Free Republic

47 Year old Susan Boyle wows the judges with her performance in the auditions for Britains Got Talent, singing I dreamed a dream from Les Miserables.

WASHINGTON, April 14, 2009 – A former Marine sergeant turned country-music artist is using his newfound fame to urge Americans to do more to support the men and women returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Stephen Cochran, former Marine sergeant turned country-music artist, is using his newfound fame to urge Americans to do more to support the men and women returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Having toured with major acts, including Toby Keith and Alabama frontman Randy Owen, and landing three of his own songs on...

Singer-songwriter Lloyd Marcus at the piano with songwriter Tom Snow at Snow's home in Montecito, California. Snow and his wife Mary Belle hosted a cocktail party honoring Lloyd last Friday night. He's an overnight sensation! How often have you heard that said of entertainment "stars" who seemingly appear on the scene in a flash of publicity and buzz. A newly discovered talent! A star! An overnight sensation! What most folks don't realize is the time, sacrifice and effort that has gone into becoming "an overnight sensation". A good example of that is our friend Lloyd Marcus, whose song "The American...

12/9/2008 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- The 2008 "Red, White and Air Force Blue Christmas" radio special featuring country music's multi-award winning artist Faith Hill is arriving this week at more than 3,300 country music radio stations across the nation. In its 14th year, the radio special includes a selection of holiday classics from Mrs. Hill. Produced and marketed by the Air Force Recruiting Service's Strategic Communications Division, the one-hour show also features an in-depth interview with the artist who reminds servicemembers serving away from home that they are not forgotten. "To all of the men and...

Jerry Reed, the country and western star who was also world famous for his role in the 'Smokey and the Bandit' films, has died. He was 71. Reuters reports that Reed passed away on Monday from complications arising from emphysema. Known as 'The Guitar Man', Grammy winner Reed made his first record aged 18 and went on to release over 40 albums. Reed wrote for Johnny Cash and Brenda Lee and two of his early songs, 'US Male' and 'Guitar Man', were recorded by Elvis Presley with Reed playing on the studio versions.

BAGHDAD, Aug. 28, 2008 – He began his singing career by singing gospel music at his local church in Indianapolis when he was only 4 years old. Now, at 21, he finds himself on center stage, showing off his vocal abilities. “It is just something I love to do,” said Sgt. Victor Cole, who enlisted in the Army as a human resources specialist in 2005. “Singing and writing music calms me down, and is just something I do that gets my mind off of the everyday stresses of being deployed.” Since arriving in Iraq in December 2007 with Headquarters...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Vinny Appice, Anita Baker, Jello Biafra, Andrea Bocelli, Simon LeBon, Kate Bush, Belinda Carlisle, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shaun Cassidy, Darby Crash, Randy DeBarge, Bruce Dickinson, Thomas Dolby, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Siobhan Fahey, Neil Finn, Bela Fleck, Martin Fry, Lisa Germano, Grandmaster Flash, Jools Holland, Ice-T, Alan Jackson, Michael Jackson, Tony James, Joan Jett, Al Jourgensen, Nik Kershaw, Sammy Kershaw, Limahl, Madonna, Bird McIntyre, Mike Mills, Thurston Moore, Alannah Miles, Gary Numan, Michael Penn, Vicki Peterson, Prince, Stacey Q, Will Sergeant, Nikki Sixx, David Sylvian, Toyah, Tanya Tucker, Paul Weller, Jane Wiedlin, Jah Wobble.

Peter Singer is a calm, lucid and able debater, and our debate at Biola University in Los Angeles on April 25 was lively and hard-fought. Not for nothing is Singer considered a world-class philosopher and advocate. To watch the debate go to dineshdsouza.com and click on my AOL blog. Singer praised me for not simply making assertions of faith or hurling Bible passages at him but rather for using reason and argument to make my case . And I complimented Singer for stepping, so to speak, into the lion's den. (Biola actually stands for Bible Institute of Los Angeles.) Unlike...

We just love it when the Washington Post gets all [expletive] on us, particularly in a Hillary Clinton story: A more explosive example of the stress came a few days later. Phil Singer, the campaign’s deputy communications director, emerged from a meeting on Feb. 11 and without explanation started angrily cursing the war room. “[Expletive] all of you,” he shouted, according to a witness, then stormed out and did not return for several days. Penn was growing increasingly aggravated by what he saw as an untenable management structure, which another aide described as an “oligarchy at the top.” Penn had...

TIJUANA, Mexico (Reuters) - Drug hitmen have killed a popular Mexican singer along with his manager and assistant near the U.S. border, authorities said on Wednesday, the latest murder among musicians who sing "narcocorrido" ballads glorifying drug traffickers. The body of Jesus Rey David Alfaro, known as "The Little Rooster," was one of six that turned up tortured, murdered and pinned with threatening messages for Mexico's army last week in the border town of Tijuana near San Diego. "We believe Alfaro had links to the Arellano Felix cartel," said an official with the Baja California state attorney general's office who...

