American Idol

From Carrie Underwood to Clay Aiken to Antonella Barba

Created by Simon Fuller, former manager of Spice Girls, American Idol has been one of the most successful reality shows of recent times. The show is about a talent hunt to find good singers (‘great singers’ if you ask Simon Cowell) in each season from across America, with the audience’s vote deciding the winner. It is into its 6th season currently and all involved with the show have had their life changed by it. Be it the contestants or the judges, fame has embraced them all although not always for their singing abilities.
It is almost surprising to look back and see that the first American Idol season premiered with absolutely no hype in 2002. But word of mouth generated about the talent of the contestant and the no holds barred comments of British judge Simon Cowell pushed the show’s ratings over the roof. By the time of the season finale it was estimated that fifty million people had tuned in to the show. The winner that year, Kelly Clarkson, went on to have a successful singles career and a star was born.

In subsequent seasons Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Hicks all won the title. However they all have had varying degrees of success in their singles career. While the women had greater success, the men are finding it tough in the music industry. Kelly Clarkson is a Grammy Award winner. Fantasia and Carrie Underwood both have had number ones in the Billboard charts. As for the men, both Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hick found somebody they had beaten in the American Idol beating them in record sales. While Clay Aiken beat out Ruben in record sales, Chris Daughtry outsold Taylor.
It was not only the winners whose lives were changed by the show. The non-winner of American Idol who has had the most successful musical career must be Clay Aiken. Clay Aiken has released 3 albums so far. His first solo album, Measure of a Man, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, was the highest-selling debut for a solo artist in 10 years, and to date the highest debut of any Idol. Following it Clay Aiken has been in the limelight with a number of tours and TV appearances. Clay has even lent his voice and efforts for multiple charity events show casing his commitment to causes close to his heart.

Another Idol non-winner who has made it big is Jennifer Hudson. She was recently in the limelight for winning most of the awards in Hollywood, including an Oscar and a Golden Globe for best supporting actress, for her role of Effie White in the movie Dreamgirls. Other notable non-winners to have had successful careers were Chris Daughtry and Bo Bice.
The show was life changing for the judges too. Simon Cowell became an international celebrity through his image of being the villain in the show. He was so successful that in every country where the show had a spin off there was one judge who would play the villain. But none of them were as good as the Simon Cowell for the title of ‘The man you loved to Hate'.

Paula Abdul, a yesteryear pop star, came back into the limelight for her compassionate assessment of the contestants. She became the perfect contrast to Simon Cowell, sometimes even going to the limit of public altercations with him on TV. Randy Jackson on the other hand has had to overcome his weight related issues.
A show of such popularity cannot be without its share of controversies too. In the second season of American Idol when out of 24 million votes casted; Studdard finished just 130,000 votes ahead of Aiken. The accuracy of this result is still disputed. There was much discussion in the communication industry about the phone system being overloaded, and that more than 150 million votes were dropped, making the voting invalid. Since then, the voting methods have been modified to avoid this problem.

Also during Season 2 Corey Clark, who was kicked off the show because of a police record he had not disclosed earlier, alleged that he had an affair with judge Paula Abdul. Clark also alleged that Abdul gave him preferential treatment on the show because of their alleged romance. A subsequent investigation by Fox found no evidence to support Clark's charges.
In Season 3 the controversy was over the legitimacy of the contest itself was questioned when Jon Peter Lewis, John Stevens stayed afloat despite bad performances while others who gave better performances were unexpectedly eliminated. While in Season 5 it came to light that Bucky Covington has had prior troubles with law. It seems he and his twin brother had switched places in an effort to confuse the police in 1988.

The current season of the American Idol has been overshadowed by the Antonella Barba scandal. Some provocative pictures of Barba has surfaced on the internet. The pictures show Antonella topless in a beach with other women. This has garnered much media attention of late with Fox News featuring a full segment of the controversy in its O’Reily Factor. Photos of Barba posing in a wet t-shirt in the fountain of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. have also surfaced. Antonella Barba’s friends have claimed that these pictures are fakes. Ultimately she was voted off in the previous episode.
Despite the controversy there is no denying the fact that the show has discovered some undisputable talent from its inception. Moreover it is a platform for talented singers in the country to showcase their stuff which might have gone to waste otherwise. It offers the dream of fame and success to ordinary people. Its spin offs have been equally successful. The third season of the Indian Idol is about to start, and let’s hope they are as successful as their American counterparts in unearthing great talent.

Cats Without Hairs

Longest Hairs

The number one problem affecting long hair is breakage, usually seen as shorter, fly-away strands, or split ends. From the moment you wake up to the time you go to sleep and even as you sleep, there are many factors that can lead to hair breakage.
One of the most common causes is poor maintenance – things like improper brushing and washing and infrequent trimming. Lifestyle factors, such as poor nutrition, stress and even restless sleeping can also lead to hair damage.
The problem is that what many women think is good for their hair may actually be hurting it. Through proper care using simple techniques and the right maintenance products, anyone can have long, beautiful, healthy locks.

The Long Hair Care Group recommends the following:

Finger Raking
Upon waking, use the back of the hand, run fingers through hair to remove snarls and tangles.

Proper Brushing
Bend forward, allowing hair to fall. Using only a wooden base natural bristle brush, such as our Long Hair Brush, bring hair from the nape of the neck over the head and down to the ends. Then, stand straight again with hair falling normally and brush from the underside of the hairline down the strands to the ends. Now, brush the top layers into place with long, even strokes. After each stroke, smooth hair with hands to reduce static. Increase the number of strokes weekly, starting with five and increasing by one a week until you find a comfortable routine. If oiliness develops, reduce strokes.
Brush only when dry. Hair is weakest when it is wet and brushing can easily damage it. Even when hair is dry always comb before brushing.

