A talk show (American and Australian English) or chat show (British) is a television program or radio program where one person (or group of people) discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host.^[1]

Sometimes, talk shows feature a panel of guests, usually consisting of a group of people who are learned or who have great experience in relation to whatever issue is being discussed on the show for that episode. Other times, a single guest discusses their work or area of expertise with a host or co-hosts. A call-in show takes live phonecalls from callers listening at home, in their cars, etc. Sometimes, guests are already seated but are often introduced and enter from backstage. Gay Byrne, Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson,^[2], Dick Cavett, Ed Sullivan, Oprah Winfrey, Rush Limbaugh, and Mosunmola Abudu have hosted notable talk shows; in many cases, the shows have made their hosts famous.

Genres[link]

Television talk shows often feature celebrity guests who talk about their work and personal lives as well as the their latest films, TV shows, music recordings or other projects they'd like to promote to the public. The hosts are often comedians who open the shows with comedy monologues.

Talk-radio host Howard Stern also hosted a talk show that was syndicated nationally in the USA, then moved to satellite radio's Sirius. The tabloid talk show genre, pioneered by Phil Donahue^[3] but popularized by Oprah Winfrey^[4] was extremely popular during the last two decades of the 20th century.^[5]

Politics are hardly the only subject of American talk shows, however. Other radio talk show subjects include Car Talk hosted by NPR and Coast to Coast AM hosted by Art Bell and George Noory which discusses topics of the paranormal, conspiracy theories, fringe science and the just plain weird. Sports talk shows are also very popular ranging from high-budget shows like The Best Damn Sports Show Period to Max Kellerman's original public-access television cable TV show Max on Boxing.

History[link]

Talk shows had been broadcasted on television since the earliest days of the medium. Joe Franklin, an American radio and television personality, hosted the first television talk show. The show began in 1951 on WJZ-TV (later WABC-TV) and moved to WOR-TV (later WWOR-TV) from 1962 to 1993.^[6]

Ireland's The Late Late Show is the world's longest-running talk show;^[7][8] although The Tonight Show is equally as old, it has changed formats and titles since its beginnings in 1950.

Steve Allen was the first host of The Tonight Show, which began as a local New York show, being picked up by the NBC network in 1954. It in turn had evolved from his late-night radio talk show in Los Angeles. Allen pioneered the format of late night network TV talk shows, originating such talk show staples as an opening monologue, celebrity interviews, audience participation, and comedy bits in which cameras were taken outside the studio, as well as music, although the series' popularity was cemented by second host Jack Paar, who took over after Allen had left and the show had ceased to exist.

Dick Cavett and Jack Paar

TV news pioneer Edward R. Murrow^[9] hosted a talk show entitled Small World in the late 1950s and since then, political TV talk shows have predominantly aired on Sunday mornings.

Syndicated daily talk shows began to gain more popularity during the mid-1970s and reached their height of popularity with the rise of the tabloid talk show. Morning talk shows gradually replaced earlier forms of programming - there were a plethora of morning game shows during the 1960s and early to mid-1970s, and some stations formerly showed a morning movie in the time slot that many talk shows now occupy.

Current late night talk shows such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Show with David Letterman have aired for years, featuring celebrity guests and comedy sketches. Syndicated daily talk shows range from tabloid talk shows, such as The Jerry Springer Show to celebrity interview shows like Live with Kelly, The Wendy Williams Show, and Ellen to industry leader The Oprah Winfrey Show which popularized the former genre and has been evolving towards the latter. On November 10, 2010, Oprah Winfrey invited several of the most prominent American talk show hosts - Phil Donahue, Sally Jessy Raphael, Geraldo Rivera, Ricki Lake and Montel Williams - to join her as guests on her show.^[10]

Talk shows have more recently started to appear on Internet Radio. Also, several internet blogs are in talk show format including the Baugh Experience.

The Guinness World Record of 40 hours for the longest talk show was broken on the 27/28 October 2007 by Paweł Kotuliński in Poland.

Talk shows in other countries[link]

In Japan, panel shows - called "tooku bangumi" (トーク番組）in Japanese - are very commonplace, accounting for about 30% of daytime and prime-time programming on the four main television stations. Due to language and cultural differences, Japanese TV stations could not freely use syndicated programs (mostly from Europe and North America) and therefore turned to panel shows, which could be produced cheaply and easily, to fill time during daytime programming.

