Oscar Pistorius

Oscar Carl Lennard Pistorius OIB, born 22 November 1986) is a South African sprint runner and convicted murderer. Both of Pistorius' legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old. He was the first athlete to compete at the Paralympic games and Olympic games, competing in sprint events for below-knee amputees in Paralympic events, and in able-bodied sprint events.

After becoming a Paralympic champion, Pistorius attempted to enter able-bodied international competition, over persistent objections of the IAAF and charges that his artificial limbs gave an unfair advantage. Pistorius eventually prevailed in this legal dispute. At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, Pistorius became the first amputee to win an able-bodied world track medal. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Pistorius became the first double leg amputee to participate in the Olympics when he entered the men's 400 metres and 4 × 400 metres relay races. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics, Pistorius won gold medals in the men's 400-metre race and in the 4 × 100 metres relay, setting world records in both events. He also took silver in the 200-metre race, having set a world record in the semifinal.

On Valentine's Day 2013, Pistorius fatally shot his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, in his Pretoria home. He said he had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder hiding in the bathroom, but he was arrested and charged with murder. At his trial the following year, Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide. He received a five-year prison sentence for culpable homicide and a concurrent three-year suspended prison sentence for a separate reckless endangerment conviction. In November, prosecutors asked the sentencing judge for permission to appeal the verdict. Permission was granted in December, and the case was presented to a five-person panel at the Supreme Court of Appeal. His release from prison to house arrest was announced for 21 August 2015, but this was placed "on hold" on 19 August. On 15 October 2015 it was confirmed that Pistorius was to be released from prison on 20 October; however, he was released on 19 October. On 3 December 2015 the Appeal Court overturned the culpable homicide verdict and convicted him of murder. On 8 December 2015 Pistorius was bailed to house arrest pending an appeal to the South African Constitutional Court. His appeal was denied on 3 March 2016. Pistorius is next due in court on 13 June 2016 to be sentenced for the murder conviction; the hearing will last 5 days concluding on 17 June 2016.

Pistorius competes in T44 (single below-knee amputees) events though he is actually classified in T43 (double below knee amputee). Sometimes referred to as the "Blade Runner" and "the fastest man on no legs", Pistorius took part in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens and came third overall in the T44 (one leg amputated below the knee) 100-metre event. Despite falling in the preliminary round for the 200 metres, he qualified for the final.He went on to win the final in a world record time of 21.97 seconds, beating a pair of American runners both possessing a single amputation, Marlon Shirley and Brian Frasure.

In 2005, Pistorius finished sixth in the able-bodied South African Championships over 400 metres with a world-record time of 47.34 seconds, and at the Paralympic World Cup in the same year, he won gold in the 100 metres and 200 metres, beating his previous 200-metre world record. At the 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships, Pistorius won gold in the 100-, 200- and 400-metre events, breaking the world record over 200 metres. On 17 March 2007, he set a disability sports world record for the 400 metres (46.56 seconds) at the South African Senior Athletics Championships in Durban; and at the Nedbank Championships for the Physically Disabled held in Johannesburg in April 2007, he became the world record holder of the 100- and 200-metre events with times of 10.91 and 21.58 seconds respectively.

Pistorius was invited by the IAAF to take part in what would have been his first international able-bodied event, the 400-metre race at the IAAF Grand Prix in Helsinki, Finland, in July 2005. He was unable to attend, however, because of school commitments. On 13 July 2007, Pistorius ran in the 400-metre race at Rome's Golden Gala and finished second in run B with a time of 46.90 seconds, behind Stefano Braciola who ran 46.72 seconds. This was a warm-up for his appearance at the 400 metres at the Norwich Union British Grand Prix at the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield on 15 July 2007. As American Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner stumbled at the start of the race and stopped running, Pistorius took seventh place in a field of eight in wet conditions with a time of 47.65 seconds. However, he was later disqualified for running outside his lane. The race was won by American Angelo Taylor with a time of 45.25 seconds.Pistorius had ambitions of competing in other able-bodied events. In particular, he had set his sights on competing at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, but was ultimately not selected by the South African Olympic Committee

Welsh Tories launch new website

Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies hopes a new party website will encourage more people to engage with the political process in Wales.

At the launch of the Tory's Your Voice online site, and Mr Davies said it was an "easy-to-use" webpage aimed at encouraging debate and contributions which could shape party policy in the future.

"One thing I think many politicians are not focusing on is how to increase voter participation," he told reporters in the Senedd.

"If you had someone's lists of top 10 priorities in politics and Wales, around eight of those would come under the remit of the Welsh Assembly and yet we only get a maximum 45% turnout for elections.

"This isn't just a one off. This is building into the package that we started back in January with our (community) forums and we will be holding more of them as they year progresses.

"Obviously it will be monitored (for abusive content) but I hope that people will see it as at a positive engagment.

Jenny McCarthy

Jennifer Ann "Jenny" McCarthy (born November 1, 1972) is an American model, comedian, actress, author and activist. She began her career as a Playboy magazine model in 1993, before launching a television and film acting career. Most recently, she has written books about parenting, and has become an activist promoting controversial claims that vaccines cause autism and that chelation therapy is effective against autism.

