Look up su in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

SU, Su or su may refer to:

In geography:

• Su, Cambodia, a village in Laming, Cambodia
• Jiangsu (Sū, 苏), province of the People's Republic of China
• Soviet Union (former ISO country code) and its country-code TLD .su
• Subotica, a city in Serbia (license plate code)

in computing:

• su (Unix), the substitute user command
• Seismic Unix, a collection of seismic data processing tools
• SuperUser, a privileged computer user account
• .su, country code top-level domain for the Soviet Union

several units:

• Statistical Unit
• Subscriber unit
• Sun unit, a unit of sunlight intensity
• a unit of long distance measurement in the show Battlestar Galactica similar to a light-year

in aviation:

• Aeroflot, a Russian airline (IATA code)
• Vought SU, a US Navy Scout aircraft
• Sukhoi, a Russian aircraft company

the following organizations:

• Scripture Union, a Christian organisation
• Socialist Youth (Norway), a Norwegian youth league
• Students' union
• SU carburetor (Skinners Union)

SU may also refer to the following universities:

• Sabancı University in Istanbul, Turkey
• Salisbury University in Salisbury, Maryland, United States
• Seattle University in Seattle, Washington, United States
• Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, United States
• Sheffield University in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom
• Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia, United States
• Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, United States
• Silliman University in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, Philippines
• Silpakorn University in Bangkok, Thailand
• Singularity University in California, United States
• Sofia University in Sofia, Bulgaria
• South University in Savannah, Georgia, United States
• Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States
• Staffordshire University in Staffordshire, United Kingdom
• Stanford University in Stanford, California, United States
• Stellenbosch University in Stellenbosch, South Africa
• Stevenson University in Stevenson and Owings Mills, Maryland, United States
• Stockholm University in Stockholm, Sweden
• Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, United States

other uses:

• Su (Basque), the Basque spirit of fire
• Su (kana), す or ス, Japanese kana
• Su (surname), a Chinese surname
• su-, the Sanskrit cognate of Greek εὖ
• Su (Shugo Chara!), a fictional character in the manga series Shugo Chara!
• Samokhodnaya ustanovka (disambiguation)
• Sinclair User, a magazine
• Special unitary group, a term used in algebra, SU(n)
• Statens Uddanneslsesstøtte, a government grant for students in Denmark
• StumbleUpon, a web discovery service
• Sulfonylurea, a drug for treating Diabetes
• Sundanese Language
• SuperUser, a computer Q&A site

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2012)

José Feliciano
Feliciano in 2007
Background information
Birth name	José Montserrate Feliciano García
Born	(1945-09-10) September 10, 1945 (age 66)
Origin	Lares, Puerto Rico
Genres	Soft rock, Latin pop, bolero, acoustic
Years active	1964–present
Labels	RCA Records Optimism Records
Website	www.josefeliciano.com

José Feliciano (born September 10, 1945) is a Puerto Rican singer, virtuoso guitarist and composer known for many international hits including the 1970 Christmas single "Feliz Navidad".

Childhood[link]

Feliciano was born in Lares, Puerto Rico, on September 10, 1945. Left permanently blind at birth as a result of congenital glaucoma,^[1] Feliciano was first exposed to music at age three and would play on a tin cracker can while accompanying his uncle playing the Cuatro.^[2] When he was five, his family moved to Spanish Harlem, New York City, and at age nine, he played the Teatro Puerto Rico in the Bronx.^[3] He started his musical life playing the accordion until his father and family friend, Benjamin Borges, gave him his first guitar in a brown paper bag. He played every chance he had by himself in his room for up to 14 hours a day listening to 1950s rock'n'roll records, classical guitarists such as Andrés Segovia, and jazz players such as Wes Montgomery. He later had classical lessons with Harold Morris, who earlier had been a student of Segovia.^[4]

At 17, he quit school to play in clubs, having his first professional, contracted performance in Detroit.

