Stad (peninsula)

Stad or Stadlandet is a peninsula in Selje Municipality in the northwestern part of Sogn og Fjordane county in Norway. The peninsula is considered the dividing point between the Norwegian Sea to the north and the North Sea to the south. The name is sometimes also written as Stadt, Statt, or Stadlandet–not to be confused with the similar German word Stadt. The d in Stad is pronounced in Norwegian as a t. Some of the larger villages on the peninsula include Ervik (northwestern tip), Borgundvåg and Leikanger (northeastern side), and the village of Selje (southwestern side).

The peninsula is a 500-metre (1,600 ft) high mountain plateau topped by the 645-metre (2,116 ft) tall Tarvaldsegga peak. There are several lower valleys on the peninsula, but at the western end, the plateau plunges into the sea in a 497-metre (1,631 ft) tall cliff at Kjerringa.

The Stad Peninsula has a very harsh, windy climate. The highest wind speed in the country is often recorded at this promontory. Located between the cities of Bergen (in Hordaland county to the south) and Ålesund (in Møre og Romsdal county to the north), this is the only peninsula on the mainland of Norway that goes out into open sea. Most of the rest of the ship route from Bergen to Ålesund is protected by islands. The Svinøy Lighthouse is located 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north of the peninsula on a small island in the Norwegian Sea.

The Voice

The Voice may refer to:

Music

Albums

Songs

Radio and television

The Voice (TV series)

The Voice is a reality television singing competition franchise. It is based on the reality singing competition The Voice of Holland, which was originally created by Dutch television producer John de Mol. Many other countries have adapted the format and began airing their own versions since 2011. It has become a rival to the Idols franchise and The X Factor.

History

John de Mol, creator of Big Brother, first created The Voice concept with Dutch singer Roel van Velzen. The show distinguishes itself as different from The X Factor and Idols as The Voice primarily focuses on singing ability and prowess of an artist alone.

On September 17, 2010, The Voice of Holland began to air on RTL 4 with Angela Groothuizen, Roel van Velzen, Nick & Simon, and Jeroen van der Boom as the mentor-judges (dubbed as "coaches") of the show. The show proved to be an instant success in the Netherlands.

The format was later sold to different countries.

Format

Contestants are aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. The show's format features four stages of competition. The first is the blind auditions, in which the four coaches, all noteworthy recording artists, listen to the contestants in chairs facing away from the stage so as to avoid seeing them. If a coach likes what they hear from that contestant, they press a button to rotate their chairs to signify that they are interested in working with that contestant. If more than one coach presses their button, the contestant chooses the coach he or she wants to work with. The blind auditions end when each coach has a set number of contestants to work with. Coaches will dedicate themselves to developing their singers mentally, musically and in some cases physically, giving them advice, and sharing the secrets of their success.

Cassandra Steen

Cassandra Steen (born February 9, 1980 in Ostfildern, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany) is a German-American singer, songwriter, and voice actress, who rose to fame as the lead singer of the trio Glashaus.

After a series of commercially successful releases with the group, Steen released her moderately successful solo debut album Seele mit Herz in 2003. After her departure from Glashaus and a label change to Universal Urban Records in 2007, she released her second album Darum leben wir in February 2009. A gold-certified the top ten success, it spawned three singles, including "Stadt," the fourth biggest-selling single of 2009 in Germany. In 2010, she won the ECHO Award for Best National Artist Rock/Pop.

Also in 2009, Steen voiced the character Tiana in the German dub of Disney's 49th animated feature The Princess and the Frog. "Never Knew I Needed," a duet with original singer Ne-Yo, was the first single to be lifted from the accompanying soundtrack. Steen has since released two further studio albums, Mir so nah (2011) and Spiegelbild (2014).

Adel Tawil

Adel Tawil (born August 15, 1978 in Berlin, Germany), is a German singer, songwriter and producer. Besides his solo career, he is part of the popular German pop duo Ich + Ich, after being part earlier of the German boy band The Boyz.

Family background

Tawil was born in Germany. His father, Salah Tawil, is Egyptian and his mother, Fatima Tawil, is Tunisian. Tawil is the first born of three, having a younger brother, Hatem, and sister, Rascha.

In 2011 he married his long-time girlfriend Jasmin Weber in a private ceremony in Berlin.

Music career

During the end of the 1990s, Tawil was part of the German boyband The Boyz. Since 2004, he and Annette Humpe formed the duo known as Ich + Ich. They have released three albums, Ich + Ich (2005), Vom Selben Stern (2007) and Gute Reise (2009).

In 2007, Tawil teamed up with rapper Azad and released the song "Prison Break Anthem (Ich glaub' an dich)", which is the opening theme for the German version of Prison Break. Tawil has made another solo appearance with Tobias Schenke for the song "Niemand hat Gesagt".