Show name	Lost
Bgcolour	#808080
Colour text	#FFFFFF
Genre	Action/AdventureMysterySerial dramaScience fictionSupernatural drama
Creator	Jeffrey LieberJ. J. AbramsDamon Lindelof
Writer	Damon Lindelof (45 episodes)Carlton Cuse (39 episodes)Edward Kitsis (21 episodes)Adam Horowitz (21 episodes)Elizabeth Sarnoff (19 episodes)and others
Director	Jack Bender (42 episodes)Stephen Williams (26 episodes)and others
Starring	Adewale Akinnuoye-AgbajeNaveen AndrewsNestor CarbonellEvangeline LillyHenry Ian CusickJeremy DaviesEmilie de RavinMichael EmersonJeff FaheyMatthew FoxJorge GarciaMaggie GraceJosh HollowayMalcolm David KelleyDaniel Dae KimYunjin KimKen LeungRebecca MaderElizabeth MitchellDominic MonaghanTerry O'QuinnHarold PerrineauZuleikha RobinsonMichelle RodriguezKiele Sanchez Rodrigo SantoroIan SomerhalderCynthia Watros
Composer	Michael Giacchino
Country	United States
Language	English
Num seasons	6
Num episodes	121
List episodes	List of Lost episodes
Executive producer	J.J. AbramsDamon LindelofBryan BurkCarlton Cuse (from episode 9)Jack Bender (episodes 14–121)Jeff Pinkner (season 3)Edward Kitsis (seasons 5–6)Adam Horowitz (seasons 5–6)Jean Higgins (season 6)Elizabeth Sarnoff (season 6)
Company	Bad Robot ProductionsABC Studios (as Touchstone Television 2004–2007)
Distributor	Buena Vista Television
Runtime	40–48 minutes (per episode)
Network	ABC
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV) ABC HD 1080i (HDTV) Sky1 HD, Premiere HD, Seven HD
First aired
Last aired
Website	http://abc.go.com/shows/lost
Production website	}}

''Lost'' is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. ''Lost'' is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean. The story is told in a heavily serialized manner. Episodes typically feature a primary storyline on the island, as well as a secondary storyline from another point in a character's life.

''Lost'' was created by Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof who share story-writing credits for the pilot episode, which Abrams directed. Throughout the show's run, Lindelof and Carlton Cuse served as showrunners and head writers, working together with a large number of other executive producers and writers. Due to its large ensemble cast and the cost of filming primarily on location in Oahu, Hawaii, the series was the most expensive on television. The fictional universe and mythology of ''Lost'' is expanded upon by a number of related media, most importantly a series of short mini-episodes called ''Missing Pieces'', and a 12-minute epilogue titled "The New Man in Charge."

A critically acclaimed and popular success, ''Lost'' was consistently ranked by critics on their lists of top ten series of all time. The first season garnered an average of 15.69 million viewers per episode on ABC. During its sixth and final season, the show averaged over 11 million US viewers per episode. ''Lost'' was the recipient of hundreds of award nominations throughout its run, and won numerous industry awards, including the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 2005, Best American Import at the British Academy Television Awards in 2005, the Golden Globe Award for Best Drama in 2006 and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Synopsis[link]

Overview[link]

The first season begins with a plane crash that strands the surviving passengers of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 on what seems to be a deserted tropical island. Their survival is threatened throughout the season by a number of mysterious entities, including polar bears, an unseen creature that roams the jungle (the "Smoke Monster"), and the island's malevolent, and largely unseen, inhabitants known as "the Others". They encounter a French woman named Danielle Rousseau who was shipwrecked on the island 16 years prior to their crash. They also find a mysterious metal hatch buried in the ground. While two characters try to force their way into the hatch, four other survivors attempt to leave the island on a raft that they have constructed. Meanwhile, flashbacks centered on individual survivors detail their lives prior to the plane crash.

The second season follows the growing conflict between the survivors and the Others, and continues the theme of the clash between faith and science, while resolving old mysteries and posing new ones. A power struggle between Jack and John over control of the guns and medicine in the hatch develops, resolved in "The Long Con" by the machinations of Sawyer when he gains control of them. New characters are introduced, including the tail-section survivors (the "Tailies") and other island inhabitants. The hatch is revealed to be a research station built by the Dharma Initiative, a scientific research project that was conducting experiments on the island decades earlier. A man named Desmond Hume has been living in the hatch for 3 years, pushing a button every 108 minutes to prevent a catastrophic event from occurring. As the truth about the mysterious Others begins to unfold, one of the crash survivors betrays the other castaways, and the cause of the plane crash is revealed.

In the third season, the crash survivors learn more about the Others and their long history on the mysterious island. Desmond and one of the Others join the survivors, while one of their number in turn defects to the Others. A war between the Others and the survivors comes to a head, and the survivors make contact with a rescue team aboard the freighter ''Kahana''.

Season four focuses on the survivors dealing with the arrival of people from the freighter, who have been sent to the island not as part of a rescue operation, but for far more nefarious purposes. The reason specifically for the freighter folks being there is revealed. The survivors begin planning a way to get off the island before the freighter crew can carry out their plan. Flashforwards reveal the identities and future actions of the so-called "''Oceanic Six''," a group of survivors who have escaped the island and attempted to resume their normal lives. In an attempt to "move the island" to safety, one of the others uses an ancient device on the island that not only moves the island physically but also moves it to another point in time, while simultaneously teleporting that other to a desert in Tunisia.

The fifth season follows two timelines. The first takes place on the island where the survivors who were left behind erratically jump forward and backward through time until they are finally stranded with the Dharma Initiative in 1974. The second continues the original timeline, which takes place on the mainland after the Oceanic Six escape, and then follows their return to the island on Ajira Airways flight 316 in 2007 (three years after they escaped). Some passengers on the Ajira flight land in 1977 and some remain in 2007. The ones who land in 1977 reunite with the other survivors who have lived for three years with the Dharma Initiative. They then attempt to change past events in order to prevent their Oceanic plane from crashing in the future.

In the sixth & final season, the main storyline follows the survivors, reunited in the present day. Following the demise of Jacob, the island's protector, the survivors are up against the Man in Black, known previously as the Smoke Monster. A "flash-sideways" narrative also follows the lives of the main characters in a setting where Oceanic 815 never crashed. In the final episodes, a flashback to the distant past shows the origins of the island's power and of the conflict between Jacob and the Man in Black, who are revealed to be twin brothers. One survivor becomes the successor to Jacob as caretaker of the island, and kills the Man in Black in a final showdown, with the island at stake. A small handful of survivors escape on the Ajira plane. It is implied that a few survivors return home later, while others remain living happily on the island. The series finale reveals that the flash-sideways timeline is actually a form of limbo, where some of the survivors and other characters from the island are reunited after having died because their time on the island had been the most important part of their existence. In the end the survivors are all reunited in a church where they "move on" together.

Mythology and interpretations[link]

Episodes of ''Lost'' include a number of mysterious elements ascribed to science fiction or supernatural phenomena. The creators of the series refer to these elements as composing the mythology of the series, and they formed the basis of fan speculation. The show's mythological elements include a "Monster" that roams the island, a mysterious group of inhabitants the survivors called "The Others," a scientific organization called the Dharma Initiative that placed several research stations on the island, a sequence of numbers that frequently appears in the lives of the characters in the past, present and future, and personal connections (synchronicity) between the characters they are often unaware of.

At the heart of the series is a complex and cryptic storyline, which spawned numerous questions and discussions among viewers. Encouraged by ''Lost''s writers and stars, who often interacted with fans online, viewers and TV critics alike took to widespread theorizing in an attempt to unravel the mysteries. Theories mainly concerned the nature of the island, the origins of the "Monster" and the "Others," the meaning of the numbers, and the reasons for both the crash and the survival of some passengers. Several of the more common fan theories were discussed and rejected by the show's creators, the most common being that the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 are dead and in purgatory. This was specifically denied by J.J. Abrams. Lindelof rejected speculation that spaceships or aliens influenced the events on the island, or that everything seen was a fictional reality taking place in someone's mind. Carlton Cuse dismissed the theory that the island was a reality TV show and the castaways unwitting housemates and Lindelof many times refuted the theory that the "Monster" was a nanobot cloud similar to the one featured in Michael Crichton's novel ''Prey'' (which happened to share the protagonist's name, Jack).

Recurring elements[link]

There are several recurring elements and motifs on ''Lost'', which generally have no direct effect on the story itself, but expand the show's literary and philosophical subtext. These elements include frequent appearances of black and white, which reflect the dualism within characters and situations; as well as rebellion in almost all characters, especially Kate; dysfunctional family situations (especially ones that revolve around the fathers of many characters), as portrayed in the lives of nearly all the main characters; apocalyptic references, including Desmond's pushing the button to forestall the end of the world; coincidence versus fate, revealed most apparently through the juxtaposition of the characters Locke and Mr. Eko; conflict between science and faith, embodied by the leadership tug-of-war between Jack and Locke; and references to numerous works of literature, including mentions and discussions of particular novels. There are also many allusions in characters' names to famous historical thinkers and writers, such as Ben Linus (after chemist Linus Pauling), John Locke (after the philosopher) and his alias Jeremy Bentham (after the philosopher), Danielle Rousseau (after philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau), Desmond David Hume (after philosopher David Hume), Juliet’s ex-husband (after philosopher Edmund Burke), Mikhail Bakunin (after the anarchist philosopher), Daniel Faraday (after physicist Michael Faraday), Eloise Hawking (after physicist Stephen Hawking), George Minkowski (after mathematician Hermann Minkowski), Richard Alpert (the birth name of spiritual teacher Ram Dass), Boone Carlyle (after Daniel Boone, American pioneer), Charlotte Staples Lewis (after author Clive Staples Lewis C. S. Lewis).

Cast and characters[link]

Of the 324 people on board Oceanic Flight 815, there are 70 initial survivors (as well as one dog) spread across the three sections of the plane crash. Although a large cast made ''Lost'' more expensive to produce, the writers benefited from added flexibility in story decisions. According to series executive producer Bryan Burk, "You can have more interactions between characters and create more diverse characters, more back stories, more love triangles."

''Lost'' was planned as a multi-cultural show with an international cast. The initial season had 14 regular speaking roles that received star billing. Matthew Fox played the protagonist, a troubled surgeon named Jack Shephard. Evangeline Lilly portrayed fugitive and love interest Kate Austen. Jorge Garcia played Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, an unlucky lottery winner. Josh Holloway played a con man, James "Sawyer" Ford. Ian Somerhalder played Boone Carlyle, chief operating officer of his mother's wedding business. Maggie Grace played his step sister Shannon Rutherford, a former dance teacher. Harold Perrineau portrayed construction worker Michael Dawson, while Malcolm David Kelley played his young son, Walt Lloyd. Terry O'Quinn played the mysterious John Locke. Naveen Andrews portrayed former Iraqi Republican Guard Sayid Jarrah. Emilie de Ravin played a young and pregnant Australian woman, Claire Littleton. Yunjin Kim played Sun-Hwa Kwon, the daughter of a powerful Korean businessman and mobster, with Daniel Dae Kim as her husband Jin-Soo Kwon. Dominic Monaghan played an English ex-rock star drug addict named Charlie Pace.

During the first two seasons, some characters were written out, while new characters with new stories were added. Boone Carlyle was written out near the end of season one, and Kelley became a guest star making occasional appearances throughout season two after Walt is captured by the Others in the season one finale. Shannon's departure eight episodes into season two made way for newcomers Mr. Eko, a Nigerian fake Catholic priest and former criminal played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje; Ana Lucia Cortez, an airport security guard and former police officer played by Michelle Rodriguez; and Libby Smith, a purported clinical psychologist portrayed by Cynthia Watros. Ana Lucia and Libby were written out of the series toward the end of season two after being shot by Michael, who then left the island along with his son.

In season three, two actors were promoted from recurring to starring roles: Henry Ian Cusick as former Scottish soldier Desmond Hume, and Michael Emerson as the leader of the Others, Ben Linus. In addition, three new actors joined the regular cast: Elizabeth Mitchell, as fertility doctor and Other Juliet Burke, and Kiele Sanchez and Rodrigo Santoro as background survivor couple Nikki Fernandez and Paulo. Several characters died throughout the season; Eko was written out early on when Akinnuoye-Agbaje did not wish to continue on the show, Nikki and Paulo were buried alive mid-season after poor fan response, and Charlie was written out in the third season finale. In season four, Harold Perrineau rejoined the main cast to reprise the role of Michael, now suicidal and on a desperate redemptive journey to atone for his previous crimes. Along with Perrineau, additional new actors — Jeremy Davies as Daniel Faraday, a nervous physicist who takes a scientific interest in the island; Ken Leung as Miles Straume, a sarcastic supposed ghost whisperer, and Rebecca Mader as Charlotte Staples Lewis, a hard-headed and determined anthropologist and successful academic — joined the cast. Michael was written out in the fourth season finale. Claire, who mysteriously disappears with her dead biological father near the end of the season, did not return as a series regular for the fifth season, but returned for the sixth and final season.

In season five, no new characters joined the main cast, however several characters exited the show: Charlotte was written out early in the season in episode five, with Daniel being written out later in the antepenultimate episode. Season six saw several cast changes; Juliet was written out in the season premiere while three previous recurring characters were upgraded to starring status. These included Nestor Carbonell as mysterious, age-less Other Richard Alpert, Jeff Fahey as pilot Frank Lapidus and Zuleikha Robinson as Ajira Airways Flight 316 survivor Ilana Verdansky. Additionally, former cast members Ian Somerhalder, Dominic Monaghan, Rebecca Mader, Jeremy Davies, Elizabeth Mitchell, Maggie Grace, Michelle Rodriguez, Harold Perrineau and Cynthia Watros made return appearances.

