Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded. The genre, which has existed in some form or another since the early years of television programming, exploded as a phenomenon around 1999–2000 with the success of such television series such as ''Big Brother'' and ''Survivor''. Programs in the reality television genre are commonly called reality shows and often are produced in a television series. Documentaries and nonfictional programming such as television news and sports television shows are usually not classified as reality shows.

The genre covers a wide range of television programming formats, from game show or quiz shows which resemble the frantic, often demeaning Japanese variety show shows produced in Japan in the 1980s and 1990s (such as ''Gaki no tsukai''), to surveillance- or voyeurism-focused productions such as ''Big Brother.''

Reality television frequently portrays a modified and highly influenced form of reality, at times utilizing sensationalism to attract audience viewers and increase advertising revenue profits. Participants are often placed in exotic locations or abnormal situations, and are often persuaded to act in specific scripted ways by off-screen "story editors" or "segment television producers", with the portrayal of events and speech manipulated and contrived to create an illusion of reality through direction and post-production editing techniques.

History

1940s–1950s

Precedents for television that portrayed people in unscripted situations began in the 1940s. Debuting in 1948, Allen Funt's hidden camera ''Candid Camera'' show, (based on his previous 1947 radio show, ''Candid Microphone''), broadcast unsuspecting ordinary people reacting to pranks. It has been called the "granddaddy of the reality TV genre". In 1948, talent search shows ''Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour'' and ''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts'' featured amateur competitors and audience voting. The ''Miss America'' Pageant, first broadcast in 1954, was a competition where the winner achieved status as a national celebrity.

In the 1950s, game shows ''Beat the Clock'' and ''Truth or Consequences'' involved contestants in wacky competitions, stunts, and practical jokes. The Groucho Marx-hosted game show, You Bet Your Life, was primarily composed of Marx' prescripted comebacks to what was most often candid interviews of the contestants, although some 'contestants' were actors.

The radio series ''Nightwatch'' (1951–1955), which tape-recorded the daily activities of Culver City, California police officers, also helped pave the way for reality television. The series ''You Asked For It'' (1950–1959), in which viewer requests dictated content, was an antecedent of today's audience-participation reality TV elements, in which viewers cast votes to help determine the course of events.

1960s–1970s

First broadcast in the United Kingdom in 1964, the Granada Television series ''Seven Up!'', broadcast interviews with a dozen ordinary seven-year-olds from a broad cross section of society and inquired about their reactions to everyday life. Every seven years, a film documented the life of the same individuals during the intervening period, titled ''7 Plus Seven'', ''21 Up'', etc. The series was structured as a series of interviews with no element of plot. However, it did have the then-new effect of turning ordinary people into celebrities.

In the 1966 Direct Cinema film ''Chelsea Girls'', Andy Warhol filmed various acquaintances with no direction given; the ''Radio Times Guide to Film 2007'' stated that the film was "to blame for reality television."

The first reality show in the modern sense may have been the 12-part 1973 PBS series ''An American Family'', which showed a nuclear family going through a divorce; unlike many later reality shows, it was more or less documentary in purpose and style. In 1974 a counterpart program, ''The Family'', was made in the UK, following the working class Wilkins family of Reading. Other forerunners of modern reality television were the 1970s productions of Chuck Barris: ''The Dating Game'', ''The Newlywed Game'', and ''The Gong Show'', all of which featured participants who were eager to sacrifice some of their privacy and dignity in a televised competition. ''One Man and His Dog'' was a British Television series which began in 1976 featuring the participants of sheepdog trials. In 1978, ''Living in the Past'' recreated life in an Iron Age English village.

1980s–1990s

Reality television as it is currently understood can be directly linked to several television shows that began in the late 1980s and early 1990s. ''COPS'', which first aired in the spring of 1989 and came about partly due to the need for new programming during the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, showed police officers on duty apprehending criminals; it introduced the camcorder look and cinéma vérité feel of much of later reality television. Canadian TV ran ''Thrill of a Lifetime'' a fantasies fulfilled reality show from 1982-88 which was revived in 2001-03.

The series ''Nummer 28'', which aired on Dutch television in 1991, originated the concept of putting strangers together in the same environment for an extended period of time and recording the drama that ensued. ''Nummer 28'' also pioneered many of the stylistic conventions that have since become standard in reality television shows, including a heavy use of soundtrack music and the interspersing of events on screen with after-the-fact "confessionals" recorded by cast members, that serve as narration. One year later, the same concept was used by MTV in their new series ''The Real World'' and ''Nummer 28'' creator Erik Latour has long claimed that ''The Real World'' was directly inspired by his show. However, the producers of ''The Real World'' have stated that their direct inspiration was ''An American Family''.

According to television commentator Charlie Brooker, this type of reality television was enabled by the advent of computer-based non-linear editing systems for video (such as those produced by Avid Technology) in 1989. These systems made it easy to quickly edit hours of video footage into a usable form, something that had been very difficult to do before. (Film, which was easy to edit, was too expensive to shoot enough hours of footage with on a regular basis).

The TV show ''Expedition Robinson'', created by TV producer Charlie Parsons, which first aired in 1997 in Sweden (and was later produced in a large number of other countries as ''Survivor''), added to the ''Nummer 28''/''Real World'' template the idea of competition and elimination, in which cast members/contestants battled against each other and were removed from the show until only one winner remained. (These shows are now sometimes called elimination shows).

''Changing Rooms'', a TV show that began in 1996, showed couples redecorating each others' houses, and was the first reality show with a self-improvement or makeover theme.

2000s

Reality television saw an explosion of global popularity starting in the summer of 2000, with the successes of ''Big Brother'' and ''Survivor'' (in the US).

In particular, ''Survivor'' and ''American Idol'' have topped the US season-average television ratings on several occasions. ''Survivor'' led the ratings in 2001–02, and ''Idol'' has topped the ratings six consecutive years (2004–05 through to 2009–10). The shows ''Survivor'', the ''Idol'' series, ''The Amazing Race'', the ''America's Next Top Model'' series, the ''Dancing With The Stars'' series, ''The Apprentice,'' ''Fear Factor'' and ''Big Brother'' have all had a global effect, having each been successfully syndicated in dozens of countries.

Reality television lost its viewers' appeal after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Low ratings weighed heavily on reality shows such as ''The Amazing Race'', ''Lost'' (unrelated to the better-known serial drama of the same name) and ''The Mole''. B. J. Sigesmund of Newsweek provides three reasons for the low ratings. The first reason was selecting the right time slot for the shows. He said that “Lost” and “The Amazing Race” debuted September 5, 2001 but they went off the air for three weeks in the events of the terrorist attacks. The second reason was that there was an oversaturation of reality shows coming out in one season. September 5 saw the debut of shows like ''Big Brother'', ''Pop Stars'', ''Temptation Island'', ''Boot Camp'', ''Survivor'' and ''The Mole'' in the same night on different networks. The third reason was the issue of quality. He said that, “A great show like ''Survivor'' will always do great numbers. The good shows only do good numbers. And the bad ones fall by the wayside.”

Less than 12 new reality television shows debuted during the 2002 summer season. One of them was ''Houston Medical'', a reality shows that goes behind the scenes with four doctors. The difference between reality television and other genres is that there are no writers, no scripts or actors involved. Reality television involves unknown stars in front of the camera. One reality show that debuted during the 2002 summer television was NBC’s ''Dog Eat Dog'', a game show that combined the elements of ''Fear Factor'' and ''Weakest Link''. Reality television has given the networks the ability to find creative and diverse shows that have led them to serious dramas and continue into the next season. Peyser concluded that television will continue to try reality programs, no matter what the season.

There have been at least three television channels devoted exclusively to reality television: Fox Reality in the United States, launched in 2005, Global Reality Channel in Canada in 2010, and Zone Reality in the United Kingdom, launched in 2002. (The Canadian and British channels still exist; Fox Reality ended in mid-2010). In addition, several other cable channels, such as MTV and Bravo, feature original reality programming as a mainstay. Mike Darnell, head of reality TV for the US Fox network, was quoted as saying that the broadcast networks (NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox) "might as well plan three or four [reality shows] each season because we're going to have them, anyway."

During the early part of the 2000s, network executives expressed concern that reality-television programming was limited in its appeal for DVD reissue and syndication. Despite these concerns, DVDs for reality shows have sold briskly; ''Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County'', ''The Amazing Race'', ''Project Runway'', and ''America's Next Top Model'' have all ranked in the top DVDs sold on Amazon.com, and DVDs of ''The Simple Life'' have outranked scripted shows like ''The O.C.'' and ''Desperate Housewives''. Syndication, however, has indeed proven problematic; shows such as ''Fear Factor'', ''COPS'' and ''Wife Swap'' in which each episode is self-contained can indeed be rerun fairly easily, but usually only on cable television and/or during the daytime (''COPS'' and ''America's Funniest Home Videos'' being exceptions). Season-long competitions such as ''The Amazing Race'', ''Survivor'', and ''America's Next Top Model'' generally perform more poorly and usually must be rerun in marathons to draw the necessary viewers to make it worthwhile. Another option is to create documentaries around series including extended interviews with the participants and outtakes not seen in the original airings; the syndicated series ''American Idol Rewind'' and the pay-per-view ''Jerry Springer Too Hot for TV'' series are examples of using this strategy.

''COPS'' has had huge success in syndication, direct response sales and DVD. A FOX staple since 1989, ''COPS'' is, as of 2010, in its 23rd season, having outlasted all competing scripted police shows. Another series that has seen wide success is "Cheaters", which has been running for 10 seasons in the US and is syndicated in over 100 countries worldwide. In 2007, according to the Learning and Skills Council, one in seven UK teenagers hopes to gain fame by appearing on reality television.

In 2001, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences added the reality genre to the Emmy Awards with the category of Outstanding Reality Program. In 2003, to better differentiate between competition and informational reality programs, a second category Outstanding Reality-Competition Program was added. In 2008, a third category, Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program was added.

In 2010, the Tester became the first reality television show ever aired over a videogame console. The show entered its second season in the same year.

Subgenres

The genre of reality television consists of various subgenres.

Documentary-style

In many reality TV programs, camera shooting and footage editing give the viewer the impression that they are passive observers following people going about their daily personal and professional activities; this style of filming is often referred to as fly on the wall or factual television. Story "plots" are often constructed via editing or planned situations, with the results resembling soap operas—hence the terms ''docusoap'' and ''docudrama''. In other shows, a cinéma vérité style is adopted, where the filmmaker is more than a passive observer—their presence and influence is greatly manifest.

Within documentary-style reality television are several subcategories or variants:

;Special living environment: Some documentary-style programs place cast members, who in most cases previously did not know each other, in artificial living environments; ''The Real World'' is the originator of this style. In almost every other such show, cast members are given a specific challenge or obstacle to overcome. ''Road Rules'', which started in 1995 as a spin-off of ''The Real World'', started this pattern: the cast traveled across the country guided by clues and performing tasks.

:''Big Brother'' is probably the best known program of this type in the world with different versions produced in many countries around the globe. Another example of a show in this category ''The 1900 House'', involves historical re-enactment with cast members hired to live and work as people of a specific time and place. 2001's ''Temptation Island'' achieved some notoriety by placing several couples on an island surrounded by single people in order to test the couples' commitment to each other. ''U8TV: The Lofters'' combined the "special living environment" format with the "professional activity" format noted below; in addition to living together in a loft, each member of the show's cast was hired to host a television program for a Canadian cable channel.

;Celebrities: Another subset of fly-on-the-wall-style shows involves celebrities. Often these show a celebrity going about their everyday life: notable examples include ''The Anna Nicole Show'', ''The Osbournes'', ''Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica'' and ''Hogan Knows Best''. In other shows, celebrities are put on location and given a specific task or tasks; these include ''Celebrity Big Brother'', ''The Simple Life'', ''Tommy Lee Goes to College'', ''The Surreal Life'', and ''I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!''. VH1 has created an entire block of shows dedicated to celebrity reality, known as "Celebreality".

;Professional activities: Some documentary-style shows portray professionals either going about day-to-day business or performing an entire project over the course of a series. No outside experts are brought in (at least, none appear on screen) to either provide help or to judge results. The earliest example (and the longest running reality show of any genre) is ''COPS'' which has been airing since 1989, preceding by many years the current reality show phenomenon.

:Other examples of this type of reality show include the American shows ''Miami Ink'', ''The First 48'', ''Dog the Bounty Hunter'', ''American Chopper'' and '' Deadliest Catch''; the British shows ''Airport'', ''Police Stop!'' and ''Traffic Cops''; the Australian shows ''Border Security'' and ''Bondi Rescue'', and the New Zealand show ''Motorway Patrol''. The US cable networks TLC and A&E in particular show a number of this type of reality show.

:VH1's 2001 show ''Bands on the Run'' was a notable early hybrid, in that the show featured four unsigned bands touring and making music as a professional activity, but also pitted the bands against one another in game show fashion to see which band could make the most money.

Competition/game shows

Another sub-genre of reality TV is "reality competition" or so-called "reality game shows," which follow the format of non-tournament elimination contests. Typically, participants are filmed competing to win a prize, often while living together in a confined environment. In many cases, participants are removed until only one person or team remains, who/which is then declared the winner. Usually this is done by eliminating participants one at a time, in balloon debate style, through either disapproval voting or by voting for the most popular choice to win. Voting is done by the viewing audience, the show's own participants, a panel of judges, or some combination of the three.

A well-known example of a reality-competition show is the globally syndicated ''Big Brother'', in which cast members live together in the same house, with participants removed at regular intervals by either the viewing audience or, in the case of the American version, by the participants themselves.

There remains some disagreement over whether talent-search shows such as the ''Idol'' series, ''America's Got Talent'', ''Dancing with the Stars'', and ''Celebrity Duets'' are truly reality television, or just newer incarnations of shows such as ''Star Search''. Although the shows involve a traditional talent search, the shows follow the reality-competition conventions of removing one or more contestants per episode and allowing the public to vote on who is removed; the ''Idol'' series also require the contestants to live together during the run of the show (though their daily life is never shown onscreen). Additionally, there is a good deal of interaction shown between contestants and judges. As a result, such shows are often considered reality television, and the American Primetime Emmy Awards have nominated both ''American Idol'' and ''Dancing with the Stars'' for the Outstanding Reality-Competition Program Emmy.

Modern game shows like ''Weakest Link'', ''Greed'', ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'', ''American Gladiators'', ''Dog Eat Dog'' and ''Deal or No Deal'' also lie in a gray area: like traditional game shows (e.g., ''The Price Is Right'', ''Jeopardy!''), the action takes place in an enclosed TV studio over a short period of time; however, they have higher production values, more dramatic background music, and higher stakes than traditional shows (done either through putting contestants into physical danger or offering large cash prizes). In addition, there is more interaction between contestants and hosts, and in some cases they feature reality-style contestant competition and/or elimination as well. These factors, as well as these shows' rise in global popularity at the same time as the arrival of the reality craze, lead many people to group them under the reality TV umbrella as well as the traditional game show one.

There are various hybrid reality-competition shows, like the worldwide-syndicated ''Star Academy'', which combines the ''Big Brother'' and ''Idol'' formats, ''The Biggest Loser'' and ''The Pick-up Artist'' which combine competition with the self-improvement format, and ''American Inventor'', which uses the ''Idol'' format for products instead of people. Some shows, such as ''Making the Band'' and ''Project Greenlight'', devote the first part of the season to selecting a winner, and the second part to showing that person or group of people working on a project.

Popular variants of the competition-based format include the following:

;Dating-based competition:Dating-based competition shows follow a contestant choosing one out of a group of suitors. Over the course of either a single episode or an entire season, suitors are eliminated until only the contestant and the final suitor remains. For a time, in 2001–2003, this type of reality show dominated the other genres on the major US networks. Shows that aired included ''The Bachelor'', its spin-off ''The Bachelorette'', as well as ''For Love or Money'', ''Paradise Hotel'', ''Temptation Island'', ''Average Joe'' and ''Farmer Wants a Wife'', among others. More recent such shows include ''Flavor of Love'' and its spin-offs ''I Love New York'', ''Rock of Love'', and ''The Cougar''. This is one of the older variants of the format; shows such as ''The Dating Game'' that date to the 1960s had similar premises (though each episode was self-contained, and not the serial format of more modern shows).

;Job search:In this category, the competition revolves around a skill that contestants were pre-screened for. Competitors perform a variety of tasks based on that skill, are judged, and are then kept or removed by a single expert or a panel of experts. The show is usually presented as a job search of some kind, in which the prize for the winner includes a contract to perform that kind of work. ''Popstars'', which debuted in 1999, may have been the first such show. The first job-search show which showed dramatic, unscripted situations may have been ''America's Next Top Model'', which premiered in May 2003. Other examples include ''The Apprentice'' (which judges business skills), ''Hell's Kitchen'' and ''Top Chef'' (for chefs), ''Shear Genius'' (for hair styling), ''Project Runway'' (for clothing design), ''Top Design'' (for interior design), ''Stylista'' (for fashion editors), ''Last Comic Standing'' (for comedians), ''The Starlet'' and ''Scream Queens'' (for actresses), ''I Know My Kid's a Star'' (for child performers), ''On the Lot'' (for filmmakers), ''The Shot'' (for photographers), ''So You Think You Can Dance'' (for dancers), ''MuchMusic VJ Search'' (for television hosts), ''Dream Job'' (for sportscasters), ''Face Off'' (for make-up artists), and ''The Tester'' (for game testers). Some shows use the same format with celebrities: in this case, there is no expectation that the winner will continue this line of work, and prize winnings often go to charity. Examples of celebrity competition programs include ''Deadline'', ''Celebracadabra'', and ''The Celebrity Apprentice''.

;Sports:Most of these programs create a sporting competition among athletes attempting to establish their name in that sport. ''The Club'', in 2002, was one of the first shows to immerse sport with reality TV, based on a fabricated club competing against real clubs in the sport of Australian rules football; the audience helped select which players played each week by voting for their favorites. Golf Channel's ''The Big Break'' is a reality show in which aspiring golfers compete against one another and are eliminated. ''The Contender'', a boxing show, unfortunately became the first American reality show in which a contestant committed suicide after being eliminated from the show. In ''The Ultimate Fighter'' participants have voluntarily withdrawn or expressed the desire to withdraw from the show due to competitive pressure.

:In sports shows, sometimes just appearing on the show, not necessarily winning, can get a contestant the job. The owner of UFC declared that the final match of the first season of ''Ultimate Fighter'' was so good, both contestants were offered a contract, and in addition, many non-winning "TUF Alumni" have prospered in the UFC. Many of the losers from World Wrestling Entertainment's ''Tough Enough'' and ''Diva Search'' shows have been picked up by the company.

:Not all sports programs, however, involve athletes trying to make a name in the sport. The 2006 US reality series ''Knight School'' focused on students at Texas Tech University vying for a walk-on (non-scholarship) roster position on the school's men's basketball team under legendary coach Bob Knight. In the Republic of Ireland, RTÉ One's ''Celebrity Bainisteoir'' involves eight non-sporting Irish celebrities becoming ''bainisteoiri'' (managers) of mid-level Gaelic football teams, leading their teams in an officially sanctioned tournament.

Self-improvement/makeover

Some reality television shows cover a person or group of people improving their lives. Sometimes the same group of people are covered over an entire season (as in ''The Swan'' and ''Celebrity Fit Club''), but usually there is a new target for improvement in each episode. Despite differences in the content, the format is usually the same: first the show introduces the subjects in their current, less-than-ideal environment. Then the subjects meet with a group of experts, who give the subjects instructions on how to improve things; they offer aid and encouragement along the way. Finally, the subjects are placed back in their environment and they, along with their friends and family and the experts, appraise the changes that have occurred. Other self-improvement or makeover shows include "How Do I Look?" (fashion makeover). ''The Biggest Loser'' and ''Fat March'', (which covers weight loss), ''Extreme Makeover'' (entire physical appearance), ''Queer Eye'' and ''What Not to Wear'' (style and grooming), ''Supernanny'' (child-rearing), ''Made'' (attaining difficult goals), ''Trinny & Susannah Undress'' (fashion makeover and marriage), ''Tool Academy'' (relationship building) and ''Charm School'' and ''From G's to Gents'' (self-improvement and manners).

Renovation

Some shows make over part or all of a person's living space, work space, or vehicle. The American show ''This Old House'' was the first such show, debuting in 1979. The British show ''Changing Rooms'', beginning in 1996 (later remade in the US as ''Trading Spaces'') was the first such renovation show that added a game show feel with different weekly contestants. Other shows in this category include ''Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'', ''Debbie Travis' Facelift'', ''Designed to Sell'', ''While You Were Out'', and ''Holmes on Homes''. ''Pimp My Ride'' and ''Overhaulin''' show vehicles being rebuilt. Some shows, such as ''Restaurant Makeover'' and ''Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares'', show both the decor and the menu of a failing restaurant being remade. The issue of "making over" was taken to its social extreme with the British show ''Life Laundry'', in which people who had become hoarders, even living in squalor, were given professional assistance.

As with game shows, a gray area exists between such reality TV shows and more conventional formats. Some argue the key difference is the emphasis of the human story and conflicts of reality shows, versus the emphasis on process and information in more traditional format shows. The show ''This Old House'', which began in 1979, the start to finish renovation of different houses through a season; media critic Jeff Jarvis has speculated that it is "the original reality TV show."

Social experiment

Another type of reality program is the social experiment that produces drama, conflict, and sometimes transformation. ''Wife Swap'' which began in 2003 on Channel 4 and has aired for four seasons on ABC is a notable example. People with different values agreed to live by each other's social rules for a brief period of time and sometimes learn from the experience. Other shows in this category include ITV's ''Holiday Showdown,'' Oxygen's ''The Bad Girls Club'' (lifestyles and actions), and Channel 4's ''Secret Millionaire''. ''Faking It'' was a series where people had to learn a new skill and pass themselves off as experts in that skill. ''Shattered'' was a controversial 2004 UK series where contestants competed for how long they could go without sleep.

Dating shows

Unlike the aforementioned dating competition shows, some shows feature all new contestants each episode. This format was first used in the 1960s show ''The Dating Game''. Modern examples include ''Blind Date'', ''Matchmaker'', ''Room Raiders'', ''Elimidate'', ''Next'', and ''Parental Control''.

Talk shows

Though the traditional format of a talk show is that of a host interviewing a featured guest or discussing a chosen topic with a guest or panel of guests, the advent of trash TV shows has often made people group the entire category in with reality television. Programs like ''Ricki Lake'', ''The Jerry Springer Show'', ''Dr. Phil'', ''The Jeremy Kyle Show'' and many others have generally recruited guests by advertising a potential topic for a future program. Topics are frequently outrageous and are chosen in the interest of creating on-screen drama, tension or outrageous behaviour. Though not explicitly reality television by traditional standards, this sort of depiction of someone's life, even if only in a brief interview format, is frequently considered akin to broader-scale reality TV programming.

