011, Lopez released a new lead single titled "On the Floor" featuring Pitbull, it achieved worldwide success on the charts, peaking at No. 3 on the ''Billboard Hot 100'', giving Lopez her first top ten on the chart since "All I Have" in 2003. The album ''Love?'' was released on May 3, 2011.

Other work

''American Idol''

In June 2010, following the departure of Ellen DeGeneres from ''American Idol'', it was reported that Lopez was in talks to join season ten's judging panel. However, it was then reported that Lopez was out of the running due to "outrageous demands", something which returning ''Idol'' producer, Nigel Lythgoe responded to by saying "[Jennifer] is in no way a diva, I've worked with her on quite a few occasions and I have never yet seen her be a diva." He did not confirm or deny reports of the contract negotiations between Lopez and the other ''Idol'' producers. It was then revealed then reported that both Lopez and husband, Marc Anthony, were being considering for a role on ''The X Factor'' for their appeal to 'Latin' and 'International' markets. Lopez's involvement in ''The X Factor'' was ruled out when the media reported that she had accepted an offer to become a judge on season ten of ''Idol'', despite being offered roles on both shows. The announcement was made official on September 22, 2010. MTV said "the deal was mutually beneficial to all those involved" whilst CNN reported that Lopez was viewing it as a decision to revive her career while ''Idol'' producers believe Lopez and Steven Tyler's appointments will strengthen viewing figures. Alongside this, Brad Falchuk, executive producer of the music-based series ''Glee'', confirmed that Lopez had entered discussions to appear in the next season of ''Glee'' as a cafeteria worker.

Acting career

Lopez's first television job as an actress was on the Fox series ''South Central''. She also made guest appearances in ''Second Chances'' and ''Hotel Malibu''. She then appeared in the made-for-television film ''Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7''. Lopez's first serious screen role was in Gregory Nava's 1995 drama ''My Family'', playing the character of Young Maria in the 1920s. After starring alongside Jimmy Smits and Edward James Olmos in ''My Family'', Lopez starred in the action film ''Money Train'' opposite Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. In 1996, she reportedly beat out Ashley Judd and Lauren Holly for the supporting role in Francis Ford Coppola's 1996 comedy ''Jack'' starring Robin Williams. She then starred opposite Jack Nicholson in Bob Rafelson's well-received noir thriller ''Blood and Wine''.

Lopez's first big break came in 1997, when she was chosen to play the title role in ''Selena'', a biopic of the Tejano pop singer Selena. Despite having previously worked with Nava on ''Mi Familia'', Lopez was subjected to an intense auditioning process before landing the role. She earned widespread praise for her performance, including a Golden Globe Award nomination for "Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy". Later that year, Lopez appeared in two major films. She starred in the horror film ''Anaconda'' alongside Ice Cube and Jon Voight, playing the role of Terri Flores, a director who is shooting a documentary while traveling through the Amazon River. Despite being a modest box office hit, the film was critically panned. Lopez then starred as the leading actress in the neo-noir film ''U Turn'', which is based on the book ''Stray Dogs'', starring alongside Sean Penn and Billy Bob Thornton.

In 1998, she had one of her most acclaimed roles, starring opposite George Clooney in ''Out of Sight'', Steven Soderbergh's adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel. Cast as a deputy federal marshal who falls for a charming criminal, Lopez won rave reviews for her tough performance and in the process she became the first Latina actress to earn over $1 million for a role. That same year, she provided the voice for Azteca on the computer-animated film ''Antz''. Lopez then starred opposite Vincent D'Onofrio, in the psychological thriller film ''The Cell''. She portrayed Catherine Deane, a child psychologist who uses virtual reality to enter into the minds of her patients to coax them out of their comas. The film was released in August 2000 and became a box office success opening at number one. The following year, Lopez took a break from acting in films, in order to work on her music career.

In 2001, Lopez starred alongside Matthew McConaughey in the romantic comedy ''The Wedding Planner''. The film debuted at number one, making her the first actress and singer in history to have a film and an album, ''J.Lo'', at number one in the same week. Her next roles were in the supernatural romance ''Angel Eyes'' (2001), and in the psychological revenge thriller ''Enough'' (2002). Both failed to find an audience, and were met with a negative response from critics. She appeared alongside Ralph Fiennes in the romantic comedy film ''Maid in Manhattan'' (2002). Her character, Marisa Ventura, is a struggling single mother who lives in the Bronx and makes her living cleaning rooms in a super-luxurious Manhattan hotel, and gets mistaken for a socialite by a princely politician. ''Maid in Manhattan'' was a box office hit, opening at number one. ''The New York Times'' compared the film's storyline to her 2002 song, "Jenny from the Block", commenting, "In her new single, ''Jenny From the Block,'' Jennifer Lopez declares that despite her enormous wealth and global fame, she has not lost touch with her roots."

Some of her other critically acclaimed films include ''An Unfinished Life'' and ''Shall We Dance?''. Two independent films produced by Lopez were well-received at film festivals: ''El Cantante'' at the Toronto International Film Festival, and ''Bordertown'' at the Brussels film festival. Her modestly successful film career includes ''Monster-in-Law'' (2005). ''Gigli'', however, would become a notorious box office bomb.

In 2006, Jennifer was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award along with Lauren Shuler Donner and Diane Warren.

In August 2007, Lopez collaborated on the feature film, ''El Cantante'', with her husband – singer-actor Marc Anthony. Ms. Lopez, who's also a producer of the film, "does enough acting for the two of them in her role as Puchi, Héctor’s wife" while creating a very interesting and edgy performance. The film is in English, with creative use of subtitles for songs with Spanish lyrics. In 2010, she appeared in the romantic comedy ''The Back-up Plan''.

Lopez is one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood and the highest-paid Latin actress in Hollywood history, though she's never had a film grossing over $100 million in the USA. She was on ''The Hollywood Reporter'''s list of the top ten actress salaries in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Lopez received $15 million for her role in ''Monster-in-Law''. Her top-grossing film domestically is ''Maid in Manhattan'' which grossed $94,011,225, and her most successful international film, ''Shall We Dance?'', grossed $112,238,000, at the international box office. Domestically, ''Shall We Dance?'' grossed $57,890,460 and a total of $170,128,460 worldwide. In 2007, Lopez made the ''Forbes'' magazine's list of "The 20 Richest Women In Entertainment," ranking ninth. Her wealth was estimated to be $110 million in 2007.

On January 27, 2010, it was announced that Lopez would guest-star on an episode of ''How I Met Your Mother'' as Anita Appleby, a no-nonsense author of self-help books that teach women how to mold men into "relationship machines" through the power of denial. After Robin informs Anita of Barney's womanizing ways, Anita sets out to "break" him.

Entrepreneurship

Lopez launched a clothing line in 2003. Named JLO by Jennifer Lopez, the line included different types of clothing for young women, including jeans, T-shirts, coats, belts, purses, and lingerie, a jewelry line, and an accessory line that includes hats, gloves, and scarves. Lopez participated in the Louis Vuitton Winter 2003 campaign. In 2005, she launched a new clothing line called Sweetface. In late 2007, Lopez retired JLO by Jennifer Lopez and launched a new juniors' line called JustSweet. Her fashion lines have featured at many New York Fashion Week events.

Lopez's frequent use of animal fur in her clothing lines and personal wardrobe has brought the scorn of people concerned with animal rights. At the Los Angeles premiere of ''Monster-in-Law'', more than 100 protesters from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) held a demonstration to highlight their concerns.

On April 12, 2002, Lopez opened a Cuban restaurant in the South Lake district of Pasadena, California named Madre's.

Lopez ventured in the perfume industry with her debut "Glow by J.Lo". In October 2003, Lopez introduced a perfume called "Still", having revisited "Glow" the previous year by creating a limited edition spin-off, "Miami Glow by J.Lo", in homage to her adopted hometown of Miami, Florida. Lopez also marketed a "Glow" line of body lotions and bronzing products. For the Christmas season of 2005, she launched another fragrance, "Live by Jennifer Lopez". For 2006 Valentine's Day, "Miami Glow" was replaced by yet another "Glow" spin-off, "Love at First Glow by J.Lo". Her following fragrance, "Live Luxe", was released in August 2006, with "Glow After Dark" following in January 2007. The next fragrances by Jennifer Lopez were "Deseo", "Deseo Forever" for Asian market and first fragrance for men called "Deseo for men". In February 2009 Lopez released "Sunkissed Glow". The last perfume is "My Glow", available from October 2009. Lopez is a spokesperson for Lux shampoo in Japan, appearing in the product's television commercials.

Lopez owns the film and television production company Nuyorican Productions. It was co-founded with her manager Benny Medina, who was supposed to receive half the producing revenue from the company. Lopez split with Medina shortly after the company was founded, but they later restored their business relationship.

