1.
American Life
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American Life is the ninth studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was first released on April 21,2003, by Maverick Records, the album, produced in its entirety by Madonna and Mirwais Ahmadzaï, features references to many parts of American culture. The album is an album, with recurring themes of the American Dream. These themes reject the reputation Madonna held in the 1980s, earned by songs such as her worldwide hit Material Girl, the album contains folk and folktronica music, as well as influences of acoustic music on many tracks. American Life received mixed reviews from critics, with responses noting its consistency. The album peaked at one in fourteen countries. The album became the 32nd-best-selling album of 2003 and has five million copies to date. American Life garnered two nominations at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004, four singles were released from the album. The first, the track, was released to a generally negative critical reception. It charted at number 37 in the US while it entered the top ten in most countries, a controversial music video was pulled after scenes of war and violence were criticized which led to an edited version being released. Its following single, Hollywood, became her first single not to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 since 1983, Nothing Fails and Love Profusion, the third and fourth singles respectively, featured a lack of promotion resulting in a poor commercial performance. Despite it, both peaked at one in Spain. Madonna promoted the album during a promotional tour for the album in April. American Life was supported by Madonnas sixth concert tour, the Re-Invention World Tour, the tour was chronicled in a documentary titled Im Going to Tell You a Secret, which led to Madonnas first live album of the same name. However, by the beginning of the new millennium, Madonna was living a calmer, more introspective and wholesome life with her husband Guy Ritchie and their children Lourdes and Rocco. According to biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, the presence of Ritchie in Madonnas life had an effect on the singer, making her more matured. Concentrating on her career, Madonna was busy throughout of 2001 on her Drowned World Tour. On September 11,2001, suicide bombers hijacked two jet airliners and crashed into the World Trade Center, resulting in the death of nearly 3,000 people, the event had a profound effect on American society, with the cultural mood being bleakness and paranoia
2.
Drowned World Tour
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Drowned World Tour was the fifth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna in support of her seventh and eighth studio albums Ray of Light and Music. It was also her first tour in eight years, following The Girlie Show World Tour in 1993. The tour was supposed to start in 1999, but was delayed until 2001 as Madonna gave birth to her son, got married to Guy Ritchie, was working on Music, and was busy filming The Next Best Thing. When the tour was decided, Madonna appointed Jamie King as choreographer, designer Jean-Paul Gaultier was the costume designer who designed the costumes in such way that they indicated different phases of Madonnas career. The poster and logo for the tour included references to Kabbalah, the show was divided into five segments, namely Cyber-Punk, Geisha, Cowgirl, Spanish, and Ghetto. The setlist consisted mainly of songs from the last two albums released at that point, with two pre-1990s song added. The first segment displayed performances with Madonna wearing a kilt. In the geisha segment performances Madonna wore a kimono and later performed airborne martial arts, acoustic songs were performed in the country segment which featured Madonna in cowboy costumes. The Latin segment featured flamenco dancing and the last segment featured ghetto-themed performances, Drowned World Tour was critically appreciated from contemporary critics who complimented her ability to re-invent continuously. The tour was a commercial success and it went on to become the highest-grossing concert tour of 2001 by a solo artist. She grossed more than US $76.8 million, selling out shows and eventually playing in front of 730,000 fans throughout the United States. It received Major Tour of the Year and Most Creative Stage Production awards nominations at the 2001 Pollstar awards, the concert was broadcast live on HBO from The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan on August 26,2001. A DVD titled Drowned World Tour 2001 was released in November 2001, and then Ill probably play up until the millennium, New Years Eve. The tour was delayed until 2001, as she had, in her own words, been distracted by having children and she also began a serious relationship with Guy Ritchie in 1999. By 2000, she had become pregnant with her son Rocco Ritchie, released her studio album Music that year. When Madonna finally decided to go on the tour, time was short, auditioning for the dancers started around March 2001. Jamie King was signed up as the director and the choreographer of the show. King said in an interview that the tour was so hectic that I suffered from depressions, rehearsals continued for thirteen hours a day, five days a week, with more and more dancers joining for the show
3.
Confessions Tour
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Confessions Tour was the seventh concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It supported her studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Madonna confirmed the possibility of going out on a tour as early as November 2005, jamie King, Madonnas longtime collaborator, was then hired on to direct. The set list consisted of songs from the supporting studio album. As with many of her tours, the Confessions Tour did not go to Australia. The concert was divided into four parts, Equestrian, Bedouin, Glam–Punk, the tour garnered positive appreciation from contemporary critics and commercial success. Tickets were completely sold as soon as dates and venues for the tour were announced, prompting the organizers to add more dates. After its ending, the Confessions Tour was dubbed as the highest grossing tour ever for a female artist and it is also recognized as the highest-grossing music tour per concert in the 2007 edition of the Guinness World Records. Confessions Tour received the Most Creative Stage Production at the Pollstar Concert Industry Awards as well as Top Boxscore from the Billboard Touring Awards. Madonnas performance of the song Live to Tell while hanging on a giant mirrored cross wearing a crown of thorns was met with negative reaction from religious groups. The performance at Romes Stadio Olimpico was condemned as an act of hostility toward the Roman Catholic Church by religious leaders, Madonna responded saying that her main intention with the performance was to bring attention to the millions of children dying in Africa from hunger and poverty. The tour was recorded and broadcast on such channels as NBC in the United States, a CD+DVD recording titled The Confessions Tour was also released. Jamie King was next hired on as the director of the tour and that way she deduced that she would not feel bored during her performances. So look for us doing some small venues, some smaller venues, some of the dancers from the music videos of Hung Up and Sorry, both singles from Confessions on a Dance Floor, were signed to perform on the tour as well. In March 2006, Madonna, along with her then-husband Guy Ritchie and with their kids, moved to Los Angeles, in the summer of 2006, Madonnas manager Guy Oseary announced that her Australian leg to the tour had been dropped. Her official website released the statement, To my fans in Australia. I really did hope and expect to come to Australia during the Confessions Tour, I have fond memories from previous tours. Unfortunately, the logistics just didnt work out this time around and we looked into going from Japan to Australia and ending the show there but I have to get my kids back into school in England and they are, as you can understand, my most important priority
4.
Concert tour
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A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. A recital is a concert by a soloist or small group which follows a program, a recitalist is a musician who gives frequent recitals. The invention of the piano recital has been attributed to Franz Liszt. The performance may be by a musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir. Indoor concerts held in the largest venues are sometimes called arena concerts or amphitheatre concerts, informal names for a concert include show and gig. Regardless of the venue, musicians perform on a stage. Concerts often require live event support with professional audio equipment, before recorded music, concerts provided the main opportunity to hear musicians play. The nature of a concert varies by musical genre, individual performers, concerts by a small jazz combo or small bluegrass band may have the same order of program, mood, and volume—but vary in music and dress. In a similar way, a musician, band, or genre of music might attract concert attendees with similar dress, hairstyle. For example, concert goers in the 1960s often had hair, sandals. Regular attendees to a concert venue might also have a style that comprises that venues scene. Other Types of concerts, To plan or arrange by mutual agreement, some performers or groups put on very elaborate and expensive shows. To create a memorable and exciting atmosphere and increase the spectacle, some singers, especially popular music, augment concert sound with pre-recorded accompaniment, back-up dancers, and even broadcast vocal tracks of the singers own voice. Activities during these concerts can include dancing, sing-alongs, and moshing, concerts involving a greater number of artists, especially those that last for multiple days, are known as festivals. Unlike other concerts, which remain in a single genre of music or work of a particular artist, festivals often cover a broad scope of music. Due to their size, festivals are almost exclusively held outdoors, new platforms for festivals are becoming increasingly popular such as Jam Cruise, which is a festival held on a cruise ship, as well as Mayan Holidaze, which is a destination festival held in Tulum. Often concert tours are named, to differentiate different tours by the same artist, different segments of longer concert tours are known as legs. In the largest concert tours it is becoming common for different legs to employ separate touring production crews and equipment
5.
17th-century French art
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In the early part of the 17th century, late mannerist and early Baroque tendencies continued to flourish in the court of Marie de Medici and Louis XIII. Art from this period shows influences from both the north of Europe and from Roman painters of the Counter-Reformation, artists in France frequently debated the merits between Peter Paul Rubens and Nicolas Poussin. There was also a strong Caravaggio school represented in the period by the paintings of Georges de La Tour. The wretched and the poor were featured in an almost Dutch manner in the paintings by the three Le Nain brothers. In the paintings of Philippe de Champaigne there are both propagandistic portraits of Louis XIII s minister Cardinal Richelieu and other more contemplative portraits of people in the Jansenist sect. The Palace of Versailles, initially a hunting lodge built by his father, was transformed by Louis XIV into a marvelous palace for fêtes and parties. Architect Louis Le Vau, painter and designer Charles Le Brun, the initial impetus for this transformation of Versailles is generally linked to the private château Vaux-le-Vicomte built for Louis XIVs minister of Finance Nicolas Fouquet. Having offered a festival for the king in the newly finished residence in 1661. The architects and artists under his patronage were all put to work on Versailles, in his youth, Louis XIV had suffered during the civil and parliamentary insurrection known as the Fronde. Versailles became a gilded cage, To leave spelled disaster for a noble, for all official charges, a word or glance from the king could make or destroy a career. The king himself followed a strict daily program, and there was little privacy, yet the difficult wars at the end of his long reign and the religious problems created by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes made his last years dark ones. French artists of the seventeenth century Baroque painting Classicism Perrault’s Colonnade Anthony Blunt, Art, french Art Vol III, The Ancient Régime ISBN 2-08-013617-8
6.
Marie Antoinette
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Marie Antoinette (/ˈmæriˌæntwəˈnɛt/, /ˌɑ̃ːntwə-/, /ˌɑ̃ːtwə-/, US /məˈriː-/, French, born Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna, was the last Queen of France and Navarre before the French Revolution. She was born an Archduchess of Austria, and was the fifteenth and second youngest child of Empress Maria Theresa and Francis I, in April 1770, upon her marriage to Louis-Auguste, heir apparent to the French throne, she became Dauphine of France. After eight years of marriage, Marie Antoinette gave birth to a daughter, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, the Diamond Necklace affair damaged her reputation further. On 10 August 1792, the attack on the Tuileries forced the family to take refuge at the Assembly. On 21 September 1792, the monarchy was abolished, after a two-day trial begun on 14 October 1793, Marie Antoinette was convicted by the Revolutionary Tribunal of high treason, and executed by guillotine on Place de la Révolution on 16 October 1793. Maria Antonia was born on 2 November 1755, at the Hofburg Palace and she was the youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa, ruler of the Habsburg Empire, and her husband Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. Her godparents were Joseph I and Mariana Victoria, King and Queen of Portugal, Archduke Joseph, shortly after her birth, she was placed under the care of the Governess of the Imperial children, Countess von Brandeis. Maria Antonia was raised with her older sister Maria Carolina. As to her relationship with her mother, it was difficult, despite the private tutoring she received, results of her schooling were less than satisfactory. At the age of ten she could not write correctly in German or in any language used at court, such as French. Under the teaching of Christoph Willibald Gluck, Maria Antonia developed into a good musician and she learned to play the harp, the harpsichord and the flute. During the familys gatherings in the evenings, she would sing and she also excelled at dancing, had an exquisite poise, and loved dolls. Following the Seven Years War and the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756, Empress Maria Theresa decided to end hostilities with her longtime enemy, on 14 May she met her husband at the edge of the forest of Compiègne. Upon her arrival in France, she adopted the French version of her name, a further ceremonial wedding took place on 16 May 1770 in the Palace of Versailles and, after the festivities, the day ended with the ritual bedding. The lack of consummation of the marriage plagued the reputation of both Louis-Auguste and Marie Antoinette for the seven years. The initial reaction to the marriage between Marie Antoinette and Louis-Auguste was mixed, on the one hand, the Dauphine was beautiful, personable and well-liked by the common people. Her first official appearance in Paris on 8 June 1773 was a resounding success, on the other hand, those opposed to the alliance with Austria, and others, for personal reasons, had a difficult relationship with Marie Antoinette. Madame du Barry, for example, was Louis XVs mistress and had political influence over him
7.
