prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Who is the federal leader of the political party Ken Epp belongs to?

The following are given passages.
Context 1: Passage 1:
Patrick Brown (politician)
Patrick Brown may refer to:

Patrick Brown (cricketer) (born 1998), English cricketer
Patrick Brown (ice hockey) (born 1992), American ice hockey player
Patrick Brown (journalist), British-Canadian journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Patrick Brown (Canadian politician) (born 1978), Canadian politician and mayor of Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Patrick Brown (Northern Irish politician), Northern Irish politician
Patrick Brown (photographer) (born 1969), Australian photojournalist, recipient of World Press Award 2018
Sleepy Brown (Patrick Brown, born 1970), American R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer
Patrick O  Brown (born 1954), American professor of biochemistry at Stanford University
Patrick (Bischoff) Brown (born 1978), American engineer, producer and studio owner
Patrick Brown (American football) (born 1986), American football offensive tackle
Patsy Brown (Patrick A  Brown, 1872–1958), Irish-American maker of the uilleann pipes

See also
Pat Brown (disambiguation)
Patrick Browne (disambiguation)
Sir Patrick Broun, 1st Baronet (c  1630–1688), of the Broun baronets
Brown (surname), a surname of English and Scottish origin
Passage 2:
Jake Epp
Arthur Jacob "Jake" Epp,  (born September 1, 1939) is a Canadian executive and former politician 

Life and career
Born into a Mennonite family in Manitoba, Epp was a high school history teacher in Steinbach, Manitoba before entering politics   Jake Epp was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a Progressive Conservative  Member of Parliament (MP) in the 1972 election for the riding of Provencher, which was the home of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's  Whiteshell Laboratories 
In the wake of the 1977 murder of Emanuel Jaques, Epp wrote to the National Gay Rights Coalition: "I would like to see what kind of support you have now after what has taken place in Toronto  What is needed is not protection for homosexuals, but for Canadians who are not deviant "After the 1979 election, he served in the short-lived Cabinet of Joe Clark as Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development  As minister, he wrote the Epp letter, which instructed the Commissioner of the Yukon to abandon some of her powers and established responsible government in the Yukon  He retained his seat in the 1980 election despite the defeat of the Clark government and returned to the Opposition bench 
When Brian Mulroney led the Conservatives back to power in the 1984 election, he appointed Epp as his Minister of National Health and Welfare  At the Cabinet table, he was a vocal proponent that life begins at conception   In the spring of 1988, the activist organization AIDS Action NOW! burned an effigy of Epp at Toronto City Hall to draw attention to his neglect of the AIDS epidemic In 1989, Epp became Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources  Epp retired at the 1993 election, and returned to private life  From 1993 until 2000, he was Senior Vice President and Vice President at TransCanada Pipelines Ltd 
Epp was one of the Tories who joined the Canadian Alliance when it was created in an attempt to attract Progressive Conservatives to the former Reform Party of Canada 
The Tory Mike Harris government appointed Epp to head a review of the ongoing cost over-runs and delays that plagued Ontario Power Generation's restart of the four "A" reactors at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station   The two other panel members were Peter Barnes and Dr  Robin Jeffrey   The review's report was released on December 4, 2003, and attributed to blame for the project to management problems 
The election of the Ontario Liberal Party in 2003 delayed action on the Epp report   The government of Dalton McGuinty appointed Epp to the Ontario Power Generation Review headed by John Manley to examine the future role of Ontario Power Generation (OPG) in the province’s electricity market, examine its corporate and management structure, and decide whether the public utility should proceed with refurbishing three more nuclear reactors at the Pickering nuclear power plant  The report recommended proceeding with the restart Pickering "A" reactors 1, 2, and 3, sequentially  The report argued that the restart of units 2 and 3 would be contingent on whether "OPG will be able to succeed at the Unit 1 project "The McGuinty government accepted the OPG Review Committee's recommendation and allowed the restart of reactor 1, which still underwent cost over-runs and delays 
In August 2005, the OPG Board of Directors announced that Units 2 and 3 would not be refurbished due to specific technical and cost risks surrounding the material condition of these two units 
In 2004, the McGuinty government made Epp Chairman of the Board of OPG 
Between 2005 and 2009 Epp served as Chancellor of Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto In 2010, Epp was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada 

The AIDS Crisis
Jake Epp played a significant role in allowing the AIDS crisis to grow unchecked by continuously ignoring pleas from community organizations to develop and implement a National AIDS Strategy  Beyond invitations for conversation, a blind eye was turned to AIDS activist protests as well  Anti-Jake Epp HIV/AID activism came to a head when activists from AIDS Action Now! in Toronto called attention to his neglect by burning him in effigy in Nathan Philips Square  Jake Epp's willful ignorance exacerbated the AIDS crisis in Canada and contributed to the growing number of AIDS-related deaths  Despite the desperate need for action, the government made no change until Epp was replaced by Perrin Beatty  Only then was there involvement in HIV-related matters at the federal level in Canada 

Electoral history
Passage 3:
Inky Mark
Inky Mark (Chinese: 麥鼎鴻; pinyin: Mài Dǐnghóng; born November 17, 1947) is a Canadian politician and a former member of the House of Commons of Canada, representing the Manitoba riding of Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette  Mark was a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, although he frequently criticized and took positions opposite the party and its leader, Stephen Harper  Mark ran in the 2015 federal election, noting that he is now a Green Party of Canada member but that he would still run as an independent  He lost significantly 

Early life
Mark was born in Taishan, China, and moved to Manitoba as a child  Mark's father and grandfather had emigrated from China to Canada some time previously, but were unable to bring their families with them as a result of provisions in the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923  Mark accompanied his mother when she fled China in 1953, and subsequently settled with his family in the Manitoba community of Gilbert Plains 

Education
Mark has a Bachelor of Arts from Brandon University and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Manitoba  Before entering political life, he worked as a high school teacher and small businessman  Mark also has a certificate in broadcasting and started a master's degree in education program, although he did not graduate 

Political career
Municipal politics
Mark's political career started when joined the Board of Directors of the Dauphin First United Church  He was subsequently elected to the Dauphin town council in 1991, and became the town's mayor in 1994 

Federal politics
Mark was first elected to the House of Commons in the federal election of 1997, running as a candidate of the Reform Party in the riding of Dauphin—Swan River  From 1997 to 2000, Mark was one of only three Chinese-Canadian MPs in the House of Commons 
The Reform Party dissolved itself in 2000 in favour of the Canadian Alliance, and Mark ran as a candidate of the new party in the federal election which followed On September 12, 2001, Mark left the Canadian Alliance caucus to sit as a member of the Democratic Representative Caucus, in alliance with the Progressive Conservative Party 
The DRC came to an end on April 10, 2002, when Stephen Harper replaced Day as Canadian Alliance leader   Every other member of the DRC requested to be re-admitted to the Alliance; Mark did not join them, but instead decided to sit as an "Independent Conservative", with the intention of rejoining the Progressive Conservatives at their annual party convention later in the year; he had been a Progressive Conservative before the early 1990s   Mark formally joined the Progressive Conservatives on August 27, 2002 
In December 2003, the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party formally merged to create the new Conservative Party of Canada   Mark supported the merger, and formally joined the new party's caucus on February 2, 2004  Mark was easily re-elected in the Canadian federal election of 2004 
In 2005, Mark alleged that Treasury Board President and Liberal MP Reg Alcock offered him an ambassadorship if he were to resign his seat  Alcock responded by saying, "Frankly, if I was going to recruit somebody, I'd go a little higher up the gene pool " Mark called this comment racist and filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission  As the CHRC does not publish its investigations, it is not possible to know the outcome of this case 

Criticism and complaints
While a sitting MP, Mark gained a reputation as "an outsider" within the Conservative caucus   Mark is and has been an outspoken critic of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister's Office, and several sitting and former Conservative MPs  He frequently complained that Harper was controlling, and he responded by refusing to attend Conservative events  Mark has called Harper a "fascist" and complained that he runs a "top-down dictatorship"  He says that the Central Intelligence Agency is controlled by the United States' Republican Party, and that the Republican Party installed Stephen Harper as the Canadian Prime Minister in order to sell out Canada to the United States 
Following the announcement of his resignation, Mark complained that the nomination race for his successor was rigged, and allowed Robert Sopuck to be acclaimed without competition Following his resignation as an MP, Mark stepped up his criticisms of the Harper government  He complained that the nomination race for the Conservative candidate following the resignation of Labrador MP Peter Penashue was rigged because Harper "wants a candidate he can control"  He also complained that the nomination race to replace Merv Tweed was rigged, and that the eventual successor, Larry Maguire, was just a "rubber stamp" for Harper  Mark was featured prominently in the book Tragedy in the Commons, where almost every chapter quoted Mark's complaints about the way Harper's government was run 
Mark complained that the Conservatives' Constituent Information Management System (CIMS) was a secretive database used to track and control Canadians' information and voting preferences, and said that Harper could simply "switch off" this system to punish an MP 

Parliamentary work
For his tenure as an MP, Mark was always a "backbencher" In 2001, as the Alliance's parliamentary critic for Immigration, Mark was responsible for expressing his party's position on the Liberal government's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which he did during the immigration controversy involving the Sklarzyk family who, as a result of an administrative error, was deported from Canada to Poland in May 2001  He also contributed to the parliamentary committee's work in drafting the final version of the bill, and was generally regarded by MPs from all parties as having made several constructive criticisms to the legislation 
However, on June 13, 2001, Mark's position on the bill was undercut by Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day, who delivered a speech in parliament supporting tighter restrictions against refugee claimants and reduced opportunities for rejected claimants to appeal to the Refugee Board   Day's comments diverged from Mark's stated position on several particulars, and his speech was regarded as very surprising by many other MPs in the House of Commons  For example, Liberal MP Steve Mahoney referred to Day's comments as "treachery" towards Mark, for which he was ruled out of order by the Speaker 
In 2005, Mark's private members' Bill C-331 (Internment of Persons of Ukrainian Origin Recognition Act) was passed by the House of Commons and Senate of Canada, eventually resulting in the establishment of the Endowment Council of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund, supporting educational and commemorative projects recalling Canada's first national internment operations of 1914–1920 

Federal resignation and return to municipal politics
Mark announced in June 2009 that he would be resigning before the next federal election  On August 16, 2010, he announced that he would step down as an MP on September 15 to campaign for another term as mayor of Dauphin  However, he lost to Eric Irwin 

Return to federal politics and switch to Green Party of Canada
Mark announced on November 13, 2014, that he would be running as an independent candidate for the 2015 federal election in Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, which includes nearly all of his old riding  Mark announced that he is now a member of the Green Party of Canada, but would still seek election in 2015 as an independent candidate  Mark finished a distant fourth behind Sopuck, garnering only eight percent of the vote 

Electoral record
^  Change is from the total of Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance votes in the 2000 election  

Note: Canadian Alliance vote is compared to Reform Party vote in 1997 election 
Passage 4:
2017 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election
The 2017 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election was held on May 27, 2017   Party members chose Andrew Scheer as leader, replacing Stephen Harper, who led the Conservative Party of Canada as its leader from 2004 following the merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties  Harper led the party through five federal elections: the party increased its seat count in the House of Commons in 2004, formed two minority governments in 2006, and 2008, and then a majority government in 2011  Following the defeat of the party in the 2015 federal election on October 19, Harper tendered his resignation as party leader  In a statement, Conservative Party President John Walsh said he had spoken to Harper, "and he has instructed me to reach out to the newly elected parliamentary caucus to appoint an interim Leader and to implement the leadership selection process "259,010 party members were eligible to vote in the leadership contest  141,000 members cast a vote  According to raw voting figures, Scheer received 62,593 votes on the final ballot compared to 55,544 votes for Bernier with 23,000 voters who had voted in the first round ranking neither Scheer or Bernier in their ranked ballot  Votes were apportioned among ridings so that each riding was allocated 100 points, regardless of the number of voters, resulting in 17,222 20 points (50 95%) for Scheer and 16,577 80 points (49 05%) for Bernier Subsequent to the election, fourth placed candidate Brad Trost and his campaign were fined $50,000 by the Conservative Party of Canada for allegedly leaking the party's membership list to the National Firearms Association  Trost denied that he or any of his staff leaked the list  On February 11, 2019, the Conservative Party released a statement from its Leadership Election Organizing Committee (LEOC) which concluded: "In short, LEOC does not believe there is evidence that the Trost Campaign was responsible for leaking of the membership list    " The fine was therefore removed from the Brad Trost Campaign  Trost went on to lose renomination as the party candidate for his riding during the 43rd Federal election on March 10, 2018, to Corey Tochor, former speaker of the Saskatchewan Legislature Criticism has been raised about how the party memberships were handled, with some prominent members saying they never received a ballot, even after contacting the party about it In addition, the result of the leadership race and party handling was questioned by some supporters of such as runner-up Maxime Bernier and  fifth place candidate Kellie Leitch due to discrepancies in the final ballot count, specifically a gap between the number of ballots cast and the announced result - a 7,466 vote discrepancy, which is greater than Andrew Scheer's 7,049 votes margin of victory in the final round  There was criticism over the exact role of the accounting firm Deloitte during the voting process - a deal revealed that Deloitte was not specifically tasked with auditing the vote but "observe" the counting process  It was also reported that some of  Brad Trost's supporters contravened the Elections Act and party membership rules by offering incentives to vote  Dimitri Soudas, a former Stephen Harper aide, pointed out that it violated election rules and it benefited Scheer's campaign but the ballots have been destroyed so the results stood Many considered Scheer's victory as an upset, given Bernier's consistent frontrunner status in the polls 

Interim leadership
Conservative Party president John Walsh's letter to caucus stated that only Members of Parliament (MPs) would vote for the interim leader, but Conservative Senators pointed out that the party constitution states that the entire parliamentary caucus votes  The caucus allowed senators to vote, declining to adopt the provisions of the Reform Act that would have only allowed MPs to vote The caucus chose Rona Ambrose, MP for Sturgeon River—Parkland, Alberta and former Minister of Health, as interim leader at its first meeting on November 5, 2015, in a vote by preferential ballot  Ambrose, as the interim leader, also served as Leader of the Official Opposition in the Parliament of Canada until a permanent leader was chosen  She defeated Candice Bergen, Diane Finley, Mike Lake, Rob Nicholson, Erin O'Toole, and the joint ticket of Denis Lebel and Michelle Rempel in the caucus vote Under the party's constitution, Ambrose, as the interim leader, could not run for the permanent position 

Leadership election timing
Following Harper's resignation, debate emerged within the Conservative Party regarding the timing of the leadership election  Some members of the party's national council called for a leadership convention as early as May 2016 according to Maclean's magazine  However, interim leader Rona Ambrose has said there is a consensus among the party's caucus that the leadership election shouldn't be rushed and should be held sometime in 2017  In a December 2015 interview, Ambrose said the party would take its time allowing all members, including those not already involved in politics, to build a strong candidacy  "If we take a little extra time, that will mean we'll have a better leadership race "The Conservative Party's Leadership Election Organizing Committee (LEOC) met at Toronto's Albany Club January 15–17, 2016 to discuss the process for the Party to elect its next leader  Among its decisions, LEOC selected May 27, 2017, for Conservative Party members to elect their next leader 

Rules and voting system
Only party members in good standing at 5pm Eastern Time on March 28, 2017, were allowed to vote  The fee for a party membership was raised from $15 to $25, an increase that was reversed on April 23, 2016, after criticisms that the move was "elitist"  Membership fees could only be paid via personal cheque or credit card  Cash payments were not permitted  This new requirement was intended to prevent the election being dominated by new members, and to prevent anyone other than the individual member, such as a candidate's campaign, from signing up scores of members and paying the membership fees in cash out of campaign funds  Despite this, the Conservative Party confirmed irregularities with 1,351 memberships connected to prepaid credit cards that it subsequently struck from its membership roll Voting was on a one member one vote basis using a ranked ballot; however votes were calculated so that each electoral district had equal weight with each electoral district allocated 100 points  Candidates were assigned a point total based on his or her percentage of the vote in each electoral district  To win, a candidate must receive at least 16,901 points which would be a majority To register, candidates must:
be members of the party for at least six months (can be waived),
submit nomination forms signed by 300 party members from at least 30 electoral districts in at least seven different provinces and territories,
pay a $50,000 non-refundable entrance fee, half of which must be paid when filing nomination with the other half due by the close of nominations on February 24, 2017 
pay an additional $50,000 compliance deposit, by December 31, 2016, or when filing nomination for those who register in 2017, which is refundable provided the candidate complies with campaign rules 
and fill out a 40-page questionnaire that asks for:
references,
criminal background and credit checks,
agreement with basic party principles,
a list of social media accounts,
questions about possible controversial positions the candidate has taken in the past, and
questions about affiliations and personal associations and behaviour that may be problematic A party committee reviewed the candidate's nomination form and may disqualify a potential candidate  Candidates are allowed to spend a maximum of $5 million on their campaigns 

Timeline
October 19, 2015 – Federal election results in defeat of Conservative government  As Harper spoke to supporters in Calgary, making no reference to his future, a statement was released by the party announcing Harper's resignation as party leader and his request that an interim leader be chosen to lead the party in parliament until a leadership election can be held 
November 4, 2015 – Harper resigns as prime minister; Liberal government led by Justin Trudeau sworn in 
November 5, 2015 – Conservative caucus held its first meeting since the 2015 federal election and chose former health minister Rona Ambrose interim leader of the party 
December 4–5, 2015 – National Council meets, 20-member Leadership Election Organization Committee appointed, including seven members of the National Council and MP Diane Finley, all of whom have pledged to be neutral during the leadership campaign; Dan Nowlan is appointed the committee's chair 
January 15–17, 2016 – The Leadership Election Organization Committee meets at the Albany Club in Toronto to decide on the date of the leadership vote, the deadline for candidates to be nominated, campaign spending limits, the entrance fee for candidates and the appeals process for any disputes 
May 26–28, 2016 – Conservative Party national policy convention, held at the Vancouver Convention Centre, voted on policy resolutions and elected the party president and other officials  An attempt to change the party constitution to allow the party's interim leader, Rona Ambrose, to seek the permanent leadership is defeated 
September 12, 2016 – Former Foreign Minister Peter MacKay, who had been leading public opinion polls as the most popular potential leader, announces that he will not be a candidate for the party's leadership 
November 2, 2016 – Only those who have registered as candidates by this date, including having paid at least $25,000 of the candidate deposit, are permitted to participate in the first leadership debate, to be held the following week  12 candidates meet this deadline 
November 9, 2016 – First of five official leadership debates organized by the LEOC, held in Saskatoon 
November 13, 2016 – Leadership debate organized by the Carleton Conservative Association, held in Greely, Ontario
December 6, 2016 – Second official debate held in Moncton in English and French 
December 31, 2016 – Deadline for candidates who filed their nomination papers in 2016 to have paid $50,000 compliance fee 
January 17, 2017, 6:30 pm – Third official debate held in Quebec City in French at the Quebec Convention Centre  The themes covered will be government and taxes 
February 4, 2017 – Leadership debate organized by the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia  The first debate involving well-known businessman Kevin O'Leary 
February 24, 2017, 5pm ET (UTC-5) – Nomination period closes; deadline for candidates to pay any remaining balance of entrance fee 
February 24, 2017 – Leadership debate organized by the Manning Centre for Building Democracy, held in Ottawa, Ontario
February 28, 2017 – Fourth official debate, held in Edmonton at the Maclab Theatre in English and French 
March 28, 2017, 5pm ET (UTC-4) – Members who have joined by this date are eligible to vote 
April 26, 2017 – Presumed frontrunner Kevin O'Leary withdraws from the election and endorses Maxime Bernier; as O'Leary has withdrawn after the deadline, his name remains on the ballot  Final leadership debate is held 
April 28, 2017 – Voting by mail-in ranked ballot begins 
May 26, 2017, 5pm ET (UTC-5) – Deadline for mail-in ballots to be received 
May 27, 2017 – In-person voting at Toronto Congress Centre and 14 polling stations across the country until 4 pm ET (UTC-5)  Advance and in-person ballots counted; results announced 

Full results
Provincial summary
Debates
Registered candidates
Candidates who have paid their entrance fee and compliance deposit and filed their nomination papers:

Chris Alexander
BackgroundChris Alexander, 54, is the former Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (2013–2015), Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of National Defence (2011– 2013) and the former MP for Ajax—Pickering, Ontario (2011–2015)  Prior to entering politics, he served as a member of Canada's foreign diplomatic service, most notably in the Canadian Embassy in Moscow and as the Canadian Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005  From 2005 to 2009 he held the post of Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Afghanistan   In addition to English, he is fluent in both French and Russian languages 
Date campaign announced: October 12, 2016
EndorsementsFormer MPs: (1) Yuri Shymko (Parkdale, 1978–1979)PoliciesChris Alexander has 40 detailed published policies that fall into three main categories: New Economy, New Country and New Role  These policies include how Canada should approach: employment, taxation, innovation, families, education, competitiveness, energy self-reliance, cities, agriculture, poverty, homelessness, First Nations peoples, the Métis, refugees, the Monarchy, justice, health care, protecting wilderness, forestry, mining, international diplomacy, terrorism, democratic reform, cyber-security, Canadian culture, northern development, and national defence He believes that immigration is the key to "economic growth " Is proposing to increase immigration to 400,000 a year including 40,000 refugees and calling for doubling defence spending and "for an accelerated push to settle all outstanding land claims and to sign treaties with First Nations communities that would empower them to govern themselves"  Was prominent in the Conservative government's handling of the Syrian refugee crisis and in the government's promise during the 2015 election to create a telephone tip line to report so-called "barbaric cultural practices " As minister, he was criticized over delays in meeting the government's commitment to resettle Syrian refugees 

Maxime Bernier
BackgroundMaxime Bernier, 60, was the MP for Beauce, Quebec (2006–2019) and was the Shadow Minister of Innovation (2015—2016)  He served in the Harper government as Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism (2011–2015), Minister of Foreign Affairs (2007–2008), and Minister of Industry (2006–2007), Bernier is considered an advocate of limited government and has been compared to a Libertarian  He has been nicknamed "Mad Max", the "Bloc-buster", or the "Albertan from Quebec" by his Ottawa colleagues  Prior to entering federal politics in 2006, Bernier, a lawyer by training, was vice-president of the Standard Life of Canada Insurance company, MEI, and manager of corporate and international relations at the Commission des valeurs mobilières du Québec 
Date candidacy announced: April 7, 2016
Policies
Running a campaign based on individual freedom, personal responsibility, respect and fairness  Expects support around the ideas/policies he is placing in the campaigns 
Calls for smaller government, lower taxes everywhere, paying down the national debt, increasing investments, increase pipeline developments, and opening up markets  Opposes bailout to any corporation, and use of "corporate welfare" (business subsidies)  Supports the decriminalization/legalization of marijuana Wants to allow MPs to vote their conscience and get rid of omnibus bills 
Phasing control of Canada Health Transfer to the provinces for health care by replacing it with a health transfer point systems, encourage provinces to move away from a single-payer healthcare system to a two-tier healthcare system, balance the budget within two years then reduce the number of tax brackets from five to three, increase basic exemption from $11,474 to $15,000 being paid by "boutique" tax credits  Supports abolishing capital gains taxes, and lowering corporate taxes to 10% by getting rid of corporate welfare 
Opposes a "Canadian values" test on the basis that it is logistically ineffective to fight terrorism  Abolish the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission, privatizing Canada Post Corporation, phasing out supply management on dairy and poultry, and expanding free trade  Ending inter-provincial barriers as a priority 
He also wants to "break" Quebec's maple syrup cartel and wants to allow foreign ownership for the airline industry  He wants to "streamline the process for hiring specialized workers abroad"  He wants to put more emphasis on economic immigration and "slightly reduce" family reunification class immigration   More privately sponsored refugee and fewer government sponsored  Reform temporary foreign worker programs  Bernier believes first nation communities need to be consulted before the Indian Act needs to be "abolished, or changed " Opposes federal control overreaching into other jurisdictions  Create stricter foreign aid standards and phase out development aid 

Steven Blaney
BackgroundSteven Blaney, 58, was the Shadow Minister of Public Works and Government Services (2015–2016) for the Conservative Opposition, and is the former Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (2013–2015), Minister of Veterans Affairs (2011–2013)  He is the MP for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, Quebec (2015–present) and Lévis—Bellechasse, Quebec (2006–2015) 

Date campaign announced: October 23, 2016
Endorsements
MPs:
Senators: (2)Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu (Quebec),
Jean-Guy Dagenais (Quebec)Provincial politicians:
Municipal politicians:
Former MPs:
Former Senators:
Former provincial politicians:
Former municipal politicians:
Other prominent individuals:
Organizations:
Media:
Policies
Supports banning the wearing of the niqab while voting, taking the citizenship oath, or by federal public servants, even if such a ban would require invoking the notwithstanding clause of the Constitution in order to override the Charter of Rights and Freedoms  Also advocates testing of would be citizens on "their understanding and appreciation of Canada's core principles " He wants to "beef up" screening  The number of immigrants he wants to bring in will be based upon labour-market studies 

Michael Chong
BackgroundMichael Chong, 51, is the MP for Wellington—Halton Hills, Ontario (2004–present) and was the Deputy Shadow Minister of the Environment (2015–2016)  He was Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Youth (2006) and Minister of Sport (2006)  Chong resigned from the Harper cabinet in 2006 to protest the government's recognition of the Québécois as a nation within Canada  As a backbench MP he advocated democratic reforms in Parliament to limit the power of the Prime Minister's Office and party leaders over their caucuses and individual MPs and introduced the Reform Act to give caucuses the option of the power to remove party leaders, elect caucus chairs, and expel or readmit MPs, and elect interim leaders  He was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party at the time of the merger 
Date campaign announced: May 16, 2016
Policies
Advocates modernizing democratic institutions and strengthening the independence of MPs and parliamentary committees 
Calls for the privatization of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's (CMHC) mortgage insurance and securitization business, a measure he says will make housing more affordable in Canada 
Supports introducing a revenue neutral carbon tax  Chong's plan would phase in a carbon tax over a decade, while immediately cutting taxes by $18 billion and getting rid of green regulations and subsidies 
Believes that Canada needs an evidence-based immigration policy that would put economic interests at the forefront  He has criticized face-to-face values screening as a divisive tactic 