Lopez has been recognized by ''People en Español'' magazine as both the cover subject for the "50 Most Beautiful" issue in 2006 and the "100 Most Influential Hispanics" issue in February 2007.

On April 10, 2007, Lopez made an appearance as a mentor on ''American Idol''. Lopez also became the executive producer of the eight-episode reality show, ''DanceLife'', which ran on MTV and began on January 15, 2007. Lopez helped select the show's participants and made cameo appearances. She then served as executive producer of a mini-series broadcast on Univisión. Named after her CD ''Como Ama Una Mujer'', it ran in five episodes from October 30 to November 27, 2007, and starred Adriana Cruz.

Lopez signed a contract as star and executive producer of an unscripted reality series for TLC, a division of Discovery Communications Inc. The series was to show the launching of her new fragrance, and not focus on her family. The series never materialized.

Philanthropy

Lopez is an avid supporter of Children's Hospital Los Angeles and was presented with the Children's Humanitarian Award at the hospital's inaugural Noche de Niños gala in September 2004. Lopez continues to attend the annual red carpet event and is a regular visitor to the hospital. The singer participated in the Nautica Malibu Triathlon benefiting the hospital in 2008. In May 2009, Lopez formed The Maribel Foundation, with the goal of supporting Children's Hospital Los Angeles and improving health care internationally.

On February 14, 2007, Lopez received the Artists for Amnesty International award "in recognition of her work as producer and star of ''Bordertown'', a film exposing the ongoing murders of hundreds of women in the border city of Juárez, Mexico". Nobel Peace Prize winner José Ramos-Horta presented the award to Lopez at the Berlin International Film Festival. She also received special recognition and thanks from Norma Andrade, co-founder of Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa A.C. ("May Our Daughters Return Home, Civil Association"), an organization consisting of mothers and families of the murdered women of Juárez.

Lopez has also been involved in promoting vaccination for whooping cough. Lopez is working with Sounds of Pertussis and March of Dimes to promote awareness about the disease and encourage vaccination of adults to prevent spread of disease to infants.

Personal life

Relationships and family

Media attention has focused on her personal life. She has had high-profile relationships with Ojani Noa, Sean Combs, Cris Judd, Ben Affleck, and Marc Anthony. Starting in 1984, when Lopez was 15 and in high school, she began dating David Cruz. They split up in 1994, but remained close; Lopez said in 2004, "He's a friend and he probably knows me better than anyone else".

Lopez's first marriage was to Cuban-born Ojani Noa on February 22, 1997. Lopez met Noa while he worked as a waiter at a Miami restaurant. They divorced in January 1998. Lopez later employed Noa as the manager of her Pasadena restaurant Madre's in April 2002, but he was fired in October 2002. After Noa sued Lopez over the termination, they drew up a confidentiality agreement. In April 2006, Lopez sued to prevent Noa from publishing a book containing personal details about their marriage, contending it violated their confidentiality agreement. In August 2007, a court-appointed arbitrator issued a permanent injunction forbidding Ojani Noa from "criticizing, denigrating, casting in a negative light or otherwise disparaging" Lopez. She was awarded $545,000 in compensatory damages, which included nearly $300,000 in legal fees and almost $48,000 in arbitration costs. Noa was also ordered to hand over all copies of materials related to the book to Lopez or her attorney. In November 2009, Lopez sued Noa for breach of contract and invasion of privacy, citing a previous confidentiality agreement between the two, to prevent Noa from releasing his planned film, "How I Married Jennifer Lopez: The JLo and Ojani Noa Story", and alleged "previously unseen home video footage". On December 1, 2009, judge James Chalfant granted a temporary injunction against Noa and his agent, Ed Meyer, barring them from distributing the footage in any forum. Because the injunction is only temporary, Lopez's lawyer, Jay Lavely, said that he will return to court to make it permanent. Lavely stressed that "there wasn't anything even close" to a sex tape in Noa's possession: "It's private and personal, but it wasn't a sex tape. They are innocent and they have been misrepresented... to increase value and media attention". After the hearing, Noa told E! that he plans to fight the injunction: "It's not about the money, it's about my life".

Lopez next had a two-and-a-half-year relationship with hip-hop mogul Sean Combs. On December 27, 1999, Lopez and Combs were at Club New York, a midtown Manhattan nightclub, when gunfire erupted between Combs' entourage and another group. Lopez and Combs were being driven away from the scene when they were chased and stopped by the police. A gun was found in the front seat of their vehicle. Combs was charged with felony gun possession. Stress over Combs' trial and pursuit by the press multiplied their problems, and Lopez terminated her involvement with Combs one year later. During a related civil suit in 2008, the plaintiff's lawyer said Lopez had “nothing to contribute to the case”.

Her second marriage was to her former backup dancer, Cris Judd. She met Judd while filming the music video for her single "Love Don't Cost a Thing." The two were married on September 29, 2001, at a home in the L.A. suburbs. Their marriage effectively ended in June 2002, when Lopez began publicly dating Ben Affleck. They were divorced in January 2003.

Her relationship with Affleck was highly publicized, with the media dubbing the couple "Bennifer". Lopez announced her engagement to Affleck in November 2002, after Affleck gave her a six-carat pink diamond ring worth a reported $1.2 million. Lopez promised interviewers that Affleck was indeed "the one", and that they would soon have a family. The marriage, planned for September 14, 2003 in Santa Barbara, California, was called off just hours before the event. They announced the end of their engagement in January 2004. Their relationship was parodied on the ''South Park'' episode "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", which aired on April 16, 2003. In 2003, Lopez and Affleck acted together in the film ''Gigli'' and in the 2004 film ''Jersey Girl''. He also appeared in her "Jenny from the Block" video.

Less than two months after her break-up with Affleck, Lopez was seen with singer Marc Anthony, a long-time friend with whom she had worked in music videos. They had briefly dated in the late 1990s, before his first marriage and her second. Lopez and Anthony were recording a duet together in early 2004, for Lopez's then-upcoming film ''Shall We Dance?''. In October 2003, Anthony became separated, for the second time, from his first wife, former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres, with whom he has two children. Torres filed for divorce three months later. Lopez and Anthony married in a quiet home wedding on June 5, 2004, four days after his divorce from Torres was final.

Lopez's guests had been invited to an "afternoon party" at Lopez's house and had not been made aware that they were actually going to her wedding. The couple had planned not to publicize their marriage early on, allowing more privacy and time together in an otherwise intrusive environment. Days after the wedding, Anthony refused to comment on their marriage during interviews which were scheduled earlier to promote a new album "Amar Sin Mentiras" (To Love Without Lies). In February 2005, Lopez confirmed the marriage, and added that "everyone knows. It's not a secret". A few months later, Anthony's daughter, Ariana, appeared at the end of Lopez's music video "Get Right" as her little sister. Regarding his marriage and family life, Anthony maintains a private and sometimes defensive stance with the media, which has influenced Lopez to set some boundaries with interviewers.

On November 7, 2007, the last night of her "En Concierto" tour, Lopez confirmed she was expecting her first child with husband Marc. The announcement ended months of speculation over the pregnancy. Her father later confirmed on February 5, 2008, that she was expecting twins. Lopez gave birth on February 22, 2008 to fraternal twins, a girl and a boy, Emme Maribel Muñiz, and Maximilian "Max" David Muñiz. The twins were introduced in the March 11, 2008 issue of ''People'' magazine, for which the magazine paid $6 million. Lopez is also a practitioner of Krav Maga.

As of at least January 2008, Lopez lives with her family in Brookville, New York, on Long Island. Her mother, Guadalupe Lopez, moved into the gated home in June that year. On July 15, 2011, following seven years of marriage to Anthony, the couple's representative told ''US Weekly'' that their marriage was over and as painful as it would be for all those involved, the couple were separating.

Religion

It was reported that Lopez and Marc Anthony were taking professional business meetings at the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre in Hollywood, California, in late 2006. It was also rumored that Lopez and Anthony became Scientologists during that period with the help of Angelo Pagan, the husband of ''The King of Queens'' actress and Scientologist Leah Remini. Just prior to those reports, Lopez said to NBC, "I'm not a Scientologist, I was raised Catholic. But it's funny the way people come at it. To me it's so strange. These are some of the best people I've ever met in my life." She added, "My dad has been a Scientologist for 20 years. He's the best man that I know in my life and so, it's weird to me that people want to paint it in a negative way." It has been reported that a factor in Lopez's break with Anthony was over the religious education of their twins; Lopez desired to send the children to a "specialist Scientology school" a position Anthony disagreed with.

Discography

1999: ''On the 6''

2001: ''J.Lo''

2002: ''This Is Me... Then''

2005: ''Rebirth''

2007: ''Como ama una Mujer''

2007: ''Brave''

2011: ''Love?''