Early life

McCarthy was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her middle-class Irish Catholic family lived in the West Elsdon neighborhood of Chicago. She is the second of four daughters; her sisters are named Lynette, Joanne and Amy. Her cousin is Melissa McCarthy of Gilmore Girls fame. McCarthy's mother, Linda, was a housewife and courtroom custodian, and her father, Dan McCarthy, was a steel mill foreman. She attended St. Turibius Grade School on Chicago's South Side. As a teenager, McCarthy attended Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School (whose school sweater she donned in the pages of Playboy) and was a cheerleader at both Brother Rice High School and St. Laurence High Schools, although she has referred to herself as an "outcast" at her school.After McCarthy graduated from high school, she attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale to study nursing. She needed money to pay for college, so she decided to submit her picture to Playboy magazine to make money. She was accepted and became a model.

Career

[edit]Modeling and acting

Jenny McCarthy

Playboy centerfold appearance

October 1993

Preceded by Carrie Westcott

Succeeded by Julianna Young

Playmate of the Year

1994

Preceded by Anna Nicole Smith

Succeeded by Julie Lynn Cialini

Personal details

Born 1 November 1972

Measurements Bust: 38 in (97 cm)

Waist: 24 in (61 cm)

Hips: 34 in (86 cm)

Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)

Weight 120 lb (54 kg)

After getting accepted by Playboy in 1993, the magazine wanted her to pose for the October issue. McCarthy was paid $20,000 for the photo shoot. McCarthy became the Playmate of the Month and later the Playmate of the Year. In 1994, thanks to this newfound attention and popularity, McCarthy moved to Los Angeles and, for a time, hosted Hot Rocks, a Playboy TV show featuring uncensored music videos.

In 1995, MTV chose McCarthy to be the host of a new dating show called Singled Out, for which she left Hot Rocks. Her job as a host was a success, and Playboy wanted her to do more modeling. That same year, she also appeared at WrestleMania XI as a guest valet for Shawn Michaels. She left after the match with the victor, WWF Heavyweight Champion Diesel. She returned to the WWE on the August 2, 2008 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event to thank the fans for supporting Generation Rescue. In 1996, McCarthy landed a small part in the comedy The Stupids. In 1997, McCarthy launched two shows. The first one was an MTV sketch comedy show The Jenny McCarthy Show, which was sufficiently popular for NBC to sign her for an eponymous sitcom later that year, Jenny. The latter show is generally considered a disappointment and was quickly canceled. Also in 1997, she appeared on one of two covers for the September issue of Playboy (the other cover featured Pamela Anderson). McCarthy also released an autobiography: Jen-X: Jenny McCarthy's Open Book.

In 1998, McCarthy starred in BASEketball. In 1999, she starred in Diamonds, a movie which was directed by her husband John Mallory Asher. The next year, she appeared in the horror movie Scream 3. Since 2001, McCarthy has guest starred in such shows as Stacked, Charmed, The Drew Carey Show, Wings, Fastlane, and Just Shoot Me!.

In 2003, McCarthy appeared in Scary Movie 3 along with model and actress Pamela Anderson. In 2005, McCarthy produced, wrote, and starred in Dirty Love along with Carmen Electra. The same year, McCarthy hosted a new show on E! called Party at the Palms. The reality show, which is filmed at The Palms Hotel in Las Vegas, features hotel guests, party goers, and celebrities. In March 2006, she was given Razzie Awards for "Worst Actress", "Worst Screenplay", and "Worst Picture" for her work on Dirty Love, which also netted her then-husband, John Asher, a Razzie for "Worst Director."

McCarthy has continued her work with Playboy over the years, both as a model and in other capacities. She appeared on the cover of the magazine's January 2005 issue wearing a leopard skin bunny suit and was featured in a pictorial shot at Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion in the same issue. She was the second woman (Carmen Electra was the first) and first Playmate to become a celebrity photographer for the Playboy Cyber Club, getting behind the camera to photograph model Jennifer Madden, who is not a Playmate.

Jenny's younger sister, Amy, has also posed for Playboy. She was a Cyber Girl of the Week and the Cyber Girl of the Month for January 2005.

She is the voice of Six in the third season of Canadian CGI Sci-Fi cartoon Tripping the Rift.

McCarthy currently stars in an online five episode series, called In The Motherhood, along with Chelsea Handler and Leah Remini. The show is on MSN and is based on being a mother where users could submit their stories to have it made into real webisodes.

She also plays the role of Agent Tanya in the video game Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3, replacing Kari Wührer. McCarthy's body was used for a character in a video game called, Your Shape.

Public persona

April 4, 2005

McCarthy once modeled for Candie's, a shoe company. In one magazine ad, McCarthy posed on a toilet seat, with her underwear near her ankles. Cultural scholar Collin Gifford Brooke wrote that the ad's "taboo nature" brought it attention, while noting that the ad itself helped to weaken that taboo. Another Candie's ad depicted McCarthy passing gas in a crowded elevator.

A sketch on her MTV show centered on her character, a well-coifed business woman, answering the question of "What did you have for lunch?" by seeming to force herself to vomit all over a table which she then ate on-screen. This was faked using special effects. The direct contrast of McCarthy's reputation as a sex symbol and this often grotesque humor is closely associated with her image. This image was taken to a new extreme in her film Dirty Love, which featured McCarthy's character sitting in a massive pool of her own menstrual blood.

Personal life

McCarthy dated her manager Ray Manzella for a short time in 1998. After breaking up with Manzella, McCarthy began dating actor/director John Mallory Asher. The couple became engaged in January 1999, and married on September 11 of that year. They have a son, Evan Joseph, born on May 18, 2002. Evan was diagnosed with autism. In August 2005, McCarthy and Asher filed for divorce.

