Old or OLD may refer to:

Age [link]

Old age or, by extension, a description or nickname for someone or something that has endured and become comfortable or widely familiar.

Places [link]

Old, Baranya, Hungary

Old, Northamptonshire, England

Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base in Old Town, Maine, United States (IATA code)

People [link]

Old Boys and Old Girls, former pupils of schools in Britain, some schools in Australia, New Zealand and other British Commonwealth countries

Surname[link]

Alan Old (born 1945), English rugby union player

Ashley George Old (1913–2001), British artist

Chris Old (born 1948), English cricketer

Lloyd J. Old (born 1933), cancer researcher

Richard Old (1856–1932), English woodcraftsman and model maker

Steven Old (born 1986), New Zealand footballer

William Erwood Old, Jr. (1928–1982), American malacologist

Music [link]

''Old'' (album), an album by Starflyer 59

"Old" (song), a song by Machine Head

OLD (band), a grindcore/industrial metal group

Acronyms [link]

Oxford Latin Dictionary

Over-Locknut Distance (or Dimension), a measurement of bicycle hubs and frames

See also[link]

List of people known as the Old

All pages beginning with Old

de:OLD eo:OLD fr:Old it:OLD nl:Old nds-nl:OLD ja:オールド pt:Old

Name	Felicia Day
Birth name	Kathryn Felicia Day
Birth date	June 28, 1979
Birth place	Huntsville, Alabama, United States
Residence	Los Angeles, California
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actress/Writer/Singer
Website	http://www.feliciaday.com/
Yearsactive	2001-present }}

Kathryn Felicia Day (born on June 28, 1979) is an American actress and singer, known for her work as "Vi" on the TV series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and for parts in movies such as ''Bring It On Again'' and ''June'', as well as the Internet musical, ''Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog''. Day is also the star, script writer and producer of the original web series ''The Guild'', a show loosely based on her life as a gamer. She also starred in the ''Dragon Age'' web series ''Dragon Age: Redemption'', which she wrote. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Academy of Web Television.

Personal life and education[link]

Day began her acting career at the age of 7 when she starred as Scout in a local production of ''To Kill a Mockingbird''. She studied operatic singing and ballet professionally, performing at concerts and competitions nationwide. Home-schooled throughout much of her childhood, she began college at the age of 16.

She was a National Merit Scholar (1995) and graduated as valedictorian of her class. An accomplished violinist, Day was accepted to the Juilliard School of Music but chose to attend the University of Texas at Austin on a full scholarship in violin performance. She double majored in mathematics and music performance.

Day is an avid player of a wide variety of video game genres. Much of her work on ''The Guild'' web series was based on her personal experience with video games.

Career[link]

Early career[link]

After graduation, Day moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. She landed several roles in various short and independent films, as well as commercials and guest spots on television shows, including ''Undeclared'' and ''Maybe It's Me''. These parts propelled her to larger roles: a part in the film ''Bring It On Again'', the starring role in ''June'', and a recurring guest spot as potential Slayer Vi on television's ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', a recurring role that is still occasionally utilized in that show's eighth season comic book series.

''The Guild''[link]

Day is the creator, writer, and star of ''The Guild'', a web series which started airing its fifth season in July 2011. The first season was primarily hosted on YouTube where it garnered millions of views. Its second season premiered on Microsoft's three major video channels Xbox Live, MSN Video and The Zune Marketplace after Microsoft made a deal with ''The Guild'', allowing Day, her cast, and her crew to be paid for their work. Day also created a song and music video called "(Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar", featuring the cast dressed up as their in-game personae. The final moments of the music video itself also detailed that the release date for the 3rd season of Day's ''The Guild'' would be August 25, 2009. A second song and video "Game On" was released prior to the premiere of the 4th season of ''The Guild''.

''The Guild'' has won multiple awards, including the Greenlight Award for Best Original Digital Series Production at the South by Southwest festivals, the YouTube Video Award for Best Series, the Yahoo! Video Award for Best Series, and 2009 Streamy Awards for Best Comedy Web Series, Best Female Actor in a Comedy Web Series, and Best Ensemble Cast in a Web Series.

Other work[link]

In July 2008, Day starred as Penny in the three-part web-based musical ''Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog'' (created by Joss Whedon, who also created ''Firefly'' and ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' in which Day has a minor role as the potential slayer Vi during the seventh season). Day was featured as a patient in the episode "Not Cancer" of the medical drama ''House'', and had a guest starring role in the sci-fi drama ''Dollhouse''s unaired episode "Epitaph One", as well as its series finale "Epitaph Two." In 2008, Day was featured in a series of commercials for Sears. She also appeared in the first of the revitalized Cheetos commercials. In the series ''Lie to Me'', on the episode called "Tractor Man", airing December 14, 2009, Day sang a song called "White Lie" alongside Brendan Hines. Day starred in the Syfy film adaption of the saga Little Red Riding Hood, called ''Red''; it was produced by Angela Mancuso. Day also played the continuing role of Dr. Holly Marten in the Syfy channel's original series, ''Eureka'', appearing for 10 episodes until episode 2 of series 5.

Day also starred in ''Guild'' co-star Sandeep Parikh's web-series ''The Legend of Neil'', in which she portrayed a Fairy. She sings in the second season musical episode, in which she obliquely references her history of internet musicals.

Day lent her voice to the character Veronica Santangelo in the video game ''Fallout: New Vegas''.

In February 2011, Day announced that she would be starring in a new web miniseries. Called ''Dragon Age: Redemption'', it is based on the ''Dragon Age'' video games made by BioWare and aired on October 10, 2011. She also voices the elf Tallis, the protagonist of the ''Dragon Age'' downloadable content "Mark of the Assassin".

In March 2012, Day announced that she would be launching a premium YouTube channel, "Geek & Sundry," on April 2.

In April 2012 it was announced that Day will host the 2012 IndieCade Awards Ceremony on October 4th, 2012.

On April 29, 2012 she also appeared on the YouTube show MyMusic as a Norwegian Black Metal singer named Gorgol.

Awards[link]

In September 2008, ''TV Week'' included her in their list of Top 10 Web Video Creators.

During the inaugural Streamy Awards held in Los Angeles on March 28, 2009, Day received the award for the "Best Female Actor in a Comedy" for her work as protagonist Cyd Sherman in ''The Guild,'' and won the same award again in 2010. She was also recognized for her work on ''Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog'' in 2009.

Filmography[link]

''They Shoot Divas, Don't They?'' ''Delusional'' ''Backslide'' ''The Mortician's Hobby'' ''Mystery Woman ''God's Waiting List'' ''Splitting Hairs'' ''Prairie Fever'' ''Red: Werewolf Hunter'' ''Rock Jocks''

Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
2001	''Strings''	???
rowspan="2"	2002	|	Call Girl	TV movie/Supporting Lead
''House Blend''	Pam
2003	|	???	unknown part
2003	|	Maddie
rowspan="4"	2004	|	Tiffany
''Bring It On Again''	Penelope
''June''	June Marie Jacobs
''Final Sale''	Felicia
rowspan="3"	2005	Mystery Woman: Vision of a Murder''||	Emily	TV movie/Lead
''Warm Springs (film)	Warm Springs''	Eloise Hutchinson
''Short Story Time''	Felicia
2006	|	Trixie
2007	|	Sugar Girl
rowspan="2"	2008	|	Blue
''Dear Me''	Pipsy
2010	|	Virginia Sullivan	Lead
2011	|	Alison	Lead

TV series/internet productions[link]

''Maybe It's Me (TV series) ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series) ''One on One (TV series) ''Monk (TV series) ''Windfall (TV series) ''The Guild'' ''The Legend of Neil'' ''House (TV series) ''Roommates (TV series) ''The Webventures of Justin & Alden'' ''Dragon Age: Redemption'' ''Fish Hooks''

Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
2001	Emeril (2001 TV series)>Emeril''	Cherie
2002	Maybe It's Me''||	Cookie
rowspan="3"	2003	Buffy the Vampire Slayer''||	Vi (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)>Vi	8 episodes
''For the People''	Nicole
''Century City''	Sheryl
rowspan="2"	2004	One on One''||	Sarah
''Strong Medicine''	Jesse's Friend
2005	Monk''||	Heidi Gefsky	"Mr. Monk Gets Drunk" / 1 episode
rowspan="2"	2006	Windfall''||	Danielle	2 episodes
''Love, Inc. (TV series)	Love, Inc.''	Natalie
2007-present	|	Cyd Sherman/Codex	Web series / All episodes
2008-2010	|	Fairy	Web series / 5 episodes
rowspan="3"	2008	House''||	Apple	"Not Cancer" / 1 episode
''Retarded Policeman #7.5: Fish''	Herself
''Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog''	Penny
rowspan="6"	2009	Roommates''||	Alyssa	3 episodes
''My Boys''	Heather
''Dollhouse (TV series)	Dollhouse''	Mag
''IRrelevant Astronomy''	Felicia Day
''Lie To Me''	Ms. Angela
''Three Rivers (TV series)	Three Rivers''	Jeni
rowspan="2"	2010	|	Herself
''Generator Rex''	Annie
rowspan="4"	2011	|	Tallis	Writer & Co-producer
''Generator Rex''	Annie
''The Big Chew''	Marjorie
''Eureka (TV series)	Eureka''	Dr. Holly Marten
rowspan="4"	2012	|	Angela	4 episodes: "Send Me an Angel Fish", "Guys' Night Out" and Unnamed two episodes
	''Supernatural''	Charlie
	''The Flog''	Herself
	''MyMusic''	Gorgol

Video games[link]

! Year	! Title	! Role	! Other notes
	''Rock of the Dead''	Mary Beth	game character voice over
''Fallout: New Vegas''	Veronica Santangelo	game character voice over
2011		Tallis	game character voice over
2012	''Guild Wars 2''	Zojja	game character voice over (Still in development as of May 2012)

References[link]

;Further Reading

Schramm, Mike. (Aug. 24, 2009) BlizzCon 2009: WoW.com interviews Felicia Day. (part 2)

External links[link]

Felicia Day Online - official website and blog

Category:1979 births Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:Web series actors Category:Living people Category:People from Huntsville, Alabama Category:Military brats Category:Actors from Alabama Category:American female singers

cs:Felicia Day da:Felicia Day de:Felicia Day es:Felicia Day fr:Felicia Day it:Felicia Day nl:Felicia Day ja:フェリシア・デイ pt:Felicia Day ru:Дэй, Фелиция sk:Felicia Dayová fi:Felicia Day sv:Felicia Day tr:Felicia Day

name	Cheryl Cole
birth name	Cheryl Ann Tweedy
background	solo_singer
birth date	June 30, 1983
origin	Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyneside, England
instrument	Vocals
genre	Pop, R&B;
occupation	Singer-songwriter, dancer, model
years active	2002–present
label	Fascination, will.i.am music
associated acts	Girls Aloud, will.i.am, Taio Cruz
website
Ex-husband	Ashley Cole }}

Cheryl Ann Cole (née Tweedy; born 30 June 1983), often known professionally as Cheryl, is an English pop and R&B; recording artist, songwriter, dancer and model. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality television show ''Popstars: The Rivals'' on ITV. The programme announced that Cole had won a place as a member of the girl group, Girls Aloud. Cole has been part of the group's twenty consecutive top-ten singles (including four number one singles) in the UK and five platinum albums (two of which went to number one) and earned five BRIT Award nominations from 2005 to 2010. In 2009, Girls Aloud won "Best Single" with their song "The Promise". In 2009, Girls Aloud announced their musical hiatus and Cole went on to release two solo albums, which both went to number one in the UK: ''3 Words'' (2009) and ''Messy Little Raindrops'' (2010). She achieved a number of hits, including two number one singles: "Fight for This Love" and "Promise This". Cole is set to release her third solo album ''A Million Lights'' on the 18 June 2012, with lead single "Call My Name" being released on the 10 June 2012.

Cole has become a recognised and photographed style icon; referred to as a fashionista by the press. She has been photographed for the covers of ''British Vogue'', ''Elle'' and ''Harper's Bazaar'', while also becoming the new face of cosmetic company L'Oréal. Cole was married to England footballer Ashley Cole from July 2006 until September 2010, when she divorced him. Cole became a judge on ''The X Factor'' in 2008, becoming the winning judge twice out of the three series she judged. In 2011, Cole left the UK version of ''The X Factor'' to judge the American version. However, Cole was sacked from the show. Cole's net worth was estimated at £15 million in April 2012.

Biography[link]

1983-2001: Early life and career beginnings [link]

Cole was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyneside, and grew up on council estates in the districts of Walker and Heaton. She is the fourth of five children of Joan Callaghan, and the eldest child of Gary Tweedy. Cole's parents never married each other; they separated when she was 11. She has a brother, Garry (born 1987, Newcastle) and three elder maternal half-siblings: Joseph, Gillian and Andrew.

As a small child in about 1990, she appeared in a television advert for British Gas.

As she was interested in dancing from an early age, Cole started sequence dancing at the age of four, before joining The Royal Ballet's summer school at the age of nine. She won modelling competitions, including the titles of Boots Group's "bonniest baby", Mothercare's Happy Faces Portrait competition, "Best Looking Girl of Newcastle", The ''Evening Chronicle'''s "Little Miss and Mister", and "Most Attractive Girl" at the MetroCentre. She also appeared in two British Gas adverts, an SCS advert, and an Eldon Square Christmas advert with younger brother Garry as well as appearing in dance recitals on some television shows. She attended Walker Comprehensive School in Newcastle, and left at 16 with few qualifications. During her time there, she was suspended twice: once for fighting with another pupil and again for swearing on a bus. After leaving school in 1999, she took a job as a waitress in a restaurant.

2002–08: Girls Aloud, assault and marriage[link]

On 11 January 2003, Cole was involved in an altercation with a nightclub toilet attendant and was subsequently charged with assault over the incident. She was subsequently found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm at her trial on 20 October, and sentenced to 120 hours of community service. She was also ordered to pay her victim £500 in compensation, as well as £3,000 prosecution costs. Cole auditioned for the reality television show ''Popstars The Rivals'' in 2002 with the song "Have You Ever". Several thousand applicants attended auditions across the UK in hope of being selected. Ten girls and ten boys were chosen as finalists by judges Pete Waterman, Louis Walsh and Geri Halliwell. These finalists then took to the stage, participating in weekly Saturday night live performances which alternated weekly between the girls and boys. Each week, the contestant polling the fewest phone votes was eliminated, until the final line-ups of the groups emerged. Cole joined Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts, and Kimberley Walsh to form the new girl group Girls Aloud, as determined by a public vote administered through the show on 30 November 2002. The group's debut single "Sound of the Underground" peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the 2002 Christmas number one. Girls Aloud hold the record for the shortest time between formation and reaching number one. The group released their debut album ''Sound of the Underground'' in May 2003, which entered the charts at number two and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) later the same year. Since 2003, Girls Aloud have released twenty additional singles, with all but one charting within the top ten, and 15 reaching top five positions. Their singles "I'll Stand by You", "Walk This Way", and "The Promise" have charted at number one. Two of their albums have reached the top of the UK Albums Chart: their greatest hits album ''The Sound of Girls Aloud'' and 2008's ''Out of Control'', both of which entered the chart at number one, with over one million copies of the former being sold. All five of their studio albums have been certified platinum by the BPI. They have been nominated for five Brit Awards, and in 2009 won "Best British Single" at that year's Brit Awards for "The Promise". The group has sold ten million records worldwide. Girls Aloud have become one of the few UK reality television acts to achieve continued success, and had amassed a fortune of £25 million by May 2009. The 2007 edition of Guinness World Records listed them as "Most Successful Reality TV Group", while they also hold the record for "Most Consecutive Top Ten Entries in the UK by a Female Group" in the 2008 edition.

