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Reporting Live
2026
A young reporter and her reluctant cameraman chase a story, only to get entangled in an illegal sand-mining racket run by a ruthless syndicate.
Deshna Dugad
Cast · Known for Pushpa Impossible
Deshna Dugad is a child artist who is active in television and film industry. She is best known for the television show Mariam Khan – Reporting Live and Baal Krishna. Dugad originally hails from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Deshna Dugad was born on 20 October 2008 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. She is an actress, known for Thugs of Hindostan (2018), Pushpa Impossible (2022) and Khaali Peeli (2020) & Criminal Justice and now Deshna Dugad is joined as a Luxe Star you Can book her to promote your brand and make a wishes for you or your loved one. She is daughter of Mahavir Dugad and Smita Dugad. Deshna has fond of acting and dancing since childhood. She started taking modeling and dance training at an early age. Her modeling pictures during the school program became quite viral and she started getting offers for television shows. In the year 2016, Deshna made her acting debut with TV serial ‘Baal Krishna’ in which she played the role of Radha. After this show, she appeared as a child artiste in several television serials.
Emily Ngo
Emily Ngo co-authors the New York Playbook and covers New York politics and government at the local, state and federal levels. She is especially adept at reporting on campaigns and elections. She was previously an on-air political reporter with Spectrum News NY1, where she thrived during wall-to-wall live coverage of elections and breaking news events. Ngo also has worked as a national political reporter at Newsday, including as part of the White House press corps. She graduated from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. She lives in Queens with her family. While the New York Mets are her adopted team, she’ll always root for her hometown Chicago White Sox.
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin Rather Jr. (born October 31, 1931) is an American journalist, commentator, and former national evening news anchor. He began his career in Texas, becoming a national name after his reporting saved thousands of lives during Hurricane Carla in September 1961. Rather spontaneously created the first radar weather report by overlaying a transparent map over a radar image of Hurricane Carla. In his first national broadcast, he helped initiate the successful evacuation of 350,000 people. He reported on some of the most significant events of the modern age, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Gulf War, 9/11, the Iraq War, and the war on terror.
Donna Rusch
Donna Rusch Beisel is an American actress. A fun fact, before he became a star, she starred with Matthew McConaughey in a training film for Exxon Aviation. She graduated from the University of Houston with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Radio/TV/Film. She landed a job as a part-time Desk Assistant at the country's #1 All-News Radio Station, KTRH-740 AM, Houston. She quickly rose to become a Reporter, earning numerous local and statewide awards including "Best News Series in Texas" from UPI. After 3 years, she went to the smaller city of Beaumont, Texas to prime her TV reporting skills. Soon, she became the city's first female solo 10 o'clock weeknight News Anchor. But after nearly 4 years, her love of acting won out. She moved back to Houston and signed with top Texas Talent Agent, Jenny Bosby of the Pastorini-Bosby Talent Agency. On her first national commercial audition, she booked the job for Texaco Express Lube. For 17 years, she worked primarily in commercials, voiceover and as a spokeswoman for Industrial Films and Web Content for clients such as ExxonMobil, Shell, Compaq Computers, Continental Airlines and Chevron. In 1995, she became host of Texas Today, a live daily morning show featuring Hollywood stars visiting the city, top chefs, book authors, and a live band. In 2000, her first TV movie role was as a Reporter in Mortelle Invasion (2000), directed by Tim Matheson, made famous by his Otter role in American College (1978). She also became known as "Renee Rusch", a traffic reporter on several radio stations and served time as a TV Traffic Anchor on both the NBC and CBS television affiliates. In 2011, she made the move to L.A. and quickly hooked into the Independent Film world with a lead role in the award-winning film Home from War (2012), accepted to Cannes 2013. She also stars in the thriller The Channel (2015). She has appeared on episodes of Criminal Minds(2013) and Revenge(2013).