Hidden cameras

Another type of reality programming features hidden cameras rolling when random passers-by encounter a staged situation. ''Candid Camera'', which first aired on television in 1948, pioneered the format. Modern variants of this type of production include ''Punk'd'', ''Trigger Happy TV'', ''The Jamie Kennedy Experiment'' and ''Just For Laughs Gags''. The series ''Scare Tactics'' and ''Room 401'' are hidden-camera programs in which the goal is to frighten contestants rather than just befuddle or amuse them.

Not all hidden camera shows use strictly staged situations. For example, the syndicated show ''Cheaters'', purports to use hidden cameras to record suspected cheating partners, although the authenticity of the show has been questioned. Once the evidence has been gathered, the accuser confronts the cheating partner with the assistance of the host.

Supernatural and paranormal

Started by ''MTV's Fear'' in 2000, supernatural and paranormal reality shows place participants into frightening situations which ostensibly involve the paranormal. In series such as ''Celebrity Paranormal Project'', the stated aim is investigation, and some series like ''Scariest Places on Earth'' challenge participants to survive the investigation; whereas others such as ''Paranormal State'' and ''Ghost Hunters'' use a recurring crew of paranormal researchers. Shows such as ''Fear Factor'' and ''Scare Tactics'' dispense with supernatural overtones and aim solely at inciting fear or aversion in the cast. In general, the shows follow similar stylized patterns of night vision, surveillance, and hand held camera footage; odd angles; subtitles establishing place and time; desaturated imagery; rapid fire, MTV editing; and non-melodic soundtracks.

Noting the recent trend in reality shows that take the paranormal at face value, New York Times Culture editor Mike Hale characterized ghost hunting shows as "pure theater" and compared the genre to professional wrestling or soft core pornography for its formulaic, teasing approach.

Hoaxes

In hoax reality shows, a false premise is presented to some of the series participants. In truth, the premise of the series is completely different. The rest of the cast are actors who are in on the joke. These shows often served to parody the conventions of the reality TV genre.

The first such show was 2003's ''The Joe Schmo Show''. Other examples are ''My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss'' (modeled after ''The Apprentice''), ''My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance'', ''Hell Date'' (modeled after ''Blind Date''), ''Superstar USA'' (modeled after ''American Idol''), ''Space Cadets'' (which convinced the hoax targets that they were being flown into space), ''Punk'd'' (involving celebrities in staged crises), ''Invasion Iowa'' (in which a town was convinced that William Shatner was filming a movie there), and ''Reality Hell'' (different target and premise every episode).

Other shows, though not hoax shows per se, have offered misleading information to some cast members in order to add a wrinkle to the competition. Examples include ''Boy Meets Boy'' and ''Joe Millionaire''.

Analysis

Political impact

Reality television's global success has been, in the eyes of some analysts, an important political phenomenon. In some authoritarian countries, reality television voting has been the first time many citizens have voted in any free and fair wide-scale elections. In addition, the frankness of the settings on some reality shows present situations that are often taboo in certain orthodox cultures, like ''Star Academy Arab World'', which began airing in 2003, and which shows male and female contestants living together. In 2004, journalist Matt Labash, noting both of these issues, wrote that "the best hope of little Americas developing in the Middle East could be Arab-produced reality TV." In China, after the finale of the 2005 season of ''Super Girl'' (the local version of ''Pop Idol'') drew an audience of around 400 million people, and 8 million text message votes, the state-run English-language newspaper ''Beijing Today'' ran the front-page headline "Is Super Girl a Force for Democracy?" The Chinese government criticized the show, citing both its democratic nature and its excessive vulgarity, or "worldliness", and in 2006 banned it outright. Other attempts at introducing reality television have proved to be similarly controversial. A Pan-Arab version of ''Big Brother'' was cancelled in 2004 after less than two weeks on the air after a public outcry and street protests.

In 2007, Abu Dhabi TV begain airing ''Million's Poet'', a show featuring ''Pop Idol''-style voting and elimination, but for the writing and oration of Arabic poetry. The show became popular in Arab countries, with around 18 million viewers, partly because, according to analysts such as University of Pennsylvania professor Marwan Kraidy, it was able to combine the excitement of reality television with a traditional, culturally relevant topic. In April 2010, however, the show also become a subject of political controversy, when Hissa Hilal, a 43-year-old female Saudi competitor, read out a poem criticizing her country's Muslim clerics. Hilal received the highest scores from the judges throughout the competition, and came in third place overall.

Television critic James Poniewozik wrote that reality shows like ''Deadliest Catch'' and ''Ice Road Truckers'' showcase working-class people of the kind that "used to be routine" on scripted network television, but that became a rarity in the 2000s: "The better to woo upscale viewers, TV has evicted its mechanics and dockworkers to collect higher rents from yuppies in coffeehouses."

Criticism

Influenced by corporate profit motive

Writers for reality television do not receive union pay-scale compensation and union representation, which significantly decreases expenditures for producers and broadcasters. Many of the actors in reality television are compensated for their appearances.

Product placement

Product placement, whereby companies and corporations pay to have their products included in television programming for marketing purposes is highly prevalent in reality television.

The following is a list of television shows with the most instances of product placement (11/07–11/08; Nielsen Media Research). Eight out of the ten are reality television shows.

''The Biggest Loser'' 6,248

''American Idol'', 4,636

''Extreme Makeover: Home Edition''', 3,371

''America's Toughest Jobs'', 2,807

''Deal or No Deal'', 2,292

''America's Next Top Model'', 2,241

''Last Comic Standing'', 1,993

''Kitchen Nightmares'' 1,853

''Hell's Kitchen'', 1,807

"Reality" as misnomer

Some commentators have said that the name "reality television" is an inaccurate description for several styles of program included in the genre. Irene McGee, a castmember on the 1998 ''The Real World: Seattle'', has done public speaking tours about the negative and misleading aspects of reality TV.

Unreal environments

In competition-based programs such as ''Big Brother'' and ''Survivor'', and other special living environment shows like ''The Real World'', the producers design the format of the show and control the day-to-day activities and the environment, creating a completely fabricated world in which the competition plays out. Producers specifically select the participants and use carefully designed scenarios, challenges, events, and settings to encourage particular behaviors and conflicts. Mark Burnett, creator of ''Survivor'' and other reality shows, has agreed with this assessment, and avoids the word "reality" to describe his shows; he has said, "I tell good stories. It really is not reality TV. It really is unscripted drama."

Misleading editing

In 2004, VH1 aired a program called ''Reality TV Secrets Revealed'', which detailed various misleading tricks of reality TV producers. According to the show, various reality shows (notably ''Joe Millionaire'') combined audio and video from different times, or from different sets of footage, to create an artificial illusion of time chronology that did not occur, and a misportrayal of participant behaviors and actions.

In docusoap programming, which follows people in their daily life, producers may be highly deliberate in their editing strategies, able to portray certain participants as heroes or villains, and may guide the drama through altered chronology and selective presentation of events. A Season 3 episode of ''Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe'' included a segment on the ways in which selective editing can be used to this end.

Restaging

According to VH1's ''Reality TV Secrets Revealed'', the shows ''The Restaurant'' and ''Survivor'' had at times recreated incidents that had actually occurred, but were not properly recorded by cameras to the required technical standard, or had not been recorded at all. In order to get the footage, the event was restaged for the cameras.

Premeditated scripting and acting

Reality television shows have faced speculation that the participants themselves are involved in fakery, acting out storylines that have been planned in advance by producers. ''The Hills'' is one notable example; the show has long faced allegations that its plots are scripted ahead of time. During the second season of ''Hell's Kitchen'', it was speculated that the customers eating meals prepared by the contestants were in fact paid actors. Some participants of reality shows have also stated afterwards that they altered their behavior to appear more crazy or emotional in order to get more camera time.

Daniel Petrie Jr., former president of the Writers Guild of America, west, an organization that represents 9,000 Hollywood film and television writers, stated: "We look at reality TV, which is billed as unscripted, and we know it is scripted. We understand that shows don't want to call the writers writers because they want to maintain the illusion that it is reality, that stuff just happens."

Misleading premise

Even the premise of shows has been called into question. The winner of the first "cycle", in 2003, of ''America's Next Top Model'', Adrianne Curry, claimed that part of the grand prize she received, a modeling contract with Revlon, was for a much smaller amount of work than what was promised throughout the show. During the airing of the first season of ''A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila'', in which a group of both men and women vied for the heart of Tila Tequila, there were rumors that its star was not only heterosexual, but also had a boyfriend already. The show's winner, Bobby Banhart, claimed that he never saw Ms. Tequila again after the show finished taping, and that he was never even given her telephone number.

Instant celebrity

Reality television has the potential to turn its participants into national celebrities, at least for a short period. This is most notable in talent-search programs such as the ''Idol'' series, which has spawned music stars in many of the countries in which it has aired. Many other shows, however, such as ''Survivor'' and ''Big Brother'', have made at least temporary celebrities out of their participants; some participants have then been able to parlay this fame into media careers. For example, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, a contestant on ''Survivor: The Australian Outback'', later became a host on morning talk show ''The View''; and Kristin Cavallari, who appeared on ''Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County'', has gone on to become a television host and actress. Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino, who appeared on MTV's ''Jersey Shore'', was able to parlay his fame into lucrative endorsement deals. Jamie Chung, a former contestant on ''The Real World'', went on to pursue an acting career, starring in films such as ''Sucker Punch''. Tiffany Pollard, originally a contestant on ''Flavor of Love'', was eventually given four additional reality series of her own on VH1: ''I Love New York'', ''I Love New York 2'', ''New York Goes to Hollywood'' and ''New York Goes to Work''. In Britain, Jade Goody became famous after appearing on ''Big Brother 3'' in 2002; she later appeared on other reality programs, wrote a bestselling autobiography and launched a top-selling perfume line. She later received extensive media coverage during her battle with cervical cancer, from which she died in 2009. Mike "The Miz" Mizanin, who has appeared on ''The Real World'' and various spin-offs, later became a professional wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment.

Some reality-television alumni take on the role of professional greeters at nightclubs, appear at automobile shows, and the like.

Reality TV contestants are sometimes derided as "Z-list celebrities" or "nonebrities" who have done nothing to warrant their newfound fame. The newspaper ''The Sun'' defined a "nonebrity" as "a pointless media figure who would love to rise up high enough to scrape on to the bottom end of the D-list."

As a spectacle of humiliation

Some have claimed that the success of reality television is due to its ability to provide ''schadenfreude'', by satisfying the desire of viewers to see others humiliated. American magazine ''Entertainment Weekly'' wrote, "Do we watch reality television for precious insight into the human condition? Please. We watch for those awkward scenes that make us feel a smidge better about our own little unfilmed lives." Media analyst Tom Alderman wrote, "There is a sub-set of Reality TV that can only be described as Shame TV because it uses humiliation as its core appeal."

Television critic James Poniewozik has disagreed with this assessment, writing, "for all the talk about 'humiliation TV,' what's striking about most reality shows is how good humored and resilient most of the participants are: the American Idol rejectees stubbornly convinced of their own talent, the Fear Factor players walking away from vats of insects like Olympic champions. What finally bothers their detractors is, perhaps, not that these people are humiliated but that they are not."

Participation of children

Jon & Kate Plus 8

The reality show ''Jon & Kate Plus 8'', which showed a family of two parents (Jon and Kate Gosselin) raising their eight children, caused controversy when, in June 2009, Jon and Kate began divorce proceedings, and it emerged that Jon had been involved with other women prior to the divorce. The episode announcing their separation became the most-watched of the series, with 10.6 million viewers.

TLC has announced that ''Jon & Kate Plus 8'' will continue under the new title ''Kate Plus Eight''. Criticism has been raised regarding Kate's intentions of continuing with the show, as well as whether or not the children are being exploited or may be under emotional distress. According to lawyer Gloria Allred:

In the case of the show, the children's workplace is their home. Currently there are no clear laws in Pennsylvania (where the Gosselins reside) regarding a child's appearance on a reality show. However, Pennsylvania law permits kids who are at least seven years old to work in the entertainment industry, as long as certain guidelines are followed and a permit is obtained. For example, children may not work after 11:30 pm under most circumstances, or perform in any location that serves alcohol.

Kate defended her position that the children are happy and healthy, and not in any danger. In addition, Jon has stated that they are "in talks" regarding ensuring the children's happiness, and that there is no truth to any reports that the children have been hurt by the series. TLC released a statement saying that the network "fully complies with all applicable laws and regulations" to produce the show. The statement also said that "for an extended period of time, we have been engaged in cooperative discussions and supplied all requested information to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry".

Other examples

In another much-publicized case, issues have been raised about the underlying motives that led to the balloon boy hoax, in which six-year-old Falcon Heene was reportedly coerced by his father to stage for a frantic, live-on-TV chase for an out-of-control helium balloon in which he was suspected to be. The police said that the father engineered the hoax with the hope of generating enough publicity in order to get the family back into the reality-show business, after two appearances on ABC's ''Wife Swap''. In an interview with the ''Denver Post'', child psychologist Alan Zimmerman said:

The same article quoted psychologist Jamie Huysman as saying, "It is exploitation [...] Nobody wants to watch normal behavior. Kids have to be co-conspirators to get the camera to stay on."

Counter Arguments

Despite arguments that realism cannot be achieved in reality shows because the outcomes may or may not have been scripted, Geoff King argues in his book, ''Spectacle of the Real: From Hollywood to Reality TV and Beyond'': even though the contestants are in a fabricated setting and the situation has been set up for a certain outcome, as in real love shows such as ''The Bachelor'' and ''The Bachelorette'', these contestants still harbor feelings that make their participation in the show real to them. King says: (1958), another Robert Sheckley story, was about a television show in which a contestant volunteers to be hunted for a week by trained killers, with a large cash prize if he survives. It was adapted in 1970 as the TV movie ''Das Millionenspiel'', and again in 1983 as the movie ''Le Prix du Danger''.

"It Could Be You" (1964), a short story by Australian Frank Roberts, features a day-in-day-out televised blood sport.

''Survivor'' (1965), a science fiction story by Walter F. Moudy, depicted the 2050 "Olympic War Games" between Russia and the United States. The games are fought to show the world the futility of war and thus deter further conflict. Each side has one hundred soldiers who fight with rifles, mortars, and machine guns in a large natural arena. The goal is for one side to wipe out the other; the few who survive the battle become heroes. The games are televised, complete with color commentary discussing tactics, soldiers' personal backgrounds, and slow-motion replays of their deaths.

''Bread and Circuses'' (1968) was an episode of the TV show ''Star Trek'' in which the crew visits a planet resembling the Roman Empire, but with 20th century technology. The planet's "Empire TV" features regular gladiatorial games, with the announcer urging viewers at home to vote for their favorites, stating, "This is your program. You pick the winner." The show included several jabs at real-world television, such as a praetorian threatening, "You bring this network's ratings down, Flavius, and we'll do a special on you!"

''The Year of the Sex Olympics'' (1968) was a BBC television play in which a dissident in a dictatorship is forced onto a secluded island and taped for a reality show in order to keep the masses entertained.

''The Unsleeping Eye'' (1973), a novel by D.G. Compton (also published as ''The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe''), was about a woman dying of cancer whose last days are recorded without her knowledge for a television show. It was later adapted as the 1980 movie ''Death Watch''.

"Ladies And Gentlemen, This Is Your Crisis" (1976) was a short story by science fiction author Kate Wilhelm about a television show in which contestants (including a B-list actress who is hoping to revitalize her career) attempt to make their way to a checkpoint after being dropped off in the Alaskan wilderness, while being filmed and broadcast around the clock through an entire weekend. The story focuses primarily on the show's effect on a couple whose domestic tensions and eventual reconciliation parallel the dangers faced by the contestants.

''Network'' (1976) was a film predictive of a number of trends in broadcast television, including reality programming. One subplot featured network executives negotiating with an urban terrorist group for the production of a weekly series, each episode of which was to feature an act of terrorism.

''Real Life'' (1979) where a pushy, narcissistic filmmaker persuades a Phoenix family to let him and his crew film their everyday lives. A parody of the ground-breaking PBS series ''An American Family''.

''The Running Man'' (1982) was a book by Stephen King depicting a game show in which a contestant flees around the world from "hunters" trying to chase him down and kill him; it has been speculated that the book was inspired by Robert Sheckley's ''The Prize of Peril''. The book was loosely adapted as a 1987 movie of the same name. The movie removed most of the reality-TV element of the book: its competition now took place entirely within a large TV studio, and more closely resembled an athletic competition (though a deadly one).

The film ''20 Minutes into the Future'' (1985), and the spin-off TV show ''Max Headroom'', revolved around television mainly based on live, often candid, broadcasts. In one episode of ''Max Headroom'', "Academy", the character Blank Reg fights for his life on a courtroom game show, with the audience deciding his fate.

''Vengeance on Varos'' (1985) was an episode of the TV show ''Doctor Who'' in which the population of a planet watches live TV broadcasts of the torture and executions of those who oppose the government. The planet's political system is based on the leaders themselves facing disintegration if the population votes 'no' to their propositions. This episode is often credited as the origins of "voting someone off".

Pop culture references

Some scripted and written works have used reality television as a plot device:

Films

''American Dreamz'' (2006) is a film set partially on an ''American Idol''-like show.

''EDtv'' (1999) was a remake of ''Louis the 19th, King of the Airwaves''.

''Louis the 19th, King of the Airwaves'' (1994) is a Québécois film about a man who signs up to star in a 24-hour-a-day reality TV show.

''Real Life'' (1979) is a comedic film about the creation of a show similar to ''An American Family'' gone horribly wrong.

''Series 7: The Contenders'' (2001) is a film about a reality show in which contestants have to kill each other to win.

In the film ''She's All That'' (1999), the girlfriend of one of the main characters is stolen by a former castmember of ''The Real World'' (played by Matthew Lillard)

''Tomb of the Werewolf'' (2004) is a film about a man searching for treasure while being followed by a reality show film crew, who encounters a werewolf and a vampire instead.

''The Truman Show'' (1998) is a film about a man (Jim Carrey) who discovers that his entire life is being staged and filmed for a 24-hour-a-day reality TV show.

Television

"Bad Wolf" (2005) is an episode of the TV show ''Doctor Who'' in which the characters find themselves trapped in various real-life reality television shows.

''The Comeback'' (2005) satirizes the indignity of reality TV by presenting itself as "raw footage" of a new reality show documenting the attempted comeback of has-been star Valerie Cherish.

"Helter Shelter" (2002) is an episode of ''The Simpsons'' in which the family become contestants in "The 1895 Challenge," living for several weeks in a Victorian style house with antique furniture and no electricity. To boost the ratings, they soon find themselves being abused and humiliated by the show's director, who states that he created the show "by watching Dutch television and tweaking the title." ''The Simpsons'' has also repeatedly spoofed reality TV and made reference to fictitious reality shows, with such titles as "Tied To A Bear," "Sucker Punch," "Mystery Injection," "Animal Survivor,", "No-Pants Island" and "Fart Date."

''Rock Rivals'' (2008) is a British television show about two judges on a televised singing contest whose marriage is falling apart.

"Special Service" (1989) was an episode of the remade TV series ''The Twilight Zone'', in which a man discovers that his life has secretly been videotaped and is a huge hit on a network television show.

'':Total Drama Island'' (2007) is a Canadian animated series about teenagers on a ''Survivor''-like show. It was subsequently followed by Total Drama Action (2009) and Total Drama World Tour (2010).

Web

"Realistically Speaking 1&2" (2007) is a two-part web-episode of ''Hero Envy'' in which one of the main characters allows a reality-TV film crew to document his and his friends' lives in an elimination-style game in exchange for money.

Music

"Celebrity," a 2003 song by Brad Paisley from the album ''Mud on the Tires'', makes fun of both reality television contestants and their ability to become famous without any real talent, as well as celebrity antics in general. The song reached #31 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot Country Singles chart.

"Reality Show" is a song by T-Pain, from the 2008 album ''Thr33 Ringz'', in which he sings to his lover, "Let's make a reality show", to "show 'em how much we in love".

"Real" is a song by James Wesley from his 2010 album ''Real''. The song mocks various reality shows popular in the United States as unreal (he specifically mentions ''The Bachelor'', ''Survivor'', ''The Amazing Race'' and ''The Real Housewives''), comparing them unfavorably with real-life hardships. The song peaked at #22 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles charts.

Books

''Chart Throb'' (2006) is a comic novel by Ben Elton that parodies ''The X Factor'' and ''The Osbournes'', among other reality shows.

''Dead Famous'' (2001) is a comedy/whodunit novel, also by Ben Elton, in which a contestant is murdered while on a ''Big Brother''-like show.

''Oryx and Crake'' (2003), a speculative fiction novel by ''Margaret Atwood'', occasionally makes mentions of the protagonist and his friend entertaining themselves by watching reality TV shows of live executions, ''Noodie News'', frog squashing, graphic surgery, and child pornography.

Other influences on popular culture

A number of scripted television shows have taken the form of documentary-type reality TV shows, in "mockumentary" style. The first such show was the BBC series ''Operation Good Guys'', which premiered in 1997. Other examples include ''People Like Us'', ''Trailer Park Boys'', ''The Office'', ''Modern Family'', ''Drawn Together'', ''Summer Heights High'', ''Total Drama Island'', ''Parks and Recreation'', ''Reno 911!'' and Come Fly With Me.

Some feature films have been produced that use some of the conventions of reality television; such films are sometimes referred to as reality films, and sometimes simply as documentaries. Allen Funt's 1970 hidden camera movie ''What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?'' was based on his reality-television show ''Candid Camera''. The TV show ''Jackass'' spawned four films: ''Jackass: The Movie'' in 2001, ''Jackass: Number Two'' in 2006, ''Jackass 2.5'' in late 2007, and ''Jackass 3D'' in 2010. A similar show, ''Extreme Duudsonit'', was adapted for the film ''The Dudesons Movie'' in 2006. The producers of ''The Real World'' created ''The Real Cancun'' in 2003. ''Games People Play: New York'' was released in 2004.

The mumblecore film genre, which began in the mid-2000s, and uses video cameras and relies heavily on improvisation and non-professional actors, has been described as influenced in part by what one critic called "the spring-break psychodrama of MTV's ''The Real World''". Mumblecore director Joe Swanberg has said, "As annoying as reality TV is, it's been really good for filmmakers because it got mainstream audiences used to watching shaky camerawork and different kinds of situations."

See also

:Broadcast media

Bunim/Murray Productions

Endemol

Factual television

Great Reality TV Swindle

Matt Kunitz

John Langley

List of reality television programs

List of television show franchises

Media manipulation

Prolefeed

References

Further reading

''Big Brother - Why Bother?'' - Graham Barnfield's Spiked commentary

Caudle, Melissa (2011). ''The Reality of Reality TV: Reality Show Business Plans''. CreateSpace. ISBN 1460916980. A step-by-step approach to writing business plans for reality shows.

DeVolld, Troy (2011). ''Reality TV: An Insiders Guide to Reality Television''. Michael Wiese Productions. ISBN 1932907998. A working producer provides information about how reality shows are made and how to develop a lasting career in the genre.

Hill, Annette (2005). ''Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television''. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-26152-X.