Filmography

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Jennifer Lopez

Green Versace "jungle" dress of Jennifer Lopez

References

External links

Official website for Jennifer Lopez fragrances

Category:1969 births Category:Actors from New York City Category:American dance musicians Category:American dancers Category:American fashion businesspeople Category:American fashion designers Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American people of Puerto Rican descent Category:American pop singers Category:American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American musicians of Puerto Rican descent Category:American television actors Category:American television producers Category:City University of New York people Category:English-language singers Category:Hip hop singers Category:Hispanic and Latino American actors Category:Idol series judges Category:Krav Maga practitioners Category:Latin pop singers Category:Living people Category:Musicians from New York City Category:Notaries Category:People from the Bronx Category:Puerto Rican actors Category:Puerto Rican female singers Category:Spanish-language singers Category:Hispanic and Latino American women

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name	Tokio Hotel
background	group_or_band
origin	Magdeburg, Germany
years active	2001–present
genre	Alternative rock, electronic rock, pop rock, teen pop emo, pop punk (early)
label	Universal Music GermanyCherrytree, Interscope (US)
website	www.tokiohotel.com
current members	Bill KaulitzTom Kaulitz Georg ListingGustav Schäfer
past members	}}

Tokio Hotel is a pop rock band from Germany, founded in 2001 by singer Bill Kaulitz, guitarist Tom Kaulitz, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bassist Georg Listing. The quartet have scored four number one singles and have released three number one albums in their native country, selling nearly 5 million CDs and DVDs there. After recording an unreleased demo-CD under the name "Devilish" and having their contract with Sony BMG Germany terminated, the band released their first German-language album, ''Schrei'', as Tokio Hotel on Universal Music Germany in 2005. ''Schrei'' sold more than half a million copies worldwide and spawned four top five singles in both Germany and Austria. In 2007, the band released their second German album ''Zimmer 483'' and their first English album ''Scream'' which have combined album sales of over one million copies worldwide and helped win the band their first MTV Europe Music Award for Best InterAct. The former, ''Zimmer 483'', spawned three top five singles in Germany while the latter, ''Scream'', spawned two singles that reached the top twenty in new territories such as France, Portugal, Spain and Italy. In September 2008, they won in the US their first MTV Video Music Award (VMA) for Best New Artist. In October 2008, they won four awards including Best International Artist and Song of the year at Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica (MTV Video Music Awards Latin America) held in Mexico. Tokio Hotel became the first German band ever to win an award at the MTV VMAs and also at the MTV Latin America Awards. They also picked up the Headliner award at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 held in Liverpool on November 6, 2008 and the Award for Best Group on November 5, 2009 at the MTV Europe Music Award (EMA) held in Berlin. They won an Award for Best World Stage Performance on November 7, 2010 at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Madrid. In July 2011, they became the first German band to win an MTV Video Music Awards Japan (VMAJ).

History

Founding

Tokio Hotel by vocalist Bill Kaulitz and guitarist Tom Kaulitz, who are identical twin brothers, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bass-guitarist Georg Listing. The four met in 2001 after a live show in a Magdeburg-Club, where Listing and Schäfer, who knew each other from music school, watched from the audience while Bill and Tom Kaulitz played on the stage. Under the name Devilish, the band soon began playing in talent shows and small concerts. After Bill Kaulitz's participation in a children's Star Search in 2003 at age thirteen (which he lost in the quarter-final), he was discovered by music producer Peter Hoffmann. Devilish changed their name to Tokio Hotel: "Tokio", the German spelling of the Japanese city Tokyo, due to a love of the city, and "Hotel" due to their constant touring and living in hotels. In 2006, a third and fourth single, "Rette mich" ("Rescue Me") and "Der letzte Tag" ("The Final Day"), were released; both reached #1 as well. "Der letzte Tag" contained a B-side called "Wir schließen uns ein", which was also accompanied by a music video.

''Zimmer 483''

The first single off their second album ''Zimmer 483'' (''Room 483''), called "Übers Ende der Welt" (later re-released in English under the name "Ready, Set, Go!"), was released on January 26, 2007 and quickly reached #1 in Germany and Austria, and #2 in France. ''Zimmer 483'' was released in Germany on February 23, 2007, along with a deluxe edition of the album containing a DVD. The album's second single, "Spring nicht" ("Don't Jump") was released on April 7. The tour accompanying the release of the album, The Zimmer 483 Tour, was scheduled to start in March 2007, but was delayed by two weeks because the band members wished to have a different stage design. A third single, "An deiner Seite (Ich bin da)" ("By Your Side"), was released on November 16. The single contains the B-side "1000 Meere" ("1000 Oceans"), for which a music video was also produced. On April 28, 2008 Tokio Hotel released their single "Heilig" but no music video for the single was released, because of the tight schedule they had.

''Scream''

Tokio Hotel's first English language album, ''Scream'', was released on June 4, 2007 throughout Europe. In Germany, the album was released as ''Room 483'' in order to emphasize the continuity with their last German album ''Zimmer 483''. ''Scream'' contains English versions of a selection of songs from their German-language albums ''Scream'' and ''Zimmer 483''. "Monsoon", the English-language version of "Durch den Monsun", was the first single from the album. "Ready, Set, Go!" (the translation of "Übers Ende der Welt") was released as the album's second single and "Don't Jump" (the translation of "Spring nicht") as the third single. A video for "Scream", the English-language version of their 2005 hit "Schrei", was also recorded, and was released to the iTunes Store in early March 2008.

Tokio Hotel gave their first concert in the United Kingdom on June 19, 2007. "Ready, Set, Go!" was released in the UK as the band's first single on August 27, 2007. The song reached #77 in the UK Singles Chart.

Tokio Hotel won an MTV Europe Music Award for Best InterAct on November 1, 2007 and were also nominated for Best Band. They performed "Monsoon" at the event.

Tokio Hotel released their first US single, simply called "Tokio Hotel", in late 2007. The single contains the tracks "Scream" and "Ready, Set, Go!", and was available exclusively at Hot Topic stores. Their second US single, "Scream America", was released on December 11, 2007. The single contains the track "Scream" and a remix of "Ready, Set, Go!" by AFI's Jade Puget. In February 2008, the band toured North America for five dates starting in Canada and finishing up in New York. After appearing and performing live on MuchMusic, while touring in Canada, "Ready, Set, Go!" entered the MuchOnDemand Daily 10, a countdown of videos chosen by viewers. It remained there for over a week, then returned to the top of the MOD Daily 10 chart on April 8. "Scream" was released in Canada on March 25 and in the US on May. 6

1000 Hotels Tour

The "1000 Hotels" European Tour began on March 3, 2008 in Brussels and continued to locations including The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Scandinavia, and was scheduled to finish on April 9; during the concert in Marseille, France on March 14, Bill started to experience vocal problems. He let the audience sing more frequently than normal and instead of the original 21 songs that were on the set list, they only played 16 songs. Bill apologized, in German, for his bad singing and explained that he was sick. Two days later, the band canceled Lisbon, Portugal concert minutes before it was supposed to commence. The rest of the "1000 Hotels" Tour and a scheduled North American Tour were cancelled following an announcement in Bild by the band's manager that Bill Kaulitz had to undergo surgery to remove a cyst on his vocal cords.

Bill Kaulitz had been putting strain on his voice after playing 43 concerts in the 1000 Hotels tour without vacation. He had to undergo Larynx surgery on March 30 to remove a cyst that had formed on his vocal cords. The cyst was the result of a throat infection that went untreated. Following his surgery, Bill was unable to speak for twelve days, and had four weeks of vocal rehabilitation. If Bill had continued singing the rest of the tour, his voice would have eventually been permanently damaged. Tokio Hotel started performing again in May 2008 and after that they embarked on a 2nd part of their 1000 Hotels European Tour adding many Open Air concerts and wrapping up the tour on July 13 in Werchter, Belgium.

North American Tours and ''Humanoid''

Tokio Hotel embarked on a second tour of North America in August 2008, which included a performance at the Bamboozled festival in New Jersey. The band's music video for "Ready Set Go!" was nominated for Best Pop Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, where they also won the award for Best New Artist. They returned to North America again in October 2008 for a month long tour of concerts and record store signings. In December 2008, a behind-the scenes DVD called ''Tokio Hotel TV – Caught on Camera'' was released. It contains footage from Tokio Hotel TV and backstage feature stories of the previous year on disc one entitled "History – The very best of Tokio Hotel TV!". A deluxe edition contains a second disc entitled "Future – The road to the new Album!" which features footage of the band on promotion tours and preparing for their third studio album.

In between the North American tours, the band returned to their record studio in Hamburg to record their third studio album, ''Humanoid'', which, according to their producer David Jost, is currently set for release on October 2 in Germany & October 6, 2009 in the U.S. This is despite earlier statements predicting a March/April 2009 release or a May/June 2009 release. The album was recorded in both German and English with both versions were released simultaneously worldwide. Nevertheless, the video for the single was released on September 3.

