Division I (or D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-I schools are generally the major collegiate athletic powers, with larger budgets, more elaborate facilities, and more athletic scholarships than Divisions II and III. This level was once called the University Division of the NCAA, in contrast to the College Division; this terminology was replaced with numeric divisions (I, II, III) in 1973. In football only, Division I was further subdivided in 1978 into Division I-A (the principal football schools) and Division I-AA; these were renamed "Football Bowl Subdivision" and "Football Championship Subdivision" in 2006. Subsequently, "Division I-AAA" has been used by some for Division I schools that field no football program at all. Division I contains 346 institutions. There is a moratorium on any additional movement up to Division I until 2012.

All Division I schools must field athletes in at least seven sports for men and seven for women or six for men and eight for women, with two team sports for each sex. There are several other NCAA sanctioned minimums and differences that distinguish Division I from Divisions II and III.

Scholarship limits by sport

The NCAA imposes limits on the total financial aid each Division I member may award in each sport that the school sponsors. It divides sports that it sponsors into two types for purposes of scholarship limitations:

"Head-count" sports, in which the NCAA limits the total number of individuals that can receive athletic scholarships, but allows each player to receive up to a full scholarship.

"Equivalency" sports, in which the NCAA limits the total financial aid that a school can offer in a given sport to the equivalent of a set number of full scholarships. Roster limitations may or may not apply, depending on the sport.

The term "counter" is also key to this concept. The NCAA defines a "counter" as "an individual who is receiving institutional financial aid that is countable against the aid limitations in a sport."

The number of scholarships that Division I members may award in each sport is listed below.

Head-count sports

Basketball – 13 for men, 15 for women FBS football – 85, with an additional limit of 25 initial counters per year Women's gymnastics – 12 Women's tennis – 12 Women's volleyball – 12

Equivalency sports

Men's

Baseball – 11.7, with the following additional limitations:

A limit of 27 total counters.

A requirement that each counter receive athletic aid equal to at least 25% of a full scholarship.

FCS football – 63, with limits of 30 initial counters per year and 85 total counters Gymnastics – 6.3 Rifle (coeducational, but classified as a men's sport) – 3.6 Tennis – 4.5 Volleyball – 4.5 Wrestling – 9.9

Women's

Bowling – 5 Equestrian – 15 Field hockey – 12 Rowing – 20 Rugby – 12 Softball – 12 Squash – 12

Both sexes

Cross-country/track & field – 12.6 for men, 18 for women Fencing – 4.5 for men, 5 for women Golf – 4.5 for men, 6 for women Ice hockey – 18, with a limit of 30 total counters, combined for both sexes Lacrosse – 12.6 for men, 12 for women Skiing – 6.3 for men, 7 for women Soccer – 9.9 for men, 14 for women Swimming and diving – 9.9 for men, 14 for women Water polo – 4.5 for men, 8 for women

Rules for multi-sport athletes

The NCAA also has rules specifying the sport in which multi-sport athletes are to be counted, with the basic rules being:

Anyone who participates in football is counted in that sport, even if he does not receive financial aid from the football program. An exception exists for players at non-scholarship FCS programs who receive aid in another sport.

Participants in basketball are counted in that sport, unless they also play football.

Participants in men's ice hockey are counted in that sport, unless they also play football or basketball.

Participants in both men's swimming and diving and men's water polo are counted in swimming and diving, unless they count in football or basketball.

Participants in women's volleyball are counted in that sport unless they also play basketball.

All other multi-sport athletes are counted in whichever sport the school chooses.

Finances

Division I athletic programs generated $8.7 billion in revenue in the 2009-2010 academic year. Men's teams provided 55% of the total, women's teams 15%, and 30% was not categorized by sex or sport. Football and men's basketball are usually the only sports that are profitable for universities, with others usually losing money. The BYU Cougars, for example, in 2009 had revenue of $41 million and expenses of $35 million, resulting in a profit of $5.5 million or about 16% margin. Football (60% of revenue, 53% profit margin) and men's basketball (15% of revenue, 8% profit margin) were profitable; women's basketball (less than 3% of revenue) and all other sports were unprofitable.

Subdivisions

Subdivisions in Division I exist only in football. In all other sports, all Division I conferences are equivalent. The subdivisions were recently given names to reflect the differing levels of football play in them. Additionally, some sports, most notably ice hockey and men's volleyball, have completely different conference structures that operate outside of the normal NCAA sports conference structure.

The method by which the NCAA determines whether a school is Bowl or Championship subdivision is first by attendance numbers and then by scholarships.

