1.
Llwynypia
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Llwynypia is a village and community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Tonypandy in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. The Welsh name means the grove of the Magpie or Magpies Bush and was taken from the name of a farm that existed in the area. Situated on the River Rhondda Fawr where the river changes direction from south-east to southerly, on Mynydd y Gelli, a hill overlooking the area to the west, lies the Iron Age settlement of Hen Drer Gelli, a site which also has several Bronze Age cairns. Although facing many difficulties at the No.1 pit, Hood continued in his endeavours and by 1873 had sunk 4 more pits, now under the name of the Glamorgan Coal Company. Hood was a figure in the area and his mines became known as the Scotch mines, after Hood himself. After Hoods death in 1902, he received tributes from his workforce. Much of the cost of the statue was met by donations from the miners of his pits, in 1908 the Glamorgan Colliery became part of the Cambrian Combine Company and, in 1910-1911, was a scene of violent clashes during the Tonypandy Riots. The very high quality of Rhondda coal was recognised by the Admiralty which specified it as the fuel of choice for the ships of the Royal Navy from the late 19th century. The Llwynypia pits were extracting excellent coking coals and, by the time of World War I, by-products of the coke distillation process was used to light the mines and the narrow streets of miners cottages known as terraces. Some of the terraces have been widened but others remain so narrow that a car can barely pass through. On 25 January 1932, a gas explosion occurred at the colliery, eleven workers were killed in the incident, two of whom were members of the rescue party. All perished after inhaling afterdamp following the explosion, by 1936, of the original six pits opened at the Glamorgan, two remained in operation, employing only 560 workers, as against 2904 employed in 1923. The colliery was closed in August 1945. Built in the early 1900s on the site of the Glyncornel farm, owned by the DeWinton family, Llwynypia is also home to the largest hospital in the Rhondda. Llwynypia hospital was built in the early 1900s, originally as a workhouse, as the only village with maternity facilities in the Rhondda, most residents from the area over the last century have Llwynypia as their place of birth on their birth certificates. Llwynypias accident and emergency unit was closed in the 1990s and the closest A&E unit is now at Llantrisants Royal Glamorgan Hospital, the Llwynypia railway station is served and operated by Arriva Trains Wales on the Rhondda Line from Cardiff. Llwynypia was once home to Llwynypia Rugby Football Club, the club played in the Glamorgan leagues and was affiliated to the Welsh Rugby Union providing many trialists and Welsh international rugby union players. The club disbanded in the 1930s during the depression like many Rhondda clubs, Welsh international footballer Rob Page was born in the village
2.
Wales
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Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and it had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2. Wales has over 1,680 miles of coastline and is mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon. The country lies within the temperate zone and has a changeable. Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffudds death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of Englands conquest of Wales, though Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to Wales in the early 15th century. The whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism, Welsh national feeling grew over the century, Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. Established under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the National Assembly for Wales holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, two-thirds of the population live in south Wales, mainly in and around Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys. Now that the countrys traditional extractive and heavy industries have gone or are in decline, Wales economy depends on the sector, light and service industries. Wales 2010 gross value added was £45.5 billion, over 560,000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales, and the language is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the land of song, Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness. The Old English-speaking Anglo-Saxons came to use the term Wælisc when referring to the Celtic Britons in particular, the modern names for some Continental European lands and peoples have a similar etymology. The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales and these words are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen. The use of the word Cymry as a self-designation derives from the location in the post-Roman Era of the Welsh people in modern Wales as well as in northern England and southern Scotland. It emphasised that the Welsh in modern Wales and in the Hen Ogledd were one people, in particular, the term was not applied to the Cornish or the Breton peoples, who are of similar heritage, culture, and language to the Welsh. The word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century and it is attested in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan c. 633. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh, until c.1560 the word was spelt Kymry or Cymry, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. The Latinised forms of names, Cambrian, Cambric and Cambria, survive as lesser-used alternative names for Wales, Welsh
3.
Pop music
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Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form in the United States and United Kingdom during the mid 1950s. The terms popular music and pop music are used interchangeably, although the former describes all music that is popular. Pop and rock were synonymous terms until the late 1960s, when they were used in opposition from each other. Although pop music is seen as just the singles charts, it is not the sum of all chart music. Pop music is eclectic, and often borrows elements from other such as urban, dance, rock, Latin. Identifying factors include generally short to medium-length songs written in a format, as well as the common use of repeated choruses, melodic tunes. David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop music as a body of music which is distinguishable from popular, jazz, according to Pete Seeger, pop music is professional music which draws upon both folk music and fine arts music. Although pop music is seen as just the singles charts, it is not the sum of all chart music, the music charts contain songs from a variety of sources, including classical, jazz, rock, and novelty songs. Pop music, as a genre, is seen as existing and developing separately, pop music continuously evolves along with the terms definition. The term pop song was first recorded as being used in 1926, Hatch and Millward indicate that many events in the history of recording in the 1920s can be seen as the birth of the modern pop music industry, including in country, blues and hillbilly music. The Oxford Dictionary of Music states that while pops earlier meaning meant concerts appealing to a wide audience. Since the late 1950s, however, pop has had the meaning of non-classical mus, usually in the form of songs, performed by such artists as the Beatles. Grove Music Online also states that, in the early 1960s pop music competed terminologically with beat music, while in the USA its coverage overlapped with that of rock and roll. From about 1967, the term was used in opposition to the term rock music. Whereas rock aspired to authenticity and an expansion of the possibilities of music, pop was more commercial, ephemeral. It is not driven by any significant ambition except profit and commercial reward, and, in musical terms, it is essentially conservative. It is, provided from on high rather than being made from below, pop is not a do-it-yourself music but is professionally produced and packaged. The beat and the melodies tend to be simple, with limited harmonic accompaniment, the lyrics of modern pop songs typically focus on simple themes – often love and romantic relationships – although there are notable exceptions
4.
Singer-songwriter
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Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose, and perform their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. The genre began with the folk-acoustic tradition, singer-songwriters often provide the sole accompaniment to an entire composition or song, typically using a guitar or piano. Singer-songwriter is used to define popular music artists who write and perform their own material, such an artist performs the roles of composer, lyricist, vocalist, instrumentalist, and often self-manager. Most records by artists have a similarly straightforward and spare sound that placed emphasis on the song itself. The term has also used to describe songwriters in the rock, folk, and pop music genres including Henry Russell, Aristide Bruant, Hank Williams. Song topics include political protest, as in the case of the Almanac Singers, Pete Seeger, the concept of a singer-songwriter can be traced to ancient bardic oral tradition, which has existed in various forms throughout the world. Poems would be performed as chant or song, sometimes accompanied by a harp or other similar instrument, after the invention of printing, songs would be written and performed by ballad sellers. Usually these would be versions of existing tunes and lyrics, which were constantly evolving and this developed into the singer-songwriting traditions of folk culture. The term singer-songwriter in North America can be traced back to singers who developed works in the blues and folk music style. Early to mid-20th century American singer-songwriters include Lead Belly, Jimmie Rodgers, Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker, Blind Willie McTell, Lightnin Hopkins, Son House, the tradition of writing topical songs was established by this group of musicians. This focus on social issues has greatly influenced the singer-songwriter genre, artists who had been primarily songwriters, notably Carole King, Townes Van Zandt, and Neil Diamond, also began releasing work as performers. In contrast to the approach of most prior country and folk music. The adjectives confessional and sensitive were often used singer-songwriter style, in the rock band era, members were not technically singer-songwriters as solo acts. However, many were singer-songwriters who created songs with band members. Many others like Eric Clapton found success as singer-songwriters in their later careers, there were hints of cross-pollination, but rock and folk music had remained largely separate genres, often with different audiences. An early attempt at fusing elements of folk and rock was highlighted in the Animals House of the Rising Sun, dylan plugged an entire generation into the milieu of the singer-songwriter. In the mid- to late 1960s, bands and singer-songwriters began to proliferate the underground New York art/music scene. Lotti Golden, in her Atlantic debut album Motor-Cycle, chronicled her life in NYCs East Village in the late 60s counterculture, visiting subjects such as gender identity, kate Bush remained distinctive throughout with her idiosyncratic style
5.
Dance
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Dance is a performance art form consisting of purposefully selected sequences of human movement. This movement has aesthetic and symbolic value, and is acknowledged as dance by performers and observers within a particular culture, Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements, or by its historical period or place of origin. Other forms of movement are sometimes said to have a dance-like quality, including martial arts, gymnastics, figure skating, synchronized swimming. Theatrical dance, also called performance or concert dance, is intended primarily as a spectacle and it often tells a story, perhaps using mime, costume and scenery, or else it may simply interpret the musical accompaniment, which is often specially composed. Examples are western ballet and modern dance, Classical Indian dance and Chinese and Japanese song, most classical forms are centred upon dance alone, but performance dance may also appear in opera and other forms of musical theatre. Such dance seldom has any narrative, a group dance and a corps de ballet, a social partner dance and a pas de deux, differ profoundly. Even a solo dance may be solely for the satisfaction of the dancer. On the other hand, some cultures lay down strict rules as to the dances in which, for example. Archeological evidence for early dance includes 9, 000-year-old paintings in India at the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka and it has been proposed that before the invention of written languages, dance was an important part of the oral and performance methods of passing stories down from generation to generation. The use of dance in trance states and healing rituals is thought to have been another early factor in the social development of dance. References to dance can be found in very early recorded history, Greek dance is referred to by Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch, the Bible and Talmud refer to many events related to dance, and contain over 30 different dance terms. In Chinese pottery as early as the Neolithic period, groups of people are depicted dancing in a line holding hands, Dance is further described in the Lüshi Chunqiu. Primitive dance in ancient China was associated with sorcery and shamanic rituals, during the first millennium BCE in India, many texts were composed which attempted to codify aspects of daily life. Bharata Munis Natyashastra is one of the earlier texts and it mainly deals with drama, in which dance plays an important part in Indian culture. It categorizes dance into four types - secular, ritual, abstract, the text elaborates various hand-gestures and classifies movements of the various limbs, steps and so on. A strong continuous tradition of dance has since continued in India, through to modern times, where it continues to play a role in culture, ritual, and, notably, the Bollywood entertainment industry. Many other contemporary dance forms can likewise be traced back to historical, traditional, ceremonial, Dance is generally, though not exclusively, performed with the accompaniment of music and may or may not be performed in time to such music. Some dance may provide its own audible accompaniment in place of music, many early forms of music and dance were created for each other and are frequently performed together
6.
Actor
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An actor is a person who portrays a character in a performance. Simplistically speaking, the person denominated actor or actress is someone beautiful who plays important characters, the actor performs in the flesh in the traditional medium of the theatre, or in modern mediums such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is ὑποκριτής, literally one who answers, the actors interpretation of their role pertains to the role played, whether based on a real person or fictional character. Interpretation occurs even when the actor is playing themselves, as in forms of experimental performance art, or, more commonly, to act, is to create. Formerly, in societies, only men could become actors. When used for the stage, women played the roles of prepubescent boys. The etymology is a derivation from actor with ess added. However, when referring to more than one performer, of both sexes, actor is preferred as a term for male performers. Actor is also used before the name of a performer as a gender-specific term. Within the profession, the re-adoption of the term dates to the 1950–1960s. As Whoopi Goldberg put it in an interview with the paper, Im an actor – I can play anything. The U. K. performers union Equity has no policy on the use of actor or actress, an Equity spokesperson said that the union does not believe that there is a consensus on the matter and stated that the. subject divides the profession. In 2009, the Los Angeles Times stated that Actress remains the term used in major acting awards given to female recipients. However, player remains in use in the theatre, often incorporated into the name of a group or company, such as the American Players. Also, actors in improvisational theatre may be referred to as players, prior to Thespis act, Grecian stories were only expressed in song, dance, and in third person narrative. In honor of Thespis, actors are commonly called Thespians, the exclusively male actors in the theatre of ancient Greece performed in three types of drama, tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play. Western theatre developed and expanded considerably under the Romans, as the Western Roman Empire fell into decay through the 4th and 5th centuries, the seat of Roman power shifted to Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire. Records show that mime, pantomime, scenes or recitations from tragedies and comedies, dances, from the 5th century, Western Europe was plunged into a period of general disorder
7.
