Coordinates

12°58′0″N77°34′0″N

{{infobox company| company name

Myer | company_logo Image:Myer.svg | company_type Public ()| company_slogan Myer ''is my store''| foundation 1900 in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia| location Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | key_people Sidney Myer, FounderBill Wavish, Chairman Bernie Brookes, CEO | num_employees | industry Retail| products Clothing, footwear, accessories, cosmetics, homewares, electrical, furniture, general merchandise| revenue | homepage Myer.com.au }}

Myer is Australia's largest department store chain, retailing a broad range of merchandise including women's, men's and children's clothing, footwear and accessories; cosmetics and fragrance; homewares; electrical; furniture and bedding; toys; books and stationery; food and confectionery; and travel goods.

History

Early history

The Myer retail group was started by Sidney Myer, who migrated from Russia to Melbourne in 1899 with very little money and little knowledge of English to join his elder brother, Elcon Myer (1875-1938), who had left Russia two years earlier. They opened the first Myer store in Bendigo, Victoria in 1900. After prospering, the second store opened in 1908.

In 1911 Myer purchased the business of Wright and Neil, Drapers, in Bourke Street, Melbourne, near the General Post Office, and a new building was completed and opened in 1914. From this base in Melbourne, Myer built Australia's largest chain of department stores, and the only chain with stores in all Australian states.

In 1918, the Doveton woollen mills at Ballarat were purchased, and in 1921 a new building fronting Post Office Place was added at Melbourne and in the following years Myer purchased adjoining properties, eventually building a store known as the Myer Emporium. Myer expanded to Lonsdale Street in the 1920s.

The Myer Emporium grew with the purchase of the old established businesses of Robertson & Moffat and Stephens & Sons. In 1925, Myer Emporium Ltd was listed on the Melbourne Stock Exchange and the new building on the Lonsdale Street frontage was begun. In Adelaide, in 1925, the company Myer SA Stores Ltd acquired a controlling interest in Marshall's department store and its shares continued to be listed on the Adelaide Stock Exchange until Myer Emporium Ltd made a successful takeover bid in 1966. A separate building in Queensberry Street, Melbourne, was put up in 1928, and the Collins Street businesses of T. Webb and Sons, china importers, and W. H. Rocke and Company, house furnishers, were bought and transferred to the Bourke-street building. By 1934, the public company had a paid-up capital of nearly £2,500,000. The company was then employing 5300 people with medical and nursing aid for the staff, and rest homes for them at the seaside and in the Dandenong Ranges.

On the death of Sidney Myer in 1934, leadership of the company fell to Elcon Myer, and on the death of Elcon in 1938, leadership went to their nephew Norman Myer. Norman Myer led the company until his death in 1956.

Myer grew by developing its own stores (becoming one of Australia's major property owners and developers in the process) and acquiring other department stores, including Adelaide's Marshall's, Western Australia's Boans in 1984, Queensland's Barry and Roberts and in New South Wales they acquired Farmers & Co in 1961 and Grace Brothers in 1983.

Target, Grace Bros and merger with GJ Coles

In 1968, Myer acquired Geelong's Lindsay's stores, renaming the business Target following the purchase of name and logo from US Target Corporation and positioning it as a discount department store chain.

In 1983, Grace Bros. bought Myer NSW, and then in July of that year Myer acquired Grace Bros. Holdings Ltd. The Myer store on Market and Pitt Sts in Sydney became the main Grace Bros. store.

In 1984, Myer acquired Boans Ltd, the dominant Western Australian department store chain and embarked on a major redevelopment of its Perth City Store.

In 1985 the Myer Emporium (and Target, its discount department store) merged with GJ Coles & Coy forming Coles Myer Limited, then Australia's largest retailer. Myer remained a distinct entity within the new corporate structure until it was sold in 2006.

At the post-Christmas sales in 1992, the glass doors to the Grace Bros Sydney City store were shattered by a stampede of shoppers.

In 2000, Coles Myer CEO Dennis Eck, faced with lower sales and profits from Myer and Grace Bros. stores took the department stores down market, reducing service levels, increasing stock volumes on the selling floor and introducing product to appeal to younger consumers. In doing so, he ended up replicating the approach of another of Coles Myer's chains, Target. The resulting effect included reduced customer visits and reduced units sold per transaction. In 2001, Coles Myer set about to reposition the store to appeal to customers lost in the down market experiment.

In 2003, one of the key changes made by the recently appointed Managing Director, Dawn Robertson, was to classify each Myer Grace Bros. store using a grid system referencing the socio-economic status of the area, its turnover and growth potential. Larger city-centre stores would rank at the top of the grid and smaller regional stores would rank at the bottom of the grid. The grid would affect the merchandise allocated to each store, rather than selling the same range of product in downtown Melbourne as in regional Queensland.

On 13 February 2004, Grace Bros. stores were rebranded as Myer.

In April 2004, Myer re-opened its Bondi Junction, New South Wales, store which replaced a former Grace Bros. store closed in April 2002 to make way for the redevelopment of Westfield Bondi Junction. It was the first Myer store to open in several years and incorporated new features such as white glossy floor tiles, extensive use of glass, and greater use of mannequins.

Under managing director Dawn Robertson, Myer began to target the Sydney market more strongly, to challenge the position of chief rival David Jones particularly in ladies fashion. In February 2004, Myer held its Sydney fashion parade the day before David Jones. On 9 August 2004, Myer staged a fashion parade open-air in Martin Place, gaining widespread attention, and again was held the day before David Jones' show.

Myer spun off from Coles Myer

On 17 August 2005, Coles announced that within 12 months, it would decide to demerge, divest or retain Myer. Thirteen expressions of interest were made for all or part of Myer.

On 13 March 2006, Coles Myer announced it would sell Myer to a consortium controlled by US private equity group Newbridge Capital, part of the Texas Pacific group. The consortium also included the Myer family, who held a 5% stake. The new owners, who also secured the freehold on the flagship Bourke Street store, indicated that they would not radically change the business, at least in the short term, and had no plans to redevelop the Bourke Street site as this would impact too heavily on profitability during the construction period. Texas Pacific also have interests in UK department store Debenhams and high-end US retailer Neiman Marcus. This sale was completed for $A1.4 bn on 2 June 2006.

Under new owners

After being divested from Coles Myer (later Coles Group, then purchased by Wesfarmers), new owners Newbridge Capital and the Myer family appointed chairman Bill Wavish and chief executive Bernie Brookes, both formerly of Woolworths.

thumb|Flyer for the History Making Clearance distributed to customersBeginning July 2006, Myer held a "History Making Clearance" to clear out excess stock deemed either unprofitable or unpopular, and reduced inventories from $1.5 billion to $750 million, and all store-specific warehouses were closed.

Former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins began appearing in campaigns for Myer in 2006 and in January 2007 signed a $4 million deal to be the "face" of Myer for four years.

Myer withdrew from the Coles Group part-owned FlyBuys rewards program on 1 February 2007.

In March 2007, Myer announced first half earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of $123 million, an increase of 84% on the previous year. This represents a profit margin of 6.8%, compared with 3.9% in the previous corresponding period. According to chairman Bill Wavish, all Myer stores were now profitable, and all stores were more profitable than in the previous year. Myer acquired four Harris Scarfe stores (including regaining a store it divested to Harris Scarfe in 1998) and took a minority shareholding in Harris Scarfe.

The Mymerch system, developed with IBM and Oracle, cost $99 million and was implemented early April 2007. Among other functions, Mymerch will beef up Myer's ability to carry out statistical analysis of customer habits giving it greater capacity to forecast sales trends and target promotions.

Myer's profit turnaround was tempered in April 2007 by the loss of key staff. Bob Boutin, apparel director, Mark Bingemann, women's wear business manager and Jasmine Bingemann, footwear and accessories manager all resigned within a short period. This followed reports of management dissatisfaction over the direction of the fashion business signified by the defection of designers such as Alex Perry and Tigerlilly to David Jones.

In June 2007, a consortium comprising the Myer family, Colonial First State and GIC Real Estate (Singapore) announced it would be purchasing Myer's Melbourne CBD store. The Bourke Street part of the store was planned to be redeveloped by 2009, with Myer taking a 60-year lease, but the development was not completed until March 2011. The Lonsdale Street part of the store closed in 2009.

In September 2009, following rumours the previous month, Myer indicated it would float the business at an indicative share price range of $3.90 to $4.90 when it listed on 2 November, giving it a market capitalisation between $2.3 billion and $2.8 billion. The final issue price was $4.10, but by August 2011 the stock had slumped to as low as $2.09.