Murray, Susan, and Laurie Ouellette, eds. (2004). ''Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture''. New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-5688-3

Nichols, Bill (1994). ''Blurred Boundaries: Questions of Meaning in Contemporary Culture''. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-34064-0.

''Lord of the fly-on-the-walls'' - Observer article: Paul Watson's UK & Australian docusoaps

Zeven werklozen samen op zoek naar een baan by Raymond van den Boogaard, NRC Handelsblad, September 28, 1996 (Dutch) - about ''Nummer 28'' being the inspiration for ''The Real World''

Reality TV continues its downward spiral of morality

External links

Truth or Dare: The Reality of British Television, a panel of experts discuss Reality TV, BAFTA Webcast, January 2008

The Reality of Reality Television, Mark Greif's assessment of Reality TV from n+1

Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:Reality television series Category:Game shows Category:Television genres

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birthname	Madison Michelle Pettis
birth date	July 22, 1998
birth place	Arlington, Texas, U.S.
occupation	Actress
yearsactive	2006–present }}

Madison Michelle Pettis (born July 22, 1998) is an American child actress, best known for playing Sophie Martinez "America's Angel" on Disney Channel's ''Cory in the House'' and Peyton Kelly in ''The Game Plan''.

Life and career

Madison Pettis was born in Arlington, Texas, to Steven and Michelle Pettis. She is of African-American, Irish, French and Italian descent. Pettis was first noticed when her mother entered into an annual cover search held by ''FortWorthChild'', a local parenting magazine. From that she began modeling and acting in commercials; she had an agent and a website from the age of five. She had a co-starring role in the Disney Channel Original Series, ''Cory in the House'' as the President's daughter, Sophie Martinez, also known as "America's Angel". In this role she was seen in one episode of ''Hannah Montana''. She also starred as Peyton Kelly in the 2007 Disney movie, ''The Game Plan''. She portrayed Isabelle Tyler in an episode of ''The 4400''. She was the 2007 Disney Channel Games commentator, and also appeared on ''Barney and Friends'' as Bridget, in which she sang, danced and acted. In 2008, she cameoed in Dr. Seuss' ''Horton Hears a Who!'', and had roles in ''Mostly Ghostly: Who Let the Ghosts Out?'' and ''A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa''. Pettis also had a small role in ''Seven Pounds'' as Lorena, Connie Tepos' daughter. She has a voice role in the Disney Channel animated series ''Special Agent Oso''. Most recently Pettis had a role in ''Free Style'' as Bailey Bryant with Corbin Bleu and has appeared as herself on the syndicated version of the game show ''Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?''. Pettis and her older brother, Steven Jr., appeared recently on ''The Bonnie Hunt Show'', where they were reunited after Steven's return home from active military duty.

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 2006 || ''Barney: Lets Make Music''|| Bridgit || Direct-to-DVD |- | 2007 || ''The Game Plan''|| Peyton Kelly ||Main role |- | rowspan="4"| 2008 || ''Seven Pounds'' || Connie's Daughter || |- | ''A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa''|| Claire || Television film |- | ''Mostly Ghostly: Who Let the Ghosts Out?''|| Tara Roland ||Direct-to-DVD |- | ''Horton Hears a Who!'' || Additional voices || Animated Film |- | 2009 || ''Free Style'' || Bailey Bryant ||Main role |- | 2010 || The Search for Santa Paws || Willamina || |- | 2011 || ''Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2'' || Lala || Direct-to-DVD film |}

TV series

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 2006 || ''Jericho'' || Stacy Clemons || Pilot episode, guest role |- | rowspan=3| 2007 || ''Hannah Montana'' || Sophie Martinez || Episode: "Take This Job and Love It", guest role |- | ''The 4400'' || Young Isabelle Tyler || Episode:"Daddy's Little Girl", guest role |- | ''Special Agent Oso'' || Katie || Episode: "Sandcastle Royale", guest role |- | 2007–2008 || ''Cory in the House'' || Sophie Martinez || Main role |- | 2007–present || ''Phineas and Ferb'' || Adyson Sweetwater || 30 episodes, voice role |- | 2009 || ''Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?'' || Herself || 18 episodes, recurring guest |- | 2011-present || '' Jake and the Never Land Pirates'' || Izzy || Main Role, Disney Junior |- | 2011 || ''R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour'' || Julie || Episode: "The Black Mask", guest role |}

References

External links

Madison Pettis at TV.com

Category:1998 births Category:Actors from Texas Category:African American actors Category:American child actors Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:Barney & Friends Category:Living people Category:People from Arlington, Texas

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playername	David Beckham
fullname	David Robert Joseph Beckham
dateofbirth	May 02, 1975
cityofbirth	Leytonstone, London
countryofbirth	England
height
position	Midfielder
currentclub	Los Angeles Galaxy
clubnumber	23
youthclubs1	Brimsdown Rovers
youthyears2	1987–1991
youthclubs2	Tottenham Hotspur
youthyears3	1991–1993
youthclubs3	Manchester United
years1	1993–2003
clubs1	Manchester United
caps1	265
goals1	62
years2	1995
clubs2	→ Preston North End (loan)
caps2	5
goals2	2
years3	2003–2007
clubs3	Real Madrid
caps3	116
goals3	13
years4	2007–
clubs4	Los Angeles Galaxy
caps4	67
goals4	11
years5	2009
clubs5	→ Milan (loan)
caps5	18
goals5	2
years6	2010
clubs6	→ Milan (loan)
caps6	11
goals6	0
nationalyears1	1992–1993
nationalteam1	England U-18
nationalcaps1	3
nationalgoals1	0
nationalyears2	1994–1996
nationalteam2	England U-21
nationalcaps2	9
nationalgoals2	0
nationalyears3	1996–
nationalteam3	England
nationalcaps3	115
nationalgoals3	17
pcupdate	August 18, 2011
ntupdate	3 November, 2009 }}

David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE (born 2 May 1975) is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C. Milan, as well as the England national team, for whom he holds the all-time appearance record for an outfield player.

Beckham's career began when he signed a professional contract with Manchester United, making his first-team debut in 1992 aged 17. During his time there, United won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He left Manchester United to sign for Real Madrid in 2003, where he remained for four seasons, clinching the La Liga championship in his final season with the club. In January 2007, it was announced that Beckham would leave Real Madrid for the Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy, signing a five-year contract with them on 1 July 2007. While a Galaxy player, he spent two loan spells in Italy with Milan in 2009 and 2010.

In international football, Beckham made his England debut on 1 September 1996, at the age of 21. He was made captain from 15 November 2000 until the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals, during which he played 58 times. He earned a much-publicised hundredth cap against France on 26 March 2008, and became the all-time outfield player appearance record holder on 28 March 2009 when he surpassed Bobby Moore's total of 108 caps. With 115 career appearances to date he has stated that he does not intend to retire from international football, having missed the 2010 World Cup through injury and not featuring in England manager Fabio Capello's post-World Cup plans.

Beckham has twice been runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year and in 2004 was the world's highest-paid footballer when taking into account salary and advertising deals. Beckham was the first British footballer to play 100 Champions League matches. He is third in the Premier League's all time time assist provider chart, with 152 assists in 265 appearances. He was Google's most searched of all sports topics in both 2003 and 2004. With such global recognition he has become an elite advertising brand and a top fashion icon. When joining the MLS in 2007 he was given the highest player salary in the league's history, with his playing contract with the Galaxy over the next three years being worth US$6.5m per year.

He has been married to singer and fashion designer Victoria Beckham since 1999; they have four children.

Club career

Childhood and early career

Beckham was born at Whipps Cross University Hospital in Leytonstone, London, England. He is the son of Sandra Georgina (née West) (b. 1949), a hairdresser, and David Edward Alan "Ted" Beckham (b. Edmonton, London, July–September 1948), a kitchen fitter, who married at the London Borough of Hackney in 1969, He regularly played football in Ridgeway Park, Chingford, as a child, and attended Chase Lane Primary School and Chingford Foundation School. In a 2007 interview, Beckham said that, ''"At school whenever the teachers asked, 'What do you want to do when you're older?' I'd say, 'I want to be a footballer.' And they'd say, 'No, what do you really want to do, for a job?' But that was the only thing I ever wanted to do."'' Beckham's maternal grandfather was Jewish, and Beckham has referred to himself as "half Jewish" and wrote in his autobiography "I've probably had more contact with Judaism than with any other religion". In his book ''Both Feet on the Ground'', he stated that growing up he attended church every week with his parents and his older sister, Lynne Georgina and younger sister, Joanne Louise.

His parents were fanatical Manchester United supporters who would frequently travel to Old Trafford from London to attend the team's home matches. David inherited his parents' love of Manchester United, and his main sporting passion was football. He attended one of Bobby Charlton's football schools in Manchester and won the chance to take part in a training session at FC Barcelona, as part of a talent competition. He played for a local youth team called the Ridgeway Rovers – coached by his father, Stuart Underwood and Steve Kirby. Beckham was a Manchester United mascot for a match against West Ham United in 1986. Young Beckham had trials with his local club Leyton Orient, Norwich City and attended Tottenham Hotspur's school of excellence. Tottenham Hotspur was the first club he played for. During a two-year period in which Beckham played for Brimsdown Rovers' youth team, he was named Under-15 Player of the Year in 1990. He also attended Bradenton Preparatory Academy, but signed schoolboy forms at Manchester United on his fourteenth birthday, and subsequently signed a Youth Training Scheme contract on 8 July 1991.

Manchester United

Beckham was part of a group of young players at the club who guided the club to win the FA Youth Cup in May 1992, with Beckham scoring in the second leg of the final against Crystal Palace. He made his first appearance for United's first-team that year, as a substitute in a League Cup match against Brighton & Hove Albion, and signed his first professional contract shortly afterwards. United reached the final of the Youth Cup again the following year, with Beckham playing in their defeat by Leeds United, and he won another medal in 1994 when the club's reserve team won their league, although he did not play in any first team games that season.

On 7 December 1994, Beckham made his UEFA Champions League debut, scoring a goal in a 4–0 victory at home to Galatasaray in the final game of the group stage. However, this victory was of little use as they finished third out of four in their group behind FC Barcelona on goal difference.

He then went to Preston North End on loan for part of the 1994–95 season to get some first team experience. He impressed, scoring two goals in five appearances, notably scoring directly from a corner kick. Beckham returned to Manchester and finally made his Premier League debut for Manchester United on 2 April 1995, in a goal-less draw against Leeds United. He played four times for United in the league that season, as they finished second behind Blackburn Rovers and missed a third successive Premier League title by a single point. He was not in the squad for United's FA Cup final clash with Everton on 20 May, which they lost 1–0 and were left without a major trophy for the first time since 1989.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had a great deal of confidence in the club's young players. Beckham was part of a group of young talents Ferguson brought in to United in the 1990s (known as "Fergie's Fledglings"), which included Nicky Butt and Gary and Phil Neville. When experienced players Paul Ince, Mark Hughes, and Andrei Kanchelskis left the club after the end of the 1994–95 season, his decision to let youth team players replace them instead of buying star players from other clubs (United had been linked with moves for players including Darren Anderton, Marc Overmars, and Roberto Baggio, but no major signings were made that summer), drew a great deal of criticism. The criticism increased when United started the season with a 3–1 defeat at Aston Villa, with Beckham scoring United's only goal of the game; however, United won their next five matches and the young players performed well.

Beckham swiftly established himself as United's right-sided midfielder (rather than a right-winger in the style of his predecessor Andrei Kanchelskis) and helped them to win the Premier League title and FA Cup double that season, scoring the winner in the semi-final against Chelsea and also provided the corner that Eric Cantona scored from in the FA Cup Final. Beckham's first title medal had, for a while, looked like it would not be coming that season, as United were still 10 points adrift of leaders Newcastle United at the turn of the new year, but Beckham and his team-mates had overhauled the Tynesiders at the top of the league by mid March and they remained top until the end of the season.

Despite playing regularly (and to a consistently high standard) for Manchester United, Beckham did not break into the England squad before Euro 96.

At the beginning of the 1996–97 season David Beckham was given the number 10 shirt that had most recently been worn by Mark Hughes. On 17 August 1996 (the first day of the Premier League season), Beckham became something of a household name when he scored a spectacular goal in a match against Wimbledon. With United leading 2–0, Beckham noticed that Wimbledon's goalkeeper Neil Sullivan was standing a long way out of his goal, and hit a shot from the halfway line that floated over the goalkeeper and into the net. When Beckham scored his famous goal, he did so in shoes custom-made for Charlie Miller ("Charlie" embroidered on boots), which had been given to Beckham by mistake. In a UK poll conducted by Channel 4 in 2002, the British public voted the goal No.18 in the list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments. During the 1996–97 season, he became an automatic first-choice player at United helping them to retain the Premier League championship, and being voted PFA Young Player of the Year by his peers.

On 18 May 1997, Eric Cantona retired as a player and left the coveted number 7 shirt free, and with Teddy Sheringham arriving from Tottenham Hotspur as Cantona's successor, Beckham left his number 10 shirt for Sheringham and picked up the number 7 jersey. Some fans had felt the number 7 shirt should be retired after Cantona had himself retired, but the shirt number remains in use to this day (most recently by another England star Michael Owen).

United started the 1997–98 season well but erratic performances in the second half of the season saw United finish second behind Arsenal.

In the 1998–99 season, he was part of the United team that won The Treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, a unique feat in English football. There had been speculation that the criticism that he had received after being sent off in the World Cup would lead to him leaving England, but he decided to stay at Manchester United.

To ensure they would win the Premier League title, United needed to win their final league match of the season, at home to Tottenham Hotspur (with reports suggesting that the opposition would allow themselves to be easily beaten to prevent their deadly local rivals Arsenal from retaining the title), but Tottenham took an early lead in the match. Beckham scored the equaliser and United went on to win the match and the league.

Beckham played centre-midfield in United's win over Bayern Munich in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final, since United's first string centre-midfielders Paul Scholes and Roy Keane were suspended for the match. United were losing the match 1–0 at the end of normal time, but won the trophy by scoring two goals in injury time. Both of the goals came from corners taken by Beckham. Those crucial assists, coupled with great performances over the rest of the season, led to him finishing runner up to Rivaldo for 1999's European Footballer of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year awards.

Despite Beckham's achievements in the 1998–99 season, he was still unpopular among some opposition fans and journalists, and he was criticised after being sent off for a deliberate foul in Manchester United's World Club Championship match against Necaxa. It was suggested in the press that his wife was a bad influence on him, and that it might be in United's interests to sell him, but his manager publicly backed him and he stayed at the club. During the 1999–2000 season, there was a talk of a transfer to Juventus in Italy, but this never happened.

By the early 2000s, the relationship between Ferguson and Beckham had begun to deteriorate, possibly as a result of Beckham's fame and commitments away from football. In 2000, Beckham was given permission to miss training to look after his son Brooklyn, who had gastroenteritis, but Ferguson was furious when Victoria Beckham was photographed at a London Fashion Week event on the same night, claiming that Beckham would have been able to train if Victoria had looked after Brooklyn that day. He responded by fining Beckham the maximum amount that was permitted (two weeks' wages – then £50,000) and dropping him for a crucial match against United's rivals Leeds United. He later criticised Beckham for this in his autobiography, claiming he had not been ''"fair to his teammates"'' Beckham had a good season for his club, though, and helped United to win the Premier League by a record margin.

"He was never a problem until he got married. He used to go into work with the academy coaches at night time, he was a fantastic young lad. Getting married into that entertainment scene was a difficult thing – from that moment, his life was never going to be the same. He is such a big celebrity, football is only a small part."' – Alex Ferguson speaking about Beckham's marriage in 2007.

Beckham helped United retain the Premier League title in 1999–2000 by an 18-point margin – after being pushed by Arsenal and Leeds United for much of the season, United won their final 11 league games of the season, with Beckham scoring five goals during this fantastic run of form. He managed six league goals that season, and scored eight goals in all competitions.

He was a key player in United's third successive league title in 2000–01 – only the fourth time that any club had achieved three league titles in a row. He scored nine goals that season, all in the Premier League.

On 10 April 2002, Beckham was injured during a Champions League match against Deportivo La Coruña, breaking the second metatarsal bone in his left foot. There was speculation in the British media that the injury might have been caused deliberately, as the player who had injured Beckham was Argentine Aldo Duscher, and England and Argentina were due to meet in that year's World Cup. The injury prevented Beckham from playing for United for the rest of the season and they missed out on the Premier League title to Arsenal (also being knocked out of the European Cup by Bayer Leverkusen on away goals in the semi-finals), but he signed a three-year contract in May, following months of negotiations with the club, mostly concerning extra payments for his image rights. The income from his new contract, and his many endorsement deals, made him the highest-paid player in the world at the time.

2001–02 was arguably Beckham's best season as a United player, though. He scored 11 goals in 28 league games, and a total of 16 goals in 42 games in all competitions, the best tally of his career.

Following an injury early in the 2002–03 season, Beckham was unable to regain his place on the Manchester United team, with Ole Gunnar Solskjær having replaced him on the right side of midfield. His relationship with his manager deteriorated further on 15 February 2003 when, in the changing room following an FA Cup defeat to Arsenal, a furious Alex Ferguson threw or kicked a boot that struck Beckham over the eye, causing a cut that required stitches. The incident led to a great deal of transfer speculation involving Beckham, with bookmakers offering odds on whether he or Ferguson would be first to leave the club. Although the team had started the season badly, their results improved greatly from December onwards and they won the league, with Beckham managing a total of 11 goals in 52 games in all competitions.

He was still a first-choice player for England, however, and was awarded an OBE for services to football on 13 June 2003.

Beckham had made 265 Premier league appearances for United and scored 61 goals. He also made 81 Champions league appearances, scoring 15 goals. Beckham won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, one European Cup, one Intercontinental Cup, and one FA Youth Cup in the space of 12 years. By this stage, he was their joint second longest serving player behind Ryan Giggs (having joined them at the same time as Nicky Butt, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes).

Real Madrid

As the summer 2003 transfer window approached Manchester United appeared keen to sell Beckham to FC Barcelona and the two clubs even announced that they reached a deal to move the player to Barcelona, but instead he joined reigning Spanish champions Real Madrid for €35 million (£25m) transfer fee on a four-year contract as the latest of the galáctico signings by club president Florentino Pérez. The news came as a bitter pill to the newly elected Barça president Joan Laporta who based much of his presidential campaign precisely on signing Beckham. Though announced in mid-June, the transfer was completed on 1 July 2003, making him the third Englishman to play for the club after Laurie Cunningham and Steve McManaman. Following a successful medical on 2 July, Beckham was unveiled in front of 500 accredited journalists from 25 countries at Real's basketball facility where he was handed the Real shirt by club legend Alfredo di Stéfano. Although Beckham had worn the number seven shirt for Manchester United and England, he was unable to wear it at Madrid as it was currently assigned to club captain Raúl. The Englishman decided to wear number 23 instead, citing his admiration of basketball player Michael Jordan, who also wore the number 23 shirt, as the reason behind his decision.

In the week before Beckham presentation, Real named Carlos Queiroz as their new head coach, meaning that Beckham got reunited with a familiar face upon arriving to Madrid since Queiroz spent the previous season as Alex Ferguson's assistant at Manchester United. In late July 2003, the club went on a tour of the Far East as part of the pre-season training, but also to cash in on Beckham's huge marketing appeal in Asia where he enjoyed tremendous following. Real's brand recognition in that part of the globe was already well established as the club made financially successful trips to Asia during previous off-seasons, however the presence of global marketing icon such as Beckham made this particular tour a financial smash for ''los Merengues''.

Shortly after his Real switch, Beckham also dropped his longtime agent Tony Stephens of SFX Europe who guided him to and through super-stardom and was one of the key players that engineered Beckham's move from Manchester to Madrid. Beckham signed on with Simon Fuller and his company 19 Entertainment that already managed the career of David's wife Victoria. Beckham also appointed close friend Terry Byrne to be his personal manager.

In late August 2003, Real Madrid won the Spanish Super Cup over two legs versus RCD Mallorca, with Beckham scoring the final goal in a 3–0 return leg win at home, thus setting the stage for the start of the league season. Playing on a star-laden team along with Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Roberto Carlos, Raúl, Iker Casillas, etc., Beckham did not require much time to settle in, scoring five times in his first 16 matches (including a goal less than three minutes into his La Liga debut). Queiroz mostly favoured the adaptable 5–3–2 formation with two fullbacks Michel Salgado and Roberto Carlos often joining the attack down the wings, while Beckham quickly found a regular playing spot on the right of the 3-man midfield alongside Zidane and Figo.

Real Madrid were runners-up in the Copa del Rey, were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League at the quarter-final stage and finished the league season in fourth place, meaning the team, whose president Pérez expected them to win either the Spanish league or the Champions League each season, did not match expectations.

In July 2004, while Beckham was in pre-season training in Spain, an intruder scaled a wall at the Beckham home while carrying a can of petrol. Victoria and their children were in the house at the time, but security guards apprehended the man before he reached the house.

The league season began with new head coach José Antonio Camacho behind the bench, but he ended up lasting only three matches, handing in his resignation following week 3 fixture as Real dropped to eighth spot in the La Liga standings. Camacho's assistant Mariano García Remón took over on temporary basis as Real leadership scrambled to find a permanent replacement. Beckham made more headlines on 9 October 2004 when he admitted intentionally fouling Ben Thatcher in an England match against Wales in order to get himself booked. Beckham was due to receive a one-match suspension for his next caution, and had picked up an injury, which he knew would keep him out of England's next match, so he deliberately fouled Thatcher in order to serve his suspension in a match that he would have had to miss anyway. The Football Association asked Beckham for an explanation of his actions and he admitted that he had "made a mistake" and apologised. He was sent off shortly afterwards, this time in a league match for Real Madrid against Valencia CF. Having received a yellow card, he was judged to have sarcastically applauded the referee and was given a second yellow card, causing an automatic dismissal, although the suspension was cancelled on appeal two days later.

By Christmas 2004, with the team sitting in second league spot, García Remón was gone as Vanderlei Luxemburgo became the new head coach. However, the well-traveled Brazilian failed to inspire the team to the title as Real again finished the season in the runner-up spot.

On 3 December 2005, Beckham was sent off for the third time that season in a league match against Getafe CF. One day later Luxemburgo got the axe and was replaced with Juan Ramón López Caro. By the end of that season, Beckham led La Liga in number of assists.

During the season, Beckham established football academies in Los Angeles and east London and he was named a judge for the 2006 British Book Awards. Real Madrid finished second to Barcelona in the 2005–06 La Liga, albeit with a large 12-point gap, and reached the last 16 only in the Champions League after losing to Arsenal. The season also marked the end of an era for the club as Pérez resigned his president post in January 2006 with Vicente Boluda named as replacement on interim basis until the end of the season.

The summer 2006 off-season marked a turbulent time as club president elections were held. Ramón Calderón became the new Real president. As expected, none of the club officials that served under the previous president were kept, including head coach López Caro.

Initially out of favour with newly arrived head coach Fabio Capello, Beckham started only a few games at the beginning of the season, as the speedier José Antonio Reyes was normally preferred on the right wing. In the first nine matches Beckham started, Real lost seven.

