The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists. Many newspapers and broadcasters outside the United States are AP subscribers, paying a fee to use AP material without being contributing members of the cooperative.

As of 2005^[update], the news collected by the AP is published and republished by more than 1,700 newspapers, in addition to more than 5,001 television and radio broadcasters. The photograph library of the AP consists of over 10 million images. The Associated Press operates 243 news bureaus, and it serves at least 120 countries, with an international staff located all over the world.

Associated Press also operates The Associated Press Radio Network, which provides newscasts twice hourly for broadcast and satellite radio and television stations. The AP Radio also offers news and public affairs features, feeds of news sound bites, and long form coverage of major events.

Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and stage actor. Born in Indianapolis but raised in San Diego, Lambert had dreamed of becoming a performer after appearing in numerous amateur productions in his childhood and adolescence. His passion overtook him when deciding to drop out of college, pursue his career, and perform in various professional theatrical productions across the world.

Lambert came to prominence following his appearance on the eighth season of American Idol. Although he was runner-up, Lambert launched a music career with the release of his debut studio album For Your Entertainment (2009) after signing with 19 in a joint venture with RCA. Debuting at number three on the Billboard 200, selling 198,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week, and reaching the top 10 in several countries worldwide, the album subsequently achieved international success with its singles "For Your Entertainment", "Whataya Want from Me" and "If I Had You". Soon after, he embarked on his first headlining worldwide concert tour, Glam Nation, making him the only American Idol contestant to do so in the year following his Idol season. The tour was followed by two live releases: an extended play entitled Acoustic Live! (2010), and a live CD/DVD Glam Nation Live (2011), which debuted at number one on the SoundScan Music Video chart. Lambert took executive producer credit and was a principal writer on his second studio album, Trespassing, which was released to critical acclaim on May 15, 2012.Trespassing made its debut in the number one spot on the Billboard 200 album chart, also topping the Billboard Digital Albums Chart and Canada's Digital Albums Chart.With this accomplishment, Lambert makes music history as the first openly gay artist to achieve the top charting position.

Justin Drew Bieber ( /ˈbiːbər/ BEE-bər, born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian Pop/R&B singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager. Braun arranged for him to meet with Usher in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher, and then to a recording contract with Island Records offered by L.A. Reid. Bieber's debut single, "One Time", was released in 2009 and peaked in the top twenty in Canada and charted in the top thirty in several international markets. His debut album, the seven-track EP My World, followed in November 2009, and was soon certified platinum in the United States. He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on the Billboard Hot 100.