1960s[link]

In 1963, after some live performances in pubs and clubs around the USA and Canada, especially in Greenwich Village in New York City, and Vancouver, BC, where he played at the same time as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, he was signed by Jack Somer, an executive at RCA Victor.^[5] In 1964, he released his first single "Everybody Do the Click" (which become a hit in Philippines, at nr2 and stayed for 14 weeks in TopTen Hit parade) . Later, in 1965 and 1966, he also released his first albums The Voice and Guitar of Jose Feliciano and A Bag Full of Soul, two folk-pop-soul albums that showcased his talent on radio across the USA, where he was described as a "10 finger wizard". He also was invited to the Newport Jazz festival in 1964.

In 1966, he went to Mar del Plata, Argentina, to perform at the Festival de Mar del Plata. There, he impressed RCA Victor officials who told him to stay there to record an album in Spanish. They were not sure what they wanted to record, but Feliciano suggested they record bolero music. The result was two smash hits with the singles "Poquita Fe" ("Little Faith", a.k.a. "Sin Fe", or "Without Faith"), a song written by fellow Puerto Rican Bobby Capó, and "Usted" (the formal way to say "you" in Spanish).

A year later, Feliciano was due to perform in the United Kingdom, but the authorities would not allow his guide dog into the country unless it was in quarantine for six months. The stringent quarantine measures of those days were intended to prevent the spread of rabies. Feliciano later wrote a song entitled "No Dogs Allowed" (then lately in 1969 become a Netherland Top10 Hit on the charts), which told the story of his first visit to London.^[6]

During his British visit, on July 16, 1967, Feliciano gave a live performance on the pirate radio stations Radio 227 and Radio 355, on board the MV Laissez Faire off the British coast, less than a month before the stations were due to be closed by the UK's Marine Broadcasting Offences Act.

After two more successful albums, Feliciano, now a household name all over Latin America, moved to Los Angeles. He got together with Rick Jarrard who was, at the time, also producing Harry Nilsson and Jefferson Airplane. They recorded The Doors' song "Light My Fire" in a Latin style and when released as a single, it reached #3 on the US pop charts in late summer, 1968. It sold over one million copies in the US market alone. However the song became a #1 hit in many countries, including Canada, Brazil, and the UK, and was awarded a gold disc.^[7] On the strength of this success he won two Grammy Awards for Best New Artist Of The Year and for Best Pop Song Of The Year in 1969.

In October 1968, at the height of protests against the Vietnam War, Feliciano was given the opportunity by Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell to perform "The Star-Spangled Banner"^[8] at Tiger Stadium in Detroit during Game 5 pregame ceremonies of the 1968 World Series. His highly personalized, slow, latin jazz performance proved highly controversial. As a result of his unusual delivery, many radio stations refused to play his songs, and his career was stalled for almost three years.^{[citation needed]} Even so, in an October, 2006 NPR broadcast, he expressed pride for opening the door for later reinterpretations of the national anthem. His World Series rendition, which features him accompanying himself on an acoustic guitar, was released as a single which charted for 5 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #50.

1970s[link]

In 1970, he wrote and released an album of Christmas music, Feliz Navidad. The title song has been covered by many artists and is now a traditional part of the musical landscape in the U.S, Canada and Latin America around Christmas time. Each year during the Christmas season, "Feliz Navidad" returns to US airwaves, one of the most-played and most-downloaded radio songs and downloaded songs of the season. "Feliz Navidad" is also recognized by ASCAP as one of the 25 all-time most-played Christmas songs in the world.

In 1971, he traveled to Italy to participate in the Sanremo Music Festival, singing the song "Che sarà" in Italian, earning second place in that contest as well as a standing ovation by the Italian public. He later recorded the song, which became a well-known act in Italy, a great hit in half of Europe, including the Iron Curtain countries, as well as in Asia. Feliciano later recorded it in Spanish as "Qué Será", becoming a hit in all of Central and South America, and in English as "Shake a Hand," a big hit in Scandinavian countries.

