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Hubworld
Format	News magazine
Presented by	Justin "Kredible" Willman
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	52
Production
Executive producer(s)	Kathy Samuels[1]
Producer(s)	Hasbro Studios[1]
Running time	22 minutes (Approx.)
Production company(s)	Hasbro Studios[1] Natural 9 Entertainment[1]
Broadcast
Original channel	The Hub
Picture format	1080i (HD)
Original run	November 5, 2010 (2010-11-05)[2] – October 29, 2011 (2011-10-29)

Hubworld is a children's news magazine television series airing in the United States on The Hub, and produced by Natural 9 Entertainment with an association with Hasbro Studios^[1]. The program premiered on November 5, 2010^[2] and is hosted by actor/magician Justin "Kredible" Willman. The program's premiere date was delayed from The Hub's launch date on October 10, 2010, to November due to unknown factors.

Program summary[link]

Hubworld is a series providing looks at current programs on The Hub, including shows such as Family Game Night, the network's animated franchises such as G.I. Joe: Renegades, Transformers: Prime, Dan Vs. and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Segments include Willman's comedic news and current events monologue called "Back it Up", and "Hub Happenings", which involves Willman snarking about short clips of Hub programming.

Other segments include interviews of current pop music stars, celebrities and sports stars, press line interviews at film premieres or junket interviews of film stars, and features involving children doing good in their communities and throughout the world. An ending segment features musician Danny Tieger singing a song about the news events of the week in a segment called "Just to Let You Know News Jam".

References[link]

External links[link]

• Hubworld at the Internet Movie Database

This article about a children's television series produced in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Curtis Armstrong (born November 27, 1953) is an American actor best known for his portrayal as Booger in the Revenge of the Nerds movies, as Herbert Viola on Moonlighting, and as famed record producer Ahmet Ertegün in the film Ray.

Early life[link]

Armstrong was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Norma E. (née D'Amico), a teacher, and Robert Leroy Armstrong.^[1] He graduated from Berkley High School in Berkley, Michigan and later attended and graduated from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.^[2]

Career[link]

His first role came in the 1983 hit film Risky Business. However, he is probably best known for his next role, that of Dudley "Booger" Dawson in the 1984 hit comedy movie Revenge of the Nerds and its 1987 sequel Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise. He later reprised his role as Booger in the 1992 television movie Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation and once again in the 1994 television movie Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love. Armstrong's typecasting in the role was mocked in The Simpsons episode “E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)”. His other films include Better Off Dead, Big Bully, One Crazy Summer, Bad Medicine, National Lampoon's Van Wilder, Smokin' Aces, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Jingle All The Way, Southland Tales, and Beer for My Horses. He also had a recurring role as Herbert Viola on the television series Moonlighting, and played the part of Ahmet Ertegün in the biographical film Ray (2004).

He provided the voice for Mr. Moleguaco on the Disney Channel original series The Emperor's New School. Curtis was also in Akeelah and the Bee & Max Keeble's Big Move. He played "Farley", a fictional composite character based on members of Elvis Presley's real entourage in the 1997 cult-comedy film Elvis Meets Nixon. He also had a bit part as "Russel" in the short-lived TV show Reaper.

He voices "Snot" on the animated sitcom American Dad!, parodying his role from Revenge of the Nerds. He also had a role as Double Wide in the cartoon series Stroker and Hoop on Cartoon Network. He appeared in the 2006 production of Akeelah and the Bee as Mr. Welch. He was on VH1's 100 Greatest Teen Stars despite being thirty when he played his first role. He played "Mecklen" in the 2007 film, Smokin' Aces.

In the feature film Ray, for preparation for his role as music executive Ahmet Ertegün, he had the top part of his head shaved to simulate male pattern baldness. He guest starred in episode 10 — "Much Too Much" and had a much smaller part in episode 11 — "Owner of a Lonely Heart" in season two of Grey's Anatomy. Armstrong played a deejay named Jerry Thunder in That '70s Show, episode 315, "Radio Daze."

In 2008, he guest starred in the iCarly episode "iStakeout" as a convenience store clerk who was suspected of pirating movies. In 2009 he appeared in Ratko: The Dictator's Son, and Locker 13. He played fictional astronaut Chaz Dalton on an episode of the TV series My Name is Earl.

2009 found Armstrong playing a paranoid character in a mental institution on the House season six premiere, Broken. Also in 2009 Armstrong appeared in American Pie Presents: The Book of Love, as a teacher obsessed with the principal of the school, and he also appeared as a bumbling bandit in the movie "Gold Retrievers".

