Coordinates	56°09′″N40°25′″N
company name	Bezeq the israeli company for communications inc.
company logo
company type	Public ()
genre	Telecommunications
foundation	1984
location city	Tel Aviv
location country	Israel
location
key people	Avi Gabay (CEO)
area served	Israel
industry	Telecomunications
net income	2.78 billion NIS
num employees	12,000
company slogan	there's no place like home
homepage	http://www.bezeq.co.il
footnotes	}}

Bezeq, the Israeli company for communications, () is a telecommunications provider in Israel. Until the mid-first decade of the 21st century when it was owned by the Israeli government, Bezeq had a monopoly on landline telephony and Internet access infrastructure (ADSL VDSL2). Though still the most dominant provider of telephone services, it has had competition from the sole cable provider in the country (since September 2006), Hot, which offers a cables based telephone and internet access services as of 2005, and with 012 Smile and more recently 013 netvision and Orange.

On May 9, 2005, Bezeq was officially privatized when 30% of its shares were sold by the state to the Saban-Apax Investment group for $972 Million. The cellular communications provider Pelephone is a fully owned subsidiary of Bezeq. Bezeq is also the largest shareholder in D.B.S. Satellite Services (1998) Ltd., known by its trademark name, Yes, the satellite (DBS) television provider in Israel.

References

External links

Official website Store website

Category:Companies listed on TASE Category:Telecommunications companies of Israel Category:Israeli brands

cs:Bezek de:Bezeq fr:Bezeq he:בזק ru:Безек

Coordinates	56°09′″N40°25′″N
name	Gidi Gov
background	solo_singer
born	August 04, 1950Rehovot, Israel
birth name	Gideon Gov
genre	Rock, Pop, Jazz, Israeli rock, Israeli music
years active	1968–present
label	Hed Arzi Music
associated acts	Kaveret, Gazoz, Doda
notable instruments	}}

Gidi Gov () (born August 4, 1950), is an Israeli singer, TV host, entertainer and actor.

Gov is married to playwright Anat Gov, with whom he has three children.

Biography

Early life

Gideon (Gidi) Gov was born in Rehovot in 1950 to Daniel and Tzipora Gov. As a child Gov suffered from the asthma. Gov's father died when he was very young, which made his mother move with him from place to place, including Tel Aviv and Eilat.

Growing up Gov never dreamed of becoming a singer, only when he enlisted to the IDF in 1969, Yair Rosenblum recommended that Gov would be auditioned for the Nahal entertainment troupe. Gov passed the auditions and joined the Nahal entertainment troupe. There Gov actually began his acting and singing career.

1970s

Gov's first major breakthrough occurred when Gov sang in the 1973 Israeli "Song and chorus Festival" (פסטיבל הזמר והפזמון) the song "Rise up and arrive" (יעלה ויבוא). The song reached only number eight, but become one of the songs most identified with the competition.

During the same year Gov established along with some of the former Nahal troupe members (Efraim Shamir, Danny Sanderson and Alon Olearchik) and two others (Yoni Rechter and Isaac Klepter) the band Kaveret. The band became one of the most popular Israeli bands in the 1970s and is still considered today as one of the most successful Israeli bands in the history of popular music and entertainment in Israel. The band released three albums, represented Israel in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Natati La Khayay" and won the title "Band of the Year" four times in succession in the Israeli annual Hebrew song chart of Kol Yisrael. The band was eventually disbanded in 1976.

After the breakup of Kaveret Gov joined the short-lived band "Parnasa Tova" , which included Yehudit Ravitz and Shmulik Bilu. The band recorded several cover versions of old songs and produced an album.

In 1978 Gov put out his first solo album ("Taklit Rishon", or "first album").

In addition to his musical career, during the 1970s Gov also participated in the 1974 Israeli TV series "The Magic Door" (דלת הקסמים), and in the 1977 Israeli film "Masa Alonkot" (מסע אלונקות), and in Ram Loevy's 1978 film "Khirbet Khize", the 1978 film "Ha-Lehaka" ("The Troupe") which described the life in an Israeli military band, and the 1979 film "Dizengoff 99", and the 1979 film "Do not ask if I love" (אל תשאלי אם אני אוהב).

In 1979 Gov became a co-host in the successful Israeli entertainment show "Zehu Ze!" ("That's it!"). Gov appeared intermittently in this show until it ended in 1993.

In 1979, Gov formed the successful Israeli pop-rock band "Gazoz" together with Danny Sanderson, which recorded and released the albums "Gazoz" (גזוז) and "second incarnation" (גלגול שני).

