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HelenaMaria is an American indie pop-rock group from New Jersey composed of identical twins Helena and Maria Mehalis.
Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Helena and Maria grew up in a self described "free-spirited" environment promoting artistic expression. Since the age of 4 they took classical piano lessons and sang in their church choir. Also at the age of 4 they landed their first national commercial, later becoming members of the Screen Actors Guild. They were home-schooled until 7th grade. In their sophomore year in high school they learned to play the guitar, and songwriting soon followed. They later began performing at venues as much as possible all over New Jersey, New York City, and Pennsylvania.
Helena and Maria are identical twins, however Helena is right-handed and plays guitar fretting on the left hand and strumming on the right, while Maria is left-handed and plays it the opposite.
Helena and Maria write songs to reflect their life experiences. Maria explains: “Life experiences inspire me, but it’s also observations of what others are going through, which could be completely irrelevant to my life, that somehow affect me, as well as my sister.”
Musically their skills on the piano and guitar are nearly identical, but they maintain that their songwriting style and vocals are slightly different. [1] [2]
In 2006, Helena and Maria recorded their first album, Serene, consisting of all original material.
Throughout 2009 and 2010, HelenaMaria have released cover versions and videos of popular songs for release on iTunes MP3 download and for viewing on YouTube. [3] One of these videos to date has garnered attention from television and radio personality Ryan Seacrest. [4]
HelenaMaria tried out for American Idol but were told to instead stick together as a duo by an executive producer of the show. [5]
In 2009, Helena and Maria appeared together as the actresses on Season 3 of Gossip Girl, beginning in episode 4, "Dan de Fleurette", which originally aired on October 5, 2009. They subsequently made at least 2 other small appearances on the show. [6]
In May 2010, HelenaMaria's song for a Folgers coffee contest was selected as a finalist, and they got to appear in front of and meet American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi. [7]
On August 18, 2010, television and radio personality Ryan Seacrest posted a HelenaMaria video on his blog [4] asking his audience if HelenaMaria's cover of Eminem and Rihanna's "Love The Way You Lie" was better than the original. Saying he "got some really good feedback" on the video, Ryan Seacrest invited HelenaMaria onto his morning radio show. On August 23, 2010, HelenaMaria performed the song live on his show. [5] Maria appeared on Season 6 of How I Met Your Mother.
The MTV Video Music Awards is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards, the annual MTV Video Music Awards ceremony has often been called the "Super Bowl for youth", an acknowledgment of the VMA ceremony's ability to draw millions of youth from teens to 20-somethings each year. By 2001, the VMA had become a coveted award.
The MTV Europe Music Awards are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an alternative to the MTV Video Music Awards, which are hosted annually in the United States. The Europe Music Awards are held every year in a different country; it has been hosted mostly in the United Kingdom. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and the presentation of those awards that have a more popular interest.
Anthony Mandler is an American film director, music video director, television commercial director and photographer. As a music video director, his most notable and frequent collaborator is Rihanna. The two have worked on sixteen music videos together throughout her career, beginning with "Unfaithful" in 2006 and most recently "Diamonds" in 2012. He has also written and directed music videos for many other prominent artists including the Spice Girls, Jay Z, Beyoncé, Eminem, Usher, Shakira, Taylor Swift, The Killers, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, Christina Aguilera, 50 Cent, Ne-Yo, Nicki Minaj, Drake, Snoop Dogg, Lenny Kravitz, Cheryl Cole, M.I.A., Mary J. Blige, fun. and Lana Del Rey. Frank Gatson Jr. has choreographed many videos for Anthony Mandler including Beyonce and Rihanna clips.
Barbadian singer Rihanna has released four video albums and appeared in 62 music videos, 12 films, 13 television programs, and several television commercials. In 2005, Rihanna signed a recording contract with Def Jam Recordings and released her debut single "Pon de Replay", taken from her first studio album Music of the Sun (2005). Like its lyrical theme, the music video for the song was inspired by disco and dance; it was directed by Little X. Three separate videos were released for "SOS", the lead single from her second studio album A Girl like Me (2006), all of which contained various dance sequences. The same year, American director Anthony Mandler directed the accompanying music video for the second single "Unfaithful", which featured Rihanna in a dangerous love triangle with her lover and her husband. "Unfaithful" was Rihanna's first collaboration with Mandler; they later worked together regularly. Also in 2006, Rihanna played herself in the third installment of the Bring It On film series, entitled Bring It On: All or Nothing.
This topic covers notable events and articles related to 2009 in music.
"You Belong with Me" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, taken from her second studio album Fearless (2008). Swift wrote the song with Liz Rose and produced it with Nathan Chapman. Inspired by a phone call between a male friend of hers and his girlfriend that she overheard, the lyrics are about an insecure protagonist's unrequited love for an out-of-reach interest. A country pop and power pop song, "You Belong with Me" features a banjo-led production incorporating new wave electric guitars in the mix. Big Machine Records released the song as the third single from Fearless on April 20, 2009.
Vevo is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, digital video recorders, digital media players and streaming television services. The service once offered a consumer mobile and tablet app; however this was shut down in May 2018 to allow the service to focus on its other platforms.
The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, honoring the best music videos from the previous year between June 2008 to June 2009, were presented on September 13, 2009, at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and televised by MTV. The ceremony was hosted by Russell Brand.
"Party in the U.S.A." is a song by American singer Miley Cyrus from her first extended play (EP) The Time of Our Lives (2009). It was released on August 4, 2009, by Hollywood Records as the lead single from the project. The song was written and produced by Dr. Luke, with additional songwriting provided by Jessie J and Claude Kelly. "Party in the U.S.A." was originally intended for Jessie J, but after deciding it was not edgy enough for her, they passed it to Cyrus and adjusted the lyrics to fit her persona. Not completely identifying with "Party in the U.S.A.", Cyrus chose it for The Time of Our Lives partially due to a need for tracks. It is a pop song, with lyrics reflecting her relocating from Nashville, Tennessee, to Hollywood, California. This is one of four collaborations between Cyrus and Dr. Luke, with the EP title track "The Time of Our Lives", will.i.am's "Fall Down" and "Wrecking Ball" following in 2013.
