An orthographic projection of the Pacific Ocean showing much of Oceania.

Map of Oceania

Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean.^[1] Opinions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific (ethnologically divided into the subregions of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia^[2]) to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago.^[3] The term is sometimes used more specifically to denote a continent comprising Australia and proximate islands,^{[3][4][5][6][7]} or biogeographically as a synonym for either the Australasian ecozone (Wallacea and Australasia) or the Pacific ecozone (Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia apart either from New Zealand^[8] or from mainland New Guinea^[9]).

Etymology[link]

The term was coined as Océanie ca. 1812 by geographer Conrad Malte-Brun.^[3] The word Océanie derives from the Greek word ὠκεανός (ōkeanós), ocean.

Definitions[link]

Aoraki / Mount Cook, located on the Southern Island of New Zealand

Physiography[link]

Oceania was originally conceived as the lands of the Pacific Ocean, stretching from the Straits of Malacca to the coast of the Americas. It comprised four regions: Polynesia, Micronesia, Malaysia (now called the Malay Archipelago), and Melanesia (now called Australasia).^[10] Included are parts of three geological continents, Eurasia, Australia, and Zealandia, as well the non-continental volcanic islands of the Philippines, Wallacea, and the open Pacific. It extends to Sumatra in the west, the Bonin Islands in the northwest, the Hawaiian Islands in the northeast, Rapa Nui and Sala y Gómez Island in the east, and Macquarie Island in the south, but excludes Taiwan, the Japanese Archipelago (including the Ryukyu Islands), and Aleutian Islands of the margins of Asia.^[11][12]

The states that occupy Oceania that are not included in geopolitical Oceania are Indonesia, Malaysia (through Malaysian Borneo), Brunei, the Philippines, and East Timor. The islands of the geographic extremes are politically integral parts of Japan (Bonin), the United States (Hawaii), and Chile (Easter Island). A smaller geographic definition also exists, which excludes the land on the Sunda Plate, but includes Indonesian New Guinea as part of the Australian continent.

Biogeography[link]

Biogeographically, Oceania is used as a synonym for either the Australasian ecozone (Wallacea and Australasia) or the Pacific ecozone (Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia apart either from New Zealand^[8] or from mainland New Guinea^[9]).

Ecogeography[link]

Oceania is one of eight terrestrial ecozones, which constitute the major ecological regions of the planet. The Oceania ecozone includes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and all of Polynesia except New Zealand. New Zealand, New Guinea, Melanesia apart from Fiji, and Australia constitute the separate Australasia ecozone. The Malay Archipelago is part of the Indomalaya ecozone. Related to these concepts are Near Oceania, that part of western Island Melanesia which has been inhabited for tens of millennia, and Remote Oceania, which is more recently settled.^[13]

Geopolitics[link]

Economic zones of the Pacific, outlining Oceania

In the geopolitical conception used by the United Nations, International Olympic Committee, and many atlases, Oceania includes Australia and the nations of the Pacific from Papua New Guinea east, but not the Malay Archipelago or Indonesian New Guinea.^[14][15][16]

Other definitions[link]

• The term is often used more specifically than in the geopolitical conception, to denote a continent comprising Australia and proximate islands.^[6][7]
• New Zealand forms the south-western corner of the Polynesian Triangle. Its indigenous Māori constitute one of the major cultures of Polynesia. It is also, however, considered part of Australasia.^[14]
• The widest definition of Oceania includes the entire region between continental Asia and the Americas, thereby including islands in the Pacific Rim such as the Japanese Archipelago, Taiwan, and the Aleutian islands.^[17]

Satellite image of Oceania

Ethno-cultural definition of Oceania

Demographics[link]

Geographic map of islands of Oceania

The demographic table below shows the subregions and countries of geopolitical Oceania.^[14] The countries and territories in this table are categorized according to the scheme for geographic subregions used by the United Nations. The information shown follows sources in cross-referenced articles; where sources differ, provisos have been clearly indicated. These territories and regions are subject to various additional categorisations, of course, depending on the source and purpose of each description.

