title: Given name

text: Double names are also common among Vietnamese names to make repeated name in the family. For example, Đặng Vũ Minh Anh and Đặng Vũ Minh Ánh, are two sisters with the given names Minh Anh and Minh Ánh.


title: Given name

text: A child's given name or names are usually chosen by the parents soon after birth. If a name is not assigned at birth, one may be given at a naming ceremony, with family and friends in attendance. In most jurisdictions, a child's name at birth is a matter of public record, inscribed on a birth certificate, or its equivalent. In western cultures, people normally retain the same given name throughout their lives. However, in some cases these names may be changed by following legal processes or by repute. People may also change their names when immigrating from one country to another with different naming conventions.


title: Given name

text: In certain jurisdictions, a government-appointed registrar of births may refuse to register a name that may cause a child harm, which is considered offensive or which is deemed impractical. In France, the agency can refer the case to a local judge. Some jurisdictions, such as Sweden, restrict the spelling of names. In Denmark, one does not need to register a given name for the child until the child is six months old, and in some cases, one can even wait a little longer than this, before the child gets an official name.


title: Given name

text: Parents may choose a name because of its meaning. This may be a personal or familial meaning, such as giving a child the name of an admired person, or it may be an example of nominative determinism, in which the parents give the child a name that they believe will be lucky or favourable for the child. Given names most often derive from the following categories:


title: Given name

text: English examples include numerous female names such as Faith, Prudence, Amanda (Latin: worthy of love); Blanche (white (pure));


title: Given name

text: Many were adopted from the 17th century in England to show respect to notable ancestry, usually given to nephews or male grandchildren of members of the great families concerned, from which the usage spread to general society. This was regardless of whether the family name concerned was in danger of dying out, for example with Howard, a family with many robust male lines over history. Notable examples include


title: Given name

text: In many cultures, given names are reused, especially to commemorate ancestors or those who are particularly admired, resulting in a limited repertoire of names that sometimes vary by orthography.


title: Given name

text: The most familiar example of this, to Western readers, is the use of Biblical and saints' names in most of the Christian countries (with Ethiopia, in which names were often ideals or abstractions—Haile Selassie, "power of the Trinity"; Haile Miriam, "power of Mary"—as the most conspicuous exception). However, the name Jesus is considered taboo or sacrilegious in some parts of the Christian world, though this taboo does not extend to the cognate Joshua or related forms which are common in many languages even among Christians. In some Spanish speaking countries, the name Jesus is considered a normal given name.


title: Given name

text: Similarly, the name Mary, now popular among Christians, particularly Roman Catholics, was considered too holy for secular use until about the 12th century. In countries that particularly venerated Mary, this remained the case much longer; in Poland, until the arrival in the 17th century of French queens named Marie.


title: Given name

text: Most common given names in English (and many other European languages) can be grouped into broad categories based on their origin:


title: Given name

text: Frequently, a given name has versions in many different languages. For example, the biblical name "Susanna" also occurs in its original biblical Hebrew version, "Shoshannah", its Spanish and Portuguese version "Susana", its French version, "Suzanne", its Polish version, "Zuzanna", or its Hungarian version, "Zsuzsanna" .


title: Given name

text: Despite the uniformity of Chinese surnames, some Chinese given names are fairly original because Chinese characters can be combined extensively. Unlike European languages, with their Biblical and Greco-Roman heritage, the Chinese language does not have a particular set of words reserved for given names: any combination of Chinese characters can theoretically be used as a given name. Nonetheless, a number of popular characters commonly recur, including "Strong" (, "Wěi"), "Learned" (, "Wén"), "Peaceful" (, "Ān"), and "Beautiful" (, "Měi"). Despite China's increasing urbanization, a great many namessuch as "Pine" (, "Sōng") and "Plum" (, "Méi")also still reference nature.


title: Given name

text: Most Chinese given names are two characters long anddespite the examples abovethe two characters together may mean nothing at all. Instead, they may be selected to include particular sounds, tones, or radicals; to balance the Chinese elements of a child's birth chart; or to honor a generation poem handed down through the family for centuries. Traditionally, it is considered an affront. not an honor, to have a newborn named after an older relative and so full names are rarely passed down through a family in the manner of American English "Seniors," "Juniors", "III", etc. Similarly, it is considered disadvantageous for the child to bear a name already made famous by someone else although their romanizations maybe identical, and a common name like Liu Xiang may be borne by tens of thousands.


title: Given name

text: Korean names and Vietnamese names are often simply conventions derived from Classical Chinese counterparts.


title: Given name

text: Many female Japanese names end in "-ko" (), usually meaning "child" on its own. However, the character when used in given names can have a feminine (adult) connotation.


title: Given name

text: In many Westernised Asian locations, many Asians also have an unofficial or even registered Western (typically English) given name, in addition to their Asian given name. This is also true for Asian students at colleges in countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia as well as among international businesspeople.


title: Given name

text: Most names in English are traditionally masculine (Hugo, James, Harold) or feminine (Daphne, Charlotte, Jane), but there are unisex names as well, such as Jordan, Jamie, Jesse, Morgan, Leslie/Lesley, Joe/Jo, Jackie, Pat, Dana, Alex, Chris/Kris, Randy/Randi, Lee, etc. Often, use for one gender is predominant. Also, a particular spelling is often more common for either men or women, even if the pronunciation is the same.


title: Given name

text: Many culture groups, past and present, did not or do not gender names strongly, so that many or all of their names are unisex. On the other hand, in many languages including most Indo-European languages (but not English), gender is inherent in the grammar. Some countries have laws preventing unisex names, requiring parents to give their children sex-specific names. Names may have different gender connotations from country to country or language to language.


title: Given name

text: Within anthroponymic classification, names of human males are called "andronyms" (from Ancient Greek ἀνήρ / man, and ὄνυμα [ὄνομα] / name), while names of human females are called "gynonyms" (from Ancient Greek γυνή / woman, and ὄνυμα [ὄνομα] / name).


title: Given name

text: Since about 1800 in England and Wales and in the U.S., the popularity distribution of given names has been shifting so that the most popular names are losing popularity. For example, in England and Wales, the most popular female and male names given to babies born in 1800 were Mary and John, with 24% of female babies and 22% of male babies receiving those names, respectively. In contrast, the corresponding statistics for England and Wales in 1994 were Emily and James, with 3% and 4% of names, respectively. Not only have Mary and John gone out of favour in the English speaking world, the overall distribution of names has also changed significantly over the last 100 years for females, but not for males. This has led to an increasing amount of diversity for female names.


title: Given name

text: Education, ethnicity, religion, class and political ideology affect parents' choice of names. Politically conservative parents choose common and traditional names, while politically liberal parents choose the names of literary characters or other relatively obscure cultural figures. Devout members of religions often choose names from their religious scriptures. For example, Hindu parents may name a daughter Saanvi after the goddess, Jewish parents may name a boy Isaac after one of the earliest ancestral figures, and Muslim parents may name a boy Mohammed after the prophet Mohammed.


title: Given name

text: There are many tools parents can use to choose names, including books, websites and applications. An example is the Baby Name Game that uses the Elo rating system to rank parents preferred names and help them select one.


title: Given name

text: Popular culture appears to have an influence on naming trends, at least in the United States and United Kingdom. Newly famous celebrities and public figures may influence the popularity of names. For example, in 2004, the names "Keira" and "Kiera" (anglicisation of Irish name Ciara) respectively became the 51st and 92nd most popular girls' names in the UK, following the rise in popularity of British actress Keira Knightley. In 2001, the use of Colby as a boys' name for babies in the United States jumped from 233rd place to 99th, just after Colby Donaldson was the runner-up on "". Also, the female name "Miley" which before was not in the top 1000 was 278th most popular in 2007, following the rise to fame of singer-actress Miley Cyrus (who was named Destiny at birth).


title: Given name

text: Characters from fiction also seem to influence naming. After the name Kayla was used for a character on the American soap opera "Days of Our Lives", the name's popularity increased greatly. The name Tammy, and the related Tamara became popular after the movie "Tammy and the Bachelor" came out in 1957. Some names were established or spread by being used in literature. Notable examples include Pamela, invented by Sir Philip Sidney for a pivotal character in his epic prose work, "The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia"; Jessica, created by William Shakespeare in his play "The Merchant of Venice"; Vanessa, created by Jonathan Swift; Fiona, a character from James Macpherson's spurious cycle of Ossian poems; Wendy, an obscure name popularised by J. M. Barrie in his play "Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up"; and Madison, a character from the movie "Splash". Lara and Larissa were rare in America before the appearance of "Doctor Zhivago," and have become fairly common since.


title: Given name

text: Songs can influence the naming of children. Jude jumped from 814th most popular male name in 1968 to 668th in 1969, following the release of the Beatles' "Hey Jude". Similarly, Layla charted as 969th most popular in 1972 after the Eric Clapton song. It had not been in the top 1,000 before. Kayleigh became a particularly popular name in the United Kingdom following the release of a song by the British rock group Marillion. Government statistics in 2005 revealed that 96% of Kayleighs were born after 1985, the year in which Marillion released "Kayleigh".


title: Given name

text: Popular culture figures need not be admirable in order to influence naming trends. For example, Peyton came into the top 1000 as a female given name for babies in the United States for the first time in 1992 (at #583), immediately after it was featured as the name of an evil nanny in the film "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle". On the other hand, historical events can influence child-naming. For example, the given name Adolf has fallen out of use since the end of World War II in 1945.


title: Given name

text: In contrast with these anecdotal evidence, a comprehensive study of Norwegian first name datasets shows that the main factors that govern first name dynamics are endogenous. Monitoring the popularity of 1,000 names along 130 years, the authors have identified only five cases of exogenous effects, three of them are connected to the names given to the babies of the Norwegian royal family.


