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Ice cubes are small, roughly cube-shaped pieces of ice, conventionally used to cool beverages. Ice cubes are sometimes preferred over crushed ice because they melt more slowly; they are standard in mixed drinks that call for ice, in which case the drink is said to be "on the rocks."

Ice cubes that are crushed or sheared into irregularly-shaped flakes may add an interesting aesthetic effect to some cocktails. Crushed ice is also used when faster cooling is desired, since the rate of cooling is governed by the number and average radius of the ice particles.

Melting ice cubes sometimes precipitate white flakes, commonly known as "floaties". This is calcium carbonate which is present in many water supplies and is completely harmless.^{[citation needed]}

American physician and humanitarian John Gorrie built a refrigerator in 1844 with the purpose of cooling air. His refrigerator produced ice which he hung from the ceiling in a basin. Gorrie can be considered the creator of ice cubes, but his aim was not to cool drinks: he used the ice to lower the ambient room temperature. During his time, a dominant idea was that bad air quality caused disease. Therefore, in order to help treat sickness, he pushed for the draining of swamps and the cooling of sickrooms.

Vicci Martinez, Born on September 21, 1984 is an American singer/songwriter from Tacoma, Washington, who is now signed with Universal Group (Universal Republic). She came in joint third on NBC's singing competition series The Voice in 2011.

Martinez graduated from Stadium High School. She first took the stage at the age of 16. Grounded firmly in the acoustic-rock tradition, Vicci Martinez writes and performs music personal and often autobiographical. She has received critical acclaim for her live performances.

After the 2005 release of her album, On My Way, Martinez went on tour and released a full-length concert DVD and documentary in 2006 titled Vicci Martinez Live. The DVD, produced by Joel Veatch and Flying Spot, received positive press attention. Vicci also released a live CD that had been recorded at the Jazzbones.

Martinez won the regional tryouts for the first season of American Idol, but declined the invite to the second round due to her belief that the contract was too restrictive. She later appeared on CBS's 2003 season of Star Search.

Connie Talbot (born 20 November 2000) is an English child singer from Streetly, Aldridge. She rose to fame in 2007 when she reached the final of the first series of Britain's Got Talent, where she was runner-up to Paul Potts. Talbot was supposed to sign with Sony BMG but the label pulled out of the deal due to her age.

Talbot signed with Rainbow Recording Company and released her debut album Over the Rainbow in the UK on 26 November 2007. The album was re-released 18 June 2008 with a new track listing, and the first single from the album, a cover of Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds", was released on 10 June.

Despite its negative critical reception, Over the Rainbow has sold over 250,000 copies worldwide and reached number one in three countries. Since the initial album release, Talbot has performed publicly and on television in Europe, the U.S. and across Asia, where her music had gained recognition through YouTube. Her second album, Connie Talbot's Christmas Album, was released on 24 November 2008; her third, Holiday Magic, was released in late 2009. While pursuing her musical career, Talbot attends school, and lives in Streetly with her family.

Guy Theodore Sebastian (born 26 October 1981) is an Australian pop, R&B, and soul singer-songwriter who was the first winner of Australian Idol in 2003. Since 2010 he has been a judge on Australia's The X Factor. Sebastian has released six top ten platinum/multi-platinum albums, including a number one and two. He has also released 11 top 15 singles, including eight top tens, with five achieving number one. He has the most number one singles for an Australian male artist in Australian music history, and is equal third overall for all Australian acts. Four of his singles have reached multi-platinum certification, with "Angels Brought Me Here", "Who's That Girl" and "Don't Worry Be Happy" achieving 4× platinum. "Angels Brought Me Here" was the highest selling song in Australia last decade. With 30 platinum and two gold certifications and combined album and single sales of over 2.2 million in Australia, Sebastian has the highest certifications and sales of any Australian Idol contestant.

"Angels Brought Me Here" also reached number one in four Asian countries and New Zealand. Sebastian had a second number one in New Zealand with "Who's That Girl", two other top ten singles and a number three album, and gained four platinum and two gold certifications there. He has worked with a number of well-known American musicians. He co-wrote songs with Brian McKnight and Robin Thicke for his album Beautiful Life, which also included a duet with Mýa. The Memphis Album was recorded with members of the MGs including Steve Cropper, and they were his band on his 2008 Australian tour. Like It Like That has three tracks with John Mayer on guitar and backing vocals, and "Art of Love" featuring Jordin Sparks. "Who's That Girl" from his album Twenty Ten features US rapper Eve.