The Amstel is a river in the Netherlands which runs through the city of Amsterdam. The river's name is derived from Aeme stelle, old Dutch for "area abounding with water".

The well-known Magere Brug bridge in Amsterdam crosses the river, as do the Blauwbrug, Hoge Sluis and Berlagebrug bridges. The Stopera city hall and opera house and Carré theatre are both located on the banks of the river.

A nationally televised concert is held on the river every year on Bevrijdingsdag (Liberation Day). The rowing races Head of the River Amstel and Heineken Roeivierkamp are held on the river annually. The river also forms part of the route of the Canal Parade, Amsterdam's annual floating gay pride parade.

Amstel beer is named after the river. The Amstel brewery, as a lot of other breweries, was situated close to the Amstel river because clean river water was used to produce the beer.

The river originally began where two smaller rivers, the Drecht and Kromme Mijdrecht, joined together, a little south of Uithoorn. After the construction of a canal, the Amstel-Drecht Kanaal, the river (including the canal) now begins where the Drecht and another canal, the Aarkanaal, meet one another, near the town of Nieuwveen. Tributary rivers are the Kromme Mijdrecht, Bullewijk and Waver.

Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969) is an American actress, businesswoman, dancer and recording artist. Often referred to as J.Lo, she is reportedly the highest earning actress of Latin descent. Born and raised in The Bronx, New York, she enrolled in singing and dancing classes as a child and grew up in a musically influenced household. She started her career as a fly girl on the television comedy program In Living Color and a back-up dancer for Janet Jackson. Lopez gained recognition in the action-thriller Money Train (1995). Her first leading role was in the biographical film Selena (1997), which was her breakthrough role, earning her an ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress and Golden Globe nomination. She earned her second ALMA Award for her performance in Out of Sight (1998), which made her the highest-paid Latin actress. She has since appeared in various films including The Cell (2000), The Wedding Planner (2001), Maid in Manhattan (2002), Shall We Dance? (2004), Monster-in-Law (2005), The Back-up Plan (2010) and What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012).

Marco Borsato (born December 21, 1966) is a Dutch singer. He started performing in Italian before switching to Dutch in 1994. He is married to Leontine Ruiters and has three children.

Marco was born in the Wilhelmina Hospital in Alkmaar as the son of Roberto Borsato and Mary de Graaf. He has a brother, Armando, and a sister, Sylvana. The family moved to Italy, where the father started up a restaurant in Garda. Marco spent a significant amount of time in Italy and speaks fluent Italian. In fact, Marco admitted that his Italian is much better than his Dutch.

When Marco was 12 years old he decided he wanted to be a sushi chef. Marco, though brought up with Italian cuisine, had a great love for raw fish bound in seaweed. When he was older he went to school during the week and he worked in a restaurant during the weekends. During his conscription he was bound to the cavalery, where he was conscripted as a NCO. Success stayed out after Marco Borsato won the Dutch Soundmixshow on April 6, 1990 with his rendition of Billy Vera's song "At This Moment." During that time he was indeed working as a chef.

Laura Jansen (born 4 March 1977, Breda, the Netherlands) is a Dutch-American singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles. Jansen established herself as a regular at the Los Angeles live music venue the Hotel Cafe before gaining fame in her native country, the Netherlands. The daughter of an American mother and Dutch father, she holds dual citizenship in the United States and the Netherlands.

Her music has been featured on the television shows Newport Harbor and The Real World: Cancun.

She previously toured with Joshua Radin for six weeks as part of his band in 2008. In 2009, she toured with William Fitzsimmons as a part of his band and also as his support act. She is currently on tour supporting Joshua Radin.

At the moment her live band consists of the Dutch musicians JanPeter Hoekstra (guitars, vocals), Wouter Rentema (drums, percussion, vocals), and Jan Teertstra (bass, vocals).

In the Netherlands, her debut album Bells is available on Universal Records. Released on 4 September 2009, the album peaked at number 6 in the Dutch Album Top 100. In May 2010 Jansen received a golden record for selling 25.000 copies of Bells.