Singing
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Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of sustained tonality, rhythm, and a variety of vocal techniques. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist, Singers perform music that can be sung with or without accompaniment by musical instruments. Singing is often done in an ensemble of musicians, such as a choir of singers or a band of instrumentalists, Singers may perform as soloists, or accompanied by anything from a single instrument up to a symphony orchestra or big band. Singing can be formal or informal, arranged or improvised and it may be done as a form of religious devotion, as a hobby, as a source of pleasure, comfort, or ritual, as part of music education, or as a profession. Excellence in singing requires time, dedication, instruction, and regular practice, if practice is done on a regular basis then the sounds can become more clear and strong. Professional singers usually build their careers around one specific genre, such as classical or rock. They typically take voice training provided by teachers or vocal coaches throughout their careers. Though these four mechanisms function independently, they are coordinated in the establishment of a vocal technique and are made to interact upon one another. During passive breathing, air is inhaled with the diaphragm while exhalation occurs without any effort, exhalation may be aided by the abdominal, internal intercostal and lower pelvis/pelvic muscles. Inhalation is aided by use of external intercostals, scalenes and sternocleidomastoid muscles, the pitch is altered with the vocal cords. With the lips closed, this is called humming, humans have vocal folds which can loosen, tighten, or change their thickness, and over which breath can be transferred at varying pressures. The shape of the chest and neck, the position of the tongue, any one of these actions results in a change in pitch, volume, timbre, or tone of the sound produced. Sound also resonates within different parts of the body and an individuals size, Singers can also learn to project sound in certain ways so that it resonates better within their vocal tract. This is known as vocal resonation, another major influence on vocal sound and production is the function of the larynx which people can manipulate in different ways to produce different sounds. These different kinds of function are described as different kinds of vocal registers. The primary method for singers to accomplish this is through the use of the Singers Formant and it has also been shown that a more powerful voice may be achieved with a fatter and fluid-like vocal fold mucosa. The more pliable the mucosa, the more efficient the transfer of energy from the airflow to the vocal folds, Vocal registration refers to the system of vocal registers within the voice. A register in the voice is a series of tones, produced in the same vibratory pattern of the vocal folds
8.
Jive Records
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Jive Records was an American record label under the RCA Music Group formed in 1981 by Zomba Records. Formerly headquartered in New York City, the label was best known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and also in teen pop and boy bands during the 1990s, jIVEs best-selling artists worldwide were the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and Britney Spears. Today, the Jive brand is being used under the Sony Music France division under the name JIVE Epic France. In 1971, South African musicians Clive Calder and Ralph Simon began a publishing and it was named Zomba Records and relocated to London, England, four years later, their first client was a young Robert Mutt Lange. Zomba originally wanted to record labels, choosing instead to focus on their songwriters and producers while allowing other established labels to release the material. Later that decade, the opened offices in the US. In 1981, Zomba formed JIVE Records, whose operations began with the release of British dance and pop music such as Q-Feel, A Flock of Seagulls and its name was inspired by township JIVE, a type of music that originated in South Africa. Davis had hoped that Zombas connection with Mutt Lange would help alleviate the difficulties Arista was having finding potentially successful rock acts. By 1982, Calder was introduced to Barry Weiss, a college graduate who took Calder out to hip-hop clubs in New York City for his job interview with Zomba. He was immediately impressed, Together, they began grooming musicians for what would eventually become Whodini, after two days, the group created and recorded its hit single Magics Wand. While the group would eventually leave JIVE, the success allowed the label to focus on hip-hop artists throughout the 1980s. In 1987, JIVE cut distribution ties with Arista, effectively separating them from Daviss authority, who eschewed hip-hop. As the 1980s drew to a close, the label entered a deal with RCA Records, by the late 1990s, JIVE began signing pop acts Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, and Britney Spears. All three achieved massive success as the 2000s dawned, becoming the three best-selling acts in the labels history, in 1991, Barry Weiss became CEO and president of JIVE Records. After two decades, he left JIVE in March 2011 for Universal Music Group, the company was later reorganized with some artists moving to a restructured Epic Records, while others stayed with JIVE as it moved under the RCA Music Group. In April 2011, it was reported that Jay-Z had outbid executives at JIVE to acquire independent record label Block Starz Music. On October 7,2011, it was announced that JIVE, along with Arista and J Records would be shut down to refresh, all artists on those labels were moved to RCA Records. JIVE Records remains active in France as JIVE Epic, serving as the label for international pop
9.
Sony Music
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Sony Music Entertainment is an American music company owned by Sony. It is incorporated as a partnership of Sony Music Holdings Inc. through Sony Entertainment. The company was first founded in 1929 as American Record Corporation and renamed Columbia Recording Corporation in 1938, in 1966, the company was reorganized to become CBS Records. Sony Corporation bought the company in 1987 and renamed it Sony Music Entertainment in 1991, the buyout led to the dissolution of BMG, which relaunched as BMG Rights Management. Sony Music Entertainment is one of the Big Three record companies, being the second largest after Universal Music Group, in 1929, ARC was founded through a merger of several record companies. In 1934, in the midst of Great Depression, the Columbia Phonograph Company, ARC was acquired in 1938 by the Columbia Broadcasting System, which, in turn, had been formed by the Columbia Phonograph Company, but then sold off. ARC was renamed Columbia Recording Corporation, RCA Victor Records executive Ted Wallerstein convinced CBS head William S. Paley to buy ARC and Paley made Wallerstein head of the newly acquired record company. The renamed company made Columbia its flagship label and Okeh its subsidiary label and this allowed ARCs leased labels Brunswick Records and Vocalion Records to revert to their former owner Warner Bros. which sold them to Decca Records. Columbia kept the Brunswick catalogue recorded from December 1931 onward on the Columbia label and he was succeeded by James Conkling as head of Columbia Records. In 1951, Columbia severed its ties with the EMI-owned record label of the same name, Okeh Records continued to be distributed by EMI on the Columbia label. Columbia founded Epic Records in 1953 and in 1956, Conkling left Columbia and he would help establish the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences before eventually becoming the first president of the newly launched Warner Bros. His successor, Goddard Lieberson began the first of two stints as head of the record company, and in 1958, Columbia founded another label, Date Records, which initially issued rockabilly music. In 1960, Columbia/CBS began negotiations with its international distributor Philips Records with the goal of starting its own global record company. Philips acquisition of US-based Mercury Records in 1961 paved the way for this, elsewhere, CBSs Mexican record company, Discos Columbia, was renamed Discos CBS by 1963. In 1964, Columbia set out acquiring record companies in countries for its CBS Records International Unit. EMI continued to distribute Epic and Okeh label material on the Columbia label in the UK until the deal with EMI expired in 1968 when CBS took over distribution. In late 1965, the Date subsidiary label was revived and this label released the first string of hits for Peaches & Herb and scored a few minor hits from various other artists. Dates biggest success was Time of the Season by the Zombies, the label was discontinued in 1970
10.
Warner Music Group
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Warner Music Group is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. With a multibillion-dollar annual turnover, WMG employs in excess of 3,500 people and has operations in more than 50 countries throughout the world, the company owns and operates some of the largest and most successful record labels in the world, including its flagship labels Warner Bros. WMG also owns Warner/Chappell Music, one of the worlds largest music publishers, the film company had no record label division at the time and one of its contracted actors, Tab Hunter, scored a hit song for Dot Records, which was a division of rival Paramount Pictures. In order to prevent any repetition of its actors recording for rival companies, in 1963, Warner purchased Reprise Records, which had been founded by Frank Sinatra three years earlier so that he could have more creative control over his recordings. With the Reprise acquisition, Warner gained the services of Mo Ostin, the Canadian unit was opened in 1967 as Warner Reprise Canada Ltd, now called Warner Music Canada Co. After Warner Bros. was sold to Seven Arts Productions in 1967, it purchased Atlantic Records, founded in 1947 and WMGs oldest label and this acquisition brought Neil Young into the company fold, initially as a member of Buffalo Springfield. The Geffen catalogue, now owned by Universal Music Group, represents Youngs only major recordings not under WMG ownership, in 1969, two years after being purchased by Seven Arts, the Warner Bros. -Seven Arts company was sold to the Kinney National Company. Kinney combined the operations of all of its labels. An earlier attempt by Warner Bros. Records to create a distribution arm in 1958 didnt materialize. So in 1969, Elektra Records boss Jac Holzman approached Atlantics Jerry Wexler with the idea of setting up a joint distribution network for Warner, Elektra, an experimental branch was established in Southern California as a possible prototype for an expanded operation. Atlantic, its subsidiary Atco Records, and its affiliate Stax Records paved the way for Warners rise to industry prominence, the purchase brought in Atlantics lucrative back-catalogue, which included classic recordings by Ray Charles, the Drifters, the Coasters, and many more. But the sale led to Stax leaving the Atlantic fold because the new Warner owners insisted on keeping the rights to Stax recordings and it was soon apparent in 1969 that Atlantic/Atco president Ahmet Ertegün viewed Warner/Reprise president Mike Maitland as godlike. Maitland believed that, as vice-president in charge of the Warner Bros, in retrospect Ertegün clearly feared that Maitland would ultimately have more power than him and so he moved rapidly to secure his own position and remove Maitland. Following the takeover, Warners music group briefly adopted the umbrella name Kinney Music, erteguns campaign against Maitland began in earnest that summer. Atlantic had agreed to help Warner Bros. in its efforts to establish its labels overseas, Mike Maitland complained bitterly to Kinney executive Ted Ashley, but to no avail – by this time Ertegun was poised to make his move against Maitland. As he had with Hyman, Ertegun urged Steve Ross to extend Mo Ostin and Joe Smiths contracts, in response, Ertegun broadly hinted that Maitlands days were numbered and that he, Ertegun, was about to take over the recording division. Unlike the Warner/Reprise executives, Atlantics execs the Ertegun brothers and Wexler owned stock in Kinney, on Sunday January 25, Ted Ashley went to Maitlands house to tell him he had been dismissed, and Maitland declined the offer of a job at the movie studio. One week later, Mo Ostin was named as the new President of Warner Bros, Records, with Joe Smith as his Executive Vice-President
11.
Steps (group)
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Steps are a British dance-pop group consisting of Lee Latchford-Evans, Claire Richards, Lisa Scott-Lee, Faye Tozer and Ian H Watkins. Steps formed in May 1997 by Barry Upton and Steve Crosby and released four studio albums and their music has a 1990s dance-pop sound. Their name was based on a premise, that each of their music videos were to be choreographed. The group has sold over 20 million records worldwide in addition to acquiring a BRIT Award nomination in 1999 for Best Newcomer while supporting Britney Spears on tour the same year, when Richards and Watkins departed, the group disbanded on 26 December 2001. Their penultimate single reached number five in the UK charts while their album of greatest hits. Steps reformed in May 2011 for a documentary series on Sky Living titled Steps. The series started airing on 28 September, following an announcement of a second Greatest Hits album, The Ultimate Collection, the album entered the charts at number 1, becoming the bands third UK number 1 album. Series 2 of Steps Reunion titled Steps, On the Road Again aired on Sky Living in April 2012, the group reformed for a second time on 1 January 2017 in celebration of their 20th Anniversary. Steps were formed by Steve Crosby & Barry Upton alongside manager Tim Byrne after auditioning hopefuls who answered an ad in The Stage newspaper, Byrne had previously been involved in the production of the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party, the BBC collaboration with the pop magazine, Smash Hits. After auditions, the original line-up of H, Lisa, Derek OBrien, Maddy Chan, and Mitch Stevens was finalised, however, Derek, Maddy, and Mitch left, as they wanted more than a one-hit wonder, and saw no long-term future with Steps. Their first single 5,6,7,8 was a line dance song. Though not typical of what became their style, it was their first hit both in the UK and internationally, despite only peaking at number 14, the single achieved considerable longevity in the fast-paced singles climate of 1997-1998, racking up over four months on the UK chart. The track remains one of the highest selling singles never to reach the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart and its release in Australia gave the group their first number one in 1998. The group were signed by Jive Records and following the success of their debut single, watermans stated intention was to try to recreate the sound of ABBA and blend it with a more modern style. He often referred to the group as ABBA on speed, in April 1998, Steps launched their second single, a cover version of Bananaramas Last Thing on My Mind, which became their first UK top ten peaking at number 6. By August 1998, Steps continued to build momentum with their third single One for Sorrow which peaked at number 2, unlike many other pop acts of the era, Steps singles success translated into impressive album sales as their debut album Step One entered the chart at number 2. It was certified 5x Platinum following a run of 50 weeks in the Top 20, the next single release was a double A-side which provided Steps with their signature song and biggest career seller. The single was a version of the Bee Gees Tragedy
12.
