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Cycle 10 finalists of America’s Next Top Model revealed

Posted by Vogt
at May 28, 2008

Cycle 10 Models Revealed

We’re more than a month away from the cycle 10 premiere of America’s Next Top Model, but it’s never too early to get a little taste of what the next season will bring, right?

Of course not, and that’s why I’m thankful The CW was kind enough to release the names of this cycles 14 finalists and a sparse number of details about the season.

Click onward to get a brief glimpse of the 14 catty women who will bite, claw, and accost their way to a $100,000 modeling deal with CoverGirl and a six-page fashion spread in Seventeen magazine.

This season the best modeling competition on TV returns to its roots by heading back to the Big Apple, which is where the first cycle took place.

In addition, supermodel Paulina Porizkova will be joining the panel as a replacement to the inimitable Twiggy. Let’s hope she brings back some of the grit the panel lost when Janice Dickinson took a hike.

Of course, the most important part of any Top Model cycle is the girls so let’s take a quick look at the crazies participating in the competition this go around:

Aimee
Age: 18
Occupation: Hostess
Hometown: Spanaway, Washington

Allison
Age: 19
Occupation: Hostess
Hometown: Waunakee, Wisconsin

Amy (a.k.a. “Amis”)
Age: 20
Occupation: Waitress
Hometown: Bartlesville, Oklahoma

Anya
Age: 19
Occupation: Retail Sales
Hometown: Honolulu, Hawaii

Atalya
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York

Claire
Age: 24
Occupation: Production Coordinator
Hometown: New York, New York

Dominique
Age: 23
Occupation: Receptionist
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio

Fatima
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts

Katarzyna
Age: 22
Occupation: Finance
Hometown: Roslyn, New York

Kimberly
Age: 20
Occupation: Customer Service
Hometown: Worcester, Massachusetts

Lauren
Age: 22
Occupation: Artist
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York

Marvita
Age: 23
Occupation: Retail Sales
Hometown: San Francisco, California

Stacy Ann
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Hometown: Miami, Florida

Whitney
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Hometown: Atlantic Beach, Florida

By my count, there are three people in the food industry, four students, four in customer service/sales, an artist, a production coordinator, and a person who works in finance ranging in age from 18 to 24. Any way you break it down, we’ve got fourteen women that are probably certifiably insane for subjecting themselves to this grueling competition. At least that’s what I hope.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that “Amis”, hailing from my home state of Oklahoma, is going to runaway with this thing. You heard it here first ladies and gentlemen.

Cycle 10 of America’s Next Top Model Premieres February 20th, 2008 on The CW.

Celebrity TV
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Maggie Q Biography

Posted by Vogt
at May 9, 2008

Maggie Q Biography.jpg

Maggie Q born May 22, 1979, at Honolulu, Hawaii

Born to an American father and a Vietnamese mother, Maggie Denise Quigley was raised among the palm trees and golden sand of Honolulu, Hawaii. Her destiny, however, awaited beyond her picturesque island home, and at the age of 18 she moved to Hong Kong in order to pursue a career in modeling.

Maggie’s unique look made her a popular attraction and before long she was gracing the covers of major publications such as Cosmopolitan, Harpers Bazaar, Elle, FHM, and Marie Claire. Her burgeoning supermodel status prompted a plethora of movie offers and Maggie finally made her big-screen debut in 1999’s The Legendary Tai Fei. There was just one problem: She didn’t actually speak Cantonese, meaning Maggie had to learn all of her lines phonetically.

Additional roles — and plenty of voice coaching — followed in 2000 with Model From Hell and the immensely popular Gen-Y Cops, an action film produced by Jackie Chan. Chan was so impressed with Maggie’s acting that he had her cast in Manhattan Midnight, starring Richard Grieco, and included her in his own film, Rush Hour 2. She teamed up with Chan again in 2004 for Around the World in 80 Days and is set to star opposite Tom Cruise in the highly anticipated Mission: Impossible III.