Name of region, followed by countries and their flags[18]	Area (km²)	Population	Population density (per km²)	Capital	ISO 3166-1
Australasia[19]
Australia	7,686,850	22,028,000	2.7	Canberra	AU
New Zealand[20]	268,680	4,108,037	14.5	Wellington	NZ
External territories of Australia:
Ashmore and Cartier Islands	199
Christmas Island[21]	135	1,493	3.5	Flying Fish Cove	CX
Cocos (Keeling) Islands[21]	14	628	45.1	West Island	CC
Coral Sea Islands	10	4
Heard Island and McDonald Islands	372				HM
Norfolk Island	35	2,114	53.3	Kingston	NF
Melanesia[22]
Fiji	18,270	856,346	46.9	Suva	FJ
New Caledonia (France)	19,060	240,390	12.6	Nouméa	NC
Papua New Guinea[23]	462,840	5,172,033	11.2	Port Moresby	PG
Solomon Islands	28,450	494,786	17.4	Honiara	SB
Vanuatu	12,200	240,000	19.7	Port Vila	VU
Micronesia
Federated States of Micronesia	702	135,869	193.5	Palikir	FM
Guam (USA)	549	160,796	292.9	Hagåtña	GU
Kiribati	811	96,335	118.8	South Tarawa	KI
Marshall Islands	181	73,630	406.8	Majuro	MH
Nauru	21	12,329	587.1	Yaren (de facto)	NR
Northern Mariana Islands (USA)	477	77,311	162.1	Saipan	MP
Palau	458	19,409	42.4	Melekeok[24]	PW
Wake Island (USA)	2	12		Wake Island	UM
Polynesia
American Samoa (USA)	199	68,688	345.2	Pago Pago, Fagatogo[25]	AS
Cook Islands (NZ)	240	20,811	86.7	Avarua	CK
Easter Island (Chile)	163.6	3,791	23.1	Hanga Roa	CL
French Polynesia (France)	4,167	257,847	61.9	Papeete	PF
Hawaii (USA)	16,636	1,360,301	81.8	Honolulu	US
Niue (NZ)	260	2,134	8.2	Alofi	NU
Pitcairn Islands (UK)	5	47	10	Adamstown	PN
Samoa	2,944	179,000	63.2	Apia	WS
Tokelau (NZ)	10	1,431	143.1	Nukunonu	TK
Tonga	748	106,137	141.9	Nukuʻalofa	TO
Tuvalu	26	11,146	428.7	Funafuti	TV
Wallis and Futuna (France)	274	15,585	56.9	Mata-Utu	WF
Total	8,536,716	35,669,267	4.2
Total minus mainland Australia	849,866	13,641,267	16.1

North Pacific Ocean South Pacific Ocean Australia New Zealand NZ Hawaii WK Micronesia Palau Papua New Guinea Indonesia Easter Island French Polynesia Cook Islands New Caledonia Fiji Tuvalu Kiribati Solomon Islands Tokelau Marshall Islands Nauru Galápagos Islands Vanuatu Tonga PN Guam NF Northern Mariana WS AS WF Niue CC CX

Map of Nations and territories of Oceania including Australia and New Zealand

Religion[link]

The predominant religion in Oceania is Christianity.^{[citation needed]} Traditional religions are often animist and prevalent among traditional tribes is the belief in evil spirits (masalai in Tok Pisin), which are blamed for "poisoning" people, causing calamity and death. In recent Australian and New Zealand censuses, large proportions of the population say they belong to "No religion" (which includes Humanism, Atheism, Agnosticism, and Rationalism). In Tonga, everyday life is heavily influenced by Polynesian traditions and especially by the Christian faith. The Bahá'í House of Worship in Tiapapata, Samoa is one of seven designations administered in the Baha'i faith.

Sport[link]

Pacific Games[link]

The Pacific Games (formerly known as the South Pacific Games) is a multi-sport event, much like the Olympics, (albeit on a much smaller scale), with participation exclusively from countries around the Pacific. It is held every four years and began in 1963.

Rugby League[link]

Rugby league is a popular sport throughout Oceania, and is the national sport of Papua New Guinea^[26] (the second most populous country in Oceania after Australia) and is very popular in Australia^[27] and attracts significant attention across New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.^[28]

Australia and New Zealand are two of the most successful sides in the world.^[29] Australia has won the Rugby League World Cup a record nine times while New Zealand won their first World Cup in 2008. Australia hosted the second tournament in 1957. Australia and New Zealand jointly hosted it in 1968 and 1977. New Zealand hosted the final for the first time in 1985 - 1988 tournament and Australia hosted the last tournament in 2008.

Rugby Union[link]

Fiji playing the Cook Islands at seven-a-side rugby

Rugby union is one of the region's most prominent sports,^[30] and is the national sport of New Zealand,^[31] Samoa,^[31] Fiji and Tonga.^[31] Fiji's sevens team is one of the most successful in the world, as is New Zealand's.

New Zealand and Australia have won the Rugby World Cup a record two times (tied with South Africa who have also won it two times). New Zealand won the inaugural World Cup in 1987. Australia and New Zealand jointly hosted the World Cup in 1987. Australia hosted it in 2003 and New Zealand also hosted it in 2011, which they then went on to win.

Cricket[link]

Fans' welcome to the Australian team after winning 2007 Cricket World Cup

Cricket is a popular summer sport in Australia and New Zealand. Australia had ruled International cricket as the number one team for more than a decade, and have won four Cricket World Cups and have been runner-up for two times, making them the most successful cricket team. New Zealand is also considered a strong competitor in the sport, with the New Zealand Cricket Team, also called the Black Caps, enjoying success in many competitions. Both Australia and New Zealand are Full members of the ICC. Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea are some of the Associate/Affiliate members of the ICC from Oceania that are governed by ICC East Asia-Pacific. Beach Cricket, a greatly simplified variant of cricket played on a sand beach, is also a popular recreational sport in Australia.

Cricket is culturally a significant sport for summer in Oceania. The Boxing Day Test is very popular in Australia, conducted every year on 26 December at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne.

