Jaime King

Jaime King is an American film actress and model. In her modeling career and early film roles, she went by the names Jamie King and James King, which was a childhood nickname given to King by her parents,[1] because her agency already represented another Jaime — the older, then-more famous model Jaime Rishar.King, because of the latter name, is sometimes referred to as the "Model with a man's name".

Called by Complex magazine "one of the original model-turned-actresses",King appeared in Vogue, Mademoiselle, and Harper's Bazaar, among other fashion magazines. Afterwards, she began taking small film roles. Her first larger role was in Pearl Harbor (2001). Jaime's first starring movie role in Bulletproof Monk (2003). She has gone on to appear as a lead in various other films, gaining more note after Sin City (2005), a role which she will perform in its sequel Sin City 2 (2009).

King was born in the suburbs of Omaha, Nebraska, the daughter of Nancy King, a beauty queen, and Robert King. She has an older sister, Sandra, and a younger brother, Barry.King was named after Lindsay Wagner's character, Jaime Sommers, of the 1970s television series The Bionic Woman.King's parents separated in 1994,eventually divorcing amicably in 1995. The two continue to work together in Omaha where they rent out low-income apartments. King had attended the modeling school Nancy Bounds's Studios and later dropped out of Westside High School in 1995 to pursue a modeling career in New York, afterwards enrolling in a home-study program run by the University of Nebraska.

She was discovered in November 1993, at the age of fourteen, while attending Nancy Bounds' Studios, a school for modeling. After being spotted at her graduation fashion show by New York model agent Michael Flutie, King was invited to New York to begin modeling professionally. She joined with Company Management, who already represented Jaime Rishar, a more established model at the time. To avoid confusion, King opted to go by her childhood nickname, James, for the duration of her modeling career and later, the beginning of her film career. In March 1994 she traveled to New York for test pictures and received enthusiastic responses, however, she did not return to New York until July 1994, after gaining a successful advertisement for Abercrombie & Fitch. Much of fall and spring 1994 were spent commuting between Omaha and New York.

King had a successful early career as a fashion model, and by age fifteen she had been featured in the fasion magazines Vogue, Mademoiselle, Allure, and Seventeen. At sixteen, King had graced the pages of Glamour and Harper's Bazaar. She was featured in the cover story of the New York Times Magazine published on February 4, 1996 and had walked the runway for Chanel and Christian Dior. In 1998, she began co-hosting MTV's fashion series, House of Style, with fellow model turned actress Rebecca Romijn. Despite her success, King noted that she "remember the times where I was so alone" and thought she was "never gonna be able to be a kid.She, along with Kate Moss, had been often cited as those who helped popularize the idea of heroin chic in the 1990s.

In 2004, King, along with Halle Berry, Julianne Moore, and Eva Mendes were chosen as spokesmodels for a high profile ad campaign for Revlon. The advertisements were featured in print, television, theatrical, outdoor and Internet venues,banking on their spokeswomen's "collective star power" to sell the cosmetics products. In 2006, King was chosen by Rocawear CEO Jay-Z to become the new face of the line; her advertisements were featured for the winter 2006 season.

Shannon Elizabeth

Shannon Elizabeth is an American actress and former fashion model. Elizabeth came to prominence in the 1999 comedy film American Pie.

Elizabeth is Syrian and Lebanese from her father and her mother is Irish, English, German and Cherokee. She was born in Houston, Texas and raised in Waco, Texas.In high school, she was very much interested in tennis and at one point even considered a professional tennis career. She worked as a model before she began a career in film.

Elizabeth was in a relationship with actor Joseph D. Reitman for 10 years, including three years of marriage.The couple separated in March 2005,and Elizabeth filed for divorce in late June 2005.Some media outlets speculated that the cause of their breakup was Reitman assisting in a practical joke on Elizabeth for Ashton Kutcher's (who played her on-screen boyfriend Michael Kelso in That '70s Show) MTV television series Punk'd, a year before their divorce, which involved leading Elizabeth to think that she was caught on a sex tape.

Animal Avengers, a non-profit animal rescue organization founded by Elizabeth and her then-husband Reitman,is dedicated to rescuing and finding a home for homeless pets, reducing pet overpopulation, promoting responsible pet guardianship and preventing animal cruelty. Among the many fundraising events, Team Bodog raised over $50,000 for Animal Avengers in a celebrity poker night on October 8, 2005. The event was hosted by noted tournament director Matt Savage. Over the past year Shannon Elizabeth has participated in numerous other Bodog-sponsored charity events as well. After the September 11 attacks, Shannon recorded a public service announcement in which she said, "I'm half Arabic, but I am 100 percent American. What is going on affects me the same as everyone else.

