In Greek mythology, Pero (Ancient Greek: Πηρώ) was a daughter of Neleus and Chloris, and the wife of her cousin Bias. Her sons included Areius, Leodocus, and Talaus. The story of Pero is mentioned in Book XI of Homer's Odyssey. Pero's beauty attracted many suitors, but Neleus, her father, refused to give his daughter to any man unless he could raid the cattle of Iphicles from Phylace. In this version of the story, an unnamed seer volunteers to undertake the task. The cowherds capture him and keep him for a year, until he makes a prophecy.

In the Odyssey, the story is told by the seer Theoklymenos about his ancestor Melampous. Melampous was a wealthy man from Pylos, but he left Pylos fleeing Neleus who held his possessions by force for a year. During that year, Melampous was held prisoner in the house of Phylakos because of the daughter of Neleus, Pero, and an ate sent by the Erinys. Melampous escaped death and drove the cattle back to Pylos. He took Pero home as a wife for his brother.

Christina María Aguilera (born December 18, 1980) is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993 to 1994. Aguilera signed to RCA Records after recording "Reflection", the theme song for the animated film Mulan (1998).

In 1999, Aguilera came to prominence following her debut album Christina Aguilera, which was a commercial success spawning three number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100—"Genie in a Bottle", "What a Girl Wants", and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)." Her sophomore and her debut Latin-pop album, Mi Reflejo (2000), a Christmas third studio album, My Kind of Christmas (2000), and several collaborations followed which garnered Aguilera worldwide success, though she was displeased with her lack of input in her music and image. After parting from her management, Aguilera took creative control over her fourth studio album, Stripped (2002). The album's second single, "Beautiful", was a commercial success and helped the album's commercial performance amidst controversy over Aguilera's image. Aguilera followed up Stripped with the soul, jazz and blues inspired, Back to Basics (2006), released to positive critical acclaim. The album produced three singles "Ain't No Other Man", "Hurt" and "Candyman". Four years later Aguilera released her sixth studio album, Bionic (2010), which incorporated aspects of R&B, electropop, and synthpop and was met with mixed reviews and low sales. Aguilera's seventh studio album is set to be released in 2012.

Fernando Alvarez (August 30, 1937 - June 27, 1999) was an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey and trainer who rode winners from coast to coast including in the two most important races in California.

A native of Santiago Chile, Alvarez began riding there at age sixteen, winning with his very first mount. The following year he went to Panama where he rode for seven years before emigrating to the United States.

In 1964 Fernando Alvarez rode Roman Brother to a second place finish in the third leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series, the Belmont Stakes. He then won with the colt in the American Derby and Discovery Handicap. Alvarez's most significant wins came at Santa Anita Park for Louis R. Rowan, co-founder of the Oak Tree Racing Association. Aboard Ruken, he won the 1967 Santa Anita Derby and on Quicken Tree, the 1970 Santa Anita Handicap. Alvarez followed up on his victories in the Santa Anita Derby and the Stepping Stone Purse at Churchill Downs that gave him his first ever mount in the Kentucky Derby in which he finished eighth.

Alejandro Sanz (born Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro on December 18, 1968) is a Spanish singer-songwriter and musician. For his work, Sanz has won a total of fifteen Latin Grammy Awards and three Grammy Awards. He has won the Latin Grammy for Album of the Year three times, more than any other artist. Throughout his career, he has released a total of ten studio albums and six DVDs. The singer is noted for his flamenco-influenced ballads, but he has also experimented with rock, salsa, and hip hop.

Born in Madrid, Sanz began playing guitar at age seven, taking influence from his family's flamenco roots. He released his debut album at age sixteen, although he did not gain commercial success until his second release, Viviendo Deprisa. His next two records, Si Tú Me Miras and 3 also fared well commercially, but it was his 1997 breakthrough album Más that garnered international success. El Alma al Aire followed in 2000, selling more than a million copies in its first week.

In 2002, he became the first Spanish artist to record an MTV Unplugged album. His collaboration with Shakira on the single "La Tortura" reached number one on several charts worldwide. His albums No Es lo Mismo (2003) and El Tren de los Momentos (2006) showed Sanz experimenting with more diverse styles of music, while his most recent release, Paraíso Express (2009) served as a return to form for the musician. He signed to Universal Music Group in 2011 and is reported to be working on his tenth studio album.

Václav Klaus (Czech pronunciation: [ˈvaːtslaf ˈklaus]; born 19 June 1941 in Prague) is the second President of the Czech Republic (since 2003) and a former Prime Minister (1992–1997).

An economist, Klaus was the principal co-founder of the Civic Democratic Party, the Czech Republic's largest center-right political party. Klaus is a eurosceptic, but he reluctantly endorsed the Lisbon treaty as President of his country. He has been called the "Margaret Thatcher of Central Europe".

Klaus was born in Prague during the Nazi occupation, and grew up in the large (up to 1948 middle-class) Vinohrady neighborhood. He studied what was then called "economics of foreign trade" and graduated from the University of Economics, Prague in 1963. He also spent some time at universities in Italy (1966) and at Cornell University in the United States in 1969.

He then pursued a postgraduate academic career at the State Institute of Economics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, which he was forced to leave in 1970. However, he soon obtained a position in the Czechoslovak State Bank, where he held various staff positions from 1971 to 1986. It was reported that he obtained a limited permission to travel mainly to so-called socialist foreign countries. This might have been a small privilege at that time. In 1987, Klaus joined the Institute for Prognostics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.