Australian rules football[link]

Australian rules football is the national sport in Nauru^[32] and is the most popular football code in Australia.^[33] It is also popular in Papua New Guinea.^[34]

Association football (soccer)[link]

The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of six association football confederations^[35] under the auspices of FIFA, the international governing body of the sport. The OFC is the only confederation without an automatic qualification to the World Cup Finals. Currently the winner of the OFC qualification tournament must play off against an Asian confederation side to qualify for the World Cup.^[36][37]

Currently, Vanuatu is the only country in Oceania to call football (soccer) its national sport.

Oceania has been represented at four World Cup finals tournaments — Australia in 1974, 2006 and 2010, and New Zealand in 1982 and 2010. In 2006, Australia joined the Asian Football Confederation and qualified for the 2010 World cup as an Asian entrant. New Zealand qualified through the Oceania Confederation, winning its playoff against Bahrain. 2010 was the first time two countries from Oceania had qualified at the same time, albeit through different confederations.

See also[link]

	Geography portal
	Oceania portal

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Find more about Oceania on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

• Oceania at the Open Directory Project
• "Australia and Oceania" from National Geographic

Articles related to Oceania v t e Countries and territories of Oceania Sovereign states Australia Chile Easter Island Juan Fernández Islands East Timor (Timor-Leste) Fiji Indonesia Kiribati Marshall Islands Federated States of Micronesia Japan Bonin Islands Nauru New Zealand Cook Islands Niue Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu United States Hawaii Palmyra Atoll Vanuatu Dependencies and other territories Australia Ashmore and Cartier Islands Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Coral Sea Islands Territory Norfolk Island France Clipperton Island French Polynesia New Caledonia Wallis and Futuna New Zealand Cook Islands Niue Tokelau United Kingdom Pitcairn Islands United States American Samoa Baker Island Guam Howland Island Jarvis Island Johnston Atoll Kingman Reef Midway Atoll Northern Mariana Islands Wake Island v t e Capitals of Oceania Capitals of non-sovereign territories shown in SmallCaps Australasia Melanesia Micronesia Polynesia Canberra, Australia Flying Fish Cove, Christmas Island1,3 Kingston, Norfolk Island1,2 Wellington, New Zealand2 West Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands1,3 Dili, East Timor3 Honiara, Solomon Islands Nouméa, New Caledonia4 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea5 Port Vila, Vanuatu Suva, Fiji Hagåtña, Guam6 Majuro, Marshall Islands Ngerulmud, Palau Palikir, FS Micronesia Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands6 South Tarawa, Kiribati Yaren, Nauru (de facto) Adamstown, Pitcairn Islands7 Alofi, Niue8 Apia, Samoa Avarua, Cook Islands8 Funafuti, Tuvalu Hanga Roa, Easter Island9 Honolulu, Hawaii10 Mata-Utu, Wallis and Futuna4 Nukuʻalofa, Tonga Fakaofo, Tokelau11 Pago Pago, American Samoa6 Papeete, French Polynesia4 1 Territory of Australia.  2 Often included in Polynesia.  3 Often included in Southeast Asia.  4 Overseas collectivity of France.  5 Often included in Australasia.  6 Insular area of the United States.  7 Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom.8 In free association with New Zealand.  9 Territory of Chile.  10 U.S. state.11 New Zealand dependent territory. v t e Regions of the World Africa Northern Middle East Sub-Saharan Central Southern Western Eastern Oceania Australasia Australia Zealandia Melanesia Micronesia Polynesia America North Northern Middle Central Caribbean South Southern Northern Western Guianan States Anglo Latin (Hispanic) Polar regions Arctic Antarctic Asia Central Eastern Northeastern Northern Southeastern Mainland Maritime Southern Indian subcontinent Western Middle East Oceans World Arctic Atlantic Indian Pacific Southern Europe Central Eastern Northern Southeastern Middle East Southern Western Seas List of seas Related Continents of the world List of seas Physical Earth v t e Continents     Africa Antarctica Asia Australia Europe North America South America     Afro-Eurasia Americas Eurasia Oceania Geological supercontinents Historical continents Afro-Eurasia-America Gondwana Laurasia Pangaea Pannotia Rodinia Columbia Kenorland Nena Ur Vaalbara Arctica Asiamerica Atlantica Avalonia Baltica Cimmeria Congo craton Euramerica Kalaharia Kazakhstania Laurentia North China Siberia South China East Antarctica India Submerged continents Possible future supercontinents Mythical and theorized continents Kerguelen Plateau Zealandia Pangaea Ultima Amasia Novopangaea Atlantis Kumari Kandam Lemuria Meropis Mu Terra Australis See also Regions of the world

lez:Океанияvep:Okeanii

Mike Oldfield
Mike Oldfield, December 2006, at the Night of the Proms
Background information
Birth name	Michael Gordon Oldfield
Born	(1953-05-15) 15 May 1953 (age 59) Reading, Berkshire, England
Genres	Progressive rock, pop, Celtic fusion, world, new age, Neoclassical, Ambient, classical, experimental, minimalist
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer, game designer
Instruments	Guitar, keyboards, Percussion, vocals, bass, glockenspiel, mandolin, banjo, tubular bells, Chapman stick
Years active	1967–present
Labels	Virgin (1972–1991) Warner Bros. (1992–2003) Mercury (2005–present)
Associated acts	Maggie Reilly, Kevin Ayers, Robert Wyatt, David Bedford, Anita Hegerland, Pekka Pohjola
Website	www.mikeoldfieldofficial.com

Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends progressive rock, folk, ethnic or world music, classical music, electronic music, New Age, and more recently, dance. His music is often elaborate and complex in nature. He is best known for his hit 1973 album Tubular Bells, which launched Virgin Records, and for his 1983 hit single "Moonlight Shadow".^[1] He is also well known for his hit rendition of the Christmas piece, "In Dulci Jubilo".

Biography[link]

Oldfield's parents are Raymond Oldfield, a general practitioner, and his wife Maureen Liston, a nurse.^[2] His sister Sally and brother Terry are successful musicians in their own right and have appeared on several of his albums. Mike Oldfield was born in the Battle Hospital, Reading, Berkshire, and he attended St Joseph's Convent School, Highlands Junior School in Tilehurst, St Edward's Preparatory School,^[3] and Presentation College in Reading. When he was 13 he moved with his parents to Harold Wood in northeast London, where he attended Hornchurch Grammar School. He only stayed there long enough to take one GCE examination, in English, as he had already begun his music career.^[3]

Early career[link]

Oldfield's career began fairly early, playing acoustic guitar in local folk clubs. At this time, he already had two fifteen-minute instrumental pieces in which he would "go through all sorts of moods", precursors to his landmark 1970s' compositions. In his early teens, Oldfield was involved in a 'beat group' playing Shadows-style music (he has often cited Hank Marvin as a major influence, and would later cover The Shadows' song "Wonderful Land"). In 1967 he and his sister Sally formed the folk duo The Sallyangie and were signed to Transatlantic Records after exposure in the local folk scene. An album, Children of the Sun, was issued in 1968. After Sallyangie disbanded, he formed another duo with his brother Terry, called Barefoot, which took him back to rock music.^[4]

In 1970 he joined The Whole World – backing group to vocalist Kevin Ayers, formerly of the Soft Machine – playing bass guitar and occasionally lead guitar. The band also included keyboardist and composer David Bedford, who quickly befriended Oldfield, and encouraged him in his composition of an early version of Tubular Bells. Bedford would later arrange and conduct an orchestral version of that album. Oldfield is featured on two Ayers albums, Whatevershebringswesing and Shooting at the Moon.

Having recorded a number of demo pieces of music, which would later turn into Tubular Bells, Oldfield attempted to persuade record labels to take the project on with no success. In September 1971 Oldfield went to the Manor Studio, owned by the young Richard Branson and run by engineers Tom Newman and Simon Heyworth, to record as bass guitarist in the Arthur Louis Band. Branson already had a number of business ventures and was about to start his own record label, Virgin Records. After Newman and Heyworth heard Oldfield's demo they took it to Branson and Simon Draper. They eventually gave Oldfield one week to record at the Manor, during which Oldfield completed "Part One" of Tubular Bells. "Part Two" was then completed over a number of months.^[5]

Virgin years (1973–1991)[link]

Tubular Bells became Oldfield's most famous work. The instrumental composition was recorded in 1972 and launched on 25 May 1973 as the inaugural album of Richard Branson's Virgin Records label. The album was groundbreaking, as Oldfield played more than twenty different instruments in the multi-layered recording made in Branson's Manor Studio, and its style moved through many diverse musical genres. Its 2,630,000 UK sales put it at No.34 on the list of the best selling albums in the UK. In the US, it received attention with the opening theme appearing in the soundtrack to The Exorcist. The title track subsequently became a Top 10 hit single in the US as well and is today considered to be a forerunner of the New Age movement.^[6] In 1974, Oldfield played guitar on the critically acclaimed album Rock Bottom by Robert Wyatt. In the autumn of 1974, the follow-up LP, Hergest Ridge, was No.1 in the UK for three weeks before being dethroned by Tubular Bells. Although Hergest Ridge was released over a year after Tubular Bells, it reached No.1 first. Tubular Bells spent 11 weeks (10 of them consecutive) at No.2 before its one week at the top. In 1979, Oldfield's music was used as the musical score for The Space Movie, a Virgin movie that celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission.^[7]

Like Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge is a two-movement instrumental piece, this time evoking scenes from Oldfield's Herefordshire country retreat. It was followed in 1975 by the pioneering world music piece Ommadawn, and 1978's Incantations which introduced more diverse choral performances from Sally Oldfield, Maddy Prior, and the Queen's College Girls Choir. In 1975 Oldfield recorded a version of the Christmas piece "In Dulci Jubilo" which charted at number four in the UK. Oldfield's 1976 rendition of "Portsmouth" remains his highest charting single on the UK Singles Chart, reaching number three.^[8]

In 1976 Oldfield and his sister Sally joined his friend and band member Pekka Pohjola to play on his album Mathematician's Air Display, which was released in 1977. The album was recorded and edited at Oldfield's Througham Slad Manor in Gloucestershire by Oldfield and Paul Lindsay.^[9]

Around the time of Incantations, Oldfield underwent a controversial self-assertiveness therapy course known as Exegesis.^[10] Possibly as a result, the formerly reclusive musician staged a major European tour to promote the album, chronicled in his live album Exposed, much of which was recorded at the National Exhibition Centre near Birmingham.