On 10 January 2007, after prolonged contract negotiations, Real Madrid's sporting director Predrag Mijatović announced that Beckham would not remain at Real Madrid after the end of the season. However, he later claimed that he was mistranslated and that he actually said that Beckham's contract had not yet been renewed.

On 11 January 2007, Beckham announced that he had signed a five-year deal to play for Los Angeles Galaxy beginning 1 July 2007. On 13 January 2007, Fabio Capello said that Beckham had played his last game for Real Madrid, although he would continue to train with the team. A few days later while speaking to the students at Villanueva University Center in Madrid, club president Calderón said that Beckham is "going to Hollywood to be half a film star", adding "our technical staff were right not to extend his contract, which has been proved by the fact that no other technical staff in the world wanted him except Los Angeles".

However, about a month later, Capello backtracked on his earlier statement, allowing Beckham to rejoin the team for the match against Real Sociedad on 10 February 2007. The player immediately repaid his head coach's trust by scoring the equalising goal from a 27-yard free kick as Real Madrid eventually recorded a 2–1 victory. In his final UEFA Champions League appearance for the club, Real Madrid were knocked out of the competition by Bayern Munich at the round-of-16 stage (on the away goals rule) on 7 March 2007. The return leg against Bayern was Beckham's 103rd match in the Champions League, at the time placing him third on the all-time appearances list in the competition.

On 17 June 2007, the last day of the La Liga season, Beckham started in his final match for the club, a 3–1 win over RCD Mallorca, which saw them clinch the title from Barcelona. With Real down 0–1 Beckham limped off the field and was replaced by José Antonio Reyes who scored two goals leading the team to that season's La Liga title, their first since Beckham had signed with them and 30th overall in club's history. Although Real and Barca both finished level on points, Madrid took the title because of superior head-to-head record, capping a remarkable six-month turnaround for Beckham. With his wife and children along with celebrity friends Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes watching from a luxury box at Bernabeu Stadium, it was only Beckham's second piece of silverware since he joined the famous club.

Towards the end of the season, as Beckham was getting back into Capello's good books after successfully fighting his way back into the first team, Real Madrid announced they would try to untie his transfer to LA Galaxy, but were ultimately unsuccessful. Several weeks before Beckham's scheduled arrival to the United States, Real's management contacted LA Galaxy's ownership group about reacquiring the player, but were quickly turned down.

A month after the conclusion of Beckham's Real career, ''Forbes'' magazine reported that he had been the party primarily responsible for the team's huge increase in merchandise sales, a total reported to top US$600 million during Beckham's four years at the club.

Los Angeles Galaxy

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Beckham's involvement with Major League Soccer began while he was still a Real Madrid player when it was confirmed on 11 January 2007 that the world's most famous footballer would be leaving Madrid in six months in order to join MLS' Los Angeles Galaxy. The speculation about his new contract in Madrid was thus put to an end and the following day Beckham's official press conference was held in conjunction with the 2007 MLS SuperDraft.

Predictably, the announcement made top news all across the globe. Though many worldwide media outlets reported the deal to be worth US$250 million, the astronomical figure was soon revealed to be something of a PR stunt engineered by Beckham's media handlers (British representative agency 19 Entertainment). In order to maximise the media effect, in the press release they decided to list the potential sum that Beckham could make over the 5-year period from all his revenue sources, which in addition to his Galaxy pay also include his personal endorsements. Beckham's actual deal with the Galaxy was a 5-year contract worth US$32.5 million in total or $6.5 million per year.

The high-profile acquisition paid immediate financial dividends for Galaxy long before Beckham joined the team. On the strength of the signing and the media frenzy it created, the club was able to pull off a new 5-year shirt sponsorship deal with Herbalife nutrition company worth US$20 million. The gate revenue peaked as well with 11,000 new season tickets holders and sold-out luxury suites (each one of the 42 inside the team's home ground, the Home Depot Center). Even the LA Galaxy owners Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) saw an immediate spike in business. Involved on many business fronts worldwide, AEG was already leveraging its Beckham association in places such as China, where the company had been working aggressively in Shanghai and Beijing for years to receive clearance to build arenas and stadiums. The company's CEO Tim Leiweke put it as follows: "Suddenly, we're known as the company that owns the team that David Beckham is going to play for, so our world changed".

In the months following the announcement, the additional terms of Beckham's contract became public knowledge. One unique contract provision was giving him the option of buying an MLS expansion franchise at a fixed price whenever he stopped playing in the league – an allowance that the league's owners had never given to a player before. Another provision was the opt-out clause after the 2009 season, meaning that should he decide so, Beckham was free to leave the club after completing year three of his 5-year contract.

In April 2007, he and wife Victoria bought an $18.2 million home on San Ysidro Drive in Beverly Hills.

Beckham's contract with LA Galaxy took effect on 11 July, and on 13 July, the famous Englishman was officially unveiled as a Galaxy player at the Home Depot Center to much fanfare and world media interest in front of more than 5,000 gathered fans and some 700 accredited media members. Beckham chose to wear number 23. It was announced that Galaxy jersey sales had already reached a record figure of over 250,000 prior to this formal introduction.

In parallel, Beckham's handlers at 19 Entertainment succeeded in putting together an unprecedented US media rollout designed to expand his carefully crafted personal brand in America. He made the cover of ''Sports Illustrated'', a few weeks earlier Adidas launched the extensive 13-part ad campaign "Fútbol meets Football" starring Beckham and NFL running back Reggie Bush, and ''W'' magazine published a racy photo spread featuring David and wife Victoria. Meanwhile, ESPN sports network was running "Hello, Goodbye" promotional campaign and it also agreed to air ''David Beckham: New Beginnings'' documentary produced by 19 Entertainment before the friendly match versus Chelsea, which was expected to be Beckham's American debut. In addition to popularising soccer, Beckham's arrival was used as platform for entertainment industry endeavours. Since both Beckham's and his wife's often overlapping careers were handled by 19 Entertainment that's owned by Simon Fuller, who in turn has a business relationship with the Creative Artists Agency (CAA), one of Hollywood's most powerful talent agencies, it was important also for CAA that the Beckhams made as big a splash as possible upon their arrival in the United States. On 16 July, CAA had hosted a welcoming bash for David at its new eight-storey, $400 million headquarters in Century City with CAA employees reportedly instructed beforehand to line the staircase and clap for Beckham upon his arrival. That night Victoria's reality show prime-time special ''Victoria Beckham: Coming to America'' aired on NBC, drawing terrible reviews in the American press and poor US viewership ratings.

On Saturday afternoon, 21 July, despite still nursing the injured left ankle that he picked up a month earlier during the final match of La Liga's season, Beckham made his Galaxy debut, coming on for Alan Gordon in the 78th minute of a 0–1 friendly loss to Chelsea as part of the World Series of Soccer. With a capacity crowd, along with a long Hollywood celebrity list featuring Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Eva Longoria, Mary-Kate Olsen, governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jennifer Love-Hewitt, Alicia Silverstone and Drew Carey among others, present at the Home Depot Center, the match was broadcast live on ESPN's main network. However, the proceedings on the field of play completely took a back seat to the Beckham spectacle, and despite the presence of worldwide football stars Andriy Shevchenko, Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard, and John Terry, the US television cameras were firmly focused on Beckham who spent most of the match on the bench. The match's added time featured a scare for already injured Beckham when he got tackled by Steve Sidwell whose cleats struck Beckham's right foot, sending him airborne before he crumpled hard to the ground. Though the existing injury was not aggravated too much, Beckham's recovery process was set back by about a week. ESPN's presentation of Beckham's debut earned a 1.0 TV rating, meaning it was seen in an average of 947,000 television homes in the US – a disappointing figure given the national media buzz and two weeks of constant promotion by ESPN. For comparison ESPN2's weekly MLS broadcasts on Thursdays drew a consistent 0.2 rating on virtually no promotion while Freddy Adu's MLS debut televised on ABC back in 2004 earned a 1.3 rating. As far as sporting events that were televised that weekend in the United States, Beckham's much publicised debut drew less TV viewers than British Open golf tournament, a regular-season national baseball game, and even the Indy Racing League's Honda 200 motor race.

The day after the made-for-TV debut was reserved for the welcoming party for the Beckhams at LA's Museum of Contemporary Art, formally billed as being hosted by Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Will Smith, and Jada Pinkett Smith though in actuality a CAA-organized event. Attended by many Hollywood A-listers, the lavish bash was big news in the US celebrity tabloid media, including daily entertainment TV magazines such as ''Entertainment Tonight'' and ''Access Hollywood''.

Back on the soccer front, Beckham missed the next four Galaxy matches – three in the North American SuperLiga and an MLS game away at Toronto FC though he still made the trip with his teammates, sitting on the bench in street clothes. It was in Toronto on 5 August that the team got its first taste of what life would be like on the road with Beckham on the roster. Due to security concerns, it was the first time the team flew on a charter for a road match, rather than flying commercial (MLS normally forbids charter flights for away matches, claiming they provide competitive advantage, but in this case they made an exception due to the frenzy created around Beckham and resulting security issues). Also, instead of the usual MLS-mandated modest hotels, LA Galaxy stayed at the five-star Le Méridien King Edward in downtown Toronto (an expense paid for by the local Toronto promoter), while the glitz and glamour continued with the velvet rope, red carpet party at the Ultra Supper Club with Beckham as the centerpiece guest.

Two weeks after his 12-minute appearance vs. Chelsea, still not fully healed Beckham finally made his league debut as a substitute on 9 August away versus DC United in front of the sellout crowd of 46,686 (nearly three times the average DC United home crowd) at the RFK Stadium, coming on for Quavas Kirk in the 71st minute. Coming into the nationally televised match on ESPN, played under a heavy downpour with his team down a man and down a goal, even if only 70% fit, Beckham left a mark during the remaining twenty plus minutes. He hit a long free kick that Carlos Pavón failed to finish on for the equalizier, and then in the final minutes Beckham served a weighted through ball into Donovan's path that United's keeper Troy Perkins managed to break up in the last moment – the Galaxy lost 1–0. The next match on the road trip was at New England Revolution and Beckham decided to sit it out, fearing further aggrivating his ankle on the Gillette Stadium's artificial surface.

Beckham returned to the pitch the following week, again facing DC United, in the SuperLiga semi-final on 15 August. During this game he had many firsts with the Galaxy; his first start, first yellow card and first game as team captain. He also scored his first goal for the team, from a free kick, and also made his first assist, for Landon Donovan in the second half. These goals gave the team a 2–0 victory, and a place in the North American SuperLiga final versus Pachuca on 29 August.

During the SuperLiga final against Pachuca, Beckham injured his right knee, with an MRI scan revealing that he had sprained his medial collateral ligament and would be out for six weeks. He returned to play in the final home match of the season. The Galaxy were eliminated from playoff contention on 21 October, in the final MLS match of the season, a 1–0 loss to the Chicago Fire. Beckham played as a substitute in the match, bringing his season totals to eight matches played (5 league); one goal scored (0 league); and three assists (2 league).

Beckham trained with Arsenal from 4 January 2008 for three weeks, until he returned to the Galaxy for pre-season training. Beckham scored his first league goal with the Galaxy on 3 April against the San Jose Earthquakes in the 9th minute. On 24 May 2008, the Galaxy defeated the Kansas City Wizards 3–1, giving the Galaxy their first winning record in two years and moving the club into first place in the Western Conference. In the match, Beckham scored an empty-net goal from 70 yards out. The goal marked the second time in Beckham's career that he had scored from his own half, the other being a 1996 goal from the half-way line against Wimbledon at Selhurst Park. Overall, however, the Galaxy had a disappointing year, failing to qualify for the end-of-season play-offs.

Loan to Milan

In 2008, Beckham's success in the England national team under Fabio Capello led to speculation that he might return to Europe in order to retain match fitness for the World Cup qualifying matches in 2009. On 30 October 2008, Milan announced that Beckham was to join them on loan from 7 January 2009. Despite this and other speculation, Beckham made it clear that the move in no way signalled his intent to leave MLS and announced his intent to return to the Galaxy in time for the start of the 2009 season in March. Many at Milan both within and outside of the club expressed serious reservations about the transfer, with it considered by some players no more than a marketing move. At Milan, he chose the number 32 shirt previously worn by Christian Vieri, as both the number 7 and 23 shirts were already used by Alexandre Pato and club captain Massimo Ambrosini, respectively. After his physical, Beckham was reportedly told by a club doctor that he believed he can continue playing football for another five years, when he will be 38.

Beckham made his Serie A debut for Milan against Roma on 11 January 2009 and played 89 minutes of the 2–2 draw. He scored his first goal in Serie A for Milan in a 4–1 victory over Bologna on 25 January, his third appearance for the club. Though Beckham was expected to return to L.A. in March, after impressing at the Italian club, scoring two goals in his first four matches and assisting on several more, rumours began to swirl that Beckham would stay in Milan, with the Italian club reportedly offering to pay a multi-million dollar fee for the English legend. The rumours were confirmed on 4 February, when Beckham stated that he was seeking a permanent transfer to Milan, in a bid to sustain his England career through the 2010 World Cup. However, Milan failed to match Galaxy's valuation of Beckham, in the US$10–15 million range.

Still, negotiations continued during a month of speculation. On 2 March, the ''Los Angeles Times'' reported that Beckham's loan had been extended through mid-July. This was later confirmed by Beckham, revealing what was described as a unique "timeshare" deal, in which Beckham would play with L.A. from mid-July till the end of the 2009 MLS season.

Return to Galaxy

After his return from Milan, many LA fans showed dislike and anger towards him as he missed the first half of the season and several held up signs saying "Go home fraud", and "Part time player". However, the Galaxy had a much more successful season than in previous years, rising from third to first in the Western Conference during Beckham's time with them. He remained a key part of the squad which saw Galaxy win the 2009 Western Conference final after a 2–0 overtime victory over the Houston Dynamo. In the final on 22 November 2009, the Galaxy lost to Real Salt Lake by 5–4 in a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw. Beckham also scored in the shootout.

Second loan spell at Milan

In November 2009, after the end of 2009 MLS season, it was confirmed that Beckham would return to Milan for a second loan period beginning in January 2010. On 6 January 2010, Beckham made a winning return in a Milan shirt, playing 75 minutes of a 5–2 victory over Genoa. On 16 February 2010, Beckham played against Manchester United for the first time since he left the club in 2003. He played 76 minutes of the match at the San Siro – which ended 3–2 to Manchester United – before being substituted for Clarence Seedorf.

Beckham returned to Old Trafford for the second leg of the tie on 10 March 2010; he did not start the match, but was brought on for Ignazio Abate in the 64th minute to a positive reception from the Manchester United fans. The score was 3–0 for United at that point and the tie was all but decided. The match was the first time Beckham had played against Manchester United at Old Trafford and saw him create several scoring opportunities via crosses and corner kicks, but Manchester United dominated Milan and beat them 4–0, winning the tie 7–2. Following the final whistle, he aroused a bit of controversy by draping the green-and-gold scarf around his neck that was given to him by the Manchester United supporters protesting against club owner Malcolm Glazer. As the fan protests against Glazer by the people gathered around Manchester United Supporters' Trust gained steam in 2010, the green-and-gold scarf had come to be seen as an anti-Glazer symbol, and by extension many saw Beckham's decision to publicly put it on as gesture of support. However, when asked about it later Beckham responded that protests are not his business.

In Milan's next game, against ChievoVerona, Beckham suffered a torn left Achilles tendon, causing him to miss the World Cup as well as the MLS season due to the injury, which took him out of action for the next five months. Doctor Sakari Orava performed surgery on Beckham's tendon in Turku, Finland, on 15 March 2010. After the operation, Orava affirmed that "it went quite fine. The prognosis is he needs a rehabilitation for the next few months, and the plaster cast is the next six to eight weeks. I would say that [it will be] maybe four months before he's running, but six months before he's jumping and kicking."

Second return to Galaxy

On 11 September 2010, after recovering from his Achilles tendon injury, Beckham returned to the game as a substitute in the 70th minute in the Galaxy's 3–1 win over Columbus Crew. On 4 October, Beckham scored a trademark free kick in a 2–1 win over Chivas to mark his first goal in 2010. On 24 October, Beckham scored his second goal of the season in the Galaxy's 2–1 win over Dallas which secured them their second successive Western Conference title and first MLS Supporters' Shield since 2002.

During January and February 2011, ahead of the 2011 MLS season, Beckham trained with Tottenham Hotspur. Rumours in the media claimed that the club were in talks with the Galaxy to sign the player on loan, but, according to Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, the move was blocked by Galaxy, who wanted a full final season from their number 23. As a result, he ended up only training with the club as he had done with Arsenal three years earlier.

On 15 May, Beckham scored his first goal of the season for the Galaxy from a 30-yard free kick, in a 4–1 victory over Sporting Kansas City. On 9 July, Beckham scored directly from a corner in a 2–1 win over Chicago Fire, repeating a feat he also achieved while playing for Preston North End.

International career

Beckham made his first appearance for the England national football team on 1 September 1996, in a World Cup qualifying match against Moldova.

Beckham had played in all of England's qualifying matches for the 1998 World Cup and was part of the England squad at the World Cup finals in France, but the team's manager Glenn Hoddle publicly accused him of not concentrating on the tournament, and he did not start in either of England's first two matches. He was picked for their third match against Colombia and scored from a long-range free kick in a 2–0 victory, which was his first goal for England.

In the second round (last 16) of that competition, he received a red card in England's match against Argentina. Beckham, after having been fouled by Diego Simeone, kicked Simeone whilst lying on the floor, striking him on the calf muscle. Simeone later admitted to trying to get Beckham sent off by over-reacting to the kick and then, along with other members of his team, urging the referee to send Beckham off. The match finished in a draw and England were eliminated in a penalty shootout. Many supporters and journalists blamed him for England's elimination and he became the target of criticism and abuse, including the hanging of an effigy outside a London pub, and the ''Daily Mirror'' printing a dartboard with a picture of him centred on the bullseye. Beckham also received death threats after the World Cup.

The abuse that Beckham was receiving from English supporters peaked during England's 3–2 defeat by Portugal in Euro 2000, a match where Beckham set up two goals, when a group of England supporters taunted him throughout the match. Beckham responded by raising his middle finger and, while the gesture attracted some criticism, many of the newspapers that had previously encouraged his vilification asked their readers to stop abusing him.

On 15 November 2000, following Kevin Keegan's resignation as England manager in October, Beckham was promoted to team captain by the caretaker manager Peter Taylor, and then kept the role under new manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. He helped England to qualify for the 2002 World Cup Finals, with their performances including an impressive 5–1 victory over Germany in Munich. The final step in Beckham's conversion from villain to hero happened in England's 2–2 draw against Greece on 6 October 2001. England needed to win or draw the match in order to qualify outright for the World Cup, but were losing 2–1 with little time remaining. When Teddy Sheringham was fouled eight yards (7 metres) outside the Greek penalty area, England were awarded a free-kick and Beckham ensured England's qualification with a curling strike of the kind that had become his trademark. Shortly afterwards, he was voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2001. He once again finished runner-up, to Luís Figo of Portugal, for the FIFA World Player of the Year award.

Beckham was partially fit by the time of the 2002 World Cup and played in the first match against Sweden. Beckham scored the winning goal of the match against Argentina with a penalty, causing Argentina to fail to qualify for the knockout stage. England were knocked out of the tournament in the quarter-finals by eventual winners Brazil. The following month, at the opening ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Beckham escorted Kirsty Howard as she presented the Jubilee Baton to the Queen.

Beckham played in all of England's matches at Euro 2004, but the tournament was a disappointment for him. He had a penalty saved in England's 2–1 defeat to France and missed another in a penalty shootout in the quarter-final match against Portugal. England lost the shootout thus going out of the competition.

Beckham became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in January 2005 and was involved in promoting London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games. In October 2005, Beckham's sending off against Austria made him the first ever England captain to be sent off and the first (and only) player to be sent off twice while playing for England. He captained England for the 50th time in a friendly international against Argentina the following month.

In England's opening game at the 2006 World Cup, against Paraguay on 10 June 2006, Beckham's free kick led to an own-goal by Carlos Gamarra as England won 1–0. In England's next match, played against Trinidad and Tobago on 15 June 2006, Beckham's cross in the 83rd minute led to a Peter Crouch goal, which put England into the lead 1–0. Beckham gave another assist to Steven Gerrard. In the end they won 2–0. He was named Man of the Match by tournament sponsor Budweiser for this game.

During England's second round match against Ecuador, Beckham scored from a free kick in the 59th minute, becoming the first ever English player to score in three separate World Cups, and giving England a 1–0 victory and a place in the quarter-finals. He was sick before the game and vomited several times as a result of dehydration and illness after he scored the winning goal.

In the quarter-final against Portugal, Beckham was substituted following an injury shortly after half time and the England team went on to lose the match on penalties (3–1), the score having been 0–0 after extra time. After his substitution, Beckham was visibly shaken and emotional for not being able to play, being in tears at one point.

A day after England were knocked out of the World Cup, an emotional Beckham made a statement in a news conference saying that he had stepped down as England captain, saying, ''"It has been an honour and privilege to captain my country but, having been captain for 58 of my 95 games, I feel the time is right to pass on the armband as we enter a new era under Steve McClaren."'' (Beckham had actually won 94 caps up to that point.) He was succeeded by Chelsea captain John Terry.

Having stepped down as captain after the World Cup, Beckham was dropped completely from the England national team selected by new coach Steve McClaren on 11 August 2006. McClaren claimed that he was ''"looking to go in a different direction"'' with the team, and that Beckham ''"wasn't included within that."'' McClaren said Beckham could be recalled in future. Shaun Wright-Phillips, Kieran Richardson, and the World Cup alternative to Beckham, Aaron Lennon, were all included, although McClaren eventually opted to employ Steven Gerrard in that role.

On 26 May 2007, McClaren announced that Beckham would be recalled to the England squad for the first time since stepping down as their captain. Beckham started against Brazil in England's first match at the new Wembley Stadium and put in a positive performance. In the second half, he set up England's goal converted by captain John Terry. It looked as though England would claim victory over Brazil, but newcomer Diego equalised in the dying seconds. In England's next match, a Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia, Beckham sent two trademark assists for Michael Owen and Peter Crouch, helping England to prevail 3–0.

Beckham had assisted in three of England's four total goals in those two games, and he stated his desire to continue to play for England after his move to Major League Soccer.

On 22 August 2007, Beckham played in a friendly for England against Germany, becoming the first ever to play for England while with a non-European club team. On 21 November 2007, Beckham earned his 99th cap against Croatia, setting up a goal for Peter Crouch to tie the game at 2–2. Following the 2–3 loss, England failed to qualify for the Euro 2008 Finals. Despite this, Beckham said that he has no plans to retire from international football and wanted to continue playing for the national team. After being passed over by new England coach and Beckham's former manager at Real Madrid, Fabio Capello, for a friendly against Switzerland which would have given him his hundredth cap; Beckham admitted that he was not in shape at the time, as he had not played a competitive match in three months.

