Lauder

Coordinates: 55°43′10″N 2°44′55″W / 55.71936°N 2.74855°W / 55.71936; -2.74855

The Royal Burgh of Lauder (Scottish Gaelic: Labhdar) is a town in the Scottish Borders in the historic county of Berwickshire. On the Southern Upland Way, the burgh lies 27 miles south east of Edinburgh, on the western edge of the Lammermuir Hills.

Medieval history

Although Lauder sits in the valley of Leader Water, Watson notes that the names Lauder and Leader appear to be unconnected. In the earliest sources Lauder appears as Lauuedder and Louueder.

Below Lauder are the lands of Kedslie which were bounded on the west by a road called "Malcolm's rode," and it is thought this formed part of the Roman road known as Dere Street, which passed through Lauder. Hardie suggests that it had been reconditioned by Malcolm III for use in his almost constant warfare against England. It is the only old road in Scotland that is associated with the name of an individual person.

The ancient settlement was further up the hills on the edge of the Moor. Its name is unknown, but it was tiny. The New Statistical Account of Scotland (vol.II) says that the present town of Lauder existed as a kirk-town in the time of David I (1124–53), and Sir J.D.Marwick says, in his preface to the Records of Convention, that the present town of Lauder existed in the latter half of the twelfth century. The town was once surrounded by walls with gates commonly referred to as 'ports'. Two major mills, which dated from the 12th century, also served the town.

Lean Back

"Lean Back" is a 2004 American hip hop single from the American hip hop group, Terror Squad. The single is off of Terror Squad's album True Story. An uptempo hip hop song built for the club environment, it features Fat Joe with Remy Ma handling the second verse. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks from August 21 and topped the R&B charts for more than a month. The song appeared in video games Need For Speed Underground 2, Def Jam Rapstar and The Hip Hop Dance Experience.

Nomination and awards

Critical reception

Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic called the song "a perfect club-ready duet between Joe and Remy Ma that boasts a trademark Scott Storch beat and a memorable singalong hook and dance-along step".VIBE magazine called the song a "summer classic." In 2008, VH1 ranked "Lean Back" #55 in its "100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs" list.

Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr.

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Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr. (born August 11, 1974) is an American jazz singer from Logan County, West Virginia. He received national attention for winning the sixth season of the NBC reality show America's Got Talent.

Before America's Got Talent

Murphy's father had been a coal miner. His parents divorced when Murphy was eight, after which he moved with his mother, and his two brothers and two sisters to Detroit, Michigan. He dropped out of school in the 11th grade to take care of his family.

After moving back home to Logan, West Virginia in the late 1990s, Murphy renewed a friendship with a childhood friend, Jennifer Carter. They worked together at a restaurant where she was a manager, and they married in 2005.

Murphy had been homeless at age 19, sleeping in his car. He worked as a car washer during the months leading up to his TV performances, and was nearly destitute as a result of his home having been robbed. He was down to his last pair of pants and jacket when he arrived to sing at his America's Got Talent audition.

Got Talent

Got Talent is a talent show television format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's SYCOtv company. A pilot was made in the United Kingdom in 2005, hosted by Paul O'Grady, but after O'Grady's split with ITV, the series was postponed, resulting in America's Got Talent – the first full series of the format.

It has spawned spin-offs in over 58 countries (as of April 2014), in what is now referred to as the Got Talent format, similar to that described by FremantleMedia of the Idol and The X Factor formats. In April 2014, the format was named the world's most successful reality TV format ever by the Guinness World Records.

History

Got Talent was an invention by The X Factor creator Simon Cowell, with comedian and talk show host Paul O'Grady producing a pilot for ITV in 2005 under the provisional title Paul O'Grady's Got Talent. O'Grady left the network after disputes with ITV, resulting in Cowell moving the concept to the United States while he and ITV searched for a new show host.

Due to these issues, the Got Talent franchise ended up debuting first as America's Got Talent on NBC on 21 June 2006, with judges David Hasselhoff, Brandy Norwood, and Piers Morgan. The show's original series was hosted by Regis Philbin. In 2016, the judging panel consisted of Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, Melanie Brown, and Simon Cowell, and hosted by Nick Cannon, who has been the presenter since 2009. The grand prize on America's Got Talent is $1 million, and, since season 3, a chance to headline a show on the Las Vegas Strip. America's Got Talent proved extremely successful for NBC, pulling in high ratings in both total viewers and the younger 18-49 demographic. The show's initial success in America is credited with the eventual launch of the British series, and the overall global launch of the Got Talent franchise.

America's Got Talent

America's Got Talent (sometimes abbreviated as AGT) is an American reality television series on the NBC television network, and part of the global British Got Talent franchise. It is a talent show that features singers, dancers, magicians, comedians, and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of one million dollars. The show debuted in June 2006 for the summer television season. From season three (2008) onwards, the prize includes the one million dollars, payable in a financial annuity over 40 years, and a chance to headline a show on the Las Vegas Strip. Among its significant features is that it gives an opportunity to talented amateurs or unknown performers, with the results decided by an audience vote. The format is a popular one and has often been reworked for television in the United States and the United Kingdom.

This incarnation was created by Simon Cowell, and was originally due to be a 2005 British series called Paul O'Grady's Got Talent but was postponed due to O'Grady's acrimonious split with broadcaster ITV (later launching as Britain's Got Talent in 2007). As such, the American version became the first full series of the franchise.