Elizabeth is currently dating her former Dancing with the Stars partner Derek Hough. Elizabeth denied rumours of a marriage proposal from Hough, or that the couple was engaged.

Elizabeth, who describes poker as her "second career" has been called "one of the leading celebrity poker players."She visits Las Vegas up to three times each month to participate in poker games with the top players of the United States. Elizabeth played in the Main Event of the 2005 World Series of Poker and won a special tournament celebrating the opening of a new poker room at Caesars Palace hotel in January 2006, beating out 83 celebrities and poker professionals to win $55,000. She has also cashed four times in the World Series of Poker in 2006 and 2007,[12] but again busted out of the Main Event early. In 2007, she advanced to the semi-finals of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship in a field consisting of the top poker professionals before losing to eventual champion Paul Wasicka. Among the four opponents she defeated were three World Series of Poker multiple bracelet winners: Jeff Madsen, Barry Greenstein, and Humberto Brenes.

Ai Takahashi

Ai Takahashi

Ai Takahashi is a Japanese pop singer associated with Hello! Project, best known as the current leader of Morning Musume and member of its popular subgroup, Mini Moni.

Ai Takahashi joined Morning Musume in 2001 as part of the group's fifth generation, along with Makoto Ogawa, Asami Konno, and Risa Niigaki. Her debut appearance with the group was on their single Mr. Moonlight Ai no Big Band, and her first appearance on a Morning Musume full-length release was their fourth studio album, the appropriately named 4th Ikimasshoi!. Her first appearance within a Hello! Project shuffle unit release was on the 2002 single "Shiawase Beam! Suki Suki Beam!" under the group name Happy 7.

In 2003, Takahashi replaced Mari Yaguchi in the Morning Musume spinoff group Mini Moni, first appearing in the group's movie Mini Moni ja Movie: Okashi na Daibōken! and its accompanying soundtrack. Her best-known nickname amongst non-Japanese fans, "Takitty", was derived from the cat suit which she wears in the movie.

Later in 2003, she was part of the Morning Musume splinter group Morning Musume Sakuragumi, which performed mainly slower numbers on the group's two EPs, "Hare Ame Nochi Suki" and "Sakura Mankai", and the shuffle group 7Air, an R&B-inspired septet.

Takahashi's vocals became more prominent on the second and final Mini Moni album, Mini Moni Songs 2 (2004), as well as on Morning Musume's singles from their Spring 2004 release "Roman My Dear Boy" onward. She also had a duet with Tsunku on the cover version of Tsunku and Ayumi Hamasaki's duet "Love ~since 1999~" on his solo album Take1.

In 2005, Morning Musume's first single release of the year, "The Manpower!!!", featured Takahashi in a prominent co-lead-vocal role, a role she has retained on subsequent singles since. In the summer of that year, she became part of the 2005 shuffle Group Elegies.

In 2006, Takahashi played the lead role, Sapphire, in the musical "Ribbon no Kishi The Musical" which was a collaboration work of Takarazuka Revue and Hello! Project. The musical was based on Tezuka Osamu's manga and also starred v-u-den, Nozomi Tsuji, Aya Matsuura, and Natsumi Abe, as well as Marcia and Kaoru Ebira of the Takarazuka Revue. Soon thereafter, Takahashi released her first and only solo single to date, "Yume Kara Samete".

Following then-leader Hitomi Yoshizawa's graduation from Morning Musume on May 6, 2007, the current sub-leader, Miki Fujimoto ascended to the leader position, with Takahashi becoming the new sub-leader of the group. However, on June 1, 2007, after Fujimoto's resignation,Takahashi took over as the new leader.

Takahashi is also captain of the Hello! Project kickball team, Metro Rabbits H.P..

In 2008 Takahashi became a member of Hello Project's new unit High-King,a group created to promote Morning Musume's upcoming Cinderella the Musical, in which Takahashi will play the main character.

It was announced in July 2008, that Takahashi and fellow Morning Musume member Risa Niigaki would play the 80s J-Pop duo Pink Lady in the TV Drama Hitmaker Aku Yuu Monogatari.

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Vanessa Anne Hudgens

Vanessa Anne Hudgens

Vanessa Anne Hudgens is an Filipino American actress and singer. She made her debut in 2003 appearing in the Hollywood films Thirteen and Thunderbirds, before reaching fame in 2006 after appearing in the Disney Channel film High School Musical hit series. Hudgens began a music career and released her debut album, V, in 2006. In 2007, Hudgens became the spokesperson for Neutrogena. Her sophomore album, Identified, will be released July 1, 2008.

