Weeds season 4 Episode 9

Bia and Branca Feres têm day of beauty

Exposição ao sol exige cuidado extra com a pele Exposição ao sun requires extra care with a pele

Que vida de atleta não é mole, isso todo mundo já sabe. That life athlete não é mole, isso entire world already knows. Agora ser atleta e musa ao mesmo tempo - caso das gêmeas do nado sincronizado, Bia e Branca Feres - é pior ainda. Agora be an athlete and muse ao mesmo tempo - if das gêmeas do synchronized swimming, Bia and Branca Feres - is still pior.

As meninas, que posaram juntas para o Paparazzo, acabaram de voltar do US Open e, para repor suas energias, tiveram um dia de beleza, nesta sexta-feira, 1. As meninas, or posaram together to Paparazzo, acabaram-back U.S. Open and do, to repor suas energies, tiveram a day of beauty, nesta sábado, 1.

.Veja o ensaio e Bia e Branca para o Paparazzo . Veja or ensaio and Bia and Branca or for Paparazzo

"Começamos por um peeling de cristal, um peeling superficial que promove a renovação da pele, ideal para elas que estão sempre expostas à luz solar e ao cloro”, explica o dermatologista Fabrício Lamy, que cuida da pele das musas. "Começar um by peeling glass, um peeling surface that promote da Renovação pele, ideal for elas that estão always exposed to sunlight and chlorine ao," says dermatologist or Fabrício Lamy, who cares da pele das muses.

Escova Escovar

Depois da pele, foi a vez dos cabelos. Depois da pele, was the time two Cabel. Bia e Branca fizeram um tratamento de reconstrução dos fios, que começa com um xampu anticloro e segue com a reposição de queratina. Bia and Branca fizeram um treatment of two reconstrução FiOS, which começa com um xampu anticloro and segue com a reposição keratin.

Singfest 2008 Is Back

Singapore's biggest music festival will see highly acclaimed British folk rock band, Travis and eleven times Grammy award winner Alicia Keys headlining the show, over Saturday and Sunday respectively. The huge music extravaganza is expected to feature 20 acts over a two day affair.

Dates: Saturday & Sunday, August 2 & 3, 2008
Venue: Fort Canning Park, Singapore
Time: 12pm - 11pm. Doors open at 12pm and the last act will perform at 11 pm.

Line-up on August 2
Travis
Simple Plan
Melee
Lost Prophets
New Found Glory
Crowned King
Dearest
Melanie Subono
Plainsunset

Line up on August 3
Alicia Keys
Jason Mraz
Rick Astley
Panic At The Disco
OneRepublic
Jamie Scott
Stacie Oricco

Ticket Prices (exclude booking charges):
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Pre-Sale - S$150
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Pre-Sale - S$200
Week-ender Pass (i.e. 2-day pass)
Pre-Sale - S$300

Tickets are now available at SISTIC: www.sistic.com.sg
Official website: www.singfest.sg

Harry James - Concerto for Trumpet

Gene Krupa's Biography

Gene Krupa was born in Chicago, Illinois on January 15, 1909 and was the the youngest of Bartley and Ann Krupa's nine children. His father died when Gene was very young and his mother worked as a milliner to support the family. All of the children had to start working while young, Gene at age eleven. His brother Pete worked at "Brown Music Company", and got Gene a job as chore boy. Gene started out playing sax in grade school but took up drums at age 11 since they were the cheapest item in the music store where he and his brother worked. "I used to look in their wholesale catalog for a musical instrument - piano, trombone, cornet - I didn't care what it was as long as it was an instrument. The cheapest item was the drums, 16 beans, I think, for a set of Japanese drums; a great high, wide bass drum, with a brass cymbal on it, a wood block and a snare drum."

At age 7(in sidecar) with brother Julius
His parents were very religious and had groomed Gene for the priesthood. He spent his grammar school days at various parochial schools and upon graduation went to St. Joseph's College for a brief year. Gene's drive to drum was too strong and he gave up the idea of becoming a priest. In 1921, while still in grammar school, Gene joined his first band "The Frivolians." He obtained the drumming seat as a fluke when the regular drummer was sick. The band played during summers in Madison, Wisconsin. Upon entering high school in 1923, Gene became buddies with the "Austin High Gang", which included many musicians which would be on Gene's first recording session; Jimmy McPartland, Jimmy Lannigan, Bud Freeman and Frank Teschemacher. In 1925, Gene began his percussion studies with Roy Knapp, Al Silverman & Ed Straight. Under advice from others, he decided to join the musicians union. "The guy said, 'Make a roll. That's it. Give us 50 bucks. You're In.'" Krupa started his first "legit" playing with Joe Kayser, Thelma Terry and the Benson Orchestra among other commercial bands. A popular hangout for musicians was "The Three Deuces." All of the guys playing in mickey mouse bands would gravitate here afterhours and jam till early in the morning. Gene was able to hone and develop his style playing with other jazz players such as Mezz Mezzrow, Tommy Dorsey, Bix Beiderbecke and Benny Goodman in these local dives. Krupa's big influences during this time were Tubby Hall and Zutty Singleton. The drummer who probably had the greatest influence on Gene in this period was the great Baby Dodds. Dodds' use of press rolls was highly reflected in Gene's playing, especially during his tenure with Benny Goodman.