Claire Richards
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The group reformed in 2011 and went on a comeback tour and released a greatest hits collection followed by their fourth studio album Light Up The World in November 2012. Richards was a contestant on the series of Popstar to Operastar before being voted off in the semi finals. Richards possesses the range of a soprano. On 3 January 2013, Richards entered Celebrity Big Brother and came in fourth place, from April to June 2014, Richards was a regular panellist on Loose Women. Richards began her career in the pop trio TSD and they had little success and were dropped by their record label AVEX after the release of their second single Baby I Love You. Richards went on to work as a receptionist for seven months, Richards auditioned for the lineup that would become Steps. She was offered a place in the group on the condition that she lost weight, Steps were formed by Steve Crosby & Barry Upton alongside Manager Tim Byrne after auditioning hopefuls who answered an ad in The Stage newspaper. She joined the group in 1997 along with Ian H Watkins, Lisa Scott-Lee, Faye Tozer and Lee Latchford-Evans, in 2001, following their Boxing Day split, the group were heavily criticised by their own fans. Ever since the bands break-up, rumours had been circulating that they would reunite in one form or another, in early 2011, rumours began circulating that Steps would reunite for a TV series and a one-off concert to mark the tenth anniversary of their 2001 split. Despite the claims being reported by news stations and newspapers. Richards also announced on 9 July 2011, that a Steps reunion would be silly, however, contrary to these claims, just 12 days later, it was announced that Steps would be reuniting for a four-part Sky Living documentary, depicting their split and the interim years. A new Greatest Hits album reached #1 on the UK album chart in late 2011, after she and her fellow group mate Ian H Watkins resigned during the last leg of their final tour, the two continued singing as the duo H & Claire. The pair experienced success with their debut single DJ, which reached No.3 in the UK Singles Chart, while the duo had initial success, their album Another You, Another Me, which was released in 2002, did not chart high. Richards also co hosted alongside Brian Dowling and Tess Daly on SMTV Live in 2002 and she took a break from singing to plan her wedding to Steps dancer Mark Webb. H & Claire disbanded in 2003, in 2013, Richards announced on Twitter that there was a possibility of her producing a solo album to the success of Steps. Claire released her first solo material, a cover of the Steps track One for Sorrow on July 30 via her official soundcloud, the acoustic version of the track was recorded for an event honouring Steps producer Pete Waterman. The track was arranged and produced by Steve Anderson with whom Claire was now working on a full album, in September 2015, after much fan demand Claire released a stripped back version of Deeper Shade of Blue. The track, which was recorded in one take was released on Amazon, iTunes and it was announced in May 2011 that Claire would be taking part in the second series of Popstar to Operastar making it her first major high-profile appearance in nearly ten years
13.
Musical theatre
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Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through the words, music, movement, since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals. These were followed by the numerous Edwardian musical comedies and the theatre works of American creators like George M. Cohan. Musicals are performed around the world and they may be presented in large venues, such as big-budget Broadway or West End productions in New York City or London. Alternatively, musicals may be staged in smaller fringe theatre, Off-Broadway or regional theatre productions, musicals are often presented by amateur and school groups in churches, schools and other performance spaces. In addition to the United States and Britain, there are vibrant musical theatre scenes in continental Europe, Asia, Australasia, Canada, the three main components of a book musical are its music, lyrics and book. The interpretation of a musical is the responsibility of its team, which includes a director. A musicals production is also characterized by technical aspects, such as set design, costumes, stage properties, lighting. The creative team, designs and interpretations generally change from the production to succeeding productions. Some production elements, however, may be retained from the production, for example. There is no fixed length for a musical, while it can range from a short one-act entertainment to several acts and several hours in length, most musicals range from one and a half to three hours. Musicals are usually presented in two acts, with one intermission, and the first act is frequently longer than the second. A book musical is usually built four to six main theme tunes that are reprised later in the show. Several shorter musicals on Broadway and in the West End have been presented in one act in recent decades, moments of greatest dramatic intensity in a book musical are often performed in song. Proverbially, when the emotion becomes too strong for speech, you sing, typically, many fewer words are sung in a five-minute song than are spoken in a five-minute block of dialogue. Therefore, there is time to develop drama in a musical than in a straight play of equivalent length. Within the compressed nature of a musical, the writers must develop the characters, the material presented in a musical may be original, or it may be adapted from novels, plays, classic legends, historical events or films. On the other hand, many musical theatre works have been adapted for musical films, such as West Side Story, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Oliver
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Royal Academy of Music
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The Royal Academy of Music is a conservatoire in London, England, is a constituent college of the University of London and is one of the leading conservatoires in the world. It was founded in 1822 and is Britains oldest degree-granting music school and it received a Royal Charter in 1830. It is a charity under English law. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist, the Academy was granted a Royal Charter by King George IV in 1830. The Academys current facilities are situated on Marylebone Road in central London adjacent to Regents Park, the Royal Academy of Music offers training from infant level, with the senior Academy awarding the LRAM diploma, B. Mus. and higher degrees to Ph. D. The former degree GRSM, equivalent to a university honours degree, all undergraduates now take the University of London degree of BMus. There are also departments for musical performance and jazz. The Academy collaborates with other worldwide, including participating in the SOCRATES student. The Academy has students from over 50 countries, following diverse programmes including instrumental performance, conducting, composition, jazz, musical theatre, the Academy has an established relationship with Kings College London, particularly the Department of Music, whose students receive instrumental tuition at the Academy. In return, many students at the Academy take a range of Humanities choices at Kings, the Junior Academy, for pupils under the age of 18, takes place every Saturday. The Academys library contains over 160,000 items, including significant collections of printed and manuscript materials. The library also houses dedicated to Sir Arthur Sullivan and Sir Henry Wood. The Academys museum displays many of these items, the Orchestral Library has approximately 4,500 sets of orchestral parts. Other collections include the libraries of Sir Henry Wood and Otto Klemperer, noted for her performances of Bach and modern English music, she was a friend and advocate of Arnold Bax and also premièred Vaughan Williams Piano Concerto — a work dedicated to her — in 1933. In 1886, Franz Liszt performed at the Academy to celebrate the creation of the Franz Liszt Scholarship, in summer 2012, John Adams conducted an orchestra which combined students from the Academy and New Yorks Juilliard School at the Proms and at New Yorks Lincoln Center. Conductors who have worked with the orchestras include Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Simon Rattle, Pierre-Laurent Aimard. Famous people who have conducted the Academys orchestra also include Carl Maria Von Weber in 1826, for many years, the Academy celebrated the work of a living composer with a festival in the presence of the composer. In February–March 2006, an Academy festival celebrated the violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, the festival included a recital by Academy professor Maxim Vengerov, who performed on Il Cannone Guarnerius, Paganinis favourite violin
15.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
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Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a musical or operetta with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The story is based on the coat of many colors story of Joseph from the Bibles Book of Genesis and this was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly. The show has little dialogue, it is completely sung-through. Joseph was first presented as a 15-minute pop cantata at Colet Court School in London in 1968 and was recorded as an album in 1969. After the success of the next Lloyd Webber and Rice piece, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph received stage productions beginning in 1970 and expanded recordings in 1971 and 1972. While still undergoing various transformations and expansions, the musical was produced in the West End in 1973, several major revivals and a 1999 straight-to-video film, starring Donny Osmond, followed. Lloyd Webbers composer father, William, felt the show had the seeds of greatness and he encouraged and arranged for a second performance — at his church, Westminster Central Hall — with a revised and expanded format. The boys of Colet Court sang at this performance in May 1968 and it received positive reviews, Londons Sunday Times said it was a new pop oratorio. By its third performance at St Pauls Cathedral in November 1968, it had expanded to 35 minutes. Novello agreed to publish the work, and Decca Records recorded it in 1969 as a concept album, David Daltrey, front man of British psychedelic band Tales of Justine, played the role of Joseph, and Tim Rice was Pharaoh. Other vocalists included Terry Saunders and Malcolm Parry of the Mixed Bag, in 1969, Lloyd Webber and Rice used the popularity of their second rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, to promote Joseph, which was advertised in America as a follow-up to Superstar. Riding on Superstars coattails proved profitable for Joseph, as the US Decca recording of Superstar had been in the top of Americas charts for three months, the first American production of Joseph was in May 1970, at Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception in Douglaston, New York. Following this, according to Lloyd Webbers Really Useful site, there followed huge interest from colleges, Decca Records recorded Joseph in 1969 as a concept album, credited to the Joseph Consortium. David Daltrey, front man of British EMI psychedelic band Tales of Justine, played the role of Joseph and lead guitar, other vocalists included members of the Mixed Bag group such as Terry Saunders and Malcolm Parry, and the choir of Colet Court School. A recording of the musical with 19 tracks was issued in the US on Scepter Records in 1971, in late August and September 1972, Joseph was presented at the Edinburgh International Festival by the Young Vic Theatre Company, directed by Frank Dunlop. It starred Gary Bond in the role, Peter Reeves as the narrator. In October the production played at Londons Young Vic Theatre, the production was part of a double bill called Bible One, Two Looks at the Book of Genesis. Part I, entitled The Genesis Mediaeval Mystery Plays, The Creation to Jacob, was Dunlops reworking of the first six of the medieval Wakefield Mystery Plays, part II was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
16.