In July 2009, Girls Aloud announced they would take a year-long hiatus in the pursuit of solo projects, but would reunite for a new studio album in 2010. In August 2010, bandmate Nicola Roberts revealed that she wasn't anticipating a reunion of the band until 2012. Cole began dating England and Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole in September 2004, announcing their engagement after he proposed in Dubai in June 2005. The couple were married at a ceremony at Barnet, North West London on 15 July 2006. They signed an exclusive deal with ''OK!'', reportedly worth £1 million, regarding the rights of the photographs. In January 2008, a hairdresser named Aimee Walton alleged in ''The Sun'' that she had engaged in drunken extramarital sex with Ashley Cole. Subsequently, glamour model Brooke Healy claimed that she had spent the night and had sexual relations with Ashley Cole in December 2006. The couple, however, reconciled.

2008–09: ''3 Words'', Cheryl Cole's Night In and X-Factor[link]

Cole's first solo performance was on American rapper will.i.am's "Heartbreaker" in 2008. She was picked to appear as a dancer in the video after taking streetdancing classes during the filming of the ITV2 series ''The Passions of Girls Aloud'', in which the members of the band achieve something they had always wanted to do, other than sing. She was later asked, by will.i.am, to sing additional vocals on the track. In April 2009, Cole started working on solo material. Her debut album, ''3 Words'', was released in the UK on 26 October 2009. Cole was reunited with will.i.am for the album, in addition to collaborating with Fraser T. Smith, Syience, Danish production team Soulshock & Karlin, singer-songwriter Taio Cruz, Wayne Wilkins, and Steve Kipner. Recorded in Los Angeles and London, Cole mainly collaborated with will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, the executive producer of ''3 Words''. It crosses from contemporary R&B;, dance pop, house and a more general pop sound. Cruz was asked to write two songs for Cole, the first of which, "Break Your Heart", was written specially for Cole but Polydor label boss Ferdy Unger-Hamilton felt the song was too similar to Heartbreaker, the track Cole did with Will.i.am. When asked about the album's title Cole revealed she had already contemplated an album title which contained the phrase ''3 Words'' before the title track was recorded. She had considered titles like ''Three Syllables'', although the strongest contender was ''Unveiled'' as Cole "felt like she didn't have any protection without the girls [Girls Aloud]" and because it correlated with the veil on the album cover. The album begins with its title track, a duet with will.i.am and Cole's favourite song on the album. She said the song was "totally different from anything I've done [with Girls Aloud] or liked before" and took its inspiration from Cole's newly acquired love for dance music on the charts, especially David Guetta & Kelly Rowland's "When Love Takes Over".

''3 Words'' spent two weeks at number one. On 6 November 2009, BPI certified the album Platinum, denoting shipments of over 300,000 units. It later tripled this feat. The first single from the album, "Fight for This Love", was written by Andre Merritt, Steve Kipner and Wayne Wilkins, and produced by Steve Kipner and Wayne Wilkins. According to Cole, it was released as the lead single because she "connected with the song so well". Following a performance on ''The X Factor'' live results show, "Fight for This Love" became the fourth best-selling single of 2009 in the UK. It charted at number one on both the Irish and UK Singles Chart. In 2010, "Fight For This Love" went to number one in Denmark, Norway and Hungary. "Fight for This Love" gained positive to mixed reviews. Ruth Harrison from 'Female First' was impressed by the song after initially being worried that Cole would not be able to cope going solo. She said "Whilst it does sound just a little big Girls Aloud-y, we still love it, and can see it being a huge hit on the club circuit up and down the country ... we think this is going to send her well on her way to global superstardom." The single was later certified silver in the UK. Cole's second single "3 Words", which features will.i.am, went to number 4 in the UK and seven in Ireland. In 2010, the single was released in Australia and charted at number 5 and was certified platinum. The third single, "Parachute", charted in the top five in both the UK and Ireland. The single was certified silver in the UK. From May to July 2010, Cole was the opening act for The Black Eyed Peas at the British shows (as well as some European dates) of The E.N.D. World Tour. Chris Johnson of the ''Daily Mail'' wrote, "she was supposed to be the support act. But as it turned out, Cheryl Cole ended up being the main event".

Cole was given a one-off television programme for ITV1 titled ''Cheryl Cole's Night In'', which aired on 19 December 2009. The programme, hosted by Holly Willoughby, featured music and interviews with Cole and some of her favourite performers. Alexandra Burke, Rihanna, Will Young, Snow Patrol and will.i.am made appearances. Cole told the press, "I couldn't be happier that ITV have asked me to round off the year with my own show, working with some of my favourite artists". The programme attracted 5 million viewers on its first airing, substantially less than the 8.1 million viewers that ''Strictly Come Dancing'' received during the same time slot. In June 2008, it was announced Cole would replace Sharon Osbourne as a judge for the fifth series of ''The X Factor'' alongside Dannii Minogue, Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh. Cole was given the girls category (made up of female contestants between 16 and 25) and subsequently ended up as the victorious judge when Alexandra Burke was crowned the fifth winner of ''The X Factor'' on 13 December 2008. Cole returned for the sixth series in 2009 and was given the boys category (made up of male contestants aged 16 to 25). Cole emerged as the winning judge for a second consecutive year after Joe McElderry was crowned the sixth winner of ''The X Factor''. Simon Cowell, the show's creator, said, "I knew she was going to be good because she speaks like normal people speak. People can relate to that. And I think that is the best sign of a judge." Cowell has referred to Cole as "one of the best I've ever worked with." Cole was interviewed during an episode of the fourth series of ''Piers Morgan's Life Stories''. The show, which aired on 23 October 2010, drew an audience of 7.2 million: the highest figure in the chat show's history. As a member of Girls Aloud, Cole has also appeared in the fly on the wall documentary ''Girls Aloud: Home Truths'', the E4 documentary series ''Girls Aloud: Off the Record'', an episode of ''Ghosthunting With...'', and a one-off variety show entitled ''The Girls Aloud Party''.

2010–11: ''Messy Little Raindrops'', divorce, malaria and ''The X Factor USA''[link]

In March 2010, Cole stated that she had begun working on a follow up album to ''3 Words'', which she hoped to release "later on in the year". Cole's second solo album, titled ''Messy Little Raindrops'', was released on 1 November 2010. The album's first single, "Promise This", was released on 24 October 2010 and became her second number-one hit in the UK. "Promise This" is an up-tempo dance-pop song written by American songwriter Priscilla Hamilton, British music producer Wayne Wilkins, who was responsible for Cole's debut single "Fight for This Love", and Christopher Jackson. The album was largely produced by Wayne Wilkins. The album also features guest vocals from August Rigo, Dizzee Rascal, Travie McCoy, and will.i.am. Cole started recording sessions for her second album in February 2010 though in an interview on ''Alan Carr: Chatty Man'' she admitted that some of the songs submitted for the record dated back to ''3 Words'' (2009). ''Messy Little Raindrops'' has received generally mixed reviews from music critics. A predominantly positive review came from Jon O'Brien of Allmusic who awarded it four out of five stars. Cheryl Cole made a high-profile appearance on ''Piers Morgan's Life Stories'', in which she discussed her marriage and divorce with Ashley Cole and her life-threatening battle with malaria.

In early February 2010, news broke that Cole's husband had cheated on her with five more women. On 23 February, Cole announced she was separating from her husband. On 26 May 2010, Cole filed for divorce at London's High Court citing "unreasonable behaviour" of estranged husband Ashley as the reason for their break-up. She was granted a decree nisi on 3 September. In October of that year, Cole stated in an interview with ''The Guardian'' that she would continue to use her married name, saying that changing it back would make her seem "ashamed" of her marriage.