Benny and Gene in 1937.
Gene has often been considered to be the first drum "soloist." Drummers usually had been strictly time-keepers or noisemakers, but Krupa interacted with the other musicians and introduced the extended drum solo into jazz. His goal was to support the other musicians while creating his own role within the group. Gene is also considered the father of the modern drumset since he convinced H.H. Slingerland, of Slingerland Drums, to make tuneable tom-toms. Tom-toms up to that point had "tacked" heads, which left little ability to change the sound. The new drum design was introduced in 1936 and was termed "Seperate Tension Tunable Tom-Toms." Gene was a loyal endorser of Slingerland Drums from 1936 until his death. Krupa was called on by Avedis Zildjian to help with developing the modern hi-hat cymbals. The original hi-hat was called a "low-boy" which was a floor level cymbal setup which was played with the foot. This arrangement made it nearly impossible for stick playing. Gene's first recording session was a historical one. It occured in December of 1927 when he is noted to be the first drummer to record with a bass drum. Krupa, along with rest of the McKenzie-Condon Chicagoans were scheduled to record at OKeh Records in Chicago. OKeh's Tommy Rockwell was apprehensive to record Gene's drums but gave in. Rockwell said "All right, but I'm afraid the bass drum and those tom-toms will knock the needle off the wax and into the street."

With Goodman and Hampton at Carnegie Hall 1938
Gene moved to New York in 1929 and was recruited by Red Nichols. He, along with Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller, performed in the pit band of the new George Gershwin play "Strike Up the Band." Gene had never learned to read music and "faked" his parts during rehearsals. Glenn Miller assisted him by humming the drum parts until Gene got them down. After "Strike Up the Band" completed in January 1930, Hoagy Carmichael gathered several great musicians together for many historical sessions. Gene played on some legendary "jazz" recordings with Bix Beiderbecke, Adrian Rollini and Joe Venuti. Krupa played in one more pit band with Red Nichols for Gershwin's "Girl Crazy." He then joined Russ Columbo's band in which indirectly led to his joining Benny Goodman's group. Benny Goodman urged Gene to join his band with the promise that it would be a real jazz band. After joining, Benny soon became discouraged with the idea of having a successful jazz group. The band was relegated to playing dance music and Benny was considering packing it in. Upon the band's engagement at the Palomar, Benny decided to go for broke and play their own arrangements. The audience went wild and the band took off. The Goodman group featured Gene prominently in the full orchestra and with the groundbreaking Goodman Trio and Quartet. The Trio is possibly the first working small group which featured black and white musicians. On January 16, 1938, the band was the first "jazz" act to play New York's Carnegie Hall. Gene's classic performance on "Sing Sing Sing" has been heralded as the first extended drum solo in jazz. After the Carnegie Hall performance, tension began to surface between Gene and Benny. Audiences were demanding that Gene be featured in every number and Benny didn't want to lose the spotlight to a sideman.

At Carnegie Hall with John Kirby, 1942
Gene departed on March 3, 1938 and less than 2 months later formed his own orchestra. His band was an instant success upon it's opening at the Marine Ballroom on the Steel Pier in Atlantic City during April of 1938. His band went through several incarnations during it's existance and at one point even featured a string section with 30 to 40 members. During this time Krupa authored his own book titled "The Gene Krupa Drum Method"(1938) and began an annual Drum Contest(1941). The contest attracted thousands of contestants each year and saw drum legend Louie Bellson as the first year's winner. Gene appeared in several motion pictures including "Some Like it Hot" & "Beat the Band", becoming a sort of matinee idol. His noted likeness to Tyrone Power and musical fame was a magical combination in the eyes of Hollywood. In the summer of 1943, Krupa was arrested in San Francisco in a bogus drug bust. He was charged with possession of marijuana and contributing to the deliquency of a minor. Gene was sentenced to 90 days, of which 84 were served. He was later cleared of the latter charges. During this time, Roy Eldridge led Gene's band and eventually had to break up the group. After Gene got out of jail, he briefly joined up with Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey before re-forming his own band. Krupa's groups of the early 1940's were often criticized as being too commercial but Gene's big band was one of the first in the mid-forties to introduce Bop arrangements with the help of Gerry Mulligan and the playing of trumpeter Red Rodney. Gene managed to keep the full band together until December of 1950, when most big bands had already fallen apart. He kept a smaller version of the big band together through 1951.

