The Pulitzer Prize is an award administered by Columbia University for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fortune as a newspaper publisher.
Granta is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make real." In 2007, The Observer stated: "In its blend of memoirs and photojournalism, and in its championing of contemporary realist fiction, Granta has its face pressed firmly against the window, determined to witness the world."
Xenomania is an English songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent. Formed by Higgins with his Creative Director Miranda Cooper and Business Director Sarah Stennett of First Access Entertainment, Xenomania has written and produced for artists such as Cher, Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Pet Shop Boys, The Saturdays and Sugababes. In particular, all but one of Girls Aloud's studio albums have been entirely written and produced by Xenomania. Sugababes' "Round Round" and Girls Aloud's "Sound of the Underground" have been credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. Gabriella Cilmi's "Sweet About Me" and Girls Aloud's "The Promise" were named Best Single at the ARIA Music Awards of 2008 and the 2009 BRIT Awards, respectively.
Nicholas Cohen is a British journalist, author and political commentator. He was a columnist for The Observer and is a blogger for The Spectator. Following accusations of sexual harassment, he left The Observer in 2022 and began publishing on the Substack platform.
Drowned in Sound, sometimes abbreviated to DiS, was a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site featured reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums.
The Popjustice £20 Music Prize, also known as the Popjustice Twenty Quid Prize, is an annual prize awarded by music website Popjustice to recognise the best British pop single of the previous year. The prize was conceived by Popjustice founder Peter Robinson in 2003 as a reaction to what he perceived as the pompous and elitist nature of the existing Mercury Prize, which recognises the best album of the previous year, and in particular its exclusion of pop music acts in favour of those from more esoteric genres. The shortlist for the Popjustice prize is announced in September of each year and the winner named the following month, to coincide with the presentation of the Mercury Prize. Popjustice gives a token prize of £20 to the winner of its award, in contrast to the £20,000 given to the winner of the Mercury Prize.
Chemistry is the third studio album by English-Irish girl group Girls Aloud. It was released in the United Kingdom on 5 December 2005 by Polydor Records. After the success of What Will the Neighbours Say?, the album was again entirely produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania. Chemistry is a loose concept album which details celebrity lifestyle and "what it's like to be a twentysomething girl in London." A number of the songs avert the verse-chorus form typical of pop music.
"Wake Me Up" is a song recorded by British girl group Girls Aloud from their second studio album, What Will the Neighbours Say? (2004). It was released by Polydor Records on 21 February 2005, as the fourth and final single from the album. The song had been initially considered as the lead single, however, it was deemed to sound too harsh and the record company did not want to take the risk. The track was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Shawn Lee, Lisa Cowling, Paul Woods and Yusra Maru'e. "Wake Me Up" is a pop rock song composed of a "garage rock guitar riff". It received mixed reviews from music critics. While some described it as predictable, others wrote that it appeared to be an attempt to recapture the sound of some of their previous release. Alex Kapranos, the lead singer of indie rock band Franz Ferdinand, said "Wake Me Up" inspired the band to work with producer Brian Higgins.
"Biology" is a song performed by English-Irish all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their third studio album Chemistry (2005). The progressive pop song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and Higgins' production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. Composed of distinct sections, it avoids the verse-chorus form present in most contemporary pop music. "Biology" was released as a single in November 2005, ahead of the album's release. Following the disappointment of "Long Hot Summer", "Biology" returned Girls Aloud to the top five of the UK Singles Chart and became their tenth top ten hit.
"Something Kinda Ooooh" is a song by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their first greatest hits collection The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits (2006). The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. Inspired by 1980s pop and George Michael, "Something Kinda Ooooh" was released as a single in October 2006. It returned Girls Aloud to the top three of the UK Singles Chart for the first time in two years. It also made Girls Aloud the first British act to debut in the top five on the chart based on legal download sales alone.
Margo Lillian Jefferson is an American writer and academic.
"Call the Shots" is a song by British-Irish girl group Girls Aloud from their fourth studio album, Tangled Up (2007). The song was written by Miranda Cooper, with inspiration from an article about the advance of women in business, and Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Lisa Cowling, and Giselle Somerville also received songwriting credits. Polydor Records originally intended to release it the lead single for The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits (2006); however, "Something Kinda Ooooh" was selected instead. In September 2007, "Call the Shots" leaked online, and on 26 November of the same year, it was released as the second single from Tangled Up through Fascination Records, a week after the album's release.
Stylus Magazine was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog.
The Guardian is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian, before it changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers, The Observer and The Guardian Weekly, The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust Limited. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of The Guardian free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for The Guardian the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in its journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK.
Out of Control is the fifth and final studio album by English-Irish girl group Girls Aloud, released on 31 October 2008 in Ireland and on 3 November 2008 in the UK by Fascination Records. Like their previous albums, it was crafted by the production team of Brian Higgins and Xenomania. Out of Control builds on the sound of Girls Aloud's previous albums and represents a move into the mainstream for the group.
"The Loving Kind" is a song by English-Irish girl group Girls Aloud, taken from their fifth studio album Out of Control (2008). The song was written by Pet Shop Boys, Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. Described as a "synth-pop ballad", "The Loving Kind" was originally written for inclusion on Pet Shop Boys' Yes (2009) before being given to Girls Aloud. Upon its release in January 2009, "The Loving Kind" peaked at number ten on the UK Singles Chart, thereby continuing their six-year streak of top-ten hits.
James Desborough is a show business writer, media commentator and PR consultant who works in Los Angeles, New York and London.
Jude Rogers is a Welsh journalist, lecturer, arts critic and broadcaster. She is a music critic for The Guardian and also regularly writes features and articles for The Observer, New Statesman and women's magazines such as Red. Her articles have also been published by The Times and by BBC Music and she broadcasts on BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4 and BBC 6 Music. She is a senior lecturer in journalism at London Metropolitan University.