Stores and services

"MYER one" rewards program

The ''MYER one'' program was introduced in August 2004 after Coles Myer discontinued its shareholder discount card the previous month.

It initially credited 1 point per $1 spent up to $2500 per annum; 1.5 points per $1 spent from $2500 to $5000 per annum; and 2 points per $1 spent for $5000+ per annum. Each 1,250 points accrued would earn the customer a $25 gift card, provided $1,500 was spent each year. With the relaunch of the Myer store card in November 2006, this changed to awards 2 points per $1 spent, regardless of annual spend, with 2,000 points required to receive a $20 gift card. Members who pay with a Myer store card receive an additional point per dollar spent. Customers also earn 1 point for every $1 spent outside of Myer when using the Myer Visa card. ''MYER one'' members are sent a quarterly update, in addition to special member offers, including discounts, a free copy of the "Myer Emporium" magazine, product samples and "gift with purchase" offers.

Myer revamped its ''MYER one'' program by introducing a graduated rewards system with three levels including ''MYER one'', ''MYER one Silver'' and ''MYER one Gold''. Each reward level is dependent on customer spend and confers exclusive benefits. In September 2010, Myer stated there were 3.7 million members and five million cards in circulation. Of these, over 20,000 had Gold status, spending over $7,500 per annum. Sales attributed to members accounted for 68% of total Myer sales. Gift cards valued at $51 million had been provided to members as rewards in the previous year.

Myer store and credit cards

Myer originally had a store card managed by Australian Retail Financial Network (ARFN), sold in 1995 to GE Money. This was superseded by a ''Coles Myer Card'' which could be used at all Coles Myer stores. This was augmented by the Coles Myer Source MasterCard, also managed by GE Money.

Following its sale, Myer relaunched the Myer card in October 2006 in conjunction with GE Money. According to GE Money, 125,000 accounts had been opened by August 2007.

In November 2007, Myer launched a Visa credit card, also in conjunction with GE Money. Myer stated it was prepared to wear losses from the card for two years and that its objective was to drive increased loyalty from the card (which links with the Myer One card) rather than being profitable in its own right. It expected to sign 100,000 customers to the Visa card by November 2008. Myer reported it had signed 15,000 customers to its Visa card in the first five weeks from launch, half of whom were converts from the existing store card.

In 2007, the Coles Myer Card and Coles Myer Source MasterCard were renamed Coles Group Card and Coles Group Source MasterCard respectively and as such were no longer affiliated with Myer.

Store locations

Myer has stores in all Australian states and the Australian Capital Territory. Stores are located in all the capital cities (except Darwin) and their suburbs, and selected regional towns and cities.

The flagship store is located in the Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne and is in the process of a $300 million dollar redevelopment which will be officially opened in April 2011.

In 2006, Myer announced the opening of new stores, starting with four former Harris Scarfe stores (two in South Australia and two in Victoria). Further to this, in 2008 in Sydney, Myer opened two new stores in Sydney at Westfield Eastgardens and Centro Bankstown replacing the former David Jones Limited stores, while David Jones Limited replaced the Myer store in Westfield Burwood, and stated it would open a store in the Stockland Townsville centre in early 2009 which didn't happen due to issues with buying of tenants for the land.

In 2007 Chairman Bill Wavish stated Myer was willing to build new stores if necessary, and that new locations could be in any city or town with a population over 40,000 people.

On 22 September 2007, Myer's Liverpool Street building in Hobart was destroyed by a fire that is believed to have started in the cosmetic section. Estimates placed the damage costs at $50 million for the building alone with many millions more for all the stock which was destroyed. The building including its historic façade was subsequently demolished. The adjacent Murray Street building suffered substantial smoke and water damage. Within a day of the fire, Myer issued a statement saying it would be rebuilding in Hobart. They reopened the Murray Street section of their store on 16 November - 44 days after the fire. Myer also stated that they will build a new store that may take up to 3 years to build and will add 2,000 m² of space. Whilst that development is taking place in the damaged part of the store, Myer will be using a site in Macquarie Street for departments unable to fit into the Murray Street building, in a Harvey Norman style "home store".

Myer opened a store in the redeveloped Top Ryde shopping centre in northern Sydney in 2010. There was previously a Grace Bros store at this centre from 1964 until closure in early 1985.

In April 2008, Myer announced that it would open 3 new stores in Queensland. The first two stores were planned to open in 2010 at Westfield Garden City - Upper Mount Gravatt, Robina Town Centre with the third store planned to open in Mackay in 2011. Myer also announced that it would open a store at Stockland Green Hills - East Maitland in 2011 when the redevelopment was completed, later delayed until 2013.

In July 2008, Myer stated it planned to expand into the Middle East and open its first overseas store in Dubai, but by March 2009 had put such plans on hold.

In September 2009, it was announced that three more stores would open at Tuggerah on the New South Wales Central Coast, Woden in Canberra and Robina on the Gold Coast, Queensland. In total, at the time of launching its prospectus, Myer stated it had signed conditional lease agreements for 12 locations to open progressively from 2010 to 2013 with a plan to reach 80 stores by 2014.

Online shopping

In October 2007, Myer launched an online gift store, including electronic goods, perfumes, miss shop clothing and gift cards.

In 2011 Myer launched an online shopping site, myfind.com based in Hong Kong (where there is no sales tax) for people in Australia.

Myer will continue to operate Myer.com.au based in Melbourne where sales tax applies.

Departments

Womenswear is usually prominently featured within each store and will often be the largest department. Myer carries various mass market labels in womenswear, with a selection of designer clothing available only in city stores. Petite (short) and plus sized clothing is kept in separate areas to regular sized clothing. There are a large number of concession stores that sell women's clothing.

Cosmetics, Fragrances & Personal Care has a higher expenditure on labour, as most counters require their own staff and is usually positioned near the main store entrance.

Menswear is usually located on a separate floor to womenswear, the labels carried lie much more in the mid range. Unlike womenswear, the department has areas devoted to accessories, business shirts, suits, shoes and underwear. Designer and concession brands are available in selected stores, as is formal hire.

Fashion Accessories houses women's handbags, scarves, hats, belts, purses/wallets, jewellery, hosiery, socks; women's & men's watches and sunglasses.

The range of men's and ladies' shoes carried varies by store. Designer shoe ranges are only available in limited stores.

Intimate Apparel section sells women's underwear, lingerie, sleepwear and gowns. Some staff are trained in fitting bras, and occasionally some underwear brands will have a fitter in store to give advice.

Homewares includes cookware, kitchenware, tabletop (dinnerware, glassware & cutlery), manchester and napery. Usually extremely busy during sales, this department also contains the Gift Registry.

Miss Shop and Men's Youth departments are targeted for shoppers ages from mid-teens to early thirties. Different music to the rest of the store is played within these areas. There are also music videos showing either in fitting rooms or on the shop floor. Merchandising principles are relaxed from what is required in womenswear and menswear; and abstract fixtures and visual displays are often used. For example, items can be hung sideways on hangers, mannequins are sometimes dressed "messily" or clothes may be stacked on chairs and milk crates.

At the Melbourne City store, both these departments are located in "The Basement" and is much larger than in other stores, at almost 6,000m2. The staff are dressed casually to reflect the youth target market. There are also a small number of concession stores within this area. The concept has been expanded to selected stores - such as Warringah Mall, Chatswood, Parramatta, Sydney City, Perth City and in the new Murray Street store in Hobart, but generally on a smaller scale.

Childrenswear is separated into babywear, boyswear and girlswear.

In July 2004, Brazin Limited, which operates Virgin Megastores Australia, entered into an agreement with Myer to create Virgin entertainment locations in Myer stores. Under the agreement, Myer stock was acquired and Myer pre-recorded audio and video departments were re-branded to Virgin. Virgin has not renewed its concession agreement with Myer and from mid August 2010, Virgin entertainment ceased operations within Myer stores. The departure of Virgin Entertainment coincided with the release of a new 'My Entertainment' in some old Myer locations with reduced stock levels compared to Virgin.

Myer operated its own direct mail order company, Myer Direct, from 1989 until its sale to Ezibuy in January 2002.

See also

David Jones Limited

Grace Bros.