On November 2, it was announced on Tom's Blog that the second English single would be "World Behind My Wall" and its German counterpart, "Lass uns laufen", would be the second German single. The music videos for both versions were released on December 14 and December 15.

On June 24, the live music video for their single, "Dark Side of the Sun" was released on the band website.

On July 20, 2010 they released their second live album Humanoid City Live from Milan, Italy On November 22, 2010, their new song "Hurricanes and Suns," premiered on the Greek radio station Mad Radio. It was included in the bonus track on all versions of "Tokio Hotel: Best Of," a compilation album of their most successful songs. As well as the single for the 'Best of' release. The album will also include "Mädchen aus dem All", the first song the band recorded in a studio.

On December 14, 2010 their 'Best of' was released. December 2 was the World Premiere of the video for "Hurricanes and Suns" on their Official Website. On April 28, 2011 they received the "Fan Army FTW" award at the MTV O Music Awards, the networks first online award show. A clip of Bill and Tom thanking their fans was played after the winner was announced.

Asian performances

Tokio Hotel performed their first concert in Asia (excluding their concert in Israel) at the Audi Showcase in Singapore, followed shortly by the TM Connects With Tokio Hotel event in Malaysia, promoting the sales of their album Humanoid. They concluded the series of mini-concerts with Taiwan. They returned to Malaysia a couple of months later to perform at MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia 2010. They performed in Tokyo on December 15, 2010, after their South American Tour concluded in Distrito Federal, Mexico on December 2, 2010. In February, 2011 Tokio Hotel travelled to Japan to complete a second promo tour. A number of TV appearances and media interviews took place between February 8 and February 11.

On June 24, 2011 Tokio Hotel performed in Japan at “The Next Premium Night Tokio Hotel in Tokyo". The event was presented by Audi A1 and 150 fans were chosen to win tickets to attend the show. The event was the bands first acoustic performance in Japan. On June 25, 2011 the band performed live at the MTV Video Music Aid Japan in Tokyo. The show, which was formerly called the Video Music Awards Japan, was used as a music benefit to raise money for the Japanese Red Cross in order to help those who were affected by the recent earthquake.

Modeling and commercials

On January 19, 2010, lead singer Bill Kaulitz teamed up with twins Dean and Dan Caten of DSquared to walk the runway at a fashion event in Milan. Kaulitz made two appearances, as he opened and closed DSquared's Menswear Autumn/Winter 2010 show to Tokio Hotel song "Screamin".

Car maker Audi hired the two frontmen to star in their new advertising campaign to attract the younger generation. They were featured in an episode of Tokio Hotel TV (on Tokio Hotel's website) and also in a commercial.

On August 4, 2010, Tom Kaulitz got his own Reebok shoe commercial. Reebok signed the 20-year-old Tokio Hotel guitarist and sneaker addict to model shoes for the company. "At home, I created a little room like a little storage room," he said of his sneakers. He also said that he gets 10 new pairs a week. That's 520 sneakers a year.

Band members

Bill Kaulitz

Bill Kaulitz was born on September 1, 1989, in Leipzig ten minutes after his identical twin brother, Tom.

Tom Kaulitz

Tom Kaulitz (born 1 September 1989 in Leipzig, German Democratic Republic) is a German guitarist singer, songwriter and model from Tokio Hotel. He is the twin brother of Bill Kaulitz, and Tom was born 10 minutes before Bill.

Early life

Tom Kaulitz was born 1 September 1989 in Leipzig. His parents, Simone and Jörg Kaulitz, separated when Kaulitz and his brother were seven years old.His mother began dating Gordon Trumper, and married him in August 2009. Tom's guitar playing and his brother's singing showed their natural aptitude for music, and gave an early indication of their possibility of fame. Trumper helped the twins to start their own band. He and Bill began writing music at the age of seven years old. Due to their great desire to create a band, his twin brother Bill entered and became renowned on the reality TV talent show "Star Search." They met Georg Listing (then 14) and Gustav Schäfer (then 13), in the audience of one of their shows. Listing and Schäfer were friends and after the show, having liked what they heard and saw, made an offer to join. The band was promptly re-named "Devilish" due to an article published at the time that referred to their "devilishly great"[citation needed] sound. This continued until 2005 when Jost arranged a meeting between the band and Universal Music Group's Interscope Records and Tokio Hotel was signed. They began working immediately, releasing their debut LP Schrei ("Scream") later that year. Their first single from the album Schrei was "Durch den Monsun" ("Through The Monsoon"), which reached #1 in Germany within a month of its release. He then continued his dream with 3 members of the group.

Stalking incident

More trouble came for Kaulitz when in late 2008/early 2009 several female stalkers pursued the band relentlessly, even following his twin brother Bill Kaulitz to his parents' home in Germany and attacked the twins' mother. The issue seemed to end after Tom allegedly hit one of the stalkers at a gas station in April 2009 and drove off. However, a recent article in Bild stated that the issue had resurfaced and that Tom Kaulitz may stand trial for assault. In late December 2009, the charges against Tom were lifted and he is pressing charges himself — against the girl he allegedly hit — on grounds of stalking.

Personal life

Tom Kaulitz and his identical twin brother, Bill, used to live in Hamburg but have recently moved to Los Angeles in response to an incident involving stalkers and a robbery. They have also stated that it is easier for them to work on their new album, as it is closer to their manager David Jost. They are currently living in Los Angeles but also have a second home in Hamburg. Tom and Bill, have modeled for a PETA.de photoshoot. He models for Reebok for sneakers and shoes. Tom is friends with Nicole Scherzinger. Tom prefers to listen to hip-hop music. His favorite rapper is Samy Deluxe. As of September 2007, Tom uses Gibson guitars and Mesa/Boogie Rectifier Heads with Mesa Boogie Rectifier 4x12 cabinets. Tom currently has his hair in cornrows, which he had done in early 2009. Tom had allegedly been dating Chantelle Paige after the stalker incident, but later it was said that they had been going out to better publicise Tom and his band, as well as Chantelle’s band, Flipsyde. In an interview with her, Chantelle had said : "I think Tom is quite nice, actually he is my dream boy. But my friends have warned me about him".

Georg Listing

Georg (Moritz Hagen) Listing was born on March 31, 1987. His hometown is Halle. He began playing bass when he was thirteen years old, He has said that his playing style was heavily influenced by Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers, and other musical influences include Die Ärzte and Oasis.

Awards

Since the release of the "Durch den Monsun" single in 2005, Tokio Hotel have gone on to win 102 awards in various categories and countries.

;2005

! Category	!Award	! Date
Best Newcomer	Comet Awards (Germany)	October 6
Super Comet	Comet Awards (Germany)	October 6
Best Newcomer	Eins Live Krone	November 24
Best Pop National Act	Bambi Awards	December 1
Best Single	Golden Penguin (Austria)	...2005
Best Pop	Golden Penguin (Austria)	...2005
Rock Band 2005	Golden Penguin (Austria)	...2005

;2006

! Category	! Award	! Date
Album of the year	Golden Penguin (Austria)	February 8
Band of the year	Golden Penguin (Austria)	February 8
Song of the year – ‘Der Letzte Tag’	Golden Penguin (Austria)	February 8
Best Newcomer	Golden Penguin (Austria)	February 8
Ausverkaufte Tourhalle	Sold-out-Award of Königpilsener Arena	March 11
Best Newcomer		March 12
Best Newcomer	Steiger Awards	March 25
Pop National	Radio Regenbogen (Germany)	March 31
SuperBand Rock – Golden Otto	Bravo Otto	May 6
Music Award	Bild OSGAR	May 22
Best Newcomer International	Popcorn Awards (Hungary)	May 26
Best Newcomer	Bravo Otto (Hungary)	June 24
Best International Band	Bravo Otto (Hungary)	June 24
Best Newcomer Band	Popkomm Bavarian Music Lion	September 21
Best German Pop Band	Goldene Stimmgabel	September 24
Best Selling German Artist	World Music Awards	November 15
Best Pop National Act	Bambi Awards	November 30
Best Live Act	Eins Live Krone	December 7
Best Rock band	MTV France

;2007

! Category	! Award	! Date
Single of the Year – Durch Den Monsun	Golden Penguin
Best Selling German Act – Album Schrei	European Border Breakers Award	January 21
European Border Breakers Award	NRJ Awards	January 21
Rock Award	BZ-Kulturpreis	January 23
Best Video National	ECHO Awards (Germany)	March 25
SuperBand Rock – Golden otto	Bravo Otto	April 28
Best Video	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 3
Best Band	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 3
Supercomet	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 3
Best Band	Jabra Music	July 2007
Digital prize	Festivalbar (Italy)	September 7
Most Successful Group Rock International	Goldene Stimmgabel	September 22
Most Successful Popgroup International	Goldene Stimmgabel Awards	October 3
Best Album	TMF Awards (Belgium)	October 14
Best Video	TMF Awards (Belgium)	October 14
Best New Artist	TMF Awards (Belgium)	October 14
Best Pop	TMF Awards (Belgium)	October 14
Best International Act	MTV Europe Music Awards (Germany)	November 1
Best band of the Year	MTV Italy Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award	December 1