For attendance reporting methods, the NCAA allows schools to report either total tickets sold or the number of persons in attendance at the games. They require a minimum average of 15,000 people in attendance every other year. These numbers get posted to the NCAA statistics website for football each year. With the new rules starting in the 2006 season, the number of Bowl Subdivision schools could drop in the future if those schools are not able to pull in enough fans into the games. Additionally, 8 schools in the Championship subdivision had enough attendance to be moved up in 2005 (although they would need to either compete as independents or join a conference in order to do so).

===Football Championship Subdivision===

The Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, determines its national champion "on the field" in a 20-team, single-elimination tournament. With the expansion of the tournament field from 16 teams to 20 starting in 2010, the champions of 10 conferences receive automatic bids, with 10 "at-large" spots; 12 teams will receive first-round byes in the new tournament format. A team must have at least seven wins to be eligible for an at-large spot.

The tournament traditionally begins on Thanksgiving weekend in late November, and during the era of the 16-team field ran for four weeks, ending with the championship game in mid-December. Since 2010, the tournament has run for four weeks (for seeds 13-20) to determine the two finalists, who play for the FCS national title in early January in Frisco, Texas, the scheduled host through the 2012 season. For thirteen seasons, the title game was played in Chattanooga, Tennessee, (1997–2009), preceded by five seasons in Huntington, West Virginia, where host Marshall advanced to the title game in four of the five years.

When I-AA was formed in 1978, the playoffs included just four teams for its first three seasons, doubling to eight teams for one season in 1981. From 1982-85, I-AA changed to a 12-team tourney, with each of the top four seeds receiving a first-round bye and a home game in the quarterfinals. The I-AA playoffs went to 16 teams in 1986, and the FCS playoffs expanded to 20 teams starting in 2010. After 28 seasons, the "I-AA" was dropped by the NCAA in 2006, although it is still informally and commonly used.

Abstainers

The Football Championship Subdivision includes several conferences which do not participate in the eponymous post-season championship tournament. The Ivy League was lowered to I-AA (FCS) following the 1981 season, and plays a strict ten game schedule. It has yet to participate in the post-season tournament, despite an automatic bid, citing academic concerns. The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) has its own championship game in mid-December between the champions of its East and West divisions. Also three of its member schools traditionally do not finish their regular seasons until Thanksgiving weekend. Grambling State and Southern play each other in the Bayou Classic, and Alabama State plays Tuskegee University (a Division II team) in the Turkey Day Classic. SWAC teams are eligible to accept at-large bids if their schedule is not in conflict. The last SWAC team to participate in the I-AA playoffs was Jackson State in 1997; the SWAC never achieved success in the tournament, going winless in 19 games in twenty years (1978–97).

From 2006 through 2009, the Pioneer Football League and Northeast Conference champions played in the Gridiron Classic, though all conference teams technically remained tournament eligible. If a league champion was invited to the national championship, the second-place team would play in the Gridiron Classic. That game was scrapped after the 2009 season when its four-year contract ran out; this coincided with the NCAA's announcement that the Northeast Conference would get an automatic bid to the tournament starting in 2010. The Big South Conference also received an automatic bid starting in 2010.

Schools in a transition period after joining the FCS from a lower division (or from the NAIA) are also ineligible for the playoffs.

Scholarships

Division I FCS schools are currently restricted to giving financial assistance amounting to 63 full scholarships. Unlike Bowl Subdivision schools, Championship Subdivision schools may divide their allotment into partial scholarships, but Championship Subdivision schools are limited to 85 players receiving any sort of athletic financial aid for football. Because of competitive forces, however, a substantial number of players in Championship Subdivision programs are on full scholarships.

A few Championship Subdivision conferences are composed of schools that offer no athletic scholarships at all, most notably the Ivy League and the Pioneer Football League, a football-only conference. The Ivy League allows no athletic scholarships at all, while the PFL consists of schools that offer scholarships in other sports but choose not to take on the expense of a scholarship football program. The Northeast Conference also sponsored non-scholarship football, but began offering a maximum of 30 full scholarship equivalents in 2006, which grew to 40 in 2011 after a later vote of the league's school presidents and athletic directors. The Patriot League does not give football scholarships, but permits them in other sports (athletes receiving these scholarships are ineligible to play football for Patriot League schools).