Harris Scarfe

References

External links

Category:Art Deco buildings in Melbourne Category:Department stores of Australia Category:Retail companies of Australia

ja:マイヤー (百貨店) sah:MYER zh:迈尔

Stanley Myers (6 October 1930 – 9 November 1993), was a prolific British film composer who scored over sixty films. Born in Birmingham, as a teenager Myers went to King Edward's School in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham. He is also known for composers music for cult films ''House of Whipcord'', ''Frightmare'' and ''House of Mortal Sin'' for cult filmmaker Peter Walker.

He is best known for ''Cavatina'' (1970), an evocative guitar piece that served as the signature theme for Michael Cimino's 1978 film ''The Deer Hunter'', and for which Myers won the Ivor Novello Award. A somewhat different version of this work, performed by John Williams, had appeared in ''The Walking Stick''. And yet another version had lyrics added. Cleo Laine and Iris Williams, in separate recordings as ''He Was Beautiful'', helped to make Cavatina become even more popular.

Myers also wrote incidental music for television, for example a 1964 serial in the television series ''Doctor Who'', the theme to ''All Gas and Gaiters'' and the theme for the BBC's ''Question Time''.

During the 1980s, Myers worked frequently with director Stephen Frears. His score for ''Prick Up Your Ears'' (1987) won him a "Best Artistic Contribution" award at the Cannes Film Festival. He also scored several low budget features ("Time Traveler", "Blind Date", "The Wind", "Zero Boys") for director Nico Mastorakis, collaborating with Hans Zimmer. He won another Ivor Novello Award for his soundtrack to ''The Witches'' in 1991.

Myers died of cancer aged 63 in Kensington and Chelsea, London.

Selected filmography

''Kaleidoscope'' (1966)

''Ulysses'' (1967)

''The Night of the Following Day'' (1968)

''Frightmare'' (1974)

''The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1974)

''The Deer Hunter'' (1978)

''Moonlighting'' (1982)

''My Beautiful Laundrette'' (1985)

''Dreamchild'' (1985)

''Prick Up Your Ears'' (1987)

''Wish You Were Here'' (1987)

''Track 29'' (1988)

''The Witches'' (1990)

References

External links

Category:1930 births Category:1993 deaths Category:People from Birmingham, West Midlands Category:People educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham Category:English composers Category:English film score composers Category:Cancer deaths in England

de:Stanley Myers fr:Stanley Myers ja:スタンリー・マイヤーズ pt:Stanley Myers ro:Stanley Myers sk:Stanley Myers fi:Stanley Myers sv:Stanley Myers

Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
Name	Guy Sebastian
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Guy Theodore Sebastian
Born	October 26, 1981Klang, Selangor, Malaysia
Origin	Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Genre	Soul, R&B;, pop, gospel
Voice type	Tenor Spinto
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, producer, X-Factor Judge
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, piano/keyboards, drums
Years active	2003–present
Label	Sony Music Australia (2003–present)
associated acts	Steve Cropper, The Mgs, David Ryan Harris, Planetshakers
|website	Official Website }}

Guy Theodore Sebastian (born 26 October 1981) is an Australian pop, R&B;, and soul singer-songwriter who was the first winner of ''Australian Idol'' in 2003. He has released six top 10 platinum/multi platinum albums, five of which reached the top 4 of the ARIA Album Chart, including a No.1 and 2. He has also released ten top 15 singles, including five No. 1's. Sebastian is the only Australian male artist in Australian music history to achieve five No. 1 singles, and is equal third overall for all Australian acts. He is also the only Australian artist to have two singles reach 4 x platinum. His debut single "Angels Brought Me Here" was the first Australian artist song to achieve it, and in 2010 ARIA announced it was the highest selling song of the previous decade. In 2011 "Who's That Girl" from his sixth album ''Twenty Ten'' became only the fourth Australian artist single to ever reach that certification level. "Like it Like That" the title track of his fifth album achieved triple platinum, and was the highest selling Australian artist song of 2009. With 26 platinum and 2 gold accreditations and over 2 million sales in Australia alone he has the highest sales of any Australian Idol contestant.

"Angels Brought Me Here" also reached No. 1 in four Asian countries and New Zealand. Sebastian had a second No. 1 single in New Zealand with "Who's That Girl", two other top 10 singles and a No. 3 album, and has four platinum and two gold accreditations there. He has worked with a number of well-known American musicians. He co-wrote songs with Brian McKnight and Robin Thicke for his second album ''Beautiful Life'', which also included a duet with Mýa. ''The Memphis Album'' was recorded with members of the MGs including Steve Cropper, and they were his band on his 2008 Australian tour. ''Like It Like That'' features three tracks with John Mayer playing guitar and singing backing vocals, and "Art Of Love", a duet with Jordin Sparks. This album was released in the US in 2010. "Who's That Girl" features US rapper Eve.

During his career Sebastian has been nominated for ten ARIA Music Awards, including "Best Male Artist" and "Best Pop Release" in 2010. Previously, three of his albums were nominated as "Highest Selling Album", and "Angels Brought Me Here" won the 2004 ARIA for "Highest Selling Single". In 2011 "Who's That Girl" received the APRA Award for "Urban Work of the Year". Sebastian's other awards include the "Channel V Artist Of The Year Award" in 2004, Urban Music Awards for "Best Male Artist" in 2006 and "Best R&B; Album" in 2007. In 2010 he was selected as a judge on the Australian series of The X-Factor.

Early life

Guy Sebastian was born in Klang, Selangor, Malaysia on 26 October 1981. His father Ivan was also born in Malaysia and is of Sri Lankan descent, while his mother Nellie has an English and Portuguese background and was raised in India. They met while Ivan was studying geology in India and a year later they married. The family migrated to Australia in 1988, living in Melbourne Victoria for several years before eventually moving to Adelaide South Australia due to Ivan's work as a geologist. As a child Sebastian took violin lessons, and although he had no formal training in other musical instruments also plays guitar, drums and piano. He attended Paradise Community Church, which is a Pentecostal Assemblies of God church and one of the largest churches in Australia, becoming one of their main worship singers. He also sang with the then Paradise Community Church Youth Conference Planetshakers, performing both lead and backup vocals for their 2002 and 2003 conferences and albums. After winning ''Australian Idol'' he continued his association with Paradise Church, recording on two of their albums, ''Adore'' in 2004 and ''Set Me Free'' in 2005. After leaving school Sebastian began studies in Medical Radiation, but left to pursue a career in music. He juggled two jobs, teaching vocals at high schools and working as a recording engineer, while also studying Music Technology at the Elder School Of Music.

Australian and World Idol

In May 2003 Sebastian successfully auditioned for ''Australian Idol'', singing Stevie Wonder's "Ribbon in the Sky". He progressed through the Idol series establishing a strong fanbase and praise from the judges, who often made reference to his afro hairstyle which became a focal point of his image. However, after the viewer voting was tallied he was ranked 7th out of the 11 competitors. There were questions over his song selection for the competition as his new arrangement of "What a Wonderful World" was an unusual version of a classic. He had wanted to sing When Doves Cry, but could not get clearance to perform the song. Despite this time restriction, the album included three songs co-written by Sebastian. His winner's song "Angels Brought Me Here" debuted at No.1 and was the highest selling single in Australia in 2003, reaching 4x platinum accreditation. In January 2010 when ARIA released the lists of the highest sellers of the previous decade, "Angels Brought Me Here" was announced as the "Highest Selling Song Of The Decade", ahead of Anthony Callea's cover of "The Prayer". ''Just As I Am'' reached sales of 480,000, just a few thousand short of 7x platinum and is the highest selling album ever released by an Australian Idol contestant.

In early 2004 Sebastian and the other Idol finalists toured around Australia. "Angels Brought Me Here" reached No.1 in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and New Zealand. During this time Sebastian appeared at the Asian MTV Awards, was a guest judge on New Zealand Idol and performed on Indonesian Idol. He was also nominated for "Highest Selling Album" for ''Just As I Am''. ''Beautiful Life'' was released in October, debuting at No.2 on the Aria charts. It reached platinum accreditation, and eventually sold in excess of 100,000 units. He embarked on a national tour in November, with a second stage from March to June 2005. Two more singles were released from the album, "Kryptonite" which peaked at No.15, and "Oh Oh" at No.11. In 2005 Sebastian received awards for Favourite Video, Favourite Music Artist, and Favourite Aussie at the Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards, and a MTV Video Music Award for "Out With My Baby". He also received a nomination for "Highest Selling Album" for ''Beautiful Life'' at the ARIA Music Awards. He spent some time overseas writing for his third album during 2005, and in December he was named as a state finalist for the 2006 Young Australian Of The Year Award.

