Born on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana, Michael Jackson was the seventh child of the family of nine. They were six brothers and three sisters - Sigmund, Toriano, Jermaine, Marlon, Michael, Steven, Rebbie, Janet and La-Toya. He started his career by becoming the lead singer of the band Jackson 5, at the age of five. Jackie, Jermaine, Tito and Marlon were the other band members.
They played at local parties and clubs and also entered competitions which allowed them to grow as a band. They got their big first big break in 1968 when Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers heard about the Jackson 5 and got them auditioned for Berry Gordy of Motown Records. They were signed immediately and they moved to California. "I want you back", "The love you save" and "I'll be there" were among their first few singles which became huge hits of America. They made fourteen albums with Motown till 1976 and Michael Jackson recorded four other albums. They later signed up with Epic and their group name was changed to The Jacksons, as Jackson 5 was the copyright of Motown. They made a total of six albums with Epic many of them being great hits until 1984.
Michael met Quincy Jones on the sets of "The Wiz", which was also his film debut. He played the role of crow along with Diana Ross who played Dorothy. He made "Off The Wall" with Quincy, who was the producer. It was the first album whose all four songs were US #1 singles and was a hit all over the world. "Thriller" was the largest selling album of all time, which was released in 1982. Over fifty million copies of the album were sold worldwide and the album had seven hits.
Michael Jackson laid great emphasis on the videos. He called them as short films of his albums and chose the best producers and directors to work with. He even used special effects and the latest technologies, his hit song Billie Jean was a good example of this. Excellent choreography was combined with detailed make-up to make this fourteen minute long video. This short film boosted the sales of the album, Thriller and it became the world's largest selling home video.
The trademark moonwalk was performed by Michael Jackson for the first time in the year 1984. He won eight Grammies in one night for the album "Thriller" and the narrative work on ET Storybook, breaking all records. He announced, on December 9, 1984 that he is splitting with The Jacksons on his last concert of The Jackson's Victory tour. After that he released his next album in 1987 named "Bad". Michael also wrote his autobiography in 1987 which talked in detailed about his personal life and singing career. He was given the title of the Artist of the Decade for his albums "Thriller" and "Bad". He released his fourth album "Dangerous" in collaboration with Sony Music in 1991. After his first solo world tour in 1987 he took off for another world tour in 1992. His song "Heal the World" was written on the pages of history and won the hearts of many. In the same year he started Heal the World Foundation for the homeless and orphan children of the world.
His marriage with Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of the legendry Elvis Presley lasted for only one and a half year and they were divorced in 1996. During that period he released his fifth album "History" in 1995. To promote that album this time he took a world tour for two years. Debbie Rowe was his second wife and also his nurse when he was getting treatment for skin disorder. They had a child named Prince Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. who was born on February 13, 1997. The next year they were gifted with a daughter Paris Michael Katherine Jackson who was born on April 3, 1998.
"Blood on the Dance Floor" was his sixth solo album, which was released in 1997. He also made a thirty eight minute short film named Ghost to promote his album, in which he played five different characters. He reunited with his the Jacksons on his concert in New York to celebrate his thirteenth anniversary as a solo artist. Many other superstars shared the stage with him like Whitney Houston, Destiny's Child, Shaggy and others. He released" Invisible" and "You Rock My World in 2001".
Jackson had his own share of controversies in recent years when he was accused of child abuse charges. After going through years of trauma he was finally found not guilty. Jackson now lives in a Middle Eastern country called Bahrain with his brother Jermaine far away from the shadow of the public and God only knows when he will return to the music again.
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Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger born in Austria is a very versatile actor along with being a great bodybuilder and now a politician and the Governor of California. He was the second son of his parents. His father being a police officer taught him great values and brought him up in a very strict and disciplined environment.
Arnold had a great sports personality like his father. He had an ambition to be a body builder from his childhood and thus he began bodybuilding at the age of fifteen when he joined the soccer team of Austria. At the age of eighteen, in 1965 he joined the army and that's when he became serious about his body and started taking a strict diet. While in the army he took part in the Mr. Junior Europe contest in 1965 and won the competition. From then on there was no looking back for him. He won enormous number of professional titles after which he went to take part in the 1968 Mr. Universe competition. He won that one too and also became the youngest winner, at the age of twenty. He even won the Mr. Olympia titles consecutively for six years but lost to Sergio Oliva when he competed for the first time. He was given the nickname "The Austrian Oak" for his great body. He then left the competition saying that he wanted to give a chance to other talents too. George Butler made a documentary on Arnold's body building training named Pumping Iron. Besides body building being his ultimate dream, he entered Hollywood with his first movie "Hercules Goes to New York" in the year 1970. He won the Golden Globe Award for best new actor for his performance in the movie Stay Hungry, in 1976. His character in "Conan" movie required him to train vigorously and all the horse riding, sword training and running made him so strong that he required only eight weeks training for the competition. This time too, he won it. But it led to a controversy that the competition didn't support talent but popularity.
