title: Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

text: Stoddart was unaware that before the boys left, Draper had unlocked the basement door so that he and Adamcik could re-enter the house undetected. Some time after leaving the house on Whispering Cliffs, Draper and Adamcik returned to the neighborhood, parked down the street, got out of the car, and put on costumes consisting of dark clothing, gloves, and white, painted masks. The boys quietly entered the house through the basement door while the couple were watching television in the living room. They intentionally made loud noises in an unsuccessful attempt to lure Beckham and Stoddart downstairs "so they could scare them." Next, they found the circuit breaker and turned off the power in the house, hoping the pair would come downstairs to check the breaker. When Beckham and Stoddart did not come downstairs, the boys turned some of the lights back on.


title: Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

text: Stoddart became uneasy after the temporary power outage, and Beckham noticed that one of the Contreras’ dogs kept staring down the basement stairs, periodically barking or growling. Seeing that Stoddart felt scared, Beckham called his mother to ask if he could stay the night at the house with her to ease her mind, but she denied his request – instead she offered to let Stoddart come home with Beckham and stay at their house for the night, and she would bring Stoddart back to the Whispering Cliffs house the next morning. However, Stoddart felt it was her responsibility to stay at the house as she was hired to do and care for the animals, and declined the offer from Beckham's mother.


title: Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

text: At approximately 10:30 pm, Beckham’s mother picked him up, leaving Stoddart at the house alone. Beckham called Adamcik’s cell phone to see where he and Draper were, possibly to meet up with them later. Beckham said he could barely hear Adamcik, who was whispering on the phone, and assumed the boys were in a movie theater.


title: Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

text: From the basement, Draper and Adamcik heard Beckham leave. The teens turned the lights out again at the circuit breaker and waited, hoping Stoddart would come downstairs to turn the lights back on; she did not. Eventually, the boys went upstairs. Draper was armed with a dagger-type weapon and Adamcik had a hunting knife, the weapons having been purchased at a pawn shop. Draper opened and slammed a closet door at the top of the stairs to scare Stoddart, who was lying on the couch in the living room. The boys then brutally attacked her, stabbing her approximately thirty times; twelve wounds were potentially fatal.


title: Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

text: During the investigation of the murder, police found that Draper and Adamcik had recorded their plan to murder Stoddart in advance on videotape while they were at school. This video footage was shown at their trials. Therefore they were arrested.


title: Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

text: Draper and Adamcik were arrested on September 27, 2006, and charged with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. During the interrogations, each teen blamed the other. Draper claimed he was in the same room with Adamcik when Stoddart was killed but denied stabbing her, then later admitted to stabbing her under alleged commands from Adamcik. He led investigators to Black Rock Canyon, where the teens had disposed of the clothing, masks, and weapons they used for the murder.


title: Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

text: At trial, the prosecution revealed that Draper had said he was inspired by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who committed the Columbine High School massacre. Later, Adamcik was said to have been inspired by the "Scream" horror film franchise. Draper was convicted on April 17, 2007; Adamcik was convicted on June 8, 2007. On August 21, 2007, based on being convicted of first-degree murder, each received a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, and thirty years-to-life for being convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.


title: Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

text: Adamcik and Draper are both serving their time at Idaho State Correctional Institution, located in unincorporated Ada County, Idaho, near Kuna. In November 2019, Adamcik’s sentence was upheld after his appeal was denied by the Idaho Supreme Court.


title: Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

text: The murderers' attorneys filed separate appeals at the Idaho Supreme Court, in September 2010 for Adamcik and in April 2011 for Draper. Draper was seeking to have his conviction vacated or to be given a limited life sentence that would allow for his release on parole (if approved) after thirty years. The first appeal for both Adamcik and Draper was denied in a 3–2 decision. The high court vacated Draper's conviction on conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, saying that jurors were given erroneous instructions on that charge, but they affirmed his conviction for first-degree murder and life sentence without parole.


title: Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

text: In July 2015, Adamcik gained a hearing for post-conviction relief with state Sixth District Magistrate Judge Mitchell W. Brown. He claimed that testimony from character witnesses could have changed the outcome of the sentencing, but that his former attorney, against his parents' wishes, chose not to call upon these witnesses. Adamcik said that his attorney believed that the prosecution would have submitted even more damaging evidence. In March 2016, Judge Brown denied his request for post-conviction relief. Adamcik appealed Judge Brown's decision to the Idaho Supreme Court, which on December 26, 2017, rejected Adamcik's appeal for post-conviction relief and upheld the district court decision.


title: Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

text: Following the Idaho Supreme Court's decision, Adamcik filed a federal writ of "habeas corpus" in January 2018, in which he argued that the court denied his first appeal based on a theory that was not presented to the jury. Adamcik also argued that he should be entitled to a new sentencing hearing in light of the "Miller" and "Montgomery" decisions (see section US Supreme Court and mandatory life sentences below). Federal magistrate judge Candy W. Dale presided over Adamcik's writ and on November 25, 2019, she denied the writ. Adamcik is currently appealing Judge Dale's decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals with oral arguments taking place on February 7, 2022, with Jay Bybee, Morgan Christen, and James Selna (who's sitting by designation) presiding. On March 24, 2022, they upheld the sentence in an unpublished decision.


title: Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

text: In 2010, the Stoddart family filed a civil lawsuit against the Idaho School District, claiming that school authorities were negligent and should have known that Draper and Adamcik posed a threat to others. Both the civil court and the Idaho Supreme Court dismissed the case, saying the actions of the killers were not foreseeable.


title: Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

text: In "Miller v. Alabama" , the United States Supreme Court ruled that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole are unconstitutional for juvenile offenders, even in cases of murder, ruling that the youth of the convict had to be considered.


title: Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

text: In 2016, the Supreme Court ruled in "Montgomery v. Louisiana" that this doctrine had to be applied to cases retroactively, and directed a review of all such cases, potentially 1,200 to 1,500 nationwide. Given juveniles' brain immaturity, the Supreme Court ruled that there had to be an opportunity to consider mitigating factors, as well as for later review of the sentences of such inmates, with possible relief for persons who had reformed. It said that "children who commit even heinous crimes are capable of change." Draper and Adamcik are among the cases that the state courts will review under this ruling. Some 1,100 cases are found in the states of Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and Michigan, where state courts had ruled that the "Miller v. Alabama" decision was not retroactive.


title: Murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

text: On October 16, 2019, the Supreme Court held oral arguments in "Mathena v. Malvo", another juvenile life without parole case that could have had an effect on Adamcik's and Draper's sentences. The Supreme Court dismissed the "Malvo" case, but heard oral arguments in "Jones v. Mississippi", another case relating to juvenile life without parole sentences, on November 3, 2020. On April 22, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in "Jones" that a finding of permanent incorrigibility isn't required when sentencing a juvenile.


title: Bol Bol

text: Bol Manute Bol (; born November 16, 1999) is a Sudanese-American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks. A son of basketball player Manute Bol (who was known for being one of the tallest NBA players in history), Bol was born in Khartoum, Sudan, but began living in Olathe and Overland Park, Kansas, from a young age. In high school, Bol was considered one of the best players in the class of 2018, having been rated a consensus five-star recruit and earning McDonald's All-American honors. A center listed at , he is one of the tallest players in the NBA.


title: Bol Bol

text: Bol started his high school career at Blue Valley Northwest High School, where he was assigned to the junior varsity team. He transferred to Bishop Miege High School in the middle of the season but remained on junior varsity due to transfer rules. He joined varsity in his second year. As a junior, he moved to Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, rising in profile as a recruit. In his final season, Bol played for Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nevada. At the international level, he represents the United States but has never competed for them in a FIBA tournament. He was drafted with the 44th pick in the 2019 NBA draft by the Miami Heat, but was traded to the Denver Nuggets on draft day.


title: Bol Bol

text: Bol was born on November 16, 1999, in Khartoum, Sudan, as the second child of former National Basketball Association (NBA) star Manute Bol and his wife Ajok Kuag. He was named after his late great-grandfather and Dinka chief Bol Chol Bol. In 1998, after an American missile strike during the Second Sudanese Civil War, Manute was accused of being an American spy and was barred by the Sudanese government from fleeing to the United States. In 2001, the family traveled to Cairo, Egypt, where they were stranded for many months due to visa problems, despite having acquired tickets to the United States from American friends.


title: Bol Bol

text: In the following year, when Bol was two years old, his family moved to Connecticut as designated political refugees. Upon encouragement from his father, he began playing basketball at age four, although he was initially reluctant. Bol eventually began training with his father in the gym. At age seven, he moved to Olathe, Kansas, a city with a large South Sudanese population. As a seventh grader, Bol featured in a highlight video at an Indianapolis basketball camp that drew attention from CBS Sports and "The Washington Post". His first NCAA Division I offer came from New Mexico State, when he was still in the eighth grade.


title: Bol Bol

text: For the beginning of his freshman basketball season, Bol played for the junior varsity team of Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kansas. Because he did not live in his school district, Bol transferred to Bishop Miege High School in Roeland Park, Kansas where he continued his freshman season. At age 14, he stood , but he was forced to remain at the junior varsity level until February 2015 because of transfer rules. Bol made his debut for the Bishop Miege junior varsity team on December 11, 2014, displaying his shot blocking and shooting ability. Despite becoming eligible on the varsity team by the end of the season, he did not earn playing time. On March 4, 2015, sports website Bleacher Report compared him to a taller Kevin Durant. In May, Bol played for his under-15 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team KC Run GMC at the Jayhawk Invitational in Kansas City, Missouri, scoring 15 points in one game. By then, he was receiving interest from a number of NCAA Division I programs, including Kansas and Oklahoma.


title: Bol Bol

text: In his sophomore season, Bol was ranked as one of the top players in the class of 2018 by recruiting service 247Sports. On January 6, 2016, in his fourth varsity game, he posted 16 points in a 59–57 upset loss to Hogan Preparatory Academy. Bol contributed 14 points to help Bishop Miege win the Kansas Class 4A Division I state title game, 69–59, over McPherson High School in March. After leading his team to a 22-win season, he earned class 4A-I first-team honors. In April 2016, he received a scholarship offer from Kansas.


