WPXI, channel 11, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 48 from a transmitter located on the north side of Pittsburgh. Owned by Cox Enterprises, the station has studios in the Summer Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Syndicated programming on the station includes The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Judge Judy, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.

History[link]

On September 1, 1957 Channel 11 signed on as WIIC-TV, the second commercial VHF station in Pittsburgh. It was owned by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and immediately took NBC programming from KDKA-TV.

Bill Cardille (now a former Channel 11 host and weather forecaster) signed the station on the air. It addition to Cardille, five other announcers that were with the station during sign-on in 1957 include Mal Alberts, Bob Cochran, Ed Conway, Len Johnson and Mark Schaefer. Some of the first original programming to air on WIIC included Studio Wrestling and Chiller Theatre, both hosted by Cardille.

In 1964, the station was sold to current owner Cox Enterprises (which Cox traded its share in the then new cable system in Toledo, Ohio to the Post-Gazette's parent company, which is based in Toledo). The station has been the longest running NBC affiliate under Cox's ownership, especially after its sister stations in Charlotte and Atlanta switched over to ABC in 1978 (WSOC) and 1980 (WSB-TV) respectively.

In 1970, WIIC made Pittsburgh broadcasting history as Eleanor Schano became the first woman to anchor a newscast alone. Schano also hosted a weekly 30-minute public affairs program called Face to Face.

During much of the 1970s, WIIC trailed in a distant third place in the ratings behind KDKA-TV and WTAE-TV. This coincided with much of the period where NBC also struggled in the ratings. About 1975, Channel 11 branded itself as "e11even", then around 1977 used the "11 Alive" moniker.

On April 20, 1981, the call sign was changed to WPXI (Pittsburgh 11, with XI being the Roman numeral sign for 11). Although the station has officially never had the -TV suffix since adopting the WPXI call sign, the station has on occasion been marketed as WPXI-TV. The WIIC calls lived on in Pittsburgh, on a low-powered independent station airing music videos (that station is currently silent).

WPXI also has been airing the Jerry Lewis Telethon as the Pittsburgh affiliate of the annual event. The local portion of the telethon is still hosted by Bill Cardille.

In 2000, Cox Enterprises purchased WTOV in Steubenville, Ohio and WJAC-TV in Johnstown, Pennsylvania from Sunrise Television. These stations, also NBC affiliates often appear in channel lineups for the same viewers that watch WPXI, either by over-the-air signal or via cable provider, and due to the proximity of the three stations to each other (as well as the common affiliation with NBC), are occasionally marketed together as a result. Cox changed the stations' on-air appearances to match WPXI's look, despite WPXI changing its own look in 2004. WTOV still used WPXI's former look until October 2010, and WJAC-TV adopted WPXI's current design in October 2011.

Over the Labor Day weekend of 2007, WPXI introduced its new studio location in the city's Summer Hill neighborhood near the Parkway North. The move ended a 50-year tradition at Television Hill in the city's Fineview neighborhood. The station's tower is to remain in place at the top of the station's current location.^[1] WPXI officially launched its 6 p.m. newscast from its new studio in Summer Hill on October 6. WPXI is the first station in Pittsburgh broadcasting news in high definition. It has been criticized for technical glitches during the initial week of the new system run.^[2][3] With the switch to HD came a new set, created by FX Group & new HD graphics, created by Hothaus Creative.

As part of its 50th anniversary, WPXI announced it would air classic TV programs on a digital subchannel from the Retro Television Network. The additional channel began on October 15, 2007.^[4]

In mid-October 2008, WPXI, in collaboration with Cox's longtime partner Internet Broadcasting, launched a redesigned website. As of early November 2008, the websites of all of Cox's stations east of the Mississippi River are using the new format pioneered by WPXI; the websites of the company's stations west of the Mississippi River followed suit a month later. As of January 7, 2010, The website's navigation bar and pages have been re-done. In 2011, Cox Media Group's partnership with Internet Broadcasting was dissolved, and the Cox television stations relaunched or are relaunching their Web site operations in-house. WPXI's and WSOC-TV's Web sites remained under the stewardship of Internet Broadcasting until late January 2012 when they became the last two stations to have redesigned and relaunched their Web sites to match the format of the in-house Web operations of its sister stations.

WPXI currently uses the number 11 drawn into a circle, which debuted in 1987. The "11" symbol is colored gold, while the box around it is dark blue. WPXI previously used the NBC Peacock in its logo, which was copied by sister stations WTOV and WJAC-TV and is still used by WTOV, but revamped its own look in October 2004. WPXI's current look uses the circle 11 logo with stylized "WPXI" below it.

Local programming[link]

Channel 11 has had only one major foray into producing local programming. From 1963 to 1983, the station produced and broadcast Chiller Theater, a late Saturday evening horror film show hosted by Bill Cardille, or as he was referred to, "Chilly Billy." Cardille and a cast of characters would introduce the film being shown, as well as perform skits during breaks in the film. Cardille became well known for hosting the show and the shows themselves became part of local yore. The final program aired on January 1, 1984. Cardille remained on-air at Channel 11 through the early-mid-1990s as the a.m. and noon weather forecaster. Cardille remains in Pittsburgh as midday personality on WJAS radio & occasional Chiller Theater reunions have been held over the years.