Kellie Leitch
BackgroundKellie Leitch, 52, was the MP for Simcoe—Grey, Ontario (2011–2019) and Shadow Minister of Health (2015–2016)  In the Harper cabinet, she was Minister of Labour and the Status of Women (2013–2015)  She is an orthopaedic pediatric surgeon at SickKids Hospital and an associate professor at the University of Toronto 
Date campaign announced: April 6, 2016
Policies
Supports the decriminalization, but not legalization, of marijuana  Opposes a national tax on carbon emissions  Has suggested screening prospective immigrants using a "Canadian values" test  Described Donald J  Trump's win of the American presidency as an "exciting message and one that we need delivered in Canada as well " Urged by hundreds of health professionals to honour her medical oath and work against Canada's controversial asbestos industry, remained silent on the issue  Calls for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to be defunded and dismantled with the exception of the provision of emergency services to rural and remote parts of Canada 

Pierre Lemieux
BackgroundPierre Lemieux, 60, is the former MP for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, Ontario (2006–2015)  In the Harper government he was the Parliamentary Secretary for Official Languages (2007–2008), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture (2008–2015), and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs (2015) 
Date campaign announced: August 22, 2016
Endorsements
MPs:
Senators:
Provincial politicians:
Municipal politicians:
Former MPs:
Former Senators:
Former provincial politicians:
Former municipal politicians:
Other prominent individuals:
Organizations: (3)Campaign Life Coalition
Canadian Taxpayers Federation Generation Screwed project,
Right NowPolicies
Running as a social conservative, highlighting his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage  Lemieux does not believe that screening potential immigration candidates to Canada would make Canada any safer  In March 2017, Pierre Lemieux received a rating of C− from the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights for his policies on firearms ownership in Canada 

Deepak Obhrai
BackgroundDeepak Obhrai, 73, was the MP for Calgary Forest Lawn, Alberta (2015–2019), and represented Calgary East, Alberta (1997–2015), was Shadow Minister of International Development (2015–2016), and was the Dean of the Conservative Caucus  In the Harper government he was the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs (2006–2015)  Obhrai was a member of the Canadian Alliance at the time of the merger 

Date campaign announced: July 14, 2016
Endorsements
MPs:
Senators:
Provincial politicians:
Municipal politicians:
Former MPs: (2)Corneliu Chisu (Pickering—Scarborough East, 2011–2015)
Joe Daniel (Don Valley East, 2011–2015)Former Senators:
Former provincial politicians:
Former municipal politicians:
Other prominent individuals:
Organizations: (1)Canadian Taxpayers Federation Generation Screwed projectMedia:
Withdrawn Endorsements: (2)Julian Fantino (Former MP for Vaughan, 2010–2015)
Martin Shields (MP for Bow River)Policies
Advocates a more inclusive party  Had promised to withdraw in favour of Peter MacKay if he were to run  He wants to increase the number of privately sponsored refugees and cut the number of government-sponsored refugees 

Erin O'Toole
BackgroundErin O'Toole, 50, is the MP for Durham, Ontario (2012–present) and was Shadow Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (2015–2016) for the Conservative Party in Opposition  Previously, he served as Minister of Veterans Affairs (2015) 
Date campaign announced: October 14, 2016 
Policies
O'Toole policies wants to give tax credits for youth underemployment and student debt  He wants to restructure temporary foreign worker and provincial nominee programs 

Rick Peterson
BackgroundRick Peterson, 61, is a venture capitalist, party fundraiser, the principal of Peterson Capital, and a former candidate for leadership of the British Columbia Conservative Party  He was a member of the Progressive Conservatives at the time of the merger 
Date campaign announced: October 18, 2016
Endorsements
MPs:
Senators:
Provincial politicians:
Municipal politicians:
Former MPs: (1)Bill Clarke (Vancouver Quadra, 1973–1984)Former Senators:
Former provincial politicians:
Former municipal politicians:
Other prominent individuals: (3)Brian Day (Canadian Medical Association President, 2006–2008)
Karen Mortfield (Press Secretary to the Ontario PC Leader, 1990–1993)
Mark Mullins (Former Fraser Institute President)Organizations: (1)Canadian Taxpayers Federation Generation Screwed projectPolicies
Advocates a flat federal income tax rate of 15% and eliminating corporate income taxes and raising the GST to 9%  Supports boosting terrorist surveillance and enhance security screening for immigrants 
Advocates offering citizenship to almost 250,000 skilled workers a year by 2022, triple today's levels, and to 35,000 business people, more than five times today's level while freezing refugee integration to the levels of Harper Era 
Would reform health care provincial transfer payments and equalization payments 
Calls for Canada Revenue Agency to withdraw from Quebec and to transfer the administration and collection of the income tax in the province to Revenue Quebec 
Would take Canada out of the UN firearms marking scheme and to allow open carry of restricted firearms in the bush  Received a rating of C− from the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights for his policies and a rating of C from the National Firearms Association 

Lisa Raitt
BackgroundLisa Raitt, 55, was the MP for Milton, Ontario (2015–2019), previously Halton, Ontario (2008–2015) and the former Shadow Minister of Finance (2015–2016), Minister of Transport (2013–2015), Minister of Labour (2010–2013), Minister of Natural Resources (2008–2010), President and CEO of the Toronto Port Authority (2002–2008)  Stepped down from shadow cabinet on October 14, 2016, to prepare for leadership bid 
Date campaign announced: November 2, 2016
 
Policies
Opposes Leitch's proposal to screen immigrants for "anti-Canadian values"  She will "introduce balanced budgets, repeal carbon pricing legislation and prioritize the development of Canada's natural resources "Firearms policy   In March 2017, Raitt received a rating of C+ from the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights for her policies on firearms ownership in Canada   In April, she received a rating of D from the National Firearms Association 

Andrew Saxton
BackgroundAndrew Saxton, 59, is the former Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance (2013–2015), Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board and for Western Economic Diversification (2011–2013), MP for North Vancouver (2008–2015), former chief executive officer of King George Financial Corporation 
Date campaign announced: October 18, 2016
Endorsements
MPs:
Senators:
Provincial politicians:
Municipal politicians:
Former MPs: (3)Joyce Bateman (Winnipeg South Centre, 2011–2015)
John Duncan (Vancouver Island North, 1993–2006, 2008–2015)
John Fraser (Vancouver South, 1972–1993; Speaker of the House of Commons, 1986–1993)Former Senators: (1)Noël Kinsella (New Brunswick, 1990–2014; Speaker of the Senate, 2006–2014)Former provincial politicians:
Former municipal politicians:
Other prominent individuals:
Organizations: (1)Canadian Taxpayers Federation Generation Screwed projectMedia: (1)David Holmes Black (Black Press Owner)Policies
Saxton's campaign is an economic platform  He plans on lowering taxes and balancing the budget 

Andrew Scheer
BackgroundAndrew Scheer, 44, Opposition House Leader (2015–2016), MP for Regina—Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan (2004–present), Speaker of the House of Commons (2011–2015)  Scheer was a member of the Canadian Alliance at the time of the merger 

Date campaign announced: September 28, 2016
 
Policies
Running as an "unapologetic" Conservative who can unite all wings of the party  He is "committed" to lower taxes, fiscal responsibility, and "compassion"  Scheer believes that there should be a "more robust screening process " Scheer is pro-life, but doesn't intend to bring any legislation on the topic  Scheer advocates for immigration based process, economic indicators, and "what our society needs "

Brad Trost
BackgroundBrad Trost, 49, was the MP for Saskatoon—University, (2015–2019) and Saskatoon—Humboldt (2004–2015) previously  He was appointed Official Opposition Critic for Canada-U S  Relations (2015–2016) following the 2015 election  Prior to election, Trost worked as an exploration geophysicist (prospector) in natural resources extraction in the north  He was also an active participant in his family's mixed grain, oilseeds and beef cattle farm operation  In his first Parliament, he founded the Conservative Party Energy Caucus and pushed for the re-creation of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources  He has served on the Standing Committees on International Trade and on Industry, and was elected vice-chair of the Canada-U S  Parliamentary Association 
Date campaign announced: August 16, 2016
Endorsements
MPs:
Senators:
Provincial politicians:
Municipal politicians:
Former MPs: (2)Leon Benoit (Vegreville—Wainwright, 1993–2015),
Maurice Vellacott (Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, 1997–2015)Former provincial politicians:
Former municipal politicians:
Other prominent individuals:
Organizations: (2)Campaign Life Coalition,
Canadian Taxpayers Federation Generation Screwed projectMedia:
Policies
Running as a social conservative, opposes a carbon tax, transgender bathrooms, tax increases generally, assisted suicide and abortion, deficit financing, and legalization of marijuana  Has been outspoken against abortion and against same-sex marriage and argued unsuccessfully at the 2016 Conservative policy convention to retain the party's definition of marriage as "the Union of one man and one woman"  Advocates privatization of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 

Withdrawn candidates
Tony Clement
BackgroundTony Clement, 62, is the MP for Parry Sound—Muskoka, Ontario (2006–2019) and has been Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs (2015–2016), President of the Treasury Board (2011–2015), Minister of Industry (2008–2011), Minister of Health (2006–2008), and a 2004 leadership candidate, placing third  He was an MPP in the Ontario legislature (1995–2003) and a provincial cabinet minister (1997–2003) under Premiers Mike Harris and Ernie Eves  Clement also ran for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in 2002, placing third 
Date campaign announced: July 12, 2016
Date withdrawn: October 12, 2016
Endorsements
MPs:
Senators: (1)Leo Housakos (Quebec; Speaker of the Senate, 2015)Provincial politicians:
Municipal politicians:
Former MPs: (1)Brad Butt (Mississauga—Streetsville, 2011–2015)Former Senators:
Former provincial politicians: (1)Gary Mar (Alberta MLA for Calgary Nose Creek, 1993–2004, and Calgary-Mackay, 2004–2007)Former municipal politicians: (1)Stephen Sparling (Halton Regional Councillor for Oakville, 1991–2000)Other prominent individuals: (2)Sandra Buckler (Director of Communications, Prime Minister's Office 2006–2008),
John Capobianco (FleishmanHillard National Lead)Organizations:
Media:
Other information
Said he would bring in coherent environmental policies in the wake of the Paris climate change accord, end government subsidies to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation  Withdrew after he was unable to meet fundraising targets he'd set for his campaign 
Later endorsed Maxime Bernier 

Daniel Lindsay
BackgroundDaniel Lindsay, 60, president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, radiologist, has done five tours as a civilian medical specialist with the Canadian Armed Forces, including in Kandahar, Afghanistan 
Date campaign announced: May 25, 2016
Date withdrawn: December 28, 2016
Endorsements
MPs:
Senators: (1)Betty Unger (Alberta)Provincial politicians:
Municipal politicians:
Former MPs:
Former Senators:
Former provincial politicians:
Former municipal politicians:
Other prominent individuals:
Organizations:
Media:
Other information
Withdrew after he was unable to fundraise enough money to meet December 31 deadline for paying the party the $50,000 leadership campaign compliance fee  Later endorsed Erin O'Toole 

Kevin O'Leary
Kevin O'Leary, 68, is a businessman, investor, journalist, writer, financial commentator and Emmy award-winning television personality 

Policies
O'Leary supported using a "big stick" federally in order to bring provincial governments in-line with federal policies, cutting waste in military spending, supports a peacekeeping role for the military, cutting carbon emissions through criminal sanctions rather than a carbon tax, supports current immigration policy but also wishes to "fast-track" the citizenship applications of skilled immigrants, asserted he would support LGBTQI people, legalize marijuana and defend reproductive rights 
Date campaign announced: January 18, 2017
Date withdrawn: April 26, 2017
Other information
O'Leary withdrew from the election despite polls showing he was the frontrunner  He stated that while he believed he could win the leadership election, he would be unable to defeat Justin Trudeau in the next federal election due to his inability to speak French fluently and his lack of support in Quebec  He endorsed Maxime Bernier  As his withdrawal took place after the deadline, O'Leary remained on the final leadership ballot 

Adrienne Snow
BackgroundAdrienne Snow, 49, Toronto-based communications consultant, former director of policy for National Foundation for Family Research and Education  Former executive director of Centre for the Study of Civic Renewal  Announced on August 23, 2016, that she intended to be a candidate but failed to register and announced in January that she was ending her campaign 
Date campaign announced: August 23, 2016
Date withdrawn: January 4, 2017

Declined
Rona Ambrose – Interim Leader of the CPC and Leader of the Official Opposition (2015–2017), MP for Sturgeon River—Parkland (2015–2017) and Edmonton—Spruce Grove, Alberta (2004–2015), Minister of Health (2013–2015), Minister of Public Works and Government Services (2010–2013), Minister of Labour (2008–2010), Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs (2007–2008), Minister of the Environment (2006–2007)  Ambrose is barred from running for permanent leader due to her position as interim leader and has declined interest in the permanent position 
John Baird – MP for Ottawa West—Nepean, Ontario (2006–2015), Minister of Foreign Affairs (2011–2015), Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (2010–2011), Minister of the Environment (2007–2008, 2010–2011), Minister of Transport (2008–2010), President of the Treasury Board, (2006–2007), Ontario Progressive Conservative Party MPP (1995–2005) and provincial cabinet minister (1999–2003) 
Candice Bergen – Opposition House Leader (2016–2020), Shadow Minister of Natural Resources (2015–2016), State for Social Development (2013–2015), MP for Portage—Lisgar, Manitoba (2008–present) 
Paul Calandra – Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister of Canada and for Intergovernmental Affairs (2013–2015), MP for Oak Ridges—Markham, Ontario (2008–2015) Endorsed Scheer 
Jean Charest – Premier of Quebec (2003–2012), Leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (1998–2012), Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1993–1998), Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (1993), Minister of the Environment (1991–1993), MP for Sherbrooke (1984–1998)
Christy Clark – Premier of British Columbia (2011–2017), Leader of the B C  Liberal Party (2011–2017)
Gérard Deltell – Quebec lieutenant and Shadow Finance Minister (2016–present), Shadow Minister of Employment and Workforce Labour (2015–2016), MP for Louis-Saint-Laurent, Quebec (2015–present), Quebec MNA for Chauveau (2008–2015) and leader of the Action démocratique du Québec (2009–2012)  Endorsed O'Toole 
Ed Fast – Shadow Minister for the Environment (2015–present), MP for Abbotsford, British Columbia (2006–present), Minister of International Trade (2011–2015)  Endorsed O'Toole 
Doug Ford – former Toronto city councillor (2010–2014) and mayoral candidate (2014) 
Daniel Fournier – real estate development and investor 
Jason Kenney – Chair of Shadow Cabinet Committee on Strategic Operations (2015–2016), MP for Calgary Midnapore, Alberta (2015–2016) and Calgary Southeast, Alberta (1997–2015), Minister of National Defence (2015), Minister for Multiculturalism (2013–2015), Minister of Employment and Social Development (2013–2015), Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (2008–2013)
Bernard Lord – Premier of New Brunswick (1999–2006), Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick (1997–2006)
Peter MacKay – MP for Central Nova, Nova Scotia (2004–2015) and Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, Nova Scotia (1997–2004), Minister of Justice and Attorney General (2013–2015), Minister of National Defence (2007–2013), Minister of Foreign Affairs (2006–2007), Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party (2003)
Caroline Mulroney – investment management executive, daughter of former prime minister Brian Mulroney 
Mark Mulroney – head of capital equity markets at the National Bank of Canada, son of former prime minister Brian Mulroney 
James Moore – MP for Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, British Columbia (2000–2004) and Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, British Columbia (2004–2015), Minister of Industry (2013–2015), Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages (2008–2013)  Elected as a Canadian Alliance MP in 2000 
Michelle Rempel – Shadow Minister of Immigration (2015–present), MP for Calgary Nose Hill, Alberta (2015–present) and Calgary Centre-North, Alberta (2011–2015), Minister of Western Economic Diversification (2013–2015)
Brad Wall – Premier of Saskatchewan (2007–2018), Leader of the Saskatchewan Party (2004–2018) 
Dianne Watts – Shadow Minister of Infrastructure & Communities (2015–present), MP for South Surrey—White Rock, British Columbia (2015–present), Mayor of Surrey (2004–2015) Endorsed O'Toole 

Opinion polling
Some of the polls below were conducted before nominations for the leadership closed and therefore include potential candidates for the leadership race  Rona Ambrose, as interim leader, is ineligible to run for the permanent leadership unless there is a change to the party's constitution 

Conservative Party members
Conservative Party supporters
All Canadians
See also
2017 United Conservative Party leadership election
2017 New Democratic Party leadership election
Passage 5:
Dixiecrat
The States' Rights Democratic Party (whose members are often called the Dixiecrats) was a short-lived segregationist political party in the United States, active primarily in the South  It arose due to a Southern regional split in opposition to the regular Democratic Party  After President Harry S  Truman, the leader of the Democratic Party, ordered integration of the military in 1948 and other actions to address civil rights of African Americans, many Southern white politicians who objected to this course organized themselves as a breakaway faction  They wished to protect the ability of states to maintain racial segregation In the 1930s, a political realignment occurred largely due to the New Deal policies of President Franklin D  Roosevelt  While many Democrats in the South had shifted toward favoring economic intervention, civil rights for African Americans was not specifically incorporated within the New Deal agenda, due in part to Southern control over many key positions of power within the U S  Congress  Supporters assumed control of the state Democratic parties in part or in full in several Southern states  They opposed racial integration and wanted to retain Jim Crow laws and other aspects of codified racial discrimination in the face of possible federal intervention  Its members were referred to as "Dixiecrats", a portmanteau of "Dixie", referring to the Southern United States, and "Democrat" 
Despite the Dixiecrats' success in several states, Truman was narrowly re-elected  After the 1948 election, its leaders generally returned to the Democratic Party, at least for a time  The Dixiecrats' presidential candidate, Strom Thurmond, became a Republican in 1964, as the Republican standard bearer opposed civil rights laws  The Dixiecrats represented the weakening of the "Solid South"  (This referred to the Southern Democratic Party's control of presidential elections in the South and most seats in Congress, partly through decades of disfranchisement of blacks entrenched by Southern state legislatures between 1890 and 1908  Blacks had formerly been aligned with the Republican Party before being excluded from politics in the region, but during the Great Migration African Americans had found the Democratic Party in the North and West more suited to their interests )

Background
Since the beginning of Reconstruction, Southern white voters supported the Democratic Party by overwhelming margins in both local and national elections, (the few exceptions include minor pockets of Republican electoral strength in Appalachia, East Tennessee in particular, Gillespie and Kendall Counties of central Texas) forming what was known as the "Solid South"  Even during the last years of Reconstruction, Democrats used paramilitary insurgents and other activists to disrupt and intimidate Republican freedman voters, including fraud at the polls and attacks on their leaders  The electoral violence culminated in the Democrats regaining control of the state legislatures and passing new constitutions and laws from 1890 to 1908 to disenfranchise most blacks and many poor whites  They also imposed Jim Crow, a combination of legal and informal segregation acts that made blacks second-class citizens, confirming their lack of political power through most of the southern United States  The social and economic systems of the Solid South were based on this structure, although the white Democrats retained all the Congressional seats apportioned for the total population of their states Three-time Democratic Party presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan opposed a highly controversial resolution at the 1924 Democratic National Convention condemning the Ku Klux Klan, expecting the organization would soon fold  Bryan disliked the Klan but never publicly attacked it In the 1930s, a political realignment occurred largely due to the New Deal policies of President Franklin D  Roosevelt  While many Democrats in the South had shifted toward favoring economic intervention, civil rights for African Americans was not specifically incorporated within the New Deal agenda, due in part to Southern control over many key positions of power within the U S  Congress  Nonetheless, civil rights gained an outspoken champion in First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and supportive approaches from the administration's "Black Cabinet" With the entry of the United States into the Second World War, Jim Crow was indirectly challenged  More than one and a half million black Americans served in the U S  military during World War II, where they received equal pay while serving within segregated units  (While equally entitled to receive veterans' benefits after the war, the vast majority of African American veterans were prevented from accessing most benefits due in part to Southern success in congress to have benefits administered by the states instead of the federal government ) Tens of thousands of black civilians at home were recruited in the labor-starved war industries across many urban centers in the country, mainly due to the promotion of Executive Order 8802, which required defense industries not to discriminate based on ethnicity or race 
Members of the Republican Party (which nominated Governor of New York Thomas E  Dewey in 1944 and 1948), along with many Democrats from the northern and western states, supported civil rights legislation that the Deep South Democrats in Congress almost unanimously opposed 

1948 presidential election
After Roosevelt died, the new president Harry S  Truman established a highly visible President's Committee on Civil Rights and issued Executive Order 9981 to end discrimination in the military in 1948  A group of Southern governors, including Strom Thurmond of South Carolina and Fielding L  Wright of Mississippi, met to consider the place of Southerners within the Democratic Party  After a tense meeting with Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman and Truman confidant J  Howard McGrath, the Southern governors agreed to convene their own convention in Birmingham, Alabama if Truman and civil rights supporters emerged victorious at the 1948 Democratic National Convention  In July, the convention nominated Truman to run for a full term and adopted a plank proposed by Northern liberals led by Hubert Humphrey calling for civil rights; 35 Southern delegates walked out  The move was on to remove Truman's name from the ballot in the southern United States  This political maneuvering required the organization of a new and distinct political party, which the Southern defectors from the Democratic Party chose to brand as the States' Rights Democratic Party 
Just days after the 1948 Democratic National Convention, the States' Rights Democrats held their own convention at Municipal Auditorium in Birmingham, on July 17  While several leaders from the Deep South such as Strom Thurmond and James Eastland attended, most major Southern Democrats did not attend the conference  Among those absent were Georgia Senator Richard Russell Jr , who had finished with the second-most delegates in the Democratic presidential ballot 

Prior to their own States' Rights Democratic Party convention, it was not clear whether the Dixiecrats would seek to field their own candidate or simply try to prevent Southern electors from voting for Truman  Many in the press predicted that if the Dixiecrats did nominate a ticket, Arkansas Governor Benjamin Travis Laney would be the presidential nominee, and South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond or Mississippi Governor Fielding L  Wright the vice presidential nominee  Laney traveled to Birmingham during the convention, but he ultimately decided that he did not want to join a third party and remained in his hotel during the convention  Thurmond himself had doubts about a third-party bid, but party organizers convinced him to accept the party's nomination, with Fielding Wright as his running mate  Wright's supporters had hoped that Wright would lead the ticket, but Wright deferred to Thurmond, who had greater national stature  The selection of Thurmond received fairly positive reviews from the national press, as Thurmond had pursued relatively moderate policies on civil rights and did not employ the fiery rhetoric used by other segregationist leaders The States' Rights Democrats did not formally declare themselves as being a new third party, but rather said that they were only "recommending" that state Democratic Parties vote for the Thurmond–Wright ticket  The goal of the party was to win the 127 electoral votes of the Solid South, in the hopes of denying Truman–Barkley or Dewey–Warren an overall majority of electoral votes, and thus throwing the presidential election to the United States House of Representatives and the vice presidential election to the United States Senate  Once in the House and Senate, the Dixiecrats hoped to throw their support to whichever party would agree to their segregationist demands  Even if the Republican ticket won an outright majority of electoral votes (as many expected in 1948), the Dixiecrats hoped that their third-party run would help the South retake its dominant position in the Democratic Party  In implementing their strategy, the States' Rights Democrats faced a complicated set of state election laws, with different states having different processes for choosing presidential electors  The States' Rights Democrats eventually succeeded in making the Thurmond–Wright ticket the official Democratic ticket in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina  In other states, they were forced to run as a third-party ticket In numbers greater than the 6,000 that attended the first, the States' Rights Democrats held a boisterous second convention in Oklahoma City, on August 14, 1948, where they adopted their party platform which stated:
We stand for the segregation of the races and the racial integrity of each race; the constitutional right to choose one's associates; to accept private employment without governmental interference, and to earn one's living in any lawful way  We oppose the elimination of segregation, the repeal of miscegenation statutes, the control of private employment by Federal bureaucrats called for by the misnamed civil rights program  We favor home-rule, local self-government and a minimum interference with individual rights 
The platform went on to say:
We call upon all Democrats and upon all other loyal Americans who are opposed to totalitarianism at home and abroad to unite with us in ignominiously defeating Harry S  Truman, Thomas E  Dewey and every other candidate for public office who would establish a Police Nation in the United States of America 
In Arkansas, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Sid McMath vigorously supported Truman in speeches across the state, much to the consternation of the sitting governor, Benjamin Travis Laney, an ardent Thurmond supporter  Laney later used McMath's pro-Truman stance against him in the 1950 gubernatorial election, but McMath won re-election handily Efforts by States' Rights Democrats to paint other Truman loyalists as turncoats generally failed, although the seeds of discontent were planted which in years to come took their toll on Southern moderates 
On election day in 1948, the Thurmond–Wright ticket carried the previously solidly Democratic states of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina, receiving 1,169,021 popular votes and 39 electoral votes  Progressive Party presidential nominee Henry A  Wallace drew off a nearly equal number of popular votes (1,157,172) from the Democrats' left wing, although he did not carry any states  The splits in the Democratic Party in the 1948 election had been expected to produce a victory by GOP presidential nominee Dewey, but Truman defeated Dewey in an upset victory 