He wrote and performed the theme song to the 1970s comedy series Chico and the Man, and played a guest role on that series as the cousin of Chico (Freddie Prinze), singer Pepe Fernando. In the 1970s, he acted and composed for TV series and movies including McMillan & Wife, Kung Fu episodes, the soundtrack of the movie Aaron Loves Angela in 1976, and Mackenna's Gold with Quincy Jones. He has guested on many albums by other artists, including Bill Withers's +'Justments, John Lennon's Rock 'n' Roll, Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark, Michael Nesmith's Tantamount to Treason, Natalie Cole's Everlasting and Gloria Estefan's Alma Caribena. In 1975, in his last RCA album Just Wanna Rock'n'Roll he released his well known jazz-funk-latin instrumental composition "Affirmation," which was released one year later by jazz guitarist George Benson in his hit album "Breezin'."

In early 1974 he played in Prague Czechoslovakia, sharing the stage with Czech idol Karel Gott. Feliciano was one of the very few western pop stars who was able to stradle the west and the iron curtain countries.

1980s to present[link]

He received a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1987, and continued as a very popular singer during the 1980s. He had his hands cast on the famous Madame Tussauds Museum's Wall of Fame, and has a star in the Walk of Fame of his native Puerto Rico. He also had a great hit in 1987 in Austria with the song "The Sound of Vienna", number 1 for four weeks and recorded with the famous Vienna Symphony Orchestra. The Orchestra also performed with him live on national television at Danube Park in Vienna before more than 60,000 people. During the 1980s, record companies gave him space made only for the Latin market, and he recorded an impressive number of albums for that market, including the Motown albums Escenas de Amor and Me Enamoré, as well as others from RCA, EMI, and Capitol which added four more Grammys for best Latin performer. He recorded a duet called "Por ella" with the most popular Mexican singer at the time: José José.

In 1994, Feliciano recorded a dance record in English entitled "Goin' Krazy" (MJM Records) under the pseudonym JR. Latino DJs around the world supported the record helping the 12" dance record chart on Billboard and earning him new and younger fans.

In 1995, Feliciano was honored by the City of New York, which renamed Public School 155 the Jose Feliciano Performing Arts School. In 1996, he had a short cameo role in the film Fargo.

Feliciano was also an inaugural member of the Independent Music Awards' judging panel to support independent artists.^[9]

Feliciano performed the theme song, "Behind the Mask," for the TV series Queen of Swords in 2000. A promotional video sung in Spanish but never published is on YouTube,^[10] and the full English version, never published, sung by Feliciano and the composers Spencer Proffer and Steve Plunkett is also on YouTube.^[11]

In 2003 Guitarra Mía, a special tribute to Feliciano, was produced by the Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and aired in Puerto Rico and in cities with large Puerto Rican population in the United States. This television special (and its soundtrack) featured Feliciano and many Puerto Rican and international stars singing some of his most famous songs, along with his personal favorites from other artists. It was first aired in December 2003, just two days after his mother died unexpectedly from a heart attack; in an eerie coincidence, the special's last scenes featured her giving her son a standing ovation, recorded for the occasion a month before.

On December 6, 2006, Feliciano's new Spanish album, José Feliciano y amigos was released by Universal Records, featuring Feliciano joined in duets with many other Latin American stars including Luis Fonsi, Lupillo Rivera, Luciano Pereyra, Rudy Pérez, Cristian Castro, Marc Anthony, Ramón Ayala, Alicia Villarreal, Ricardo Montaner, and Raúl di Blasio. A special edition was later released and featured Ana Gabriel and Gloria Estefan.

In 2007, Feliciano released an album called Soundtrack of My Life, the first English-language album composed and written by him.

In 2009, after winning his 8th Grammy for the album Senor Bolero, he left Siente music and released two new English-language albums for digital download only from his personal websites, one dedicated to American Classics, including songs made famous by Frank Sinatra, and the other dedicated to an instrumental album in homage to jazz guitar legend Django Reinhardt who inspired Feliciano, and features Feliciano's song "Djangoisms." A single from the Kumbia All Starz features him and the internationally famous Tejano band, Los Dinos, which was released April 28, 2010.