Conferences

		!Conference	!Nickname	!Founded	!Full Members	!Sports	!Headquarters	NCAA Division I Football Championship>FCS Tournament Bid
Big Sky Conference	Big Sky	1963	9 (11 by 2012)	15	Ogden, Utah	Automatic
Big South Conference	Big South	1983	10	18	Charlotte, North Carolina	Automatic
Colonial Athletic Association	CAA	1983	12	21	Richmond, Virginia	Automatic
			3			Invitation
Great West Conference	Great West	2004	7 (5 by 2012)	16 (15 by 2013)	Elmhurst, Illinois	Invitation
Ivy League	Ivy League	1954	8	33	Princeton, New Jersey	Automatic - (Abstains)
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference	MEAC	1970	13	15	Virginia Beach, Virginia	Automatic
Missouri Valley Football Conference	MVFC	1985	9 (10 by 2012)	1	St. Louis, Missouri	Automatic
Northeast Conference	NEC	1981	12	23	Somerset, New Jersey	Automatic
Ohio Valley Conference	OVC	1948	11 (12 by 2012)	17	Brentwood, Tennessee	Automatic
Patriot League	Patriot	1986	8	23	Center Valley, Pennsylvania	Automatic
Pioneer Football League	PFL	1991	10	1	St. Louis, Missouri	Invitation
Southern Conference	SoCon	1921	12	19	Spartanburg, South Carolina	Automatic
Southland Conference	Southland	1963	12 (9 by 2012)	17	Frisco, Texas	Automatic
Southwestern Athletic Conference	SWAC	1920	10	18	Birmingham, Alabama	Abstains

;Notes

Division I non-football schools

Several Bowl Subdivision and Championship Subdivision conferences have member institutions that do not compete in football. Such schools are sometimes unofficially referred to as I-AAA. For example, the Big East Conference, a Bowl Subdivision conference in football, has five members that discontinued their football programs (DePaul, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, and St. John's), plus an additional two members who play football in Championship Subdivision conferences (Georgetown and Villanova); conference member Notre Dame plays football as a Bowl Subdivision independent.

Bowl Subdivision football independents Army and Navy compete in the Patriot League, a FCS conference, in all other sports.

In addition, some schools officially affiliated with conferences that do not sponsor football do, in fact, field football teams. For example:

UC Davis and Cal Poly, members of the non-football Big West Conference, currently participate in football under the FCS Great West Conference. Both football programs will move to the Big Sky Conference, most likely in 2013.

Hawaii will join the Big West Conference in 2012. Its football program will join the Mountain West Conference at the same time.

BYU and San Diego are members of the West Coast Conference, but still participate in football—respectively as an FBS independent and a member of the FCS Pioneer Football League.

Two members of the non-football America East Conference—Albany and Stony Brook—are associate football members of FCS conferences, with Albany in the Northeast Conference and Stony Brook in the Big South Conference.

The Northeast Conference has a second associate football member from a non-football conference in Duquesne, a full member of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

The following Division I conferences do not sponsor football. These conferences still compete in Division I for all sports that they sponsor.

Conferences

!Conference	!Nickname	!Founded	!Members	!Sports	!Headquarters
America East Conference	America East	1979	9	22
Atlantic Sun Conference	A-Sun	1978	10 (9 by July 2012)	17	Macon, Georgia
Atlantic 10 Conference	A-10	1975	14	21	Newport News, Virginia
Big West Conference	Big West	1969	9 (10 by July 2012)	16	Irvine, California
Horizon League	Horizon	1979	10	19
	Independents		3 (2 by July 2012)
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference	MAAC	1980	10	25	Edison, New Jersey
Missouri Valley Conference	MVC / Valley	1907	10	19	St. Louis, Missouri
The Summit League	The Summit	1982	10	19	Elmhurst, Illinois
West Coast Conference	WCC	1952	9	13	San Bruno, California

Of these, the two that most recently sponsored football were the Atlantic-10 and the MAAC. The A-10 football league dissolved in 2006 with its members going to the Colonial Athletic Association. In addition, four A-10 schools (Dayton, Fordham, Duquesne, and Temple) play football in a conference other than the new CAA, which still includes three full-time A-10 members (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Richmond). The MAAC stopped sponsoring football in 2007, after most of its members gradually stopped fielding teams.

Other non-football conference schools that sponsor football include six of the Missouri Valley schools (Drake, Illinois State, Indiana State, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, and Southern Illinois) and three of the Horizon League schools (Butler, Valparaiso, and Youngstown State). The Missouri Valley Football Conference is a separate entity from the Missouri Valley Conference, despite sharing a name (from 2008).

===Football Bowl Subdivision=== NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, formerly known as Division I-A, is the only NCAA-sponsored sport without an organized tournament to determine its champion. Schools in Division I FBS compete in post-season bowl games, with the champions of six conferences receiving automatic bids to the Bowl Championship Series to determine a national champion. This is due to many factors, including that bowl games are sanctioned by the NCAA (primarily in terms of amateurism regulations and guaranteeing a minimum payout to conferences of the participating schools), but are not under its direct administration.

The remaining five conferences, often referred to as "Mid-majors", do not receive automatic bids but their conference champions are eligible for an automatic bid if it ranks in the BCS top 12 or in the top 16 and ahead of the champion from a conference with an automatic bid. Only one "mid-major" champion can qualify for an automatic bid in any year. The one exception is Notre Dame, which only has to rank in the top eight of the BCS standings to earn an automatic bid to a BCS bowl game.