Read a detailed accounting of Gene's Drug Arrest.

With Tommy Dorsey in 1944 after his release from prison.
After breaking up his big band, Gene wasn't sure which direction to take. He had led small groups within his big band during the 40's, this was a logical choice with the growing popularity of be-bop. The Gene Krupa Trio was one of the first acts recruited by Norman Granz for his "Jazz At The Philharmonic" concerts(due to contractual reasons, Gene was first billed as "The Chicago Flash."). The JATP dates introduced the famous "Drum Battles" with Buddy Rich in October of 1952 and the subsequent studio recordings on the Lp "Krupa and Rich" in 1955. Some of the greatest jazz recordings of all time were the result of the "All-Star" jams at JATP. The alumni of these dates included Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Shavers, Ray Brown, Lionel Hampton, Buddy Rich and of course, Gene. Along with Cozy Cole, Gene formed the Krupa-Cole Drum School in March of 1954. He also began studying tympani with the New York Philharmonic's Saul Goodman(1951). In 1959, actor Sal Mineo portrayed Gene in the motion picture "The Gene Krupa Story." The film was very loose in the facts of Gene's career but did feature an excellent soundtrack recorded by Krupa himself. Gene's huge resurgence in popularity eventually led to his departing the teaching role he had at the Drum School.

The Gene Krupa Story
By the late fifties Krupa was prompted to slow down due to increasing back problems. He had a heart attack in 1960 which forced him into a retirement for many months. After recuperating, the ever-changing Quartet continued to perform, record and regularly appeared at New York's Metropole. The Goodman Quartet reunited and played several live dates. Gene led a hectic schedule with the Quartet through the early and mid-sixties, performing throughout the US and abroad. His health once again became a problem and his second marriage fell apart. He retired in 1967 proclaiming that "I feel too lousy to play and I know I must sound lousy." During his hiatus, Krupa practiced and coached his baseball team. In 1969, Gene began a series of anti-drug lectures and clinics for Slingerland Drums. He officially came out of retirement in the spring of 1970, re-formed the Quartet and was featured at Hotel Plaza in New York. Gene's last commercial recording was in November of 1972, titled "Jazz At the New School" with Eddie Condon and Wild Bill Davison. Gene's final public performance was with a reunion of the old Goodman Quartet on August 18, 1973. His soloing ability was greatly diminished but his overall playing had become more modern sounding than ever. Gene died October 16, 1973 of a heart attack. He had also been plagued by leukemia and emphysema. He was laid to rest at the Holy Cross Cemetary in Calumet City, Illinois.

New York February, 1973
Gene Krupa will forever be known as the man who made drums a solo instrument. He single-handedly made the Slingerland Drum Company a success and inspired millions to become drummers. He also demonstrated a level of showmanship which has not been equaled. Buddy Rich once said that Gene was the "beginning and the end of all jazz drummers." Louie Bellson said of Gene, "He was a wonderful, kind man and a great player. He brought drums to the foreground. He is still a household name."

Alton Glenn Miller Biography And History

Shortly after the beginning of the 20^th century, in a small rural Southwestern Iowa town, a boy was born to Elmer and Mattie Lou Miller. The date was March 1, 1904 and the town was Clarinda. The boy that was born that night was named Alton Glen Miller (later changed to Glenn) and when he uttered his first cry, Clarinda heard Glenn Miller’s first "moonlight serenade." Glenn’s first serenade was not particularly unique as it had been sung by children for centuries and was barely heard across South 16th Street. However, his second Moonlight Serenade was a composition he wrote while studying music under Dr. Schillinger in New York City. Glenn’s second Moonlight Serenade was unique, becoming the theme song of his number one Big Band and heard literally all around the world.

Glenn’s grandparents were a part of the westward movement of people during the 1800's and moved to the Clarinda area around 1870. During their stay in Southwest Iowa, their son Elmer married Mattie Lou Cavender and before this young couple left Clarinda, their first son, Dean, was born; followed by a second son, Alton Glenn Miller, on March 1, 1904.

In hopes of a brighter future, the young couple decided to homestead and moved on west in 1907 to Tryon, Nebraska where they lived in a sod house. In the evenings, Glenn’s mother, Mattie Lou, would play a simple pump organ which helped ease the lonesome existence on the flatlands of Nebraska. If you think it is a long lonely drive across Nebraska today, you can imagine what it was like to be there in 1907. Mattie Lou started a school called Happy Hollow and her children would sing songs as they rode in a wagon on their way to school. The soothing music of his mother in their sod house and the uplifting songs on the way to school must have given Glenn a greater meaning and appreciation for music. Before leaving the sod house, Mattie Lou gave birth to a third son, Herb, in 1913.