title: Given name

text: Since the civil rights movement of 1950–1970, African-American names given to children have strongly mirrored sociopolitical movements and philosophies in the African American community. Since the 1970s neologistic (creative, inventive) practices have become increasingly common and the subject of academic study.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The Hope Diamond is a diamond originally extracted in the 17th century from the Kollur Mine in Guntur, India. It is blue in color due to trace amounts of boron. Its exceptional size has revealed new information about the formation of diamonds.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The stone is known as one of the Golconda diamonds. The earliest records of the diamond show that French gem merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier purchased it in 1666 as the Tavernier Blue. The stone was cut and renamed the French Blue ("Le bleu de France"); Tavernier sold the stone to King Louis XIV of France in 1668. It was stolen in 1792 and re-cut, with the largest section of the diamond appearing under the Hope name in an 1839 gem catalogue from the Hope banking family.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The diamond has had several owners, including Washington socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean, who was often seen wearing it. New York gem merchant Harry Winston purchased the diamond in 1949, touring it for several years before donating it in 1958 to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in the United States, where it is on permanent exhibition.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The Hope Diamond, also known as ("the King's Jewel"), Le bleu de France ("the French Blue"), and the Tavernier Blue, is a large, , deep-blue diamond, studded in a pendant "Toison d ’or".


title: Hope Diamond

text: It is currently housed in the National Gem and Mineral collection at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.


title: Hope Diamond

text: It is blue under ordinary light because of trace amounts of boron within its crystal structure, and exhibits a red phosphorescence under exposure to ultraviolet light. It is classified as a type IIb diamond.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The Hope Diamond has changed hands numerous times on its way from Hyderabad, India, to France, Great Britain, and the United States, where it is on public display. It has been described as the "most famous diamond in the world".


title: Hope Diamond

text: The Hope Diamond was formed deep within the Earth approximately 1.1 billion years ago. Like all diamonds, it was formed when carbon atoms formed strong bonds with each other. The Hope Diamond was originally embedded in kimberlite and was later extracted and refined to form the current gem. The Hope Diamond contains trace amounts of boron atoms intermixed with the carbon structure, which results in the rare blue color of the diamond.


title: Hope Diamond

text: Several accounts, based on remarks written by French gem merchant, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, who obtained the gem in India in 1666, suggest that the gemstone originated in India, in the Kollur mine in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh (which, at the time, was part of the Golconda kingdom), in the seventeenth century.


title: Hope Diamond

text: Several aspects of the gemstone's history are unclear, including its original location, condition, finder, and owner(s). The earliest historical records suggest Tavernier obtained the stone in 1666, possibly through theft. Tavernier brought to Paris a large, uncut stone—the first known precursor to the Hope Diamond. This large stone became known as the Tavernier Blue. It was a crudely cut, triangular stone of . Another estimated weight was before it was cut.


title: Hope Diamond

text: Tavernier's book, the "Six Voyages" (French: "Les Six Voyages de J. B. Tavernier"), contains sketches of several large diamonds that he sold to Louis XIV, possibly in 1668 or 1669; a blue diamond is shown among these, and Tavernier mentions the mines at "Gani Coulour" (Kollur Mine) as a source of colored diamonds, but no direct mention of the stone is made. Historian Richard Kurin has built a highly speculative case for 1653 as the year of acquisition, but the most that can be said with certainty is that Tavernier obtained the blue diamond during one of his five voyages to India between the years 1640 and 1667. One report suggests he took 25 diamonds to Paris, including the large rock which became the Hope, and sold all of them to King Louis XIV. Another report suggested that in 1669, Tavernier sold this large blue diamond along with approximately one thousand other diamonds to King Louis XIV of France for 220,000 livres—the equivalent of 147 kilograms of pure gold.


title: Hope Diamond

text: In a newly published historical novel, "The French Blue", gemologist and historian Richard W. Wise proposes that the patent of nobility granted to Tavernier by Louis XIV was part of the payment for the Tavernier Blue. According to the theory, Jean-Baptiste Colbert (the King's Finance Minister at the time) regularly sold noble offices and titles for cash; an outright patent of nobility, according to Wise, was worth approximately 500,000 livres. That amount, plus the reported sale to the King, would have totaled about 720,000 livres, half the price of Tavernier's initial estimate for the gem. There has been controversy regarding the actual weight of the stone: Morel believed that the 112 carats stated in Tavernier's invoice would be in old French carats, thus 115.28 metric carats.


title: Hope Diamond

text: In 1678, Louis XIV commissioned the court jeweler Jean Pitau to recut the Tavernier Blue, resulting in a stone which royal inventories thereafter listed as the Blue Diamond of the Crown of France (). Later English-speaking historians have simply called it the French Blue. The king had the stone set on a cravat-pin.


title: Hope Diamond

text: According to one report, Louis ordered Pitau to "make him a piece to remember," and Pitau worked for two years, resulting in a "triangular-shaped 69-carat gem the size of a pigeon's egg that took the breath away as it snared the light, reflecting it back in bluish-grey rays." It was set in gold and was supported by a ribbon for the neck which was worn by the king during ceremonies.


title: Hope Diamond

text: In 1749, Louis XIV's great-grandson, Louis XV, had the French Blue set into a more elaborate jeweled pendant for the "Order of the Golden Fleece" by court jeweler André Jacquemin. The assembled piece included a red spinel of 107 carats shaped as a dragon breathing "covetous flames," as well as 83 red-painted diamonds and 112 yellow-painted diamonds to suggest a fleece shape.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The piece fell into disuse after the death of Louis XV. The diamond became the property of his grandson Louis XVI. whose wife, queen Marie Antoinette, used many of the French Crown Jewels for personal adornment by having the individual gems placed in new settings and combinations, but the French Blue remained in this pendant (except for a brief time in 1787, when the stone was removed for scientific study by Mathurin Jacques Brisson).


title: Hope Diamond

text: On September 11, 1792, while Louis XVI and his family were imprisoned in the Square du Temple during the early stages of the French Revolution's Reign of Terror, a group of thieves broke into the Royal Storehouse—the "Hôtel du Garde-Meuble de la Couronne" (now "Hôtel de la Marine")—stealing most of the Crown Jewels in a five-day looting spree. While many jewels were later recovered, including other pieces of the "Order of the Golden Fleece", the French Blue was not among them and it disappeared from history.


title: Hope Diamond

text: On January 21, 1793, Louis XVI was guillotined; Marie Antoinette was guillotined on October 16 of the same year. These beheadings are commonly cited as a result of the diamond's "curse," but the historical record suggests that Marie Antoinette had never worn the Golden Fleece pendant because it had been reserved for the exclusive use of the King.


title: Hope Diamond

text: A likely scenario is that the French Blue, sometimes also known as the Blue Diamond, was "swiftly smuggled to London" after being seized in 1792 in Paris. But, the exact rock known as the French Blue was never seen again, since it almost certainly was recut during this decades-long period of anonymity, with the largest remaining piece becoming the Hope Diamond. One report suggested that the cut was a "butchered job" because it sheared off 23.5 carats from the larger rock as well as hurting its "extraordinary luster."


title: Hope Diamond

text: It was long believed that the Hope Diamond was cut from the French Blue, but confirmation came when a three-dimensional leaden model of the latter was rediscovered in the archives of the Paris National Museum of Natural History in 2005. Previously, the dimensions of the French Blue had been known only from two drawings made in 1749 and 1789; although the model differs slightly from the drawings in some details, these details are identical to features of the Hope Diamond, allowing CAD technology to digitally reconstruct the French Blue around the recut stone.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The leaden model revealed 20 unknown facets on the back of the French Blue. It also confirmed the diamond underwent a rather rough recut that removed the three points and reduced the thickness by a few millimeters. The Sun King's blue diamond became unrecognizable and the baroque style of the original cut was definitely lost.


title: Hope Diamond

text: Historians suggested that one burglar, Cadet Guillot, took several jewels, including the French Blue and the "Côte-de-Bretagne" spinel, to Le Havre and then to London, where the French Blue was cut in two pieces.


title: Hope Diamond

text: Morel adds that in 1796, Guillot attempted to resell the "Côte-de-Bretagne" in France but was forced to relinquish it to fellow thief Lancry de la Loyelle, who put Guillot into debtors' prison.


title: Hope Diamond

text: In a contrasting report, historian Richard Kurin speculated that the "theft" of the French Crown Jewels was in fact engineered by the revolutionary leader Georges Danton as part of a plan to bribe an opposing military commander, Duke Karl Wilhelm of Brunswick. When under attack by Napoleon in 1805, Karl Wilhelm may have had the French Blue recut to disguise its identity; in this form, the stone could have come to Great Britain in 1806, when his family fled there to join his daughter Caroline of Brunswick. Although Caroline was the wife of the Prince Regent (later George IV of the United Kingdom), she lived apart from her husband, and financial straits sometimes forced her to quietly sell her own jewels to support her household. Caroline's nephew, Duke Karl Friedrich, was later known to possess a blue diamond which was widely thought to be another piece of the French Blue.


title: Hope Diamond

text: This smaller diamond's present whereabouts are unknown, and the recent CAD reconstruction of the French Blue fits too tightly around the Hope Diamond to allow for the existence of a sister stone of that size.


title: Hope Diamond

text: A blue diamond with the same shape, size, and color as the Hope Diamond was recorded by John Francillon as in the possession of the London diamond merchant Daniel Eliason in September 1812, the earliest point when the history of the Hope Diamond can be definitively fixed, although a second, less definitive report claims that the Hope Diamond's "authentic history" can only be traced back to 1830. The jewel was a "massive blue stone of 45.54 carats" and weighed 177 grains (4 grains = 1 carat). The 1812 date was just days after 20 years since the theft of the French Blue, just as the statute of limitations for the crime had taken effect.


title: Hope Diamond

text: While the diamond had disappeared for two decades, there were questions whether this diamond now in Great Britain was exactly the same one as had belonged to the French kings. Scientific investigation in 2008 confirmed "beyond reasonable doubt" that the Hope Diamond and that owned by the kings of France were, indeed, the same gemstone.


title: Hope Diamond

text: There are conflicting reports about what happened to the diamond during these years. Eliason's diamond may have been acquired by George IV of the United Kingdom, possibly through Caroline of Brunswick; however, there is no record of the ownership in the Royal Archives at Windsor, although some secondary evidence exists in the form of contemporary writings and artwork, and George IV tended to mix up the Crown property of the Crown jewels with family heirlooms and his own personal property.