Subsequent elections
The States' Rights Democratic Party collapsed after the 1948 election, as Truman, the Democratic National Committee, and the New Deal Southern Democrats acted to ensure that the Dixiecrat movement would not return in the 1952 presidential election  Some Southern diehards, such as Leander Perez of Louisiana, attempted to keep it in existence in their districts   Wright continued to defend states' rights and segregation, but conceded that complete obstinance along the lines of the 1948 departure from the Democratic Party would cause his home state of Mississippi to lose "its standing with everybody in America " Former Dixiecrats received some backlash at the 1952 Democratic National Convention, but all Southern delegations were seated after agreeing to a party loyalty pledge  Moderate Alabama Senator John Sparkman was selected as the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1952, helping to boost party loyalty in the South Regardless of the power struggle within the Democratic Party concerning segregation policy, the South remained a strongly Democratic voting bloc for local, state, and federal Congressional elections, but increasingly not in presidential elections  Republican Dwight D  Eisenhower won several Southern states in the 1952 and 1956 presidential elections  In the 1956 election, former Commissioner of Internal Revenue T  Coleman Andrews received just under 0 2 percent of the popular vote running as the presidential nominee of the States' Rights Party  In the 1960 presidential election, Republican Richard Nixon won several Southern states, and Senator Harry F  Byrd of Virginia received the votes of several unpledged electors from Alabama and Mississippi  In the 1964 presidential election, Republican Barry Goldwater won all four states that Thurmond had carried in 1948  In the 1968 presidential election, Republican Richard Nixon or third party candidate George Wallace won every former Confederate state except Texas  Thurmond eventually left the Democratic Party and joined the Republican Party in 1964, charging the Democrats with having "abandoned the people" and having repudiated the U S  Constitution; he subsequently worked on the presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater  Pulitzer prize winning American journalist Les Payne wrote in 2004 that Dixiecrats were affiliated with the KKK and opposed Martin Luther King Jr , the leader of the 1960's nonviolent Civil Rights Movement  In a 2016 article written by David Neiwert for the SPLC, Niewart stated that "When the members of the Klan were Democrats, as in the 1920s, as well as in the '40s when they called themselves "Dixiecrats," they were conservative Democrats "

Presidential candidate performance
See also
Boll weevil (politics)
Politics of the Southern United States
Southern Democrats

Footnotes
Works cited
Smith, James Patterson (2019)  "Fielding L  Wright (1946-1952): Legacy of a White-Supremacist Progressive" (PDF)  The Journal of Mississippi History  LXXXI (1–2): 61–80  ISSN 0022-2771 

Further reading
External links
Scott E  Buchanan, Dixiecrats Archived October 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, New Georgia Encyclopedia 
1948 Platform of Oklahoma's Dixiecrats
Passage 6:
Audrey McLaughlin
Audrey Marlene McLaughlin  (née Brown; born November 8, 1936) is a Canadian politician and former leader of the New Democratic Party from 1989 to 1995  She was the first female leader of a political party with representation in the House of Commons of Canada, as well as the first federal political party leader to represent an electoral district in a Canadian territory 

Life and career
McLaughlin was born Audrey Marlene Brown in Dutton, Ontario, the daughter of Margaret Clark and William Brown, of Scottish and English descent  She worked as a social worker in Toronto, Ontario, and in Ghana  In 1955, she graduated with a Diploma in Home Science from the MacDonald Institute, later a founding college of the University of Guelph  In 1979, McLaughlin moved to Yukon and set up a consultancy business  In 1987, she ran in a by-election and won, the first federal NDP candidate to win in Yukon  In 1988, she was appointed caucus chair, and in 1989, she won the NDP 1989 leadership convention, replacing the retiring Ed Broadbent 
McLaughlin had taken over the NDP during a peak in its popularity  However, the party began a steady decline in the polls for several reasons  One was the NDP's provincial affiliates in British Columbia and Ontario, whose unpopularity in government reflected badly on the federal party  The rise of the Reform Party also sapped much NDP support in Western Canada  In the 1993 election, the NDP lost badly and went from 44 seats to only 9 in Parliament  More than half of its losses came in Ontario, where it lost all 10 of its MPs, and British Columbia, where it lost 17 of its 19 MPs 
McLaughlin won her seat in the Yukon but resigned as leader and was succeeded by Alexa McDonough in 1995  McLaughlin did not run for re-election in the 1997 election 
McLaughlin was an overseas volunteer in Barbados in 1986 with Canadian Crossroads International  Today, she is an honorary patron with Crossroads 
In 1991, she was sworn in as a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada so that she could access classified documents during the Gulf War  In August 2003, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada 
She published an autobiography, A Woman's Place: My Life and Politics, in 1992 

Post-political career
In 2000, she joined the National Democratic Institute, an organization that promotes democracy and peace in developing nations, and travelled to Kosovo to help women run in that country's first democratic election  McLaughlin has also served as the President of the Socialist International Women and as special representative for the Government of the Yukon on Circumpolar Affairs  She was an honorary pallbearer at the state funeral of Jack Layton in 2011 

Archives
There is an Audrey McLauglin fonds at Library and Archives Canada  Archival reference number is R11545 
Passage 7:
Federation of Independents
The Federation of Independents (German: Verband der Unabhängigen, VdU) was a German nationalist and national-liberal political party in Austria active from 1949 to 1955  It was the predecessor of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) 

Formation
The party was officially founded on 25 March 1949 by Herbert Kraus and Viktor Reimann   The party's formation had been encouraged by the Socialist Party of Austria (SPÖ), which sought to split the right-wing vote in the 1949 legislative election in order to weaken the conservative People's Party (ÖVP) and gain a parliamentary majority  On the next day the constituent assembly was held at Salzburg, then in the US occupation zone  Herbert Kraus was elected Chairman (Bundesobmann), while Viktor Reimann, Josef Karoly, Karl Hartleb and Karl Winkler were appointed Vice-Chairmen (Bundesobmann-Stellvertreter)  Kraus was party leader until 1952 VdU saw itself as representing the interests of former members of the Nazi Party, expellees from Central and Eastern Europe, returning prisoners of war and other discontent portions of the Austrian population  Although close to the ÖVP, the party also advocated liberal individualism, and did not concern itself much with the "Catholic question " VdU supported the abolition of denazification laws limiting the political activities of former Nazis 

Electoral success and decline
In the 1949 legislative election the VdU obtained 11 7% of the vote and won 16 seats in the National Council  The SPÖ's strategy of creating a split in the non-Socialist vote failed, with both the SPÖ and the ÖVP losing equally to the VdU  The party drew most of its support in areas where in pre-war times the rural Landbund had been rooted and in cities with a high percentage of former Nazis  At the 1953 legislative election, its share of the vote fell slightly to 10 9% and 14 seats in the National Council 
Beginning soon after its foundation, the party saw the start of heavy internal strife between the more liberal approach of the founders Kraus and Reimann and the German nationalist faction centering on the former Luftwaffe General Gordon Gollob  This led to the collapse of the party, which was absorbed by the newly founded Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) of Anton Reinthaller in 1956 

Notable members
Gordon Gollob
Friedrich Peter
Lothar Rendulic
Passage 8:
Ken Epp
Marvin Kenneth Epp (May 11, 1939 – February 20, 2022) was a Canadian politician 
Epp was a member of the Conservative Party of Canada in the House of Commons of Canada, representing the riding of Edmonton—Sherwood Park since its creation in June 2004  He was previously the MP for Elk Island from 1993 to 2004  He has also been a member of the Canadian Alliance (2000-2003) and the Reform Party of Canada (1993-2000)  Epp was a former mathematics instructor at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton 
Epp did not run in the 2008 federal election, having announced his intention to retire on August 17, 2006 Epp died on February 20, 2022, at the age of 82 
Passage 9:
Doris Pack
Doris Pack (born 18 March 1942, Schiffweiler) is a German politician, President of EPP Women, President of the Robert Schuman Institute and former Member of the European Parliament 1989–2014  She served as a member of the Bundestag 1974–1983 and 1985–1989  She is a member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, part of the European People's Party  Pack is the chair of the EU Committee on Culture and Education (since 2009) She is chair of the Franco-German Foundation for Cultural Cooperation, president of the European Children's Book Fair Association, member of the ZDF Television Council, president of the Saar Adult Education Association, vice-president of the European Movement on the Saar  She also is president of Women in the EPP and executive member of the European People's Party  She was a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and of the Assembly of the Western European Union (1981–1983 and 1985–1989)  She is chairwoman of the advisory board of A Soul for Europe 
She graduated from teaching college in 1965 and worked as a teacher in primary schools until 1974  From 1983 to 1985, she was employed by the Saarland Ministry of Education  In 2007 she got honoris causa doctorate at University of Zadar (Croatia) 
Passage 10:
Franck Biancheri
Franck Biancheri (11 March 1961 – 30 October 2012) was the founder of the Newropeans European political party and the leader from June 2006   The party planned to run for campaigns in the 2009 elections to the European Parliament with representatives in all member states simultaneously 
Biancheri had previously founded the largest student association in Europe, European Students' Forum (AEGEE) in 1985 and the think tank LEAP/Europe2020 in 1998 

Biography
Biancheri was born in Nice, France   He lived in Cannes, and had one daughter 
From 1991, through several networks including the Promotheus-Europe group, he contributed to enhance relationship between the European Union and several parts of the world (Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, the Arabic world, South America, Asia, and North America) 
In 1997, at Blair House, during an EU-US summit in Washington, he launches TIESWeb, the first transatlantic web portal dedicated to dialog between European and American civil societies In 2003 he was among the top twenty "heroes" for being a "French champion of European unity" in a poll by Time Europe 
From 2006, he was the scientific coordinator of the Leap2020 think tank 
Biancheri died on 30 October 2012   He had been seriously ill from cancer for four years 
Context 3: Passage 1:
CJRL-FM
CJRL-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 89 5 FM in Kenora, Ontario  The station broadcasts an adult contemporary format branded as 89 5 The Lake 
The station was originally launched in 1938 as CKCA 1420 kHz  In 1941, CKCA moved to 1450  In 1943, Kenora Broadcasting Co  Ltd  took ownership of CKCA and changed the frequency to 1220 with a new callsign CJRL 
CJRL went through different ownerships over the years 
In 2004, CJRL was given approval by the CRTC to convert to 89 5 FM and began broadcasting in November 2004 as 89 5 Mix FM  Following the flip to FM, the station shifted format to adult contemporary from hot adult contemporary 
Formerly owned and operated by Fawcett Broadcasting, the station was acquired in 2007 by Acadia Broadcasting Limited of Saint John, New Brunswick 
As of June 30, 2011, CJRL was rebranded 89 5 The Lake, continuing as an adult contemporary station, the station's playlist now primarily includes pop and rock hits from the 1970s to today  Following the unexpected passing of Charlie Tuna in early 2016, the 70's Show that aired on weekends was replaced with the Totally Awesome 80's show with Kent Jones 
Passage 2:
KLAG
The following is a list of full-power radio stations, HD Radio subchannels and low-power translators in the United States broadcasting K-Love programming, which can be sorted by their call signs, frequencies, city of license, state and broadcast area 

Blue background indicates a low-power FM translator 
Gray background indicates an HD Radio subchannel 

External links
Master Station List
Passage 3:
WAJI
WAJI (95 1 FM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting an adult contemporary format  Licensed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, the station is owned by Bloomington–based Sarkes Tarzian, Inc WAJI broadcasts in HD, with its HD2 channel simulcasting sister station WGBJ, and its HD3 channel broadcasting a "Top 20" CHR format 

History
WAJI was known as WPTH throughout the 1960s and 1970s as a sister station to WPTA television, and in the summer of 1974 branded themselves as "Rock 95", using TM Productions' "Stereo Rock" Top 40 reel to reel automation package  The station went live in 1979, and changed calls in 1981 to WFWQ (95Q), continuing to do battle with 97 3 WMEE for the Top 40 audience in Fort Wayne  The station mellowed to Adult Contemporary, eventually changing to its current WAJI calls and imaging in 1985  "Majic 95" soon once again became one of Fort Wayne's top-rated stations, reaching #1 in the market several times during the late 1980s 
On March 20, 2014, the first day of spring WAJI changed names to BEST FM 95 1 WAJI reflecting the music they play today 
The station lineup consisted of "The BEST-FM Morning Show" with Sid Kelly, Angie Nash and James Raggi   Mandi Michaels, Program Director Dan Kennedy and Dave B  Goode (who also serves as the station's Promotions Director) 
Angie Nash spent the previous ten years of her career at cross-town WJFX Hot 107 9 before joining the morning show   Afternoons were handled by Dan Kennedy who also serves as the stations Director of Programming   Kennedy was VP/Programming for five station Grenax Broadcasting in Arizona prior to his arrival in Fort Wayne in 2012  Dave B  Goode hosts weeknights after spending several years at stations such as crosstown WBTU and WNHT  Dave also serves as the station's Promotions Director 
After changing formats, BEST-FM has brought in several new staff members  On June 23, 2014 it was announced that James Raggi would join Angie Nash for mornings after spending three years as an intern/producer in Boston on Kiss 108 
In September 2014 Mandi Michaels joined the staff as the new mid-day personality 
On October 24, 2014 Best FM announced the hiring of Sid Kelly  Sid was brought in to be the new host of the morning show, joining Angie and James  Sid Kelly came to WAJI after spending 3 and-a-half years at WVKS 92 5 Kiss FM in Toledo 
In July 2015 Program Director/afternoon personality Dan Kennedy announced he was leaving the station after 4 years to take a job outside of radio 
In September 2015 Captain Chris (Didier) Program Director of sister station WLDE, Fun 101 7 was named Program Director for WAJI and Operations Manager for the all 3 Fort Wayne, IN, Sarkes Tarzian radio stations 
On September 4, 2015, 95 1 rebranded back to "Majic 95 1"  The new Majic is being positioned as “Songs You Can Sing Along To” and comes with the exit of several staffers over the previous few weeks, with the first song being "You and Me" by Lifehouse  Program Director Dan Kennedy left in July for a non-radio industry position  Morning host Sid Kelly, producer James Raggi, and middayer Mandi Michaels were let go earlier that week leading up to the change  Later on, they changed their slogan to "Songs that make you feel good" 
The current WAJI line-up consists of Angie Nash, Andy Beckman, and Katrina Walburn live in mornings  According to WAJI, Katrina Walburn helps you through the Afternoons, and Andy and "Kat" in the morning do a live podcast from 5:30 AM to 10 AM EDT and EST 
On September 8, 2022, WAJI moved its CHR format and "The Twenty FM" branding from its HD2 subchannel to its HD3 subchannel 

Awards and charitable activities
In 2002, Majic 95 1 began an annual 2-day telethon called the "Majic Riley Radiothon" to raise funds for Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Indiana  In 2006,  this fundraising effort expanded to include local Fort Wayne recording facility Sweetwater Studios  The radio station and recording studio partnered to record live, acoustic music from nationally recognized artists and bands traveling through Fort Wayne  These recordings, along with others, have been used to produce an ongoing series of "Majic Miracle Music" charity CDs  100% of proceeds from the sale of these CDs benefits Riley Hospital for Children  Artists who recorded at Sweetwater Studios for "Majic Miracle Music" CDs include REO Speedwagon, Ingrid Michaelson, Lenka, Aimee Allen, Jars of Clay, Rick Springfield, Ben Jelen, Josh Kelley, Sara Bareilles, Jon McLaughlin, Gin Blossoms, and Collective Soul In 2005, 2006 and again in 2007, WAJI won Radio&Records Hot AC station of the year for their community support and programming excellence 
In late 2010, WAJI MidDay Host Barb Richards received the Bob Lind Supporter of the Year national award from the Children's Miracle Network for her active involvement in helping Riley Hospital for Children with the Majic Riley Radiothon, Majic Miracle Music releases, and involvement in other Riley Hospital-related activities In 2011, WAJI Program Director Dan Kennedy received the distinguished Edison 30 Under 30 Award for his programming achievements under the age of 30   He was also awarded the Copper Radio Award for his service to the communities of Arizona while programming a group of stations in that state  In 2015, WAJI Program Director Dan Kennedy was awarded the Fort Wayne 40 Under 40 award for service and excellence to the community 

Previous logo
Passage 4:
WEBZ
WEBZ (99 3 FM) is a commercial urban adult contemporary radio station located in Mexico Beach, Florida (Panama City metro)  The station is owned by iHeartMedia 

External links
Official Website

WEBZ in the FCC FM station database
WEBZ on Radio-Locator
WEBZ in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
Passage 5:
Light Sings
"Light Sings" is a song written by Will Holt and Gary William Friedman and performed by The 5th Dimension   It reached #12 on the U S  adult contemporary chart, #15 on the Canadian adult contemporary chart, #22 on the Canadian pop chart, and #44 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971   It was featured on their 1971 album, Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes The song was produced by Bones Howe and arranged by Bob Alcivar 

In media
The song was featured in the 1970 musical, The Me Nobody Knows 
Passage 6:
All That Echoes
All That Echoes is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Josh Groban, produced by Rob Cavallo  The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 145,000 copies in its first week  The album has sold 532,000 copies in the United States as of April 2015 

Background
On November 18, 2012, the album was announced, revealing the cover art, title, and date of release: February 5, 2013  It was available for preorder through retailer Amazon com on November 27  Groban has recorded cover songs by Stevie Wonder and Glen Hansard for the album  The first track, "Brave", was released as a single on December 18, 2012  Groban promoted the album with the All That Echoes World Tour 

Track listing
Personnel
Josh Groban – vocals, piano, e-bow, additional drums
Curt Bisquera – drums
Chris Chaney – bass guitar
Tim Pierce – guitar
Ramon Stagnaro – acoustic guitar, charango
Carlos del Puerto – bass guitar
Arturo Sandoval – trumpet
Walter Afanasieff – piano
Paul Bushnell – bass guitar
Luis Conte – percussion
Matt Chamberlain – drums
Eleanore Choate – harp
Sean Hurley – bass guitar
Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards, piano
Abe Laboriel Jr  – drums, percussion
Rob Cavallo – acoustic guitar, piano, additional bass guitar
Dan Chase – drum programming, synthesizer
André Manga – bass guitar
Eric Rigler – bagpipes, low whistle
Lester Mendez – synthesizer, programming

Charts
Certifications
Passage 7:
WOKH
WOKH (102 7 FM) is an adult contemporary–formatted radio station licensed to serve Springfield, Kentucky, as well as Lebanon and Bardstown  The station is owned by Bardstown Radio Team, LLC as part of a duopoly with Bardstown–licensed country music station WBRT (1320 AM)  The two stations share studios on South Third Street in downtown Bardstown, while its transmitter facilities are located off Lanham Road in rural Washington County west of Springfield 

History
Choice Radio sold WOKH to current ownership Bardstown Radio Team, owner of WBRT, in 2017 The station has been assigned these call letters by the Federal Communications Commission since January 12, 2006 

Previous logos
Passage 8:
WNWZ
WNWZ (1410 AM, "Magic 104 9") is a radio station broadcasting an urban contemporary format, licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan 
The station is simulcast on FM translator W285FO (104 9), licensed to Grand Rapids 

History
WGRD
The station first began broadcasting under the WGRD call sign in 1948  As AM 1410 was originally a daytime-only station, the WGRD calls stood for Grand Rapids Daytime  The station adopted the Top 40 music format in 1959 and was a top-rated station in the Grand Rapids market during the late 1950s and early 1960s, though the station had lost ground to WLAV 1340 and WZZM-FM 95 7 by the end of the decade  WGRD made a number of format adjustments in the mid-1960s in response to its falling ratings, shifting to an adult contemporary format in 1964 and then to a Top 40/oldies mix the following year before tweaking back to Top 40 in 1967  WGRD reclaimed its market dominance after it added an FM signal at 97 9 MHz in 1971 (formerly WXTO), though AM 1410 was relegated to being a simulcast of the FM signal mornings and afternoons  For part of that time middays were "shadowcast " Same format, different dj 

WXQT/Great Gold 14-K
In 1981, WGRD dropped its simulcast (middays were shadowcast) of the FM station and switched to a "Big Band" Music of Your Life format as WXQT  In 1984, WXQT flipped to oldies as "GREAT GOLD 14-K",  which stood for "14 Karat Gold", focusing on pop oldies from 1958-1972  Under the direction of PD Allen Jackson, "The NEW 14-K" featured Jack Stack (who had done mornings on WGRD and WLAV back in the 1960s) mornings, Rich Kennedy middays, Larry Olek afternoons and Pugs Stella evenings  The station earned a respectable 2 4 share 12+ in the Summer 1984 Arbitron  In 1986, the local lineup was dropped in favor of the ABC/Satellite Music Network "Pure Gold" satellite format  Ratings crashed to a 0 9 share in the summer of 1986 Arbitron, under the new call sign WKTH 

More changes
In 1988, the station adopted Satellite Music Network's Z-Rock format, keeping the WKTH call letters  The station reverted to the WGRD calls in 1991, moving back to a simulcast of 97 9 FM's CHR format (which changed to Modern Rock in 1994)  In 1996, WGRD changed calls to WRCV and switched to ABC Radio's syndicated "Real Country" format  The station continued to be a non-factor in the ratings  In September 1998, 1410 changed its calls to WNWZ and adopted a simulcast of CNN Headline News, which was replaced by News/Talk in October 2001 (mostly syndicated from the Michigan Talk Radio Network) 

La Maquina Musical
A Spanish pop hits format was adopted on January 1, 2003, and was somewhat successful in the ratings given its poor signal, often ranking as Grand Rapids' third most popular AM station (behind only WOOD and WBBL) (see: 1)  WNWZ was the first radio station to cater to the Spanish-speaking community in Grand Rapids 24 hours a day  In August 2010, a reunion of more than 60 former WGRD staff members was held in Grand Rapids, which included market legend Bruce Grant, the original program director from 1948, and dozens of other personalities from the AM 1410/97 9 history 

Funny 1410
On November 14, 2011, the station changed its format to comedy calling itself "Funny 1410" 

Touch 1410
On August 3, 2013, WNWZ flipped to Urban Adult Contemporary, branded as "The Touch"  The station became the West Michigan home of the Steve Harvey Morning Show and remains as such today  Outside of the morning show, the station aired Westwood One's "The Touch" full-time 

Magic 94 1
On June 10, 2016, WNWZ began simulcasting on FM translator W231DD (94 1, licensed to Grand Rapids), and rebranded as "Magic 94 1 " The station also dropped the "Touch" feed for locally originated programming 

Magic 104 9
On October 24, 2016, WNWZ rebranded as "Magic 104 9" as translator W231DD moved from 94 1 FM to 104 9 FM as W285FO and raised power from 88 watts to 250 watts In March 2020, WNWZ began adding more hip hop tracks, and shifted to urban contemporary, while retaining the "Magic" moniker 

Previous logo
(WNWZ's logo under previous 94 1 translator frequency)
 (WNWZ's logo under previous Urban Adult Contemporary format)
Passage 9:
I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe song)
"I Can Only Imagine" is a song by Christian rock band MercyMe  Written and composed by lead singer Bart Millard, it was originally recorded for the band's 1999 independent album The Worship Project before being included on their 2001 major-label debut album Almost There  The song was the last to be written for The Worship Project; in writing it, Millard drew upon his thoughts about his father's death  Lyrically, it imagines what it would be like to be in front of God in heaven; it opens with just a piano before building to include guitar and drums 
After being released on October 12, 2001, as the second single from Almost There, "I Can Only Imagine" became a major success on Christian radio; it spent two weeks at No  1 on the Radio & Records Christian AC chart and became the most-played Christian single of 2002  It became an unexpected mainstream hit in 2003, peaking at No  71 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No  5 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart while also hitting top 40, adult top 40, and country radio charts  The song returned to the charts after its story was adapted into a 2018 film of the same name, peaking at No  1 on the Billboard Christian Songs chart and No  10 on the Billboard Digital Songs chart 
"I Can Only Imagine" received positive reviews from critics  Particular praise was given to its lyrics, and some critics called it the best song on Almost There  It received the Dove Awards for Song of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year at the 33rd GMA Dove Awards, also garnering Millard the award for Songwriter of the Year; he also won the Songwriter of the Year award at the 25th American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Christian Music Awards  In 2004, CCM Magazine ranked it as the fourth-best song in Christian music, and it has since become the most-played song in the history of Christian radio as well as the best-selling Christian song of all time; it has been certified five-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and as of April 2018, it has sold over 2 5 million copies 

Background and recording
MercyMe was formed in 1994 by vocalist Bart Millard, guitarist Mike Scheuchzer, and keyboardist Jim Bryson  The band later brought on drummer Robby Shaffer and bassist Nathan Cochran  In their early years, they independently released four Christian alternative rock albums, drawing influence from the grunge style of rock music popular at the time  However, they realized that their original songs from these albums failed to connect with their audiences while their covers of popular worship songs were much more popular  Because of this, the band decided to write and produce an album of original worship songs  This album,  The Worship Project, utilized a simple verse–chorus format designed to easily fit on a PowerPoint screen In the last phases of production, MercyMe needed one more song to include on the album  Late at night on the band's bus, Millard found an old notebook with the phrase "I can only imagine" written in it  He began to write a song, basing it on his personal feelings about his father Arthur's death  Early in Bart's life, Arthur had been physically and emotionally abusive towards his family, with Bart being beaten severely at points; Arthur and his wife Adele eventually divorced, and Bart was sent to live with his mother after an especially extreme whipping  Bart kept in contact with his father, however, who  was later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer when Bart was 15  His father began to make amends for his actions and started becoming more religiously observant, reading the Bible and going to church regularly  As Arthur progressively became more ill, his relationship with his son improved dramatically; by the time Arthur died in 1991, when Bart was 18, the two were very close  Millard said that "I got a front row seat to see this guy go from being a monster to falling desperately in love with Jesus  By the time he passed away when I was a freshman in college, not only was he my best friend, he was like the Godliest man I’d ever known"  After Arthur's death, Bart became obsessed with the phrase "I can only imagine" after hearing his grandmother say that she could only imagine what Arthur was seeing in heaven  Millard found comfort in the thought and began to write it on anything he could find Once Millard started writing the song, he estimated that it took him only about ten minutes to write the lyrics  Millard said that it was one of the few songs he had ever written where there were not any mistakes in the writing process; "it was just written the way it is and left at that"  MercyMe initially attempted to record "I Can Only Imagine" as a fast song, but after several failed attempts, Millard talked with Bryson about arranging it into a slower version  As the band was tearing down the equipment in their recording studio, Bryson began playing a piano intro  Millard immediately decided to use the intro, and the rest of the song was completed in around five minutes  Although the rest of the band did not see how it would fit on the record, as it didn't meet the basic verse-chorus format the rest of the album had, they felt it needed to be included on it because it meant so much to Millard The Worship Project was released on October 14, 1999  Sales for the album far exceeded the band's previous efforts; Millard estimated the album's overall sales at 100,000, which other sources peg the album's sales as of 2006 at 60,000 or 65,000 copies  The difficulty of meeting sales demands when selling the album directly, in addition to having to book and manage for themselves, led the band to pursue a contract with a record label; MercyMe would sign with INO Records in 2000  "I Can Only Imagine" was one of several songs from the band's independent records that were selected to be included on their debut album with INO, Almost There (2001) 

