Mr Talent

                        !Simon Cowell!
                                                                          (Phillip)

A little Simon:
Simon Phillip Cowell, was born 7th October 1959, he was brought up in Hertfordshire where his home was in Elstree. Cowell spent his school days in a boarding school in Dover, which he hated. He even sent a letter home to his parents to try and make them feel guilty for sending him there. At the age of 16 he was suspended once and left school as soon as he could.

Simon had taken his first job as a runner as Elstree studios, when that job had come to an end, Cowell had taken a job as a mailroom boy at EMI music (A record company) in 1979. Deciding that this job wasn't going to take him no where, he decided to leave and yet found another job in an Estate Agents, which he hated.

In the early nineties, a program called "Soldier, soldier" was a huge television hit. It stared Robson Green and Jerome Flynn.  In the program they sang 'Unchained Melody', and then Simon knew it would be a number one hit.

He went to great lengths to sign them up, until finally they produced Simon's first number one record.

Their second record 'I Believe' also went to number one, followed by the album which become the best selling album of 1995. 

After the success of his first number one single and album, Simon was pilling on the luck although there were some disappointments along the way as he nearly missed out on signing The Spice Girls, although little did he know a big opportunity was just around the corner.

This big opportunity was named 'Westlife'. Simon had met with their manager Louis Walsh and together they created possibly the biggest boy band this country has seen. The day their first record went to number one, was the day that Simon's father had passed away, which had made that celebration a down fall. From that day, Westlife went on to sell millions of singles and albums, including the number one millennium single.

When we think of Simon Cowell today the words, American Idol, Pop Idol, Britain's Got talent and X Factor comes to mind.




In 2001, Simon had the opportunity to be apart of the new TV show Pop Idol, and he had took this offer. With Simon on the Judging panel, he was joined with Pete Waterman, Neil Fox and Nicki Chapman, with And and Dec as the show hosts.



 

It was after season 2 when Simon Fuller had took Idol over to the States, not with Pop Idol, but with a new name of American Idol which Cowell was also apart of the judge panel along with Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson.






In 2004, Simon had launched a show called 'X Factor' in Britain and still holds the position of being the number one show on television. Some of the biggest stars are the ones who where founded from show such as Leona Lewis and... One Direction (mehh). In 2010 Simon had left Idol to begin launching X Factor in America.



2007, Britain's Got Talent was first screened, yet again Simon is part of the judge panel, Join him is Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan. Piers had left the show and Simon only appeared on one live show in 2011 and returned full time for the 2012 series with David Walliams, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon.

Simon Cowell has the effect on people as the mean judge with great teeth. This is because he speaks his mind, and as a judge he is entitled to his own opinion, but this is why he his where he is today. 

Branson.... its not just Virgin

Richard Branson

                                                    (Richard Charles Nicolas Branson)




Just a little Richard

Richard was born July 18th 1950 (age 62) in Surrey, England. Richard had a hard time with education due to his struggle with dyslexia. At 13 Branson had attended at Scaitclaffe School, he was then transferred to Stowe school, a boarding school in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. After struggling still through to the age of 15, Richard had dropped out of school to start a youth-culture magazine called "Student". The magazine was run by students for students and had sold $8000 worth of advertising in the first addition, which was launched in 1966.

Not just Virgin
(Typical thing he done)

In 1969, Richard had an idea to start a mail-order record company called "Virgin" to help fund his magazine. The business had become such a success that Branson was able to expand to his own record shop in Oxford street in London. With all the success with the business and shop, he was able to build a recording studio in Oxfordshire, England in 1973.

Virgin records had its first artist, Mike Oldfield, in 1973 with his record single "Tubular bells" with the help of Branson's team.


It stayed on the UK charts for 247 weeks, instantly became a smash hit. After Oldfield's success, Virgin records had begun signing more artists such as the sex pistols. Other groups for example, The rolling stones and Culture club have put Virgin records in one of the top six record companies in the world.

Yet again, Branson had expanded his efforts, to include the travel company, Voyager group in 1980 the airline Virgin Atlantic in 1984, and a series of Virgin Megastores.












(Choice he made)
By 1992, Virgin started struggling financially, due to this, the company was sold later that year to THORN EMI for $1 billion.
1993, Branson founded the station Virgin Radio, and later started another record company. V2 includes such artists as Power Finger and Tom Jones.

Richard's Virgin Group holds more than 200 companies in over 30 countries to this day, including the UK, the U.S., Australia, Canada, Asia, Europe and South Africa. His business has yet again expanded to include, a train company, a luxury game preserve, a
mobile phone company, and a space tourism company "Virgin Galactic". Space flights had begun in 2009.