Arnold's movies didn't click at the box office until he did "Terminator" in 1984, which was followed by other hits like "Twins", "Total Recall", "Commando" and "Kindergarten Cop". He started a construction firm whose profits were used to fund another small business of mail order of fitness material such as books and videocassettes. He even got a degree in business and international economics from the Wisconsin University to take his business to a further higher level. Within few years was living a luxurious life. He even wrote articles for body building magazines, Muscle & Fitness, and Flex. After being appointed as the governor he was promoted as the executive editor of both the magazines.
His first affair was with Barbara Outland Baker who was an English teacher but they split in 1974. After that Arnold dated Maria Shriver, niece of former president John F. Kennedy for eight years and then got married to her in 1986 and they live together ever since then and the couple have four children. In August 2003 he announced his decision to stand for the elections of Governor of California. He was elected on October 7, 2003 and he replaced Gary Davis with nearly 3.4 million votes in his favor. He was re-elected again in November 2006. He is a republican. He was ranked among the top hundred people who shaped the world by time. He continues to perform his duty as the Governor of California and is being lauded for bringing in many reforms.
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The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are the most prestigious and popular film awards. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science or AMPAS situated in Beverly Hills, California started it in May 1929. PricewaterhouseCoopers since 1935 have managed the balloting process. In 1941 the confidential envelope system started which exists till this date. This was how the phrase "the envelope please" became famous. The members of this academy are invited by the Board of Governors to join. The membership has fifteen branches each based on the different categories of awards.
The gold plated statuettes are also presented as the Academy Award of Merit. It has a black metal base and weights 8.5 lb and 13.5 inch tall knight holding a crusader's sword standing over a film reel with five spokes, which represent the five main categories of awards. It was created by George Stanley and Alex Smith and since then the Oscars have been manipulated only once. Forty Oscars are made for each annual Academy Awards in Chicago, Illinois. They are presented every year for movies, which have been produced in the last twelve months. The seventeen-month qualifying period was introduced to consider films released in a single calendar year in the year 1932. And since then this time period has been taken into consideration. The minimum length of the movie should be forty minutes and the minimum resolution should be 1280x720 so as to qualify as a feature-length.
The Academy Awards were held on Thursdays until 1954. From 1959 - 1998 they were held on Mondays except for few exceptions. It started to be held on Sundays from 1999. For nearly sixty years the Academy Awards were held in later March or early April. Since 2004 it is being held in late February or early March. The very first awards ceremony was held at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood. The Ambassador Hotel and Biltmore Hotel were the venues till early 1940s. Next venue was Grauman's Chinese Theater, which was followed by the Shrine Auditorium. In 1949 the awards were presented at the Academy Award Theater. For the next ten years the venue was Pantages Theater in Hollywood. Next in line was Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica. Then the ceremony was shifted back to Los Angeles in 1968 at the Los Angeles Music Center and Shrine Auditorium and it was held there until 1988. In 2002 it was finally shifted to Kodak Theater in Hollywood.
Oscars recognizes talents in field such as acting, screenwriting, production, direction and technician. The awards categories can be broadly described as Best Production award, Best Director award, Best Actor award, Best Actress award, Best Supporting actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay award. The only three movies that have won awards in all the categories are "It Happened One Night"," One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "The Silence of the Lambs". This achievement is also known as the Big Five or Oscar Grand Slam. Three films hold the record for winning most number of Oscars, which are "Ben-Hur" in 1959, "Titanic" in 1997 and "The Return of the King" in 2003. On the awards night, invitees walk the red carpet in their best dresses, which create a fashion statement. The whole ceremony is broadcasted live on television all over America except Hawaii and Alaska, the first ever broadcast was in 1953 on NBC channel. There are performances by the nominees of the Best Original Song category and countless other performances. The telecast attracts over a billion viewers from all over the world as claimed by the Academy.
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