In December 2005, McCarthy began dating Jim Carrey. They did not make their relationship public until June 2006. She announced on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on April 2, 2008 that she and Carrey were then living together, but had no plans to marry, as they did not need a "piece of paper."[citation needed] Carrey almost made a mock proposal to McCarthy as a promotion to the film, Yes Man for Ellen's Twelve Days of Holidays. McCarthy and Carrey announced that they had split up in April, 2010.

Her brother-in-law is former NHL hockey player Dan Hinote, now playing for Modo Hockey. Dan is married to her younger sister, Amy McCarthy, a former Playboy Cyber Girl. She is also an avid Chicago

White Sox fan.

McCarthy is a vegan.

Activism and autism controversy

In May 2007, McCarthy announced that her son Evan was diagnosed with autism in 2005. Evan's disorder began with seizures and his improvement occurred after the seizures were treated; these symptoms are more consistent with Landau–Kleffner syndrome, which is often misdiagnosed as autism. McCarthy served as a spokesperson for Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) from June 2007 until October 2008. She participated in fundraisers, online chats, and other activities for the non-profit organization to help families affected by autism spectrum disorders. Her first fundraiser for TACA, Ante Up for Autism, was held on October 20, 2007, in Irvine, California. She is a prominent spokesperson and activist for the Generation Rescue foundation.Before claiming that her son's autism was caused by vaccination, McCarthy wrote that he is a "crystal child" and she an "indigo mom".

McCarthy's book on the subject, Louder than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism was published September 17, 2007. She has stated both in her book and during her appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show that her husband was unable to deal with their son's autism, which led to their divorce. In 2008, she appeared on a Larry King Live special dedicated to the subject, and argued that vaccines can trigger autism. No scientists were invited to speak in response. McCarthy is also the spokesperson for Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), and is a member of the board of Generation Rescue.

Although McCarthy's claims on television that vaccines cause autism are not supported by the medical evidence, they have contributed to parental concerns about a possible link;parental concerns have led to decreased immunization rates and increased incidence of measles, a highly contagious and sometimes deadly disease. Producer and post production supervisor on various television programs, Derek Bartholomaus maintains "body count" statistics, with her being held "indirectly responsible for at least some of these illnesses and deaths."McCarthy has stated at many talk shows and rallies that chelation therapy helped her son recover from autism; however, the underlying rationale for chelation, which is that mercury in vaccines causes autism, has been roundly rejected by scientific studies, with the National Institute of Mental Health concluding that autistic children are unlikely to receive any benefit to balance the risks of cognitive and emotional problems posed by the chelating agents used in the treatment.

McCarthy's public presence and vocal activism on the vaccination-autism controversy, led to her being awarded The James Randi Educational Foundation's Pigasus Award (awards granted by Randi for contributing to pseudoscientific ideas) for the 'Performer Who Has Fooled The Greatest Number of People with The Least Amount of Effort'. Randi stated in a video on the JREF's website that he did sympathize with the plight of McCarthy and her child, but admonished her for using her public presence in a way that may discourage parents from having their own children vaccinated.

In an April 27, 2010 PBS Frontline documentary, she was interviewed about the controversy.

Publications

Jen-X: Jenny McCarthy's Open Book, an autobiography (Harpercollins, ISBN 978-0-06-039233-8).

Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth about Pregnancy and Childbirth (ISBN 978-0-7382-0949-4)

Baby Laughs: The Naked Truth about the First Year of Mommyhood (ISBN 978-0-525-94883-4)

Life Laughs: The Naked Truth about Motherhood, Marriage, and Moving On (ISBN 978-0-525-94947-3)

Louder than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism (ISBN 978-0-525-95011-0)

Mother Warriors: A Nation of Parents Healing Autism Against All Odds (ISBN 978-0-525-95069-1)

Healing and Preventing Autism Co-written with Dr. Jerry Kartzinel. Dutton Adult, March 31, 2009. (ISBN 978-0-525-95103-2)

McCarthy is also an occasional columnist for FHM magazine and has also recently appeared in a commercial for Weight Watchers after successfully losing and maintaining her post-pregnancy weight by following the program.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes

1995 Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead Blonde Nurse

1996 The Stupids Glamorous Actress

1998 BASEketball Yvette Denslow

1999 Diamonds Sugar

2000 Scream 3 Sarah Darling

Python Francesca Garibaldi made for TV

2001 Thank Heaven Julia

2002 Crazy Little Thing Whitney Ann Barnsley

2003 Scary Movie 3 Katie

2005 Dirty Love Rebecca Sommers

2006 Lingerie Bowl - made for TV

John Tucker Must Die Lori

Santa Baby Mary Class made for TV

2008 Witless Protection Connie

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Agent Tanya video game

2009 Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe Mary Class made for TV

Television work

Mr. Show (1995)

Singled Out (host from 1995–1997)

Wings (1996)

Jenny (1997–1998)

Home Improvement (Guest Star) (1998)

The Big Breakfast (1998)

Honey Vicarro (2001) (unsold pilot)

Untitled Jenny McCarthy Project (2003) (unsold pilot)

Charmed (2003)

Hope & Faith (2004)

What I Like About You (2005)

The Bad Girl's Guide (2005) (canceled after 6 episodes)

Party @ the Palms (2005–2006)

One on One (2003–2004)

My Name Is Earl (2006)

Tripping the Rift (Voice of Six) (2007– )

Two and a Half Men (2007-2008)

Just Shoot Me (season 5 episode 6)

WWE Saturday Night's Main Event (Saturday Night's Main Event XXXVI, August 2, 2008, edition)

Chuck (Chuck Versus The Suburbs) (2009)

Sharapova makes history with French Open win

 The Russian did so early this morning (AEDT) when she defeated Italy's Sara Errani 6-3 6-2 in the French Open final at Roland Garros outside of Paris.