On May 10, 2010, Feliciano performed his rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner", at Comerica Park in Detroit. This was part of the remembrance of Detroit Tigers radio announcer Ernie Harwell, who had died the Tuesday before. He played it similarly to how he did in 1968; with his acoustic guitar and in his slow tempo-ed, latin jazz style.

On December 15, 2010, Feliciano appeared as the featured guest on the 37th wepisode of Daryl Hall's Webbie-Award winning webcast, Live From Daryl's House, www.livefromdarylshouse.com. Feliciano and Hall took turns on several numbers, including Felicano's version of "Light My Fire." On November 9, 2011, Feliciano received the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement award from the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.

Family[link]

Feliciano and his wife Susan have three children: daughter Melissa and sons Jonathan and Michael. Susan was raised in Detroit and met Ernie Harwell during the controversy over Feliciano's rendition of the national anthem in 1968. Harwell later introduced her to Feliciano.^[12]

Sense of humor[link]

Besides his musical skills, Feliciano is known for his strong sense of humor. He constantly makes fun of people's reactions to his blindness, and has even played practical jokes on friends and family based on this. Once his then bass player, Ted Arnold, contrived to allow Feliciano to appear to be driving down a busy street, fooling the passing police. During a show he once said, "I was going to dedicate this next song [Zorba The Greek] to Howard Hughes but I can't see him!" He then dedicated it to Jacqueline Onassis.

He has performed comedy sketches alongside Freddie Prinze, Sunshine Logroño, and the staff of Despierta América and Verónica Castro, among others. He has also parodied fellow artists in his concerts, including Julio Iglesias, Raphael, Rocío Jurado and Isabel Pantoja. An occasional song at his Spanish concerts is a parody of Bobby Capó's song "El Bardo". While the Right Said Fred song "I'm Too Sexy" was popular in the early 1990s, Feliciano closed his English concerts with a parody of it.

His performance of "Old Turkey Buzzard" became a recurring bit on The Late Show with David Letterman in 2007, until Feliciano himself appeared on the show on October 16 of that year to perform a live rendition of the song.

In December 2009 a parody of Feliz Navidad entitled "The Illegal Alien Christmas Song" was created by radio producers Matt Fox and A.J. Rice and posted on the website for Human Events, a Washington-based conservative weekly publication. The parody, sung in English, played on the stereotype of Latino immigrants as heavy drinkers and that undocumented immigrants were going to "spread bubonic plague".

Feliciano released a statement on December 23 on his official website:

"This song has always been a bridge to the cultures that are so dear to me, never as a vehicle for a political platform of racism and hate. It’s disgusting and my only wish that my song and I are distanced from the whole affair as soon as possible."^[13]

In a statement to the Associated Press the same day, Jed Babbin, Human Events' site editor, apologized for "any offense that Mr. Feliciano may have taken from this parody" and removed it from the site.^[14]

Discography[link]

English/international[link]

	Feliz Navidad noicon
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

• 1964 - The Voice and Guitar of José Feliciano
• 1966 - A Bag Full of Soul
• 1966 - Fantastic Feliciano
• 1968 - Feliciano!
• 1968 - Souled
• 1969 - Feliciano/10 To 23
• 1969 - Alive Alive O!
• 1970 - Fireworks
• 1970 - Feliz Navidad
• 1971 - Encore!
• 1971 - Che sarà
• 1971 - That the Spirit Needs
• 1971 - Another Record
• 1972 - Sings
• 1972 - Memphis Menu
• 1973 - Compartments
• 1973 - Peter Stuyvesant presents José Feliciano in concert with the London Symphony Orchestra
• 1974 - For My Love, Mother Music
• 1974 - And The Feeling's Good
• 1975 - Affirmation
• 1975 - Just Wanna Rock'n'Roll
• 1976 - Angela
• 1977 - Sweet Soul Music
• 1981 - José Feliciano"
• 1983 - Romance in the Night
• 1989 - I'm Never Gonna Change
• 1990 - Steppin' Out (Optimism Records)
• 1994 - Goin' Krazy' (MJM Records) (12" Dance Remix Single recorded under the pseudonym JR)
• 1996 - Present Tense
• 1996 - On Second Thought
• 2006 - Six-String Lady (the instrumental album)
• 2007 - The Genius of José Feliciano
• 2008 - Soundtrax of My Life
• 2009 - The Paris Concert (live)
• 2009 - American Classics (only for digital download)
• 2009 - Djangoisms (only for digital download)
• 2011 - The Genius of José Feliciano, Vol.2