Numerous supporting characters have been given expansive and recurring appearances in the progressive storyline. Danielle Rousseau (Mira Furlan), a French member of an earlier scientific expedition to the island first encountered as a voice recording in the pilot episode, appears throughout the series; she is searching for her daughter, who later turns up in the form of Alex Rousseau (Tania Raymonde). Cindy (Kimberley Joseph), an Oceanic flight attendant who first appeared in the pilot, survived the crash and subsequently became one of the Others. In the second season, married couple Rose Henderson (L. Scott Caldwell) and Bernard Nadler (Sam Anderson), separated on opposite sides of the island (she with the main characters, he with the tail section survivors) were featured in a flashback episode after being reunited. Corporate magnate Charles Widmore (Alan Dale) has connections to both Ben and Desmond. Desmond is in love with Widmore's daughter Penelope "Penny" Widmore (Sonya Walger). The introduction of the Others featured Tom aka Mr. Friendly (M. C. Gainey) and Ethan Rom (William Mapother) all of whom have been shown in both flashbacks and the ongoing story. Jack's father Christian Shephard (John Terry) has appeared in multiple flashbacks of various characters. In the third season, Naomi Dorrit (Marsha Thomason), parachutes onto the island, the team leader of a group hired by Widmore to find Benjamin Linus. One member of her team includes the ruthless mercenary Martin Keamy (Kevin Durand). In the finale episode "The End," recurring guest stars Sam Anderson, L. Scott Caldwell, Francois Chau, Fionnula Flanagan, Sonya Walger, and John Terry were credited under the "starring" rubric alongside the principal cast. The mysterious, black, smoke cloud-like entity known as "the Monster" appeared in human form during season five and six as a middle-aged man dressed in black robes known as "The Man in Black" played by Titus Welliver, and in season six, it appears in the form of John Locke played by O'Quinn in a dual role. His rival, Jacob, was played by Mark Pellegrino.

Production[link]

''Lost'' was produced by ABC Studios, Bad Robot Productions and Grass Skirt Productions. Throughout its run, the executive producers of the series were Damon Lindelof, J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Carlton Cuse, Jack Bender, Jeff Pinkner, Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Jean Higgins and Elizabeth Sarnoff, with Lindelof and Cuse serving as showrunners.

Conception[link]

The series was conceived by Lloyd Braun, head of ABC at the time, while he was on vacation in Hawaii during 2003 while listening to Autistico. Braun ordered an initial script from Spelling Television based on his concept of a cross between the novel ''Lord of the Flies'', the movie ''Cast Away'', the television series ''Gilligan's Island'', and the popular reality show ''Survivor'', which began script development for ''Lost''. ABC had also premiered a short-lived series about plane crash survivors in 1969 called ''The New People'' with the opening episode by Rod Serling. Gadi Pollack notes that some of "the influences of ''Lost'' came from...the game ''Myst''." Though never officially mentioned some striking similarities with the 1976 series ''The Lost Islands'' can be found.

Jeffrey Lieber was hired and wrote ''Nowhere'', based on his pitch to write the pilot. Unhappy with the result and a subsequent rewrite, Braun contacted J. J. Abrams in January 2004, who had a deal with Touchstone Television (now ABC Studios), and was also the creator of the TV series ''Alias'', to write a new pilot script. Lieber would later receive a story credit for the ''Lost'' pilot, which was turned into "Created by" in subsequent episodes, after a request for arbitration at the Writer's Guild of America.

Although initially hesitant, Abrams warmed to the idea on the condition that the series would have a supernatural angle to it, and collaborated with Damon Lindelof to create the series' style and characters. Together, Abrams and Lindelof also created a series "bible," and conceived and detailed the major mythological ideas and plot points for an ideal four to five season run for the show. Abrams withdrew from production of ''Lost'' partway through the first season to direct ''Mission: Impossible III'', leaving Lindelof and new executive producer Carlton Cuse to develop much of the overall mythology of the series themselves. The development of the show was constrained by tight deadlines, as it had been commissioned late in the 2004 season's development cycle. Despite the short schedule, the creative team remained flexible enough to modify or create characters to fit actors they wished to cast.

''Lost''s two-part pilot episode was the most expensive in the network's history, reportedly costing between US$10 and $14 million, compared to the average cost of an hour-long pilot in 2005 of $4 million. The series debuted on September 22, 2004, becoming one of the biggest critical and commercial successes of the 2004 television season. Along with fellow new series ''Desperate Housewives'' and ''Grey's Anatomy'', ''Lost'' helped to reverse the flagging fortunes of ABC. Yet, before it had even been aired, Lloyd Braun was fired by executives at ABC's parent company, Disney, partly because of low ratings at the network and also because he had greenlighted such an expensive and risky project. The world premiere of the pilot episode was on July 24, 2004 at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Casting[link]

Many of the first season roles were a result of the executive producers' liking of various actors. The main character Jack was originally going to die in the pilot, and the role was planned for Michael Keaton. However, ABC executives were adamant that Jack live. Before it was decided that Jack would live, Kate was to emerge as the leader of the survivors; she was originally conceived as a middle-aged businesswoman whose husband had apparently died in the crash, a role later fulfilled by the recurring character Rose. Dominic Monaghan auditioned for the role of Sawyer, who at the time was supposed to be a slick suit-wearing city con man. The producers enjoyed Monaghan's performance and changed the character of Charlie, originally an over-the-hill former rock star, to fit him. Jorge Garcia also auditioned for Sawyer, and the part of Hurley was written for him. When Josh Holloway auditioned for Sawyer, the producers liked the edge he brought to the character (he reportedly kicked a chair when he forgot his lines and got angry in the audition) and his southern accent, so they changed Sawyer to fit Holloway's acting. Yunjin Kim auditioned for Kate, but the producers wrote the character of Sun for her and the character of Jin, portrayed by Daniel Dae Kim, to be her husband. Sayid, played by Naveen Andrews, was also not in the original script. Locke and Michael were written with their actors in mind. Emilie de Ravin, who plays Claire, was originally cast in what was supposed to be a recurring role. In the second season, Michael Emerson was contracted to play Ben ("Henry Gale") for three episodes. His role was extended to eight episodes because of his acting skills, and eventually for the whole of season three and later seasons.

Filming[link]

''Lost'' was filmed on Panavision 35 mm cameras almost entirely on the Hawaiian island of Oahu due to the wide range of diverse filming locations available in close range. The original island scenes for the pilot were filmed at Mokulē'ia Beach, near the northwest tip of the island. Later beach scenes take place in secluded spots of the famous North Shore. Cave scenes in the first season were filmed on a sound stage built at a Xerox parts warehouse, which had been empty since an employee mass shooting took place there in 1999. The sound-stage and production offices have since moved to the Hawaii Film Office-operated Hawaii Film Studio, where the sets depicting Season 2's "Swan Station" and Season 3's "Hydra Station" interiors were built.

Various urban areas in and around Honolulu are used as stand-ins for locations around the world, including California, New York, Iowa, Miami, South Korea, Iraq, Nigeria, United Kingdom, Paris, Thailand, Berlin, Maldives and Australia. For example, scenes set in a Sydney Airport were filmed at the Hawaii Convention Center, while a World War II-era bunker was used as both an Iraqi Republican Guard installation and a Dharma Initiative research station. Scenes set in Germany during the winter were filmed at the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, with crushed ice scattered everywhere to create snow and Russian storeshop and automobile signs on the street. Several scenes in the Season 3 finale, "Through the Looking Glass," were shot in Los Angeles, including a hospital set borrowed from ''Grey's Anatomy''. Two scenes during season four were filmed in London because Alan Dale who portrays Widmore was at the time performing in the musical ''Spamalot'' and was unable to travel to Hawaii. Extensive archives of filming locations are tracked at a repository at the ''Lost'' Virtual Tour.

Music[link]

''Lost'' features an orchestral score performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra and composed by Michael Giacchino, incorporating many recurring themes for subjects such as events, locations and characters. Giacchino achieved some of the sounds for the score using unusual instruments, such as striking suspended pieces of the plane's fuselage. On March 21, 2006, the record label Varèse Sarabande released the original television soundtrack for ''Lost''s first season. The soundtrack included select full-length versions of the most popular themes of the season and the main title, which was composed by series creator J. J. Abrams. Varèse Sarabande released a soundtrack featuring music from season 2 of ''Lost'' on October 3, 2006. The soundtrack for season 3 was released on May 6, 2008, the soundtrack for season 4 was released on May 11, 2009, the soundtrack for season 5 was released on May 11, 2010 and the soundtrack for the final season was released on September 14, 2010.

The series uses pop culture songs sparingly, and used a mainly orchestral score (consisting usually of divided Strings, Percussion, Harp and 3 Trombones.) When it features pop songs, they usually originate from a diegetic source. Examples include the various songs played on Hurley's portable CD player throughout the first season (until its batteries died in the episode "...In Translation," which featured Damien Rice's "Delicate," or the use of the record player in the second season, which included Cass Elliot's "Make Your Own Kind of Music," and Petula Clark's "Downtown" in the second and third season premieres respectively. Two episodes show Charlie on a street corner playing guitar and singing the Oasis song "Wonderwall." In the third season's finale, Jack drives down the street listening to Nirvana's "Scentless Apprentice," right before he arrives to the Hoffs/Drawlar Funeral Parlor, and in the parallel scene in the fourth season's finale he arrives listening to "Gouge Away" by Pixies. The third season also used Three Dog Night's "Shambala" on two occasions in the van. The only two pop songs that have ever been used without an on-screen source (i.e., non-diegetic) are Ann-Margret's "Slowly," in the episode "I Do" and "I Shall Not Walk Alone," written by Ben Harper and covered by The Blind Boys of Alabama in the episode "Confidence Man." Alternate music is used in several international broadcasts. For instance, in the Japanese broadcast of ''Lost'', the theme song used varies by season; season one uses "Here I Am" by Chemistry, season two uses "Losin'" by Yuna Ito, and season three uses "Lonely Girl" by Crystal Kay.

Impact and reception[link]

Ratings[link]

! Season	! Timeslot (EDT)	! Season premiere	! Season finale	! TV season	! Rank	! Rating
Lost (season 1)>1		September 22, 2004	May 25, 2005	2004–2005	#13	19.8
Lost (season 2)>2		September 21, 2005	May 24, 2006	2005–2006	#18	19.2
Lost (season 3)>3		October 4, 2006	May 23, 2007	2006–2007	#22	8.2
Lost (season 4)>4		January 31, 2008	May 29, 2008	2008	#20	7.9
Lost (season 5)>5		January 21, 2009	May 13, 2009	2009	#29	16.6 (Tied with ''Numb3rs'')
Lost (season 6)>6		February 2, 2010	May 23, 2010	2010	#24

''Lost'' originally aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010. The pilot episode had 18.6 million viewers, easily winning its 9/8 central timeslot, and giving ABC its strongest ratings since 2000 when ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' was initially aired—beaten only the following month by the premiere of ''Desperate Housewives''. According to ''Variety'', "ABC sure could use a breakout drama success, as it hasn't had a real hit since ''The Practice''. ''Lost'' represents the network's best start for a drama with 18- to 49-year-olds since ''Once and Again'' in 1999, and in total viewers since ''Murder One'' in 1995."

For its first season, ''Lost'' averaged 16 million viewers, ranking 14th in viewership among prime-time shows, and 15th among the eighteen to forty-nine year old demographic. Its second season fared equally well: again, ''Lost'' ranked 14th in viewership, with an average of 15.5 million viewers. However, it improved its rating with 18- to 49-year-olds, ranking eighth. The second season premiere was even more viewed than the first, pulling in over 23 million viewers and setting a series record. The third season premiere brought in 18.8 million viewers. The seventh episode of the season, back from a three-month hiatus, saw a drop to 14.5 million. Over the course of the spring season, ratings would plunge to as low as 11 million viewers before recovering to near 14 million for the season finale. The ratings drop was partially explained when Nielsen released DVR ratings, showing ''Lost'' as the most recorded series on television. However, despite overall ratings losses, ''Lost'' still won its hour in the crucial 18–49 demographic and put out the highest 18–49 numbers in the 10:00 p.m. time slot ahead of any show on any network that season. The fourth season premiere saw an increase from the previous episode to 16.1 million viewers, though by the eighth episode, viewers had decreased to a series low of 11.461 million. A survey of 20 countries by ''Informa Telecoms and Media'' in 2006 concluded that ''Lost'' was the second most popular TV show in those countries, after ''CSI: Miami''. The sixth-season premiere was the first to climb in the ratings year-over-year since the second season, drawing 12.1 million viewers. Lost was declared the highest rated show for the first ten years of IMDb.com Pro (2002–2012).

Awards[link]

Capping its successful first season, ''Lost'' won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series and J. J. Abrams was awarded an Emmy in September 2005 for his work as the director of ''Pilot''. Terry O'Quinn and Naveen Andrews were nominated in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category. ''Lost'' swept the guild awards in 2005, winning the Writers Guild of America Awards 2005 for Outstanding Achievement in Writing for a Dramatic Television Series, the 2005 Producers Guild Award for Best Production, the 2005 Director's Guild Award for Best Direction of a Dramatic Television Program, and the Screen Actors Guild Awards 2005 for Best Ensemble Cast.

It was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Television Drama Series three times (2005–2007), and it won the award in 2006. In 2006, Matthew Fox and Naveen Andrews received Golden Globe nominations for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series and Best Supporting Actor respectively, and in 2007, Evangeline Lilly received a nomination for Best Actress in a Television Drama Series. ''Lost'' was nominated for the 2005 British Academy of Film and Television Award for Best International. In 2006, Jorge Garcia and Michelle Rodriguez took home ALMA Awards for Best Supporting Actor and Actress, respectively, in a Television Series. It won the Saturn Award for Best Television Series in both 2005 and 2006. In, 2005 Terry O'Quinn won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor in a television series, and in 2006, Matthew Fox won for Best Lead Actor. ''Lost'' won consecutive Television Critics Association Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Drama, for both its first and second seasons. Consecutively as well, it won in 2005 and 2006 the Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program. Malcolm David Kelley won a Young Artist Award for his performance as Walt in 2006.

In 2005, ''Lost'' was voted ''Entertainment Weekly''s Entertainer of the Year. The show won a 2005 Prism Award for Charlie's drug storyline in the episodes "Pilot," "House of the Rising Sun," and "The Moth". In 2007 ''Lost'' was listed as one of ''Time'' magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-''TIME''." The series was nominated for but did not win a Writer's Guild Award and Producer's Guild Award again in 2007. In June 2007, ''Lost'' beat out over 20 nominated television shows from countries all over the globe to win the Best Drama award at the Monte Carlo Television Festival. In September 2007 both Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn were nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, the award going to O'Quinn. ''Lost'' was again nominated for Outstanding Drama Series at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2008. The show also garnered seven other Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Michael Emerson. In 2009, ''Lost'' was again nominated for Outstanding Drama Series, as well Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Michael Emerson at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards, of which the latter won.

In 2010, the 6th and final season was nominated for twelve Emmy Awards at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof for the show's series finale, "The End," Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Matthew Fox, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for Elizabeth Mitchell, it won only one Emmy (Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing) out of its twelve nominations for a series total of 11 wins and 55 nominations in its six year run.