In 1975, Oldfield received a Grammy award for Best Instrumental Composition in "Tubular Bells – Theme from The Exorcist". In 1979, he recorded a version of the signature tune of the popular British Children's Television programme, Blue Peter, which was used by the show for 10 years.^[11]

The early 1980s saw Oldfield make a transition to mainstream pop music, beginning with the inclusion of shorter instrumental tracks and contemporary cover versions on Platinum and QE2 (the latter named after the ocean liner). Soon afterwards he turned to songwriting, with a string of collaborations featuring various lead vocalists alongside his characteristic searing guitar solos. The best known of these is "Moonlight Shadow", his 1983 hit with Maggie Reilly. The most successful Oldfield composition on the US pop charts during this period was actually a cover version — Hall & Oates's remake of Oldfield's "Family Man" for their 1982 album H₂O. Released as the album's third single, it hit the Top 10 during the spring of 1983 and was a hugely popular MTV music video.

Oldfield later turned to film and video, writing the score for Roland Joffé's acclaimed film The Killing Fields and producing substantial video footage for his album Islands. Islands continued what Oldfield had been doing on the past couple of albums, with an instrumental piece on one side and rock/pop singles on the other. Of these, "Islands", sung by Bonnie Tyler and "Magic Touch", with vocals by Max Bacon (in the U.S. version) and Glasgow vocalist Southside Jimmy (in other versions),^[12] were the major hits. In the U.S., the Virgin America airline promoted the song "Magic Touch" to a large extent, making it a success, reaching the top 10 on the Billboard album rock charts. During the 1980s, Oldfield's then-wife, Norwegian singer Anita Hegerland, contributed vocals to many songs including "Pictures in the Dark".

Earth Moving was released in July 1989, and was a moderate success. The album was the first to exclusively feature rock/pop songs, several of which were released: "Innocent" and "Holy" in Europe, and "Hostage" in the USA for album rock stations. This was, however, a time of much friction with his record label. Virgin Records reportedly insisted that any future instrumental album should be billed as Tubular Bells 2. Oldfield's rebellious response was Amarok, an hour-long work featuring rapidly changing themes (supposedly devised to make cutting a single from the album impossible), unpredictable bursts of noise, and a very cleverly hidden Morse code insult directed at Richard Branson. Although regarded by many fans as his greatest work, it was not a commercial success. His parting shot from the Virgin label was Heaven's Open, which continued the veiled attacks on Branson but was notable for being the first time Oldfield had contributed all the lead vocals himself. It was the only album he released under the name 'Michael Oldfield'.

Warner years (1992–2003)[link]

The very first thing Oldfield did when arriving at his new label, Warner Bros., was to write and release Tubular Bells II, the sequel to his first record on Virgin, as his final insult to his former label. It was premiered at a live concert at Edinburgh Castle. He then continued to embrace new musical styles, with The Songs of Distant Earth (based on Arthur C. Clarke's novel of the same name) exhibiting a softer "New Age" sound. In 1994 he also had an asteroid named after him, 5656 Oldfield.^[13][14]

In 1995 Oldfield further continued to embrace new musical styles by producing a Celtic-themed album, Voyager. In 1992 Oldfield met Luar na Lubre, a Galician Celtic-folk band (from A Coruña, Spain). The band's popularity grew after Oldfield covered their song "O son do ar" ("The sound of the air") on his Voyager album.

In 1998 he produced the third Tubular Bells album (also premiered at a concert, this time in Horse Guards Parade, London), drawing from the dance music scene at his then new home on the island of Ibiza. This album was still inspired by themes from Tubular Bells, but differed in lacking a clear two-part layout.

During 1999 Oldfield released two albums. The first, Guitars, used guitars as the source for all the sounds on the album, including percussion. The second, The Millennium Bell, consisted of pastiches of a number of styles of music that represented various historical periods over the past millennium. The work was performed live in Berlin for the city's millennium celebrations in 1999–2000.

He added to his repertoire the MusicVR project, combining his music with a virtual reality-based computer game. His first work on this project is Tr3s Lunas launched in 2002, a virtual game where the player can interact with a world full of new music. This project appeared as a double CD, one with the music, and the other with the game.

In 2003 he released Tubular Bells 2003, a re-recording of the original Tubular Bells, on CD, and DVD-Audio. This was done to "fix" many "imperfections" in the original due to the recording technologies of the early 1970s and limitations in time that he could spend in the recording studio. It celebrated the 30th anniversary of Tubular Bells, Oldfield's 50th birthday and his marriage to Fanny in the same year. At around the same time Virgin released an SACD version containing both the original stereo album and the 1975 quadraphonic mix by Phil Newell. In the 2003 version, the original voice of the 'Master of Ceremonies' (Viv Stanshall) was replaced by the voice of John Cleese, Stanshall having died in the interim.