Combing
Separate hair into small sections. With a wide-tooth comb, such as our Long Hair Comb, carefully work from the ends in a downward direction only. Use only a wooden or tortoise shell comb – never rubber. Do not pull or yank hair.

Drying
Air-dry whenever possible.

Curling
Use regular hair rollers, winding hair loosely around them. Avoid electric rollers, hot combs, and curling irons, or use these on a cool setting. Pin curls or barrel curls are the safest and fastest methods of drying hair.

Shampooing
If your hair is dry and brittle, wet hair, then coat with a light conditioner before shampooing, such as our Time Released Moisturizer. This acts as a buffer and helps protect the hair strand. Then begin shampoo by removing dirt through gentle sudsing. We recommend using our Body Essence Shampoo, which is specially formulated with natural botanicals and designed to clean the hair without stripping away its natural oils. Massage your head to increase the blood supply to the scalp and roots. On an as need basis, we recommend using our Detoxifying Shampoo to remove unwanted residues from styling products and the environment.

Environment
Before going out to the beach or pool, comb conditioner such as our Seaweed Pac, through the hair. This helps to protect hair from the sun, chlorine, salt water, and from the sun's heat, and serves as a deep conditioning treatment.
Wear a hat, cap or scarf if you can to protect hair from over-exposure to the sun, salt or chlorinated water, wind and air pollution.

Trimming
Have hair trimmed on a regular basis (approximately every two months). This is especially important for growing out layers and/or bangs to reshape and make each stage of growing hair out a style.

Conditioning
Always apply conditioner from the ears down – never condition the scalp. Do not over-condition.
Conditioning too often can cause the cuticle layer of hair to lift making hair brittle and leading to breakage. Rather than conditioning every day, try our All Purpose Aloe Detangler, for snarl free combing.

Styling
Your hair style is a reflection of your personality and a wonderful way to express your individuality. All too often conventional styling products contain alcohol or other harsh chemicals. These ingredients are used to keep the hair in place and to give the appearance of shiny healthy hair. In the case of these mass-marketed products the look achieved is only surface deep and they tend to damage the hair. The Long Hair Care Group has developed a highly specialized line of styling products which not only makes your hair look great, they impart essential botanicals and vitamins to each strand, conditioning your hair as they hold it in place and body and give it incredible shine.

Sleeping
Even the way you sleep can affect your hair. Restless sleepers may actually be breaking hair as they sleep.

If you’re a restless sleeper, try a satin pillowcase so that the hair glides when you move in your sleep. On regular cotton cases hair can get caught and break.
Putting hair up to sleep is also helpful. Hair should be put in a ponytail on top of the head. Always use rubberbands that are rapped in cloth, commonly known as "scrunchies."

Gift for JRD Tata

Here are two pics of an amazing piece of art. Location: Tata Museum ,Jamshedpur . In the first pic, you can see a painting. This was a gift to JRD Tata on his Birthday by a street artist. Nobody was able to understand his art. Unfortunately, only the painting was given to JRD and the artist had promised to reveal the secret shortly . However, JRD was no more when the secret was actually revealed .

Here's the secret revealed. When you place a steel rod at the circle in the first pic you saw, you will see the image of the JRD Tata as a reflection on the steel rod as seen in the second pic below. Isn't it incredible!!

Slim G4 - World’s Thinnest Mouse

Everything’s now going super slim (apart from me of course). Mobile phones, notebooks and now mice too. The ultra-slim G4 Mouse, just 5mm thick, serves as a perfect tutorial for mobile mouse construction.
The uber-slim mousing instrument of the G4 optical mouse folds perfectly flat in order to fit in your PCMCIA slot when not in use, and when you’re ready, it pops out, ejects a USB cable, and folds into a more ergonomic position for all your mousing needs. It seems it just takes 10 seconds to go from its unbelievably thin structure to being fully usable.
It has a major advantage over a lot of mice, in that the USB cable stores neatly into the mouse when it’s not being used. The 800 DPI mouse boasts a left / right click and a touch-sensitive scroll wheel, is apparently Windows- compatible.
Available in pink, blue and silver colors with matching pouches, the Slim G4 Optical Mouse costs around $50.

Sony Transparent TV

The looks are enthralling and it really seems to be a new spin on the idea of TV viewing. Well, the Sony claims to have built an innovative “Transparent TV”.

Do you guys really think it’s a transparent TV? Well, I doubt it. Take a close look at the pictures and you would find that it’s nothing more than a projector.

The looks are enthralling and it really seems to be a new spin on the idea of TV viewing. Well, the Sony claims to have built an innovative “Transparent TV”.

Still, an idea is an idea. Hats off to Sony for the magnificent idea of making a “Transparent TV” that is sooner or later going to revolutionize the meaning of a TV.

Mumbai Train

Like you, this man too, had a dream.

Like you, he too pushed his way into the crowded train

Like you, he too wanted to get going before he got delayed

Unlike you, he slipped and fell in the gap between the train and the platform at Kandivli station.

And eight bogies went over him
Find out what happened to this man on

told him exactly what he shouldn't do — move. And so, the man lay absolutely still as eight bogies of the train passed over him — centimeters from his head. Within seconds the 12-coach train passed and the man clambered out, unaided, unhurt, but too shocked to speak to us after his near-death experience ......!

Mumbai Train

Four Leg Chicken

Lixão

Have seen This Type Of Airport