Critical reception[link]

''Lost'' has been described by many critics as one of the greatest television serials of all-time. Bill Carter, television reporter of ''The New York Times'', defined ''Lost'' as "the show with perhaps the most compelling continuing story line in television history." ''Entertainment Weekly'' put the show on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Plane crash. Smoke monster. Polar bear. Crazy French lady. The Others. The hatch. The Dharma Initiative. Time-travel flashes. Name another network drama that can so wondrously turn a ? into a !"

The first season received critical acclaim. ''USA Today'' said it was a "totally original, fabulously enjoyable lost-at-sea series, ''Lost'' had taken "an outlandish Saturday-serial setup and imbued it with real characters and honest emotions, without sacrificing any of the old-fashioned fun." The ''Los Angeles Times'' praised the production values and said it "knows the buttons it wants to push (fear of flying, fear of abandonment, fear of the unknown) and pushes them, repeatedly, like a kid playing a video game." IGN noted that the first season "succeeded first and foremost in character development." ''Lost'' season one was ranked number one in the "Best of 2005 TV Coverage: Critic Top Ten Lists" by Matthew Gilbert of ''The Boston Globe'', Tom Gliatto of ''People Weekly'', Charlie McCollum of the ''San Jose Mercury News'' and Robert Bianco of ''USA Today''.

The second season received favorable reviews, but it was noted that the season "stumbled with some storylines going nowhere and some characters underutilized." IGN also noted the addition of Desmond Hume as a standout new character. The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' called Season 2 an "extended, mostly unsatisfying foray into deeper mythology with very little payoff." After winning "Best Drama Series" for season one, ''Lost'' was snubbed by the Emmy Awards in Season 2. Nearing the end of the second season, ''USA Today'' listed the most popular fan theories during Season 2 -- the island as a psychological experiment, that the hatch had electromagnetic properties, string theory of time, and that everyone on the island had developed a "collective consciousness" that allowed them to appear in each other's past. One fan interview by ''USA Today'' said that "Real suspense comes from answers, not questions. Suspense comes not from wondering what's going on but from wondering what happens next. If you withhold answers, it becomes impossible to satisfy."

The first block of episodes of the third season was criticized for raising too many mysteries, and not providing enough answers. Complaints were also made about the limited screen-time for many of the main characters in the first block. Locke, played by Terry O'Quinn, who had tied for the highest second season episode count, appeared in only 13 of 22 episodes in the third season—only two more than guest star M.C. Gainey, who played Tom. Reaction to two new characters, Nikki and Paulo, was generally negative, with Lindelof even acknowledging that the couple was "universally despised" by fans. The decision to split the season, and the American timeslot switch after the hiatus were also criticized. Cuse acknowledged that, "No one was happy with the six-episode run." The second block of episodes was critically acclaimed however, with the crew dealing with problems from the first block. More answers were written into the show, and Nikki and Paulo were killed off. It was also announced that the series would end three seasons after the third season, which Cuse hoped would tell the audience that the writers knew where the story was going.

The fourth season opened to critical acclaim not seen since the first season. ''Metacritic'' gave season four weighted average based on the impressions of a select twelve critical reviews—of 87, earning the second highest Metascore in the 2007–2008 television season after the fifth and final season of HBO's ''The Wire''. For the first time since season one, ''Lost'' received an Emmy nomination for 'Outstanding Drama Series'. Tim Goodman of the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' said that the Season 4 episodes were "roller coasters of fast action and revelation" and that series was "back on track". The introduction of flashforwards were received favorably by critics, as were the season's new characters. ''The New York Times'' said the show reveled in critiques of capitalism, using the fictional Mittelos Bioscience and the "malevolent British industrialist" character of Charles Widmore as examples. The critic also said that the show "in the dark business of exploring just how futile the modern search for peace, knowledge, recovery or profit really is." The critic did go on to say that series was not as "philosophically refined" as ''The Sopranos'' or ''The Wire'' but that it "has maximized the potential of narrative uncertainty and made it a beguiling constant".

The fifth season once again received mostly positive critical reception. Season 5 was given a weighted average of 78 out of 100 by Metacritic. ''Variety'' said that "The ABC series remains one of primetime's most uncompromising efforts, and this year's latest wrinkle on flashbacks, flash-forwards and island-disappearing flashes of light does nothing to alter that perception." Alan Sepinwall of The Newark Star Ledger said that Season 5 may finally be "a day of reckoning between those viewers who embrace the show's science-fiction trappings, and those who prefer not to think about them." Sepinwall also related that "I loved every minute. But I'm also a geek who read Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov growing up." Heather Havrilesky of Salon.com criticized the use of time travel saying that "when a narrator brings magic or time travel or an act of God into the picture, then uses it without restraint, the story loses its anchor to real life." The critic also asked "Why does it matter what Locke and Richard Alpert and Daniel Faraday or anyone else does, when they all seem as clueless and unfettered from reality as we are as viewers? How can these characters have any concrete agenda or strategic approach or philosophical perspective on anything when the rug is pulled out from under them by another Act of God every few seconds?" ''The New York Times'' also commented that "what has been most dispiriting about the current season is the show’s willingness to abandon many of the larger and more compelling themes that grounded the elaborate plot: the struggles between faith and reason; the indictments of extreme capitalism, the futility of recovery. All that remains is the reductively limned battle between fate and free will largely playing out, now, in Jack Shephard’s belief that returning to the island is his Destiny." ''The AV Club'' said of the fifth season finale, "Me? I found the ending frustrating, but in a good way. This finale was entertaining as all get-out to me, and despite the occasional groaner moment, I think this may be Lost’s most purposeful, surprising finale."

Season Six opened to much hype and curiosity. ''The AV Club'' asked, "I’m guessing that one of the biggest fears of Lost fans as we ride out this sixth and final season—bumps and all—is that we’re going to come to the end and find a big nothing in return for all we’ve invested in these characters. We don’t just need answers, we need justifications. Why has whatever happened, happened? Who has called this particular meeting to order, and does it really matter who showed up?" The episodes "Dr. Linus", "Ab Aeterno", "Happily Ever After", and "The Candidate" opened to highly positive critical reception while the third-to-last episode "Across The Sea" was the episode with the most negative reception. The time spent at the Other's temple was criticized. E! Online described the show as "lightning in a bottle" and picked it as "Top TV Drama of 2010."

The series finale opened to highly polarized critical and fan reception. According to the web site Metacritic, "The End" received "generally favorable reviews" with a Metascore – a weighted average based on the impressions of 31 critical reviews – of 74 out of 100. ''IGN'' reviewer Chris Carbot gave the finale a 10/10, tying it with the initial review of "Pilot, Part 1", "Through the Looking Glass", "The Constant" and "There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3" as the best reviewed episode of ''Lost''. He described it as "one of the most enthralling, entertaining and satisfying conclusions I could have hoped for." Carbot also noted that the discussions about the episode may never end, saying "Lost may be gone, but it will hardly be forgotten." Eric Deggans of the ''St. Petersburg Times'' also gave the finale a perfect score, stating "Sunday’s show was an emotional, funny, expertly measured reminder of what Lost has really centered on since its first moments on the prime time TV landscape: faith, hope, romance and the power of redemption through belief in the best of what moves mankind." Robert Bianco of ''USA Today'' rated the episode perfect as well, deeming the finale "can stand with the best any series has produced". Hal Boedeker of ''Orlando Sentinel'' cited the finale being "a stunner."

British newspapers ''The Guardian'' and ''The Daily Telegraph'' both reported that "The End" had received negative reviews and disappointed its viewers. Alan Sepinwall of ''Star-Ledger'' was less enthusiastic of the finale, stating "I’m still wrestling with my feelings about 'The End'... I thought most of it worked like gangbusters. ... But as someone who did spend at least part of the last six years dwelling on the questions that were unanswered – be they little things like the outrigger shootout or why The Others left Dharma in charge of the Swan station after the purge, or bigger ones like Walt – I can’t say I found 'The End' wholly satisfying, either as closure for this season or the series. ... There are narrative dead ends in every season of 'Lost,' but it felt like season six had more than usual." Mike Hale of ''The New York Times'' gave "The End" a mixed review, as the episode showed that the series was "shaky on the big picture – on organizing the welter of mythic-religious-philosophical material it insisted on incorporating into its plot – but highly skilled at the small one, the moment to moment business of telling an exciting story. Rendered insignificant ... were the particulars of what they had done on the island." David Zurawik of the ''Baltimore Sun'' gave the episode a highly negative review, writing "If this is supposed to be such a smart and wise show, unlike anything else on network TV (blah, blah, blah), why such a wimpy, phony, quasi-religious, white-light, huggy-bear ending. ... Once Jack stepped into the church it looked like he was walking into a Hollywood wrap party without food or music – just a bunch of actors grinning idiotically for 10 minutes and hugging one another."

Fandom and popular culture[link]

As a mainstream cult television show, ''Lost'' has generated a dedicated and thriving international fan community. ''Lost'' fans, sometimes dubbed ''Lostaways'' or ''Losties'', have gathered at Comic-Con International and conventions organized by ABC, but have also been active in developing a large number of fan websites, including Lostpedia, and forums dedicated to the program and its related incarnations. Because of the show's elaborate mythology, its fansites have focused on speculation and theorizing about the island's mysteries, as well as on more typical fan activities such as producing fan fiction and videos, compiling episode transcripts, shipping characters, and collecting memorabilia.

Anticipating fan interest and trying to keep its audience engrossed, ABC embarked on various cross-media endeavors, often using new media. Fans of ''Lost'' have been able to explore ABC-produced tie-in websites, tie-in novels, an official forum sponsored by the creative team behind ''Lost'' ("The Fuselage"), "mobisodes," podcasts by the producers, an official magazine, and an alternate reality game (ARG) "The Lost Experience." An official fanclub was launched in the summer of 2005 through Creation Entertainment.

Due to the show's popularity, references to the series and elements from its story have appeared in parody and popular culture usage. These include appearances on television, such as on the series ''Veronica Mars'', ''Will & Grace'', ''Bo Selecta'', ''The Sarah Silverman Program'', ''My Wife and Kids'', ''Chuck'', ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', ''Notes from the Underbelly'', ''Little Britain'', ''30 Rock'', ''Fringe'', ''Scrubs,'' ''Cougar Town,'' ''How I Met Your Mother,'' and ''The Office''; as well as on the cartoons ''Family Guy'', ''American Dad!'', ''South Park'', ''The Simpsons'', and ''The Venture Bros.''; and even on a commercial for KFC Hawaii. Also, ''Red vs. Blue'', a comic science fiction machinima, seemed to have poked fun at it in one of the endings to the series, episode 100. The makers of Red vs. Blue also poked fun at the ''Lost'' intro in an episode of The Strangerhood. ''Lost'' is also featured as an Easter egg in several video games, including ''Dead Island'' (Near the beginning of the game, as you make your way up to the Life Guard station, there is a radio broadcast from an Oceanic Flight that is in distress. Once you open the hatch to the top floor, you witness a jumbo jet pass overhead smoking and it appears to go down. Later a woman asks you to find the crashed jet in the jungle in a side quest, in which you do find it and must report back to her that there are no survivors.), ''Divinity II: Ego Draconis'', ''Half-Life 2: Episode Two'', ''Skate'', ''World of Warcraft'', ''Just Cause 2'', ''Batman Arkham City'' (written by series writer Paul Dini), ''Singularity'' and ''Rock Band 2''. Comic books such as ''Catwoman'' and ''The Thing''; daily strips ''Monty'' and ''Over the Hedge''; web comics ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' and ''Penny Arcade'' and humor magazine ''Mad'' have all incorporated ''Lost'' references. Similarly, several rock bands have published songs whose themes and titles were derived from the series, such as Moneen ("Don't Ever Tell Locke What He Can't Do"), Veil of Maya ("Namaste"), Cosmo Jarvis ("Lost"), Senses Fail ("Lost and Found" and "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues"), Gatsbys American Dream ("You All Everybody" and "Station 5: The Pearl"), and Punchline ("Roller Coaster Smoke"). Weezer named their eighth studio album ''Hurley'' after the character, with a photo of actor Jorge Garcia on the cover.

After the episode "Numbers" aired on March 2, 2005, numerous people used the eponymous figures (4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42) as lottery entries. According to the ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'', within three days, the numbers were tried over 500 times by local players. Likewise, in the same period, over 200 people in Michigan alone used the sequence for the Mega Millions lottery and by October, thousands had tried them for the multi-state Powerball lottery. A study of the Quebec Lottery showed that the sequence was the third most popular choice of numbers for lottery players, behind only the geometric sequences 1-2-3-4-5-6 and 7-14-21-28-35-42. The issue came to attention after a Mega Millions drawing for a near-record US$380,000,000 jackpot on January 4, 2011 drew a series of numbers in which the three lowest numbers (4-8-15) and the mega ball (42) matched four of the six numbers. The #42 is also the "Mega Number" in Hurley's "Mega Lotto" ticket. The players who played the combination won $150 each (or $118 in California).

Distribution[link]

Online[link]

In addition to traditional terrestrial and satellite broadcasting, ''Lost'' has been at the forefront of new television distribution methods. It was one of the first series issued through Apple's iTunes Store service for playback on an iPod or within the iTunes software. Since October 2005, new episodes, without commercials, have been available for download the day after they air on ABC, for American audiences. On August 29, 2007 Lost became one of the first TV programs available for download in the UK store. Since the airing of Season 4 in the UK, episodes of Lost are available the Monday after the Sunday they air on Sky One. ''Lost'' was also among the first TV shows on the German iTunes store.

In April 2006, Disney announced that ''Lost'' would be available for free online in streaming format, with advertising, on ABC's website, as part of a two-month experiment of future distribution strategies. The trial, which ran from May to June 2006, caused a stir among network affiliates who were afraid of being cut out of advertising revenue. The streaming of ''Lost'' episodes direct from ABC's website was only available to viewers in the United States due to international licensing agreements. As of May 2010, full episodes from Seasons 1–6 are available as high-definition streaming video on the ABC website, but only to users in the US who use Microsoft or Apple operating systems. New episodes are available the day after original primetime airing. Viewers are required to view five or six 30 or 75-second advertising spots, equally dispersed throughout the episode. These spots appear as an overlay graphic ad with smaller video ad and usually feature high-profile advertisers. In 2009, ''Lost'' was named the most watched show on the Internet based on viewers of episodes on ABC's website. The Nielsen Company reported that 1.425 million unique viewers have watched at least one episode on ABC's website.