Chris Blackwell

Small biography

Christopher Percy Gordon, formally known as Chris Blackwell, is an English businessmen and former record producer. He was born on 22nd June 1937 in Westminster, London (today aged 75).

After spending most of his childhood in Jamaica, Blackwell was sent to Britain for further education at Harrow public school on England.


1958 was the year that Blackwell had formed a record label, with a $10,000 investment from his parents. The name for the label was taken from Alec Waugh's novel Island in the sun, there for creating Island records.


Island records became one of the most successful label's of the 1980's with artists such as, Traffic, Grace Jones, U2, Bob Marley, Cat Stevens, King Crimson, Millie Small, The Spencer Davis Group and many more.

Typical thing Blackwell done

Chris Blackwell created his own record label named Island Records.

Blackwell had discovered and produced many acts/artists including Millie Small, Bob Marley, Grace Jones, Roxy Music, Robert Palmer, Lake and Palmer, The Spencer Davis Group and many more.

                                      
- Millie Small was only 15 when Blackwell had produced her, with a cover of Barbie Gaye "My boy lollipop". Millie's version became a big hit and sold worldwide.

(Video of My Boy Lollipop) 










Choices he made
At first Blackwell started off with recording and selling Jamaican music in Jamaica, then he had returned to England in 1962 to expand his business further.

Blackwell decided to change the Island Record label to pink to created a different look.
Chris also collaborated with Trojan records for a bigger market in reggae music.






The Spencer Davis Group was found by Blackwell in a small club up in Birmingham after being told to check out the band. They were originally named The Rhythm and Blues Quartette The Group had influenced Blackwell so much that he began to focus on rock acts.

                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

Why he is where he is now
Chris Blackwell has progressed through his career as he took risks that other producers did not, such as changing looks in the labels, signing a variety of artists and had changed music genues such as Jamaican, rock and reggae. For him to take these risks means that he could learn from any mistakes that these changes may bring, although these changes turned out successful and progressed music by introducing new faces, music and opportunities.

About me

Me, Myself and I...

                         My name is Alexandra Chelsea Veitch and I am 16 years of age.

I currently live with my Auntie, 3 cousins and my aunties partner as I recently moved at the end of 2012. Before I moved in with my Auntie, I was living in Clacton-On-Sea with my mum, dad, two brothers and little sister.

My Auntie (on left) and me (on right).
Some say that we look alike?

 Although you can see
the resemblance. My auntie is my role model, she does not know this, she has helped me put me in the right place and let me into her home as my own.

                                                                 



The little boy on the left is ONE of my twin cousins, Lewis. As much as he may press peoples buttons, he has such a big heart for his big cousin (me).

And here is the SECOND twin, Alfie.
My other room mate. Now Alfie, he can
be more of a handful than Lewis but
at the end of the day, Alfie's like a big
teddy bear inside.

Finally this is my THIRD cousin, Andrew. He also lives at home where I am. He is in a band named "Ribcage" (as shown in the picture on the left), he has been like an older brother to look up to. Anyone would be lucky to have a cousin as awesome as him.

 







On the right is my aunties partner, Mark. Although he is not married to my auntie (yet) I still consider him as my Uncle Mark. The one thing i love about Mark is that he makes my auntie happy, that's all that matters. Also he spoils me as his "niece" he doesn't have to but he does.

                                      My Interests                                               

In my spare time i love to draw. I draw a variety of things such as tattoo designs, everyday observational objects and abstract.

 Appearance:                                                          

As you can tell, I like to change my hair style and colour quite often, I like change when it comes to my looks. I have done this since i was 6 years old, and ever since then I continue to explore ways i could change my hair.

Lyric writing:

Lyric writing is another interest of mine. My inspiration comes from everyday life and situations, so my lyrics are like my personal diary. It shows emotion, good and bad, my life challenges, activities and dramas.




  My Goals

In 2012 I had attended Clacton Coastal Academy Secondary school, in which I had received my GCSE's. For me my GCSE's where a goal/achievement as i was very pleased with the outcome. I had gained:

• C in Art
• C in English
• C in Maths
• B in Dance
• B in ICT                                          
• B in Science                                                     
• B in Health and social                    

I am most proud of my dance as i was predicted a C and achieved higher than my standard.

Future goals:

My main goal in the future, is to become either a successful singer or a song writer.
   - To do this i will attend singing lessons on Mondays to boost confidence.
   - Find a performer or band who would be interested in a singer or a song writer (lyrics) to
     perform with them or let them perform my own lyrics.
   - Perform at a gig