(2006–2007) ''Closer to the Sun''

Sebastian's third album ''Closer to the Sun'' was a mix of genres including pop, R&B;, soul, pop-rock and jazz. It was mainly co-written with Australian musicians, as Sebastian scrapped most of the songs he had written on his overseas trips in 2005. The first single, the ballad "Taller, Stronger, Better", was released in August 2006, and debuted on the charts at No.3, achieving gold accreditation. ''Closer to the Sun'' debuted at No. 4, and reached platinum accreditation. The video for its second single "Elevator Love" featured former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins as his love interest. This single debuted at No.11, and also achieved gold accreditation. Sebastian received an award for most played Urban work for "Oh Oh" at the 2006 APRA Music Awards. "Oh Oh" was also awarded Best Video and Sebastian named Best Male Artist at the Urban Music Awards, and for the second year in succession he received the Fav Aussie award at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. In early 2007 it was announced he would be recording an album of soul classics in Memphis, Tennessee with Stax musicians who played on and wrote some of the original songs. The third single from ''Closer to the Sun'', "Cover On My Heart", was released in August, peaking at No. 32 on the Aria chart. ''Closer to the Sun '' was awarded "Best Album" at the 2007 Urban Music Awards, and "Most Popular Album" at the Dolly Teen Choice Awards.

(2007) ''The Memphis Album''

Sebastian recorded his tribute album of soul classics at Ardent Studios, Memphis in August 2007, with Steve Cropper, Donald 'Duck' Dunn, and Steve Potts (a.k.a. The MGs), with Lester Snell on keyboards. Cropper also co produced the album with Sebastian, which was recorded on analogue tape live in the studio. Sebastian wrote about his time in Memphis in a series of blogs for Australian newspapers: "I started recording four days ago with the band members from Booker T and the MGs. And in the four days, we cut 15 tracks. It's been such a great experience to watch these guys work. I mean, they are mostly in their late 60s and have such a wealth of experience." Cropper later spoke on AllMemphisMusic, an online Memphis radio station: "This kid came into Memphis, and just blew everybody’s socks off. He had the grit and the grime and the soul of Otis Redding, and he had the sweet soul of Al Green, he had the wonderful sweet church sound of Sam Cooke, and he just took us by storm."

Shortly after his return to Australia Sebastian performed an acoustic tour and it was announced that The MGs would tour Australia with him in early 2008. ''The Memphis Album'' was released in November 2007, debuting at No.3, and was the 7th highest selling Australian album in 2007. The critically acclaimed album reached double platinum certification. The album also attracted attention from Memphis. The Memphis Flyer, a weekly alternative newspaper serving the Memphis area wrote a series of articles about Sebastian recording with The MGs. AllMemphisMusic, which specialises in playing music originating from Memphis, began playing ''The Memphis Album'' songs in late December 2007, and still play them to this day. They also had two special programs featuring songs from the album and interviews with some of the people involved in recording it.

(2008)''The Memphis Tour'' and working on 5th album

The MGs travelled to Australia in February 2008 to be Sebastian's backing band for his 18 date national tour. He spoke on radio about what it felt like fronting the MGs: "There were so many moments when I just had to take a step back and think 'This is unbelievable'. Like the history that is behind me, and I'm singing these songs. You know they start playing Dock Of The Bay, and the guys that played it are on the stage. You know the guy who wrote the song with Otis Redding is playing guitar." Cropper later spoke on AllMemphisMusic: "hearing him singing our music, which was born and raised and produced and recorded in Memphis Tennessee. It was just something I, it's hard to explain the excitement coming from being on stage and that excitement coming out of the audience. It just filled our hearts." One of the Melbourne concerts was filmed and a live DVD/CD entitled ''The Memphis Tour'' and was released in May.

Sebastian was nominated for a Helpmann Award for "Best Performance In An Australian Contemporary Concert" for The Memphis Tour, and was awarded two Australian Club Entertainment Awards, best "Original Music Performer" and "Outstanding Club Performer Of The Year". ''The Memphis Album'' received a nomination for "Highest Selling Album" at the 2008 ARIA Awards, his third album to be nominated in this ARIA Awards category. He travelled to the US several times after ''The Memphis Tour'' to write for his fifth album, spending time with Cropper in Nashville on these trips. During 2008 Sebastian was also signed to release an album in the US, and in November he returned to America to work on his new album. He recorded songs with John Mayer's band, and John Mayer himself played guitar and sang backing vocals on three of the tracks.

(2009–2010) ''Like It Like That''

Sebastian moved to New York in early 2009 to prepare for the release of his US album which was to be a combination of Mempis Soul covers and original songs. He performed showcases at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin Texas in March 2009, and a residency at the Drom in New York. His song "Like it Like That" was chosen as the theme song for the NBC network's summer promotional campaign. The US release was then delayed due to restructuring of Victor Records, but it was later reaffirmed the album would be released in 2010. "Like It like That", the title track of Sebastian's fifth Australian album, was released as the first single in August 2009 and reached No.1 on the ARIA Chart, becoming his fourth No.1 single. It was the highest selling Australian artist song in 2009, reaching triple platinum accreditation. ''Like it Like That'', an original soul album with all songs written or co-written by Sebastian, was released in October 2009 and debuted at No.6, and achieved platinum accreditation. As well as the three songs featuring John Mayer, the album also includes "Art of Love", a duet with Jordin Sparks. It was released as the second single in November 2009, peaking at No.8 on the ARIA singles Chart and reaching platinum accreditation. It also reached No. 7 on the New Zealand singles chart, gaining gold accreditation there. Two further singles, "All to Myself" and "Never Hold You Down", did not chart in the ARIA top 50.

Sebastian toured in Australia during February 2010 and again in June and July. The US album, now identical to the Australian album, was released in June 2010. He was chosen as a judge on the 2010 series of Australia's The X-Factor, and to fulfil commitments to X-Factor and also the release of his album in America Sebastian divided his time between Australia and the US during the show. He toured the US West Coast between July and September, including guest performances singing "Art Of Love" with Sparks at three of her ''Battlefield Tour'' concerts, and also played support for Chicago at a concert in Oregon. Sebastian was nominated for six ARIA Music Awards for ''Like It Like That''. He received nominations for "Best Pop Release", "Best Male Artist", "Most Popular Australian Album" and "Most Popular Australian Artist", with "Like It Like That" and "Art of Love" receiving nominations for "Most Popular Single".

(2010–present) ''Twenty Ten''

Sebastian released a retrospective album titled ''Twenty Ten'' in November 2010. The album reached No. 4 on the ARIA Album Chart, Sebastian's sixth consecutive top 10 album, and has been accredited platinum. It also charted at No. 24 on the New Zealand Charts. The album is a two disc release. The first disc has 18 songs from his previous albums and two new tracks, with the second disc containing acoustic versions of ten of the songs. One of the new tracks, "Who's That Girl" featuring US rapper Eve, was released as the lead single. Eve came to Australia in November to film her part of the music video, and performed the song with Sebastian on the X Factor Grand Final. The dance-driven electro R&B; song is a departure from Sebastian's previous pop, R&B; and soul releases. "Who's That Girl" reached No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart, Sebastian's fifth No. 1 single. He is the only Australian male artist in Australian music history to achieve five No. 1 singles, and is in equal third overall with Olivia Newton-John for all Australian acts. "Who's That Girl" reached 4x platinum accreditation in May 2011, becoming only the fourth Australian artist single to ever achieve that accreditation level, with Sebastian's debut single "Angels Brought Me Here" being the first. "Who's That Girl" also reached No. 1 and platinum accreditation in New Zealand.

With the release of ''Twenty Ten'' Sebastian had completed the terms of his original contract with Sony, but has re-signed with them for another long term contract. He said in an interview in the Daily Telegraph that he was planning to continue sharing his time between the US and Australia to promote his music in both countries. Sebastian supported Boyzone on their UK tour in March 2011, and Lionel Ritchie on his Australian and New Zealand tour in March and April 2011. Richie stated in an interview with the Daily Telegraph that he handpicked Sebastian to support him on his tour. He has re-recorded his 1983 No. 1 single "All Night Long" with Sebastian to raise money for Australian and New Zealand flood and earthquake relief. The track was produced by RedOne. It peaked at No. 12 on the New Zealand charts and No. 26 in Australia. Richie and Sebastian performed the song together at most of the concerts on the Australian leg of the tour. In 2011 Sebastian received an Australian Club Enterainment Award for best "Original Music Performer", and a Mo Award for "Rock Performer of the Year".