On 3 July 2010, Cole was admitted to hospital with suspected acute malaria after a visit to Tanzania. During an ''X Factor'' photoshoot in Cardiff, Cole has said that she noticed her lips were blue.

Cole returned for the seventh series of ''The X Factor'' in 2010 to mentor the girls category once again. In this series, Cole faced intense scrutiny from the public and the media after she rejected popular contestant Gamu Nhengu to go through to the live shows in favour of Cher Lloyd and Katie Waissel, even though both had fluffed their performances at judges' houses. Cole also receive more criticism after she refused to vote for an act in the fifth week, which resulted in claims that the show was fixed. This series would also mark the first that Cole was not the winning mentor, after a contestant in her category, Rebecca Ferguson, lost out to Matt Cardle, who was mentored by Dannii Minogue.

On 5 May 2011, it was officially announced after months of speculation that Cole would appear as a judge alongside Simon Cowell, L.A. Reid, and Paula Abdul on the American version of ''The X Factor''. However, after only three weeks as a judge and completing the auditions in Los Angeles and Chicago, Cole departed the show. Cowell said that the reason why Cole left was because he offered her the job in the UK version back and he felt that she would have been more comfortable there. Additionally, it was later confirmed that she would not be returning to the UK version either, as Tulisa Contostavlos had taken her place on the UK judging panel. Nicole Scherzinger replaced Cole on the judging panel of ''The X Factor USA'' for the rest of season 1.

2012–present: ''A Million Lights'' [link]

On 1 April 2012, Cole announced that the lead single from her third studio album will be called "Call My Name". Cheryl uploaded an audio video of the single on April 19, 2012 to her YouTube account. On 2 May 2012, the full length music video premiered. The song debuted on Capital FM's breakfast show on 20 April 2012. The single was written and produced by Calvin Harris and will be released on 10 June 2012. The video for the single was directed by Anthony Mandler and shot in Downtown Los Angeles. On 18 April 2012, Cole revealed the title of her third studio album, ''A Million Lights'', which will be released on 18 June 2012.

Cole previewed a song entitled "Love Killer" on her official soundcloud. The album artwork for ''A Million Lights'', as well the official track listing for the standard and deluxe versions of the album was revealed via Cole's Facebook and official website on 24 May 2012.

Other endeavours[link]

Products and endorsements[link]

Cole contributed to the book ''Dreams that Glitter – Our Story'', an autobiography with her Girls Aloud bandmates, in October 2008. The book was written with a ghostwriter and published by the Transworld imprint Bantam Press. The book featured unseen photographs, included insights into the members' personal lives, their success together, style tips, and "everything [they]'ve learned about life, love and music." The book was previewed and serialised by ''OK!'' prior to its release. Girls Aloud held a book signing at Waterstone's in Piccadilly, London to promote the release. The title ''Dreams that Glitter'' comes from a line in the group's 2007 single "Call the Shots". Cole's first official book, entitled ''Through My Eyes'', was published on 30 September 2010 by Bantam Press. The book is described as "a series of stunning exclusive new photos plus informal shots from her own personal collection ... a revealing and intimate portrait of the world of Cheryl Cole". ''Through My Eyes'' offers a glimpse of Cole in the recording studio, backstage on tour, behind-the-scenes at ''The X Factor'', at photo shoots and at award ceremonies. She said the book is "filled with pictures that capture those moments, [her] memories and the people [she's] closest to". Cole is the subject of several unauthorised biographies, as well as books detailing her relationship with and divorce from Ashley Cole. In February 2009, Cole appeared on the cover of ''British Vogue''. The media coverage of her appearance in the magazine boosted the magazine's circulation to 240,000: its best ever February figure. She also appeared on the November 2009 cover of the UK's ''Elle'' magazine. In late 2009, Cole became the new face of L'Oréal. However, her recent advertising campaign promoting the L'Oréal Elvive shampoo and conditioner range attracted criticism amid claims that she had deliberately deceived persons wishing to buy the product, since it shows Cole with hair extensions. As a member of Girls Aloud, Cole has endorsed Barbie, Kit Kat, Nintendo DS, Samsung, and Sunsilk.

Charitable activities [link]

In March 2009 Cole climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of Comic Relief. The trek raised £3.4 million for the charity. Between 3 February and 23 March 2009, Cole raised money for Comic Relief by providing the voice for the BT Speaking Clock.

In February 2011, Cole launched her own charitable foundation with The Prince’s Trust following a meeting with The Trust’s President, HRH Charles, Prince of Wales. The Cheryl Cole Foundation will provide vital funds for The Trust in the North East, helping disadvantaged young people from Cole’s region. On 13 June 2011, she auctioned 20 dresses with ASOS to raise funds for the foundation.

Filmography[link]

border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9;>

Film Appearances
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007		Girl group member	Cameo role
2012		TV dance talent show judge	Cameo role

border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9;>

Television Appearances
Year	Title	Role
2002	''Popstars: The Rivals ''	Contestant (Won)
2005	''Girls Aloud: Home Truths ''	Herself
2006	''Girls Aloud: Off the Record ''	Herself
	''Comic Relief Does The Apprentice ''	Contestant (Won)
''The Friday Night Project ''	Presenter
	''The Passions of Girls Aloud ''	Herself
''The Girls Aloud Party ''	Presenter and Performer
2008–10		Judge
2009	''Cheryl Cole's Night In ''	Herself
2010	''Piers Morgan's Life Stories ''	Herself
2011		Judge

References in media [link]

Cole was referenced in Lily Allen's "Cheryl Tweedy", a b-side to her 2006 debut single "Smile". Cole took the song as a compliment to her, although Allen later pointed out that it had been tongue-in-cheek. Allen has since retracted her comments.

Discography [link]

''3 Words'' (2009)

''Messy Little Raindrops'' (2010)

''A Million Lights'' (2012)

Tours [link]

With Girls Aloud[link]

As solo supporting act[link]

The Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D. World Tour (Europe, 2010)

Awards and nominations [link]

Year	! Award-giving body	! Award	! Result
rowspan="2"	2007	Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards	Best Female Singer
	Most Fanciable Female
	Hottest Female
rowspan="2"	Sexiest Female
Best Reality TV Judge
		TV Personality
FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World	#1 Sexiest Woman in the World
	Best Dressed Woman
Style icon of the decade
BBC Switch Live Awards	Switch's Prom Queen
	Hottest Female
Legend Of the Year
	Glamour (magazine)>Glamour Woman of the Year Awards	Best Dressed
	2010 BRIT Awards	British Single (Fight for This Love)
rowspan="2"	Best Dressed
Woman of the Year
FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World	#1 Sexiest Woman in the World
	Best Female Artist
Best Single (Fight for This Love)
Best Video (Fight for This Love)
Best British Female
Elle Style Awards	Musician Of The Year
TRL Awards (Italy)	Best New Act
	Best Dressed Woman
BT Digital Music Awards	Best Female Artist
	2012	Virgin Media TV Awards	Best Judge

References [link]

External links [link]

Official Australian website

Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:British female singers Category:British people convicted of assault Category:British television personalities Category:Fascination Records artists Category:Footballers' wives and girlfriends Category:Girls Aloud members Category:Musicians from Newcastle upon Tyne Category:Reality show winners Category:Reality television judges Category:The X Factor judges Category:The X Factor (UK) Category:The X Factor (U.S.)

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Name	Connie Talbot
Background	solo_singer
Birth date	November 20, 2000
Origin	Streetly, Aldridge, England
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	2007–present
Genre	Pop
Occupation	Singer
Website	connietalbot.com }}

Connie Talbot (born 20 November 2000) is an English child singer from Streetly, Aldridge. She rose to fame in 2007 when she reached the final of the first series of ''Britain's Got Talent'', where she was runner-up to Paul Potts. Talbot was supposed to sign with Sony BMG but the label pulled out of the deal due to her age.

