ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the England, Wales, southern Scotland (Dumfries & Galloway and the Scottish Borders), the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their eleven regional companies. ITV1 replaced these regional brands completely in October 2002, before Granada and Carlton merged to form ITV plc in 2004. The ITV1 brand, however, should be distinguished from the UK-wide ITV, of which ITV1 forms a large proportion.

ITV1 and its predecessor channels (collectively known simply as ITV from 1955 to 2001, and always treated as a single channel for ratings purposes), have contended with BBC One for the status of the UK's most watched television channel since the 1950s. However in line with other terrestrial channels, ITV1's audience share has fallen in the era of multi-channel television.

History[link]

Following the creation of the Television Act in 1954, the establishment of a commercial television service in the UK began.

The "Independent Television" service was made up of regions, with each region run by different companies. The three largest regions (London, the Midlands and the North of England) were subdivided into weekday and weekend services, with a different company running each. ITV existed in a region-heavy form from its inception to the 2000s, although the switch was gradual.

ITV1 became the generic on-screen brand name used by the twelve franchises of the ITV Network in the United Kingdom. The brand was introduced in 2001 by Carlton- and Granada-owned franchises, initially used alongside the local regional name. However, it became the sole on-air identity in 2002 when the two companies decided to create a single unified playout of the channel, with regional references only used prior to regional programming. Carlton and Granada went on to merge in 2004, creating ITV plc which now owns twelve of the fifteen regional ITV licences.

The ITV1 name was only used in England, Wales, Southern Scotland and Isle of Man until Channel Television adopted the name in January 2006, bringing it to the Channel Islands. It should be noted, however, that as national continuity is often used on Channel Television, ITV1 national branding had been seen on the station for several years previously.

The franchises that use the ITV1 brand are Anglia Television, Border Television, Carlton Television, Central Independent Television, Channel Television, Granada Television, ITV Wales & West, London Weekend Television, Meridian Broadcasting, Tyne Tees Television, Westcountry Television and Yorkshire Television.

ITV Wales & West is the only exception using the name ITV1 Wales at all times for the Welsh part of its broadcast area, as it has a higher regional commitment, although recently the ITV1 Wales name is only used on Breakbumpers and regionally advertised programmes. Non ITV plc-owned franchises on the network generally do not refer to the ITV1 name.

The companies which represent ITV1 produce programming under the ITV Studios and Granada brands.

Corporate unification[link]

ITV1 share of viewing 1992-2007 BARB figures

ITV1 was formed by the unification of eleven of the ITV licences. The Broadcasting Act 1990 changed many of the rules regulating the ITV Network, which most notably relaxed franchise ownership and hours of production. However as far back as 1974, Yorkshire Television and its North East neighbour, Tyne Tees Television, formally created Trident Television, a merged entity of the two companies. By 1981 due to regulation, the company was forced to de-merge, however they resumed their alliance in 1993 as Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television, which therefore owned the two franchises and integrated the two company's assets more than its predecessor.

However, the intense race to own more of the ITV Network began in 1994 when Carlton Communications, the owner of London weekday broadcaster Carlton Television, took control of Central Independent Television in the Midlands. Literally days afterwards, Granada plc, owner of Granada Television of the North West purchased London Weekend Television. Meridian's owner, Mills and Allen International, then went on to purchase Anglia Television in the same year, before merging to become United News and Media (UNM) in 1995. UNM then went on to purchase Wales and West broadcaster, HTV in 1996, while Carlton purchased Westcountry Television later that year. Granada then agreed a deal to take over Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television in 1997, giving the broadcaster access to both Yorkshire and North East franchises.

There was no movement in the take-over of franchises until 2000 when Border Television and all of its radio assets were sold to Capital Radio Group, who consequently sold the television broadcasting arm to Granada Media Group. Granada then went on to purchase all of UNM's television interests (including its ITV franchises), which brought Meridian, Anglia and HTV into its power, however due to regulation Granada was forced to sell HTV to Carlton. By this time, all of the franchises in England and Wales were owned by either Carlton or Granada.

In 2004, Granada plc officially merged with Carlton Communications, creating ITV plc, although it was a takeover by Granada in effect.

Regional variations[link]

ITV1 consists of eleven franchises in England and Wales which broadcast regional news and other local programming to its area. Many franchise areas in England previously had sub-regions providing separate regional news bulletins. For example, the Anglia region was divided into West and East. This arrangement came to an end in February 2009 when ITV implemented plans to save the company £40m a year on the amount it spent making local news.