In 2010 he made a guest appearance on the television show Glory Daze and currently voices the main character on the animated series Dan Vs.. He also appeared on Spike TV's Blue Mountain State (S01E11). In 2011 he appeared on an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and has a recurring role as attorney Peter Goldman in season seven of The Closer.

On October 27, 2011, he appeared as himself on the television show Rules of Engagement.

In addition to his acting career, Armstrong's affinity for the music of Harry Nilsson has prompted him to become an expert on Nilsson's work. He has written liner notes for CD reissues of Nilsson albums, and has been instrumental in archival and bonus track preparation for these reissues. Additionally, Armstrong is an avid fan of Washington Irving, Laurel and Hardy, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Curtis Armstrong at the Internet Movie Database
• Curtis Armstrong at AllRovi

Tori Spelling
Spelling at the The Heart Truth Fashion Show in 2009.
Born	Victoria Davey Spelling (1973-05-16) May 16, 1973 (age 39) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, author
Years active	1981–present
Spouse	Charlie Shanian (2004–2006) Dean McDermott (2006–present)
Children	3
Parents	Aaron Spelling (deceased) Candy Spelling
Relatives	Randy Spelling (brother)
Website
www.torispelling.com

Victoria Davey "Tori" Spelling (born May 16, 1973)^[1] is an American actress and author. Her first role was Donna Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1990. She appeared in a string of made-for-television films, such as A Friend to Die For and Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?. Spelling also rose to prominence through independent films such as Trick and The House of Yes. She reprised her prominent role in the spinoff, 90210 in 2009.

Her autobiography, sTORI Telling, debuted on top of the New York Times Best Seller list and was named the best celebrity autobiography of 2009.^[2]

Early life[link]

Victoria Davey Spelling^[3] was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of Candy (née Marer; born 1945) and Aaron Spelling (1923-2006).^[4] She has a younger brother, Randy, who is also an actor. Both of Spelling's parents were Jewish^[5][6], though her family celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah while she was growing up.^[7] Her middle name comes from her paternal grandfather. She attended Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California but graduated from Harvard-Westlake School.

Career[link]

Early work[link]

As a child, Spelling had guest spots on shows such as The Love Boat, T. J. Hooker, Hotel, Fantasy Island, Vega$, and Saved by the Bell. In 1990, she landed the role of Donna Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210, a series co-produced by her father, Aaron Spelling and Spelling Television. Until the show ended, Spelling portrayed Donna and was nominated for two Young Artist Awards.^[8][9] Donna was a virgin until the finale of the seventh season and endured stalking, attempted rape, and addiction.^[10]

While starring on 90210, Spelling was cast in a string of made-for-television films, including Co-Ed Call Girl (1992), A Friend to Die For (1994), and Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? (1996). Subsequently, Spelling was cast in several independent films including Trick (1997) and The House of Yes (1999).^[11][12]

2006–2009[link]

Spelling has been the star of two reality-based shows. In 2006, she starred as herself in the VH1 sitcom So NoTORIous, which parodied her public image. In January 2007, she and her second husband Dean McDermott decided to purchase and operate a bed and breakfast hotel in Fallbrook, California. They became the basis of a new reality show, Tori & Dean: Inn Love, which premiered on the Oxygen network on March 20, 2007.^[13] In July 2007, Spelling became a minister to marry a gay couple at Chateau La Rue. A tape of the ceremony was shown on Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood.^[14] In June 2008, the show returned for a third season under the new name Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood. In the new season, Spelling and McDermott discontinued running the inn, and they return to Los Angeles where they struggle to balance buying a new home, her second pregnancy, and her book tour. In May 2009 Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood returned for a fourth season.

On January 7, 2009, it was reported that Spelling would reprise her role as Donna Martin on the new CW show 90210.^[15] She appeared in two episodes (19 and 20) as a special guest star.

Spelling's fashion and jewelry line premiered on HSN. She released an autobiography, sTori Telling, on March 11, 2008. Her second book titled Mommywood was released on April 14, 2009.^[16]

2010–present[link]

In 2010, Spelling released her third book, uncharted terriTORI. Spelling told People: "I love sharing my stories and experiences with people and connecting to them on both a humorous and emotional level. The response to my first two books has been so amazing that I wanted to write a third one for my fans."^[17]

In 2011, Spelling's spin-off series Tori & Dean: sTORIbook Weddings, premiered on April 6, 2011.^[18] Later that year, Spelling voiced the Pirate Princess in Jake and the Never Land Pirates. She played a role in the comedy short movie "Hoarders: Untold sTori" which premiered at the Outfest Film Festival in July 2011.^[19]

On September 4, 2011, Spelling made an appearance on Big Brother 13.^[20] On April 21, 2012, Spelling hosted My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic 'Royal Wedding' special, celebrating the show's second season finale.