Ashley Bornancin
From Cleveland to Los Angeles, Ashley Bornancin is one of the brightest lights on television. With over a decade of experience as a multimedia journalist, morning and entertainment reporter and TV host, her range and ability extends to the furthest depths of television. She's the lead morning reporter for Toledo's number #1 station, 13ABC, where she brings lively stories every morning from 5-7:30am, from breaking news to tours of Opera Houses. You can also see her on the 12pm and 5pm shows where she turns her own stories as a multimedia journalist, writing, editing and shooting. She has worked in the business for 8+ years, and was a TV host and social producer for Bravo & NBC Universal in Los Angeles, as well as a morning correspondent for The CW's morning show, Aging and Awesome in Vegas. She has years of experience in entertainment journalism as well, serving as a red carpet reporter, and has interviewed everyone from The Success of Sussex Meghan Markle, to John Legend, Gloria Allred and the stars of most of your favorite hit TV shows and written a number of articles for nbcla.com and msnbc.com. She has a passion for all media, from writing, editing, shooting, to reporting and anchoring and doing whatever it takes to get the best coverage and engaging content. However, her love for journalism really started at 5 years old when Ashley would take her mother's typewriter and write weekly newsletters for the entire neighborhood. This passion for storytelling would later lead her to Indiana's Ernie Pyle School of Journalism, to being awarded with the Journalism Broadcast Scholarship at Biola University where she would graduate as the Executive Producer and Head Anchor of the University's broadcast. With her grounded Midwestern sensibility, her work as a performer, starring as the lead of Netflix's Spy Kids Mission Critical, Latte & The Magic Waterstone, and dozens of guest appearance on NBC's Good Girls, Scandal, and more, has helped her to take her incredibly strong improvisation skills and on-air talent to her love and passion for journalism and real-life stories. When she's not interviewing and getting the best stories for your TV and digital screens, she's eating meatballs with her Italian family, running in half marathons, and always working on expanding her knowledge of global travel and love for languages.
Mi-Jung Lee
Mi-Jung Lee (September 12, 1966, in Chuncheon, South Korea) is a Korean-Canadian television journalist and news anchor based in Vancouver, British Columbia. She began her career in 1990 as a reporter and part-time news anchor at CHEK-TV in Victoria before moving to CHAN-TV (BCTV, later CTV Vancouver) in 1992. In 1998, she became co-anchor of the 6:00 PM news on CIVT-TV (then VTV). Later, she took over hosting and producing the 11:30 PM news on CTV Vancouver. Lee has appeared in several films and TV shows as a news anchor or reporter, including The 6th Day (2000), X-Men 2 (2003), Snakes on a Plane (2006), Watchmen (2009), and Tron: Legacy (2010). In addition to her journalism career, she is known for her investigative reporting, winning several RTDNA and Webster Awards for her coverage of topics such as Vancouver’s opioid crisis and sexual harassment allegations at WestJet. Lee lives in Vancouver with her husband and two sons.
Geneviève Lemon
Genevieve Lemon is an Australian actress who has appeared in a number of soap operas – as Zelda Baker in The Young Doctors, Marlene "Rabbit" Warren in Prisoner and Brenda Riley in Neighbours. She showed her comedic and singing talents in the televised revue show Three Men and a Baby Grand. Lemon has also appeared in a number of films directed by Jane Campion – Sweetie, The Piano and Holy Smoke. She played in the stage production "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – the Musical" as the barmaid and owner of the Broken Hill Hotel, Shirley. Her first CD, with her band, is called "Angels in the City". It is a live recording of a concert she performed in the Studio at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Singing around the House series. Genevieve Lemon is currently on stage at London's Victoria Palace Theatre, portraying Mrs Wilkinson in Billy Elliot the Musical, a role she performed firstly in Sydney then Melbourne. On 21 January 2008 she won the Best Actress in a Musical award at the 2007 Sydney Theatre Awards. Lemon won a 2008 Helpmann Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in Billy Elliot the Musical. Lemon has worked extensively for a number of major state theatre companies in Australia. Lemon began her career with the Leichhardt-based amateur theater company, The Rocks Players. Description above from the Wikipedia article Genevieve Lemon, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Chris Reccardi
Writer · Known for The Powerpuff Girls