The show was part of a trend during the 1960s and 1970s for TV stations to produce local programming. Local stations often created their own children's shows as well. Horror theater shows, such as Shock Theatre, hosted by Ghoulardi & Big Chuck and Little John in Cleveland, as well as Chiller Theater, were not only easy to produce, but popular with the local audience.

For its part, WPXI (known then as WIIC) produced Cartoon Colorama, which aired old-time cartoons produced in color format (hence the name), hosted by Willie the Duck, a hand-puppet with a Donald Duck type of voice, speaking to off-camera announcer Don Riggs (who served as Willie's comedy foil) in between the cartoons. The show had been previously hosted by a character called "Captain Jim"," who'd hosted one WIIC's best-remembered children's program: "Cap'n Jim's Popeye Club," built around Popeye cartoons. The Captain was briefly played at the beginning by the little-known Jim Saunders, and from 1959 on by Ted Eckman.

Present[link]

• Our Region's Business
• Talkin' Pittsburgh
• Impact
• Celebrate the Season Parade
• Carol Sing
• MDA Labor Day Telethon
• A Star Spangled Salute
• The Jerome Bettis Show

Past[link]

• Chiller Theater (1963–1983)
• H.S. Sports Saturday with Mark Malone
• Studio Wrestling (1959–1972)
• Catercousins (1974-1980)
• Cartoon Colorama with Captain Jim
• Luncheon at the Ones
• Jackpot Bingo (1986)
• Hotline
• Pittsburgh Pirates baseball (1995–1996)

Digital programming[link]

Digital channels

WPXI broadcasts its digital signals (HD if programming permits) over the airwaves and on cable. Standard channel 11 (e.g. NBC) programming is broadcast on 11.1.

WPXI was the first channel in Pittsburgh to make use of additional programming on its digital channels. On June 21, 2007, WPXI's Weather Plus began on Channel 11.2 and was also available on digital cable.^[5] WPXI 11 Weather Plus offered local and national weather information 24 hours a day. Locally, WPXI's Scott Harbaugh served as the main meteorologist on Channel 11 Weather Plus.

WPXI added an airwave digital channel on 11.3 in late October 2007 when it began an affiliation with Retro Television Network, a channel that airs classic TV programming. Sister stations WJAC-TV and WTOV-TV also offer RTV programming on their subchannels.

Due to the shutdown of NBC Weather Plus in December 2008, WPXI moved RTV to 11.2 and 11.3 will be blank for the time being.

In July 2009 the station applied with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to have three repeater signals: channel 21 in Derry Township, channel 23 in Uniontown, and channel 33 in New Castle.^[6] The signal in Derry Township is expected to cover all of Westmoreland County, while the Uniontown signal could penetrate into the Pittsburgh suburb of McKeesport. The New Castle signal might go into Youngstown, Ohio (which New Castle is much closer to despite being part of the Pittsburgh DMA) and serve as a secondary NBC affiliate for the Youngstown television market, which is primarily served by WFMJ-TV, while giving the Youngstown market an outlet for RTV. Through the use of PSIP, all three signals are keeping channel 11 as their virtual channel number.

On March 31, 2011, WPXI announced that it would replace RTV in favor of Me-TV, which began airing on digital subchannel 11.2 on June 13, 2011.^[7]

Newscasts[link]

WPXI occasionally pre-empts programming to report breaking news. Typically, WPXI offers 4½ hours of live newscasts on Channel 11. It offers an 1½ hours on PCNC and 1 hour on WPGH-TV. Previous branding for newscasts include Dateline, WIIC-TV 11 News, News/Watch, Instant News, Steel City News and Newscenter 11.

WPXI was the first station to offer a 5:30 p.m. newscast in Pittsburgh from 1981 to 1984 (titled 5:30 Live); it was then revived in 1987 with the name Channel 11 News First Edition. They were also the first station to offer a 5 p.m. newscast in the early 1990s. The newscast was named Channel 11 News First at 5. WPXI dropped the NBC Saturday morning cartoons in September 1990 in favor of a newscast airing from 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The success of the weekend morning news prompted NBC network officials to extend the Today show to weekends. WPXI, however, has since scaled back its weekend morning news. Pittsburgh native Jodi Applegate co-anchored NBC's Weekend Today, but was never seen locally due to WPXI's weekend morning news.

As of January 12, 2006, Sinclair Broadcast Group (owner of Fox affiliate WPGH-TV) and Cox entered into an agreement where WPXI began producing a newscast specifically for WPGH. This agreement, called a "news share", began January 30, 2006. All of WPGH's news staff, except for sportscaster Alby Oxenreiter, were laid off. The 10 p.m. newscast became Channel 11 News on FOX 53 at Ten. Oxenreiter's "Ox on Fox Sports Extra" fills the final 15 minutes of the newscast.