In 1915, Glenn’s family moved to Grant City, Missouri where he went to grade school, worked for the town bandsman John Mosbarger, was given his first trombone and then played in the town band.

In 1918, Glenn’s family, including an infant daughter, Irene, moved again to Fort Morgan, Colorado where Glenn went to high school. During his senior year, Glenn decided to try the game of football, and by the end of the season, he was chosen by the Colorado High School Sports Association as "the best left end in Colorado." Football wasn’t Glenn’s only interest, however, as he had become very interested in a new sound called dance band music. Glenn enjoyed this music so much that he and some classmates decided to start their own band. In fact, Glenn was so excited about this new music that when it came time for his graduation in 1921, he decided to skip his graduation ceremonies and instead traveled to Laramie, Wyoming to play in a band. Meanwhile, back home, Glenn’s mother had to accept his diploma and the principal commented, "Maybe you’re the one who should get it anyway; you probably worked harder on it than he did!"

By now, Glenn had made the decision that he was going to be a professional musician. His first professional contract was signed with a Dixieland group called Senter’s Sentapeeds. To most people it sounds like something you would step on rather than listen to. Then another opportunity opened up where Glenn could play in the Holly Moyer Orchestra in Boulder and earn enough money to attend the University of Colorado. This lasted for two years, but in 1924, Glenn’s musical ambition, and a new job with the Tommy Watkins Orchestra, caused him to discontinue his college education so that he could spend full time playing and arranging music. Glenn eventually headed for Los Angeles, where he had heard there were numerous band opportunities. He soon got the chance to join the Ben Pollack Orchestra, a band noted for finding talented musicians. While playing with Pollack’s band, Glenn roomed with another rising star, a clarinetist from Chicago named Benny Goodman.

In 1928, after working in Los Angeles and Chicago, Glenn moved on to New York City where he worked with bands of Ben Pollack, Red Nichols and Paul Ash as a trombonist and arranger. In 1932, Glenn organized the Smith Ballew Band, and worked two years as manager, arranger and trombonist. In 1934, he helped the Dorsey brothers to organize their first full-time Big Band and in 1935, he organized Ray Noble’s American band.

Finally, in 1937, Glenn decided to fulfill his dream and organize his own band. This first band soon ran into financial difficulties and had to disband, but Glenn was not one to give up and he tried again in 1938. This time was different, and in March of 1939, his band was chosen to play the summer season at the prestigious Glen Island Casino, in New Rochelle, New York. This big break led to another important engagement at Meadowbrook, New Jersey in the spring of the same year. Both places offered frequent radio broadcasts, and by mid-summer, the Miller Orchestra had developed a nationwide following. In the fall of 1939, it began a series of radio broadcasts for Chesterfield cigarettes which increased its already great popularity. Thereafter, the band was in constant demand for recording sessions and appeared in two films; Sun Valley Serenade in 1941 and Orchestra Wives in 1942.

In 1942, at the peak of his civilian career, Glenn decided he could better serve those in uniform by putting one on himself. By doing this, the band gave up a $20,000 weekly income. Too old to be drafted at age 38, Glenn first volunteered for the Navy but was told that they didn’t need his services. Not giving up, Glenn wrote to the Army’s Brigadier General Charles Young on August 12, 1942. Miller persuaded the Army to accept him so he could in his own words, "put a little more spring into the feet of our marching men and a little more joy into their hearts and to be placed in charge of a modernized army band." After being accepted in the Army, Glenn’s civilian band played their last concert in Passaic, New Jersey on September 27th, 1942. It was such a sad event that the band couldn’t finish playing the closing theme song, Moonlight Serenade.

Glenn soon became part of the Army Specialists Corps with the rank of captain. For the next year and a half, besides arranging music, Glenn created and directed his own 50-member band. Captain Miller’s mission was morale building, bringing a touch of home to the troops and modernizing military music. Glenn was also a talented fund raiser, and raised millions of dollars in war bond drives. He also attracted Air Corps recruits through his I Sustain the Wings weekly radio broadcasts.

Still wanting to do more, Glenn arranged for overseas duty for the band. Arriving in London, the band was quartered at 25 Sloane Street, an area in constant barrage by German V-1 buzz bombs. Glenn was immediately concerned for the band and made arrangements for the unit to move to new quarters in Bedford, England. The band moved on July 2, 1944, and the very next day a buzz bomb landed in front of their old quarters, destroying the building and killing 100 people. The Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band was extremely busy and Glenn wrote home that in one month they played at 35 different bases, while performing 40 radio broadcasts in their spare time.