Since 27 October 2002, all ITV plc-owned franchises, regional programming is either preceded or plugged by an oral regional announcement, in the format ITV1 regional brand, e.g. ITV1 Granada. In English regions, up until 13 November 2006, regional names were also superimposed (post-production) on these idents below the ITV1 logo, however this practice has since ceased. ITV Wales remains unaffected and still continues to use dual-branding across all of its on-screen presentation. Despite the lack of regional names on screen, the regional name is usually spoken by the announcer prior to local programmes. After ITV's unification in 2002, the two London franchises, Carlton Television and London Weekend Television were merged into a single entity, ITV London, while the Wales and West franchise lost its official identity and instead was substituted with ITV Wales and ITV West on-air, with no reference linking the two together.

Channel Television adopted the ITV1 brand on-air prior to the 2011 ITV plc takeover of the channel.

Areas with full ITV1 branding and continuity:

In the English regions, the channel has been known since 2006 as ITV1 at all times. Regional references no longer appear before any programming at all in these areas. apart from Channel Television which still used its own idents and promos and breakbumper etc. even though Channel Television is own by ITVPLC

• The ITV1 Wales name is not used overnight.

Areas without full ITV1 branding and continuity:

***UTV uses the ITV1 branding between the end of the teleshopping strand at around 2.30am until the end of ITV Breakfast. UTV Branding is used from 9:25am–2:30am daily.

Proposed regional changes[link]

In June 2007, ITV plc executive chairman Michael Grade hinted at a possible re-structure of the ITV regional layout, stating the existence of smaller regional services "no longer makes sense" relative to the regional audience they serve.^[2]

The plan was confirmed in September 2007, reducing the number of regional news programmes from 17 to just 9, saving around £35 to £40 million each year, and affecting every ITV plc regional company with the exception of ITV London, ITV Wales and ITV Granada. These changes were implemented in early 2009. All sub-regional news programmes ceased, ITV Border's Lookaround programme was merged with ITV Tyne Tees' North East Tonight programme, ITV Westcountry's Westcountry Live merged with ITV West's The West Tonight programme, and ITV Meridian's Meridian Tonight south and south east editions merged with ITV Thames Valley's Thames Valley Tonight.

Pre-recorded sub-regional opt-outs are included in most of these new regions - a practice that has been used by Westcountry since their launch in 1993. Future job losses are currently unknown.^[3]

Branding[link]

From the founding of the ITV Network in 1955, it was known nationally as Independent Television (later ITV) and locally by the regional branding of the local ITV franchise operator.

In 1989, the ITV Association set out a generic presentation package with a new "ITV" logo, which included idents, promotions and general on and off air design, and an edit of this package was designed for each franchise holder. The dual branded idents included a large "ITV" logo, in which the "V" contained part of the franchise's logo, and written below the logo in a grey capitalised font was the name of the regional broadcaster. However, only half of the regional broadcasters opted to use the package, which had completely failed by 1997.

In 1999, another second common presentation package (once again using dual-branding with the ITV name) was launched, under the theme, "TV From The Heart". Like the 1989 attempt, a version was created for every franchise holder, however it was only taken by nine of the fifteen ITV broadcasters, two of which resorted to other designs, being London Weekend Television, which actually used the look for a year but then adopted a more original look (claiming it "wasn't exciting enough"), and HTV which adopted Carlton's identity when it was purchased by the company in 2001. Carlton, owner of three ITV licences at the time, did not adopt the generic look and instead used another package designed by Lambie-Nairn, which again followed the "TV from the Heart" theme, however with more emphasis on the Carlton corporate identity.

By 2001, all eleven franchises of England and Wales were owned by either Granada plc or Carlton Communications, and a new common name, ITV1, was launched on 11 August 2001 to coincide with digital channel ITV2. The existing "Hearts" idents were simply re-edited.

However from 28 October 2002, in England, the Scottish/English Border and Isle of Man (where all the franchises are owned by ITV plc), the station dropped regional branding and identification before most programming and adopted a unified national branding of ITV1. In Wales, although the HTV name has been dropped, some regional identification remains in the form of ITV1 Wales. At this time all regional continuity announcers were replaced with a single team of six national continuity announcers. Since the re-brand of 2006, that team has been reduced to just four.