title: Hope Diamond

text: A source at the Smithsonian suggested there were "several references" suggesting that George had indeed owned the diamond. After his death in 1830, it has been alleged that some of this mixed collection was stolen by George's last mistress, Elizabeth Conyngham, and some of his personal effects were discreetly liquidated to cover the many debts he had left behind him. Another report states that the king's debts were "so enormous" that the diamond was probably sold through "private channels". In either case, the blue diamond was not retained by the British royal family.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The stone was later reported to have been acquired by a rich London banker named Thomas Hope, for either $65,000 or $90,000. It has been suggested that Eliason may have been a "front" for Hope, acting not as a diamond merchant venturing money on his own account, but rather as an agent to acquire the diamond for the banker. In 1839, the Hope Diamond appeared in a published catalog of the gem collection of his brother Henry Philip Hope, members of the Anglo-Dutch banking family Hope & Co.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The stone was set in a fairly simple medallion surrounded by many smaller white diamonds, which he sometimes lent to Louisa de la Poer Beresford, the widow of his brother, Thomas Hope, for society balls. After falling into the ownership of the Hope family, the stone came to be known as the "Hope Diamond".


title: Hope Diamond

text: Henry Philip Hope died in 1839, the same year as the publication of his collection catalog. His three nephews, the sons of Thomas and Louisa, fought in court for ten years over his inheritance, and ultimately the collection was split up. The oldest nephew, Henry Thomas Hope, received eight of the most valuable gems, including the Hope Diamond. It was displayed in the Great Exhibition of London in 1851 and at the 1855 Exposition Universelle in Paris, but was usually kept in a bank vault. In 1861, Henry Thomas Hope's only child, Henrietta, married Henry Pelham-Clinton (and later Duke of Newcastle).


title: Hope Diamond

text: When Hope died on December 4, 1862, his wife Anne Adele inherited the gem, but she feared that the profligate lifestyle of her son-in-law might cause him to sell the Hope properties. Upon Adele's death in 1884, the entire Hope estate, including the Hope Diamond, was entrusted to Henrietta's younger son, Henry Francis Pelham-Clinton, on the condition that he add the name of "Hope" to his own surnames when he reached the age of legal majority.


title: Hope Diamond

text: As Lord Francis Hope, this grandson received his legacy in 1887. However, he had only a life interest in his inheritance, meaning that he could not sell any part of it without court permission.


title: Hope Diamond

text: In 1894, Lord Francis Hope met the American concert hall singer May Yohé, who has been described as "the sensation of two continents", and they were married the same year; one account suggests that Yohé wore the Hope Diamond on at least one occasion.


title: Hope Diamond

text: She later claimed that she had worn it at social gatherings and had an exact replica made for her performances, but her husband claimed otherwise. Lord Francis lived beyond his means, and this eventually caught up with him, leading to marriage troubles and financial reverses, and he found that he had to sell the diamond.


title: Hope Diamond

text: In 1896, his bankruptcy was discharged, but, as he could not sell the Hope Diamond without the court's permission, he was supported financially by his wife during these intervening years. In 1901, the financial situation had changed, and after a "long legal fight," he was given permission to sell the Hope Diamond by an order of the Master in Chancery to "pay off debts". But May Yohé ran off with a gentleman friend named Putnam Strong, who was a son of the former New York City mayor William L. Strong. Francis Hope and May Yohé were divorced in 1902.


title: Hope Diamond

text: Francis sold the diamond for £29,000 (£ million today), to Adolph Weil, a London jewel merchant. Weil sold the stone in 1901 to the diamond dealer Simon Frankel, based in New York and/or London who took it to New York. One report stated that he had paid $250,000 ($ million today). However, in New York it was evaluated to be worth $141,032 ($ million today).


title: Hope Diamond

text: Accounts vary about what happened to the diamond during the years 1902–1907; one account suggested that it lay in the William & Theodore safe during these years while the jewelers took it out periodically to show it to wealthy Americans; a rival account, probably invented to help add "mystery" to the Hope Diamond story, suggested that some persons had bought it but apparently sold it back to Frankel. There were reports in one story in "The New York Times" of several owners of the gem, perhaps who had bought it from Frankel and owned it temporarily who met with ill-fortune, but this report conflicts with the more likely possibility that the gem remained in the hands of the Frankel jewelry firm during these years. Like many jewelry firms, the Frankel business ran into financial difficulties during the depression of 1907 and referred to the gem as the "hoodoo diamond."


title: Hope Diamond

text: In 1908, Frankel sold the diamond for $400,000 ($ million today) to a Salomon or Selim Habib, a wealthy Turkish diamond collector, reportedly on behalf of Sultan Abdulhamid of Ottoman Empire; however, on June 24, 1909, the stone was included in an auction of Habib's assets to settle his own debts, and the auction catalog explicitly stated that the Hope Diamond was one of only two gems in the collection which had never been owned by the Sultan. A contrary report, however, suggested that Sultan Abdul Hamid did own the gem but ordered Habib to sell it when his throne "began to totter." Habib reportedly sold the stone in Paris in 1909 for $80,000 ($ million today). The Parisian jewel merchant Simon Rosenau bought the Hope Diamond for 400,000 francs and resold it in 1910 to Pierre Cartier for 550,000 francs. In 1910, it was offered for $150,000 ($ million today), according to one report.


title: Hope Diamond

text: Pierre Cartier tried to sell the Hope Diamond to Washington, D.C., socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean and her husband in 1910. Cartier was a consummate salesman who used an understated presentation to entice Mrs. McLean. He described the gem's illustrious history to her while keeping it concealed underneath special wrapping paper. The suspense worked: McLean became impatient to the point where she suddenly requested to see the stone. She recalled later that Cartier "held before our eyes the Hope Diamond." Nevertheless, she initially rejected the offer. Cartier had it reset. She found the stone much more appealing in this new modern style. There were conflicting reports about the sale in "The New York Times"; one account suggested that the young McLean couple had agreed to purchase the diamond, but after having learned about its unfortunate supposed history, the couple had wanted to back out of the deal since they knew nothing of the "history of misfortunes that have beset its various owners."


title: Hope Diamond

text: The brouhaha over the diamond's supposed "ill luck" prompted a worried editor of "The Jewelers' Circular-Weekly" to write:


title: Hope Diamond

text: The tenuous deal involved wrangling among attorneys for both Cartier and the McLeans, but finally, in 1911, the couple bought the gem for over $300,000 (over $ million today), although there are differing estimates of the sales price at $150,000 and $180,000. An alternative scenario is that the McLeans may have fabricated concern about the supposed "curse" to generate publicity to increase the value of their investment.


title: Hope Diamond

text: A description was that the gemstone "lay on a bed of white silk and surrounded by many small white diamonds cut pear shaped". The new setting was the current platinum framework surrounded by a row of sixteen diamonds which alternated between "Old Mine Cut" and pear-shaped variants. Mrs. McLean wore it to a "brilliant reception" in February 1912 when it was reported that it was the first time it had been worn in public since it had "changed owners." She would "sport the diamond at social events" and wore it to numerous social occasions that she had organized.


title: Hope Diamond

text: There were reports that she misplaced it at parties, deliberately and frequently, and then make a children's game out of "finding the Hope", and times when she hid the diamond somewhere on her estate during the "lavish parties she threw and invite guests to find it." The stone prompted elaborate security precautions:


title: Hope Diamond

text: But the stone was not stolen during their ownership. When Mrs. McLean died in 1947, she bequeathed the diamond to her grandchildren through a will which insisted that her former property would remain in the custody of trustees until the eldest child had reached 25 years of age. This requirement would have prevented any sale for the next two decades. However, the trustees gained permission to sell her jewels to settle her debts, and in 1949 sold them to New York diamond merchant Harry Winston. He purchased McLean's "entire jewelry collection". Over the next decade, Winston exhibited McLean's necklace in his "Court of Jewels," a tour of jewels around the United States, as well as various promotional events and charity balls. The diamond appeared on the television quiz show "The Name's the Same", in an episode which first aired on August 16, 1955, when a teenaged contestant with the actual name "Hope Diamond" was one of the mystery guests, as well as at the August 1958 Canadian National Exhibition. At some point, Winston also had the Hope Diamond's bottom facet slightly recut to increase its brilliance.


title: Hope Diamond

text: Smithsonian mineralogist George Switzer is credited with persuading jeweler Harry Winston to donate the Hope Diamond for a proposed national gem collection to be housed at the National Museum of Natural History. On November 10, 1958, Winston acquiesced, sending it through U.S. Mail in a box wrapped in brown paper as simple registered mail insured for $1 million at a cost of $145.29, of which $2.44 was for postage and the balance insurance. Upon its arrival it became Specimen #217868.


title: Hope Diamond

text: Winston had never believed in any of the tales about the curse; he donated the diamond with the hope that it would help the United States "establish a gem collection."


title: Hope Diamond

text: Winston died many years later, in 1978, of a heart attack. Winston's gift, according to Smithsonian curator Dr. Jeffrey Post, indeed helped spur additional gifts to the museum.


title: Hope Diamond

text: For its first four decades in the National Museum of Natural History, the Hope Diamond lay in its necklace inside a glass-fronted safe as part of the gems and jewelry gallery, except for a few brief excursions: a 1962 exhibition to the Louvre; the 1965 Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg, South Africa; and two visits back to Harry Winston's premises in New York City, once in 1984, and once for a 50th anniversary celebration in 1996.


title: Hope Diamond

text: To guard against theft during the diamond's trip to the 1962 Louvre exhibition, Switzer traveled to Paris with the Hope Diamond tucked inside a velvet pouch sewn by his wife. The Hope Diamond was placed into the pouch, which was pinned inside Switzer's pants pocket for the flight.


title: Hope Diamond

text: When the Smithsonian's gallery was renovated in 1997, the necklace was moved onto a rotating pedestal inside a cylinder made of thick bulletproof glass in its own display room, adjacent to the main exhibit of the National Gem Collection, in the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals. The Hope Diamond is the most popular jewel on display and the collection's centerpiece.


title: Hope Diamond

text: In 1988, specialists with the Gemological Institute of America graded it and noticed "evidence of wear" and its "remarkably strong phosphorescence" with its clarity "slightly affected by a whitish graining which is common to blue diamonds." A highly sensitive colorimeter found tiny traces of a "very slight violet component" which is imperceptible to normal vision.


title: Hope Diamond

text: In 2005, the Smithsonian published a year-long computer-aided geometry research which officially acknowledged that the Hope Diamond is, in fact, cut from the stolen French Blue crown jewel.


title: Hope Diamond

text: In 2009, the Smithsonian announced a temporary new setting for the jewel to celebrate a half-century at the National Museum of Natural History. Starting in September 2009 it was exhibited as a stand-alone gem with no setting. It had been removed from its setting for cleaning from time to time, but this was the first time it would be on public display by itself. Previously it had been shown in a platinum setting, surrounded by 16 white pear-shaped and cushion-cut diamonds, suspended from a chain containing forty-five diamonds.