Acting
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Acting involves a broad range of skills, including a well-developed imagination, emotional facility, physical expressivity, vocal projection, clarity of speech, and the ability to interpret drama. Acting also demands an ability to employ dialects, accents, improvisation, observation and emulation, mime, many actors train at length in specialist programmes or colleges to develop these skills. The vast majority of actors have undergone extensive training. Actors and actresses will often have many instructors and teachers for a range of training involving singing, scene-work, audition techniques. Most early sources in the West that examine the art of acting discuss it as part of rhetoric, one of the first actors is believed to have been an ancient Greek called Thespis of Icaria. Writing two centuries after the event, Aristotle in his Poetics suggests that Thespis stepped out of the dithyrambic chorus, when Thespis stepped out from the chorus, he spoke as if he was the character. To distinguish between different modes of storytelling—enactment and narration—Aristotle uses the terms mimesis and diegesis. From Thespis name derives the word thespian, a professional actor is someone who is paid to act. Professional actors sometimes undertake unpaid work for a variety of reasons, amateur actors are those who do not receive payment for performances. Not all people working as actors in film, television, or theatre are professionally trained, bob Hoskins, for example, had no formal training before becoming an actor. Conservatories and drama schools typically offer two- to four-year training on all aspects of acting, universities mostly offer three- to four-year programs, in which a student is often able to choose to focus on acting, whilst continuing to learn about other aspects of theatre. Other approaches may include a more physically based orientation, such as that promoted by practitioners as diverse as Anne Bogart, Jacques Lecoq, Jerzy Grotowski. Classes may also include psychotechnique, mask work, physical theatre, improvisation, regardless of a schools approach, students should expect intensive training in textual interpretation, voice, and movement. Applications to drama programmes and conservatories usually involve extensive auditions, anybody over the age of 18 can usually apply. Training may also start at a young age. Acting classes and professional schools targeted at under-18s are widespread and these classes introduce young actors to different aspects of acting and theatre, including scene study. Increased training and exposure to public speaking allows humans to maintain calmer, by measuring a public speaker’s heart rate maybe one of the easiest ways to judge shifts in stress as the heart rate increases with anxiety. As actors increase performances, heart rate and other evidence of stress can decrease and this is very important in training for actors, as adaptive strategies gained from increased exposure to public speaking can regulate implicit and explicit anxiety
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Channel 4
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Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster that began transmission on 2 November 1982. With the conversion of the Wenvoe transmitter group in Wales to digital on 31 March 2010, before Channel 4 and S4C, Britain had three terrestrial television services, BBC1, BBC2, and ITV. The Broadcasting Act 1980 began the process of adding a fourth, after some months of test broadcasts, it began scheduled transmissions on 2 November 1982. Indeed, television sets throughout the 1970s and early 1980s had a spare channel called ITV/IBA2. It was most likely politics which had the biggest impact in leading to a delay of almost three decades before the commercial channel became a reality. The campaign was taken so seriously by Gwynfor Evans, former president of Plaid Cymru, the result was that Channel 4 as seen by the rest of the United Kingdom would be replaced in Wales by Sianel Pedwar Cymru. Operated by a specially created authority, S4C would air programmes in Welsh made by HTV, since then, carriage on digital cable, satellite and digital terrestrial has introduced Channel 4 to Welsh homes where it is now universally available. The first programme to air on the channel was the game show Countdown. The first person to be seen on Channel 4 was Richard Whiteley with Ted Moult being the second, the first woman on the channel, contrary to popular belief, was not Carol Vorderman and was a lexicographer only ever identified as Mary. Whiteley opened the show with the words, On its first day, Channel 4 also broadcast controversial soap opera Brookside, which ran until 2003. On its launch, Channel 4 committed itself to providing an alternative to the existing channels, Channel 4 co-commissioned Robert Ashleys ground-breaking television opera Perfect Lives, which it premiered over several episodes in 1984. The channel often did not receive mass audiences for much of period, however. Channel 4 for many years had a poorer quality signal compared to other channels, Channel 4 also began the funding of independent films, such as the Merchant-Ivory docudrama The Courtesans of Bombay, during this time. In 1992, Channel 4 also faced its first libel case by Jani Allan, a South African journalist, who objected to her representation in the documentary The Leader, His Driver and the Drivers Wife. After control of the station passed from the Channel Four Television Company to the Channel Four Television Corporation in 1993, instead of aiming for the fringes of society, it began to focus on the edges of the mainstream, and the centre of the mass market itself. It began to show many US programmes in peak viewing time and it gave such shows as Friends and ER their UK premières. In the early 2000s, Channel 4 began broadcasting reality formats such as Big Brother and obtained the rights to broadcast mass appeal sporting events like cricket and this new direction increased ratings and revenues. In addition, the corporation launched a number of new channels through its new 4Ventures offshoot, including Film4, At the Races, E4
18.
Preston, Lancashire
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Preston /ˈprɛstən/ is a city and the administrative centre of Lancashire, England. The district obtained city status in 2002, becoming Englands 50th city in the 50th year of Queen Elizabeth IIs reign, Preston has a population of 114,300, the City of Preston district 132,000 and the Preston Built-up Area 313,322. The Preston Travel To Work Area, in 2011, had a population of 420,661 compared to 354,000 in the previous census. Preston and its area have provided evidence of ancient Roman activity. The Angles established Preston, its name is derived from the Old English meaning priests settlement, in the Middle Ages, Preston was a parish and township in the hundred of Amounderness and was granted a Guild Merchant charter in 1179, giving it the status of a market town. Textiles have been produced since the century when locally produced wool was woven in peoples houses. Flemish weavers who settled in the area in the 14th century helped develop the industry, in the early-18th century, Edmund Calamy described Preston as a pretty town with an abundance of gentry in it, commonly called Proud Preston. Sir Richard Arkwright, inventor of the frame, was born in the town. The most rapid period of growth and development coincided with the industrialisation and expansion of textile manufacturing, Preston was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, becoming a densely populated engineering centre, with large industrial plants. Preston is recorded in the Domesday Book as Prestune in 1086, various other spellings occur in early documents, Prestonam, Prestone, Prestona, Presteton, and Prestun. The modern spelling occurs in 1094,1176,1196,1212 and 1332, the towns name is derived from Old English Presta and Tun, the Tun of the Presta. During the Roman period, Roman roads passed close to what is now the centre of Preston. For example, the road from Luguvalium to Mamucium crossed the River Ribble at Walton-le-Dale, 3⁄4 mile southeast of the centre of Preston, at Withy Trees,1 1⁄2 miles north of Preston, the road crossed another Roman road from Bremetennacum to the coast. An explanation of the origin of the name is that the Priests Town refers to a set up by St Wilfrid near the Ribbles lowest ford. This idea is supported by the similarity of the Paschal lamb on Prestons crest with that on St Wilfrids, when first mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book, Preston was already the most important town in Amounderness. When assessed for tax purposes in 1218 –19 it was the wealthiest town in the whole county and it is the only Guild still celebrated in the UK. Before 1328 a celebration had been held on an irregular basis, after this, there were breaks in the pattern for various reasons, but an unbroken series were held from 1542 to 1922. A full 400 year sequence was frustrated by the cancellation of the 1942 Guild due to World War II, the expression every Preston Guild, meaning very infrequently, has passed into fairly common use, especially in Lancashire
19.
Cinderella
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Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper, is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world, the title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances, that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune. The oldest documented version comes from China, and the oldest European version from Italy, the most popular version was first published by Charles Perrault in Histoires ou contes du temps passé in 1697, and later by the Brothers Grimm in their folk tale collection Grimms Fairy Tales. Although the storys title and main characters change in different languages. The word Cinderella has, by analogy, come to one whose attributes were unrecognized, or one who unexpectedly achieves recognition or success after a period of obscurity. The still-popular story of Cinderella continues to influence popular culture internationally, lending plot elements, allusions, the Aarne–Thompson system classifies Cinderella as the persecuted heroine. The story of Rhodopis, about a Greek slave girl who marries the king of Egypt, is considered the earliest known variant of the Cinderella story, a version of the story, Ye Xian, appeared in Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang by Duan Chengshi around 860. Here, the hardworking and lovely girl befriends a fish, the rebirth of her mother, the fish is later killed by her stepmother and sister. Ye Xian saves the bones, which are magic, and they help her dress appropriately for the New Year Festival, when she loses her slipper after being recognized by her stepfamily, the king finds her slipper and falls in love with her. The Indonesian and Malaysian story Bawang Merah Bawang Putih, are two girls named Bawang Putih and Bawang Merah. While the two countrys respective versions differ in the relationship of the girls and the identity of the protagonist. Both have a fish as the fairy godmother to her daughter. The heroine then finds the bones and buries them, and over the grave a magical swing appears, the protagonist sits on the swing and sings to make it sway, her song reaching the ears of a passing Prince. The swing is akin to the slipper test, which distinguishes the heroine from her sister. In Indonesia, Bawang Putih is the girl, who suffers at the hands of her evil stepmother and stepsister, Bawang Merah. When the Prince enquires after the singer on the swing, Bawang Merah lies, the angry prince forces Bawang Merah and her mother to tell the truth. They then admit that there is another daughter in the house, Bawang Putih comes out and moves the magical swing by her singing. In the end, she and her prince marry and live happily ever after, in the Malaysian version, it is Bawang Merah and her mother Mak Labu who are good, while her half sister Bawang Putih and her mother Mak Kundur are evil
20.
Grimsby Auditorium
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Grimsby Auditorium is a theatre situated on Cromwell Road, in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire. With a seated capacity of 1,200 the Grimsby Auditorium is the largest professional theatre in Lincolnshire. Built in 1995, it is managed by the division of Ambassador Theatre Group on behalf of North East Lincolnshire Council. Grimsby Auditorium was designed as a flexible, multi-purpose venue to host a variety of events including concerts, theatre shows, social events, conferences. The main auditorium houses retractable raked seating, which permits the use of the auditorium as an arena style venue and sports hall. Grimsby Auditorium has a seating capacity of 1,200 patrons seated and rising to 2,000 standing. The auditorium stages a professional pantomime once per year, featuring celebrities and local talent. This was previously produced by UK Productions, Pelé Productions and currently Imagine Theatre, recent pantomimes have included Peter Pan, Jack and the Beanstalk and Cinderella. The Grimsby Auditorium is most commonly used as a proscenium style theatre. The apron is an area of stage that extends beyond the curtain and is visible to the audience. The apron at Grimsby Auditorium measures 22 metres in width and 2.5 metres in depth, extensions can also be constructed to extend the stage further into the Auditorium, a technique employed to create a thrust style stage or a catwalk for fashion shows. The proscenium is the archway that frames the front of the stage area, in more traditional theatres, the proscenium will be a built in feature of the theatre, however the Grimsby Auditorium proscenium is created using fabric curtains. The proscenium has a height of 6.1 metres. The stage is the performance area of a theatre. Including the apron, the Grimsby Auditorium stage measures a total depth of 11m, with a measurement of 8.5 metres from the line of the house curtain to the cyclorama or back wall. The width of the stage depends on the size of the production being staged as the curtains which form the proscenium and wings are flexible, the steel grid holding the lighting rig is suspended above the stage at a height of 8.1 metres. An orchestra pit can be created at floor level in various formations, North East Lincolnshire Council Information Page Technical Specification Official Website Official Forum Grimsby Auditorium
21.
BBC Asian Network
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BBC Asian Network is a British radio station whose output is targeted to serve people of South Asian descent, or with an interest in South Asian affairs. The music and news comes out of the urban areas where there are significant communities with these backgrounds. The station has production centres in Birmingham, The Mailbox and London and its parent station is BBC Radio 2 at Western House and it is part of the BBC Audio and Music division. The stations output consists largely of music and talk programmes, although there is a documentary series Asian Network Reports. Over mid-2009, the Asian network provided coverage at melas across the UK as part of the Summer Of Melas, in March 2010 the station, which has the highest per-listener budget of all UK radio stations, was threatened with closure, along with BBC6 Music. A year later, following consultation the BBC Trust announced it was reconsidering its plan to close the station in favour of reducing its budget. It was eventually decided not to close the station and by October 2014 the station had finally exceeded the target of 600,000 listeners which BBC Trust had set in 2011. BBC television had broadcast an Asian news programme, Nai Zindagi Naya Jeevan, since 1968 from its studios in Birmingham, this series followed a traditional news and current affairs format. In 1977 BBC Radio Leicester, responding to the growth of the size of the South Asian population in Leicester, at one point the audience consisted of 67 per cent of the South Asian community in Leicester. In 1979, BBC WM, the BBC radio station for the Midlands, followed Leicesters lead and introduced a similar daily show. On 30 October 1988 The Asian Network was launched on BBC WM and BBC Radio Leicester with an output of 70 hours per week. On Monday 28 October 2002 it was relaunched for the DAB Digital Radio system, in April 2006 the first wave of schedule changes were introduced with further changes coming into effect on 14 May and 21 May with weekend changes occurring from 17 June. In August 2007, the Asian Network received a new logo as part of a general re-brand of all national BBC stations, in 2009, this was re-branded again to add prominence to the Asian aspect of the logo. One of the most significant programmes in the Asian Network lineup was an ongoing Asian soap opera Silver Street which was first broadcast in 2004. Following a cutting of episode lengths to five minutes per day and continued falling listenership, the last episode was broadcast in March 2010. The cancellation grew out of many criticisms of the Asian Network in the BBC Trusts annual report. In July 2009 it was revealed that the Asian Network had lost over 20% of its listeners in a year and, per listener, was the most costly. Silver Street was replaced by monthly half-hour dramas and in August 2010, on 26 February 2010 The Times reported that Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC, proposed closing the station in a bid to scale back BBC operations and allow commercial rivals more room
22.