ITV Day[link]

In 2005, ITV plc introduced a new channel branding called ITV Day, used to identify ITV1 between 9.25am and 5.00pm. ITV Day was treated as a separate entity to ITV1 and featured its own presentation set focusing using the colours of red, orange and yellow and featured scenes of typical "daytime" activities. Promotions were used in a similar format to ITV1, and all daytime programmes advertised within ITV1 hours were branded with the ITV Day logo. A similar "UTV Day" branding was adopted in Northern Ireland.

ITV1 (2006–present)[link]

In January 2006, the channel adopted a new on-air look to coincide with the launch of ITV4, designed mainly to improve cross-channel promotion across ITV's multichannel presence. The new logo brought ITV1, ITV2 and ITV3 in line with ITV4's, and had been observed on various billboard ads in the UK when the new identity was first used on-screen on 16 January 2006. The overhaul also put an end to the former ITV Day brand, which was axed in favour of a full-time ITV1 identity.

On 13 November 2006, a new set of idents replaced the previous set which debuted in January, the theme being "alive with colour". The initial set consisted of 'Beach', 'Bike', 'Lake' and 'Market'; 'Basketball' and 'Pavement Art' were added later in the year. They were created by Blink Productions for ITV, unlike the old idents which were masterminded by Red Bee Media. The logo remained the same in essence; only the 'itv' lettering was inverted from its previous white state to black, to allow it to stand out against the yellow more.^[4]

On 3 September 2007, four more idents where added to the set, featuring 'Bubbles', 'Fountains', 'Garden' and 'Buildings', and as of 19 September 2009, all now have 'the brighter side' on their breakbumpers. On 9 April 2010, four more idents where added to the set, 'Lanterns', 'Sunflowers', 'Snakes and Ladders' and 'Dodgems', featuring an updated ITV1 logo as seen on ITV1 HD.

In September 2009 ITV plc announced that ITV1 +1, a one hour time-shift version of ITV1, would launch in October 2009 from 10.25 am to 7 am daily. The hours covered by GMTV from 7 am to 10.25 am will not originally have been included in the relay.^[5] The channel launched on 11 January 2011.

Notable programming[link]

Spin-off channels[link]

ITV1 HD[link]

A high-definition simulcast of ITV1, ITV1 HD, debuted on 2 December 2009 with the technical launch of the Freeview HD service. The channel has its roots in ITV HD, which began as a trial service in 2006 on a low-power digital terrestrial (DVB-T) channel from London's Crystal Palace transmitting station, and on Telewest TV Drive cable service. The channel was revived on 7 June 2008 in time for the UEFA Euro 2008 football tournament, this time exclusively available on the Freesat digital satellite service ^[6][7] With its debut on Freeview HD, the channel was re-branded as ITV1 HD in December 2009.^[8]

ITV1 +1[link]

This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (January 2011)

On 1 September 2009 it was announced that ITV1 would get a one-hour timeshift on digital satellite and Virgin Media, on 1 October 2009, subject to the Competition Commission's ruling on the contract rights renewal system.^[9][10] However on 18 September 2009, it was announced that ITV1 +1 has been postponed until further notice.^[11] Prior to this announcement, EPG data for the service had appeared on satellite.^[12]

The Competition Commission delayed the final decision in its review of ITV's Contract Rights Renewal undertakings to the end of February 2010 because it had to consider the "significant" submissions it has received.^[13]

On 19 January 2010, the Competition Commission delivered its provisional findings, ruling that audiences for both ITV1 +1 and ITV1 HD will be accredited to ITV1's commercial impacts.^[14] The Competition Commission recognised that the broadcaster had been deterred from launching new ways of delivering ITV1, because of the way media buying is currently conducted under the established contracts rights renewal (CRR) mechanism. However, the regulator rejected ITV's proposed removal of large elements of the "outdated" CRR Undertakings while maintaining an obligation on ITV to offer ITV1 airtime on "fair and reasonable" terms. The Competition Commission announced that such a change would leave the process too open to interpretation and that they were "not likely to be either practicable or effective in addressing the adverse effects of the merger".