Episodes from both season one and season two were available on the UK's Channel 4's website, but have since expired. Both parts of "Pilot" were available to watch for free, and other episodes cost £0.99 each. Due to licensing agreements, the service was only accessible in the UK. Virgin Media has made the first three seasons of ''Lost'' available on demand via their TV Choice On Demand function, allowing viewers to watch the first three seasons at any time in high-definition or standard definition. Currently, only Season Two and Three are available. All episodes available on the service are free to Virgin Media subscribers. As of November 25, 2006, Lost episodes were available on Sky's VOD service, Sky Anytime. Users with the correct Sky Subscription can download recent Lost episodes for free, however, much like Channel 4's 4OD application, they expire. Users without a relevant Sky subscription for Lost can exchange prepaid credit for rental of an episode. Other online distribution sites include: USA Netflix France's TF1 website, AOL Video, Microsoft's Xbox Live service, HOT V.O.D. service in Israel and on RTÉ player for Irish viewers.

The complete series was made available for streaming free of charge to Amazon Prime subscribers

Home video releases [link]

The first season of ''Lost'' was released under the title ''Lost: The Complete First Season'' as a widescreen seven-disc Region 1 DVD box set in the US on September 6, 2005, two weeks before the premiere of the second season. It was distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment. In addition to all the episodes that had been aired, it included several DVD extras such as episode commentaries, behind-the-scenes footage and making-of features as well as deleted scenes, deleted flashback scenarios and a blooper reel. The same set was released on November 30, 2005 in Region 4, and on January 16, 2006 in Region 2. As has become standard for Region 2, the series was first released split into two parts: the first twelve episodes of series 1 were available as a wide screen four-disc Region 2 DVD box set on October 31, 2005, while the remaining thirteen episodes of series 1 were released on January 16, 2006. The DVD features available on the Region 1 release were likewise split over the two box sets. The first two seasons were released separately on Blu-ray Disc on June 16, 2009.

The second season was released under the title ''Lost: The Complete Second Season – The Extended Experience'' as a wide screen seven-disc Region 1 DVD box set in the US on September 5, 2006 and on Region 2 DVD on October 2, 2006. Each of these releases also contained DVD extras, including Behind the Scenes Footage, deleted scenes and a "''Lost'' Connections" chart, which shows how all of the characters on the island are inter-connected. Again, the series was initially delivered in two sets for Region 2: the first twelve episodes were released as a widescreen four-disc DVD box set on July 17, 2006, while the remaining episodes of series 2 were released as a four-disc DVD box set on October 2, 2006. The set was released in Region 4 on October 4, 2006.

The third season was released under the title ''Lost: The Complete Third Season – The Unexplored Experience'' on DVD and Blu-ray in Region 1 on December 11, 2007. As with Seasons 1 and 2, the third season release includes audio commentaries with the cast and crew, bonus featurettes, deleted scenes, and bloopers. The third season was released in Region 2 solely on DVD on October 22, 2007, though this time only as a complete set, unlike previous seasons.

The fourth season was released as ''Lost: The Complete Fourth Season – The Expanded Experience'' in Region 1 on December 9, 2008 on both DVD and Blu-ray Disc. It was released on DVD in Region 2 on October 20, 2008. The set includes audio commentaries, deleted scenes, bloopers and bonus featurettes.

The first three seasons of ''Lost'' have sold successfully on DVD. The Season 1 boxset entered the DVD sales chart at number two in September 2005, and the Season 2 boxset entered the DVD sales chart at the number one position in its first week of release in September 2006, believed to be the second TV-DVD ever to enter the chart at the top spot. First day DVD sales for ''Lost'' Season 2 are thought to have been as high as 500,000 copies sold. The Season 3 boxset sold over 1,000,000 copies in three weeks.

Both the Season 6 boxset and the complete series collection contained a 12 minute epilogue-like bonus feature called "The New Man in Charge." Lost, Season 6 entered the DVD sales chart at the number one position in its first week of release in September 2010 boasting strong sales in the DVD and Blu-ray format for the regular season set as well as for the series box set.

Other media[link]

The characters and setting of ''Lost'' have appeared in several official tie-ins outside of the television broadcast, including in print, on the Internet, and in short videos for mobile phones. Three novelizations have been released by Hyperion Books, a publisher owned by Disney, ABC's parent company. They are ''Endangered Species'' (ISBN 0-7868-9090-8) and ''Secret Identity'' (ISBN 0-7868-9091-6) both by Cathy Hapka and ''Signs of Life'' (ISBN 0-7868-9092-4) by Frank Thompson. Additionally, Hyperion published a metafictional book titled ''Bad Twin'' (ISBN 1-4013-0276-9), written by Laurence Shames, and credited to fictitious author "Gary Troup," who ABC's marketing department claimed was a passenger on Oceanic Flight 815.

Several unofficial books relating to the show have also been published. ''Finding Lost: The Unofficial Guide'' (ISBN 1-55022-743-2) by Nikki Stafford and published by ECW Press is a book detailing the show for fans and those new to the show. ''What Can Be Found in Lost?'' (ISBN 0-7369-2121-4) by John Ankerberg and Dillon Burrough, published by Harvest House is the first book dedicated to an investigation of the spiritual themes of the series from a Christian perspective. ''Living Lost: Why We're All Stuck on the Island'' (ISBN 1891053027) by J. Wood, published by the Garett County Press, is the first work of cultural criticism based on the series. The book explores the show's strange engagement with the contemporary experiences of war, (mis)information, and terrorism, and argues that the audience functions as a character in the narrative. The author also writes a blog column during the second part of the third season for Powell's Books. Each post discusses the previous episode's literary, historical, philosophical and narrative connections.

The show's networks and producers have made extensive use of the Internet in expanding the background of the story. For example, during the first season, a fictional diary by an unseen survivor called "Janelle Granger" was presented on the ABC web site for the series. Likewise, a tie-in website about the fictional Oceanic Airlines appeared during the first season, which included several Easter eggs and clues about the show. Another tie-in website was launched after the airing of "Orientation" about the Hanso Foundation. In the UK, the interactive back-stories of several characters were included in "Lost Untold," a section of Channel 4's ''Lost'' website. Similarly, since November 2005, ABC has produced an official podcast, hosted by series writers and executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. The podcast typically features a discussion about the weekly episode, interviews with cast members and questions from viewers. Sky One also hosts a podcast presented by Iain Lee on their website, which analyzes each episode after it airs in the United Kingdom.

The foray into the online realm culminated in the ''Lost Experience'', an Internet-based alternate reality game produced by Channel 7 (Australia), ABC (America) and Channel Four (UK), which began in early May 2006. The game presents a five-phase parallel storyline, primarily involving the Hanso Foundation.

Short mini-episodes ("mobisodes") called the ''Lost Video Diaries'' were originally scheduled for viewing by Verizon Wireless subscribers via its V-Cast system, but were delayed by contract disputes. The mobisodes were renamed ''Lost: Missing Pieces'' and aired from November 7, 2007 to January 28, 2008.

Licensed merchandise[link]

In addition to tie-in novels, several other products based on the series, such as toys and games, have been licensed for release. A video game, ''Lost: Via Domus'', has been released to average reviews, developed by Ubisoft, for game consoles and home computers, while Gameloft developed a ''Lost'' game for mobile phones and iPods. Cardinal Games released a ''Lost'' board game on August 7, 2006. TDC Games created a series of four 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles ("The Hatch," "The Numbers," "The Others," and "Before the Crash"), which, when put together, reveal embedded clues to the overall mythology of ''Lost''. Inkworks has published two sets of ''Lost'' trading cards, and is slated to release the ''Lost: Revelations'' set. In May 2006, McFarlane Toys announced recurring lines of character action figures and released the first series in November 2006, with the second series being released July 2007. Furthermore, ABC sells a myriad of ''Lost'' merchandise in their online store, including clothing, jewelry and other collectibles. Titan Magazines also publish ''Lost: The Official Magazine''.

References[link]

External links[link]

Official website

;Official tie-in websites

Ajira Airways fictional airline featured in season five promotional material

Lost University fictional university.

Category:2004 American television series debuts Category:2000s American television series Category:2010s American television series Category:2010 American television series endings Category:American Broadcasting Company network shows Category:American drama television series Category:American science fiction television series Category:Bad Robot productions Category:Bangsian fantasy Category:Best Drama Series Golden Globe winners Category:English-language television series Category:Serial drama television series Category:Television series by Buena Vista Television Category:Time travel television series Category:Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series winners

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name	Christina Aguilera
background	solo_singer
birth name	Christina María Aguilera
birth date	December 18, 1980
birth place
origin
genre	Pop, R&B;, soul, dance
occupation	Singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, television personality, actress
instrument	Vocals
years active	1993–present
label	RCA
website	}}

Christina María Aguilera (born December 18, 1980) is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the ''Star Search'' program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' from 1993–1994. Aguilera signed to RCA Records after recording "Reflection", the theme song for the animated film ''Mulan'' (1998).

In 1999, Aguilera came to prominence following her debut album ''Christina Aguilera'', which was a commercial success spawning three number one singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100—"Genie in a Bottle", "What a Girl Wants", and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)." Her sophomore and her debut Latin-pop album, ''Mi Reflejo'' (2000), a Christmas third studio album, ''My Kind of Christmas'' (2000), and several collaborations followed which garnered Aguilera worldwide success, though she was displeased with her lack of input in her music and image. After parting from her management, Aguilera took creative control over her fourth studio album, ''Stripped'' (2002). The album's second single, "Beautiful", was a commercial success and helped the album's commercial performance amidst controversy over Aguilera's image. Aguilera followed up ''Stripped'' with the soul, jazz and blues inspired, ''Back to Basics'' (2006), released to positive critical acclaim. The album produced three singles "Ain't No Other Man", "Hurt" and "Candyman". Four years later Aguilera released her sixth studio album, ''Bionic'' (2010), which incorporated aspects of R&B;, electropop, and synthpop and was met with mixed reviews and low sales. Aguilera's seventh studio album is set to be released in 2012.

Aside from being known for her vocal ability, music videos and image, musically, she includes themes of dealing with public scrutiny, her childhood, and female empowerment in her music. Apart from her work in music, she has also dedicated much of her time as a philanthropist for charities, human rights and world issues which include her work as a UN ambassador for the World Food Programme. She made her feature film debut in the musical ''Burlesque'' (2010), earning Aguilera a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song. Aguilera's work has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, four Grammy Awards and one Latin Grammy Award, amongst seventeen and three nominations respectively. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked her number fifty-eight on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, ranking as the youngest and only artist on the list under the age of thirty. She was ranked the 20th Artist of the 2000–09 decade by ''Billboard'' and is the second top selling single artist of the 2000s behind Madonna. Aguilera's albums sales are estimated at over 50 million units worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

Life and career[link]

1980–98: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Aguilera was born in Staten Island, New York, to Fausto Wagner Xavier Aguilera, a sergeant in the US Army at the time, and Shelly Loraine (née Fidler), a Spanish teacher. Aguilera's father was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador and her mother, who is American, is of German, Irish, Welsh, and Dutch ancestry. Her father was stationed at Earnest Harmon Air Force Base in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador and Japan. Aguilera lived with both her father and mother, up until their divorce when she was seven years old. Aguilera then lived with her mother, and her younger sister Rachel, at her grandmother's home in Rochester, Pennsylvania, a town outside Pittsburgh. According to both Aguilera and her mother, her father was very controlling, as well as physically and emotionally abusive. In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'' Aguilera revealed, "there was so much domestic violence going on when I grew up with my dad travelling in the military. I think the reason that my drive was so strong and I was so passionate about music was because I grew up in an environment of domestic violence." She later sang about her difficult childhood in the songs "I'm OK" on ''Stripped'', and "Oh Mother" on ''Back to Basics''. Even though he has made several attempts to reconnect with her, Aguilera ruled out any chance of a reunion. Since then, her mother has married a paramedic named Jim Kearns, and has changed her name.

As a child, Aguilera aspired to be a singer. She was known locally as "the little girl with the big voice", singing in local talent shows and competitions. She attended Rochester Area School District, Marshall Middle School near Wexford and North Allegheny Intermediate High School. On March 15, 1990, she appeared on ''Star Search'' singing "A Sunday Kind of Love", but lost the competition at number 2. Soon after losing on ''Star Search'', she returned home and appeared on Pittsburgh's KDKA-TV's ''Wake Up With Larry Richert'' to perform the same song. Throughout her youth in Pittsburgh, Aguilera sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Pittsburgh Penguins hockey, Pittsburgh Steelers football and Pittsburgh Pirates baseball games, including during the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals. Her talent was kept a secret to avoid bullying of other children. Following her television appearances Aguilera experienced resentment and bullying including an incident in which her peers slashed the tires on her family's car. Following several incidents Aguilera was later home schooled. Aguilera recalls, "doing what I did and maybe being a little smaller, I was definitely picked on and bullied for the attention that I got. It was definitely unwanted attention and there was a lot of unfairness about it."

In 1991, Aguilera auditioned for a role on ''The Mickey Mouse Club''; however, she did not meet the age requirements. Two years later, she joined the cast, performing musical numbers and sketch comedy, until the show's cancellation in 1994. Her co-stars included Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Ryan Gosling and Keri Russell where they nicknamed her "the Diva" for her performance style and voice. At the age of fourteen, Aguilera recorded her first song, "All I Wanna Do", a hit duet with Japanese singer Keizo Nakanishi. In 1997, she represented the United States at the international Golden Stag Festival with a two-song set. Aguilera entered talent contests on "teen night" at the Pegasus Lounge, a gay and lesbian nightclub in Pittsburgh, and later at Lilith Fair. In 1998, Aguilera sent in a demo of her singing Whitney Houston's "Run to You" to Disney who were looking for a singer to record the song "Reflection" for their animated feature film ''Mulan'' (1998). The demo caught the attention of producer and label executive Ron Fair who would later mentor her throughout her career and led to Aguilera earning a contract with RCA Records the same week. and over seventeen million copies worldwide. The album is also included in the Top 100 Albums of All Time list of The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) based on US sales. Released during the teen pop era of 1999 the album was well received by several critics, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of ''AllMusic'' writes that Aguilera's debut "remains firmly within the teen-oriented dance-pop genre, but done right." Concluding that the album is "lightweight in the best possible sense – breezy, fun, engaging, and enjoyable on each repeated listen. Out of the deluge of teen-pop albums in 1999, this feels like the best of the lot." Her debut single, "Genie in a Bottle" was an instant hit reaching No.1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and in several countries worldwide. Her follow-up singles "What a Girl Wants" and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)" topped the Hot 100 as well during 1999 and 2000 while "I Turn to You" reached number three. She is one of the few artists to have multiple No.1 singles from a debut album in ''Billboard'''s history. She made a cameo appearance on an episode of ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', performed on MTV's New Year's Special as MTV's first artist of the millennium, and the Super Bowl XXXIV halftime show. Aguilera wanted to display the range and audacity in her voice during the promotion of the album, and performed acoustic sets and appeared on television shows accompanied only by a piano. At the 42nd Grammy Awards Aguilera received a Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy nomination for "Genie in a Bottle" and despite earlier predictions, she won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

In 2000, Aguilera began recording her first Spanish-language album with producer Rudy Pérez in Miami. Later in 2000, Aguilera, first emphasized her Latin heritage by releasing her first Spanish album, ''Mi Reflejo'' on September 12, 2000. This album contained Spanish versions of songs from her English debut as well as new Spanish tracks. Though some criticized Aguilera for trying to cash in on the Latin music boom at the time. According to Pérez, Aguilera was only semi-fluent, while recording. She understood the language, because she has grown up with her father, who is a native of Ecuador. He added "Her Latin roots are undeniable". The album peaked at number twenty-seven on the ''Billboard'' 200 and went No.1 on the ''Billboard'' Latin charts for a record 20 weeks. In 2001, it won Aguilera a Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album. The album was later certified 6× Platinum (Latin field) in the US Aguilera won the World Music Award and ''Billboard'' award as the best selling Latin artist that year. Aguilera also released a Christmas album, ''My Kind of Christmas'', on October 24, 2000 and performed "The Christmas Song" at the White House that year. The album's only single, "The Christmas Song" made Aguilera one of three artists to take the song into the top twenty on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The single and ''My Kind of Christmas'' were both certified Platinum in the US Aguilera was ''Billboard'''s top female artist for 2000.