;2008

! Category	! Award	! Date
Band of the Year 2007	Golden Penguin (Austria)	January
Best International Band	Rockbjörnen Award (Sweden)	January 24
Best Music National	Goldene Kamera (Germany)	February 6
Best Music Video	Echo Awards (Germany)	February 15
Best International Artist	Emma Gala Awards (Finland)	March 8
Best International Group	Disney Channel Kids Award (Italy)	March 28
Best Concert	Hitkrant (Netherlands)	May 2008
Best Mood Song – Monsoon	Hitkrant (Netherlands)	May 2008
Song that Satys in your Head – Monsoon	Hitkrant (Netherlands)	May 2008
Superband Rock – Silver Otto	Bravo Otto	May 3
Best Band	MTV TRL Awards (Italy)	May 17
Best Number 1 of the Year with Monsoon	MTV TRL Awards (Italy)	May 17
Best Band	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 23
Best Video – An Deiner Seite	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 23
Best Live Act	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 23
Super Comet	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 23
Best New Artist	MTV VMA Music Awards (USA)	September 7
Fan Choice Best Entrance	MTV VMA Music Awards (USA)	September 7
Best Male Artist International (Bill Kaulitz)	TMF Awards (Belgium)	October 11
Best Video International – Don't Jump	TMF Awards	MTV Europe Music Awards (Germany)	November 5
Best International Rock Band	Telehit Awards (Mexico)	November 12

;2010

! Category	!Award	! Date
Band of the Year	Golden Penguin (Austria)	January 29
Album of the Year	Golden Penguin (Austria)	January 29
Band of the Year	Bravoora Awards (Poland)	February 1
Best International Artist	Emma Gala Awards (Finland)	February 4
Walk of Fame	König-Pilsener Arena (Germany)	February 26
Best International Band	Radio Regenbogen Awards (Germany)	March 19
Favorite Music Star	Kids Choice Awards 2010 (Germany)	April 10
Best Live Act	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 21
Foreign Song of the Year - World Behind My Wall	Rockbjörnen Award (Sweden)	September 1
Concert of the Year	Rockbjörnen Award (Sweden)	September 1
Best World Stage Performance	MTV Europe Music Awards (Spain)	November 7
Best Band National	CMA Awards (Germany)	December 12
Best Single National - World Behind My Wall	CMA Awards (Germany)	December 12

;2011

! Category	!Award	! Date
Band of the Year	Bravoora Awards (Poland)	March
Star of the 20th Anniversary		March
Best Fan Army (Fan Army FTW)	MTV O Music Awards (USA)	April 28
Best Rock Video	MTV Video Music Awards Japan	July 2

References

External links

Official site

Official Youtube channel

Interscope records profile

Tokio Hotel on MTV

Category:German musical groups Category:German rock music groups Category:German pop music groups Category:German-language singers Category:English-language singers Category:People from Leipzig Category:Musical groups established in 2001 Category:Pop rock groups

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{{infobox television | show name

The Fast Show | format Sketch comedy | image | caption Front cover of the ''Ultimate Fast Show Collection'' DVD. | creator Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson | starring Paul Whitehouse Charlie Higson Arabella Weir John Thomson Caroline Aherne (1994–97) Simon Day Mark Williams Paul Shearer | runtime 30 minutes | num_episodes 25 | channel BBC |country United Kingdom | first_aired 1994 | last_aired 1997reunion special in 2000 }}

''The Fast Show'', known as ''Brilliant'' in the US, was a BBC comedy sketch show programme that ran for three series from 1994 to 1997 with a special ''Last Fast Show Ever'' in 2000. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson, Arabella Weir and Caroline Aherne. Other significant cast members included Paul Shearer, Felix Dexter, Rhys Thomas, Jeff Harding, Maria McErlane, Eryl Maynard, Colin McFarlane and Donna Ewin.

The show produced two national tours, the first in 1998 with the cast of the BBC surrealist comedy quiz show ''Shooting Stars'' and the second being their 'Farewell Tour' in 2002. ''The Fast Show'' was loosely structured and relied on character comedy, recurring running gags, and many catchphrases. Its fast-paced "blackout" style set it apart from traditional sketch series because of the number and relative brevity of its sketches; a typical half-hour TV sketch comedy of the period might have consisted of nine or ten major items, with contrived situations and extended setups, whereas the premiere episode of ''The Fast Show'' featured twenty-seven sketches in thirty minutes, with some items lasting less than ten seconds and none running longer than three minutes. Its innovative style and presentation influenced many later series such as ''The Catherine Tate Show'' and ''Little Britain''.

It was one of the most popular sketch shows of the 1990s. The show has been released on VHS, DVD and audio CD. Some of its characters, Ron Manager, Ted and Ralph, Swiss Toni and Billy Bleach have had their own spin-off programmes.

Style and content

''The Fast Show'' was the brainchild of Paul Whitehouse and his writing partner and friend, Charlie Higson (who had previously enjoyed some success in the UK as a musician with the band The Higsons). After meeting through a mutual friend (Whitehouse's longtime flatmate, guitarist and writer David Cummings) comedian Harry Enfield invited Whitehouse to write for him and Whitehouse in turn asked Higson to help him out; soon after, Enfield got his break into TV with the series ''Harry Enfield and Chums'' and became nationally famous in the UK.

In the early 1990s Higson and Whitehouse worked extensively with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, writing for and performing in the series ''The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer'' and ''Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer'' (both of which Higson produced). These series also featured occasional appearances by future ''Fast Show'' cast members Caroline Aherne, Simon Day and Mark Williams. Higson made many appearances in minor roles, while Williams and Whitehouse had recurring roles (with Vic and Bob) in ''The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer'', parodying the members of rock group Slade in the popular "Slade in Residence" and "Slade on Holiday" sketches.

Inspired by a press preview tape of Enfield's show, compiled by producer friend Geoffrey Perkins and consisting of fast-cut highlights of Enfield's sketches, the pair began stockpiling material and developing the idea of a rapid-fire 'MTV generation' format based wholly on quick cuts and soundbites/catchphrases. After unsuccessfully trying to sell the series to ITV through an independent production company, Higson and Whitehouse approached the new controller of BBC2, Michael Jackson; fortunately, he was then looking for new shows to replace several high-profile series that had been recently lost to BBC1, and their show was picked up by BBC2.

Whitehouse and Higson, the co-producers and main writers, then assembled the original team of writers and performers, which included David Cummings, Mark Williams, Caroline Aherne, Paul Shearer, Simon Day, Arabella Weir, John Thomson, Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews (of ''Father Ted'' fame), Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer and Craig Cash (who went on to write and perform with Aherne in ''The Royle Family''). Musical director Philip Pope was also an established comedy actor with extensive experience in TV and radio comedy, and had previously appeared in series such as ''Who Dares Wins'' and ''KYTV''; he also enjoyed success as a comedy recording artist as part of the Bee Gees parody group The HeeBeeGeebees.

''The Fast Show'' was a working title disliked by both Whitehouse and Higson but it went unchanged through production and eventually remained as the final title.

The first series introduced many signature characters and sketches including Ted and Ralph, Unlucky Alf, The Fat Sweaty Coppers, Ron Manager, Roy and Renée, Ken and Kenneth (The Suit You Tailors), Arthur Atkinson, Bob Fleming, Brilliant Kid, Insecure Woman, Janine Carr, Denzil Dexter, Carl Hooper, Ed Winchester, the Patagonian buskers, "Jazz Club" and the popular parody "Chanel 9".

Many characters were never given any 'official' name, with their sketches being written to give their catchphrase as the punchline of each sketch. Examples include "Anyone fancy a pint?" (played by Whitehouse), "You ain't seen me, right!" (a mysterious gangster-like character played by Mark Williams), "I'll get me coat" (Williams) and "Ha!", a sarcastic elderly woman played by Weir.

Other long-standing running jokes in the programme included the fictitious snack food "Cheesy Peas" in various different forms, shapes and flavours, in satirical adverts presented by a twangy, Northern lad (Paul Whitehouse) who claims, "They're good for your teas!"and has since become a reality thanks to UK TV chef Jamie Oliver . The dire earnestness of the born-again Christian was parodied in another popular group of sketches where various characters responded to any comment or question by extolling the virtues of "Our Lord Jesus" and ended the sketch with the exclamation "He died for all our sins, didn't he?" or something similar; and most controversially, "We're from the Isle of Man", featuring a stereotype of weird, surreal, townsfolk in a setting portrayed as an abjectly impoverished and desolate cultural wasteland.