Mercury years (since 2004)[link]

Mike Oldfield playing a PRS Custom 24 guitar at the Night of the Proms in December 2006.

On 12 April 2004 Oldfield launched his next virtual reality project, Maestro, which contains music from the Tubular Bells 2003 album and also some new chillout melodies. The games have since been made available free of charge on Tubular.net. A double album, Light + Shade, was released on Mercury Records in 2005, with whom Mike had recently signed a three-album deal. The two discs contain music of contrasting moods, one relaxed (Light) and the other more edgy and moody (Shade). Oldfield headlined the German Night of the Proms tour, consisting of 18 concerts in December 2006.^[15]

His autobiography Changeling was published in May 2007 by Virgin Books.^[16] In March 2008 Oldfield released his first classical album, Music of the Spheres; Karl Jenkins assisted with the orchestration.^[17] In the first week of release the album topped the UK Classical chart and reached number 9 on the main UK Album Chart. A single, "Spheres", featuring a demo version of pieces from the album was released digitally. The album was nominated for a Classical Brit Award, the NS&I Best Album of 2009.

In 2008 Oldfield contributed an exclusive song ("Song for Survival") to a charity album called Songs for Survival, in support of the Survival International.^[18] Oldfield's daughter, Molly, played a large part in the project.^[19]

In 2008 when Oldfield's original 35-year deal with Virgin Records ended, the rights to Tubular Bells and his other Virgin releases were returned to him,^[20] and then they were transferred to Mercury Records.^[21] Mercury issued a press release on 15 April 2009, noting that Oldfield's Virgin albums would be re-released, starting 8 June 2009. These releases include special features from the archives.^[22] On 6 June 2009, an International Bell Ringing day took place, to promote the reissue of his first album, Tubular Bells.^[22] The next two albums were reissued in June 2010 along with the launch of a new official web site.^[23] Incantations was reissued in July 2011.^[24]

In March 2010 Music Week reported that publishing company Stage Three Music (now a part of BMG) had acquired a 50% stake in the songs of Oldfield's entire recorded output in a seven-figure deal.^[25][26][27]

In 2010 lyricist Don Black said in an interview with Music Week that he had been working with Oldfield.^[28] According to German producer Torsten Stenzel, he was in a studio with Oldfield collaborating on a chill-out track for a forthcoming album by Stenzel's York project. In 2012 Oldfield was featured on Terry Oldfield's Journey into Space album.

Personal life[link]

Oldfield and his siblings were raised Roman Catholic, the faith of their Irish mother.^[29] In the late 1970s, Oldfield briefly married Diana D'Aubigny (the sister of the Exegesis group leader), but this lasted just a few weeks.

Mike Oldfield has seven children. In the early 1980s, he had three children with Sally Cooper (Molly, Dougal and Luke). In the late 1980s, he had two children (Greta and Noah) with Norwegian singer Anita Hegerland. In the 2000s, he married Fanny Vandekerckhove (born 1977), whom he met during his time in Ibiza; they have two sons together (Jake and Eugene).^[30]

Oldfield is a motorcycle fan and has five bikes. These include a BMW R1200GS, a Suzuki GSX-R750, a Suzuki GSX-R1000, and a Yamaha R1. He also says that some of his inspiration for composing comes from riding them.^[31] Throughout his life Oldfield has also had a passion for aircraft and building model aircraft.^[2] Since 1980 he has also been a licensed pilot^[32] and has flown fixed wing aircraft, the first of which was a Beechcraft Sierra and helicopters including the Agusta Bell 47G which featured on the sleeve of his cover version of the ABBA song "Arrival" as a parody of their album artwork. He is also interested in cars and has owned a Ferrari and a Bentley which was a gift from Richard Branson as an incentive for him to give his first live performance of Tubular Bells.^[33] He has endorsed the Mercedes-Benz S-Class in the Mercedes UK magazine. Oldfield also considers himself to be a Trekkie (fan of the popular science fiction television series Star Trek).^[34] He also noted in an interview in 2008 that he had two boats.^[34]

In November 2006, musician Noel Gallagher won a Spanish court case against Oldfield. Gallagher had bought an Ibiza villa for £2.5 million from Oldfield in 1999, but quickly discovered that part of the cliff-top property was falling into the sea. According to The Sun, the resulting court case awarded Gallagher a six-figure sum in compensation. Suspicion abounds in the music industry that the law-suit was initiated because of embarrassment that Gallagher brought on himself by not having a proper survey done on the property before buying it. This included making an immediate and noisy complaint about someone's yacht tied up at the villa's jetty before it was pointed out that the yacht came with the villa and was, in fact, his.^[35]