title: Hope Diamond

text: On November 18, 2010, the Hope Diamond was unveiled and displayed at the Smithsonian in a temporary newly designed necklace called "Embracing Hope", created by the Harry Winston firm. Three designs for the new setting, all white diamonds and white metal, were created and the public voted on the final version.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The Hope Diamond also is resting on a new dark blue neck form, which the Harry Winston firm commissioned from display organization, Pac Team Group. Previously, the Hope Diamond had been displayed as a loose gem since late summer of 2009 when it was removed from its former Cartier-designed setting. A Smithsonian curator described it as "priceless" because it was "irreplaceable", although it was reported to be insured for $250 million.


title: Hope Diamond

text: On January 13, 2012 the diamond was returned to its historic setting, and the current necklace was implanted with another diamond worth "at least a million dollars". The necklace with the new diamond will be sold to benefit the Smithsonian.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The diamond has been surrounded by a mythology of a reputed "curse" to the effect that it brings misfortune and tragedy to anyone who owns it or wears it, but there are strong indications that such fabrications enhance the stone's mystery and appeal, since increased publicity usually raised the gem's value and newsworthiness.


title: Hope Diamond

text: According to many specious accounts in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the original form of the Hope Diamond was stolen from an eye of a sculpted statue of the Hindu goddess Sita. However, much like the "curse of Tutankhamun", this general type of "legend" was most likely the independent creation of Western authors during the Victorian era, and the specific legends about the Hope Diamond's "cursed origin" were invented in the early 20th century to add mystique to the stone and increase its sales appeal as well as increase newspaper sales.


title: Hope Diamond

text: It fueled speculation that persons possessing the gemstone were fated to have bad luck with varying reports of undetermined veracity. A report in 2006 in "The New York Times", however, suggested that "any hard evidence linking it to tragedy has yet to be officially proven."


title: Hope Diamond

text: There is evidence of several newspaper accounts which helped spread the "curse" story. A New Zealand newspaper article in 1888 described the supposedly lurid history of the Hope Diamond, including a claim that it was "said once to have formed the single eye of a great idol", as part of a confused description that also claimed that its namesake owner had personally "brought it from India", and that the diamond's true color was "white, [although] when held to the light, it emits the most superb and dazzling blue rays."


title: Hope Diamond

text: An article entitled "Hope Diamond Has Brought Trouble To All Who Have Owned It" appeared in "The Washington Post" in 1908. In 1909 upon reporting on the sale of the Hope Diamond The Times also gave an account of its history, noting "its possession is the story of a long series of tragedies - murder, suicide, madness, and various other misfortunes."


title: Hope Diamond

text: These were followed by another "New York Times" article in 1911 which gave a list of supposed cases of ill-fortune, but with few confirmations from other sources:


title: Hope Diamond

text: The mainstream view is that these accounts are specious and speculative since there are few, if any, independent confirmations to back them up. A few months later, perhaps compounded by inaccurate reports in "The New York Times" on November 17, 1909, it was incorrectly reported that the diamond's former owner, Selim Habib, had drowned in a shipwreck of the steamer "Seyne" near Singapore; in fact, it was a different person with the same name, not the owner of the diamond. There was speculation that jeweler Pierre Cartier further embroidered the lurid tales to intrigue Evalyn Walsh McLean into buying the Hope Diamond in 1911.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The theme of greedy robbers stealing a valuable object from the tomb or shrine of an ancient god or ruler, and then being punished by it, is one which repeats in many different forms of literature. A likely source of inspiration for the fabrications was the Wilkie Collins' 1868 novel, "The Moonstone", which created a coherent narrative from vague and largely disregarded legends which had been attached to other diamonds such as the Koh-i-Noor and the Orloff diamond. The theme can be seen in films such as "The Mummy" as well as stories about the curse of Egyptian king Tutankhamun and in more recent films such as the Indiana Jones films. In keeping with these scripts, according to the legend, Tavernier did not buy the Hope diamond but stole it from a Hindu temple where it had been set as one of two matching eyes of an idol, and the temple priests then laid a curse on whoever might possess the missing stone. Largely because the other blue diamond "eye" never surfaced, historians dismissed the fantastical story.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The stories generally do not bear up to more pointed examination; for example, the legend that Tavernier's body was "torn apart by wolves" is inconsistent with historical evidence which shows that he lived to 84 and died of natural causes.


title: Hope Diamond

text: It is possible that the overblown story of the "curse", possibly fueled by Cartier and others, may have caused some hesitation on the part of the prospective buyers, the McLeans, around 1911. When a lawsuit between buyer and seller erupted about the terms of the deal, newspapers kept alive reports of the diamond's "malevolent influence" with reports like this one, which blamed the stone's "curse" on having caused, of all things, the lawsuit itself:


title: Hope Diamond

text: The Hope Diamond was also blamed for the unhappy fates of other historical figures vaguely linked to its ownership, such as the falls of Madame Athenais de Montespan and French finance minister, Nicolas Fouquet, during the reign of Louis XIV of France; the beheadings of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and the rape and mutilation of the Princesse de Lamballe during the French Revolution; and the forced abdication of Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid who had supposedly killed various members of his court for the stone (despite the annotation in Habib's auction catalog). Even jewelers who may have handled the Hope Diamond were not spared from its reputed malice: the insanity and suicide of Jacques Colot, who supposedly bought it from Eliason, and the financial ruin of the jeweler Simon Frankel, who bought it from the Hope family, were linked to the stone. But although he is documented as a French diamond dealer of the correct era, Colot has no recorded connection with the stone, and Frankel's misfortunes were in the midst of economic straits that also ruined many of his peers.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The legend includes deaths of numerous other characters who had been previously unknown: Diamond cutter Wilhelm Fals, killed by his son Hendrik, who stole it and later committed suicide; Francois Beaulieu, who received the stone from Hendrik but starved to death after selling it to Eliason; a Russian prince named Kanitowski, who lent it to French actress Lorens Ladue and promptly shot her dead on the stage, and was himself stabbed to death by revolutionaries; Simon Montharides, hurled over a precipice with his family. However, the existence of only a few of these characters has been verified historically, leading researchers to conclude that most of these persons are fictitious.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The actress May Yohe made repeated attempts to capitalize on her identity as the former wife of the last Hope to own the diamond, and sometimes blamed the gemstone for her misfortunes. In July 1902, months after Lord Francis divorced her, she told police in Australia that her lover, Putnam Strong, had abandoned her and taken her jewels. In fact, the couple reconciled, married later that year, but divorced in 1910. On her third marriage in 1920, she persuaded film producer George Kleine to back a 15-episode serial "The Hope Diamond Mystery", which added fictitious characters to the tale, but the project was not successful. In 1921, she hired Henry Leyford Gates to help her write "The Mystery of the Hope Diamond," in which she starred as Lady Francis Hope. The film added more characters, including a fictionalized Tavernier, and added Marat among the diamond's "victims". She also wore her copy of the Hope, trying to generate more publicity to further her career.


title: Hope Diamond

text: Evalyn Walsh McLean added her own narrative to the story behind the blue jewel, including that one of the owners had been Catherine the Great, although there are no confirmations that the Russian ruler ever owned the diamond. McLean would bring the Diamond out for friends to try on, including Warren G. Harding and Florence Harding.


title: Hope Diamond

text: Since the Smithsonian acquired the gemstone, the "curse appears to have gone dormant." Owning the diamond has brought "nothing but good luck" for the nonprofit national museum, according to a Smithsonian curator, and has helped it build a "world-class gem collection" with rising attendance levels.


title: Hope Diamond

text: In 2007, a lead cast of the French Blue diamond was discovered in the gemological collections of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. This triggered an investigation by an international team of researchers into the stone's history, which previously had to rely on two-dimensional sketches of the diamond. The three-dimensional structure allowed researchers to apply techniques such as computer-aided drawing analysis.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The methods for digitally-reconstructing the gem are reviewed in this articles "Theft and Disappearance" section. The emblem of the Golden Fleece of Louis XV was reconstructed around the French Blue, including the "Côte de Bretagne" spinel of , the "Bazu" diamond of , 3 oriental topazes (yellow sapphires), five brilliants of up to and nearly 300 smaller diamonds.


title: Hope Diamond

text: As part of the investigation, the "Tavernier Blue" diamond was reconstructed from the original French edition of Tavernier's "Voyages" (rather than the later London edition, which had distorted and modified Tavernier's original figures). The Smithsonian Institution provided ray-tracing and optical spectroscopic data about the Hope diamond.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The lead cast had been catalogued at the French museum in 1850 and was provided by a prominent Parisian jeweler named Charles Archard who lived during the same generation as René Just Haüy, who died in 1822. Most likely, the lead cast was made near 1815, because that was the year that similar entries from the 1850 catalogue had been made. The model was accompanied by a label stating that the "French Blue" was in the possession of a person known as "Mr. Hope of London". Other archives at the Muséum suggests that Hope was a customer of Achard for many years, particularly for blue gems.


title: Hope Diamond

text: These findings have helped investigators piece together what may have happened during the rock's anonymous years during the several decades following 1792. According to one line of reasoning, the first "Hope" to have the "Hope Diamond"—Henry Phillip Hope—might have possessed the "French Blue" that he had acquired some time after the 1792 robbery in Paris, perhaps around 1794-1795, when the Hopes were believed to have left Holland for London to escape Napoleon's armies. At about the same time, Cadet Guillot, who may have been one of the thieves to have stolen the "Golden Fleece", arrived in London. This places Mr. Hope and Mr. Guillot in London at the same time. According to a late nineteenth century historian named Bapts, a contract was made between Cadet Guillot and a French aristocrat named Lancry de la Loyelle, in 1796, to sell the spinel-dragon of the Golden Fleece. According to this line of reasoning, in 1802 Hope sold his assets, and the continental blockade by Napoleon led the Hope's bank into a serious financial crisis by 1808, and the crisis peaked during the winter of 1811–1812 This put Mr. Hope in a financial bind. There is a possibility that, given his financial predicament, Hope pawned the "French Blue" to jewel merchant Eliason to get much-needed cash when the British currency, sterling, was highly depreciated. This is consistent with the entry in Eliason's records about having the stone in 1812.


