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Popstar To Operastar (UK Series 2)
The second and final series of '' Popstar to Operastar'' began on 4 June 2011, with eight celebrities in competition to become an opera singer, after achieving success as a popstar. The judges were confirmed; with Rolando Villazón and Katherine Jenkins and two new judges Vanessa-Mae and Simon Callow, who took over the places of Meat Loaf and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. Myleene Klass returned as the presenter taking on sole presenting duties as Alan Titchmarsh did not return. Background On 4 August 2010 Group Finance Manager, Ian Griffiths, confirmed at ITV's Interim Results Meeting that ''Popstar to Operastar'' had been recommissioned for a second series. On 12 May 2011, Digital Spy revealed the full line-up for series 2: ''X Factor'' winner 2009 Joe McElderry, Ultravox frontman Midge Ure, Toploader's Joe Washbourn, Erasure's Andy Bell, Bucks Fizz's Cheryl Baker, The Pussycat Dolls' Melody Thornton, Steps' Claire Richards and US soul singer Jocelyn Brown. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rolando Villazón
Rolando Villazón Mauleón (born 22 February 1972) is a Mexican operatic tenor, stage director, author, radio and television personality and artistic director. He now lives in France, and in 2007 became a French citizen. Villazón has published several books, including the novels ''Malabares'' and ''Paladas de sombra contra la oscuridad'' which have been translated into French and German. He is a member of the 'Pataphysics#The Collège de 'Pataphysique, Collège de 'Pataphysique in Paris. Early life He was raised in Ciudad Satélite, Fuentes de Satélite, a suburban area of Greater Mexico City, Mexico. In an interview for Mexican television, Villazón told the story of how he was discovered as a tenor. He said that one day, as he was getting out of the shower in his apartment in Mexico City, somebody came knocking on his door; it was baritone Arturo Nieto, a friend of his neighbour, who had heard him singing while in the shower. He told Rolando he had an amazing voice and invited ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andy Bell (singer)
Andrew Ivan Bell (born 25 April 1964) is an English singer-songwriter and lead singer of the synth-pop duo Erasure. The band achieved mainstream success (receiving a Brit Award for Best British Group) and are popular within the LGBT community, for whom the openly gay Bell has become an icon. Erasure have penned over 200 songs and have sold over 25 million albums worldwide. They have achieved five consecutive number ones on the UK Albums Chart. Hit singles include " A Little Respect", " Sometimes" and "Always". Bell is known for his soulful voice and flamboyant stage persona, which contrast with bandmate Vince Clarke's low-key, deadpan demeanour. His solo career includes the studio albums '' Electric Blue'' (2005), '' Non-Stop'' (2010), and ''iPop'' (2014). Early life Bell grew up in the Dogsthorpe area of Peterborough. His family still reside in the city and surrounding areas such as Market Deeping. Bell was educated at the King's School in the city. Career In 1985, dur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Una Furtiva Lagrima
"" (A furtive tear) is the romanza from act 2, scene 3 of the Italian opera ''L'elisir d'amore'' by Gaetano Donizetti. It is sung by Nemorino (tenor) when it appears that the love potion he bought to win the heart of his dream lady, Adina, is working. He loves Adina, but she is not interested in an innocent, rustic man such as he. To win her heart, he buys a love potion with all the money he has in his pocket. It is actually a cheap red wine sold by a traveling quack doctor—but when he sees Adina weeping, he assumes the "elixir" has worked and she has fallen in love with him. Music In an opera about fake potions and feigned emotions, Donizetti invests this aria with considerable pathos. It is set in B minor, a dark key with often tragic associations. The aria's time signature is the compound metre of . It changes to B major on the words "Cielo! Si può morir!". Its vocal range is from F to A with a tessitura of B to A.The last occurrence of the word ''chiedo'' is a coloratura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss Jr. and Arthur Sullivan. His best-known works were continually revived during the 20th century, and many of his operettas continue to be staged in the 21st. ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' remains part of the standard opera repertory. Born in Cologne, the son of a synagogue cantor, Offenbach showed early musical talent. At the age of 14, he was accepted as a student at the Paris Conservatoire but found academic study unfulfilling and left after a year. From 1835 to 1855 he earned his living as a cellist, achieving international fame, and as a conductor. His ambition, however, was to compose comic pieces for the musical the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tales Of Hoffmann
''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in October 1880, four months before the premiere. Composition history and sources Offenbach saw a play, , written by Barbier and Michel Carré and produced at the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe, Odéon Theatre in Paris in 1851. After returning from America in 1876, Offenbach learned that Barbier had adapted the play, which had now set to music at the Opéra. Salomon handed the project to Offenbach. Work proceeded slowly, interrupted by the composition of profitable lighter works. Offenbach had a premonition, like Antonia, the heroine of Act 2, that he would die prior to its completion. Offenbach continued working on the opera throughout 1880, attending some rehearsals. On 5 October 1880, he died with the manuscript in his hand, just four m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bucks Fizz (band)
Bucks Fizz were a British pop group that achieved success in the 1980s, most notably for winning the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Making Your Mind Up". The group was formed in January 1981 specifically for the contest and comprised four vocalists: Bobby G, Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Jay Aston. They received attention for the dance routine which accompanied the song, in which the male members of the group ripped the female members' outer skirts off to reveal much shorter mini-skirts beneath. The group went on to have a successful career around the world (although they were commercially unsuccessful in the United States), but the UK remained their biggest market, where they had three No.1 singles with "Making Your Mind Up" (1981), " The Land of Make Believe" (1981) and "My Camera Never Lies" (1982) and became one of the top-selling groups of the 1980s. They also had UK Top 10 hits with "Now Those Days Are Gone" (1982), "If You Can't Stand the Heat" (1982), " Wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steps (band)