In what turned out to be largely one-sided contest, the second seed and new world No1 led from the start, fixing the 21st seeded Errani with her biggest shots and giving her little chance to employ her own, more considered game.

The French Open title for Sharapova follows her Grand Slam triumphs at Wimbledon in 2004, the US Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008 and it crowns her return from a serious shoulder injury that nearly wrecked her career.

The 90-minute final though did little to restore the reputation of women's tennis at Roland Garros, continuing a run of straight sets finals that date back to 2001 when Jennifer Capriati defeated Kim Clijsters in a three-set thriller.

It was the first meeting between the two and the contrasts were stark - notably in height with the 1.88m tall Sharapova towering 24cm above the little Italian.

The 25-year-old Sharapova had the experience of winning three Grand Slam titles and has just been assured of regaining the world number one spot. Her global superstar status has made her the biggest-earning sportswoman on earth.

Errani, 10 days younger than her opponent, was little-known outside of her own country until she won three claycourt titles in the buildup to Roland Garros in recent weeks.

She then defeated two previous champions en route to a first appearance in a Grand Slam final.

Sharapova opened confidently on serve and then used her booming groundstrokes to pin back a tight Errani, breaking serve when the Italian hit long.

The Russian, playing in her first final at Roland Garros at her 10th attempt, moved 3-0 up and then converted a third break point to take a 4-0 lead.

Sharapova had made a dream start, but once again her propensity to double fault struck again, with two of them in the fifth game. She then hit a forehand narrowly wide on break point.

That seemed to settle Errani, who was bidding to become the second Italian winner at Roland Garros after Francesca Schiavone in 2010, and she pumped her fist at her team in the player's box after holding serve for the first time.

Errani saved two set points at 2-5 and 15-40 down on serve in the eighth game as she started to pull Sharapova from side to side, but the Russian, despite another double fault, served out for the set.

Sharapova broke again to open the second set and moved 2-0 up as the Roland Garros centre court faithful tried to lift the morale of the outgunned Italian.

The 90-minute final though did little to restore the reputation of women's tennis at Roland Garros, continuing a run of straight sets finals that date back to 2001 when Jennifer Capriati defeated Kim Clijsters in a three-set thriller.

It was the first meeting between the two and the contrasts were stark - notably in height with the 1.88m tall Sharapova towering 24cm above the little Italian.

The 25-year-old Sharapova had the experience of winning three Grand Slam titles and has just been assured of regaining the world number one spot. Her global superstar status has made her the biggest-earning sportswoman on earth.

Errani, 10 days younger than her opponent, was little-known outside of her own country until she won three claycourt titles in the buildup to Roland Garros in recent weeks.

She then defeated two previous champions en route to a first appearance in a Grand Slam final.

Sharapova opened confidently on serve and then used her booming groundstrokes to pin back a tight Errani, breaking serve when the Italian hit long.

The Russian, playing in her first final at Roland Garros at her 10th attempt, moved 3-0 up and then converted a third break point to take a 4-0 lead.

Sharapova had made a dream start, but once again her propensity to double fault struck again, with two of them in the fifth game. She then hit a forehand narrowly wide on break point.

That seemed to settle Errani, who was bidding to become the second Italian winner at Roland Garros after Francesca Schiavone in 2010, and she pumped her fist at her team in the player's box after holding serve for the first time.

Errani saved two set points at 2-5 and 15-40 down on serve in the eighth game as she started to pull Sharapova from side to side, but the Russian, despite another double fault, served out for the set.

Sharapova broke again to open the second set and moved 2-0 up as the Roland Garros centre court faithful tried to lift the morale of the outgunned Italian.

She held serve to get to 2-1 down and then had a break point to level, only for Sharapova to hit the line with a forehand.

The fifth game of the set was crucial as Sharapova opened her shoulders to hit some big winners, converting her third break point to go 4-1 ahead when a net-charging Errani failed to deal with a hard, angled drive from the Russian.

Errani was not yet quite out of it however, as she won four points in a row from 30-0 down to break Sharapova's service for the second time.

The Russian though put that aside to win the next two games, sealing her career Grand Slam on her third championship point when Errani failed to return an angled backhand.

Simon Cowell

Simon Phillip Cowell, born 7 October 1959 is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol. He is also the owner of the television production and music publishing house Syco.

As a judge, Cowell is known for his blunt and often controversial criticisms, insults and wisecracks about contestants and their abilities. He is also known for combining activities in both the television and music industries, having promoted singles and records for various artists, including television personalities. He was most recently featured on the fifth series of Britain's Got Talent and the first season of The X Factor USA.

In 2010, the British magazine New Statesman listed Cowell at number 41 in a list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".

Idol franchise and Il Divo

Cowell was given the role of judge on the first series of Pop Idol in the UK by then ITV Controller of Entertainment Claudia Rosencrantz in 2001, he was then judge on the first season of American Idol in 2002. With his notoriously critical reputation, Cowell is likened to TV personalities such as Judith Sheindlin and Anne Robinson. Though comparable to Robinson, Cowell has expressed his dislike for her and has commented in an interview, "I hate her and I hate her show because it's just an act". Cowell's prominence grew, fed by his signature phrase, "I don't mean to be rude, but ...", inevitably followed by an unsparingly blunt appraisal of the contestant's talents, personality, or even physical appearance. A lot of these one-liners were the product of coaching that Cowell received from noted publicist Max Clifford. Cowell also appeared on the one-off World Idol programme in 2003, where it became clear that each country's version of the Idol had attempted to come up with its own "Simon Cowell" type personality. In 2003, Cowell placed No 33 on Channel 4's list of the all-time 100 Worst Britons. Cowell's S Records signed the top two finishers of the first season of Pop Idol, Will Young and Gareth Gates, both of whom went on to have No 1 UK hits. Efforts begun in 2001 materialised in 2004, when Cowell returned to his group manufacturing roots with his latest brainchild, the internationally successful operatic pop group Il Divo, consisting of three opera singers and one pop singer of four different nationalities. Inspired by the success of Il Divo, Simon created a child version, Angelis, beating competition from many similar groups emerging at Christmas 2006.