title: Bol Bol

text: In November 2016, Bol announced that he was transferring from Bishop Miege to Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California for his junior year. He was encouraged to join the program because of its head coach Gary McKnight. Bol debuted for Mater Dei on January 24, 2017, recording 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks to coast past Orange Lutheran High School. On February 24, he recorded 14 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 blocks in an overtime win over defending national champions Chino Hills High School. He scored 15 points in a March 4 loss to Bishop Montgomery High School at the CIF Southern Section Open Division title game. On March 14, at the Open Division semifinals, Bol led Mater Dei with 15 points and 6 rebounds as they defeated St. Augustine High School. He averaged 16.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game as a junior, leading his team to a California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) runner-up finish. During the season he received offers from Arizona, USC, and Oregon, as well as offers from Kentucky and UCLA. In May, at the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) with his team California Supreme, Bol averaged 25.4 points, 9.9 rebounds and 4.1 blocks per game.


title: Bol Bol

text: Bol transferred to Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nevada in November 2017, where he would play under head coach Paul Washington. His head coach at Mater Dei said that Bol made the move due to "family reasons." Shortly after, he committed to play college basketball for Oregon, choosing them over Kentucky. Before the season, Bol was included among 20 players in the "USA Today" preseason boys' basketball team. On November 27, 2017, he recorded 30 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks in a 66–61 win over Morgan Park High School at the Like Mike Invitational. Bol scored 32 points in 21 minutes, shooting 14-of-17 from the field, in a January 14, 2018 rout of Immaculate Conception High School at the Spalding Hoophall Classic. He was selected for the 2018 McDonald's All-American Boys Game, but was unable to play due to injury. Bol finished his senior season at Findlay Prep averaging 20.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game, earning All-USA Boys Basketball Second-Team honors from "USA Today" High School Sports.


title: Bol Bol

text: Bol joined Oregon as a freshman in the 2018–19 season under head coach Dana Altman. Entering the season, he was considered one of the best prospects for the upcoming NBA draft, although analysts described him as a polarizing prospect in the long term. On November 6, 2018, Bol debuted with a double-double of 12 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 23 minutes against Portland State. He later recorded a season-high 32 points and 11 rebounds in an 89–84 loss to Texas Southern. After recording 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks in a 66–54 win over San Diego on December 12, Bol injured his left foot and missed the rest of the season. He declared for the NBA Draft after his freshman season. Bol was projected as the third pick in the 2019 NBA Draft behind Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett before his season-ending injury.


title: Bol Bol

text: Bol was drafted with the 44th pick of the 2019 NBA draft by the Miami Heat. He was originally mentioned as a top 3–10 pick but slid in the draft until the second round. His draft rights were then traded to the Denver Nuggets for a 2022 second-round draft pick acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers.


title: Bol Bol

text: On September 6, 2019, Bol signed a two-way contract with the Nuggets, splitting time with the Windy City Bulls. He had his first double double in the NBA G League on November 20, recording 16 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in a 115–105 win over the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. On November 24, the Nuggets recalled Bol.


title: Bol Bol

text: Bol eventually made his NBA debut in the 2020 NBA Bubble on August 1, 2020, recording 5 points and 4 rebounds in under 11 minutes of play in a 125–105 loss to the Miami Heat.


title: Bol Bol

text: On January 10, 2022, Bol was traded to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Rodney McGruder and a 2022 second-round draft pick via the Brooklyn Nets. The trade was voided on January 13, after Bol failed his physical fitness exam. On January 18, he underwent surgery on his right foot and was listed as out indefinitely. On January 19, 2022, Bol and PJ Dozier were traded to the Boston Celtics in a three-team transaction involving the San Antonio Spurs, which sent Juancho Hernangómez to San Antonio and Bryn Forbes to Denver. On February 10, before playing in a game for the Celtics, Bol and Dozier were traded to the Orlando Magic, alongside a future second-round draft pick and cash considerations, for a 2023 protected second-round pick. On March 15, he was ruled out for the remainder of the season.


title: Bol Bol

text: On July 7, 2022, Bol re-signed with the Magic. On November 16, Bol recorded a career-high 26 points, alongside 12 rebounds, and three blocks in a 126–108 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.


title: Bol Bol

text: After taking part in training camp, Bol was a finalist to make the United States roster for the 2017 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup. However, he was later cut from the squad by head coach John Calipari.


title: Bol Bol

text: In April 2018, Bol drew attention at the Nike Hoop Summit, playing for the United States junior national select team. He recorded 20 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals in an 89–76 loss to Team World, which was made up of international players playing high school basketball in the United States.


title: Bol Bol

text: Bol is the son of former NBA player Manute Bol. Bol has ten siblings, including Madut, who played college basketball at Southern University and graduated in 2013.


title: Leona Lewis

text: Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved national recognition when she won the third series of "The X Factor" in 2006, winning a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music. Her winner's single, a cover of Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This", peaked at number one for four weeks on the UK Singles Chart and broke a world record by reaching 50,000 digital downloads within 30 minutes. In February 2007, Lewis signed a five-album contract in the United States with Clive Davis's record label, J Records.


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis's success continued with the release of her debut studio album, "Spirit" (2007), which was certified 10× platinum in the UK and became the fourth best-selling album of the 2000s and one of the best-selling albums in UK chart history. According to the Official Charts Company, "Spirit" is the best-selling debut album by a female artist in the 21st century. The lead single, "Bleeding Love", spent seven weeks at number one in the UK and was the best-selling single of 2007. In the US, it was the best-selling single of 2008 and Lewis was proclaimed Best New Artist by "Billboard" the same year. In 2009, she released her second studio album, "Echo," and recorded the theme song, "I See You", for the film "Avatar".


title: Leona Lewis

text: In 2011, Lewis released the single "Collide", a collaboration with Swedish DJ Avicii, and her debut extended play, "". Her third studio album, "Glassheart" (2012), marked a new creative direction for Lewis, drawing inspiration from dubstep and electronic music. She began to record material for her first Christmas album during her Glassheart Tour, which took place in mid 2013. "Christmas, with Love" was released later that year and its lead single, "One More Sleep", peaked at number three in the UK. With this chart entry, Lewis became the first British female solo artist to reach the top five with eight singles, surpassing Olivia Newton-John's record of seven.


title: Leona Lewis

text: In 2014, she made her film debut in "Walking on Sunshine," and her fourth studio album, "I Am", was released the following year. In 2016, Lewis made her Broadway debut as Grizabella in the revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Cats," and the following year, she signed a modelling contract with Wilhelmina Models. She then collaborated with Calum Scott on the single "You Are The Reason" (2018), and had a recurring role on the American television series "The Oath" (2019). In 2021, Lewis joined the Paramount+ show "Queen of The Universe" as a judge.


title: Leona Lewis

text: According to her record company, as of 2021, Lewis has sold over 35 million records worldwide. She has won two MOBO Awards, an MTV Europe Music Award, and two World Music Awards. She is also a six-time BRIT Award and three-time Grammy Award nominee. Aside from her music and acting career, Lewis has publicly supported various charitable causes, particularly animal rights; she is also vegan.


title: Leona Lewis

text: Leona Louise Lewis was born on 3 April 1985, in Islington, London, England, to a father of Afro-Guyanese descent and a mother with Welsh, Irish and Italian ancestry. She has an older half-brother, Bradley, and a younger brother, Kyle. Noticing Lewis's passion for singing, her parents enrolled her at the Sylvia Young Theatre School and later at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, the Ravenscourt Theatre School and the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology until they could no longer afford to do so, making cutbacks when necessary to help their daughter achieve her aspiration of being a singer.


title: Leona Lewis

text: At the age of 17, Lewis decided to leave BRIT School to "get out there" and pursue a career in music. By then, she had already begun to write and record her own material, and she worked as a receptionist at a solicitor's office and as a Pizza Hut waitress in order to fund the studio sessions. At 18, Lewis secured a lead role in "The Lion King" theatre show in Paris; however, she withdrew after injuring her back while she was ice-skating.


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis recorded a demo album, called "Twilight", in collaboration with Spiral Music, a production company based in Fulham, but it failed to secure her an album deal with any record companies. Although the album was never released commercially, Lewis performed a couple of the tracks live on BBC Radio 1 music station in 2004. Another demo album was recorded under license from UEG Entertainment, "Best Kept Secret", which have reportedly claimed to have spent £70,000 trying to launch Lewis's career with no success. A track from the album, "Private Party", became a hit on the underground urban music scene in London in 2005. Speaking about her struggle to secure a record contract, Lewis said, "I tried to secure a record deal by doing things my own way. I worked very hard but I never managed to land a contract. That's why I decided to audition for "The X Factor". It's programmes like these which provide the best place to showcase fresh new talent."