Talbot signed with Rainbow Recording Company and released her debut album ''Over the Rainbow'' in the UK on 26 November 2007. The album was re-released 18 June 2008 with a new track listing, and the first single from the album, a cover of Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds", was released on 10 June.

Despite its negative critical reception, ''Over the Rainbow'' has sold over 250,000 copies worldwide and reached number one in three countries. Since the initial album release, Talbot has performed publicly and on television in Europe, the U.S. and across Asia, where her music had gained recognition through YouTube. Her second album, ''Connie Talbot's Christmas Album'', was released on 24 November 2008; her third, ''Holiday Magic'', was released in late 2009. While pursuing her musical career, Talbot attends school, and lives in Streetly with her family.

History[link]

''Britain's Got Talent'' and Sony BMG[link]

Talbot initially auditioned for the first series of television reality show ''Britain's Got Talent'' for fun, but her confidence increased when Simon Cowell, whom she is said to have idolised, described her as "pure magic" and said that he would make her earn "£1 million-plus this year". The judges expected a "joke" performance and she had never taken singing lessons, but Talbot's initial performance received international press coverage. She reached the final round after winning her semi-final with a live performance of "Ben" by Michael Jackson. On the night of the final, she sang ''The Wizard of Oz'''s "Over the Rainbow", but lost to Paul Potts as a result of the call-in vote. Talbot and Potts had been joint favourites to win the series. According to journalist and ''Britain's Got Talent'' judge Piers Morgan, Talbot's performances resulted in many children, including Faryl Smith, auditioning for the second series of the show. After his victory, series 2 winner George Sampson spoke of his participation in the first series, where he was knocked out before the live shows, saying "I don't think I had any shot of winning last year ... When you look at the standard of Paul Potts and Connie Talbot. Paul Potts is out of this league, and Connie is out of this league – I wasn't good enough." Talbot voted for Sampson, saying "I liked his dancing – he was good on the lamppost".

Cowell had preliminarily agreed to sign Talbot with his own record label, Sony BMG. After recording two songs in London with Talbot ("Over the Rainbow" and "Smile"), the label pulled out of the deal. Talbot's mother, Sharon, said she was told that her daughter "...was too young to be their sort of artist", adding "We have been told to look for a company which looks after children." In a statement, the label said "there was some deliberation over the possibility of recording with Connie ... However, the decision not to proceed was made with the best intentions for Connie, taking into consideration her age and that it would not be right to do so at this time." Cowell himself said that "when the time is right, [he would] be delighted to see if [they could] make it work". The Talbot family decided to search for another label, saying "while [Talbot] loves what she's doing it would be cruel to stop her. Fame and money will never matter."

''Over the Rainbow''[link]

In October 2007 Talbot signed with the Rainbow Recording Company for a six-figure deal. Rainbow Recording Company, an offshoot of record label Rhythm Riders made specifically for Talbot, was due to release Talbot's first album on 26 November 2007. It was later reported that the album was named ''Over the Rainbow'', and the first single, "Over the Rainbow"/"White Christmas", would be released on 3 December 2007. Experts predicted that she had a good chance of getting the Christmas number one, but the single was cancelled in favour of an album-first release. Before the album was released, there was much speculation about Talbot and the album, with music experts describing her as potentially being "the next Charlotte Church". The team behind the album consisted of John Arnison, who also managed Gabrielle and Billy Ocean, and Marc Marot, former managing director of Island Records. It was produced and mixed by Simon Hill and Rob May. Arnison revealed that he and his team "are not going to give [Talbot] singing lessons – we don't need to", and said that when he met Talbot, he was "blown away". A schedule was worked out allowing Talbot to continue with her normal school activities while recording the album in her aunt Vicky's spare bedroom, which her mother described as "a better solution [than Sony BMG offered] which has not robbed her of her childhood". Although Arnison claimed he did not "want to put her through the promotional grind which most artists go through because she is too young", plans were made for an appearance on daytime television programme ''This Morning'', as well as an appearance on ''Children in Need'' on 16 November 2007. The album was released on 26 November 2007 and Talbot's mother said that "All the family is really excited, but Connie is quite blase about it." The album was certified gold in early December, with Talbot being presented a gold disc by Phillip Schofield on ''This Morning''. Initially, 50,000 copies of the album were pressed, but an additional 120,000 had to be made after the album sold out in days.

In late 2007, public appearances by Talbot included headlining the Great Bridge Christmas and Winter Festival, which local police threatened to cancel unless crowds clamouring to reach the tent in which Talbot was performing could be brought under control. At the event, on 7 December 2007, Talbot said "I love it here, it’s brilliant, really fun", but had to be ushered off-stage by the police. Talbot performed publicly in Walsall's HMV store, and in Birmingham's Centenary Square. TV appearances included GMTV and Channel 5 news, both on 26 November 2007. According to her mother, Talbot has received offers for film roles. Sharon said "[Talbot]'s been sent a script, I haven't had a good look at it yet but it's really exciting ... Connie's a singer, not an actress, so we'll see what happens. It's completely up to her whether or not she wants to do it. I can't believe it, though."

Sharon Mawer of Allmusic praised ''Over the Rainbow'' by saying "She can sing, for a seven year old, and most of the notes (if not all of them) are in the right order and sung to the right pitch; the timing is fine too". However, she criticised the album, saying "there's no feeling, no emotion, no realisation of what each song is about; they're just pretty little songs", giving the album 2/5. Nick Levine, of Digital Spy, said in a review of the album that Talbot had a "sweet, pure voice", but that there is "no nuance or depth to her performance". However, he said that "There's something inherently wrong about awarding a star rating to a seven-year-old", and that "the decidedly adult concept of musical merit should have nothing to do with [her music]", awarding the album 2/5.

The album was rereleased on 16 June 2008, but was available for pre-order in May, with three new tracks to replace its Christmas-themed songs. The first single from the album, "Three Little Birds", was released in June 2008, and a video for the song was shot in Jamaica. In April and May 2008, Talbot toured Asia to promote ''Over the Rainbow''. Asian press attributed her success to her videos on YouTube, with the ''Sun.Star'' mentioning that her most viewed video had been watched over 14 million times, and ''The Straits Times'' saying that videos of Talbot's performances have been watched over 30 million times. The tour made stops in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, and Talbot and her family returned to England in late May. Following the tour, it was reported that the album had reached number one on the charts in Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong, as well as reaching number three in Singapore. After the tour, Talbot travelled to Poland, where she performed on television.

It was also revealed that ''Over the Rainbow'' was due for release in America in September, resulting in attention from American press sources including Fox Business Network and MarketWatch. The U.S. version was eventually released on 14 October, with Talbot appearing on American television shows including ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' to publicise the release.

In August 2008, it was announced that Talbot had signed a contract with Data Design Interactive for production of a video game on the Wii console. The game was to feature 15 songs from ''Over the Rainbow'', allowing players to sing along with a computer-generated image of Talbot or against other players in a karaoke mode. Talbot rerecorded the album for the game. The game was scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2009, and is called ''Connie Talbot: Over the Rainbow''. The game hasn't been released yet as of 2011, citing copyright issues on the songs used for it.

''Christmas Album'' and ''Holiday Magic''[link]

In November 2008, it was announced that Talbot had produced a series of new songs for an album. Recorded in her bedroom studio, ''Connie Talbot's Christmas Album'' was released on 24 November. It is a Christmas themed album, featuring, according to Talbot's official website, "a mix of classics and modern Christmas tunes". News was also released of a one-off Christmas special to be shown on ITV1 in the days leading up to Christmas, featuring footage of Talbot's journey to America and a "secret concert" at her primary school. The documentary, ''Christmas with Connie'', was shown on ITV Central on 18 December. Talbot appeared at Walsall's HMV branch shortly after the release of her ''Christmas Album'' to sign copies and meet fans. She then embarked on a promotional tour making stops around the world, which included a performance at Ewha Womans University in Korea, and a performance on the A Heart for Children television charity gala in Berlin, Germany. She returned home in mid December, to have "a quiet family Christmas".