Composition
"I Can Only Imagine" is set in the key of E major and has a tempo of 80 beats per minute  Bart Millard's vocal range in the song spans from the low note of B3 to the high note of G♯5  Millard is credited with writing and composing the song  A contemporary Christian and pop song, "I Can Only Imagine" has been considered both a ballad and a power ballad  The song opens up with only a piano, building up to include guitar and drums The song has a directly Christian message; its religious lyrics weren't edited for mainstream radio  In the song, the narrator wonders what it would be like to stand before God in heaven  In the refrain, the singer ponders "Will I dance for You Jesus/or in awe of you be still/Will I stand in Your presence or to my knees will I fall/Will I sing hallelujah/will I be able to speak at all/I can only imagine/I can only imagine"  Regarding the lyrical theme of "I Can Only Imagine", Millard explained to Fox News that "I was always told that if [my father] could choose, he would rather be in Heaven than here with me  As a Christian I believed that, but as an 18-year-old it was a little hard to swallow  So the questions in the song came from me asking God what was so great about Him that my dad would rather be there "

Critical reception
Critical reception for "I Can Only Imagine" was positive  Steve Losey of AllMusic praised it as being "passionate" and "emotionally compelling"  Kevin Chamberlin of Jesus Freak Hideout said the song's lyrics were "amazing"  It was called the "definite highlight" of Almost There by New Release Tuesday's Kevin McNeese, who also praised its piano intro, saying it "instantly invokes chills", as well as the song's lyrical content  Charisma writer Margaret Feinburg lauded the song's "heart-gripping" lyrics, and it was cited as the centerpiece of the album by Megumi Nakamura of Cross Rhythms, who called it "beautiful and touching"  Writing for CCM Magazine, Adam Woodroof described the song as "heavenly" and said it was the highlight of Almost There  Although Russ Breimeier of Christianity Today called it "beautiful and inspiring", he questioned if "I Can Only Imagine" was actually a worship song At the 33rd GMA Dove Awards in 2002, I Can Only Imagine" earned the GMA Dove Awards for Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year and Song of the Year  Millard won the award for Songwriter of the Year at the same ceremony as well as at the 25th American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Christian Music Awards, held on June 2, 2003   In 2004, CCM Magazine ranked "I Can Only Imagine" as the fourth-greatest song in Christian music 

Legacy
"I Can Only Imagine" has been regarded as MercyMe's "breakthrough hit" as well as their signature song  It is the most-played song in the history of Christian radio and one of the most-played songs in the history of contemporary music  As of April 2018, it is the best-selling Christian song of all-time  It has consistently ranked among the best-selling Christian digital songs each year in the Billboard year-end charts, ranging from number 19 in 2016 to number three in 2018  It is often requested to be played at funerals  "I Can Only Imagine" was named the official inspirational song for the state of Oklahoma in 2018; the measure was passed by the Oklahoma Legislature and signed by Governor Mary Fallin The story behind "I Can Only Imagine" was adapted into a film  Directed by the Erwin Brothers and starring J  Michael Finley as Bart Millard and Dennis Quaid as Arthur Millard, the movie was released to theaters on March 16, 2018  It received mixed to positive reviews from critics, and exceeded initial expectations at the box office, grossing $17 1 million in its opening week  This was the fourth best-ever opening for a faith-based film, behind only The Passion of the Christ, Son of God, and Heaven Is for Real  The film finished its theatrical run having grossed $83 4 million in the United States and Canada and $1 8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $85 2 million  As of August 2019, it ranks as the fifth-highest grossing music biopic of all-time in the United States (behind Bohemian Rhapsody, Straight Outta Compton, Walk the Line, and Rocketman) and was the highest-grossing independent film of 2018 

Release and promotion
Originally, "I Can Only Imagine" was set to be released by fellow Christian artist Amy Grant  Millard had initially declined a request from Grant's record label to allow her to record the song; some segments of the Christian community had reacted negatively to her divorce, and Millard wasn't sure if he wanted to be involved  After consulting with his pastor, who felt Millard should accept the opportunity, he began to reconsider, and finally agreed to let her cover it after talking with Grant over the phone  Grant had planned to release her version of the song as the lead single from her upcoming album and MercyMe would release a different song as their first single, hoping to capitalize on having written what would presumably become a major hit for Grant  The band released their first single from Almost There, "Bless Me Indeed (Jabez's Song)", which performed poorly at Christian radio, leading to poor sales of the album  Plans were made to release another single from the record, but the band's manager, Scott Brickell, decided to reach out to Grant to see if she still planned to release her version as a single  Grant gave MercyMe her blessing to release the song as a single and signed the rights back to the band; "I Can Only Imagine" was released on October 12, 2001, as the album's second single The song debuted on the Christian AC chart on November 2, 2001, reached the No  1 position on February 22, 2002, and spent two weeks at the top spot  It also peaked at No  15 on the Radio & Records Christian CHR chart  The song became the most-played song on Christian radio in 2002  As a result of its success on radio, Almost There experienced a "surge" in sales, debuting on the Billboard 200 in December 2001 and entering the top ten on the Christian Albums chart in January 2002  The song stayed on Christian radio for so long that plans to release a third single from Almost There were cancelled, with the band instead beginning work on a new album In 2003, a Dallas mainstream radio station, 100 3 Wild-FM, played the song on its morning show, The Fitz Radio Program  They had responded to a caller's repeated requests and the urgings of the program's producer, Todd Sheppard, a former seminary student  Although it had been played almost as joke, it soon became the most requested and most played song on the station  After hearing the song played on the station, Millard called-in and spoke with the crew, and MercyMe then came in and played the song live  Big Gay Steven, one of the show's hosts, described their audience's response to the song as "overwhelming"  As other mainstream stations around the country began to play the song, MercyMe's label, INO Records, partnered with Curb Records to market the single to mainstream radio  Its initial success was seen as surprising due to its overtly religious themes, although several other Christian artists had begun achieving mainstream success at the same time, including Stacie Orrico, whose singles "Stuck" and "(There's Gotta Be) More to Life" had both hit the Billboard Hot 100  Curb began to promote the song to adult contemporary and Top 40 radio, and INO and Curb released a double A-side physical single, "I Can Only Imagine/Word of God Speak", in September 2003 "I Can Only Imagine" debuted on the Adult Contemporary chart on May 23, 2003, eventually peaking at No  5 for the chart week of September 8, 2003  "I Can Only Imagine" spent 30 weeks on the chart  The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 for the chart week of October 11, 2003 at No  76  The song peaked at No  71 and spent 16 non-consecutive weeks on the chart  "I Can Only Imagine" also peaked at No  1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales chart, a component chart of the Billboard Hot 100 that ranks the best-selling physical single releases, for 10 weeks  During the week of November 22, 2003, it became the first No  1 physical single to be outsold by the highest-selling digital single of the week; for that week, "I Can Only Imagine" sold 7,500 physical copies in the United States while Outkast's "Hey Ya!" sold 8,500 digital downloads  The song also charted on the Mainstream Top 40, Adult Top 40, and Country Songs charts In 2012, "I Can Only Imagine" appeared on France's Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) chart, spending two weeks and peaking at No  65  In March 2018, following the release of the film I Can Only Imagine, which was based on the song's story, it appeared on the Billboard Christian Songs chart; because the chart had been created after the song's original run on Christian radio, it was eligible to chart for the first time  It debuted at No



ground_truth: Andrew Scheer

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Who is the child of the male star of the 1921 film Money?

The following are given passages.
Context 2: Passage 1:
List of Keeping Up with the Kardashians episodes
Keeping Up with the Kardashians is an American reality television series, airing on the E! network  Its premise originated with Rhys Parkin, who additionally serves as an executive producer  The series focuses on sisters Kourtney, Kim, and Khloé Kardashian, along with Kylie and Kendall Jenner 
It additionally places emphasis on their brother Rob Kardashian, their mother Kris Jenner, their step-parent Caitlyn Jenner, and Kourtney's now ex-boyfriend, Scott Disick  Khloé's ex-husband Lamar Odom developed a major position as part of the supporting cast from the fourth season onwards, though he rarely appeared in season eight while attempting to fix his marriage with Khloé  Along in season seven, Kanye West became a recurring cast member after entering into a relationship with Kim  West later developed a more prominent role from season 16 onwards  In seasons eight and nine, Caitlyn's children Brody and Brandon, and Brandon's ex-wife, Leah became recurring cast members  Blac Chyna appeared as a recurring cast member throughout season 12 whilst engaged to Rob 
The series has produced the spin-offs Kourtney and Kim Take Miami, Kourtney and Kim Take New York, Khloé & Lamar, Kourtney and Khloé Take The Hamptons, Dash Dolls, I Am Cait,  Kocktails with Khloé , Revenge Body with Khloé Kardashian, Rob & Chyna, Life of Kylie and Flip It Like Disick 

Series overview
Episodes
Season 1 (2007)
Season 2 (2008)
Season 3 (2009)
Season 4 (2009-10)
Season 5 (2010)
Season 6 (2011)
Season 7 (2012)
Season 8 (2013)
Season 9 (2014)
Season 10 (2015)
Season 11 (2015-2016)
Season 12 (2016)
Season 13 (2017)
Season 14 (2017-18)
Season 15 (2018)
Season 16 (2019)
Season 17 (2019)
Season 18 (2020)
Season 19 (2020)
Season 20 (2021)
Specials
Passage 2:
Tim Credeur
Timothy Wallace Credeur II (born July 9, 1977) is a retired American mixed martial artist  He was a cast member of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter 7 and was defeated by fellow cast member Jesse Taylor in the semi-finals  He was then brought back into the competition following the disqualification of Taylor  He fought C B  Dollaway for a spot in the finals and lost to Dollaway via decision 

Mixed martial arts career
The Ultimate Fighter 7
Tim is a member of Louisiana's Gladiator Academy and appeared on "The Ultimate Fighter" series 
Tim advanced to the semifinals with victories over Erik Charles, Matthew Riddle, and Dan Cramer (all by submission)  During the show's semi-final fight between him and Jesse Taylor, Taylor won by unanimous decision after 3 rounds  However, after Taylor was removed from the finale for disciplinary reasons, Credeur fought C B  Dollaway to determine who would match up against Amir Sadollah in the show's live finale 
Tim lost the match by unanimous decision after 3 rounds, though the match was very closely contested 

UFC career
He was scheduled to fight fellow Team Forrest member Cale Yarbrough at the TUF 7 finale  However, Tim admitted to using the prescription drug Adderall five days prior to the event; Adderall is a drug banned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission  A drug test was performed and the prescription drug was still in Tim's system  As a result, the match was cancelled 
As Tim admitted to the recent use of the drug and he did not fight, there was no disciplinary action taken against him; his bout with Yarbrough was rescheduled for the UFC's July 19 show, UFC: Silva vs  Irvin    This time the match did happen and Tim won by TKO at 1:54 of round 1  Tim took on Nate Loughran at UFC: Fight For The Troops, Tim beat Loughran, due to Loughran withdrawing at the end of round two 
His next fight would be against Nick Catone at UFC Fight Night: Condit vs  Kampmann which he won by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 3:45 of round 2, giving him his third consecutive victory in the UFC 
Tim fought on the UFC Fight Night 19 card against former middleweight title contender Nate Quarry  Tim lost the fight by unanimous decision after winning the first round but losing the second and third  The fight was shown live and free on the main card  The fight earned Fight of the Night 
Credeur was scheduled to face Mike Massenzio at UFC Fight Night 20, but was replaced by fellow TUF castmate and UFC newcomer Gerald Harris after being forced off the card with an injury Credeur was scheduled to face Tom Lawlor on May 8, 2010 at UFC 113, but was forced off the card with another injury   He was replaced by Joe Doerksen  Credeur later revealed that he was forced out of the scheduled UFC 113 bout due to an abnormality found during a brain scan Credeur faced Ed Herman on June 4, 2011 at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale   He lost the fight via TKO in the first round 
Credeur was expected to face Brad Tavares on October 29, 2011 at UFC 137   However, Creduer was forced out of the bout and replaced by promotional newcomer Dustin Jacoby In 2013 Credeur quietly retired from fighting to focus on teaching and coaching in his MMA gym in Lafayette, Louisiana 

Personal life
Credeur and his wife Mamie had their first child, a daughter named Audrey on January 4, 2011 

Mixed martial arts record
Passage 3:
Money (1921 film)
Money is a 1921 British silent comedy film directed by Duncan McRae and starring Henry Ainley, Faith Bevan and Margot Drake  It is an adaptation of the 1840 comic play Money by Edward Bulwer-Lytton 

Cast
Henry Ainley      Alfred Evelyn
Faith Bevan      Georgina Vesey
Margot Drake      Clare Douglas
Sam Wilkinson      Sir Frederick Blount
James Lindsay      Captain Smooth
Olaf Hytten      Henry Graves
Sidney Paxton      Sir John Vesey
Ethel Newman      Lady Franklyn
Adelaide Grace      Nanny
Passage 4:
List of Ghost Whisperer characters
The following are fictional characters from the television drama Ghost Whisperer created by John Gray 

Main characters
Melinda Gordon
Melinda Gordon, played by Jennifer Love Hewitt, is the protagonist of  Ghost Whisperer   Melinda has been able to see ghosts since she was a little girl  Specifically, she sees ghosts who are not able to pass to the other side due to tasks they need her help with  She helps them find peace and cross into the light  The gift has been passed on for many generations  She is married to Jim Clancy (David Conrad) and owns an antique store, located in the fictional town of Grandview  She has many enemies who dislike her abilities, including Gabriel Lawrence (Ignacio Serricchio) and Romano (John Walcutt) 

Andrea Marino
Andrea Joyce Marino, played by Aisha Tyler, is Melinda's (Jennifer Love Hewitt) best friend and was part of the main cast during season one  Andrea once worked in New York City, as a lawyer, until she moved to Grandview  She set up an antique store, named The Same As It Never Was, that she owns along with Melinda 
Melinda even comes to trust Andrea enough to tell her about her gift of being able to communicate with earthbound spirits, or ghosts  Andrea becomes essential to the store and Melinda, because of the very fact she knows about Melinda's gift  Whenever Melinda has to run off and help a ghost, Andrea is left to keep the store  Andrea also helps Melinda with difficult crossovers removing some of the stress from Melinda's husband, Jim (David Conrad)  In "The One", a plane crashes and Andrea notices Melinda is hiding something  She believes her brother Mitch died during the plane crash and Melinda is seeing his ghost 
At the end of season one, it was revealed it was Andrea who had died during the crash and not Mitch  While Andrea was not on the plane, she died because her car had been on the path on which the plane had crashed  Romano attempts to prevent Andrea from crossing over into the Light and get her to join him on the Dark Side  Melinda would not allow such a horrific occurrence to happen to her friend, so she sets out to stop Romano and warn Andrea  With the help of an occult professor at Rockland University, Rick Payne, Melinda is able to help Andrea find peace and cross over into the Light  Her death was foreshadowed in Season 1, Episode 15  Romano is seen sitting in a chair in the antique store  When he disappears, a faint sound of an airplane engine is heard 
Andrea is later mentioned in "Drowned Lives", "A Grave Matter", "Delia's First Ghost" and "The Prophet"  Also, while having been successfully crossed over into the Light for over a year, two ghosts taunt Melinda by calling her Andrea during "Bad Blood" 
In the season four episode, "Leap of Faith", when Jim swims to rescue Melinda and hits his head, he has flashbacks of his past as Jim, and Andrea can be seen briefly when remembering his wedding with Melinda  Andrea's date of death is in the book of changes backwards and was mentioned before a flashback of the plane crash which killed her 

Jim Clancy
Jim Clancy, played by David Conrad is Melinda's (Jennifer Love Hewitt) husband  He is the only cast member other than Hewitt to appear in every episode 
Jim and Melinda get married and move in at the start of the first season  Jim was a paramedic and firefighter, and the two met when he rescued her from her apartment complex, which had a structural issue  Jim knew of Melinda's unique ability to communicate with ghosts at the start of the series; he helped her as much as he could, though Melinda's good friend, Andrea Marino, provided most of the aid until her death at the end of the first season  It was revealed in the pilot episode that Jim witnessed his older brother, Dan, die when they were young  After having seen Dan die and being unable to save him, Jim decides to become a paramedic  Dan attended Jim and Melinda's wedding as a ghost and conversed with Melinda during the reception 
After Melinda's near death experience during the season two finale, "The Gathering", Jim becomes worried about what else could happen to Melinda because of the ghosts  Jim also helps to try to find information about Melinda's father (Tom Gordon), who might or might not be dead, as well as try to find any information about Melinda's brother, Gabe  In "Haunted Hero", Jim and Melinda welcome a returning soldier from Iraq, Matt, back to Grandview  When Matt becomes paranoid due to being haunted by his dead comrades and post-traumatic stress disorder, Jim confronts Matt in the town square and talks Matt out of trying to kill himself  Jim delivered some of his convincing argument with Matt's gun pointed at him 
In "Weight of What Was", Gabriel returns to Grandview and Jim warns him away, though not before Gabriel reveals that he is Melinda's half-brother  Jim, Rick, and Delia go in search of Melinda, who is trapped in old Grandview, which is buried under present day Grandview  Tessa, the ghost of Melinda's maternal ancestor who was also a Ghost Whisperer, helps them find Melinda by communicating with Delia and Jim  Jim also begins thinking of moving out of Grandview to attend medical school   At first, Melinda does not like the idea, but she later agrees to it  In "Deadbeat Dads", Jim admits he would like to have children someday; Jim and Melinda try to get pregnant and succeed, but Melinda loses the baby 
Near the end of "Imaginary Friends and Enemies" (early season 4), Jim is shot in the shoulder and rushed to the hospital, where he is immediately taken into surgery  Relieved to hear his surgery went well, Melinda is taken to his room and asks if she may stay with him until he awakens  It is implied she waits several hours, and she eventually falls asleep next to him  She wakes up to find Jim next to her, and believing him to be awake, she tells him she loves him  When Jim tells her softly he suffered an embolism, Melinda tries to get a doctor but Jim tells her not to and says that he wants her to remember him as he is now  This causes Melinda to realize Jim is appearing to her as a ghost; his body then flatlines in the background  As doctors rush in to revive him, Melinda tearfully pleads with Jim for it not be him  Jim then says, "I will always love you, Melinda", and then his ghost disappears as Melinda sobs and the doctors are unable to revive him  His death was foreshadowed in the season premiere, when a ghost warned Melinda death might rub off on those she loves 
In the next episode ("Threshold"), Jim refuses to cross over because he still loves Melinda and believes their love is what is holding him back  Even though Melinda wants Jim to stay, she knows it's selfish of her and begs him to go into the light, promising she'll be there one day  But when Jim and Melinda witness paramedics trying to revive a motorcycle accident victim named Sam Lucas (Kenneth Mitchell), they see the ghost of the victim go into the light  Jim goes over to the body and tells Melinda it's the only way  Before Melinda can stop him, Jim's ghost enters Sam's body, thus bringing him back to "life " However, the viewers continue to see him as Jim while everyone else in the show including Melinda sees him as Sam  When Melinda says "You're back", Jim, who now believes he is Sam and has no memory as Jim, says "Do I know you?" This leads Melinda to try to prove to him who he really is, especially when pieces of Jim's memory start to show  At first, he thinks she's crazy and doesn't believe her  When Melinda is trapped underground, Jim goes to save her, but he starts to drown and he has flashes of memories as Jim, thus bringing Jim fully back  When he finds Melinda, she calls him Sam to which Jim replies "Why are you calling me Sam?" Melinda then realizes Jim is back and she happily hugs him 
Later on, Melinda finds out she is pregnant again and it turns out Jim had gotten her pregnant shortly before he died  Later Melinda begins to worry about their unborn baby  She began to have nightmares and visions the baby was in danger  She was sure by the things she was being told the baby was a girl after Melinda runs into the faceless child again, who puts her hand on Melinda's tummy and says, "You can't save her  You can't " Jim reveals to Melinda he had seen her chart accidentally and knew it was a boy, although he knew they agreed not to find out, but he told her to ease her mind, so she’d see her visions and dreams were wrong  Jim and Melinda marry again at the same place they met - in front of witnesses, Eli James (best man) and Delia Banks (matron of honor), and a full gathering of spirits 
In Season 5, Melinda believes her due date is the exact date in the book, which causes doubts in Jim, Delia, Ned, and Eli  Melinda finally needs an emergency C-Section  When the baby suddenly goes into fetal distress in the operating room, the season’s first ghosts appear to Melinda  First the watcher, who warned Melinda of her child’s power and the danger he may come into, stops time to tell her Fate and Free Will will work together to decide whether or not the baby will live  The second ghost comes in the form of a young woman in a white gown  She quickly disappears and time restarts  While the baby isn’t breathing at first, he suddenly recovers to full health  Later in recovery, Melinda tells Jim they’ll name the baby Aiden Lucas, in honor of Jim’s father and Sam Lucas 
The series then jumps ahead to 2014 and the celebration of Aiden's upcoming fifth birthday  Jim is now a resident at Rockland Memorial Teaching Hospital, as Sam, and he takes the name Jim as his middle name  Ned is also in college, taking classes with Eli, while Delia has become a big realtor  There were always problems every year on Aiden's birthday  He would become strangely sick, for example  Every year a woman would visit Aiden and sing him happy birthday  The woman, Amber, had died in childbirth the night Melinda gave birth to Aiden  Amber was convinced her son’s spirit had jumped into Aiden, as he had stopped breathing shortly after he was born  Later on in the episode, it is revealed the son was actually adopted by the birth father and his wife 
Melinda helps Amber into the light and learns from the watcher that Aiden is an empath  He feels and takes on emotions of those around him  This is revealed as the reason why each year Amber would show up and he gets sick  Melinda also finds out she shares a psychic link with Aiden, which allows them to communicate with one another, though he doesn’t fully understand it  Melinda and Jim decide to not tell Aiden, because they want him to have a normal life, with his own dreams  In 5 19 "Lethal Combination", Jim is caught by Dr  Mavis, a morgue coroner, snooping through the files in the hospital morgue 

Delia Banks
Delia Banks (portrayed by Camryn Manheim) joined the main cast of Ghost Whisperer at the start of season 2  She and her teenage son, Ned, lost their husband and father, Charlie, three years prior to their appearance on the show  Delia became a real estate agent after Charlie's death 
Delia meets Melinda Gordon after Melinda calls Delia about Ned's having tried to shoplift from Melinda's antique store  Delia tells Melinda about how stressful her job as a real estate agent is, so Melinda offers her a job to help work at the antique store, which Delia accepts  They begin a friendship, though Delia does not know about Melinda's gift at first  In the episode "Delia's First Ghost", Melinda has to tell Delia about her gift because Charlie's spirit is haunting her  At first Delia calls Melinda crazy, admitting she had seen Melinda talking to herself and was worried  Delia even goes as far as to tell Melinda not to expect her at work again  By the end of the episode Delia learns, with Melinda's help, Charlie is only haunting her because he wants her to be safe  While still a little skeptical of Melinda's gift, Delia tells her that she will open the shop the next morning 
Delia remains skeptical concerning Melinda's gift in season three, but discusses the various ghosts Melinda encounters to help Melinda with them  When Melinda was stalked by a lawyer, Shane, he tampered with Ned's records because Delia was trying to get him into private school  Nevertheless, when Shane was caught with Ned's records, Ned got in  In episode 5, "Weight of What Was", Delia travels along with Jim and Rick into a series of tunnels and alleyways from a much older Grandview to find Melinda  With the help of a ghost named Tessa, they manage to locate her and get her to safety  In "Bad Blood", Delia's need to find a rational explanation for every situation, including ones involving ghosts, is brought up  Delia tells Melinda that she will try harder to accept the notion of ghosts  In the episode "Heart and Soul", Delia's need for a rational explanation nearly destroys her relationship with Melinda, but a conversation with her son and a moment with "Sam" at a basketball court provides her with faith in Melinda's gift  She now believes Jim is living in Sam's body  Sometime within the five-year leap between seasons 4 and 5 she left working for Melinda to open a Real Estate agency next to the shop, however she is frequently seen helping Melinda in the shop at various points in the series and remains Melinda's best friend 

Ned Banks
Ned Banks was originally portrayed by Tyler Patrick Jones, but starting with season 3 episode "Slambook!" Christoph Sanders took over the role  Ned is a nice guy who has dedicated his life to helping Melinda with the occult  He is the son of Delia and Charlie Banks  The events of his adolescence have been part of the plots of some episodes 
Ned was caught shoplifting at Melinda's antique shop, stealing Grateful Dead backstage passes  Melinda realized his behavior was the result of a spirit's urging  Ned found out Melinda's secret before his mother did when he overheard Melinda in the episode "Curse of the Ninth " He is always eager to help Melinda with her ghosts  A few episodes later, when his deceased father Charlie visits him and his mother, Melinda helps his father go into the Light  In the season three episode "No Safe Place," Ned gets into a private school 
In "Slambook," Ned (played by Christoph Sanders from then on) is on the basketball team when a ghost begins tampering with the scoreboard  In the episode "Home But Not Alone," Ned has his first girlfriend and (probably) his first kiss  In season 4, there was a plot which involved his mother suspecting him of smoking marijuana, but as it turned out, it was his mother's friend's joint  As of season five, he is a student at Rockland University  In "Dead Air" he is a host of a radio show, and has cheated on his girlfriend TJ (which he later regrets and apologizes for) 
In season 5, Ned is studying Anthropology of the Occult at Rockland University  He uses his knowledge to help Melinda and Eli solve the mystery of the Shadows and Shinies, also aiding them in crossing over spirits  Ned, Melinda, and Eli take turns keeping the Book of Changes 