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis auditioned for the third series of "The X Factor" in 2006, singing "Over the Rainbow" for judges Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and guest judge Paula Abdul. She was placed in the 16–24 category, with Cowell as her mentor. Throughout the course of the show, Lewis was compared with artists such as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, performing songs by all three of them. Lewis defeated Ray Quinn to win the competition on 16 December 2006, receiving 60% of over eight million televotes cast in the final. As a prize for winning, Lewis signed a £1 million recording contract with Cowell's record label, Syco Music. Upon winning, Lewis said:


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis's winner's single, a cover of Kelly Clarkson's song "A Moment Like This", was released on 17 December 2006. In the United Kingdom, it broke a world record after being digitally downloaded more than 50,000 times in less than 30 minutes. The song became the 2006 UK Christmas number-one single, selling 571,000 copies in its first week and selling more than the Top-40 combined. It spent four consecutive weeks atop the UK Singles Chart and was number one in Ireland for six weeks. Despite being released on 17 December, "A Moment Like This" became the second best selling single in the United Kingdom in 2006, and it has been certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting shipments of over 600,000 copies. As of December 2014, Lewis's version has sold 900,000 copies in the United Kingdom.


title: Leona Lewis

text: In February 2007, Lewis signed a £5 million (US$9.7 million) five-album contract in the United States with Clive Davis's record label, J Records, and showcased for several American music executives. A press release described how Cowell and Davis would work together in a "first-of-its-kind" partnership on both the song and producer selection for Lewis's debut album, "Spirit". Lewis recorded tracks for the album in London, Miami, Los Angeles, New York City and Atlanta, where she worked with several songwriters and record producers including Dallas Austin, Walter Afanasieff, Salaam Remi, Steve Mac, Stargate and Ne-Yo. It was released in November 2007 and entered both the Irish Albums Chart and the UK Albums Chart at number one, becoming the fastest-selling debut album in both countries, and the United Kingdom's fourth-fastest selling album of all time. "Spirit" is one of the biggest-selling albums of all time in the UK and is the best-selling debut album by a female artist in the 21st century.


title: Leona Lewis

text: It was released in several other nations in January 2008, and it went to number one in New Zealand, Australia, Austria, Germany, South Africa and Switzerland. Two more tracks were recorded in 2008 for the US release of the album: "Forgive Me", produced by Akon, and "Misses Glass", produced by Madd Scientist. It was released in the United States in April 2008 and entered the "Billboard" 200 at number one, making Lewis the first British artist to reach number one with a debut album. A special edition of "Spirit" was re-released in November 2008 in Europe, including the songs "Forgive Me", "Misses Glass" and a cover of the Snow Patrol song "Run". The album again went to number one in the UK Albums Chart. The album was certified 9× platinum in the UK where it is the fourth best-selling album of the 2000s decade.


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis's second single, "Bleeding Love", produced by Ryan Tedder and written by Tedder and Jesse McCartney, was released in October 2007 in the UK, where it sold 218,805 copies in its first week, giving it the biggest first-week sales of 2007 to date. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number one, where it stayed for seven weeks, and in the Irish Singles Chart, it remained at number one for eight weeks. It reached number one in the singles charts of New Zealand, Australia, France, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Canada and the United States. "Bleeding Love" won The Record of the Year in December 2007. In February 2008, "Bleeding Love" entered the "Billboard" Hot 100 at number 85 and then went on to peak at number one for four non-consecutive weeks. The song became the first track by a UK female to reach number one since Kim Wilde's "You Keep Me Hangin' On" in 1987. Lewis's third single, a double A-side featuring "Better in Time" and "Footprints in the Sand", was released in the United Kingdom in March 2008, in aid of Sport Relief, and she visited South Africa for the charity. The single reached a peak of number two in the UK singles chart selling over 40,000 copies in its first week of physical release. "Better in Time" was released as Lewis's second single in the US, where it peaked at number 11 in the "Billboard" Hot 100. "Forgive Me" was released as Lewis's fifth single in November 2008; it reached number five in the UK. "Run" was released as a download-only single in the UK, reaching number one and becoming the UK's fastest-selling download-only single, with 69,244 copies sold in two days. Lewis's last single from "Spirit", "I Will Be", was released in January 2009, only in North America.


title: Leona Lewis

text: In August 2008, Lewis performed "Whole Lotta Love" with guitarist Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin at the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in Beijing, representing the handover to London as the host of the 2012 Summer Olympics. In September 2008, she joined several female singers to perform a single for the anti-cancer campaign Stand Up to Cancer. The single,"Just Stand Up!", was performed live during the one-hour telethon that aired on all major US television networks. Lewis received three nominations for the 51st Grammy Awards in December 2008. "Bleeding Love" was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and "Spirit" was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album. She was nominated for four BRIT Awards: or British Female Solo Artist, British Breakthrough Act, British Album for "Spirit", and British Single for "Bleeding Love", but despite being the favourite to win the most awards, she received none. She won two awards at the 2008 MOBO Awards: Best Album for "Spirit" and Best Video for "Bleeding Love". In December 2008 Lewis was named 'Top New Artist' by "Billboard" magazine.


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis's second album, "Echo", was given a worldwide release in November 2009. Production took place throughout 2009, including work with Ryan Tedder, Justin Timberlake, Max Martin, Arnthor Birgisson, Kevin Rudolf, and John Shanks. It was recorded in Los Angeles and took nine months to produce. Lewis described the album as "more guitar-driven" compared to "Spirit". Lewis performed her first full UK show at the Hackney Empire in London on 2 November 2009, performing songs from "Spirit" and "Echo". "Echo" reached number one in the UK Albums Chart and the top ten of Austria, Ireland and Switzerland.


title: Leona Lewis

text: Despite previous attempts from Lewis's lawyers to ban the release of "Best Kept Secret" by UEG Music, claiming that the singer had not given her consent, the album was released in January 2009, when the label insisted it owned the rights to the music and Lewis would receive a 50% share of the album's profits. However, a television advert for the album was banned by the Advertising Standards Authority, who said in a statement: "We considered that the claim 'Leona Lewis's new album' misleadingly implied it was the singer's latest recording rather than a new CD of tracks recorded some years ago." The album was released to iTunes in standard and deluxe editions, and two EPs, "Private Party" and "Dip Down"/"Joy", were released in September 2009.


title: Leona Lewis

text: The first single released from "Echo" was "Happy", which was written by Lewis, Tedder and Evan Bogart and produced by Tedder. The single was released on 15 September 2009, peaking at number two in the UK, and reaching the top ten in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Japan and Switzerland. Lewis also recorded the theme song for the 2009 science fiction film "Avatar", directed by James Cameron. The song, "I See You", was written by James Horner and Simon Franglen. It was nominated for Best Original Song at the 67th Golden Globe Awards. Another usage of Lewis' album can be found in "My Hands", which was used in the international release of the Square Enix video game "Final Fantasy XIII." In January 2010, Lewis provided vocals on a cover of "Everybody Hurts", released to help raise money for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The second single from "Echo", "I Got You", was released in February 2010. In April 2010, she featured on a duet with Italian singer Biagio Antonacci, called "Inaspettata (Unexpected)", from his album "Inaspettata". They performed the song on the Italian TV show "Io Canto" on 22 October 2010.


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis performed a 13-piece set list at the Rock in Rio festival in Lisbon, Portugal, on 22 May 2010, including songs from "Spirit" and "Echo".


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis signed a book deal in January 2009 to release an illustrated autobiography in October 2009. The book, "Dreams", contains mostly pictures taken by photographer Dean Freeman. At a book signing for "Dreams" on 14 October 2009, at the Piccadilly branch of Waterstone's book store in central London, Lewis was assaulted by a 29-year-old man from south London who began punching her in the head. He was arrested at the scene; the assailant was sectioned under the Mental Health Act 2007 and was charged with common assault. He admitted to the offence and was hospitalised for an indeterminate period.


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis's first tour, titled The Labyrinth supporting "Spirit" and "Echo", started in May 2010. Lewis was scheduled to tour North America from July to August 2010 supporting Christina Aguilera's Bionic Tour, but Aguilera cancelled the tour, leaving Lewis's plans unknown. A DVD of the tour, along with a ten-track CD, was released with the title "The Labyrinth Tour Live from The O2" on 29 November 2010.


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis began work on her third album, "Glassheart", shortly after she had completed The Labyrinth tour. Though originally announced to be released on 28 November 2011 in the UK, it was eventually released in October 2012. The album was released on the RCA Records brand after RCA Music Group disbanded J Records along with Arista Records and Jive Records. Lewis described "Glassheart" as "energetic, deep, [and] unique" and said it would have a darker tone. She cited Tracy Chapman, Kate Bush and Tears for Fears as the album's primary influences. For the album, Lewis worked with numerous writers and producers including Ammo, Jonas Quant, Chuck Harmony, Claude Kelly, Ryan Tedder, Fraser T Smith, Al Shux, Steve Robson, Dallas Austin, Rico Love and Ne-Yo.


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis released a single, the dance-pop song "Collide", written by Autumn Rowe and produced by Sandy Vee, in the UK on 4 September 2011 and Germany on 9 September 2011. It debuted on the official UK top 40 singles chart at number 4. Furthermore, "Collide" charted at number one on the Dance Club Songs (Billboard) in the US, with the Afrojack remix nominated for Best Remixed Recording at the 2012 Grammy Awards. Lewis released an EP on 9 December 2011, "", containing three covers. Lewis went on to perform on the American version of "X Factor", and as the featured performer for the closing of the 2011 Doha Film Festival, where she sang ten songs, including several cover versions. In June 2012, she performed at BBC Radio 1's Hackney Weekend 2012 after being announced on 25 May 2011 as an ambassador for the event. It was the BBC's biggest ever free-ticketed live music event. Following the announcement that Lewis would be an ambassador, she performed a special Live Lounge at the Hackney Empire, with a reggae version of "Better in Time", which incorporated Rihanna's "Man Down", and a cover of Labrinth's "Let the Sun Shine". At the Hackney Weekend, Lewis performed further cover versions and debuted the song "Come Alive" from "Glassheart".


title: Leona Lewis

text: In August 2012, Lewis announced that the lead single from "Glassheart" would be "Trouble", released on 7 October 2012. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number seven. The album debuted at number three in the UK and at number four in Ireland, respectively. The second single, "Lovebird", failed to reach the UK top 200 in the absence of radio support. Lewis embarked on a 16-date tour in the UK beginning in April 2013.


title: Leona Lewis

text: In February 2013, Lewis left her management, Modest! Management. It was announced that she would begin work on her fourth studio album, which would be released later in the year. In July 2013, Lewis revealed that her new studio album would be a "Motown-influenced" Christmas collection, with both classic covers and original material. The album, "Christmas, with Love", was released on 2 December 2013 and the lead single, "One More Sleep", was released on 5 November 2013. Lewis performed the song on the semi-final of the tenth series of "The X Factor" on 8 December 2013. The same day, "One More Sleep" debuted at number 34 on the UK Singles Chart with "Christmas, with Love" debuting at number 25 on the UK Albums Chart. A week later, "Christmas, with Love" advanced to number 13 and "One More Sleep" climbed 31 places to number 3, making it Lewis' highest-charting single since 2009's "Happy". With "One More Sleep" peaking inside the top five on the UK Singles Chart, Lewis set a new record for British female solo artist with the most top five singles in the history of the chart, bringing her total to eight. She has overtaken Olivia Newton-John's tally of seven top five singles.


