"Buy, Buy Baby" is the eighteenth episode of the American television series Will & Grace's eighth season. It was written by Kirk J. Rudell and directed by series producer James Burrows. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in the United States on March 30, 2006. Guest stars in "Buy, Buy Baby" include Britney Spears, Wanda Sykes, and George Takei.

In the episode, Jack's (Sean Hayes) talk show Jack Talk is completely revamped, after right-wing conservatives take over the gay network, OutTV. The new owners hire the ultra-conservative Amber-Louise (Spears) as Jack Talk's new co-host, infuriating Jack. While Jack is deciding whether or not he will stand up to his new bosses, Karen (Megan Mullally) desires a baby of her own. After seeing Grace (Debra Messing) so happy about her pregnancy, Karen decides she wants a baby and offers to pay a surrogate (Sykes) to carry one for her.

Before the airing of "Buy, Buy Baby", a press release from NBC revealed that the episode would include a scene in which Spears hosted a Christian cooking segment called "Cruci-fixins". The name of the segment was met with protest from Christian groups, who accused it of mocking Jesus' crucifixion. The network canceled the segment after criticism from the American Family Association. "Buy, Buy Baby" received generally mixed reviews and, according to Nielsen ratings, was watched by 3.7 million households during its original broadcast.

Plot[link]

Jack (Sean Hayes) learns that OutTV, the gay television network where he is employed, has been bought by a "large corporation" and that his talk show Jack Talk will have a co-host "to widen the audience." Not in favor of the idea, Jack agrees and meets his co-host, Amber-Louise (Britney Spears). During an episode of Jack Talk, Jack is stunned to realize that OutTV, which has been bought by right-wing conservatives, have made changes to the show, including it being renamed Talk Time USA. Not thrilled at the idea, Jack is told to compromise; Amber-Louise admits to Jack that she is a lesbian, and is merely pretending to be an ultra-conservative Christian to get by in the TV world. She asks him to go along with it, so that he can keep his job. Jack gets on board and informs his guest, actor George Takei, that the network asked that he not reveal he is gay on the show. Will tells Jack not to be let himself be pushed around, and to stand up for who he is. Jack takes Will's advice and does not compromise, which ultimately costs him his job.

Grace's (Debra Messing) pregnancy prompts Karen (Megan Mullally) to have a baby of her own. She pays a surrogate, Cricket (Wanda Sykes), to carry her child. Grace, who is bewildered at the idea of Karen having a baby, suspects that the only reason is that she is having one. Karen, however, dismisses the idea. Meanwhile, Cricket begins to have second thoughts on becoming Karen's surrogate, following Karen's strange behavior towards her and Karen's admission on how she and her husband, Stanley, will raise the child. This prompts Cricket to quit and Karen revealing to Grace that the only reason she wanted a baby was to help her marriage. She also admits that she has thought about leaving her husband.

Production[link]

Britney Spears guest starred in the episode. Her appearance received mixed reviews from critics.

"Buy, Buy Baby" was written by Kirk J. Rudell and directed by series producer James Burrows.^[1] In February 2006, it was confirmed that singer Britney Spears would guest star on the show.^[2][3][4] She rehearsed with the cast on February 11, 2006,^[5] and recorded her lines in front of a live audience on February 13^[6] and February 15, 2006.^[7][8][9] Spears' appearance on Will & Grace was her first acting performance on prime-time television,^[10][11] and her first television appearance since giving birth to a child in September 2005.^[12][13] The show's creators, David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, thought she did a "surprisingly good job".^[14] On March 28, 2006, the Human Rights Campaign announced that actor George Takei would also appear in the episode,^[15] in support of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) issues since coming out as gay.^[16] In addition, actress Wanda Sykes appears as Cricket.^[17]