title: Hope Diamond

text: However, the diamond's owners may have felt pressure to recut the stone quickly to disguise its identity, since if the French government had learned of its existence, it may have sued the owners for repossession. Regardless of whether Mr. Hope had lost possession or kept it during these years, by 1824 it was again in his possession. It was around this time that Eliason died; Hope's financial situation has been restored thanks to efforts by the Barings, who saved the Hope bank in the difficult financial years of 1812–1820. Accordingly, if this is correct, then the lead cast of the "French Blue" and the "Hope" diamond are likely to have been created in the same workshop, possibly in London, and probably a little before 1812.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The lead cast had important ramifications since it gave enough information to curators at the French museum to commission the first exact replicas of both the Tavernier and French Blue diamonds using a material which simulates diamonds called cubic zirconia, with the help of artisans who work with gems known as lapidaries, led by Scott Sucher. These replicas have been completed and displayed with the French Crown Jewels and the Great Sapphire of Louis XIV, a Moghul-cut sapphire of . Artisans recreated the elaborate parure of different-colored gems known as the "Golden Fleece of King Louis XV of France", which is arguably the most fabulous work in the history of French jewelry; this happened from 2007–2010. The original parure, created in 1749 by royal jeweler Pierre-André Jacquemin, was stolen and broken in 1792. The reassembled jewel contained the French Blue and the Bazu diamonds, as well as the Côte de Bretagne spinel and hundreds of smaller diamonds. Three years of work were needed to recreate this jewel, and it required exacting and precise skill which revealed not only the skill of today's lapidaries, but the skill of its original eighteenth-century designers. The reconstructed jewel was presented by Herbert Horovitz, with of the French museum in attendance, at the former Royal Storehouse in Paris on June 30, 2010, which was the same site where the original had been stolen 218 years before.


title: Hope Diamond

text: Additional recreations were made possible by new discoveries. A previously unknown drawing of the Golden Fleece was rediscovered in Switzerland in the 1980s, and two blue diamonds that had ornamented the jewel were found as well, and these recent findings enabled artisans to recreate a copy of the "emblem". It led to the construction, using cubic zirconia, of a piece that almost exactly resembles the mythic "French Blue" masterpiece.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The emblem has another great blue diamond, which was later named "the Bazu" in reference to a dealer who reportedly had sold it to Louis XIV in 1669. This Bazu diamond was recut in 1749 as a baroque cushion weighing . The 1791 inventory mentioned that the Bazu was "light sky blue", which is consistent with the fact that the Golden Fleece of the Color Adornment was made of a variety of great colored gems. Based on documents kept in a private collection, it could be shown that this particular diamond was not hexagonal-shaped, as some historians had previously thought, but was in a shape best described as "rounded squared", similar to the so-called Régent diamond. There is a report that a curator from the French museum will assert that the hexagonal cut from the Bazu is inconsistent historically and gemologically. The Bazu stone referred to another version of Louis XV's great Golden Fleece, made out of blue sapphires instead of blue diamonds. According to one view, this version appears to have never been manufactured but only suggested to the king as an alternative to the effective final version, bearing two blue diamonds. Nevertheless, replicas of both blue diamonds were cut by Scott Sucher using cubic zirconia, one being colored deep blue and the other light blue.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The emblem had a third great gem known as "The Côte de Bretagne dragon". Its replica was based on a wax likeness sculpted by Pascal Monney, who had based his recreation from three-dimensional scaled pictures of the original object which had been made by French artist François Farges; Farges, in turn, had seen the original objects displayed at the Louvre's Galerie d'Apollon. In addition, artist Etienne Leperlier cast a "crystal" lead glass duplicate of the wax replica of the carved Côte de Bretagne. Its pigmentation is made out of gold and manganese pigments to simulate as close as possible the original color of the spinel.


title: Hope Diamond

text: The 500-plus remaining replicas of diamonds were cut from cubic zirconia using a baroque cushion cut. Colors were used to recall the original artwork: red for the flames, and yellow for the fleece, and in keeping with the original work, the materials used were initially colorless but were painted in the same fashion used by the artist Jacquemin when the original Golden Fleece was completed in 1749. Since the original was most likely made out of gold plated with silver, a choice was made to use a matrix mostly made out of 925-grade silver to keep costs under control without compromising quality. A number of different artists helped with this project:


title: Hope Diamond

text: All stones were set according to 18th-century techniques. Finally, a luxury box containing the Golden Fleece was recreated by Frédéric Viollet using crimson-colored Moroccan leather. The box was gilded by Didier Montecot to the arms of Louis XV, using the king's original iron stamp made by the Simier house. A dark red cramoisi ribbon, made of crimson satin moire, holds the jewel inside the box.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: Xiao Zhan (, born 5 October 1991), also known as Sean Xiao, is a Chinese actor and singer. Xiao Zhan began his career in the entertainment industry when he participated in the idol survival show X-Fire and debuted as a member of the Chinese boy group X Nine. He started his acting career in 2016 and had since won widespread attention for his dramas, including "The Untamed" (2019), "Joy of Life" (2019), "The Wolf" (2020), "Douluo Continent" (2021) and "The Oath of Love" (2022). He has won numerous awards and nominations for his roles.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: As a singer, Xiao Zhan released a digital single "Spotlight" (光点) at the end of April 2020 and sold over 25.48 million copies within 24 hours of release. It set the Guinness World Record for the fastest-selling digital track in China. On 22 April 2021, he made his stage debut starring in Yang Hua's version of the critically acclaimed eight-hour drama "如夢之夢" (A Dream Like a Dream) in Wuhan.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: Xiao Zhan was born on 5 October 1991, in Chongqing. From childhood, he began to learn to paint and play the violin. He studied at Modern International Art Design Academy at Chongqing Technology and Business University. During his university days, he was a member of the class literary committee and the school choir.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In 2012, he set up a photography studio with his friends and served as their main photographer. After his graduation in 2014 and prior to his debut, he worked as a photographer and graphic designer.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In 2015, after a teacher's recommendation, Xiao participated in the reality TV show "X-Fire" where he trained to be an idol, as one of 16 contestants. He also participated in recording the program "Teen Channel" by Tencent. His first stage performance alongside his teammates were at the 2016 Zhejiang TV New Year Concert, where he performed "冻结" (Freeze) and "燃烧吧少年" (Be A Man). He debuted with 8 other members in a group called X Nine in 2016, taking on the position of main vocalist. They released their first mini album "X玖" "("X Jiu")" in September 2016.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In 2018, Xiao sang the soundtrack for the drama "Oh! My Emperor" in which he also acted in, titled "踩影子" (Stepping on Shadows).


title: Xiao Zhan

text: From 2019 to 2021, Xiao went on to sing for the dramas he starred in. He sang a solo track for the series, named as "曲尽陈情" (Song Ends with Chen Qing)." "For "Joy of Life", Xiao sang the ending theme song "余年" (Remaining Years). He also contributed to the OST of his 2021 drama "Douluo Continent" with his single "策马正少年" (Righteous Youth on Horseback).


title: Xiao Zhan

text: From October 2019 up to January 2020, Xiao had been a regular at Dragon TV's singing program "Our Song" in which veteran singers are paired up with younger singers in the new generation.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: On 25 April 2020, Xiao Zhan released his digital single "Spotlight" (光点) which went on to become the highest selling digital single of all time with over 54 million copies sold. For this song, he entered the Guinness World Records for the fastest-selling digital track in China. On 9 March 2021, the single was named the 7th Best Selling Digital Single of 2020 globally by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), having amassed 1.48 billion subscription stream equivalents worldwide. The song was also listed as one of 10 biggest-selling digital single worldwide by Guinness World Records.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In the later half of 2020, Xiao made an appearance during the finale of "Actors, please Stand By" Season 2, performing "用尽我的一切奔向你" (Running to You with All I Have) by Bibi Zhou. He also performed two songs during Tencent Video All Star Awards 2020, "余生请多指教" (The Oath of Love")" alongside Yang Zi and "最幸运的幸运" (The Luckiest Fortune (lit.)), both are the theme songs of the Chinese TV series "The Oath of Love" 《余生请多指教》 starring Xiao Zhan, which aired 2 years after this performance.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: On 18 November 2022, Xiao Zhan's single "Spotlight" (光点) was officially released globally on the iTunes platform after two and half years. It was re-named as "Made to Love", the single shot to No. 27 on the Worldwide iTunes Song Chart within hours of its release, it climbed up to No.2 on the Worldwide iTunes Song Chart and No.4 on the European iTunes Song Chart later on the same day. It quickly topped the sales charts in dozens of countries and regions including Canada, Peru, Indonesia, Mexico, Ireland, Japan, Australia, the United States, and Brazil etc. On November 21, Spotlight is named as the best-selling singles of all time by British Far Out Magazine.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In 2016, Xiao co-starred with Wang Yuwen in "Super Star Academy" as the main leads, played as Fang Tian Ze, the series gained 1.68 Billion Views on Tencent platform. Xiao also appeared as cameos for some series and films during the period between 2016 and 2018 such as Shuttle Love Millennium 2, "Monster Hunt 2" and "The Rookies".


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In 2018, he starred in the historical romance web drama "Oh! My Emperor Season 1 and 2" as second male lead, played Beitang Moran. The series was well-received for its comedic and romantic storyline and had over 3.58 Billion Views in total, Xiao earned recognition with his role as a domineering, yet gentle prince. That same year, he starred in the fantasy action drama "Battle Through the Heavens" as support role, played Liu Xiuya"."