Military
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The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their body and to defend that body. Armed force is the use of armed forces to achieve political objectives, the study of the use of armed forces is called military science. Broadly speaking, this involves considering offense and defense at three levels, strategy, operational art, and tactics, all three levels study the application of the use of force in order to achieve a desired objective. In most countries the basis of the forces is the military. However, armed forces can include other paramilitary structures, the obvious benefit to a country in maintaining armed forces is in providing protection from foreign threats and from internal conflict. In recent decades armed forces personnel have also used as emergency civil support roles in post-disaster situations. On the other hand, they may harm a society by engaging in counter-productive warfare. Expenditure on science and technology to develop weapons and systems sometimes produces side benefits, although some claim that greater benefits could come from targeting the money directly
8.
Army
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An army or ground force is a fighting force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the military branch. It may also include other branches of the such as the air force via means of aviation corps. Within a national force, the word army may also mean a field army. They differ from army reserves who are activated only during such times as war or natural disasters, in several countries, the army is officially called the Land Army to differentiate it from an air force called the Air Army, notably France. In such countries, the army on its own retains its connotation of a land force in common usage. By convention, irregular military is understood in contrast to regular armies which grew slowly from personal bodyguards or elite militia, regular in this case refers to standardized doctrines, uniforms, organizations, etc. Regular military can also refer to full-time status, versus reserve or part-time personnel, other distinctions may separate statutory forces, from de facto non-statutory forces such as some guerrilla and revolutionary armies. Armies may also be expeditionary or fencible, india has had some of the earliest armies in the world. During the Indus Valley Civilization however, there was just a small force as they didnt fear invasion at the time. After the Aryan invasion, kingdoms and city-states started forming armies to protect their cities, one of the first known recorded battles, the Battle of the Ten Kings, happened when a Hindu king defeated an alliance of ten kings. During the Iron Age, the Maurya and Nanda Empires had large armies, in the Gupta age, large armies of longbowmen were recruited to fight off invading horse archer armies. Elephants, pikemen and cavalry were other featured troops, in Rajput times, the main piece of equipment was iron or chain-mail armour, a round shield, either a curved blade or a straight-sword, a chakra disc and a katar dagger. China has existed as a culture for thousands of years, the states of China raised armies for at least 1000 years before the Spring and Autumn Annals. By the Warring States period, the crossbow had been perfected enough to become a military secret, thus any political power of a state rested on the armies and their organization. China underwent political consolidation of the states of Han, Wei, Chu, Yan, Zhao and Qi, until by 221 BCE, Qin Shi Huang, sun Tzus The Art of War remains one of Chinas Seven Military Classics, even though it is two thousand years old. Since no political figure could exist without an army, measures were taken to only the most capable leaders could control the armies. Civil bureaucracies arose to control the power of the states
9.
Circus
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The term circus also describes the performance which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history. Philip Astley is credited with being the father of the circus when he opened the first circus in 1768 in England. Early circuses were almost exclusively demonstrations of equestrian skills with a few types of acts to link the horsemanship performances. Performances developed significantly through the next fifty years, with large scale theatrical battle reenactments becoming a significant feature, as styles of performance have changed since the time of Astley, so too have the types of venues where these circuses have performed. The earliest modern circuses were performed in open air structures with limited covered seating, from the late 18th to late 19th century custom-made circus buildings were built with various types of seating, a centre ring, and sometimes a stage. The traditional large tents, commonly known as Big Tops were introduced in the mid 19th century as touring circuses superseded static venues and these tents eventually became the most common venue and remain so to the present day. Contemporary circuses perform in a variety of venues including tents, theatres, many circus performances are still held in a ring usually 13 m in diameter. This dimension was adopted by Philip Astley in the late 18th century as the minimum diameter that enabled a horse rider to stand upright on a cantering horse to perform their tricks. In the book De Spectaculis early Christian writer Tertullian claimed that the first circus games were staged by the goddess Circe in honour of her father Helios, the modern and commonly held idea of a circus is of a Big Top with various acts providing entertainment therein. For many, circus history begins with Englishman Philip Astley, while for others its origins go back much further—to Roman times. In Ancient Rome, the circus was a building for the exhibition of horse and chariot races, equestrian shows, staged battles, gladiatorial combat, the Roman circus buildings were, however, not circular but rectangular with semi circular ends. The lower seats were reserved for persons of rank, There were also various state boxes for the giver of the games, the circus was the only public spectacle at which men and women were not separated. It was constructed during the monarchy and, at first, built completely from wood, after being rebuilt several times, the final version of the Circus Maximus could seat 250,000 people, it was built of stone and measured 400m in length and 90m in width. Next in importance were the Circus Flaminius and the Circus Neronis, a fourth circus was constructed by Maxentius, its ruins have helped archaeologists reconstruct the Roman circus. For some time after the fall of Rome, large buildings fell out of use as centres of mass entertainment. Instead, itinerant performers, animal trainers and showmen travelled between towns throughout Europe, performing at local fairs, Astley performed stunts in a 42 ft diameter ring, which is the standard size used by circuses ever since. Astley referred to the arena as a Circle and the building as an amphitheatre. Joseph Grimaldi, the first mainstream clown, had his first major role as Little Clown in the pantomime The Triumph of Mirth, or, the Royal Circus opened in London on 4 November 1782 by Charles Dibdin and his partner Charles Hughes
10.
Cabaret
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Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. It is mainly distinguished by the venue, which might be a pub. The audience, often dining or drinking, does not typically dance, performances are usually introduced by a master of ceremonies or MC. The entertainment, as done by an ensemble of actors and according to its European origins, is oriented towards adult audiences. In the United States striptease, burlesque, drag shows, or a solo vocalist with a pianist, the word cabaret was first used in 1655. It is derived from tavern probably from Middle Dutch cambret, the word cabaret came to mean a restaurant or night club by 1912. Cabaret can be divided in 10 different types. However, these are artificial dividing lines, cabaret shows are most of the time a compound of elements from the different types, the cabaret performer plays with language, sometimes poetic, but often is he or she rock hard and hateful. The cabaret performer analyses in his/her stubborn manner actual, social and political topics, the cabaret performer tells an often slightly absurd story with a moral packed in it. The cabaret performer plays with music, for example by twisting or combining familiar melodies, the cabaret performer tells nonsensical and absurd stories and plays idiotic types. The emphasis is less on text in the show of cabaret performer. Here the cabaret performer eludes on his liberating through laughter role, an iteration of storytelling cabaret The cabaret performer quickly switches between the different styles/types of cabaret, types, or songs. In this the cabaret performer is a guest at a government, institution or a company, cabarets existed in Paris in the 16th century, they were ancestors of the modern restaurant. Unlike taverns they sold wine not by itself but only with a meal, customers might sing if they had drunk enough wine, but early cabarets did not have formal programs of entertainment. Cabarets were frequently used as meeting places for writers and artists, in 1773 French poets, painters, musicians and writers began to meet in a cabaret called Le Caveau on rue de Buci, where they composed and sang songs. The Caveau continued until 1816, when it was forced to close because its clients wrote songs mocking the royal government, in the 18th century the café-concert or café-chantant appeared, which offered food along with music, singers, or magicians. The most famous was the Cafe des Aveugles in the cellars of the Palais-Royal, in the early 19th century many cafés-chantants appeared around the city, the most famous were the Café des Ambassadeurs on the Champs-Élysées and the Eldorado on boulevard Strasbourg. By 1900 there were more than 150 cafés-chantants in Paris, the first cabaret in the modern sense was Le Chat Noir in the Bohemian neighborhood of Montmartre, created in 1881 by Rodolphe Salis, a theatrical agent and entrepreneur
11.
Acoustic music
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Acoustic music is music that solely or primarily uses instruments that produce sound through acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means. The retronym acoustic music appeared after the advent of electric instruments, such as the guitar, electric violin, electric organ. It has its origins in the music of the 1960s. The trend has also dubbed as acoustic rock in some cases. Navigating the Music Industry, Current Issues & Business Models, Music and the Modern Condition, Investigating the Boundaries
12.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
13.
Invention
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An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition or process. The invention process is a process within an overall engineering and product development process and it may be an improvement upon a machine or product or a new process for creating an object or a result. An invention that achieves a unique function or result may be a radical breakthrough. Such works are novel and not obvious to others skilled in the same field, an inventor may be taking a big step in success or failure. A patent legally protects the property rights of the inventor. The rules and requirements for patenting an invention vary from country to country, another meaning of invention is cultural invention, which is an innovative set of useful social behaviours adopted by people and passed on to others. The Institute for Social Inventions collected many such ideas in magazines, Invention is also an important component of artistic and design creativity. Inventions often extend the boundaries of knowledge, experience or capability. Brainstorming also can spark new ideas for an invention, collaborative creative processes are frequently used by engineers, designers, architects and scientists. Co-inventors are frequently named on patents, in addition, many inventors keep records of their working process - notebooks, photos, etc. including Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, Evangelista Torricelli, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein. In the process of developing an invention, the idea may change. The invention may become simpler, more practical, it may expand, working on one invention can lead to others too. History shows that turning the concept of an invention into a device is not always swift or direct. Inventions may also more useful after time passes and other changes occur. For example, the became more useful once powered flight was a reality. Invention is often a creative process, an open and curious mind allows an inventor to see beyond what is known. Seeing a new possibility, connection, or relationship can spark an invention, inventive thinking frequently involves combining concepts or elements from different realms that would not normally be put together. Sometimes inventors disregard the boundaries between distinctly separate territories or fields, several concepts may be considered when thinking about invention
14.