In 2007 Oldfield caused a minor stir in the British press by criticizing Britain for being too controlling and protective, specifically concentrating on the smoking ban which England and Wales had introduced that year. Oldfield then moved from his Gloucestershire home to Palma de Mallorca, Spain.^[36][37] He has lived outside the UK in the past, including living in Los Angeles and Ibiza in the 1990s, and Switzerland in the mid-1980s, for tax reasons. He also currently has a home in Monaco. In 2009 he decided to move to the Bahamas, and put his home in Mallorca up for sale; the asking price was around €3.5 million, but has since been lowered, and as of April 2012 is still listed as available for sale by a major international real estate agency.^[38][39]

Instruments[link]

Oldfield is a multi-instrumentalist; however he considers himself to be predominantly a guitarist.^[40]

Guitars[link]

Over the years Oldfield has used a various selection of guitars, some of the most noted being:

• A 1963 (also quoted as 1961 and 1962) salmon pink (fiesta red) Fender Stratocaster serial no.L08044 – used by Oldfield from 1984 (Discovery album) until 2006 (Night of the Proms, rehearsals in Antwerp) – Sold for £30,000 at Chandler Guitars.
• A 1989 amber PRS Artist Custom 24 – used by Oldfield from the late 1980s to the present day.
• A 1966 blonde Fender Telecaster serial no. 180728 – the only electric guitar used on Tubular Bells and also previously owned by Marc Bolan.^[41] Oldfield has since sold the guitar and donated the money to the SANE charity. This guitar had been put up for auction a number of times by Bonhams in 2007, 2008 and 2009 with estimates of £25,000 – 35,000, £10,000 – 15,000 and £8,000 – 12,000 respectively.^[42][43][44]
• Various Gibson Les Paul and SGs – used by Oldfield extensively in the 1970s and 80s.

Oldfield used a modified Roland GP8 effects processor in conjunction with his PRS Artist to get many of his heavily overdriven guitar sounds from the Earth Moving album onwards.^[41] Oldfield has also been using Guitar synthesizers since the mid-1980s, using a 1980s Roland GR-300/G-808 type system, then a 1990s Roland GK2 equipped red PRS Custom 24 (sold in 2006) with a Roland VG8,^[41] and most recently a Line 6 Variax.

Oldfield has an unusual playing style, using both fingers and fingernails and several ways of creating vibrato: a "very fast side-to-side vibrato" or "violinist's vibrato".^[45] Oldfield has also stated that his playing style originates from his musical roots playing folk music and the bass guitar.^[3]

Recording[link]

Oldfield has self-recorded and produced many of his albums, and played the majority of the instruments that feature on them, largely at his home studios. In the 1990s and 2000s he has been mainly using DAWs such as Apple Logic, Avid Pro Tools and Steinberg Nuendo as recording suites.^[46] For composing classical music Oldfield has been quoted as using the software notation program, Sibelius,^[16] combined with Apple Macintoshes.^[47] He also used the FL Studio DAW on his 2005 double album Light + Shade.^[48] Among the mixing consoles Oldfield has owned are an AMS Neve Capricorn 33238, a Harrison Series X,^[49] and a Euphonix System 5-MC.^[50]

Keyboards[link]

Over the years Oldfield has owned and used a vast number of synthesizers and other keyboard instruments. In the 1980s he composed the score for the film The Killing Fields on a Fairlight CMI.^[41] Some examples of keyboard and synthesized instruments which Oldfield has made use of includes Sequential Circuits Prophets (notably on Platinum), Roland JV-1080/JV-2080 units (in the 1990s), a Korg M1 (as seen in the "Innocent" video), a Clavia Nord Lead, and Steinway pianos among an almost endless list of others. In recent years Oldfield has also made use of software synthesis, such as Native Instruments products, notably on his Light + Shade album.^[51]

Discography[link]

Oldfield has had more than 30 charting albums and 25 charting singles on the British charts, and many more around the world.

Main albums[link]

Quotation[link]

NME – April 1979^[52]

See also[link]

• Sally Oldfield
• Terry Oldfield
• Kevin Ayers
• Maggie Reilly
• Rick Fenn
• Maddy Prior
• Anita Hegerland
• New Age music
• Electronic music
• Virgin Records

Bibliography[link]

• Moraghan, Sean. A Man and his Music (Biography). BookSurge Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4196-4926-4. 
• Evans, Peter (1994). Music from the Darkness – Mike Oldfield, 1953–1993. http://www.mikeoldfield.org/info/features/index.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-12. 
• Branson, Richard (1998). Losing My Virginity. Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0-7535-0648-6. 
• Oldfield, Mike (2007). Changeling. Virgin Books. ISBN 978-1-85227-381-1. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Mike Oldfield

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mike Oldfield

Official sites

• MikeOldfieldOfficial.com – The official Mike Oldfield website
  • Mike Oldfield official Universal store
• MikeOldfield.org – The official Mike Oldfield information service

Fan-based sites

• Tubular.net – The largest and most well-established Mike Oldfield website, for news and information.