On 20 March 2008, Beckham was recalled to the England squad by Capello for the friendly against France in Paris on 26 March. Beckham became only the fifth Englishman to win 100 caps. Capello had hinted on 25 March 2008 that Beckham had a long term future in his side ahead of crucial qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. On 11 May 2008, Capello included an in-form Beckham in his 31 man England squad to face the United States at Wembley Stadium on 28 May before the away fixture with Trinidad and Tobago on 1 June. Beckham was honoured before the match by receiving an honorary gold cap representing his 100th cap from Bobby Charlton, and was given a standing ovation from the crowd. He played well and assisted John Terry on the match-winning goal. When substituted at half-time for David Bentley, the pro-Beckham crowd booed the decision. In a surprise move, Capello handed Beckham the captaincy for England's friendly against Trinidad and Tobago on 1 June 2008. The match was the first time since the 2006 World Cup that Beckham had skippered England and marked a dramatic turnaround for Beckham. In two years, he had gone from being dropped completely from the England squad to being reinstated (though temporarily) as England captain.

During the 2010 World Cup Qualifier against Belarus in which England won 3–1 in Minsk, Beckham came off the bench in the 87th minute to earn his 107th cap making him England's 3rd highest capped player in history, over-taking Bobby Charlton in the process. On 11 February 2009, Beckham drew level with Bobby Moore's record of 108 caps for an English outfield player, coming on as a substitute for Stewart Downing in a friendly match against Spain. On 28 March 2009, Beckham surpassed Moore to hold the record outright when he came on as a substitute in a friendly against Slovakia, providing the assist for a goal from Wayne Rooney in the process.

In all, Beckham had made 16 appearances out of a possible 20 for England under Capello until his ruptured Achilles tendon of March 2010 ruled him out of selection for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. His last game for England before injury had been on 14 October 2009 as a substitute in England's last World Cup qualifying game, which ended England 3 – 0 Belarus. While unable to play, Beckham still went to the tournament as part of the England back-room staff, acting as a mediator between management and the players.

After a poor performance from England at the World Cup Capello remained as manager, but was under pressure to revamp the England squad for the imminent UEFA Euro 2012 qualification campaign. He unveiled a new team at the next England match, a home friendly game against Hungary on 11 August 2010, with Beckham still unavailable for selection but aiming for a return to playing in the MLS by the following month. In the post-match interview, Capello said of the prospect of the now 35-year-old Beckham playing any future competitive matches for England, that "I need to change it. David is a fantastic player but I think we need new players for the future", referring to the new players that play in Beckham's right midfield position, including Theo Walcott and Adam Johnson, adding "This is the future of the team under Fabio Capello or another manager". He said that Beckham may be selected for one last friendly game, stating, "If he is fit, I hope we will play one more game here at Wembley so the fans can say goodbye". In response to the comments, Beckham's agent released a statement reiterating Beckham's position that he had no desire to retire from international football, and would always be make himself available for selection for England if fit and if needed.

International goals

''As of 28 October 2009''

Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens, Pas-de-Calais 24 March 2001 25 May 2001 6 June 2001 6 October 2001 10 November 2001 7 June 2002 12 October 2002 16 October 2002 29 March 2003 2 April 2003 20 August 2003 6 September 2003 18 August 2004 9 October 2004 30 March 2005 25 June 2006

+	# !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition !! Reports
1.	26 June 1998	Lens ||		2–0	2–0	1998 FIFA World Cup
2.	|	Anfield, Liverpool		2–1	2–1	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 9>2002 FIFA World Cup Qual.
3.	|	Pride Park Stadium>Pride Park, Derby		3–0	4–0	Exhibition game>Friendly match
4.	|	Olympic Stadium (Athens)>Olympic Stadium, Athens		2–0	2–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 9>2002 FIFA World Cup Qual.
5.	|	Old Trafford, Manchester		2–2	2–2	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 9>2002 FIFA World Cup Qual.
6.	|	Old Trafford, Manchester		1–0	1–1	Exhibition game>Friendly match
7.	|	Sapporo Dome, Sapporo		1–0	1–0	2002 FIFA World Cup
8.	|	Tehelné pole, Bratislava		1–1	2–1	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying>UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
9.	|	St Mary's Stadium, Southampton		1–1	2–2	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying>UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
10.	|	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz		2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying>UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
11.	|	Stadium of Light, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear>Sunderland		2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying>UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
12.	|	Portman Road, Ipswich		1–0	3–1	Exhibition game>Friendly match
13.	|	National Arena Philip II of Macedon>Gradski, Skopje		2–1	2–1	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying>UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
14.	|	St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne>Newcastle		1–0	3–0	Exhibition game>Friendly match
15.	|	Old Trafford, Manchester		2–0	2–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification>2006 FIFA World Cup Qual.
16.	|	St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne>Newcastle		2–0	2–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification>2006 FIFA World Cup Qual.
17.	|	Mercedes-Benz Arena>Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart		1–0	1–0	2006 FIFA World Cup

Coaching career

Due to an injury suffered to his torn left Achilles tendon, Beckham was forced to miss the 2010 FIFA World Cup as a player. On 14 May 2010 it was announced that Beckham would work as a mediator between management and the players, and as an English member of the coaching staff for the England national football team at the tournament. As an agreement between Beckham, his representatives, his club, Los Angeles Galaxy and Fabio Capello, the former England captain was on the plane to South Africa on 2 June.

Discipline

Former manager Alex Ferguson said that he ''"practised with a discipline to achieve an accuracy that other players wouldn't care about."'' He maintained his training routine at Real Madrid and even when his relationship with management was strained in early 2007, Real Madrid president Ramón Calderón and manager Fabio Capello praised Beckham for maintaining his professionalism and commitment to the club.

Beckham was the first England player ever to collect two red cards and the first England captain to be sent off. Beckham's most notorious red card was during the 1998 FIFA World Cup after Argentina's Diego Simeone had fouled him, Beckham lashed out with his leg and the Argentine fell.

He amassed 41 yellow cards and four red cards for Real Madrid.

Honours

Club

;Manchester United

Premier League (6): 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03

FA Cup (2): 1995–96, 1998–99

UEFA Champions League (1): 1998–99

Intercontinental Cup (1): 1999

FA Community Shield (4): 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997

FA Youth Cup (1): 1992

;Real Madrid

La Liga (1): 2006–07

Supercopa de España (1): 2003

;Los Angeles Galaxy

MLS Western Conference (2): 2009, 2010

MLS Supporters' Shield (1): 2010

International

;England

Tournoi de France: 1997

FA Summer Tournament: 2004

Individual

Premier League Player of the Month (1): August 1996

PFA Young Player of the Year (1): 1996–97

Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year (1): 1996–97

UEFA Club Footballer of the Year (1): 1998–99

UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year (1): 1998–99

Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 to 2001–02):

* Domestic & Overall Team of the Decade

* Goal of the Decade (vs. Wimbledon, 17 August 1996)

BBC Sports Personality of the Year (1): 2001

FIFA 100 ESPY Award – Best Male Soccer Player: 2004 ESPY Award – Best MLS Player: 2008

English Football Hall of Fame: 2008

BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award (1): 2010

Orders and special awards

Officer in the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II: 2003

England Player of the Year: 2003

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador (2005–present)

"Britain's Greatest Ambassador" – 100 Greatest Britons awards ''The Celebrity 100,'' number 15 – ''Forbes,'' 2007 Number 1 on the list of the 40 most influential men under the age of 40 in the UK – ''Arena'', 2007 Time 100: 2008

Gold Blue Peter Badge winner, 2001

Statistics

0 0 2 0 7 8 9 6 6 9 11 6 3 4 3 3 0 5 2 2 0 2 2 colspan="2"

Club	Season	League	Cup	League Cup	Continental	Other	Total
!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
rowspan="2"	Manchester United		0	|	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
FA Premier League 1993–94	1993–94	0	|	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Preston North End F.C.	Preston North End (loan)		5	|	0	0	0	0	–		0	0	5	2
rowspan="10"	Manchester United		4	|	2	0	3	0	1	1	0	0	10	1
FA Premier League 1995–96	1995–96	33	|	3	1	2	0	2	0	0	0	40	8
FA Premier League 1996–97	1996–97	36	|	2	1	0	0	10	2	1	1	49	12
FA Premier League 1997–98	1997–98	37	|	4	2	0	0	8	0	1	0	50	11
FA Premier League 1998–99	1998–99	34	|	7	1	1	0	12	2	1	0	55	9
FA Premier League 1999–2000	1999–2000	31	|	–		0	0	12	2	5	0	48	8
FA Premier League 2000–01	2000–01	31	|	2	0	0	0	12	0	1	0	46	9
FA Premier League 2001–02	2001–02	28	|	1	0	0	0	13	5	1	0	43	16
FA Premier League 2002–03	2002–03	31	|	3	1	5	1	13	3	0	0	52	11
!Total	!265!!62!!24!!6!!12!!1!!83!!15!!10!!1!!399!!87
rowspan="5"	Real Madrid		32	|	4	2	–		7	1	2	1	45	7
La Liga 2004–05	2004–05	30	|	0	0	–		8	0	0	0	38	4
La Liga 2005–06	2005–06	31	|	3	1	–		7	1	0	0	41	5
La Liga 2006–07	2006–07	23	|	2	1	–		6	0	0	0	31	4
!Total	–!!28!!2!!2!!1!!155!!20
rowspan="2"	Los Angeles Galaxy		5	|	0	0	–		–		2	1	7	1
2008 Major League Soccer season	2008	25	|	0	0	–		–		0	0	25	5
A.C. Milan	Milan (loan)		18	|	0	0	–		0	0	2	0	20	2
Los Angeles Galaxy		11	|	0	0	–		–		4	0	15	2
rowspan="2"	Milan (loan)		11	|	0	0	–		2	0	0	0	13	0
!Total	–!!2!!0!!2!!0!!33!!2
rowspan="2"	Los Angeles Galaxy		7	|	0	0	–		–		3	0	10	2
2011 Major League Soccer season	2011	13	|	0	0
Total	!64!!11!!0!!0!!colspan="2"
Career total	!471!!90!!33!!10!!12!!1!!113!!17!!23!!3!!657!!121

|- |1996||3||0 |- |1997||9||0 |- |1998||8||1 |- |1999||7||0 |- |2000||10||0 |- |2001||10||5 |- |2002||9||3 |- |2003||9||4 |- |2004||12||2 |- |2005||9||1 |- |2006||8||1 |- |2007||5||0 |- |2008||8||0 |- |2009||8||0 |- !Total||115||17 |}

David Beckham Academy

In 2005, Beckham founded the David Beckham Academy football school, operating from two sites: in London and in Los Angeles, California. It was announced in late 2009 that both would close. A mobile academy is being developed by Beckham, to travel around the UK and further afield.

Personal life

In 1997, Beckham started dating Victoria Adams, after she attended a Manchester United match. She was famously known as "Posh Spice" of the pop music group Spice Girls, one of the world's top pop groups at the time, and his team was also enjoying a great run of success. Therefore, their relationship instantly attracted a great deal of media attention. The couple were dubbed "Posh and Becks" by the media. He proposed to Victoria on 24 January 1998 in a restaurant in Cheshunt, England.

On 4 July 1999, David and Victoria married at Luttrellstown Castle in Ireland. The wedding attracted tremendous media coverage. Beckham's teammate Gary Neville was the best man, and the couple's infant son, Brooklyn, was the ring bearer. The media were kept away from the ceremony, as the Beckhams had an exclusive deal with ''OK! Magazine'', but newspapers were still able to obtain photographs showing them sitting on golden thrones. 437 staff were employed for the wedding reception, which was estimated to have cost £500,000.

In 1999, the Beckhams purchased their most famous home in Hertfordshire, unofficially dubbed Beckingham Palace, estimated to be worth £7.5 million. David and Victoria have four children: sons Brooklyn Joseph (born 4 March 1999 in London), Romeo James (born 1 September 2002 in London), and Cruz David (born 20 February 2005 in Madrid; the word ''"cruz"'' is Spanish for "cross"); and a daughter, Harper Seven (born 10 July 2011, in Los Angeles). Both Brooklyn and Romeo's godfather is Elton John and their godmother is Elizabeth Hurley.

In April 2007, the family purchased their current main residence, an Italian villa in Beverly Hills, to coincide with Beckham's transfer to the Galaxy that July. The mansion, priced at $22 million, is near the homes of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, and talk-show host Jay Leno, in an exclusive gated community in the hills overlooking the city.

Affair claims

In April 2004, the British tabloid ''News of the World'' carried claims by Beckham's former personal assistant Rebecca Loos that he and Loos had an extramarital affair. A week later, the Malaysian-born Australian model Sarah Marbeck claimed that she had slept with Beckham on two occasions. Beckham dismissed both accusations as "ludicrous". There has never been any proof of any of the allegations of Beckham's claimed infidelity. In an interview with ''W Magazine'', Victoria Beckham told a reporter, ''"I'm not going to lie: it was a really tough time. It was hard for our entire families. But I realised a lot of people have a price."''

Legal issues

In December 2008, Beckham and his bodyguard were sued by paparazzi photographer Emicles da Mata, who claimed that he was assaulted by them when attempting to take a picture of Beckham in Beverly Hills. Da Mata is seeking unspecified damages for assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

In September 2010 Beckham announced that he is suing prostitute Irma Nici and several others over claims in the magazine ''In Touch'' that he had had sex with her.

Fame beyond football

Beckham's fame extends beyond the pitch; in much of the world his name is "as instantly recognisable as that of multinational companies like Coca-Cola and IBM." Beckham's relationship and marriage to Victoria, who has been famous in her own right as part of the musical group Spice Girls, contributed to David's celebrity beyond football. So gilded has been the career of Beckham that Victoria revealed her nickname for her husband to be "Golden Balls", which epithet he shares with an obscure mediaeval Anglo-Norman knight whose French name was Latinised to ''de Aureis Testiculis''.

Beckham became known as a fashion plate, and together with Victoria, the couple became lucrative spokespeople sought after by clothing designers, health and fitness specialists, fashion magazines, perfume and cosmetics manufacturers, hair stylists, exercise promoters, and spa and recreation companies. One recent example is a new line of aftershave and fragrances called David Beckham Instinct. In 2002 Beckham was hailed as the ultimate "metrosexual" by the man who invented the term and has been described as such by numerous other articles since. The Beckhams were reportedly paid $13.7 million in 2007 to launch his fragrance line in the US. In the world of fashion, David has already appeared on the covers of many magazines. U.S. covers have included the men's magazine Details, and with his wife for the August 2007 issue of ''W''. According to Google, "David Beckham" was searched for more than any other sports topic on their site in 2003 and 2004. The search engine Ask Jeeves named Beckham in December 2009 as the third most online searched person in the last decade. The findings are based on online activity by British users of the search engine.

Upon their arrival in Los Angeles on 12 July 2007, the night before Beckham's formal introduction, Los Angeles International Airport was filled with paparazzi and news reporters. On the next night, Victoria appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to talk about the their move to LA, and presented Leno with a number 23 Galaxy jersey with his own name on the back. Victoria also talked about her NBC TV show ''Victoria Beckham: Coming to America'' On 22 July, a private welcoming party was held for the couple at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. A-list celebrities attending included Steven Spielberg, Jim Carrey, George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Oprah Winfrey.

Beckham's many endorsement deals make him one of the most recognisable athletes throughout the world. On 31 December 2008, it was announced that Pepsi Co. was ending its endorsement deal with the player after a 10-year collaboration. Beckham has several eponymous video games, including ''Go! Go! Beckham! Adventure on Soccer Island'', a platform game for the Game Boy Advance, and ''David Beckham Soccer'', a football game for the Xbox. In August 2010, Beckham signed an endorsement deal with EA SPORTS to become brand ambassador for EA SPORTS Active 2.

Beckham visited Afghanistan in May 2010 for a morale-boosting visit to British troops fighting the Taliban insurgency. The appearance of Beckham as well as British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Defence Secretary Liam Fox was believed to have prompted a Taliban attack on Kandahar airfield.

Charitable work

Beckham has supported UNICEF since his days at Manchester United and in January 2005, the English national team captain became a Goodwill Ambassador with a special focus on UNICEF's Sports for Development program. More recently Beckham has pledged his support for the current Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS campaign.

On 17 January 2007, Rebecca Johnstone, a 19-year-old cancer patient from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, received a surprise phone call from Beckham. After the conversation, he sent her a Real Madrid jersey with his signature on it. Rebecca died on 29 January 2007.

Beckham is a spokesman for Malaria No More, a New York City-based non-profit launched in 2006. Malaria No More's mission is to end deaths caused by malaria in Africa. Beckham appears in a 2007 public service announcement advertising the need for inexpensive bed nets. The TV spot currently airs in the U.S. on Fox Networks, including Fox Soccer Channel, and can also be seen on YouTube.

Since joining Major League Soccer, Beckham has been a very public advocate in the U.S. for related charities such as "MLS W.O.R.K.S." On 17 August 2007, he conducted a youth clinic in Harlem, along with other current and former MLS players. This was in advance of his first New York City area match the following day against the New York Red Bulls. That team's Jozy Altidore and Juan Pablo Ángel were also with Beckham, teaching skills to disadvantaged youth to benefit FC Harlem Lions.

Appearances in films

''Bend It Like Beckham''

Beckham never personally appeared in the 2002 film ''Bend It Like Beckham'', except in archive footage. He and his wife wanted to make cameo appearances, but scheduling proved difficult, so the director used lookalikes instead.

The Goal! Trilogy

Beckham makes a cameo appearance with Zinedine Zidane and Raúl, in the 2005 film ''Goal!: The Dream Begins''. Lookalike Andy Harmer, who played him in ''Bend It Like Beckham'', also appears here in one party scene as Beckham. Beckham himself appears in the sequel ''Goal! 2: Living the Dream...'' in a larger role, when the film's lead character gets transferred to Real Madrid. This time the story centres around the Real Madrid team, and besides Beckham, other real life Real Madrid players also appear on and off the pitch, alongside the fictional characters. Beckham appeared in ''Goal! 3: Taking on the World'', which was released straight to DVD on 15 June 2009.

Despite moving to Los Angeles, California, Beckham has expressed no personal interest in pursuit of acting roles, saying he is too "stiff".

Records

Beckham has captained England 59 times, the fourth highest after Bobby Moore (90), Billy Wright (90) and Bryan Robson (65).

With his free kick goal against Ecuador in the second round of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Beckham gained membership into two of football's exclusive clubs: he became the only English player – and the 21st player regardless of nationality – to score in three world cups; Real Madrid teammate Raúl also achieved this feat a few days earlier. It also made him only the fifth player in World Cup history to score twice from a direct free kick; the other four were Pelé, Roberto Rivelino, Teófilo Cubillas, and Bernard Genghini (Beckham had previously scored this way against Colombia in the first round of the 1998 FIFA World Cup). All three goals were against South American teams (Colombia, Argentina, and Ecuador) and from set pieces (the two aforementioned free kicks and a penalty against Argentina).

Tattoos

Beckham has at least 20 tattoos adorning his body, including recent black-and-white image of Christ drawn on his right side, based on a painting called "The Man Of Sorrows" by Catholic artist Matthew R. Brooks done after the death of his grandfather in 2009. There are also names of his sons Romeo, Cruz and Brooklyn, name of his wife Victoria, written in Hindi, because Beckham thought it would be "tacky" to have it in English. On his right shoulder, there's an angel with the text 'In the face of adversity'. Another tattoo is a Bible verse written in Hebrew, reads אני לדודי ודודי לי הרעה בשושנים, translated into: "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine, that shepherds among the lilies." In 2004 Beckham added the four-by-six-inch "winged cross" neck tattoo prior to England's three-nation tournament soccer match against Japan in the City of Manchester Stadium. In his autobiography "David Beckham: My Side", Becks reveals some of his thoughts on tattoos: "The idea came to me much later, a little while after Brooklyn was born. I was talking to Mel B and her then-husband, Jimmy Gulzar, and the subject of tattoos came up. I ended up going to this Dutch guy who'd done all of Jimmy's. I'd finally realised what I wanted a tattoo to represent. Mine are all about the people in my life, my wife and sons, who I want with me always. When you see me, you see the tattoos. You see an expression of how I feel about Victoria and the boys. They're part of me."

See also

Franchise player

List of current MLS players

References

Books

Internet

External links

The Official David Beckham Website

The David Beckham Academy

Profile at mlssoccer.com

Profile at ManUtd.com

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name	Mariah Carey
background	solo_singer
birth date	March 27, 1970
birth place	Huntington, New York, U.S.
genre	R&B, pop, hip hop, soul, dance
years active	1988–present
associated acts	Brenda K. Starr, Trey Lorenz, Allure, Boyz II Men, Whitney Houston, Jermaine Dupri, Bone Thugs N Harmony
occupation	Singer-songwriter, model, record producer, actress, film producer
spouse
label	Columbia, Virgin, Island
website	}}

Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1970) is an American R&B/pop singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. She made her recording debut in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, and became the first recording artist to have her first five singles top the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Following her marriage to Mottola in 1993, Carey enjoyed a series of hit records from the diamond certified albums ''Music Box'' (1993) and ''Daydream'' (1995). She later released the holiday standard "All I Want For Christmas Is You" from her 1994 album, ''Merry Christmas'', which helped to establish her position as Columbia Records' top-selling act.

Following her separation from Mottola in 1997, she introduced elements of hip hop into her album work, to much initial success, but when she left Columbia in 2001 her popularity was in decline. She signed an unprecedented $100 million deal with Virgin Records, only to be dropped from the label and bought out of her contract in the following year. This turn of events was due to the highly publicized physical and emotional breakdown, as well as the poor reception that was given to ''Glitter,'' her film and soundtrack project. In 2002 Carey signed a $24 million deal with Island Records, and after a relatively unsuccessful period, she returned to the top of pop music in 2005 with her album ''The Emancipation of Mimi.'' The album became her best-selling album in the 2000s and its single, "We Belong Together", became the most successful solo single of her music career and was awarded "Song of the Decade" by ''Billboard''. Ending the decade, Carey starred in the film ''Precious'' (2009), whose performance earned her a "Breakthrough Performance Award" at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and a NAACP Image Award nomination.

In a career spanning over two decades, Carey has sold more than 200 million albums, singles, and videos worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Carey was cited as the world’s best-selling recording artist of the 1990s at the World Music Awards in 1998, and was named the best-selling female artist of the millennium by the same awards show in 2000. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she is the third-best-selling female artist, with shipments of 63 million albums in the U.S. In April 2008, "Touch My Body" became Carey's eighteenth number one single on the Hot 100, the most by any solo artist. Aside from her commercial accomplishments, she has earned five Grammys, seventeen World Music Awards, and is known for her five-octave vocal range, power, melismatic style and signature use of the whistle register.

Early life

Mariah Carey was born in Huntington, Long Island, New York. She is the third and youngest child of Patricia (née Hickey), a former opera singer and vocal coach, and Alfred Roy Carey, an aeronautical engineer. Her mother is Irish American and her father is of Afro-Venezuelan and African American descent; her paternal grandfather, Roberto Nuñez, changed his surname to Carey to better assimilate upon moving to the United States from Venezuela. Carey has two siblings, Morgan and Alison Carey.