FBS schools are limited to a total of 85 football players receiving financial assistance. For competitive reasons, a student receiving partial scholarship counts fully against the total of 85. Nearly all FBS schools that are not on NCAA probation give 85 full scholarships.

As of 2011, there are 120 full members of Division I FBS. The most recent addition to FBS was Western Kentucky University, which ended its two-year transition period from Division I FCS in 2008 and became a full FBS member in 2009. In July 2011, four schools began transitions to FBS, starting as FCS members and attaining full FBS membership in 2013:

The University of South Alabama, previously an unclassified NCAA football program, will play its first fully competitive season in 2011. The Jaguars, already full members of the Sun Belt Conference, will join that conference for football.

Texas State University–San Marcos (Texas State), currently an established FCS program in the Southland Conference, will join the Western Athletic Conference in 2012.

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), previously a non-football member of the Southland Conference, will play its first football season in 2011 and join the WAC alongside Texas State in 2012.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass), a member of the non-football Atlantic 10 Conference and a football member of the Colonial Athletic Association, will join the Mid-American Conference in football only effective in 2012. The team will become eligible for the MAC championship upon attaining full FBS membership in 2013.

Any conference with at least 12 football teams may split its teams into two divisions and conduct a championship game between the division winners. The prize is normally a specific bowl game bid for which the conference has a tie-in, or a guaranteed spot in the BCS (depending on the conference).

Some conferences have numbers in their names but this often has no relation to the number of member institutions in the conference. The Big Ten Conference did not formally adopt the "Big Ten" name until 1987, but unofficially used that name when it had 10 members from 1917 to 1946, and again from 1949 forward. However, it has continued to use the name even after it expanded to 11 members with the addition of Penn State in 1990 and 12 with the addition of Nebraska in 2011. The Big 12 Conference was established in 1996 with 12 members, but continues to use that name even after the 2011 departure of Colorado and Nebraska left the conference with 10 members. On the other hand, the name of the Pacific-12 Conference has reflected the number of members since its current charter was established in 1959. The conference unofficially used "Big Five" (1959–62), "Big Six" (1962–64), and "Pacific-8" (1964–68) before officially adopting the "Pacific-8" name. The name duly changed to "Pacific-10" in 1978 with the addition of Arizona and Arizona State, and "Pacific-12" in 2011 when Colorado and Utah joined. Conferences also tend to ignore their regional names when adding new schools. Examples are Texas Christian that is joining the Big East and Colorado joining the Pacific-12. Neither school is considered to be a Pacific or East Coast school.

Conferences

!Conference	!Nickname	!Founded	!Members	!Sports	!Headquarters
Atlantic Coast Conference **	ACC	1953	12	25	Greensboro, North Carolina
Big East Conference **	Big East	1979	16 (17 in July 2012)	23	Providence, Rhode Island
Big Ten Conference **	Big Ten	1896	12	25	Park Ridge, Illinois
Big 12 Conference **	Big 12	1996	10	21	Irving, Texas
Conference USA	C-USA	1995	12	21	Irving, Texas
			4
Mid-American Conference	MAC	1946	12	23
Mountain West Conference	MW (official)MWC (informal)	1999	8 (9 in July 2012)i]] will join the MW for football only, while becoming a full member of the non-football Big West Conference.	19	Colorado Springs, Colorado
Pacific-12 Conference **	Pac-12	1915	12	22	Walnut Creek, California
Southeastern Conference **	SEC	1932	12	20	Birmingham, Alabama
Sun Belt Conference	Sun Belt	1976	12 (11 by July 2012)	19
Western Athletic Conference	WAC	1962	8 (10 in July 2012)	19	Greenwood Village, Colorado

(** BCS Automatic Qualification (AQ) Conferences)

;Notes

Division I in ice hockey

As ice hockey is limited to a much smaller number of almost exclusively Northern schools, there is a completely different conference structure for teams. These conferences feature a mix of teams that play their other sports in various Division I conferences, and even Division II and Division III schools. With the exception of the Ivy League's hockey-playing schools being members of the ECAC, there is no correlation between a team's ice hockey affiliation and its affiliation for other sports. For example, the Hockey East men's conference consists of one ACC school, one Big East school, four schools from America East, one from the A-10, one CAA school, and two schools from the D-II Northeast Ten Conference, whereas the CCHA and WCHA both have some Big Ten representation, plus Division II and III schools. Also, the divisional structure is truncated, with Division II competition in the sport abolished in 1999.