On 12 May 2010, the Competition Commission stood by its provisional decision to retain the contracts rights renewal system – but it added that the mechanism should be dropped at some point and that the entire UK TV ad sales market needs a review.^[15][16][17] "ITV1 remains a 'must have' for certain advertisers and certain types of campaign," said the chairman of the CRR review group at the Competition Commission, Diana Guy. "Despite all the changes in this market, no other channel or medium can come close to matching the size of audience that ITV regularly provides. So the essential reason for the CRR undertakings remains: to protect advertisers and other commercial broadcasters." The ITV chief executive, Adam Crozier, said that the ruling was "out of touch and damaging for the interests of creative Britain". He added that it was "unlikely" that ITV would look to seek a judicial review but that ITV would redouble its lobbying campaign for a liberalisation of regulation and "urgent modernisation" of competition law. But the commission said there was "virtual unanimity" among advertisers, media agencies, commercial broadcasters and trade bodies that CRR should be kept "in some form". The commission confirmed that the CRR remedy should be broadened to include ITV+1 and ITV's high definition channels.

On 27 July 2010, the House Of Lords confirmed plans to launch an inquiry into the television advertising market, which will "pay particular attention" to the CRR mechanism.^[18] The Lords committee will investigate the declining revenues that commercial broadcasters gain from the sale of advertising across their networks. The members will also consider possible changes to current ad market regulation, including the CRR system, product placement rules and the scheduling and sale of advertising. The committee wants to hear evidence on the current levels of regulation and what impact a relaxation of the rules could have on the commercial broadcasting sector. Interested parties must submit written evidence to the inquiry by 24 September, with oral evidence to be heard in October. A written report is expected to follow in late 2010 or early 2011.^{[dated info]}

On 3 August 2010, ITV plc announced the launch of ITV1 +1 would take place in Q1 2011,^[19] with BARB later reporting that the channel would be launched on 11 January 2011.^[20] In December 2010 full testing of all six regions began on satellite.

ITV1 +1 was launched on 11 January 2011 on Freesat channel 112, Freeview channel 33, Sky channel 131 and Virgin Media channel 114.^[21] ITV1 broadcasts 22 different editions of digital satellite, but the timeshift service originally only transmitted six macro regional variants:^[22]

• London
• South East Macro (encompassing Meridian and Anglia)
• West Macro (encompassing Wales & West and Westcountry)
• Central
• Yorkshire/Tyne Tees Macro (encompassing Yorkshire and Tyne Tees)
• Granada/Border Macro (encompassing Granada and Border)

On 1 March 2012, four additional variations were launched for the Anglia, Tyne Tees, West and Westcountry regions, with the South East Macro becoming Meridian, West Macro becoming Wales and Yorkshire/Tyne Tees Macro becoming Yorkshire.

See also[link]

• British Touring Car Championship
• C-Day
• List of ITV journalists and newsreaders

References[link]

External links[link]

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Bradley Walsh
Walsh in September 2008.
Born	(1960-06-04) 4 June 1960 (age 52) Watford, Hertfordshire, England
Occupation	Actor, Stand up comedian, Television presenter, Footballer
Years active	1994–present
Spouse	Donna Derby (1997–present)
Website
www.bradleywalsh.co.uk

Bradley Walsh (born 4 June 1960) is an English light entertainer, television actor, comedian and former professional footballer. Walsh rose to fame in the mid 1990s after he became a presenter on The National Lottery.

Early life[link]

Walsh grew up in Leavesden, near Watford. He attended what is now Francis Combe Academy, a comprehensive school in Garston, Hertfordshire. At school, Walsh showed a particular interest in sports and media, of which both he successfully passed 'O' Levels in. He was also a prominent member of the school's football squad, scoring 64 goals during his tenure.^[1] In the late 1970s, at the age of 18, Walsh became a professional football player for Brentford and although he failed to make the first team, he was regularly a member of the reserves. Separate ankle fracture injuries finished his career in the game in the early 80s after a promising loan spell with non-league minnows Dunstable, for whom he scored 15 goals in 25 league appearances. Walsh's time at Brentford also saw him play for Barnet on loan, making five league appearances in the 1978–79 season. Walsh was at Barnet at the same time as the legendary, renowned player Jimmy Greaves.

Television[link]

Walsh first came to prominence on television in 1994, after he won a role as one of the presenting team on the National Lottery, broadcast regularly on Saturday and Wednesday evenings on BBC1. After Walsh became a public favourite, he was quickly snapped up by rival TV channel ITV1, who offered him the role as presenter on one of the network's new game shows, Midas Touch. In 1997, Walsh was asked to front the British adaptation of popular US game show, Wheel of Fortune.