Celebrity Biography
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Kelly Hu Biography

Posted by Vogt
at May 9, 2008

Kelly Hu.jpg

When Kelly Hu entered the Miss Teen USA pageant in 1985, two things were furthest from her mind: winning and becoming an actress. The 16-year-old really wanted to model in Japan and thought entering the contest would be a good first step towards her goal. But as fate would have it, Hu became the first Asian-American girl to represent the United States as Miss Teen USA, even though her mother told her that people weren’t ready for such a thing. Ironically, winning the title barred her from modeling anywhere for a year because she was obligated to represent the pageant. But she did manage to travel much of the country—something she was unable to do from her native island state of Hawaii—and later entered modeling once her commitment was over. Eventually, Hu became interested in acting and used the money she won from the pageant to move to Los Angeles and start her career. Though slow to get going, she began appearing on episodic television and big budget feature films, posturing herself to become a bona fide star.

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii fourth-generation Chinese with a touch of English for good measure, Hu showed her desire to perform at a young age—improvised songs about going to market and other daily chores were routinely sung on her neighbor’s porch when she was 2. When she was a little older, her mother—by then divorced from Hu’s salesman father—sent her to ballet classes. Brother Glenn, who attended martial arts classes, taught his sister all the right moves, then acted like Don King by setting up fights with neighborhood boys and taking bets. Hu won her brother some money. Meanwhile, she attended Kamehameha High School, an exclusive school for students of Hawaiian descent, and became interested in modeling, which prompted her to enter the Miss Teen USA pageant in Miami Beach. After winning and graduating from school, Hu took her pageant money and a new Mazda RX-7, and moved to Los Angeles. The Mazda was stolen a month later, but she otherwise survived just fine.

Her first order of business was putting a full-page ad in Variety announcing her arrival in Hollywood—a move that spawned twenty calls the day it ran. Then she began receiving commercial roles for well-known products, like Mary Kay Cosmetics and Vidal Sassoon. Her most popular commercial role was the Philadelphia Cream Cheese girl seen in Italy—they were such a hit that she was unable to walk down the streets of Milan without being recognized. Back in the states, Hu landed her first television role, playing the love interest of Mike Seaver (Kirk Cameron) on “Growing Pains” (ABC, 1985-1992). Immediately following were appearances in episodes of “Night Court” (NBC, 1983-1992), “21 Jump Street” (Fox, 1987-1990) and “Tour of Duty” (CBS, 1987-1990). She then made her feature film debut, playing one of Jason’s unwitting victims in “Friday the 13th Part VIII – Jason Takes Manhattan” (1989). Though she loved filming in Vancouver, she never got to see New York—her character was killed off too early.

Hu continued her feature work, making brief appearances in “Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man” (1991) and “The Doors” (1991), playing Dorothy, wife of keyboardist Ray Manzarek (Kyle MacLachlan). She had a more prominent role as a beautiful princess Ro-May in the goofy “Surf Ninjas” (1993), but no one seemed to notice. Returning to television, she appeared in episodes of “Raven” (CBS, 1991-1993), “Melrose Place” (Fox, 1992-1999), “Maybe This Time” (ABC, 1995-1996), “Murder One” (ABC, 1995-1997) and “The Sentinel” (UPN, 1995-1999). After a bit part as an anchor woman in “Strange Days” (1995), a dreadful futuristic dud about technologically advanced drugs in a dystopian society starring Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett and Juliette Lewis, Hu finally landed a prominent and recurring gig, playing Inspector Michelle Chan on the cop drama, “Nash Bridges” (CBS, 1995-2001). She relished the chance to finally be able to display her martial arts moves, particularly after earning her brown belt in 1998. Her stint on “Nash Bridges,” however, lasted only one season.