Lip sync
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The term can refer to any of a number of different techniques and processes, in the context of live performances and audiovisual recordings. In film production, lip-synching is often part of the postproduction phase, dubbing foreign-language films and making animated characters appear to speak both require elaborate lip-synching. Many video games make use of lip-synced sound files to create an immersive environment in which on-screen characters appear to be speaking. In the music industry, lip-synching is used by singers for music videos, television and film appearances, lip-syncing by singers can be controversial to fans attending concert performances who expect to view a live performance. Lip sync is also referred to as lip-sync or lip-synch, the term sync or synch is pronounced the same as sink. Lip-synching is considered a part of miming and it can be used to make it appear as though actors have substantial singing ability, to simulate a vocal effect that can be achieved only in the recording studio, e. g. It is also used in drag shows. Some artists lip sync because they are not confident singing live, because the film track and music track are recorded separately during the creation of a music video, artists usually lip-sync their songs and often imitate playing musical instruments as well. Artists also sometimes move their lips at a faster speed than the track, to create videos with a slow-motion effect in the final clip. Lip-synching in music is moving the lips in synchronization with recorded speech or song to give the appearance of a live performance and it is generally considered dishonest, though some producers argue that it needs to be done in some performance contexts. The practice of lip-synching during live performances is frowned on by some who view it as a crutch only used by lesser talents, on American Bandstand and most variety shows of the 1960s, vocals and instrumentals were all synced to pre-recorded music. Since the advent of MTV in the 1980s, many artists have focused on effects, rather than singing. Artists often lip-sync during strenuous dance numbers in both live and recorded performances, some singers habitually lip-sync during live performance, both concert and televised, whereas others do lip syncing only for certain songs or types of performances. Artists often lip-synch during strenuous dance numbers in both live and recorded performances, due to lung capacity being needed for physical activity, michael Jackson is an example of this, he performed complex dance routines while lip-syncing and live singing. His performance on the television special Motown 25, Yesterday, Today and these effects came at the expense of live singing. Gundersen elaborates, The most obvious example is Madonnas Blond Ambition World Tour, Madonna lip-syncs the duet Now Im Following You, while a Dick Tracy character mouths Warren Beattys recorded vocals. On other songs, background singers plump up her voice, strained by the exertion of non-stop dancing, billboard editor Thom Duffy commented, The expectations of fans have changed, and thats the driving force here. They expect a concert as perfect as what they see on MTV, and the same level of perfection is expected to extend beyond the video set to the concert stage
15.
I'm Going to Tell You a Secret
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Im Going to Tell You a Secret is a 2005 American documentary film that follows singer-songwriter Madonna on her 2004 Re-Invention World Tour. Directed by Jonas Åkerlund, the film premiered on MTV on October 21,2005, the documentary was originally called The Re-Invented Process, referencing the tour and the Steven Klein exhibition titled X-STaTIC Pro=CeSS. The documentary was inspired by Madonnas need to show her side on the tour. Like Truth or Dare, the scenes were shot in color. Besides Madonna, her dancers and her entourage, Åkerlund also shot her family, her working process. Madonna and her then-husband Guy Ritchies local pub in Mayfair, London was used for some sequences, the film features appearances from Madonnas father, stepmother and filmmaker Michael Moore. Before releasing the documentary, Madonna invited a group of friends. The film was trimmed after negative feedback regarding excessive details about Kabbalah, for the promotion and premiere of the film, Madonna appeared at Q&A sessions with the press and also gave a speech to film students at New Yorks Hunter College. Im Going to Tell You a Secret was released in a format, a CD with 14 songs from the show. It received a response from critics but was a moderate success commercially. The documentary begins with scenes from the X-STaTIC Pro=CeSS, with Madonna featured as a queen sitting beside a coyote, the intro is followed by the singer recording vocals with music director Stuart Price and auditioning dancers for the Re-Invention World Tour. After the first show of the tour at The Forum in Inglewood, California, the tour moves to New York City with more rehearsal footage and Madonna asking her dancers to register for voting in the upcoming elections. In Chicago, Madonnas father Tony Ciccone is interviewed in his vineyard, Ciccone and his wife Joan come to visit the singer at her concert in United Center. The entourage moves to Miami where Ritchie is shown angling with their son Rocco, plays with her daughter Lourdes, by the time the tour reaches London, Madonna gets irritated with the journeys. Kabbalah comes into the picture with explanations of the practice from Madonna. At Slane Castle, Dublin, Madonna and her dancers were in danger of being electrocuted due to constant rain, in Paris, Madonna takes her dancers for a classical piano recital by Katia and Marielle Labèque. After the performance at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, the tour reaches its final stop at Lisbon, the dancers are shown enjoying the beach and talking about their future plans. With a final performance of Holiday, the Re-Invention World Tour ends, at an after party, Madonna recites a poem for her assistant Angie
16.
Vogue (Madonna song)
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Vogue is a song by American singer Madonna from her second soundtrack album Im Breathless. It was released as the first single from the album on March 27,1990, Vogue later appeared on her greatest hits compilation albums, The Immaculate Collection and Celebration. Vogue is an upbeat dance-pop and house song and set the trends of dance music in the 1990s, however, it has strong influences of 1970s disco within its composition. The song also contains a section, in which the singer name-checks various golden-era Hollywood celebrities. Lyrically, the song is about enjoying oneself on the floor no matter who one is. Critically, Vogue has been met with appreciation ever since its release, reviewers have praised its anthemic nature and listed it as one of the singers career highlights. Commercially, the song one of Madonnas biggest international hits, topping the charts in over 30 countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom. It became the worlds best-selling single of 1990, selling six million copies. The music video for Vogue, directed by David Fincher, was shot in black-and-white, Madonna and her dancers can be seen voguing to different choreographed moves. The video has been ranked as one of the greatest of all times in different critic lists and polls, Madonna has performed the song on six of her tours, at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards, and at her performance during the halftime show of Super Bowl XLVI. After presenting the song to Warner Bros. executives, all parties involved decided that the song was too good to be wasted on a B-side and that it should be released as a single. Although the song itself had nothing to do with Madonnas then-upcoming Disney movie Dick Tracy, it was included on the album Im Breathless, Madonna altered some of the suggestive lyrics because the song was connected to the Disney film via soundtrack. Vogue is a dance-pop and house song with disco influence. The song has been noted by Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine to have a deep house groove, J. Randy Taraborrelli, in his book Madonna, An Intimate Biography, wrote that the song was a pulsating dance track. Lyrically, the song has a theme of escapism, and talks about how any person can enjoy themself, in the bridge, the song has a spoken rap section, in which Madonna references numerous golden era Hollywood celebrities. The lyrics of the rap section feature the names of 16 stars from the 1920s to the 1950s. At the time, Bacall was the one still alive. She died at the age of 89 in 2014, Vogue contains samples of some songs from the 1970s disco era
17.
Whore of Babylon
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The Whore of Babylon or Babylon the Great is a female figure and also place of evil mentioned in the Book of Revelation in the Bible. Her full title is given as Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes, the great whore, of the biblical Book of Revelation is featured in chapters 17 and 18. — Revelation 17, 4–18 See also, Revelation 17,1, Parallel Translations The Whore is associated with the Antichrist, the Whores apocalyptic downfall is prophesied to take place in the hands of the image of the beast with seven heads and ten horns. There is much speculation within Christian eschatology on what the Whore, some scholars interpret Babylon as being based on historical places and events. In 4 Ezra,2 Baruch and the Sibylline Oracles, Babylon is a name for Rome. Reinhard Feldmeier speculates that Babylon is used to refer to Rome in 1 Peter 5,13, in Revelation 17,9 it is said that she sits on seven mountains, typically understood as the seven hills of Rome. This symbolism did not fit the case of Rome at the time. Proponents of this view suggest that the seven mountains in Rev 17,9 are the seven hills on which Jerusalem stands, several Old Testament prophets referred to Jerusalem as being a spiritual harlot and a mother of such harlotry. This is also bolstered by Jesus statement that its not possible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem, historicist interpreters commonly used the phrase Whore of Babylon to refer to the Roman Catholic Church. Reformation writers from Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Knox taught this association, most early Protestant Reformers believed, and the modern Seventh-day Adventist Church teaches, that in Bible prophecy a woman represents a church. I have likened the daughter of Zion To a lovely and delicate woman and they also believed that the primary location of this unfaithful church is stated in the same chapter. And the woman whom you saw is that city which reigns over the kings of the earth. The connection noted above on the seven hills of Rome is argued to locate the church, identification of the Pope as the Antichrist was written into Protestant creeds such as the Westminster Confession of 1646. The identification of the Roman Catholic Church with the Whore of Babylon is kept in the Scofield Reference Bible, Seventh-day Adventists interpret Rev 17,18 as a prophecy of the false church which has power over the kings of the earth. His word has given warning of the danger, let this be unheeded. She is silently growing into power and her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty and massive structures in the recesses of which her former persecutions will be repeated. Stealthily and unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike, all that she desires is vantage ground, and this is already being given her
18.
Book of Revelation
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Its title is derived from the first word of the text, written in Koine Greek, apokalypsis, meaning unveiling or revelation. The Book of Revelation is the apocalyptic document in the New Testament canon. The author names himself in the text as John, but his identity remains a point of academic debate. Modern scholarship generally takes a different view, and many consider that nothing can be known about the author except that he was a Christian prophet, Some modern scholars characterise Revelations author as a putative figure whom they call John of Patmos. The bulk of traditional sources date the book to the reign of the emperor Domitian, the book spans three literary genres, the epistolary, the apocalyptic, and the prophetic. It begins with John, on the island of Patmos in the Aegean and he then describes a series of prophetic visions, including figures such as the Whore of Babylon and the Beast, culminating in the Second Coming of Jesus. The title is taken from the first word of the book in Koine Greek, ἀποκάλυψις apokalypsis, the author names himself as John, but it is currently considered unlikely that the author of Revelation was also the author of the Gospel of John. All that is known is that this John was a Jewish Christian prophet, probably belonging to a group of such prophets and his precise identity remains unknown, and modern scholarship commonly refers to him as John of Patmos. 70 AD is the date of writing according to Martha Himmelfarb in the recently published Blackwell series. Revelation is an apocalyptic prophecy with an epistolary introduction addressed to seven churches in the Roman province of Asia, Apocalypse means the revealing of divine mysteries, John is to write down what is revealed and send it to the seven churches. The entire book constitutes the letter—the letters to the seven churches are introductions to the rest of the book. While the dominant genre is apocalyptic, the author himself as a Christian prophet, Revelation uses the word in various forms twenty-one times. The predominant view is that Revelation alludes to the Old Testament although it is difficult among scholars to agree on the number of allusions or the allusions themselves. Revelation rarely quotes directly from the Old Testament, almost every verse alludes to or echoes older scriptures. Over half of the stem from Daniel, Ezekiel, Psalms. He very frequently combines multiple references, and again the style makes it impossible to be certain to what extent he did so consciously. Revelation was the last book accepted into the Christian biblical canon and it was considered tainted because the heretical sect of the Montanists relied on it and doubts were raised over its Jewishness and authorship. Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, disciple of Origen wrote that the Book of Revelation could have been written by Cerinthus although he himself did not adopt the view that Cerinthus was the writer and he regarded the Apocalypse as the work of an inspired man but not of an Apostle
19.