Aguilera's first concert tour, Christina Aguilera: In Concert (also known as "Sears & Levis Tour ") began in the summer of 2000 in the US and ended early 2001 where she toured South America and Asia. A concert special aired on ABC titled ''My Reflection'' which was released to DVD and certified Gold in the US. Aguilera was rumored to have dated MTV VJ Carson Daly. Rumors of their relationship were fueled after the release of Eminem's song, "The Real Slim Shady" in which he also insinuated a romance between her and rocker Fred Durst. Aguilera responded saying the lyrics were "disgusting, offensive and, above all, not true." Their feud ended two years later backstage at the Video Music Awards after Aguilera presented the rapper an award onstage. She dated Puerto Rican dancer Jorge Santos. Santos appeared on her tour and music videos throughout 2000. They dated for nearly two years until the relationship ended on September 11, 2001. He remained her dancer well into 2002.

Ricky Martin asked Aguilera to duet with him on the track "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" from his album ''Sound Loaded''; released in 2001 as the album's second single. The single reached No.1 on the World Chart and top ten in several countries. In 2001, Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa, and Pink were chosen to remake Labelle's 1975 single "Lady Marmalade" for the film ''Moulin Rouge!'' and its soundtrack. The song peaked at No.1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for five weeks and was the most successful airplay-only single in history. It also reached number one in eleven other countries and earned all four performers a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Aguilera's appearance in the music video was compared to that of Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider. The video won two MTV Video Music Awards including Video of the Year in 2001, where Aguilera accepted the award saying, "I guess the big hair paid off."

That same year, the single "Just Be Free" emerged into record stores which was one of the demos Aguilera recorded when she was around fifteen years old. When RCA Records discovered the single, they advised fans not to purchase it. Months later, Warlock Records was set to release ''Just Be Free'', an album which contains the demo tracks. Aguilera filed a breach of contract and unfair competition suit against Warlock and the album's producers to block the release. Instead, the two parties came to a settlement to release the album. Aguilera lent out her name, likeness and image for an unspecified amount of damages. Many of the details of the lawsuit remain confidential. When the album was released in August 2001, it had a photograph of Aguilera when she was fifteen years old.

Although Aguilera's debut album was commercially successful, she was dissatisfied with the music and image her management had created for her. Aguilera was marketed as a bubblegum pop singer because of the genre's upward financial trend. She mentioned plans of her next album to have much more depth, both musically and lyrically. Aguilera's views of Steve Kurtz's influence in matters of the singer's creative direction, the role of being her exclusive personal manager and overscheduling had in part caused her to seek legal means of terminating their management contract. In October 2000, Aguilera filed a breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit against her manager Kurtz for improper, undue and inappropriate influence over her professional activities, as well as fraud. According to legal documents, Kurtz did not protect her rights and interests. Instead, he took action that was for his own interest, at the cost of hers. She petitioned the California State Labor Commission to nullify the contract. Aguilera revealed while recording her then upcoming album, "I was being overworked. You find out that someone you thought was a friend is stealing money behind your back, and it's heartbreaking. I put faith in the people around me, and unfortunately, it bit me in the butt." After terminating Kurtz's services, Irving Azoff was hired as her new manager.

2002–05: New image, ''Stripped'' and marriage [link]

On October 26, 2002, Aguilera's fourth studio album, ''Stripped'', was released. The album sold more than 330,000 copies in the first week and peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200. Unlike her previous work, the album showcased Aguilera's raunchier side. The majority of ''Stripped'' was co-written by Aguilera (who had recently signed a global music publishing contract with BMG Music Publishing), and was influenced by many different subjects and music styles, including contemporary R&B;, gospel, soul, balladry, pop rock, and hip hop. The majority of the album was produced by Scott Storch and singer-songwriter Linda Perry who produced her more personal records. Rockwilder and singer Alicia Keys also contributed a track each. Upon initial release, the album was very well-received by critics, although Aguilera's vocals were overlooked as she began to cultivate a more sexually provocative image. After the release of the album, she took part in photoshoots for magazines, many of these photographs featured her nude or semi-nude. Her cover for ''Rolling Stone'', featured the singer only wearing boots and a well-placed electric guitar. It was during this time Aguilera referred to herself as "Xtina", even getting a tattoo of her nickname on the back of her neck and several piercings.

Initially, the raunchy image had a negative effect on Aguilera in the US, especially after the release of her controversial "Dirrty" music video. It appeared at number ten on ''Billboard'''s year-end album chart and Aguilera was the top female artist for 2003. Kelly Clarkson's second single "Miss Independent" was co-written by Aguilera, having been half-finished for ''Stripped''.

Aguilera joined Justin Timberlake that June on the final leg of his international ''Justified'' tour, held in the US. This portion of the tour became a co-headliner called the Justified/Stripped Tour. In August, an overhead lighting grid collapsed from the ceiling of the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, causing major damage to the sound and video equipment below. Because the collapse occurred hours before the show, only a few stagehands were injured, but a few shows were cancelled or postponed. In the fourth quarter of that year, Aguilera continued to tour internationally without Timberlake, and changed the name of the tour to the Stripped World Tour. She also dyed her hair black. It was one of the top-grossing tours of that year, and sold out most of its venues. ''Rolling Stone'' readers named it the best tour of the year. That same year she hosted the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards and was a special guest performer with the Pussycat Dolls' dance troupe performing at the Roxy Theatre and Viper Room in Los Angeles. She also appeared on a ''Maxim'' spread alongside them, her second ''Maxim'' cover that year set record sales for the issue making it the top selling issue to date. By the end of the year she topped the annual ''Hot 100'' list saying, "we had fun working with certain clothes, or the lack thereof."

Aguilera's first DVD live-recording from a concert tour, ''Stripped Live in the U.K.'', was released in November 2004. In light of the tour's success, another U.S. tour was scheduled to begin in mid-2004 with a new theme. The tour however was scrapped because of the vocal cord injuries Aguilera suffered shortly before the tour's opening date. In a tribute to Madonna's performance at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards, Aguilera performed a kiss with the singer-actress at the 2003 edition of the ceremony in August. The incident occurred during the opening performance of Madonna's songs "Like a Virgin" and "Hollywood" with fellow popstar Britney Spears. Also in 2004, she hosted a ''Saturday Night Live'' episode which included a ''Sex & The City'' skit where she portrayed Samantha Jones revealing to everyone she was a man the entire time.

Aguilera later decided to embrace a more mature image; this move was met with more praise than criticism, with articles using punch lines such as "From Crass to Class." She eventually dyed her hair cherry blonde and recorded a jingle, "Hello", for a Mercedes-Benz ad. Shortly after, she dyed her hair flaxen blonde and cut it short, and took on a Marilyn Monroe look; she is one of the main proponents (along with Dita Von Teese, Gwen Stefani, and Ashley Judd) in bringing back the 1920s–1940s Hollywood glamour look. In late summer 2004, Aguilera released two singles. The first, "Car Wash", was a remake of the Rose Royce disco song recorded as a collaboration with rapper Missy Elliott for the soundtrack to the film ''Shark Tale''. She voiced a small singing part in the film playing a Rastafarian jellyfish in the film's closing musical number. The second song was also a collaboration, but this time as a second single from one of Nelly's double-release albums, ''Sweat'', titled "Tilt Ya Head Back". Both singles failed commercially in the US, but did considerably better in other parts of the world. Aguilera collaborated with jazz artist Herbie Hancock on a cover of Leon Russell's "A Song for You" recorded for Hancock's album ''Possibilities'', released in August 2005. Aguilera and Hancock were later nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. She helped open the 50th Anniversary for Disneyland performing "When You Wish upon a Star", and she also collaborated with Andrea Bocelli on the song "Somos Novios" for his album ''Amore''. Aguilera began dating music marketing executive Jordan Bratman in 2002. Their engagement was announced in February 2005, and they married on November 19, 2005, in a Napa Valley estate.

2006–09: ''Back to Basics'', motherhood and greatest hits album [link]

Aguilera's fifth studio album, ''Back to Basics'' was released August 15, 2006. The album debuted at No.1 in the US, the UK and eleven other countries. Aguilera described the double CD as "a throwback to the 20s, 30s, and 40s-style jazz, blues, and feel-good soul music, but with a modern twist." The album received generally positive reviews, although many critics commented on the album's length saying, "At one disc, this would have been nothing short of masterful." A review in ''AllMusic'' adds, "''Back to Basics'' also makes clear that ''Stripped'' was a necessary artistic move for Christina: she needed to get that out of her system in order to create her own style, one that is self-consciously stylized, stylish, and sexy." The critically acclaimed lead single "Ain't No Other Man" was a substantial success, reaching No. 2 on the World Chart, No.6 in the US, and No.2 in the UK. Producers on the album included DJ Premier, Kwamé, Linda Perry, and Mark Ronson. The follow-up singles did very well in different regions, "Hurt" in Europe and "Candyman" in the Pacific. She co-directed both music videos, the former with Floria Sigismondi who directed her "Fighter" video, and the latter, "Candyman", with director/photographer Matthew Rolston which was inspired by The Andrews Sisters. ''Back to Basics'' has sold 4.5 million units worldwide, with over 1.7 million sold in the US.

In late 2006, Aguilera collaborated with Sean "Diddy" Combs on a track, titled "Tell Me", from his album ''Press Play''. She also began the Back to Basics Tour in Europe followed by a 41-date North American tour in early 2007. After this, she toured Asia and Australia, where it was supposed to end on August 3, however she canceled her dates in Melbourne and her final two in Auckland due to an illness. Her extravagant arena tour included cabaret, three-ring circus and juke joint sets and 10 piece costumes designed by Roberto Cavalli. She released her concert DVD ''Back to Basics: Live and Down Under'' the following year. The tour grossed nearly 50 million by the end of the year in North America and an additional 40 million worldwide in her Europe and Australia dates, grossing almost 90 million by the end of the tour. It was the most successful US tour by a female in 2007.

At the 49th Grammy Awards, Aguilera again won the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Ain't No Other Man". She made a noteworthy performance at the ceremony paying tribute to James Brown with her rendition of his song "It's a Man's Man's Man's World". In January 2007, she was named the 19th richest woman in entertainment by ''Forbes'', with a net worth of US$60 million. Aguilera performed "Steppin' Out With My Baby" with Tony Bennett on his NBC special ''Tony Bennett: An American Classic'' and on ''Saturday Night Live''. They performed at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards where both specials received Emmys. "Steppin' Out" was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.

Aguilera confirmed she was pregnant on November 4, 2007, though Paris Hilton accidentally revealed her pregnancy several weeks prior during a party Aguilera hosted. She gave birth to her son, Max Liron Bratman, in Los Angeles on January 12, 2008 and held a bris for him with Bratman, who is of Jewish descent, where the baby was circumcised in accordance with Jewish practice. Aguilera was reportedly paid $1.5 million by ''People'' for her son's baby pictures—the sixth most expensive celebrity baby photos ever taken.

In 2008, Aguilera appeared in the Martin Scorsese documentary ''Shine a Light'' which chronicles a two day Rolling Stones concert in New York City's Beacon Theatre. The film features Aguilera performing "Live With Me" alongside Mick Jagger. ''Shine a Light'' premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and was released worldwide on April 4, 2008. She also had brief cameo in the comedy film ''Get Him to the Greek'', and appeared as a guest judge on the sixth season of ''Project Runway'' on Lifetime Television. She and designer Bob Mackie were the inspiration for the challenge in which they had to design a stage outfit for Aguilera. To commemorate Aguilera's ten years in the music industry, RCA Records released, ''Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits'' on November 11, 2008, exclusively at Target stores in the US. The greatest hits included her first three number one singles, and other songs released from her previous three albums. "Lady Marmalade" and several Spanish singles from ''Mi Reflejo'' were included in the worldwide releases. The album's only single, "Keeps Gettin' Better", was premiered at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, which debuted and peaked at No.7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, her highest debut on the chart. Following the greatest hits, Aguilera took over a year hiatus in 2009 working on her then upcoming album and film. She was one of ''Billboard'''s Top 20 Artists of the Decade in their year-end charts.

2010–11: ''Bionic'', ''Burlesque'' and ''The Voice'' [link]

Aguilera's sixth studio album ''Bionic'' was released on June 8, 2010. The album's producers included Tricky Stewart, Samuel Dixon, Polow da Don, Le Tigre, Switch, Ester Dean, songwriters Sam Endicott, Sia Furler, Claude Kelly, Linda Perry and collaborations with M.I.A., Santigold, Nicki Minaj, and Peaches. ''Bionic'''s material consisted of many mainstream and pop records along with electronic and dance music. Two of the album's three singles, "Not Myself Tonight" and "You Lost Me" peaked at No.1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Play Charts but were unsuccessful elsewhere. "Woohoo", featuring rapper Nicki Minaj, was also released as the album's second single. The album was released to mixed reviews from music critics, with Jon Pareles of ''The New York Times'' writing that the singer's new music direction "makes her sound as peer-pressured as a pop singer can be." Allison Stewart of ''The Washington Post'' described the album as being "noisy, robotic and overstuffed" adding that the disc's "greatest disappointments" is its "virtual abandonment" of Aguilera's voice. She concluded that Aguilera attempts "to do it all," which was to try to "revel in her newfound domesticity, to wrest her crown from Gaga and to reestablish her sex kitten bona fides." Sales of ''Bionic'' were underwhelming in the US compared to her previous releases selling 110,000 copies in its first week landing at No.3. It has since sold 295,000 copies in the US. Shortly after the album's release, further promotion ended and a scheduled summer tour for the album was cancelled due to "inadequate rehearsal time". "You Lost Me" was her first single to not chart the Hot 100 while ''Bionic'' was her first English studio album not to receive a Grammy nomination. Aguilera later responded in an interview saying, "I was really proud of that record. I think there was a lot of promotion issues, coming from a standpoint of how everything resulted. Nothing is ever a setback. If anything, it just motivates you for what’s next."