Chris Reccardi (November 24, 1964 - May 2, 2019) was an award-winning and Emmy-nominated animator and fine artist. Chris was a key player on The Ren & Stimpy Show as director, writer, designer and musician and has contributed to numerous other hit animated TV shows such as Samurai Jack, The Powerpuff Girls, Spongebob Squarepants as a writer, director, story artist and designer. Chris served as Producer and Creative director on Cartoon Network’s Regular Show and Secret Mountain Fort Awesome and has created/co-created several TV pilots including the cult fav The Modifyers (Nickelodeon), Meddlen Meddows, and Imp, Inc.(Cartoon Network). Chris’s fine art reflects a wide range of literary and visual influences, from classic Victorian/Edwardian-era science fiction to 1960’s & 70’s illustration and modern design. His story-driven fine art has attracted custom art installations for high-end clients such as Southern California’s highly successful sustainable restaurant franchise Tender Greens for their Pasadena (2011) Marina Del Rey (2013) and Westwood (2016) locations and Caesars Entertainment for their massive Linq High Roller project. As a professional musician and composer, Chris Reccardi has contributed to numerous soundtrack projects as well as live/recording work with bands, fluently exchanging the roles of bassist, guitarist and composer. In 1990 he co-formed “Der Screamin’ Lederhsen”, the trio penned the Ren & Stimpy show title themes as well as various background music throughout the series. His original score for his 2007 pilot for Nickelodeon The Modifyers, added an extra dimension to the cult favorite cartoon. In 2012 Chris joined Elliot Easton (The Cars), Nick Walusko (Brian Wilson, Wondermints) and multi-instrumentalist Todd Jaeger as bassist/art director for Elliot Easton’s Tiki Gods which combined the aesthetics of Exotica, 60’s sci-fi themes, and “Space Tiki” musical genres.
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Cast · Producer · Known for DuckTales, Moana, The Little Mermaid
Lin-Manuel Miranda (/mænˈwɛl/; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, singer, filmmaker, rapper, and librettist. He created the Broadway musicals In the Heights and Hamilton and the soundtracks for the animated films Moana, Vivo, and Encanto. He has received numerous accolades, including a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, three Tony Awards, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Emmy Awards, and five Grammy Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards. He received the Kennedy Centre Honour in 2018. Miranda made his Broadway debut in 2008, writing the music and lyrics for and starring in the musical In the Heights, which won the Tony Award for Best Musical and Best Original Score and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album. It was later adapted as a 2021 film of the same name. Miranda returned to Broadway in 2015, writing the script, music, and lyrics and starring in the musical Hamilton, which was praised by critics and became a widespread cultural phenomenon. Hamilton won the Pulitzer Prize and was nominated for a record 16 Tonys and 11, including Miranda's first win for Best Book of a Musical. The Hamilton cast recording spent 10 weeks atop Billboard's Top Rap Albums chart and became the eleventh-biggest album of the 2010s. A frequent collaborator of the Walt Disney Company, Miranda has written original songs for the studio. He won two Oscar nominations for "How Far I'll Go" & "Dos Oruguitas" from Moana and Encanto. Encanto's song "We Don't Talk About Bruno" broke various records. It marked Miranda's first number-one song on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles charts. He starred as Jack in the musical fantasy Mary Poppins Returns (2018), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe. For his performance in the Disney+ live stage recording of Hamilton, which was released in 2020, he received a Golden Globe & Primetime Emmy nomination. Miranda debuted as a film director with Tick, Tick...Boom!. His television work includes recurring roles on The Electric Company (2009–2010) and His Dark Materials (2019–2022). Miranda hosted Saturday Night Live in 2016, & and had a guest role on Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2018; he was nominated twice for the Primetime Emmy. He has been politically active on behalf of Puerto Rico. Miranda met with politicians in 2016 to speak out in favour of debt relief for Puerto Rico & raised funds for rescue efforts and disaster relief after Hurricane Maria in 2017. Description above from the Wikipedia article Lin-Manuel Miranda, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Julienne Davis
Cast · Known for Eyes Wide Shut