Conferences

!Conference	!Nickname	!Founded	!Members (Men/Women)
Atlantic Hockey	AHA	1997	12 (12/none)
Central Collegiate Hockey Association	CCHA	1972	11 (11/none)
College Hockey America	CHA	2002	5 (none/5)
ECAC Hockey	N/A	1962	12 (12/12)
Hockey East	Hockey East	1984	11 (10/8)
			2 (1/1)
Western Collegiate Hockey Association	WCHA	1951	13 (12/8)

Controversy

In the early 21st century, a controversy arose in the NCAA over whether schools will continue to be allowed to have one showcased program in Division I with the remainder of the athletic program in a lower division, as is the case of, notably, Johns Hopkins University lacrosse as well as Colorado College and University of Alabama in Huntsville in ice hockey. This is an especially important issue in hockey, which has no Division II national championship and has several schools whose other athletic programs compete in Division II and Division III.

This controversy was resolved at the 2004 NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee when the members supported Proposal 65-1, the amended legislation co-sponsored by Colorado College, Clarkson University, Hartwick College, the Johns Hopkins University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rutgers University-Newark, St. Lawrence University, and SUNY Oneonta. Each school affected by this debate is allowed to grant financial aid to student-athletes who compete in Division I programs in one men's sport and one women's sport. It is still permitted for other schools to place one men's and one women's sport in Division I going forward, but they cannot offer scholarships without bringing the whole program into compliance with Division I rules. In addition, schools in Divisions II and III are allowed to "play up" in any sport that does not have a Division II championship, but only Division II programs and any Division III programs covered by the exemption can offer scholarships in those sports.

The Division I programs at each of the eight "waiver schools" which were grandfathered with the passing of Proposal 65-1 were:

Clarkson University - men's and women's ice hockey

Colorado College - men's ice hockey, women's soccer

Hartwick College - men's soccer, women's water polo

Johns Hopkins University - men's and women's lacrosse

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - men's ice hockey (women's ice hockey moved up to Division I in 2005)

Rutgers University-Newark - men's volleyball

St. Lawrence University - men's and women's ice hockey

SUNY Oneonta - men's soccer (dropped down to Division III in 2006)

See also

List of NCAA Division I institutions

List of Division I athletic directors

List of schools reclassifying their athletic programs to NCAA Division I

Notes

External links

List of Division I schools at NCAA.org

*

el:Πανεπιστημιακό πρωτάθλημα καλαθοσφαίρισης ΗΠΑ (1η κατηγορία) es:División I de la NCAA eu:NCAAko lehen maila pl:NCAA Division I

background	group_or_band
name	78violet
alias	Aly & AJ (2002–2009)
origin	Torrance, California, United States
instrument	Vocals, Guitars, Pianos
genre	Pop rockTeen popAdult alternative
years active	2002–present
associated acts	Miley CyrusAshley Tisdale
label	Hollywood (2002-2010)
website	Official website
current members	Alyson MichalkaAmanda Michalka

78violet (formerly Aly & AJ) is a pop rock band consisting of sisters Alyson and Amanda Michalka. They were born in Torrance, California, but spent part of their childhood in Seattle, Washington. They are both actresses, singer-songwriters, and guitarists. They signed a record deal with the Disney-owned label, Hollywood Records in 2004. They released their debut studio album ''Into the Rush'' on August 17, 2005. The album debuted at number thirty six in the United States, selling over 24,000 copies in its first week and was later certified Platinum by the RIAA. ''Into the Rush'' earned them the "Contemporary Inspirational Artists of the Year" nomination at the 2006 American Music Awards. ''Into the Rush'' later sold over one million records worldwide.

Their second studio album ''Insomniatic'' debuted at number fifteen in the United States, selling over 39,000 copies in its first week on the Billboard 200; this is their highest debut to date. Their second album's lead single "Potential Breakup Song" is their most successful single to date, it was certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales over 1,000,000 copies. The duo said that once they were done filming their separate movies, they plan to get back to working on their third studio album for a release in 2009. On September 30, 2009, 78violet announced their third release date for the upcoming self-titled 78violet album is going to be in early 2010 instead. With many rumors going around of the band changing their name, the duo announced that they will be changing their name to 78violet. The duo have also launched a franchise line which includes a doll series and book series.

On February 19, 2010, 78violet announced on their official Facebook page that they were "no longer a part of Hollywood Records" and that the album they recorded for Hollywood Records probably won't be released. However, they are "continuing to write and record new songs".

History

2005–06: ''Into the Rush'' and ''Acoustic Hearts of Winter''

Aly & AJ's debut studio album, ''Into the Rush'', was released on August 16, 2005 and certified Gold by the RIAA in March 2006. One of the album's singles, "No One" was featured in the Walt Disney Pictures feature film, ''Ice Princess'' and its soundtrack. The song "Do You Believe In Magic", written and originally recorded by The Lovin' Spoonful, added a rock edge. This cover was used in the soundtrack of the made-for-TV Disney Channel original movie, ''Now You See It...'', in which Aly had a starring role as Allyson Henlen. "Do You Believe in Magic" became their first single to enter the top twenty of the Canadian Hot 100 chart, peaking at #23 and peaked at #2 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Singles Sales. ''Into the Rush'' had sold 808,000 copies by December 2007, and over 1,000,000 copies worldwide.

