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shania twain Canadian country pop singer
Shania Twain, OC born Eilleen Regina Edwards; August 28, 1965 is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the mid 1990s with her album The Woman In Me (1995), and achieved worldwide success with her 1997 album Come On Over, which became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician in any genre, and the best selling country album of all time. It has sold over 39 million copies worldwide and is the 9th bestselling album in the U.S.
A five-time Grammy Award winner, Twain has also achieved major success as a songwriter, winning 27 BMI Songwriter awards. Twain is one of the first country artists to achieve major crossover success in pop music. She is the only female musician to have three albums certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America and is also the second best-selling artist in Canada, behind fellow Canadian Céline Dion, with three of her studio albums being certified double diamond by the Canadian Recording Industry Association. Twain has sold over 75 million albums worldwide, including 48 million in the U.S. She is ranked as the 10th best-selling artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era, with approximately 33.5 million in sales through April 2008. She was also ranked the 72nd Artist of the 2000–10 decade by Billboard.
Contents
* 1 Early years
* 2 Music career
o 2.1 Career as Eilleen Twain
o 2.2 1993–1994: Shania Twain
o 2.3 1995–1996: The Woman in Me/popularity established
* 3 Worldwide success
o 3.1 1997–2000: Come on Over
o 3.2 2002–2004: Up!
o 3.3 2004–2005: Greatest Hits
* 4 2006 onwards
* 5 Endorsements and other ventures
* 6 Personal life
* 7 Awards and honors
* 8 Discography
* 9 See also
* 10 References
* 11 Bibliography
* 12 External links
Early years
Shania Twain was born Eilleen Regina Edwards in Windsor, Ontario, daughter of Clarence and Sharon Edwards. Her parents divorced when she was two, and her mother then moved with Eilleen and her sister Jill to Timmins, Ontario, where she married Jerry Twain, an Ojibwa. He adopted the girls, legally changing their last name to Twain. Because of her connection to her stepfather, in the past, people had presumed Twain's ancestry was Ojibwa, but she stated in an interview that her biological father was part Cree. Through her mother she is a descendant of Zacharie Cloutier. Her maternal grandmother, Eileen Pearce, emigrated from Newbridge, Kildare, Ireland.
One of five children, Eilleen Twain had a hard childhood in Timmins. Her parents earned little, and there was often a shortage of food in the household. At one point, while Jerry was at work, her mother drove the rest of the family 425 miles (684 km) to a Toronto homeless shelter for assistance. She did not confide her situation to school authorities, fearing they might break up the family. In the remote, rugged community, she learned to hunt and to chop wood. Aside from working at an Ontario McDonald's restaurant, Twain began to earn money by singing in local clubs and bars from a very young age to support her family. She was singing in bars starting at the age of eight to try to make ends meet, often earning twenty dollars between midnight and one in the morning performing for remaining customers after the bar had finished serving. Although she has expressed a dislike for singing in such a smoky atmosphere at such a young age, Shania believes that this was her performing arts school on the road to becoming a successful singer. Twain has said of the ordeal, "My deepest passion was music and it helped. There were moments when I thought 'I hate this'. I hated going into bars and being with drunks. But I loved the music and so I survived".
Twain wrote her first songs at the age of ten, Is Love a Rose and Just Like the Storybooks which were fairy tales in rhyme. As a child, Twain has been described by a close childhood friend Kenny Derasp as "a very serious kid who spent a lot of time in her room." The art of creating, of actually writing songs, "was very different from performing them and became progressively important".
In the early 1980s, Twain spent some time working on her father's reforestation business in northern Ontario, a business that the family was heavily involved in and employed some 75 Ojibwe and Cree workers. Although the work was very demanding and the pay very low, Twain has spoken of her experience, "I loved the feeling of being stranded. I'm not afraid of being in my own environment, being physical, working hard. I was very strong, I walked miles and miles every day and carried heavy loads of trees. You can't shampoo, use soap or deodorant, or makeup, nothing with any scent; you have to bathe and rinse your clothes in the lake. It was a very rugged existence, but I was very creative and I would sit alone in the forest with my dog and a guitar and would just write songs".