Julienne Davis (born September 26, 1963) is an American actress, singer, and model. She was born in Los Angeles. She left home at seventeen and moved to New York to pursue a career in classical ballet. When she grew too tall to audition for the corps de ballet, she made the tough decision to quit dance and began a modeling career. As a successful international model, Julienne's career led to her living and working in many cities, including Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Milan, Athens, Munich, Barcelona, Madrid, Tokyo, and Bangkok. Because London's vibrant cosmopolitan culture held a special allure for her, she made that her main home base for many years and during that time also became a British citizen. Whilst in the city, she became involved in other ventures, including fashion stylist, club promoter, singer/songwriter, and producer. In 1998, she auditioned as an extra in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, but instead landed the pivotal role of Mandy Curran in the film. From that point on, her life changed drastically, and she consequently became an "It" girl in London, leading the celebrity lifestyle, with parties, press, and paparazzi. Her acting, voiceover, and music careers continued to flourish. Highlights include major roles in the films House of 9 starring Dennis Hopper and Come Together starring James D'Arcy. As for TV, she was a series regular for the BBC comedy Too Much Sun starring Mark Addy and Lee Majors, as well as various guest star roles, the most notable being The Bill--which was practically a UK institution. During this time, her band Sophisticated Savage was busy recording and performing live. She sang, wrote and co-produced the band's album "Strange Paradise," now on iTunes. Based mainly in Los Angeles, she is with her new band: The Midnight Candy, and she continues to work as an actor, vo artist, writer and producer.
Anthony Gargiula
Anthony Gargiula is a pop music recording artist from Albany, NY. Singing ever since he was 5 years-old, Anthony was introduced to audiences across America when he appeared and performed live on The Ellen Degeneres Show for the first time at the very young age of 7. After appearing on Ellen's show again a few more times, Anthony performed live on both NBC's Today Show and the CBS Early Show. Throughout his younger years, Anthony opened for notable commercial music acts such as the Jonas Brothers, Lady Antebellum, The Outlaws, The Temptations, Four Tops, Kellie Pickler, and others. He also performed the Star Spangled Banner at Madison Square Garden for the New York Knicks on 5 different occasions, as well as at games for other professional sports teams such as Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins, Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Twins, LA Dodgers, and others. He has even sang the Star Spangled Banner at major sporting events such as the Belmont Stakes and twice at the prestigious Major League Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Cooperstown, NY. Since then, Gargiula has performed hundreds of shows and has released original music, including his single "Barricade". Anthony has also built a huge social media following including: a Tik Tok with over 750,000 followers, more than 140,000 Instagram followers, over 5,000,000 combined Youtube views on his channel, and a verified account on Twitter. In July 2018, Anthony appeared on FOX's "The Four" as the final new challenger of Season 2. In 2020, Anthony became a founding member of an a cappella group called ‘EARCANDY’ and they have taken off. With over 2 million Tik Tok followers and growing, the group is continuing to soar to new heights. In late 2020, the group released their debut album “An EARCANDY Christmas” with Republic Records.
Gloria Loring
A consummate singer and entertainer, Gloria Loring is the recording artist of the #1 hit song "Friends and Lovers," co-composer of television theme songs for Diff'rent Strokes (1978) and The Facts of Life (1979), an audience favorite from daytime TV's Days of Our Lives (1965), spokesperson for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), the author of seven books, a keynote speaker, one of the few artists to sing two nominated songs at the Academy Awards, and is the mother of world-wide singing sensation Robin Thicke. With eleven albums to her credit, Loring has performed all over North America and Australia. As an actress and singer, she's starred in musicals, movies of the week, prime time series and specials, and has hosted television shows and live events. Gloria's new book, Coincidence is God's Way of Remaining Anonymous: Reflections on Daytime Dramas and Divine Intervention, details a series of extraordinary coincidences that transformed her life and offers prescriptive insight into how each of us can use coincidence for our own good and the good of those we love. Gloria is a certified yoga instructor and an articulate champion of biomedical research. After her son Brennan was diagnosed with diabetes at age four, she created and self-published two volumes of the Days Of Our Lives Celebrity Cookbook which raised more than $1 million for diabetes research. In total, she has written and created six books benefiting people with diabetes. Her newest musical show, TV Tunez, a celebration of television's best theme songs, draws from sitcoms and dramas, to westerns, sports, games shows and commercials, appealing to all demographics. Honored with the Lifetime Commitment Award from JDRF and the 1999 Woman of Achievement Award from the Miss America Organization, Loring is listed in the World Who's Who of Women and Who's Who in America. She is married to Emmy Award-winning art director and production designer René Lagler and lives in Southern California.