Personal life[link]

On July 3, 2004, Spelling married actor and playwright Charlie Shanian.^[21] They separated in October 2005 and their divorce was finalized on April 20, 2006.^[22]

Spelling married Dean McDermott less than a month later, on May 7, 2006, in a private ceremony in Wakaya, Fiji. McDermott was formerly married to Mary Jo Eustace, whom he recently divorced to marry Spelling.^[23] Spelling and McDermott remarried, renewing their vows on May 8, 2010 in Beverly Hills.^[24] Spelling and McDermott have three children: son Liam Aaron (born March 13, 2007) and daughters Stella Doreen (born June 9, 2008)^[25] and Hattie Margaret (born October 10, 2011).^[26] In March 2012, Spelling announced that she and McDermott are expecting their fourth child.^[27]

Spelling's father Aaron died on June 23, 2006. She was anticipated to inherit a sizable portion of her father's $500 million estate. The estate was to be divided primarily between Spelling, her brother Randy and her mother Candy. Spelling's mother Candy was the estate executor, but she and Tori were estranged. Tori and Randy Spelling inherited just $800,000,^[28] although Randy was not estranged.^[28] It was reported that Candy established a $10 million trust fund for Liam.^[29]

Filmography[link]

Tim Gunn and Spelling co-presenting at an event in November 2007.

Multimedia[link]

Soundtrack[link]

• Trick (January 27, 1999)

Books[link]

Spelling has written four books. Three were published by Gallery Books, while one was published by Aladdin Books.

• Her first book, sTORI Telling (2008) was a New York Times bestseller.^[30][31]
• In 2009, Mommywood was published about her experiences with her children.^[32]
• A third book, UNCHARTED TERRITORI, was released in 2010.^[33][34]
• Presenting Tallulah (2010) is her first picture book.^[35][36]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tori Spelling

• Tori Spelling at the Internet Movie Database
• Tori Spelling at People.com
• Tori Spelling Reality Series
• Official Website
• Tori Spelling on Twitter

Jason Thomas Mraz
Jason Mraz in March 2011
Background information
Birth name	Jason Thomas Mraz
Born	(1977-06-23) June 23, 1977 (age 35) Mechanicsville, Virginia, U.S.
Genres	Pop rock, blue-eyed soul, alternative rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, mandolin, mandola, banjo, ukulele, baritone ukulele
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Elektra Records (2002–2005) Atlantic Records (2005–present)
Associated acts	Tristan Prettyman, Bushwalla, Jack Johnson, Colbie Calliat
Website	jasonmraz.com
Notable instruments
Taylor Guitars

Jason Mraz ( /məˈræz/;^[1] born June 23, 1977 in Mechanicsville, Virginia) is an American singer-songwriter. Mraz released his debut album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come, which contained the hit single "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)", in 2002, but it was not until the release of his second album, Mr. A-Z, in 2005, that Mraz achieved major commercial success. The album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and sold over 100,000 copies in the US. In 2008, Mraz released his third studio album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and was a commercial success worldwide, peaking in the top ten of many international charts.

Mraz's international breakthrough came with the release of the single "I'm Yours" from the album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. The single peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Mraz his first top ten single. The song was on the Hot 100 for 76 weeks, beating the previous record of 69 weeks held by LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live". The song was a huge commercial success in the US, receiving a 5x platinum certification from the RIAA for sales of over five million.^[2] The song was successful internationally, topping the charts in New Zealand and Norway and peaking in the top ten of multiple international charts.

Early life[link]

Jason Mraz was born and raised in Mechanicsville, Virginia.^[3] He is of Czech descent through his grandfather, who moved to the United States from Austria-Hungary in 1915.^[4] His surname is Czech for "frost"^[4] (Czech: mráz). His parents, Tom (Tomáš) Mraz and June, divorced when he was four years old, but he asserts that he had an idyllic childhood, saying, "My hometown of Mechanicsville was very American. There were white picket fences, a church on every street corner, low crime and virtually no drug use. It was a good place to grow up."^[5] He went to Lee Davis High School^[6]

Music career[link]

[edit] Live at Java Joe's (2001)

In 2001, Mraz released a live acoustic album, Live at Java Joe's, a coffee-house type place in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego where Jewel also made her debut. Here, Mraz performed with percussionist Noel "Toca" Rivera and bassist Ian Sheridan and felt at home singing and scatting through jazzy-pop songs. He would deliver rapidfire lyrics full of verbal mischief, and he would riff off the crowd like a stand-up comic.^[7] The album featured Mraz's free-lancing vocal style and songs he later re-released, including "1000 Things", "You and I Both", and "Halfway Home."