WPXI is known to commission its own theme music from companies, although it has previously used the famous "Move Closer to Your World" theme. It has commissioned "Total Coverage" (its previous package), and after WPXI moved to its new Summer Hill television building, it started using the Tower V.2, ending the NBC collection all together.

Pittsburgh Cable News Channel[link]

The station went into cable television on January 1, 1994, with the launch of PCNC - the Pittsburgh Cable News Channel. PCNC brought the first 10 p.m. newscast to Pittsburgh. The final installment of PCNC's 10 PM news aired on January 26, 2006 as WPXI took over WPGH-TV's news operation. PCNC offers two newscasts: "Pittsburgh This Morning", a 7-8 a.m. weekday newscast and a 7 p.m. weeknight newscast.

Ratings[link]

Over the past decade, Pittsburgh has been a perennially competitive market for local news, with news ratings usually differing by less than a full ratings point. More recently, however, WPXI has had a increase in most dayparts, although it continues maintain a tie with KDKA in the market for daytime news, according to the Nielsen May 2009 ratings period. Also during this period, WPXI had in increase during the morning hours and the WPXI-produced 10 p.m. news remained in first place. As of May 2010, WPXI has a strong lead with viewers in the 5-6 a.m. and 10 p.m. timeslots. However, WPXI is the lowest watched Pittsburgh news station at noon, 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 11 p.m. (with KDKA being the highest watched during those timeslots).^[8]

News/station presentation[link]

Newscast titles[link]

• Dateline (1963–1965)
• WIIC-TV 11 News (1965–1970)
• NewsWatch (1970–1975)
• Instant News (1975–1979)
• Steel City News (1979–1981)
• NewsCenter 11 (1981–1984)
• Channel 11 News (1984–present)^[9]

Station slogans[link]

• Channel 11, Proud as a Peacock! (1979–1981; local version of NBC ad campaign)
• Channel 11, Our Pride is Showing (1981–1982; local version of NBC ad campaign)
• We're Channel 11, Just Watch Us Now! (1982–1983; local version of NBC ad campaign)
• Channel 11, Be There (1983–1984; local version of NBC ad campaign)
• Channel 11, Let's All Be There (1984–1986; local version of NBC ad campaign)
• Come Home to 11 (1986–1987; local version of NBC ad campaign)
• Come on Home to 11 (1987–1988; local version of NBC ad campaign)
• Come Home To The Best, Only on 11 (1988–1990; local version of NBC ad campaign)
• WPXI-TV, The Place To Be! (1990–1991; local version of NBC ad campaign)
• Your 24-Hour News Source (1990–1996)
• More News, More Often (1990–1996)^[10]
• It's A Whole New WPXI-TV (1992–1993; local version of NBC ad campaign)
• The Stars Are Back on Channel 11 (1993–1994; local version of NBC ad campaign)
• Live, Local, Latebreaking News (1996–1998)
• Coverage You Can Count On (1998–present; primary slogan)
• Live. Local. Latebreaking. (2007–2008)
• Live. Local. Latebreaking. Now Broadcasting in High Definition. (2008–present; secondary)

News team[link]

Current on-air staff[link]

Anchors

• Jennifer Abney - weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.) (2008–)
• Todd McDermott - weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.) and noon (2010–)
• Darieth Chisolm - weeknights at 10 p.m. (on WPGH) and 11 p.m. (1993–2000; 2004–)
• Peggy Finnegan - weekdays at noon, and weeknights at 5, 5:30, and 6 p.m. (1990–)
• David Johnson - weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6, 7 (on PCNC), 10 p.m. (on FOX 53) and 11 p.m. (1985–)
• Gordon Loesch - weekends at 6, 10 (on WPGH) and 11 p.m.; also weeknight reporter (2004–)
• Brittny McGraw - weekend mornings; also weeknight reporter (2011–)

Severe Weather Team 11

• Stephen Cropper (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6, 10 (on WPGH) and 11 p.m.^[11] (former WTAE meteorologist)
• Kevin Benson (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.) and noon (1987–)
• Scott Harbaugh (NWA Seal of Approval)??? - meteorologist; weeknights at 7 p.m. (on PCNC), also fill-in (2005–)
• Mike LaPoint (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend mornings, and weekends at 6, 10 (on WPGH) and 11 p.m. (2007–)

Sports team

• Alby Oxenreiter - sports director; weeknights at 6, 10 (on WPGH) and 11 p.m. (2006–)
• Bill Phillips - sports anchor; weekends at 6, 10 (on WPGH) and 11 p.m. (2001–)
• Rich Walsh - sports reporter and fill-in anchor (2005–)

Reporters

• Timyka Artist - general assignment reporter (2006–)
• Dave Bondy - general assignment reporter (2010–)
• Courtney Brennan - Westmoreland County bureau chief (2010–)
• Jodine Costanzo - general assignment reporter (1998–)
• Rick Earle - "Target 11" investigative reporter (1994–)
• Julie Fine - general assignment reporter (2010–)
• Lori Houy - general assignment reporter (1998–)
• Brandon Hudson - general assignment reporter (2011–)
• Alan Jennings - general assignment reporter (1998–)
• Renee Kaminski - general assignment reporter (1995–)
• Amy Marcinkiewicz - general assignment reporter (1995–)
• Trisha Pittman - weekday morning traffic reporter (2002–)
• Cara Sapida - general assignment reporter (2009-)
• Vince Sims - general assignment reporter (2003–)
• Robin Taylor - "Target 11" consumer reporter (2010–)