Children in Need
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BBC Children in Need is the BBCs UK charity. Since 1980 it has raised over £600 million for disabled children, One of the highlights is an annual telethon, held in November and televised on BBC One, BBC One HD, BBC Two, and BBC Two HD from 7,30 pm until 2 am. Pudsey Bear is BBC Children in Needs mascot, whilst Terry Wogan was a long-standing host, following the temporary closure of Television Centre, the telethon broadcasts now take place at the BBC Elstree Centre. BBC Children in Need will move back to its home of BBC Television Centre in 2017. The BBCs first broadcast charity appeal took place in 1927, in the form of a radio broadcast on Christmas Day. It raised about £1,143, which equates to about £27,150 by todays standards, the first televised appeal took place in 1955 and was called the Childrens Hour Christmas Appeal, with the yellow glove puppet Sooty Bear and Harry Corbett fronting it. The Christmas Day Appeals continued on TV and radio until 1979, during that time a total of £625,836 was raised. Terry Wogan first appeared during this five-minute appeal in 1978, sometimes cartoon characters such as Peter Pan and Tom and Jerry were used. In 1980, the first Children in Need telethon was broadcast and it was devoted to raising money exclusively destined for charities working with children in the United Kingdom. The new format, presented by Terry Wogan, Sue Lawley and Esther Rantzen, saw an increase in public donations. This format has grown in scope to incorporate further events broadcast on radio, as a regular presenter, Wogan has become firmly associated with the annual event, continuing to front the event until 2014 stepping down due to ill health. In 1988, BBC Children in Need became a charity in England and Wales. An award called the Sir Terry Wogan Fundraiser of the Year has been presented since 2016 to someone who has gone above and beyond to help raise money for Children in Need. The award was set up by Terrys family and was presented by Terrys son, Mark, featured celebrities often include those from programmes on rival network ITV, including some appearing in-character, and/or from the sets of their own programmes. A performance by BBC newsreaders became an annual fixture, stars of newly opened West End musicals regularly perform a number from their show later in the evening after curtain call in their respective theatres. Unlike the other BBC charity telethon Comic Relief, Children in Need relies a lot on the BBC regions for input into the telethon night, the BBC English regions all have around 5–8-minute round-ups every hour during the telethon. This does not interrupt the schedule of items shown from BBC Television Centre as presenter Terry Wogan usually hands over to the regions, giving those in the main network studio a short break. However BBC Scotland, BBC Wales and BBC Northern Ireland opted out of the schedule with a lot of local fundraising news
23.
Celebrity Scissorhands
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It is produced by Endemol, and the format is similar to their previous production The Salon. It was hosted by Alex Zane, the celebrities were trained by Lee Stafford, a leading hairdresser, at a hair and beauty academy set up at the BBC Television Centre in London which was opened to the public on 4 November. BBC stars and ordinary people had performed at the academy. On 17 November, five of the celebrities, chosen by a telephone and text message vote. These were Steve Strange, Scott Mills, Darren Day, Michelle Dewberry, series 1 contestants were, The second series was shown on BBC Three from 25 October to 15 November 2007. Lee Stafford returned as manager of the salon and first series winner Steve Strange also returned as assistant manager, series contestants, The third series began on 26 October 2008, airing on BBC Three in aid of Children in Need. Lee Stafford returned as manager of the salon, with series 1 winner Steve Strange back as assistant manager and George Lamb again hosting the show. In early November, it was announced that the 3 people that would be going through to the final, the winner was Sabrina and the runner-up was Jeff
24.
Celebrity Big Brother 5 (UK)
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Celebrity Big Brother 2007, also known as Celebrity Big Brother 5, was the highly controversial fifth series of the British reality television series Celebrity Big Brother. The series was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK, from 3 January 2007 and it was the first Celebrity Big Brother series to be shown in the 16,9 widescreen format. On 16 January 2007, this series had attracted the largest ever number of complaints to the UK broadcasting watchdog Ofcom about a Big Brother series. The complaints received detailed concerns that housemate Shilpa Shetty had been subjected to bullying, on 28 January 2007, Shetty was voted the winner of Celebrity Big Brother 5 with 63% of the final vote. Due to the furor, Celebrity Big Brother did not return until 2009, in 2008, the show was replaced by the much less publicised Big Brother, Celebrity Hijack, no housemates from this series appeared in Ultimate Big Brother in 2010. As of 2016, two housemates have since died, Goody died from cancer on 22 March 2009 aged 27. The eye logo for this series was the yellow and black spiraled eye used for Big Brother 7. Two modifications were a black background, therefore camouflaging the black spiral in the eye, a star also replaced the pupil to correspond with the celebrity series. The star also shone with a yellow glow, davina McCall presented the main Channel 4 show, including the live launch, evictions, finale and any other live show where a twist would take place. Marcus Bentley narrated the highlight shows. Dermot OLeary presented Celebrity Big Brothers Little Brother in a teatime slot weekdays and he also presented Celebrity Big Brothers Big Brain, which was introduced during the previous non-celebrity series, it would not return for any subsequent series. On E4, live coverage from the once again dominated its daily and nightly schedule. Diary Room Uncut returned on Monday evenings and on Saturday night, straight after the Channel 4 show, Russell Brand presented Celebrity Big Brothers Big Mouth, which was broadcast Sunday to Friday straight after the Channel 4 show. Although no announcement was made during the series, Brand announced his departure on 4 April 2007, live streaming also returned on the Official Channel 4 website and also on E4 at selected times. The general layout of the House was largely untouched from the previous non-celebrity series, the living room and bedroom had no noticeable changes. There were several single beds in the room, with one double bed. The bathroom is much smaller than previous versions and the toilet, the dining room table was moved inside, and the kitchen fully equipped with modern conveniences. Outside the garden was a hot tub with a farmyard seating area
25.
CBBC
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CBBC is a BBC childrens television strand aimed for older children aged from 6 to 12. BBC programming aimed at under six year old children is broadcast on the CBeebies channel, CBBC broadcasts from 7 am to 9 pm on the digital CBBC Channel, available on most UK digital platforms. CBBC programmes were also broadcast in high definition alongside other BBC content on BBC HD, generally at afternoons on weekends and this ended when BBC HD closed on 26 March 2013, but CBBC HD launched on 10 December 2013. BBC-produced childrens programming, in languages of Scotland and Wales, also airs on BBC Alba. The BBC has produced and broadcast television programmes for children since the 1930s, the first children-specific strand on BBC television was For the Children, first broadcast on what was then the single BBC Television Service on Saturday 24 April 1937, it was only ten minutes long. It lasted for two years before being taken off air when the service closed due to the Second World War in September 1939, the 1964 launch of BBC Two allowed additional room for childrens programming with an edition of Play School technically being the first official programme. On 1 October 1980, Watch with Mother was replaced by See-Saw, meanwhile, weekday afternoon childrens programmes on BBC One were introduced by the usually off-screen continuity announcer, though often specially-designed menus and captions would be used. On 9 September 1985, this block of childrens programming was rebranded as Childrens BBC, and for the first time the childrens block had dedicated idents. Previously the BBC had broadcast childrens programming using BBC1s team of regular duty announcers, the launch presenter for this block, and thus the first Childrens BBC presenter of the current format, was Phillip Schofield. During the 1990s, Childrens BBC began to be referred to informally on-air as CBBC, the official billing name of Childrens BBC remained in place, however, until the BBCs network-wide branding refresh of October 1997, when the official on-air branding changed to CBBC. From 1996 to 1999, CBBC programmes were shown on the channel Nickelodeon, in 2002, the launch of the CBBC Channel and the CBeebies Channel saw a wide variety of programmes, both new and archive, being shown again on the new channels from 6/7 am until 7pm. Ms Jowell responded that it was the Governments job to develop a charter for the BBC, and then the BBCs job to determine standards of taste, decency and appropriateness. In 2009, a report published by the BBC Trust found that changes which took place in February 2008. It was found that the majority of viewers watched the programmes on these channels already. Childrens programming on BBC One ended on 21 December 2012 with the CBeebies morning strand on BBC Two ending on 4 January 2013, the two new hours are aimed towards an older youth audience. On 14 March 2016, CBBC unveiled a new logo and on-air presentation, featuring an abstract, CBBC controller Cheryl Taylo stated that the new brand was designed to be fun and unpredictable and would appeal to both ends of our broad age spectrum. The logo was meant to be suitable for use across digital platforms. On 11 April 2016, CBBC officially extended its broadcast day to be from 7,00 a. m. to 9,00 p. m. CBBC is operated by the BBC Childrens division, part of BBC North
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BBC Cymru Wales
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BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC, and the national broadcaster for Wales. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is based in Cardiff and directly employs some 1,200 people to produce a range of programmes for television, radio, BBC Cymru Wales operates two TV channels and two radio stations. Wales raises some £182 million in licence fee resources, however, spend on local content by BBC Wales is £151 million, £31 million of which is for BBC-produced television productions. BBC Cymru Wales operates two services, BBC One Wales and BBC Two Wales, which can opt out of the main network feed of BBC One. In addition to two channels, BBC Cymru Wales is required to provide programmes in Welsh, which it supplies to the Welsh channel S4C free of charge using the BBC Cymru brand. These programmes include a Welsh news service Newyddion, covering Welsh, general UK and international news, and a soap opera Pobol y Cwm, BBC Cymru Wales operates two radio stations covering the entire country. BBC Radio Wales is the English language network, broadcasting local programmes for approximately 20 hours a day, while off air, Radio Cymru simulcasts BBC Radio 5 Lives overnight programme. BBC Cymru Wales operates its own mini-site on BBC Online as well as providing news, in addition, news stories are provided for the BBC Red Button interactive service. BBC Cymru Wales employs an orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. The majority of the concerts are recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Wales. Since January 2009 the administrative base of the NOW has been the BBC Hoddinott Hall, in the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff. The first broadcast in Wales was on 13 February 1923 from the radio station 5WA, later to become part of the BBC Regional Programme, during this time, the region was served from a variety of bases around Wales. During World War II, the services all ceased and broadcast the Home Service from London. The BBCs Bangor base played host to the BBC Variety Department during the war, the first television signals in Wales came on 15 August 1952 from the newly constructed Wenvoe transmitter. The transmitter itself broadcast the national BBC Television service, the launch of BBC Wales on 9 February 1964 provided a specific television service for the country. The new service was promoted with animated promos using the sound of Welsh choirs to explain about interference from the mountains. Two years later in 1966, BBC Cymru Wales new headquarters at Broadcasting House in Cardiff opened, following the end of the Second World War, the BBC Home Service continued its regional opt-outs, including an opt-out service for Wales. This opt-out continued after the change from the Home Service to Radio 4, prior to 1982, BBC Cymru Wales on television provided programmes in both English and Welsh, with the news programme Heddiw and the long-running serial Pobol y Cwm figuring among the key output
27.
