IN: Ai Carina Uemura (Zhi Cun Ai karina, Uemura Ai Karina, born November 2, 1981), known mononymously as Ai (Japanese pronunciation: [ai], stylized as AI or A.I. ) is a Japanese-American singer and songwriter who was born in Los Angeles. Ai spent her childhood in both Kagoshima, Japan and Los Angeles. She debuted as a singer in 2000, later moving to Def Jam Japan and rising to fame with her album 2004 Ai.

Ai was born in Los Angeles in 1981. Her father was Japanese and her mother was half Italian-American and half Japanese. She moved to Kagoshima in Japan when she was 4, and went to elementary school and junior high school in Japan. Ai was motivated to become a singer in her early teens, after singing at a cousin's wedding, having many people ask her if she wanted to be a professional singer, and hearing a gospel performance at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles in 1993. After graduating from junior high school in Japan, Ai returned to Los Angeles for high school, enrolling at Glendale High School, however found high school difficult due to never formally studying English. After making it through the audition process, she switched to the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, majoring in ballet. She became a member of the school's gospel choir. In 1998, she performed in a gospel choir at a Mary J. Blige concert at the Universal Amphitheatre, performing of "A Dream." In the same year, she appeared as a dancer in the music video for Janet Jackson's song "Go Deep." In 1999, she joined an Asian girl group called SX4, who were produced by George Brown of Kool & the Gang. Ai was a member of the group for two years, and later in 1999 the group were offered a record label deal. While on her summer holiday in Kagoshima, she performed Monica's "For You I Will" on a local radio station, which led to her being scouted by BMG Japan. She decided to take the offer, and after leaving SX4 and graduating from high school in June 2000, moved to Tokyo and debuted as a musician later in 2000.

Where was she raised in her early life

OUT: Kagoshima

IN: Mary Jane Blige (; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She has been honored with numerous accolades and nominations, including winning nine Grammy Awards, and being the recipient of three Golden Globe nominations including one for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Florence Jackson in Mudbound (2017), for which she also became the first woman to receive multiple Academy Award nominations in the same year including for Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song. She started her career as a backing singer on Uptown Records in 1989.

In January 2011, Hot 97 premiered Blige's teaster track "Someone to Love Me (Naked)" featuring vocals by Lil Wayne. In July 2011, Blige released the song "The Living Proof" as the lead single to the soundtrack of the film The Help. On July 24, VH1 premiered their third Behind the Music that profiled her personal and career life. In August 2011, Blige released her first single off the album, "25/8". Blige's tenth studio album, My Life II... The Journey Continues (Act 1), was released in November 2011. The album, primarily recorded in Los Angeles and New York City, saw Blige looking toward the future while acknowledging the past. "From me to you, My Life II... Our journey together continues in this life," the singer explained. "It's a gift to be able to relate and identify with my fans at all times. This album is a reflection of the times and lives of people all around me." The album feature production from Kanye West and The Underdogs, among others. The second single "Mr. Wrong" featuring Canadian rapper Drake was the most successful single from the album, peaking at number 10 on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The rest of songs released, including lead single "25/8" achieved only moderate success, peaking within the top 40 on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The album itself debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200, selling 156,000 copies first week; it was eventually certified Gold in 2012 and has sold 763,000 in the US. On February 28, 2012, Blige performed "Star Spangled Banner" at the 2012 NBA All-Star Game. Blige appeared as guest mentor on American Idol on March 7, 2012, and performed "Why" on the results show the following night. On September 23, 2012, Blige was a performer at the iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. Blige was featured on the song "Now or Never" from Kendrick Lamar's album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, released on October 22, 2012. In early 2013, reports surfaced that Blige was recording a Christmas album. The album, titled, A Mary Christmas was released on October 15, 2013 through Matriarch and Verve Records, her first release with the latter. The album includes collaborations with Barbra Streisand, The Clark Sisters, Marc Anthony and Jessie J. In early December, A Mary Christmas became Blige's 12th top ten album after it rose to #10 in its eight week. On October 23, 2013, Blige sang the national anthem before Game 1 of the 2013 World Series.

Which performances did she do during this time?

OUT: 2012, Blige performed "Star Spangled Banner" at the 2012 NBA All-Star Game.

IN: Brad Rogers Carson (born March 11, 1967) is an American lawyer and politician from the state of Oklahoma who served as the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness from 2015-16. In that role, he initiated a number of notable reforms to include opening up all combat positions to women, open service by transgender service members, and new recruiting and retention practices. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the United States House of Representatives from 2001-05. He served as Undersecretary of the Army from 2014-15 and as General Counsel of the Army from 2012-2014.

In 2004, Carson sought the open U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Don Nickles. Although he easily won the Democratic nomination, he faced a tough general election contest with Coburn, who had won the nomination by an unexpectedly large margin. Carson described himself as a Conservative Democrat. Carson distanced himself from the national Democratic Party on most public policy matters. He portrayed himself as more moderate than his Republican opponent. Coburn, by contrast was one of the "true believers" in the 1995 Republican House freshman class and its Contract With America. This race was considered one of a handful of competitive races for the U.S. Senate in 2004. Both Carson and Coburn were fairly conservative on social issues. For example, Coburn and Carson both presented themselves as supporting the traditional definition of marriage as "a union of one man and one woman" in the gay marriage debate. Although registered Democrats outnumbered registered Republicans in Oklahoma by almost 2 to 1 at the time, most Oklahoma Democrats are quite conservative by national standards. By many accounts, the 2004 U.S. Senate campaign between Carson and Coburn was one of the most partisan races of that year. Coburn claimed that a vote for Carson was a vote for Democrats such as Tom Daschle, Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy. Carson was also hampered by George W. Bush's tremendous popularity in the state (the John Kerry campaign made virtually no effort in Oklahoma). In the November election, Coburn defeated Carson by a large margin, 53 percent to 42 percent. While Carson trounced Coburn in the 2nd District, Coburn swamped Carson in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area and the closer-in Tulsa suburbs. Coburn won the state's two largest counties, Tulsa and Oklahoma, by a combined 86,000 votes -- more than half of his overall margin of 166,000 votes. Despite Carson's loss, election analyst Stuart Rothenberg called the Carson campaign one of the four best run campaigns in the nation in 2004. The Weekly Standard called him "The Perfect Democrat" After the election, Carson wrote an article for The New Republic which was the subject of much discussion.

Was Carson also a Republican?

OUT:
Carson described himself as a Conservative Democrat.