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis featured on Michael Bolton's cover of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" for his , which was released in May 2014. The same month, she performed the traditional pre-match anthem "Abide with Me", and the national anthem "God Save the Queen", at the FA Cup Final, and the song "La La La" with Naughty Boy at the 2014 World Music Awards.


title: Leona Lewis

text: In June 2014, Lewis had parted ways with Syco Music, and signed a new record deal with Universal Music's Island Records UK. Lewis later revealed that her departure from Syco had come after "several years" of consideration. She also stated that when she expressed her desire to part with the label, she was threatened with the public being told that she had been dropped instead of parting amicably. However, further creative differences in relation to her fifth studio album finally caused Lewis to leave the label. Of her departure, she stated, "I was asked to make a record that would not have been true to myself. By all means as an artist in this climate, I was thankful to even get the chance to make another record. But I cannot make music that does not speak to my soul, and as scary as it seemed, I could no longer compromise myself, and so I decided to leave".


title: Leona Lewis

text: In April 2015, during an intimate showcase in London, Lewis revealed "Fire Under My Feet" to be the lead single from her fifth studio album. The song premiered on BBC Radio 2 on 11 May 2015. In July, "I Am" and "Thunder", were released as the album's second and third singles, respectively; "Thunder" served as the album's lead single in the US. The album "I Am" was released on 11 September 2015, in the UK. That day, Lewis announced her third headlining concert tour, titled the I Am Tour, which ran from February to March 2016. On 13 September 2015, she performed songs from "I Am" during her set on the main stage at Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park. On 26 September 2015, Lewis appeared as a special guest at the Nashville concert on Taylor Swifts The 1989 World Tour, where the pair performed "Bleeding Love" as a duet. After the show, Swift took to Twitter, stating, "Oh my God @leonalewis sang 'Bleeding Love' tonight in Nashville and I may never recover". In December 2015, Lewis performed a cover of "Girl Crush" with Adam Lambert at the CMT Artists of the Year event. The performance earned the pair a CMT Music Award nomination in 2016.


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis split from Island Records in June 2016 because of "something that didn't click". In December, she reimagined Hans Zimmer's "Now We Are Free" on the album "Hans Zimmer: The Classics". The following December, she paid tribute to Lionel Richie with a performance at the 40th Annual Kennedy Center Honors. In 2018, Lewis collaborated with Calum Scott on a new version of his song "You Are the Reason" recorded as a duet, with Pitbull on "Amore", the lead single for the 2018 film "Gotti", and with Hellberg on the song "Headlights". "You Are the Reason" peaked at number 43 in the UK and charted across the world, and was later certified gold by the BPI and platinum by the RIAA. In 2018, Lewis performed at the National Memorial Day Concert in Washington D.C., and at the 92nd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. She appeared as a musical guest in an episode of NBC's 2019 television show "Songland", searching for upcoming songwriters. Lewis recorded the winning song, "Solo Quiero (Somebody to Love)", which was written during the show. In November 2019, she performed at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance, at Royal Albert Hall, London, honouring servicemen and veterans.


title: Leona Lewis

text: During this period Lewis turned to acting, appearing in a supporting role of Elena in the 1980s-inspired 2014 musical film "Walking on Sunshine". She also made her Broadway debut, as Grizabella, in the July 2016 revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Cats". She left the role, after three months of playing the character, on 9 October 2016. In 2018, she was cast in the recurring role of Amber Hall in the Sony Crackle's TV series "The Oath", which premiered in February 2019. Lewis also appeared as a judge on the UK TV series "".


title: Leona Lewis

text: In December 2020, Lewis sang alongside Smokey Robinson, Tori Kelly and Sam Fischer on a cover of "What The World Needs Now", with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross. Lewis announced she would tour with Gary Barlow on his tour "All the Hits Live 2021", in arenas across the UK and Ireland, in November and December 2021. It was her first time touring since the 2016 I Am Tour.


title: Leona Lewis

text: In August 2021, Lewis featured alongside singer James Morrison on the debut album of songwriter Diane Warren, on a song entitled "Grow Old with Me". On 28 October 2021, Lewis announced she would be a judge on the Paramount+ series "Queen of the Universe", which premiered in December. She departed after the first season, and was replaced by Mel B. In November 2021, Lewis released the song "Kiss Me It's Christmas", featuring Ne-Yo. The song features on the re-issue of the 2013 album "Christmas, with Love", entitled "Christmas, with Love Always", released on 19 November 2021. In December 2021, Lewis was named Spotify Equal UK and Ireland Artist of the Month. In the same month, Lewis was a special guest on BBC One's "I Can See Your Voice" Christmas special. Lewis also performed at the Royal Carols: Together at Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey. The concert, hosted by Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, celebrated the heroes and volunteers of the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Leona Lewis

text: In March 2022, Lewis received a nomination at the 2022 Music Week Awards, for her "Christmas, with Love Always" marketing campaign in 2021.


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis has a mezzo-soprano vocal range, which spans four octaves, and has had classical training. She has stated that she practices operatic scales every week. Music critic Neil McCormick, of "The Daily Telegraph", has praised Lewis's technical skills: "Her mezzo-soprano range allows her to take melodies from luxurious low notes to high-flying falsetto, gliding with elegant power and impressive control through all kinds of fluctuations and modulations". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of "AllMusic" added, "Lewis can hit [high belted] notes but make it seem easy, never straining her voice and building nicely to the climax... Unlike most divas, there is a human quality to her voice, as she's singing to the song, not singing to her voice". In the same vein, "Slant" described Lewis's vocals as "technically unimpeachable" in a review of her album "Echo", but criticised them for "lacking any warmth or emotional expression".


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis commented on the musical style of her debut album describing the album as "classic songs with a contemporary edge", with R&B and "fresh pop" styles, ballads and "soulful up-tempo numbers". It has an American style, with some electronic 1980s sounds. However, the songs are not beat-driven or following the latest trends but can be performed acoustically. Lewis's second album, "Echo", mixed pop and R&B; during an interview with "Variety" magazine, she said on the album's sound that she "wanted the album to have a little bit more of a live feel to it, with a little more live instrumentation." In February 2011, talking about her third studio album "Glassheart", Lewis said that the album would be more experimental than "Spirit" and "Echo" by embodying a "different" yet "classic" sound. She added, "I'm really, really excited about it. I'm working with some new producers, some up and coming people and it's going to be kind of a different sound – but still classic". Lewis described it as "energetic, deep, [and] unique". She also commented that it would have a darker tone and that she would be putting her "heart into [her] lyrics".


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis credits Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey among her major influences: "when I was growing up I used to listen to Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, those kind[s] of big powerful kind of singers so that influences a lot of my music and a lot of the songs I like to sing". She also credits Sia, Taylor Swift, Tegan and Sara and Brittany Howard as some of her female inspirations, as well as Beyoncé.


title: Leona Lewis

text: In October 2008, "The Times" reported that Lewis had turned down a seven-figure sum from Mohamed Al Fayed to open a Harrods sale. Lewis commented that she turned down the deal on the grounds that Harrods is the only UK department store that continues to stock clothing made from animal fur: "It wasn't a million pounds that I was offered, as the papers reported, but even if it had been, I still would have turned it down". "I got a lot of flak for that. There were people who said I should have done it and given the money to charity, but that would have been such a contradiction." She announced in October 2008 that she was in the "bargaining period" of launching her own ethical line of accessories through Topshop and that she was in the late stages of releasing her own perfume in Europe. Her perfume, "Leona Lewis", was launched by LR in July 2009. In 2010, she set up a fashion company with her then-boyfriend, Lou Al-Chamaa, called LOA Clothing Ltd, which was dissolved in 2012. In 2010, Lewis featured in "Modern Dog" magazine, where she stated her love of dogs and horses, and her admiration for the McCartney family's stance against animal cruelty.


title: Leona Lewis

text: In 2011, Lewis was a guest judge on "Platinum Hit", and in May 2012, she returned to "The X Factor" as a guest judge during auditions in London for the ninth series. In March 2013, Lewis was announced as the new brand activist for The Body Shop and released a cruelty-free makeup range. She has also shown support for Little Kids Rock, a non-profit organization that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged US public schools, by donating items for auction to raise money for the organization. In February 2016, she became a brand ambassador for Kiss Products. Lewis headlined Cirque du Soleil's One Night for One Drop performance in Las Vegas in March 2016, to help to raise funds and awareness for critical water issues worldwide. In June 2016, she released a charity single "(We All Are) Looking for Home", created in collaboration with Diane Warren for the Vanderpump Dog Foundation's public service announcement, in opposition to the Yulin Dog Meat Festival.