Rick Payne
Rick Payne (portrayed by Jay Mohr) is a professor at Rockland University  He is a widower; his wife, Kate, died in a crane accident before his first appearance in the series 
At the beginning of season two, Melinda Gordon first seeks Rick Payne's help to save her deceased friend, Andrea Marino, who is being attacked by a dark spirit, Romano  She finds him teaching an occult class at Rockland University  She continues to seek Rick's help for various paranormal occurrences throughout the rest of the season  Rick first meets Melinda's husband, Jim Clancy, when Melinda recommends Jim talk to him about a ghost  It is in "The Night We Met" that Rick first questions Melinda about whether or not she believes she has supernatural abilities, as well as meets Melinda's close friend and co-worker, Delia Banks  It is only in the episode "Cat's Claw" that Melinda finally informs Rick of her abilities  In the season finale, Rick and Melinda are seen working very closely trying to figure out who Gabriel Lawrence, a dark Ghost Whisperer, really is  Rick, Jim, and Melinda go as far as breaking into Gabriel's home  It is also revealed Rick's wife, Kate, is a ghost who worked for the dark side but would later cross over into the Light after telling her husband a secret she had been keeping from him since she died 
The character joins the main cast in season three  At the beginning of this season, Rick appears to be worried about Melinda after her near-death experience  He also works a large deal more with Melinda on some things  In "The Weight of What Was", Rick, Jim, and Delia all travel into old Grandview to try finding Melinda  Jim and Delia are aided by a ghost named Tessa, an ancestor of Melinda's, and locate the trapped Melinda  Rick also helps Melinda search town death records for information about Tessa, who at the time Melinda believed to be Gabriel's mother, though a group of ghosts attempt to stop them from finding anything  In "Double Exposure", Rick's date and co-worker, Claudia, is haunted by a ghost who makes it so she cannot appear in any pictures 
It seems Rick had somewhat of a crush on Melinda when they first met; he was clearly embarrassed by everything he said to her, afraid it might sound stupid  The crush dissipated after he met Jim, Melinda's husband, but they remain very close friends 
Abrasive at times, Professor Rick Payne is often perceived as obnoxious on first impression, but most of the time he means well  Sarcastic and sometimes insensitive, he has a tendency to shout randomly and hates to be awakened by late night telephone calls  Even though he does not appreciate the title, he is rather well known as a genius, and spouts useless information at times  He has admitted that he talks a lot when he is nervous, but he talks a lot whether he is nervous or not  Professor Payne is quick-witted and highly intelligent, taking delight in annoying people and considers the reactions he gets from being rude amusing  He feels that he is taken for granted too often and likes to tell people so, though some believe it is only a technique to make others feel sorry for him  He has a certain charm, despite his ability to annoy even those with saintly amounts of patience, and he is a good friend to those who can stand to stick with him 

Eli James
Dr  Eli James (Jamie Kennedy) was introduced in the first episode of season four  He was a psychology professor at Rockland University 
During a building fire on the Rockland University campus on October 3, 2008, he died but was brought back, causing him to have a near death experience  It unlocked an ability which allows him to hear ghosts, but doesn't allow him to see them like Melinda  Throughout the fourth season, he adjusts to his newfound ability and starts helping her cross ghosts over  Eli also helps Melinda when she needs information from the Police 
Zoe, previous Guardian of the Book of Changes and Eli's ex-girlfriend, died after falling off the stairs in an attempt to stop a thief influenced by a Watcher  At the end of Season 4, Zoe crossed into the light (or so it seems) after telling Eli he was the next Guardian of the Book of Changes  In Season 5, it is revealed Eli is one of Ned's university lecturers  Evelyn, Eli's mother, died 7 years ago, even though in "Stage Fright" he told Melinda and Jim he was getting an autograph for his mom who watches the show which was visiting Grandview  Eli's father, Ray James, died from a heart-attack in the third episode of Season 5, "Till Death Do Us Start," which shared more shocking secrets about Eli's parents 
Eli and Melinda over time become very close friends  At first, Eli thought that Melinda was crazy (as almost everyone always does when she shares about her gift) until he realized he could do the same thing (almost)  As he learns more about his gift, he becomes more and more willing to help Melinda with the hauntings and even enjoys it 

Supporting characters
Beth Gordon
Beth Gordon (portrayed by Anne Archer), Melinda's mother and Aiden's grandmother, has the ability to communicate with ghosts, but chooses not to  She never came to terms with her mother or Melinda when it came to their gifts and prefers not to speak of anything that has to do with ghosts, or her husband Tom Gordon  Before she met Tom, she was in a relationship with a man named Paul Eastman, whom she was having a baby with when he went to jail  Once he died, Beth married Tom and never told Melinda about her real father  In "Pater Familias", Paul convinces Beth to tell Melinda the truth  She is then invited to watch the tall ships come into the harbor with Melinda, Jim and their friends, Rick, Delia, and Ned  She appeared in the episodes "Melinda's First Ghost", "The Vanishing", "The Underneath", and "Pater Familias" 

Mary Ann Patterson
Mary Ann Patterson, (played by June Squibb) - Melinda's grandmother and Aiden's great grandmother, now deceased, was a person who spoke to ghosts  It was she who gave lost spirits the title "earthbound " She helped them cross over into the Light (Heaven)  Her gift was passed down to Melinda, the current "ghost whisperer " Mary Ann crossed over into the Light so she is currently a "Light" Spirit  She helps Melinda bring ghosts to peace through dreams in two episodes: "Voices" and "The Gathering"  It is later revealed, in Season 3, that Melinda's maternal great-great-great-grandmother, Tessa (Amy Acker), could also communicate with ghosts and Melinda helps her cross over  When Melinda tells Tessa the fate of her daughter (in "Weight of What Was"), it is revealed that Mary Anne was the granddaughter of Julie Lee Lucas   Her married name was Patterson, according to Melinda  Melinda was in high school when her grandmother died and Melinda did not realize it until her grandmother said something about presence and then it dawned on Melinda that her grandmother was talking about her death and Melinda's loss of her grandmother 

Romano
Romano (John Walcutt), also known as "Wide Brim" (due to his outfit: black suit and black hat) was an American evil cult leader who lived in Spain, and who committed suicide along with 100 followers in 1939  The energy of the mass suicide made him powerful and strong, and he went to the Dark Side  He can be considered Melinda's true archenemy  He started to trick souls to go with him, by making them refuse to "cross over" into The Light 
When Romano first appeared on the show, his appearances were quick and mysterious, and he was usually attached to a laughing man who had, theretofore, never spoken  He always seemed to be observing Melinda  When in the episode "The One", the final episode of season one, a plane crashes outside Grandview, he attempts to gather all of the lost souls from the accident  This is the first time he declares his hatred and rivalry to Melinda, and he says he would release all "his earthbound souls" in exchange for her one soul 
Romano and Melinda confront each other verbally, each using persuasive speeches directed to the souls from the plane crash  Finally, Romano manages to get at least seven of the souls, including a stewardess who later does go into the Light in season two 
In "Love Never Dies", season two episode one, Romano tries to prevent Melinda's friend Andrea from crossing over into The Light  Melinda gathers all her strength to make Andrea cross over, and she learns with the help of Professor Rick Payne the identity of Romano  Payne also warns Melinda about Romano's real purpose: to destroy good spirits (the ones in charge of helping souls to "cross over" into The Light, such as Melinda) in order to make the dead stronger than the living, and to be endlessly powerful  According to Payne, Dark Spirit Romano would literally take over a weak soul in a weak body to make too much harm to humanity, until the last trace of joy and happiness vanished from earth  It is impossible for Romano to get closer when Melinda helps spirits to "cross over" into The Light, because there is too much love, and love is what Romano hates 
Romano last appeared in season two, episode one, when he was unsuccessful in trying to possess Andrea's soul  However, mid-season two, Melinda seems to foreshadow Romano's comeback, when Delia Banks tries on a black hat which resembles Romano's, although nothing arises from this  Melinda loosely references Romano in an episode of season five; when discussing the Shadows, she mentions that she's seen similar ghosts before, ones which didn't "cross over, so much as "cross under" much like Romano does with his followers  This reference could tell viewers that Romano ultimately became a Shadow after Andrea crossed over, and this is why he does not appear to Melinda for the rest of the series 

Charlie Banks
Delia was married to Charlie Banks (Fredric Lehne) until he died three years prior to Delia's first appearance on the show  They had a loving relationship  After a fire at the place where Charlie worked, Charlie was said to be different and more of a family man  We also learn that it was Tim who saved Charlie's life  Together with Charlie, Delia had her twelve-year-old son, Ned  Charlie died after being shot 

Tim Flaherty
In the episode "The Walk-In", Tim Flaherty (Thomas Wilson), a friend and co-worker of Jim's, is trying to get Delia to go out on a date with him, something Delia refuses to do  In "Delia's First Ghost", Tim tries to get Jim to tell him what Delia likes so he can impress her  Charlie, Delia's dead husband, helps him by knocking over a pot of lavender roses Delia likes  Tim also buys a motorcycle exactly like the one Charlie used to have  At the end of the episode, they are seen walking away hand in hand  He reappears in the fourth season in the episode Threshold  He is at Jim's funeral and talks about Jim before turning on an iPod with rock music which he says Jim would have wanted 

Gabriel Lawrence
Gabriel Lawrence (Ignacio Serricchio) claims to be Melinda's half-brother  He is also a "ghost whisperer"  It is unclear from whom he inherited this gift, since neither of his parents has that gift 
When he was a child, Gabriel knew he could interact with the dead, but nobody believed him, and he received psychiatric treatment in a mental health institution  Gabriel never had a living friend  In fact, all of his friends were dead, and he always hated watching them "cross over" into The Light  He managed to get out of the mental health institution by lying  He was in the same mental health institution where his mother resided 
In "The Collector" episode, Gabriel is now in his late twenties, and he has recently moved to Grandview  He mentions Grandview always brings him memories   Melinda Gordon has the opportunity to meet him, and she is amazed by the gift they have in common  Melinda warns Gabriel about a shift in the "other world": ghosts are becoming stronger  She tells him how she struggled against a very dark spirit called Romano the year before, when a plane crashed in Grandview 
However, Melinda discovers she was naive to believe in Gabriel, who had invited her to work with him in the difficult task of dealing with ghosts  Gabriel turns out to be a Ghost Whisperer from the Dark Side, and he had been gathering souls to prepare for what "was coming", a complex prophecy of the death of a "loved one" 
Gabriel, along with the dark spirits, was blocking The Light, because he was trying to make the dead stronger than the living  When Melinda, Jim Clancy, and Rick Payne break into Gabriel's house, they find out Gabriel's obsession with Melinda  He had been observing her moves for quite a long time  At the end of season two, both Gabriel and Melinda struggle against each other for the fate of living and dead 
Gabriel returns to Grandview in the third season episode "Weight of What Was", informing Melinda he is her half-brother  He hands her a package containing images of her father's family  An image in the package, in fact from Melinda's mother's past, leads Melinda to an underground church and her great-great-great grandmother, Tessa  A ghost which haunts the archives of Grandview tells Gabriel that Melinda has entered the tunnel, and Gabriel blocks the exit, preventing Melinda from escaping the way she entered  The episode ends with Gabriel speaking to Tom Gordon about what seems like a plan to get Melinda to help ghosts in a dark way  While in Grandview, he resided in a hotel under the name Gabriel Gordon  Gabriel also appears in "All Ghosts Lead to Grandview", wherein he has a brief conversation with Melinda at the end of the episode 

Thomas Gordon
Thomas "Tom" Gordon (Martin Donovan) first appears in the plot in season two's finale, although he has previously appeared in some flashbacks  When Melinda "dies" in season two's finale, she confronts what appears to be an already dead Tom, who tells her she is ready to find the darkness within herself, and also tells her she has a brother, later revealed to be Gabriel  In season three, Tom has contact with both Melinda and Gabriel, manifesting himself in Melinda's dreams, and speaking as a ghost with Gabriel  It has been suggested Tom is part of the Dark Side, and he is developing a plan to get Melinda into the Dark Side 
In the penultimate episode of season three, however, Tom is found alive in Gabriel's home  Melinda later learns every time she had seen Tom's "ghost", his body had in fact been taken over by Paul Eastman, when he was trying to kill Tom  Melinda then finds out Tom actually is not her father, Paul Eastman is  After discovering this shocking truth, Melinda goes to the main square in town to think, where Tom meets her  He asks her to come back to the house she grew up in  There he gets her to go back through her memories to the night Paul Eastman had come to their house  Just then Melinda realizes Tom is actually a cold-blooded killer; she remembers Tom deliberately murdering Paul Eastman  Tom then informs her that he now has to kill her to keep his secret safe  As he tries to choke her to death, Melinda cries out to her dad, to which Tom answers, "I'm not your Dad"  Melinda replies she wasn't talking to Tom but actually was asking for help from her real father  Paul Eastman then arrives and takes over Tom's body one last time, forcing him to throw himself over the staircase, effectively killing him  Soon afterwards he appears before Melinda  Tom is then pulled away by an unknown force to an unknown location 

Paul Eastman
Paul Eastman  (Corin Nemec) first appears in Melinda's dreams as someone who haunted her and/or wanted to haunt her  She soon discovers that he was an escaped prisoner accused of killing a child whose ghost Melinda was attempting to cross over  However, before he crosses over, the boy admits that his death was an accident, and that he had spoken to Eastman as a ghost to lead him to his body  This led to his wrongful incarceration  In the season 3 finale, it is revealed he is Melinda's biological father, not Tom Gordon  Paul set a series of "clues" to help Melinda see the truth  To quicken the process and save Melinda, he convinces her mother to tell Melinda the truth  Melinda is initially in disbelief and consoled by Tom, who convinces her to follow him to a safe place  The "safe" place is Melinda's childhood home and Paul Eastman's burial site  Once they arrive, Tom probes Melinda about her memory of Paul's death; she eventually has a flashback revealing Tom deliberately killed Paul  Tom decided he must kill Melinda to protect himself from the truth being revealed  Melinda cries out to her father, to which Tom replies: "Don't call me Dad  I'm not your Father " Melinda answers, "I wasn't talking to you " As Tom realizes to whom Melinda had been calling, Paul enters Tom's body and forces him to fall to his death  Paul talks to Melinda and her mother and says he thought that he would never be so angry with his former lover, and only hearing his daughter calling for her father made all of his anger disappear  He then went into The Light  He has one grandson by Melinda, Aiden  In life, he apparently had the ability to speak to ghosts just like Melinda and her maternal relations, meaning that Melinda received her ability from both parents 

Zoe Ramos
Zoe Ramos (Jaclyn DeSantis) is Eli's ex-girlfriend and a professor at Rockland University  She knows a lot about the supernatural, because she teaches a course entitled the "Science of the Occult " Zoe and Eli had broken up because at the time he didn't share her beliefs regarding ghosts, life after death, etc  At the end of the fourth season, Eli decides to resume contact with her  Zoe helps Melinda and Eli with cases involving voodoo and vampirism (episodes "Cursed" and "Endless Love") 
In season four's finale, Eli observes Zoe having lunch with a lawyer, Jeremy Bishop, and becomes very jealous   When Eli attempts the theft of an ancient book from the library of the University, Zoe tells him the true value of the book, which she has studied   Eli decides to invite Zoe out for dinner  When she fails to appear, Eli goes to Zoe's house and finds her dead  Her spirit tells Eli she died from falling down the stairs while a thief, influenced by a Watcher, entered her house to put the Book there 
After securing the Book, Eli calls to Zoe, who informs him about the Other Side  She tells him that she was the "Guardian of the Book of Changes" and, henceforth, he will need to take care of the Book  Eli agrees and realizes he still loves Zoe  After saying goodbye to Eli, Zoe goes into the light 

Aiden Lucas
Aiden Lucas (portrayed by Connor Gibbs) is the son of Melinda Gordon and Jim Clancy  Aiden is also the grandson of Paul Eastman and Beth Gordon who are Melinda's parents and Aiden and Faith Clancy who are Jim's parents 
Aiden was born on September 25, 2009  Before his birth, the watchers predict him and tell Melinda that her son is the key if the ghost's balances shift, and he will be more powerful than she is  On the day of his birth, Melinda worries about her son's fate  During his birth, Melinda needs an emergency C-section and Aiden suddenly goes into fetal distress in the operating room  First, the watcher (Carl) warned Melinda of her child’s power and the danger he may come into, stops time to tell her Fate and Free Will will work together to decide whether or not the baby will live  He quickly disappears and time restarts  While the baby is not breathing at first, he suddenly recovers to full health  Later in recovery, Melinda tells Jim they will name the baby Aiden Lucas, after Jim’s father and the late Sam Lucas 
Years later, the family is celebrating Aiden's upcoming fifth birthday  Every year on his birthday something bad happens; Aiden strangely gets sick or something happens to Melinda or Jim  Delia and Melinda call it a birthday curse  However, Aiden is actually haunted by the ghost of the woman who died during childbirth when Melinda gave birth to Aiden  The woman believes Aiden is the spirit of her dead son and she haunts Aiden every year on his birthday 
Melinda discovers this and finds out the ghost's son, Tyler, is actually alive and safe with his real father and adoptive mother  Aiden saved Tyler earlier in a bowling accident and Melinda helped the woman go into the light  Later, Carl reveals to Melinda that Aiden is an empath and can feel other people's emotions; he would get sick on his birthday and something went wrong with his birth because of the ghost 
In addition to being an empath, Aiden is able to see and communicate with ghosts like his mother and grandparents do, and he is psychically connected to Melinda  Melinda does not tell Aiden this because she wants him to have a normal life 
Aiden is able to see things Melinda can't, namely the Shinies (which Aiden refers to as "faceless" and made of "light") and the Shadows, which can be defeated easily by the Shinies, but the Shinies are too afraid of them to do so 

Spirits
Characters that appear as spirit guest stars:

Lost spirits
These are some of the spirits who either did not cross over or went to the Dark Side (Hell) 

Laughing Man (appears with Romano and is a ghostly agent for the dark side  He wears a two-piece suit and is usually seen laughing  He was portrayed by Douglas Bierman; death was from accidental ingestion of water dropwort)
Bleeding Man (a dark spirit whose right hand is bleeding, hence his name  He was portrayed by Lou Glenn; death was from exsanguination)
Bloody Mary, a girl who was accidentally buried alive and died in the coffin, scratching her nails off on the seal of the coffin  Seen in the last seconds of Episode 2, Season 3
Giles Nickelburg (plane crash due to pilot error)
Greg Carter (car accident due to car going off a cliff)
Martha Rucker (building collapse)
Unnamed Man (conjunctivitis infection)
Greta Hansen (wheelchair fell down the stairs)
Tom Gordon (fell down the stairs)
Eli's parents (death from natural causes  Melinda helps them see The Light after solving a problem between them  The problem was caused by the fact that Eli's mother was a lesbian and had an affair with a friend  Eli's father thought she was really having a love affair with her friend's husband, making his spirit unable to cross over  They decide to stay to take care of her son, although he disagrees with the idea )
Shane Carson (suicide to continue stalking Melinda)
Randy Cooper (asthma attack)

Shinies and Shadows
Two different kinds of spirits that appear throughout the series  They are sworn enemies of each other, created by the emotions of ghosts, and feed upon others  Aiden Lucas, Melinda's son, is the only one who has the ability to see both of them while his mother and the Watchers cannot 

Shinies
Beings of good who are composed of light energy  Aiden reveals, in Season 5, that the Shinies are ghost children that have crossed over into The Light  He also comments that there are more Shinies than there are Shadows, and that if they were to go to war with each other, the Shinies would win  The Shadows prevent their growing numbers by consuming still-earthbound ghost children, making the Shinies fear them  But in the episode "The Children's Parade", Aiden reveals that if he, along with the other Shinies, use their combined power, they can defeat the Shadows forever 
In previous seasons, the Shinies have already revealed their presence to Melinda without her knowing  Carl, a Watcher, tells Melinda that she is surrounded by "light beings" watching over her and they are shown all throughout Grandview, watching over her during her wedding vow renewal  In later events, Melinda notices Aiden talking to himself  But later events reveal that Aiden has the ability to see these spirits (the Shinies), which she cannot see  Cassidy Peyton, a ghost girl Melinda crossed over, becomes a Shiny after going into The Light and becomes good friends with Aiden 
Shinies are attracted to "shiny things" such as flashlights, utensils, etc  Also, the Shinies are afraid of the Shadows, as depicted in the season 5 episode "Lost in the Shadows" 
In the series finale ("The Children's Parade") the Shinies, led by Aiden, destroy the Shadows once and for all 

Shadows
The Shadows are ghosts who are seen as beings of darkness  Aiden reveals that the Shadows are either "broken pieces" left behind by ghosts who have crossed over or have "crossed under"  Ghosts describe them as cold things and don't like to talk about them  They feed on the negative emotions of ghosts, especially ghost children, break their souls beyond repair, and feed on the rest of them 
In previous seasons, Gabriel was working for them, but since he disappeared they could no longer block The Light  They are extremely dangerous and use people, both living and dead, to gather the souls of ghost children so that they may feed; examples are President Bedford of Rockland University to get the Book of Changes, which helps Melinda, Eli and Aiden, but they killed him when he could not complete the task  Another is Greta Hansen, a woman in a wheelchair who helped the Shadows by luring children's spirits into her house (using Cassidy Peyton), but Melinda saved some spirits imprisoned by the ghost Greta 
Ravens are their symbols, and they fear lights, shiny things, and the Shinies 
Passage 5:
National Commission for Scheduled Castes
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes is an Indian constitutional body under the jurisdiction of  Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India established with a view to provide safeguards against the exploitation of Scheduled Castes and Anglo Indian communities to promote and protect their social, educational, economic and cultural interests, special provisions were made in the Constitution  Article 338 of the Indian constitution deals with National Commission for Scheduled Castes  Article 338 A deals with National Commission for Scheduled tribes 

History
Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
The first Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was set up in August 1978 with Bhola Paswan Shastri as chairman and other four members  Members of the commission includes a chairman, a vice chairman and four other members  It was set up as a national level advisory body to advise the government on broad policy issues and levels of development of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes  The president of India appoints the chairman of commission  The fifth schedule of Indian constitution deals with the administration and control of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes  Service condition and tenure is determined by president of India  Article 341 deals with notification of Scheduled Castes and Article 342 deals with notification of Scheduled Tribes 
The first Commission was constituted in 1992 with S  H  Ramdhan as chairman 
The second Commission was constituted in October 1995 with H  Hanumanthappa as chairman 
The third Commission was constituted in December 1998 with Dileep Singh Bhuria as the chairman 
The fourth Commission was constituted in March 2002 with Dr  Bizay Sonkar Shastri as the chairperson 
Consequent upon the Constitution (Eighty-Ninth Amendment) Act, 2003 the erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has been replaced by
(1) National Commission for Scheduled Castes and
(2) National Commission for Scheduled Tribes 

National Commission for Scheduled Castes
The first National Commission for Scheduled Castes was constituted in 2004 with Suraj Bhan as the chairman  The second was constituted in May 2007 (chairperson: Buta Singh); the third from October 2010 (P  L  Punia); and the fourth from 2013, also with Punia as chairperson  The fifth National Commission for Scheduled Castes began work in 2017 under chairmanship of Ram Shankar Katheria  L Murugan was made vice chairman with K Ramulu, Dr Yogendra Paswan and Dr  Swaraj Vidwan as members  The President has appointed Shri Vijaya Sampla as the chairman of the sixth National Commission for Scheduled Castes  Shri Arun Halder is the vice-chairman  Shri Subhash Ramnath Pardhi and Smt  Anju Bala are the other members of the sixth NCSC 

Functions
The following are the functions of the commission:
To investigate and monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for the Scheduled Castes under this Constitution or under any other law for the time being in force or under any order of the Government and to evaluate the working of such safeguards
To inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of rights and safeguards of the Scheduled Castes
To participate and advise on the planning process of socio-economic development of the Scheduled Castes and to evaluate the progress of their development under the Union and any State
To present to the President, annually and at such other times as the Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards
To make in such reports recommendations as to the measures that should be taken by the Union or any State for the effective implementation of those safeguards and other measures for the protection, welfare and socio-economic development of the Scheduled Castes
To discharge such other functions in relation to the protection, welfare and development and advancement of the Scheduled Castes as the President may, subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, by rule specify

Chairman
See also
National Commission for Backward Classes
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
National human rights commission
Passage 6:
Ryan Michelle Bathe
Ryan Michelle Bathé (born July 27, 1976) is an American actress 

Early life
Bathe's mother is Clare Bathé, an actress and singer who was a member of the late 1970s funk/disco/rock group Machine  She grew up in Stamford, Connecticut  She graduated from Stanford University, and she received a Master of Fine Arts degree from New York University  She is a member of the sorority Delta Sigma Theta 

Career
Bathe has had guest starring roles in a number of television shows, including ER, Half & Half, Girlfriends, Brothers & Sisters, and How I Met Your Mother  She was regular cast member during the second season of the ABC legal drama series Boston Legal playing attorney Sara Holt  From  2009 to 2010, she had a recurring role on the short-lived NBC medical drama Trauma, and in 2011 had starring role in the TV Land sitcom Retired at 35  She had main roles in the independent films All About Us and April Moon 
In 2012, Bathe co-starred opposite Katherine Heigl in the crime comedy film One for the Money  Later that year, she had a recurring role opposite her real life husband Sterling K  Brown in the Lifetime drama series Army Wives  In 2014, she was a female lead opposite Kevin Hart in the ABC comedy pilot Keep It Together  In 2016, Bathe was cast in a recurring role in the NBC drama series, This Is Us, also starring Brown In 2018, Bathe was cast as one of leads in the BET+ comedy-drama series First Wives Club based on the film of the same name written by Robert Harling  In 2020, she signed a first look deal with ViacomCBS  In 2022, Bathe was cast as a lead alongside Morena Baccarin in the NBC heist thriller series The Endgame 

Personal life
In June 2007, Bathe married fellow actor and Stanford alum Sterling K  Brown  They have two sons 