Spanish[link]

• 1966 El Sentimiento La Voz y la Guitarra
• 1966 La Copa Rota
• 1967 Sombra
• 1967 ¡El Fantástico!
• 1967 Mas Éxitos de José
• 1968 Felicidades Con Lo Mejor de José Feliciano
• 1968 Sin Luz
• 1971 En Mi Soledad - No Llores
• 1971 José Feliciano Dos Cruces
• 1971 José Feliciano January 71
• 1971 José Feliciano Canta Otra
• 1982 Escenas de Amor
• 1983 Me Enamoré
• 1984 Como Tú Quieres
• 1985 Ya Soy Tuyo
• 1986 Te Amaré
• 1987 Tu Inmenso Amor
• 1990 Niña
• 1992 Latin Street '92
• 1996 Americano
• 1998 Señor Bolero
• 2001 Señor Bolero 2
• 2003 Guitarra Mía Tribute
• 2005 A México, Con Amor
• 2006 José Feliciano y amigos
• 2007 Señor Bachata
• 2008 Con Mexico en el corazon

Hit singles: United States, United Kingdom and Australia[link]

Hit albums: United States, United Kingdom and Australia[link]

See also[link]

	Puerto Rico portal
	Biography portal
	Music portal

• List of Famous Puerto Ricans
• List of Puerto Rican songwriters

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jose Feliciano official website
• José Feliciano singing "Que Sera, Sera" in Italian at the San Remo Festival in 1971

Marina and the Diamonds
Marina and the Diamonds performing in Edinburgh on 2 November 2010
Background information
Birth name	Marina Lambrini Diamandis
Born	(1985-10-10) 10 October 1985 (age 26) Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales
Genres	indie pop, pop, New Wave, electropop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician poet,
Instruments	Vocals, keyboard, piano, glockenspiel, casio VL-tone, organ
Years active	2007–present
Labels	Neon Gold, 679, Chop Shop
Website	marinaandthediamonds.com

Marina Lambrini Diamandis^[1] (Greek: Μαρίνα-Λαμπρινή Διαμάντη, pronounced [ðʝaˈmadi];^[2] born 10 October 1985), better known by her stage name Marina and the Diamonds (sometimes stylised as Marina & the Diamonds), is a Welsh singer-songwriter.^[3][4] She rose to fame after reaching number two on the BBC Sound of 2010 poll list, coming second to Ellie Goulding. After releasing one private EP, Diamandis released her second extended play, The Crown Jewels EP, with help from Neon Gold Records, in 2009.^[5] Now signed to 679 Recordings, she released her debut full length studio album, The Family Jewels, followed by her third extended play, The American Jewels EP, in 2010. In 2011, Diamandis announced that she was working on her second album, Electra Heart, which was released in April 2012 and went to #1 in the UK and Ireland.