Discography

Studio albums

2003: ''Just as I Am''

2004: ''Beautiful Life''

2006: ''Closer to the Sun''

2007: ''The Memphis Album''

2009: ''Like it Like That''

Compilation albums

2010: ''Twenty Ten''

DVD/CDs

2008: ''The Memphis Tour''

EPs

2007: ''Your Song''

2009: ''Guy Sebastian EP''

Artistry

Musical style and influences

Sebastian's music has crossed many genres, and he cites a number of musicians as his musical influences, including Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, Chicago, and Boyz II Men. From 2003 power ballad "Angels Brought Me Here" through to his fifth album ''Like it Like That'' which touched on 60's soul/pop reminiscent of the late Sam Cooke, he has frustrated many critics’ need to classify artists and their songs. His tracks have also included pop, R&B;, funk, smokey soul, gospel, jazz, pop-rock, Memphis soul covers and electro R&B;, and he has stated an interest in recording gospel, dance and Bollywood albums.

While Sebastian's first three albums showed elements of soul, it was ''The Memphis Album'' which consolidated his reputation as a soul musician. Reviewers almost unanimously agreed he had captured the spirit and essence of the Memphis Soul classics. It was the critical and public reception for ''The Memphis Album'' which gave Sebastian the confidence to stay with the soul genre for his fifth album ''Like It Like That''. In an interview with ''The Age'' he said he was told early in his career, "If you self-indulge and just do what you're into, you're going to corner your market. Soul music isn't big here." but "the most comfortable I've ever felt in the studio was during ''The Memphis Album''. And the success of that prompted me to make a record like this one. Because I realised that this isn't obscure music." Kathy McCabe, a reviewer for the ''Daily Telegraph'' said: "Sometimes it takes four records, with a detour into "concepts" covers territory to find where you fit. Sebastian has found his niche with ''Like It Like That'', which expertly balances the line between radio friendly pop and classic soul". Paul Cashmere from Undercover wrote: "By covering the classics on the ''The Memphis Album'' Guy Sebastian discovered Guy Sebastian.[...] If ''The Memphis Album'' was Guy’s initiation into becoming a Soul Man then ''Like It Like That'' is the graduation."

Songwriting and production

Sebastian began writing songs before entering Australian Idol. "All I Need Is You", the second single from his debut album ''Just As I Am'' was written when he was a teenager, and fine-tuned during his time on Idol. Sebastian wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on his albums ''Beautiful Life'' and ''Closer to the Sun'', and all the tracks on his fifth album ''Like it Like That''. In 2008 "Receive the Power", a gospel song written by Sebastian and Gary Pinto, was chosen as the official anthem for the Roman Catholic Church's XXIII World Youth Day. "Art of Love", co-written by Adam Reilly, was one of the songs shortlisted for the APRA Song of the Year in 2010. "All to Myself", written with Carl Dimatago, and "Who's That Girl" were shortlised for the 2011 APRA Song of the Year, with "Who's That Girl" winning the APRA Award for "Urban Work of the Year".

Sebastian has an interest in writing for other artists as well, and has gained a world-wide, long term publishing agreement with Universal Music Publishing. The Daily Telegraph music editor Kathy McCabe said of his songwriting skills, "Sebastian has matured into a genuine hitmaker, his gift with melody so finely-honed he can pretty much punch out a catchy number in his sleep." "My Miss Universe", a song written by him was included as a B side on Japanese group Chemistry's recent single "Shawty". Sebastian is also involved in music production. Apart from co-producing ''The Memphis Album'' with Steve Cropper, he has his own recording studio, ''Cooper Lane Studio'', where he produces and mixes some of his music, and which is also used by other musicians. The studio has an extensive collection of rare gear he has accumulated throughout his career. He produced a song called "Think Of Me" for 2009 Australian Idol Stan Walker's debut album, as well as playing most of the musical instruments on the track.

Charitable work

thumb|left|180px|World Vision Australia Magazine. Dec 2005During his career Sebastian has had a strong commitment to charity. He has been an ambassador for the Ronald Mcdonald House charities, and is currently an ambassador for the Australian Red Cross and Golden Stave, which is the Australian music and entertainment industry's charity fund raising organisation. He is also an ambassador for World Vision Australia, and in 2005 he travelled to Uganda to film a World Vision documentary "An Idol in Africa" for a Network Ten television special. Sebastian has continued his work with World Vision, supporting the Child Rescue program and the 40 Hour Famine. He has also been involved in the Make Poverty History coalition of which World Vision is a part. In 2008 he was presented with the Extreme Inspiration Award at the Dolly Teen Choice Awards for his continuing support of World Vision. Sebastian is also strongly committed to the Sony Foundation, which raises funds to help young Australians facing homelessness, severe illness, disability and isolation. In 2009 the Sony CEO Denis Handlin said: "Every time I’ve asked Guy to get involved with the Sony Foundation through charity he’s been completely proactive. Guy’s been such a great ambassador for that, and a lot of it is under the radar but it just tells you so much about what a decent human being he is."

Sebastian contributes to many other charitable projects. In 2005 he was the guest performer on the annual Indian Pacific Outback Christmas Journey which raises money for the Royal Flying Doctor's Service. In 2008 he performed a series of 11 concerts with the Australian Army Band to raise funds for Legacy. Legacy is a voluntary organisation which supports the families of deceased veterans. The concerts were held in theatre venues around Australia and the funds raised went to the local Legacy branch in the area each concert was held. Sebastian regularly performs at other fundraising events including Brisbane radio station B105's Christmas appeal for the Royal Children's Hospital, and Perth’s annual Telethon. He also donates his time to annual Christmas carol events such as Carols in the Domain, Vision Australia's Carols By Candlelight, and Brisbane's Carols in the City. His songs are frequently featured on charity cds including the Salvation Army Christmas fundraising CDs, The Spirit Of Christmas albums. Sebastian also makes unofficial appearances at hospitals several times a year.

Other ventures

It Takes Two 2006

Between May and August 2006 Sebastian appeared as a mentor on the inaugural ''It Takes Two'', in which performers from non-musical fields are teamed with professional singers to perform a duet each week. Sebastian's partner was three-time Australian Olympic swimmer Sarah Ryan and they finished second.

Australian Philharmonic Orchestra Concerts 2007

In May 2007 Sebastian was the guest vocalist in a series of 3 concerts with the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra. These concerts were conducted by English conductor Gavin Sutherland, and were at the Sydney Opera House and Hamer Hall in Melbourne. The Australian Philharmonic Orchestra has been presenting concerts with a blend of popular classical and contemporary music for nearly 30 years. Artists they have performed with in the past include Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras, Sir Cliff Richards and Ray Charles. In the 2007 concert series "Guy & the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra", Sebastian performed his own original songs and also songs which helped shape his musical development with the 60 piece orchestra and a 40 voice choir.

World Youth Day 2008

"Receive the Power" a song written by Sebastian and Gary Pinto was chosen as official anthem for the Roman Catholic Church's XXIII World Youth Day (WYD08) held in Sydney in 2008. The song also features the vocals of Paulini Curuenavuli. "Receive the Power" was released in English and also an international version with the chorus in English and verses in Italian, Spanish and French. It was used extensively throughout the 6 days of World Youth Day in July 2008, and also in the television coverage which went around the world. Sebastian and Curuenavuli performed both the English and International versions at the final Mass at Randwick Race Course on 20 July which was attended by 400,000 people. They also performed "Receive the Power" at the Pope's Farewell on 21 July.

The X Factor

Sebastian, along with Natalie Imbruglia, Ronan Keating and Kyle Sandilands was a judge on the Australian series of The X-Factor screened on Channel 7 in 2010. The X Factor is a talent competition where the judges also mentor the contestants. The contestants are selected by all the judges at the auditions, and the chosen acts are divided into four categories, Under 25 Boys, Under 25 Girls, Over 25's and Groups. Each judge is given a category and has to reduce their acts to three. The three acts from each category then compete in the live shows with continuing help from their mentors. Sebastian was given Groups, and was assisted in choosing his final three acts by Rai Thistlethwayte, lead singer of Thirsty Merc, Snoop Dogg and Usher. Sebastian will again be a judge in 2011.

Notable performances

''Asian Idol'', December 2007: Sebastian was a guest star on ''Asian Idol'', held in Jakarta, Indonesia. He performed an "Angels Brought Me Here" duet with Indonesian Idol Mike Mohede and a medley of Memphis soul songs.