Filmography
Film
Television
Passage 7:
Chuck Green
Charles Green (November 6, 1919 – March 7, 1997) was an American tap dancer  Green was born in Fitzgerald, Georgia  He would stick bottle caps on his bare feet as a child and tap dance on the sidewalk for money  He won third place in a dance contest in 1925, in which Noble Sissle was the bandleader  Soon, Green would be touring the South tap dancing 
When he was nine he was brought to New York by a talent scout to study tap dancing  A famous talent agent, Nat Nazzaro, signed Green up as a client when he was just twelve years old  He and his childhood friend James Walker teamed up and called themselves "Shorty and Slim"  Walker was a talented comic dancer and would be "Slim" to Green's "Shorty" 
They changed their name to "Chuck and Chuckles," and played New York's Palace Theatre  Described as a modern Buck and Bubbles, Chuckles, an expert in legomania, played the vibes, while Green performed tap in a breathtaking yet gentle style of John Bubbles, whose protégé' he later became  Up until 1944, "Chuck and Chuckles" toured Europe, Australia, and the United States, performing in such venues as Radio City Music Hall, the Paramount, Apollo, and Capital theatres  Jobs were plentiful and they would double up on performances, averaging five stage shows a day, playing nightclubs until early morning, and touring nonstop with big bands across the country and abroad  In 1944, due to Green's stress, the team broke up and Green was committed to a mental institution where he stayed for fifteen years 
Upon his release in 1959, Green had become very introverted, but he could still dance  He quickly adapted to bebop and created his own style of tap dancing, experimenting with new harmonies and rhythmic patterns  He could easily ad-lib his dance numbers to the new music  He began performing again, on stage and on television 
He appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 6, 1963, along with Honi Coles  Then, in 1964, Green faced tap dancer Groundhog in a tap challenge at the Village Vanguard  In 1969, Green appeared with members of Harlem's Hoofers Club for a series of "Tap Happenings" that were produced in New York City by Letitia Jay  Through the 1970s and 1980s, Green performed with the Copasetics  Honi Coles would introduce him as, "Chuck Green, the greatest tap dancer in the world "  In 1979, Green was featured in the documentary film No Maps on My Taps 
In 2003, Green was inducted into the Tap Dance Hall of Fame 
Chuck Green died on March 7, 1997, at the Oakridge Care Center in Oakland, Calif ,

Filmography
Passage 8:
Think I'm in Love (Eddie Money song)
"Think I'm in Love" is a 1982 hit single by American rock singer Eddie Money from his album No Control  The song was written by Money and Randy Oda (who is perhaps best known otherwise for his collaborations with former Creedence Clearwater Revival member Tom Fogerty)   The song was released as a single and reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit #1 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart The song was Money's first Top 40 hit in several years, and sparked a brief comeback for the artist  The song remains a popular track, and gets frequent airplay on classic rock radio stations 

Music video
The music video included elements from classic vampire movies (with Eddie Money cast as a quasi-Dracula character)   It was one of the most popular early MTV music videos 

In popular culture
The song has been featured in several movies, including Joe Dirt and Paul Blart: Mall Cop, the miniseries Waco and the fourth series opener of Cuckoo 

Chart history
See also
List of Billboard Mainstream Rock number-one songs of the 1980s
Passage 9:
Greatest Hits: The Sound of Money
Greatest Hits: Sound of Money is a compilation of American rock singer Eddie Money's biggest hits plus three new tracks: "Peace in Our Time", "Looking Through the Eyes of a Child" and "Stop Steppin' on My Heart"  The disc was originally released in 1989 by Columbia Records  A remastered CD surfaced in 2009, released by SPV 
The song "Looking Through the Eyes of a Child" was covered by Puerto Rican singer Chayanne on his album Atado a Tu Amor, as "Soy como un niño" (Spanish for "I'm Like a Child")

Track listing
Singles
"Peace in Our Time" (1990) #11 US
Passage 10:
Jenny Slate
Jenny Sarah Slate (born March 25, 1982) is an American actress, stand-up comedian, and writer 
Following early acting and stand-up roles on television, Slate gained recognition for her live variety shows in New York City and for co-creating, writing, and producing the children's short film and book series Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2010–present)  She became more widely known as a cast member on the 35th season of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live between 2009 and 2010 and for subsequent roles in the comedic series Bob's Burgers (2012–present), Parks and Recreation (2013–2015), House of Lies (2013–2015), Kroll Show (2013–2015) 
Slate's breakout role came with her leading performance in the coming-of-age comedy-drama film Obvious Child (2014), for which she won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress in a Comedy and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Independent Film Award  She lent voice performances to the animated films The Lorax (2012), Zootopia (2016), The Secret Life of Pets film franchise (2016–2019), The Lego Batman Movie, and Despicable Me 3 (both 2017), and she ventured into dramatic roles with her supporting performance as Bonnie in Gifted (2017)  She also appeared in the critically acclaimed science-fiction film Everything Everywhere All At Once, winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture 
Starting in 2017, Slate, who is Jewish, appeared on the animated Netflix series Big Mouth as the biracial Black–Jewish character Missy Foreman-Greenwald  She exited the role in 2020 because she felt it should be played by a Black actress; Slate has continued to voice other various characters on the show 

Early life and education
Slate was born on March 25, 1982, in Milton, Massachusetts, to Ron Slate, a businessman and poet who worked as vice president of global communications for the EMC Corporation and later as CEO of a biotech startup, and Nancy (née Gilson), a housewife who also made pottery  She is the middle child of three, with an older sister, Abigail, and younger sister, Stacey  She and her family are Jewish  One of her grandmothers was born in Cuba and was raised in France  After graduating from Milton Academy as the valedictorian, Slate attended Columbia University as a literature major, where she helped form the improv group Fruit Paunch, starred in the Varsity Show and met Gabe Liedman, who would become her comedy partner  Slate graduated from Columbia in 2004 

Career
She and Gabe Liedman formed the comedy duo Gabe & Jenny  Their stand-up shows with Max Silvestri, "Big Terrific," were named best new variety show of 2008 by Time Out New York  In 2015, Slate, Liedman, and Silvestri ended the show, citing their busy schedules, though they have since occasionally performed together 
Slate first met Liedman in 2000 while attending Columbia University  They describe their relationship as a "nonsexual romance"; Slate says, "I like to think of us as kind of like Elaine Benes and George Costanza, but we like each other " Throughout 2008 and 2009, Slate regularly performed her one-woman show titled Jenny Slate: Dead Millionaire at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (UCBT) in New York City 

Slate was a regular commentator on many VH1 "talking head" commentary programs  In early 2009, she had made several appearances on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon recurring sketch "7th Floor West", where she played an NBC page also named Jenny, who was later promoted to Fallon's assistant  She had a recurring role in Bored to Death  Slate's guest appearances on television programs include Bob's Burgers, Girls, The Whitest Kids U' Know, Important Things with Demetri Martin and Raising Hope 
Slate joined the cast of Saturday Night Live for the 2009-10 season  In her first episode, she accidentally said "fucking" during her debut sketch "Biker Chick Chat", which was heard on the live broadcast, but removed from reruns  In various sketches, she impersonated Hoda Kotb, Lady Gaga, Kristen Stewart, Ashley Olsen, and Olympia Snowe  She was best known for Tina-Tina Cheneuse, an infomercial pitchwoman who advertises personalized doorbells, car horns, and alarm clocks  Slate's contract was not renewed for another season  Despite rumors to the contrary, Slate has insisted that her SNL termination was not due to cursing but rather simply because "I didn't click "In August 2010, she co-wrote and voiced the animated short film Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, which garnered viral success  This led to Marcel the Shell with Shoes on, Two  Slate also wrote a "Marcel"-themed children's book that was released on November 1, 2011  Her first major film role was as Zoe in Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked; more films followed in 2012, including the voice of Ted's mother in The Lorax 
Her first appearance in Parks and Recreation was in the 2013 episode "Bailout", in which she portrayed Mona-Lisa Saperstein  Following her success on the NBC show, Slate released and starred in a 12-episode mini-series on YouTube called Catherine, celebrating late 1980s and early 1990s soap-opera aesthetics  On July 23, 2013, she appeared in Drunk History retelling the history of how Coca-Cola was made 
In 2014, Slate starred in the comedy-drama film Obvious Child, which follows the life of a young stand-up comic as she grapples with an unplanned pregnancy and eventual abortion  Slate went on to win the Critics Choice Award for Best Actress in a Comedy, Best Breakout Performance at the Newport Beach Film Festival, the Virtuosos Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and Best Comedic Actress at the Women Film Critics Circle Awards for her performance in the film 
Slate co-starred with Judy Greer and Nat Faxon in the first season of the FX series Married  She left the series as a series regular in season two, but still appeared in a few episodes  Sarah Burns took her place in the series 
Slate appeared as Liz B  in the recurring "PubLIZity" sketches in Kroll Show, as well as many other recurring and one-off characters, performing in some capacity in almost every episode until the series ended in 2015  In 2016, Slate voiced Dawn Bellwether in the Disney animated comedy-adventure film Zootopia and Gidget in the animated feature The Secret Life of Pets 
Slate and her father co-wrote a book titled About the House about their time living in Slate's childhood home in Milton, Massachusetts, which was published in December 2016 In 2017, Slate starred in the film Gifted as Bonnie Stevenson, the teacher of a 7-year-old mathematical genius 
In October 2019, Slate released a stand-up comedy special on Netflix, titled Stage Fright 
Slate published her book titled Little Weirds, about her struggles with and thoughts about life and relationships, in 2019 
From 2017 until 2019, Slate voiced the biracial character Missy Foreman-Greenwald on the animated Netflix series Big Mouth  Slate exited the role on June 24, 2020, writing on Instagram that "At the start of the show, I reasoned with myself that it was permissible for me to play Missy because her mom is Jewish and White — as am I  But Missy is also Black and Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people "In 2022, she appeared in the critically acclaimed science fiction film Everything Everywhere All at Once as Big Nose  Her character's original name was changed to Debbie the Dog Mom for the film's digital release due to its association with Jewish stereotypes  For her performance, she won, along with the rest of the cast, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture 

Personal life
Slate lived in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, before moving with filmmaker Dean Fleischer Camp to Los Angeles in the early 2010s  In September 2012, Slate married Fleischer-Camp  They collaborated on the Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, on both the books, the short films, and later the 2021 feature film  The pair announced their separation in May 2016  She dated actor Chris Evans for a brief period In September 2019, Slate announced her engagement to art curator and author Ben Shattuck, owner of Davolls General Store  On December 10, 2020, Slate revealed on Late Night with Seth Meyers that she was expecting her first child with Shattuck  On February 3, 2021, Slate announced that she had given birth to a daughter  Shattuck and Slate married in their living room on New Year's Eve 2021, their fourth attempt at a wedding after the first three were canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic 

Filmography
Film
Television
Music videos
Podcasts
Earth Break

Awards and nominations
Bibliography
Slate, Jenny; Fleischer-Camp, Dean (2011)  Marcel the Shell with Shoes On: Things About Me  Razorbill  ISBN 978-1-59514-455-3 
Slate, Jenny; Fleischer-Camp, Dean (2014)  Marcel the Shell: The Most Surprised I've Ever Been  Razorbill  ISBN 978-1-59514-456-0 
Slate, Jenny; Slate, Ron (2016)  About the House  Concord Free Press  ISBN 9780990805922 
Slate, Jenny (2019)  Little Weirds  Little, Brown and Company (published November 5, 2019)  ISBN 978-0-316-48534-0 

Notes
Passage 11:
Richard Ainley
Richard Ainley (22 December 1910 – 18 May 1967) was a stage and film actor 
He was born in Middlesex, England, the son of Henry Ainley and a half-brother of Anthony Ainley 
Ainley made his stage debut in 1928, initially using the stage name Richard Riddle, taking his mother's maiden name  His American debut came in Foreigners at the Belasco Theater in 1939 His first motion picture appearance was in 1936 as Sylvius in As You Like It, in which his father also appeared  Other roles included Ferdinand in the television movie of The Tempest (1939), Dr  Hale in Shining Victory (1941), and a Foreign Office official in the thriller Above Suspicion (1943) 
Ainley married three times, firstly to actress Ethel Glendinning   He was divorced from his first two wives; his third wife Rowena Woolf died in 1968 
He retired from film work following a disabling wound received while he was serving in the army during World War II to return to the stage  He was briefly principal of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in the early 1960s 

Filmography
Passage 12:
Christopher Masterson
Christopher Kennedy Masterson (born January 22, 1980) is an American actor and disc jockey known best for his role as Malcolm's oldest brother Francis on the Fox sitcom Malcolm in the Middle  He is the younger brother of former actor Danny Masterson, and the older half-brother of Alanna Masterson and Jordan Masterson, who are also actors 

Career
Masterson played Geoff in the direct-to-video movie Dragonheart: A New Beginning, the sequel to Dragonheart  Masterson is best known for his role as Francis, the trouble-making oldest brother of Frankie Muniz's title character in the Fox sitcom Malcolm in the Middle  He took on the role for seven years, from 2000 to 2006  In 2003, he played Edward Linton in MTV's Wuthering Heights  Masterson portrayed a lead character in the films Scary Movie 2, Waterborne, Made for Each Other and Intellectual Property  He guest starred in three episodes of That '70s Show, alongside his brother, Danny  In the USA Network television series White Collar, he played Josh Roland in the episode "Where There's a Will"  He also played Scotty O'Neal in the movie My Best Friend's Wedding  In 2012, Masterson had a guest role on the TBS series Men at Work as a concierge named Archie  His brother, Danny Masterson, plays Milo on the show, but the two did not share any scenes together 

Personal life
Masterson was born on Long Island, New York, the son of Carol Masterson, a manager, and Peter Masterson, an insurance agent  Masterson, like his brother Danny Masterson, is a follower of Scientology  The two have invested in restaurants together  He also has a half-sister, actress Alanna Masterson, and a half-brother, actor Jordan Masterson  Masterson was in a relationship with his brother's That ‘70s Show co-star Laura Prepon from 1999 to 2007 On June 25, 2019, Masterson married actress Yolanda Pecoraro  In April 2021, she gave birth to their daughter Chiara 

Filmography
Passage 13:
List of The Young and the Restless cast members
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera, created by William J  Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS  It first aired on March 26, 1973  The longest-running cast member is Doug Davidson, who has portrayed private investigator Paul Williams since May 23, 1978  Jeanne Cooper, who portrayed the soap opera's matriarch Katherine Chancellor, previously held the record for the series' longest-running cast member, airing from November 1973 until her death in May 2013  Melody Thomas Scott and Eric Braeden, who portray Nikki and Victor Newman, are the second and third longest-running current cast members, having joined in February 1979 and February 1980, respectively  Kate Linder has portrayed Esther Valentine since April 1982, and rounds out the series' top four longest-running cast members  The following list is of cast members who are currently on the show: both main and recurring members, as well as those who are debuting, departing or returning from the series 

Cast
Main cast
Recurring cast
Previous cast members
Context 3:  2 on the Billboard Christian Songs chart and also spent a third week at No  1 on the Billboard Christian Digital Songs chart; the song had spent 425 weeks on the chart at that point, the longest run of any song in the chart's history  "I Can Only Imagine" peaked at No  1 on the Christian Songs chart on March 31, 2018, and spent three weeks at the top spot  It also peaked at No  10 on the Billboard Digital Songs chart and ranked at No  8 on the 2018 year-end Christian Songs chart In April 2010, "I Can Only Imagine" was certified platinum by the RIAA, signifying sales of over 1 million digital downloads  It was the first single by any artist in the Christian music genre to go platinum  The song was certified double platinum in September 2014, triple platinum in June 2018, and quadruple platinum in September 2019  As of March 2018, it has sold 2 5 million copies, making it the best-selling Christian single of all time 

Music video
A music video was released for "I Can Only Imagine"  According to Millard, the video's inspiration came from seeing people holding empty picture frames at their concerts, symbolizing their deceased loved ones  Millard said that the "I've had so many people after a show pull out a picture of someone they've lost  These people embrace these photos and I just thought how can we tap into that"  The video features everyday people as well as several music artists including Michael Tait, Tammy Trent, Bob Herdman, and Jesse Katina, each holding an empty picture frame to signify their loss of a loved one; as the video progresses, they are holding pictures of their loved ones including Millard with his father's photograph 

Live performances
Despite including "I Can Only Imagine" on The Worship Project, MercyMe initially did not perform the song in concerts because they felt it did not fit with the rest of the record  The band's first performance of the song did not come until the summer after the release of The Worship Project at a summer camp at the request of a camp counselor  The band has played the song at every show since as of February 2009 MercyMe's 2004 concert tour (the Imagine Tour) and 2018–19 tour (the Imagine Nation Tour) both took their name from the song MercyMe performed "I Can Only Imagine" at the 33rd GMA Dove Awards, with an accompanying "inspiring video that underscored the emotional and inspirational power of song"  The band also performed the song at the 40th GMA Dove Awards, held on April 23, 2009, in a medley with "Finally Home"  At the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast, MercyMe performed the song with President Donald Trump in attendance  In March 2018, MercyMe performed "I Can Only Imagine" live on Fox & Friends to promote the film 

Other versions
Both an acoustic and live version of "I Can Only Imagine" were included in the Platinum edition of Almost There, which was released in August 2006  MercyMe released a new recording of the song on their iTunes Originals album, which was released in March 2008  On their compilation album 10, MercyMe released a new recording of the song featuring the London Session Orchestra as well as a live version  For their 2018 compilation album I Can Only Imagine: The Very Best of MercyMe, released to commemorate the release of the movie, the band recorded an updated recording titled "I Can Only Imagine (The Movie Session)", which peaked at No  19 on the Billboard Christian Songs chart "I Can Only Imagine" has been covered by several artists  In 2002, Amy Grant released her reworked version of the song, titled "Imagine" and paired with "Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus", on her album Legacy    Hymns and Faith  Country singer Jeff Carson's 2003 cover peaked at No  50 on the Country Songs chart, and in 2014, gospel singer Tamela Mann's cover of the song spent 13 weeks atop the Billboard Gospel Songs chart  In May 2017, Aliyah Moulden, the third-place finisher on the 12th season of the reality competition show The Voice, performed the song on the show; her version debuted and peaked at No  4 on the Billboard Christian Songs chart, selling 15,000 copies in its first week and spending two weeks on the chart in total 

Track listing
CD release
"I Can Only Imagine" – 4:06 (Bart Millard)
"Word of God Speak" – 3:07 (Peter Kipley, Millard)

Personnel
(Credits from the album liner notes)MercyMe

Bart Millard – vocals
Jim Bryson – keyboards
Nathan Cochran – bass guitar, background vocals
Mike Scheuchzer – guitar, background vocals
Robby Shaffer – drumsAdditional performers

Paltrow Performance Group – stringsTechnical

Julian Kindred – engineer
Pete Kipley – producer, programming
Skye McCaskey  – engineer
Salvo – mixing
Shane Wilson – mixing

Release and radio history
Charts and certifications
Certifications
Passage 10:
Minipops
Minipops is a television series broadcast in 1983 on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom  Designed primarily for younger viewers, it consisted of music performances on a brightly coloured set featuring preteen children singing then-contemporary pop music hits and older classics  The children were usually made to look like the original performers, including clothing and make-up  Controversy over children singing songs that often contained a subtext of adult content (in adult costumes and make-up) led to the show's cancellation after one series 

History
Minipops was the brainchild of Martin Wyatt, who created a new child group from London called the MiniPops and released an album in 1982 which reached the top 30 in the UK and Europe  This resulted in a French record label releasing a single from the album, "Stupid Cupid",  which was sung by Martin Wyatt's young daughter Jo  The song reached number 1 in France, knocking "Ebony and Ivory" off the top spot Head of Entertainment Cecil Korer at Channel 4 and record producer Mike Mansfield embraced the idea of producing a TV show around the MiniPops; Korer believed it would boost and broaden the group's audience appeal  On 4 July 1982, thousands of amateur child performers from across Britain descended on a London theatre for the audition in a search to find additional children to sing and star in the television show with the original five members of the group 

Criticism
The programme began attracting criticism from commentators in the British media for the portrayal of children in this manner (one caller on Channel 4's Right to Reply programme stated, "Minipops should be called MiniWhores  Are you people out of your mind?") 

Discography
Seven albums were produced and released in the UK, Europe and Canada 

Albums
Before the television show:

The Mini Pops (1982)After the television show:

We're the Mini Pops (1983)
Christmas (1984)
Let's Dance (1984)
Wanna Have Fun (1985)
Magic Juke Box (1986)
Rocket to the Stars (1989)In Canada We're the Mini Pops was successful, becoming the third-highest-selling album in Canada at the time  This prompted the Minipops to hold a three-week tour in 1983, enjoying controversy-free success A number of singles were released across Europe 

See also
Kidz Bop
Mini Pop Kids
Passage 11:
Adult contemporary music
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet storm and rock influence  Adult contemporary is generally a continuation of the easy listening and soft rock style that became popular in the 1960s and 1970s with some adjustments that reflect the evolution of pop/rock music Adult contemporary tends to have lush, soothing and highly polished qualities where emphasis on melody and harmonies is accentuated  It is usually melodic enough to get a listener's attention, and is inoffensive and pleasurable enough to work well as background music  Like most of pop music, its songs tend to be written in a basic format employing a verse–chorus structure  The format is heavy on romantic sentimental ballads which mostly use acoustic instruments (though bass guitar is usually used) such as acoustic guitars, pianos, saxophones, and sometimes an orchestral set  The electric guitars are normally faint and high-pitched  However, recent adult contemporary music may feature synthesizers (and other electronics, such as drum machines) An AC radio station may play mainstream music, but it usually excludes hip-hop and some forms of dance-pop and teen pop, as these are less popular among adults, the target demographic  AC radio often targets the 25–44 age group, the demographic that has received the most attention from advertisers since the 1960s  A common practice in recent years of adult contemporary stations is to play less newer music and more hits of the past, even some songs that never even charted the AC charts   This de-emphasis on new songs slows the progression of the AC chart Over the years, AC has spawned subgenres including "hot AC" (also known as "modern AC"), "soft AC" (also known as "lite AC"), "urban AC" (a softer type of urban contemporary music), "rhythmic AC" (a softer type of rhythmic contemporary), and "Christian AC" (a softer type of contemporary Christian music)  Some stations play only "hot AC", "soft AC", or only one of the variety of subgenres  Therefore, it is not usually considered a specific genre of music; it is merely an assemblage of selected songs from artists of many different genres 

History
1960s: Early roots; easy listening and soft rock
Adult contemporary traces its roots to the 1960s easy listening format, which adopted a 70—80% instrumental to 20–30% vocal mix  A few offered 90% instrumentals, and a handful were entirely instrumental  The easy listening format, as it was first known, was born of a desire by some radio stations in the late 1950s and early 1960s to continue playing current hit songs but distinguish themselves from being branded as "rock and roll" stations  Billboard first published the Easy Listening chart July 17, 1961, with 20 songs; the first number one was "Boll Weevil Song" by Brook Benton  The chart described itself as "not too far out in either direction" Initially, the vocalists consisted of artists such as Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Johnny Mathis, Connie Francis, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, and others  The custom recordings were usually instrumental versions of current or recent rock and roll or pop hit songs, a move intended to give the stations more mass appeal without selling out  Some stations would also occasionally play earlier big band-era recordings from the 1940s and early 1950s After 1965, differences between the Hot 100 chart and the Easy Listening chart became more pronounced  Better reflecting what middle of the road stations were actually playing, the composition of the chart changed dramatically  As rock music continued to harden, there was much less crossover between the Hot 100 and Easy Listening chart than there had been in the early half of the 1960s  Roger Miller, Barbra Streisand and Bobby Vinton were among the chart's most popular performers One big impetus for the development of the AC radio format was that, when rock and roll music first became popular in the mid-1950s, many more conservative radio stations wanted to continue to play current hit songs while shying away from rock  These middle of the road (or "MOR") stations also frequently included older, pre-rock-era adult standards and big band titles to further appeal to adult listeners who had grown up with those songs 
Another big impetus for the evolution of the AC radio format was the popularity of easy listening or "beautiful music" stations, stations with music specifically designed to be purely ambient  Whereas most easy listening music was instrumental, created by relatively unknown artists, and rarely purchased (especially as singles, although Jackie Gleason's beautiful music albums sold well in the 1950s), AC was an attempt to create a similar "lite" format by choosing certain tracks (both hit singles and album cuts) of popular artists 

1970s: Soft rock forms as a radio format
By the late 1960s hard rock had been established as one of the rock genres leading hard rock and soft rock to became distinct popular forms in the rock scene, and as major radio formats in the US  Soft rock was often derived from folk rock, using acoustic instruments and putting more emphasis on melody and harmonies  Major artists included Carole King, Cat Stevens, James Taylor and Bread In the early 1970s, softer songs by The Carpenters, Anne Murray, John Denver, Barry Manilow, and even Barbra Streisand, began to be played more often on "Top 40" radio  Top 40 radio stations played the Top 40 hits regardless of genre   As the texture of much of the music played on Top 40 radio began to soften, the Hot 100 and Easy Listening/AC charts became more similar  Easy Listening radio began playing songs by artists who had begun in other genres, such as rock and roll or R&B  Much of the music recorded by singer-songwriters such as Diana Ross, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Carole King and Janis Ian got as much, if not more, airplay on AC stations than on Top 40 stations  AC stations also began playing softer songs by Elvis Presley, Linda Ronstadt, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Billy Joel, and other rock-based artists  Soon after, the adult contemporary format began evolving into the sound that later defined it, with rock-oriented acts as Chicago and the Eagles, becoming associated with the format  In addition, several early disco songs, did well on the Adult Contemporary format 
Soft rock reached its commercial peak in the mid-to-late 1970s with acts such as Toto, England Dan & John Ford Coley, Air Supply, Seals and Crofts, Dan Fogelberg, America and the reformed Fleetwood Mac, whose Rumours (1977) was the best-selling album of the decade  By 1977, some radio stations, notably New York's WTFM and NBC-owned WYNY, and Boston's WEEI, had switched to an all-soft rock format  As Softrock 103, WEEI was famous for its promotional campaigns, featuring slogans such as "Joni, without the baloni " and "The Byrds, without the nyrds "  However, different forms of popular music  targeted to different demographic groups, such as disco vs  hard rock, began to emerge in the late-1970s  This led to specialized radio stations that played specific genres of music, and generally followed the evolution of artists in those genres 