"Love the Way You Lie" is a song by American rapper Eminem featuring Barbadian singer Rihanna from Eminem's seventh studio album Recovery (2010). The singer and songwriter Skylar Grey wrote and recorded a demo of the song alongside the producer Alex da Kid when she felt she was in an abusive romantic relationship with the music industry. Eminem wrote the verses and chose Rihanna to sing the chorus, resulting in a collaboration influenced by their past experiences in difficult relationships. Recording sessions were held in Ferndale, Michigan, and Dublin, Ireland. Backed by guitar, piano and violin, the track is a midtempo hip-hop ballad with a pop refrain, sung by Rihanna, and describes two lovers who refuse to separate despite being in a dangerous abusive relationship.
"Rockstar 101" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna from her fourth studio album, Rated R (2009). The song features the British-American guitarist Slash of the rock group Guns N' Roses. It was released on May 18, 2010, as the fifth single from the album. Rihanna wrote the song in collaboration with the producers The-Dream and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart; vocal production was carried out by Makeba Riddick. The album version is a grunge-crunk and hip hop song, while the remix EP's consist of dance, dubstep and electronic music adaptations, some of which were remixed by Dave Audé and Mark Picchiotti.
The 2010 MTV Europe Music Awards took place on 7 November 2010 at Caja Mágica in Madrid, Spain. The awards ceremony was presented by Eva Longoria and Justin Bieber was the official MTV EMA 2010 digital host. Nominations were announced on 20 September. Lady Gaga topped the list of nominations with ten, followed by Katy Perry with five, Eminem with four and Thirty Seconds to Mars & Muse with three apiece.
The 2011 MTV Video Music Awards took place on August 28, at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. On July 20, the nominees were announced. Katy Perry received the most nominations this year at ten, followed by Adele, and Kanye West, who were both tied at seven. A Britney Spears tribute was held, consisting of adult and children dancers alike, they wore costumes based on the music videos of Spears. Hamish Hamilton directed the show.
The 2013 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 25, 2013, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Marking the 30th installment of the award show, they were the first to be held in New York City not to use a venue within the borough of Manhattan. Nominations were announced on July 17, 2013. Leading the nominees were Justin Timberlake and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with six, followed by Bruno Mars, Miley Cyrus, and Robin Thicke with four. Pop singer Justin Timberlake was the big winner on the night with four awards, including Video of the Year for "Mirrors" and the Michael Jackson Vanguard Award. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift were also among the winners of the night. The ceremony drew a total of 10.1 million viewers.
The 2014 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 24, 2014 at The Forum in Inglewood, California. It was the 31st annual MTV Video Music Awards. Beyoncé and Iggy Azalea led the nominees with eight nominations each, while Eminem followed them with seven. Beyoncé received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, following a 16-minute medley of her self-titled fifth studio album. The show had an audience of 8.3 million viewers, while 10.1 million cumulative with the other three Viacom networks that simulcast the presentation.
"We Can't Stop" is a song by American singer Miley Cyrus, from her fourth studio album Bangerz (2013). It was released on June 3, 2013, by RCA Records as the lead single from the album. The song was written and produced by Mike Will Made It, P-Nasty, and Rock City, with additional songwriting provided by Cyrus, Doug E. Fresh, and Slick Rick. "We Can't Stop" is a pop, R&B and electropop song about a house party and recreational drug use.
The Beef Seeds were a British country music and bluegrass band which was an artist collaboration project with Ryde/. Digital Media focusing on digital platforms that has achieved worldwide status and global media recognition. The band hails from Newport, South Wales, it was formed in early 2013, and it records and publishes cover videos on its YouTube channel. The band's line-up consists of Peet "Bongo Peet" Morgan, Becky "Miss Becky" Johnson, Scott "Showman" Bowman, and Adam Beale. The band all live together in the same house with their dog Ninja, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier-Chihuahua cross who is also the mascot of the band making regular appearances in the videos. Instruments used in their songs include the Guitar, Mandolin, Banjo, Double bass, Harmonica, Washboard, and the Double washboard, which band frontman Peet Morgan invented himself.
The 2013 YouTube Music Awards, abbreviated as the YTMA, was the inaugural music award show presented by YouTube. The inaugural award show was held on November 3, 2013, streamed live from Pier 36 in New York City, with additional shows in Seoul, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, and London.
"Can't Remember to Forget You" is a song recorded by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira from her fourth English and overall tenth studio album, Shakira, featuring Barbadian singer Rihanna. Shakira began planning to make new music in 2011; work continued into 2012, at which time she left her previous label Epic Records and joined RCA Records. The song was released as the lead single of the album on 13 January 2014 through RCA Records and Sony Latin Iberia. A solo Spanish-language version of the song, entitled "Nunca Me Acuerdo de Olvidarte", was released on 24 January 2014.
Shakira is the tenth studio album and fourth English album overall by Colombian singer and songwriter Shakira, released on 21 March 2014 by RCA Records. It is her first English-language album since her eighth studio album, She Wolf (2009). Shakira revealed in November 2011 that she had begun work on the album, which continued into 2013. The album was initially set to be released in 2012, but was delayed because of Shakira's pregnancy and scrapped most of those songs and started making new ones. Since starting the album, Shakira departed Epic Records, signed a new management deal with Roc Nation and subsequently signed to Epic's sister label, RCA Records.
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