Walsh's tenure on Wheel of Fortune lasted just that one year (1997), when he decided to turn his hand to acting. He was succeeded by John Leslie. His first acting job involved a minor role in the Channel 4 TV series, Lock, Stock.... Channel 4 later approached Walsh for a role in their 2001 TV film, Mike Bassett: England Manager.

He returned to ITV1 in 2002, after he won a regular role in the short lived British soap opera Night and Day. He featured in a total of fifty-two episodes. In 2003, Walsh played a minor role in the second episode of The Bill spin-off M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team. In 2004, Walsh was approached by one of the nation's biggest shows, Coronation Street.

On May 31, 2004, Walsh's first scenes in Coronation Street, as factory boss Danny Baldwin, were aired. It was originally envisioned that Walsh's character would be called Vic, however, Walsh asked for the character's name to be changed to Danny after his late father. He also commented that "people had previously called me Young Danny, so i thought it would not be so bad when people called me by my character name." In May 2006, Walsh won the award for 'Best Dramatic Performance' in his role as Danny at the British Soap Awards. In December 2006, Walsh was written out of the serial, but he was not killed off, at his own request. During his time in Coronation Street, Walsh also appeared as Burglar Bill at the Children's Party at the Palace 2006.

In 2007, Walsh took part in Northern Rock's All Star Golf Tournament on ITV, in which his team, Team Europe, won. Walsh stated that he has been playing golf since he was twenty years old. On September 9, 2007, Walsh hosted the countdown 50 Greatest Stars Polls on ITV1, in which people had to vote for their favourite polls on celebrities. In October 2007, Walsh appeared in the three part TV drama Torn. On December 29, 2007, Walsh hosted the countdown No. 1 Soap Fan on ITV1.

In August 2008, Walsh appeared in the reality talent show television series, Maestro, which was broadcast on BBC Two. He placed sixth out of a total of eight contestants. In the same month, he also fronted his own four-part ITV series entitled 'My Little Soldier', in which young contestants are required to do "grown-up things" such as travelling on their own by train. During November and December 2008, Walsh hosted another game show for ITV1, this time in the form of ten-part series Spin Star.^[2] During 2008, Walsh also appeared in two episodes of Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures, in the second story of series two, The Day of the Clown, as a sinister entity that fed off other people's fear. In his role, he played three parts of the same ego - a sinister American sounding clown called Odd Bob, a mysterious European sounding ringmaster called Elijah Spellman, and the infamous Pied Piper of Hamelin.

In January 2009, Walsh, along with his son Barney, featured in a special edition of Channel Five factual TV series, Dangerous Adventures for Boys, based on the best-selling book written by Conn and Hal Iggulden, The Dangerous Book for Boys. Walsh and his son became involved in a hill-climbing activity before learning how to pilot a biplane. In January 2009, Walsh's tenure as the lead male actor in ITV1 crime drama Law & Order: UK began. Walsh plays the character of DS Ronnie Brooks, a recovering alcoholic who has been in the police force for over twenty years. During his time in the programme, Brooks has been paired with DS Matt Devlin (Jamie Bamber) and DS Sam Casey (Paul Nicholls). Since the series began, Walsh has starred in a total of forty episodes, becoming one of only three actors to stay with the series to the present day, the others being female lead Freema Agyeman (Crown Prosecutor Alesha Phillips) and Harriet Walter (DI Natalie Chandler). In June 2009, Walsh became the presenter of ITV tea-time game show The Chase. To date, six series of The Chase have been aired, including a six-part celebrity series. In 2010, Walsh became the presenter of Saturday night panel show Odd One In, alongside regular guets Peter Andre and Jason Manford. Two eight-part series have been shown to date, with a third series expected to air in 2012.