Renaissance
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The Renaissance was a period in European history, from the 14th to the 17th century, regarded as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. It started as a movement in Italy in the Late Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe. This new thinking became manifest in art, architecture, politics, science, Early examples were the development of perspective in oil painting and the recycled knowledge of how to make concrete. Although the invention of movable type sped the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century. In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy, the Renaissance began in Florence, in the 14th century. Other major centres were northern Italian city-states such as Venice, Genoa, Milan, Bologna, the word Renaissance, literally meaning Rebirth in French, first appeared in English in the 1830s. The word also occurs in Jules Michelets 1855 work, Histoire de France, the word Renaissance has also been extended to other historical and cultural movements, such as the Carolingian Renaissance and the Renaissance of the 12th century. The Renaissance was a movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period. Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism, however, a subtle shift took place in the way that intellectuals approached religion that was reflected in many other areas of cultural life. In addition, many Greek Christian works, including the Greek New Testament, were back from Byzantium to Western Europe. Political philosophers, most famously Niccolò Machiavelli, sought to describe life as it really was. Others see more competition between artists and polymaths such as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello, and Masaccio for artistic commissions as sparking the creativity of the Renaissance. Yet it remains much debated why the Renaissance began in Italy, accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins. During the Renaissance, money and art went hand in hand, Artists depended entirely on patrons while the patrons needed money to foster artistic talent. Wealth was brought to Italy in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries by expanding trade into Asia, silver mining in Tyrol increased the flow of money. Luxuries from the Eastern world, brought home during the Crusades, increased the prosperity of Genoa, unlike with Latin texts, which had been preserved and studied in Western Europe since late antiquity, the study of ancient Greek texts was very limited in medieval Western Europe. One of the greatest achievements of Renaissance scholars was to bring this entire class of Greek cultural works back into Western Europe for the first time since late antiquity, Arab logicians had inherited Greek ideas after they had invaded and conquered Egypt and the Levant. Their translations and commentaries on these ideas worked their way through the Arab West into Spain and Sicily and this work of translation from Islamic culture, though largely unplanned and disorganized, constituted one of the greatest transmissions of ideas in history
20.
Dress You Up
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Dress You Up is a song by American singer Madonna from her second studio album Like a Virgin. It was released on July 31,1985 as the final single. The song was the last track to be added to the album as it was submitted late by songwriters Andrea LaRusso, Madonna pushed for the songs inclusion on Like a Virgin as she particularly liked its lyrics. Musically, the song is a drum beat driven dance track featuring instrumentation from guitars and vocals from a choir and a solo played by Nile Rodgers. The lyrics are a metaphor for fashion and sex, comparing dressing up with passion. A live performance from Madonnas first tour was used as the music video, critics reacted positively to the dance-pop nature of the track. Dress You Up became Madonnas sixth consecutive single in the United States. It also reached the top-ten in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the song was performed on four of Madonnas concert tours, most recently on the Rebel Heart Tour. Dress You Up was added to the Filthy Fifteen list of the Parents Music Resource Center, the song has been covered in different forms by a number of artists. Dress You Up was the last song to be included on the Like a Virgin album, producer Nile Rodgers had initially asked songwriters Andrea LaRusso and Peggy Stanziale to write a song for Madonna in the style of Rodgers band Chic. However, the writing took time, since both LaRusso and Stanziale were busy with other projects, when the lyrics of the song was submitted, Rodgers rejected it as there was no time to compose a melody and record it for the album. But Madonna liked the lyrics of the song, and persuaded Rodgers to include it on Like a Virgin, in Britain, the song was released as a limited-edition shaped picture disc. In this case, it was star-shaped to tie in with the Christmas release date for the single, the song is one of several of Madonnas hit singles not included on The Immaculate Collection compilation, released in 1990. Dress You Up was, however, later included on Madonnas 2009 compilation album Celebration, although no music video was separately made for the song, a live performance of Dress You Up from The Virgin Tour, filmed in Detroit was used as the video. Dress You Up is a drum machine driven dance track. The chorus is supported by vocals from a choir, a four-chord progression, a rock guitar solo plays during the bridge. Towards the end of the song, the sound of the drums are decreased, according to the sheet music published at Musicnotes. com by Alfred Publishing, the song is set in the time signature of common time, with a moderate tempo of 136 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of C minor, with Madonnas vocals ranging from a low-note of B♭3 to a high-note of F♯5, the song has a basic sequence of Cm–B♭–G7 in the verses and A♭–B♭–Cm–Cm/G in the chorus, as its chord progression
21.
Material Girl
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Material Girl is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her second studio album Like a Virgin. It was released on January 23,1985, by the Sire label as the single from Like a Virgin. It also appears remixed on the 1990 greatest hits compilation, The Immaculate Collection. The song was written by Peter Brown and Robert Rans, while Nile Rodgers produced the track, Madonna explained that the concept of the song was indicative of her life at that time. She felt that Material Girl was provocative in its content and was attracted to it, Material Girl consists of synth arrangements with a robotic voice repeating the hook. The lyrics identify with materialism, with Madonna asking for a rich and affluent life, rather than romance, contemporary critics have frequently identified Material Girl along with Like a Virgin as the songs that established Madonna as an icon. Material Girl was a success, reaching the top-five in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Japan. It reached the two position on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, becoming her third top-five single there. The music video was a mimicry of Marilyn Monroes performance of the song Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend from the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the mimicked scenes are interspersed with scenes of a Hollywood director trying to win the heart of an actress, played by Madonna herself. Discovering that, contrary to her song, the woman was not impressed by money and expensive gifts, he pretended to be penniless. She has performed the song in five of her world tours, Material Girl has been covered by a number of artists, including Britney Spears, The Chipettes and Hilary and Haylie Duff. It has appeared in the films Moulin Rouge, and Bridget Jones, The Edge of Reason. Madonna has often remarked that she regrets recording Material Girl as its title became a nickname for her in the mainstream media, the song has been labeled an empowering influence for women, and was the subject of debates. Material Girl was written by Peter Brown and Robert Rans, while Nile Rodgers produced the track. In 1986, Madonna told Company magazine, that although she did not write or create the song and you are attracted to people who are ambitious that way, too, like in the song Material Girl. You are attracted to men who have material things because thats what pays the rents, during a 2009 interview with Rolling Stone, Madonna was asked by interviewer Austin Scaggs, regarding her first feelings, after listening to the demos of Like a Virgin and Material Girl. Madonna responded by saying, I liked them both because they were ironic and provocative at the time but also unlike me. I am not a person, and I certainly wasnt a virgin
22.
Ray of Light
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Ray of Light is the seventh studio album by American singer Madonna. It was released on February 22,1998 by Maverick and Warner Bros, after giving birth to her first child, Madonna started working on the album with producers Babyface and Patrick Leonard. Following failed sessions with them, Madonna pursued a new direction with English producer William Orbit. The recording took place four months and experienced problems with Orbits hardware arrangement, which would break down. A departure from her previous work, Ray of Light is an electronica, dance and techno-pop album which incorporates several genres, including ambient, trip hop, vocally, the album saw Madonna sing with greater breadth and a fuller tone. Mystical themes are also present in both the music and lyrics, as a result of Madonna embracing Kabbalah, her study of Hinduism and Buddhism. The album received universal acclaim with reviews commending the new musical direction. Called her most adventurous record, Ray of Light has been noted for its mature, restrained nature, Ray of Light won four Grammy Awards from a total of six nominations. Commercially, the peaked at number one in many countries, such as Australia, Canada, Germany. On the US Billboard 200, the album debuted and peaked at two, with the biggest first week sales by a female artist at the time. Ray of Light has sold more than 16 million copies worldwide, five singles were released from the album, including the international hits Frozen and Ray of Light. The albums promotion was supported by the Drowned World Tour in 2001. Academics noted the influence on popular music, and how it introduced electronica into mainstream pop culture. They also noted Madonnas musical re-invention with the album, which helped her remain contemporary among the artists of the period. Ray of Light has been ranked among lists of greatest albums of all time, following the release of her compilation album Something to Remember, Madonna started taking vocal lessons in preparation for her role in Evita. She also gave birth to her daughter, Lourdes, the same year and these events inspired a period of introspection. That was a big catalyst for me and it took me on a search for answers to questions Id never asked myself before, she said to Q magazine, in 2002. During the same period, she embraced Kabbalah and started studying Hinduism and yoga, all of which helped her step outside, Madonna felt that there was a whole piece of her voice left unused, which she decided to utilize for the album
23.
Live to Tell
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Live to Tell is a song by American singer Madonna from her third studio album True Blue. Originally composed by Patrick Leonard for the score of the film Fire with Fire, the song was shown to Madonna, Madonna wrote the songs lyrics and co-produced it with Leonard. The song was released as the single from True Blue on March 26,1986 by Sire Records. It later appeared on compilation albums The Immaculate Collection, Something to Remember, a pop ballad, the song includes instrumentation from guitars, keyboards, drums and a synthesizer, and its lyrics deal with deceit, mistrust and childhood scars. It is also about being strong, which Madonna recalled in an interview that she thought about her relationship with her parents, while writing the lyrics. The music video, directed by James Foley, shows Madonnas first image makeover, featuring her with a look, shoulder-length wavy golden blond hair, conservative wardrobe. This toned down blond appearance was inspired by Marilyn Monroe. Live to Tell was generally received by music critics, who frequently referred to it as the best ballad of her career. It was also a success, becoming Madonnas third number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. The song faced controversy when Madonna performed it on her 2006 Confessions Tour wearing a crown of thorns while hanging on a giant mirrored cross, the performance at Romes Olympic Stadium was condemned as an act of hostility toward the Roman Catholic Church by religious leaders. After Madonna finished The Virgin Tour, she asked producers Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray to write songs with her and produce her third studio album. Live to Tell was originally composed by Leonard for the score of Paramounts romantic drama film Fire with Fire and my managers represented the guy who was directing the film, it was his first film. I saw a piece of the film, and I had the script. I wrote a theme and I said, What if I could get Madonna to write the lyrics for it, however, Paramount rejected the song, believing that Leonard was incapable of creating the score for the film. Leonard later presented the track to Madonna, who decided to use it for At Close Range, Madonna wrote the lyrics of the song, titled Live to Tell, and created a demo recording on a cassette. She presented the track to the films director James Foley, who liked it and enlisted Leonard to compose the films score, Leonard was working with Michael Jackson, on some transcriptions for his Bad album, when Penn called him to come to Foleys home. There he asked Leonard who would sing the track, since it was written from a mans perspective. Leonard, although he had envisioned a male voice interpreting the song, decided to use Madonna as the main vocalist
24.