Notable former on-air staff[link]

• Asa Aarons - consumer reporter (1984–1990; now a consumer reporter for WNBC in New York City)
• Rocky Bleier - sports anchor (1981–1985; former Pittsburgh Steeler)
• Julie Bologna - chief meteorologist (1999–2004; 2008–2011; now works at WFAA in Dallas)
• Bill Cardille - on-air announcer (1957–2000; was the first personality on air at WIIC, now a radio DJ at WJAS)
• Beano Cook - commentator (late 1980s)
• Red Donley - sports anchor (1961–1970; previously worked at WTOV-TV in Steubenville, Ohio/Wheeling, West Virginia, died in 1998)
• Pat Finn - weather forecaster/reporter (1979–1983; later a host of various game shows including Shop 'Til You Drop)
• John Fedko - sports director (1987–2010)
• Mark Malone - sports anchor (1990–1993)
• Sam Nover - sports anchor (1970–2001; retired)
• Edye Tarbox - anchor (1987–1989; worked with Fox News Channel)

References[link]

External links[link]

• WPXI website
• WPXI on Facebook
• WPXI on Twitter
• WPXI Weather on Twitter
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WPXI
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WPXI-TV
• Program Information for WPXI at TitanTV.com

Joe Manganiello
Manganiello at 2010 Comic-Con International
Born	Joseph Michael Manganiello (1976-12-28) December 28, 1976 (age 35) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1999–present
Height	6' 5" (1.96 m)

Joseph Michael "Joe" Manganiello ( /ˌmæŋɡəˈnɛloʊ/ MANG-gə-NEL-oh; born December 28, 1976) is a classically trained American film and theatre actor. He holds a BFA in acting from the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. He played Flash Thompson in the original Spider-Man film series, and was previously best known for his recurring roles in television on ER, How I Met Your Mother and One Tree Hill, among others before landing his breakout role as werewolf Alcide Herveaux on the HBO television series True Blood for which he has garnered both popular and critical praise. For his work on True Blood, Manganiello received two 2011 Scream Awards for Breakout Performance – Male, and a shared award for Best Ensemble, as well as a Saturn Award for Best Guest Starring Role in Television and a NewNowNext Award. In 2011 Manganiello was voted "Favorite Pop-Culture Werewolf of All Time" by the readers of Entertainment Weekly. Along with the premiere of True Blood season five, he has roles in two summer 2012 films, the Steven Soderbergh-directed Magic Mike and the all-star ensemble, What to Expect When You're Expecting. Aside from his work in film and television, Manganiello is active with several charities including Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the Los Angeles based "The Art of Elysium."

Early life[link]

Manganiello was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and raised in Mt. Lebanon, a suburb south of the city. His parents are Charles and Susan Manganiello.^[1] Manganiello's father's family is Italian, from Naples and Messina. His maternal great-grandmother was Armenian,^[2] and he also has Austrian ancestry on his mother's side.^[3][4] He has a younger brother, Nicholas. He was a student at St. Bernard School, a Roman Catholic elementary school in Mt. Lebanon,^[5] and then attended Mt. Lebanon High School,^[6] where he graduated with honors in 1995 and won the school's Great Alumni Award in 2011. Growing up he was the captain of his football, basketball, and volleyball teams and went on to play at the varsity level in all three sports.^[5] Manganiello won the role of Jud Fry in his school's senior year production of Oklahoma!, and was involved with the school's TV studio. On weekends, he would borrow equipment to make movies with his friends, and became interested in acting to become a better amateur filmmaker.^[7]

After a series of sports injuries including a torn MCL returning a kickoff in a varsity football game against Ringgold High School (former high school of NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana), Manganiello auditioned for the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama as a senior in high school. He was not accepted, so enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh and worked at doing theatre. Manganiello re-applied to Carnegie Mellon a year later, and was one of 17 students accepted into the acting program.^[5] He performed in theatre productions and wrote, produced and acted in the student film Out of Courage 2: Out for Vengeance.^[8] Manganiello graduated in 2000 with a BFA in acting.^[7] Manganiello studied all styles of classical theatre while he was there. Manganiello traveled to New York and Los Angeles through his university to participate in group auditions, which provided him contacts in the entertainment business.^[9]

Career[link]

Film and television[link]

Manganiello moved to Los Angeles after graduating from Carnegie Mellon.^[9] He quickly signed with a talent agent, and three days later, auditioned for the role of Peter Parker in the Sam Raimi-directed film, Spider-Man (2002). Manganiello landed the role of Eugene "Flash" Thompson, Peter Parker’s nemesis, playing opposite Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, and Willem Dafoe, as his first acting job out of college.^[8] He reprised the role several years later, making a brief cameo at the end of Spider-Man 3 (2007).