Some of the characters resembled parodies of well-known personalities: for example, Louis Balfour, host of "Jazz Club" was reminiscent of Bob Harris of ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' and Ron Manager of football pundits Trevor Brooking and Graham Taylor. However, the parodic intent of this character is broader, and portrays how often football pundits have little to say of any real substance and sometimes waffle. Paul Whitehouse said that Ron Manager was based on ex-Luton Town & Fulham manager Alec Stock . Arthur Atkinson is a composite of Arthur Askey and Max Miller and Lord Ralph Mayhew is said to be based on film director John Boorman.

The show ended in 2000, with a three-part "Last Ever" show, in the first episode of which ''Fast Show'' fan Johnny Depp had a guest-starring role as a customer of The Suit You Tailors, after three series and a Christmas special.

The theme tune was "Release Me", a song which had been a hit for pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck. In the first series it was performed over the opening credits by Whitehouse in the guise of abnormally transfiguring singer Kenny Valentine. In subsequent series, the tune only appeared in the closing credits, played on the saxophone.

Major characters

The show featured many characters and sketches. Some of the more prominent recurring characters/sketches are:

'Unlucky' Alf, the lonely old pensioner living somewhere in northern England for whom nothing ever goes right. His hook is his resigned "Oh bugger!" as something terrible happens. He often predicts a bad event that is quite obvious, only to find something else occurs as he tries to avoid the first problem. (Paul Whitehouse, all series)

Anyone fancy a pint? A man (Whitehouse) who find himself in boring or bizarre situations, such as a dinner party where a woman is talking about how she was abandoned as a child and crying about everyone letting her down. Whitehouse then interrupts at the most insensitive moment asking "anyone fancy a pint?", before he and most of the men in the room leave. One early sketch featured Higson portraying an earnest claymation animator (a parody of Nick Park) who describes the animation process in excruciatingly tedious detail until Whitehouse's character sneaks away, whispering the punchline. According to the commentary in ''The Ultimate Fast Show'', Nick Park loved the sketch and sent copies of it to friends and family that year as a video Xmas card.

Archie the pub bore. Talks to people in the pub, and when they mention their profession, no matter what it is and however unlikely, he always claims to have had the same profession ("I used to be a single mother myself"), saying that it is the 'hardest game in the world. Thirty years, man and boy!' He has an obsession with Frank Sinatra, almost invariably steering the conversation towards the singer and weakly singing the title line of "High Hopes", after mentioning how he and his friend Stan fared on a recent fishing trip. (Whitehouse, series 3)

Arthur Atkinson, parody of 1940s music hall entertainers such as Max Miller and Arthur Askey, played by Paul Whitehouse, introduced by Tommy Cockles (Simon Day), himself a parody of presenters of TV history, especially Denis Norden (Whitehouse, all series)

Billy Bleach, tousle-mopped, interfering pub know-it-all who gets it all wrong, usually ending up with others losing money. This character starred in his own series, ''Grass'' which was shown on BBC Three, later shown on BBC Two. (Day, all series)

Bob Fleming, the ageing, incompetent West Country host of ''Country Matters'', who has an extremely bad cough. The character's surname is a pun on 'phlegm-ing.' (Higson, all series)

Brilliant Kid (possibly either a parody of British children's TV presenters or a 'take' on Alexei Sayle's commentary style in his one man TV show of the 1980s). In the first draft of the script for the pilot, the character was called Eric and was described as "a young Yorkshire man" but in the series he is never named. He delivers an edited monologue listing everyday things, all of which he declares to be 'brilliant!' or 'fantastic!' as he walks through a series of random backgrounds (filmed in widely varied locations ranging from the Tees Valley to Iceland) during which the quality and format of the images also randomly changes (e.g. from colour to b/w). In one episode it is shown that he isn't sure about whether everything really is 'brilliant' or not, and as he's walking through one solid background, an abandoned funfair, he debates with himself half heartedly ("Everything ''is'' brilliant...right? I mean...it might not be...nah, it is!") (Whitehouse, all series)

Carl Hooper, Australian presenter of ''That's Amazing'', a spoof of pop-science shows. Normally the person on his show was trying to pass off an everyday animal or object as something magical. The one occasion where a guest had a truly amazing story to tell was unbroadcastable due to the guest's inability to refrain from swearing excitedly while relating the tale (Day, all series)

Chanel 9, a low-budget television channel from a country known only as "Republicca", ruled by "El Presidente" who resembled a stereotypical Latin American dictator. Chanel 9 parodied the sort of programmes that British people end up watching on holiday around the Mediterranean. The stars, usually Paul Whitehouse, Paul Shearer and Caroline Aherne, speak a concocted language loosely based on Italian, Greek, Spanish and Portuguese, mashed together with nonsensical phrases (e.g. "sminky pinky") and incongruous English names and words (e.g. footballer Chris Waddle). Early segments featured the Chanel 9 news, read by anchormen Poutremos Poutra-Poutremos (Whitehouse) and Kolothos Apollonia (Shearer), followed by the weather forecast with meteorologist Poula Fisch (Aherne), invariably reporting a temperature for all locations of 45 °C (113 °F) while exclaiming "scorchio!" with apparent surprise. Sporting news was presented by Antonios Gubba - whose name is based on the commentator Tony Gubba - (Simon Day), seated at a much lower desk and talking with a low voice. Later Chanel 9 sketches consisted of several short segments, usually interspersed with parodic advertisements for the ubiquitous "Gizmo" a bizarre mechanical product which could be used with equal efficacy in the kitchen, garden or bedroom. Other Chanel 9 programmes, including a cartoon, a current affairs discussion, a quiz show, a soap opera ("El Amora Y El Passionna") and a variety series, were added in later sketches. Key catchphrases included the Republiccan greeting and farewell, "Bono estente" and "Boutros Boutros-Ghali" (the name of the then UN Secretary-General).

Chip Cobb, the deaf stuntman, a TV and film stuntman who, because of his hearing problems, always mishears his instructions and proceeds to carry them out wrongly before anyone can stop him, much to the despair of the film crew. (Thomson, series 3)

Chris the Crafty Cockney, claims to be an incurable kleptomaniac ("I'll nick anything, me"). He is left alone with something valuable and invariably steals it. Because of how up-front he is of his thieving nature, other people tend to believe he's joking. In one sketch, he even alludes to being an actual clinical kleptomaniac and involuntarily steals from his friend Dan after he trusts Chris to watch his newspaper stall, after extensively warning him of the risks involved in doing so. (Whitehouse, series 2–3)

Colin Hunt, unfunny and irritating office joker whose name gives an indication of his personality (Higson, series 2–3)

Competitive Dad, who is overcritical and demanding of his kids, and always has to get one up on them. (Day, series 2–3). Day explained in an interview that he had based the idea for the character from a man he noticed in a public swimming pool that challenged his two young children to a race. Day thought he'd let them win, but instead he took off and stood on the other end of the pool waiting for his toddler sons to struggle their way across the pool. He (Day) thought of it as "sick".

Dave Angel, Eco-Warrior, a classic Essex geezer who, despite his get-up and rather lavish lifestyle, is improbably concerned about saving the planet (though this is often undermined by his wife's behaviour), Mike Oldfield records, and swinging. A parody of a late-night magazine programme presented by Mike Reid. "Moonlight Shadow" by Mike Oldfield & Maggie Reilly is used as the theme tune to sketches featuring the character (Day, series 3)

Professor Denzil Dexter of the University of Southern California and his various bizarre scientific experiments, long-haired and highly laid-back. (Thomson, series 1–2)

The 13th Duke of Wymbourne, posh, rumpled dinner-jacketed, lecherous cigar smoker, reminisces about finding himself in wholly unsuitable places considering his 'reputation'. Based on the characters of Terry-Thomas. (Whitehouse, series 3)

Ed Winchester, an American reporter. He beams at the camera and says "Hi! I'm Ed Winchester!" in a very upbeat voice, before the camera cuts to another scene. In his last appearance in Series 2 he appears to have been cut off as he then mentions Jesus straight after introducing himself. (Jeff Harding).