Finally, on December 15, 1944, Glenn boarded a single engine C-64 Norseman aircraft to travel to Paris, France where he was to make arrangements for a Christmas broadcast. Tragically, the plane never reached France and was never found. The band, without Miller, performed the scheduled Christmas concert under the direction of Jerry Gray and continued to perform, playing their last concert on November 13, 1945 at the National Press Club dinner for President Truman in Washington, D.C. At that time, General Dwight Eisenhower and General Hap Arnold thanked the band for a job well done.

Glenn Miller will be remembered for many things; his musical style, showmanship, hard work, perseverance, and much more. But his patriotism in giving up his number one civilian band to enlist in the United States Army Air Corps, his pioneering efforts to modernize military bands and his supreme sacrifice for his country have caused him to be remembered as Clarinda’s and America’s favorite musical patriot.

Glenn Miller’s life cannot easily be summed up in a few words. He put more in his short life of 40 years than most people do in a longer lifetime.

Donna Reed Biography

Actress. Born Donna Belle Mullenger (she would later change it to Donna Reed), on January 27, 1921, in Denison, Iowa. The oldest of five children, the 16-year-old Reed left America's heartland to attend secretarial school at Los Angeles City College. When she was named Campus Queen of the local college, her photograph appeared on the front page of the Los Angeles Times. The striking beauty was inundated with offers from agents and studio executives. Reed signed with the prestigious Feldman-Blum agency, after which she gave an impressive screen test for MGM, who signed her to a studio contract.

Reed first gained a foothold in show business, in 1941, with supporting roles in the thriller Shadow of the Thin Man, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy; and the musical Babes on Broadway, featuring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. The two projects proved to be auspicious debuts, winning Reed attention and positive notice. Shortly after, she landed a succession of more substantial parts in popular features, such as Calling Dr. Gillespie (1942) and See Here, Private Hargrove (1944). In 1945, she was featured in her first mainstream role as Gladys Hallward in the film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's haunting novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was a box office success despite mixed reviews from critics.

After several years of grooming by MGM in bland studio fare, Reed was lent out to Frank Capra's Liberty Films for the independent picture, It's a Wonderful Life (1946). The film, which featured Reed as Jimmy Stewart's wife (Mary Hatch Bailey), barely got off the ground at the box office, but went on to become a perennial holiday favorite.

Limited to squeaky-clean parts, Reed endured several more years of unrewarding projects. However in 1956, she staged a remarkable comeback when she was cast in the prized role of Alma, the dancehall prostitute in From Here to Eternity (1953). Featuring the stellar cast of Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr and Frank Sinatra, the film swept the 1954 Oscars securing a total of eight wins, including a Best Supporting Actress Award for Reed.

In spite of Hollywood's prestigious acknowledgement, Reed's career remained stagnant. As a result, Donna and her husband Tony Owens decided to launch their own production company, Todon Productions. The ambitious couple sought to translate Reed's film talent into success in the increasingly influential medium of television. With the demise of her motion picture career, Todon Productions launched The Donna Reed Show (1958-66), which provided the perfect vehicle to display the actress as the picture of sophisticated charm. In 1958, the family sitcom premiered and Reed came to personify the quintessential mother of suburban America. The series enjoyed an eight-year run, during which she received four Emmy nominations.

After ABC retired the series in 1966, Reed's career predominantly consisted of minor parts in forgettable TV projects. However in 1984, she signed a three-year contract to play the juicy role of Miss Ellie on the popular TV series Dallas. After only one season, she was unceremoniously fired from the hit show. Infuriated by her abrupt dismissal, she successfully sued the production company for breech of contract.

On a personal level, Reed led a far more complex life than the characters she played. During the 1970s, she was a fervent anti-nuclear weapon and anti-war activist, co-chairing the protest organization "Another Mother for Peace."

In 1986, the resilient actress lost her two-year bout with pancreatic cancer. She was 64 years old. Later that year, friends and family created The Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts, which awards scholarships to young people studying the Arts.

Reed's first two marriages, to makeup artist William Tuttle and producer Tony Owen, ended in divorce. Upon her death, she was survived by her third husband Grover Asmus, whom she married in 1975.

Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince Trailer

Though I'm still surprised we didn't see the first trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince before The Dark Knight, we've luckily only had a short wait. The trailer is here! And while the title bears the name of the ostensible lead character, it's all about Tom Riddle in the sixth movie of the series. The filmmakers seem to have found a structure within J.K. Rowling's book by focusing on Dumbledore and Harry's efforts to explore Riddle/Voldemort's past. We see a lot of the 10-year-old Riddle, whom Dumbledore visits in the orphanage, and a few glimpses of what's to come-- including a second or two of the ghostly white, scary-as-all-get-out Voldemort as played by Ralph Fiennes.