Aguilera announced that she and Bratman had separated, saying in a statement, "Although Jordan and I are separated, our commitment to our son Max remains as strong as ever." Aguilera filed for divorce from Bratman on October 14, 2010, seeking joint legal and physical custody of their son, and specifying September 11, 2010, as the date of separation. They later reached a settlement agreement and custody deal, details of their agreement were private. Their divorce was finalized on April 15, 2011. The following month, Aguilera appeared as herself on the ''Entourage'' season seven finale as a client/friend of Ari Gold. On November 15, 2010, Aguilera received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In November 2010, Aguilera appeared in her first feature film, the musical ''Burlesque''. She portrayed a small town girl, Ali Rose, who finds love and success in a Los Angeles neo-burlesque club. Aguilera performed eight of the musical numbers on the film's soundtrack released on November 22, 2010, and co-wrote a number of the tracks working with producers and writers including Tricky Stewart, Sia Furler, Samuel Dixon, Linda Perry, Claude Kelly, Danja, and Ron Fair. The remaining two tracks were sung by Cher, who co-starred alongside Aguilera. The soundtrack debuted in the top 20 in the US and was certified Gold. The film was written and directed by Steve Antin who wrote the part of Ali specifically with Aguilera in mind. Aguilera's co-stars also included Cam Gigandet, Eric Dane, Kristen Bell and Stanley Tucci. Several critics praised Aguilera's performance. A review in ''TIME'' states, "Aguilera might not be to your taste, or mine, but in terms of sheer power, she's impressive. If Ali were real, she'd have already been discovered on ''American Idol''." While ''Variety'' wrote, "Aguilera, while undeniably entertaining when her character is onstage, cannot spin the slight backstory into anything resembling a full-blooded person." Though ''Burlesque'' was released to mixed reviews from critics, the film received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy and earned Aguilera, writer/producer Sia Furler and Samuel Dixon, a nomination for Best Original Song for the track "Bound to You". The soundtrack also earned Aguilera a Grammy nomination for Best Compilation Soundtrack. ''Burlesque'' has grossed over $90 million worldwide.

Following the release of ''Burlesque'', Aguilera collaborated with rapper T.I. on the track, "Castle Walls" from his album ''No Mercy''. Aguilera performed the U.S. national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner", during the Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011, and created embarrassment when she omitted a line of the anthem and messed up the song's lyrics. She later apologized, telling CNN that "I got so caught up in the moment of the song that I lost my place. I can only hope that everyone could feel my love for this country and that the true spirit of its anthem still came through." The following week, Aguilera, alongside Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride, Yolanda Adams, and Florence Welch opened the 53rd Grammy Awards paying tribute to Aretha Franklin.

Aguilera began dating musician and production assistant, Matt Rutler whom she met during the filming of ''Burlesque''. Her personal life was the subject of scrutiny; and reports over out of control behavior, excessive drinking, and a reported confrontation with her co-star Julianne Hough. On March 1, 2011, Aguilera was arrested for public intoxication in West Hollywood as her boyfriend was arrested for DWI. She was later released on bail and no charges were filed. Although the L.A. Sheriff's office stated Aguilera's mug shot would not be released to the public, ''E! News'' obtained the mug shot which circulated social networks and the media shortly after her release. Rutler's DWI charge was dismissed due to insufficient evidence, after his BAC was determined as below the legal limit.

Aguilera signed to be a judge on ''The Voice'', which debuted on NBC in April 2011. Aguilera, alongside other musicians Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green serve as judges and coaches, with Carson Daly as the show's host. The show's first episode was well-received, and delivered the strongest ratings for a series premiere on a major network since ''Undercover Boss'' debuted after the Super Bowl in February 2010. The show's first season was a ratings success for NBC following its debut. Aguilera performed "Moves Like Jagger" on ''The Voice'' – the single with Maroon 5 on which she is featured, from their album ''Hands All Over''. The song was an instant hit reaching No.2 in the UK, No.1 on the World Chart and earned Aguilera her fifth No.1 single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, a decade after her last No.1, "Lady Marmalade". The single became the first 4 million-seller for both artists and marks the first time two former Best New Artist Grammy Award winners have collaborated on a Hot 100 hit. "Moves Like Jagger" was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the Grammy Awards.

2012–present: Seventh studio album and current projects [link]

The second season of ''The Voice'' premiered following Super Bowl XLVI. Aguilera performed a cover of "At Last" by Etta James at James' funeral on January 28, 2012. Aguilera recorded her first Spanish record in over a decade titled "Casa de Mi Padre" which was released as the title song for the soundtrack and film of the same name. In regards to her upcoming album, Aguilera stated that she is recording a new studio album in an interview with ''Live with Regis and Kelly''. No official date has been announced but the album is expected to be released in 2012.

Artistry [link]

Vocal ability [link]

Aguilera possesses a soprano vocal range and has been referred to as the "voice of her generation" and a blue eyed soul singer. Aguilera also topped COVE's list of the 100 Best Pop Vocalists with a score of 50/50 and came fifth in MTV's 22 Greatest Voices in Music. Her rendition of "It's A Man's Man's Man's World" at the 49th Grammy Awards ranked third in the Grammy's Greatest Moments List behind Celine Dion's performance of "My Heart Will Go On" and Green Day's performance of "American Idiot". In an interview, Dion described Aguilera as "probably the best vocalist in the world." ''Rolling Stone'' ranked Aguilera at 58 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, the youngest singer on the list.

Describing Aguilera's voice, singing teachers Phyllis Fulford and Michael Mailler said, "The low register is light and tired, the belting register is ample and full, but very scratchy because she screams; and head voice as well as whistle register are light, pure and bright. Her vocal range extends from G below middle C to C one octave above soprano high C (G₃ – C₇). She can belt to F one octave and a third above middle C (F₅). She possesses a good-sized technical arsenal. Her trill is solid, she has a big mastery of melismas, and can sustain very long notes." ''Los Angeles Times'' writer Margaret Wappler adds Aguilera can deliver "a well-executed legato." However, countertenor Philippe Jaroussky said: "She has no breath support and often sings out of tune. People say she can cover four octaves, but it's not true because below A3, the low notes are forced, unsupported, her belting voice is throaty and forced, for her highest notes she doesn't use head voice but falsetto or whistle register, they are disconnected registers. So, she can only hit good notes from A3 to B4. Her melismas are always show-off, they are almost never connected with the rhythm and the structure of the songs."

Since her debut in 1999, Aguilera has been compared to the likes of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. David Browne of ''The New York Times'' writes, "Aguilera has been one of the foremost practitioners of the overpowering, Category 5 vocal style known as melisma. Ms. Carey, Ms. Houston and Ms. Aguilera, to name its three main champions, are most associated with the period from the late ’80s through the late ’90s." A review in the ''Los Angeles Times'' compared Aguilera's vocal stylings to Barbra Streisand, Gladys Knight, and Aretha Franklin adding, "Aguilera's Streisand-esque tendencies are a good thing; they're helping her figure out how to become the "great singer" she's been dubbed since she released her first single, the wise-beyond-its-years "Genie in a Bottle", at 18." Although praised for her vocals, Aguilera has been labeled for oversinging in her songs and concerts. Longtime producer and writer, Linda Perry, commented on working on the record, "Beautiful", saying, "I tried to keep it straight. I told her to get rid of the finger waves. Every time she'd start going into "hoo-ha", I'd stop the tape. I'm like, 'You're doing it again.'" Perry ended up using the first take saying, "She had a hard time accepting that as the final track. It's not a perfect vocal – it's very raw. She knows her voice really well, and she knows what's going on. She can hear things that nobody else would catch."

Themes and musical style [link]

The constant theme in Aguilera's music and lyrics is love, although she has written on other subjects including spirituality, female empowerment, and grief. Aguilera has also written about her childhood in two of her records which dealt with domestic abuse. In an interview Aguilera admitted she feels responsible to reveal her most vulnerable feelings and to share the darker sides of her life adding "People that can relate might not feel as alone in the circumstance." She has been noted to constantly changing her sound in her music and lyrical content. Originally marketed as a bubblegum pop singer during the late 90s pop scene, she quickly departed into a broad range of musical genres for her follow-up album ''Stripped''. A review states, "Clearly afflicted with Premature Serious Artist Syndrome, Aguilera wants to demonstrate the range of her interests – vampy soul, quasi-metal, piano-bar intimacy, quiet-storm R&B;, bounce-bounce hip-hop, and semi-exotic rock, all of it dutifully accomplished."

The majority of the songs are characterized by Aguilera's loud vocals, though she has used breathy and soft vocals. Her 2006 release, ''Back to Basics'' included producer DJ Premier. ''The New York Times'' exclaims, "Her decision to work with the low-key DJ Premier was also a decision to snub some of the big-name producers on whom pop stars often rely." Aguilera has often cited that she prefers working with producers that are not in popular demand, saying "I don't necessarily go to the main people that are the No.1 chart-toppers in music." The album included live instrumentation and samples of past jazz and soul records. Some tracks on the album included non-traditional forms of pop music such as swing jazz and big band, drawing comparisons to Madonna's ''I'm Breathless'' and the musical film ''Cabaret''. Her first feature film, ''Burlesque'', influenced by ''Cabaret'', featured mainstream producers Tricky Stewart and Danja on the soundtrack where several established songs were updated and worked into dance numbers, a style similar to 2001's ''Moulin Rouge!'' "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" was performed by Aguilera in the film, a musical number also performed by Nicole Kidman in ''Moulin Rouge!''

Influences [link]

One of Aguilera's major influences and idol is blues singer Etta James, whose classic song "At Last" has been covered by Aguilera throughout her career. Aguilera says, "Etta is my all-time favorite singer. I've said it for the last seven years – since I had my first debut record out – in every interview. I mean, all of Etta's old songs, countless songs I could name, I grew up listening to." Following James' death in 2012, Aguilera was asked to perform "At Last" at her funeral. Prior to performing Aguilera stated, "There's a line in this song that says 'I found a dream that I could speak to.' And for me that dream, all my life, has been Etta James." The majority of her album, ''Back to Basics'', pays tribute to James and other pop standard singers who many originated from the 1950s. In her early years she listened to vintage jazz, blues, and soul music. The album included an unreleased song, "Slow Down Baby", which sampled a Gladys Knight & the Pips song. A review in ''The Guardian'' declared, "Practically everything recorded before Aguilera was born blurs into one amorphous genre, which she categorises, somewhat inadequately, as "fun music". Aguilera has also named Madonna and Janet Jackson as two of her biggest influences "for being re-inventive and being brave as strong females, to explore whatever, even if they do get bad press. It's just like they were fearless." Her other musical influences include Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and Nina Simone.

Aguilera cites the musical ''The Sound of Music'' and its lead actress, Julie Andrews as an early inspiration for singing and performing. She mentioned the "Golden age of Hollywood" as another inspiration in which she says, "I'm referencing Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe, Carole Lombard, Greta Garbo, Veronica Lake". Ironically, her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located near Julie Andrews and is next to Greta Garbo. In her music video for "Ain't No Other Man" she plays her alter ego, "Baby Jane" in reference to the film ''Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?''. The film's stars included actresses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. The third single off ''Back to Basics'', "Candyman" was inspired by the 1941 song, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by The Andrews Sisters which was played during World War II. She was also inspired by pin-up girls and several paintings by Alberto Vargas. Aguilera has expressed interest in cultural icons Nico, Blondie and artists Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. She has often worked with photographer and close friend, David LaChapelle who once worked with Warhol. Chapelle has shot many of Aguilera's music videos, magazine shoots and advertisements. She is also a fan of graffiti artist Banksy. In 2006, she purchased three of Banksy's works during a private art exhibition; one of them included a pornographic picture of Queen Victoria in a lesbian pose with a prostitute. She has mentioned in several interviews that she is a fan of actress Angelina Jolie, and her ''Burlesque'' co-star, Cher. Fashion has also been a part of Aguilera's music career and image which she has used as a form of expression during performances and music videos. In 2003, she became the muse and inspiration for Donatella Versace's 2003 fall line. Versace also designed pieces her tour the following year. Aguilera is also a fan of Roberto Cavalli, John Galliano, Marc Jacobs, and Alexander McQueen whose designs she has worn throughout her career.

Other ventures [link]

In 2000, Aguilera was the face for make-up line ''Fetish'' where she worked in choosing colors and packaging for the line. She ended her contract the following year. Throughout her career Aguilera has endorsed several brands, including Skechers, Mercedes-Benz, Verizon Wireless, and soft drink giants Coca-Cola in 2001, and Pepsi in 2006. She became the muse and model for fashion house Versace appearing in a campaign for the 2003 fall line. In 2004, Aguilera earned £200,000GBP (about $300,000USD) for opening the summer sale at London's Harrods store which took in record breaking profits during the four week period. In 2005, she was reportedly paid $3.6 million to sing a three song set for Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko's wedding. Aguilera signed a contract with European cell phone operator Orange to promote the new Sony Ericsson Walkman phone during the 2006 World Cup. In 2010, Aguilera was paid $1 million by investor Charles Brandes to perform at a private party.

In 2008, jewelry designer Stephen Webster and close friend of Aguilera released "Shattered", a collection of sterling silver pieces, through Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. Aguilera, who inspired the collection, was featured as a Hitchcock heroine saying, "Working together on this campaign and collection has been an incredible experience. I am honored to be a part of it all." They reprised their work together for Webster's 2009 spring line. In 2011, Aguilera attended São Paulo Fashion Week to premiere her new line of clothing for Brazilian department store C&A; which launched in April.