Carey was named after the song "They Call the Wind Mariah", by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, originally from the 1951 Broadway musical ''Paint Your Wagon.'' which was a favorite of her mother, Patricia Hickey Carey, a singer with the New York City Opera and vocal coach. Patricia had discovered that she was pregnant in the fall of 1969, around the time that the movie version of ''Paint Your Wagon'' premiered. Mariah Carey was born on March 27, 1970, when songs from the movie were very popular. Early in Mariah's career, her show began with a "taped overture" of the song.

Carey's parents divorced when she was three years old. While she lived in Huntington, racist neighbors allegedly poisoned the family dog and set fire to her family's car. After her parents' divorce, she had little contact with her father and her mother worked several jobs to support the family. Carey spent much of her time at home, alone, and turned to music to occupy herself. She began to sing at around the age of three, when her mother began to teach her, after Carey imitated her mother practicing Verdi's opera ''Rigoletto'' in Italian.

Carey graduated from Harborfields High School in 1987. She was frequently absent, because of her work as a demo singer for local recording studios; her classmates consequently gave her the nickname "Mirage." Her work in the Long Island music scene provided opportunities to work with musicians, such as Gavin Christopher and Ben Margulies, with whom she co-wrote material for her demo tape. After she moved to New York City, she worked part-time jobs to pay the rent and she completed 500 hours of beauty school. Eventually, she became a backup singer for Puerto Rican freestyle singer Brenda K. Starr.

Career

1988–92: Early career

In 1988, Carey met Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola at a party, where Starr gave Carey's demo tape to him. Mottola played the tape when he left the party and was impressed. He returned to find Carey but she had left. Nevertheless, Mottola tracked her down and signed her to a recording contract. This Cinderella-like story became part of the standard publicity that surrounded Carey's entrance into the industry.

Carey co-wrote the tracks on her 1990 debut album ''Mariah Carey'' and she has co-written most of her material since. During the recording, she expressed dissatisfaction with the contributions of producers such as Ric Wake and Rhett Lawrence, whom the executives at Columbia had enlisted to help to make the album more commercially viable. Critics were generally enthusiastic (See critical reception section of the album article). Backed by a substantial promotional budget, the album reached number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart, where it remained for several weeks. It yielded four number-one singles and made Carey a star in the United States but it was less successful in other countries. Critics rated the album highly, which assisted Carey's Grammy wins for Best New Artist, and—for her debut single, "Vision of Love"—Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. ''Mariah Carey'' was also the best selling album of 1991 in the United States.

Carey conceived ''Emotions'', her second album, as an homage to Motown soul music (see Motown Sound), and she worked with Walter Afanasieff and Clivillés & Cole (from the dance group C+C Music Factory) on the record. It was released soon after her debut album – in late 1991 – but was neither as critically or commercially successful (See promotion and reception section of the album article). Following the success of Carey's self-titled debut album, critics wondered whether or not she would tour in order to promote the album in the major worldwide music markets. However, Carey expressed in several interviews that due to the strenuous nature and the sheer difficulty of her songs, she feared a tour with back-to-back shows would not be possible, aside from the long travel times and constant travel. With the extra time, Carey began writing and producing material for ''Emotions'' around the same time that her debut's third single, "Someday", was released in December 1990. During this time period in music, it was traditional for an artist to release a studio album every two years in their prime, allowing the singles to fully promote the album through airwaves, as well as television appearances. Additionally, after a tour that would usually follow, as the next album would be released and would gain new fans, they would search the artist's catalog, and purchase the previous album in hopes of learning of their older work. Sony, however, chose to market Carey in a different fashion, leaning towards the traditional form in the 1960s, where acts would release an LP every year. They felt that Carey's reputation of being a "studio worm" and a songwriter from a young age would be captivating enough to deliver a new album more often than most.

As writing for the album came under way, Carey had a falling out with Ben Margulies, the man whom Carey had written seven of the eleven songs on Carey's debut. Together, the duo had written and produced seven songs for Carey's demo tape which she handed to Tommy Mottola. Their parting of ways was due to a contract Carey had signed prior to her signing with Columbia. Carey had agreed to split not only the songwriting royalties from the songs, but half of her earnings as well, something she never thought twice about while writing songs in his father's basement. However, when the time came to write music for ''Emotions,'' Sony officials made it clear he would only be paid the fair amount given to co-writers on an album. Following the discussion, Margulies filed a lawsuit against Sony, claiming that under contract, he would be entitled to work with Carey, as well as reap extra benefits. After an almost one year lawsuit, the judge settled that Margulies was to earn ten percent of Carey's direct earnings from her record sales, not including an income from any other ventures. While settled, their relationship remained ruined, damaged by what Carey considered treachery. In an interview with Fred Bronson, Carey said the following regarding the contract: "I signed blindly. Later, I tried to make it right so we could continue...but he wouldn't accept it." After the settlement, Margulies spoke of his feelings on the matter, claiming he would hope to one day write again with Carey, placing most of the blame on the record label and concluding "Hopefully one day, art will prevail over business." The title track "Emotions" made Carey into the only recording act whose first five singles have reached number one on the U.S. Hot 100 chart, although the album's follow-up singles failed to match this feat. Carey had lobbied to produce her own songs and, beginning with ''Emotions,'' she has co-produced most of her material. "I didn't want [''Emotions''] to be somebody else's vision of me", she said. "There's more of me on this album."

Although Carey performed live occasionally, stage fright prevented her from embarking on a major tour. Her first widely seen appearance was featured on the television show ''MTV Unplugged'' in 1992, and she remarked that she felt that her performance that night proved her vocal abilities were not, as some had previously speculated, simulated with studio equipment. Alongside acoustic versions of some of her earlier songs, Carey premiered a cover of The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There", with her back-up singer Trey Lorenz. The duet was released as a single, reached number one in the U.S. and led to a record deal for Lorenz, whose debut album Carey later co-produced. Because of high ratings for the ''Unplugged'' television special, the concert's set list was released on the EP ''MTV Unplugged,'' which ''Entertainment Weekly'' called "the strongest, most genuinely musical record she has ever made [...] Did this live performance help her to take her first steps toward growing up?"

1993–96: First marriage, and international success

Carey and Tommy Mottola became romantically involved during the making of her debut album and were married in June of 1993. Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds consulted on the album ''Music Box,'' which was released later that year and became Carey's most successful worldwide. The album maintained a presence on the ''Billboard'' 200 for 128 weeks. It yielded her first UK Singles Chart number-one, a cover of Badfinger's "Without You", and the U.S. number-ones "Dreamlover" and "Hero."

After the success of Carey's previous albums ''Mariah Carey'' and ''Emotions,'' Sony wanted to take ''Music Box'' in a new direction, but not too far from her older releases. Sony began letting Carey take more control over the projects, as well as letting her produce her own material. On the album's first track "Dreamlover", Carey worked with Dave Hall throughout the song's entire production. However, after listening to the song, Tommy Mottola felt "Dreamlover" needed stronger tunes and a more "direct" sound. In order to help with some of the song's arrangements, Mottola enrolled the help of Walter Afanasieff, who took on the completed track and transformed it into a more commercial hit.

Aside from the changes on "Dreamlover", "Hero", the album's second single, also had its own story. While Carey and Afanasieff worked on ''Music Box'', he was also working on the film ''Hero'', starring Dustin Hoffman and Geena Davis. As a result, he and Carey began working on a theme-song for the film, one that was intended for Gloria Estefan. After only two hours however, the finished product was perfect, surpassing both their expectations. When Mottola came for a final listen he was shocked as to what he heard, exclaiming, "Are you kidding me? You can't give this song to a movie. This is too good, Mariah, you have to take this song. You have to do it." After insisting, Carey and Afanasieff made some lyrical changes, and made it a very personal track, "especially for Carey."

The album's title track, ''Music Box'', is described as one of Carey's more difficult compositions, due to its "softness." The song requires a great deal of legato, to keep "the tunes softness and sweetness, without resorting to volume." Carey's vocals on the track are defined as "soft and controlled", managing to maintain the delicate balance in a manner that seems effortless, floating easily over the keyboard and the shimmer of the guitar. One of the noticeable differences from ''Music Box'' and Carey's previous albums was its sound. The album was described by Afanasieff as a softer and more pop-oriented album, "filling the songs with air", and allowing far more space in the overall sound. Another noticeable change was in the album's production. When ''Mariah Carey'' was released, critics took notice of its "overly produced" and "studio perfect" quality, where in comparison, ''Emotions'' maintained a "raw, live sound." ''Music Box'' however, fell in between the two, a decision made by Carey during the album's production. She would layer each track with live backing vocals, so not to sound too overly produced, but still kept the inclusion of musical synthesizers.

''Billboard'' magazine proclaimed it "heart-piercing [...] easily the most elemental of Carey's releases, her vocal eurythmics in natural sync with the songs", but ''TIME'' magazine's Christopher John Farley lamented Carey's attempt at a mellower work, "[''Music Box''] seems perfunctory and almost passionless [...] Carey could be a pop-soul great; instead, she has once again settled for Salieri-like mediocrity." ''AllMusic'' adds, "Carey sounds detached on several selections. She scored a couple of huge hits, "Hero" and "Dreamlover", where she did inject some personality and intensity into the leads. Most other times, Carey blended into the background and allowed the tracks guide her, instead of pushing and exploding through them. It was wise for Carey to display other elements of her approach but, sometimes, excessive spirit is preferable to an absence of passion," and ''Rolling Stone'' expressed mixed sentiments and said, "Some of the songs appear to be strongly influenced by other hits. "Hero", with its message of self-sufficiency, aims for the inspirational grandeur of "Greatest Love of All", while "Just to Hold You Once Again" and "All I've Ever Wanted" chase the tail of "I Will Always Love You." In fact, Music Box is so precisely calculated to be a blockbuster that its impact is ultimately a little unnerving." In response to such comments, Carey said, "As soon as you have a big success, a lot of people don't like that. There's nothing that I can do about it. All I can do is to make music that I believe in." Most critics slighted the opening of her subsequent U.S. Music Box Tour. Farley balanced his critique with some positive observations: "The gospel flavored 'Anytime You Need A Friend' demonstrates Carey's vocal power, although too fleetingly. And the title cut is one of Carey's loveliest songs to date..."

In late 1994, after her duet with Luther Vandross on a cover of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross's "Endless Love" became a hit, Carey released the holiday album ''Merry Christmas''. It contained cover material and original compositions, such as "All I Want for Christmas Is You", which became Carey's biggest single in Japan and, in subsequent years, emerged as one of her most perennially popular songs on U.S. radio. Since her rise to fame in 1990, Carey has always claimed herself to be a religious and spiritual person. She always expressed her belief in God and her connection between music and spirituality, and felt the album was finally a way to portray her mysticism into music. After the success of Carey's previous effort, Music Box, there was speculation of a new project in the works; however it wasn't until October 1994, only one month before the album's release, that Billboard announced Carey would be releasing a holiday album for the Christmas season. Initially, critics were shocked; they didn't know how Carey would fare as an entertainer, as she had previously only been viewed as a pop star. Nevertheless, Carey, unaffected by the speculation, continued working on, and promoting the album in high spirits, confident in her work. The idea proved to be wise, earning Carey recognition in various markets including Christian radio and contemporary R&B stations, as well as extended her fame in Japan, where the album experienced much of its success. Critical reception of ''Merry Christmas'' was mixed, with Allmusic calling it an "otherwise vanilla set [...] pretensions to high opera on 'O Holy Night' and a horrid danceclub take on 'Joy to the World'." It became one of the most successful Christmas albums of all time.

In 1995, Columbia released Carey's fourth studio album, ''Daydream'', which combined the pop sensibilities of ''Music Box'' with downbeat R&B and hip hop influences. A remix of "Fantasy", its first single, featured rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard. Carey said that Columbia reacted negatively to her intentions for the album: "Everybody was like 'What, are you crazy?'. They're very nervous about breaking the formula." The New Yorker noted that "It became standard for R&B stars, like Missy Elliott and Beyoncé, to combine melodies with rapped verses." John Norris of MTV News has stated that the remix was "responsible for, I would argue, an entire wave of music that we've seen since and that is the R&B-hip-hop collaboration. You could argue that the 'Fantasy' remix was the single most important recording that she's ever made." Norris echoed the sentiments of TLC's Lisa Lopes, who told MTV that it's because of Mariah that we have "R&B." ''Daydream'' became her biggest-selling album in the U.S. and its singles achieved similar success – "Fantasy" became the second single to debut at number one in the U.S. and topped the Canadian Singles Chart for twelve weeks; "One Sweet Day" (a duet with Boyz II Men) spent a record-holding sixteen weeks at number one in the U.S.; and "Always Be My Baby" (co-produced by Jermaine Dupri) was the most successful record on U.S. radio in 1996, according to ''Billboard'' magazine. The album also generated career-best reviews for Carey, and publications such as ''The New York Times'' named it as one of 1995's best albums; the ''Times'' wrote that its "best cuts bring R&B candy-making to a new peak of textural refinement [...] Carey's songwriting has taken a leap forward and become more relaxed, sexier and less reliant on thudding clichés." and ''AllMusic'' adds, "Daydream is her best record to date, and features a consistently strong selection of songs and a remarkably impassioned performance by Carey. A few of the songs are second-rate – particularly the cover of Journey's "Open Arms" – but Daydream demonstrates that Carey continues to perfect her craft and that she has earned her status as an R&B diva." The short but profitable Daydream World Tour augmented sales of the album. The music industry took note of Carey's success – she won two awards at the American Music Awards for her solo efforts: Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist. ''Daydream'' and its tracks were respectively nominated for six categories in the 38th Grammy Awards. Carey, along with Boyz II Men, opened the event with a performance of "One Sweet Day", which was mightily applauded. Although many critics proclaimed ''Daydream'' as the best album of 1995, she ended that night with no awards. The cameras started to focus on Carey, whose disappointment was becoming obvious. Carey eventually was able to deal with this incident. "What can you do?. I will never be disappointed again. After I sat through the whole show and didn't win once, I can handle anything." In 1995, due to ''Daydream'''s enormous Japanese sales, ''Billboard'' declared Carey "Artist of the year" in Japan.

1997–2000: New image, ''Butterfly'' and ''Rainbow''

Carey and Mottola officially separated in 1997. Although the public image of the marriage was a happy one, she said that, in reality, she had felt trapped by her relationship with Mottola, whom she often described as controlling. They officially announced their separation in 1997 and their divorce became final in the following year. Soon after the separation, Carey hired an independent publicist and a new attorney and manager. She continued to write and produce for other artists during this period and contributed to the debut albums of Allure and 7 Mile through her short-lived imprint Crave Records.

Carey's next album, ''Butterfly'' (1997), yielded the number-one single "Honey", the lyrics and music video which presented a more overtly sexual image of her than had been previously seen. She stated that ''Butterfly'' marked the point when she attained full creative control over her music. However, she added, "I don't think that it's that much of a departure from what I've done in the past [...] It's not like I went psycho and thought I would be a rapper. Personally, this album is about doing whatever the hell I wanted to do." Throughout the development of the album, in a departure from her previous style, Carey worked with various rappers and hip-hop producers, including Sean "Puffy" Combs, Kamaal Fareed, Missy Elliott and Jean Claude Oliver and Samuel Barnes from Trackmasters. Critics saw Carey's new production team as a form of revenge on Mottola and Sony Music. Carey denied taking a radically new direction, and insisted that the musical style of her new album was of her own choosing. Nevertheless, Carey resented the control that Sony, whose president was Mottola, exercised over her music, preventing her making music about which she was passionate. In contrast, Sony were concerned Carey, their best-selling act, could jeopardize her future success through her actions.

The pressure of the separation and constant press attention began to take its toll of Carey. Growing creative differences with producer Walter Afanasieff ended their working relationship, after collaborating on most of Carey's previous output. The breaking point came after a heated argument during a long recording session, over the album's musical direction. Carey also faced media criticism over her choice of producers and several newspapers linked Carey romantically to several rappers, suggesting these relationships influenced her decisions. However, Carey denied the allegations, stating she had only slept with her husband.

Reviews for ''Butterfly'' were generally positive: ''Rolling Stone'' wrote, "Carey couldn't have wished for a better start than "Honey", [...] it's an undeniably catchy pop record that revamps her sound and image. It's not as if Carey has totally dispensed with her old saccharine, Houston-style balladry [...] but the predominant mood of Butterfly is one of coolly erotic reverie. [... Except "Outside" the album sounds] very 1997. [...] Carey has spread her wings and she's ready to fly", LAUNCHcast said ''Butterfly'' "pushes the envelope", a move that its critic thought "may prove disconcerting to more conservative fans" but praised as "a welcome change." The ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote, "[''Butterfly''] is easily the most personal, confessional-sounding record she's ever done [...] Carey-bashing just might become a thing of the past." and ''AllMusic'' adds "Carey's vocals are sultrier and more controlled than ever, and that helps "Butterfly", "Break Down", "Babydoll", and the Prince cover, "The Beautiful Ones", rank among her best; also, the ballads do have a stronger urban feel than before. Even though ''Butterfly'' doesn't have as many strong singles as ''Daydream'', it's one of her best records and illustrates that Carey continues to improve and refine her music, which makes her a rarity among her '90s peers." The album was a commercial success—although not to the degree of her previous three albums—and "My All" (her thirteenth Hot 100 number-one) gave her the record for the most U.S. number-ones by a female artist.

Toward the turn of the millennium, Carey developed the film project ''Glitter'' and wrote songs for the films ''Men in Black'' (1997) and ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' (2000). During the production of ''Butterfly'', Carey became romantically involved with New York Yankees baseball star Derek Jeter. Their relationship ended in 1998, with both parties citing media interference as the main reason for the split. The same year, Columbia released the album ''#1's'', a collection of Carey's U.S. number-one singles alongside new material, which, she said, was a way to reward her fans. The song "When You Believe", a duet with Whitney Houston, was recorded for the soundtrack of ''The Prince of Egypt'' (1998) and won an Academy Award. ''#1's'' sold above expectations but a review in ''NME'' labeled Carey "a purveyor of saccharine bilge like 'Hero', whose message seems wholesome enough: that if you vacate your mind of all intelligent thought, flutter your eyelashes and wish hard, sweet babies and honey will follow." Also that year, she appeared on the first televised ''VH1 Divas'' benefit concert program, although her alleged prima donna behavior had already led many to consider her a diva.

''Rainbow'', Carey's sixth studio album, was released in 1999 and comprised more R&B/hip hop–oriented songs, with many of them co-created with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. "Heartbreaker" and "Thank God I Found You" (the former featuring Jay-Z, the latter featuring Joe and boy band 98 Degrees) reached number one in the U.S. and the success of the former made Carey the only act to have a number-one single in each year of the 1990s. A cover of Phil Collins's "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" went to number one in the UK, after Carey re-recorded it with boy band Westlife. Media reception of ''Rainbow'' was generally enthusiastic, with the ''Sunday Herald'' saying that the album "sees her impressively tottering between soul ballads and collaborations with R&B heavyweights like Snoop Doggy Dogg, Usher [...] It's a polished collection of pop-soul." ''VIBE'' magazine expressed similar sentiments, writing, "She pulls out all stops [...] ''Rainbow'' will garner even more adoration", However, ''Rainbow'' became Carey's lowest-selling album up to that point, and there was a recurring criticism that the tracks were too alike. When the double A-side "Crybaby" (featuring Snoop Dogg)/"Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" became her first single to peak outside the U.S. top twenty, Carey accused Sony of underpromoting it: "The political situation in my professional career is not positive [...] I get a lot of negative feedback from certain corporate people", she wrote, on her official website.

2001–04: ''Glitter'', ''Charmbracelet'' and personal struggles

After she received ''Billboard'''s Artist of the Decade Award and the World Music Award for Best-Selling Female Artist of the Millennium, Carey parted from Columbia and signed a contract with EMI's Virgin Records worth a reported US$100 million. She often stated that Columbia had regarded her as a commodity, with her separation from Mottola exacerbating her relations with label executives. Just a few months later, in July, 2001, it was widely reported that Carey had suffered a physical and emotional breakdown. She had left messages on her website that complained of being overworked, and her relationship with the Latin icon Luis Miguel ended. In an interview the following year, she said, "I was with people who didn't really know me and I had no personal assistant. I'd do interviews all day long and get two hours of sleep a night, if that." During an appearance on MTV's ''Total Request Live'', to which she showed up unannounced and to the apparent bewilderment of host Carson Daly, Carey handed out popsicles to the audience and began what was later described as a "striptease". By the month's end, she had checked into a hospital and her publicist announced that Carey would take a break from public appearances.

Critics panned ''Glitter'', Carey's much delayed semi-autobiographical film and it was a box office failure. The accompanying soundtrack album, ''Glitter'', was inspired by the music of the 1980s and featured collaborations with Rick James and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis; it generated Carey's worst showing on the U.S. chart. The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' dismissed it as "an absolute mess that'll go down as an annoying blemish on a career that, while not always critically heralded, was at least nearly consistently successful", while ''Blender'' magazine opined, "After years of trading her signature flourishes for a radio-ready purr, Carey's left with almost no presence at all." The lead single, "Loverboy" (which features Cameo), reached number two on the Hot 100, due to the release of the physical single, but the album's follow-up singles failed to chart; however, a live rendition/medley of the single, "Never Too Far", made its way to number 81.

Later, in the year, Columbia released the low-charting compilation album ''Greatest Hits'', shortly after the failure of ''Glitter'', and, in early 2002, Virgin bought out Carey's contract for $28 million, and created further negative publicity. Carey later said that her time at Virgin was "a complete and total stress-fest [...] I made a total snap decision which was based on money and I never make decisions based on money. I learned a big lesson from that." Later that year, she signed a contract with Island Records, valued at more than $22.5 million, and launched the record label MonarC. To add further to Carey's emotional burdens, her father, with whom she had little contact since childhood, died of cancer that year.

Carey, Mira Sorvino and Melora Walters co-starred as waitresses at a mobster-operated restaurant in the independent film ''WiseGirls'' (2002), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival but went straight to cable in the U.S. Critics commended Carey for her efforts – ''The Hollywood Reporter'' predicted, "Those scathing notices for ''Glitter'' will be a forgotten memory for the singer once people warm up to Raychel", and Roger Friedman, referring to her as "a Thelma Ritter for the new millennium", said, "Her line delivery is sharp and she manages to get the right laughs". ''WiseGirls'' producer Anthony Esposito cast Carey in ''The Sweet Science'' (2006), a film about an unknown female boxer recruited by a boxing manager, but it never entered production.

