Some context: Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971), commonly known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, actor and author. Martin began his career at age 12 with the all-boy pop group Menudo. After five years with the group, he released several Spanish-language solo albums throughout the 1990s. He also acted on stage and on TV in Mexico, where he achieved modest stardom.
After achieving modest fame in Puerto Rico for his work in television commercials, Martin auditioned for membership in the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. Although the executives enjoyed his dancing and singing at his first two auditions, Martin was rejected because he was too short. By the third audition, his persistence impressed executives, and in 1984, 12-year-old Martin became a member. A month after joining Menudo, he made his debut performance with the group at the Luis A. Ferre Performing Arts Center in San Juan. During this performance, he inadvertently disobeyed the choreography by walking around the stage, when it was planned that he would stay still, and was chastised by the band manager after the show: "The mistake was such a big deal that from that moment on, never again did I move when I wasn't supposed to move...That was the discipline of Menudo: You either did things the way you were told or you were not part of the group." The song "Asignatura Pendiente" from Almas del Silencio (2003) was inspired by the first time Martin left Puerto Rico to tour with Menudo. Although Martin enjoyed traveling and performing onstage with Menudo, he found the band's busy schedule and strict management exhausting, and later reflected that the experience "cost" him his childhood. He considered leaving the group while on tour in Brazil, but ultimately decided to stay out of fear of media backlash and being sued for breach of contract. Martin also began struggling with his sexuality, noting the stark contrast between his status as a sex symbol and his own emotions. Despite this, Martin acknowledged his "opportunity to have so many amazing experiences with so many amazing people" during his time with the group. He developed an interest in philanthropy when the group became UNICEF ambassadors, often working with impoverished children in third world countries. His experiences as an ambassador affected him greatly and inspired him to continue working with charities later in life. By 1987, Menudo's record sales began to decline, and the group changed its image, adopting an edgier look and performing more rock-influenced songs. The band released the album Somos Los Hijos del Rock in Spanish, and to appeal to the Menudo's Filipino fanbase, the group released In Action, recording songs in both English and Tagalog. After recording 11 albums with the group, Martin left Menudo in July 1989, at age 17, hoping to rest and evaluate his career path. He performed his final show with the group at the same venue where he'd performed his first performance as a member. Martin returned to Puerto Rico to graduate from high school, and 13 days after turning 18, he moved to New York City to celebrate his financial independence; since he was a minor during his time as a member of Menudo, Martin was not allowed to access his own bank accounts. He was accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, but months before classes began, Martin dropped out and moved to Mexico City to perform in the play Mama Ama el Rock (Mom Loves Rock).
What did he do after that?
A: He developed an interest in philanthropy
Some context: Vieira was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and raised in nearby East Providence, the daughter of Mary Elsie (Rosa), a homemaker, and Edwin Vieira, a medical doctor, both first-generation Portuguese Americans. She is the youngest of four children, with three older brothers. All four of Vieira's grandparents came from the Azores--three from Faial Island, one of the nine islands in the archipelago. The family name
Vieira became the first host of the American syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on September 16, 2002; prior to that, American audiences had known it as a primetime show on ABC hosted by Regis Philbin. Rosie O'Donnell (who would later succeed Vieira on The View) was originally offered to host the syndicated version, but rejected it almost immediately. Vieira won two Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host for her hosting duties on Millionaire (one in 2005, the other in 2009); as such, she is the second woman ever to win an Emmy Award in this category (after Betty White for Just Men! in 1983), and the first to win multiple times. In addition to hosting the show, Vieira also served as its co-executive producer, a title that she would hold from 2005 until her departure from the show. ABC originally offered Vieira hosting duties on the syndicated Millionaire to sweeten one of her re-negotiations for The View. When the show was honored by GSN on its 2007 Gameshow Hall of Fame special, one of the show's executive producers, Leigh Hampton, said that when the syndicated version was being developed, the production team felt that it was not feasible for Philbin to continue hosting, as the show recorded four episodes in a single day, and that the team was looking for qualities in a new host: it had to be somebody who would love the contestants and be willing to root for them. After O'Donnell declined the opportunity to host the syndicated version, Vieira was the one that the team settled on, because she had the above-mentioned qualities. On the special, Vieira herself gave the following explanation for why she decided to host the syndicated Millionaire: I did the show because I fell in love with the show, and really, first and foremost, as a parent, [I feel that] there aren't that many shows on television that you can watch as a family. And when [the U.S. version's executive producer] Michael Davies approached me and said, "Would you be interested in hosting the syndicated version?", I said, "Just point me toward the contract! I am so there!" Prior to hosting the syndicated version of Millionaire, Vieira was a celebrity contestant in a special tournament on the third season of the original primetime version, winning $250,000 for her selected charitable organization, the Windows of Hope Family Relief Fund. Seven and three-quarter years later, she would even turn the tables on Philbin himself with her surprise appearance on the finale of the show's 10th anniversary primetime revival on August 23, 2009--hosting its final segment while giving him the opportunity to answer one question in order to win $50,000 for his selected organization, Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx. On January 10, 2013, Vieira announced that after eleven seasons with the syndicated Millionaire, throughout which she had hosted more than 1,800 episodes and offered a vast multitude of contestants a combined total of over $70,000,000, she would be leaving the show as part of an effort to focus on other projects in her career. She finalized taping of her last episodes with the show in November 2012.
How did she get the spot on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
A:
Vieira became the first host of the American syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on September 16, 2002;