Her stage name, "Marina and the Diamonds", consists of Diamandis' first name and the translation of her surname which means "Diamonds" in Greek. Although "The Diamonds" is often mistakenly believed to refer to her backing band,^[6] it in fact refers to Diamandis' fans: she explains this on her Myspace page by saying "I'm Marina. You are the diamonds."^[7]

Diamandis' musical style ranges from keyboard-based ballads to more up-tempo New Wave-style songs with full band backing.^[4] She has cited a wide-range of influences such as Daniel Johnston, Blondie, The Distillers, Patti Smith, Tom Waits, Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Kate Bush, Britney Spears, Yann Tiersen, Elliott Smith, Dolly Parton and Madonna.^[8][9]

Background[link]

Diamandis was born in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales. Her father is Greek and her mother is Welsh,^[10] and brought up in the village of Pandy with her parents and her older sister.^[11] She attended Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls, of which she said "I sort of found my talent there... I was the one who always skived off choir, but I had an incredible music teacher who managed to convince me I could do anything."^[12] When her parents separated, Diamandis moved to Greece when she was sixteen years old to live with her father but returned to Wales two years later.^[11]

Diamandis moved to London at the age of eighteen where she attended dance school for only two months.^[6] Following this, in 2005 she took a one year singing course at Tech Music Schools.^{[citation needed]} Diamandis enrolled in a music degree at the University of East London, transferring in her second year of studies to Middlesex University, but later dropped out.^[13] She went for many auditions including the West End musical, The Lion King.^[14] Diamandis admitted that she auditioned for a reggae boy band, held by Virgin Records, in 2005 to try to make it into the music business. She said she was "delusional with drive" and ultimately decided to dress up in male attire to try to amuse the record label to sign her, but she was unsuccessful. However, she was called back by the record label a week later.^[15][16]

Diamandis has a synaesthetic condition that involves seeing musical notes and days of the week in different colours.^[17]

Musical career[link]

2005–2008: Early career[link]

Diamandis live at the NME Radar Tour

In 2005, Diamandis created the name "Marina and the Diamonds".^[18] When describing the origin of the name, she said:

I never envisaged a character, pop project, band or solo artist. I saw a simple group made up of many people who had the same hearts. A space for people with similar ideals who could not fit in to life's pre-made mould. I was terribly awkward for a long time! I really craved to be part of one thing because I never felt too connected to anybody and now I feel I have that all around me.^[18]

Early demos of Marina and the Diamonds' songs were self composed and produced on the Apple software application Garageband.^[14] Through Gumtree she found someone to produce a few tracks, for which she paid £500.^[19] These ended up on her debut extended play Mermaid Vs. Sailor EP which was released on 23 November 2007. The record was created on hand-made CD-Rs by Diamandis and sold through her MySpace page. An estimated seventy copies were sold overall.^[20]

In January 2008, Diamandis was first discovered by music scouter Derek Davies of Neon Gold Records. Davies booked Diamandis to open for Belgian-Australian singer Gotye later that year where Warner Music Group first saw her and ended up signing her in October 2008 to 679 Recordings.^[19]

Marina and the Diamonds performing at The Bell House in Brooklyn, New York.

Diamandis' debut single was a double a-side consisting of "Obsessions" and "Mowgli's Road" which was issued on Neon Gold Records in the United States on 19 November 2008, followed by her second extended play The Crown Jewels EP on 1 June 2009 featuring her second single "I Am Not a Robot".^[21] Her first major label single, a re-recording of "Mowgli's Road", was released on 13 November 2009 under 679 Recordings in the UK and through Atlantic Records in the USA. On 7 December 2009 she was listed on the longlist for the BBC Sound of 2010 poll,^[22] and on 7 January 2010 it was announced that she had taken second place.^[23]

[edit] 2009–2010: The Family Jewels

Marina and the Diamonds' debut album, The Family Jewels, was released in February 2010. It peaked at number five on the UK Albums Chart and was certified silver in the United Kingdom days before its release.^[24] A re-release of "Mowgli's Road" was released as the album's lead single in November 2009.^[25] However, the song "Hollywood" was released as the first major single from the album in February 2010.^[26] A re-release of "I Am Not a Robot" in April 2010 became the album's third single; Diamandis said she decided to re-release the song because "people seem to empathize and relate with the song, regardless of gender or age."^[27] "Oh No!" became the album's fourth single in August 2010,^[28] and "Shampain" became the fifth single in October 2010.^[29] She embarked on her first headlining tour on 14 February 2010, consisting of seventy dates around the United Kingdom, Ireland, mainland Europe, the United States and Canada.^[30]