Manganiello began finding work in television, playing Tori Spelling's boyfriend on VH1's So Notorious in 2006, and guest starred on Las Vegas, Jake in Progress and Close to Home. That year he also played John Leguizamo's AA sponsor in the CBS television pilot Edison. In 2007, he appeared in "My No Good Reason", a Zach Braff-directed episode of the NBC series Scrubs, and in the MyNetwork TV nighttime soap opera American Heiress. He also played Officer Litchman, the love interest to Linda Cardellini's character, for a four-episode arc on NBC's ER.

Manganiello played Brad, the law school buddy of Jason Segel's character Marshall Eriksen, on several seasons of the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother.^[10] In 2008, he joined the cast of The CW drama One Tree Hill for its the fifth season, playing bartender Owen Morello, Sophia Bush’s love interest. Manganiello shot the series in Wilmington, North Carolina, and returned for its sixth and seventh seasons.^[11] He played Stu on the Fox sitcom 'Til Death for two episodes, and starred in the short film "Wounded" that year, written by Gloria Calderon Kellett,^[12] which he first originated on the stage and won Best Short Film at the 2011 Big Island Film Festival.^{[citation needed]}

Manganiello starred in the direct-to-video war film Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia in 2009, alongside WWE professional wrestler Ken Kennedy. Manganiello played Lt. Sean Macklin, a Navy SEALs squad leader. Joe trained for several months with a former Navy SEAL who he flew to the set and put up in the cast's hotel out of his own pocket in order to add authenticity to the production. The Fox Home Entertainment film was shot in Puerto Rico.^[13] Manganiello appeared in a David Arquette directed episode of Medium in 2009, and has guest starred on all three series of CBS's CSI television franchise: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, and CSI: NY. He had a role in the independent film Irene in Time, written and directed by Henry Jaglom.

In 2010, Manganiello appeared in television commercials for Taco Bell promoting its new product, the Tortada.^[5] He shot television pilots for 100 Questions and the Pittsburgh-set sitcom Livin' on a Prayer, written in part by How I Met Your Mother writer and fellow CMU alum, Kourtney Kang along with HIMYM creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas.^[14][15]

Manganiello plays the role of werewolf Alcide Herveaux in HBO's True Blood. His character arrived on the third season of the series as a bodyguard, hired by Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård) for Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), when her romantic companion, vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), goes missing. Manganiello described the four characters' relationship as a "love square". Manganiello's work on the show brought him both popular and critical recognition including 2011 Scream Awards for Breakout Performance – Male and a shared award for Best Ensemble, as well as a Saturn Award for Best Guest Starring Role in Television and a NewNowNext Award. ^[7]

True Blood was already Manganiello's favorite television show when he joined the cast. He auditioned to play Coot, another werewolf in the series, but was asked to read for Alcide instead.^[16] Manganiello grew a beard and trained for five months with trainer Ron Mathews, who trained Hugh Jackman for the original X-Men film and Jennifer Garner for the TV series Alias, to add muscle for the role;^[7] author Charlaine Harris had described Alcide as having "arms the size of boulders".^[3] He also got a sun tan to set himself apart from the other characters on the series and spent time studying live wolves. Manganiello has since signed on to be a regular cast member.^[17]

In early 2011 Manganiello was asked to screen test for the title role of Superman in Zach Snyder and Christopher Nolan's reboot, Superman: Man of Steel but due to scheduling problems with True Blood he was forced out of the running in the final stage. Manganiello told Access Hollywood in a March 5 interview, "They wanted me to screen test and they actually asked for my measurements for the suit and everything... Their shoot date switched and it would have taken up 11 weeks out of my True Blood schedule. At the end of the day, we couldn't get the schedule to work so that I could go off and screen test. So, regrettably, I never got to screen test, I never got to put the suit on."

Upon completion of filming for season four of True Blood, Manganiello travelled to New York City to reunite with his Carnegie Mellon School of Drama classmate Matthew Bomer to shoot an episode of USA's White Collar, directed by Andrew McCarthy. He then headed to Atlanta, Georgia to shoot the film adaptation of the best selling book What to Expect When You're Expecting, alongside Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, and Chris Rock. Upon completion of the film, Manganiello returned to Los Angeles to shoot an episode of ratings juggernaut, Two and a Half Men with Ashton Kutcher. He then re-teamed with Bomer as well as Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Alex Pettyfer, Adam Rodriguez, and Kevin Nash for the Steven Soderbergh-directed film Magic Mike, which documents the story of Tatum's life as a 19-year-old male stripper in Tampa, Florida.