Olivia Newton-John & Friends Concert, September 2008: This concert was held at the State Theatre in Sydney to raised funds for Newton-John's Cancer and Wellness Centre Appeal. Sebastian was chosen to sing a duet with Newton-John. They sang her iconic hit from ''Grease'', "Summer Nights".

Oscar Haven – Hollywood, California, February 2009: Sebastian was a headline act at an Oscar Haven party hosted by Stardust Pictures and Jamie Kennedy. "Haven is held during Oscars week so invitees include all Film Academy nominees as well as actors and insiders from film, television and music industries."

9th Annual NON-COMMvention – Philadelphia, May 2009: Sebastian performed with Steve Cropper and David Ryan Harris at the 9th Annual NON-COMMvention. The event is the premier annual conference for North America's non-commercial Triple A radio.

Australian launch of ''Michael Jackson's This Is It'' DVD, March 2010: Sebastian and Delta Goodrem were chosen by the Jackson estate to perform at the Australian launch of ''This Is It''. The invitation only event was attended by the film's director Kenny Ortega, Michael's choreographer Travis Payne, and Michael's brother Jackie Jackson Sebastian and Goodrem performed "Earth Song".

Oprah Winfrey's official welcome to Sydney and wrap up party, December 2010: Sebastian was the guest performer at an event to officially welcome Oprah Winfrey and her American audience members to Sydney on 11 December 2010. Winfrey was in Australia to record two of her shows at the Sydney Opera House. The event was held at Sydney's Botanical Gardens overlooking Sydney Harbour, and was hosted by the New South Wales premier Kristina Keneally. Sebastian sang for Winfrey a second time when she requested he perform at her private crew wrap up party on 15 December.

G'Day USA Black Tie Gala - Los Angeles, January 2011: G'Day USA is an annual two week program designed to showcase Australian business capabilities, and is the largest foreign country promotion held in the US. The Black Tie Gala honours the achievements of Australians abroad and is one of the signature events. Sebastian and the The Qantas Choir were the entertainers at the 2011 Gala. Sebastian performed his own songs and also a medley of Bee Gees songs prior to Barry Gibb being honoured for excellence in Music at the event.

7th Annual Peapod Benefit Concert - Los Angeles, February 2011: The Peapod Benefit Foundation works to encourage social change by uniting people through the music. It was founded by will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas. During Grammy week each year they hold the Peapod Benefit Concert which is attended by musicians, DJ’s, philanthropists, Hollywood celebrities and industry executives. Sebastian was invited to perform at the 2011 concert. Other performers included John Legend, Natasha Bedingfield, Earth, Wind & Fire, Bobby Brown, Ciara and Jackson Browne.

7th Annual Roots Pre Grammy Jam Session - Los Angeles, February 2011: The Roots are a Grammy Award winning hip hop and neo soul American band. During Grammy week they hold a jam session and invite other musicians to perform with them. Sebastian was invited to perform at this event in 2011. It was hosted by Jimmy Fallon and other performers included Sara Bareilles, Lalah Hathaway, Booker T. Jones and Chaka Khan.

Awards and nominations

Sebastian has been nominated for numerous awards during his career, winning many of them. These awards and nominations include ARIA Awards, ARIA #1 Chart Awards, Australian Club Entertainment Awards, a Channel V Artist of the Year Award,

Tours

2004/05: Beautiful Life Tour 2007: Closer to the Sun Tour 2007: Acoustic Tour 2008: The Memphis Tour 2009: Live & By Request Tour 2010: Like It Like That Tour

2010: Bring Yourself Tour

2010: Like It Like That Tour (USA – Portland, Seattle & California)

Joint Tours

2004: Australian Idol in Concert

2007: Guy & the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra 2008: Army in Concert with Guy Sebastian

Support Tours 2011: Boyzone Tour (United Kingdom) 2011: Lionel Ritchie Tour (Australia and New Zealand)

References

External links

Guy Sebastian's Official website

Guy Sebastian's Official youtube channel

Guy Sebastian on bandit.fm

Guy Sebastian on Myplay

Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:ARIA Award winners Category:Australian Christians Category:Australian Idol participants Category:Australian male singers Category:Australian musicians Category:Australian performers of Christian music Category:Australian Gospel singers Category:Australian pop singers Category:Blue-eyed soul singers Category:Australian rhythm and blues singers Category:Australian singer-songwriters Category:Australian soul singers Category:Australian people of English descent Category:Australian people of Malaysian descent Category:Australian people of Portuguese descent Category:Australian people of Sri Lankan descent Category:Idol series winners Category:The X Factor judges Category:Neo soul singers Category:People from Adelaide Category:People from Selangor Category:Burgher people Category:Malaysian people of Sri Lankan descent

de:Guy Sebastian id:Guy Sebastian pl:Guy Sebastian tl:Guy Sebastian tr:Guy Sebastian

Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
Name	PZ Myers
Birth date	March 09, 1957
Residence	United States
Field	Evolutionary developmental biology
Work institution	University of Minnesota Morris
Known for	Pharyngula (blog) }}

Paul Zachary "PZ" Myers (born March 9, 1957) is an American biology professor at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) and the author of the science blog Pharyngula. He is currently an associate professor of biology at UMM, works with zebrafish in the field of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), and also cultivates an interest in cephalopods. He has published numerous research papers in ''Nature'' and other notable scientific journals.

He is a public critic of intelligent design (ID) and of the creationist movement in general and is an activist in the American creation–evolution controversy. He is widely regarded as a confrontationalist.

In 2006, the journal ''Nature'' listed his blog, Pharyngula, as the top-ranked blog written by a scientist. Additionally, PZ Myers was the recipient of the Humanist of the Year award in 2009, and the International Humanist Award in 2011.

Asteroid 153298 Paulmyers is named in his honor.

Early life

Myers was born March 9, 1957, the eldest of six children in Kent, Washington; his mother is of Swedish and Norwegian descent. Regarding his ancestry, Myers wrote: "I'm only half Scandinavian. The blood has been thinned with that of those domesticated English and Irish and Scots." He was named "Paul Zachary", after his grandfather, but preferred the initials PZ to being called "Little Paul." He claims to have been a "science geek" from an early age, gaining an interest in zoology and marine biology from studying the insides of fish while on fishing trips with his father.

Myers was raised as a Lutheran. Prior to his confirmation, Myers says, "I started thinking, you know, I don't believe a word of this." Now an atheist, Myers comments widely on his blog about science, education, atheism and religion.

Education and activism

Myers graduated from Kent-Meridian High School in 1975, and subsequently attended DePauw University in Indiana on a full scholarship. However, he returned home the next year after his father suffered a heart attack. He then attended the University of Washington in 1979 to receive a Bachelor of Science in zoology. Myers drifted away from this field toward evolutionary developmental biology and obtained a PhD in Biology from the University of Oregon.

A self-avowed "godless liberal" and outspoken atheist, he is a vocal skeptic of all forms of religion, superstition, supernaturalism, spirituality and pseudoscience. He is quoted as having "nothing but contempt" for intelligent design, arguing that it is "fundamentally dishonest."

In 2009 Myers was named the American Humanist Association's "Humanist of the Year".

Post-graduate career

Myers has taught and researched at the University of Oregon, the University of Utah and Temple University. He is currently an associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota's Morris campus. He is a member of ''Minnesota Citizens for Science Education''.

Internet involvement

On USENET user groups, forums, and web sites such as talk.origins, Myers became involved in scientific debates, particularly those surrounding the growing creationist movement in the United States. In June 2002 he created his own Web site and blog, ''Pharyngula.org'', and he was a founding member of The Panda's Thumb. Since late 2005 he has been a contributor to Ask A Biologist, a science education website.

Pharyngula

Pharyngula is Myers' personal weblog, promoted as "Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal." The topics Myers covers are eclectic, delving into the non-scientific as well as scientific. While Pharyngula includes many articles discussing breaking science news and research, the blog has become particularly well-known for ridicule of intelligent design and of attempts to insert it into science education. The blog has been ranked as the third-most-read blog maintained by a Minnesotan. Pharyngula won the 2005 Koufax Award for Best Expert Blog. The science journal ''Nature'' listed Pharyngula as the top-ranked blog written by a scientist.

According to Alexa.com, Pharyngula.org was started on June 19, 2002. It started out as an experiment in writing instruction for a class. Students were required to submit mini-essays to be published online. After the project was finished, Myers still had the web-publishing software, and started to use it himself. The blog is named after his favorite stage in embryonic development, the pharyngula stage. Pharyngula moved to hosting at ScienceBlogs, a project of Seed Magazine, in 2005.