Take a Bow (Madonna song)
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Take a Bow is a song by American singer Madonna from her sixth studio album Bedtime Stories. It was released as the second single on November 29,1994. It is a pop ballad written and produced by Madonna. The song also appears on her compilation albums Something to Remember, GHV2, following the sexually explicit persona portrayed by Madonna on her previous album, Erotica, the singer wanted to tone down her image for Bedtime Stories. She started collaborating with Babyface, whose work with other musicians had impressed her, Take a Bow was developed from this collaboration, after Madonna listened to the beat and the chords of the demo structure of the song. Recorded at The Hit Factory Studios in New York, Take a Bow was backed by a full orchestra and it was also the first time that Babyface had worked with live strings, per Madonnas suggestion. Containing oriental pentatonic strings, giving the impression of Chinese or Japanese opera, Take a Bow lyrically talks about unrequited love and it received favorable reviews from music critics, who praised the songs soulful, poetic lyrics. It was a success in the United States, becoming Madonnas eleventh number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached number one in Canada, and the top ten in Italy, Switzerland, the single had moderate success in the United Kingdom, reaching number 16 on the UK Singles Chart, ending Madonnas record-holding string of 35 consecutive top-ten hits there. The music video for Take a Bow was directed by Michael Haussman, the video depicts Madonna as a bullfighters neglected lover, yearning for his love. It won the Best Female Video award at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, in order to promote Bedtime Stories, Madonna performed Take a Bow on a few occasions, including live with Babyface at the 1995 American Music Awards. In 2016, she added the song to the setlist of the Asian and Oceanian legs of her Rebel Heart Tour and her one-off Sydney concert Madonna, Madonna wanted to tone down her explicit image. Her first attempt was to release the tender ballad Ill Remember from the soundtrack of the film With Honors, musically, she wanted to move in a new musical direction and started exploring new-jack R&B styles with a generally mainstream, radio-friendly sound. It was included on her studio album, Bedtime Stories. I began the process by meeting with the hip-hop producers whose work I most admired and it was important, if I were to use a variety of collaborators, that the end product sound cohesive and thematically whole. I wasnt interested in the variety pack approach and she was also fond of Babyfaces song, When Can I See You from his third studio album For the Cool in You. The singers management called Babyface to set up a meeting and see if they wanted to work together, once met, both were surprised by their camaraderie and wanted to write songs. Madonna came over to Babyfaces house and after a couple of days they came up with two songs, One of them was based on a piece of music composed by Babyface, but he was not sure about its musical direction
25.
Peter Rauhofer
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Peter Rauhofer was a disc jockey, remixer and producer who formerly went under the moniker Club 69 as well as Size Queen. He was also behind the house record label Star 69 and was a frequent producer of the labels releases. Rauhofer was a popular DJ who spun throughout the United States and he was the former resident DJ at the weekly gay dance night held at the Roxy in New York, which closed its doors in 2007. Rauhofer was formerly the resident DJ of the gay dance party called Work and his party was held weekly at the Stereo nightclub in New York until March 3,2008 when the City invoked eminent domain and acquired the building. Work was an event, despite lacking a permanent venue. Rauhofer was mostly known for spinning tribal house and continued to many gay circuit party events. Memorial services were held from coast to coast and special events honoring Rauhofer continued into the Summer of 2013, Peter Rauhofer won the Grammy Award in 2000 for Best Remixer of the Year for his remix of Chers Believe. Rauhofer was also voted DJ of the Year in the 8th Annual JustCircuit Awards™, as was announced in March 2013 and by over 7,000 registered users of the Circuit Media portal, the Collaboration was a dance music project created by Rauhofer. Rauhofers first release as The Collaboration was Do It Properly, a 1999 track produced with Victor Calderone, the Collaboration moniker was then used by Rauhofer on Break 4 Love, a number one Hot Dance Music/Club Play hit featuring Pet Shop Boys. On Wednesday, April 17,2013, it was made public that Rauhofer was diagnosed with a brain tumor, a message was posted on his Facebook page by his friend and manager, Angelo Russo, informing friends and fans of the incident. On May 7,2013, Peter Rauhofer lost his battle with brain cancer, Russo posted an obituary on Rauhofers Facebook page
26.
Justify My Love
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Justify My Love is a song by American singer Madonna from her first greatest hits compilation album The Immaculate Collection. It was released on October 30,1990, by Sire Records as the single from The Immaculate Collection. The song was written by Lenny Kravitz and Ingrid Chavez, with lyrics by Madonna. Chavez was not credited on the song, which led to a lawsuit against Kravitz, Chavez settled out-of-court, the terms of which included a songwriting credit. Madonnas vocals are spoken and whispered, but almost never sung. Musically, Justify My Love is a trip hop inspired song, with mid-tempo settings, the lyrics of the song are primarily about sex and romance. Justify My Love received mixed reviews from critics, but was critically appreciated by many contemporary critics. The accompanying music video portrayed Madonna as a woman walking in a hallway, looking distressed and tired from work. It caused controversy worldwide, due to its explicit sexual images, the video, which contained imagery of sadomasochism, voyeurism, and bisexuality, made its US television debut December 3,1990 on ABC during its late-night news program Nightline. The song was part of the setlist of three of her tours, most recently being on her MDNA Tour in 2012. Kravitz added the hook and chorus to the demo while Madonna corrected one line. Chavez was not credited for the song and later sued Kravitz in 1992, she received an out-of-court settlement, when the lawsuit was settled, Chavezs attorney Steven E. Kurtz clarified that Madonnas additional writing credit was not questioned in the lawsuit. The song was released on November 6,1990, three days before the release of the compilation, the song was unusual in that Madonnas vocals are primarily spoken and whispered, but almost never sung. This style served as a prelude to her next album Erotica, Kravitz and Madonna provided background vocals. Composed as a song, Justify My Love is a trip hop inspired song. According to the music published at Musicnotes. com by Alfred Publishing. It is composed in the key of B major with Madonnas voice ranging from the nodes of A4 to D5. In a review for The Immaculate Collection, David Browne said that she introduced an adult pop, the song features heavy breathing with a backbeat
27.
Holiday (Madonna song)
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Holiday is a song by American singer Madonna from her eponymous debut studio album Madonna. Sire Records released it as the third single on September 7,1983. Holiday later appeared remixed on the remix compilation You Can Dance and the greatest hits compilation The Immaculate Collection, after accepting the song, she and Jellybean worked on it and altered its composition by the addition of a piano solo performed by their friend, Fred Zarr. Holiday features instrumentation from guitars, electronic handclaps, a cowbell, universally acclaimed by critics, the song became Madonnas first mainstream hit single in the United States, reaching the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. It also became her first top-ten single in several countries, including Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Madonna has performed Holiday on most of her tours and it is generally included as a part of the encore. Different performances of the song are included in the releases of her tours. Cover versions by a number of artists have released. In 1983, Madonna was recording her eponymous album with Warner Bros. Records producer Reggie Lucas. However, she did not have enough material for the album, Lucas brought two new songs to the project and John Jellybean Benitez, a DJ at Funhouse disco was called to remix the available tracks. It was Benitez who discovered a new song written by Curtis Hudson, the song, titled Holiday, had been turned down by Phyllis Hyman and Mary Wilson, formerly of The Supremes. Jellybean and Madonna sent the demo to their friend, Fred Zarr so he could embellish the arrangement, after the vocals were added by Madonna, Benitez spent four days and tried to enhance the commercial appeal of the track before the April 1983 deadline. Just before it was completed, Madonna and Benitez met Fred Zarr at Sigma Sound in Manhattan where Zarr added the now familiar piano solo towards the end of the track. Initially it was decided that Lucky Star would be released as a single, the original British cover art for Holiday did not carry Madonnas picture since Sire did not want the British people to find out that she was not a R&B artist. Instead it carried the picture of a station and an engine. During a 2005 interview with CBS News, Madonna said that Holiday was her favourite among all her songs, in the United Kingdom, Holiday has been released three times as a single, in January 1984, reaching number six, re-issued in August 1985 reaching number 2. Although the song was released to promote the greatest hits collection, it did not include the remix from the album. The photography used for the 1991 release was by Steven Meisel and had previously used for the February 1991 cover for Vogue Italia. Musically, Holiday is set in the signature of common time with a medium tempo of 116 beats per minute
28.
Die Another Day (song)
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Die Another Day is the theme song from the James Bond film of the same name by American singer and songwriter Madonna. The song initially leaked into the internet in early October 2002 prior to the official release and it was released commercially as a single on October 22 by Maverick Records and was later included on the singers ninth studio album, American Life, and her greatest hits compilation, Celebration. Following the release of the previous Bond single, The World Is Not Enough, MGM wanted a high-profile artist for the theme of Die Another Day and she wrote and produced the song with Mirwais Ahmadzaï while French composer Michel Colombier was enlisted as composer. While developing, the track went through numerous changes, after Madonna saw the initial version of the film she adapted the song to its theme, described as a metaphor for destroying ones ego. Ahmadzaï re-arranged Die Another Day at his home in Paris while Colombier finished the string sections in Los Angeles, an electroclash number, Die Another Day is a mixture of strings and interpolating electronic swirls, and stuttered editing on Madonnas voice, cutting the main signal on the chorus. It was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, the song was a commercial success, peaking at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was the top selling dance song in the US for both 2002 and 2003. Die Another Day reached the top of the charts in Canada, Italy, Romania and Spain, the music video was directed by Traktor, and was developed as an independent video from the film but contained Bond influences. It depicts Madonna as a prisoner in a chamber, alternating with scenes of a fencing duel between good and evil personas of the singer. Wounds inflicted on both fencers are mirrored on the imprisoned Madonna, and in the end she escapes being electrocuted in the chamber, the usage of Jewish religious texts and objects in the music video led to controversy, with Judaism scholars deeming it sacrilegious. Madonna has included the song on two of her tours, the first being the 2004 Re-Invention World Tour and again as a video interlude on the 2008–09 Sticky & Sweet Tour. After the September 11 attacks, Madonna was in a mood and started writing songs for her next studio album, American Life. Recording started in late 2001 but was put on hold as Madonna shot for her film Swept Away in Malta, in the meantime, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was filming the twentieth James Bond film, Die Another Day, directed by Lee Tamahori. The previous film in the franchise, The World Is Not Enough was a box office success earning US$362 million worldwide, however, the eponymous soundtrack single by alternative rock group Garbage failed to gain commercial success in the United States. The music management at MGM went to look for a high-profile artist to write, anita Camrata, executive vice president of MGM Music explained the choice in 2002, With every other artist, youre taking a chance. But with Madonna, she has a track record. She has written songs for films before and they were always perfect, by mid-February 2002 sources from the film set revealed that negotiations were under process for Madonna to sing the title song and make a cameo appearance in Die Another Day. According to MTV News, work began on the following the announcement. Colombier had worked with Madonna and Ahmadzaï on her single Dont Tell Me from Music, Madonna and Ahmadzaï went through their demo tracks for American Life and zeroed on one of the songs for the film
29.
John Lennon
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John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE was an English singer and songwriter who co-founded the Beatles, the most commercially successful and musically influential band in the history of popular music. He and fellow member Paul McCartney formed a songwriting partnership. Born and raised in Liverpool, Lennon became involved in the craze as a teenager, his first band, the Quarrymen, first became the Silver Beatles. After his marriage to Yoko Ono in 1969, he added Ono as one of his middle names, Lennon disengaged himself from the music business in 1975 to raise his infant son Sean, but re-emerged with Ono in 1980 with the new album Double Fantasy. He was murdered three weeks after its release, Lennon revealed a rebellious nature and acerbic wit in his music, writing, drawings, on film and in interviews. By 2012, Lennons solo album sales in the United States exceeded 14 million and, as writer, co-writer, or performer, he is responsible for 25 number-one singles on the US Hot 100 chart. In 2002, a BBC poll on the 100 Greatest Britons voted him eighth and, in 2008, Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth-greatest singer of all time. He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, in 1988 as a member of the Beatles and in 1994 as a solo artist. Lennon was born in war-time England, on 9 October 1940 at Liverpool Maternity Hospital, to Julia and Alfred Lennon, a merchant seaman of Irish descent and his parents named him John Winston Lennon after his paternal grandfather, John Jack Lennon, and then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill. When he eventually came home six months later, he offered to look after the family, after her sister, Mimi Smith, twice complained to Liverpools Social Services, Julia handed the care of Lennon over to her. In July 1946 Lennons father visited Smith and took his son to Blackpool, Julia followed them—with her partner at the time, Bobby Dykins—and after a heated argument his father forced the five-year-old to choose between them. Lennon twice chose his father, but as his mother walked away, he began to cry and followed her, according to author Mark Lewisohn, Lennons parents agreed that Julia should take him and give him a home as Alf left again. A witness who was there that day, Billy Hall, has said the scene often portrayed with a young John Lennon having to make a decision between his parents never happened. It would be 20 years before he had contact with his father again, Throughout the rest of his childhood and adolescence he lived at Mendips,251 Menlove Avenue, Woolton with his aunt and uncle, Mimi and George Smith, who had no children of their own. His aunt purchased volumes of stories for him, and his uncle. In September 1980, Lennon commented about his family and his rebellious nature, Part of me would like to be accepted by all facets of society, but I cannot be what I am not. I was the one who all the other boys parents—including Pauls father—would say, the parents instinctively recognised I was a troublemaker, meaning I did not conform and I would influence their children, which I did. I did my best to disrupt every friends home, partly out of envy that I didnt have this so-called home
30.