On 11 January 2010, Cowell's exit from American Idol was made official. The 2010 season was Cowell's last on the show. It was also announced that FOX had acquired the rights to The X Factor USA, an American version of Cowell's popular British show, The X Factor, which began in September 2011.
 
The X Factor

In 2004, with Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh, Cowell was a judge on the first series of the British television music competition The X Factor, which he created using his production company, Syco. The X Factor was an instant success with the viewers and began its eighth series in 2011.

Leona Lewis, the winner of the third series of The X Factor, was signed to Cowell's label Syco and has had number one singles and album sales around the world. Cowell returned for a fourth series on 18 August 2007 alongside Osbourne, Walsh and new judge, Dannii Minogue. Walsh had previously been sacked from the judging panel by Cowell for the fourth series, and was subsequently replaced by Brian Friedman, who was a judge on Grease Is the Word. Walsh was later brought back a week into the auditions by Cowell when he and Osbourne realised that they missed Walsh and that without him, there was no chemistry between the judges. Cowell returned for the fifth series in 2008, with Walsh, Minogue and new judge Cheryl Cole, as Osbourne decided to quit before the show began. Cowell returned for series 6 and 7 as well, although series 7 was his to be his last, as he left in 2011 in order to launch The X Factor in America. After placing third in the seventh series of The X Factor in the UK, boyband One Direction signed to Cowell's label in 2011, and the group have gone on to top singles and album charts worldwide.

The X Factor Australia launched in 2005, but was cancelled due to poor ratings. It returned to Australian television for its second season on 30 August 2010, with Kyle Sandilands, Ronan Keating, Guy Sebastian and Natalie Imbruglia as judges. Season 3 began on 29 August 2010 and ended on 22 November. It featured Ronan Keating, Mel B, Guy Sebastian and Natalie Bassingthwaighte as judges.

Cowell also launched The X Factor USA in September 2011 on American broadcaster Fox. It was originally announced that he would be a judge both on the UK and U.S. editions of the show, which air at similar times of the year, but MTV officially reported on 17 April 2011 that this was not true; Cowell is no longer a judge in the UK version, but instead will be an enormous presence backstage. He currently is a judge on The X Factor USA alongside Paula Abdul, L.A. Reid, Nicole Scherzinger and formerly Cheryl Cole.

In October 2010, Cowell signed new three-year deals with ITV for both Britain's Got Talent and The X Factor, renewing both shows until 2013.
Got Talent franchise

Following the success of the Idol and X Factor franchises, Cowell, his company Syco, and its business partners developed a talent show format open to performers of any kind, not only singers, but also dancers, instrumentalists, magicians, comedians, novelty acts, and so on. The origins of the Got Talent format can be traced to the British show Opportunity Knocks, which began as a radio programme in the 1940s and later transferred to television, where it was an ITV staple for several decades. Looking further back, Opportunity Knocks had its roots in the variety show traditions of British music hall and American vaudeville.

Cowell is the executive producer of America's Got Talent, which debuted in June 2006, along with Fremantle producers of the Idol series, but he does not appear on the show due to the terms of his contract with FOX. The show was a huge success for NBC, drawing around 12 million viewers a week, and beating So You Think You Can Dance on FOX (produced by rival and Idol creator Simon Fuller).

Britain's Got Talent debuted on ITV in June 2007. Cowell appears as a judge alongside Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan. The show was a ratings success and second and third seasons followed in 2008 and 2009. The third series featured a publicity coup when Susan Boyle made a global media impact with her regional audition performance comparable to that of any previous talent show series winner.
American Inventor

On 16 March 2006, Simon Cowell's next competition show, American Inventor, debuted on ABC. Fledgling entrepreneurs from across the United States competed to see who could come up with the best new product concept. The 2006 winner, Janusz Liberkowski, received $1 million and the opportunity to develop his idea into a business. The show returned one more time in 2007 for a second season.
Celebrity Duets

In 2006, Cowell executive-produced Celebrity Duets, which was described as "an Idol show for Hollywood superstars." The show was hosted by Wayne Brady, and its judges were Marie Osmond, Little Richard and David Foster.
Grease Is the Word

Cowell was also the executive producer of Grease Is the Word for ITV. This show set out to find performers to play Danny and Sandy in the 2007 West End revival of Grease. It was hosted by Zoe Ball and judged by Britons David Ian and Sinitta and Americans David Gest and Brian Friedman. The musical theatre casting concept had already been introduced by the BBC with the ratings hit How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, but Cowell's show was not the hoped for success. He himself said, "It has been slaughtered by the critics – and rightly so. It is far too similar to our other formats.