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis signed a modelling contract with Wilhelmina Models in 2017. That year, she became ambassador of MTV Staying Alive to "empower and educate the new generation" in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Lewis and MTV Staying Alive partnered with Kiehl's to create a Creamy Eye Treatment, with £10 from every product sold going towards educating young people in preventing HIV/AIDS. In 2018, she designed Christmas-themed jumpers with Hopefield Animal Sanctuary, with all net profits going towards the charity. Moreover, she supports (RED)'s Global Fund to end AIDS, and in association with the app Calm contributed narration of a sleep story, thus providing 100,000 people with life-saving HIV medication. Lewis, initially contracted to serve as a guest judge, became a permanent judge on "" in December 2019, joining during the Audience auditions.


title: Leona Lewis

text: That same month, Lewis opened a vegan cafe in Pasadena called Coffee and Plants, which is plant-based with everything recyclable and a tree planted after 100 cups sold. The cafe works in partnership with Hopefield Animal Sanctuary, with proceeds of select items donated to the charity.


title: Leona Lewis

text: In March 2020, Lewis hosted and performed at the youth empowerment event WE Day, at Wembley. The event celebrates students, recognising their impacts on local and global issues. Lewis performed her duet You Are The Reason with singer Calum Scott. Whilst introducing the show and herself, Lewis stated "I'm someone who knows how far a voice can take you. I won a little show called "X Factor" 14 years ago. And that never would have happened if I had not learnt to use my voice." In May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lewis joined several performers during the One Humanity Live broadcast on social media, helping to raise funds for COVID-19 initiatives, performing a cover of "True Colors". Lewis continued her charitable work throughout 2020, releasing a cover of Robbie Williams' "Angels" in honour of the NHS. In December 2020, Lewis headlined the NSPCC's virtual Christmas concert raising money for Childline and backed Save The Children's campaign to prevent child hunger at Christmas. Furthermore, Lewis sang alongside Smokey Robinson, Tori Kelly and Sam Fischer on a cover of "What The World Needs Now", with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross. Lewis also continued to raise money, via Cameo, for Hopefield Animal Sanctuary and RED on World Aids Day, with 100% of the proceeds going to charity.


title: Leona Lewis

text: In June 2021, Lewis was made the official patron of the Hackney Empire, as part of its 120-year anniversary celebrations. Lewis will continue to mentor students and host workshops to champion the arts of the students at the historic venue.


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis lived in Hackney, East London. Lewis was vegetarian from the age of 12 and has been vegan since September 2012. She won PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian, along with Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis, in 2008 and Europe's Sexiest Vegetarian in 2009, along with actor Scott Maslen. She also was named PETA's Person of the Year for 2008. Lewis is a supporter of World Animal Protection and is a patron of the Hopefield Animal Sanctuary in Brentwood, Essex.


title: Leona Lewis

text: In September 2014, in an open letter to fans, Lewis revealed that she felt extremely depressed around the time of her departure from Syco. She later emphasised that it was not clinical depression from which she had been suffering. She credited her professional separation from Simon Cowell and her practice of meditation with helping her "still the madness". In 2017, Lewis revealed she has Hashimoto's disease, detailing the pain and fatigue experienced because of the condition.


title: Leona Lewis

text: Lewis married her long-term fiancé, professional dancer and choreographer Dennis Jauch, in July 2019. The couple married in Tuscany, Italy, at Sting's 16th century, 865-acre, Il Palagio estate. The couple had been dating since 2010.


title: Leona Lewis

text: In November 2019, Lewis sold her $2.25 million Californian ranch, in Glendale, upscaling to a $3.7 million property in the guard-gated Hidden Hills, Los Angeles. She sold the property to Simon Cowell in 2020 for $3.9 million. She purchased her Studio City home for $2.6 million in March 2021.


title: Leona Lewis

text: On 20 March 2022, it was reported that Lewis and Jauch were expecting their first child together. Lewis confirmed the reports on her Instagram account on 23 March. Lewis gave birth to a girl on 22 July 2022 named Carmel Allegra.


title: Mike Love

text: Michael Edward Love (born March 15, 1941) is an American singer and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys with his cousins Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson and their friend Al Jardine. Characterized by his nasal tenor and occasional bass-baritone singing, Love has been one of the band's vocalists and lyricists for their entire career, contributing to each of their studio albums and serving as their frontman for live performances. During the mid-1960s, he was one of Brian's main collaborators, co-writing hit records such as "Fun, Fun, Fun" (1964), "I Get Around" (1964), "Help Me, Rhonda" (1965), "California Girls" (1965), and "Good Vibrations" (1966).


title: Mike Love

text: Drawing inspiration from Chuck Berry and Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, Love's lyrics primarily reflected the youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance, which helped fashion pop culture's perception of the "California Dream". Love also had a significant role in the Beach Boys' vocal arrangements – particularly the doo-wop element in their sound. Starting in 1968, Love was a student of Transcendental Meditation (TM) under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and became a TM teacher in 1971. The experience influenced his lyrics to take on themes of astrology, meditation, politics and ecology. In the late 1970s, Love fronted Celebration, a short-lived band that consisted of Beach Boys touring musicians, and began working on solo albums, releasing his first in 1981, "Looking Back with Love".


title: Mike Love

text: Love is often vilified by fans and critics due to his history of conflicts with the band, a characterization he has disputed. Many of his contributions to the group's hits were not officially recognized until the 1990s, when he sued Brian for writing credits on 35 songs. Love remains uncredited for another 44 Beach Boys songs he alleged to have co-written. Following Carl's death in 1998, the band members and their corporation, Brother Records, Inc., granted Love an exclusive license to tour under the Beach Boys' name. Since then, Love has maintained a near-constant touring regimen with his edition of the group, and has released three more solo albums. He has not performed with Brian since their 2012 reunion tour.


title: Mike Love

text: Love's honors include an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Beach Boys in 1988. Beyond music, he has taken part in projects to promote international charities related to such subjects as environmentalism, juvenile diabetes, and music education.


title: Mike Love

text: Michael Edward Love's mother, Emily (known as "Glee") Wilson (1919〜79), was the sister of Mary and Murry Wilson, a resident of Los Angeles since the early 1920s. Glee married Edward Milton Love (1918〜2013), the son of the founder of the Love Sheet Metal Company, in 1938. Mike Love, the first of their six children, was born in the Baldwin Hills district of Los Angeles in 1941. Thereafter the family moved to the upmarket View Park area. He attended Dorsey High School and graduated in 1959. Unsure of a career direction, Love pumped gas and briefly joined his father's company, whose fortunes dramatically declined in the late 1950s. Both Milt and Glee Love were active in sports, and Love's younger brother Stan Love later played in the National Basketball Association. Glee had a distinct interest in painting and the arts. Like her brother, Murry, however, she was also strong-willed and, according to her husband, a dominant personality. The family was close-knit and regularly socialized with Murry and his family. Murry was a part-time songwriter.


title: Mike Love

text: Love often sang at family get-togethers at his cousins, the Wilsons', home in nearby Hawthorne, especially at Christmas. It was here, under the vocal harmony guidance of Brian Wilson, that the Beach Boys sound was established, predominantly influenced by Brian's devotion to the Four Freshmen's arrangements. Musical accompaniment during this formative phase was solely Brian's self-taught piano, but this was quickly expanded by the guitar contributions of Brian's college friend Al Jardine (whose fundamental interest was folk music) and Carl Wilson (whose idol was Chuck Berry). With the failure of Love Sheet Metal, the family was forced to move to a modest two-bedroom house in Inglewood, closer to the Wilsons.


title: Mike Love

text: Love played rudimentary saxophone in the first years of the fledgling garage band that evolved from the Pendletones to the Beach Boys. He also established himself, along with neighbor Gary Usher, local DJ Roger Christian, and others, as a collaborator with Brian Wilson in the band's original compositions. To write many of the Beach Boys songs, Love drew inspiration from the lyrics of Chuck Berry along with Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, who wrote many of the Everly Brothers' songs including "Devoted to You" and "All I Have to Do is Dream". He explained, "They were both the fun, descriptive pictorial vignettes as well as the more sweet, romantic and devotional lyrics. ... Even before that and more fundamental than that, I was always into poetry."


title: Mike Love

text: Carl Wilson commented that, "It's not widely known, but Michael had a hand in a lot of the arrangements. He would bring out the funkier approaches, whether to go "shoo-boo-bop" or "bom-bom-did-di-did-did". It makes a big difference, because it can change the whole rhythm, the whole color and tone of it." He also credited Love, an avid fan of doo-wop combos, with influencing Brian to listen to black R&B records. Writer Geoffrey Himes stated that without "Mike's R&B influence ... Brian couldn’t have possibly become 'Brian Wilson.'"


title: Mike Love

text: In early 1964, Brian Wilson shifted the Beach Boys away from beach-themed music. That November, Love told a "Melody Maker" reporter that he and his bandmates wanted to look beyond surf music and avoid living in the past or resting on the band's laurels. He is also credited with naming their album "Pet Sounds" (1966). Asked for his favorite Beach Boys album in a 1994 interview, Love responded, "I guess "Pet Sounds" ... because of the orchestrations and arrangement. Because it's not just about cars or girls or school, but it's about feelings."


title: Mike Love

text: Conversely, Love has also been reported as resisting the group's new direction. In the description of music journalist Erik Hedegaard, Love gathered a reputation as "one of the biggest assholes in the history of rock & roll" due to such accusations. Love commented in a 2007 interview,


title: Mike Love

text: Similarly, Love dismissed most of the reported claims about his reservations with the "Smile" album: "I never said anything bad about any of the tracks. I admit to wanting to make a commercially successful pop record, so I might have complained about some of the lyrics on "Smile"". In 1970, Love stated in "Pop Chronicles" that "Smile" was "good stuff" and "a fantastically-produced album", adding that "it'll come out, eventually." Brian said that the collapse of "Smile" was not due to Love's opposition to the lyrics. However, Van Dyke Parks, the album's lyricist, blamed Love with putting "a stop" on the album. In a 1971 "Rolling Stone" article, business associate David Anderle quoted Love saying, "Don't fuck with the formula". Over the ensuing years, the quote was repeated in myriad books, articles, websites, and blogs. Anderle later said that his statement about "the formula" had been misinterpreted. Love returned to co-writing with Brian for the Beach Boys' December 1967 album "Wild Honey", the group's first foray into R&B.


title: Mike Love

text: Love stated in 1978 that the group's unhappiness with Capitol's promotional efforts had led them to change record companies in the late 1960s. "They promoted us very well for the first four or five years, then they failed ... in promoting the change, which would have been very commercially sensible on their part, but they didn't ever do it. In '68 or '69, they were still promoting us as the number one surfing group in the USA. How relevant was that after 'Good Vibrations', "Pet Sounds", "Smiley Smile" or Vietnam and everything else?" In his 2016 memoir, he wrote that, unlike Brian, he was never concerned about being taken seriously by critics, and felt that detractors of their early songs showed "elitism at its worst: because so many people loved our music, there must be something wrong with it."