Japanese panel shows are distinct in generally not employing regular panelists but instead having a panel made up of different freelance comedians and celebrities each program, although the program is generally hosted by the same compere. Talk shows evolved in tandem with the Japanese variety show and it is very common for talk shows to borrow variety elements, typically by having celebrity guests attempt some kind of amusingly incongruous activity. Often, one of the guests will be a gaijin tarento (foreign talent) in order to provide comedy or to comment on matters related to Western culture. However, the comedic elements are usually written for the guests and hosts.

Taiwan is also known for their talk shows, like Japan, where they carry variety show elements and feature a handful of celebrities for each show. Many Taiwanese talk shows rely on comedic bantering, musical and talent performances, wildly animated on-screen texts and visuals (remniscent of anime), but most of these elements are scripted by writers.

See also[link]

• Talk radio
• Breakfast television
• Late-night talk show
• Trash TV

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Niven, David; Lichter, S. R.; Amundson, Daniel (July 2003). "The Political Content of Late Night Comedy". The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics 8 (3): 118–133. DOI:10.1177/1081180X03008003007. http://hij.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/8/3/118. 
• Priming Effects of Late-Night Comedy
• Late-Night Comedy and the Salience of the Candidates' Caricatured Traits in the 2000 Election
• About Talk Shows
• Morning Talk Shows
• Daytime Talk Shows
• Late Night Talk Shows

Todd Barry (born March 26, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and voice actor.^[1]

Life and career[link]

Barry was born in The Bronx, New York, and grew up in Florida.^[2] In 1999, his Comedy Central Presents aired. He wrote, directed and starred in the short film Borrowing Saffron (2002), which co-starred H. Jon Benjamin. He has made a variety of guest appearances on shows like Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, Home Movies, Wonder Showzen, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. He also voices a recurring character on Squidbillies. In 2004 Todd Barry was featured in an animated series called Shorties Watchin' Shorties.^[2][3]

In 2008, he played Wayne in Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler.

Over the course of six years he made 16 appearances on Dr. Katz, appearing as himself in the first two appearances. He then played the recurring character "Todd the video store clerk" and appeared in most episodes in the show's final year. He also played a character in the television pilot Saddle Rash along with Sarah Silverman, H. Jon Benjamin and Mitch Hedberg. In "The Third Conchord", the twelfth and final episode of the first season of Flight of the Conchords, Barry played Todd, a bongo playing megalomaniac, who tries to introduce the song, "Doggy Bounce," to the Conchords' repertoire, and a new band name: The Crazy Dogggz.

In 2010, Barry had a recurring role as a fictionalized version of himself in the second season of the live-action Adult Swim series Delocated. He also has a recurring role playing himself in FX's Louie.

Works[link]

Discography[link]

• Medium Energy (2001)
• Falling off the Bone (2004)
• From Heaven (2008)^[4]

Films[link]

• Tomorrow Night (1998) - Man Caught in Rain (Director: Louis CK, 1998 Sundance selection)
• Los Enchiladas! (1999) - Duane (Director: Mitch Hedberg, 1999 Sundance selection)
• Road Trip (2000) - Campus Security Guard 1
• Pootie Tang (2001) - Greasy
• Borrowing Saffron (2002) - George (Director: Todd Barry, Woodstock Film Festival selection)
• Beer League (2006) - Creepy Guy Down the Shore
• The Wrestler (2008) - Wayne
• Pete Smalls is Dead (2010) - Bob Withers
• Vamps (2012) - Ivan
• Wanderlust (2012) - Sherm

Television[link]

• Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Romulox (three episodes)
• Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist - Himself
• Bored to Death - Dale Woodley
• Flight of the Conchords - Todd
• Wonder Showzen - Barold T. Mosley
• Sesame Street - #7
• Lucky Louie - Todd
• Talkshow with Spike Feresten - Himself-guest
• Chappelle's Show - Paul
• The Larry Sanders Show - Keith
• Spin City - Doug
• Sex and the City - Ordinary Guy
• Contest Searchlight - himself
• Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn - regular panelist
• Tom Goes to the Mayor - Saul
• Space Ghost Coast to Coast - Himself-guest ("Eat a Peach" episode)
• Home Movies - Video Store Clerk
• Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil
• The Sarah Silverman Program
• Louie
• Delocated - Himself
• Bob's Burgers - Moo-Lissa

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Todd Barry

• Official website
• NPR.org Interview
• Todd Barry at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Kittenpants.org
• Scene Missing Magazine Interviews Todd Barry
• .jesterjournal.com review of "From Heaven" CD