Aguilera released two fragrances throughout Europe, the first one ''Xpose'', was released in late 2004 and sold relatively well. Through Procter and Gamble Aguilera released her signature fragrance, ''Simply Christina'' in 2007. In Christmas 2007, the fragrance became the number one perfume in the UK, and later in 2009 it became the 4th best selling perfume in the UK, and Germany where it topped sales for the year. The perfume won as the people's choice for favorite celebrity fragrance at the annual UK Fifi Awards 2008. She released her third fragrance, ''Inspire'', accompanied with a body care collection, on September 1, 2008. The perfume hit shelves in the US, Canada, Latin America, Asia and Northern and Eastern Europe. It was Aguilera's first fragrance released outside of Europe. Her worldwide ad campaign included a television ad shot by David LaChapelle and was released in the US through Macy's department stores. The release coincided with Macy's 150th anniversary which featured Aguilera in commemorative photos. She released her fourth fragrance ''By Night'' in October, which became the third best selling fragrance in the UK in 2009. Both “By Day“ and “By Night“ were nominated for Best Perfume of the Year at the FIFI Awards 2011. The range was further augmented by ''Royal Desire'' in 2010, and ''Secret Potion'' the following year.

Philanthropy [link]

Throughout her career, Aguilera has been involved with several charities. She signed a letter from PETA to the South Korean government asking that the country stop its alleged killing of dogs for food. During her 2007 tour she unknowingly wore a fur stole during the beginning of her tour, which designer Roberto Cavalli provided without informing Aguilera. After receiving a video from PETA Vice President Dan Mathews on the treatment of foxes, she replaced the stole with faux fur for the remainder of her tour. Aguilera was reportedly upset adding, "I only ever wear fake fur". In 2010 Aguilera auctioned off tickets for her upcoming tour for Christie's A Bid to Save the Earth. Proceeds benefit nonprofit environmental groups Conservation International, Oceana, Natural Resources Defense Council, and The Central Park Conservancy. Aguilera also supports Defenders of Wildlife, Missing Kids, National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations, Women's Cancer Research Fund, and Cedars-Sinai Women's Cancer Research Institute. She has also worked alongside nonprofit organization Do Something saying, "Every individual has the power to inspire young people across the country."

In 2010, Aguilera was nominated for a VH1 Do Something Award for her work with the organization and her efforts in the response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. She was featured in the campaign for photographer, Brie Childers with the goal of helping women of all ages, races and lifestyles feel beautiful and confident about themselves and the body and skin they were born with. Proceeds from benefit several women's charities nationwide. Aguilera is still a major contributor in her hometown of Pittsburgh contributing regularly to the Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh. According to her official website, she toured the center and donated $200,000 to the shelter. She also has auctioned off front row seats and back stage passes for the Pittsburgh-based charity. She has continued her donations and visits to the shelter, and plans to open an additional one. She also supports the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Refuge UK. Since then she has worked with Lifetime Television's 'End violence against women' campaign. Her work there included a public service announcement which aired on the network and during her 2007 tour.

Aguilera is a supporter of the LGBT community and is considered a gay icon by many. She was honored at the GLAAD Awards for using gay and transgender images in her music video for "Beautiful". When accepting the award Aguilera said, "My video captures the reality that gay and transgender people are beautiful, even though prejudice and discrimination against them still exists." In 2005, she appeared on a compilation album titled, ''Love Rocks'', proceeds benefit the Human Rights Campaign, an organization dedicated to fighting for equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. In 2008, she publicly spoke out against California's Proposition 8 which eliminates same-sex marriage in California saying, "Why you would put so much money behind something [aimed at] stopping people from loving each other and bonding together? I just don't understand it. It's hard for me to grasp. But I would've been out there with my rally sign as well." In 2011 Aguilera was honored at The Abbey, a gay club in West Hollywood, for her contributions to the gay community as the first honoree on their Gay Walk of Fame joining Dame Elizabeth Taylor in being immortalized forever.

Aguilera contributes in the fight against AIDS, by participating in AIDS Project Los Angeles' Artists Against AIDS "What's Going On?" cover project. In 2004, Aguilera became the new face for cosmetic company M·A·C and spokesperson for M·A·C AIDS Fund. Aguilera appeared in advertisements of the M·A·C's Viva Glam V lipstick and lipgloss, and was featured on ''Vanity Fair'' in recognition of her campaign work. In addition, Aguilera contributed to YouthAIDS by posing for a joint YouthAIDS and Aldo Shoes campaign for "Empowerment Tags" in Canada, the U.S. and the UK. She was featured with one of three ubiquitous slogans, "Speak No Evil?" and stated, "HIV is something that people don’t want to talk about, hear about, or face." Singer Elton John featured Aguilera in his charity book titled "Four Inches" benefiting the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Elton also hand-picked Aguilera, for his annual "Fashion Rocks" charity concert which accompanies music and fashion to benefit the fight against AIDS/HIV.

In the run-up to the 2004 United States presidential election, Aguilera was featured on billboards for the "Only You Can Silence Yourself" online voter registration drive run by the nonpartisan, non-profit campaign "Declare Yourself". In these political advertisements, shot by David LaChapelle, Aguilera was shown with her mouth sewn shut, to symbolize the effects of not voting. She appeared on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' to discuss the importance of voting. In late 2007 Aguilera became the spokesperson for "Rock the Vote" where she urged young people to vote in the 2008 presidential election. In partnership with "Rock the Vote", she appeared in a public service announcement which aired in summer 2008. The advert showed Aguilera with her son, Max Bratman, wrapped in an American flag, while singing "America the Beautiful".

In November 2005, all of her wedding gifts were submitted to various charities around the nation in support of Hurricane Katrina victims. That year she also performed at "Unite of the Stars" concert in aid of Unite Against Hunger in Johannesburg, South Africa and at the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund at the Coca-Cola Dome. In March 2007 Aguilera took part in a charity album (remaking Lennon's "Mother"), proceeds benefit Amnesty International's efforts to end genocide in Darfur. The album titled, ''Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur'', was released June 12, 2007, and featured various artists. In 2008, she headlined London's Africa Rising charity concert at Royal Albert Hall which raises awareness for finding substantial issues facing the continent. Later that year she appeared on the Turkish version of ''Deal or No Deal'' "Var mısın? Yok musun?", where proceeds were donated to a charity program for orphans.

In 2009, Aguilera became the global spokesperson for World Hunger Relief appearing in advertisements, online campaigns and a public service announcement. Aguilera and her then-husband traveled to Guatemala with the World Food Programme to bring awareness to issues such as the high malnutrition rate in that country. She met with families of the villages and some of the beneficiaries of WFP's nutrition programs. Aguilera adds, "The people of WFP do such a great job helping hungry children and mothers. I'm thankful for the opportunity to be part of such a wonderful project." Since becoming a global spokeswoman Aguilera has helped raise over $22 million which helped provide over 90 million meals. She was honored at ''Variety'''s annual "Power of Women" luncheon in late 2009 alongside other women in entertainment for her contribution to philanthropic and charitable causes. In response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Aguilera donated a signed Chrysler 300 which was auctioned for relief efforts. She was one of the many artists who appeared on the ''Hope for Haiti'' telethon on January 22, 2010, donations directly benefited Oxfam America, Partners In Health, Red Cross and UNICEF. She later appeared on a second public service announcement alongside sports icon Muhammad Ali to raise funds for the World Food Programme's efforts to bring food to survivors of the earthquake. Later that year Aguilera made her first visit to Haiti as an ambassador against hunger where she visited two schools in the town of Léogâne. During her time there she assisted in the ongoing efforts to help the badly damaged town where she served meals and highlighted reconstruction efforts in the country. That year, Aguilera was appointed UN ambassador for the WFP.

Discography [link]

''Christina Aguilera'' (1999)

''Mi Reflejo'' (2000)

''My Kind of Christmas'' (2000)

''Stripped'' (2002)

''Back to Basics'' (2006)

''Bionic'' (2010)

Filmography [link]

''Beverly Hills, 90210'' ''Al salir de clase'' ''Saturday Night Live'' ''Player$'' ''Punk'd'' ''Shark Tale'' ''Shine a Light (film) ''Project Runway'' ''Conan (TV series) ''Entourage (TV series) ''Get Him to the Greek'' ''Burlesque (film) ''The Voice (U.S. TV series)

+ List of television and films credits
Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1993—1995	''The Mickey Mouse Club''	Herself/Various Roles
1999	|	Herself	"Let's Eat Cake" (Season 10, Episode 2)
2000	|	Herself	"El día que no existe" (Season 5, Episode 42)"Augurios" (Season 8, Episode 72)
2000—2006	|	Herself/Various Roles/Host/Musical Guest	"Christopher Walken/Christina Aguilera" (Season 25, Episode 16)"Salma Hayek/Christina Aguilera" (Season 28, Episode 15)"Christina Aguilera/Maroon 5" (Season 29, Episode 13)"Alec Baldwin/Christina Aguilera" (Season 32, Episode 5)
2003	|	Herself	"Hulk" (Season 2, Episode 10)
2003	|	Herself	"Ryan Pinkston – VH1 Big in 2002 Awards" (Season 1, Episode 1)
2004	|	Herself/Christina (voice)	Uncredited
2008	Shine a Light'' ||	Herself	Documentary
2009	|	Herself / Guest Judge	"Sequins, Feathers and Fur, Oh My!" (Season 6, Episode 9)
2010	Entourage'' ||	Herself	"A Prayer for Dick Butkus" (Season 1, Episode 9)
2010	Entourage'' ||	Herself	"Lose Yourself" (Season 7, Episode 10)
2010	|	Herself	Cameo appearance
2010	Burlesque'' ||	Alice Marilyn "Ali" Rose	Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
2011—present	The Voice'' ||	Herself (Coach and judge)	Season 1—present

Tours[link]

;Headlining

Christina Aguilera in Concert (2000–01)

Stripped World Tour (2003)

Back to Basics Tour (2006–07)

;Co-headlining

Justified/Stripped Tour (2003) (with Justin Timberlake)

See also [link]

List of Christina Aguilera tours

List of best-selling music artists

List of artists who reached number one in the United States

List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart

List of awards and nominations received by Christina Aguilera

Honorific nicknames in popular music

References [link]

External links [link]

ChristinaAguilera.com – Christina Aguilera official website

Twitter – Official Twitter account

Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:People from Staten Island Category:American child singers Category:American dance musicians Category:American female singers Category:American feminists Category:American music video directors Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American people of Dutch descent Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Welsh descent Category:American people of Ecuadorian descent Category:American pop singer-songwriters Category:American pop singers Category:American stage actors Category:American television actors Category:Brit Award winners Category:Child pop musicians Category:Feminist musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Latin Grammy Award winners Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:Military brats Category:Mouseketeers Category:Musicians from New York City Category:Musicians from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:RCA Records artists Category:Sony BMG artists Category:American sopranos Category:Spanish-language singers of the United States Category:The Voice judges Category:World Music Awards winners Category:Blue-eyed soul singers

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birth date	January 07, 1964
birth place	Long Beach, California, US
birth name	Nicolas Kim Coppola
occupation	Actor, producer, director
years active	1980–present
spouse
children	Weston Coppola Cage Kal-El Cage
parents
relatives	Marc Coppola (brother)Christopher Coppola (brother) }}

Nicolas Cage (born Nicolas Kim Coppola; January 7, 1964) is an Academy Award-winning American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including ''Raising Arizona'' (1987), ''The Rock'' (1996), ''Face/Off'' (1997), ''Gone in 60 Seconds'' (2000), ''Adaptation'' (2002), ''National Treasure'' (2004), ''Lord of War'' (2005), ''Ghost Rider'' (2007), ''Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans'' (2009), ''Kick-Ass'' (2010), and ''Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance'' (2012).

Early life[link]

Cage was born Nicolas Kim Coppola on January 7, 1964 in Long Beach, California. His father, August Coppola, a professor of literature, and his mother, Joy Vogelsang, a dancer and choreographer, divorced in 1976. He was raised in a Catholic family. Cage's mother is of German descent and his father was of Italian descent. His paternal grandparents were composer Carmine Coppola and actress Italia Pennino, and his paternal great-grandparents were immigrants from Bernalda, Basilicata. Through his father, Cage is the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, and the cousin of directors Roman Coppola and Sofia Coppola, film producer Gian-Carlo Coppola, and actors Robert Carmine and Jason Schwartzman. Cage's two brothers are New York radio personality Marc "The Cope" Coppola and director Christopher Coppola. He attended Beverly Hills High School, which is known for its many alumni who became entertainers. He aspired to act from an early age and also attended UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television. His first non-cinematic acting experience was in a school production of ''Golden Boy''.

Career[link]

Acting career[link]

To avoid the appearance of nepotism as the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, he changed his name early in his career to Nicolas Cage, inspired in part by the Marvel Comics superhero Luke Cage. Since his minor role in the film ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'', with Sean Penn, Cage has appeared in a wide range of films, both mainstream and offbeat. He tried out for the role of Dallas Winston in his uncle's film ''The Outsiders'', based on S.E. Hinton's novel, but lost to Matt Dillon. He was also in Coppola's films ''Rumble Fish'' and ''Peggy Sue Got Married.''

Other Cage roles included appearances in the acclaimed 1987 romantic-comedy ''Moonstruck'', also starring Cher; The Coen Brothers cult-classic comedy ''Raising Arizona''; David Lynch's 1990 offbeat film ''Wild at Heart''; a lead role in Martin Scorsese's 1999 New York City paramedic drama ''Bringing Out the Dead''; and Ridley Scott's 2003 quirky drama ''Matchstick Men'', in which he played an agoraphobic, mysophobic, obsessive-compulsive con artist with a tic disorder.

Cage has been nominated twice for an Academy Award, winning once for his performance as a suicidal alcoholic in ''Leaving Las Vegas''. His other nomination was for his portrayal of real-life screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and Kaufman's fictional twin Donald in ''Adaptation.'' Despite these successes, most of his lower-profile films have performed poorly at the box office compared to his mainstream action/adventure roles. The suspense thriller ''8mm'' (1999) was not a box office success, but is now considered a cult film. He took the lead role in the 2001 film ''Captain Corelli's Mandolin'' and learned to play the mandolin from scratch for the part. He made his directorial debut with 2002's ''Sonny''. In 2005, two offbeat films he headlined, ''Lord of War'' and ''The Weather Man'', failed to find a significant audience despite nationwide releases and good reviews for his acting in those roles. Poor reviews for ''The Wicker Man'' resulted in low box office sales. The much criticized ''Ghost Rider'' (2007), based on the Marvel Comics character, fared better, earning more than $45 million (the top earner) during its opening weekend and over $208 million worldwide through the weekend ending on March 25, 2007. Also in 2007, he starred in ''Next'', which shared the concept of a glimpse into an alternate timeline with Cage's film, ''The Family Man'' (2000).