Christian Voice (UK)
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Christian Voice is a Christian advocacy group based in the United Kingdom. Its stated objective is to uphold Christianity as the Faith of the United Kingdom, to be a voice for Biblical values in law and public policy and it is independent of religious, denominational, or political parties. CV is led by Stephen Green, with Lord Ashbourne as its patron, Green is the groups spokesperson, producing scores of press releases from 2005 to 2010. According to Green, Christian Voice had in excess of 600 members in 2005, the group has been criticised for its positions. The Rev. Dr David Peel, leader of the United Reformed Church called Christian Voice a disgrace, the leader of Christian Voice is Stephen Green, a former Chairman of the Conservative Family Campaign, who attends an Assemblies of God Church. In the early 1990s, Green was a prominent campaigner against homosexuality through the Conservative Family Campaign, stating that the article was highly defamatory and calling it a catalogue of smears and distortions stitched together, Green denied some of the allegations. On his blog he wrote, I sincerely tried to lead my marriage and household in a loving and responsible way, Christian Voice has called for British law to be based on the Bible. It opposes abortion, homosexuality, no-fault divorce and compulsory sex education, additionally it supports the death penalty and does not recognise the concept of marital rape. The group has published a paper attacking Islam as untrue. Green has expressed support for the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill and its associated penalty of death, a Parliamentarian in Uganda is trying to protect his nations children. The House of Commons of the United Kingdom is trying to corrupt ours, according to the group, abortion is the killing of human beings comparable to The Holocaust. The group has involved in campaigns against the Gay Police Association. Since July 2005, a group of people led by Stephen Green has held protests against Londons Pride Parade, similar protests have been held in Brighton, Leeds, Belfast and Cardiff. On 2 September 2006, Green was arrested handing out pamphlets urging homosexuals to turn from their sins at the Cardiff Mardi Gras. The police considered the leaflets hateful, the Crown Prosecution Service decided to withdraw their prosecution of Green on the grounds of insufficient evidence, the police stated that this did not challenge the legality of his arrest. Greens solicitor indicated he would seek damages in court for abuse of police powers. Green took part in a debate at the Cambridge Union Society titled The House Would Rather Be Gay, Christian Voice was behind much of the controversy in the UK surrounding Jerry Springer, The Opera and a transmission of a performance by the BBC in 2005. The group stated that the production was blasphemous in its depiction of Jesus, Mary, Green said of the production, Jerry Springer the Opera portrayed Jesus Christ as a nappy-wearing sexual deviant, who said he was a little bit gay
28.
Stephen Green (Christian Voice)
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Christian Voice is a Christian advocacy group based in the United Kingdom. Its stated objective is to uphold Christianity as the Faith of the United Kingdom, to be a voice for Biblical values in law and public policy and it is independent of religious, denominational, or political parties. CV is led by Stephen Green, with Lord Ashbourne as its patron, Green is the groups spokesperson, producing scores of press releases from 2005 to 2010. According to Green, Christian Voice had in excess of 600 members in 2005, the group has been criticised for its positions. The Rev. Dr David Peel, leader of the United Reformed Church called Christian Voice a disgrace, the leader of Christian Voice is Stephen Green, a former Chairman of the Conservative Family Campaign, who attends an Assemblies of God Church. In the early 1990s, Green was a prominent campaigner against homosexuality through the Conservative Family Campaign, stating that the article was highly defamatory and calling it a catalogue of smears and distortions stitched together, Green denied some of the allegations. On his blog he wrote, I sincerely tried to lead my marriage and household in a loving and responsible way, Christian Voice has called for British law to be based on the Bible. It opposes abortion, homosexuality, no-fault divorce and compulsory sex education, additionally it supports the death penalty and does not recognise the concept of marital rape. The group has published a paper attacking Islam as untrue. Green has expressed support for the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill and its associated penalty of death, a Parliamentarian in Uganda is trying to protect his nations children. The House of Commons of the United Kingdom is trying to corrupt ours, according to the group, abortion is the killing of human beings comparable to The Holocaust. The group has involved in campaigns against the Gay Police Association. Since July 2005, a group of people led by Stephen Green has held protests against Londons Pride Parade, similar protests have been held in Brighton, Leeds, Belfast and Cardiff. On 2 September 2006, Green was arrested handing out pamphlets urging homosexuals to turn from their sins at the Cardiff Mardi Gras. The police considered the leaflets hateful, the Crown Prosecution Service decided to withdraw their prosecution of Green on the grounds of insufficient evidence, the police stated that this did not challenge the legality of his arrest. Greens solicitor indicated he would seek damages in court for abuse of police powers. Green took part in a debate at the Cambridge Union Society titled The House Would Rather Be Gay, Christian Voice was behind much of the controversy in the UK surrounding Jerry Springer, The Opera and a transmission of a performance by the BBC in 2005. The group stated that the production was blasphemous in its depiction of Jesus, Mary, Green said of the production, Jerry Springer the Opera portrayed Jesus Christ as a nappy-wearing sexual deviant, who said he was a little bit gay
29.
Jeffrey Dahmer
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Many of his later murders involved necrophilia, cannibalism, and the permanent preservation of body parts—typically all or part of the skeletal structure. Although diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, convicted of fifteen of the sixteen murders he had committed in Wisconsin, Dahmer was sentenced to fifteen terms of life imprisonment on February 15,1992. He was later sentenced to a term of life imprisonment for an additional homicide committed in Ohio in 1978. On November 28,1994, Dahmer was beaten to death by Christopher Scarver, Jeffrey Dahmer was born on May 21,1960 in West Allis, Wisconsin, the first of two sons born to Joyce Annette and Lionel Herbert Dahmer. Dahmers mother worked as a teletype machine instructor, whereas his father was a student at Marquette University and his father was of German ancestry, and his mother was of Welsh ancestry. Although Dahmer was doted upon as an infant and toddler by both parents, his mother was known to be tense, greedy for attention, and argumentative with both her husband and her neighbors. As her son entered first grade, Joyce Dahmer began to spend an amount of her time in bed recovering from weakness. Lionels university studies kept him away from much of the time. She reportedly would work herself into a state of anxiety over trivial matters simply to achieve appeasement from her husband, on one occasion, Joyce Dahmer attempted suicide from an overdose of the Equanil pills to which she had become addicted. Consequently, neither parent devoted much time to their son, Dahmer himself recalled his early years of family life as being of extreme tension which he noted between his parents, whom he observed to be constantly arguing with each other. At elementary school, he was regarded as quiet and timid by his peers. On his first grade report card, one teacher described Dahmer as a child whom she sensed felt neglected. This teacher did note that this sense of neglect seemed to stem from his mothers illnesses, nonetheless, although largely reserved and uncommunicative in grade school, Dahmer did have a small number of friends. From an early age, Dahmer manifested an interest in animals, friends later recalled Dahmer initially collected large insects, dragonflies, and butterflies, which he placed inside jars. According to one friend, Dahmer would dismember these animals and store the parts in jars in the familys wooden toolshed, in one instance, he is known to have impaled a dogs head upon a stake behind his house. Dahmers fascination with dead animals might have begun when, at the age of four, according to Lionel Dahmer, his son was oddly thrilled by the sound the bones made, and instantly developed a fixation for playing with and collecting animal bones. He would occasionally search beneath and around the home for additional bones. With live animals, he would explore their bodies to discover where their bones were located, the Dahmer family relocated to Doylestown, Ohio, in October 1966
30.
Cardiff
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Cardiff is the capital and largest city in Wales and the eleventh-largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is the chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media. The unitary authority areas mid-2011 population was estimated to be 346,100, the Cardiff metropolitan area makes up over a third of the total population of Wales, with a mid-2011 population estimate of about 1,100,000 people. Cardiff is a significant tourist centre and the most popular destination in Wales with 18.3 million visitors in 2010. In 2011, Cardiff was ranked sixth in the world in National Geographics alternative tourist destinations, the city of Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan. Cardiff is part of the Eurocities network of the largest European cities, the Cardiff Urban Area covers a slightly larger area outside the county boundary, and includes the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a port for the transport of coal following the arrival of industry in the region contributed to its rise as a major city. Cardiff was made a city in 1905, and proclaimed the capital of Wales in 1955, since the 1980s, Cardiff has seen significant development. A new waterfront area at Cardiff Bay contains the Senedd building, home to the Welsh Assembly, sporting venues in the city include the Millennium Stadium, SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff International Sports Stadium and Cardiff Arms Park. The city was awarded the title of European City of Sport twice, due to its role in hosting major sporting events, first in 2009. The Millennium Stadium hosted 11 football matches as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics, including the opening event. Caerdydd derives from the earlier Welsh form Caerdyf, the change from -dyf to -dydd shows the colloquial alteration of Welsh f and dd, and was perhaps also driven by folk etymology. This sound change had probably first occurred in the Middle Ages, Caerdyf has its origins in post-Roman Brythonic words meaning the fort of the Taff. The fort probably refers to that established by the Romans, the anglicised form Cardiff is derived from Caerdyf, with the Welsh f borrowed as ff /f/, as also happens in Taff and Llandaff. As English does not have the vowel the final vowel has been borrowed as /ɪ/, although some sources repeat this theory, it has been rejected on linguistic grounds by modern scholars such as Professor Gwynedd Pierce. A group of five Bronze Age tumuli is at the summit of The Garth, four Iron Age hill fort and enclosure sites have been identified within Cardiffs present-day county boundaries, including Caerau Hillfort, an enclosed area of 5.1 hectares. The fort was one of a series of military outposts associated with Isca Augusta that acted as border defences, the fort may have been abandoned in the early 2nd century as the area had been subdued. However, by this time a settlement, or vicus, was established
31.
Sunderland
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Sunderland is a city at the centre of the City of Sunderland metropolitan borough, in Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is a city at the mouth of the River Wear with adjoining beaches of Roker. The etymology of Sunderland is derived from Sundered-land with the river travelling through the city as opposed to sitting upon the river, historically in County Durham, there were three original settlements on the site of modern-day Sunderland. On the north side of the river, Monkwearmouth was settled in 674 when Benedict Biscop founded the Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey, opposite the monastery on the south bank, Bishopwearmouth was founded in 930. A small fishing village called Sunderland, located toward the mouth of the river was granted a charter in 1179, over the centuries, Sunderland grew as a port, trading coal and salt. Ships began to be built on the river in the 14th century, by the 19th century, the port of Sunderland had grown to absorb Bishopwearmouth and Monkwearmouth. More recently, Sunderland has seen growth as a centre for the automotive industry, science & technology. A person who is born or lives around the Sunderland area is colloquially known as a Mackem. Sunderland was created a borough of County Durham in 1835. Under the Local Government Act 1888, it was given the status of a County Borough, independence from county council control. In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the county borough was abolished and its combined with that of other districts to form the Metropolitan Borough of Sunderland in Tyne. The metropolitan borough was granted city status after winning a competition in 1992 to celebrate the Queens 40th year on the throne, the population of this city taken at the 2011 Census was 275,506. Sunderland has the motto of Nil Desperandum Auspice Deo or Under Gods guidance we may neve despair Much of the city is located on a low range of running parallel to the coast. On average, it is around 80 metres above sea level, Sunderland is divided by the River Wear which passes through the middle of the city in a deeply incised valley, part of which is known as the Hylton gorge. The two road bridges connecting the north and south portions of the city are the Queen Alexandra Bridge at Pallion, to the west of the city, the Hylton Viaduct carries the A19 dual-carriageway over the Wear. Most of the suburbs of Sunderland are situated towards the west of the city centre with 70% of its living on the south side of the river. The city extends to the seafront at Hendon and Ryhope in the south, in Millfield, the streets are all associated with plants, e. g. Chester, Fern, Rose, Hyacinth etc. At 3,874 hectares, Sunderland is the 45th largest urban area in England by measure of area, according to statistics based on the 2001 census, 60% of homes in the Sunderland metropolitan area are owner occupied, with an average household size of 2.4 people
32.