Cowell has appeared as a guest voice in an episode of The Simpsons ("Smart and Smarter"), in which he gets beaten up by Homer Simpson (while criticising Homer's punches). His voice was also heard on an episode of Family Guy ("Lois Kills Stewie"), in which he told Stewie that his singing was so awful that he should be dead. He made an MTV Movie Award-winning cameo appearance as himself in Scary Movie 3, where he sits in judgment during a battle rap (and subsequently gets killed by gunfire for criticising the rappers). He also appears in the DVD version of Shrek 2 as a judge in Far Far Away Idol, and also provided the voice.

He appeared on an episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (the original British version) and Saturday Night Live in 2004. Cowell has also guest-starred (filling in for Regis Philbin) in the popular talk show Live with Regis and Kelly during American Idol's finalist week in early 2006. Cowell was once the fastest "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" on BBC's motoring show Top Gear, driving a Suzuki Liana around the show's test track in a time of 1:47.1. When Top Gear retired the Liana along with its rankings after the eighth series, Cowell was the eighth fastest overall and the third fastest non-professional driver. On 11 November 2007 Cowell yet again appeared on Top Gear, achieving a time of 1:45.9 thus putting him ahead of Gordon Ramsay and back at the top of the table. Cowell introduced entertainer Dick Clark at the 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards. He was seen on Comic Relief Does The Apprentice where he donated £25,000 for a fun fair ticket. Cowell has also appeared on the MTV shows Cribs and Punk'd. On Punk'd, Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson set him up to believe his $400,000 Rolls Royce was stolen and had caused an accident by using a nearly identical car.

Cowell was chosen as the first subject of the re-launched This Is Your Life in an episode broadcast on 2 June 2007. He was presented with the Red Book by Sir Trevor McDonald while presenting American Idol

On 1 July 2007 Cowell appeared alongside Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest as a speaker at the Concert For Diana, held at Wembley Stadium.

Cowell was a partner in the Royal Ascot Racing Club, a thoroughbred horse racing syndicate which owned the 2005 Epsom Derby winner, Motivator.

In May 2010, he portrayed himself again, in another episode of The Simpsons, "Judge Me Tender".

 
Personal life

Cowell became engaged to make up artist Mezhgan Hussainy in February 2010, however the couple separated in 2012. They met on the set of American Idol. Cowell is the godfather of pop singer Sinitta's adopted children.

Upon his appearance on Top Gear, it was revealed that Cowell pays more than £21.7m per year in income tax, suggesting that his taxable income is over £54.25m per year with income tax at the time approximately 40%. (NB: UK Income Tax 40% for earnings over £34,600). Cowell was estimated to have a fortune of £200 million in the Sunday Times Rich List of 2011, making him the sixth richest person in the British music industry. Cowell splits his time between homes in London and Los Angeles. He owns a £9million home in Holland Park, West London, and has a £13.7million ($22 m), 11,550 sq ft (1,073 m2) home in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.

 
Political views

Cowell is a supporter of the Conservative Party. In 2010, Cowell endorsed David Cameron to be Prime Minister and claimed that he has the 'substance and the stomach to navigate us through difficult times'. In the aftermath of the election, it was reported that he had fallen out with fellow X Factor judge Cheryl Cole (who had declared her support for Labour and Gordon Brown) in a telephone conversation about politics.

Delta Goodrem speaks about her relationships with Brian McFadden

 It stops the tell-all books, magazine deals and talk show interviews which so often expose the sordid sex lives and secrets of the rich and famous.

But as the slanging match between former lovers Brian McFadden and Delta Goodrem continues over her breach of a contract, it prompts the question: Just how common are these couple agreements, and are they legally binding?

McFadden took to Twitter this week to condemn his ex-fiancee's decision to open up about the pair's seven-year relationship to the media despite signing a non-disclosure agreement.

"Do I wish that it ended earlier? Yes. Do I wish I had the courage to leave earlier? Yes, I do. I think what we came to is that we were very different people - extremely different people," Goodrem told 60 Minutes last week.

Despite the agreement, McFadden said he wouldn't sue. "I'm not considering legal action. I also wouldn't stoop as low as her," McFadden wrote on the social networking site.

As more and more couples face the reality of divorce, the concept of signing relationship agreements before saying "I do" seems practical, but for stars whose reputations and hefty bank accounts are involved, it is a no-brainer.

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise have one while UK tabloid golden boy Peter Andre, whose highly-publicised marriage to Katie Price ended in 2009 after five years, revealed he now asks all the women he dates to sign agreements.

"I don't agree with super-injunctions but I do think it's OK to ask someone to sign a confidentiality agreement when you start seeing them," he told a magazine.

The lyrics in part are: I won't look back tonight because this is the time in my life, underneath these stars, I'm dancing with a broken heart. You've got to fight fire with fire, the truth to a liar, I'm going higher, dancing with a broken heart.

Goodrem and McFadden are understood to have signed a confidentiality agreement when they split after seven years last April.

"I didn't know how to leave and a couple of years go by and it was putting me in a space I didn't want to be and didn't want to be associated (with) - and I find it a little embarrassing even now," she has told Australian Vogue.

"People can be very different to what you think and have very different worlds to what you are aware of and I'm just really happy to be back where I should be."

Meanwhile Goodrem's fourth album is expected to finally be released in August.

However the actual make up of the album is yet to be finalised with Sony confirming Goodrem is still writing and recording songs for the project, for which she says she has already written 70 tracks.

Producers Gary Clark and Vince Pizzinga have flown into Sydney to polish up her next single release which is due to go to radio in a matter of weeks.

Sources say branding experts have been consulted on how to turn around the wave of negative opinion being directed towards Brand Delta, although Sony denied this was the case yesterday.