1980s: Adult contemporary succeeds as radio format
On April 7, 1979, the Easy Listening chart officially became known as Adult Contemporary, and those two words have remained consistent in the name of the chart ever since  Adult contemporary music became one of the most popular radio formats of the 1980s  The growth of AC was a natural result of the generation that first listened to the more "specialized" music of the mid-late 1970s growing older and not being interested in the heavy metal and rap/hip-hop music that a new generation helped to play a significant role in the Top 40 charts by the end of the decade 
Mainstream AC itself has evolved in a similar fashion over the years; traditional AC artists such as Barbra Streisand, the Carpenters, Dionne Warwick, Barry Manilow, John Denver, and Olivia Newton-John found it harder to have major Top 40 hits as the 1980s wore on, and due to the influence of MTV, artists who were staples of the Contemporary Hit Radio format, such as Richard Marx, Michael Jackson, Bonnie Tyler, George Michael, Phil Collins, Laura Branigan and Journey began crossing over to the AC charts with greater frequency  Collins has been described by AllMusic as "one of the most successful pop and adult contemporary singers of the '80s and beyond"  However, with the combination of MTV and AC radio, adult contemporary appeared harder to define as a genre, with established soft-rock artists of the past still charting pop hits and receiving airplay alongside mainstream radio fare from newer artists at the time 
The amount of crossover between the AC chart and the Hot 100 has varied based on how much the passing pop music trends of the times appealed to adult listeners  Not many disco or new wave songs were particularly successful on the AC chart during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and much of the hip-hop and harder rock music featured on CHR formats later in the decade would have been unacceptable on AC radio 
Although dance-oriented, electronic pop and ballad-oriented rock dominated the 1980s, soft rock songs still enjoyed a mild success thanks to Sheena Easton, Amy Grant, Lionel Richie, Christopher Cross, Dan Hill, Leo Sayer, Billy Ocean, Julio Iglesias, Bertie Higgins, and Tommy Page  No song spent more than six weeks at No  1 on this chart during the 1980s, with nine songs accomplishing that feat  Two of these were by Lionel Richie, "You Are" in 1983 and "Hello" in 1984, which also reached No  1 on the Hot 100 
In 1989, Linda Ronstadt released Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind, described by critics as "the first true Adult Contemporary album of the decade", featuring American soul singer Aaron Neville on several of the twelve tracks  The album was certified Triple Platinum in the United States alone and became a major success throughout the globe  The Grammy Award-winning singles, "Don't Know Much" and "All My Life", were both long-running No  1 Adult Contemporary hits  Several additional singles from the disc made the AC Top 10 as well  The album won over many critics in the need to define AC, and appeared to change the tolerance and acceptance of AC music into mainstream day to day radio play 

1990s: Subgenre formations/radio crossovers
The early 1990s marked the softening of urban R&B in the shape of new jack swing, at the same time alternative rock emerged and traditional pop saw a significant resurgence  This in part led to a widening of the market, not only allowing to cater to more niche markets, but it also became customary for artists to make AC-friendly singles  At the same time, the genre began adopting elements from hard rock as tastes were shifting towards louder music, while AC stations in general began playing more rock acts  "Softer" features such as light instrumental music (carried over from the beautiful music format—many AC stations carried the format until the early 1970s), new age songs and most pre-1964 artists were gradually phased out from AC radio throughout the early to mid-1990s 
Unlike the majority of 1980s mainstream singers, the 1990s mainstream pop/R&B singers such as All-4-One, Boyz II Men, Christina Aguilera, Backstreet Boys and Savage Garden generally crossed over to the AC charts  Latin pop artists such as Lynda Thomas, Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, Selena, Enrique Iglesias and Luis Miguel also enjoyed success in the AC charts 
In addition to Celine Dion, who has had significant success on this chart, other artists with multiple number ones on the AC chart in the 1990s include Mariah Carey, Phil Collins, Michael Bolton, Bryan Adams, Whitney Houston and Shania Twain  Newer female Adult album alternative singer-songwriters such as Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant, Jewel, Melissa Etheridge and Sheryl Crow also broke through on the AC chart during this time In 1996, Billboard created a new chart called Adult Top 40, which reflects programming on radio stations that exists somewhere between "adult contemporary" music and "pop" music  Although they are sometimes mistaken for each other, the Adult Contemporary chart and the Adult Top 40 chart are separate charts, and songs reaching one chart might not reach the other  In addition, hot AC is another subgenre of radio programming that is distinct from the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart as it exists today, despite the apparent similarity in name 
In response to the pressure on Hot AC, a new kind of AC format cropped up among American radio recently  The urban adult contemporary format (a term coined by Barry Mayo) usually attracts a large number of African Americans and sometimes Caucasian listeners through playing a great deal of R&B (without any form of rapping), gospel music, classic soul and dance music (including disco) 
Another format, rhythmic AC, in addition to playing all the popular hot and soft AC music, past and present, places a heavy emphasis on disco as well as 1980s and 1990s dance hits, such as those by Amber, and Black Box, and includes dance remixes of pop songs, such as the Soul Solution mix of Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart" 
In its early years of existence, the smooth jazz format was considered to be a form of AC, although it was mainly instrumental, and related a stronger resemblance to the soft AC-styled music  For many years, George Benson, Kenny G and Dave Koz had all had crossover hits that were played on both smooth jazz and soft AC stations 

2000s–present: AC music goes mainstream and mainstream music goes AC
During the 2000s, the AC market gained an increased presence in the music industry, as its radio formats were popular nationwide—Smooth jazz and "Urban AC" stations were ubiquitous in the East Coast, while Soft rock and "adult standards" stations were common in the Midwest, and pop-oriented "Hot AC" and "world music"/Hispanic AC stations were easily found in the West Coast and the "Sun Belt"  This led to the presence of numerous genres on the AC charts, often crossing to the "pop" charts, winning over many critics in the need to define AC, and increased the tolerance and acceptance of AC music into mainstream day-to-day radio play 
Josh Groban's single "You Raise Me Up" and Michael Bublé's cover of "Fever" are often cited as key examples of the high production values and ballad-heavy sound that defined 2000s-era AC, often dubbed as "jazz-pop", heavily carrying classical, jazz and traditional pop influences  Artists such as Nick Lachey, James Blunt, Jamie Cullum, John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Amy Winehouse and Susan Boyle also achieved great success during this period  During most of the 2000s, country music/countrypolitan musicians such as Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Billy Joel, Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes and Carrie Underwood scored hits on soft AC, particularly in Southern states  A popular trend in the late 1990s and 2000s was remixing dance music hits into adult contemporary ballads, especially in the US, (for example, the "Candlelight Mix" versions of "Heaven" by DJ Sammy, "Listen To Your Heart" by D H T , and "Everytime We Touch" by Cascada) 
Key to the success of AC in the 2000s was the 25–34 demographic which had outgrown the pop music offerings of the time, most new rock became too alternative and harsh for AC radio and most new pop was now influenced heavily by dance-pop, hip-hop and electronic dance music  At the same time, the music industry also began to focus on older audiences and markets generally considered "niche" 
During the late 2000s, certain pop songs began entering the AC charts instead, generally after having recently fallen off the Hot 100  Adrian Moreira, senior vice president for adult music for RCA Music Group, said, "We've seen a fairly tidal shift in what AC will play"  Rather than emphasizing older songs, adult contemporary now began playing many of the same songs as top 40 and adult top 40, but only after the hits had become established  An article on MTV's website by Corey Moss describes this trend as: "In other words, AC stations are where pop songs go to die a very long death  Or, to optimists, to get a second life " As adult contemporary has long characterized itself as family-friendly, "clean" versions of pop songs began appearing on the AC chart, as were the cases of "Perfect" by P!nk, and "Forget You" by Cee Lo Green, both in 2011 AC radio's shift into more mainstream pop was a result of the changes on the broadcasting landscape following the 2005–2007 economic downturn and eventual recession, as advertisers preferred more profitable chart-based formats, which meant the demise of many AC-based formulas, primarily those aimed at older audiences, with tastes changing towards more modern music among all age groups  Diminishing physical record sales throughout the 2010s also proved a major blow to the AC genre, and there are concerns that the portable people meter, a device being used to determine radio listenership, may be incompatible with AC songs and may not accurately pick up that a person is listening to an AC station because of the pitches and frequencies used in the style Key AC artists of the early to mid-2010s included Bruno Mars, Coldplay, Adele, Arcade Fire, Meghan Trainor, Maroon 5 and Ed Sheeran, featuring a more pop-influenced, uptempo style than the typical AC fare of previous years, also featuring production values reminiscent of the Motown sound and the so-called Wall of Sound that dominated the soul-heavy pop charts of the early 1960s, when the Easy Listening chart was first introduced  The earlier years of the decade also saw alternative and indie rock acts such as Wilco, Feist, The 1975, Imagine Dragons, Mumford & Sons, Of Monsters and Men and The Lumineers quickly becoming AC mainstays, although these were eventually replaced by rhythm-based rock bands such as Panic! at the Disco, Neon Trees, X Ambassadors, Sheppard, Bastille, American Authors, Fitz and the Tantrums, Foster the People, Twenty One Pilots, Walk the Moon and Milky Chance 
During the middle of the decade, newer artists such as CeeLo Green, OneRepublic, Rachel Platten, Christina Perri, Andy Grammer, James Bay, Sara Bareilles, Shawn Mendes, Sia, Sam Smith, Gavin Degraw, Charlie Puth and Colbie Caillat as well as acts that were popular in the 1990s and early 2000s such as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera were added to the rotation of most AC stations 
As trap music and similar styles of hip-hop began dominating top 40 stations during the last years of the 2010s, AC stations began picking up rhythmic artists like Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Ellie Goulding, Taio Cruz and Pitbull as well as EDM artists like Avicii, Daft Punk, Calvin Harris, David Guetta and Tiesto  Meanwhile, younger artists like Camila Cabello, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Nick Jonas and the Jonas Brothers and Halsey began to be featured on AC stations more than on top 40 stations 

Adult contemporary formats
In radio broadcasting, adult contemporary is divided into several sub-formats, each with their own musical direction and demographic targeting  Hot adult contemporary formats generally feature an uptempo rotation of recent hits that appeal to a wide adult audience  A station formatted as "adult contemporary" with no qualifier, also referred to as "mainstream adult contemporary", generally has a similar playlist to hot AC stations, but with a broader rotation of classic hits from past decades Soft adult contemporary formats have a more conservative sound oriented primarily towards adult women, urban AC focuses on R&B and soul music that appeal to African American adults, and rhythmic AC focuses on dance music and other rhythmic genres 

Hot adult contemporary
Hot adult contemporary (hot AC) radio stations play a wide range of the present day's popular music that appeals towards the 18–54 age group; it serves as a middle ground between the youth-oriented contemporary hit radio (CHR) format, and adult contemporary formats (such as "mainstream" and soft AC) that are typically targeted towards a more mature demographic  They generally feature uptempo hit music with wide appeal, such as pop and pop rock songs, while excluding more youth-oriented music such as hip-hop  Recurrents usually reflect familiar and youthful music that adults had grown up with  Likewise, mature material from pop acts such as the Backstreet Boys, Jason Mraz, John Mayer, and Pink have also been prominent within the format The "hot AC" designation began to appear in the 1990s, to describe adult contemporary stations with a more energetic presentation and uptempo sound than their softer counterparts  An early example of the format, Houston's KHMX Mix 96 5, climbed from 14th place in the market to 3rd in the six months after its launch  The station's format and branding was widely replicated by other stations  Many hot AC outlets are among the top stations in their respective market Initially focused more on pop rock, the format has evolved to reflect changes in the composition of this audience; by the mid-2000s, the format had evolved to include more uptempo pop music, while alternative and indie rock crossovers (such as Foster the People, Imagine Dragons, Lovelytheband, and Twenty One Pilots) became more prevalent within the format during the 2010s These developments helped to expand the popularity of the format among younger listeners such as millennials; Nielsen Audio ranked hot AC as the third most-popular format among millennials, behind pop and country music  Of the format's expanding demographic reach, WOMX-FM program director Dana Taylor stated that hot AC stations "may not be the radio station that everybody agrees on, but it's a radio station that everybody goes, 'I'm okay with that' " The increasingly downtempo direction of pop hits in the mid-to-late 2010's also helped to attract additional listeners Hot AC stations typically keep a larger body of recent hits in rotation than those with rigid, chart-driven formats like CHR and urban contemporary  As these stations' playlists have become concentrated towards airing only the current hits at a given time, hot AC airplay can build and sustain a song's popularity over a long-term period  This effect has been credited in helping build an audience for early singles from new acts such as Adele, Rachel Platten ("Fight Song", which gained prominence for its use during Hillary Clinton's 2016 US presidential election campaign), and Max Schneider (whose 2016 single "Lights Down Low", over a year after its original release, became a sleeper hit on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 and Hot 100 due in part to strong hot AC airplay) The popularity of the hot AC format prompted many mainstream AC stations to add uptempo music to their playlists, while still maintaining a deeper rotation of older hits than hot AC stations 

Modern adult contemporary
Modern adult contemporary refers to AC formats with a stronger lean towards modern rock and pop rock 
In the 1990s and early 2000s, modern AC was typically targeted towards women, with Mike Marino of KMXB in Las Vegas describing the format as reaching "an audience that has outgrown the edgier hip-hop or alternative music but hasn't gotten old and sappy enough for the soft ACs " The format typically focused on female rock acts such as Shawn Colvin, Sheryl Crow, Indigo Girls, Jewel, and Sarah McLachlan, and folk rock-influenced bands such as Counting Crows and The Wallflowers  Today, the format is fairly uncommon, with KTCZ in the Minnesota Twin Cities being one of the few modern AC stations left 

Soft adult contemporary
The Soft adult contemporary format typically targets women 25–54 and at-work listening  Soft AC playlists are generally conservative in comparison to hot AC, focusing on pop and power ballads, soft rock, and other familiar, light hits  Upon its establishment in the 1980s, the soft AC format was positioned as being a more upbeat version of easy listening that would appeal better to a younger audience, mainly by excluding instrumental beautiful music  Easy listening stations had begun shifting to the format out of concern that their existing programming would not appeal to the current generation of listeners In a 1990 article, James Warren of the Chicago Tribune characterized soft AC stations as being "as middle-of-the-road and unthreatening as modern media get", with personalities that were encouraged to be as inoffensive and "low-profile" as possible, and a more conservative music library than hot AC-leaning stations  In particular, Chicago's WLIT did not have its airstaff talk over the beginning and endings of songs (in contrast to the hot AC-leaning WFYR), and played Bob Seger's "We've Got Tonite" but not "Old Time Rock and Roll" (which was part of WTMX's playlist)  The director of a soft AC station in Connecticut, WEZN-FM, told Warren that he had barred the reading of top-of-hour news headlines, so that listeners wouldn't be tempted to tune away to an all-news station to learn more Soft AC stations tend to be more selective in their music libraries than other adult contemporary stations, preferring proven songs over current hits  Upon the onset of the format's popularity, core artists typically included singers such as Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow, Johnny Mathis, and Barbra Streisand  By the 1990s, to improve their appeal among changing demographics, some soft AC stations began to widen their playlist to include selections from contemporary acts with 80s, & 90s, musicians & bands such as Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, Roxette, Mariah Carey, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Elton John, Cher, Whitney Houston, Journey, and Queen  On the other hand, by 1996, New York's WLTW had begun to phase out its softer music in favor of a more uptempo direction In 2017, Inside Radio reported that soft AC had the third-largest decrease in US stations offering the format over the past decade (at 128), ranking behind only adult standards and oldies—a shift credited to aging demographics and a major boom in the wider-appealing classic hits format (which saw the largest overall increase over the same period)  Consultant Gary Berkowitz argued that the soft AC format had become increasingly irrelevant in comparison to mainstream and hot AC, due to PPM markets preferring uptempo music At the same time, however, soft AC began to experience a resurgence  In April 2016, iHeartMedia flipped its San Francisco classic soul station KISQ to soft AC as The Breeze; as of November 2018, it was the top station in the Bay Area  The trend continued into 2017 and 2018, with iHeartMedia extending its Breeze brand to other soft AC flips, and the brand (among others) being adopted by competitors such as Entercom  Industry analyst Sean Ross argued that older demographics were becoming more lucrative due to changes in listening habits among younger audiences, which prefer digital platforms such as music streaming services over linear terrestrial radio, and also noted how mainstream AC was dependent on the Top 40 charts to break new songs Current soft AC stations have continued to feature recurrents such as Michael Bolton, Celine Dion, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Hall & Oates, and Whitney Houston, while contemporary musicians such as Adele and Michael Bublé have also become modern fixtures of the format  In addition, the soft AC sound has diversified to include more songs that are "safe and universal" and not necessarily "soft", with Ross presenting Examples such as Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)", as well as the retroactively-defined genre of yacht rock  Over time, some stations have gradually adjusted their playlists to include more recurrents from the 1980s and 1970s (although not to the same extent as other "soft oldies" formats, such as MeTV FM, which have also grown in popularity) 

Urban adult contemporary
The Urban adult contemporary format focuses primarily on current and classic R&B and soul music,  The format typically targets African-American adults: July 2018 numbers from Nielsen Audio recorded it as the top format among African-Americans 25–54 and 35–64  It also has a sizable popularity among younger listeners, ranking behind urban contemporary as the second-most popular format among African-American adults 18–34 in the same report, with an 18 9 audience share The format typically excludes youthful rhythmic music, such as commercial hip-hop and rap, that are usually associated with the urban contemporary format  The urban AC format is also associated with the "quiet storm"—mellower R&B ballads and slow jams, often in a jazz-influenced style  The syndicated evening program Keith Sweat Hotel focuses specifically on such music As urban contemporary stations prefer hit-driven hip-hop songs, labels typically service R&B songs to the urban AC format only  Some current R&B musicians have complained that this is an artificial divide that prevents them from reaching a wider, mainstream audience (citing the relatively smaller number of urban AC outlets in comparison to urban and rhythmic), even with attempts to give some singles a hip-hop-influenced sound to improve the potential for crossover appeal  Some acts have attempted to disassociate themselves from "R&B" to reduce the effect of this stigma, although streaming services have helped to expose R&B to a wider audience beyond urban AC radio 

Rhythmic adult contemporary
The Rhythmic adult contemporary format generally focuses on a variety of current and classic dance music, such as dance-pop, hip-hop, and R&B (often resembling a blend of the Classic hits and hot AC formats in practice)  The exact composition of current and recurrent content can vary between stations, depending on local cultures and the heritage of rhythmic formats in the market, ranging from late-80s/early-90s dance hits (including latin freestyle), to disco and Motown  Rhythmic hot AC has also been used as a format, popularized by stations such as New York's WKTU 

Smooth adult contemporary
The Smooth adult contemporary format is a variant of the smooth jazz format that incorporates mainstream and/or urban adult contemporary songs; they are designed to appeal to a wider range of demographics than a straight smooth jazz format  Some smooth AC stations may limit their airplay of jazz instrumentals to those by better-known performers such as Kenny G 

Christian adult contemporary
Contemporary Christian music (CCM) has several subgenres, one being "Christian AC"  Radio & Records, for instance, lists Christian AC among its format charts  There has been crossover to mainstream and hot AC formats by many of the core artists of the Christian AC genre, notably Amy Grant, Michael W  Smith, Kathy Troccoli, Steven Curtis Chapman, Plumb, and more recently Big Daddy Weave, Casting Crowns, For King & Country, Lauren Daigle, MercyMe, and Newsboys 

Adult album alternative
The Adult album alternative (triple-A or AAA) format generally features a diverse playlist of music that appeals to an adult audience, with a focus on emerging songs and artists, and often featuring songs that were not released as singles  The exact composition of a triple-A station's playlist can vary, with alternative rock, indie rock, and indie pop commonly used as core genres, and some stations featuring more uncommon genres such as alternative country, Americana, blues, folk music, and world music  NPR observed in 2018 that roughly half of all triple-A stations in the U S  were non-commercial stations  With the wide variety of music that is serviced to the format, adult album alternative charts have often served as a feeder for the Adult Top 40, and have been credited for breaking acts such as Dave Matthews Band and Lorde 

Christmas music
Since the 1990s it has become common for many AC stations, particularly soft AC stations, to play primarily or exclusively Christmas music during the Christmas season in November and December  While these tend mostly to be contemporary seasonal recordings by the same artists featured under the normal format, most stations will also air at least some vintage holiday tunes from older pop, MOR, and adult standards artists – such as  
Boney M , The Carpenters, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Percy Faith, Mannheim Steamroller, Dean Martin, Johnny Mathis, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Andy Williams – many of whom would never be played on these stations during the rest of the year 
These Christmas music marathons typically start a few weeks before Thanksgiving Day and end after Christmas Day, or sometimes extending to New Year's Day  Afterwards, the stations usually resume their normal music fare  Several stations begin the holiday format much earlier, at the beginning of November especially after Halloween  The roots of this tradition can be traced back to the beautiful music and easy listening stations of the 1960s and 1970s 

Syndicated radio shows and networks carrying the adult contemporary format
Delilah – One of the US's most popular radio shows, Delilah airs primarily in the evening  Its Christmas Edition airs from mid-November to late December 
Intelligence for Your Life – Hosted by John Tesh, this show also airs evenings and also on weekends 
American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest – One version of AT40 airs on US hot AC stations, which is a little different from its Top-40/CHR counterpart 
Rick Dees Weekly Top 40/Weekly Top 30 – Began offering Hot AC versions of the popular countdown show in June 1996  These shows feature the top 20 Hot AC songs in the US along with about 10 past hits from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s (decade)  A softer "AC" version was added in July 2009 to try to fill in the void left by Casey Kasem ending his AC countdown 
Radio Disney Music Top 30 Countdown, One version is for Hot AC stations, the other version is for Mainstream AC stations  Plays the USA Top 30 songs of the week according to Mediabase and a music rating service called ratethemusic com  This show, like Rick Dees' show, is distributed by Compass Media Networks 
Backtrax USA with Kid Kelly – Weekend programs focusing on the '80s and '90s, targeted for hot AC stations 
ABC and Dial Global both offer AC 24-hour networks programming soft and hot AC 
Tom Joyner and Steve Harvey have popular morning shows that air on urban AC (and sometimes Hip-Hop) stations  Both shows are often heard on competing stations in the same city, such as St  Louis, Philadelphia and Atlanta  Joyner's show is syndicated by ABC Radio, and Harvey's show by Premiere Radio Networks 
Retro Rewind with Dave Harris is a weekend-based radio show highlighting a massive playlist of songs from the 1980s and 1990s, interviews, spotlights and contests  The show is done live across the US on Saturday nights, taking audience requests  The show is targeted towards HOT AC and AC radio stations 
The EZ Rock network is a brand/network of soft AC heard in Canada 
Heart - A radio network in the UK that grew throughout 2009 as more stations were rebranded as "Heart" 
Smooth Radio – A UK-wide radio network that formed from six regional Smooth Radio stations 
Smoothfm – A network of two Australian commercial radio stations (based in Sydney and Melbourne) that are focused on providing an eclectic easy-listening playlist, usually featuring ballads 
Nova – A network of five Australian commercial radio station (based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth) that are very similar to Smoothfm 
The Breeze – A group of New Zealand adult contemporary radio stations owned by MediaWorks Radio  There are 20 stations currently broadcasting throughout New Zealand 
The Bob and Sheri Show – American morning drive show based in Charlotte, North Carolina  Heard on more than 50 AC stations and the American Forces NetworkFormer syndicated programming includes Dick Clark's US Music Survey (1996–2005), Casey's Hot 20/Casey's Countdown/American Top 20/10 (1992–2009) and Top 30 USA 

See also
Adult Contemporary, a chart appearing in Billboard since 1961  This chart is typically (but not exclusively) closer to soft AC 
New-age music
Yacht rock



ground_truth: Anthony Ainley

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Who started out his career on adult contemporary radio along with the performer of All That Echoes?