The episode first aired on NBC in the United States on March 30, 2006. According to a press release for "Buy, Buy Baby" released by NBC in February 2006, the episode was to air on April 13, 2006 (Maundy Thursday), the day before Good Friday and the crucifixion of Jesus.^[18] In the press release, NBC said the episode would include a scene in which Spears hosted a Christian cooking segment called "Cruci-fixins".^[19][20] The name of the segment was met with controversy from Christian groups, who called it a "mockery" of Jesus' crucifixion. According to the American Family Association (AFA), pressure from themselves and NBC's affiliates, caused NBC to cancel the segment and move the episode's air date.^[21] NBC, however, stated that the "Cruci-fixins" segment was "erroneous information" mistakenly included in the press release and that it was an idea for another episode that had yet to be written.^[18] An NBC spokesperson stated: "The reference to 'Cruci-fixins' will not be in the show and the storyline will not contain a Christian characterization at all. We value our viewers and sincerely regret if this misinformation has offended them."^[22] AFA responded by claiming that the network was "lying" in its claim that the segment had never been a part of the episode.^[21] A statement on AFA's website read:

In an attempt to confuse the public, the network issued an intentionally misleading statement that left the impression that AFA had lied to our supporters. When NBC said that the script 'has yet to be written,' what they didn't tell you is that the 'story board' had been completed and the offensive material was scheduled to be a part of the episode. The story board contains the outline of the program. That is the reason for the detailed description of the episode issued by NBC in their initial press release. The bottom line is that the actions taken by AFA online supporters like you caused them to rewrite the episode and remove the offensive segment.

—American Family Association (AFA) on the controversial segment, ^[21]

Reception[link]

In its original American broadcast, "Buy, Buy Baby" was watched by approximately 3.7 million households, according to Nielsen ratings. The episode achieved a 11% in the key 18–49 demographics among adults. It was the eighth highest-rated show on the NBC network that week.^[23] Since airing, the episode has received mixed reviews from television critics. R.D. Heldenfels of the Akron Beacon Journal said Spears' appearance on the show was "uninspired".^[24] Lenny Ann Low of The Sydney Morning Herald commented that Spears as a right-wing co-host was a miss. "It proves she can talk and avoid the furniture but her flitting, one-dimensional character feels like a stunt."^[25] In Low's opinion, the only thing that saved the episode from a "thumbs down", was "its message about finding the courage to be yourself in a sea of conservatism, saccharine though that sounds."^[25] Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune thought Spears "bombed" in the episode,^[26] and Jeff Hidek of Star-News disliked the Southern accent she used in her performance.^[27] The Plain Dealer's Mark Dawidziak commented: "Granted, the episode wasn't very well written, but Spears seemed more out of place on the show than Megan Mullally's Karen at a sensitivity seminar."^[28]

A Herald Sun reviewer, however, thought she gave the final season of Will & Grace the "send-off it deserved."^[29] Rachel Browne of the The Sun Herald said the problem with Spears' performance is that "it's impossible to accept her in any role other than her own headline-hugging self."^[30] Browne, however, thought her appearance was "fun to watch".^[30] The Sunday Mail was also positive about Spears' performance, commenting that she "does well, especially when you remember the dismal Crossroads."^[31] Trent Vanegas of Pink is the New Blog said that doing the show was a "great move" for Spears.^[14] Television researcher Tim Brooks, the co-author of the 1979 book The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, commented that Spears' role was a "very good way to get her chops into comedy", in part because it is "very out of type. She's not just playing herself as a celebrity."^[14]

References[link]

External links[link]

• "Buy, Buy Baby" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Buy, Buy Baby" at TV.com

Daniel Dwayne Simmons III (born March 21, 1995), better known by his stage name Diggy Simmons or simply as Diggy, is an American rapper and the fourth child of Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons. He, along with his parents and five siblings, were the primary subjects of the MTV reality television show Run's House. Diggy is also the youngest member of the hip-hop collective All City Chess Club.