Personal life[link]

Walsh is the son of Margaret (née O'Connell) and Daniel Terence "Danny" Walsh (8 August 1934-12 November 1993), both of Irish descent. Walsh has a younger sister, Kerri. Walsh married choreographer Donna Derby in 1997, and they have one son, Barney (born 1997). The family live in Epping, Essex. He has a daughter Hayley (born 1982), from a previous relationship. During his appearance on 'That's What I Call Television' with Fern Britton, Walsh declared that he is an Arsenal FC fan. During the first quarter of 2010, Walsh completed a tour of stand-up comedy performances throughout theatres in the UK. On October 22, 2010, Walsh was in attendance at the funeral of fellow actor and comedian Sir Norman Wisdom.^[3] Walsh appeared in "Peter Pan", the Christmas pantomime at Cliffs Pavilion, Southend during December 2010 and January 2011. In 2011, Walsh co-authored a series of personalised football story books entitled My Dream Cup Final with..., which were published in June 2011. As of January 2012, Walsh is currently in training for a public event in which he will be cycling from the North of France to Portugal to raise money for Sane.

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

TV[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bradley Walsh at the Internet Movie Database
• Bradley Walsh Official Site
• Bradley Walsh Management - Debi Allen

Britney Spears
Spears performing at her Femme Fatale Tour in Europe, 2011
Background information
Birth name	Britney Jean Spears
Born	(1981-12-02) December 2, 1981 (age 30) McComb, Mississippi, U.S.
Genres	Pop, dance
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, record producer, author, fashion designer, video director
Instruments	Vocals, piano
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Jive, RCA[1]
Associated acts	The New Mickey Mouse Club
Website	britneyspears.com britney.com

Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album ...Baby One More Time in 1999, which became the best-selling album by a teenage solo artist.^[2] During her first decade in the music industry, she became a prominent figure in mainstream popular music and popular culture, followed by a much-publicized personal life. Her first two albums established her as a pop icon and broke sales records, while title tracks "...Baby One More Time" and "Oops!... I Did It Again" became international number-one hits. Spears was credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s, and became the 'best-selling teen aged artist of all time' before she turned 20,^[3] garnering her the honorific title of "Princess of Pop".^[4]

In 2001, she released her third studio album Britney and expanded her brand, playing the starring role in the film Crossroads. She assumed creative control of her fourth studio album, In the Zone (2003), which yielded chart-topping singles "Me Against the Music", "Toxic" and "Everytime". After the release of two compilation albums, Spears experienced personal struggles and her career went into hiatus. Her fifth studio album, Blackout, was released in 2007 and despite receiving little promotion, it spawned hits "Gimme More" and "Piece of Me". In 2008, her erratic behavior and hospitalizations caused her to be placed in a conservatorship. The same year, her sixth studio album Circus was released, with the global chart-topping lead single "Womanizer", and hits such as "Circus" and "If U Seek Amy". She embarked on her highest-grossing global concert tour,^[5] The Circus Starring Britney Spears, in 2009. In October of the same year, she released a chart-topping single, "3", which became her third single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Her seventh studio album Femme Fatale, released in 2011, has become the first of her albums to yield three top ten singles in the United States, "Hold It Against Me", "Till the World Ends" and "I Wanna Go". The same year, she also gained her fifth number one single when she featured on the remix of "S&M" alongside Rihanna.

Spears work has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including a Grammy Award, 6 MTV Video Music Awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award, 9 Billboard Music Awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2009, Billboard ranked her as the 8th overall Artist of the Decade,^[6] and also recognized her as the best-selling female artist of the first decade of the 21st century, as well as the fifth overall.^[7] The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) also recognized Spears as the eighth top-selling female artist in the United States, with 33 million certified albums.^[8] Nielsen SoundScan ranked Spears the tenth best-selling digital artist of the country, with more than 28.6 million digital singles as of January 2012.^[9] She has sold over 100 million albums worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.^[10] Rolling Stone recognized her instant success as one of the Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments of all time,^[11] while VH1 ranked her eleventh on their "100 Greatest Women in Music" list in 2012.^[12] Forbes also revealed that Spears was the sixth most powerful celebrity, and the third best paid musician of 2011-12, having topped the list back in 2002.^[13] In Fall 2012, Spears will serve as a judge in the second season of the American version of The X Factor.^[14]

Biography[link]

1981–97: Early life, and career beginnings[link]