The album was made available to download on iTunes on March 11, 2008, under the title Jason Mraz: Live & Acoustic 2001.

[edit] Waiting for My Rocket to Come (2002–2003)

In 2002, Mraz signed a recording contract with Elektra Records. He recorded his first album with the Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer producer John Alagía, and Virginia-based roots rock band the Agents Of Good Root.^[8] Mraz then released his first major-label debut album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come. The album was a relative commercial success, peaking at number 55 on the Billboard Hot 200 and at number two on the Top Heatseekers Chart. The lead single from the album, "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)" was co-written by music production team The Matrix and it was Mraz's first top 20 single on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 15.

Mraz's friend and former roommate Billy "Bushwalla" Galewood collaborated on the album, co-writing "Curbside Prophet" and the album's third single, and "I'll Do Anything".

[edit] Tonight, Not Again: Jason Mraz Live at the Eagles Ballroom (2004)

In 2004, while touring, Mraz released a live album and accompanying DVD^[9], Tonight, Not Again: Jason Mraz Live at the Eagles Ballroom, a special two-disc set including an audio CD of his concert from Milwaukee's Eagles Ballroom^[10] , plus a video DVD of the concert plus tons of backstage footage. Mraz performed with his touring band including drummer Adam King, percussionist Noel "Toca" Rivera and bassist Ian Sheridan and keyboardist Eric Hinojosa along with a guest appearance from Blues Traveler lead John Popper. The Eagles Ballroom (part of The Rave complex) has a capacity of only about 3,200^[11] making it possible for Mraz to have significant interaction with the audience, bridging his earlier coffeeshop performances to his later much larger venue concerts.

[edit] Touring and Mr. A–Z (2003–2008)

Mraz opened for Tracy Chapman in March 2003 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In July 2005, Mraz opened for Alanis Morissette during her Jagged Little Pill Acoustic Tour. On July 26, 2005, he released his second major-label album, Mr. A–Z, for Atlantic Records. It entered the Billboard 200 album chart at number 5.^[12] In December, the album earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, while its producer, the prolific Steve Lillywhite, received a nomination for Producer of the Year.^[13] In 2006 "Life is Wonderful" the first track of the album was featured in the Hilton Journeys Hotel commercial"

Mraz began his long-running tour in support of Mr. A–Z at the San Diego Music Awards on September 12. The tour featured several opening acts, including Bushwalla and Tristan Prettyman, with whom he had co-written the duet "Shy That Way" in 2002.^[14] Mraz and Prettyman dated, ending their relationship in 2006. They also co-wrote the song "All I Want For Christmas is Us".^{[citation needed]} In November 2005, Mraz opened for the Rolling Stones on five dates during their 2005–2006 world tour. Also in 2005, Mraz was one of many singers featured in the fall advertisement campaign for The Gap entitled "Favorites". The music-themed campaign also featured other singers including Tristan Prettyman, Michelle Branch, Joss Stone, Keith Urban, Alanis Morissette, Brandon Boyd, and Michelle Williams.^[15] In December 2005, Mraz released the first part of his ongoing podcast.

Jason Mraz performs at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut on May 17, 2006.

Jason Mraz at Gröna Lund In Stockholm, Sweden 2008

In March 2006, Mraz also performed for the first time at a sold-out performance in Singapore with Noel "Toca" Rivera as part of the annual Mosaic Music Festival.^{[citation needed]} In May 2006, Mraz toured mostly small venues and music festivals in the U.S., along with a few shows in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The tour included a May 6, 2006 acoustic show with P.O.D., Better Than Ezra, Live, and The Presidents of the United States of America. Mraz was featured as a headlining guest of St. Louis's annual Fair St. Louis and performed a free concert at the base of the Arch on July 1, 2006. During this time, Mraz was also the opening act at several dates for Rob Thomas' Something to Be Tour.