Music career[link]

Diggy Simmons released his debut mixtape, The First Flight, in 2009.^[1][2] More than 100,000 people downloaded the album from Simmons' blog.^[3] Following the album's release, according to Simmons, five record labels showed interest in signing him; he chose Atlantic Records.^[4] Early in 2010, Simmons uploaded a video of himself freestyling over the Nas song, "Made You Look". The video became a viral hit^[1] and garnered praise from Kanye West, who responded on Twitter: "I knew this kid was [going] to be fresh. I knew it!"^[5]

Airborne, Simmons' second mixtape, was released in 2010.^[1][6] It was preceded by the leak of the song "Oh Yeah!", which featured Pharrell Williams and Lupe Fiasco.^[7] Album track "Great Expectations" was featured that year in a national AT&T television commercial.^[1][8] Simmons released his third mixtape, "Past Presents Future", in December. The album, hosted by DJ Premier, features samples of songs from the 1980s and 1990s by such artists as Nas, A Tribe Called Quest and Rakim. A video was released for the track "Shook Ones", which samples the Mobb Deep song of the same name.^[9]

Early the next year, Simmons was named one of Billboard's "Artists to Watch 2011" and was selected to XXL's annual Freshmen list.^[10][11] "Click Clack Away", a song featuring Bruno Mars, leaked onto the internet in May. Simmons noted that the track would not be included on his debut studio album, set to be released by the end of the year.^[12][13] He released his first major-label single, "Copy, Paste", soon thereafter.^[1][14] The song's video was directed by Phil the God, who previously directed Simmons' "Made You Look", "What They Been Waiting For" and "Shook Ones".^[15][16] Simmons performed the song during the pre-show for the 2011 BET Awards.^[17] "Copy, Paste" peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in September.^[18] That month, Simmons released the song "Just Begun" however Simmons tweeted on twitter it was not going to be on the album.^[19] Simmons is featured on the singles "Like 'Em All" by Jacob Latimore, "Mrs. Right" by Mindless Behavior and "Yeah Right" by Dionne Bromfield.^[9][20][21] "Yeah Right" reached number 36 on the UK Singles Chart in April 2011.^[22] On October 24th 2011 Diggy released "Do It Like You" as the second official single from his debut album, Unexpected Arrival a music video has been released with the song's featured artist Jeremih appearing in the clip. Also on February 24 the song "88" was released as the third official single. The song features Jadakiss and a viral music video was released for the track. ^[23]

Simmons has cited many rappers as his influences including Jay-Z, Nas, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, A Tribe Called Quest and Wu-Tang Clan.^[8] He has also expressed an interest in alternative music, including such bands as Maroon 5, Passion Pit and Arctic Monkeys. Simmons said, "It’s a genre I would want to try in the future."^[2]

Clothing line[link]

In 2010, Simmons launched a line of urban sneakers called Chivalrous Culture. He says he gets inspiration from other artists such as Kanye and Jay-Z ^[1] The first shoe model is called the "Hamachi".^[24]

Discography[link]

Mixtapes

• The First Flight (2009)
• Airborne (2010)
• Past Presents Future (2010)

Singles[link]

As featured artist[link]

See also[link]

• Run's House

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Diggy Simmons

• Official website
• Diggy Simmons on Twitter
• Diggy Simmons's channel on YouTube
• Diggy Simmons on Myspace

Maher Zain ماهر زين
Background information
Born	(1981-03-16) March 16, 1981 (age 31) Tripoli, Lebanon
Origin	Sweden
Genres	R&B, Soul music, Pop music, World music, Acoustic music, Nasheed
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, musician, composer, music producer
Instruments	Guitar, piano, keyboard, percussion, synthesizers
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Awakening Records Sony Music
Associated acts	Irfan Makki Mesut Kurtis

Maher Zain (Arabic: ماهر زين‎ ; born March 16, 1981 in Tripoli, Lebanon) is a Muslim Swedish R&B singer, songwriter and music producer of Lebanese origin. His debut album Thank You Allah, an internationally successful album with strong Muslim religious influences, was released in 2009. He released his follow-up album Forgive Me on April 2, 2012.