Imagine (John Lennon song)
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Imagine is a song written and performed by English musician John Lennon. Lennon and Yoko Ono co-produced the song and album of the name with Phil Spector. Recording began at Lennons home studio at Tittenhurst Park, England, in May 1971, with final overdubs taking place at the Record Plant, in New York City, during July. Although not originally released as a single in the United Kingdom, it was released in 1975 to promote a compilation LP, the song has since sold more than 1.6 million copies in the UK, it reached number one following Lennons murder in December 1980. In 1985, the Central Park Conservancy memorialized a portion of the park in honor of Lennon, called Strawberry Fields, BMI named Imagine one of the 100 most-performed songs of the 20th century. The song ranked number 30 on the Recording Industry Association of Americas list of the 365 Songs of the Century bearing the most historical significance. It earned a Grammy Hall of Fame Award and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fames 500 Songs that Shaped Rock, since 2005, event organisers have played it just before the New Years Times Square Ball drops in New York City. Dozens of artists have performed or recorded versions of Imagine, including Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Joan Baez, Elton John, Emeli Sandé recorded a cover for the BBC to use during the end credits montage at the close of the 2012 Summer Olympics coverage in August 2012. Imagine subsequently re-entered the UK Top 40, reaching number 18, Lennon later said the composition should be credited as a Lennon/Ono song. A lot of lyric and the concept—came from Yoko, but in those days I was a bit more selfish, a bit more macho, and I sort of omitted her contribution. If you can imagine a world at peace, with no denominations of religion—not without religion, the World Church called me once and asked, Can we use the lyrics to Imagine and just change it to Imagine one religion. That showed they didnt understand it at all and it would defeat the whole purpose of the song, the whole idea. With the combined influence of Cloud Piece and the book given to him by Gregory. Blaney wrote, Lennon contends that global harmony is within our reach, in the opinion of Blaney, with Imagine, Lennon attempted to raise peoples awareness of their interaction with the institutions that affect their lives. Rolling Stones David Fricke commented, calls for a unity and equality built upon the elimination of modern social order, geopolitical borders, organised religion. He told NME, There is no real Communist state in the world, Not the way some daft Russian might do it, or the Chinese might do it. Us, we should have a nice, Ono described the lyrical statement of Imagine as just what John believed, that we are all one country, one world, one people. Rolling Stone described its lyrics as 22 lines of graceful, plain-spoken faith in the power of a world, united in purpose, to repair and change itself
31.
Don't Tell Me (Madonna song)
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Dont Tell Me is a song by American singer Madonna from her eighth studio album Music. It was written by Madonna, Mirwais Ahmadzaï and Joe Henry and it was released as the second single from the album on November 21,2000 by Maverick Records. The song was included on the compilation albums GHV2 and Celebration. Dont Tell Me received positive reviews music critics, who cited the song as one of the albums standout. Madonna also received comparisons to Sheryl Crow on the track and it was commercially successful, reaching the number one in Canada, Italy and New Zealand, as well as the top five in several regions. The video received two nominations on the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, while also being nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Music Video, a number of references to the song and cover versions were made. In September 1999, it was announced that Madonna had reteamed with producer William Orbit for a possible follow-up to her studio album Ray of Light. Madonna was also signed to be on the film The Next Best Thing, in January 2000, Madonna announced that she was going to experiment with electronica on her then-upcoming album and was said to be venturing into the popular European dance style known as trance. In June 2000, Music, the lead-single from the album of the name, leaked online via fan sites and Napster over Memorial Day weekend. The song was a success worldwide, topping the charts of over 25 countries. Dont Tell Me was written by Madonna, Mirwais Ahmadzaï and Joe Henry, the demo of the song, entitled Stop, was first created by Henry at his home studio with string samples. Later, Henry played the demo for his wife and she said, You know and you should send it to her, you know, shes making a record in London right now. However, he claimed, If I was going to something to her, I could probably dig something up. Later, his wife sent Madonna a copy of the demo, after some time, he was talking to Madonna on the phone and she asked to rearrange the track to fit in better with the album, recording the song months later. Henry claimed in an interview that he was surprised that, lyrically, Dont Tell Me was written by Joe Henry with additional lyrics by Madonna and Mirwais Ahmadzaï, with the latter two also producing it. Ahmadzaï also provided programming, acoustic guitars and keyboards, while Michel Colombier arranged strings and it was composed using common time in the key of D major, with a moderate tempo of 100 beats per minute. Madonnas vocals range from the octave of G3 to the higher note of A♭4. Sonically, Dont Tell Me was considered a country meets dance track with trip hop beats infused with an acoustic folksy riff, during an interview for Interview Magazine, in March 2001, Madonna discussed the lyrics, stating, To me it is a romantic song
32.
Bitter Sweet Symphony
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Bitter Sweet Symphony is a song by English alternative rock band The Verve, and is the lead track on their third studio album, Urban Hymns. Consequently, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were added to the songwriting credits, Bitter Sweet Symphony was released on 16 June 1997 by Hut Recordings as the first single from the album, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart and stayed in the chart for three months. MTV played the video of the song frequently, in it, Richard Ashcroft sings the song while walking down a busy London pavement, oblivious to what is going on around and refusing to change his stride or direction throughout. In 1999, the song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song, the Rolling Stones song is itself strongly inspired from The Last Time from the Staple Singers. The Verve relinquished all of their royalties to Klein, owner of ABKCO Records, the Verve bassist Simon Jones said, We were told it was going to be a 50/50 split, and then they saw how well the record was doing. They rung up and said we want 100 percent or take it out of the shops, you dont have much choice. After losing the composer credits to the song, Ashcroft commented, This is the best song Jagger and Richards have written in 20 years, on Ashcrofts return to touring, the song traditionally ended the set list. Ashcroft also reworked the single for VH2 Live for the music channel VH1, also shows that ultimately take away the dressing, take away the strings, take away the sample, theres an actual song there. In a Cash for Questions interview with Q magazine published in January 1999 and he replied, Im out of whack here, this is serious lawyer shit. If The Verve can write a song, they can keep the money. In 1999, Andrew Oldham also sued for royalties after failing to receive the mechanical royalties he claimed he was owed, after receiving his royalties, Oldham joked that he bought a pretty presentable watch strap compared to the watch Jagger and Richards would get with the money. In an interview with Uncut Magazine, Oldham stated, As for Richard Ashcroft, well, songwriters have learned to call songs their children, and he thinks he wrote something. This was certainly the most successful track Ive done, noted producer Youth, I think Richard had actually cut a version with John Leckie but, by the time I came on board, he didnt want to do the song. I persuaded him to have a go at cutting a version and it was only once wed put strings on it that he started getting excited. Then, towards the end, Richard wanted to chuck all the album away, All I could say was, I really think you should reconsider. He repeatedly bumps into passers-by in a fashion, narrowly avoids being hit by a car. At the end of the video, the rest of The Verve join Ashcroft, and this then leads into the beginning of the video for The Drugs Dont Work. The music video was nominated for a number of awards, including three MTV Awards at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards
33.
Joe Henry
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Joseph Lee Joe Henry is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. He has released 13 studio albums and produced recordings for other artists. Henry was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, the state where his parents and he eventually grew up in Oakland Township, Michigan and attended Rochester Community Schools. He graduated from Rochester Adams High School, then attended and graduated from the University of Michigan, Henry moved to Brooklyn, NY in 1985 and began performing in local music venues. He released his first album Talk of Heaven in 1986, the album earned him a recording contract with A&M, which subsequently released the albums Murder of Crows in 1989 and Shuffletown in 1990. Shuffletown, produced by T-Bone Burnett, represented a shift in direction towards the alt country genre. Henrys next two recordings, Short Mans Room and Kindness of the World, utilized members of the band the Jayhawks. The song Kings Highway was later recorded by Joan Baez in 2003, for his 1996 album Trampoline, Henry incorporated guitarist Page Hamilton of Helmet and a reviewer at Trouserpress called the album idiosyncratic broadmindedness. 1999s Fuse was recorded with producers Daniel Lanois and T-Bone Burnett, the album was called an atmospheric marvel by one reviewer and Ann Powers of the New York Times wrote, Henry has found the sound that completes his verbal approach. Scar, released in 2001, featured jazz musicians Marc Ribot, Brian Blade, Brad Mehldau, 2003s self-produced Tiny Voices album was Henrys first recording on Epitaphs Anti label. Jurek described this album as the sound of. electric guitars in an abandoned yet fully furnished Tiki bar in Raymond Chandlers Los Angeles. Henrys wife talked him into letting her send Madonna, who is her sister, a demo of his song Stop, Henrys own tango-tinged version of the song appeared on Scar and was featured in an episode of The Sopranos. In the early 2000s, Henry was an member of the Independent Music Awards judging panel to support independent artists. In September 2006, Henry and Loudon Wainwright III began composing the music for the Judd Apatow movie Knocked Up in Henrys home studio, some instrumentals were used as background score for the film while other songs appeared on Wainwrights 2007 Strange Weirdos which Henry produced. In 2007, Henry released Civilians, which was described as a rich, the final track on the album, God Only Knows, was used in a TCM Remembers 2008 TV commercial. Bonnie Raitts 2012 album Slipstream, which Henry produced, contained versions of two songs from Civilians, in 2009, Henry released his ninth solo record, Blood from Stars which incorporates orchestral blues with guitarist Marc Ribot, pianist Jason Moran and his son on saxophone. The album focuses on facets of blues with a sprinkling of jazz, rock and pop, in May 2011, Henry released the album Reverie with simple acoustic instrumention on guitar, upright bass, piano and drums. When you listen to Reverie, especially on headphones, you can hear traffic in the background or a neighbor calling her dog and its not always a pristine recording environment
34.