Bargain Hunt
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Bargain Hunt is a British television programme in which two pairs of contestants are challenged to buy antiques from shops or a fair and then sell them in an auction for a profit. It has aired on BBC One since 13 March 2000 in a daytime version, presenter Tim Wonnacott replaced original host David Dickinson from 2003 to January 2016. When Wonnacott ceased presenting, the changed to a rota of hosts from a team of experts fronting the series. First to replace Tim was Thomas Plant on January 25,2016, followed by Christina Trevanion, Charlie Ross, Paul Laidlaw, Natasha Raskin, Anita Manning, Charles Hanson, Bargain Hunt has undergone various format and rule changes since it premiered in 2000. Most episodes are 45 minutes in length, though 30-minute versions, Two teams – designated the Reds and the Blues – compete. Each team has two members, who wear matching tops that correspond to their teams colour, the contestants in most episodes are members of the public, though some shows feature teams of celebrity players instead. At the beginning of the show, each team is given a set amount of money with which to purchase antiques, the objective is to find items that will earn the team a profit when later sold at auction. Each team is accompanied by an antiques expert, though it is the contestants decision whether to heed the advice given by their expert. At the auction, as item is sold, the host compares the auction sale price to the price originally paid by the team. If the final shows a profit, the team receives that profit in cash, otherwise. The profit/loss does not take into account commission or VAT, the show is punctuated by footage of the host visiting a place of historical interest, such as a stately home or museum, and talking about the items housed there. Occasionally, the show featured phone-in competitions for home viewers, in the early David Dickinson-era episodes, teams were given £200 each, and could buy as many or as few items as they liked within the hour given to wander around a trade fair. The item rule was changed so that teams have to buy three items. After Tim Wonnacott became host, the money was increased to £300, each expert chose an item of their own, and the team could replace one of their own choices with the swap item if they wished to. The host, when offering the option to a team, would often ask, under the revised rule, if a team used its entire budget, the expert could not choose a swap item. The swap rule was changed again in 2006, becoming the bonus buy, the expert is still given any leftover lolly to buy this bonus item, which is entered into the auction. Just after the auction of their own items, and before that of the bonus item, teams can potentially add to their profit with the bonus item, but it can also subtract from a teams earnings if it loses money. In a series in 2014 an alternative bonus item was purchased by the expert with Tims Ton, the teams then had to decide on whether to select the teams bonus buy, Tims bonus buy or neither
33.
Skins (UK TV series)
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Skins is a British teen drama that follows the lives of a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of sixth form. Its controversial story-lines have explored issues such as families, mental illness, adolescent sexuality, gender, substance abuse, death. Each episode generally focuses on a character and the struggles they face in their life. The episodes are named after the featured character, the show was created by father-and-son television writers Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain for Company Pictures, and premiered on E4 on 25 January 2007. The show went on to be a success as well as a ratings winner within its target demographic. Over its initial run, Skins proved to be atypical of ongoing drama series in that it replaced its primary cast every two years. Plans for a film spin-off were first discussed in 2009, instead, a specially-commissioned seventh and final series of the show was broadcast in 2013, featuring some of the cast from its 2007–10 run. The shows name comes from the rolling papers known as skins. Tony Stonem is an attractive, intelligent and popular boy and his manipulative ways often go unnoticed by many, and are a catalyst for the majority of the events in the series. Sid Jenkins is Tonys best friend, but has an entirely opposite personality and he lacks confidence, is socially uneasy and struggles with school work. Tonys girlfriend is Michelle Richardson, a girl who can never stay angry at his mischievous behaviour for long, outwardly, Michelle appears shallow, vain and conceited, but she works hard, has a strong interest in French and Spanish, and is very emotionally mature. She is friends with Cassie Ainsworth, a girl who suffers from an eating disorder. Cassie attempts to hide her own struggles with mental health while her flamboyant parents ignore her in favour of their new baby, Chris Miles is the party animal of the group. He has a home life, he lost his brother to a hereditary subarachnoid haemorrhage at a young age. He has a crush on his psychology teacher Angie, Jal Fazer is a sensible girl with a talent for playing the clarinet. Her runaway mother has left Jal with her famous musician father and she is best friends with Michelle. Maxxie Oliver is openly gay and has a passion for dance and he is portrayed as attractive, seductive and talented, and is well accepted by most of his friends and family. His best friend Anwar Kharral has a slightly off-the-wall personality, and is known for his silly antics, appearing only in the second series, Lucy, better known as Sketch, is a quiet and scheming Welsh girl who is polite yet unnerving
34.
Sky Living
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Sky Living is a television channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland, owned and operated by Sky plc. The channel was launched as UK Living on 1 September 1993 and it was known as simply Living from 1997 to 2002, as Living TV from 2002 to 2007, and again as Living from 2007 to 2011. British Sky Broadcasting took over the channel in 2010, and rebranded it as Sky Living on 1 February 2011, the channels programming was originally aimed mainly at women and young adults. UK Living began broadcasting on 1 September 1993, as part of the Sky Multichannels network, the channel was mainly aimed at women aged between 25 and 45, broadcasting films, dramas, chat shows and soap operas. Most of its programming came from the programme libraries of Thames Television. A unique aspect was the repeats of such as Kilroy, Anne and Nick, and Floyd. Shortly afterwards the channel moved away from its reliance of BBC programming, in 1997, when the BBC and Flextech launched the UKTV Network, UK Style, UK Horizons and UK Arena, it was decided that UK Living would remain a separate channel. As such, it had to remove the UK branding to avoid being confused with the UKTV services, as part of an attempt to appeal more to men, the channels pink branding were replaced by a blue and silver logo in September 2013. The most watched shows on the channel are The Blacklist, Elementary, the show had brought some of the channels biggest ratings to date. And Most Haunted, which continued to be popular, the channel has also launched a number of successful US television shows in the UK market. Past successes include Charmed, Will & Grace, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Miss Match, Joan of Arcadia, CSI, and Just Shoot Me. At present the channel currently has first run UK rights to Boston Legal, Criminal Minds, Blindspot, Greys Anatomy, Ghost Whisperer, The L Word, Men in Trees and the Australian comedy Kath & Kim. In 2008 the channel debuted the first seasons of Army Wives, Lipstick Jungle. Brian Dowling was put forward as one of the figures to represent the channel – by presenting programming including Celebrity Extra, Trolley Dollies. However, in recent years, he has been absent from the channel apart from the occasional Celebrity Extra presenting duties. To continue the list of reality TV stars hosting programmes, Jodie Marsh announced that she would be presenting a new programme called Get A Life starting on 1 March 2007. However, the announced that the show was to be cancelled. This will be the first time that her show will be broadcast in HD, the following is a list of the ten most watched programmes on Sky Living, based on Live +7 data supplied by BARB up to 6 December 2015
35.
ITV (TV network)
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ITV is a commercial TV network in the United Kingdom. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990 its legal name has been Channel 3, to distinguish it from the analogue channels at the time, namely BBC1, BBC2. ITV is a network of channels that operate regional television services as well as sharing programmes between each other to be displayed on the entire network. In recent years, several of companies have merged so currently the fifteen franchises are in the hands of two companies. With the exception of Northern Ireland, the ITV brand is the used by ITV plc for the Channel 3 service in these areas. In Northern Ireland, ITV plc uses the brand name UTV, STV Group plc, uses the STV brand for its two franchises of central and northern Scotland. The origins of ITV lie in the passing of the Television Act 1954, the act created the Independent Television Authority to heavily regulate the industry and to award franchises. The first six franchises were awarded in 1954 for London, the Midlands, the first ITV network to launch was Londons Associated-Rediffusion on 22 September 1955, with the Midlands and North services launching in February 1956 and May 1956 respectively. Following these launches, the ITA awarded more franchises until the country was covered by fourteen regional stations. Following the 1993 changes, ITV as a network began to consolidate with several companies doing so to save money by ceasing the duplication of services present when they were all separate companies. The ITV Network is not owned or operated by one company, since 2016 the fifteen licences are held by two companies, with the majority held by ITV Broadcasting Limited, part of ITV plc. The network is regulated by the media regulator Ofcom who is responsible for awarding the broadcast licences, the last major review of the Channel 3 franchises was in 1991, with all operators licences having been renewed between 1999 and 2002 and again from 2014 without a further contest. However, due to amalgamation of several of companies since the creation of ITV Network Limited. Approved by Ofcom, this results in ITV plc commissioning and funding the network schedule, all licensees have the right to opt out of network programming, however many do not due to pressures from the parent company or because of limited resources. The network also needs to produce accessible output containing subtitles, signing, in exchange for this programming, the ITV network is available on all platforms free to air and can be found at the top of the EPG of all providers. Since the launch of the platform in 1998, all of the ITV licensees have received gifted capacity on the terrestrial television platform. At present, the companies are able to broadcast additional channels and all choose to broadcast the ITV plc owned ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and CITV in their region. UTV and STV previously broadcast their own services – UTV2 in Northern Ireland and S2 in central and northern Scotland – until 2002, the broadcasters all make use of the Digital 3&4 multiplex, shared with Channel 4
36.
The Chase (UK game show)
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The Chase is a British television quiz show broadcast on ITV and hosted by Bradley Walsh. Contestants play against a professional quizzer, known as the chaser, the chasers are Mark Labbett, Shaun Wallace, Anne Hegerty, Paul Sinha and Jenny Ryan. Labbett and Wallace have both been chasers since series 1, while Hegerty joined in series 2, Sinha in series 4 and Ryan in series 9. A team of four contestants attempt to amass as much money as possible. The chasers job is to each contestant during their individual chase, eliminating that person from the game. Any contestants who survive their individual chase later play collectively as a team for a share of the prize fund against the chaser. With a regular audience of three to five million, The Chase is one of ITVs most successful daytime shows ever and it has been nominated four times for Best Daytime Show at the National Television Awards, winning in 2016 and 2017. It has also become an international franchise, regional versions have been made in Australia, China, Croatia, Germany, Norway, Russia, Serbia, Turkey. Labbett and Hegerty both feature as chasers on the Australian version, with the former also featuring as the chaser on the now defunct American version. Each contestant comes up one at a time and attempts to build up the prize fund through two rounds. The first round, known as the Cash Builder, sees each make an individual cash pot by answering as many questions as the contestant can within one minute, with each correct answer being worth £1,000. Should the contestant elect to stay where he or she is currently, however, should the contestant decide to change position, the chaser offers them a different amount of money depending on the change. In some cases, the amount can be a negative amount of money or zero. To answer, each must secretly press one of the three buttons on their keypad in order to lock in their answer, which gives their opponent only five seconds to lock in an answer or be locked out. For each correct answer made by the contestant and the chaser, he or she moves one step down the board, while an incorrect answer forces the contestant to stay where he or she is currently. In order to win the fund that is banked, the surviving contestants of the last series of rounds work together as a team to beat the chaser in one final round of questions. Two question sets, A and B, are used in this round in which, prior to the round beginning, before the first phase begins, the contestants are given a head-start of one step per contestant participating in the round. The team is given two minutes to answer as many questions as they can correctly, with each correct answer earning them one more step from the chaser
37.
S4C
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S4C is a Welsh-language public-service television channel based in Cardiff and broadcast throughout Wales. When digital television arrived several years later, S4C added a second, 100% Welsh-language service, S4C does not commission programming in English, but when English is used on the channel it is left untranslated. A high-definition service called S4C Clirlun, simulcasting S4Cs main channel, Channel 4 HD began broadcasting in Wales from 2 December 2012 in its place. In 1962 the ITV network had created an area for North and West Wales. This traded as Teledu Cymru and provided significant levels of Welsh-language programming, however, problems with transmission infrastructure and poor market research led to financial difficulties within two years and the station was taken over by its neighbour Television Wales and West. During the 1970s, Welsh-language activists had campaigned for a TV service in the language, both the Conservative and Labour parties promised a Welsh-language fourth channel, if elected to government in the 1979 general election. This led to acts of disobedience, including refusals to pay the television licence fee, thereby running the risk of prosecution or even a prison sentence. Some took more extreme measures, including attacking television transmitters in Welsh-speaking areas, the channel started broadcasting on 1 November 1982, the night before Channel 4s opening. S4C appointed its first female CEO, Iona Jones in 2005, S4Cs remit is to provide a service which features a wide range of programmes in the Welsh language. BBC Wales fulfils its public service requirement by producing programmes in Welsh, including Newyddion, S4Cs news bulletin, and an opera, Pobol y Cwm. It has also provided Welsh-language versions of English-language programmes, e. g, on the analogue service, S4C showed programmes produced for Channel 4 in the rest of the United Kingdom ― either simultaneously or time-shifted ― outside of peak hours. These programmes were provided to S4C by Channel 4, free of charge, to make content more accessible to English speakers, all Welsh-language programming carries English subtitles. Originally these were on Teletext page 888, with Welsh subtitles on page 889, TV films produced for S4C have received some good foreign reviews, Hedd Wyn was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar in 1994 and Solomon & Gaenor was nominated in 2000. The S4C analogue signal also spilled over on to the east coast of the Republic of Ireland, in the past it was rebroadcast in a number of areas there on UHF terrestrial signals by so-called deflectors, however Channel 4 is now re-transmitted from satellite by the few remaining deflectors. Up until the 1990s, S4C was also carried by some Irish cable, the S4C signal also continues to overspill into the Republic of Ireland via the Freesat satellite service. Up until 2009, S4C ran its own service, Sbectel. According to S4Cs latest annual report,9.9 million people viewed the channel throughout the UK during 2015-2016, with 629,000 viewers throughout the UK in an average week. Following the switch-off of analogue terrestrial signals on 31 March 2010, Wales became the first fully digital region in the UK, with both S4C and Channel 4 now available to all homes
38.