Kuala Lumpur - A popular rock singer has apologised for sparking an uproar in Muslim-majority Malaysia by baring his chest during a live TV concert and will do community service to atone for the stunt, his record company said on Wednesday. Faizal Tahir - one of Malaysia's most exuberant stage performers - stripped off his jacket, undershirt and belt and flung them into the audience at a Kuala Lumpur concert on Sunday. The moves revealed a bright red Superman logo painted on his chest. Television network 8TV said in a statement it was "utterly shocked and caught by surprise" by...

The Michael Vick dogfighting scandal is morphing into a broader NFL dogfighting scandal, as other NFL players also appear to be involved in this very weird pastime. But as animal-rights groups get more aggressive in their accusations and demands, the whole scene is getting stranger. And the closer you look, the more you see the deep conflicts in core values that fracture our society. among PETA's prohibitions, is the use of animal skins. The ball, as in football, is an inflated leather object endearingly called the "pigskin." Why does PETA oppose existing NFL conduct policy, and not football itself? J.C....

WASHINGTON, June 8, 2007 – After having breakfast with some of her fans in Nashville, Tenn., yesterday, country music singer LeAnn Rimes, as one of her songs says, had absolutely “Nothin’ Better to Do” than present a handicap-accessible van to a severely injured veteran. LeAnn Rimes hands the keys to a brand new Chevrolet to Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Peter Reid on June 7, 2007, in Nashville, Tenn. His wife, Michele Reid, right, and his full-time caregiver, Brian Kroen, look on. Chevrolet and Rimes teamed up at the Country Music Association Music Festival to present the vehicle to...

Life for Kellie Pickler has definitely changed since she competed on "American Idol" last year. The beauty school dropout from Albemarle has moved to Nashville, Tenn.; released an album; and was nominated for a new female vocalist award at the Academy of Country Music Awards. And those plastic surgery rumors? "Oh, my boobs? I don't care," the 20-year-old singer told WCNC-TV in Charlotte recently. "You know what? The most important thing is you're happy with what you see when you look in the mirror." Pickler, who has been touring with Brad Paisley, said she's happy with herself and believes what's...

Here are some outrageous and racist comments by environmentalists. These are compiled and documented in my book Eco-Freaks: Environmentalism Is Hazardous to Your Health. John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club: Muir said American Indians are “mostly ugly, and some of them altogether hideous.” They “seemed to have no right place in the landscape,” he continued. Muir is still honored without qualification on the Sierra Club web site, which proclaims, “John Muir is as relevant today as he was over 100 years ago.” Paul Ehrlich, influential “overpopulation” guru and professor of population studies at Stanford University: In his best-selling book,...

3/20/2007 - AUSTIN, Texas (AFNEWS) -- The air crackles with anticipation, as he makes his first move. G,C,C,G,C,C,D,G. The letters are the opening chords of country music artist Charlie Robison's song, "My Hometown," one of the songs he will perform during an Armed Forces Entertainment tour March 18 to 27 to Kuwait and Iraq. He feels the song is perfect for the audience he will be seeing overseas since they all have many different hometowns of their own. Fellow country star Kevin Fowler will also perform during the tour. Mr. Robison first gained an appreciation of the military by watching...

Singer Barbara McNair, who became a film and television star in an era when such opportunities were opening up for black women, has died, her sister said. She was 72. McNair died Sunday after a battle with throat cancer in Los Angeles, sister Jacqueline Gaither said. "She was very family oriented," Gaither said. "She was more than just a star or a famous personality. She was a person of her own." McNair made her Hollywood acting debut in 1968 in the film, "If He Hollers, Let Him Go." She later starred opposite Sydney Poitier in "They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!"...

LOS ANGELES — The California Highway Patrol recommended Monday that actress-singer Brandy be charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in a freeway crash that killed a woman motorist last month, a city attorney's spokesman said. The CHP referred the matter to the city attorney's office for review, said spokesman Nick Velasquez. "The office is currently reviewing the case and determining whether the evidence warrants the filing of a misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter," Velasquez said. A message seeking comment from Brandy's publicist, Courtney Barnes, was not immediately returned. Brandy, whose real name is Brandy Norwood, has publicly expressed condolences to the...

An Eritrean Christian gospel singer, detained by the authorities without charge for more than two years, has been freed, Amnesty International says. Helen Berhane was among about 2,000 members of illegal Evangelical church groups in Eritrea, who Amnesty says have been arrested in recent years. She was reportedly imprisoned inside a metal shipping container and beaten in an effort to make her recant her faith. But Eritrean Foreign Minister Ali Abdu denies all knowledge of her case. More than 90% of Eritreans belong to one of four recognised religions - Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran Churches and Islam. Ms Berhane, a...

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