Nina Dobrev

Nina Dobrev (born Nikolina Konstantinova Dobreva Bulgarian: Николина Константинова Добрева; January 9, 1989) is a Bulgarian Canadian actress and model. She played the role of Mia Jones on the drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation in seasons six to nine (2006–09). She then played the role of Elena Gilbert on The CW's supernatural drama series The Vampire Diaries (2009–15). Dobrev has also starred in the 2012 drama film The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the 2014 comedy Let's Be Cops, and the 2015 horror-comedy The Final Girls.

Early life

Dobrev was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, as Nikolina Konstantinova Dobreva (Bulgarian: Николина Константинова Добрева), and moved to Canada at the age of two, where she was raised in Toronto, Ontario. She speaks fluent English and Bulgarian. She has an older brother, Aleksandar Dobrev. Her father, Konstantin Dobrev, is a computer specialist, and her mother, Mihaela Dobreva (née Radeva), is an artist.

Dobrev attended J. B. Tyrrell Sr. Public School, where she started ballet and jazz classes, and competed in rhythmic gymnastics. Then, she attended the arts program at Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts in Scarborough, Ontario, and Ryerson University in Toronto, majoring in sociology. She left in 2008 to pursue her acting career. She took acting classes at Armstrong Acting Studios in Toronto.

Ian Somerhalder

Ian Joseph Somerhalder (born December 8, 1978) is an American actor, model and director. He is known for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost and Damon Salvatore in The CW's supernatural drama The Vampire Diaries.

Early life

Somerhalder was born and raised in Covington, Louisiana, the son of Edna, a massage therapist, and Robert Somerhalder, an independent building contractor. He is the second of three children, with an older brother, Robert, and younger sister, Robyn. He attended St. Paul's, a private Catholic school in Covington. He embarked on a modeling career from age 10 to 13, and by the age of 17 he decided to go into acting.

Career

In the summer of 2000, Somerhalder starred in the short-lived WB series Young Americans, a spin-off of Dawson's Creek. He played Hamilton Fleming, the son of the dean of a prestigious boarding school. In 2002, Somerhalder played bisexual character Paul Denton in Roger Avary's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel, The Rules of Attraction, alongside James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, and Jessica Biel.

Reik (album)

Reik is the debut eponymous album from Mexican pop group Reik, released on May 24, 2005 through Sony Music. The album features the singles "Yo Quisiera", "Qué Vida La Mía", "Noviembre Sin Ti", "Niña" and "Levemente". The song "Noviembre Sin Ti" is also featured on the compilation album Now Esto Es Musica! Latino, while "Levemente" is featured on Now Esto Es Musica! Latino 2.

Track listing

Production credits

Nina (opera)

Nina, o sia La pazza per amore (Nina, or the Girl Driven Mad by Love) is an opera, described as a commedia in prosa ed in verso per musica, in two acts by Giovanni Paisiello to an Italian libretto by Giambattista (also Giovanni Battista) Lorenzi after Giuseppe Carpani's translation of Benoît-Joseph Marsollier's Nina, ou La folle par amour, set by Nicolas Dalayrac in 1786.

The work is a sentimental comedy with set numbers, recitative and spoken dialog. It is set in Italy in the 18th century.

Nina was first performed in a one act version at the Teatro del Reale Sito di Belvedere in Caserta, San Leucio on 25 June 1789. A revised two-act work was presented at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in Naples in the autumn of 1790.

Roles

Discography

Nina (Xiu Xiu album)

Nina is a Nina Simone tribute album recorded by Xiu Xiu. It was released on Graveface Records on December 3, 2013 to generally favorable reviews.

Recording

The idea for the album came while Jamie Stewart was on tour with Swans.Nina was recorded in a day. The album features Jamie Stewart's voice, Ches Smith on drums, Tim Berne and Tony Malaby on saxophones, Andrea Parkins on accordion, and Mary Halvorson on guitar. The latter four had experience in avant jazz. The album reimagines rather than recreates Nina Simone's songs. It was released on Graveface Records on December 3, 2013.

Reception

Nina received a "generally favorable" score of 65 (out of 100) from the ratings aggregator Metacritic. Nate Chinen from The New York Times described the album as accentuating Simone's "spooky, unsettling side". He adds that Stewart's vocals add to the "psychodrama" in "Four Women" and "the wildness" in "Wild Is the Wild". Chinen thought the art rock Nina Simone covers field was already crowded before Nina. Heather Phares of AllMusic considered Stewart's stylistic choices "provocative" and the album Stewart's "most avant-garde ... in years". She added that the album considered the "more progressive aspects" of Simone's music. Kyle Fowle of Slant Magazine thought the album to be Xiu Xiu's "most ambitious ... in years". He thought Stewart's vocal style was out of place on "Don't Explain" and "Just Say I Love Him". Billy Hamilton of Under the Radar wrote that Simone would approve of the album. Mark Richardson of Pitchfork noted a mystical connection between Xiu Xiu and Simone as artists who perform raw emotions, but described the album as a "wasted opportunity" and "weirdly conservative". For this, he blamed Stewart's vocals for being "theatrical" and insincere. Richardson praised the album's selection of songs covered.