Music career
Career as Eilleen Twain
At 13, Eilleen Twain, the future "Shania" Twain, was invited to perform on CBC television's Tommy Hunter Show. While attending Timmins High and Vocational School in Timmins, she was the singer for a local band called "Longshot" which covered Top 40 music.[citation needed]
After graduating from Timmins High in July 1983, Twain was eager to expand her musical horizons. After the demise of her band Longshot, Twain was approached by a covers band led by Diane Chase called "Flirt" and toured all over Ontario. She began taking singing lessons from Toronto-based coach Ian Garrett and often in not having the money to pay for her lessons would clean his house in payment. In the autumn of 1984 Twain's talents were noticed by a Toronto DJ Stan Campbell who wrote about her in a Country Music News article, "Eileen possesses a powerful voice with an impressive range. She has the necessary drive, ambition and positive attitude to achieve her goals". Campbell happened to be making an album by Canadian musician (and present-day CKTB radio personality) Tim Denis at the time and Twain featured on the backing vocals on the song Heavy on the Sunshine. Campbell later took Twain to Nashville to record some demos, which Twain found particularly difficult to finance. Around this time Twain became acquainted with a regional country singer Mary Bailey who had had some country chart success in 1976. Bailey had seen her perform in Sudbury, Ontario, saying "I saw this little girl up on stage with a guitar and it absolutely blew me away. She performed Willie Nelson's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" and Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". Her voice reminded me of Tanya Tucker, it had strength and character, a lot of feeling. She's a star, she deserves an opportunity". Bailey later said "She sang a few songs that she had written, and I thought to myself, this kid is like nineteen years old, where does she get this? This is from a person who's lived sixty years".
Lake Kenogami where Twain spent much time practicing in 1985.
Mary Bailey bought the contract from Stan Campbell and Twain moved into Bailey's home on Lake Kenogami where she practiced her music every day for hours. In the fall of 1985, Bailey took Twain down to Nashville to stay with a friend, record producer Tony Migliore, who at the time was producing an album for fellow Canadian singer Kelita Haverland and Twain featured on the backing vocals to the song Too Hot to Handle. She also demoed songs with Cyril Rawson but without success, partly due to Twain's wish to become a rock singer, not a country artist and after five months she returned to Canada and moved in with Bailey in a flat in downtown Kirkland Lake.
There she met a rock keyboardist Eric Lambier and drummer Randy Yurko and formed a new band, moving three months later to Bowmanville, near Toronto. In late summer 1986 Mary Bailey had arranged Twain to meet John Kim Bell, a half Mohawk, half American conductor who had close contacts with the directors of the Canadian Country Music Association. Bell recognised Twain's ability as well as looks and the two began secretly dating, despite their clash of backgrounds. In the fall of 1986 Twain continued to express her desire to be a pop or rock singer rather than country, which led to her falling out with Mary Bailey for two years and was not met with any success. Her first break came on February 8, 1987 when Bell staged a fundraiser for the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation at the Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto where Twain performed with Broadway star Bernadette Peters, jazz guitarist Don Ross and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Her performance received little acclaim but it convinced Bell, who loathed pop music, that Twain should stay well away from it and concentrate on country music.
On November 1, 1987, Twain's mother and adoptive father died in a car accident. Twain took care of her siblings, moving with her half-brothers Mark and Darryl and half-sister Carrie Ann to Huntsville, Ontario, where she supported them by earning money performing at the nearby Deerhurst Resort.
shania twain
shania twain
shania twain
shania twain
isla fisher australian actress and author
Isla Lang Fisher born February 3, 1976 is a Scottish-Australian actress and author. She began acting on Australian television, on the short-lived soap opera Paradise Beach before playing Shannon Reed on the soap opera Home and Away. She has since been known for her comedic roles in Wedding Crashers (2005), Hot Rod (2007), Definitely, Maybe (2008), and Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009).
Contents
* 1 Early life
* 2 Career
* 3 Personal life
* 4 Filmography
* 5 References
* 6 External links
Early life
Fisher was born in Muscat, Oman, to Scottish parents from Bathgate and Stranraer, and was raised in Perth, Western Australia. They resided in Muscat because of her father's job as a banker for the United Nations. She was named after the Scottish island of Islay and has four brothers. Fisher spent her early years in Bathgate before moving with her family to Perth, Western Australia, when she was six years old. Fisher has said that she had a "great" upbringing in Perth with a "very outdoorsy life". She attended Methodist Ladies' College and appeared in lead roles in school productions.