Theatre[link]

While a student at Carnegie Mellon University, Manganiello appeared in numerous productions in Pittsburgh's theatre scene, including Ulfheim in Henrik Ibsen's When We Dead Awaken, Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice for Quantum Theatre and Joe in the Pittsburgh premiere of The Last Night of Ballyhoo for Starlight Productions'.^[8] He played "The Chick Magnet" in May 2007 at the New York City premiere of Skirts & Flirts, a monologue by Gloria Calderon Kellett, which was a finalist for HBO's Aspen Comedy Festival.^[18] He played Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire for the West Virginia Public Theatre in 2008,^[19] directed by his former Carnegie Mellon professor Geoffrey Hitch.^[18]

Manganiello starred in the west coast premiere of Terrence McNally's Unusual Acts of Devotion in June 2009, alongside Doris Roberts, Richard Thomas, Harriet Harris and Maria Dizzia. He starred as Leo Belraggio, a New York jazz musician. The play was directed by Trip Cullman at the La Jolla Playhouse at the University of California in San Diego. Manganiello worked with the noted playwright and director Leonard Foglia at creating his role in 2008 at the Ojai Playwrights Conference.^[18]

Other work[link]

Joe Manganiello has also narrated Dragon Bones, and Dragon Blood,^[20] two fantasy novels by New York Times best-selling author Patricia Briggs. These are the first two books in the Hurog series and are produced by Buzzy Multimedia.

Manganiello sang backup vocals for rock band The Used on their song "Hospital" from their album Lies for the Liars and on the Goldfinger song "Wasted" on their album Disconnection Notice. He also recorded some spoken word for the band D.R.U.G.S. that appears at the very end of their 2011 self-titled debut album.

Personal life[link]

As of 2010, Manganiello lives in Los Angeles, California. He is an active supporter of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and of "The Art of Elysium", a non-profit organization founded in 1997. It encourages working actors, artists and musicians to voluntarily dedicate their time and talent to children who are battling serious medical conditions. He has also supported "Until There's a Cure", a charity dedicated to fighting HIV/AIDS, and has appeared in public service announcements for the organization.

Manganiello is a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers and produced and directed the 2007 short documentary "DieHardz", about Steelers fans that meet at bars in Los Angeles.^[5]

Manganiello was a roadie for the band Goldfinger. He is friends with lead singer John Feldmann and toured internationally with the group doing security.^[16]

Former bodyguard of singer/actor Tyrese Gibson.

Manganiello trained as a boxer and was a former sparring partner of NHL player Brantt Myhres.

On August 13, 2010 he attended the WWE SummerSlam Kick-Off at the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles that benefited the Muscular Dystrophy Association. On August 16, 2010, he was in attendance at WWE Monday Night Raw at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

On September 12, 2010 Manganiello was a presenter alongside his True Blood castmate Evan Rachel Wood at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, then later that night he hosted a live chat on Bloodcopy.com, a website affiliated with True Blood.^[21]

Manganiello has made positive statements about the writer/philosopher Ayn Rand, citing The Fountainhead as his favorite book.

Joe was honored as the Grand Marshall of the 2010 Pittsburgh Macy's Celebrate the Season Parade and returned for a second time in 2011.

In 2010 Manganiello was named one of People magazine's sexiest men alive and was featured again in the 2011 issue.

Manganiello was ranked #1 on Men's Health magazine's best Summer Bodies of 2011, as well as one of the World's 25 Fittest Guys by Men's Fitness magazine and the winner of Us Weekly's 2011 "Sharp Dressed Man" Award. He was also named the summer of 2011's Hottest Supernatural Being – Male, by Entertainment Weekly.

In 2011 Manganiello was voted "Favorite Pop-Culture Werewolf of All Time" by the readers of Entertainment Weekly.

Manganiello won Mt. Lebanon High School's Great Alumni Award of 2011 and later that weekend hosted a sold out fundraiser for Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC in conjunction with the Season 4 finale of True Blood.

Awards and Nominations[link]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Joe Manganiello at the Internet Movie Database

Jackie Evancho
Evancho in February 2011
Background information
Birth name	Jacqueline Marie Evancho
Born	(2000-04-09) April 9, 2000 (age 12)
Origin	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Classical crossover
Occupations	Singer
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Syco Music, Columbia, Sony Music
Website	jackieevancho.com

Jacqueline Marie "Jackie" Evancho ( /iːˈveɪŋkoʊ/ ee-VAYNG-koh; born April 9, 2000) is an American classical crossover singer who has gained wide recognition at an early age.^[1][2]

Between 2008 and 2010, Evancho entered several talent competitions; made singing appearances, mostly in Pennsylvania; issued an independent album, Prelude to a Dream; and attracted interest on YouTube. Later in 2010, at the age of 10, she gained wider popularity with her performances in the fifth season of the America's Got Talent (AGT) competition, finishing in second place. With the subsequent release of her O Holy Night EP, she became the best-selling debut artist of 2010, the youngest top-10 debut artist in U.S. history and the youngest solo artist ever to go platinum. In June 2011, her first full-length major-label album, Dream With Me, debuted at #2 on American album charts, and she became the youngest top-5 debut artist in UK history. Billboard ranked Evancho the top Classical Albums Artist for 2011.