Delta Goodrem

Delta Lea Goodrem, born 9 November 1984 is an Australian singer-songwriter and pianist. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, she enrolled in dancing, acting, singing and piano classes at a young age. She began her career as a child actress, starring in various television shows and rose to prominence in 2002 in the Australian soap opera Neighbours as Nina Tucker.

Venturing into the music industry, Goodrem recorded an album entitled Delta through an independent label, which was never released due to legal reasons. Subsequently signing to Sony at the age of 15, she released her multi-platinum album Innocent Eyes which topped the Australian albums chart and UK Albums Chart. It became one of the highest selling albums in Australian history, with 4.5 million copies sold worldwide and all five of its singles— "Born to Try", "Lost Without You", "Innocent Eyes", "Not Me, Not I", and "Predictable"—reaching number one in Australia and three of them reaching the top ten in the UK. This gave her the record for becoming the first ever artist to have five Number 1 singles from a debut album.

Each of her subsequent albums followed with similar commercial success. Her second studio album, Mistaken Identity, was created during her battle with cancer (and several of its themes reflect this) and became her second consequent Number 1 album. In 2007, she released Delta, her third Number 1 album. Goodrem has continued to have a string of top-ten hits, including "Out of the Blue", "Mistaken Identity", "Together We Are One", "In This Life", "Believe Again" and "Sitting on Top of the World". Goodrem has achieved eight Number 1 singles and three Number 1 albums in her home country. As of the late 2000s or early 2010s, she holds the Australian record for the highest-selling album of the last decade and the most Number 1 singles from a debut album. As of 2012, she is a coach on The Voice Australia.

Delta, and the Believe Again Tour

On 10 August 2007 Goodrem was in Los Angeles to film the music video for "In This Life", the first single which is also the opening theme for the anime Deltora Quest, based on the novels by fellow Australian Emily Rodda. The video premiered on 31 August on Sunrise. "In This Life" was released as the first single from her new album on 15 September. It debuted at number one on the Australian Singles Chart, becoming Goodrem's eighth number one single in Australia.
   

On 29 November 2007 Goodrem and McFadden announced they were engaged. In his book, McFadden wrote that he proposed to her on a trip to Bali.
Goodrem performing during promotion in Australia

Her latest album, the eponymous Delta, was released in Australia on 20 October 2007. Goodrem has described the material as "...a lot lighter" compared to her previous album Mistaken Identity. In January she stated, "As people become more aware of your life, they can pinpoint what songs are about. On this album, I've tried to remove a lot of that and just write great pop songs, songs that are from my heart but there's no baggage with them". The album debuted on number one on the ARIA albums chart, marking her third number one album in her home country, and received platinum certification for shipments of 70,000 records, though sales were much lower; only 23,000 copies were sold during the first week. In December the album received a 2x platinum award for shipments of 140,000 copies.

The second single of the album was "Believe Again", released in December. The song debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Singles Chart. The third single, "You Will Only Break My Heart", was released on 29 March 2008 and peaked at No. 14. The fourth single to be lifted from the album is "I Can't Break It To My Heart", which debuted and peaked at No. 13. Following the release of the lead single, Goodrem currently holds the record for most No. 1 singles on the ARIA charts by an any artist, with 8. According to Goodrem she is going to explore new places around the world in 2008, including Brazil. In January 2009 Goodrem embarked on her Believe Again Tour tour of Australia. She also recorded a duet, "Gotta Be Right Here With You", with Olivia Newton-John to help raise money for Newton-John's cancer hospital in Melbourne. In July 2008 it was announced that Goodrem would embark on a national tour of Australia, titled the Believe Again Tour. She originally announced nine dates in seven cities, but later announced more shows, performing 14 in eight cities. The tour ran from 9 January to 4 February 2009. Goodrem was nominated for two awards at the 2008 ARIA Awards – Highest Selling Single and Highest Selling Album – and won the award for Highest Selling Album of 2008.[49] At the 2008 World Music Awards held on 9 November in Monaco Goodrem received her third World Music Award for World's Best Selling Australian Artist.
2009–present: The Voice Australia and Sitting on Top of The World

A concert DVD of Goodrem's Believe Again Tour was released on 18 September 2009. The Australian launch of Michael Jackson's This Is It DVD, March 2010: Goodrem and Guy Sebastian were chosen by the Jackson estate to perform at the Australian launch of This Is It. The invitation only event was attended by the film's director Kenny Ortega, Michael's choreographer Travis Payne, and Michael's brother Jackie Jackson Goodrem and Sebastian performed "Earth Song".

On 1 April 2011, it was confirmed that McFadden and Goodrem called off their engagement. The couple released a joint statement stating that they wished each other every success and happiness in the future. Goodrem dated singer Nick Jonas from May 2011 to February 2012.

On 23 November 2011, Goodrem was confirmed to be a part of the judging panel of the Australian version of The Voice that will begin airing in early 2012. Goodrem will coach alongside Keith Urban, Joel Madden, and Seal. Since The Voice has started, some of Goodrem's decisions on the show have sparked criticism, who have panned her as "all style" and "little substance".

Goodrem's upcoming fourth studio album, which is right now lacking a title or a theme or track listing, has been in the process of recording since early 2008, with Gooodrem stating that it will be more "stripped back": "I've done a 360 back to where I started, but hopefully it's more evolved. I feel I've stepped up my game. I'm experimenting with different chord changes and different areas of music. I feel I can do anything on this album, I'm relishing that. I feel like the sky's the limit but at the same time it's very raw. However, the five years that followed the announcement were quiet regarding plans for the album and when it would be released. An announcement was made on 19 March 2012, stating that there is now a countdown on her official website to 30 March, with the promise of "something new, something fresh, something altogether exciting" on that day. On that day, it was then announced that Goodrem would be releasing her new single, "Sitting on Top of the World" .
 