His Excellency José Manuel Barroso
President of the European Commission
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 November 2004
Vice President	Margot Wallström Catherine Ashton
Council	Herman Van Rompuy
Preceded by	Romano Prodi
Prime Minister of Portugal
In office 6 April 2002 – 17 July 2004
President	Jorge Sampaio
Preceded by	António Guterres
Succeeded by	Pedro Santana Lopes
Personal details
Born	(1956-03-23) 23 March 1956 (age 56) Lisbon, Portugal
Political party	National: Portuguese Workers' Communist Party (Before 1976) Social Democratic Party (1976–present) European: European People's Party
Spouse(s)	Maria Sousa Uva
Children	Luís Guilherme Francisco
Alma mater	University of Lisbon European University Institute University of Geneva Georgetown University
Signature
Website	Official website Official Media Gallery

José Manuel Durão Barroso (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛ mɐnuˈɛɫ duˈɾɐ̃w bɐˈʁozu]; born 23 March 1956) is the 11th and current President of the European Commission and a Portuguese politician. He served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 6 April 2002 to 17 July 2004.

Academic career[link]

Durão Barroso (as he is known in Portugal) graduated in Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon and has an MSc in Economic and Social Sciences from the University of Geneva (Institut Européen de l'Université de Genève) in Switzerland. His academic career continued as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon. He did research for a PhD at Georgetown University and Georgetown's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C. but his CV does not list any doctoral degree (except honorary).^[1] He is a 1998 graduate of the Georgetown Leadership Seminar.^[2] Back in Lisbon, Barroso became Director of the Department for International Relations at Lusíada University (Universidade Lusíada). He received honorary degrees from many Universities listed under honorary degrees.

Early political career[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2011)

Barroso's political activity began in his late teens, during the Estado Novo regime in Portugal, before the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974. In his college days, he was one of the leaders of the underground Maoist MRPP (Reorganising Movement of the Proletariat Party, later PCTP/MRPP, Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers/Revolutionary Movement of the Portuguese Proletariat). In an interview with the newspaper Expresso, he said that he had joined MRPP to fight the only other student body movement, also underground, which was controlled by the Portuguese Communist Party. Despite this justification there is a very famous political 1976 interview recorded by the Portuguese state-run television channel — RTP, in which Barroso, as a politically minded student during the post-Carnation Revolution turmoil known as PREC, criticises the bourgeois education system which "throws students against workers and workers against students."^[3] In December 1980, Barroso joined the right-of-centre PPD (Democratic Popular Party, later PPD/PSD-Social Democratic Party), where he remains to the present day.

In 1985, under the PSD government of Aníbal Cavaco Silva (now President of Portugal), Barroso was named Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs. In 1987 he became a member of the same government as he was elevated to Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (answering to the Minister of Foreign Affairs), a post he was to hold for the next five years. In this capacity he was the driving force behind the Bicesse Accords of 1990, which led to a temporary armistice in the Angolan Civil War between the ruling MPLA and the opposition UNITA. He also supported independence for East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, then a province of Indonesia by force. In 1992, Barroso was promoted to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs, and served in this capacity until the defeat of the PSD in the 1995 general election.

Prime Minister of Portugal[link]

In opposition, Barroso was elected to the Assembly of the Republic in 1995 as a representative for Lisbon. There, he became chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. In 1999 he was elected president of his political party, PSD, succeeding Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (a professor of law), and thus became Leader of the Opposition. Parliamentary elections in 2002 gave the PSD enough seats to form a coalition government with the right-wing Portuguese People's Party, and Barroso subsequently became Prime Minister of Portugal on 6 April 2002. As Prime Minister, facing a growing budget deficit, he made a number of difficult decisions and adopted strict reforms. He vowed to reduce public expenditure, which made him unpopular among leftists and public servants.^{[citation needed]}. His purpose was to lower the public budget deficit to a 3% target (according to the demands of EU rules), and official data during the 2002–2004 period stated that the target was being attained. Barroso did not finish his term as he had been nominated as President of the European Commission on 5 July 2004. Barroso arranged with Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio to nominate Pedro Santana Lopes as a substitute Prime Minister of Portugal. Santana Lopes led the PSD/PP coalition for a few months until early 2005, when new elections were called. When the Portuguese Socialist Party won the elections it produced an estimation that by the end of the year the budget deficit would reach 6.1%,^[4] which it used to criticise Barroso's and Santana Lopes's economic policies.

In 2003, Barroso hosted U.S President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar in the Portuguese island of Terceira, in the Azores. The four leaders finalised the controversial US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. Under Barroso's leadership, Portugal became part of the "coalition of the willing" for the invasion and occupation of Iraq, sending non-combat troops.^{[citation needed]}

President of the European Commission[link]

The "three European presidents", Jerzy Buzek (Parliament), José Manuel Barroso (Commission) and Herman Van Rompuy (European Council) during a press conference in 2011

This section requires expansion.