title: Mike Love

text: In late 1967, Love became one of the many rock musicians who discovered the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi following the Beatles' public endorsement of his Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique in August 1967. In December, Love and his bandmates attended a lecture by the Maharishi at a UNICEF Variety Gala in Paris, and were moved by the simplicity and effectiveness of his meditation process as a means to obtaining inner peace. In January 1968, the Beach Boys attended the Maharishi's public appearances in New York and Cambridge, Massachusetts, after which he invited Love to join the Beatles at his training seminar in Rishikesh in northern India. Love stayed there from February 28 to March 15. He later recalled helping Paul McCartney with the lyrics of "Back in the U.S.S.R.", recorded for the Beatles' White Album (1968).


title: Mike Love

text: While in Rishikesh, Love planned a U.S. concert tour that would feature the Beach Boys and the Maharishi as co-headliners. The tour begun in May 1968 ended abruptly after five shows due to the disappointing audience numbers and the Maharishi's subsequent withdrawal to fulfill film contracts. In his 2016 autobiography, Love wrote: "I take responsibility for an idea that didn't work. But I don't regret it. I thought I could do some good for people who were lost, confused, or troubled, particularly those who were young and idealistic but also vulnerable, and I thought that was true for a whole bunch of us." Despite the ignominy of the tour, the Beach Boys remained ardent supporters of the Maharishi and TM. Love became a TM initiator in 1972 and later progressed to more advanced levels such as the TM-Sidhi Course.


title: Mike Love

text: Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Love wrote the words and music of several Beach Boys songs, including "Big Sur" (1973), "Everyone's in Love with You" (1976) and "Sumahama" (1978). In 1978, he co-founded the band Celebration, which achieved the U.S. Top 30 hit single "Almost Summer" (co-written with Brian Wilson and Jardine). In 1981, he released his first solo album, "Looking Back with Love" (1981), with production by Curt Boettcher.


title: Mike Love

text: In 1988, the Beach Boys had a U.S. number 1 hit with "Kokomo", the only number 1 the band achieved without Brian's involvement. Love (along with "Kokomo" co-writers Scott McKenzie, Terry Melcher, and John Phillips) was nominated for a Golden Globe Award (1988) in the Original Song category, and was nominated for a Grammy Award, for "Kokomo". Also in 1988, Love was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the other founding members of the Beach Boys. At the induction ceremony Love delivered a hostile speech, criticizing, among others, McCartney and Mick Jagger. When asked in 2016 if he regretted anything about the night, Love said, "Yeah, I regret that I didn't meditate [earlier that day]."


title: Mike Love

text: In 1992, Love, along with Jardine and several Wilson family members, sued Brian for defamation regarding claims made in his 1991 memoir "". The case was settled out of court by publisher HarperCollins, who awarded Love $1.5 million. It was the first of numerous lawsuits that Love would file against Brian. Two years later, Love won a legal proceeding to establish what he considered to be proper authorship credit for many of the Beach Boys songs he co-wrote. Love successfully argued that Murry Wilson avoided crediting him with his early lyrical contributions to Brian's songs, denying Love accrued royalties. He later called it "almost certainly the largest case of fraud in music history".


title: Mike Love

text: After the death of Carl Wilson in 1998, Love continued to tour with the Beach Boys, along with Bruce Johnston and a supporting band of new musicians, occasionally including actor John Stamos. He leased exclusive rights to tour under the Beach Boys name in a boardroom settlement with Brother Records, the Beach Boys' company. However, former bandmate Jardine had been touring under the banners "Beach Boys Family & Friends," "Al Jardine, Beach Boy" and "Al Jardine of the Beach Boys" during this time and Love decided to sue him in order to prevent the use of the name. In the lawsuit the courts ruled in Love's favor, denying Jardine the use of the Beach Boys name in any fashion. Jardine proceeded to appeal this decision in addition to seeking $4 million in damages. The California Court of Appeal proceeded to rule that, "Love acted wrongfully in freezing Jardine out of touring under the Beach Boys name", allowing Jardine to continue with his lawsuit. The case ended up being settled outside of court with the terms not disclosed.


title: Mike Love

text: In 2000, ABC premiered a two-part television miniseries, "", that dramatized the Beach Boys' story. It was produced by Stamos and was criticized for historical inaccuracies. Love was an advisor to the film. Some critics accused him of having the film overstate his role in the group and portray negative depictions of Brian and "Smile" collaborator Van Dyke Parks.


title: Mike Love

text: On November 3, 2005, Love sued Brian and the British newspaper "The Mail On Sunday" because the Beach Boys' name and Love's image were used in a promotional CD that was given free with the paper to promote the 2004 "Brian Wilson presents Smile" release. Love argued that the unauthorized (by Brother Records Inc.) free CD resulted in loss of income for the band. Wilson's wife Melinda alleged that, during the deposition, Love turned to Wilson and remarked, "you better start writing a real big hit because you’re going to have to write me a real big check." The lawsuit was dismissed on May 16, 2007, on the grounds that it was without merit.


title: Mike Love

text: In 2011, Love reunited with Brian, Jardine, Johnston and David Marks for a new Beach Boys album and 50th anniversary tour beginning in 2012. In September 2012, Love and Johnston announced via a press release that following the end of the reunion tour the Beach Boys would revert to the Love/Johnston lineup, without Brian, Jardine or Marks, all of whom expressed surprise. Although such dates were noted in a late June issue of "Rolling Stone", it was widely reported that the three had been "fired".


title: Mike Love

text: Love's autobiography, "", was published on September 13, 2016. He wrote the book as a response to "many inaccuracies" that had been said about him over the decades. It was published one month before the release of Brian's autobiography, "". When asked about the book's negative comments toward him, Love responded: "He's not in charge of his life, like I am mine. His every move is orchestrated and a lot of things he's purported to say, there's not tape of it." As of November 2016, Love has not read Brian's book.


title: Mike Love

text: On November 17, 2017, Love released his second solo album "Unleash the Love". On October 26, 2018, Love released his third solo album, "Reason for the Season", featuring traditional and original Christmas music. Love's fourth album "12 Sides Of Summer" was released on July 19, 2019.


title: Mike Love

text: Love has been married to Jacquelyne Piesen since 1994 and has eight children: two with Piesen and six from his four previous marriages. As of 2015, he resides in Incline Village, Nevada on the northern shore of Lake Tahoe. Love is a vegetarian who practices and teaches TM, wears Indian Ayurveda rings, and partakes in traditional Hindu ceremonies.


title: Mike Love

text: In addition to being a cousin of the Wilson brothers, Love is the brother of former NBA basketball player Stan Love, and Pink Martini harpist Maureen Love, and the uncle of Cleveland Cavaliers basketball player Kevin Love. Shawn Marie Love, a woman who was engaged to Dennis Wilson in his final days alleged to be Love's daughter, an accusation that Love denied.


title: Mike Love

text: Love describes himself as a progressive, although a photographed handshake between him and Ronald Reagan in the 1980s led many to label him as a conservative. Notwithstanding the friendly relationship between the Beach Boys and George H. W. Bush for many years, in 1992 the band raised money for the TM-backed Natural Law Party. At the time, Love announced he was switching his support from Bush to NLP candidate John Hagelin.


title: Mike Love

text: In 2018, Love praised Donald Trump for his "support of music historically" and was present at the signing of the Music Modernization Act in October. After Trump's election, the Beach Boys were asked to perform in the festivities for Trump's inauguration, and Love initially responded positively, saying Trump had "been a friend for a long time. Does that mean I agree with everything he says? No. But... if we were asked [to play his inauguration], I’m sure that we would." Instead, during the evening of Trump's inauguration day, Love's Beach Boys performed at the Texas State Society's "Black Tie & Boots" Inaugural Ball.


title: Mike Love

text: In February 2020, Brian Wilson and Jardine's official social media pages encouraged fans to boycott the band's music on animal rights grounds, after it was announced that Love's Beach Boys would perform at a Safari Club International convention in Reno, Nevada. The concert proceeded despite online protests; Love issued a statement that his group has always supported "freedom of thought and expression as a fundamental tenet of our rights as Americans."


title: Mike Love

text: In October 2020, Love's Beach Boys agreed to play as the headliner at a high-dollar fundraiser for Trump's reelection campaign in Newport Beach. In a press release, Wilson and Jardine disavowed the use of the Beach Boys' name and music at the event, stating "we have absolutely nothing to do with the Trump benefit today in Newport Beach. Zero." Love again played at Mar-a-Lago's New Year's Eve celebration that year, alongside other acts.


title: Mike Love

text: Love has been a longtime supporter of environmental causes and was among speakers at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and Earth Day 2000 in Washington, DC. He was instrumental in forming StarServe ("Students Taking Action and Responsibility to Serve"), which enlisted high-profile celebrities to inspire America's youth to help serve their communities. He also created the Love Foundation, which supports national environmental and educational initiatives. Love personally donated $100,000 to the American Red Cross to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina and helped the foundation raise an additional $250,000. He has served as a member of the board of directors of the Lake Tahoe School in Incline Village, Nevada, and was responsible for raising over $1 million to benefit the school.


title: Mike Love

text: In 2010, Love contributed to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's "More Hope For The Holidays" album with vocals on "Closing of the Year" as well as contributing his self-penned "Santa's Goin' To Kokomo". On the album he appears alongside Weezer, Brandi Carlile, and Creedence Clearwater Revisited. Proceeds benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He performed a benefit concert for the foundation for the Children of the Californias which raised one million dollars to support the expansion of three new surgical suites. During the 50th Reunion Tour, Love, alongside the Beach Boys, partnered with Operation Smile to raise funds for those in need of cleft lip and palate repair surgeries. In May 2013, he was recognized for his decades of investment in education and national service by being awarded City Year's "Seven Generations Award".