1980s

In 1980 Gov and Sanderson formed their third band Doda, which succeeded less than Kaveret and Gazoz.

During the early 1980s Gov participated in several Israeli children's music festivals.

In 1983 Gov released his second album, "40:06", named after the album's total length.

Later on Gov appeared in the 1983 Israeli film "The silver platter" (מגש הכסף).

In 1985 Gov released his third solo album, "Tnu Ligdol Besheket" ("Let Me Grow Up in Peace"), which included mostly children's songs.

From 1986 to 1992 Gov participated in almost all the Israeli children's music, and even hosted it 1986.

In 1987 Gov decided to release the rock oriented album "Derech Eretz" (דרך ארץ), produced by Louie Lahav. The majority of songs on the album were composed by Yehuda Poliker. The album was a big success and sold more than 50,000 copies - the best selling album of the Gov until then.

In 1989 Gov participated in the play "The Gigolo from Congo" by Hanoch Levin, and performed the title song "What do you know about love" (מה אתה בכלל יודע על אהבה) for the film "Ehad Mishelano".

1990s

In 1991 Gov released one of his most successful solo albums - Ein Od Yom ("No Other Day"). The album sold more than 70,000 copies.

In 1993 Gov released the compilation album "שירים שהתפזרו", which containing different original songs performed by Gov between 1973 to 1992 which did not appear in his previous solo albums.

In 1994 he left "Zehu Ze!" to his own host musical/talk show, "Laila Gov" (a play on the phrase "laila tov", meaning "good night"), on Channel 2, Israel's first commercial TV channel. The show which aired from 1994 to 1998 became very successful. During the show Gov used to regularly perform different songs along with different popular Israeli singers whom were guests on the show. Subsequently, in 1995 Gov released the double disc compilation album "שירים מלילה גוב", and in 1997 released the triple disc compilation album "שירים מלילה גוב 2" which both contained the songs Gov performed during the show with his guests.

2000s–present

In 2000 Gov began hosting a dining TV show on the Israeli Channel 8 called "Gidi Gov goes to eat" (גידי גוב הולך לאכול) and appeared in a one time special Kaveret reunion concert designed to raise money for an urgent surgery of the band member Isaac Klepter. This year also instructed the Tammuz Awards Israeli music, held for the first time was broadcast on Channel 2. Gov off the ceremony again the following year, until it was decided to stop at the end of 2002 to comply.

In 2001 Gov participated in Danny Sanderson's album "תולדות המים - שירים לאחרים" in which Gov performed Sanderson's song "רק את".

In 2002 Gov returned to Channel with the show "Laila Gov 2", which was similar to his previous talk show, but failed to repeat its success and was eventually canceled after the first season.

In 2003, 12 years after his last solo studio album was released, Gov recorded the album "Rikud Yare'ach" ("Moon Dance").

In 2004 Gov recorded the album "At the end of the mountain" (בקצה ההר) which was mainly written and composed by Amir Benayon. The album was released in early 2005.

In 2006 Gov hosted the morning program on Channel 2.

In 2007 Gov participated in the Israeli reality show "Once in a lifetime" (פעם בחיים), in which he went to a spiritual commune in the jungles of Costa Rica for two weeks together with the Israeli chef Gil Riva.

In 2008 Gov participated in satire show "גם להם מגיע " together with Lior Ashkenazi and Anat Magen.

In 2009 the Israeli label Hed Artzi released the triple disc compilation album "שלל שיריו" which contained Gov’s biggest hits through the years.

Solo discography

(1978) Gidi Gov - Taklit Rishon ("First Album")

(1983) 40:06

(1985) Tnu Ligdol Besheket ("Let Me Grow Up in Peace")

(1987) Derech Eretz ("The Path of the Land")

(1991) Ein Od Yom ("No Other Day")

(2003) Rikud Yare'ach ("Moon Dance")

(2005) Biktze Ha'har ("At the Mountain's Edge")

References

External links

All about Gidi Gov

Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:Israeli Jews Category:Israeli male singers Category:Israeli rock singers Category:Israeli entertainers Category:Kaveret Category:People from Rehovot

he:גידי גוב

Coordinates	56°09′″N40°25′″N
name	Ashton Kutcher
birth name	Christopher Ashton Kutcher
birth date	February 07, 1978
birth place	Cedar Rapids, Iowa, US
occupation	Actor, producer, former fashion model, comedian, television host
yearsactive	1998–present
spouse	Demi Moore (m. 2005–present)
website	}}

Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978), best known as Ashton Kutcher, is an American actor, producer, former fashion model and comedian, best known for his portrayal of Michael Kelso in the Fox sitcom ''That '70s Show''. He also created, produced and hosted ''Punk'd'', and played lead roles in the Hollywood films ''Dude, Where's My Car?'', ''Just Married'', ''The Butterfly Effect'', ''The Guardian'', and ''What Happens in Vegas''. He is also the producer and co-creator of the supernatural TV show ''Room 401'' and the reality TV show ''Beauty and the Geek''. It was announced in May 2011 that Kutcher would replace Charlie Sheen in the hit CBS sitcom ''Two and a Half Men''.