''Connie Talbot's Christmas Album'' was difficult to obtain in Britain after the distributor, Pinnacle Entertainment, went into administration. Talbot's mother, Sharon, was quoted as saying "We don't really know what's going to happen at the moment ... We think they'll probably wait and promote the album later this year. It's a shame, but they can still get the album in Asia and the US." Reviewing the album for ''FemaleFirst'' magazine, Ruth Harrison gave it 4/5, saying that Talbot has "a great voice when it comes to swing, but lets us down in parts".

In April 2009, Talbot again travelled to the U.S. in order to publicise her new single, a cover of "I Will Always Love You". The single was released in the U.S. on 7 April, along with a newly recorded "You Raise Me Up". Talbot then travelled to the U.S. on 30 April, and returned on 2 May. Appearances included a performance on ''Good Day New York'' on Fox Broadcasting Company's WNYW.

Talbot's third album, ''Connie Talbot's Holiday Magic'', was released on 20 October 2009 in the United States and on 30 November 2009 in the United Kingdom. The United States album is dedicated to the Toys for Tots campaign, of which Talbot has been named the child ambassador. In a statement, Bill Grein, Vice President of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, said-

}}

2010–present[link]

Talbot performed for her largest ever audience when she performed on Chinese state television during the Chinese new-year in 2011. Reporting the event, the ''Daily Mail'''s Kathryn Knight observed that Talbot has "had more than 300  million hits on YouTube and in the Far East, in particular, she's something of an icon. Japan, Taiwan, Korea, China, Brazil, Mexico and the U.S. — you name it, Connie’s a star there. In fact Connie is in huge demand across the globe — everywhere, that is, apart from her native Britain." Viewing figures for the event were estimated to be around 400 million.

During this time, Talbot continued to upload videos of her performances onto YouTube. Maggie Coughlan, of PopEater.com, praised her covers of Katy Perry's "Firework" and Bruno Mars's "Grenade", but was most impressed by her cover of Adele's "Someone Like You", which she said was performed "with such grace that she makes the entire performance look effortless". The video was also picked up by PerezHilton.com. After the death of Whitney Houston, Talbot posted a cover version of "Run to You" as a tribute to Houston. The video received attention from around the world, and became the most "liked" video in the UK.

On 28 November 2011, Talbot released "Beautiful World" as a single on iTunes. The song was written by Talbot when she was seven. A demo of the track was placed on YouTube, and became the 39th most watched video in the world on the day it was uploaded.

In March 2012, Talbot performed with and led Young Voices, a choir made up of around 7000 primary school children, at the O2 Arena for four nights. The choir broke the world-record for being the largest backing choir for a lead vocalist. This Guinness world record followes her accolades as the youngest artist to make the UK album charts and the youngest to release a gold-selling record. Others involved in the event included Randolph Matthews and The High Kings, and performances took place elsewhere in the United Kingdom, including Manchester and Birmingham. The performances were in aid of CLIC Sargent, a children's cancer charity.

Personal life[link]

Talbot lives in Streetly, in the West Midlands, and currently attends a state primary school. She lives with her mother, Sharon, her father Gavin, a self-employed property maintenance engineer, her older brother Josh, and her sister, Mollie. Talbot sang "Over the Rainbow", her signature song, at her grandmother's funeral, because she and her grandmother had enjoyed watching ''The Wizard of Oz'' together. Talbot drew confidence in ''Britain's Got Talent'' from the belief that her grandmother was watching, and vowed to win the show in her memory. Despite Talbot speaking positively of the effects of her fame, her parents spoke of a darker side, including having to change their phone number and hire a bodyguard for their daughter.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center; |- ! rowspan=2| Year ! rowspan=2| Album ! colspan=8| Peak chart positions ! rowspan=2| Sales ! rowspan=2| Certifications |- style=font-size:smaller; ! width=25| UK ! width=25| HON ! width=25| SIN ! width=25| KOR ! width=25| TAI ! width=25| U.S. Heat ! width=25| U.S. Kid ! width=25| U.S. Indie |- | 2007 | align=left| ''Over the Rainbow''

Released: 26 November 2007

Labels: Rainbow Recording Company

| 35 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 43 | align=left|

UK: 100,000+ (rated gold by BPI)

South Korea: 30,000+ Worldwide: 250,000+ | align=left|

UK: Gold

Taiwan: Platinum Hong Kong: Platinum Korea: Double platinum |- | 2008 | align=left| ''Connie Talbot's Christmas Album''

Released: 24 November 2008

Labels: Rainbow Recording Company

| – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |- | 2009 | align=left| ''Connie Talbot's Holiday Magic''

Released: 20 October 2009

Labels: AAO Music

| – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |}

Singles[link]

{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center; |- ! rowspan=2| Year ! rowspan=2| Single ! colspan=2| Peak chart positions ! rowspan=2| Album |- style=font-size:smaller; ! width=30| UKIndie ! width=30| U.S.HSS |- | 2008 | align=left| "Three Little Birds" | 3 | 1 | rowspan=2|''Over the Rainbow'' |- | 2009 | align=left |"I Will Always Love You" | - | 3 |- | 2011 | align=left |"Beautiful World" | - | - | - |- | 2012 | align=left |"Sail Away" (unreleased) | - | - | - |}

References[link]

British singer Connie Talbot In Seoul to perform at G20 summit celebration concert

Connie Talbot: Little girl with the big voice

External links [link]

Official website

Official channel on YouTube

[ Connie Talbot] at Allmusic

Connie Talbot on MySpace

Category:2000 births Category:Britain's Got Talent contestants Category:English child singers Category:English female singers Category:English pop singers Category:Living people Category:People from Aldridge

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name	Simon Cowell
background	non_performing_personnel
birth name	Simon Phillip Cowell
birth date	October 07, 1959
birth place	Lambeth, London, England
origin	Elstree, Hertfordshire, England
occupation	A&R; executive, television producer, entrepreneur, television personality
years active	1979–present
label	EMI, E&S; Music, Fanfare Records, BMG, S Records, Sony Music Entertainment, Syco
associated acts	Westlife, Sinitta, Leon Jackson, Jai McDowall, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Curiosity Killed the Cat, Sonia, Five, Robson & Jerome, Ultimate Kaos, WWF Wrestlers, Zig and Zag, Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke, Joe McElderry, Shayne Ward, Il Divo, Susan Boyle, Paul Potts, JLS, One Direction, Melanie Amaro
notable instruments	}}

Simon Phillip Cowell (born 7 October 1959) is an English A&R; executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as ''Pop Idol'', ''The X Factor'', ''Britain's Got Talent'' and ''American Idol''. He is also the owner of the television production and music publishing house Syco.

As a judge, Cowell is known for his blunt and often controversial criticisms, insults and wisecracks about contestants and their abilities. He is also known for combining activities in both the television and music industries, having promoted singles and records for various artists, including television personalities. He was most recently featured on the fifth series of ''Britain's Got Talent'' and the first season of ''The X Factor USA''.

In 2010, the British magazine ''New Statesman'' listed Cowell at number 41 in a list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".

Early life[link]

Cowell was born in Lambeth, London and brought up in Elstree, Hertfordshire. His mother, Julie Brett (née Josie Dalglish), is a former ballet dancer and socialite, and his father, Eric Selig Phillip Cowell (1918–1999), was an estate agent developer and music industry executive. Cowell's father was from a mostly Jewish family, though he did not discuss his background with his children (Cowell's paternal grandmother had immigrated from Poland). Cowell's mother was from a Christian background, and is of part Scottish descent. He has one brother and three half-brothers and a half sister; younger brother Nicholas Cowell, half-brother John Cowell, half-brother Tony Cowell, half-brother Michael Cowell and half sister June Cowell.