Of course, this is just a teaser, so who knows how much of it will apply to the actual movie. But who cares! It's the new Harry Potter, and it promises to be even darker than the ones that have come before it. Even though we now know how the series ends in the books, it's no less exciting to see it all play out on the screen. See the trailer below, along with four new images from the film just sent over to us by WB.

Miss Singapore - Valentane Huang

'IT'S kind of a shallow reason,' said Valentane Huang when asked why she joined beauty pageants.

It was - you guessed it - because of a boyfriend.

This one used to boast about dating models, pageant winners, actresses and Valentane said she was the only one who wasn't 'famous' in this area.

One day, as a joke, she told him maybe she might win a pageant someday too.

'So go ahead and prove it to me,' she recalled him saying.

So she went and took part in Miss Singapore Chinatown last November and got into the final five.

The 1.7m-tall Valentane, who has modelled part-time since she was 14, decided to join the bigger Miss Singapore World in March.

Miss Singapore Chinatown didn't give her a great sense of accomplishment as it was only competing among the Chinese, she said, while Miss Singapore World is multiracial.

What does her father think of her participation?

'Not encouraging but not discouraging either,' she said.

She didn't even tell him - or colleagues, friends and other family members - that she was taking part.

He got wind of it only when Lianhe Wanbao ran a story on her and he only brought it up briefly, she said.

She recalled how, during the preview shows, the parents and friends of other contestants would shout their support, but when she went on stage it was very quiet.

The Miss Singapore World 2008 grand final will take place at the Raffles Ballroom, Swissotel TheStamford, at 7pm on 16 Aug.

The Grand Final of Miss Singapore 2008
16th August 2008, Saturday at the Swisshotel - The Stamford,
Raffles Ballroom - 7.00 pm

One dream - to be Miss Singapore World 2008.
The Contestants winner goes to Miss World 2008.

Miss World 2008, the 58th Miss World beauty pageant, will be held on October 4, 2008, at the Ukraina National Palace in Kiev, Ukraine.

Meet 25 Beautiful ladies :

01 Fiona Teo Age: 20 Occupation: Student
02 Sydney Ho Age: 19 Occupation: Undergraduate
03 Cherlyn Loke Age: 20 Occupation: Undergraduate

04 Hannah Lau Age: 19 Occupation: Account Manager
05 Samantha Toh Age: 20 Occupation: Property Executive
06 Helena Age: 18 Occupation: Undergraduate

07 Fiona Cheong Age: 24 Occupation: Public Relations Specialist
08 Ernany Siregar J. Age: 22 Occupation: Nurse
09 Sherry Peng Age: 19 Occupation: Makeup Artist

10 Chloe Fong Age: 20 Occupation: Undergraduate
11 Preeti Sawlani Age: 22 Occupation: Undergraduate
12 Valentane Huang Age: 25 Occupation: Logistics Manager

13 Andrea Lim Age: 22 Occupation: Undergraduate
14 Adeline Quek Age: 23 Occupation: Graduate
15 Dione Chan Age: 23 Occupation: Product Specialist

16 Charlyene Choo Age: 22 Occupation: Undergraduate
17 Veriza Yew Age: 26 Occupation: Associate
18 Phoebe Tan Age: 20 Occupation: Graduate

19 Joyz Goh Age: 25 Occupation: Money Broker
20 Sherlyn Tan Age: 19 Occupation: Undergraduate
21 Catherine Tan Age: 24 Occupation: Personal Banker

22 Faraliza Tan Age: 21 Occupation: Undergraduate
23 Katie Kang Age: 19 Occupation: Undergraduate
24 Sharifah Shazana Age: 19 Occupation: Guest Service Agent

25 Nicole Ang Yu Jun Age: 20 Occupation: Undergraduate

Angelina's secret sadness - by her brother

Even by the standards of Hollywood it is an extraordinary project.

When three-year-old Pham Quang Sang explores his new home for the first time this week, he will become the latest addition to what must be one of the fastest-growing families on the planet, not to mention the most colourful.

Little Pham, from Vietnam, joins Maddox from Cambodia, Zahara from Ethiopia and Shiloh, born in Namibia last May. Equally remarkable are the parents, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, a superstar couple prepared to embrace domesticity on a heroic scale.

Ms Jolie has promised to adopt babies from every corner of the globe, without limit, and this is no empty threat. Already she has collected a family that resembles the United Nations.

Family: Angelina Jolie, dad Jon Voight, and brother James Haven Voight

More showbiz news...
• Coleen snacks in the sun ahead of 21st birthday bash
• Naomi sparkles as her community service stint comes to a glittering end

She faces constant criticism, claims that she is a publicity-seeker, and demands that she take American babies instead of looking to the developing world for children.

But the 'Brangelina' circus rumbles on, unperturbed, which on past form is no surprise. Since she first hit stardom, she has been defiantly unconventional, whether it is boasting about unusual sex, showing off her collection of knives, or her large, and some will feel disfiguring, collection of tattoos.