Early life

Kutcher was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Larry Kutcher, a factory worker, and Diane (née Finnegan), a Procter & Gamble employee. Kutcher was raised in a conservative Roman Catholic family, with an older sister, Tausha, and a fraternal twin, Michael, who had a heart transplant when the brothers were young children. Kutcher attended Washington High School in Cedar Rapids for his freshman year before his family moved to Homestead, Iowa, where he attended Clear Creek Amana High School. In a 2010 interview on ''Late Night with David Letterman'', Kutcher claimed to be an all-state linebacker who averaged 15 tackles per game in high school. According to a former coach, however, Kutcher played sparingly as a wide receiver on a team that won only two games in his entire high school football career. Kutcher also appeared in school plays.

Kutcher's brother's cardiomyopathy caused his home life to become increasingly stressful. He has stated that "I didn't want to come home and find more bad news about my brother" and "kept myself so busy that I didn't allow myself to feel". Kutcher admitted that during adolescence, he contemplated committing suicide. At thirteen, he attempted to jump from a Cedar Rapids hospital balcony, with his father intervening in the incident. Kutcher's home life worsened as his parents divorced when he was sixteen. During his senior year, he broke into his high school at midnight with his cousin in an attempt to steal money; he was arrested leaving the scene. Kutcher was convicted of third-degree burglary and sentenced to three years' probation and 180 hours of community service. Kutcher stated that although the experience "straightened him out", he lost his girlfriend and anticipated college scholarships, and he was ostracized at school and in his community.

Kutcher enrolled at the University of Iowa in August 1996, where his planned major was biochemical engineering, motivated by the desire to find a cure for his brother's heart ailment. At college, Kutcher was kicked out of his apartment for being too "noisy" and "wild". Kutcher stated, "I thought I knew everything but I didn't have a clue. I was partying, and I woke up many mornings not knowing what I had done the night before. I played way too hard. I am amazed I am not dead." To earn money for his tuition, Kutcher worked as a college summer hire in the cereal department for the General Mills plant in Cedar Rapids, and sometimes donated blood for money. During his time at UI he was approached by a scout at a bar called "The Airliner" in Iowa City and was recruited to enter the "Fresh Faces of Iowa" modeling competition. After placing first, he dropped out of college and won a trip to New York City to the International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) Convention. Following his stay in New York City, Kutcher returned to Cedar Rapids before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting.

Career

Modeling career

After participating as a modeling contestant in an IMTA competition (losing to Josh Duhamel) in 1998, Kutcher signed with the Next modeling agency in New York, appeared in ads for Calvin Klein, modeled in Paris and Milan, and appeared in a Pizza Hut commercial.

Television and film career

After some success in modeling, Kutcher moved to Los Angeles and, after his first audition, was cast as Michael Kelso in the television series ''That '70s Show'', which debuted in 1998 and ended in 2006. Kutcher was cast in a series of film roles; although he auditioned but was not cast for the role of Danny Walker in ''Pearl Harbor'' (2001), (role went to Josh Hartnett), he starred in several comedy films, including ''Dude, Where's My Car?'' (2000), ''Just Married'' (2003), and ''Guess Who'' (2005). He briefly appeared in the 2003 family film, ''Cheaper By The Dozen'', playing a self-obsessed actor. His 2004 film ''The Butterfly Effect'' was an unusually dramatic role for Kutcher, playing a conflicted young man who fell in love with a girl named Kayleigh; the film received mixed to negative reviews, but was a box-office success.

In 2003, Kutcher produced and starred in his own series on MTV's ''Punk'd'' as the host. The series involved various hidden camera tricks performed on celebrities. Kutcher is also an executive producer of the reality television shows ''Beauty and the Geek'', ''Adventures in Hollyhood'' (based around the rap group Three 6 Mafia), and ''The Real Wedding Crashers'' and the game show ''Opportunity Knocks''. Many of his production credits, including ''Punk'd'', come through Katalyst Films, a production company he runs with partner Jason Goldberg.