Evancho impressed composers Tim Janis and David Foster, each of whom included her in his concerts beginning in 2009. Foster later produced Evancho's album, Dream With Me, and subsequent PBS special for the television series, Great Performances. Evancho performed in front of U.S. President Barack Obama at the 2010 National Christmas Tree lighting in Washington, D.C. She is the ambassador for "Mission: Humane", a Humane Society program which encourages children's involvement in the protection of animals. She features songs from Dream With Me in a 2011–12 concert tour with symphony orchestras. Evancho released another studio album, Heavenly Christmas, in November 2011. The same month, she became the youngest person ever to give a solo concert at Lincoln Center in New York City. A national cotillion organization listed her as one of the "ten best-mannered people of 2011".

Early life[link]

Evancho was born to Lisa and Michael Evancho, who married in 1997.^[3][4] Her father operated a video security business until Evancho's singing and recording career required her parents' full-time attention.^[5] She has an older brother Jacob,^[6] a younger brother Zachary, and a younger sister Rachel.^[5] She was raised Catholic, attended Eden Hall Upper Elementary School from 2009 to 2010,^[7] but since she began to tour and record, she is cyber schooled.^[8] She resides in Richland Township, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with her family and numerous pets.^[9][10][11] Evancho's interests include playing the violin and piano, and sewing.^[5][12]

Evancho's dedicated singing began just before her 8th birthday,^[13] after she saw the film version of the musical The Phantom of the Opera. Her mother purchased the DVD, and Evancho began to sing the songs around the family home.^[14] Her parents have said that they did not recognize that her voice was unusual until her first talent competition.^[15][16] In April 2008, her parents allowed her to enter the Kean Idol, a local talent contest.^[17] She finished as first runner-up;^[18][19] the winner was 20 years old. She began taking vocal lessons after her success in the contest,^[20][21][22] and her parents began receiving requests for her to sing at various events and nursing homes, mostly in Pennsylvania.^[23][18] She also started a YouTube channel^[24] and was a member of the Children's Festival Chorus of Pittsburgh during its 2008–09 season,^[18] as well as performing the title role in a 2009 school production of Little Red Riding Hood".^[25]

In January 2009, Evancho competed in Las Vegas in the 15th annual U.S.A. World Showcase Talent Competition, where she also finished in second place.^[18][7] She entered the 2009 Kean Idol contest and was again runner-up to an adult.^[17][7] She entered other talent contests,^[26] winning the Golden Ribby Award – WonderworldTV in April 2009^[27] and the Talent Quest TV Show in June 2009 (both in Massachusetts).^[28][29] Also in 2009, she sang "Ave Maria" in composer and conductor Tim Janis's PBS television special "Celebrate America"^[30][31] and performed in other concerts and TV shows with Janis,^[24] who sought her out after seeing her on YouTube.^[32][7] She also made various singing appearances around Pennsylvania in 2009 and 2010.^[23][33]

Career[link]

[edit] David Foster and Prelude to a Dream

Evancho in "David Foster & Friends" concert, December 29, 2011

Evancho first caught record producer David Foster's attention in 2009.^[17][16] After sending a video to him, she was selected for the regional semifinals of his “Hitman Talent Search Contest”, finishing as runner-up, and in October 2009 she sang in the "David Foster & Friends" concert at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.^[34][35][36]

In November 2009, Evancho released her independent debut album, Prelude to a Dream.^[37][38] The album featured mainly covers of songs such as Andrea Bocelli's "Con te partirò" and "The Prayer", Josh Groban's "To Where You Are" and Martina McBride's "Concrete Angel", and also included a rendition of "Amazing Grace", among other selections. It debuted in August 2010 on the Billboard 200 at #121 and at #2 on the Billboard Classical Albums Chart.^[39] Evancho's parents withdrew the album in September 2010, citing Evancho's vocal progress since its release.^[40] Since Evancho's success on America's Got Talent, the album has become a collector's item and an autographed copy received a final winning bid of $3,933.83 in 2012.^[41]

[edit] America's Got Talent

After two earlier unsuccessful auditions for the show,^[26] Evancho was accepted as a contestant on the fifth season of the America's Got Talent TV show (AGT) by placing first in a 2010 YouTube competition sponsored by AGT. On August 10, 2010, Evancho performed "O mio babbino caro" by Giacomo Puccini in the show's quarter-final round.^[42][43] She received a standing ovation after her performance and was awarded a trip to Universal Studios Florida for receiving the most fan votes of all the YouTube submissions to the show.^[44] Judge Howie Mandel said in his critique that the show sought to "find that one moment, that one gem, that one star from a place we've never looked before ... This is the moment. You're the star."^[45] After Evancho's performance, astonished commentators queried whether her performance had been lip-synched.^[46][47] On the next evening's live show, Mandel requested that Evancho sing an impromptu voice exercise as proof that the broadcast heard by the audience was Evancho's live voice.^[46]