title: The World's Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat

text: , also known as The world's best assassin, To reincarnate in a different world aristocrat, is a Japanese light novel series written by Rui Tsukiyo and illustrated by Reia. It was serialized online from July 2018 to October 2021 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later acquired by Kadokawa Shoten, who have published the series since February 2019 under their Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko imprint.


text: A manga adaptation with art by Hamao Sumeragi has been serialized online via Kadokawa Shoten's "Young Ace Up" website since January 2019. Both the light novel and manga have been licensed in North America by Yen Press. An anime television series adaptation by Silver Link and Studio Palette aired from October to December 2021.


text: The protagonist is an old man who had lived his life as the world's greatest assassin. Due to his advanced age, it was finally decided that he would be able to retire. However, the plane he was on was sabotaged and even his skills as the greatest assassin could not save him. When he died, he was awakened by a goddess who wanted to reincarnate him in a world of swords and magic because she needs his skill set to prevent the destruction of that world at the hands of the Hero. Accepting this request, the protagonist awakens as Lugh Tuatha Dé and swears to finally live his life to its fullest as a human being and not as a tool.


text: The series released volumes on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website from July 2018 to October 2021. Since February 2019, Kadokawa Shoten started releasing the series in print and has published seven volumes under their Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko imprint. In July 2020, Yen Press announced they licensed the series.


text: In January 2019, a manga adaptation by Hamao Sumeragi started serializing in Kadokawa Shoten's "Young Ace Up" manga website and has been collected in five "tankōbon" volumes. Yen Press also licensed the manga for an English release.


text: An anime television series adaptation by Silver Link and Studio Palette was announced on February 15, 2021. Masafumi Tamura directed the series, with Katsuhiko Takayama writing and overseeing the scripts, Eri Nagata designing the characters, and Kenichi Kuroda composing the music. The series was originally scheduled to premiere in July 2021, but was delayed to October 2021 due to "various circumstances". It aired from October 6 to December 22, 2021 on AT-X and other channels. The opening theme is "Dark seeks light" performed by Yui Ninomiya, while the ending theme is "A Promise" performed by Aira Yūki.


text: Crunchyroll licensed the series outside of Asia. On October 28, 2021, Crunchyroll announced the series would receive an English dub, which premiered on November 24, 2021. Muse Communication licensed the series in South and Southeast Asia.


title: Blue's Clues

text: Blue's Clues is an American live-action/animated children's television series that premiered on Nickelodeon as part of its Nick Jr. block on September 8, 1996, and concluded its run on August 6, 2006. Producers and creators Angela C. Santomero, Todd Kessler, and Traci Paige Johnson combined concepts from child development and early-childhood education with innovative animation and production techniques that helped their viewers learn. The show was originally hosted by Steve Burns, who left in 2002 and was replaced by Donovan Patton as Joe for the rest of the series. The show follows an animated blue-spotted dog named Blue as she leaves a trail of clues/paw prints for the host and the viewers to figure out her plans for the day. "Blue's Clues" became the highest-rated show for preschoolers on American commercial television and was critical to Nickelodeon's growth. A spin-off called "Blue's Room" premiered in 2004. A revival of the series titled "Blue's Clues & You!" premiered on Nickelodeon on November 11, 2019.


title: Blue's Clues

text: The show's producers and creators presented material in a narrative format instead of a magazine format, used repetition to reinforce its curriculum, and structured every episode the same way. They used research about child development and young children's viewing habits that had been conducted thirty years since the debut of "Sesame Street" in the U.S. and revolutionized the genre by inviting their viewers' involvement. Research was part of the creative and decision-making process in the production of the show and was integrated into all aspects and stages of the creative process. "Blue's Clues" was the first cutout animation series for preschoolers in the United States and resembles a storybook in its use of primary colors and its simple construction paper shapes of familiar objects with varied colors and textures. Its home-based setting is familiar to American children but has a look unlike other children's TV shows. A live production of "Blue's Clues", which used many of the production innovations developed by the show's creators, toured the U.S. starting in 1999. As of 2002, over 2 million people had attended over 1,000 performances.


title: Blue's Clues

text: By 2002, "Blue's Clues" had received several awards for excellence in children's programming, educational software, and licensing, and had been nominated for nine Emmy Awards. It has been syndicated in 120 countries and translated into 15 languages. Regional versions of the show featuring local hosts have been produced in other countries. It was one of the first preschool shows to incorporate American Sign Language into its content. The show's extensive use of research in its development and production process inspired several research studies that have provided evidence for its effectiveness as a learning tool.


title: Blue's Clues

text: By 1990, parents, teachers, and media experts had been criticizing "the lack of quality fare for children on commercial television" for many years. Up to that point, PBS was the only source for quality children's television; other broadcasters voluntarily set educational standards for their programming and "were expected to regulate themselves", but it led to little change in the quality of children's programs. By the time "Blue's Clues" premiered in 1996, there was a large number of TV shows for children, but most of them were violent and designed to sell action toys and other products; as co-creator Angela C. Santomero put it, "a vehicle for toy-based 'commercials'". According to author Diane Tracy in her 2002 book "Blue's Clues for Success", "The state of children's television was pretty dismal".


title: Blue's Clues

text: There was little incentive for producing high-quality children's television until 1990, when Congress passed the Children's Television Act (CTA), which "required that networks be held accountable for the quality of children's programming or risk losing their license". The CTA set no hourly quotas and left it to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to determine compliance to the law, so little positive improvements were made. In 1996, the FCC passed additional regulations, including requiring broadcasters to, in a provision called "the Three-Hour rule", air at least three hours of children's programming per week, between the hours of 07:00 to 22:00, and that they be tagged with an E/I (Educational and Informational) logo so that children and their families could easily find the programs. The cable network Nickelodeon, which was recognized, along with PBS, as a leader in the creation and production of high-quality children's programming, was not required to comply with federal regulations to provide informative or educational content, but did so anyway, before the CTA became law.


title: Blue's Clues

text: According to Heather L. Kirkorian and her fellow researchers Ellen Wartella and Daniel Anderson in 2008, since television appeared in homes beginning in the mid-20th century, critics have often expressed concern about its impact on viewers, especially children, who as Kirkorian argued, are "active media users" by the age of three. Researchers believed that there were links between television viewing and children's cognitive and learning skills and that what children watched may be more important than how much they watched it. She reported that up until the 1980s, researchers had only an implicit theory about how viewers watched television, and that young children were cognitively passive viewers and controlled by "salient attention-eliciting features" like sound effects and fast movement. As a result, most researchers believed that television interfered with cognition and reflection and as a result, children could not learn from and process television. In the early 1980s, however, new theories about how young children watch television suggested that attention in children as young as two-years old were largely guided by program content.


title: Blue's Clues

text: In the mid-1990s, Nickelodeon, looking to create programming for preschoolers, hired a team of three producers, Angela C. Santomero, Todd Kessler, and Traci Paige Johnson, to create a new television program for young children. According to "The New York Times", Kessler was the first creator to be brought on board to the project. Kessler had worked on "Sesame Street", but he disliked its format and thought that it was too static and not visual enough, and was a freelance producer at Nickelodeon at the time. Santomero, who named Fred Rogers as a major influence, worked at Nickelodeon as a researcher and Johnson was a freelance artist and animator. Santomero later said that they "were young, and Nickelodeon took a chance on us".


title: Blue's Clues

text: Daniel R. Anderson of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, who author Malcolm Gladwell called one of the "pioneering television researchers", was an adviser for the new show. Nickelodeon had hired Anderson as an adviser for its Nick Jr. block of preschool programs starting in 1993, although Santomero had already been getting his input about research informally. When Nickelodeon enlisted her to co-create "Blue's Clues", he came on in a more formal capacity. Anderson later said that he "jumped at the chance" to serve as an advisor for Blue's Clues because "Nickelodeon was interested in providing programs that would actually benefit preschoolers rather than merely entertain them". Anderson also stated that the choice to produce the show as overtly and clearly educational was a departure for Nickelodeon and for any commercial network. According to research conducted by Nickelodeon, parents of preschool aged children wanted the shows they watched to be educational.


title: Blue's Clues

text: Santomero, Kessler, and Johnson met in a conference room at Viacom, which owned Nickelodeon, in New York for a month to create "Blue's Clues". According to Santomero, the creators of "Blue's Clues" wanted to create a children's television show that was "something very simple and graphic and slow", emphasized social and emotional skills, treated children like they were smart, and helped them feel empowered. The character Blue was originally conceived as a cat, and the name of the show was to be "Blue Prints", but the show's name was changed and Blue became a dog because Nickelodeon was already producing a show about a cat and because, as Anderson reported, children who watched the pilot, which was used for testing, "almost universally called the show "Blue's Clues"". Even though most children's television shows at the time were built around male characters, Blue was female and as "The New York Times" put it, "never wore a bow".


title: Blue's Clues

text: Kessler handled the show's "computer-based production", Santomero the research, and Johnson the design. By 2001, the show's research team, which worked collaboratively with the show's producers and creators, consisted of director of research Alice Wilder, who joined the "Blue's Clues" team shortly after the show's debut, Alison Sherman, Karen Leavitt, and Koshi Dhingra. They were given $150,000 to produce a pilot, about a quarter of the budget for other Nickelodeon shows at the time, which was used in 1995 to test the show's interactive elements with its potential audience. The pilot was considered lost, but in 2021, Santomero announced that she owned a copy of it, and that the pilot was filmed in 1994, although it was unclear if it would ever be released due to legal issues.