Although recognised the world over, she is a woman truly known by very few, but her brother, 33-year-old actor and director James Haven Voight, can honestly claim to be one of them.

A reticent man who has spent much of his life in the shadow of his famous younger sister, he rarely seeks the limelight.

But with concern mounting about Angelina's behaviour, he has used his first-ever newspaper interview to defend her reputation and shed some light on the damaged and dysfunctional upbringing which has shaped them both.

In a fascinating insight into a very private world, he blames the bullying and manipulation of their handsome movie-hero father, Jon Voight, star of Midnight Cowboy, for blighting both their lives.

And he says it is the trauma of their childhood which has driven his sister to create a huge and independent family of her own.

Already emotionally vulnerable, the death of their mother in January of this year has left 31-year-old Angelina shattered. She is eating little and already seems to be losing her famous curves.

Now, more than ever, says her brother, she is determined to place her faith in the lives of the children - and who knows how many more there will be - she is gathering around her.

"I have no memory at all of my mother shouting at me or at my sister," James explains. "But I do have horrible memories of my father and the way he behaved. He was so tough on our mother.

"He lived in the same town. We saw him around Christmas time or at school recitals. He was always around but he never did his job as a father.

"I think one of the reasons Angelina and I care so much for other people is his treatment of our mother. Angelina and I were very protective of her for that reason."

It was their mother, Marcheline Bertrand, who provided the emotional underpinning to their lives, he says - the one point of stability amid the chaos. Her loss to cancer, aged just 56, has been devastating.

"Angie has become very thin because she's grieving," he admits. "It's even difficult for her to eat. I keep saying to her, 'Don't forget to eat'.

"But you know she doesn't pay much attention to food anyway and she's been going through a process of grief like me. She has not wanted to eat, nor has she been able to."

It ought to have been a privileged childhood for James and Angelina. Born in 1973 and 1975 respectively, they were members of Hollywood aristocracy. As teenagers they were educated at the Beverly Hills High School, alma mater to the stars - a school made more famous still by its central role in the long-running series Beverly Hills 90210.

Certainly, James remembers the domestic security of his mother's routine with affection.

"There was very much that home feeling when we came back from school," he recalls.

"Angie and I would walk in and comment on how we could smell things cooking and baking in the kitchen.

"My mum was methodical in making sure we did our homework perfectly. She would do outlines to help us. When we were younger, she used flash cards.

"Or she'd be in the middle of cooking and pick up a carrot and teach us about the vegetable or the fruit so that it was visual as well. Angie is now the same with her kids."

Marcheline, a beauty of mixed French-Canadian and Iroquois heritage, was an actress in her own right when she married Voight in 1971. But it was a brief partnership. They separated in 1976, shortly after Angelina's birth.

James and Angelina refuse to talk about the reasons for their parents' break-up - although there have been persistent rumours of womanising.

For all Marcheline's efforts to create a happy home, it was impossible to escape the destructive influence of Voight.

Money was one of many battlegrounds, although there should hardly have been a shortage of cash.

By 1975, he was a household name, handsome, blue-eyed and in demand.

Yet according to James, it was a constant battle - to the point that Angelina and her older brother were reduced to pleading with him to pay the child support he owed.

"I tried hard when I was alone with him," recalls James. "The alimony was always an issue. He would claim he was taking good care of her.

"But in reality Mum was stressing out and we had to tell him he was causing the problem. This would be when I was 13 and Angie was 11.

"We definitely had a taste of his manipulative behaviour. But it was when he dealt with my mother that we really saw him pulling the strings.

"And that made us very sad and angry. Angelina and I saw my mum oppressed. Now we're protective of women on their own and, of course, of children."

It was an experience which drove brother and sister closer and even today their relationship borders on intensity. H for 'Haven' is tattooed on Jolie's wrist.

Notoriously, she gave him a long and passionate kiss when celebrating her Oscar success for Girl, Interrupted in 2000.

James, who has the same striking looks as his sister, travels with Brad and Angelina on many of their foreign expeditions, and spends hours in the company of her growing brood.

Growing up, they never went hungry, but there were hardships. No one in Hollywood walks - Los Angeles is not built for the convenience of pedestrians - yet neither Angelina nor James could afford a car.

He explains: "One of the saddest things in my life happened when I was 16, which is when you can get your permit to drive in LA. I did not have a car in High School and neither did Angelina.

"Try to imagine. You go to Beverly Hills High, one of the wealthiest High Schools in the nation. Even the cheapest car that anyone has is brand new. All my friends are well off. I have a movie-star father and no car.

"It was debilitating. I did not to go to the prom [the social highlight of an American high school career] because I felt uncomfortable that Dad would have to drive me. It's an embarrassing thing.

