Taylor Swift

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Raised in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 14 to pursue a career in country music. She signed with the independent label Big Machine Records and became the youngest songwriter ever signed by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house. The release of Swift's eponymous debut album in 2006 marked the start of her career as a country music singer. Her third single, "Our Song", made her the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number-one song on the Hot Country Songs chart.

Swift's second album, Fearless, was released in 2008. Buoyed by the pop crossover success of the singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me", Fearless became the best-selling album of 2009 in the United States. The album won four Grammy Awards, making Swift the youngest ever Album of the Year winner. Swift's third and fourth albums, 2010's Speak Now and 2012's Red, both sold more than one million copies within the first week of their U.S release. Speak Now's "Mean" won two Grammy Awards, while Red's singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble" were successful worldwide. Swift's fifth album, the pop-focused 1989, was released in 2014 and sold more copies in its opening week than any album in the previous 12 years, making Swift the first and only act to have three albums sell more than one million copies in the opening release week. Its singles "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The album would go on to win three awards at the 2016 Grammys including Album of the Year making Swift the first and thus far only female artist to receive the award twice.

Taylor Swift (album)

Taylor Swift is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 24, 2006, by Big Machine Records. Swift was 16 years old at the time of the album's release and wrote its songs during her freshman year of high school. Swift has writing credits on all of the album's songs, including those co-written with Liz Rose. Swift experimented with several producers, ultimately choosing Nathan Chapman, who had produced her demo album. Musically, the album is country music styled, and lyrically it speaks of romantic relationships, a couple of which Swift wrote from observing relationships before being in one. Lyrics also touch on Swift's personal struggles in high school.

Five singles were released from the album, all of which have been certified platinum by the RIAA. "Tim McGraw" was released as the lead single and reached the top ten on Billboard's Hot Country Songs. "Teardrops on My Guitar" was released as the second single and was the album's best-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100. "Our Song" was released as the third single from the album and was Swift's first number one on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. It made her the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number one song on the Hot Country Songs chart. "Picture to Burn" and "Should've Said No" were released as the fourth single and fifth singles from the album, respectively, and both were a success on the country charts in the United States. Swift promoted the album by performing on tour as the opening act for artists such as Rascal Flatts, George Strait, Brad Paisley, and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.

35th People's Choice Awards

The 35th People's Choice Awards, honoring the best in popular culture for 2008, was held on January 7, 2009 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by Queen Latifah in her third straight year as host, and was broadcast on CBS. Performers for the show included Carrie Underwood and Rascal Flatts.

Due to the 35th anniversary of the People's Choice Awards and People Magazine, the two combined forces to create an award entitled "Favorite Star Under 35". The award was made for that one show and that show only. Multi-platinum singer, American Idol winner, and 5-time Grammy Award winner Carrie Underwood received the award based on the public's choice from an online poll.

Nominations and winners

The nominees for the awards were selected with the help of E-Poll Market Research using what it describes as the People's Choice Online Community to achieve a nationally representative sample of respondents aged 13 or older. For each category, the respondents were provided with a set of candidates determined by national ratings averages, box-office grosses and music sales. The respondents then chose their favorites in Television, Movies and Music. They also had the option to write in their favorites where not included among the provided candidates. The top three selections in each category became the final nominees. Winners were chosen online by those who registered with the awards shows official website.

36th People's Choice Awards

The 36th People's Choice Awards, honoring the best in popular culture for 2009, was held on January 6, 2010 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California, and was broadcast on CBS. Not all of the awards were presented on air during the show, as many including Favorite Movie were left out. As well as Favorite Actor, Johnny Depp also won the Actor/Actress of the Decade award.

Performers:

Nominees

Winners are listed in bold.

Presenters

References

38th People's Choice Awards

The 38th People's Choice Awards, honoring the best in popular culture for 2011, were held on January 11, 2012 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California, and were broadcast live on CBS at 9:00 pm ET. This year's ceremony was hosted by Kaley Cuoco.

Katy Perry dominated the 38th People's Choice Awards by winning the most awards, winning five out of seven nominations, including Favorite Female Artist. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 won four awards, including Favorite Movie. How I Met Your Mother won three awards, including Favorite TV Comedy, Emma Stone won two awards, including Favorite Movie Actress. Supernatural also won two awards, including Favorite Network TV Drama.

On November 8, 2011, the nominees were announced. The movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 received the most nominations this year with nine. The TV series Glee and singer Katy Perry each received seven nominations. Nina Dobrev received the award for Favorite TV Drama Actress by being written in by fans, making her the first write-in person to ever do so.

Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards

The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards (WCCA) were annual awards in which online cartoonists nominate and select outstanding webcomics. The awards were been held between 2001 and 2008, were mentioned in a The New York Times column on webcomics in 2005, and have been mentioned as a tool for librarians.

The WCCA represent a form of peer recognition, with voting rights granted only to creators working on online webcomics. Winners of awards receive an individualized web banner for their site, although MegaCon announced in 2007 that a live presentation would be made for the first time. In 2003, 2005 and 2006 the awards were presented in an online ceremony depicted in comic strip form and involving a number of creators.

The WCCA were started by Scott Maddix and Mark Mekkes in 2000, with the first awards made in 2001. Mekkes noted his motivation as being to "create a webcomic award process that would do the most to help the webcomic community and encourage creators to strive toward greatness." Mekkes set up a committee to run the awards, initially known as the Cartoonists' Choice Awards, assuming the position of chairman, a role he was still holding in 2007. A press release on The Dreamland Chronicles' nomination described the committee as "an independent organization dedicated to the promotion and recognition of online comics and their creators." However, committee member Lewis Powell has criticised the awards as being "horribly mismanaged, they are not well organized and they don't do what they are supposed to" and that "Problems with the WCCAs [include] making people aware of them, getting people to care about them."