Her semifinal performance was "Time to Say Goodbye".^[48][49] She advanced to the Top 10 round, where on September 7, 2010, she performed "Pie Jesu" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem and was voted into the Final 4.^[50][51] Pittsburgh leaders declared the following week "Jackie Evancho Week" in appreciation "for her positive representation of our city" showing "poise and determination well beyond her years".^[52] Her final competition performance was her rendition of Gounod's "Ave Maria" on September 14. The following evening at the AGT season finale, Evancho performed "Time to Say Goodbye" together with guest artist Sarah Brightman;^[53] then Evancho was announced as the runner-up, finishing second to singer Michael Grimm.^[54] Many viewers and commentators felt that Evancho should have won,^[55] and even Grimm expressed surprise.^[56][57] The show brought Evancho wide exposure to American audiences, as up to 16 million viewers watched her performances each week.^[58] The finale show was AGT's highest-rated episode in three years.^[59]

Evancho performed in 10 of the 25 cities in the America's Got Talent national tour from October 1 to November 5, 2010.^[60][61] On October 8, 2010, Evancho signed a record deal with SYCO music and Columbia Records.^[59] From June 2010^[46] until 2011, Evancho coached with voice teacher Yvie Burnett, a mezzo-soprano from Scotland, who has worked with many of Simon Cowell's acts.^[10][62][25] Tim Janis scheduled Evancho to perform in his show at Carnegie Hall in New York City on December 2, 2010,^[21][17] where she would have been the venue's youngest female vocal soloist.^[63] During the AGT tour, however, her parents withdrew her from the Carnegie Hall event;^[64] by the time of that event, Evancho had begun making promotional appearances for Columbia Records, with whom she had signed.^[65][66]

[edit] O Holy Night

Evancho's first release on a major record label was a Columbia Records EP entitled O Holy Night. It was released on November 16, 2010, and reached rank #1 on Amazon's bestsellers in music during pre-orders on October 19, 2010.^[67] It entered the Billboard 200 at #2,^[68] making Evancho the top-selling debut artist for 2010 and the youngest solo artist ever to debut in the top 10.^[69][70] It also launched at #1 on Billboard's Classical Albums Chart^[69][71] and the Canadian Classical Albums Chart.^[72] It was #2 on Billboard's Holiday Albums Chart.^[73] The album sold 239,000 copies in its first week.^[74] On December 10, 2010, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA, shipping an excess of a million copies in the U.S.,^[75] making Evancho the youngest solo artist ever to go platinum.^[76][77] Allmusic rated the EP 2-1/2 stars out of a possible five.^[78]

Evancho's first stop in promoting the album was The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on September 23, 2010, where she sang and gave her first late-night interview with Jay Leno.^[79] She was interviewed on The Oprah Winfrey Show on October 19, 2010, and sang "Pie Jesu". She listed Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli among the artists that she would like to collaborate with in the future, later adding Lady Gaga, and revealed that writing is her favorite school subject.^[60] Among several other talk shows, QVC appearances and holiday singing appearances, Evancho performed on The Today Show on November 9, 2010,^[80] The View on November 15, 2010^[66] and Martha Stewart Living on November 30, 2010,^[81] each of which appearances also featured interviews.^[82]

Among other televised holiday appearances in 2010, Evancho sang "O Holy Night" in the My Macy's Holiday Parade presented by WPXI in Pittsburgh on November 27, 2010.^[60][83] On November 30, 2010, Evancho sang "O Holy Night" and, together with Katherine Jenkins, "Silent Night", on NBC's Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting special, "Christmas in Rockefeller Center".^[84] Such a duet had been anticipated since Piers Morgan commented on the similar appearance of the two singers.^[85] On December 9, 2010, Evancho performed at the National Christmas Tree lighting event in Washington, D.C., singing "O Holy Night",^[86][87] where she first met President Obama and his family.^[88][89][90] She performed at the 27th annual Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade, which aired on ABC television on December 25, 2010.^[91]

In its 2011 year-end charts (including releases from November 2010), Billboard ranked O Holy Night at #1 on its Classical Albums chart.^[92] It also ranked the album as the #15 best-selling album of 2011 in the U.S.^[93]

[edit] Dream with Me

Evancho's second full-length feature album (her first on a major label), Dream with Me, produced by David Foster for Sony and Syco Music, was released on June 14, 2011.^[94] The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 chart,^[95] reached #1 on the Billboard's U.S. Classical Chart,^[96] and was certified gold by the RIAA.^[97][98] The album also performed well internationally,^[99] with Evancho becoming the youngest artist ever to debut in the UK in the top 5.^[100] On its 2011 year end charts, Billboard ranked Dream With Me as the #2 best-selling Classical Album for the year^[92] and as the #45 U.S. album of 2011.^[93] The album includes 14 tracks ranging from popular songs ("Angel") to classical arias ("Ombra mai fu"), and original songs, including the title track for which Evancho contributed some of the lyrics; a deluxe edition of Dream with Me available only at the Target website includes four bonus tracks: "Someday", "Mi Mancherai", "The Impossible Dream" and "A Time For Us".^[101][102] Allmusic gave the album 3-1/2 stars out of a possible five, commenting: "Dream with Me hits all of the right notes, though there are few surprises or big moments to be found ... resulting in a solid "official" debut from a rising star at the dawn of her career."^[103]