In December 2006, Selections for Friends, the live, online-only album recorded during the Songs for Friends Tour, was released. Selections for Friends features Jason's favorite songs from the Schubas Tavern and Villa Montalvo shows he played in July 2006. Jason Mraz began 2007 by debuting his new single "The Beauty in Ugly", an earlier track penned by Mraz entitled "Plain Jane" that he rewrote for the ABC television program Ugly Betty. The song was featured as a part of ABC's "Be Ugly in '07" campaign.^[16] He has since released a song in Spanish entitled "La Nueva Belleza (The New Beauty)".^[17]

In 2007, American Idol contestant Chris Richardson performed "Geek in the Pink", which subsequently garnered the song mass recognition and increased downloads at the American iTunes Store. "Geek in the Pink" peaked at No. 22 on the U.S. iTunes Store on March 10, 2007, but it was ineligible for the site's Hot 100.^{[citation needed]} The tape-recording of bootlegs during Mraz's shows is explicitly supported by him and his management.^[18] In 2007, he also provided background vocals on Mandy Moore's song "Slummin' in Paradise", of her studio album Wild Hope.

[edit] We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. (2008–2009)

Mraz released his third studio album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. on May 13, 2008, following the April 2008 "Music, Magic, Make Peace" Tour with Bushwalla, The Makepeace Brothers, and magician Justin Willman. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 200, giving Mraz his highest charting album to date. Following the success of its lead single, "I'm Yours", the album broke into the top ten of many international music charts and charted in the top three in Australia and the US.^[19]

The first single, "I'm Yours", reached No. 1 on AAA radio charts in the US. The single was a B-side to Mr A-Z, and was made famous by recordings from his live shows. In September 2008, the song became Mraz's first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #6. As of October 14, 2008, the album has been certified Gold by the RIAA, selling in excess of 500,000 copies in the US. The song was a commercial success worldwide, peaking in the top ten of multiple European charts and topping the charts in New Zealand for six weeks.^[20] In 2008, Mraz launched his single "I'm Yours" at the music industry-only event titled Sunset Sessions. Exactly one year later, Jason was nominated for a Grammy on the single.

Mraz and his song "I'm Yours" were nominated for Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 2009 51st Grammy Awards. The album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical in 2009. On January 31, 2009, Mraz was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, performing "I'm Yours" and "Lucky", the latter with Colbie Caillat. "Lucky" peaked on the Hot 100 at 48.

With "Make It Mine" and "Lucky", Mraz won two awards for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals, respectively, at the 2010 52nd Grammy Awards.

On June 20, 2009, Mraz was awarded the Hal David Starlight award from the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.^[21]

[edit] Love Is a Four Letter Word (2009–present)

In early 2009, a song titled "Try Try Try" was leaked out into the Internet. The song was later released in 2010 by Michael Squire. New songs have been performed in his recent concerts, some of which have been uploaded onto YouTube. Earlier this year, Jason Mraz spent time in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil working with Milton Nascimento. Mraz also recently met and worked with Willie Nelson, whose 'style' is fondly referenced in one of Mraz's early hits "Curbside Prophet."

In November 2009, Mraz posted on his MySpace page plans for a new album to be recorded starting in December, stating "In 2 weeks time I will enter the studio and begin recording the next album. Only a handful of songs are written and slated but the momentum of love is with me. Every day new verses get added on. The songs are coming together piece by piece. The process is unlike any of the other records before this. It's like I'm being gifted the album without having to do the work. I'm creating that in 6 months the project will be complete and then we'll hit the road again with new sounds and new musicians."^[22]

In 2010 Mraz spent time in London, England, where he worked on songs for his new album with producer Martin Terefe and wrote with British singer-songwriter Dido.^[23]

Mraz contributed vocals for The Grooveline Horns' eponymous EP on the track "Fun", a cover of the Con Funk Shun song, released March 2, 2010.^[24]

In August 2010, Mraz had a Q&A interview with Spin magazine. In the interview, he stated the current possible titles for his fourth album are Peace Canoe or The Love Album.^[25]

On September 13, 2010, Mraz was featured on the single "Love, Love, Love" by Hope.^[26]

On September 28, 2010, Mraz announced the upcoming release of the new "Life Is Good" EP consisting of recordings from his concerts from Maine to the Life is Good Festival in Canton, Massachusetts which will include live recordings of "Coyotes" and multiple new songs, "San Disco Reggaefornia", "Up", "What Mama Say", and "The Freedom Song". The EP was released on October 5, 2010.^[27] On the same tour, Mraz also showcased other new songs, such as "Thinking About You", "Love Looks Like" and "In Your Hands".

From December 26, 2010, the official website was updated with a series of images, the first seemingly a sequence of blocks separated by points to indicate a date, and the second image containing a rectangle, circle, triangle and a square, which appear to spell out the word "love." This image was also trademarked. Popular belief was that the "love" image was the beginning of a marketing campaign for a new record.

