Corked Wine and Cigarettes: May 2011

Susan Boyle is not expecting 2011 best

Susan Magdalane Boyle (born 1 April 1961is a Scottish singer who came to international public attention when she appeared as a contestant on reality TV programme Britain's Got Talent on 11 April 2009, singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables. Her first album was released in November 2009 and debuted as the number one best-selling CD on charts around the globe.

Global interest in Boyle was triggered by the contrast between her powerful voice and her plain appearance on stage. The juxtaposition of the audience's first impression of her, with the standing ovation she received during and after her performance, led to an international media and internet response. Within nine days of the audition, videos of Boyle—from the show, various interviews and her 1999 rendition of "Cry Me a River" – had been watched over 100 million times Her audition video has been viewed on the internet several hundred million times Despite the sustained media interest she later finished in second place in the final of the show behind dance troupe Diversity.

Boyle's first album, I Dreamed a Dream, was released on 23 November 2009 and became Amazon's best-selling album in pre-sales According to Billboard, "The arrival of I Dreamed a Dream ... marks the best opening week for a female artist's debut album since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991 In only six weeks of sales, it became the biggest selling album in the world for 2009, selling 9 million copies In September 2010, Boyle was officially recognised by Guinness World Records as having had the fastest selling debut album by a female artist in the UK, the most successful first week sales of a debut album in the UK, and was also awarded the record for being the oldest person to reach number one with a debut album in the UK
* 1 Biography
o 1.1 Early singing
* 2 Music career
o 2.1 Britain's Got Talent
o 2.2 I Dreamed a Dream and tour (2009)
o 2.3 The Gift (2010–present)
* 3 Media impact
o 3.1 Musical biography
* 4 Social analyses
o 4.1 Judging by appearance
o 4.2 Feminist view
o 4.3 'American Dream'
* 5 Cultural references
* 6 Discography
o 6.1 Studio albums
o 6.2 Singles
+ 6.2.1 Featured singles
* 7 Awards and nominations
* 8 References
* 9 External links

Boyle was born in Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland to Patrick Boyle, a miner, World War II veteran and singer at the Bishop's Blaize, and Bridget, a shorthand typist,who were both immigrants from County Donegal, IrelandShe was the youngest of four brothers and six sisters Born when her mother was 47, Boyle was briefly deprived of oxygen during the difficult birth and was later diagnosed as having learning difficulties Boyle says she was bullied as a childand was nicknamed "Susie Simple" at school.

After leaving school with few qualifications,she was employed for the only time in her life as a trainee cook in the kitchen of West Lothian College for six months, took part in government training programmesand performed at a number of local venues

Boyle still lives in the family home, a four-bedroom council house, with her 10-year-old cat, Pebbles Her father died in the 1990s, and her siblings had left home. Boyle never married, and she dedicated herself to care for her ageing mother until she died in 2007 at the age of 91. Boyle has a reputation for modesty and propriety, admitting during her first appearance on Britain's Got Talent that she had "never been married, never been kissed In fairness her claim of never 'having been kissed' may well have represented a Scottish form of self-mocking humour. A neighbour reported that when Bridget Boyle died, her daughter "wouldn't come out for three or four days or answer the door or phone.

Boyle is a practising Roman Catholic and sang in her church choir at her church in Blackburn Boyle remains active as a volunteer at her church, visiting elderly members of the congregation in their homes On a 2010 episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show, Boyle summarised that her daily life was "mundane" and "routine" prior to stardom.

Susan Boyle

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Deryck Whibley & Avril Lavigne Arista Records

Avril Ramona Lavigne (pronunciation: /ˈævrɪl ləˈviːn/ av-ril lə-veen), born 27 September 1984, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, fashion designer, actress, and philanthropist. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent the majority of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista (now RCA Records) worth more than $2 million. When she was 17 years old, Lavigne broke onto the music scene with her debut album, Let Go, released in 2002.

Let Go made Lavigne the youngest female soloist to reach No. 1 in the UK, and the album was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. By 2009, over 16 million copies had been sold worldwide. Her breakthrough single, "Complicated", peaked at No. 1 in many countries around the world, as did the album Let Go. Her second album, Under My Skin, was released in 2004 and was her first album to peak at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200, eventually selling more than 10 million copies worldwide. The Best Damn Thing, Lavigne’s third album, was released in 2007, becoming her third No. 1 album in the UK Albums Chart and featuring her first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single, "Girlfriend". Lavigne has scored a total of five No. 1 singles worldwide, including "Complicated", "Sk8er Boi", "I'm With You", "My Happy Ending" and "Girlfriend". With more than 30 million copies of her albums sold worldwide, Lavigne is currently one of the top-selling artists releasing albums in the U.S., with over 10.25 million copies certified by the RIAA. Her fourth studio album, Goodbye Lullaby, was released in March 2011. Goodbye Lullaby gave Lavigne her fourth top 10 album on the U.S. Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart and her third No. 1 album in both Japan and Australia.

Lavigne branched out from recording music, pursuing careers in feature film acting and designing clothes and perfumes. She voiced a character in the animated film, Over the Hedge, in 2006. That same year, she made her on-screen feature film debut in Fast Food Nation. In 2008, Lavigne introduced her clothing line, Abbey Dawn, and in 2009, she released her first perfume, Black Star, which was followed by her second perfume, Forbidden Rose, in 2010. In July 2006, Lavigne married her boyfriend of two years, Deryck Whibley, lead singer and guitarist for Sum 41. The marriage lasted a little over three years, and in October 2009, Lavigne filed for divorce. Whibley and Lavigne continued to work together, with Whibley producing her fourth album, as well as Lavigne's single, "Alice", written for Tim Burton's film Alice in Wonderland.