Because of scheduling conflicts with the filming of ''The Guardian'', Ashton was forced not to renew his contract for the eighth and final season of ''That 70s Show'', although he did appear in the first four episodes of it (credited as a special guest star) and returned for the show's series finale.

Kutcher produced and starred in the 2010 action comedy, ''Killers'', in which he played a hitman.

In May 2011, Kutcher replaced Charlie Sheen on ''Two and a Half Men''. Kutcher's contract, which is for one year is believed to be worth nearly $20 million.

Other work

Kutcher was part of the management team for Ooma, a tech start-up launched in September 2007. Ooma is in the Voice over Internet Protocol business and Ashton's role was as Creative Director. He was spearheading a marketing campaign and producing viral videos to promote this service. Kutcher has also created an interactive arm of Katalyst called Katalyst Media with his partner from Katalyst Films, Jason Goldberg. Their first site is the animated cartoon ''Blah Girls''. Ooma revamped its sales and marketing strategy with a new management team in the summer of 2008, replacing Ashton Kutcher as their creative director. Rich Buchanan, from Sling Media, became Ooma's Chief Marketing Officer.

He currently advertises for Nikon cameras. In July 2011, Brazilian fashion label Colcci hired Kutcher and Alessandra Ambrosio to feature in a steamy denim advertisement.

Personal life

In 2003, Kutcher began dating actress Demi Moore. Moore and Kutcher married on September 24, 2005, in a private ceremony conducted by a Rabbi of the Kabbalah Center; the wedding was attended by about 150 close friends and family of the couple, including Bruce Willis, Moore's ex-husband. In October 2010, Kutcher and Moore met with co-director of the Kabbalah Center Rabbi Yehuda Berg in Israel.

Kutcher has invested in an Italian restaurant, ''Dolce'' (other owners include Danny Masterson and Wilmer Valderrama) and a Japanese-themed restaurant named ''Geisha House'' located in Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York.

Kutcher is a self-described fiscal conservative and social liberal. He is a student of Kabbalah; his co-star, Natalie Portman, stated in 2011 that Kutcher "has taught me more about Judaism than I think I have ever learned from anyone else".

On September 17, 2008, Kutcher was named the assistant coach for the freshman football team at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. However, he was unable to return in 2009 because he was filming ''Spread''.

Twitter presence

On April 16, 2009, Kutcher ("aplusk") became the first user of Twitter to have more than 1,000,000 followers, beating CNN in the "Million followers contest". Kutcher announced via Twitter that he would be donating $100,000 to a charity to fight malaria. However, there have been several reports that Twitter manipulated the contest's results by preventing users from "unfollowing" Kutcher or CNN.

Controversy

In April 2011, Kutcher and wife Demi Moore began a public service announcement campaign claiming that "Real Men" do not engage the services of child prostitutes who are the victims of human trafficking. Kutcher's claims that 100,000 - 300,000 American children were sold in to sexual slavery were criticized by newspaper the ''Village Voice'', which gave evidence refuting the claims. Kutcher represented a study referring to minors 'at risk' for sexual exploitation as referring to children actually being prostituted. Experts estimate the true numbers to be in the hundreds, not the hundreds of thousands. Kutcher reacted to the criticism by accusing the ''Village Voice'' of promoting child prostitution and using Twitter to request that ''Village Voice'' advertisers including American Airlines, Disney and Domino's Pizza withdraw their advertising from the publication.

Filmography

! Year	! Film	! Role	! Notes
1998–2006	''That '70s Show''	Michael Kelso	Seasons 1-7 (Regular); Season 8 (Recurring) 180 episodes
1999		Louie
	''Down to You''	Jim Morrison
''Reindeer Games''	College Kid
''Dude, Where's My Car?''	Jesse Montgomery III
	''Just Shoot Me!''	Dean Cassidy	1 episode
	George Durham
2002	''Grounded for Life''	Cousin Scott	1 episode
2003–2007	''Punk'd''	Himself/Host
	''Just Married''	Tom Leezak
''My Boss's Daughter''	Tom Stansfield
	Hank	Supporting role
2004	''The Butterfly Effect''	Evan Treborn	Main role
		Simon Green
''A Lot Like Love''	Oliver Martin
''Robot Chicken''	Various	Voice
		Fisher
	Jake Fischer
	Elliot	Voice
	''Miss Guided''	Beaux	1 episode
''What Happens in Vegas''	Jack Fuller	Lead role
		Nikki	Main role
''Personal Effects''	Walter	Main role
		Reed Bennet	Main role
	Spencer Aimes	Main role
		Adam Franklin	Main role
	Randy	Supporting role
	''Two and a Half Men''		Main roleSeason 9