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In 2019, Xiao co-starred with Wang Yibo in the Xianxia drama "The Untamed" (陈情令), based on the danmei novel "Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation" (魔道祖师) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (墨香铜臭). His portrayal of the carefree and unrestrained Wei Wuxian, who evolves into the darker and tormented Yiling Laozu, received very positive reviews, aiding the series' rise in popularity; it had gained over 10 billion views by December 2021. The series also gained a huge following overseas after it became available on Netflix on 25 October 2019.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In August 2019, Xiao was confirmed to star with Yang Zi in the upcoming modern romance drama "The Oath of Love" as the main leads, playing Gu Wei, a warm and gentle doctor. The series is adapted from the novel "Entrust the Rest of My Life to You" (余生，请多指教) by Bo Lin Shi Jiang (柏林石匠).


title: Xiao Zhan

text: The same year, he played the protagonist Zhang Xiaofan in the film "Jade Dynasty", adapted from the xianxia novel "Zhu Xian by" Xiao Ding (萧鼎)"." The film topped the China box office on its opening day, and earned more than 400 million Yuan within 18 days of release. In Thailand, the film set a new record as the highest-grossing Chinese language movie in 10 years.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In September, it was announced that Xiao had established his own studio, "XZ STUDIO", in collaborations with Wajijiwa Entertainment. On 26 November, the historical drama "Joy of Life" streamed on Tencent and iQIYI"," where he played the supporting role Yan Bingyun. The series is based on a novel with the same name by Mao Ni (猫腻).


title: Xiao Zhan

text: Xiao starred in "The Wolf" as Ji Chong, alongside Darren Wang and Li Qin, and the series was released on Tencent Video, iQiyi, and Youku on 19 November 2020. The series topped the popularity indexes in Mainland China since its release and surpassed 500 million views on a single platform within 11 days. As of December 2020, the total number of viewership on the three platforms has exceeded 1 billion, with an average daily view of nearly 100 million.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In late 2020, he was filming a new drama, Ace Troops, which wrapped production on 14 December 2020. He played Gu Yi Ye, a young ambitious soldier joining army force at 18 years old and the incidents happened to him throughout his 40 years of military career.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In February 2021, the drama "Douluo Continent", adapted from the acclaimed book series of the same name by Tang Jia San Shao, premiered in multiple platforms. Xiao played as the protagonist Tang San, a rare wielder of dual martial souls. Douluo Continent is one of the most successful dramas in China gaining a total of 5.70 billion views, with the highest singe-day broadcast volume of 211 million views and averages 138 million views per episode. The show was also broadcast abroad in Japan, Thailand, US in different platforms such as WeTV, Amazon Prime, and cable channels. Douluo Continent was also mentioned by China Literature as one of the most successful dramas adopted from IP of the year. Douluo Continent was successful despite its data suppression.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: On 29 March 2021, Xiao was announced as the main lead Shi Ying in historical drama "The Longest Promise" inspired by the fantasy novel "Mirror: Zhu Yan" (朱颜) by author Cang Yue (沧月). The series wrapped on 4 August 2021, and the first trailer was released on 7 June 2021.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: On 26 December 2021, the military drama "Ace Troops" broadcast exclusively on Jiangsu TV and iQIYI platforms. The drama received well response


title: Xiao Zhan

text: and boosted the TV channel CVB viewership up to 89% during its airing period. The series was rerun on AnHui TV, HuBei TV and ShenZhen TV and gained good response in viewership index.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: On March 15, 2022, his highly anticipated drama "The Oath of Love" began broadcasting on Hunan Television Primetime, as well as the Tencent Web Platform, and simultaneously on WeTV for international audience.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: The drama received a lot of positive reviews, hit 4 billion views on 20 April 2022, in just 37 days of airing. The Weibo character Index for Xiao Zhan's portrayal of Gu Wei breaking a new height at 120. The WeChat Index for Gu Wei hits 164 millions.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: On 2 May, The Oath of love is scheduled to have its South Korean premiere at South Korea Ching TV. On 26 May 2022, the series rerun on ShenZhen TV. On September 28, Xiao Zhan and Bai Baihe announced as leads for the series "Sunshine With Me".


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In 2020, Xiao Zhan appeared in CCTV New Year's Gala for the first time, acting out a skit "Like You Like Me" alongside Xie Na.·


title: Xiao Zhan

text: On 22 April 2021, Xiao Zhan made his inaugural theatrical appearance in a play, A Dream Like Dream, which paid tribute to the volunteers, community workers and medical staff in Wuhan. He played Patient No. 5. He has since continued to act the role for many more cities such as Qingdao, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Beijing. A Dream Like A Dream is listed in China Performance Industry Association's Performance Market Annual Report for 2021, ranked as No. 1 in Theater Category for The Highest average ticket sales in a single screening and annual ticket sales


title: Xiao Zhan

text: To bless Xiao Zhan on his first theatre play, fans from all over the world flooded the Wuhan QinTai Theatre with flower stands which was called as "Flower Ocean". On the same day evening, Xiao Zhan Studio asked for the flowers to be distributed to the people in Wuhan.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In 2018, Xiao is named as brand spokesperson for Hera and was announced as brand ambassador for AHC. Following the success of "The Untamed," he has become one of the most in demand endorsers "," partnered with 17 brands"." His endorsements range from beverage and washing products, to jewelry and fashion magazines such as Budweiser, Braun, Olay, Tidal, Oppo, Roseonly, Estée Lauder; with most of them breaking their previous sales record.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In 2021, Xiao Zhan has partnered with 28 brands in total and by 2022 he has collaborated with 18 more brands. He is named as the face of Tod's, Zenith, Gucci, Audi, Ralph Lauren, Yves Saint Laurent, regaining momentum among luxury household brands. He was also announced as brand ambassador and spokesperson for numerous brands such as Li-Ning, Molsion, Dettol, Zwilling, Tencent Video, WeTV, NARS, Loreal professional, PEPSI, Bubly, Tasogare Coffee, Extra Gum, Dove Chocolate, YiDa Haw-haw snack, Mendale, Usmile, Roborock, Ocak, KaiXiaoZao, Breo, Joyoung, JD E-Commerce.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In 2020, Xiao Zhan was named the promotional ambassador for the Beijing Television Spring Gala. On 11 June 2020, the "Public Welfare Aids Agribusiness" hosted by the People's Government of Yu County and People's Online was held in Yu County, Zhangjiakou. Xiao Zhan was invited to become a poverty alleviation Product Experience Officer, participated in the field tour of Yu County, visited local poverty alleviation industries, and helped the promotion of Yu County's characteristic agricultural products and cultural products.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In, 2021 Xiao Zhan became Shanghai Public Security Bureau's Anti-Fraud Alliance Member and promoted their campaign to spread awareness against online long cons and fraudulent fund transfers. He also became the Men's Ice Hockey Promotion Ambassador and National Stadium Winter Dream Promotion Ambassador for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, appearing in the ice hockey episode of Beijing Satellite TV's "The Covenant of Winter Dreams" to help promote awareness of the sports as well as the venue.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: On 10 September, during the first day of the one-year countdown to the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, Xiao Zhan was appointed as the Hangzhou Asian Games Public Welfare Dream Ambassador. In addition, Xiao Zhan also sang the Hangzhou Asian Games song "We Are All Heading For A Better Future".


title: Xiao Zhan

text: After he was appointed as the brand endorser for Estée Lauder's fragrance and beauty line, the brand's sales record reportedly surpassed last year single day's record, as well as topping the most popular Chinese brands list for 11:11 and Black Friday 2019.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In 2022, As once of the top traffic celebrity in the China entertainment industry, after Xiao was announced as brand spokesperson for Audi, the total monthly sales exceeded 200 million Yuan within a month. Later he was announced as NARS spokesperson, the sales volume of flagship store on the first day was nearly 80 million, and the transaction growth rate increased by 20741.14%! It exceeded the quarterly sales of other brands in a day. On April 02, Xiao was announced as PEPSI brand spokesperson, within an hour, the sales volume of a single platform has exceeded 50,000. By the end of April, sales exceeded 100 million Yuan, setting a historical record of surpassing competing products for the first time since the establishment of the factory in a single month. On May 06, Xiao was announced as brand spokesperson for L'Oréal PRO, sales nearly exceeded 40 million Yuan within 24 hours. On July 16, Xiao was announced as the spokesperson for famous skin care brand Yves Saint Laurent, the flagship store sold more than 72 million Yuan on a single platform and attracted more than 1.6 million visitors to the site. On August 22, he attended the Lining’s live stream event and attracted 30 million streamers throughout the broadcast.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: Forbes China listed him under their 30 Under 30 Asia 2019 list, which consisted of 30 influential people under 30 years old who have had a substantial effect in their fields. The actor-singer has been topping various charts for consecutive weeks and months since his breakthrough. He topped the R3 index celebrity ranking from August to November 2019; and the Star Fashion Value by Sina Fashion in August and October 2019. He also topped Ai Man's Data Star's Business Value list for the month of September to November.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: Xiao Zhan is named as Most Handsome Faces in Asia in 2019, 2020, Most Influential Faces of 2020, Most Handsome Face in Asia Pacific 2020 by TCC Asia. He was also placed 6th, 7th and 11th for Most Handsome Faces in the World for three consecutive years in 2019, 2020, 2021 by TCC Candler.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: He was listed as the Most Handsome Men in the World 2020 by Top Beauty World, as well as the Sexiest Men in the World 2020 and placed 8th and 1st in the Asian Heartthrobs 2020, 2021 by Starmometer"." He is named as the number 1 Men in Fashion World 2021 by The World List, placed first in "2021 Fashion Icon of the Year" by World's Choice Awards and was selected as the “Most Handsome Man of 2022” by Nubiai Magazine with 2.2 million votes from much more than 140 nations across the world included votes from the USA, Peru, Thailand, Myanmar, and other nations.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: As early as 2016, shortly after Xiao Zhan made his debut. Xiao Zhan donated 17,000 Yuan to the Angel Animal Protection - Animal Care Center to purchase 100 cat nests to keep stray cats warm during the winter.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: During COVID-19, Xiao Zhan Studio donated various medical supplies, equipment and ventilators to hospitals in need. In 2021, he also donated 1 million Yuan ($210,000) to Zhengzhou Red Cross to help with flood relief in Henan province.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In 2022, Xiao Zhan donated 500,000 Yuan to the Amity Foundation to support the epidemic prevention and control work in Shanghai. On April 22, the procurement of 1,000 material packages was completed, each including rice, edible oil, and milk; another batch of 1,125 material packages had also been purchased, including rice, eggs, milk, edible salt, soy sauce, etc. Subsequent packaged will be delivered and received by the towns and neighborhood committees within the Pudong New Area and distributed to groups in need. On September 08, Xiao Zhan Studio donated 1 million Yuan to Red Cross Society to help with earthquake relief efforts in Luding County, Ganzi Prefecture in Sichuang province.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: In February 2020, a slash fan fiction novel hosted on Archive of Our Own called "Falling" went viral on the Chinese social networking site Sina Weibo. The fan fiction depicts a female prostitute named "Xiao Zhan" in a sexual relationship with a minor named "Wang Yibo" (the name of Xiao Zhan's co-star in "The Untamed" (2019), a TV series adapted from a danmei web novel; due to censorship the duo could not be portrayed as lovers as they are in the novel). Some fans of Xiao Zhan believed the fan fiction to be insulting to Xiao Zhan, and rallied like-minded fans to report the offending post to Sina Weibo officials for containing "pornographic content". The fan fiction was banned on Weibo, causing a surge of traffic from Mainland China to the original source of the fan fiction on Archive of Our Own. Fans subsequently mass reported the site to Chinese authorities and led to it being blocked in the country by the Great Firewall, drawing the ire of its users in Mainland China and backlash against Xiao Zhan. Consequently, he lost numerous brand endorsements and was forced to issue an apology for the actions of his fans.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: On 7 May 2020, he made his first official appearance after the incident in an interview with Economic View, explaining his perspective on the issue. On 9 May 2020, Xiao Zhan was invited by BTV to perform Bamboo Rock (竹石) in support of China's healthcare workers who had bravely fought in the frontlines against the pandemic.