Also during 2010, Diamandis collaborated with producer Benny Blanco and guitarist Dave Sitek in Los Angeles on new material which she described as "a really great opportunity for me as a songwriter. [We are] such a weird threesome—a combination of super pop and really indie".^[6]

In March 2010, Atlantic Records signed Marina and the Diamonds to Chop Shop Records in the United States.^[31][32] Before the album's American release in May 2010,^[33] Diamandis released her third extended play, The American Jewels EP, digitally and exclusively for the United States in March 2010.^[31][32] Diamandis made her North American debut on 14 March 2010 through a series of performances.^[34]

Marina and the Diamonds was nominated for Critics' Choice at the 2010 BRIT Awards^[35] and came fifth in SHREDnews' "Ten Artists To Watch in 2010" list in March 2010.^[36] She also won the award for Best UK & Ireland Act at the 2010 MTV Europe Music Awards.^[37]

[edit] 2011–present: Electra Heart

In a January 2011 interview, Diamandis announced that her second album would mainly be about female sexuality and feminism.^{[citation needed]} The same month, Diamandis was announced as a support act for the U.S. leg of Katy Perry's California Dreams Tour.^[38] Three early demos were leaked in early 2011, called "Sex, Yeah", "Living Dead" and "Jealousy", each showing a more pop sound.^[39] Diamandis recorded material with producers Cirkut, Guy Sigsworth, Labrinth, Greg Kurstin, Diplo, Dr. Luke, Stargate and Liam Howe.

In August 2011, Diamandis uploaded a video to her YouTube page titled "Part 1: Fear and Loathing". In an interview with Popjustice, she explained the concept of the album, titled Electra Heart after a character of her creation; she said the guise "epitomises and embodies the lies, illusions and death of American ideologies involved in the corruption of self [...] Electra Heart is the antithesis of everything that I stand for. And the point of introducing her and building a whole concept around her is that she stands for the corrupt side of American ideology, and basically that’s the corruption of yourself. My worst fear—that’s anyone’s worst fear—is losing myself and becoming a vacuous person. And that happens a lot when you’re very ambitious."^[40] The campaign's first single, "Radioactive" produced by Stargate, was released in October 2011 (reaching number twenty-five in the UK),^[41] followed by a demo of the song "Starring Role" in November^[42] and a video titled ♡ PART 3: "THE ARCHETYPES" ♡ in December.^[43] A track titled "Homewrecker" was issued as a free download to her mailing list subscribers.^[44]

Electra Heart was released in April 2012,^[45] preceded by the single "Primadonna" produced by Dr Luke, Diplo and Cirkut.^[46][47] "Primadonna" debuted at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Diamandis' highest peaking single to date. "Power and Control" has been announced officially as the next single from the album.^[48]

Artistry[link]

Music style and influences[link]

Marina and the Diamonds performing on The Gem Tour in Birmingham, UK.

Marina and the Diamonds has been influenced by a wide-range of musicians from PJ Harvey to Britney Spears.^[8] Diamandis has also noted Daniel Johnston as one of her major influences saying:

He really opened me up to a whole new world of music and a whole new perception of what an artist is. For me, he really encouraged me because if you think of someone who has been spoon-fed pop, up until twenty-one years old, and you hear someone like Daniel Johnston you're like "God, this is terrible, but I love it." It sounds like a child has made it, like, the production is so all over the place. He's obviously got something very captivating here yet he doesn't fit the normal mould and people still love him. I thought "if he can do it then [so can I]," that's when I started to produce things myself and play live, even though I wasn't even great on the piano. It's all about emotion and if you have heart, people connect to that.^[49]