In 2004, the proposed European Constitution and now the Treaty of Lisbon included a provision that the choice of President must take into account the result of Parliamentary elections and the candidate supported by the victorious Europarty in particular. That provision was not in force in the nomination in 2004, but the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), who won the elections, pressured for a candidate from its own ranks. In the end, José Manuel Barroso, the EPP candidate, was chosen by the European Council.^[5]

On the same basis, the EPP again endorsed Barroso for a second term during the 2009 European election campaign and, after the EPP again won the elections, was able to secure his nomination by the European Council on 17 June 2009. On 3 September 2009, Barroso unveiled his manifesto for his second term.^[6] On 16 September 2009, Barroso was re-elected by the European Parliament for another five years.^[7][8][9] If he completes his second term he will become only the second Commission president to serve two terms, after Jacques Delors.

During his first presidency, the following important issues were on the Commission's agenda:

• Turkey applying for EU membership
• The reform of the institutions (Treaty of Lisbon)
• The Bolkestein directive, aimed at creating a single market for services within the EU
• Lisbon Strategy
• Galileo positioning system
• Doha Development Agenda negotiations
• European Institute of Innovation and Technology
• An EU climate change package

One of his first tasks since being re-elected was a visit to Ireland to persuade Irish citizens to approve the Treaty of Lisbon in the country's second referendum due to be held the following month.^[10] Barroso was greeted by Irish Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea and Peter Power, the Minister of State for Overseas Development, as he got off his plane at Shannon Airport on the morning of 19 September 2009 before briefly meeting with the joint committee of the Oireachtas and meeting and greeting people at functions in Limerick's City Hall, University of Limerick (UL) and the Savoy Hotel.^[10] He told The Irish Times in an interview referenced internationally by Reuters that he had been asked if Ireland would split from the European Union.^[11] He also launched a €14.8 million grant for former workers at Dell's Limerick plant, described as "conveniently opportune" by former Member of the European Parliament and anti-Lisbonite Patricia McKenna.^[12]

Controversies[link]

In 2005 Die Welt reported that Barroso had spent a week on the yacht of the Greek shipping billionaire Spiro Latsis. It emerged soon afterwards that this had occurred only a month before the Commission approved 10 million euros of Greek state aid for Latsis's shipping company – though the state aid decision had been taken by the previous European Commission before Barroso took up his post.^[13] In response to this revelation, Nigel Farage MEP of the UK Independence Party persuaded around 75 MEPs from across the political spectrum to back a motion of no confidence in Barroso, so as to compel him to appear before the European Parliament to be questioned on the matter.^[14] The motion was tabled on 12 May 2005, and Barroso appeared before Parliament as required at a debate on 26 May 2005.^[15] The motion itself was heavily defeated.

In response to criticism for his choice of a less fuel efficient Volkswagen Touareg, amid EU legislation of targets drastically to reduce car CO₂ emissions, Barroso dismissed this as "overzealous moralism".^[16]

In April 2008, amid sharp food price rises and mounting food vs fuel concerns, Barroso insisted that biofuel use was "not significant" in pushing up food prices.^[17] The following month, he announced a study that would look into the issue.^[18] The backdoor approval of the GE potato, by President Barroso, has met a wave of strong opposition from EU member-states. The governments of Greece, Austria, Luxembourg, Italy, Hungary and France have all publicly announced that they will not allow the GE potato to be grown in their countries.

Personal life[link]

José Manuel Durão Barroso is the son of Luís António Saraiva Barroso and his wife Maria Elisabete de Freitas Durão. In 1980 he married Maria Margarida Pinto Ribeiro de Sousa Uva, with whom he has three sons: Luís, Guilherme, and Francisco de Sousa Uva Durão Barroso.^{[citation needed]}

Apart from Portuguese, Barroso is fluent in French,^[19] speaks Spanish and English and has taken a course to acquire a basic knowledge of German.^[20]

Honours[link]

Barroso holds over twenty decorations, including.^[21]