Even Better Than That!, a slack-jawed, not too bright man who comes back from the shops with something ridiculously unnecessary instead of what his wife sent him for (Williams, series 3)

The Fat, Sweaty Coppers A squad of police officers who cannot do their job properly as they are extremely overweight due to their constant eating and drinking.(Thomson and Weir included, series 1-2)

Gideon Soames, white-haired, posh-talking architecture and history professor, possibly a cross between Simon Schama & Brian Sewell, with some elements of Bamber Gascoigne. Despite the serious tone of his speeches, the "history" of them becomes increasingly ridiculous. (Day series 2–3)

Giggly Woman, a woman who seems very confident until a man she likes enters the room, and then goes all childish, as if she fancies him. The character debuted in series 1 during a small segment in the credits, but only became a recurring character later on. (Weir, series 3)

The Historian, a jubilant, but emotionally imbalanced man who patrols the corridors of an historic boys academy alone whilst telling tall tales about former traditions both cruel and unreasonable. (Williams, series 3)

I'll Get Me Coat, a socially inept Brummie, who is unable to make any appropriate contribution to a conversation, and therefore disgraces himself with a faux pas before using the punchline and leaving (Williams, all series)

I'm not Pissed, a family - mother (Maria McErlane), father (Williams) and son (Day) - who are regularly pointing out that they are not drunk despite the fact they are taking regular swigs from gin bottles, beer cans etc. (series 2)

Insecure Woman, who appears in a variety of different locations, usually exclaiming, "Does my bum look big in this?" (Weir, all series)

Invisible Woman, who tries to converse with a group of men but is completely ignored, only for a man to repeat what she said and receive congratulations from the others for such a good idea. (Weir)

Jesse, a taciturn country bumpkin who exclaims his strange diets, fashion tastes and experiments, in a single sentence "This week, I 'ave been mostly..." - except for one sketch, where he said "This week, I 'aven't been 'ungry." (Williams, series 2–3)

John Actor, who plays Inspector Monkfish, the tough uncompromising cop who often exclaims to the nearest woman, "Put your knickers on and make me a cup of tea!" (Day, series 2–3). Loosely based on the BBC series ''Dangerfield''. There were variations on the show's format, two examples being Monkfish as a tough, uncompromising doctor in Monkfish M.D. and Monkfish as a tough, uncompromising vet in All Monkfish Great and Small. One Monkfish sketch even crossed over onto Chanel 9. Sometime between the end of series 3 and the last episode, John Actor died yet the series is apparently continuing in the manner of ''Taggart'' after the death of the lead actor.

Johnny Nice Painter, who is painting a scene and describing all the colours. Whenever he mentions the colour "black", however, he becomes more and more depressed, eventually going somewhat insane and shouting wildly about the despair of mankind, despite the best efforts of his wife Katie (Weir) to prevent him from doing so. His appearance is based on TV painter Alwyn Crawshaw (Higson, series 3)

Ken and Kenneth, two tailors in a men's formal wear shop, who bombard potential customers with sexually explicit innuendo about their private life, frequently interjecting the catchphrase "Ooh! Suit you sir!", much to the discomfort of the customer. They become confused and even frightened in two episodes; one when they get a customer who is gay, and another with a customer (played by Day) who is as willing to talk about sexual deviance as they are. (Whitehouse and Williams, all series)

Louis Balfour, pretentious and ultra laid-back presenter of ''Jazz Club'' (a parody of ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''), based on a blend of Bob Harris and Roger Moore. He also has a remarkable similarity to Geoffrey Smith, presenter of Jazz Record Requests on Radio 3. Seemingly having done his 'research', he introduces his guests by comparing them to avant-garde jazz musicians or describing their style/technique by using complex musical phraseology. These guests usually turn out to be utterly talentless 'experimentalists', much to his bemusement. His catchphrase "Nice!" was delivered by turning to a different camera for that word only. Later he delivered other words in a similar manner. (Thomson, series 2–3.) In the final series, a polar opposite, called Indie Club, presented by an obnoxious in-your-face Liam Gallagher type (Day) introducing what he describes as an equally obnoxious and rebellious group who are rewriting the musical rulebook, only for them to sing a wishy-washy cliché pop-song.

Luvvie an over-the-top thespian describes his character and mentions that he needs to spend hours being made up when he is actually done in a few seconds (Thomson, series 3)

Monster Monster, a vampire who creeps up to a sleeping woman and gives her betting advice (Whitehouse, series 3). The set-up is a parody of a scene from the 1922 German classic horror film Nosferatu, while the vampire's voice and catchphrase of "Monster, monster" are based on Eric Hall.

No Offence, a rude, orange-faced South African department store cosmetics saleswoman who has no qualms about informing women of their physical imperfections, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she looks like a dried-out old orange herself. (Weir, series 3)

"Our" Janine Carr, teenage mum with a unique world outlook. She refuses to reveal who the father of her baby is because "it's not fair to grass on your headmaster" (Aherne, series 1–2)

The Offroaders, Simon and Lindsey, despite their unusually high confidence and esteem, are useless at their hobby ("sorted!", "gripped!"). (Higson and Whitehouse, all series)

Patrick Nice, a man who tells far-fetched, sometimes odd stories followed by him calmingly saying his catchphrase, "Which was nice." (Williams, series 2–3)

Prawn Sandwich Man, a man who seems to talk a lot about football as if a true Arsenal supporter, but makes it glaringly obvious he knows nothing about the game (Thomson, series 3)

Ron Manager, a football commentator who speaks in incoherent sentence fragments on randomly divergent trains of thought. He usually appears with interviewer (Day) and fellow commentator Tommy (Williams), and whenever a question is posed to Tommy, Ron Manager often begins one of his nonsensical train-of-thoughts based on one of the words or names in the question. Based on former football manager from the 60s and 70s, Alec Stock. (Whitehouse, all series)

Rowley Birkin QC, a retired barrister, tells mostly unintelligible stories at the fireside. Occasionally, his speech becomes coherent for a short while, containing strange phrases such as "The whole thing was made completely out of matchsticks" or "Snake! Snake!". Almost always ends his stories with a sly "I'm afraid I was very, very drunk!" In the final episode of series 2, his rambling anecdote appeared to involve a woman for whom he had great affection and ended with a close-up of faint tears on his cheeks, while the usual "very drunk" line was delivered in an unexpectedly moving, sorrowful voice. (Whitehouse, series 2–3). The character is reprised as a working barrister in the spin-off feature ''Ted and Ralph''. Whitehouse revealed on the UK chatshow ''Parkinson'' that the character was based on Andrew Rollo whom he met on a fishing trip to Iceland; Rollo appeared in the Fast Show documentary, which revealed how closely Rowley's speech resembled that of his real-life inspiration. At the end of a Christmas episode the caption revealed that he died. "Rowley Birkin QC 1918 - 2000".

Roy & Renée, endless chattering from Renée and her quiet, submissive husband Roy, whom she expects to meekly agree with everything she says. Roy always embarrasses her at the end of every sketch, after which he gets a stinging reprimand from his wife. She makes her last appearance in the show during the 1996 Christmas Special, when Roy's mother finally gives in to holding back the resentment towards Renée's smug attitude. (Thomson and Aherne, series 1–2)

The Shags, a child-less couple who are seen in the midst of very graphic sexual intercourse, much to the discomfort of their neighbours. Among other things they were seen at it in a tent in a sports shop, in a tree in the park and even on a bed being carried by removal men as they moved into the neighbourhood.

Swiss Toni, a car salesman who compares everything to seducing and making love to a beautiful woman, usually in the presence of his bemused trainee Paul (Rhys Thomas). This was also the title of a short-lived spin-off sitcom, featuring Toni in the car dealership which he worked. Swiss is the only non-original character in the show. He had previously appeared in the second series of The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer in 1995, which was produced by Higson and featured cameos from many members of The Fast Show. (Higson, series 3)

Ted & Ralph – country squire Lord Ralph Mayhew attempts to strike-up an intimate relationship with his introverted Irish estate worker Ted, by way of subtle romantic/erotic subtexts in his conversations with him (Whitehouse and Higson, all series). This was also the title of a one-off, hour-long spin-off feature, reprising the characters, with cameos from a few other characters as well.

"You ain't seen me: right?" - An unknown traveller who is probably a criminal who says "You ain't seen me: right?" to some minor characters in the show and sometimes the viewer of the show. He comes up in the show in various locations and is at one point on Chanel 9 Neus sitting in the sports reporter's seat. He is also seen in the background when the "Brilliant" Kid walks past talking about the usual things.

Inept Zookeeper - a zookeeper who is frightened and/or disgusted by virtually every aspect of his job (cleaning up elephant dung, feeding the penguins, etc.) and is thus rendered unable to perform his tasks properly. (Williams, series 3)

In popular culture

When the programme was shown on BBC America it was renamed 'Brilliant' to avoid confusion with an American programme of the same name.

Arabella Weir later turned Insecure Woman into Jackie Payne, heroine of her novel ''Does My Bum Look Big in This''?

An American journalist called Ed Winchester was part of NBC's team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. BBC reporter John Inverdale got him to say, 'Hi, I'm Ed Winchester' during rowing coverage on 11 August.

In ''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'', when Jack Sparrow is talking to the two soldiers and comments "And then they made me their chief", he is quoting Rowley Birkin. In the scene where Jack Sparrow is first captured by the pirates, he attempts to leave, saying "I'll get me coat", but this was later cut and can be found in the deleted scenes. He also repeatedly quotes Unlucky Alf by saying "Bugger". Johnny Depp is a fan of the show and had a cameo role as a customer browsing the Suit You tailors shop in the farewell special .