* 1 Early life
* 2 Music career
o 2.1 2000–03: Let Go
o 2.2 2004–05: Under My Skin
o 2.3 2006–08: The Best Damn Thing
o 2.4 2009–present: Goodbye Lullaby
* 3 Musical style and songwriting
* 4 Other work
o 4.1 Film career
o 4.2 Entrepreneurship
o 4.3 Philanthropy
* 5 Personal life
o 5.1 Public image
o 5.2 Tattoos
o 5.3 Marriage to Deryck Whibley
* 6 Backing band
* 7 Filmography
* 8 Discography
* 9 See also
* 10 References
* 11 External links

Avril Ramona Lavigne was born in Belleville, Ontario. Her father, Jean-Claude Lavigne, named her "Avril" after the French word for the month of April. At the age of two, she began singing church songs along with her mother Judith-Rosanne "Judy" (née Loshaw). Judy recognized her two year old daughter's talents after hearing her sing "Jesus Loves Me" in churchLavigne has an older brother, Matthew, and a younger sister, Michelle,[3] both of whom teased her when she sang. "My brother used to knock on the wall because I used to sing myself to sleep and he thought it was really annoying.

When Lavigne was five years old, the family moved to Napanee, Ontario,a town with an approximate population of 5,000 Although she struggled with paying attention in school, sometimes getting kicked out of class for misbehaving, her parents were supportive of her singing. Her father bought her a microphone, a drum kit, a keyboard, several guitars, and converted their basement into a studio. When Lavigne was 14, her parents would take her to karaoke sessions.Lavigne also performed at country fairs, singing songs by Garth Brooks, The Dixie Chicks, and Shania Twain. She also began writing her own songs. Her first song was called "Can't Stop Thinking About You", about a teenage crush, which she described as "cheesy cute
“ I’ve known all my life that this is what I was supposed to do.... Visualizing like what it would be like to be famous with my music. And always just dreaming, always daydreaming. ”

In 1999, Lavigne won a radio contest to perform with fellow Canadian singer Shania Twain at the Corel Centre (now Scotiabank Place) in Ottawa, before an audience of 20,000 people and Lavigne sang "What Made You Say That and Lavigne told Twain she was going to be "a famous singer During a performance with the Lennox Community Theatre, Lavigne was spotted by local folk singer Stephen Medd. He invited her to contribute vocals on his song, "Touch the Sky", for his 1999 album, Quinte Spirit. She later sang on "Temple of Life" and "Two Rivers" for his follow-up album, My Window to You, in 2000. In December 1999, Lavigne was discovered by her first professional manager, Cliff Fabri, while singing country covers at a Chapters bookstore in Kingston, Ontario. Fabri sent out VHS tapes of Lavigne's home performances to several industry prospects, and Lavigne was visited by several executives. Mark Jowett, co-founder of the Canadian management firm Nettwerk, received a copy of Lavigne's karaoke performances recorded in her parents' basement and arranged for Lavigne to work with Peter Zizzo in New York during the summer of 2000, where she wrote the song "Why?". It was on a subsequent trip to New York that Lavigne was noticed by Arista Records

Avril Lavigne

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Princess Beatrice and Lucy Rich Photostream

Princess Beatrice of York (Beatrice Elizabeth Mary; born 8 August 1988) is the elder daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York. She is fifth, and the first female, in the line of succession to the thrones of 16 independent states.

As a university student, Beatrice does not regularly carry out official royal duties; however, she does sometimes make appearances with the Royal Family at events, such as when she and her sister, Princess Eugenie, represented their father at a service of thanksgiving for her late aunt Diana, Princess of Wales, in 2007.

* 1 Early life
* 2 Education
* 3 Personal interests
* 4 Official duties
* 5 Titles, styles, honours and arms
o 5.1 Titles and styles
o 5.2 Arms
* 6 Ancestry
* 7 References
* 8 External links

Beatrice was born at the Portland Hospital on 8 August 1988, at 6 lbs. 12oz. (3.06 kg), the first child of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York, and fifth grandchild of HM Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. She was baptised in the Chapel Royal at St. James's Palace on 20 December 1988, her godparents being: Viscount Linley (her paternal cousin); the Duchess of Roxburghe (now Lady Jane Dawnay); The Hon Mrs John Greenall; and Mrs Henry Cotterell.She was named after Princess Beatrice, youngest daughter of Queen Victoria and Queen Mary, the Queen's grandmother and the Duchess' mother's second name As a male-line grandchild of the sovereign, Beatrice was styled Her Royal Highness with the title Princess Beatrice of York.

Beatrice and her sister are the only granddaughters of the Queen to hold the title of princess and the style Her Royal Highness. Although, by Letters Patent issued by King George V, their cousin Lady Louise Windsor, is legally a princess, she is not styled as such at the request of her parents and the Queen. Their other cousin, Zara Phillips, is the Queen's granddaughter through the female line, therefore allowing her only the title and style of her father, Captain Mark Phillips.

Beatrice began her early education at the independent Upton House School in Windsor, in 1991. From there, she and her sister both attended the independent Coworth Park School from 1995. Beatrice continued her education at the independent St. George's School in Ascot, where she was a pupil from 2000 to 2007. Having been diagnosed with dyslexia as a child, she delayed sitting her GCSE exams for one year. She remained at St. George's to take her A-Levels, gaining a grade A in drama, and B grades in history and film studies She was elected Head Girl in her final year

In September 2008, Beatrice started a degree in history at Goldsmiths, University of London, to graduate in 2011