The album received mixed reviews from critics. Fran Grauman from About.com gave the album a 4 star rating, praising Aly and AJ's "ton of talent" and "experience." Allmusic gave the album a mixed review, saying it "doesn't venture further than offering a few empowering ballads", to hand them 2.5 stars after. AMG does praise them for having a real singing ability, citing "Aly & AJ can actually sing — their vocals have more way personality than prefab Disney hopefuls like Hayden Panettiere or Caleigh Peters — and the arrangements are slick without resorting to flashily empty pap". The review finishes with "''Into the Rush'' is listenable, likeable, and more about being memorable than being Disney product." The album became the 112th best-selling album in the United States in 2006, earning it a place as #112 on the Billboard 200 end of year chart of 2006.

They have been involved in various Walt Disney Records projects. The "Aly & AJ Concert" took place on July 24, 2005 at the Henry Fonda theater in Hollywood, California. The aired concert was cut to five songs and interviews. The concert included songs from ''Into the Rush''. The band has also opened for The Cheetah Girls in December 2005 on the girls' Cheetah-licious Christmas Tour. The album was re-released in August 2006 with three new songs, including the hit, "Chemicals React", and two new versions of "Collapsed" and "Something More"; it was also released in the UK. Their first Christmas themed album, ''Acoustic Hearts of Winter'' was released on September 26, 2006. On the album, Aly & AJ recorded traditional Christmas songs. In late 2007, the band had recorded three more Christmas originals. ''Acoustic Hearts of Winter'' debuted at #78 on the ''Billboard Hot 100'', selling over 19,000 copies in its first week. The album also topped the U.S. ''Billboard'' Top Holiday Albums debuting at #14. The holiday album later sold over 136,000 copies in the United States.

2007–08: ''Insomniatic''

The duo's second studio album, ''Insomniatic'' was released on July 10, 2007. The album features a more electropop, electronic rock and dance-pop influenced sound different from their debut with the use of synthesizers, synth-rock guitars, vocoder, and electronic instruments. The album peaked at #15 on the Billboard 200, selling over 39,000 copies in its first week and becoming Aly & AJ's highest debut to date. By early December 2007, the album had sold over 215,000 copies in the United States. The album's electropop lead single, "Potential Breakup Song" preceded their second studio album ''Insomniatic'' which was written by them, was released on June 25, 2007. "Potential Breakup Song" peaked at number 17 at ''Billboard'''s Hot 100, becoming their first top 20 single in the United States. The single was later also certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales surpassing 1,000,000 copies.

In October 2007, both the single and the album were released in the United Kingdom; "Potential Breakup Song" reached a peak position of #22 in the United Kingdom, and #16 in Ireland. The girls toured for a short while in the UK, opening for McFly twice and performing at several television shows and nightclubs. ''Time'' magazine named "Potential Breakup Song" one of the 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at #9. Writer Josh Tyrangiel praised the authenticity of its having been written by the teenage sisters who sing it. The track also went to chart solely on digital download in several countries like the Netherlands, Norway and Canada.

Subsequently after the success of the album's first single, ''Insomniatic'' was praised by numerous music critics. The United States publication ''USA Today'' wrote "for Insomniatic, the sisters had a hand in writing every song. The single Potential Breakup Song sounds somewhat like Del Shannon's "Runaway" run through a processor, but there's a lot more going musically than on your average teen-pop album." Hollywood Records general manager Abbey Konowitch said, "they write their material; they play their instruments. They aren't in any way manufactured. That's very important." Fraser McAlpine of BBC Radio stated, "Aly and AJ's previous album was rock-pop, some of it light and bubbly, some of it bordering on heaviness. Staccato, often angry pop but still definitely pop. Their second offering, 'Insomniatic,' with this as the lead single seems to have kept the staccato and the venom but added more layers of pop, to create something that sounds like My Chemical Romance going through a blender with some soft-hearted Angry Girl Music." adding, "Don't let the tango at the start fool you, even as the synths and the vocoder cut in, this is a rock song playing with electronics. Chirpy keyboards flag up the growl of their voices as they deliver self-conscious lines like 'it took too long, it took too long, it took too long for you to call back and normally I would just forget that, except for the fact it was my birthday, my stupid birthday', kicking a guy to the curb for being a forgetful loser amid a glorious barrage of seething rhythms, clicky noises and general madness, as the Michalka sisters swing between honeyed murmurs and psychosis, making for the most danceable mental breakdown I've heard in quite some time."