• Portugal's Gra-Cruz da Ordem Militar de Cristo in 1996;
• Winner of the Casa da Imprensa prize in the area of politics in 1992
• Named Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in 1993
• Chosen Personality of the Year in 1991 and 2004 by the Foreign Press Association in Portugal
• Given “Medalla de la Universidad de Alcala de Henares” and “Medalla de Oro de la Ciudad de Zamora”, Spain, 2005
• Golden Medal: The Bell Celebration – Message to the United Europe, from the Ferdinan Martinengo Company, Slovakia, 2006
• EFR-Business Week Award from Erasmus University Rotterdam, 2006.
• Honorary Citizen of Rio de Janeiro, June 2006.
• "European of the Year" award by European Voice newspaper, November 2006.
• Awarded Honorary HEC diploma, Paris, December 2006.
• Special Prize, Business Centre Club, Poland, February 2007; Gold Medal of the city of Lamego, Portugal, April 2007;
• Transatlantic Leadership Prize, European Institute, Washington DC, April 2007;
• Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great (Lithuania, 06/2007)^[22]
• Honorary Citizen of Delphi and Golden Medal of the "Amfiktyons", Delphi, Greece, July 2007;
• Academic Title EBAPE – FGV, for the relevant contribution and services towards the study and practice in Administration - Getulio Vargas Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, August 2007
• Conde de Barcelona International Prize from the Conde de Barcelona Foundation, Barcelona, November 2007.
• Honorary Medal and Honorary Diploma of the City of Nicosia, Nicosia, January 2008.
• Honorary Member, Academia Portuguesa da História, Lisbon, March 2008.
• State Medal "Stara Planina" I Degree, Bulgaria, March 2008.
• "Prémio Rotary da Paz", Rotary International Distrito 1960 Portugal, Lisbon, April 2008; "Chave de Honra da Cidade de Lisboa", Lisbon, May 2008.
• Confraria Queijo S. Jorge, Acores, May 2008.
• Ciudadino Andino Honorifico, Lima, Peru, May 2008.
• "Transatlantic Business Award", American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union, Brussels, May 2008.
• Confraria vinho do Porto, Porto, June 2008.
• Orden de la Cruz de Terra Mariana, Primera clase, Tallinn, February 2009.
• Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of European Studies, Royal Institute of European Studies Madrid, March 2009.
• Gold Medal of the Hellenic Parliament, Athens, April 2009.
• Medal of Honour and Benefaction of the City of Athens, Athens, April 2009.
• European Excellence Award, by the Government Council of the Community of Madrid, May 2009.
• Prix European of the Year, The European Movement in Denmark, Copenhagen, May 2009.
• Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great, Vilnius, June 2009.
• Laureate of the Quadriga Prize 2009 - United for the Better, Berlin, October 2009
• Collar of the Order "pro Merito Melitensi", the Order of Malta, Rome, May 2010.
• Medal of Merit from the Federação das Associações Portuguesas e Luso-brasileiras, Brazil, July 2010.
• "Man of the Year 2009 of Central and Eastern Europe", Krynica, September 2010.
• Great Collar of the Order of Timor-Leste, Brussels, October 2010.
• Golden Victoria "European of the Year 2010" award by the Union of German Magazine Publishers VDZ, Berlin, November 2010.
• Collar of the European Merit Foundation, Luxembourg, November 2010.
• the "Steiger" Award 2011, Bochum, Germany, March 2011.

Honorary Degrees[link]

• Honorary Degree from Roger Williams University, Rhode Island, 2005
• Honorary Degree in Humanities from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
• Honorary Degree in Political Science from the University of Genoa, Italy, 2006
• Honorary Degree in Law from Kobe University, Japan, April 2006.
• Honorary Doctorate in Social and Human Sciences from Candido Mendes University, Rio de Janeiro, June 2006.
• Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science, University of Edinburgh, November 2006.^[23]
• Honorary Degree from the Economics Faculty of the "La Sapienza" University of Rome, January 2007
• Honorary doctorate at Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw, November 2007.^[24]
• Doctor Honoris Causa degree at the Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, March 2008.
• Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, University of Liverpool, July 2008; "Prémio Política e Responsabilidade Social", Fundação Luso-Brasileira, Lisbon, October 2008.
• Honorary Degree of Doctor, Université Nice Sophia Antipolis, Nice, November 2008.
• Doctor Honoris Causa, Tomas Bata University, Zlin, Czech Republic, April 2009.
• Honorary doctorate of the Chemnitz University of Technology, Chemnitz, May 2009.^[25]
• Honorary doctorate of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh, USA, September 2009.
• Doctor Honoris Causa, University Estácio de Sá, Rio de Janeiro, July 2010.
• Doctorate Honoris Causa, Łódź University, Poland, October 2010.
• Doctorate Honoris Causa, University of Geneva, October 2010.
• Doctorate Honoris Causa, University of Bucharest, November 2010.
• Honorary Doctorate, Baku State University, Azerbaijan, January 2011.
• Honorary Doctorate, Luiss Guido Carli University, Rome, March 2011.
• Honorary Doctorate, Ghent University, March 2011.