Appearing on VH1 Top 20 Countdown on March 5, 2011, Jason Mraz noted that he had 12 songs ready to go for the album but then decided they weren't good enough. In July 2011, his team's Twitter feed (@theRKOP) confirmed that his album will be released in early 2012.^[28]

JasonMraz.com relaunched in July 2011 with a new design and a message informing fans that a special announcement was imminent. A few days later, it was announced that Mraz would embark on a mini-global tour in September to November 2011, with occasional full band shows, but mostly as an acoustic duo with long time performing partner and friend, Noel "Toca" Rivera. The special shows marked the ten-year anniversary of the independently released Live at Java Joe's album. Mraz played in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Berlin and Prague, and was due to make a festival appearance in Hossegor, France before the festival was cancelled.

On September 19, 2011, Jason Mraz announced via his Facebook page the release of a new single titled "The World as I See It", which is intended to be the theme of the "In Search of Incredible" campaign, accompanied by the song being embedded via YouTube.^[29] On September 20, 2011, the single was released on the iTunes music store.^[30]

During the fall/winter tour, many songs old and new were showcased. Towards the end of the tour, Mraz announced that 'I Never Knew You' would not be featuring on the new album, suggesting that the final tracklist has been decided on and that the album is on course for release around February 2012.

On December 8, 2011, Mraz told Jeff Benjamin of Billboard that the "album is finished" except for one track he was attempting to re-work as an acoustic version. He described the album as, "It's not a departure in the sound of the genre in any way, it's just different tones, different textures. Musically, I think people are going to like it. It's personal. It's melodic. And it's mellow. There's a couple of up-tempo tunes, but mostly the rhythm of the heartbeat kind of takes precedence on this record. Medium-tempo tunes; which I love. It feels more like the pace of life. At least, based on my life and what I've been doing."^[31]

On January 20, 2012, during a performance streamed live from the Bing Bar at the Sundance Film Festival, Mraz told the audience that the album's title is Love Is a Four Letter Word. Mraz released a new single from the album, called "I Won't Give Up", and the single has peaked at No. 1 on iTunes.^[when?]

During January 2012, the Dutch online retailer bol.com accidentally released a tracklisting for the forthcoming album, which has been dismissed as being incorrect. On February 28, 2012, Jason released an EP entitled Live Is A Four Letter World. The EP was recorded live in San Diego and contains four tracks (one of which had already been released).^[32]

The new album was set to be released on May 8, 2012,^[33] however on February 14 it was stated that the new album is set to be released in stores and at all digital retailers on April 17, 2012.^[34]

Personal life[link]

Mraz was engaged to singer/songwriter and long-time close friend Tristan Prettyman.^[35] On June 7, 2011, Mraz said in an interview with the Daily Beast that he and Prettyman were no longer engaged.^[36]

Mraz lives a health-conscious lifestyle and enjoys eating mostly raw vegan foods.^[37] He owns an avocado farm in Bonsall in Northern San Diego County. Recently, he acquired the Garden Patch Farms&Orchard in Homer Glen, for its organic strawberries.^[38] Mraz is an active supporter of several charities including VH1's Save The Music Foundation, MusiCares, Free the Children, Life Rolls On, SPARC and the Human Rights Campaign.^[39] He has been named the 2010 SIMA Humanitarian of the Year. He also received the Clean Water Award in 2010 from the Surfrider Foundation.^[40] The same year, he also teamed up with The Nature Conservancy^[41] and created a PSA using his song I'm Yours to raise awareness about the non-profit organization's efforts to protect the earth.^[42] Jason performed at Farm Aid 2011 on August 13 in Kansas City. He has also advocated LGBT rights.^[43]

In 2011, Mraz appeared in the Visit California promotional film^[44] aimed at boosting tourism from the UK.

Discography[link]

• Waiting for My Rocket to Come (2002)
• Tonight, Not Again: Jason Mraz Live at the Eagles Ballroom (2004) + accompanying DVD
• Mr. A-Z (2005)
• We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. (2008)
• Love is a Four Letter Word (2012)

Awards[link]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jason Mraz

• Official website
• Jason Mraz at the Internet Movie Database
• Jason Mraz at Allmusic
• Jason Mraz's channel on YouTube
• Jason Mraz collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
• Playlist: Jason Mraz – Nightline 07/17/09 – Reggae to rock, Mraz reveals his musical influences.
• Concert Photos: Jason Mraz – 09/17/2010, 09/18/2010 – Jason Mraz opens for Dave Matthews Band for two sold out shows at Chicago's Wrigley Field.