Britney Jean Spears was born on December 2, 1981, the second child of Lynne Irene (née Bridges) and James Parnell Spears. She is of English heritage through her maternal grandmother, Lillian Portelli who was born in London, and of distant Maltese and Sicilian (Sicani) descent.^[15][16][17] Her siblings are Bryan James and Jamie Lynn.^[18] At age three, she started to attend dance lessons in her hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana, and was selected to perform as a solo artist at the annual recital. During her childhood, she also attended gymnastics and voice lessons, and won many state-level competitions and children's talent shows.^[19][20][21] Spears made her local stage debut at age five, singing "What Child Is This?" at her kindergarten graduation. She said about her ambition as a child, "I was in my own world, [...] I found out what I'm supposed to do at an early age".^[20] At age eight, Spears and her mother Lynne traveled to Atlanta for an audition in the 1990s revival of The Mickey Mouse Club. Casting director Matt Casella rejected her for being too young to join the series at the time, but introduced her to Nancy Carson, a New York City talent agent. Carson was impressed with Spears's vocals and suggested enrolling her at the Professional Performing Arts School; shortly after, Lynne and her daughters moved to a sublet apartment in New York. Spears was hired for her first professional role as the understudy for the lead role of Tina Denmark in the Off-Broadway musical Ruthless!. She also appeared as a contestant on the popular television show Star Search, as well as being cast in a number of commercials.^[22][23] In December 1992, she was finally cast in The Mickey Mouse Club, but returned to Kentwood after the show was canceled. She enrolled at Parklane Academy in nearby McComb, Mississippi. Although she made friends with most of her classmates, she compared the school to "the opening scene in Clueless with all the cliques. [...] I was so bored. I was the point guard on the basketball team. I had my boyfriend, and I went to homecoming and Christmas formal. But I wanted more."^[20][24]

In June 1997, Spears was in talks with manager Lou Pearlman to join the female pop group Innosense. Lynne asked family friend and entertainment lawyer Larry Rudolph for his opinion and submitted a tape of Spears singing over a Whitney Houston karaoke song along with some pictures. Rudolph decided he wanted to pitch her to record labels, therefore she needed a professional demo. He sent Spears an unused song of Toni Braxton; she rehearsed for a week and recorded her vocals in a studio with a sound engineer. Spears traveled to New York with the demo and met with executives from four labels, returning to Kentwood the same day. Three of the labels rejected her, arguing that audiences wanted pop bands such as the Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls, and "there wasn't going to be another Madonna, another Debbie Gibson, or another Tiffany." Two weeks later, executives from Jive Records returned calls to Rudolph.^[25] Senior vice president of A&R Jeff Fenster stated about Spears's audition that "It's very rare to hear someone that age who can deliver emotional content and commercial appeal. [...] For any artist, the motivation—the 'eye of the tiger'—is extremely important. And Britney had that."^[20] She then sang Houston's "I Have Nothing" (1992) for the executives, and got signed to the label.^[26] They appointed her to work with producer Eric Foster White for a month, who reportedly shaped her voice from "lower and less poppy" delivery to "distinctively, unmistakably Britney."^[27] After hearing the recorded material, president Clive Calder ordered a full album. Spears had originally envisioned "Sheryl Crow music, but younger more adult contemporary" but felt all right with her label's appointment of producers, since "It made more sense to go pop, because I can dance to it—it's more me." She flew to Cheiron Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, where half of the album was recorded from March to April 1998, with producers Max Martin, Denniz Pop and Rami Yacoub, among others.^[20]

[edit] 1998–2000: ...Baby One More Time, and Oops!... I Did It Again

After Spears returned to the United States, she embarked on a shopping mall promotional tour to promote her forthcoming album. Her show was a four song set and she was accompanied by two back up dancers. Her first concert tour followed, as an opening act for 'N Sync.^[28] Her debut album, ...Baby One More Time, was released on January 1999.^[29] It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and was certified two-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America after a month. Worldwide, the album topped the charts in fifteen countries and sold over ten million copies in a year.^[30] It became the biggest selling album ever by a teenage artist.^[21] The title track was released as the lead single from the album. Originally, Jive Records wanted its music video to be animated; however, Spears rejected it, and suggested the final idea of a Catholic schoolgirl.^[27] The single sold 500,000 copies on its first day, and peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, topping the chart for two consecutive weeks.^[31][32] "...Baby One More Time" later received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.^[33] The title track also topped the singles chart for two weeks in the United Kingdom, and became the fastest-selling single ever by a female artist, shipping over 460,000 copies.^[34] It would later become the 25th most successful song of all time in British chart history.^[35] Spears is also the youngest female artist to have a million seller in the country.^[36] "(You Drive Me) Crazy" was released as the third single from the album. It became a top-ten hit worldwide and propelled ...Baby One More Time to sell 26 million copies.^[37]