Sampson may refer to:
George William Sampson (born 29 June 1993) is a street dancer and actor from Warrington, England. He won the second series of Britain's Got Talent on 31 May 2008 at the age of 14.
In 2007, a dance teacher called Dominic Chambers told Sampson that there were auditions in the area that would be right up his alley. He only discovered he'd be auditioning for the first series of Britain's Got Talent when he arrived. In his audition, he danced to "Drop" (Timbaland feat. Magoo & Fatman Scoop), receiving a yes vote from all three judges. However, despite Simon Cowell's enthusiasm, he was unable to convince the other two judges, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan, to let Sampson proceed to the live semi-finals. This experience made Sampson determined to re-audition the following year and prove Holden and Morgan wrong. In the intervening time, he continued dancing on the streets of Manchester to improve his technique, and to raise money for his family.
In 2008, Sampson successfully got through the first round of Britain's Got Talent series 2 auditions by dancing to "Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now)". He then came top in the audience's vote in his semi-final with his arrangement of Mint Royale's big beat remix of "Singin' in the Rain", complete with an artificial rain machine on-stage, a formula that had previously been produced in a television advertisement for the Volkswagen Golf GTI. He subsequently won the audience's vote in the final, beating dance duo Signature (second place) and Andrew Johnston (third place). He broke into tears when his win was announced. Sampson was due to perform a different routine for the final, to a track by the Bee Gees, which he described as involving "a lot of movement without me actually doing anything". An hour before the final started he changed his mind and, after consulting Simon Cowell, opted to re-perform his winning act from the semi-final.
Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (Russian: Реги́нa Ильи́нична Спе́ктор, IPA: [rʲɪˈɡʲinə ˈspʲɛktər], English: /rɨˈdʒiːnə ˈspɛktər/; born February 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centered in New York City's East Village.
Spektor was born in Moscow, Soviet Union in 1980 to a musical Russian Jewish family. Her father, Ilya Spektor, is a photographer and amateur violinist. Her mother, Bella Spektor, was a music professor in a Soviet college of music and now teaches at a public elementary school in Mount Vernon, New York. She has a brother Barry (Bear), who was featured in track 7, "* * *", or "Whisper", of her 2004 album, Soviet Kitsch.
She learned how to play piano by practising on a Petrof upright that was given to her mother by her grandfather. She was also exposed to the music of rock and roll bands such as The Beatles, Queen, and The Moody Blues by her father, who obtained such recordings in Eastern Europe and traded cassettes with friends in the Soviet Union. The family left the Soviet Union in 1989, when Regina was nine and a half, during the period of Perestroika, when Soviet citizens were permitted to emigrate. Regina had to leave her piano behind. The seriousness of her piano studies led her parents to consider not leaving the USSR, but they finally decided to emigrate, due to the ethnic and political discrimination that Jews faced. Spektor is fluent in Russian and reads Hebrew, and has since paid tribute to her Russian heritage, quoting the poem February by the Russian poet Boris Pasternak in her song Après Moi, and stating “I’m very connected to the language and the culture.”
The Greek is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Bill Raymond. The Greek is the head of an international criminal organization involved in narcotics and human trafficking. The Greek is a mysterious figure involved in numerous criminal activities. His given name is never mentioned on the show, and though he is known only as "The Greek", he has stated (in the episode Port in a Storm) that he is not actually Greek. A quiet and unassuming man, the Greek prefers to keep a low profile, operating all of his business through his lieutenant Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos. His smuggling organization operated from a small diner in Baltimore for years, and while Vondas would conduct business the Greek would listen in quietly at the counter. Nick Sobotka, upon seeing the Greek identify himself, was amazed that the shadowy figure had been in plain sight the entire time.
Despite his calm appearance, the Greek is cunning and ruthless, and only interested in facts that make him more money. Series creator David Simon has said that The Greek is an embodiment of raw unencumbered capitalism. Anyone interfering in this process is eliminated immediately, and he prefers to leave victims headless and handless to hinder identification.
Martin W "Marty" Sampson (born 31 May 1979) is an Australian Christian singer-songwriter, musician and worship leader at the Hillsong Church in Sydney. From the late 1990s he has featured on the Youth Alive albums and was one of the original Hillsong United band's worship leaders. Sampson's main instrument is the guitar although he also plays piano and drums. Aside from work for Youth Alive and Hillsong United, Sampson has issued solo albums. In November 2006 he married Michelle and the couple have a son, Phoenix.
Martin W Sampson was born on 31 May 1979 and became a member of the Hillsong Church in Sydney. From the late 1990s he has featured on the Youth Alive albums and was one of the original Hillsong United band's worship leaders. His last album with Hillsong United was the 2011's Aftermath. He often leads worship at the church and has maintained contributions for Hillsong albums. Since his departure from Hillsong United, he has worked on his songwriting. Sampson helps with the worship at Northern Beaches, a Hillsong extension service. In November 2006 he married Michelle and the couple have a son, Phoenix.