Hudgens was born in Salinas, California, the daughter of Gina and Greg Hudgens.She has a younger sister, Stella Hudgens. Hudgens's father is an American of Irish and Native American descent, and her mother, who grew up in Manila, is a Filipino-born of Filipino descent.Hudgens has been home-schooled since after her seventh-grade year at the Orange County High School of the Arts.

Hudgens' largest role among teenage audiences has been starring in the Disney Channel movie High School Musical, High School Musical 2 and will reprise her role in High School Musical 3: Senior Year starring as the shy, intelligent student Gabriella Montez. Hudgens and Efron had won "Best Chemistry" award at the Teen Choice Awards for their roles.The first High School Musical spawned a hit soundtrack, a worldwide concert tour, a show at Walt Disney World, and even a book series that helped Hudgens land in Forbes magazine's list of top-earning stars under 21." In the list, the 18-year-old Hudgens was No. 7 with estimated earnings of $2 million.

Hudgens' debut album, entitled V, was released in early September 2006. She is signed with Hollywood Records, a Disney-owned record label. A music video for her first single, "Come Back To Me", debuted after the world premiere of The Cheetah Girls 2 in late August. The official music video for her second single, "Say OK", was first shown following the premiere of Disney's Jump In!.

On September 6, 2007, controversy erupted after provocative photos of Hudgens surfaced online. Two showed her posing in suggestive lingerie, and another showed her nude. A statement from her publicist claims that the photo was taken privately and it was "unfortunate" that they were released on the Internet.Hudgens later apologized, saying that she was "embarrassed over the situation" and regretted having taken photos.Disney Channel spokeswoman Patti McTeague indicated that Disney will still be working with Hudgens, stating, "Vanessa has apologized for what was obviously a lapse in judgment. We hope she's learned a valuable lesson.

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Mandy Moore

Mandy Moore

Mandy Moore is an American pop singer, songwriter, actress, and fashion designer. She grew up in Florida and came to fame as a teenager in the early 2000s, after the release of her teen-oriented pop albums So Real, I Wanna Be with You, and Mandy Moore. Moore has branched out into a film career, starring in 2002's A Walk to Remember and later appearing in the lead roles of other movies also aimed at teenage audiences. Two of her later films, American Dreamz and Saved!, were satires in which Moore portrayed darker characters than in her previous roles. Moore's private life, including her relationships with tennis player Andy Roddick as well as with actors Wilmer Valderrama and Zach Braff, has been much discussed in the media. Moore's fifth album, Wild Hope, was released in 2007.

Moore was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, the daughter of Stacy, a former news reporter who once worked for the Orlando Sentinel, and Don Moore, a pilot for American Airlines.Moore's father is of Irish and Cherokee descent and her mother is of English and Jewish ancestry.Moore has two brothers, Scott and Kyle; she grew up in Altamonte Springs, Florida, outside of Orlando, moving there shortly after her birth because of her father's job as an airline pilot.[5] She was raised in the Catholic religion and attended Bishop Moore High School,a Catholic school in Orlando, as well as Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs.

she was also encouraged to perform by her maternal grandmother, who was her inspiration.Some of Moore's first public exposure occurred when she sang the national anthem at several Florida sporting events. She subsequently came to the attention of the head of A&R at Epic Records after his friend, a FedEx employee, overheard her as she sang at a recording studio.She was then signed to a record deal with the label.

Moore toured with the Backstreet Boys throughout 1999.Her first album, So Real, was released in December that year and reached #31 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart.At the time of the album's release, reviewers considered Moore the latest in a series of heavily-marketed female singers described as "pop princesses", akin to Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Jessica Simpson.Entertainment Weekly's review noted that Moore's songs, revolving around "not-yet-experienced love", were performed with "suffocating professionalism", and that the album's ballads were "nauseating".Moore reached mainstream radio later and at a younger age than Simpson, Aguilera and Spears had, and was initially not as successful as they were, although So Real was certified platinum in the U.S. in early 2000 and sold nearly one million copies.Moore's debut teen-oriented pop hit single "Candy", which Yahoo! Movies described as "strangely provocative",peaked just outside the top forty on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold.The single was more successful in Europe especially in the UK where it reached number 6. All Music Guide noted the single was "mediocre" and "typical", containing lyrics that described love "in terms of sugar treats".The video for Candy features a "blink and you'll miss it" cameo from a young Scarlett Johansson, as a girl on a swingset.

Moore released I Wanna Be with You, a re-worked version of her debut album, in May 2000.The album, which was mostly completed with synthesizers, bass, guitar, and drums,comprised new songs alongside tracks and remixes from So Real. Several reviewers criticized it on the basis that it was a remix album and not a true follow-up,with All Music Guide writing that its style was "trashier, flashier, gaudier, and altogether more disposable" than its predecessor.

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