Cowell attended Radlett Preparatory School and the independent Dover College as did his brother, but left after taking GCE O levels. He passed in English Language and Literature and then attended Windsor Technical College where he gained another GCE in Sociology. At the age of 17, he dated model Paula Hamilton. Cowell took a few menial jobs—including, according to Tony, working as a runner on Stanley Kubrick's ''The Shining''—but did not get along well with colleagues and bosses, until his father who was executive at the recording giant EMI Music Publishing, managed to get him a job in the mail room.

Career[link]

Cowell's father's connections originally got him rehired as the assistant to an A&R; man. From there onwards, Simon worked his way up and eventually got promoted to a music publishing position but left during the early 1980s to form E&S; Music with his boss at EMI, Ellis Rich (later Chairman of the Performing Right Society). The company had several hit records at one point with five singles in the UK top 40. The offices were in a converted gentleman's washroom in the NCP car park on Brewer Street in London's Soho district. Cowell left by mutual agreement a few years later. He worked for Iain Burton, manager of choreographer Arlene Phillips, co-founder of dance group Hot Gossip and of nascent independent record label Fanfare Records. Cowell worked with Burton for eight years at Fanfare where he achieved his first real success in the music industry, becoming a partner and building Fanfare into a highly successful 'indie' pop label. Fanfare had numerous top ten hits with various pop artists and particularly Sinitta, selling more than 500,000 copies of her debut single "So Macho", and more than 500,000 copies of her album ''Rondo Veneziano''. Next in 1984, Cowell and Burton met up with Pete Waterman for the first time.

Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman formed the songwriting and record producing trio known as Stock Aitken Waterman. Stock Aitken Waterman helped Fanfare during the second half of the 1980s producing several hit singles for Sinitta and licensing ''The Hit Factory'' SAW Compilation Albums to Fanfare. Next in 1989, Fanfare's parent, Public Company, found itself in difficulties, forcing Fanfare into the hands of BMG. An in-debt Cowell was forced to move back in with his parents. Later that year, he became an A&R; consultant for BMG. In 1990, he appeared as a contestant on the UK gameshow Sale of the Century.

Subsequently, Cowell signed up a number of acts to ''S-Records'' that became successful, including Curiosity Killed the Cat, Sonia, Five, Westlife, Robson & Jerome, and Ultimate Kaos. He also released several novelty recordings featuring the likes of Teletubbies, wrestlers of WWE Zig and Zag and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, that were huge successes. In 2002, Cowell set up another label, Syco Music, which later became part of Columbia Records and Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Artists such as Leona Lewis, Il Divo and contestants from ''The X Factor'' and ''America's Got Talent'' are released on Syco. Cowell explained, "There has to come a point when I will step down from being on camera and remain behind the scenes because you can't keep doing this forever...I think by [the end of my contract] that the public will be sick to death of me anyway and it will be time to go."

In 2006, Cowell signed to two more record-breaking deals. In the US, he agreed to remain as a judge on ''American Idol'', earning £20 million (US$33 million) per season for another five years. He also has a deal with FOX which allows his production company to broadcast ''Got Talent'' and ''American Inventor'' on other networks, but he may not appear on them. In the UK, he signed a "golden handcuffs" deal with ITV, worth approximately £6.5 million a year for three years, which gave ITV rights to his talent show ''The X Factor'', a British singing talent show, and ''Grease Is the Word'', a musical talent show to find the stars of a ''Grease'' production in London's West End. In late 2005, he signed a new contract to remain working for Sony BMG.

In 2010, Cowell finalised a deal which secures the long-term business future of Syco with Sony Music Entertainment. The deal will also see him launching a US version of X Factor on 21 September 2011.

''Idol'' franchise and ''Il Divo''[link]

Cowell was given the role of judge on the first series of ''Pop Idol'' in the UK by then ITV Controller of Entertainment Claudia Rosencrantz in 2001, he was then judge on the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002. With his notoriously critical reputation, Cowell is likened to TV personalities such as Judith Sheindlin and Anne Robinson. Though comparable to Robinson, Cowell has expressed his dislike for her and has commented in an interview, "I hate her and I hate her show because it's just an act". Cowell's prominence grew, fed by his signature phrase, "I don't mean to be rude, but ...", inevitably followed by an unsparingly blunt appraisal of the contestant's talents, personality, or even physical appearance. A lot of these one-liners were the product of coaching that Cowell received from noted publicist Max Clifford. Cowell also appeared on the one-off ''World Idol'' programme in 2003, where it became clear that each country's version of the ''Idol'' had attempted to come up with its own "Simon Cowell" type personality. In 2003, Cowell placed No 33 on Channel 4's list of the all-time 100 Worst Britons. Cowell's S Records signed the top two finishers of the first season of ''Pop Idol'', Will Young and Gareth Gates, both of whom went on to have No 1 UK hits. Efforts begun in 2001 materialised in 2004, when Cowell returned to his group manufacturing roots with his latest brainchild, the internationally successful operatic pop group Il Divo, consisting of three opera singers and one pop singer of four different nationalities. Inspired by the success of Il Divo, Simon created a child version, Angelis, beating competition from many similar groups emerging at Christmas 2006.

On 11 January 2010, Cowell's exit from ''American Idol'' was made official. The 2010 season was Cowell's last on the show. It was also announced that FOX had acquired the rights to ''The X Factor USA'', an American version of Cowell's popular British show, ''The X Factor'', which began in September 2011.

''The X Factor''[link]

In 2004, with Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh, Cowell was a judge on the first series of the British television music competition ''The X Factor'', which he created using his production company, Syco. ''The X Factor'' was an instant success with the viewers and began its eighth series in 2011.

Leona Lewis, the winner of the third series of ''The X Factor'', was signed to Cowell's label Syco and has had number one singles and album sales around the world. Cowell returned for a fourth series on 18 August 2007 alongside Osbourne, Walsh and new judge, Dannii Minogue. Walsh had previously been sacked from the judging panel by Cowell for the fourth series, and was subsequently replaced by Brian Friedman, who was a judge on ''Grease Is the Word''. Walsh was later brought back a week into the auditions by Cowell when he and Osbourne realised that they missed Walsh and that without him, there was no chemistry between the judges. Cowell returned for the fifth series in 2008, with Walsh, Minogue and new judge Cheryl Cole, as Osbourne decided to quit before the show began. Cowell returned for series 6 and 7 as well, although series 7 was his to be his last, as he left in 2011 in order to launch ''The X Factor'' in America. After placing third in the seventh series of ''The X Factor'' in the UK, boyband One Direction signed to Cowell's label in 2011, and the group have gone on to top singles and album charts worldwide.

''The X Factor Australia'' launched in 2005, but was cancelled due to poor ratings. It returned to Australian television for its second season on 30 August 2010, with Kyle Sandilands, Ronan Keating, Guy Sebastian and Natalie Imbruglia as judges. Season 3 began on 29 August 2010 and ended on 22 November. It featured Ronan Keating, Mel B, Guy Sebastian and Natalie Bassingthwaighte as judges.

Cowell also launched ''The X Factor USA'' in September 2011 on American broadcaster Fox. It was originally announced that he would be a judge both on the UK and U.S. editions of the show, which air at similar times of the year, but MTV officially reported on 17 April 2011 that this was not true; Cowell is no longer a judge in the UK version, but instead will be an enormous presence backstage. He currently is a judge on ''The X Factor USA'' alongside Paula Abdul, L.A. Reid, Nicole Scherzinger and formerly Cheryl Cole.

In October 2010, Cowell signed new three-year deals with ITV for both ''Britain's Got Talent'' and ''The X Factor'', renewing both shows until 2013.