Most of Cage's movies that have achieved financial success were in the action/adventure genre. In his second-highest grossing film to date, ''National Treasure'', he plays an eccentric historian who goes on a dangerous adventure to find treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers of the United States. Other action hits include ''The Rock'', in which Cage plays a young FBI chemical weapons expert who infiltrates Alcatraz Island in hopes of neutralizing a terrorist threat, ''Face/Off'', a John Woo film where he plays both a hero and a villain, and ''World Trade Center'', director Oliver Stone's film regarding the September 11, 2001 attacks. He had a small but notable role as the Chinese criminal mastermind Dr. Fu Manchu in Rob Zombie's fake trailer ''Werewolf Women of the S.S.'' from the B-movie double feature ''Grindhouse''.

Cage made his directorial debut with ''Sonny'', a low-budget drama starring James Franco as a male prostitute whose mother (Brenda Blethyn) serves as his pimp. Cage had a small role in the film, which received poor reviews and a short run in a limited number of theatres. Cage's producing career includes ''Shadow of the Vampire'', the first effort from Saturn Films.

In early December 2006, Cage announced at the Bahamas International Film Festival that he planned to curtail his future acting endeavors to pursue other interests. On ''The Dresden Files'' for the Sci-Fi Channel, Cage is listed as the executive producer.

In November 2007, Cage was spotted backstage at a ''Ring of Honor'' wrestling show in New York City researching his role for ''The Wrestler''. The role was ultimately played by Mickey Rourke, who received an Academy Award nomination for his performance. ''Wrestler'' Director Darren Aronofsky, in an interview with slashfilm.com, said of Cage's decision to leave the film that: "Nic was a complete gentleman, and he understood that my heart was with Mickey and he stepped aside. I have so much respect for Nic Cage as an actor and I think it really could have worked with Nic but ... you know, Nic was incredibly supportive of Mickey and he is old friends with Mickey and really wanted to help with this opportunity, so he pulled himself out of the race."

In 2008, Cage appeared as Joe, a contract killer who undergoes a change of heart while on a work outing in Bangkok, in the film ''Bangkok Dangerous''. The film is shot by the Pang Brothers and has a distinct South-East Asian flavor. In 2009, Cage starred in science fiction thriller ''Knowing'', directed by Alex Proyas. In the film, he plays an MIT professor who examines the contents of a time capsule unearthed at his son's elementary school. Startling predictions found inside the capsule that have already come true lead him to believe the world is going to end at the close of the week, and that he and his son are somehow involved in the destruction. The film received mainly negative reviews but was the box office winner on its opening weekend. Also in 2009, Cage starred in the film ''Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans'', directed by acclaimed German director Werner Herzog. He portrayed a corrupt police officer with gambling, drug and alcohol addictions. The film was very well-received by critics, holding a rating of 87% positive reviews on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Cage received lauds for his performance, with Michael Phillips of the ''Chicago Tribune'' writing "Herzog has found his ideal interpreter, a performer whose truth lies deep in the artifice of performance: ladies and gentlemen, Nicolas Cage, at his finest." This film reunited Cage with Eva Mendes, who played his love interest in ''Ghost Rider''. In 2010, Cage starred in the period piece ''Season of the Witch'', playing a 14th-century knight transporting a girl accused of causing the Black Plague to a monastery, and ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'', in which he played the sorcerer.

Other works[link]

Cage, an avid comic book fan, auctioned a collection of 400 vintage comics through Heritage Auctions for over $1.6 million in 2002.

In 2007 he created a comic book with his son Weston, called ''Voodoo Child'', which was published by Virgin Comics.

Cage is a fan and collector of painter and underground comic artist Robert Williams. He has written introductions for ''Juxtapoz'' magazine and purchased the painting ''Death On The Boards''.

Acting style[link]

In February 2011, Cage claimed to have created a new method of acting he calls "Nouveau Shamanic". He claims to have used the acting style throughout his career and one day plans to write a book about the method.

Praise and criticism[link]

Nicolas Cage's acting has been praised by influential film critic Roger Ebert who writes, in his "Great Movies" essay about the film ''Adaptation'', that: "There are often lists of the great living male movie stars: De Niro, Nicholson and Pacino, usually. How often do you see the name of Nicolas Cage? He should always be up there. He's daring and fearless in his choice of roles, and unafraid to crawl out on a limb, saw it off and remain suspended in air. No one else can project inner trembling so effectively.... He always seems so earnest. However improbable his character, he never winks at the audience. He is committed to the character with every atom and plays him as if he were him." Roger Ebert, in response to mixed reviews of ''Knowing'' and their focus on criticizing Cage, wrote an article in which he defends both Cage as an actor and the movie to which, in stark contrast to other critics, Ebert gave 4/4 stars.

In the 68th Academy Awards, Cage was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Leaving Las Vegas''.

In May 2001, Cage was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts by California State University, Fullerton. He spoke at the commencement ceremony.

Despite such praise, Cage has his detractors. Cage has been criticized for choosing to star in big-budget, action-adventure movies rather than smaller, character-driven dramas, the type of film that initially garnered him praise. In 1999, one-time friend Sean Penn expressed that sentiment to the ''New York Times'', declaring Cage "no longer an actor."

Personal life[link]

Relationships and family[link]

In 1988, Cage began dating actress Christina Fulton, who later bore their son, Weston Coppola Cage (born December 26, 1990). Weston is lead singer of the black metal band Eyes of Noctum, and appeared in Cage's film ''Lord of War'' as Vladimir, a young Ukrainian mechanic who quickly disarms a Mil Mi-24 helicopter.

Cage has been married three times. His first wife was actress Patricia Arquette (married on April 8, 1995, divorce finalized on May 18, 2001).

Cage's second marriage was to singer/songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley. Cage is an Elvis fan and used the star as the base of his performance in ''Wild at Heart''. Presley and Cage married on August 10, 2002 and filed for divorce on November 25, 2002 which was finalized on May 16, 2004. The divorce proceeding was longer than the marriage.

Cage met his third and current wife Alice Kim, a former waitress who previously worked at the Los Angeles restaurant Kabuki and at the Los Angeles-based Korean nightclub, Le Privé. She bore their son, Kal-El, (after Superman's birth name) on October 3, 2005. Cage was once considered for the role of Superman in a film to be directed by Tim Burton. Alice had a minor role in the 2007 film ''Next'', which Cage produced. They were married at a private ranch in Northern California on July 30, 2004.

Real estate and tax problems[link]

Nicolas Cage is one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors, earning $40 million in 2009 according to ''Forbes Magazine''.

Cage had a Malibu home where he and Kim lived, but sold the property in 2005 for $10 million. In 2004 he bought a property on Paradise Island, Bahamas. In May 2006, he bought a island in the Exuma archipelago, some southeast of Nassau and close to a similar island owned by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

He once owned the medieval castle of Schloss Neidstein in the Oberpfalz region in Germany, which he bought in 2006 and sold in 2009 for $2.5 million. His grandmother was German, living in Cochem an der Mosel. In August 2007, Cage purchased "Grey Craig", a brick-and-stone country manor in Middletown, Rhode Island. With an estate occupying the home has 12 bedrooms and 10 full bathrooms and overlooks the Atlantic Ocean as well. It borders the Norman Bird Sanctuary to the west. The sale ranked among the state of Rhode Island's most expensive residential purchases until eclipsed that same year, 2007, by the $17.15 million sale of the Miramar mansion on Bellevue Avenue in Newport.

Also in 2007, the actor purchased Midford Castle in Somerset, England. Shortly after selling his German castle, Cage also put homes in Rhode Island, Louisiana, Nevada, and California, as well as a $7 million island in the Bahamas, up for sale.

On July 14, 2009, the Internal Revenue Service filed documents in New Orleans in connection with a federal tax lien against property owned by Cage in Louisiana, concerning unpaid federal taxes. The IRS alleges that Cage failed to pay over $6.2 million in federal income tax for the year 2007. In addition, the Internal Revenue Service has another lien for more than $350,000 in unpaid taxes dating from 2002 to 2004. Cage filed a $20 million lawsuit on October 16, 2009, against his business manager, Samuel J. Levin, alleging negligence and fraud. The lawsuit states that Levin "had failed to pay taxes when they were due and had placed [Cage] in speculative and risky real estate investments 'resulting in (the actor) suffering catastrophic losses'." Cage is also facing separate lawsuits from East West Bank and Red Curb Investments for unpaid, multimillion dollar loans. Samuel Levin filed a counter-complaint and responded to the lawsuit in a filing stating that he warned Cage that he was living beyond his means and urged him to spend less. Levin's filing states that "instead of listening to Levin, cross-defendant Cage (Coppola) spent most of his free time shopping for high ticket purchases, and wound up with 15 personal residences", Levin's complaint continued: "Likewise, Levin advised Coppola against buying a Gulfstream jet, against buying and owning a flotilla of yachts, against buying and owning a squadron of Rolls Royces, against buying millions of dollars in jewelry and art."

In his filing Levin says that in 2007 Cage's "shopping spree entailed the purchase of three additional residences at a total cost of more than $33 million; the purchase of 22 automobiles (including 9 Rolls Royces); 12 purchases of expensive jewelry; and 47 purchases of artwork and exotic items." One of those exotic items was a dinosaur skull of a Tarbosaurus for which Nicolas Cage paid $276,000 in an auction after winning a bidding contest against Leonardo DiCaprio.

According to Cage, he owned the "Most Haunted House in America", a home located in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. The home is known as "The LaLaurie house" after its former owner Delphine LaLaurie. The house was foreclosed and sold at auction on November 12, 2009 along with another New Orleans property for a total of $5.5 million, in the wake of his financial problems.

His Bel Air home, which had six loans totaling $18 million on it, failed to sell at an April 2010 foreclosure auction despite an opening offer of $10.4 million, substantially less than the $35 million that Cage had originally tried to sell it for. The home, built in 1940 for $110,000 had been owned by Dean Martin and singer Tom Jones. The home eventually sold in November 2010 for $10.5 million. Another home in Nevada also faces foreclosure auction.

In November 2011, Cage also sold his Action Comics 1 in an online auction for a record-breaking $2.16 million dollars (the previous record being 1.5), to assist paying his tax liens and other debts. Cage purchased the comic in 1997 for $110,000.

Legal issues[link]

In December 2009, Christina Fulton sued Cage for $13 million and the house she is living in. The suit was in response to an order that she leave the dwelling that was brought about by Cage's financial difficulties.

On April 15, 2011, at 11:30 pm, Cage was arrested in New Orleans in the city's famed French Quarter district for suspicion of domestic abuse battery, disturbing the peace and public intoxication, after a police officer was flagged down by onlookers after Cage allegedly grabbed his wife's upper arm while appearing to be under the influence of alcohol. Cage was held in police custody until a bail of $11,000 was posted by Duane "Dog" Chapman. He was later ordered to appear in court on May 31, 2011. On May 5, 2011, it was announced that the charges against Cage had been dropped.

Filmography[link]

+ Film credits
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1980	''Brubaker''	Extra	Uncredited
1981		Nicholas
1982	''Fast Times at Ridgemont High''	Brad's Bud
1983	''''	Man in rumble scene	Uncredited
1983		Randy
1983	''Rumble Fish''	Smokey
1984	''Racing with the Moon''	Nicky and Bud
1984	''''	Vincent Dwyer
1984		Sergeant Al Columbato
1986	''''	Ned Hanlan
1986	''Peggy Sue Got Married''	Charlie Bodell
1987	''Raising Arizona''	H. I. McDunnough
1987	''Moonstruck''	Ronny Cammareri	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1988	''Never on Tuesday''	Man In Red Sports Car	Uncredited
1989	''Vampire's Kiss''	Peter Leow
1990	''Tempo di uccidere''	Enrico Silvestri
1990	''Fire Birds''	Jake Preston	aka ''Wings of the Apache''
1990		Sailor
1990	''Zandalee''	Johnny
1992	''Honeymoon in Vegas''	Jack Singer	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1993	''Amos & Andrew''	Amos Odell
1993		Eddie
1994	''''	Himself
1994	''Red Rock West''	Michael Williams
1994	''Guarding Tess''	Doug Chesnic
1994		Charlie Lang
1994	''Trapped in Paradise''	Bill Firpo
1995		Little Junior Brown
1995	''Leaving Las Vegas''	Ben Sanderson
1996	''''	Dr. Stanley Goodspeed	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in an Action/Adventure
1997	''Con Air''	Cameron Poe	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in an Action/Adventure
1997	''Face/Off''	Castor Troy/Sean Archer
1998		Seth	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in a Drama or Romance Film
1998		Rick Santoro	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in a Suspense Film
1999		Tom Welles
1999	''Bringing Out the Dead''	Frank Pierce
2000		Randall "Memphis" Raines	Nominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in an Action Film
2000	''''	Jack Campbell	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in a Comedy or Romance Film
2000	''Welcome to Hollywood''	Himself
2001	''Italian Soldiers''	Himself
2001		Captain Antonio Corelli
2001	''Christmas Carol: The Movie''	Jacob Marley	Voice
2002	''Windtalkers''	Sgt. Joe Enders
2002	''Adaptation.''
2002		Acid Yellow
2003		Roy Waller
2004
2005	''Lord of War''	Yuri Orlov
2005	''''	David Spritz
2006	''''	Zoc	Voice
2006	''''	Edward Malus
2006	''Too Tough To Die''	Himself
2006
2007
2007
2007		Cris Johnson
2007	''National Treasure: Book of Secrets
2008		Joe
2009		Professor Jonathan "John" Koestler
2009		Speckles the Mole	Voice
2009		Dr. Tenma	Voice
2009	''Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans''	Terrence McDonagh, The bad Lieutenant
2010		Damon Macready/Big Daddy
2010	''''	Balthazar Blake
2011		Behman von Bleiruck
2011	''Drive Angry''	Milton
2011		Kyle
2011	''Seeking Justice''	Will Gerard
2012	''Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance''
2012		Will Montgomery	filming
2012	''Frank or Francis''	The Emcee	pre-production
2012	''The Frozen Ground''	Detective Glenn Flothe	pre-production
2013	''''	Crug	Voice, pre-production

See also[link]

Coppola family tree

List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees

References[link]

External links[link]

World Trade Center Interview with Nicolas Cage From IGN FilmForce

Category:1964 births Category:Actors from California Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American film producers Category:American voice actors Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Coppola family Category:Living people Category:People from Long Beach, California Category:Science fiction fans Category:Pseudonymous artists Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Arquette family

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