In 2009, the Scottish rock band Carnivores released the single 'John Actor Is Monkfish' in reference to the many faces of John Actor.

In 2010, chef Jamie Oliver advertised his forthcoming cookery series (examining the cuisine of several European/Mediterranean countries) speaking in the made-up language used by Chanel 9 news.

Filming locations

Unusually for a sketch show, a significant proportion of ''The Fast Show'' was shot externally. During the early series much of this filming was done around the Tees Valley, Yorkshire Dales and Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England. Locations include:

Ashington, Northumberland – at least two scenes involving Unlucky Alf and one involving Brilliant Kid were filmed on Station Road.

Aske Hall – Background in early Ted & Ralph scenes

Darlington – 'The Running Family' were shown around various locations in the town centre, including The Cornmill Centre. Darlington was the childhood home of Jim Moir (Vic Reeves) whose longterm comedy partner Bob Mortimer was one of the writers. The Cornmill and The High Street with scenes involving Brilliant Kid.

Durham – The market place with scenes involving Brilliant Kid

Hartlepool – One Unlucky Alf scene saw him sat in the empty Rink End Stand of Hartlepool United's ground, Victoria Park. Also, one Ed Winchester scene is in front of the Mill House Stand. Some of the Brilliant Kid scenes were also fimed at nearby Seal Sands.

Keld, North Yorkshire – The campsite used in a Dave Angel scene

Langley Park – Railway Street is used in Unlucky Alf scenes

Middlesbrough – docks used in 'hard of hearing stuntman' scenes, scene on Transporter Bridge as well as the Riverside Stadium

Newcastle upon Tyne – including the 'Shore Leave' sketch, the scene where Chris the Crafty Cockney steals the woman's suitcases (shot in Newcastle Central station), and some of the Sir Geoffrey Norman MP sketches, such as the one where he is pulled over by a policeman for speeding and the one where he refuses to pay the taxi driver after getting out of the car (shot outside the main entrance to Newcastle Central station), one Ed Winchester scene is near Monument station. One scene from the Brilliant Kid showed him in Exhibition Park in Newcastle upon Tyne. Many scenes involving Janine Carr, filmed in greyscale, used the backdrop of the concrete flyover and underpasses of the junction of the A167(M) and the B1318 of the Great North Road in Jesmond. A few scenes were filmed inside the Newcastle City Library (which has now been demolished and a new Library building has replaced it).

Richmond – The market place in Ted & Ralph's trip to the shops

Scotch Corner – Garage used in Swiss Toni's early scenes

Seaton Carew - One "You ain't seen me right?" scene sees the main character sat on a child's ride in one of the seafront amusement arcades.

The Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear – a number of scenes involving Brilliant Kid

Stockton On Tees, Swiss Toni scenes, filmed at a car showroom on Norton Road.

Also for the third series the production extended abroad:

Iceland – Scenes with Brilliant Kid and Billy Bleach were shot with volcanic landscapes, waterfalls and hot springs in the background.

Where are the cast now?

Paul Whitehouse has appeared in two successful sitcoms since the end of the show, performed in the third Harry Potter film (although his role was cut), and voiced characters in the Tim Burton films ''Corpse Bride'' and ''Alice in Wonderland''. He also appeared in the BBC sketch show ''Harry and Paul'', starring alongside Harry Enfield once again.

Charlie Higson has continued to work as an award-winning author (having written a series of "Young Bond" spy novels), starred in the ''Fast Show'' spin-off sitcom ''Swiss Toni'', and remains enthusiastic about the show's success.

Caroline Aherne quit The ''Fast Show'' after the third series. With her then partner Craig Cash she co-created, co-wrote and co-starred in the BAFTA-award winning BBC comedy series ''The Royle Family'', which premiered in 1998. Her struggles with clinical depression and alcoholism have been widely covered in the UK tabloid press, and after the end of her relationship with Cash she briefly moved to Australia and announced that she would no longer appear on television. She has largely shunned the limelight and has made few TV appearances since 2000 but she returned to television comedy in October 2006, co-writing and starring in a one-off special episode of ''The Royle Family'', followed by three others annually from 2008 to 2010.

Arabella Weir co-starred in the 2003 comedy mini-series ''Posh Nosh'' with Richard E. Grant, continues to appear on the show ''Grumpy Old Women'' and has written two novels.

Simon Day appears in Powergen adverts as a decidedly Dave Angel, Eco-Warrior-like character. He has also appeared in ''Fast Show'' spin-offs ''Grass'' (featuring Billy Bleach) and ''Swiss Toni'', and also made an appearance in ''Run Fatboy Run''. He has recently appeared with Paul Whitehouse in the comedy show ''Harry and Paul''.

John Thomson continues to appear on British television, including major roles in ''Blackpool'' and ''Cold Feet''. He stated in October 2005 that he longed for a ''Fast Show'' movie. He is currently appearing in popular soap opera ''Coronation Street'' as a love interest for Eileen Grimshaw. In 2009, he appeared in 'Big Top' which was screened on BBC One, playing a clown.

Mark Williams has become internationally known thanks to his recurring role as Arthur Weasley in the ''Harry Potter'' films. He continues to act and write his own material and has presented a documentary series titled ''Mark Williams' Big Bangs'' on the history of explosives, a follow-on to previous series ''Mark Williams on the Rails'', and ''Industrial Revelations''.

in 2000 Charlie Higson, Arabella Weir, Simon Day and Fast Show supporting cast members Rhys Thomas (Paul in the Swiss Toni sketches) and Tony Way were reunited in the "Paranoia" episode of ''Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)'', starring Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer

''Down the Line''

In 2006, Higson and Whitehouse produced and starred in ''Down the Line'', a spoof phone-in show for BBC Radio 4. The show also featured many of the regular ''Fast Show'' cast, including Simon Day, Arabella Weir, Rhys Thomas and Felix Dexter. Further series were broadcast in 2007, 2008 and 2011. A follow-on TV series, Bellamy's People, was broadcast in 2010.

The future

Speaking on the BBC Two show ''Something for the Weekend'' on 9 September 2007, Higson mentioned the upcoming DVD boxed set release and that a reunion of some sort to help promote it was being considered. This took place at The Dominion Theatre in London on Sunday 4 November, and was a collection of some new sketches, videos of cast favourites and performances of classic sketches (including the return of Ed Winchester). An announcement was made on stage by Charlie Higson that the cast had signed with the BBC for a new series of 'The Fast Show', but this was an elaborate set-up for a sketch featuring Unlucky Alf; the claim was withdrawn at the end of the evening by Higson. In addition he and Whitehouse were working on a film script which would feature the Fast Show team, but wouldn't have any of the characters from the show.

DVDs

Numerous ''Fast Show'' DVDs are available including :

''The Fast Show : Series 1'' (includes cast interviews with Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Arabella Weir and Mark Williams)

''The Fast Show : Series 2''

''The Fast Show : Series 3 and 1996 Christmas Special''

''The Fast Show : The Last Fast Show Ever, Part One''

''The Fast Show Live''

''The Fast Show Farewell Tour''

A 7 DVD box set, ''The Ultimate Fast Show Collection'', was released in the UK on 5 November 2007, which compiled nearly all their material, except the two live DVD releases and their spin-off series/specials.

''You Ain't Seen These, Right!''

''You Ain't Seen These, Right!'' was a one-off programme, shown during BBC Two's ''Fast Show Night'', featuring various sketches which were filmed but did not make it onto the final show. Some of these were:

An ensemble series of sketches made by the whole male team, as members of a golf club, in which Charlie Higson's character was dating a beautiful young woman. The rest of the team are initially dismissive of him as a sad old man, but cannot help gawking over her, until Paul Whitehouse's character blurts out to her similarly young and attractive friend "Can I come over your tits?"

A chain-smoking car driver played by Mark Williams who rants about anything and everything through his wound-down window. A study of road rage. "Shoe shop?! Shoe Shop?!". He drives around in Harlesden, London.

A medieval king played by Simon Day, who 'loves being king' because he gets to boss everyone about.

A middle aged man, played by John Thomson, who always finds an excuse to leave the room as soon as the conversation gets round to "women's things."

A Paul Whitehouse character who responds to almost every question, accusation and situation with the phrase "Sorry, but I was up all night, shagging."

These sketches are included in the UK edition of the boxed VHS videotape set of Series 3, and also on the 7 disc Ultimate Fast Show DVD box set.

References

External links

Category:1994 in British television Category:1994 British television programme debuts Category:2000 British television programme endings Category:1990s British television series Category:2000s British television series Category:BBC television comedy Category:British television sketch shows Category:The Fast Show

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