Career
She began appearing in commercials on Australian television at the age of nine, before going on to win roles in popular children's television shows Bay City and Paradise Beach. At the age of 18, with the help of her mother, she published two teen novels, Bewitched and Seduced by Fame. From 1994 to 1997 she played the role of Shannon Reed on the Australian soap opera Home and Away. In 1996, she won a Logie Award nomination for Most Popular Actress for her role. After leaving the soap, Fisher enrolled at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, a theatre and arts training school in Paris and went on to appear in pantomime in the United Kingdom. She also toured with Darren Day in the musical Summer Holiday and appeared in the London theatre production, Così. In 2001, Fisher was cast as Kim in the German horror film Swimming Pool.
In 2002 she had a part in the film version of Scooby-Doo as Mary Jane, Shaggy's love interest who is allergic to dogs. She wore a blonde wig for portraying her role because Sarah Michelle Gellar was supposed to be the only redhead in the film. The following year, she portrayed the character Kristy in the Australian comedy The Wannabes. Subsequently, Fisher was taken on by an American agent. A larger role in Wedding Crashers, alongside Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, in 2005 won her the Breakthrough Performance Award at the MTV Movie Awards. While promoting Wedding Crashers, she was officially crowned the 1000th guest on Australian talk show Rove on 2 August 2005. She entered the set ahead of Owen Wilson, winning the title by two metres.
In 2006, Fisher starred as Becca, a Manhattan party host, in the relationship drama London co-starring Jessica Biel, Chris Evans, and Jason Statham. She played the role of Katie in the romantic comedy Wedding Daze with Jason Biggs. In 2007, she appeared in The Lookout, a thriller film co-starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Matthew Goode, and Hot Rod, opposite Andy Samberg. She was scheduled to appear in The Simpsons Movie, although her appearance was cut from the final version. 2008, she starred in the critically acclaimed romantic comedy film Definitely, Maybe, with Ryan Reynolds, Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz, and Abigail Breslin,and had a voice role in Horton Hears a WhoFisher has also co-written a script entitled Groupies with Amy Poehler, as well as another project entitled The Cookie Queen. She starred in the movie adaptation of the book Confessions of a Shopaholic, which opened on February 13, 2009. In the film, Fisher played a college graduate who works as a financial journalist in New York City to support her shopping addiction. Confessions of a Shopaholic suffered critically but eventually opened at #4 grossing $15,054,000 on its opening weekend. Fisher received her third Teen Choice Award nomination.
Fisher has spoken out against the lack of opportunities for comediennes in Hollywood. In 2010, she starred in the black comedy Burke and Hare. Fisher will then voice the role of Lucy in Rango, a computer-animated comedy film, set to be released in March 2011. In the movie, Johnny Depp and her Definitely, Maybe co-star Abigail Breslin also provide voice-over roles.
Personal life
Fisher first met English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in 2002 at a party in Sydney, Australia. The couple became engaged in 2004, and wed on March 15, 2010 in Paris, France. In order to marry Baron Cohen, Fisher converted to Judaism after three years of study and completed her conversion in early 2007, saying "I will definitely have a Jewish wedding just to be with Sacha. I would do anything - move into any religion - to be united in marriage with him. We have a future together, and religion comes second to love as far as we are concerned. She took on the Hebrew name Ayala the Hebrew word for Doe, and has described herself as "quite observant". Fisher and Baron Cohen have a daughter, Olive, born on October 19, 2007 in Los Angeles,and a second child, born in the summer of 2010, whose birth date, sex, and name were not announced. The family lives in West London and Los Angeles. Fisher has said that her "sensibility is Australian" and that she has a "laid-back attitude to life" that she feels is "very Australian. Her mother and siblings live and work in Athens, Greece, while her father lives in Frankfurt, Germany, and Nicaragua.
Filmography
Film Year↓ Title↓ Role↓ Notes
2001 Swimming Pool Kim
2002 Scooby-Doo Mary Jane
2003 Wannabes, TheThe Wannabes (Criminal Ways) Kirsty
2003 Dallas 362 Redhead
2004 I ♥ Huckabees Heather
2005 Wedding Crashers Gloria Cleary MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance
Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Breakout Female
Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Hissy Fit
2005 London Rebecca
2006 Wedding Daze Katie
2007 Lookout, TheThe Lookout Luvlee
2007 Hot Rod Denise
2008 Definitely, Maybe April Hoffman
2008 Horton Hears a Who Dr. Mary Lou Larue Voice
2009 Confessions of a Shopaholic Rebecca Bloomwood Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Actress
2010 Burke and Hare Ginny
2011 Rango Beans Voice
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isla fisher
isla fisher
isla fisher
isla fisher
isla fisher
isla fisher
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