On Pharyngula, Myers has repeatedly denounced the Discovery Institute, Answers in Genesis, and other creationist websites, as well as offering rebuttals to Intelligent Design, pointing out that its claims are pseudoscientific. Other posts on Pharyngula cover a broad variety of topics that interest Myers. These include cephalopods; science; religion (to which Myers is unequivocally opposed); local, national and international politics, particularly those involving science and/or education; superstition; and evolutionary developmental biology. Myers dismissed the Discovery Institute's petition A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism, stating that the scientists listed didn't have credentials relevant to Biology, and that the number of them was minuscule compared to the scientific community as a whole.

On his blog in 2007, Myers reviewed Stuart Pivar's book ''Lifecode'', which argues that self-organization at the embryonic and fetal stages determine the development and final structure of organisms. Myers reviewed the book negatively, stating that the diagrams and ideas in the book arose from Pivar's imagination and had no basis in actual evidence.

How his theory can be reconciled with a large body of embryological evidence that directly contradicts virtually all of it is not clear, and Pivar has chosen not to address any of it. And a book full of geometrically interesting sketches neither explains nor supports Pivar's theory.… Theories are supposed to explain observation and experiment. You don't come up with a theory first, and then invent the evidence to support it.

After some discussion in the comments threads of Pharyngula, Pivar sued Myers for libel. Within a week Pivar withdrew the lawsuit, stating that "the real issue got sidelined" and that his problem was more with Seed Media Group.

In addition to articles about keeping religion out of science education, church-state separation, and complaints of misdeeds done in the name of religion, Myers continues to write about science in the disciplines of evolution, palaeontology, genetics, development, and molecular biology.

Interview and screening of ''Expelled''

In April 2007 Myers was interviewed for a documentary titled "Crossroads", purportedly about science and religion. However in September 2007, executive producer Mark Mathis announced that the movie was ''Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed'' about "censorship" of intelligent design supporters. Regarding the discrepancy of focus, Myers wrote: "I mean, seriously, not telling one of the sides in a debate about what the subject might be and then leading him around randomly to various topics, with the intent of later editing it down to the parts that just make the points you want, is the video version of quote-mining and is fundamentally dishonest."

On March 20, 2008, Myers was denied entry into a screening of ''Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed'' at the Mall of America in Minneapolis. He was waiting with his family and guests to attend a private screening after having reserved seats for himself and guests under his own name using the freely available online procedure set up by the film's promoters. Shortly before the film started, a security guard told him that the producer Mark Mathis had instructed that Myers be removed from the premises. After telling his family of this Myers went to a nearby Apple store and blogged about his amusement that they had expelled him, but allowed his guest entry to see the film - British evolutionary biologist and high-profile anti-creationist and antitheist Richard Dawkins, who had also been interviewed for the film under similar circumstances. In a question and answer session at the end of the film Dawkins asked why Myers had been excluded, and later said that "if anyone had a right to see the film, it was [Myers]. The incompetence, on a public relations level, is beyond belief." The saga has been described by Dawkins as "an incredible piece of inept public relations" on the part of the film's producers.

Eucharist controversy

A controversy arose in July 2008 over a Pharyngula blog entry written by Myers expressing amazement at news reports of death threats issued to University of Central Florida Student Senator Webster Cook. On June 29, 2008, Cook attended a Catholic Mass being held in the student union at UCF by a Catholic student group that receives funding from the student government. Cook received the Catholic Eucharist host but did not consume it immediately. He said later that he wanted to take it back to his seat to show a friend, but when stopped he pretended to put it in his mouth until back at his seat, then a church leader made forcible attempts to take the wafer from him. Cook stored the host at his home, then returned it one week later after receiving e-mail threats and pleas. Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League, described the student's actions as "beyond hate speech" and said that "All options should be on the table, including expulsion."

In his July 8 blog entry, Myers criticized the reaction to Cook's act. Myers described the level of harassment including multiple death threats leveled against the student, and accusations against the student which included hate crime, kidnapping, and intent to desecrate the Eucharist which Catholics consider a mortal sin. Myers expressed outrage that Fox News Channel appeared to be inciting readers to cause further problems for the student, and ridiculed reports that armed guards would attend the next mass. Myers suggested that if any of his readers could acquire some consecrated Eucharistic hosts for him, he would treat the wafers "with profound disrespect and heinous cracker abuse, all photographed and presented here on the web."

Myers was criticized from both religious and non-religious quarters. The Catholic League accused Myers of anti-Catholic bigotry, described his proposal as a threat to desecrate what Catholics hold to be the Body of Christ, and sent a letter asking the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Legislature to take action against Myers. The Catholic League argued that, as the Pharyngula website was accessible via a link from the University of Minnesota's website, it should be bound by the university's code of conduct, which requires faculty to be "respectful, fair and civil" when dealing with others. Joe Foley, a member of the Board of the Secular Student Alliance, wrote on the organization's website that Myers had "crossed the line" from "playful satire" to "masturbatory condescension." Foley concluded, "if open-minded believers are willing to join us in polite dialogue, we need to be ready to welcome them with more than ridicule and pranks."

Subsequently, Myers explained to the ''Star Tribune'' that while his post was "satire and protest," he had received death threats regarding the incident but was not taking them too seriously. In a talk show featuring Myers on ''Catholic Radio International'', hosted by Jeff Gardner, Myers confirmed that he had been sent an unspecified number of consecrated hosts and said that he intended to “subject them to heinous cracker abuse.” When asked by Gardner to explain why he must do so, Myers said that Donohue of the Catholic League was insisting that he acknowledge the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. Gardner pointed out that Donohue had no authority to insist on such acknowledgment. The show host then asked Myers which individual possessing the Magisterial authority of the Catholic Church had insisted that he recognize the body of Christ in the Eucharist. Myers replied that no one from the Catholic Church had contacted him.

On July 24, 2008, Myers, in his post, "The Great Desecration," wrote that he had pierced through the "goddamned cracker" with a rusty nail, which he also used to pierce a few ripped-out pages of the Qur'an and ''The God Delusion'', and had simply thrown them all in the trash along with old coffee grounds and a banana peel. He provided a photograph of these items in the garbage, and wrote that nothing must be held sacred, encouraging people to question everything. In addition, he described the history of allegations of host desecration, emphasizing the frequent use of such allegations in medieval Europe to justify anti-Semitism. The following day, University of Minnesota, Morris (UMM) Chancellor stated: “I believe that behaviors that discriminate against or harass individuals or groups on the basis of their religious beliefs are reprehensible,” and that the school "affirms the freedom of a faculty member to speak or write as a public citizen without institutional discipline or restraint."

Creation Museum visit

Myers' engagement as keynote speaker at the 2009 Secular Student Alliance Conference in Columbus, Ohio developed into an August 7, 2009 trip, in which 304 attendees visited the nearby Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. Beforehand, there was a flurry of heated blog posts which resulted in the museum sending a warning letter detailing appropriate behavior. The visit resulted in two reported incidents. In one, a student wearing a t-shirt that read, "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy yourself" was asked to turn the shirt inside out.

It was also reported that a student was asked to leave the Creation Museum after a family visiting the museum complained to staff that they saw him "laughing at the exhibits". Ken Ham however denied that the student was told to leave, claiming that a photographer who witnessed the incident was the one who was removed.

See also

Antireligion

Antitheism

Conflict thesis

{| |- || |}

References

External links

Official

Pharyngula – Official blog

Myers' personnel page from University of Minnesota Morris

Interviews/Presentations

Minnesota Citizens for Science Education

''Science Friday: Interview with a Mad Scientist'' on Daily Kos

Genetics Interview #23: PZ Myers of Pharyngula, Hsien Hsien Lei, ''Genetics and Health''

Interview with PZ Myers (January 26, 2007), and Debate with Kenneth R. Miller (May 10, 2007) on The Inoculated Mind

Video interviews/discussions involving PZ Myers on Bloggingheads.tv

Debate with Geoffrey Simmons of the Discovery Institute on KKMS

PZ Myers vs. Angus Menuge April 2008 on UMM

MnIndy interview: Unrepentant science-heathen PZ Myers still intends to prove "this cracker is nothing" at Minnesota Independent

Poll Crashers Tilt Unscientific Polls Their Way

PZ Myers - Global Atheist Convention 2010

Category:1957 births Category:American atheists Category:Former Lutherans Category:American biologists Category:American bloggers Category:American skeptics Category:Christianity-related controversies Category:Atheism activists Category:Evolutionary biologists Category:Living people Category:Opposition to religion Category:People from King County, Washington Category:American people of Irish descent Category:People from Stevens County, Minnesota Category:Science activism Category:Science bloggers Category:University of Oregon alumni Category:University of Oregon faculty Category:University of Washington alumni Category:American people of Norwegian descent Category:American people of Swedish descent Category:American people of English descent

de:Paul Zachary Myers es:PZ Myers fr:PZ Myers hu:PZ Myers ja:ポール・ザカリー・マイヤーズ no:PZ Myers pl:PZ Myers se:PZ Myers fi:PZ Myers sv:PZ Myers

Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
name	Jennifer Hawkins
title	Miss Australia 2004, Miss Universe 2004
nationalcompetition	Miss Universe 2004 (winner)
birth place	Holmesville, New South Wales, Australia
birth name	Jennifer Hawkins
birth date	December 22, 1983
height
eye color	Blue
hair color	Blonde
nationality	Australian }}

Jennifer Hawkins (born 22 December 1983) is an Australian beauty queen, model and television presenter best known as Miss Universe 2004 and the face of Australian department store Myer.