title: Blue's Clues

text: "Blue's Clues" premiered in the U.S. on September 8, 1996. The premiere was the highest-rated premiere of any Nickelodeon program, and the show became crucial to the network's growth. Scholar Norma Pecora called "Blue's Clues" the "cornerstone" of Nickelodeon's educational programming. By the end of 1997, it was the highest-rated show for preschoolers on commercial television, and was the third-highest rated show behind children's public television shows; "Barney & Friends" and "Arthur". Within 18 months of its premiere, "Blue's Clues" was as well known among the parents of preschoolers as more established children's shows such as "Sesame Street" and "Barney". In 2002, Tracy reported that it was one of the highest-rated shows for preschoolers, was preschool children and their parents' favorite cable preschool program, was viewed by approximately 13.7 million viewers each week, and aired in about 60 countries.


title: Blue's Clues

text: In 2000, after 75 episodes, with "no fanfare" and no announcement from Nickelodeon, co-creator and co-producer Todd Kessler left "Blue's Clues" and the network to pursue other projects. He told "The New York Times" that he had "no hard feelings" regarding his departure. Kessler continued to be listed as an executive producer for the run of the show and for any future spin-offs. Also in 2000, CBS, which was also owned by Viacom, began airing the show as part of the centerpiece of its Saturday and Sunday morning children's programming. In 2004, "Blue's Clues" stopped production, which Santomero called "devastating", although it continued to air on Nickelodeon, and a spin-off, "Blue's Room", was launched in the same year. It featured puppets, as well as the original show's second host. "Blue's Clues" celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2006 with a prime time special and the release of a DVD entitled "Blues Biggest Stories", which consisted of eight half-hour episodes spanning the show's history.


title: Blue's Clues

text: In November 2019, a reboot of "Blue's Clues" premiered. The show, called "Blue's Clues & You!", is hosted by Joshua Dela Cruz and features many of the same characters in the original show. Steve Burns, the original show's first host, serves as a writer and director on the new show; he has also made guest appearances, along with the original show's second host Donovan Patton, and participated in the casting of Dela Cruz.


title: Blue's Clues

text: The most important casting decision was that of the host, the only human character in the show. The host's role was to empower and challenge the show's young viewers, to help increase their self-esteem, and to strongly connect with them through the television screen. The producers originally wanted a female host. After months of research and over 1,000 auditions, they hired actor/performer Steve Burns based on the strength of his audition. Burns received the strongest and most enthusiastic response in tests with the young audience. Johnson said what made Burns a great children's TV host was that "he didn't want to be a children's host ... He loved kids, but he didn't want to make a career out of it". Burns decided to leave the show in the autumn of 2000, departing in January 2001. He was in over 100 episodes of "Blue's Clues" when his final episodes aired in April 2002. Burns himself stated, "I knew I wasn't gonna be doing children's television all my life, mostly because I refused to lose my hair on a kid's TV show, and it was happenin' – fast."


title: Blue's Clues

text: After the producers conducted 1,500 auditions, Burns was replaced by actor Donovan Patton, who played Steve's brother Joe, introduced to the audience in articles in Nickelodeon's magazine and on its webpage and an arc of three episodes. Burns' departure generated "outlandish rumors" and was featured in a "Time" magazine story. Patton had never seen "Blue's Clues" before he auditioned for the part, and like Burns, who worked with him to help him prepare for the role, was also popular with preschool test audiences. The producers later reported that finding someone who could match Burns' "deceptively simple performance" was difficult. Patton became a "household name", although as Johnson stated, his character was named Joe because "Donovan was a little too hard on a preschooler's tongue". According to "The New York Times", Donovan played the role more relaxed and "taller" than Burns.


title: Blue's Clues

text: Even though research demonstrated that children tend to pay less attention to adult male voices, Burns and Patton were chosen as the program's hosts because they were popular with their audience. Daniel Anderson insisted that Burns and Patton were the best actors for their roles out of the hundreds who auditioned, calling them "actors who could mime as demanded by the mixed action and animation format", and reported that there was no evidence that children paid less attention to them than to other parts of the program. He also said that Burns and Patton overcame what he called "attentional bias against men" in three ways: by behaving energetically and childlike; by breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to the audience, often by looking directly into the camera and asking their audience, "Will you help?", and like Fred Rogers, forming a direct relationship to the audience; and by "always doing something". Anderson insisted that by forming a relationship with the audience, the actors' male voice became cues to the audience to pay attention and stated that it was the hosts' style of presentation that determined child attention.


title: Blue's Clues

text: Johnson was cast as Blue's voice because, of the show's crew, she was able to sound the most like a dog. Nick Balaban, who wrote the music for the show along with Michael Rubin, was cast as the voice of Mr. Salt. Balaban initially used a Brooklyn accent for Mr. Salt before settling on a French accent. Rubin also provided the voice of Mailbox.


title: Blue's Clues

text: In "The Tipping Point", author Malcolm Gladwell, who called "Blues Clues" the "'stickiest'—meaning the most irresistible and involving—television show ever", described its format:


title: Blue's Clues

text: Steve, the host, presents the audience with a puzzle involving Blue, the animated dog ... To help the audience unlock the puzzle, Blue leaves behind a series of clues, which are objects marked with one of her paw prints. In between the discovery of the clues, Steve plays a series of games—mini-puzzles—with the audience that are thematically related to the overall puzzle ... As the show unfolds, Steve and Blue move from one animated set to another, jumping through magical doorways, leading viewers on a journey of discovery, until, at the end of the story, Steve returns to the living room. There, at the climax of the show, he sits down in a comfortable chair to think—a chair known, of course, in the literal world of "Blue's Clues", as the Thinking Chair. He puzzles over Blue's three clues and attempts to come up with the answer.


title: Blue's Clues

text: Nickelodeon researcher Daniel R. Anderson called the structure of "Blue's Clues" a game that presented its viewers with increasingly challenging and developmentally appropriate problems to solve. Early episodes focused on basic subjects such as colors and numbers, but later the programs focused on math, physics, anatomy, and astronomy. The show's producers believed that comprehension and attention were strongly connected, so they wrote the episodes to encourage and increase their viewers' attention. They used content and production characteristics such as pacing which gave children time to respond, as well as "camera techniques, children's voices, musical cues, sound effects, clear transitions, repeatable dialogue, and visuals". Participation, in the form of spoken or physical response from the audience, and the mastery of thinking skills were encouraged by the use of repetition, both within the structure of individual episodes and across multiple episodes. The producers used a variety of formal features, which were auditory, and content features, which consisted of invitations given to the audience. The features were also in the form of both recurrent and unique formats and content. The purpose of the recurrent formats and content, which were similar in every episode, was to increase viewers' attention, comprehension, and participation during key educational lessons.


title: Blue's Clues

text: Nickelodeon originally aired the same episode daily for five days before showing the next one. The producers believed this telecast strategy empowered young children by giving them many opportunities to master the content and problems presented to them. Scholar Norma Pecora considered the broadcast strategy of airing the same episode for five consecutive days in a week "sound educational thinking", because children tend to watch the same episodes multiple times and learn from repetition, and "economically clever" because the network could air 2.5 hours with one episode over five days.


title: Blue's Clues

text: The creators and producers' mission of "Blue's Clues" was to "empower, challenge, and build the self-esteem of preschoolers ... while making them laugh". According to Anderson and his colleagues, the show's curriculum was based on "inherent respect for preschoolers and their ability to think and learn while having fun". Anderson and his colleagues stated that "Blue's Clues" was created with the question: What does television teach young children? Kessler, Santomero, and Johnson were influenced by "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" and by "Sesame Street", the first children's television program to create a detailed and comprehensive educational curriculum developed from research and use developmental theory, child development, learning theory, and research. According to Anderson, it was essential that the writers and creators of "Blue's Clues" have background and experience in early childhood development theory and research in order to ensure that the audience understood the dialogue, game, and recurrent program elements in each episode.


title: Blue's Clues

text: Like "Sesame Street", formative research was an important part of the development of each episode of "Blue's Clues," which was included in the show's production budgets . "We wanted to learn from "Sesame Street" and take it one step further", Santomero said. The producers and creators used formative research, which the producers called their "secret sauce", during all aspects of the program's creative and decision-making process"," and Nickelodeon provided the funding to support it. In addition to a curriculum that emphasized reasoning skills relevant to preschoolers' everyday lives, the producers wanted to include audience participation, called by "Variety" its "call and response style", that encouraged problem solving, mastery of the information presented, positive reinforcement, and prosocial messages. They believed that a strong sense of self-esteem, which they sought to develop in their viewers, was linked to independent thinking and thinking skills. Anderson stated, "Age-appropriate pacing and explicit directions give children an opportunity to have a voice". Anderson and his colleagues compared audience participation on the program with hands-on practice provided by a caregiver. The show's producers believed, despite the viewpoints of past researchers, that children were intellectually active while watching television.


title: Blue's Clues

text: "Sesame Street" tested a third of its episodes, but the "Blue's Clues" research team field tested every episode three times with children aged between two and six in a variety of preschool environments such as Head Start programs, public schools, and private day care centers, in order to ascertain their abilities, interests, and knowledge, to ensure the mission and philosophy of the program, and to ensure balanced demographic groups. There were three phases of testing: content evaluation, video evaluations, and content analysis. In their tests of the pilot, conducted throughout the New York City area with over 100 children aged from three to seven, they found that as the pilot progressed, children's attention was captured and sustained, and they became excited and actively participated, standing to get closer to the television and speaking to the host. The producers and researchers also consulted outside advisers, who were chosen based on their expertise and the needs of each script. As Anderson stated, the formative research team served "as a liaison between the feedback provided by the preschoolers and outside advisers and the production team, including writers, talent, producers, directors, element artists, and animators".


title: Blue's Clues

text: "Blue's Clues" was designed and produced on the assumption that since children are cognitively active when they watch television, a television program could be an effective method of scientific education for young children by telling stories through pictures and by modeling behavior and learning. These learning opportunities included the use of mnemonics in the form of mantras and songs, and what Tracy called "metacognitive wrap-up" at the end of each episode, in which the lessons were summarized and rehearsed. The producers wanted to foster their audience's sense of empowerment by eliciting their assistance for the show's host and by encouraging their identification with the character Blue, who served as a stand-in for the typical preschooler.