Other sites

• Mike Oldfield at the Internet Movie Database
• Mike Oldfield at Allmusic
• Mike Oldfield on Myspace

Mary Hart
Hart modeling for The Heart Truth charity fashion show 2007
Born	Mary Johanna Harum (1950-11-08) November 8, 1950 (age 61) Madison, South Dakota, U.S.[1]
Occupation	Television personality
Years active	1976–present
Spouse	Terry Hart (1972–1979) (divorced) Burt Sugarman (1989-present)

Mary Hart (born November 8, 1950^[1]) is an American television personality and was the long-running host of the syndicated gossip and entertainment round-up program Entertainment Tonight from 1982 to 2011, which is the longest running entertainment magazine show of all time.^{[citation needed]}

Early life[link]

Mary Hart was born Mary Johanna Harum in Madison, South Dakota^[1] and lived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as well as in Denmark, as a child and teenager.^[2] She speaks both Danish and Swedish fluently. Hart competed in the Miss America pageant in 1970 as Miss South Dakota, and finished in the top ten.^[3] Two years later, Hart graduated from Augustana College in Sioux Falls and while teaching English at school she also produced and anchored her own talk show on KSFY-TV, the local ABC affiliate.^[2] Also as a young adult Mary worked at JayCee Camp for the Exceptional (Handicapped, at that time) during the summer.

Career[link]

Hart began her full-time television career at KMTV in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1976, she went to KTVY (now KFOR-TV) in Oklahoma City, where she co-hosted a show with Danny Williams called Dannysday. She also was a sales representative for a school yearbook company. Determined to leave journalism behind, she moved to the Los Angeles neighborhood of Westwood in 1979 with $10,000 in the bank.^[4] Hart landed a small role on the soap opera Days of our Lives, as well as some TV commercials. Almost broke, she became a co-host on the Los Angeles version of the syndicated PM Magazine. That led to a job in 1981 as co-host of Regis Philbin's first national talk show on NBC. When that show was canceled four months later, Entertainment Tonight interviewed her about what it felt like to be canceled. The day after the interview, she was hired as an ET correspondent. Thirteen weeks later, she was named the show's co-host, along with Ron Hendren.^[5]

In 1984, Hendren was replaced by Robb Weller, who was replaced by John Tesh in 1986, who was replaced by Bob Goen in 1996. Hart has co-hosted ET with Mark Steines since 2004.^[4][6] Soon after her hiring by ET, Hart chose Jay Bernstein as her manager. Hart is known for her shapely legs, leading to an endorsement contract with Hanes for that company's line of pantyhose in 1987. Jay Bernstein had her legs insured with Lloyd's of London for $1 million each.^[7][8] Executive Producer Linda Bell Blue described Hart as "the face of ET"^[6]

During the summer of 1988, Hart appeared in Las Vegas with comedian David Brenner at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino, which realized another of her childhood dreams, singing and dancing on stage. She continued her work on Entertainment Tonight while performing in Las Vegas, flying between the cities after two shows in Vegas, the last at 11:00PM, to film ET the following morning at 8:00AM.^[9] In 1991, the New England Journal of Medicine reported that Hart's voice had triggered seizures in an epileptic woman.^[10] This was later referenced in an episode of Tiny Toon Adventures^[11] and the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, where Kramer (Michael Richards) suffers from convulsions whenever he hears Hart's voice. Hart has been parodied in Animaniacs in the character "Mary Heartless". She had also voiced a cartoon character named "Fairy Hart" in an episode of The Fairly OddParents where Bob Goen voiced "Bob Glimmer", and in The Fairly Oddparents TV movie, Fairly OddBaby.

Hart at the 81st Academy Awards in February 2009.

In May 2009, Hart suffered a broken left wrist^[12] due to an accident at home (not due to any exotic activity, despite her jokes about it). While her wrist was healing, she wore various brightly colored slings designed to match or complement her wardrobe for each show. On August 5, 2010, Hart announced that she was leaving the show at the end of the upcoming 30th season, citing that she was ready for a change.^[13] On May 11, 2011, Hart appeared on The View, where it was mentioned her last show would air May 20. It was also referenced on ET on Monday, May 9, when co-host Mark Steines referenced 10 shows left with her. On May 12, 2011, Regis Philbin appeared on ET to say goodbye to Hart. There it was announced she broke a Guinness World Record for the "longest serving entertainment news host". On May 20, 2011, after 29 years with ET, Hart exited the show.

Personal life[link]

Hart lives in Los Angeles, California with her film-producer husband, Burt Sugarman. They married in a private ceremony aboard a yacht in 1989^[14] and have one son, Alec J "AJ" Sugarman. She is a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and has performed the national anthem prior to games on several occasions.^[15][16]

As Cochair of the New Hospital Building Campaign Committee for Children's Hospital Los Angeles she helped pave the way for the opening of the new hospital building in July 2011. She has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2003.^[17]

On August 17, 2011, Mary was announced as the Official Spokeswoman of Edith Sanford Breast Cancer Initiative, which will focus on research and care to decode the genetic make-up of every woman who volunteers to take part, in the hope to end breast cancer.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mary Hart

• Mary Hart at the Internet Movie Database
• Mary Hart on Twitter
• Mary Hart's bio courtesy of ET Online