Steps are a British dance-pop group consisting of Lee Latchford-Evans, Claire Richards, Lisa Scott-Lee, Faye Tozer and Ian "H" Watkins. Steps were formed in May 1997 and achieved a series of charting singles between 1997 and 2001 including two number-one singles in the UK (one a double A-side), two number-one albums in the UK, 14 consecutive top 5 singles in the UK and a string of hits throughout Europe. The group has sold over 22 million records worldwide in addition to acquiring a BRIT Award nomination in 1999 for Best Newcomer while supporting Britney Spears on tour the same year. When Richards and Watkins departed to form a recording duo, the group disbanded on 26 December 2001. Their penultimate single reached number five in the UK charts while their final album of greatest hits, ''Gold'' (2001), was the group's second number-one album in the UK. Steps re-formed in May 2011 for a four-part documentary series on Sky Living titled ''Steps: Reunion''. The series starte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erasure (band)
Erasure () is an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously known as co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a member of synth-pop duo Yazoo. From their fourth single, " Sometimes" (1986), Erasure established themselves on the UK Singles Chart, becoming one of the most successful acts of the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. From 1986 to 2007, the pair achieved 24 consecutive top-40 entries in the UK singles chart. By 2009, 34 of their 37 chart-eligible singles and EPs had made the UK top 40, including 17 climbing into the top 10. At the 1989 Brit Awards, Erasure won the Brit Award for Best British Group. Beyond this mainstream commercial success, Erasure are also popular within the LGBT community, for whom the openly gay singer Andy Bell has become an icon in the UK. Overview Erasure made their debut with the studio album '' Wonderland'' in 1986, however i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pussycat Dolls
Pussycat or Pussy Cat may refer to: * Cat, a domestic feline Music Bands * Pussycat (band), a Dutch country and pop group * The Pussycats, a 1960s Norwegian rock band * The Pussycats, a group signed to Kama Sutra Records Albums * ''Pussy Cats'', by Harry Nilsson, 1974 * ''"Pussy Cats" Starring the Walkmen'', a cover of the 1974 album by the Walkmen, 2006 * ''Pussycat'' (album), by Juliana Hatfield, 2017 Songs * "Pussycat" (Wyclef Jean song), 2002 * "Pussy Cat", a song by the Ames Brothers, 1958 * "Pussycat", a song by Missy Elliott from '' Under Construction'' Other uses * "Pussy Cat Pussy Cat", an English nursery rhyme * Pussycat Theaters, a chain of adult movie theaters in California, US * Pussycat, one of Catwoman's minions, played by Lesley Gore, on the 1967 TV series ''Batman'' * Pussycat, a robot in the TV series '' Robot Wars'' * ''Josie and the Pussycats'', a list of media featuring a fictional rock band * '' The Adventures of Pussycat'', a 1968 black & white Marvel C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ultravox
Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was their 1981 hit "Vienna". From 1974 until 1979, singer John Foxx was frontman and the main driving force behind Ultravox. Foxx left the band in March 1979 to embark on a solo career and, following his departure, Midge Ure officially took over as lead singer, guitarist and frontman on 1st November 1979 (despite writing and rehearsing with the band from April of that year) after he and keyboardist Billy Currie worked in the studio project Visage. Ure revitalised the band and steered it to commercial chart success lasting until 1987, at which time the group disbanded. A new line-up, led by Currie, was formed in 1992, but achieved limited success, with two albums failing to chart and one solitary single reaching 90 in the UK Singles Chart. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanessa Mae
Vanessa-Mae (陈美 Chén Měi; born 27 October 1978) also called Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson, is a Singaporean-born British violinist with album sales reaching several million, having made her the wealthiest entertainer under 30 in the United Kingdom in 2006. She competed under the name Vanessa Vanakorn ( th, วาเนสซ่า วรรณกร; her father's surname) for Thailand in alpine skiing at the 2014 Winter Olympics. She was initially banned from skiing by the International Ski Federation (FIS) after participating in a qualifying race allegedly organised to enable her to qualify for the Winter Olympics. An appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport led to the ban being nullified, citing lack of evidence for her own wrongdoing or any manipulation. The FIS later issued an apology to her. Early life and education Vanessa-Mae was born on 27 October 1978 in Singapore, to Singaporean mother Pamela Soei Luang Tan and Thai father Vorapong Vanakorn. After adoption ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen
Laurence Roderick Llewelyn-Bowen (; born 11 March 1965) is an English interior designer and television personality best known for appearing on the BBC programme ''Changing Rooms''. Name He is sometimes credited as "Laurence Llewelyn", and the components of his name are sometimes misspelled, as "Lawrence". On ''Changing Rooms'', he is occasionally jocularly styled "Lord Laurence", a play on Laurence Olivier and Llewelyn-Bowen's flamboyance. Early life and education Laurence Roderick Bowen was born in 1965 in Kensington, London, to parents Trefor Llewellyn Bowen and Patricia (née Wilks). His father, an orthopaedic surgeon at Harley Street and, under the NHS, at St James' Hospital, Balham, South London, died of leukaemia in 1974, aged 42, when Laurence was nine. He went to primary school at Julians, in Leigham Court Road, Streatham, where his favourite subject was art, especially needlework. His mother, a teacher, died in 2002. He has a brother called Edward and a sister called ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