In 2002, she performed the American national anthem in front of an audience at the Super Bowl XXXVI at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. Following a well-received supporting role in the 2002 film ''WiseGirls'', Carey released the album ''Charmbracelet'', which, she said, marked "a new lease on life" for her. Sales of ''Charmbracelet'' were moderate and the quality of Carey's vocals came under severe criticism. ''The Boston Globe'' declared the album "the worst of her career, and revealed a voice [that is] no longer capable of either gravity-defying gymnastics or soft coos", and ''Rolling Stone'' commented, "Carey needs bold songs that help her use the power and range for which she is famous. ''Charmbracelet'' is like a stream of watercolors that bleed into a puddle of brown." Allmusic expressed similar sentiments and said, "There are no good songs on this record, outside of Def Leppard's power ballad classic "Bringin on the Heartbreak", which isn't even covered all that well. What is a greater problem is that Mariah's voice is shot, sounding in tatters throughout the record. Whenever she sings, there's a raspy whistle behind her thin voice and she strains to make notes throughout the record. She cannot coo or softly croon nor can she perform her trademark gravity-defying vocal runs. Her voice is damaged and there's not a moment where it sounds strong or inviting." The magazine adds "the songs are formless and the production bland." The album's only charting single in America, "Through the Rain", was a failure on pop radio, which had become less open to maturing "diva" stylists, such as Celine Dion, or Carey, herself, in favor of younger singers such as Christina Aguilera, who had vocal styles very similar to Carey's.

"I Know What You Want", a 2003 Busta Rhymes single on which Carey guest starred, fared considerably better and reached the U.S. top five; it was also included on Columbia's release of ''The Remixes'', a compilation of Carey's best remixes and some new tracks. That year, she embarked on the Charmbracelet World Tour and was awarded the Chopard Diamond award for selling more than 100 million albums worldwide. She was featured on rapper Jadakiss's 2004 single "U Make Me Wanna", which reached the top ten on ''Billboard''s R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Carey was one of several musicians who appeared in the independently produced Damon Dash films ''Death of a Dynasty'' (2003) and ''State Property 2'' (2005).

2005–07: Return to prominence with ''The Emancipation of Mimi''

Carey's tenth studio album, ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' (2005), contained contributions from producers such as The Neptunes, Kanye West and Carey's longtime collaborator, Jermaine Dupri. Carey said it was "very much like a party record [...] the process of putting on makeup and getting ready to go out [...] I wanted to make a record that was reflective of that." ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' became 2005's best-selling album in the U.S. ''The Guardian'' reviewer defined it as "cool, focused and urban [... some of] the first Mariah Carey tunes in years which I wouldn't have to be paid to listen to again"., while Elysa Gardner writes on ''USA Today'', "Breezy, playful tracks such as Say Somethin' (featuring Snoop Dogg) and Get Your Number (with Jermaine Dupri) prove the singer hasn't forsaken her passion for hip-hop. But it's the ballads and midtempo numbers that truly reflect the renewed confidence of a songbird who has taken her shots and kept on flying." On the other hand, ''Slant'' and ''AllMusic'' critized her vocals, writing, "Just as you start to hear the scratchiness in her voice (no doubt due to all that "purple"), the padded hook kicks in or the song fades. Where once Mariah's trademark high notes used to serve some purpose (structurally, melodically, texturally), they now seem random, existing just to convince us that The Voice is still there—and it is...kind of. More convincing would be a low note (remember those first 60 outrageously versatile seconds of '91's "You're So Cold"?), but mostly what we get here is midrange belting. As gratifying as that is on the surface, there's still the nagging feeling that Mariah has damaged her voice beyond repair." "Mariah's voice sounds as airy, thin, and damaged as it did on ''Charmbracelet.'' Mariah never sounds like herself on this record. When she's not sounding like Beyoncé, she sounds desperate to be part of the waning bling era. Disregarding these two rather sizeable problems, ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' still works, at least as a slick, highly crafted piece of dance-pop."

''The Emancipation of Mimi'' earned a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album and the single "We Belong Together" won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. "We Belong Together" held the Hot 100's number-one position for fourteen weeks, her longest run at the top as a solo lead artist. Subsequently, the single "Shake It Off" reached number two for a week, which made Carey the first female lead vocalist to have simultaneously held the Hot 100's top two positions. (While it topped the charts in 2002, Ashanti was the "featured" singer on the number two single.) 2005 proved to be a good year for Carey, as "We Belong Together" reached number one on Billboard's year end chart for Hot 100 singles, and ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' is classed as the best selling album of 2005 by Nielsen SoundScan.

In mid-2006, Carey began The Adventures of Mimi Tour, which was the most successful of her career, although some dates had to be canceled. She appeared on the cover of the March, 2007, edition of ''Playboy'' magazine in a non-nude photo session. Around this time, she made a legal threat against porn star Mary Carey, believing their names were too similar.

In 2006, Carey joined the cast of the indie film ''Tennessee'' (2008), taking the role of an aspiring singer who flees her controlling husband and joins two brothers on a journey to find their long-lost father. The movie received mixed reviews, but some, like Reuters, praised Carey's performance as "understated and very effective."

2007–09: ''E=MC²'', second marriage, and ''Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel''

By spring 2007, she had begun to work on her eleventh studio album, ''E=MC²''. Asked about the album title's meaning, Carey said "Einstein's theory? Physics? ''Me?'' Hello! ...Of course I'm poking fun." She characterized the project as "''Emancipation of Mimi'' to the second power", and said that she was "freer" on this album than any other. Like her previous one, this album mainly concentrates on pop and R&B but borrows hip hop, gospel and even reggae ("Cruise Control") elements. Although ''E=MC²'' was well received by most critics, some of them criticized it for being "a clone of ''The Emancipation of Mimi''". ''Bleu Magazine'''s critic said that the "facsimiles aren't terrible, they're just boring and forgettable at this point." Two weeks before the album's release, on April 2, 2008, "Touch My Body", her first single from the album, became Carey's eighteenth number-one single on the Hot 100, pushing her past Elvis Presley into second place for the most number-one singles among all artists in the rock era, according to ''Billboard'' magazine's revised methodology. Carey is now second only to The Beatles, who have twenty number-one singles. The album debuted at number one on the ''Billboard 200'' with 463,000 copies sold, making it the biggest opening week sales of her career.

In 2008, ''Billboard'' magazine ranked her at number six on the "Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists", making Carey the second most successful female artist in the history of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Carey has also had notable success on international charts, though not to the same degree as in the United States. Thus far, she has had two number-one singles in Britain, two in Australia, and six in Canada. Her highest-charting single in Japan peaked at number two. Carey and actor/comedian/rapper Nick Cannon met while they shot Carey's music video for her second single "Bye Bye" on a private island of the coast of Antigua. On April 30, 2008, Carey married Cannon at her private estate on Windermere Island in The Bahamas. In October 2008, Carey was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. Carey had a cameo appearance in Adam Sandler's 2008 film ''You Don't Mess with the Zohan'', playing herself.

Carey performed "Hero" at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball after Barack Obama was sworn in as America's first African-American president on January 20, 2009. On July 7, 2009, Carey – alongside Trey Lorenz – performed her version of the Jackson 5 hit "I'll Be There" at the memorial service for Michael Jackson in the Los Angeles Staples Center. Carey was featured on "My Love", the second single from singer-songwriter The-Dream's album ''Love vs. Money''. In 2009, she appeared as a social worker in ''Precious'', the movie adaptation of the 1996 novel ''Push'' by Sapphire. The film has garnered mostly positive reviews from critics, as has Carey's performance. ''Variety'' described her acting as "pitch-perfect". So far ''Precious'' has won awards at both the Sundance Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival, receiving top awards there. In January 2010, Carey won the Breakthrough Actress Performance award for her role in ''Precious'' at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Carey's twelfth studio album, ''Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel'' was released on September 25, 2009. The album received generally favorable reviews from music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic called it "her most interesting album in a decade", while Jon Caramanica from ''The New York Times'' criticized Carey's vocal performances, decrying her overuse of her softer vocal registers at the expense of her more powerful lower and mid registers. Commercially, the album debuted at number three on the ''Billboard'' 200 and became the lowest-selling studio album of her career. The album's lead single, "Obsessed", became her 40th entry on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and her highest debut on the chart since "My All" in 1998. The song debuted at number eleven and peaked at number seven on the chart and became Carey's 27th US top-ten hit, tying her with Elton John and Janet Jackson as the fifth most top-ten hits. Within hours after the song's release, various outlets speculated that its target was rapper Eminem, in response to his song "Bagpipes from Baghdad", in which he taunted Carey's husband, Nick Cannon by telling him to back off and that Carey is his. According to MTV, Carey alludes to drug problems in "Obsessed", which Eminem opened up about on his sixth studio album, ''Relapse''. The album's follow-up singles failed to achieve commercial success. The second single, a cover of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is", peaked at number 60 and the third single, "H.A.T.E.U.", failed to crack the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. On December 31, 2009, Carey embarked her seventh concert tour, Angels Advocate Tour, which visited the United States and Canada. Later it was announced that Carey would release two remix albums of ''Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel''; titled ''Angels Advocate'' (an R&B remix album featuring a collection of newly remixed duets with some of Carey's favorite artists) and ''MC vs JS'' (a dance album entirely remixed by the ''Jump Smokers''). In January 2010, "Up Out My Face" featuring Nicki Minaj and "Angels Cry" featuring Ne-Yo were released as the lead singles from ''Angels Advocate''. Both albums were slated for a March 2010 release, but were eventually cancelled. On February 9, 2011, Carey released 100% to iTunes, a song originally from motion picture ''Precious''. It was later used on the ''AT&T Team USA Soundtrack'' for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

2010–present: ''Merry Christmas II You'', motherhood, and new studio album

Following the cancellation of the remix albums, it was announced that Carey will go back to the studio to start work on her second Christmas album and her 13th studio album. Long time collaborators for the project include Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox. Dupri stated that a single will be released by the end of 2010. Johntá Austin and Randy Jackson are also contributing to the project.

During a press conference in Seoul, South Korea, in August 2010, Island Def Jam executive Matt Voss announced that the Christmas album would be out on November 2 and will include six new songs and a remix of her classic hit "All I Want for Christmas Is You". The album will be titled ''Merry Christmas II You'', a follow-up to her 1994 multiplatinum album ''Merry Christmas''. An accompanying DVD was released alongside the CD. Carey has produced and recorded tracks with the Broadway producer Marc Shaiman for the album. The album debuted at No.4 on the ''Billboard'' 200 with sales of 56,000 copies, surpassing the opening week sales of Carey's previous holiday album ''Merry Christmas'' of 45,000 copies 16 years prior, and making ''Merry Christmas II You'' Carey's 16th top 10 album. The album debuted at No.1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, making it only the second Christmas album to top this chart, and also hit number No.1 on the Holiday Albums Chart.

In May 2010, Carey cited medical reasons and dropped out of her planned appearance in ''For Colored Girls'', the film adaptation of the play ''For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf''. After much media speculation, on October 28, 2010, Carey confirmed that she and Cannon are expecting a baby, and that it is due in the spring of 2011. Carey also revealed that she had conceived naturally. She added that she had been pregnant shortly after her wedding with Nick Cannon, but that she miscarried. Carey and Cannon decided to keep the matter private. On April 30, 2011, the couple's third wedding anniversary, Carey gave birth to fraternal twins via C-section. The twins were named Monroe, after Marilyn Monroe, and Moroccan Scott, after Cannon proposed to Carey in her Moroccan-style room; Scott is Cannon's middle name and his grandmother's maiden name.

Carey said on Friday, February 11 on HSN, that she recorded a duet with Tony Bennett for his upcoming "Duets" album. The song is to be called 'When Do The Bells Ring For Me'. Jermaine Dupri and Mariah worked on a charity song which was to be called, 'Save the Day', and was to feature vocals from Carey, Taylor Swift, Mary J. Blige and R. Kelly. Following the birth of their children, Cannon revealed during an interview with ''Billboard'' that Carey had already begun working on a new record. Cannon said "She's been working away, and we have a studio in the crib, and [the pregnancy] has totally inspired her on so many different levels. You're definitely gonna see some new phenomenal music from Mariah" and assured Carey would plan on releasing it by the end of the year.

Artistry

Musical style

Love is the subject of the majority of Carey's lyrics, although she has written about themes such as racism, social alienation, death, world hunger, and spirituality. She has said that much of her work is partly autobiographical, but ''TIME'' magazine wrote: "If only Mariah Carey's music had the drama of her life. Her songs are often sugary and artificial—NutraSweet soul. But her life has passion and conflict." Jim Faber, of ''New York Daily News'', makes a similar comment, according to him, "For Carey, vocalizing is all about the performance, not the emotions that inspired it. Singing, to her, represents a physical challenge, not an emotional unburdening." ''The Village Voice'' wrote in 2001 that, in that respect, Carey compared unfavorably with singers such as Mary J. Blige, saying "Carey's Strawberry Shortcake soul still provides the template with which teen-pop cuties draw curlicues around those centerless [Diane] Warren ballads [...] it's largely because of [Blige] that the new R&B demands a greater range of emotional expression, smarter poetry, more from-the-gut testifying, and less unnecessary notes than the squeaky-clean and just plain squeaky Mariah era. Nowadays it's the Christina Aguileras and Jessica Simpsons who awkwardly oversing, while the women with roof-raising lung power keep it in check when tune or lyric demands."

Carey's output makes use of electronic instruments such as drum machines, keyboards and synthesizers. Many of her songs contain piano music, and she was given piano lessons when she was six years old. Carey said that she cannot read sheet music and prefers to collaborate with a pianist when composing her material, but feels that it is easier to experiment with faster and less conventional melodies and chord progressions using this technique. Some of her arrangements have been inspired by the work of musicians such as Stevie Wonder, a soul pianist to whom Carey once referred as "the genius of the [twentieth] century", but she has said, "My voice is my instrument; it always has been."

Carey began commissioning remixes of her material early in her career and helped to spearhead the practice of recording entirely new vocals for remixes. Disc jockey David Morales has collaborated with Carey several times, starting with "Dreamlover" (1993), which popularized the tradition of remixing R&B songs into house records, and which ''Slant'' magazine named one of the greatest dance songs of all time. From "Fantasy" (1995) onward, Carey enlisted both hip hop and house producers to re-imagine her album compositions. ''Entertainment Weekly'' included two remixes of "Fantasy" on a list of Carey's greatest recordings compiled in 2005: a National Dance Music Award-winning remix produced by Morales, and a Sean Combs production featuring rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard. The latter has been credited with popularizing the R&B/hip hop collaboration trend that has continued into the 2000s through artists such as Ashanti and Beyoncé. Combs said that Carey "knows the importance of mixes, so you feel like you're with an artist who appreciates your work—an artist who wants to come up with something with you". She continues to consult on remixes by producers such as Morales, Jermaine Dupri, Junior Vasquez and DJ Clue, and guest performers contribute frequently to them.

Voice and timbre

Mariah Carey possesses a five-octave vocal range, and was ranked first in a 2003 MTV and ''Blender'' magazine countdown of the 22 Greatest Voices in Music, as voted by fans and readers in an online poll. Carey said of the poll, "What it really means is voice of the MTV generation. Of course, it's an enormous compliment, but I don't feel that way about myself." She also placed second in ''Cove'' magazine's list of "The 100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists". Regarding her voice, Carey has stated, My doctors showed me my vocal cords and why I can hit those high notes. It's a certain part of the cord that not many people use—the very top. My natural voice is low. I have a raspy voice. I'm really more of an alto. But my airy voice can be high if I'm rested. [...] When I was little, I'd talk in this really high whisper, and my mom would be like, "You're being ridiculous." I thought if I can talk like that I can sing like that. So I started [she goes higher and higher and higher] just messing around with it. I'd practice and practice, and she'd be like, "You're gonna hurt yourself." I'd tell her, It doesn’t hurt. If I were to try and belt two octaves lower than that, that would be a strain. She also explains that it was Minnie Riperton who influenced her to use the whistle register.

Regarding her voice type, Carey said that she is alto, while French-American baritone and singing teacher in the Conservatoire de Paris Malcolm Walker states that she is light lyric soprano, "because the upper register is much more healthier [''sic''] than the lower register." However, within contemporary forms of music, singers are classified by the style of music they sing. There is currently no authoritative voice classification system within non-classical music. Attempts have been made to adopt classical voice type terms to other forms of singing, but they are controversial, because the development of classic voice categorizations were made with the understanding that the singer would amplify his or her voice with their natural resonators, without a microphone.

Baritone Malcolm Walker and vocal pedagogue Jeannette Lo Vetri describes Carey's voice as "pure, full, rounded and warm", adding that belting and head voices has a great brightness. Malcolm Walker praise her belting voice, saying it "works very well" and states that Carey "passes easily in head voice. It's her true voice." on the other hand, Walker,

Voice experts praise Carey's vocal technique, stating that she can deliver very fast and controlled staccatos "always keeps a neutral larynx position—except sometimes in her lower register" and "glides effortlessly from bottom to top and vice versa." Her mastery of melismas and legato is also very praised. Malcolm Walker adds her vocal lines are "very well led, especially in piano register." Jon Pareles also praise her musicianship, writing, "she can linger over sensual turns, ... syncopate like a scat singer [and sing] with startlingly exact pitch."

Influences

Carey has said that from childhood she has been influenced by R&B and soul musicians such as Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. Her music contains strong influences of gospel music, she attends an Episcopal church and her favorite gospel singers include The Clark Sisters, Shirley Caesar and Edwin Hawkins. In ''She Bop II: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop and Soul'' (2002), writer Lucy O'Brien attributed the comeback of Barbra Streisand's "old-fashioned showgirl" to Carey and Dion, and described them and Houston as "groomed, airbrushed and overblown to perfection". Carey's musical transition and use of more revealing clothing during the late 1990s were, in part, initiated to distance herself from this image, and she subsequently said that most of her early work was "schmaltzy MOR". Some have noted that unlike Houston and Dion, Carey co-writes her own songs, and the ''Guinness Rockopedia'' (1998) classified her as the "songbird supreme". Despite the fact that Carey is often credited with co-writing her material, she has also been accused of plagiarism on several occasions. Many of these cases were eventually settled out of court.

Legacy

Carey's vocal style and singing ability have significantly impacted popular and contemporary music. Music critic G. Brown from ''The Denver Post'' wrote, "For better or worse, Mariah Carey's five-octave range and melismatic style have influenced a generation of pop singers." According to ''Rolling Stone'', "Her mastery of melisma, the fluttering strings of notes that decorate songs like "Vision of Love", inspired the entire ''American Idol'' vocal school, for better or worse, and virtually every other female R&B singer since the Nineties." Jody Rosen of ''Slate Magazine'' wrote of Carey's influence in music saying "Carey is the most influential vocal stylist of the last two decades, the person who made rococo melismatic singing—the trick of embroidering syllables with multiple no-o-o-o-o-o-tes—the ubiquitous pop style." Rosen further commented on Carey's proof of influence saying "Exhibit A is American Idol, which has often played out as a clash of melisma-mad Mariah wannabes. And, today, nearly 20 years after Carey's debut, major labels continue to bet the farm on young stars such as the winner of Britain's X Factor show, Leona Lewis, with her Generation Next gloss on Mariah's big voice and big hair." Sean Daly of St. Petersburg Times wrote, "Depending on how you feel about public humiliation, the best/worst parts of American Idol are the audition shows, which normally break down into three distinct parts:(1) The Talented Kids.(2) The Weird Kids.(3) The Mariahs." Daly further commented, "The Mariahs are the hardest ones to watch, mainly because most of them think they're reeeaaally good. The poor, disillusioned hopefuls plant themselves in front of judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson – then proceed to stretch, break and mutilate every note of a song, often Mariah's Hero, a tune that has ruined more throats than smoker's cough." ''New York Magazine's'' editor Roger Deckker said that in regarding Carey as an influential artist in music, he commented that "Whitney Houston may have introduced melisma (the vocally acrobatic style of lending a word an extra syllable or twenty) to the charts, but it was Mariah—with her jaw-dropping range—who made it into America’s default sound." Deckker also added that "Every time you turn on American Idol, you are watching her children". Despite her vocal prowess, Carey's vocal technique particularly with the use of melisma and belting, has been subject to public scrutiny mainly because of young singers such as from talent shows have been overly imitating her singing technique in which critics commented "Mariah Carey is, without a doubt, the worst thing to happen to amateur singing since the karaoke machine".

Carey has influenced numerous singers throughout her career. Her work continues to influence numerous hip hop, pop and R&B artists, including Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, Nelly Furtado, Leona Lewis and Missy Elliot, among others. Beyoncé Knowles credits Carey's singing and her song "Vision of Love" as influencing her to begin practicing vocal "runs" as a child, as well as helping her pursue a career as a musician. Rihanna has stated that Carey is one of her major influences and idol. Christina Aguilera has cited in her early stages of her career that Carey is a big influence in her singing career and being one of her idols. According to Pier Dominguez, author of ''Christina Aguilera: a star is made : the unauthorized biography'', Aguilera has stated how she loved listening to Whitney Houston, but it was Carey who had the biggest influence on her vocal styling. Carey's carefully choreographed image of a grown woman's image struck a chord on Aguilera. Her influence on Aguilera also grew from the fact that both were of mixed heritage. Philip Brasor, editor of "The Japan Times", expressed how Carey's vocal and melismatic style even influenced Asian singers. He wrote regarding Japanese superstar Utada Hikaru, "Utada sang what she heard, from the diaphragm and with her own take on the kind of melisma that became de rigueur in American pop after the ascendance of Mariah Carey." In an article called "Out With Mariah's Melisma, In With Kesha's Kick", writer David Browne of The New York Times discusses how the ubiquitous melisma pop style has suddenly fall down from pop culture in favor of young stars who uses the now ubiquitous autotune in which the first mentioned was heavily popularized into mainstream pop culture with the likes of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. Browne had commented "But beginning two decades ago, melisma overtook pop in a way it hadn’t before. Mariah Carey’s debut hit from 1990, “Vision of Love,” followed two years later by Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You,” set the bar insanely high for notes stretched louder, longer and knottier than most pop fans had ever heard." Browne further added "A subsequent generation of singers, including Ms. Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé, built their careers around melisma. (Men like Brian McKnight and Tyrese also indulged in it, but women tended to dominate the form.)"

Carey is also credited for introducing R&B and hip hop into mainstream pop culture, and for popularizing rap as a featuring act through her post-1995 songs. Sasha Frere-Jones, editor of ''The New Yorker'' commented, "It became standard for R&B/hip-hop stars like Missy Elliott and Beyoncé, to combine melodies with rapped verses. And young white pop stars—including Britney Spears, 'N Sync, and Christina Aguilera—have spent much of the past ten years making pop music that is unmistakably R&B." Moreover Jones concludes that "Her idea of pairing a female songbird with the leading male MCs of hip-hop changed R&B and, eventually, all of pop. Although now anyone is free to use this idea, the success of “Mimi” suggests that it still belongs to Carey." Judnick Mayard, writer of ''TheFader'', wrote that in regarding of R&B and hip hop collaboration, "The champion of this movement is Mariah Carey." Mayard also expressed that "To this day ODB and Mariah may still be the best and most random hip hop collaboration of all time", citing that due to the record "Fantasy", "R&B and Hip Hop were the best of step siblings." Kelfa Sanneh of ''The New York Times'' wrote, "In the mid-1990's Ms. Carey pioneered a subgenre that some people call the thug-love duet. Nowadays clean-cut pop stars are expected to collaborate with roughneck rappers, but when Ms. Carey teamed up with Ol' Dirty Bastard, of the Wu-Tang Clan, for the 1995 hit "Fantasy (Remix)", it was a surprise, and a smash." Aside from her pop culture and musical influence, Carey is credited for releasing a classic Christmas song called "All I Want For Christmas Is You". In a retrospective look at Carey's career, Sasha Frere-Jones of ''The New Yorker'' said, the "charming" song was one of Carey's biggest accomplishments, calling it "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon". ''Rolling Stone'' ranked "All I Want for Christmas Is You" fourth on its Greatest Rock and Roll Christmas Songs list, calling it a "holiday standard." Following the release of her ''Greatest Hits'' album, Devon Powers of Popmatters has said in his review that "She has influenced countless female vocalists after her. At 32, she is already a living legend—even if she never sings another note."