Legacy and artistry

Her repertoire falls under the pop and adult contemporary styles, and heavily features the piano, which she usually plays barefoot while performing live.Goodrem is also known for her technically skilled soprano voice.

Goodrem was honoured with a wax figure at Madame Tussauds in Sydney's Darling Harbour, which opened in April 2012. The singer donated a dress that she previously wore on stage to the attraction.

As of the late 2000s or early 2010s, Goodrem has achieved eight No. 1 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) singles and multiple UK Top 10 singles. Her debut album, 2003's Innocent Eyes, made her one of Australia's highest-selling female recording artists, spending 29 weeks at No. 1, selling over 1.2 million copies in Australia and another 4.5 million internationally, debuting at number 2 in the UK and breaking various records in the process.

In 2004, Goodrem released Mistaken Identity, her second studio album which entered the ARIA charts at No. 1 spawning two No. 1 singles and quickly gained multi-platinum status. In 2005, Goodrem embarked on The Visualise Tour, her debut concert tour of Australia, combining songs from both Innocent Eyes and Mistaken Identity.

Goodrem released her third studio album, self-titled Delta, on 20 October 2007 to yet another number-one debut, gaining multi-platinum status within the first few months of release. Goodrem also shifted attention to different markets, releasing the album in the Far East and the USA. In January 2009, Goodrem embarked on the Believe Again Tour of Australia to support her third studio album. She has sold approximately 6.7 million albums, and 8 million combined albums and singles worldwide.
Philanthropy

In May 2005, Goodrem helped launch "Teen Info on Cancer", a UK website aimed at supporting young teenage sufferers. In November 2005, Goodrem became an ambassador for Research Australia's "Thank You Day", which honours the country's health and medical researchers and received a Thank You Day Celebrity Advocacy Award "in recognition of her efforts in raising funds and awareness for Australian medical research and charities. Goodrem is set to be the face of Alternative Hair, the UK hairdressing industry's top fundraising event, in aid of cancer charity Leukaemia Research. Goodrem is also member of RADD (Recording Artists, Actors And Athletes Against Drink Driving), a group of celebrities raising awareness of the risks of drunk driving.

Preschool mental health checks

 The Healthy Kids Check - starting on July 1 - will be predominantly conducted by GPs, who will refer children with troubling behaviour to psychologists or paediatricians.

The program is expected to identify more than 27,000 children who the government believes will benefit from additional support, but who some doctors say will be wrongly labelled as having a mental illness.
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While the aim is to prevent mental illnesses - 50 per cent of which start in childhood - the Australian Medical Association and some mental health experts fear children may be misdiagnosed or given psychiatric drugs unnecessarily.

''We have to be careful we don't medicalise normal behaviour and that's a real caution with children,'' the AMA president, Steve Hambleton, said. ''There are genuine kids who need extra support to help them integrate into normal kindergartens and classrooms and a lot of the funding for that is driven by diagnoses so there's a perverse incentive to diagnose conditions like autism. There are kids who need it but we don't want to make normal kids abnormal.''

Frank Oberklaid, director of the centre for community child health at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital and chair of the expert committee appointed by the Minister for Mental Health, Mark Butler, to develop the check, said their priority was to ''first do no harm''.

''The critics are worried that we're going to slap diagnoses on three-year-olds and treat them with drugs but this is not the point of the exercise,'' Professor Oberklaid said. ''Many parents and preschool teachers face behaviours in children that are challenging and cause stress and distress. We also know that thankfully many of these are transient but we can't predict in a particular child which ones are going to disappear and which ones are going to go on and cause mental health problems. What we're really doing is having a more systematic way of finding out those kids who are causing difficulties and doing something about it.''

The test, although not compulsory, will form part of a check for developmental problems such as hearing, eyesight and allergies. Previously it was conducted on four-year-olds but has been brought forward a year and for the first time will include screening for mental health problems, with doctors to receive training before it is introduced in the next financial year.

A checklist of potentially troubling behaviours for GPs is being finalised and Professor Oberklaid said it would likely include behaviours such as aggression, difficulty with impulse control and trouble interacting with other children.

''We'll also look at internalising disorders. Three and four-year-olds can get anxious as well. Children who have persistent fears, extreme levels of shyness, won't go to bed without the light on, won't sleep in their own bed … We want to begin a narrative that says Johnny or Jane is exhibiting these behaviours that cause concern to parents and then put in place strategies to help parents and early childhood professionals deal with them and if they disappear that's terrific. If they don't, then at least those kids will have been picked up by the system.''

Professor Allen Frances, a visiting American psychiatrist who chaired the last edition of the "bible of psychiatry" - the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - said childhood epidemics of autism, bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder had begun with well-intentioned doctors who wanted to intervene early, but led to widespread mislabelling and medicating.

''Many kids have developmental problems that disappear by themselves and it's very difficult to evaluate in any given child whether the improvement resulted from treatment or just growing up. Before you have a mass national experiment like this it needs to be carefully piloted to make sure that the harms are not going to be greater than the risks,'' Professor Frances said.

Anna Sexton from East Brunswick has children aged 3, 5 and 6 who all sleep with the hallway light on. She said she was concerned this behaviour would be viewed as abnormal under the tests. ''I can appreciate the benefit of early intervention if it's warranted but my gut reaction is one of concern for over-diagnosis