See also[link]

• President of the European Commission
• European Union law

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: José Manuel Barroso

• President José Manuel Barroso – Official Media Gallery
• European Commission – President José Manuel Barroso
• tellBarroso.eu – a web service for telling Barroso: "What can Europe do for you?"

v t e European Commission Presidents and their Commissions ECSC: Jean Monnet (1952) • René Mayer (1955) • Paul Finet (1958) • Piero Malvestiti (1959) • Rinaldo Del Bo (1963) • Albert Coppé (1963) EAEC: Louis Armand (1958) • Étienne Hirsch (1959) • Pierre Chatenet (1962) EEC: Walter Hallstein (1958)2 EC: Jean Rey (1967) • Franco Maria Malfatti (1970) • Sicco Mansholt (1972) • François-Xavier Ortoli (1973) • Roy Jenkins (1977) • Gaston Thorn (1981) • Jacques Delors (1985)2 EU: Jacques Delors (1993) • Jacques Santer (1995) • Manuel Marín (1999) • Romano Prodi (1999) • José Manuel Barroso (2004)2 Commission President  · President of the European Council  · Council Presidency  · President of Parliament

v t e Barroso Commission I (2004–2009) Joaquín Almunia · Catherine Ashton6 · José Manuel Barroso1 · Jacques Barrot2 · Joe Borg · Karel De Gucht9 · Stavros Dimas · Benita Ferrero-Waldner · Ján Figeľ10 · Franco Frattini2, 5 · Mariann Fischer Boel · Dalia Grybauskaitė7 · Danuta Hübner8 · Siim Kallas2 · László Kovács · Neelie Kroes · Meglena Kuneva3 · Markos Kyprianou4 · Peter Mandelson6 · Charlie McCreevy · Louis Michel9 · Leonard Orban3 · Andris Piebalgs · Janez Potočnik · Viviane Reding · Olli Rehn · Paweł Samecki8 · Maroš Šefčovič10 · Algirdas Šemeta7 · Vladimír Špidla · Antonio Tajani2, 5 · Androulla Vassiliou4 · Günter Verheugen2 · Margot Wallström2 1 = President. 2 = Vice President. 3 = Served from 1 January 2007. 4 = Vassiliou replaced Kyprianou on 3 March 2008. 5 = Tajani replaced Frattini on 18 June 2008. 6 = Ashton replaced Mandelson on 3 October 2008. 7 = Šemeta replaced Grybauskaitė on 1 July 2009. 8 = Samecki replaced Hübner on 4 July 2009. 9 = De Gucht replaced Michel on 17 July 2009. 10 = Šefčovič replaced Figeľ on 1 October 2009.

v t e Barroso Commission II (since 2010) Joaquín Almunia2 · László Andor · Catherine Ashton2 · Michel Barnier · José Manuel Barroso1 · Dacian Cioloş · John Dalli · Maria Damanaki · Štefan Füle · Máire Geoghegan-Quinn · Kristalina Georgieva · Karel De Gucht · Johannes Hahn · Connie Hedegaard · Siim Kallas2 · Neelie Kroes2 · Janusz Lewandowski · Cecilia Malmström · Günther Oettinger · Andris Piebalgs · Janez Potočnik · Viviane Reding2 · Olli Rehn · Antonio Tajani2 · Androulla Vassiliou · Maroš Šefčovič2 · Algirdas Šemeta 1 = President. 2 = Vice President.

v t e European Council List of meetings · President · Party composition (1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 (Jan–Apr) • 2004 (May–Dec) • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012) Van Rompuy (President) · Faymann · Di Rupo · Borisov · Christofias · Nečas · Thorning-Schmidt · Ansip · Katainen · Hollande · Merkel · Pikrammenos · Orbán · Kenny · Monti · Dombrovskis · Grybauskaitė · Juncker · Gonzi · Rutte · Tusk · Passos Coelho · Băsescu · Fico · Janša · Rajoy · Reinfeldt · Cameron · Barroso European Union Portal

Tyra Lynn Banks
Banks at the 2012 Time 100 gala
Born	Tyra Lynn Banks (1973-12-04) December 4, 1973 (age 38) Inglewood, California, U.S.
Occupation	Model Actress Author Singer
Years active	1991–present
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1][2]
Website
typeF.com

Tyra Lynn Banks (born December 4, 1973). is an American model, media personality, actress, occasional singer, author and businesswoman.^[3][4][5] She first became famous as a model, appearing twice on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and working for Victoria's Secret as one of their original Angels. Banks is the creator and host of the UPN/The CW reality television show America's Next Top Model, co-creator of True Beauty, and host of her own talk show, The Tyra Banks Show.