''Got Talent'' franchise[link]

Following the success of the ''Idol'' and ''X Factor'' franchises, Cowell, his company Syco, and its business partners developed a talent show format open to performers of any kind, not only singers, but also dancers, instrumentalists, magicians, comedians, novelty acts, and so on. The origins of the ''Got Talent'' format can be traced to the British show ''Opportunity Knocks'', which began as a radio programme in the 1940s and later transferred to television, where it was an ITV staple for several decades. Looking further back, ''Opportunity Knocks'' had its roots in the variety show traditions of British music hall and American vaudeville.

Cowell is the executive producer of ''America's Got Talent'', which debuted in June 2006, along with Fremantle producers of the ''Idol'' series, but he does not appear on the show due to the terms of his contract with FOX. The show was a huge success for NBC, drawing around 12 million viewers a week, and beating ''So You Think You Can Dance'' on FOX (produced by rival and ''Idol'' creator Simon Fuller).

''Britain's Got Talent'' debuted on ITV in June 2007. Cowell appears as a judge alongside Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan. The show was a ratings success and second and third seasons followed in 2008 and 2009. The third series featured a publicity coup when Susan Boyle made a global media impact with her regional audition performance comparable to that of any previous talent show series winner.

''American Inventor''[link]

On 16 March 2006, Simon Cowell's next competition show, ''American Inventor'', debuted on ABC. Fledgling entrepreneurs from across the United States competed to see who could come up with the best new product concept. The 2006 winner, Janusz Liberkowski, received $1 million and the opportunity to develop his idea into a business. The show returned one more time in 2007 for a second season.

''Celebrity Duets''[link]

In 2006, Cowell executive-produced ''Celebrity Duets'', which was described as "an Idol show for Hollywood superstars." The show was hosted by Wayne Brady, and its judges were Marie Osmond, Little Richard and David Foster.

''Grease Is the Word''[link]

Cowell was also the executive producer of ''Grease Is the Word'' for ITV. This show set out to find performers to play Danny and Sandy in the 2007 West End revival of Grease. It was hosted by Zoe Ball and judged by Britons David Ian and Sinitta and Americans David Gest and Brian Friedman. The musical theatre casting concept had already been introduced by the BBC with the ratings hit ''How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?'', but Cowell's show was not the hoped for success. He himself said, "It has been slaughtered by the critics – and rightly so. It is far too similar to our other formats."

''Rock Rivals''[link]

Cowell collaborated with UK production company Shed Media to produce 2008 ITV drama series ''Rock Rivals'', which is based on an ''X Factor'' type show.

''Red or Black?''[link]

In 2011, Cowell also created his first game show, titled ''Red or Black?'' and hosted by Ant & Dec, for ITV. Series 1 was broadcast over seven nights in one week (excluding Tuesday), from 3 September to 10 September. The show has been recomissioned by ITV for a second series in 2012, which will be aired weekly.

Other activities[link]

Cowell has been involved in charity work for many years. He supports children from The Association Of Children's Hospices and invites them backstage to the screenings of ''The X Factor''. When he can, he stops by some of the hospices to visit the children. He also supports animal rights and has appeared in a video for PETA in which he reminds drivers of the cruelty to animals that can occur when their pets are locked in cars in the summer. In view of his charitable works, particularly the production of the charity single ''Everybody Hurts'' in aid of victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, as well as his services to the music industry, there was considerable media speculation as to whether Cowell would receive a knighthood in the Queen's 2010 Birthday Honours, a proposal allegedly put forward by former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. Cowell stated that he believed his chances of receiving the honour were "zero" following what he described as being a "royal row"; ultimately Cowell did not receive an honour in the list.

In December 2003, Cowell published his autobiography titled ''I Don't Mean to be Rude, but...''. In it, he told the whole story of his childhood, his years working in music and experiences on ''Pop Idol'', ''Pop Stars Rivals'', and ''American Idol'', and finally, his tips for being successful as a pop star.

Cowell has appeared as a guest voice in an episode of ''The Simpsons'' ("Smart and Smarter"), in which he gets beaten up by Homer Simpson (while criticising Homer's punches). His voice was also heard on an episode of ''Family Guy'' ("Lois Kills Stewie"), in which he told Stewie that his singing was so awful that he should be dead. He made an MTV Movie Award-winning cameo appearance as himself in ''Scary Movie 3'', where he sits in judgment during a battle rap (and subsequently gets killed by gunfire for criticising the rappers). He also appears in the DVD version of ''Shrek 2'' as a judge in ''Far Far Away Idol'', and also provided the voice.

He appeared on an episode of ''Who Wants to be a Millionaire?'' (the original British version) and ''Saturday Night Live'' in 2004. Cowell has also guest-starred (filling in for Regis Philbin) in the popular talk show ''Live with Regis and Kelly'' during ''American Idol'''s finalist week in early 2006. Cowell was once the fastest "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" on BBC's motoring show ''Top Gear'', driving a Suzuki Liana around the show's test track in a time of 1:47.1. When ''Top Gear'' retired the Liana along with its rankings after the eighth series, Cowell was the eighth fastest overall and the third fastest non-professional driver. On 11 November 2007 Cowell yet again appeared on Top Gear, achieving a time of 1:45.9 thus putting him ahead of Gordon Ramsay and back at the top of the table. Cowell introduced entertainer Dick Clark at the 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards. He was seen on ''Comic Relief Does The Apprentice'' where he donated £25,000 for a fun fair ticket. Cowell has also appeared on the MTV shows Cribs and Punk'd. On Punk'd, Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson set him up to believe his $400,000 Rolls Royce was stolen and had caused an accident by using a nearly identical car.

Cowell was chosen as the first subject of the re-launched ''This Is Your Life'' in an episode broadcast on 2 June 2007. He was presented with the Red Book by Sir Trevor McDonald while presenting ''American Idol''.

On 1 July 2007 Cowell appeared alongside Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest as a speaker at the Concert For Diana, held at Wembley Stadium.

Cowell was a partner in the Royal Ascot Racing Club, a thoroughbred horse racing syndicate which owned the 2005 Epsom Derby winner, Motivator.

In May 2010, he portrayed himself again, in another episode of ''The Simpsons'', "Judge Me Tender".

In December 2010, he was added as a new entry to the latest edition of ''Who's Who''.

Personal life[link]

Cowell became engaged to make up artist Mezhgan Hussainy in February 2010, however the couple separated in 2012. They met on the set of ''American Idol''. Cowell is the godfather of pop singer Sinitta's adopted children.

Upon his appearance on ''Top Gear'', it was revealed that Cowell pays more than £21.7m per year in income tax, suggesting that his taxable income is over £54.25m per year with income tax at the time approximately 40%. (NB: UK Income Tax 40% for earnings over £34,600). Cowell was estimated to have a fortune of £200 million in the ''Sunday Times Rich List'' of 2011, making him the sixth richest person in the British music industry. Cowell splits his time between homes in London and Los Angeles. He owns a £9million home in Holland Park, West London, and has a £13.7million ($22 m), home in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.

In April 2012 he said that he had an affair with fellow ''The X Factor'' judge Dannii Minogue during her time on the show.

Political views[link]

Cowell is a supporter of the Conservative Party. In 2010, Cowell endorsed David Cameron to be Prime Minister and claimed that he has the 'substance and the stomach to navigate us through difficult times'. In the aftermath of the election, it was reported that he had fallen out with fellow X Factor judge Cheryl Cole (who had declared her support for Labour and Gordon Brown) in a telephone conversation about politics.

References[link]

External links[link]

Simon Cowell at itv.com/xfactor

Simon Cowell for PETA

Simon Cowell on World Top 100 A&R; Chart

New York Times: How a Hit Almost Failed Its Own Audition

Reviews and short bio of Simon Cowell

Playboy Interview: Simon Cowell, February 2007

Interview, HitQuarters Oct 2001

2011 radio interview with Simon Cowell

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