Confessions on a Dance Floor
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Confessions on a Dance Floor is the tenth studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was released on November 9,2005 by Warner Bros, a complete departure from her previous studio album American Life, the album includes influences of 1970s and 1980s disco, as well as modern-day club music. Initially, she began working with Mirwais Ahmadzaï for the album, Madonna took her collaboration with Stuart Price who was overviewing her documentary Im Going to Tell You a Secret. The album was recorded at Prices home-studio where Madonna spent most of her time during the recordings. Musically, the album is structured like a DJs set, the songs are sequenced and blended together so that they are played continuously without any gaps. Songs on the sample and reference the music of other dance-oriented artists like ABBA, Donna Summer, the Pet Shop Boys. Madonna promoted the album through live performances and a promotional tour. She embarked on the Confessions Tour in 2006, which became the highest grossing tour ever for a female artist at that time, four singles were released from the album. Hung Up, the single, topped the charts in a total of 41 countries. According to Billboard, it was the most successful song of the decade. It was followed by Sorry which became Madonnas twelfth number-one single in the United Kingdom, get Together and Jump were released as the third and fourth singles respectively, both becoming top-ten hits in several countries. Most critics praised the album, calling it a return to form for Madonna, Madonna was honored with a Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album in 2007, as well as International Female Solo Artist at the 2006 BRIT Awards. Commercially, the peaked at number one in 40 countries. It has sold an estimated 12 million copies worldwide, retrospectively, Confessions on a Dance Floor was ranked third on The 99 Greatest Dance Albums of All Time by Vice magazine. Confessions on a Dance Floor merged elements from 1970s disco, 1980s electropop, Madonna decided to incorporate elements of disco in her songs, while trying not to remake her music from past, instead choosing to pay tribute towards artists like Bee Gees and Giorgio Moroder. The songs reflected Madonnas thoughts on love, fame and religion and it was the complete opposite direction from her previous studio effort American Life. The songs on album were a form of diatribe directed at the American society. However, Madonna decided to take a different direction with this album, regarding the development, Madonna commented, When I wrote American Life, I was very agitated by what was going on in the world around me, I was angry
35.
Hard Candy (Madonna album)
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Hard Candy is the eleventh studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was released on April 19,2008, by Warner Bros, the album was her final studio album with the record company, marking the end of a 25-year recording history. Madonna started working on the album in early 2007, and collaborated with Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, The Neptunes, the album has an overall R&B vibe, while remaining a dance-pop record at its core. The Pet Shop Boys were also asked to collaborate with Madonna on the album by Warner Bros. but the company later changed their mind. Madonna became interested in collaborating with Timberlake after hearing his 2006 album FutureSex/LoveSounds, together they developed a number of songs for the album, but the basis of the development was Pharrell Williams demos. Madonna had a number of written down for the album. They had intensive discussions among themselves before recording a song, later, Madonna recalled that most of the songs on Hard Candy were autobiographical in many respects. However, according to her this was not intentional and happened while she was in the process of developing the album. Madonna had initially decided to herself as the Black Madonna for the cover art, and call it the same. She instead named the album Hard Candy, which refers to the juxtaposition of toughness and sweetness, critical reaction to the album were generally favorable, though some reviewers condemned it for its attempt to harness the urban market. The album has more than 4 million copies worldwide. Three singles were released from the album, the first,4 Minutes, was a worldwide success, topping the charts in 21 countries and becoming Madonnas 37th Billboard Hot 100 top-ten hit. Other singles released were Give It 2 Me and Miles Away, to promote the album, Madonna went on a small promotional tour, where she played in three cities in small venues. The album received the majority of its promotion from the 2008–09 Sticky & Sweet Tour, in February 2007, Timbaland said that he was working with Madonna for her upcoming eleventh studio album. It was Madonnas last studio album for Warner Bros, Records, and following the release of a greatest hits collection, she would join Live Nation Artists, a new initiative launched by concert promoter Live Nation. In August 2007, Timbaland spoke about the development of the album to MTV News, together he and Justin Timberlake were confirmed to have worked on the album with Madonna and said that they wrote ten songs for her. Songs confirmed to have been developed were La, La and Candy Shop, Timbaland added, Me and Justin did the records. Her album is up there with Justins album, ah, man, theres this one song, we taking it back to You must be my luck-eee starrrr
36.
Ray of Light (song)
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Ray of Light is a song by American singer Madonna. It is the track from her seventh studio album Ray of Light. The song was included on the compilation albums GHV2 and Celebration. Lyrically, the song has a theme of freedom, the song has received critical acclaim by music critics, for its club-friendly, electronic sound, lyrics, and emotional warmth. The song was nominated for three Grammy Awards, for Record of the Year, Best Dance Recording, and Best Short Form Music Video. Ray of Light debuted and peaked at five on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart, internationally, the song reached the top five in Canada, Finland, Italy and the United Kingdom, and peaked at number one in Scotland and Spain. An accompanying music video for Ray of Light was directed by Jonas Åkerlund and shows scenes from different cities around the world, with Madonna singing the song in front of them. The video was acclaimed, receiving the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video. Later, Stefano Salvati accused her of plagiarizing the concept of a video he directed for Biagio Antonacci in 1994. The song has performed in three of Madonnas concert tours, most recently on her Sticky & Sweet Tour. It has been covered by a number of artists, and has featured in several elements of popular culture, such as on the FOX show Glee. A year later she started working on Ray of Light, her studio album. Madonna wrote songs with William Orbit, Patrick Leonard, Rick Nowels, the album would reflect the singers changed perspectives about life. Author Carol Benson noted that it was a spiritual dance record, with the crux of it based on Madonnas career, her journey. Motherhood had softened the singer emotionally, which was reflected in the songs and she started talking about ideas and used words which implied deep and personal thoughts, rather than the regular dance-floor anthemic tunes she had composed. Madonna worked primarily with Orbit after Guy Oseary, Maverick Recordss partner, phoned Orbit and he sent a 13-track digital audio tape to Madonna, and Ray of Light was among these tracks. It is based on the track Sepheryn, by English folk music duo Curtiss Maldoon, in 1996, English singer and songwriter Christine Leach, Maldoons niece, had recorded her version of the track
37.
USA Today
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USA Today is an internationally distributed American daily middle-market newspaper that serves as the flagship publication of its owner, the Gannett Company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15,1982, it operates from Gannetts corporate headquarters on Jones Branch Drive in McLean, Virginia and it is printed at 37 sites across the United States and at five additional sites internationally. USA Today is distributed in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, with an international edition distributed in Canada, Asia and the Pacific Islands, Gannett formally announced the launch of the paper on April 20,1982. USA Today began publishing on September 15,1982, initially launching in the Baltimore and Washington, on July 2,1984, the newspaper switched from a largely black-and-white to a color publication, featuring full color photography and graphics in all four sections. On April 8,1985, the paper published its first special bonus section, a 12-page section called Baseball 85, on May 6,1986, USA Today began printing production of its international edition in Switzerland. On April 15, USA Today launched an international printing site. On August 28,1995, an international publishing site was launched in Frankfurt, Germany, to print. On October 4,1999, USA Today began running advertisements on its front page for the first time. The paper launched a sixth printing site for its international edition on May 15,2000, in Milan, Italy, followed on July 10 by the launch of a printing facility in Charleroi. That November, USA Today migrated its operations from Gannetts previous corporate headquarters in Arlington, in 2010, USA Today launched the USA Today API for sharing data with partners of all types. On August 27,2010, USA Today announced that it would undergo a reorganization of its newsroom and it also announced that the paper would shift its focus away from print and place more emphasis on its digital platforms and launch of a new publication called USA Today Sports. On September 14,2012, USA Today underwent the first major redesign in its history, to accomplish this goal, Gannett migrated its newspaper and television station websites to the Presto platform and the USA Today site design throughout 2013 and 2014. On January 4,2014, USA Today acquired the book and film review website, on September 3,2014, USA Today announced that it would lay off roughly 70 employees in a restructuring of its newsroom and business operations. In October 2014, USA Today and OpenWager Inc. entered into a partnership to release a Bingo app called USA TODAY Bingo Cruise, USA Today is known for synthesizing news down to easy-to-read-and-comprehend stories. In the main edition circulated in the United States and some Canadian cities, each consists of four sections, News, Money, Sports. The international edition of the paper features two sections, News and Money in one, with Sports and Life in the other, atypical of most daily newspapers, the paper does not print on Saturdays and Sundays, the Friday edition serves as the weekend edition. USA Today prints each complete story on the front page of the section with the exception of the cover story. The cover story is a story that requires a jump
38.
T-shirt
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A T-shirt is a style of unisex fabric shirt, named after the T shape of the body and sleeves. It is normally associated with short sleeves, a round neck line known as a crew neck, T-shirts are generally made of a light, inexpensive fabric, and are easy to clean. Typically made of textile in a stockinette, or jersey. The majority of versions have a body made from a continuously woven tube, on a circular loom. The manufacture of T-shirts has become automated, and may include fabric cutting by laser or water jet. The T-shirt evolved from undergarments used in the 19th century, a V-neck T-shirt has a V-shaped neckline, as opposed to the round neckline of the more common crew neck shirt. The T-shirt evolved from undergarments used in the 19th century, first, the one-piece union suit underwear was cut into separate top and bottom garments, with the top long enough to tuck under the waistband of the bottoms. With and without buttons, they were adopted by miners and stevedores during the late 19th century as a convenient covering for hot environments. As slip-on garments without buttons, the earliest T-shirt dates back to sometime between the 1898 Spanish–American War and 1913, when the U. S. Navy began issuing them as undergarments and these were a crew-necked, short-sleeved, white cotton undershirt to be worn under a uniform. It became common for sailors and Marines in work parties, the early submarines and they soon became popular as a bottom layer of clothing for workers in various industries, including agriculture. The T-shirt was easily fitted, easily cleaned, and inexpensive, boys shirts were made in various colors and patterns. The word T-shirt became part of American English by the 1920s, following World War II, it became common to see veterans wearing their uniform trousers with their T-shirts as casual clothing. The shirts became more popular in the 1950s after Marlon Brando wore one in A Streetcar Named Desire, finally achieving status as fashionable, stand-alone. Often boys wore them while doing chores and playing outside, eventually opening up the idea of wearing them as general-purpose casual clothing, Printed T-shirts were in limited use by 1942 when an Air Corps Gunnery School T-shirt appeared on the cover of Life magazine. In the 1960s, printed T-shirts gained popularity for self-expression as well for advertisements, protests, current versions are available in many different designs and fabrics, and styles include crew-neck and V-neck shirts. T-shirts are among the most worn garments of clothing used today, T-shirts are especially popular with branding for companies or merchandise, as they are inexpensive to make and purchase. T-shirts were originally worn as undershirts, but are now worn frequently as the piece of clothing on the top half of the body, other than possibly a brassiere or, rarely. T-shirts have also become a medium for self-expression and advertising, with any combination of words, art
39.