Career[link]

Beginnings[link]

Maher Zain and his family moved to Sweden when he was eight years old. He completed his schooling there gaining a Bachelors degree in Aeronautical Engineering. After university he entered the music industry in Sweden and linked up with RedOne, the Moroccan-born Swedish producer.^[1]

When RedOne moved to New York in 2006 Maher Zain followed soon after to continue his music industry career in the USA producing for artists such as Kat DeLuna.^[2] On a visit home to Sweden he became engaged once more with his Islamic faith and decided to move away from a career as a music producer to become a singer/songwriter of contemporary R&B music with a strong Muslim religious influence.^[3]

[edit] Breakthrough success and Thank You Allah

In January 2009, Maher Zain began working on an album with Awakening Records. His debut album was Thank You Allah, with 13 songs and two bonus tracks was released on 1 November 2009 with percussion versions and French versions of some tracks released shortly afterwards.^[4]

Zain and Awakening Records successfully used new media such as Facebook, YouTube^[5] and iTunes to promote tracks from the album.^[6][7] In early 2010 his music very quickly gathered a huge online following in Arabic speaking and Islamic countries as well as among young Muslims in western countries.^[8] By the end of 2010 he was the most Googled celebrity in Malaysia for that year.^[7] Malaysia is also the country where he has had the most commercial success. The album Thank You Allah received 8 Platinum awards from Warner Music Malaysia as the highest selling album of 2010.^[9] In 2011, Thank You Allah earned a double platinum award from Sony Music Indonesia.^[1]

Zain sings mainly in English but has released some of his most popular songs in other languages. The song "Insha Allah", for example, is now available in English, French, Arabic, Turkish, Malay and Indonesian versions. Another song, “Allahi Allah Kiya Karo” (“Continuously Saying Allah”), is sung in Urdu and features the Pakistan born Canadian singer Irfan Makki.^[6]

In March 2011, Maher Zain released "Freedom",^[6] a song inspired by the events and the actions of the people taking part in the Arab Spring. In July 2011 he featured on the cover of the UK Muslim lifestyle magazine Emel.^[10]

Zain was featured on Irfan Makki's track "I Believe" from his debut studio album of the same name.^[11] He was also featured on Mesut Kurtis' album, Beloved, in the track named "Never Forget".^{[citation needed]}

Awards[link]

• In January 2010, Maher Zain won Best Religious Song for 'Ya Nabi Salam Alayka', on Nujoom FM, a major Middle East mainstream music station, beating other prominent singers including Hussein Al-Jismi, Mohammed Mounir and Sami Yusuf.^[12]

• Maher Zain was chosen as a Muslim Star of 2011 in a competition organized by Onislam.net.^[13]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

• 2010: "Insha Allah"

Videography[link]

• 2009: "Palestine Will Be Free"
• 2010: "Insha Allah"
• 2010: "The Chosen One"
• 2011: "Freedom"
• 2011: "Ya Nabi Salam Alayka"
• 2011: "For the Rest of My Life"
• 2012: "Number One For Me"
• 2012: "So Soon"

Featured in

• 2011: "I Believe" (Irfan Makki feat. Maher Zain) (in Irfan Makki's album I Believe)
• 2011: "Never Forget" (Mesut Kurtis feat. Maher Zain) (in Mesut Kurtis' album Beloved)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Maher Zain Facebook
• Maher Zain on IslamicLyrics.net
• Awakening Music
• Last.fm: Maher Zain page

This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (May 2012)

Alexandra Stan
Background information
Birth name	Alexandra Stan
Born	(1989-06-10) 10 June 1989 (age 23)
Origin	Constanța, Romania
Genres	House, pop, dance
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, entertainer, model, dancer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Maan Music, Media Pro Music, Ultra Records
Website	alexandrastan.ro

Alexandra Stan (sometimes stylized as Alexandra Staи) (born June 10, 1989) is a Romanian singer-songwriter. She released her debut single, "Lollipop (Param Pam Pam)", in late 2009. The song impacted Romanian mainstream radios in early 2010, peaking at number-eighteen. Her sophomore release, "Mr. Saxobeat", became her worldwide breakthrough hit, selling almost 1,000,000 copies in less than a year and reaching the top five in over twenty countries such as New Zealand and the United Kingdom and the top thirty in Australia, Canada and United States. She released her debut album in August 2011, entitled Saxobeats. The album spawned another single called "Get Back (ASAP)".