title: Xiao Zhan

text: On 19 December 2020, Xiao Zhan made his first live performance on the Tencent Video All Star Night Show, where his fans brought lights to show their support; this became known as the "Red Ocean". This resulted in trending topics on Weibo for domestic fans and Twitter for fans abroad, signifying his popularity despite the controversy.


title: That '90s Show

text: That '90s Show is an upcoming American television period teen sitcom set in 1995, featuring characters and locales which debuted in its predecessor, "That '70s Show." It is set to premiere on Netflix on January 19, 2023.


title: That '90s Show

text: The show centers on Leia Forman, the teenage daughter of Eric Forman and Donna Pinciotti, forming bonds with other teenagers as she spends the summer of 1995 with her grandparents, Red and Kitty in Point Place, Wisconsin, 15 years after the events of "That 70's Show".


title: That '90s Show

text: "That '70s Show" was a sitcom that aired on Fox for eight seasons from 1998 to 2006, centering around the lives of teenagers from 1976 to 1979. The show garnered additional popularity after its conclusion due to its availability on Netflix, before leaving the platform in September 2020.


title: That '90s Show

text: In October 2021, Netflix announced a spin-off of the series, titled "That '90s Show", with Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp reprising their roles as Red and Kitty Forman, respectively. It will be produced by The Carsey-Werner Company, with Gregg Mettler serving as showrunner and Bonnie Turner, Terry Turner, their daughter Lindsay Turner, Marcy Carsey, Tom Werner, Smith and Rupp as executive producers.


title: That '90s Show

text: Ten episodes have been ordered, with the series taking on a multi-cam format like the original. The show was filmed in front of a live studio audience at Sunset Bronson Studios in Los Angeles between February 7 and July 21, 2022.


title: That '90s Show

text: In February 2022, Callie Haverda, Ashley Aufderheide, Mace Coronel, Maxwell Acee Donovan, Reyn Doi and Sam Morelos joined the cast as series regulars. It was also reported that Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, and Wilmer Valderrama will appear in recurring roles; though it was expected that Danny Masterson would not appear due to his criminal trial, which began in October, 2022. Production commenced February 6. On April 30, 2022, it was announced that Grace, Prepon, Kunis, Kutcher, and Valderrama will all return for guest appearances.


title: Julianna Peña

text: Julianna Nicole Peña (born August 19, 1989) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where she is the former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. Peña is the first woman to win The Ultimate Fighter. As of November 15, 2022, she is #4 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings, and as of August 1, 2022, she is #1 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings.


title: Julianna Peña

text: The youngest of four siblings, Julianna was born and raised in Spokane, Washington. Julianna graduated in 2007 from Mt. Spokane High School. She then attended Spokane Community College. In order to lose weight and channel aggression in her early adulthood, she enrolled in a cardio kickboxing class and subsequently transitioned to mixed martial arts.


title: Julianna Peña

text: After going 2–0 as an amateur, Peña made her professional MMA debut in May 2009. She won four consecutive fights but suffered her first defeat in April 2012 to future fellow The Ultimate Fighter 18 cast member Sarah Moras in a 140-pound catchweight bout. The fight took place just two months and one week after Peña was involved in an accident with a drunk driver while walking in downtown Spokane in which she was knocked unconscious and suffered a broken nose. Ten months later she returned to professional competition in a fight in the flyweight division, a move down from the bantamweight division, losing by unanimous decision.


title: Julianna Peña

text: Peña faced Gina Mazany in the elimination fight to get into the house. She controlled the fight from early on, winning a clear unanimous decision victory after two rounds.


title: Julianna Peña

text: During the first tournament fight in the house, Peña faced veteran and top-ten ranked Shayna Baszler. Ronda Rousey selected this match-up between the two first female picks. The highly ranked and more experienced Baszler was widely considered the favorite. After a back and forth first round in which Peña landed effective boxing combinations and escaped several of Baszler's submission attempts, Peña came out hard in the second round, connecting with powerful knee strikes that staggered Baszler. The fight went to the ground, where Peña was able to achieve back mount and won via rear naked choke for perhaps the biggest upset victory of the season.


title: Julianna Peña

text: In the semifinals, Peña faced off against Sarah Moras. The two fought previously in a professional bout in 2012, with Peña losing after suffering an injury due to an armbar which forced the doctor to stop the bout between the second and third rounds. Peña won the fight via guillotine choke in the second round to avenge the loss.


title: Julianna Peña

text: Peña faced Jessica Rakoczy in the finals on November 30, 2013, at The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale. She won the bout via TKO in the final seconds of the first round and became TUF 18 women’s bantamweight champion.


title: Julianna Peña

text: Peña was expected to face Jessica Andrade at UFC 171 on March 15, 2014. However, Peña pulled out of the bout after suffering an injury to her right knee. She suffered the injury while grappling in training, ultimately damaging, among other aspects, her ACL, MCL, LCL and meniscus. Despite the severity of the injury, doctors have assured Peña that her right knee will return to full strength following surgery and rehabilitation. The injury kept Peña out of action for the rest of 2014.


title: Julianna Peña

text: Peña returned to face Milana Dudieva on April 4, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 63. She won the fight via TKO in the first round. The win also earned Peña her first "Performance of the Night" bonus award.


title: Julianna Peña

text: Peña faced former title challenger Cat Zingano at UFC 200 on July 9, 2016. She won the fight by unanimous decision.


title: Julianna Peña

text: Peña faced Valentina Shevchenko at UFC on Fox 23 on January 28, 2017. She lost the fight via armbar submission in the second round.


title: Julianna Peña

text: On October 14, 2017 Peña announced that she was pregnant and would be taking an indefinite hiatus from the sport. On July 13, 2019 at UFC Fight Night 155, nearly two and a half years from her last bout, she returned and faced former UFC Women's Flyweight Champion Nicco Montaño, replacing an injured Sara McMann. She won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Julianna Peña

text: Peña was expected to face Aspen Ladd on March 28, 2020 at UFC on ESPN 8. However, Peña pulled out of the fight in early March citing an injury.


title: Julianna Peña

text: Peña faced Germaine de Randamie on October 4, 2020 at . She lost the fight via a guillotine choke in round three.


title: Julianna Peña

text: Peña was expected to face Sara McMann on January 16, 2021 at UFC on ABC 1 before being pushed back a week later to UFC 257 on January 24, 2021. Peña won the fight via submission in round three.


title: Julianna Peña

text: Peña was scheduled to face Holly Holm on May 8, 2021 at UFC on ESPN 24. However, Holm was forced to withdraw from the bout citing hydronephrosis.


title: Julianna Peña

text: Peña was expected to face Amanda Nunes for the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship on August 7, 2021 at UFC 265. However Nunes tested positive for COVID-19 on July 29, 2021. The bout was rescheduled to UFC 269 on December 11, 2021. After a dominant round one from Nunes, Peña came back in the second to win the bout and championship by rear-naked choke submission in what is regarded as one of the biggest upsets in UFC history.


title: Julianna Peña

text: On February 5, 2022, it was announced that Peña and Nunes would be the coaches for The Ultimate Fighter 30 on ESPN+, which would feature contestants from the heavyweight and women's flyweight divisions.


title: Julianna Peña

text: A rematch against Amanda Nunes for the UFC Women's Bantamweight title took place on July 30, 2022, at UFC 277. Peña lost the fight by unanimous decision.


title: Julianna Peña

text: Peña was featured in the award-winning mixed martial arts documentary "Fight Life", the film is directed by James Z. Feng and was released in 2013.


title: Julianna Peña

text: Peña is an announcer, along with Max Bretos, for Combate Americas' English language broadcast on DAZN.


title: Julianna Peña

text: Julianna is the younger sister of former KREM 2 reporter and morning/noon meteorologist Grace Peña. Peña is of Mexican and Venezuelan descent.


title: Julianna Peña

text: On December 20, 2015, Peña was arrested in Spokane, Washington and charged with two counts of assault due to an altercation with bar staff following an earlier street fight in which Josh Gow, her training partner on the Sikjitsu fight team, had been injured. A judge later granted a stipulation order of continuance in her case such that if Peña had no other incidents for a year, the case would be dismissed.


title: Ye (album)

text: Ye ( ; stylized in all lowercase) is the eighth studio album by American rapper Kanye West. It was released on June 1, 2018, through GOOD Music and distributed by Def Jam Recordings. Following controversy surrounding an interview with TMZ, West re-recorded all the work on the album, with him completing it over the course of just two weeks at West Lake Ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Guest vocals from PartyNextDoor, Ty Dolla Sign, Kid Cudi, Charlie Wilson, Jeremih, and 070 Shake, among others, are included.


title: Ye (album)

text: West produced "Ye" with Mike Dean, alongside numerous others. Succeeding the release of Pusha T's "Daytona", the album was the second of five seven-track albums produced by West in what were referred to as the "Wyoming Sessions", which were set to be released weekly. It preceded the release of West's collaborative album with Kid Cudi, as Kids See Ghosts, titled "Kids See Ghosts". The latter's release was succeeded by that of Nas' "Nasir", and Teyana Taylor's "K.T.S.E.". West held a listening party for "Ye" on May 31, 2018, which was livestreamed from Jackson Hole.


title: Ye (album)

text: "Yikes" and "All Mine" were released as singles in the summer of 2018 in support of "Ye", with a lyric video being released for the latter simultaneously with one for non-single "Violent Crimes". Both of the singles attained top 20 positions on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, while the album received generally favorable reviews from music critics. The majority of them drew comparisons between the latter and West's previous works, while other critics had somewhat mixed feelings towards the lyrical content. It was named as one of the best albums of 2018 by multiple publications.