Diamandis calls herself a "DIY musician"^[49] and describes her sound as an alternative to mainstream pop music.^[8] In an interview with ClashMusic Diamandis said that she does not come from a musical background and explained "I probably have a bit of a different sound because I don’t really know what I’m doing".^[50] Lyrically, she says her music analyzes people and that if she wasn't a musician, she would be a psychologist.^[51]

Critics usually catalogue Marina and the Diamonds as a New Wave pop artist. In an interview with The Guardian she said, "I suppose I'm an indie artist with pop goals".^[9] Although Diamandis has asserted that she never tries to sound like any other artist or copy a genre of music, she has been compared to a variety of artists such as Kate Bush^[50] and most commonly Florence and the Machine.^[52] PopMatters commented on her vocal delivery and attitude saying it "has a tendency to overshadow the music, which is often melodically inventive, but we are rarely given the chance to realise this."^[53] The Guardian's Paul Lester wrote that "her songs are hard to fathom. They veer between simple keyboards-based ballads and more upbeat and catchy, quirky new wave-inflected numbers enhanced by percussion, guitar and drums."^[4]

Public image[link]

As well as her music, Marina and the Diamonds is also notable for her unique attire.^[54] When asked in an interview to describe her fashion style in three words, Diamandis said "vintage, cheerleader and cartoon".^[55] You can see an element of this style in the video for 'Oh No!' which was released in June 2010. She has praised model/DJ Leigh Lezark's fashion style and called Gwen Stefani her definitive style icon describing her image as "cartoonized but in a very fresh way".^[55] Diamandis has mentioned that she sometimes makes her own outfits with clothes she buys from charity shops.^[56] She also collects vintage cheer jackets.^[55] She has often been seen wearing clothes by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac,^[57] Laura Mackness,^[58] Beyond Retro,^[59] Motel Rocks,^[60] Jervoise Jackets^[61] amongst others. Diamandis has admitted that she would "like to do something in fashion, not designing, not one of those skanky celebrity lines, but being involved behind the scenes".^[11]

As part of Selfridges' "Sound of Music", Diamandis designed her own window display for the London Oxford Street branch in May 2010.^[62] She also appeared as a "live mannequin" for the display.^[63] Diamandis was featured on Vogue UK's official website throughout November 2010 for a popular sartorial section called "Today I'm Wearing", where she blogged her daily style choices for the fashion website.^[64] In December 2010, Diamandis announced on her Twitter that she would be the new face of the Max Factor make-up range Max Colour Effects.

Discography[link]

• 2010: The Family Jewels
• 2012: Electra Heart

Filmography[link]

• 2013: Homewrecker (Set to be released in Summer 2013)

Touring[link]

Marina and the Diamonds at The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, NJ

In 2009, Marina and the Diamonds played at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Swindon early in May 2009,^[3] Glastonbury Festival in June 2009,^[65] and the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2009.^[66]

In promotion for her album and "Hollywood", Diamandis performed at Brand New: 10 for 10 at London's Dingwalls,^[67] had an eleven minute 4Music special - 4Play: Marina and the Diamonds - on Channel 4,^[68] performed at T4's Outside-In Festival,^[69] New to Q Sessions^[70] in January 2010, was a musical guest on GMTV, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, The Review Show in February 2010^[71] and Later... with Jools Holland and T4's Frock Me! in April 2010. She performed at the Isle of Wight Festival 2010 and Glastonbury Festival 2010 in June 2010 and is planned to appear at other music festivals across the United Kingdom, mainland Europe and North America.

Diamandis had already sold out the first leg of her first headlining tour, The Family Jewels Tour before the release of her debut album. Her entire tour currently consists of seventy dates across six legs around the United Kingdom, North America, Ireland and mainland Europe.^[30][72][73] Diamandis was accompanied by support acts Clock Opera and Alan Pownall for the first leg of her tour and Spark on The Gem Tour.^[74]

Headlining

• The Family Jewels Tour (2010 - 2011)
• Lonely Hearts Club Tour (2012)

Supporting

• California Dreams Tour (2011)
• Mylo Xyloto Tour (2011 - 2012)

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]