After the pilot for “Star Command” (UPN, 1996), a futuristic adventure about a group of space cadets trapped in an interstellar war, failed to be picked up for series, Hu went back to features films, appearing in the low-budget indie, “Fakin’ Da Funk” (1997). She then landed a regular role on “Marshall Law” (CBS, 1998-2000), an action series about a Shanghai supercop (Sammo Hung) who joins forces with the LAPD, but the show lasted only a couple seasons. Episodes of “Sunset Beach” (NBC, 1997-2000), “Malcolm and Eddie” (UPN, 1996-2000) and “Boomtown” (NBC, 2002-2004) were then added to her resume. But it was her role in “The Scorpion King” (2002) that finally promised to make Hu a star. Set in an ancient city of Gomorrah, Hu played Cassandra, a sorceress targeted for murder by an assassin (The Rock) who relents once he learns she’s a beautiful woman. The third installment to “The Mummy” series earned enough dollars at the box office to warrant development of a fourth movie.

Hu’s next feature, “Cradle 2 the Grave” (2003), a martial arts action thriller about a lawman (Jet Li) and a master thief (DMX) joining forces to bring down a powerful crime boss (Chi McBride), faired poorly. Critics savaged it as “stupid” and “horrible,” while audiences did their level best to avoid it in theaters. Meanwhile, Hu was cast as Yuriko Oyama in “X-2: X-Men United” (2003), the powerhouse sequel to “X-Men” (2000) many considered better than the original. As an associate to Stryker (Brian Cox), chief adversary to the mutant heroes, Hu’s character, with her long-bladed fingernails, proved to be an effective foil to Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). Hu was then badly wasted in “The Underclassman” (2005), the umpteenth telling of an undercover cop (Nick Cannon) whose baby-faced looks allow him to attend high school to search for the killer of a murdered student. A bad role choice, indeed, but one that went unnoticed since few people bothered to see it.

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Celebrity Biography
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Lauren Graham Biography

Posted by Vogt
at May 9, 2008

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Lauren Helen Graham (born March 16, 1967) is an American actress. She is best known for her acting role in Gilmore Girls.

Lauren was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. When she was five, her parents divorced. Her mother, Donna Grant, moved to London to join a rock and roll band. Lauren and her father, Lawrence, moved to the D.C. area where he became a congressional staffer and single parent. She traveled extensively with her father while growing up. He is currently a lobbyist for the chocolate and confection industry.

Lauren discovered acting while in elementary school. Graham attended Langley High School, where she took part in the Drill Team which is a mix of Dance and Cheerleading. She began acting in community theatre and any other production she could find. She graduated from Barnard College/Columbia University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. Lauren then moved to Texas where she earned a Master’s Degree in Acting from Southern Methodist University in 1992.

After completing her education, Lauren returned to New York where she worked as a cocktail waitress and aspiring actress. In 1995, she moved to Hollywood. In addition to her many guest starring and co-starring roles on prime time TV, she had three starring roles on failed sitcoms before landing the lead role of Lorelai Gilmore on the WB’s Gilmore Girls (2000-present), for which she is best known. In addition, she has had many roles in theatrical movies, including several NYU student films and several major studio releases. She has appeared in the movies Bad Santa, The Pacifier and Sweet November. She appeared on Third Rock from the Sun as a grad student who caught the eye of Dick (John Lithgow). In addition, she has appeared on the hit comedy Seinfeld (as one of Jerry’s dates), as well as on Newsradio and Law & Order. She would like to return to the stage and hopes she will never have to do a Porky’s movie or be asked to have plastic surgery.

She is currently set to appear in the movie Evan Almighty, playing the role of Evan’s wife.

Lauren Graham is not married and lives in West Hollywood. She dated actor Tate Donovan. As of February 2006, she is dating actor Marc Blucas.

When Graham appeared on Law & Order in 1997, actor Scott Cohen also guest starred. Three years later when Graham started Gilmore Girls, Cohen became a regular on the show as Lorelai Gilmore’s boyfriend and then fiancé, Max Medina.

She dated Robert Maschio during his senior year at Columbia University and helped persuade him to try out acting as a career.

Celebrity Biography