In December 2007, the news revealed that the band would be replacing the Jonas Brothers as the opening act for the extension of the Hannah Montana's Best of Both Worlds Tour from January 11 – January 24. The band also confirmed their second single "Like Whoa", which reached number 63 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and charted later in Australia and Canada. In early January 2008, Aly & AJ performed a cover of KT Tunstall's "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Yahoo's Pepsi Smash video site. The cover is also featured on the Japanese re-release of ''Insomniatic'', recorded at Abbey Road. Also, the girls covered the song "We're an American Band" for Randy Jackson's ''Music Club, Vol. 1'', serving as a bonus track.

2009–present: Name change, departure from Hollywood Records, and new music

In early 2008, ''Billboard'' confirmed that the girls are working on a third studio album which was due to be released in late 2009. They mentioned in an interview on Radio Disney on April 23, 2008 that they are going for a rockier sound, and this time they want to sing separately, not harmonizing their voices as they did on their previous albums, to let fans identify who is singing. On October 7, 2008, the up-to-then-yet-untitled album had been confirmed for a April 2009 release by a Hollywood Records representative, however, a month later, the duo revealed in an interview that the album had been delayed until the summer of 2009. In later interviews though, the duo mentioned a release date of fall 2009, and lastly, on September 30, 2009, the duo claims an early 2010 release of the record.

The duo wrote a song (later confirmed to be titled "The Next Worst Thing") with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo. The girls also worked with Chris Lord-Alge (Green Day, AFI, Sum 41) and Rob Cavallo (Green Day, The Goo Goo Dolls, Paramore), both producers in the rock genre. Throughout 2009, various songtitles were added to the database of Broadcast Music Incorporated, written by the duo, and co-written with Daniel James and Leah Haywood. Rumors of Aly & AJ touring in the summer of 2009 surfaced the internet, but were later denied by Aly Michalka on their official website. They stated that they were finalizing the record and wanted to focus on that at the moment. They also revealed that they wanted to tour in early 2010 to promote the new album.

On July 8, 2009, the duo announced that they changed their name to 78violet. A week later, on July 16, 78violet announced that their third album will be self-titled. On February 19, 2010, 78violet announced on their official Facebook page that they had officially parted ways with Hollywood Records, and their new self-titled album, ''78violet'' probably will not be released. However, the duo stated that they are continuing to write and record for a new album.

On December 1, 2010 78violet's first song under the name of 78violet was released with the ''Hellcats'' soundtrack EP. 78violet recorded the theme song to ''Hellcats'' entitled "Belong Here". On January 24, 2011 a video of 78violet in the studio was released where a clip of a new song "Suspended" was played. 78violet tweeted on June 2, 2011 "18 songs deep into the writing for this record. A few more to go and we will officially start production" Some of the titles for 78violets third album will be ''8 Hours '' and ''53rd floor''

Other work

Acting

Aly also had a role in Disney's ''Phil of the Future''. Before acting in films separately, the duo were featured in two made-for-television films; the Disney Channel original movie ''Cow Belles'' (2006) and the MTV special ''Super Sweet 16: The Movie'' (2007). Before this, Aly Michalka also fulfilled a main role in the 2005 Disney Channel original movie ''Now You See It...'', alongside Johnny Pacar. Aly has made an acting career for herself in the new CW hit drama ''Hellcats'', and starring alongside Vanessa Hudgens in the movie ''Bandslam'', as well as playing Rhiannon in the movie ''Easy A'' - released in 2010. With regard to AJ’s acting career, in 2009 she had a role in ''The Lovely Bones'', a film by Peter Jackson with Mark Wahlberg and Saoirse Ronan, in which AJ played the best friend of the main character Susie Salmon. In 2010 Amanda appeared as Kate Tweedy in ''Secretariat'', a film from a true story about the horse which won the Triple Crown in 1973. Next AJ has been chosen for the new film by J.J. Abrams, ''Super 8'', which was released on June 10, 2011. AJ has been tapped for a recurring role on ''Hellcats'', where Aly works as one of the principal characters. AJ's first appearance took place on the 18th episode called "Woke Up Dead", of the first season. Her name in the show is Deidre. She plays a girl who works in a music store near the Lancer University, where Aly goes to learn more about her dad. In the 20th episode "Warped Sisters", Deidre and Aly's character, revealed to be half-sisters, sing together.

Merchandise

Huckleberry Toys released Limited Edition Hello Kitty Aly & AJ dolls to selected Target stores. Toys R Us is currently selling a line of the dolls which have been available since November 15, 2007. On November 20, 2007, ''The Aly & AJ Adventure'' game was brought out, for use on the Nintendo DS. In the game, the player plays their assistant, helping them record songs, direct music video etc.