Lee Latchford-Evans
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Lee Latchford-Evans is an English singer, dancer, stage actor, kickboxer and personal trainer, most famous for being one of the five singers of the British pop group Steps. From Ellesmere Port, Evans was born as Lee Latchford Evans, with his middle name Latchford taken from the surname Bob Latchford, Everton Centre Forward, as his father was a lifelong fan. At the point he started performing the comedian Lee Evans was well known and he later changed his name to Latchford Evans. After school he went on to dance at West Cheshire College in Ellesmere Port, at a new facility for performing arts, Named, The Cheshire School Of Dance. Following his foundation course he went on to study at Laine Theatre Arts in Epsom. His role in the band was mostly choreographer and providing backing vocals, however, he did perform lead on Turn Around and the two verses of 5,6,7,8. He played the Prince in Rotherhams Pantomime version of Snow White in 2010, Latchford-Evans has appeared in the reality television shows The Games, Fear Factor, Im Famous and Frightened. The Match and went on to win Commando VIP, in 2006, he appeared in a new reality show on MTV, Totally Boyband. This show was from the creators as the show Totally Scott-Lee. In 2008 he appeared as part of Team Ant on Ant and he also appeared on Never Mind The Buzzcocks in October 2010. Steps have recently announced that they will be filming a documentary for Sky Living. He appeared in Ten Dead Men produced by Phil Hobden, and also appeared in Britflick Cash and Curry playing the villain, Evans is currently the face of OK. Famouslyfit. Magazine and Evans own business, Famouslyfit. com, Evans was also the manager of Kerry-Lucy Taylors band, Evans is currently living with his wife, Kerry-Lucy Taylor. Magazine in June 2011 discussing the up-and-coming OK. FamouslyFit range of fitness equipment and they announced their engagement in March 2012. On 10 November 2012, they married at an 18th-century palladian-styled mansion in Surrey and their wedding featured in Novembers edition of OK. Magazine with bandmates Lisa, Faye, H and Claire on the front cover as well, Evans is a fully qualified personal trainer and owner of fitness web magazine, Famouslyfit. com
39.
Digital Spy
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Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website launched in 1999. The site focuses on reporting breaking entertainment news related to movies, music, television, in addition to news articles there are regular reviews posted on popular films, theatre, and concerts. On 9 April 2008 it was announced that the website had been purchased by magazine publisher Hachette Filipacchi UK, on 1 August 2011, ownership of Hachette UK was sold to Hearst Magazines UK. As well as articles, the site also features forums, which went live in March 2000, representatives of several major companies, including Top Up TV, Joost, BSkyB, Goodmans, and Amstrad CEO Lord Alan Sugar are registered members who have posted on the forums. Iain Chapman launched the website, providing news, rumours. At the same time, Chris Butcher launched the ONfaq website, offering similar news, both sites proved to be popular, attracting a lot of attention from visitors eager for more news about these rapidly developing TV platforms. Very quickly, Iain and Chris discussed the idea of a merger of the two sites, to create the digiNEWS Network, on 28 February 1999 digiNEWS and ONfaq merged and were rebranded as sites of the new digiNEWS network. Both sites were redesigned with common branding, and new header graphics identifying the digiNEWS network, more sites continued to join the network - Chris Norriss cablenews, uk, Mark Hughes DVDNews and Neil Wilkes TV, uk. The network was growing, but technically it was disjointed, served from personal webspace from ISPs such as Freeserve. Discussions with website guru Jose Cardoso began, and work started on integrating the multitude of sites into a single portal. It was important for the new site to be accessible, so a. COM address was preferable, unfortunately the diginews. com address was already taken. After many many emails back and forth, the name Digital Spy was chosen, the new Digital Spy forums went live on 1 March 2000. They were built on the UBB forum platform, the new Digital Spy news portal went live on 19 May 2001, running on a custom-built content management system developed by Jose and called RAMS. In November 2015, Digital Spy hired ex editor of Heat Julian Linley in the role of editor-in-chief as the attempts to challenge BuzzFeed
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Lisa Scott-Lee
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Lisa Michelle Scott-Lee is a Welsh singer-songwriter and dancer. She is a graduate of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts stage school. Scott-Lee is best known as being one of the three female singers of pop group Steps who formed in 1997 before splitting in 2001. She released her solo album Never or Now in 2007 through Concept Records. Scott-Lee is best known for her five years with the UK pop group Steps, the group, which came together in 1997 and had 14 top 5 singles in the UK, split up on Boxing Day 2001 before reforming in May 2011. Ever since the groups break-up, rumours had been circulating that they would reunite in one form or another, in 2009, Lee Latchford-Evans revealed that the band had been approached to perform a series of concerts. He hinted that a reunion was possible, but that it isnt the right time right now. In early 2011, rumours began circulating that Steps would reunite for a TV series, despite the claims being reported by various news stations and newspapers, the reunion was denied by bands members, including Claire Richards on her Twitter page. Richards also announced on 9 July 2011 that a Steps reunion would be silly, however, contrary to these claims, just 12 days later, it was announced that Steps would be reuniting for a four-part Sky Living documentary, depicting their split and the intermittent years. They would also release their The Ultimate Collection, as well as new material. Evans has commented, They took something away from three people that we loved and we didnt get a choice because certain people took that away from us. Steps Reunion premiered on Sky Living on 28 September, Steps said in a recent interview with Digital Spy that they believe there is a gap in the market for their brand of happy pop. Steps released their The Ultimate Collection on 10 October, which became the Steps third number one album, the announcement of a nationwide arena tour was later confirmed for 2012 followed with a possibility of a new studio album. She did however express interest in releasing it once Steps were touring in 2012, Scott-Lee spent a short time managing her three younger brothers, including Andy, in a group of their own called 3SL. After little success they were dropped from their label and split up, Scott-Lee decided she would go solo and was signed to Mercury Records. She stepped back into the limelight in April 2003 with her single, Lately. The single was released on 12 May 2003 and pulled into the chart at a respectable number 6. On 8 September 2003, Scott-Lee released her single, Too Far Gone
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Twitter
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Twitter is an online news and social networking service where users post and interact with messages, tweets, restricted to 140 characters. Registered users can post tweets, but those who are unregistered can only read them, users access Twitter through its website interface, SMS or a mobile device app. Twitter Inc. is based in San Francisco, California, United States, Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams and launched in July. The service rapidly gained worldwide popularity, in 2012, more than 100 million users posted 340 million tweets a day, and the service handled an average of 1.6 billion search queries per day. In 2013, it was one of the ten most-visited websites and has described as the SMS of the Internet. As of 2016, Twitter had more than 319 million monthly active users. On the day of the 2016 U. S. presidential election, Twitter proved to be the largest source of breaking news, Twitters origins lie in a daylong brainstorming session held by board members of the podcasting company Odeo. Jack Dorsey, then a student at New York University. The original project name for the service was twttr, an idea that Williams later ascribed to Noah Glass, inspired by Flickr. The developers initially considered 10958 as a code, but later changed it to 40404 for ease of use. Work on the project started on March 21,2006, when Dorsey published the first Twitter message at 9,50 PM Pacific Standard Time, Dorsey has explained the origin of the Twitter title. we came across the word twitter, and it was just perfect. The definition was a short burst of inconsequential information, and chirps from birds, and thats exactly what the product was. The first Twitter prototype, developed by Dorsey and contractor Florian Weber, was used as a service for Odeo employees. Williams fired Glass, who was silent about his part in Twitters startup until 2011, Twitter spun off into its own company in April 2007. Williams provided insight into the ambiguity that defined this early period in a 2013 interview, With Twitter and they called it a social network, they called it microblogging, but it was hard to define, because it didnt replace anything. There was this path of discovery with something like that, where over time you figure out what it is, Twitter actually changed from what we thought it was in the beginning, which we described as status updates and a social utility. It is that, in part, but the insight we eventually came to was Twitter was really more of an information network than it is a social network, the tipping point for Twitters popularity was the 2007 South by Southwest Interactive conference. During the event, Twitter usage increased from 20,000 tweets per day to 60,000, the Twitter people cleverly placed two 60-inch plasma screens in the conference hallways, exclusively streaming Twitter messages, remarked Newsweeks Steven Levy
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Lostprophets
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Lostprophets /lɒstˈprɒfɪts/ was a band from Pontypridd, Wales formed in 1997. Founded by lead vocalist and lyricist Ian Watkins, bassist Mike Lewis, drummer Mike Chiplin and guitarist Lee Gaze and they were also part of the Cardiff music scene. Lostprophets released five albums, with their final release Weapons released on 2 April 2012. The band achieved two Top 10 hits on the UK Singles Chart, one single on the US Alternative Songs chart. Awards and nominations, and sold 3.5 million albums worldwide, in December 2012, Watkins was charged with multiple sexual offences against children. The band cancelled all tour dates, and the members announced the disbanding of Lostprophets in October 2013 before the end of Watkins trial. Watkins pleaded guilty to charges in November 2013, and in December 2013 was sentenced to 29 years imprisonment plus six years on licence. In June 2014, the members formed No Devotion with American singer Geoff Rickly as their lead vocalist. The band formed in 1997 in Pontypridd, Wales, Lostprophets formed with two members of Public Disturbance, which featured singer Ian Watkins on drums and guitarist Mike Lewis. Neither member initially left Public Disturbance, although Watkins left as soon as 1998, with Watkins on vocal duties and Lewis playing bass, the band also included guitarist Lee Gaze and Mike Chiplin on drums. Lostprophets started out as part of the fledgling South Wales scene playing gigs at venues across Wales including T. J. s in Newport, from there, they went on to tours on the UKs circuit. The band recorded three demos during this time, Here Comes the Party, Para Todas las Putas Celosas, which translates as For all the jealous whores and these were produced by Stuart Richardson, who joined the band as bassist for the latter recording. Mike Lewis at this point switched to rhythm guitar, the Fake Sound of Progress also included the addition of DJ Stepzak, who would remain with the band for around a year. All of the EPs are out of print, and are very rare, the band caught the attention of the two music publishers Kerrang. and Metal Hammer magazines both giving them glancing reviews. In 1999 they signed in with Independent label Visible Noise, the bands debut album The Fake Sound of Progress was released through Visible Noise in November. Recorded in less than two weeks for £4,000 the record drew on a range of influences, it would be re-released the following year through Columbia Records. The Fake Sound of Progress featured many references to 1980s pop-culture, another reference is the use of the VF-1 Valkyrie in Battroid mode from the 1982 anime The Super Dimension Fortress Macross as part of the album illustration. The band worked with renowned producer Michael Barbiero to remaster the album, during this period, Lostprophets built up a strong live following with support slots to popular acts such as Pitchshifter, Linkin Park and Deftones, as well as several headlining stints of their own