Early life and early career[link]

Alexandra Stan was born in Constanța.^[1] She studied at the "Traian" High School in Constanța, and as of 2011 she is enrolled in her second year as a student at the Faculty of Management Andrei Saguna.^[1] In the past, she took part in various music-related contests with a notable appearance at the Mamaia Festival vocal performance-section.^[1] She took one year of canto lessons. During an interview, she stated that she believes in God and she has her religious principles, and she does believe in the Church.^[2]

[edit] Saxobeats era (2009–present)

In 2009, Stan released her debut promotional single, "Lollipop (Param Pam Pam)"^[3] The song was out in late 2009 but impacted some major Romanian mainstream radio stations in early 2010, with an A-list addiment in May 2010. During summer 2010, she premiered a new track "Show Me The Way" and toured Romania. In September 2010, Stan premiered her second release "Mr. Saxobeat". In less than two months, the song became her greatest hit in Romania, peaking at number-one on the Romanian Top 100 and defending the position for eight consecutive weeks.^[4] The song was commercially successful worldwide. In early 2011, it entered the Spanish Singles Chart and debuted inside the top ten of the French Singles Chart as well as in the Canadian Hot 100. It has firstly hit the #1 position in Italy and Denmark, then in Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. In late May, "Saxobeat" became the first Romanian song to reach #1 in Germany since "Dragostea din Tei". It was a number-one in Austria, Germany and Switzerland for twenty weeks in total. It was also a top-five success in over twenty countries, including #2 in Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Netherlands, Norway and Scotland, as well as #3 in Spain, Sweden and the UK Singles Chart. In New Zealand it peaked at number-four, while on the Brasil Hot 100 at.number-six while in Australia, Canada and the US Billboard Hot 100 at #21, #24, 25 and 29 respectively. It was also a #1 in the UK Dance Chart and in the US Hot Dance Airplay for seven weeks (the longest run in the 2010s).

After the success of "Mr. Saxobeat", Stan released a follow-up "Get Back (ASAP)". So far, it peaked at number-one in Slovakia, at number-four in the Romanian Top 100, at number-eight in Finland and inside the top twenty in over five countries. The song "Lollipop" was re-released for international digital markets exclusively, but with no success. In summer 2011, Stan released another single, "Million", featuring famed German rapper Carlprit. As of September, 2011 the song has received little airplay in France and missed the top forty. Its music video's shots started on December 6, 2011.

On August 29, 2011, Alexandra Stan released her debut album, entitled "Saxobeats". It features eight tracks plus five remixes. The album was first released in France, then in Germany, Switzerland, Romania, Spain, Poland and Italy.^[5][6] It was released in the United States and Canada on October 25, through Ultra Records. It is yet to be released in the UK. Her fourth overall single "1,000,000" ft. German rap star Carlprit has just been sent to mainstream radio stations in Belgium, France and Romania.^[7] As of January 14, 2012, "1,000,000" has currently peaked at #13 on the Romanian Airplay Chart, its highest peak on the chart to date.^[8]

Stan received multiple certification awards for "Mr. Saxobeat", including platinum in Australia^[9] and Spain,^[10] Platinum in Denmark^[11] and Sweden^[12] and Multi-Platinum in Italy.^[13] At the 2011 Romanian Music Awards she received two nominations for "Mr. Saxobeat" ("Best Dance" and "Best Song", winning the latter) and two nods for herself "Best Female" and winning the "Borderbreaker Award". She was also nominated for Best European Act at the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards, after winning Best Romanian Act where she was nominated alongside rapper Guess Who and Puia, singer Smiley and band Fly Project. In November, Stan lost the Best European to Lena Meyer-Landrut from Germany.

Discography[link]

• Saxobeats (2011)

Singles[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alexandra Stan

• Official website

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)

Pete Tong
Pete Tong at Glastonbury in 2009
Background information
Birth name	Peter Tong
Born	(1960-07-31) July 31, 1960 (age 51) Dartford, Kent, England
Genres	Electronica, Balearic beat, house
Occupations	Disc jockey, music producer
Website	petetong.com

Peter "Pete" Tong (born July 30, 1960) is an English DJ who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as Essential Mix and Essential Selection on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio streams, for his record label FFRR Records, and for his own performances at nightclubs and music festivals. Tong has worked as a record producer and is known by the nickname of Lord of the Dance.