Early life[link]

Tyra Banks was born in Inglewood, California. She is the daughter of Caroline (née London; now London-Johnson), a medical photographer,^[6] and Donald Banks, a computer consultant.^[3][7] She has a brother, Devin, who is five years older. In 1980, when Banks was 6 years old, her parents divorced. Banks attended John Burroughs Middle School and graduated in 1991 from Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles. Tyra Banks is one of four African Americans and seven women to have repeatedly ranked among the world's most influential people by Time magazine.

Career[link]

Modeling[link]

When Banks was 15 years old, she started modeling while attending school in Los Angeles. She was rejected by four modeling agencies before she was signed by Elite Model Management at age 16. When she got the opportunity to model in Europe, she put college on hold and moved to Milan. In her first runway season, she was booked a record 25 shows at the 1991 Paris fashion week. She would later grace the covers of ELLE and Vogue Spain. She walked the runways for Chanel, Isaac Mizrahi, Anna Sui, Sonia Rykiel, Todd Oldham, Christian Lacroix, Christian Dior, Karl Lagerfeld, Calvin Klein, Badgley Mischka, Marina Spadafora, Michael Kors, Perry Ellis, Gemma Kahng, Valentino, Tracy Reese, Nicole Miller and Fendi as well as appearing in ad campaigns for Dolce & Gabbana, Yves Saint Laurent, Ralph Lauren and others.^[8] In the mid-1990's, Banks returned to America to do more commercial modeling.

Banks was the first African American woman on the covers of GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.^[9] In 1997, she received the VH1 award for, "Supermodel of the Year."^{[citation needed]} That same year, she became the first-ever African American chosen for the cover of the Victoria's Secret catalog.^[10] She is one of the original Victoria's Secret Angels.

In 2010, Banks re-signed with her former modeling agency IMG Models.^[11] Banks is now a contributor of the Vogue Italia website.

Move into television and film[link]

Banks at Cannes Film Festival in 2000.

Banks's television career began on the fourth season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, in which she played lead character Will Smith's old friend Jackie Ames. She made seven appearances in the series.^{[citation needed]} Other TV credits include Felicity, All That, MADtv, Nick Cannon's Wild 'n Out (in which she was featured as a special guest host and team captain) and The Price Is Right (guest-starring as a "Barker's Beauty").^{[citation needed]} She also appeared as a guest in the animated talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast in an episode entitled "Chinatown."

Tyra Banks started her own production company, Bankable Productions (previously named, "Ty Ty Baby Productions"; she did not rename it till the second cycle of America's Next Top Model), which produced The Tyra Banks Show, America's Next Top Model and the 2008 movie The Clique.

Banks is the hostess, judge and executive producer of The CW Television Network show America's Next Top Model. In addition, she hosted The Tyra Banks Show, a daytime talk show aimed at younger women, which premiered on September 12, 2005, and ran until May 28, 2010.

In 2008, Banks won the Daytime Emmy Award for her work and production on The Tyra Banks Show.^{[citation needed]}, and won for the second time in a row for outstanding, informative talkshow. In 2010, Oprah Winfrey congratulated Tyra Banks for a good job done on her talk-show for inspiring and mentoring young women.

In late-January 2008, Banks got the go-ahead from The CW Television Network to start work on a new reality television series based on fashion magazines called Modelitha. The show premiered on October 22, 2008.^{[citation needed]}

Banks's first big screen role came in 1994, when she co-starred in the drama Higher Learning.^[12] She then co-starred with Lindsay Lohan in the Disney film Life-Size, playing a doll named Eve who comes to life and has to learn how to live in the real world. Other notable roles include Love Stinks (1999), Love & Basketball (2000), Coyote Ugly (2000) and Halloween: Resurrection (2002). She and Miley Cyrus poke fun at the excesses of the Hollywood lifestyle with a battle over a pair of shoes in Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009).

Banks appeared in the fourth episode of the third season of Gossip Girl^[13] playing Ursula Nyquist, a larger-than-life actress who works with Serena.