title: Ye (album)

text: "Ye" gave West his eighth consecutive studio album to debut at number one on the US "Billboard" 200, tying him with Eminem's record. It was also a chart topper in Australia, Canada, Estonia, Ireland, and New Zealand, becoming West's second number one album in the first of the five territories. Top five positions were further attained in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The album has been certified platinum and gold in the United States and the UK by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and British Phonographic Industry (BPI), respectively.


title: Ye (album)

text: On February 24, 2016, Kanye West tweeted that his eighth studio album would be released during the summer of that year under the title of "Turbo Grafx 16", naming it after the video game console of the same name. West associate Ibn Jasper posted a photo on Instagram showing West with longtime collaborators Mike Dean, Plain Pat, and Kid Cudi in a recording studio working on the album. In March 2016, Quavo posted an image on his Instagram of him in a studio with West, with ""TURBO GRAFX 16"" written on the wall behind them. A number of other artists were present in the image, including Lil Yachty, Big Sean, and Tyler, the Creator. The expected release of the album in the summer of 2016 was not met, while West began his Saint Pablo Tour in August that year, in support of his seventh studio album "The Life of Pablo" that had been released in February. The tour ended abruptly, with 22 out of 41 dates being cancelled, after West, on his Sacramento stop, embarked on a rant lasting roughly 20 minutes, ending the show.


title: Ye (album)

text: In May 2017, news began to surface that West was working on his new album "on top of a mountain in Wyoming" in seclusion. In March 2018, similar reports had emerged through various artists, including West himself, who was being spotted in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with a release date being expected for either 2018 or 2019 at the time. A number of other artists were pictured or rumored, including Kid Cudi, Nas, King Louie, Pi'erre Bourne, ASAP Bari, Wheezy, The-Dream, Travis Scott and The World Famous Tony Williams. In April 2018, West met with Rick Rubin, who is the executive producer on West's previous two studio albums, "Yeezus" (2013) and "The Life of Pablo". The meeting occurred at West's office in Calabasas, following on from him recording in Wyoming, having bought a property in the latter named Monster Lake Ranch for recording and renamed it West Lake Ranch. That same month, West previewed the album for radio host Charlamagne tha God. West announced the album's planned release date of June 1, 2018, on April 19, simultaneously revealing it to include seven tracks. On April 28, 2018, West tweeted out a text conversation between him and Wes Lang. The text conversation included West showing the initial cover for the album, and an explanation of its concept, followed by him asking for help naming the album. Lang replied, ""LOVE EVERYONE"," to which West replied "I love that." The presented cover art showed plastic surgeon Jan Adams who performed a liposuction and mammoplasty operation on West's mother, Donda West, which led to complications and eventually her death a day after. Within the texts, Kanye West explained that he wanted to "forgive and stop hating," implying that West was ready to forgive the plastic surgeon for the situation regarding his mother's death. On April 30, Adams responded to the news of the cover in the form of an open letter, asking West to "cease and desist using my photo or any image of me to promote your album or any of your work," while noting his willingness to sit down with West for a face to face conversation. West responded to the letter on his Twitter saying, "This is amazing. Thank you so much for this connection brother. I can't wait to sit with you and start healing."


title: Ye (album)

text: West returned to Wyoming in May 2018 for the recording of then-upcoming albums, which were later referred to as the "Wyoming Sessions". Outside of his own albums, West also executive produced, produced, and provided guest vocals for all of the albums by other artists that came out of the "Wyoming Sessions", with him having announced taking on the role of producer beforehand. American rapper Pusha T released his third studio album, "Daytona" on May 25, 2018, with the album standing as the first release of West's 2018 "Wyoming Sessions" recordings. West released "Ye" on June 1 as the second album of the "Wyoming Sessions". Prior to referencing mental health on the album, West had mentioned it within his music in the past, especially on "The Life of Pablo". On June 8, 2018, a week after "Ye" had been released, Kids See Ghosts, the hip hop duo consisting of West and Kid Cudi, released their eponymous debut studio album "Kids See Ghosts". A sequel to "Ye" track "Ghost Town", entitled "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)", is included on the album, with the sequel featuring vocals from American singer Ty Dolla Sign. West revealed via Twitter that the former was originally slated for release on "Kids See Ghosts". On June 15, 2018, American rapper Nas released his eleventh studio album, "Nasir", which stood as the fourth album of the "Wyoming Sessions". American recording artist Teyana Taylor released her second studio album, "K.T.S.E." on June 23 as the fifth and final album of the "Wyoming Sessions".


title: Ye (album)

text: In an interview conducted during the listening party for "Ye", West stated that he "redid the whole album after TMZ," referring to a controversial interview with the tabloid news website in May 2018, during which he made controversial comments about slavery, and suggested that the entire album was re-recorded in a month. Referencing the recording process, West claimed that initially: "Everything was going perfect. As soon as stuff stopped going so perfectly, I was like, 'I know what to do with this energy. I know exactly what to do with this.'" On June 4, 2018, West's wife Kim Kardashian reconfirmed this and revealed that two weeks were spent re-recording "Ye". Of her presence in the studio, Kardashian said: "I left to go home for, like, two days and then I come back and it was a whole new album. It's fascinating to see the process." The following day, featured artist 070 Shake said in an interview that the album was still being worked on up until the day before it came out. She elaborated, revealing that West was "very calm" while completing recording sessions in a few hours. As well as 070 Shake, the album includes guest contributions from Ty Dolla Sign, Ant Clemons, Jeremih, Kid Cudi, Charlie Wilson, Caroline Shaw and Nicki Minaj. Though all of the other contributions are guest vocals, Nicki Minaj contributed a voicemail. "Ye" was updated on streaming services on November 8, 2018, with the uncredited sample of Kareem Lotfy's recording "Fr3sh" being removed from the track "I Thought About Killing You". In a 2022 interview Mike Dean echoed the sentiments; "In Wyoming, for the Ye album, we had 10 songs, I guess. And we were trying to do a seven-song album. I came in one day and he'd erased the whole board and said, 'We're starting over.' That's what happened. And we did it in like two weeks. We made seven songs and it came out pretty good."


title: Ye (album)

text: Writing for "Rolling Stone", Brendan Klinkenberg characterized "Ye" as a hip hop album, though viewed it as the opposite "of a laser-focused statement album." Lindsay Zoladz of The Ringer noted the album's rushed sound, describing it as what "has a slapdash, unfinished quality about it, like a 10-page paper written in a shaky hand on the bumpy morning bus ride to school." For "The Line of Best Fit", Ross Horton similarly stated that "Ye" "just sounds like it hasn't been finished," specifically noting the track "Wouldn't Leave" as sounding unfinished. Douglas Greenwood from "NME" wrote that the album "lacks the profundity of "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" and the audacity of "808s" or "Yeezus"," calling the sound "succinct and easy to swallow".


title: Ye (album)

text: Steven Hyden compared the composition of the tracks on "Ye" to West's previous works in Uproxx, expressing the viewpoint that none of them stand out "as a decisive break with what he's done before." Paul Bowler from "uDiscoverMusic" viewed the work on the album as taking influence from West's previous tracks, describing it as what "marked a return to the dusty soul samples with which he had first made his name in the mid-00s." Similarly, Clayton Purdom of "The A.V. Club" claimed that the old West is present on "Ye" "bringing plump, stirring soul samples." He elaborated, writing that "if you missed the new Kanye, there's plenty of abrasive, "Yeezus"-style abstraction, too," and noted the inclusion of multitudes on the album. Writing for "The Observer", Kitty Empire viewed the work as "veering between sparse, hyper-modern styles and compositions which hark back to the soulful bent" of West's early career. Lucy Jones of "The Daily Telegraph" noted certain works as being reminiscent of West's third studio album "Graduation" (2007), viewing the piano chords and Slick Rick sample on the track "No Mistakes" as "old-school West," which she also pointed to certain vocals on "Ghost Town" as being.


title: Ye (album)

text: "Ye" gives a look into the psyche of West, with the character of the artist being focused on. The album includes references to the rapper's mental health, with a large amount of it seeing him unravel his mind, and "Ghost Town" is specifically linked to the theme. The theme contrasts "The Life of Pablo"s delving into the darker corners of fame and family, with "Ye" being more uncomfortable in comparison. West's bipolar disorder and suicidal thoughts are mentioned on the album, which are in relation to the theme of mental health. According to "Rapzilla" magazine's Elijah Matos, the album is among the select mainstream examples of hip hop that examines mental health similar to the younger waves of contemporary emo and Christian rap artists. "Ye" also includes West expressing his thoughts towards women.


title: Ye (album)

text: The album's opener, "I Thought About Killing You", sees West confess to thoughts of both suicide and homicide. West delivers spoken word over a backing vocal within the opener for a couple of minutes until the beat changes and he switches to rapping. "Yikes" includes West referencing his experiences with psychedelic drugs, as well as his struggle with mental health. Within "All Mine", West moves "into more explicit territory" and raps about having interest in multiple dating options. West uses "Wouldn't Leave" to reference his controversial comments about slavery, and his relationship with Kardashian. "No Mistakes" includes a series of self-righteous outbursts, coming from the perspective of a multi-millionaire in West. The mind of the rapper is presented as being in the process of unravelling within "Ghost Town", which is in reference to his mental health state. West raps about fears towards fathering his daughter within "Violent Crimes".


title: Ye (album)

text: On April 27, 2018, after West traveled to Wyoming and made subsequent album announcements, he announced the release of the track "Lift Yourself". That same day, the track was released on West's website, with it seeing West rap nonsensical words. West premiered a track two hours after "Lift Yourself" titled "Ye vs. the People", which features fellow rapper T.I. During an interview with "The Breakfast Club" in May 2018, Pusha T claimed that a version of "Lift Yourself" with actual lyrics exists and indicated that it could be released on the album. However, "Ye" was later released without the song included. It was also rumored for "Ye vs. the People" to be released on the album, though the song ultimately wasn't part of it. A song titled "Extacy" was part of the original track list for "Ye" as the second track, though the position was taken up by "Yikes" instead of the song on the final release of the album, while "Extacy" was later released under the title of "XTCY" on August 11, 2018.