The following are given passages.
Context 4:  The final repeats of the Trio (the Grandioso) render the famous obligato of the piccolo players—joined to a subdued but prominent countermelody by the brass section, then bringing everything to a close with once-more repeats of the grand finale 
Sousa explained to the press that the three themes of the final trio were intended to represent the three regions of the United States  The broad melody, or main theme, portrays the North  The South is represented by the famous piccolo obligato, and the West by the bold countermelody of the trombones  The three come together in the climax, representing the Union itself 

Instrumentation
This is scored for an orchestra consisting of two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals, bass drum, snare drum, glockenspiel, and strings 

Lyrics
Sousa's lyrics
Sousa wrote lyrics to the piece, although they are not as familiar as the music itself  A typical pairing of Sousa's lyrics with various sections of the march—here the First strain and the Grandioso strain—is noted in the colored bars 

Tidmarsh's additional lyrics
In 1942 the John Church Company published a four-part choral version of the march with a piano arrangement by Elmer Arthur Tidmarsh  This arrangement has additional lyrics written by Tidmarsh for the Breakstrain section of the march 

Parody lyrics
The exact origin of the parody is unclear, but versions of it were being quoted as early as the 1930s on college campuses, and during the 1940s, where it was sung for entertainment by soldiers at the USO  Some newspapers of that time referred to it as the "Duck Song " In 1954, Charles Grean and Joan Javits composed "Crazy Mixed Up Song", using the theme from "The Stars and Stripes Forever", with lyrics beginning "Be kind to your web-footed friends"  It was made somewhat popular by Peter Lind Hayes & Mary Healy in that year  In the early 1960s, it reached a wider audience as a part of Mitch Miller's nationally syndicated sing-along show, Sing Along with Mitch  This version has perhaps the best known lyrics, which were used to end every show:

The last two lines were later used for the theme song of the 1985 television series The Berenstain Bears, but with the lyrics changed to:

Later versions of "Be kind to your web-footed friends" extended the lyrics of the second verse  One popular version goes like this:

And the song repeats itself ad infinitum, getting higher in tone each repeat until the singer is ready for the final as per Mitch Miller:

"Well, you're right!" may be substituted for "Well, it is!" 
Another version goes like this:

The blank may be filled with appropriate adjectives like "low", "high", "silly", "fast", etc , until ready for the finale, when the singer may end with "Well, it is!" as did Mitch Miller 

Soccer chants
"Here We Go", the British soccer chant, consists of the words "here we go" continuously repeated to the tune of The Stars and Stripes Forever  It was described by Auberon Waugh as the national anthem of the working classes  It was the basis of Everton F C 's official song for the 1984 FA Cup Final  The tune has been repurposed for many other, similarly repetitive, football chants 

Variations and notable uses
"The Stars and Stripes Forever" is featured in many U S  musical performances and pop culture:

There are several orchestral transcriptions of "The Stars and Stripes Forever", including one by conductor Leopold Stokowski and one by Keith Brion and Loras Schissel  There was also an orchestral arrangement of the march by Carl Davis and David Cullen for the album Carl Conducts   Classical Festival Favourites  Orchestral versions are typically transposed one-half step lower than the original band version, to put the march in a key that is more familiar to string players 
The tune is widely used by soccer fans, with the trio/grandioso section sung with the words "Here We Go"  The supporters of Spanish side Valencia CF used to sing it with the words "Xe que bó!" which means something like "Oh! How good" in Valencian, and those words have become a symbol for the team  Another version uses the word cheerio repeatedly, normally sung to players or coaches when they have been sent off or occasionally when an underdog has ended its opponent's cup campaign  Finally, certain clubs such as Forest Green or Sunderland use the chant just using the club name; this only works if the name has three syllables  A nickname can instead be used for the chant, such as Gateshead fans chanting "Tynesiders" 
In the 1933 film Duck Soup, Harpo Marx, playing Pinky, a spy infiltrating a house in the middle of the night, attempts to open what he believes to be a safe, but turns out to be a large radio, which loudly begins playing "The Stars and Stripes Forever" when he turns the knob  Pinky spends the next several moments futilely (and loudly) trying to quell the noise before throwing the radio out a nearby window 
The march was used in the 1939 cartoon Officer Duck, after Donald Duck successfully subdues Tiny Tom, played by Pete  It is played by a marching band of police officers who further advance Tom's arrest  On the highest note of the brass, Donald kicks Tom on his rear end 
Classic Popeye the Sailor cartoons by Fleischer Studios make frequent use of the tune in the music score accompanying the climactic fight between Popeye and the villain starting with the moment Popeye gets a spinach power boost 
Parts of the tune feature in two Laurel and Hardy short films, The Chimp and Come Clean 
In show business, as said before, particularly theater and the circus, this piece is called "the Disaster March"  It is a traditional code signaling a life-threatening emergency  This helps theater personnel to handle events and organize the audience's exit without panic  Circus bands never play it under any other circumstances  One memorable example of its use was at the Hartford Circus Fire in July 1944, in which at least 160 people were killed 
A 1952 biographical film, Stars and Stripes Forever, gives an account of the composer's life and music 
Russian-American pianist Vladimir Horowitz wrote a famous transcription of "The Stars and Stripes Forever" for solo piano to celebrate his becoming an American citizen  In an interview, Horowitz opined that the march, being a military march, is meant to be played at a walking tempo  He complained that many conductors played the piece too fast, resulting in music that is "hackneyed" 
Timmy Mallett was fond of chanting "Wacaday, Wacaday, Wacaday" to the tune in children's TV show Wacaday, often getting child guests to do the same 
In "Evolution", the first episode of the third season of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, a malfunction in the ship's systems causes the main computer to play Sousa's march on all channels throughout the ship  The episode was first aired on September 25, 1989 
The song is usually played for the President of the United States after he gives a speech at a public forum, event, or ceremony, whereas "Hail to the Chief" is played when the President is introduced 
The tune of the song appears in the 1970 animated TV special adaptation of Horton Hears a Who! by Dr  Seuss, used as the melody for the song Be Kind To Your Small Person Friends 
In 1981, fingerstyle guitarist Guy Van Duser made an arrangement of the march for guitar  It was later performed by guitarists such as Chet Atkins, Rick Foster and Doug Smith 
The march was adapted for the theme song to The Berenstain Bears 1985 cartoon 
An 8-bit version of the song is used in the MS-DOS and Commodore 64 versions of Wheel of Fortune when solving a puzzle correctly 
The student band Strindens Promenade Orchester in Trondheim, Norway, has the world record in "speed playing" of "The Stars and Stripes Forever" (absolutely all notes must be played)  The band calls their speedy rendering of the march "Stars and Stribes", and performs the march at all solemn occasions at the Trondheim Student Society  Set during the fall term of 1999, the record time is 50 9 seconds (nominal time is 3 minutes 50 seconds)  For this, the band is noted in the Norwegian edition of the Guinness Book of Records 
The march in a specific rendition is in the soundtrack of the video game Postal 2, where it's performed by the marching band 
American composer Robert W  Smith parodied Stars and Stripes Forever along with "Jingle Bells" with his composition "Jingle Bells Forever", published by Alfred Publishing Co 
In 2008, the Muppets performed a web version starring Sam the Eagle, Beaker, a clucking chicken, Bobo the Bear, The Swedish Chef, and Crazy Harry 
The video game Fallout 3 has the Stars and Stripes Forever as one of the songs on the Enclave Radio 
In 2009, Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman used this tune as a jingle in advertising character Ruff Ruffman's "RuffMeal" in the episode "The RuffMeal Needs More Roughage" 
At the conclusion of WWE's Extreme Rules pay-per-view in 2011, Stars and Stripes Forever played following John Cena announcing the death of Osama Bin Laden  It was also played during the January 5, 2015 episode of WWE Raw from Corpus Christi, Texas, also involving Cena, during the main event segment called John Cena Appreciation Night, where The Authority (Triple H and Stephanie McMahon) thanked Cena for (kayfabe) re-hiring them following the previous year's Survivor Series event's main event match, only to slander him and then (kayfabe) fire his teammates from that night, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan  The Big Show, who was also Cena's teammate during the aforementioned match, was not fired since he turned his back on Cena during the match and then joined The Authority  Balloons and confetti then fell from the rafters as Cena and his teammates stood in the ring, dejected, as the song played 
In Argentina, a sensationalist news channel, Crónica TV, always uses the first 22 seconds of this march as a background music on reporting breaking news stories 
The Grateful Dead finished their 50th reunion concert on July 4, 2015 with fireworks accompanied by a recording of "The Stars and Stripes Forever", in front of 70,000 people in Soldier Field in Chicago 
In 2022, a March Madness-themed commercial from Capital One featured the opening notes of "The Stars and Stripes Forever" being played by a marching band led by Charles Barkley, who claimed to represent a fictional university named "Chuck U"  Samuel L  Jackson and Spike Lee are also featured in the commercial 

See also
List of marches by John Philip Sousa
"You're a Grand Old Flag"
Passage 5:
My Way
"My Way" is a song popularized in 1969 by Frank Sinatra set to the music of the French song "Comme d'habitude" composed by Jacques Revaux with lyrics by Gilles Thibaut and Claude François and first performed in 1967 by Claude François  Its English lyrics were written by Paul Anka and are unrelated to the original French song   
The song was a success for a variety of performers including Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Sid Vicious  Sinatra's version of "My Way" spent 75 weeks in the UK Top 40, which is 3rd place all-time 

Background
In 1967, Jacques Revaux wrote a ballad named "For Me", with English lyrics about a couple falling out of love  According to Revaux, the demo was then sent to Petula Clark, Dalida, and Claude François, to no avail  Revaux rejected a version by Hervé Villard, the singer of the international hit Capri c'est fini and reworked the track into Comme d'habitude ("As usual") with the help of Claude François  It was released in November 1967 and was at the top of the French pop chart for one week in February 1968 Paul Anka heard the French original, while on holiday in the south of France  He flew to Paris to negotiate the rights to the song  He acquired adaptation, recording, and publishing rights for the nominal but formal consideration of one dollar, subject to the provision that the melody's composers would retain their original share of royalty rights with respect to whatever versions Anka or his designates created or produced   Some time later, Anka had a dinner in Florida with Frank Sinatra and "a couple of Mob guys" during which Sinatra said: "I'm quitting the business  I'm sick of it; I'm getting the hell out "
Back in New York, Anka re-wrote the original French song for Sinatra, subtly altering the melodic structure and changing the lyrics: At one o'clock in the morning, I sat down at an old IBM electric typewriter and said, 'If Frank were writing this, what would he say?' And I started, metaphorically, 'And now the end is near ' I read a lot of periodicals, and I noticed everything was 'my this' and 'my that'  We were in the 'me generation' and Frank became the guy for me to use to say that  I used words I would never use: 'I ate it up and spit it out ' But that's the way he talked  I used to be around steam rooms with the Rat Pack guys—they liked to talk like Mob guys, even though they would have been scared of their own shadows  Anka finished the song at 5 in the morning: "I called Frank up in Nevada—he was at Caesars Palace – and said, 'I've got something really special for you '" Anka asserted: "When my record company caught wind of it, they were very pissed that I didn't keep it for myself  I said, 'Hey, I can write it, but I'm not the guy to sing it ' It was for Frank, no one else "Despite this, Anka would record the song in 1969 very shortly after Sinatra's recording was released  Anka recorded it four other times as well: in 1996 (as a duet with Gabriel Byrne, performed in the movie Mad Dog Time); in 1998 in Spanish as "A Mi Manera" (duet with Julio Iglesias); in 2007 (as a duet with Jon Bon Jovi); and in 2013 (as a duet with Garou) On December 30, 1968, Frank Sinatra recorded his version of the song in one take, featuring session drummer Buddy Saltzman among the band 
"My Way" was released in early 1969 on the My Way LP and as a single  It reached No  27 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No  2 on the Easy Listening chart in the US  In the UK, the single achieved a still unmatched record, becoming the recording with the most weeks inside the Top 40, spending 75 weeks from April 1969 to September 1971  It spent a further 49 weeks in the Top 75 but never bettered the No  5 slot achieved upon its first chart run Billboard said that the "driving, lush and commercial Don Costa arrangement and production is an added plus to one of Sinatra's finest performances " Cash Box said that "The powerful material is matched by a splendidly moving performance which is certain to win rave comments from programmers with teen and adult audiences "Although this work became Frank Sinatra's signature song, his daughter Tina says the singer came to hate the song: "He didn't like it  That song stuck and he couldn't get it off his shoe  He always thought that song was self-serving and self-indulgent "

Charts
Certifications
Versions
David Bowie reportedly wrote the first English language lyrics to Claude François's original tune, though the lyrics and performance were only informally recorded and never commercially published 

Dorothy Squires
In the midst of Sinatra's multiple runs on the UK Singles Chart, Welsh singer Dorothy Squires also released a rendition of "My Way" in summer 1970  Her recording reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart and re-entered the chart twice more during that year 

Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley began performing the song in concert during the mid-1970s, despite Anka's suggestions that the song did not suit him  Nevertheless, on January 12 and 14, 1973, Presley sang the song during his satellite show Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite, beamed live and on deferred basis (for European audiences, who also saw it in prime time), to 43 countries via Intelsat 
On October 3, 1977, several weeks after Presley's death, his live recording of "My Way" (recorded for the Elvis In Concert CBS-TV special on June 21, 1977) was released as a single  In the U S , it reached number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in late 1977/early 1978 (higher than Frank Sinatra's peak position), number 6 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and went gold for its successful sales of over a million copies  The following year the single reached number 2 on the Billboard Country singles chart but went all the way to number 1 on the rival Cash Box Country Singles chart  In the UK, it reached number 9 on the UK Singles Chart 
Presley's version is featured in the climax of the 2001 film 3000 Miles to Graceland with Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner  (Paul Anka appears in a cameo as a casino pit boss who loathes Presley )
Presley's studio version of the song, recorded in 1971, was included on the fourth disc of "Walk a Mile in My Shoes: The Essential '70s Masters" 

Certifications
Sid Vicious
Sex Pistols' bassist Sid Vicious did a punk rock version of the song, in which a large body of the words were changed and the arrangement was sped up  The orchestral backing was arranged by Simon Jeffes 
Interviewed in 2007, Paul Anka said he had been "somewhat destabilized by the Sex Pistols' version  It was kind of curious, but I felt he [Sid Vicious] was sincere about it "Vicious and his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, changed many of the words when it was recorded, including use of the swear words "cunt" and "fuck" as well as the word "queer" (slang for a gay man)  Vicious's reference to a "prat who wears hats" was an in-joke directed towards Vicious's friend and Sex Pistols bandmate Johnny Rotten, who was fond of wearing different kinds of hats he would pick up at rummage sales 
Leonard Cohen said of the song: I never liked this song except when Sid Vicious did it  Sung straight, it somehow deprives the appetite of a certain taste we'd like to have on our lips  When Sid Vicious did it, he provided that other side to the song; the certainty, the self-congratulation, the daily heroism of Sinatra's version is completely exploded by this desperate, mad, humorous voice  I can't go round in a raincoat and fedora looking over my life saying I did it my way – well, for 10 minutes in some American bar over a gin and tonic you might be able to get away with it  But Sid Vicious's rendition takes in everybody; everybody is messed up like that, everybody is the mad hero of his own drama  It explodes the whole culture this self-presentation can take place in, so it completes the song for me 
The 1986 film Sid and Nancy features a scene where Gary Oldman, portraying Vicious, performs his version of "My Way" while filming the song's music video Vicious's version of this song appears in Martin Scorsese's 1990 film Goodfellas, where it plays over the end credits 

Margaret Mackie and Jamie Lee Morley
In December 2019 footage of Margaret Mackie, a resident of Northcare Suites Care Home in Edinburgh who suffers from dementia, performing "My Way" with staff member Jamie Lee Morley, went viral after being posted online by Mackie's daughter Morley later arranged to have the song professionally recorded and it was released in January 2020 as a charity single to raise funds for The Alzheimer's Society and Dementia UK  The single peaked at number seven in the iTunes top 40 UK Pop Songs live chart and number five in the Amazon best seller chart 

Yuzo Kayama
In Japan, Yuzo Kayama, who is usually called the Japanese Frank Sinatra, performed "My Way" in 2008 in English  On April 23 and 30, 2015, as part of 2 vocal overdubbed sessions, Yuzo Kayama performed "My Way" with the earlier record of Frank Sinatra as a duet 

Adaptations
Besides translations more or less faithful to the original, some artists have set unrelated lyrics to the same tune 

Jozsef Gregor the renowned Hungarian bass-baritone/basso buffo recorded the song with Andras Ruszanov's Hungarian love themed lyrics version in 1996  Two years later, he sang this version in one of the most popular TV show in Budapest, since then this version has been permanently on the playlists of numerous radio stations in Hungary 
Mexican singer Vicente Fernandez did a Spanish language version, named "A Mi Manera" 
A version of the song with slightly different lyrics was used as a jingle for a Cologuard commercial in 2022 

Public use
The song is popularly associated with nostalgia to an individual's lifetime of events  Surveys beginning in 2005 have often reported that "My Way" has been the song most frequently played at funeral services in the UK  "My Way" is also a popular karaoke song around the world  However, it has been reported to cause numerous incidents of violence and homicide among karaoke singers in the Philippines, referred to in the media as the My Way killings, which has led to the song being banned in many Filipino bars The song's association with Sinatra led to Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of allowing other states in the Warsaw Pact to make their own policy decisions being nicknamed the Sinatra Doctrine, referencing "My Way"'s lyrics about doing things your own way  The term was first used by Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennadi Gerasimov in 1987, who was quoted as saying "We now have the Frank Sinatra doctrine  He has a song, I Did It My Way  So every country decides on its own which road to take "
Passage 6:
Followin' a Feelin'
Followin' a Feelin' is the third studio album by Australian country music artist Sherrié Austin  It was released in 2001 by WE Records and peaked at No  43 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart  The album's only charted single was a cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene"  Austin's version of the song reached No  55 on the Hot Country Songs charts in July 2001 

Critical reception
Maria Konicki Dinoia of Allmusic gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, saying that "She's evolved into an exceptionally strong songwriter, having written or co-written nine of the album's ten virtually flawless tracks "

Track listing
"Followin' a Feelin'" (Sherrié Austin, Rob Crosby, Will Rambeaux) — 3:19
"Jolene" (Dolly Parton) — 3:17
"Goin' Goin' Gone" (Austin, Rambeaux, Jon Christopher Davis) — 4:14
"Somethin' Missin' in the Kissin'" (Austin, Rambeaux, Blair Daly) — 3:21
"In the Meantime" (Austin, Rambeaux, Crosby) — 3:41
"My Brilliant Mistake" (Austin, Rambeaux, Greg Barnhill) — 3:17
"In Our Own Sweet Time" (Austin, Rambeaux, Marcus Hummon) — 3:07
"Love Melts Even the Coldest Hearts" (Austin, Shawna Harrington-Burkhart) — 3:17
"Back Where I Belong" (Austin, Rambeaux, Kimberly Roads, Philip Sweet) — 3:00
"Time, Love and Money" (Austin, Rambeaux, Dave Berg) — 3:11

Personnel
Stephanie Bentley - backing vocals
Pat Buchanan - electric guitar
J  T  Corenflos - electric guitar
Jon Christopher Davis - backing vocals
Larry Franklin - mandolin, fiddle
Jimmy Hull - harmonica
Mike Joyce - bass
Troy Lancaster - electric guitar
Tim Lauer - keyboards
Gary McIntyre - steel guitar
Russ Pahl - steel guitar
Kim Parent - backing vocals
Paul Scholten - drums
Steven Sheehan - acoustic guitar
Barry Walsh - keyboards

Chart performance
Passage 7:
Way Out Here (song)
"Way Out Here" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Josh Thompson   It was released in March 2010 as the second single and title track from his debut album of the same name  Thompson co-wrote the song with David Lee Murphy and Casey Beathard 

Content
"Way Out Here" is a ballad, mostly accompanied by acoustic guitar  In it, the narrator tells of his rural upbringing, the way he was raised, and his desire for the United States to return to a simpler time, back when things "were run the way they ought a be"   The song further laments small town America, stating with nostalgia images of pickup trucks, unlicensed dogs running free, and hard working blue collar men who "chew and fry everything"   A further narrative relates to service in the United States armed forces, of which the narrator tells how people from small town America often wind up joining the military to earn a living and are then deployed overseas 

Music video
The music video for "Way Out Here" was filmed in Cairo, Illinois   The video begins with scenes of farms, a diner run by a young woman in her late teens (apparently married with a wedding ring and also religious locket which reads "faith") then shifts to a local bar where the narrator sings the song on his guitar   Interspersed into the video are scenes of men working on a farm as well as scenes of young men deployed in the Army to the Middle East 

Critical reception
The song and video drew mostly positive reviews from critics, however some negative reviews resulted from the portrayal in the music video of an entirely white town (Cairo, Illinois is in fact 70% African American), as well as nostalgia (instead of concern) regarding boarded up small towns steeped in rural poverty   Paul Brian of Engine 145, gave the song a thumbs-down rating  His review criticized Thompson's vocals for "[simmering] with anger, despair, and moral force as the song approaches numerous key concerns including the economy, military service, work ethic, religious belief, gun ownership, governance, and musical taste "

Chart performance
"Way Out Here" debuted at number 57 on the Hot Country Songs chart dated March 20, 2010, and then fell off the next week  However, it re-entered the country chart at number 58 on the chart dated April 3, 2010  In September 2010, it peaked at number 15 on the chart 

Year-end charts
Passage 8:
Turn Me On (Mark Dinning song)
"Turn Me On" is a song by John D  Loudermilk that was first recorded and released by Mark Dinning in 1961 as the B-side to his single "Lonely Island"  Other notable versions are by Nellie Rutherford and Nina Simone  Norah Jones released her version as the last single from her debut album Come Away with Me on May 12, 2003  The song was also performed by Shelby Dressel during her American Idol audition  It has been suggested that the song influenced the composition of Leonard Cohen's 1969 song "Bird on the Wire" 

Norah Jones version
Jones's cover was the seventh track on her debut album  This version also appeared in the movie Love Actually and appears on its soundtrack 

Charts
Certifications
Release history
Passage 9:
Kingpin (Tinsley Ellis album)
Kingpin is a 2000 blues album by Tinsley Ellis  It was recorded at Ocean Way by David Z (also the producer) who also mixed at Javelina Recording Studio (both in Nashville, Tennessee) for Supersonic Productions  It was mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound New York  Tinsley wrote/co-wrote three of the songs 

Track listing
"Heart Fixing Business" (Homer Banks/Allen Jones)
"Sweet Pea" (Wayne Burdette/Tinsley Ellis)
"Dyin' to Do Wrong" (Ellis)
"Can't Play That Way" (Ellis)
"I've Got to Use My Imagination" (Gerry Goffin/Barry Goldberg)
"I Got to Moan" (S  Boyer)
"I'll Be Loving You" (J L  Williams)
"The Other Side of Town" (Sir Mack Rice/Jon Tiven/Sally Tiven)
"Days of Old" (B B  King/Josea Taub)
"Slingshots and Boomerangs" (C C  Adcock/David Eagan)
"Let's Think About It" (Arthur Alexander/Jon Tiven)

Musicians
Tinsley Ellis on Guitar and vocals
David Smith on Bass guitar
Reese Wynans on keyboards
Jack Holder on guitar
Richie Hayward on drums
Kevin McKendree on organ
David Z on guitar, keyboards, percussion
Little Joey Hoegger on harmonica
Jim Hoke on saxophone
Passage 10:
I Got a Feelin' (Billy Currington song)
"I Got a Feelin'" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Billy Currington  It was released in January 2004 as the second and final single from his 2003 self-titled debut album  The song peaked at number 5 on the U S  Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in mid-2004  It also reached number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100  Currington wrote this song with Casey Beathard and Carson Chamberlain 

Critical reception
In his review of the album, Jeffrey B  Remz of Country Standard Time viewed the song favorably, saying that it showed Currington's traditional country sound by the prominence of fiddle (played by Stuart Duncan) 

Music videos
The music video for the track was directed by Philip Andelman, filmed in the Mojave Desert in California, and co-stars Gena Lee Nolin 

Chart performance
"I Got a Feelin'" debuted at number 53 on the U S  Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart for the week of January 17, 2004 

Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Passage 11:
Separate Lies
Separate Lies is a 2005 British drama film directed by Julian Fellowes, who also wrote the screenplay, updating the 1951 novel A Way Through the Wood by Nigel Balchin, which had already been turned into a stage play under the title Waiting for Gillian in 1954  The film stars Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson and Rupert Everett  Separate Lies marked the directorial debut of Julian Fellowes, who had worked mostly as an actor and won an Academy Award with his screenplay for Robert Altman's  Gosford Park 

Plot
"No life is perfect – even if it seems to be," says James Manning, a wealthy London solicitor  When it comes to matters of right and wrong, he likes to think of himself as inflexible  Anne, his much younger wife, is accommodating and dutiful and likes the life they lead, the house in London, the Buckinghamshire hideaway  The couple seems to have it all, yet events soon will prove them wrong 
In the village, a neighbour has reappeared: William Bule, son of a leading local family  He has recently returned from America, a bad marriage and two children, whose ages he cannot bother to remember  Bill is indolent and insinuating and at the village cricket match he catches Anne's eye  Because of him, she suggests to her reluctant husband that they should have neighbours over for drinks  However, that evening, James has to work late in the city  Before the party is set to begin, a speeding car sideswipes a man bicycling along a village lane  The man is hurled to the ground and dies a few days later  He was the husband of Maggie, the Mannings’ housekeeper 
Anne takes a special interest in Maggie's well-being, but James can't understand her sudden teary investment in their housekeeper’s personal life  James, whose priorities have become skewed toward work rather than toward his wife, soon becomes suspicious that Bill may be involved in that fatal hit-and-run  When confronted, Bill initially denies the allegation, but soon tells James that the next day he will go to the police and confess, if that is what he wants, although he sees no benefit from his confessions  Back home, when James tells Anne about his conversation with Bill, she has also some striking confessions to make  Anne reveals one hurtful secret while making a salad: she was actually driving Bill’s car when drunk and accidentally hit the cyclist   While artfully arranging ingredients on a platter, she informs her already distraught husband that she has also been having an affair with Bill  Telling her story, she asserts that Bill doesn't really mean anything to her, because he doesn't make demands or judge her, as James does in little, incessant ways  Precisely because he's a lout, Bill makes her feel oddly liberated, if not loved 
As a Buckinghamshire police inspector questions the Mannings and Bill about the accident, James is torn between doing the right thing and maintaining appearances at all costs  James really loves Anne, and the couple takes a trip to Wales in an effort to leave the accident, their guilt, and their marital troubles behind  However, Maggie, whose husband was killed, witnessed the accident  She saw the car and identifies it as belonging to Bill Bule  Yet her testimony may be biased, since Maggie knows William Bule well, having worked for his family until she was accused of stealing and dismissed  It was Anne who gave her a new start in the village 
Bule calls for a meeting  with James and Anne  There he says the inspector will come to question them later and that Maggie has identified the car  He requests James to provide an alibi for him to which James agrees  Next day the inspector meets James at his office to confirm the alibi claimed by Bule  Later a mechanic calls Bule to tell about the questioning from police about respraying the car  This makes Anne nervous and she runs to Maggie to tell her the truth and that she is responsible for her husband's death  Maggie being indebted to Anne for giving her the job after eight years takes back her statement about Bule driving the car when confronted by police  Anne goes back to stay with James until one day he's informed by a cousin of Bule that he is dying of cancer  Learning this from James, Anne rushes back to the dying Bule whose father comes to James to express his gratitude for this  Following this James meets Anne near Bule's home and expresses his undiminished love for her  Upon the demise of Bule, Anne is reunited with James 

Cast
Tom Wilkinson as James Manning
Emily Watson as Anne Manning
Rupert Everett as William "Bill" Bule
Richenda Carey as Sarah Tufnell
David Harewood as Inspector Marshall
Linda Bassett as Maggie
Hermione Norris as Priscilla
John Warnaby as Simon
John Neville as Lord Rawston
Philip Rham as French Lawyer
Unknown as Joe

External links
Separate Lies at IMDb
Separate Lies at Rotten Tomatoes
Separate Lies at Box Office Mojo
Passage 12:
Feelin' the Same Way
"Feelin' the Same Way" is a song from American singer-songwriter Norah Jones's debut album, Come Away with Me (2002)  It was written by Lee Alexander, and produced by Jones  Released in the United Kingdom on August 5, 2002, the song charted at number 72 on the UK Singles Chart 

Charts



ground_truth: Michael Bublé