Liz Callaway
Liz Callaway is a Tony nominee and Emmy Award-winning actress, singer and recording artist. She made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in Baby, and for five years won acclaim as Grizabella in Cats. She has also starred in the original Broadway casts of Miss Saigon, The Three Musketeers, and The Look of Love. Liz sang the Academy Award-nominated song “Journey to the Past” in the animated feature Anastasia and is also the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin and the King of Thieves and The Return of Jafar. Other film work includes the singing voice of the title character in The Swan Princess, Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride, Beauty and the Beast, The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars and The Rewrite with Hugh Grant. She received an Emmy Award for hosting Ready to Go, a daily, live children’s program on CBS in Boston. Other TV credits include In Performance at the White House, Inside the Actor’s Studio: Stephen Sondheim, In Performance at the White House, Christmas with the Boston Pops, The David Letterman Show, and Senior Trip (CBS Movie of the Week). Liz has released eight solo albums: Anywhere I Wander: Liz Callaway Sings Frank Loesser, The Story Goes On: Liz Callaway On and Off-Broadway, The Beat Goes On, Passage of Time, Merry and Bright, The Essential Liz Callaway, Comfort and Joy: An Acoustic Christmas, and her latest, To Steve with Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim. Her numerous other recordings include Sibling Revelry, Boom! Live at Birdland, The Maury Yeston Songbook, Dreaming Wide Awake: The Music of Scott Alan, Hair in Concert, and the complete recording of Allegro produced by the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization.
John Prine
John Prine (October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American country folk singer-songwriter. He was active as a composer, recording artist, and live performer from the early 1970s until his death, and was known for an often humorous style of country music that has elements of protest and social commentary. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mandy Miller
Mandy Miller (born Carmen Isabella Miller, 23 July 1944) is an English child actress who made a number of films in the 1950s and is probably best remembered for her recording of the song "Nellie the Elephant". She retired in 1962 at the age of 18 and currently lives in England.
Peter Bartlett
Cast · Known for The Princess and the Frog
With appearances on shows such as Law & Order and films such as Meet the Parents, Bartlett portrayed Nigel Bartholomew-Smythe on the ABC soap opera, One Life to Live. He had portrayed this role from 1991 until the soap's cancellation in 2012. In 2009, he began portraying Nigel's English cousin Neville. In 2004 he appeared on Broadway playing the role of Pluto in The Frogs, the Stephen Sondheim-Burt Shevelove-Nathan Lane adaptation which played at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center. His lively performance was well received by critics and audiences, and Stephen Sondheim has stated that Mr. Bartlett's delivery of the line, "Get out of town!" (preserved on the original cast recording by PS Classics) was a highlight of the show. He also starred in the 2009 Disney film The Princess and the Frog as a valet named Lawrence. He starred on Broadway in The Drowsy Chaperone as Underling, the butler. He opened to highly favorable reviews in the Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella on March 3, 2013 playing the Prince's calculating Regent, Sebastian. He later played several roles in the hit Broadway musical Something Rotten!, and appeared as the flabbergasted "Head Waiter" in the Roundabout revival of She Loves Me in 2016.