Jean-Paul Gaultier
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Jean-Paul Gaultier is a French haute couture and prêt-à-porter fashion designer. Gaultier was the director of Hermès from 2003 to 2010. Jean-Paul Gaultier co-presented the popular television series Eurotrash with Antoine de Caunes, Gaultier grew up in the suburb of Paris. His mother was a clerk and his father an accountant and it was his maternal grandmother, Marie Garrabe, who introduced him to the world of fashion. He never received training as a designer. Instead, he started sending sketches to famous couture stylists at an early age, Pierre Cardin was impressed by his talent and hired him as an assistant in 1970. Afterwards he worked with Jacques Esterel in 1971 and Jean Patou later that year and his first individual collection was released in 1976, and his characteristic irreverent style dating from 1981 has led to his being known as the enfant terrible of French fashion. In 1985, he introduced man-skirts and promoted their use, especially kilts, in mens wardrobe, Gaultier has also worked in close collaboration with Wolford Hosiery. This earned him criticism and enormous popularity. At the end of the 1980s, Gaultier suffered some losses, including his boyfriend and business partner Francis Menuge. In 1988 Gaultier released a single titled How To Do That on Fontana records from which came one of the first ever single title remix albums Aow Tou Dou Zat on Mercury records. The album includes mixes by Norman Cook, J. J. Jeczalik, George Shilling, Mark Saunders, Latin Rascals, David Dorrell, Tim Atkins, Carl Atkins, co-written & produced by Tony Mansfield, video directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino. The album also featured a collaboration with accordion player Yvette Horner, starting in 1993, he co-hosted the Channel 4s program Eurotrash with Antoine de Caunes. Gaultier hosted the show until 1997, Gaultier was the creative director of Hermès from 2003 to 2010, where he succeeded Martin Margiela. He also designed furniture for the French furniture brand Roche Bobois. The exhibition in Paris, which took place from April to August 2015, was the subject of a documentary called Jean Paul Gaultier at the Grand Palais aired exclusively on Eurochannel. The Granny Gray hair color trend is attributed to Gualtier, whose Autumn/Winter 2011 show featured models in grey Beehives, in Spring 2015, his catwalk show at Paris Fashion Week featuring silver haired models again, as did the shows of other fashion designers, Chanel and Gareth Pugh. The trend soon took off among celebrities and the general public, in 2012, he was named as a member of the Jury for the Main Competition at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival
40.
Miu Miu
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Miu Miu is an Italian high fashion womens clothing and accessory brand and a fully owned subsidiary of Prada. It is headed by Miuccia Prada and headquartered in Milan, Italy, Miu Miu was established in 1993 by Miuccia Prada. The name was conceived from Miuccia Pradas family nickname, in 2012, Miu Miu launched the Womens Tales series. The campaign consisted of films that were produced in conjunction with high-profile female directors. The outcome was a list of short, silent films that featured Miu Mius collections, the first four short films premiered at the 69th Venice International Film Festival and were directed by Zoe Cassavetes, Lucrecia Martel, Giada Colagrande, and Massy Tadjedin. A fifth film that debut in 2013, was written and directed by Ava DuVernay, on May 17,2013, a statement against sexual harassment and gender discrimination at workplace was released by the UN Committee. In April 2013, an American Change. org petition against Miuccia Prada and this petition was against Miuccia Prada for countersuing a victim for voicing her opinion against sexual harassment. This petition damaged the brand image, on May 28,2013, The UN has backed former Prada employee Bovrisse over the sexual harassment and discrimination case of Prada. Vogue launched a news article, Prada Vs The UN with a comment, Anyone who buys from the Prada and Miu Miu brands are supporting a culture of discrimination and power harassment. Set to launch its first fragrance in 2015, Miu Mius new venture is backed by the agreement between Coty Inc. and Prada. This is the first time that Miu Miu has expanded outside the fashion, there are Miu Miu boutiques located on a global scale. Miu Miu opened its first independent store in China in the MIX in the city of Shenzhen in 2009. A new North American store was launched in Houston, Texas, in The Galleria during the summer of 2011 and in Short Hills, New Jersey, Miu Miu also opened their first Australian boutique at Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne. A second opened at Westfield Sydney in 2011, a branch opened in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2010 and is situated in the Frasers department store. In May 2011, Miu Miu appointed the actress Hailee Steinfeld to be the new face of the brand. For the 2012 campaign, a 34-year-old, U. S. model Guinevere Van Seenus was chosen, official website Miu Miu – brand and company profile at Fashion Model Directory Short info about Miu Miu Fashion Shows, Runway Collections and Fashion Tv
41.
Christian Lacroix
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Christian Marie Marc Lacroix is a French fashion designer. The name may refer to the company he founded. Lacroix was born in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône in southern France, at a young age he began sketching historical costumes and fashions. Lacroix graduated from school in 1969 and moved to Montpellier. In 1971, he enrolled at the Sorbonne in Paris, while working on a dissertation on dress in French 18th-century painting, Lacroix also pursued a program in museum studies at the École du Louvre. His aspiration during this time was to become a museum curator and it was during this time he met his future wife Françoise Rosenthiel, whom he married in 1974. In 1987, he opened his own couture house. He began putting out ready-to-wear in 1988 drawing inspiration from diverse cultures, critics commented that he did not seem to understand the type of clothing the working woman needed. In 1989, Lacroix launched jewelry, handbags, shoes, glasses, scarves, in this same year, he opened boutiques within Paris, Arles, Aix-en-Provence, Toulouse, London, Geneva, and Japan. With his background in historical costume and clothing, Lacroix soon made headlines with his opulent, fantasy creations, including the short skirt, rose prints. He referenced widely from other styles—from fashion history, from folklore and he favored the hot colors of the Mediterranean region, a hodgepodge of patterns, and experimental fabrics, sometimes handwoven in local workshops. From 1987 to its purchase from LVMH by Falic Fashion Group in 2005, in 2009, the fashion house, owned by duty-free retailer Falic Fashion Group, put the business into administration and laid off all but 12 workers. Lacroixs A/W2009 Haute Couture was privately financed by Lacroix and each model was paid €50, I didnt want to cry, said Lacroix I want to continue, maybe in a different way, with a small atelier. What I really care about is the women who do this work Lacroix said about his last Haute Couture collection, throughout its history, it never turned a profit and reported a €10 million loss in 2008. His collections during 1994 were based on old culture and folklore, as well as fables, in 1995, he launched a towel line which contained a fashion and lifestyle side, which represent how the two intertwine. In 1996, he launched a jeans line and he included past traditions from all around the world, continuing the line with even more on ethnic arts. In 1997, the Art de la Table line was launched by him in partnership with Christofle, a licensing agreement was also reached in this year with Pronuptian in which he could launch his Christian Lacroix Marriage line. In 1999, he launched his first line of floral perfume, in 2001, Lacroix also launched a childrens line and in 2002, he launched a perfume, Bazar, created by Bertrand Duchaufour, Jean-Claude Ellena and Emilie Copperman
42.
Baroque
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The style began around 1600 in Rome and Italy, and spread to most of Europe. The aristocracy viewed the dramatic style of Baroque art and architecture as a means of impressing visitors by projecting triumph, power, Baroque palaces are built around an entrance of courts, grand staircases, and reception rooms of sequentially increasing opulence. However, baroque has a resonance and application that extend beyond a reduction to either a style or period. It is also yields the Italian barocco and modern Spanish barroco, German Barock, Dutch Barok, others derive it from the mnemonic term Baroco, a supposedly laboured form of syllogism in logical Scholastica. The Latin root can be found in bis-roca, in informal usage, the word baroque can simply mean that something is elaborate, with many details, without reference to the Baroque styles of the 17th and 18th centuries. The word Baroque, like most periodic or stylistic designations, was invented by later critics rather than practitioners of the arts in the 17th, the term Baroque was initially used in a derogatory sense, to underline the excesses of its emphasis. In particular, the term was used to describe its eccentric redundancy and noisy abundance of details, although it was long thought that the word as a critical term was first applied to architecture, in fact it appears earlier in reference to music. Another hypothesis says that the word comes from precursors of the style, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and he did not make the distinctions between Mannerism and Baroque that modern writers do, and he ignored the later phase, the academic Baroque that lasted into the 18th century. Long despised, Baroque art and architecture became fashionable between the two World Wars, and has remained in critical favour. In painting the gradual rise in popular esteem of Caravaggio has been the best barometer of modern taste, William Watson describes a late phase of Shang-dynasty Chinese ritual bronzes of the 11th century BC as baroque. The term Baroque may still be used, usually pejoratively, describing works of art, craft, the appeal of Baroque style turned consciously from the witty, intellectual qualities of 16th-century Mannerist art to a visceral appeal aimed at the senses. It employed an iconography that was direct, simple, obvious, germinal ideas of the Baroque can also be found in the work of Michelangelo. Even more generalised parallels perceived by some experts in philosophy, prose style, see the Neapolitan palace of Caserta, a Baroque palace whose construction began in 1752. In paintings Baroque gestures are broader than Mannerist gestures, less ambiguous, less arcane and mysterious, more like the stage gestures of opera, Baroque poses depend on contrapposto, the tension within the figures that move the planes of shoulders and hips in counterdirections. Baroque is a style of unity imposed upon rich, heavy detail, Baroque style featured exaggerated lighting, intense emotions, release from restraint, and even a kind of artistic sensationalism. There were highly diverse strands of Italian baroque painting, from Caravaggio to Cortona, the most prominent Spanish painter of the Baroque was Diego Velázquez. The later Baroque style gradually gave way to a more decorative Rococo, while the Baroque nature of Rembrandts art is clear, the label is less often used for Vermeer and many other Dutch artists. Flemish Baroque painting shared a part in this trend, while continuing to produce the traditional categories
43.
Silhouette
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A silhouette is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single color, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the whole is typically presented on a background, usually white. The silhouette differs from an outline, which depicts the edge of an object in a linear form, while a silhouette appears as a solid shape. Silhouette images may be created in any visual media, but was first used to describe pieces of cut paper, which were then stuck to a backing in a contrasting colour. Other artists, especially from about 1790, drew an outline on paper, then painted it in, anything that appears this way, for example, a figure standing backlit in a doorway, may be described as in silhouette. Because of de Silhouettes austere economies, his name synonymous with anything done or made cheaply. Prior to the advent of photography, silhouette profiles cut from black card were the cheapest way of recording a persons appearance, the term silhouette, although existing from the 18th century, was not applied to the art of portrait-making until the 19th century. The silhouette is closely tied in mythology to the origins of art, pliny the Elder, in his Natural History Books XXXIV and XXXV, recounts the origin of painting. In Chapter 5 of Book XXXV, he writes, “We have no knowledge as to the commencement of the art of painting. The Egyptians assert that it was invented among themselves, six years before it passed into Greece. As to the Greeks, some say that it was invented at Sicyon, others at Corinth, but they all agree that it originated in tracing lines round the human shadow. “. In Chapter 15, he tells the story of Butades of Corinth, “Butades, a potter of Sicyon, was the first who invented, at Corinth, the art of modelling portraits in the earth which he used in his trade. Upon seeing this, her father filled in the outline, by compressing clay upon the surface, and so made a face in relief, the pots themselves exhibit strong forms in outline that are indicators of their purpose, as well as being decorative. For this reason profile portraits have been employed on coinage since the Roman era, the early Renaissance period saw a fashion for painted profile portraits and people such as Federico da Montefeltro and Ludovico Sforza were depicted in profile portraits. The profile portrait is linked to the silhouette. This is an important concept for artists who design characters for visual media, a silhouette portrait can be painted or drawn. However, the method of creating silhouette portraits is to cut them from lightweight black cardboard. This was the work of specialist artists, often working out of booths at fairs or markets, a traditional silhouette portrait artist would cut the likeness of a person, freehand, within a few minutes
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