Honors and awards

Throughout Carey's career, she has collected many honors and awards, including the World Music Awards' Best Selling Female Artist of the Millennium, the Grammy's Best New Artist in 1991, Billboard's Special Achievement Award for the Artist of the Decade during the 1990's. In a career spanning over 20 years, Carey has sold over 200 million albums, singles, and videos worldwide, making her one of the biggest-selling artists in music history. Carey is ranked as the best-selling female artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era, with over 52 million copies sold. Possessing a five-octave vocal range, Carey was ranked first in MTV and ''Blender'' magazine's 2003 countdown of the 22 Greatest Voices in Music, and was placed second in ''Cove'' magazine's list of "The 100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists". Aside from her voice, she has become known for her songwriting. Yahoo Music editor Jason Ankeny wrote, "She earned frequent comparison to rivals Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, but did them both one better by composing all of her own material." According to ''Billboard'' magazine, she was the most successful artist of the 1990s in the United States. At the 2000 World Music Awards, Carey was given a Legend Award for being the "best-selling female pop artist of the millennium", as well as the "Best-selling artist of the 90s" in the United States, after releasing a series of albums of multi-platinum status in Asia and Europe, such as ''Music Box'' and ''Number 1's''. She is also a recipient of the Chopard Diamond Award in 2003, recognizing sales of over 100 million albums worldwide. Additionally, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) lists Carey as the third-best-selling female artist, with shipments of over 63 million units in the U.S. In Japan, Carey has the top four highest-selling albums of all time by a non-Asian artist.

Carey has spent a record 79 weeks at the number-one position on ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the artist with the most weeks at number-one in U.S. chart history. On that same chart, she has accumulated 18 number-one singles, which ties her with Elvis Presley for the second most number-one singles in the chart's history (after only The Beatles). In 1994, Carey released her holiday album ''Merry Christmas'', which became the best selling Christmas album of all time, selling over 15 million copies worldwide. It also produced the successful single "All I Want for Christmas Is You", which became the only holiday song and ringtone to reach multi-platinum status in the U.S. In Japan, ''Number 1's'' has sold over 3,250,000 copies and is the best-selling album of all time in Japan by a non-Asian artist. Her hit single "One Sweet Day", which featured Boyz II Men, spent sixteen consecutive weeks at the top of ''Billboard''s Hot 100 chart in 1996, setting the record for the most weeks atop the Hot 100 chart in history. After Carey's success in Asia with ''Merry Christmas'', ''Billboard'' estimated Carey as the all-time best-selling international artist in Japan. In 2008, ''Billboard'' magazine listed "We Belong Together" ninth on The ''Billboard'': All-Time Hot 100 Top Songs and the most successful song of the first decade of the 21st century. In 2009, Carey's song "Obsessed" became her 12th Platinum single, the most by any female artist. Also in 2009, Carey's cover of Foreigner's song "I Want to Know What Love Is" became the longest-running number-one song in Brazilian singles chart history, spending 27 consecutive weeks at number-one. Additionally, Carey has had three songs debut at number-one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100: "Fantasy", "One Sweet Day" and "Honey", making her the artist with the most number-one debuts in the chart's 52-year history. Also, she is the first female artist to debut at number 1 in the U.S. with "Fantasy". In 2010, Carey's 13th album and second Christmas album, ''Merry Christmas II You'', debuted at No.1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, making it only the second Christmas album to top that chart. On November 19, 2010, ''Billboard'' magazine named Carey in their "Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years" chart at number four.

Philanthropy and other activities

Carey is a philanthropist who has donated time and money to organizations such as the Fresh Air Fund. She became associated with the Fund in the early 1990s, and is the co-founder of a camp located in Fishkill, New York, that enables inner-city youth to embrace the arts and introduces them to career opportunities. The camp was called Camp Mariah "for her generous support and dedication to Fresh Air children", and she received a Congressional Horizon Award for her youth-related charity work. She is well-known nationally for her work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation in granting the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses, and in November 2006 she was awarded the Foundation's Wish Idol for her "extraordinary generosity and her many wish granting achievements". Carey has volunteered for the New York City Police Athletic League and contributed to the obstetrics department of New York Presbyterian Hospital Cornell Medical Center. A percentage of the sales of ''MTV Unplugged'' was donated to various other charities. In 2008, Carey was named Hunger Ambassador of the World Hunger Relief Movement. She is giving a free download of her song, "Love Story", to customers who donate to the organization at participating restaurants. In February 2010, the song, "100%", which was originally written and recorded for the film, ''Precious'', was used as one of the theme songs for the 2010 Winter Olympics, with all money proceeds going to Team USA.

One of Carey's most high-profile benefit concert appearances was on VH1's 1998 ''Divas Live'' special, during which she performed alongside other female singers in support of the Save the Music Foundation. The concert was a ratings success, and Carey participated in the Divas 2000 special. In 2007, the Save the Music Foundation honored Carey at their tenth gala event for her support towards the foundation since its inception. She appeared at the ''America: A Tribute to Heroes'' nationally televised fundraiser in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, and in December 2001, she performed before peacekeeping troops in Kosovo. Carey hosted the CBS television special ''At Home for the Holidays'', which documented real-life stories of adopted children and foster families, and she has worked with the New York City Administration for Children's Services. In 2005, Carey performed for Live 8 in London and at the Hurricane Katrina relief telethon "Shelter from the Storm". In August 2008, Carey and other singers recorded the charity single, "Just Stand Up" produced by Babyface and L. A. Reid, to support "Stand Up to Cancer". On September 5, the singers performed it live on TV.

Declining offers to appear in commercials in the United States during her early career, Carey was not involved in brand marketing initiatives until 2006, when she participated in endorsements for Intel Centrino personal computers and launched a jewelry and accessories line for teenagers, Glamorized, in American Claire's and Icing stores. During this period, as part of a partnership with Pepsi and Motorola, Carey recorded and promoted a series of exclusive ringtones, including "Time of Your Life". She signed a licensing deal with the cosmetics company Elizabeth Arden, and in 2007, she released her own fragrance, "M". According to ''Forbes'', Carey was the sixth richest woman in entertainment , with an estimated net worth of US $225 million. Carey directed or co-directed several of the music videos for her singles during the 1990s. ''Slant'' magazine named the video for "The Roof (Back in Time)", which Carey co-directed with Diane Martel, one of the twenty greatest music videos of all time. In 2008, Carey made ''Time'''s annual list of 100 most Influential people. In January 2010, Carey announced via Twitter that she is launching a new rosé champagne brand called Angel Champagne. On November 29, 2010, Mariah debuted a collection on HSN, the collection range included jewelry, shoes and fragrances. She returned on Friday, February 11, 2011 with newly released products.

Filmography

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1999		Ilana
2001		Billie Frank
2002	''WiseGirls''	Raychel
2003	''Death of a Dynasty''	Herself	Cameo appearance
2005	''State Property 2''	Dame's Wifey
2008	''You Don't Mess with the Zohan''	Herself	Cameo appearance
2009		Krystal
2009		Mrs. Weiss	Breakthrough Performance Award at the Palm Springs International Film FestivalSupporting Actress of the Year at the Capri Hollywood International Film FestivalNominated –
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2002	''[[Ally McBeal">Black Reel Awards

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2002	''[[Ally McBeal''	Candy Cushnip
2003	''The Proud Family''	Herself	Voice role

Discography

''Mariah Carey'' (1990)

''Emotions'' (1991)

''Music Box'' (1993)

''Merry Christmas'' (1994)

''Daydream'' (1995)

''Butterfly'' (1997)

''Rainbow'' (1999)

''Glitter'' (2001)

''Charmbracelet'' (2002)

''The Emancipation of Mimi'' (2005)

''E=MC²'' (2008)

''Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel'' (2009)

''Merry Christmas II You'' (2010)

See also

List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance chart

List of awards received by Mariah Carey

List of best-selling music artists

List of best selling music artists in U.S.

List of Mariah Carey tours

Notes

References

Hardy, Phil. ''The Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music: Fully Revised Third Edition'' (2001). pg. 156–157. UK: Faber and Faber Limited. ISBN 0-571-19608-X.

Mulholland, Garry. ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music'' (2003). pg. 57. UK: Flame Tree Publishing. ISBN 1-904041-70-1.

''Guinness Rockopedia'' (1998). pg. 74. UK: Guinness Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-85112-072-5.

Larkin, Colin. ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Volume II: 3rd Edition'' (1998). pg. 934. UK: Muze UK Ltd. ISBN 0-333-74134-X.

O'Brien, Lucy. ''She Bop II: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop and Soul'' (2002). pg. 29, 476–481. UK: Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-5776-2 (paperback).

[ Mariah Carey – Credits]. ''Allmusic''. Retrieved April 22, 2006.

U.S. charts and sales compiled by ''Billboard'' magazine and Nielsen SoundScan ; see http://web.archive.org/web/20080409233339/http://www.mariahdaily.com/corantofiles/news-archive-1-2006.shtml. Retrieved February 7, 2007.

"Mariah Carey – Artist Chart History". ''Billboard''. Retrieved March 12, 2006.

UK charts compiled by The Official UK Charts Company ; see http://www.mariah-charts.com/chartdata/UKTop40.htm. Retrieved February 7, 2007.

Canadian charts compiled by Jam Canoe and Nielsen SoundScan; see http://www.mariah-charts.com/chartdata/Canada.htm. Retrieved February 7, 2007.

Australian charts compiled by the Australian Recording Industry Association ; see http://www.mariah-charts.com/chartdata/Australia.htm.

Japanese charts compiled by Oricon; see http://www.oricon.co.jp/artists/163336/. Retrieved February 7, 2007.

''People in the News''. CNN. Airdate: April 30, 2005. ''Larry King Live''. CNN. Airdate: December 19, 2002.

"Mariah Carey to Receive Congressional Award for Charity Efforts". MTV.com. April 13, 1999. Retrieved April 22, 2006.

Duffy, Mike. "Mariah Carey leads heartfelt holiday special to promote adoption". ''Detroit Free Press''. December 21, 2001. Retrieved from the Wayback Machine on April 22, 2006.

"The fall and rise of Mariah Carey". Bbc.co.uk. February 8, 2006. Retrieved March 12, 2006.

Norris, John. "Mariah: Remixes, Reunions and Russia". MTV.com. October 2003. Retrieved March 12, 2006.

Frere-Jones, Sasha. "On Top: Mariah Carey's record-breaking career". ''The New Yorker''. April 3, 2006.

"Awards". MariahCarey.com. Retrieved April 22, 2006.

''Fred Bronson's Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, 5th Edition'' (ISBN 0-8230-7677-6)

''Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Sixties'' (ISBN 0-89820-074-1)

''Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Nineties'' (ISBN 0-89820-137-3)

Additional information concerning Carey's chart history can be retrieved and verified in ''Billboard's'' online archive services and print editions of the magazine.

External links

Official website

[ Mariah Carey] at Allmusic

Mariah Carey at LAUNCHcast

}}

Category:1970 births Category:Actors from New York Category:African American actors Category:African American female singers Category:African American female singer-songwriters Category:African American musicians Category:African American songwriters Category:American dance musicians Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American music video directors Category:American people of Venezuelan descent Category:American philanthropists Category:American pop singers Category:American record producers Category:American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Category:American sopranos Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop singers Category:Island Records artists Category:Living people Category:Musicians from New York Category:People from Long Island Category:Singers with a five octave vocal range Category:Spanish-language singers Category:World Music Awards winners

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playername	Gonzalo Higuaín
fullname	Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín
dateofbirth	December 10, 1987
cityofbirth	Brest
countryofbirth	France
height
position	Striker
currentclub	Real Madrid
clubnumber	20
years1	2004–2006
clubs1	River Plate
caps1	35
goals1	13
years2	2007–
clubs2	Real Madrid
caps2	128
goals2	69
nationalyears1	2008
nationalyears2	2009–
nationalteam1	Argentina U23
nationalteam2	Argentina
nationalcaps1	1
nationalcaps2	16
nationalgoals1	2
nationalgoals2	8
pcupdate	19:34, 28 August 2011 (UTC)
ntupdate	00:47, 17 July 2011 (UTC) }}

Gonzalo Gerardo "El Pipita" Higuaín (; born 10 December 1987) is a French-Argentine professional footballer. He was born in France, attaining Argentine citizenship in 2007, and now holding dual nationality. He currently plays as a Striker for Real Madrid and the Argentine national team.

Early life

Higuaín was born in Brest, France, the son of the Argentine former footballer Jorge Higuaín, who was playing for Stade Brestois 29 as an expatriate. Therefore, he holds dual French-Argentine nationality. Having left the country at the age of 10 months, he did not return to France until the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Even though he does not speak French, he holds a French passport because his father was naturalized in France. He successfully applied for Argentine nationality in January 2007.

Higuaín has two older brothers, Nicolas and Federico and one younger brother, Lautaro. His mother, Nancy Zacarías, is an artist.

Club career

River Plate

Higuaín started playing in the youth teams and made his debut with River Plate in a 2–1 defeat against Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata on 29 May 2005. On 12 February 2006, he scored his first league goal in a 3–1 victory over Banfield. Higuaín ended the 2005–06 season with five goals in 12 appearances.

Following his brace in the ''Superclásico'' derby against Boca Juniors on 8 October 2006, River Plate manager Daniel Passarella declared that Higuain had an "enormous future" and was "destined for superstardom." In the following season, he scored eight goals in 17 league matches.

Real Madrid

2006–07 season

In December 2006, Spanish club Real Madrid signed Higuaín for €13 million, after River Plate had earlier turned down a €10 million offer for the 19-year-old striker. His debut came on 11 January 2007 against Real Betis in the second round of the Copa del Rey in Seville. His presentation at the League came 3 days later, on 14 January 2007, against Real Zaragoza at home. Higuain was involved in the creation of numerous scoring chances and in the assistance for the only goal, which earned Madrid the victory. His first goal with Real came on 24 February when the team faced Atletico Madrid in the Madrid derby, scoring the tying goal (1–1) at the Estadio Vicente Calderón. Later on the season, Higuaín showed an impressive performance by scoring a last minute goal on a league match against RCD Espanyol to earn his team a 4–3 victory when the tie was rampant on the scoreboard. However, during his first season in the Bernabeú, Higuaín arose some doubts over his performance due to his lack of goals.

2007–08 season

During the 2007–08 season, Higuaín faced a rather intermittent performance. Yet, during the last stages of the league he managed to consolidate an impressive display. He first scored a last minute goal to earn his team a victory in a 2–1 comeback against Osasuna, which allowed Real Madrid to be mathematically crowned League Champions for the second consecutive year. Four days later, Pipita arose to the spotlight once more by scoring the 3rd goal of a 4–1 trashing over Barcelona in El Clásico. This performance was particularly praised due to Higuaín scoring his goal barely 57 seconds after coming in from the bench.

2008–09 season

In the 2008–09 season Higuaín was offered the chance to be a starter due to the serious injury suffered by the Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy. On 21 April 2009, he accounted another great performance when he defined the match against Getafe with a goal in the last minute, giving Real Madrid a 3–2 victory which enabled the team to follow the trail of Josep Guardiola´s Barcelona. In August 2008, Higuaín scored the winner in Madrid's victory over Valencia in the Spanish Supercup. Shortly afterwards, he scored all four goals in a 4–3 win against Málaga. Because of this, he started to gain international recognition, at the same time he got to be one of the leading goalscorers of the Spanish League, alongside his Barcelona counterpart, Samuel Eto'o. That season, the striker was devoted as one of the great promises of world football in the wake of spectacular games, and particularly dazzling last-minute goals. Higuaín ended the season with 22 league goals, 24 in all competitions, shining alongside longtime football stars like Diego Forlán, David Villa and Thierry Henry.

2009–10 season

The 2009–10 season saw Higuaín become Real's top goalscorer with 27 league goals, 29 in total, being at the same time the Spanish League's 2nd top goalscorer, behind only Lionel Messi but suprassing Swedish international Zlatan Ibrahimovic and even his fellow teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. This season included him scoring his first two goals in the Champions league and his 2nd hat-trick for the club.

2010–11 season

In June 2010, Real Madrid extended Higuaín's contract until 2016. On 23 October 2010, he scored Real Madrid's 5200th league goal, against Racing Santander on a 6–1 trashing by the Whites. On 4 November of the same year, Gonzalo entered the history of Real Madrid by being the scorer of the club's 700th goal in the Champions League.

On the first weeks of December 2010, Higuaín was diagnosed with a herniated lumbar disc, and was suggested by Real's medical staff to have it operated. On 5 January 2011, Real Madrid announced he would finally undergo surgery at the Department of Neurological Surgery of Chicago's Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine under the command of Dr. Richard G. Fessler, M.D. The surgery took place on 11 January, and Higuaín was discharged from the hospital the next day following a successful operation. He was expected to spend at least four months away from the field in the recovery process. Two months spent to recover from the surgery and another two to train with the team, however he was able to make an early comeback. On 23 April 2011, Higuaín scored a hat-trick against Valencia CF in a 3–6 away win in Estadio Mestalla, giving him 8 goals in 8 matches against Valencia. Higuaín also assisted two other goals for Karim Benzema and Kaká in that same match.

International career

Higuaín initially rejected calls from both the Argentine and French national teams, claiming at the time he was undecided for which country he would prefer to play, before choosing Argentina. Higuaín was called up by the Argentina Olympic squad for a friendly match against Guatemala in February 2008, and scored two goals in his debut as Argentina won 5–0, though the match was not officially recognized by FIFA as "A" international matches.

Higuaín was selected for Argentina by coach Diego Maradona for the last 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification games against Peru and Uruguay. He scored his first goal on his full debut, a 49th minute strike during a 2–1 win over Peru on 10 October 2009. He netted his second goal for Argentina in the 1–0 win over Germany at the Allianz Arena in Munich on 3 March 2010, right on the stroke of half-time, pouncing on a mistake made by German goalkeeper Rene Adler, in which Higuaín tapped into an open net from about 25 yards out. Following Argentina's qualification, Higuaín was included in the squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He scored a hat-trick in Argentina's 4–1 win over South Korea in their second group match, becoming the third Argentinian to score a hat-trick in the World Cup finals, after Guillermo Stábile in 1930 and Gabriel Batistuta in 1994 and 1998, and the first player to score a hat-trick in the tournament since 2002. His goal in the 3–1 defeat of Mexico in the Second Round took him to a total of four, and he remained one of the top scorers for Argentina in the competition.

Shortly after a disappointing World Cup campaign, on 7 September 2010, Higuaín scored in a friendly match against newly crowned world champions Spain making it 2–0, a game that ended 4–1.

Higuaín is one of only three foreign-born players to have played for Argentina in a FIFA World Cup, along with Pedro Arico Suárez and Constantino Urbieta Sosa.

Higuain scored the equalizer against Uruguay in the Copa America quarter-finals, and he scored a goal hitting the upright twice before going into the net in the penalty shootout where they lost 4-5.

Statistics

Club

0 5 8 3 8 22 27 10 0

Club	Season	League	Cup	Continental	Other	Total
!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists
rowspan="4"	River Plate		6	|	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	–			6	0	0
Primera División Argentina 2005-06	2005–06	12	|	5	5	3	0	0	0	0	–			17	8	5
Primera División Argentina 2006-07	2006–07	17	|	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	18	8	11
!Total	35!!13!!16!!5!!3!!0!!0!!0!!0!!1!!0!!0!!41!!16!!16
rowspan="7"	Real Madrid		19	2	|	2	0	0	2	0	0	–			23	2	3
La Liga 2007–08	2007–08	25	|	3	4	1	0	5	0	0	–			34	9	3
La Liga 2008–09	2008–09	34	|	9	2	1	0	7	0	0	1	1	0	44	24	9
La Liga 2009–10	2009–10	32	|	5	1	0	0	7	2	1	–			36	29	6
La Liga 2010–11	2010–11	17	|	6	2	1	0	6	2	0	–			25	13	6
2011–12 La Liga	2011–12	1	|	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0
!Total	! 128!!69!!25!!11!!3!!0!!27!!4!!1!!3!!1!!0!!169!!77!!27
Career Total	!165!!82!!41!!16!!6!!0!!27!!4!!1!!4!!1!!0!!210!!93!!43

Olympic Goals

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 7 February 2008

# !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition
1	7 February 2008	Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States ||		1–0	5–0	Friendly (Unrecognized by FIFA)
2	|	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum>Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States		2–0	5–0	Friendly (Unrecognized by FIFA)

International Goals

Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti 3 March, 2010 17 June, 2010 17 June, 2010 17 June, 2010 27 June, 2010 7 October, 2010 16 July, 2011

# !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition
1	10 October, 2009	Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina ||		1–0	2–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)>2010 WCQ
2	|	Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany		1–0	1–0	Friendly
3	|	FNB Stadium>Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa		2–0	4–1	2010 FIFA World Cup>2010 World Cup
4	|	FNB Stadium>Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa		3–1	4–1	2010 FIFA World Cup>2010 World Cup
5	|	FNB Stadium>Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa		4–1	4–1	2010 FIFA World Cup>2010 World Cup
6	|	FNB Stadium>Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa		2–0	3–1	2010 FIFA World Cup>2010 World Cup
7	|	Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti>Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina		2–0	4–1	Friendly
8	|	Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López, Santa Fé, Argentina		1–1	1–1	2011 Copa América>2011 C. América

Honours

Club

Real Madrid

La Liga (2): 2006–07, 2007–08

Copa del Rey (1): 2010–11

Supercopa de España (1): 2008

References

External links

Real Madrid profile

Statistics at Guardian Stats Centre

ESPN Profile

Futbol360 profile

Profile at FutbolPunto with maps and graphs (Spanish)

Stats and Analytics of Gonzalo Higuaín at Footbalistic

Category:1987 births Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players Category:2011 Copa América players Category:Argentina international footballers Category:Argentine expatriate footballers Category:Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Category:Argentine footballers Category:Association football forwards Category:Expatriate footballers in Argentina Category:Expatriate footballers in Spain Category:French people of Argentine descent Category:La Liga footballers Category:Living people Category:Argentine people of Basque descent Category:People from Brest, France Category:Primera División Argentina players Category:Real Madrid C.F. players Category:River Plate footballers Category:French people of Basque descent

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