Music[link]

Banks has appeared in several music videos, including Michael Jackson's "Black or White", Tina Turner's "Love Thing", Mobb Deep's "Trife Life", George Michael's "Too Funky" (with supermodels Linda Evangelista, Estelle Lefebure, Emma Sjoberg and Nadja Auermann ) and Lionel Richie's "Don't Wanna Lose You". In 2004, she recorded her first single, "Shake Ya Body," which had a music video featuring the final six contestants on America's Next Top Model, Cycle 2. The video was world-premiered on UPN, but the single turned out to be a failure.^[14]

Banks released a single with NBA player Kobe Bryant, entitled "K.O.B.E.," which was performed on NBA TV.^{[citation needed]} She also has a single on the soundtrack to Disney Channel's Original Movie Life-Size called "Be A Star."^{[citation needed]}

Books[link]

Banks in Santa Monica on September 14, 2011

Banks announced in May 2010 that she would be writing a novel, titled Modelland,^[15] loosely based on her own modelling experience.^[16] Published September 2011,^{[dated info]} it is the first of a planned three-part series.^[17] On an interview with Good Morning America, Banks stated that Modelland is the story of four girls who are accepted into an "exclusive" modelling school in the world of Modelland.^[18] Her first novel, Modelland, hit the New York Times best seller list in October 2011.

In 1998, Banks authored a book entitled Tyra's Beauty, Inside and Out.^[19]

Website[link]

In March 2011, Banks launched her fashion and beauty website called "typeF.com", which she co-created with Demand Media.^[20]

Other[link]

In 2011, Banks enrolled in the nine-week-long Owner/President Manager Program (OPM) at Harvard Business School's open-enrollment extension school.^[21] Banks passed the Executive Education Training Program in February 2012.^[22]

Philanthropy[link]

In 1999, Tyra Banks established the TZONE program, which aimed at leadership and life skills development.^[23][24] Banks acts as the patron for TZONE. She has also established the Tyra Banks Scholarship, a fund aimed at providing African-American girls the opportunity to attend her alma mater, Immaculate Heart High School. In 2005, TZONE transformed from a camp into a public charity, the Tyra Banks TZONE Foundation.^[23]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tyra Banks

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Tyra Banks

• Tyra Banks at the Internet Movie Database
• Tyra Banks at the Fashion Model Directory
• Tyra Banks at AllRovi
• banks Tyra Banks at People.com
• The Tyra Banks Show website
• The New York Times Profile/Interview

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad محمود احمدی‌نژاد
6th President of Iran
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 August 2005
Vice President	Parviz Davoodi Mohammad-Reza Rahimi
Supreme Leader	Ali Khamenei
Preceded by	Mohammad Khatami
Mayor of Tehran
In office 20 June 2003 – 3 August 2005
Deputy	Ali Saeedlou
Preceded by	Mohammad-Hassan Malekmadani
Succeeded by	Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf
Governor of Ardabil
In office 1 May 1993 – 28 June 1997
Preceded by	Hossein Taheri (East Azerbaijan)
Succeeded by	Javad Negarandeh
Personal details
Born	(1956-10-28) 28 October 1956 (age 55) Aradan, Iran
Political party	Alliance of Builders (2003–present)
Other political affiliations	Islamic Society of Engineers (1990–2005)
Spouse(s)	Azam Farahi (1981–present)[1]
Children	Mehdi Alireza Fatemeh
Residence	Sa'dabad Palace (Official) Gisha (Private)
Alma mater	Iran University of Science and Technology
Profession	Civil engineer
Religion	Usuli Twelver Shia Islam
Signature
Website	Official website

This article contains Persian text, written from right to left with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined letters written left-to-right, instead of right-to-left or other symbols instead of Persian script.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Persian: محمود احمدی‌نژاد‎, Mahmūd Ahmadinezhād [mæhˈmuːd(-e) æhmædiːneˈʒɒːd] ( listen),^[2][3][4] English: /ɑːkməˈdɪnɨʒɒd/; born 28 October 1956^[5][6]) is the sixth and current President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the main political leader of the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran, a coalition of conservative political groups in the country. An engineer and teacher from a poor background,^[7] Ahmadinejad joined the Office for Strengthening Unity^[8] after the Islamic Revolution. Appointed a provincial governor, he was removed after the election of President Mohammad Khatami and returned to teaching.^[9] Tehran's council elected him mayor in 2003.^[10] He took a religious hard line, reversing reforms of previous moderate mayors.^[11] His 2005 presidential campaign, supported by the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran, garnered 62% of the runoff election votes, and he became President on 3 August 2005.^[12][13] His second presidency term ends on August 3, 2013. He is not eligible to run for another term under the current Iranian constitution.

Ahmadinejad is a controversial figure both within Iran and internationally. He has been criticized domestically for his economic lapses and disregard for human rights. He launched a gas rationing plan in 2007 to reduce the country's fuel consumption, and cut the interest rates that private and public banking facilities could charge.^[14][15][16] He supports Iran's nuclear energy program. His election to a second term in 2009 was widely disputed^[17][18] and caused widespread protests domestically and drew significant international criticism.^[19]