Jim Hanks
Younger brother of Tom Hanks. Provided the voice for the tie-in "Woody" action figures from Toy Story (1995) voiced in the movie by older brother Tom Hanks. He regularly substitutes for his brother by recording Woody's voice for "Toy Story" merchandise, video games, audio storybooks, Disney theme park ride narrations, etc. Brother-in-law of actress Rita Wilson. Former brother-in-law of Samantha Lewes. Jim and his wife, Karen Hanks, have one son and live in Venice, California.
Taylor Meskimen
Taylor Brooke Meskimen (born January 21, 1990) is a voice actress, she is the daughter of actor/narrator Jim Meskimen, and the granddaughter of Golden Globe® and Emmy®-nominated actress Marion Ross. Taylor has been performing live for over a decade at venues throughout Los Angeles when she hasn't been in recording studios voicing characters for animation, commercials and video games. She has also won many awards for her Audiobook Narrations.
Ashlee Simpson
Ashlee Nicolle Ross, (née Simpson; born October 3, 1984), is an American recording artist and actress. Simpson, who is the younger sister of pop singer Jessica Simpson, rose to prominence in mid-2004 through the success of her number-one debut album Autobiography and the accompanying reality series The Ashlee Simpson Show. Simpson received widespread notoriety when she attempted to lip-sync with a pre-recorded vocal track on Saturday Night Live in October 2004. Following a North American concert tour and a film appearance, Simpson released a second number-one album, I Am Me, in October 2005. Her third album, Bittersweet World, was released in April 2008. The following month, she married musician Pete Wentz and announced that they were expecting a child. On November 20, 2008, Simpson gave birth to their son, Bronx Mowgli Wentz. Simpson filed for divorce on February 8, 2011, citing "irreconcilable differences." Description above from the Wikipedia article Ashlee Simpson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Alex Somers
Alex Somers (born March 7, 1984) is an American visual artist and musician from Baltimore, Maryland, who attended Berklee College of Music and Listaháskóli Íslands. Somers lives and works in Los Angeles. Previously, he ran a recording studio in downtown Reykjavík, producing, engineered, and mixed since 2010. He and his former partner Jónsi, with whom he split in 2019, produce music and visual art under Jónsi & Alex. The pair have released an album and a picture book titled Riceboy Sleeps. Jónsi and Somers have also collaborated on Jónsi's solo project. Somers co-produced and played instruments on Jónsi's album Go. He then joined Jónsi in his five-piece live band, playing guitar and keyboards for the world tour in support of Go. Somers has produced and mixed many records, including Sigur Rós, Jónsi, Julianna Barwick, Briana Marela, Death Vessel, Sin Fang, and Pascal Pinon. Somers has been vegan since 2004 and a raw vegan since 2007. Description above from the Wikipedia article Alex Somers, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Ashanti
Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas born October 13, 1980 is an American recording artist, record producer and actress who rose to fame in the early 2000s. Ashanti is most famous for her eponymous debut album, which featured the hit song "Foolish", and sold over 503,000 copies in its first week of release throughout the U.S. in April 2002. The album set a Soundscan record as the biggest opening week sales for a new female artist, outselling debuts by Alicia Keys and Lauryn Hill. In the same week, she became the first female performer to simultaneously hold the top two places on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with "Foolish", and "What's Luv?" (with Fat Joe). Ashanti broke records again by having three top ten songs, "Foolish," "What's Luv?" and "Always on Time", on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the same week, being the first woman to accomplish this feat and being second only to the Beatles. In 2003, the self-titled debut album won Ashanti her first Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B album. As of 2008, she has sold more than 27 million albums worldwide. Ashanti ended the decade (2000–09) as the third top new R&B artist behind Alicia Keys and Beyonce Knowles. She also ended the decade at number 38 on the Top Artist of the Decade list. As of 2010, Ashanti is listed in the 20 Best Selling Music Singles Since 1990 in History. She ranked #17, with Foolish selling more than 7.4 million copies in the U.S. Ashanti sang background vocals for Jennifer Lopez on "I'm Real (Murder Remix)" and wrote and sang background on the song "Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix)" sung