Greyson Chance
Greyson Chance in concert at the Hard Rock Cafe in Boston, Massachusetts on September 20, 2011
Background information
Birth name	Greyson Michael Chance
Born	(1997-08-16) August 16, 1997 (age 14)[1] Wichita Falls, Texas, U.S.[2]
Origin	Edmond, Oklahoma, U.S.[2]
Genres	Pop rock
Instruments	Piano, vocals
Years active	2010–present
Labels	eleveneleven, Maverick, Streamline, Geffen
Website	greyson-official.com

Greyson Michael Chance (born August 16, 1997)^[1] is an American pop rock singer and pianist whose April 2010 performance of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" at a sixth-grade music festival became a hit on YouTube,^[3] gaining over 45 million views as of December 3, 2011. Two of his original compositions, "Stars" and "Broken Hearts", gained over 5 and 7 million views respectively on his YouTube channel.^[4] His début single, "Waiting Outside the Lines", was released in October 2010. Chance's début album, Hold On 'Til the Night, was released on August 2, 2011.

Personal life[link]

Chance was born on August 16, 1997 in Wichita Falls, Texas, and currently resides in Edmond, Oklahoma. He is the youngest child of Scott and Lisa Chance. Chance has an eighteen-year-old sister, Alexa, and a twenty-year-old brother, Tanner, both of whom also do music. Chance began playing the piano at the age of 8 and has had three years of piano lessons. He, however, had no formal vocal training.

Of his inspiration, Chance said, "I love artists who are able to communicate their emotions through music and sing from the heart. That’s what I’m hoping to do with my songs." He was emboldened by Lady Gaga after seeing her performance of Paparazzi at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. He stated, "I was awestruck by her performance. I love her sense of drama and theatricality. Plus, she’s an amazing singer and piano player." Chance was also inspired by the artists Christina Aguilera, Augustana, John Legend, Elton John, and John Lennon.

Appearances[link]

Chance's "Paparazzi" cover video was posted to YouTube, on April 28, 2010, and for almost two weeks the video generated low views. At least two social websites, GossipBoy.ca and reddit.com, posted video embeds on May 10, 2010. Ellen DeGeneres first saw the video after Chance's brother, Tanner Chance, wrote to her show suggesting she watch it.^[5] The video had about 10,000 views when DeGeneres first saw it.^[6] While explaining her reasons for naming her new record label eleveneleven, she listed as one reason the fact that she first saw Chance's Paparazzi cover on May 11, 2010. Also, she states that 11 is Greyson's soccer jersey number.^[7] On the afternoon of May 11, Yahoo! Music reported: "As of this writing, the video has got more than 36,000 views so far, and he's even been invited to perform on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.^[3]

On May 12, 2010 Greyson Chance taped an interview and performance of "Paparazzi" for Ellen in Los Angeles.^[8] It was broadcast on May 13.^[9][10] During the interview, Chance received a phone call from Lady Gaga,^[11] who the boy says is his "true inspiration."^[12] This first appearance on Ellen was followed by a second appearance on the show, airing May 26, 2010, on which Chance performed his original song "Broken Hearts," received a $10,000 award for winning Ellen's Wonderful Web of Wonderment contest, a brand new Yamaha piano, and was announced as DeGeneres's first signed artist to her new recording label eleveneleven.^[13] Chance now has many fans on online social sites such as Facebook and Twitter.^[14] He is the 28th most subscribed musician of all time on YouTube, with a 286,000 subscriber base, as of January 3, 2011.^[15] Greyson Chance also appeared at We Day (also known as Me to We Day 2010) in downtown Toronto at the Air Canada Centre, where he performed "Fire" by Augustana.^[16]

In the media[link]

Greyson at the film premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in July 2011.

On the morning of May 11, 2010, Chance's cover video of "Paparazzi" was embedded at RyanSeacrest.com, which reported finding the video via BuzzFeed, a website that attempts to track and predict emerging viral internet memes.^[17] Later in the day, TVGuide,^[18] The Huffington Post,^[19] and Yahoo! Music's video blog, Video Ga Ga,^[3] also posted articles embedding the video; TVGuide mentioned in its article that a Facebook fan page had already been started for Chance. That afternoon, Ryan Seacrest and DeGeneres linked the video on their Twitter accounts,^[20][21] as did celebrity Ashton Kutcher^[22] later that evening.