As a producer

! Year	! Title	! Episodes	! Notes
2003–2007	''Punk'd''	69 episodes	Executive producer/host
2003	''My Boss's Daughter''		Co-producer
	''The Butterfly Effect''		Executive producer
''You've Got a Friend''	8 episodes	Executive producer
2005–2008	''Beauty and the Geek''	48 episodes	Executive producer
	''Adventures in Hollyhood''	8 episodes	Executive producer
''Miss Guided''	7 episodes	Executive producer
''Game Show in My Head''		Executive producer
''The Real Wedding Crashers''	7 episodes	Executive producer
''Room 401''	8 episodes	Executive producer
2008	''Pop Fiction''		Executive producer
2008–2009			TV series (Executive producer)
			Executive producer
''The Beautiful Life''	5 episodes
2005	''A Lot Like Love''
2010			Executive producer

Awards

Young Artist Award

* 1999 – Best Performance in a TV Series - Young Ensemble for ''That '70 Show'' (shared with Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis, Wilmer Valderrama and Danny Masterson)- Nominated

Kid's Choice Awards

* 2004 – Favorite Movie Actor for ''Just Married'', ''My Boss's Daughter'' and ''Cheaper by the Dozen'' – Nominated

* 2004 – Favorite Television Actor for ''That '70s Show'' and ''Punk'd'' – Winner

* 2005 – Favorite TV Actor for ''That '70s Show'' and ''Punk'd'' – Nominated

* 2006 – Favorite TV Actor for ''That '70s Show'' - Nominated

* 2007 – Favorite Voice in a Cartoon for ''Open Season'' – Nominated

People's Choice Awards

* 2010 – Favorite Web Celeb – Winner

Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award

* 2000 – Sierra Award Best Male Newcomer for ''Dude, Where's My Car?'' – Nominated

MTV Movie Awards

* 2001 – Breakthrough Male Performance for ''Dude, Where's My Car?'' – Nominated

* 2011 – Best Comedic Performance for ''No Strings Attached'' – Pending

Teen Choice Awards

* 2003 – Choice Reality Hunk for ''Punk'd'' - Winner

* 2003 – Choice TV Reality/Variety Host for ''Punk'd''- Winner

* 2003 – Choice TV Actor - Comedy for ''That '70s Show'' - Winner

* 2004 – Choice TV Personality - Winner

* 2004 – Choice Reality/Variety TV Star - Male for ''Punk'd'' - Winner

* 2004 – Choice TV Actor - Comedy for ''That '70s Show'' - Winner

* 2004 – Choice Movie Hissy Fit for ''Cheaper by the Dozen'' - Nominated

* 2004 – Choice Movie Liplock ''Cheaper by the Dozen'' (shared with Piper Perabo) - Nominated

* 2005 – Choice: TV Male Personality for ''Punk'd'' – Winner

* 2005 – Choice TV Actor: Comedy for ''That '70s Show'' - Winner

* 2005 – Choice Movie Actor: Comedy for ''Guess Who'' and ''A Lot Like Love'' - Nominated

* 2005 – Choice Movie Rockstar Moment for ''A Lot Like Love'' - Winner

* 2007 – Choice Movie Actor: Drama for ''The Guardian'' - Nominated

* 2008 – Choice: Movie Actor Romantic Comedy for ''What Happens In Vegas'' – Winner

* 2010 – Choice: Movie Actor Romantic Comedy for ''Valentine's Day'' – Winner

* 2011 – Choice: Movie Actor Romantic Comedy for ''No Strings Attached'' – Winner

Golden Raspberry Awards

* 2003 - Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple for ''Just Married'' (shared with Brittany Murphy) and ''My boss's Daughter'' (shared with Tara Reid) - Nominated

*2004 - Razzie Award for Worst Actor for ''Cheaper By The Dozen,'' ''Just Married'' and ''My Boss's Daughter'' - Nominated

* 2010 - Razzie Award for Worst Actor for ''Killers'' – Winner

References

External links

Category:1978 births Category:Actors from Iowa Category:American film actors Category:American male models Category:American television actors Category:American television producers Category:American voice actors Category:Living people Category:Male pageant winners Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People from Cedar Rapids, Iowa Category:Pranksters Category:Twin people from the United States Category:University of Iowa alumni

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