by Jennifer Lopez, both reaching number one on Billboard Hot 100 , which was also in the top 10 charts at the same time as "Foolish", "Always on Time" (with Ja Rule), and "What's Luv" (with Fat Joe). Later that year, she was acclaimed as the "Princess Of Hip-Hop & R&B" by her label and capped off her successful debut by winning eight Billboard awards and two American Music Awards. Within seven years of Ashanti's career, she has scored 16 top 40 hits on the Hot 100. Ashanti has endorsed numerous products including Gap, Herbal Essences and Mudd Jeans. Ashanti cites Janet Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Tupac Shakur, Aaliyah, Tamia, Mary J. Blige, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Yolanda Adams, Toni Braxton, Luther Vandross, The Beatles, The Clark Sisters, Smokey Robinson, Donna Summer, and Blue Magic as her musical influences. Praised as a gifted songwriter by her peers and critics alike, Ashanti has written/co-written the bulk of all her music. She is currently working on her own publishing company entitled Written Entertainment. She released her fourth studio album entitled The Declaration on June 3, 2008 and is currently in the studio working on her fifth. She also performed the charity tune "Just Stand Up" alongside 14 other female singers for the "Stand Up to Cancer" live television special which helped raise $100 million dollars for cancer research Description above from the Wikipedia article Ashanti, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Ray Woolf
Woolf and his family arrived in New Zealand in 1962 when he was 17. He had sung in rock bands in his native Dagenham in Essex since the age of 13, and after a few appearances at Auckland dance halls was signed to Zodiac Records and began recording. Throughout the 1970s he featured on a string of pop shows such as In the Groove, On the Beat Side, C'Mon and Happen Inn. Later, he had his own chat show, The Ray Woolf Show, which had its own live band and audience. Woolf also presented New Zealand children's show Playschool for 18 months, sticking by the philosophy of taking any opportunity that came his way. Hosting the show allowed Woolf more freedom than the structured pop shows he was used to. One of his favourite acting roles was when he played the helmsman of the steamship Venture in Peter Jackson's Кинг Конг (2005), released in 2005. He had the occasional line in the movie but his actual screen time was quite short. He liked the job due to the good company on it. Woolf is a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to entertainment and has also starred in shows like The Sound of Music (2004), West Side Story and The New Rocky Horror Show. He has collaborated with a range of musicians over the years, and some of his more ongoing gigs have been with the jazzy Rodger Fox Big Band. Woolf is on the pension these days but is still adamant that he will keep on entertaining and that nothing will change despite the regular pay cheques from the government.
Ulrich Mühe
Friedrich Hans Ulrich Mühe (20 June 1953 – 22 July 2007) was a German film, television and theatre actor. He played the role of Hauptmann (Captain) Gerd Wiesler in the Oscar-winning film Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others, 2006), for which he received the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Gold, at Germany's most prestigious film awards, the Deutscher Filmpreis (German Film Awards); and the Best Actor Award at the 2006 European Film Awards. Curiously, events in Mühe's life were mirrored by the plot of the film, as he allegedly discovered in a Stasi file compiled on him that he had been under surveillance by his second wife, Jenny Gröllmann. Gröllmann denied this, and after an acrimonious and highly-publicized court case she succeeded in obtaining an injunction to prevent Mühe from repeating the allegation in a book. After leaving school, Mühe was employed as a construction worker and a border guard at the Berlin Wall. He then turned to acting, and from the late 1970s into the 1980s appeared in numerous plays, becoming a star of the Deutsches Theater in East Berlin. He was active in politics and denounced Communist rule in East Germany in a memorable address at the Alexanderplatz demonstration on 4 November 1989 shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall. After German reunification he continued to appear in a large number of films, television programmes and theatre productions. In Germany he was particularly known for playing the lead role of Dr. Robert Kolmaar in the long-running forensic crime series Der letzte Zeuge (The Last Witness, 1998–2007). Description above from the Wikipedia article Ulrich Mühe, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.