On May 12, 2010, DeGeneres' announcement of Chance's booking, on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, was broadcast at different times across the U.S. and posted to her website.^[23] Wall Street Journal^[24] and Los Angeles Times,^[25] among other mainstream media, posted articles embedding the video and announcing the forthcoming appearance. That evening, ABC World News broadcast a report on Chance which was introduced by Diane Sawyer, who said the story struck ABC News as "part Billy Elliot and part Glee."^[26] Also that evening, Guy Oseary, an L.A.-based entertainment manager whose clients include Madonna, Demi Moore, and Ashton Kutcher, recommended Greyson's "Paparazzi" video on Twitter.^[27]

On May 13, 2010, Chance's appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show was broadcast, and mainstream media, including CBS^[28] and People,^[29] reported on the appearance. That morning, Ryan Seacrest posted another link on Twitter, this time to the video of Chance appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.^[30] Not only has he received attention from DeGeneres and Seacrest but also, on May 14, singer, songwriter, and author David Archuleta linked the video on Twitter claiming that Greyson "is talented."^[31]

On May 15, 2010, Greyson Chance created an official MySpace page^[32] and an official Twitter^[33] account. The same day, Crazed Hits, a music industry "tip-sheet" run by Alex Wilhelm, while citing no sources, reported that Interscope Records had signed 12-year-old Chance to a record deal.^[34] The same day, NewsOK posted a video, "Three Things to Know about Greyson Michael Chance", and an article in which Chance's father, was quoted as saying the family would spend the weekend deciding how they wanted to proceed before signing any contracts.^[35]

On May 18, 2010, the New York Post reported on the deal with Interscope Records, citing Chance's sister and father as confirming the deal; The Post also reported that calls made to Chance's school were being referred to Guy Oseary.^[36] On May 25, Ellen DeGeneres announced that she had formed a record label called eleveneleven and Chance was her first artist.^[37] Guy Oseary who manages Madonna's career and Troy Carter, who manages Lady Gaga's career, would be co-managers of Greyson Chance's career, but no partnership with a major recording label had been finalized.^[38]

The chronology of events has resulted in media analysis of the marketing phenomenon separately from musical or biographical elements. On May 15, 2010, The Christian Science Monitor published an article by staff writer Gloria Goodale; citing Chance's quick rise to media attention and the establishment of various official and fan websites for Chance, as well as concerns raised by music industry analyst Jeff Snyder about the quality of the video itself, Goodale asked "whether there's a Big Media hand behind sixth grader Greyson Michael Chance."^[14] On May 18, 2010, Goodale followed this up with a second article focusing on the modern "age of media manipulation", which she introduced by saying, "Reports so far suggest that the Greyson Chance YouTube video is legit."^[39] On May 18, 2010, ITN News posted a video report to its YouTube channel, in which many of the same questions were raised; highlighting aspects of Chance's "Paparazzi" video, media industry analyst Alan Stevens pointed out the growing inability within our modern media culture to distinguish between videos which are produced by amateurs and videos which are produced by professionals but made to appear amateur in origin.^[40]

His debut single title "Waiting Outside the Lines" was released to iTunes on October 26, 2010. It was released digitally in the UK on December 9. The single also contained a studio version of his cover of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi". In early December 2010 he visited both Paris and London, appearing on local radio stations and giving private concerts in both cities.^[41][42]

On February 5,^[43] Greyson Chance entered the National spotlight again with an appearance/performance of "Waiting Outside The Lines" on the CBS Early Show, while stopping through New York on his tour with Miranda Cosgrove.

On May 17, 2011 his new single "Unfriend You" was released to iTunes.^[44]

On April 9, he started the Waiting 4U tour with Australian pop/R&B singer Cody Simpson in Ivins, Utah. The tour ended on May 18, 2011 in Portland, Oregon.

On May 23, Greyson visited The Ellen DeGeneres Show to premiere his new single, "Unfriend You". After the performance, Greyson revealed a solid release date for his upcoming debut album, Hold On 'Til the Night, which was released on August 2, 2011. The music video features cameo from Victorious star, Ariana Grande.^[45]

On September 15, he again appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to talk about his album, and also revealed that he had taken his first steps into acting, portraying a younger version of Jimmy Chance, the protagonist of Raising Hope, in the series' second season premiere.^[46]

In November 2011 Greyson undertook a tour of Southeast Asia to promote his album, which had just been released in the region. Starting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where in addition to a showcase performance he was invited to perform at the Anugerah Industri Muzik (Malaysian Music Industry Awards) show (the first foreign artist so invited since 1999), Greyson also gave performances in Singapore; Kota Kinabalu (Borneo, Malaysia); Manila, Philippines; and Jakarta, Indonesia.^[47][48][49]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

Music videos[link]

Tours[link]

• Waiting 4U Tour
• Dancing Crazy Tour
• Asia Tour 2011

Awards and recognition[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Greyson Chance at the Internet Movie Database