"The significant years of dating and getting to know yourself, I didn't experience any of that. I didn't experience what I think is one of the most important times in a person's life, and neither did Angelina. It affected both of us.

"When I was in college and finally dating I went to my dad and told him what it was like for me in High School. He didn't try to understand at all. He said he didn't have money."

It was a lesson that neither of them forgot. James says: "Angie has been driven to be an independently wealthy woman now because we saw what it was like to be at the mercy of someone who controls the money and pulls the strings.

"There were times when our dad was awesomely good with us, but my biggest and most abiding memory is that he would look more to our faults than to our strengths."

It must, then, have been particularly hard to follow him in the movie industry. Certainly for all his sensitivity and good looks, James has scored only modest success with parts in the 2001 movies Original Sin - starring his sister - and Monster's Ball, which starred his sister's then husband, Billy Bob Thornton.

James says: "Look at what Angelina is doing - her work with the United Nations, raising awareness of refugees. It would just be great if Dad would commend her, or send her a message of encouragement. But she's never heard those words from him."

However, it did nothing to blunt her ambitions or her determination. In fact, the young Angelina was precocious in many ways.

This was a girl sufficiently confident to start a sexual relationship at the age of 14 and bring her lover back to live under the same roof with the tolerance, if not the approval, of her mother.

James denies that his sister is a domineering character, claiming that her famed decisiveness is, like her love of knives and her boasts about sadomasochistic sex, an attempt to be independent of other people's control.

But he is not ashamed to admit he is under her influence, in all sorts of ways.

"She's always been very protective of me with regards to my romantic life, which I love," he smiles. "She wants me to be with the right woman. When you come from a divorced home, divorce is what you desperately want to avoid.

"Maybe I haven't found the right woman because my sister is too picky for me. Any woman has to go through two filters, me and then my sister.

"I'm a perfectionist by nature. Then, because I'm so close to Angie it's like I've already got the perfect woman in my life and it's hard for anyone else to live up to that.

"I go to Angie for advice and won't do anything without her because we were so close as children."

Her influence on him is so profound, he claims he has even been persuaded to adopt a child himself - provided he can find a partner first. Angelina has even brought about a change of career, persuading him to spend large parts of his time campaigning for charity. He is currently preparing to take part in a major US campaign to fight the AIDS pandemic in Uganda.

James is outraged by the claim that their relationship might in any way be inappropriate - claims prompted by 'that' kiss after the 2000 Oscars.

"I did not give Angie a French kiss, it was something simple and lovely," he insists.

"She was about to go off to Mexico to finish filming Original Sin with Antonio Banderas. I congratulated her on the Oscar win and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. It was snapped and became a big thing round the world."

It seemed at one point the fractured relationship between Angelina and her father was on the mend. The pair took part in the 2001 movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, for example, with Voight playing her on-screen father.

But Voight spoiled it by going on Access Hollywood, a prime-time US talk show, and accusing his daughter of having 'serious mental problems'. Jolie responded by legally erasing her surname, Voight, and banning him from seeing her children. They have not spoken since.

Voight's relationship with his son, meanwhile, is a little better. But not much. Voight has yet to talk to James in person following the death of his mother, an omission the son finds barely able to believe.

"My dad left a voicemail message that was very kind, wishing condolences to me and my sister. That was what he did," says James, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

Now, with the death of their mother, the wound is red raw.

"He was very tough on my mum for years and then the person he was tough on has gone. He can't do anything now, he can't fix that and it's very painful," James says.

"At some point I've got to be able to let my bitterness and anger towards him go and I'm working on that now. I believe my mother's in a better place. What I have to deal with is that there's no such thing as him making amends now - he's lost his chance and that just makes me and Angelina even more upset.

"When I first lost my mother, I couldn't stop crying. Fortunately, I was with Angie when we heard. It was such a big moment.

"If Angelina understood something about missing parents before, she understands completely now. Angelina and I are orphans too, in a way. When you see those kids in orphanages, they cling to each other. And that's exactly what they have - they have each other."

James Haven Visits Sister Angelina Jolie & The Twins

NICE, France -Angelina Jolie’s brother, James Haven, stopped by to visit his sister and her newborns earlier today in France.

Haven was captured by an Associated Press photographer entering Nice’s Hospital Lenval, at around 10 AM local time.

In a baseball cap, sunglasses and red gym top, Haven arrived at the hospital surrounded by bodyguards, according to People.

Haven pulled up in a Mercedes with blacked out windows.

Angelina and her newborns – Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline — are still at the hospital, where she gave birth to the babies via C-section over the weekend.

Haven was last spotted at the facility when he brought Angelina’s first child, Maddox, to see his mom, on July 5, People reported.