Early life

Hawkins was born in Holmesville, New South Wales, Australia and currently resides in Sydney. She attended West Wallsend High School. She is one of four children, and her parents are of Australian heritage. Hawkins was a former cheerleader for the Newcastle Knights rugby league team, and the Hunter Pirates basketball team and also worked as a model. It was as a model that she was cast as Miss Australia for the Miss Universe competition. Hawkins also worked as a choreographer for a dance team that toured Australia specialising in Hip-Hop and Ballet.

Career

Miss Universe

After being selected to represent Australia in the internationally televised Miss Universe 2004, Hawkins sought advice from previous titleholder Ashlea Talbot, and learned basic Spanish prior to travelling to Ecuador.

The Miss Universe pageant was held in Quito, Ecuador on 1 June 2004. A week prior to the event, Hawkins was ranked sixth favourite to win the crown. During the final competition, Hawkins became the first Australian to make the semi-finals since Voni Delfos in 1993. She then proceeded to the top ten after competing in the evening gown competition, where she wore an unusual vintage copper gown that was designed by Bora and cost A$25,000. After the swimsuit competition, Hawkins advanced to the top five, and eventually won the Miss Universe title. The remaining top five were all delegates from the Americas and Caribbean, including Shandi Finnessey of the USA (1st runner-up), Alba Reyes of Puerto Rico (2nd runner-up), Yanina Gonzalez of Paraguay (3rd runner-up) and Danielle Jones of Trinidad and Tobago (4th runner-up). Hawkins was the first winner from Oceania since Lorraine Downes of New Zealand held the title in 1983, and the first Australian since Kerry Anne Wells in 1972.

Hawkins was crowned by outgoing titleholder Amelia Vega from the Dominican Republic, after famously being announced by host Billy Bush as the "thunder from down under". Pageant co-owner Donald Trump described Hawkins as "the most beautiful Miss Universe I have seen in many, many years".

Hawkins received an elaborate Mikimoto pearl encrusted crown, worth $250,000 as well as an extensive prize package. Hawkins was the first blonde haired woman to win the title since Angela Visser of the Netherlands in 1989.

As Miss Universe, Hawkins represented the Miss Universe Organization. Her "sister" 2004 titleholders were Shelley Hennig (Miss Teen USA, of Louisiana) and Shandi Finnessey (Miss USA, of Missouri). During her reign, Hawkins travelled to Korea, The Bahamas, Brazil, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Singapore, Indonesia, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, India, Ecuador, Mexico, Puerto Rico, had multiple trips to Thailand, the host of Miss Universe 2005, and her home country of Australia. In Brazil, after an official meeting with Vice-President José Alencar, he said she was "the prettiest girl I have ever seen in my life". Also, she was the first Miss Universe ever to parade in a Samba School (as Eve) during brazilian carnival, in February 2005.

As part of her year-long reign as Miss Universe, she resided in New York City in a riverside apartment provided by the Miss Universe Organization. Also during her reign as Miss Universe, Hawkins stated that her wish was to continue modelling and become a television presenter.

Shortly after being crowned Miss Universe in 2004, Hawkins created news during a fashion show at Westfield Miranda, an Australian shopping centre, when she tripped on the hem of her dress, which fell to the floor. Hawkins was left scantily clad in her red g-string in front of a surprised crowd. Hawkins later apologized, laughingly adding she "wished she wore better underwear". The incident received the dubious distinction of being named "The most embarrassing moment ever shown on Australian television" by Australia's Nine Network. The "wardrobe malfunction" was widely circulated through news outlets and according to Google, caused a sharp increase in internet searches for "Jennifer Hawkins".

Hawkins served as a judge for the Miss Universe 2008 finals in Vietnam.

Television presenting

Hawkins signed a contract with the Seven Network at the 2004 Melbourne Cup Carnival. Her first appearances were as a guest presenter on the network's travel show, ''The Great Outdoors'', where she took viewers on tours throughout the world. When she ended her reign as Miss Universe, she became a regular presenter on the show, which resulted in a 2006 Logie nomination for Most Popular New Female Talent. No new episodes of the programme have been produced since 2009.

Hawkins also served as the host and one of the judges for Australia's Make Me a Supermodel, which debuted on the Seven Network in August 2008. The series aired for a single season.

Media outlets reported in October 2010 that Hawkins would depart Seven and move to the Nine Network after the expiration of her contract.

Other

Hawkins was one of the participants in the fourth season of Australia's ''Dancing with the Stars'' and was the fifth celebrity eliminated. On 15 February 2006 she was in a celebrity version of Deal or No Deal called ''Dancing with the Deal'' which featured celebrities from Dancing with the Stars. She won $2,000 after refusing every deal.

Hawkins is featured as the love interest of Australian artist, Guy Sebastian in the music video for the second single "Elevator Love" off his third album, "Closer To The Sun". She has made cameo appearances in multiple episodes of The Apprentice with Donald Trump. Hawkins turned down the role of Sophie Solandres in the Pink Panther 2 due to scheduling conflicts, which was eventually given to Former Miss World and Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai.

Endorsements

In July 2005, she was signed by personal hygiene and skincare brand Lux as its face of Australia and New Zealand. In September 2006, Hawkins signed a 3 year deal with ''Lovable Australia'' lingerie as its Australian "face". In August 2006, she became ambassador for Grand Waterfront, a residential development in Hong Kong between Henderson Land Development and its associate the Hong Kong & China Gas Company. Full ffront page colour photographs of her have appeared as advertisements in several Chinese language newspapers; Minute-long advertisements for the development have been aired on primetime television in Hong Kong with Hawkins as the principal subject.

In 2006, Jennifer signed a lucrative endorsement deal to become the first Australian face of Covergirl makeup.

In November 2006, Hawkins endorsed a range of Asus laptops in Sydney, Australia, at which the company donated the proceeds of an EBay sale of a special edition pink S6 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

In January 2007, it was announced that Hawkins had signed a deal with Australian Department Store Myer worth $4million (AUD).

In 9 August 2007, she was offered $50,000 to pose nude in the men's magazine, Zoo Magazine, which she declined.

On 6 January 2010, Hawkins appeared naked and unretouched on the February cover of Marie Claire Australia magazine to support the Butterfly Foundation and encourage positive attitudes to body image.

Public image

Reception

Following her successful public reception, Hawkins initially accepted Bathurst school student Daniel Dibley's invitation to accompany him to his Year 12 graduation ball in August 2006. She later declined because she did not wish to draw attention from the other couples. She did however agree to go with him on a private date.

Personal life

Hawkins is engaged to model and former carpenter Jake Wall. They met just prior to Hawkins winning the Miss Universe pageant and the two continued their relationship following her return to Australia after her year based in New York. Wall was in ''Torvill and Dean's Dancing on Ice''. The Seven Network requested that she not attend the show, as Seven feared the Nine Network will capitalise on her presence, which may boost ratings for Nine.

External links

Official Website

EntertainOz Profile

Seoul Times on the pageant

Exquisite Soul

Askmen

Sydney Morning Herald article, 21 August 2006

Jennifer Hawkins Videos at Made of Stars

Jennifer Hawkins launches her own swimwear brand

References

Category:1983 births Category:Australian female models Category:Australian television presenters Category:Living people Category:Miss Universe winners Category:Miss Universe 2004 contestants Category:People from Newcastle, New South Wales Category:Australian beauty pageant winners

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