As of June 12, 2008, the duo started releasing their own paperback adventure books, called ''Aly & AJ's Rock 'n' Roll Mysteries'', each part describing Aly & AJ on tour, every book describing a mystery in a different city. The drawings in the books were done by Aly. The first two (''First Stop, New York'' and ''Mayhem in Miami'') were released on June 12, the third installment (''Singing in Seattle'') on September 2, and the last (''Nashville Nights'') went to stores on October 4, 2008.

Performance Designed Products released Aly & AJ-designed guitars on November 10, 2008. Aly's guitar features a heart-and-crossbones print in pink (PlayStation 2) and AJ's guitar is in the shape of the Aly & AJ heart logo featuring bright pink and purple zebra print (Wii, PS2). The duo launched the guitars on October 11, 2008 during event at Universal Studios CityWalk in California. The duo also have clothing, accessories, jewelry and cosmetics lines. According to ''Forbes'' and AOL, they are one of Hollywood's highest earning singers under the age of 30.

Charity work

The duo are the spokeswomen for Samsung's Hope for Education, which provides technology products to needy schools, and are the co-chairpersons for the Children's Advisory Board of the AmberWatch Foundation, and have performed at a benefit concert to raise money for the charity. The song "I Am One of Them", which was featured the in the debut album ''Into the Rush'' is dedicated to work with AmberWatch. The duo also walked a fashion show for the Race to Erase MS show in early May 2008, showing their support.

Stalking incidents

On June 26, 2008, an Ohio man named Rex Mettler was arrested for stalking the duo. The Lancaster man "obtained contact information for the acting and singing duo and made threats online, by phone and handwritten notes" as stated by the police. The duo was scheduled to perform June 27, 2008 in Cincinnati, where the man was present, after which the police couldn't confirm that any of the threats involved the Ohio show. The police later stated that "the charge against Mettler stems from incidents that began Dec. 15 [2007]" and that "Rex displayed a pattern of activity over that time that reflected multiple attempts, if not numerous attempts, at stalking these females."

Two years later, on June 17, 2010, Caesar Brantley (25), was arrested on suspicion of stalking the duo. He pleaded not guilty. Aly claimed Brantley is an "obsessed fan" who is determined to marry her "no matter what" in filings for the restraining order. Another court hearing was scheduled on June 30.

Religion

Along with making music for the mainstream audience, Aly & AJ, who are both very open about their faith, have become significant in the Christian music rock scene. "Never Far Behind" was only released on Christian rock radio. It went to #1 on Radio & Records (R&R;) Christian CHR. Although Aly and AJ are both very open about their Christian faith, they do not want to be labeled as Christian music artists. In an interview with ''Blender'' magazine in June 2006, the girls said that their music comes from a Christian perspective. "We don't ever wanna preach or shove anything down people's throats, but we want our music to be inspiring." AJ added, “If we have a Muslim fan or an atheist fan, that’s their thing — I’m gonna love them no matter what.”

In an interview with ''Blender'' magazine, the two expressed their denial of evolution, with the interviewer asking what their thoughts were. When asked if they accepted evolution, AJ responded, "No," and Aly responded, "Are they teaching that in schools now?" When told that it had been taught for the better part of a century, she replied, "I think that's kind of disrespectful, anything that has to do with anybody's beliefs on religion, that should stay out of the classroom. I mean, I think people should be able to pray in school, if people were into that. Everybody should just do their own gig", and AJ added "Evolution is silly. Monkeys? Um, no."

In 2010, Aly Milchalka stated in an interview with ''Seventeen'' magazine, "My faith is definitely a big part of my life, but not part of my career. It is something that guides me. But I feel like when you make a declaration of your religion, people automatically go after you when that purity ring comes off. So I don't want to set myself up for that kind of judgment."

Discography

''Into the Rush'' (2005)

''Acoustic Hearts of Winter'' (2006)

''Insomniatic'' (2007)

''78violet'' (2011)

Tours

; Main

2005: ''Mini Mall Tour''

2006: ''Living Room Tour''

2006: ''Holiday Season Tour''

2008: ''Insomniatic Tour''

2008: ''Mini Summer Tour''

; Supporting

2005: ''The Cheetah Girls Cheetah-licious Christmas Tour''

2008: ''Best of Both Worlds Tour''

Awards and nominations

+ 78violet (a.k.a Aly & AJ)
! Year !! Award !! Category !! Nominated work !! Result
2005			Aly Michalka as Keely Teslow in ''Phil of the Future''
2006			''Into the Rush''

References

External links

Official site

Category:American people of German descent Category:American pop music groups Category:Family musical groups Category:Girl groups Category:Hollywood Records artists Category:Musical groups from Los Angeles, California Category:Sibling musical duos

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