Piper Perabo

Piper Lisa Perabo, born October 31, 1976 is a Golden Globe Award nominated American stage, film and television actress.

Career

In 2000, Perabo was cast in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, as FBI agent Karen Sympathy. Her next film role was in Coyote Ugly as Violet 'Jersey' Sanford, for which she won an MTV Movie Award for Best Music Moment for "One Way or Another".

In 2001, Perabo starred in an independent Canadian movie called Lost and Delirious, playing a boarding school student who falls in love with a female classmate. The next year, she starred as a French exchange student in Slap Her... She's French, which was shelved in North America for two years, then released under the new title She Gets What She Wants. The film was released under its original title in Europe. In 2003, she had a role as the eldest Baker child, Nora, in Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), a role she reprised in the film's 2005 sequel.

Her other films include The I Inside (2003), Perfect Opposites (2004), George and the Dragon (2004), The Cave (2005), Imagine Me & You (2005), Edison (2005), The Prestige (2006), and Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008). She appeared as a nutritionist on the Fox TV show House.

In 2009, Perabo made her Broadway debut in the Neil LaBute play Reasons to Be Pretty. In June 2009, Perabo was cast as the lead character, CIA officer Annie Walker, in the television spy series Covert Affairs on the USA Network.

On August 20, 2010, Perabo was injured filming an episode of Covert Affairs. After the finale of the first season it was announced that the second season will begin in summer of 2011. For her work on Covert Affairs, she received a nomination for the 2010 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama.

Early life

Perabo was born in Dallas, Texas and grew up in Toms River, New Jersey, the daughter of Mary Charlotte (née Ulland), a physical therapist, and George William Perabo, a poetry professor at Ocean County College. Piper is of Portuguese and Norwegian descent. Her parents named her after actress Piper Laurie. She has two brothers: Noah (born May 1979), and Adam (born August 1981), and graduated from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

Duggar family show

19 Kids and Counting, formerly 17 Kids and Counting and 18 Kids and Counting,  is an American reality television show that airs on TLC. The show is about the Duggar family, which consists of parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their 19 children, nine girls and ten boys (including two sets of fraternal twins), who all have names beginning with the letter "J". The Duggars are conservative Christians.

Family

Parents

James Robert "Jim Bob" Duggar - born July 18, 1965 (age 45)

Michelle Annette Duggar (née Ruark) - born September 13, 1966 (age 44)

Children

Name Date of Birth Notes

1 Joshua James "Josh" March 3, 1988 (age 23)

2 Jana Marie January 12, 1990 (age 21) Birth via C-section

3 John-David

4 Jill Michelle May 17, 1991 (age 20)

5 Jessa Lauren November 4, 1992 (age 18)

6 Jinger Nicole December 21, 1993 (age 17)

7 Joseph Garrett January 20, 1995 (age 16)

8 Josiah Matthew August 28, 1996 (age 14)

9 Joy-Anna October 28, 1997 (age 13)

10 Jedidiah Robert December 30, 1998 (age 12)

11 Jeremiah Robert

12 Jason Michael April 21, 2000 (age 11)

13 James Andrew July 7, 2001 (age 9)

14 Justin Samuel November 15, 2002 (age 8)

15 Jackson Levi May 23, 2004 (age 7) Birth via C-section, featured in a Discovery Health special

16 Johannah Faith October 11, 2005 (age 5) Birth featured in a Discovery Health special

17 Jennifer Danielle August 2, 2007 (age 3) Birth featured in a Discovery Health special

18 Jordyn-Grace Makiya December 18, 2008 (2 years 5 months) Birth via C-section

19 Josie Brooklyn December 10, 2009 (1 year 5 months) Birth via emergency C-section, featured in a TLC special

Other family members

Jimmy Lee "J.L." Duggar (February 3, 1936 – February 9, 2009 (aged 73)) – Jim Bob's father

Mary Duggar (born May 26, 1941 (age 70)) – Jim Bob's mother

Deanna Jordan (née Duggar) – Jim Bob's sister (and Amy's mother); married to Terry Jordan; a former actor and singer

Amy Rachelle Jordan (born September 30, 1986 (age 24)) – Jim Bob's niece (though she respects Jim Bob and Michelle's right to have and raise their large family, she openly admits that she has different views on life in several episodes); a country singer (sang "Amazing Grace" during the closing credits in the episode about her grandfather's death)

Anna Renée Duggar (née Keller) (born June 23, 1988 (age 22)) – Josh's wife; grew up in Putnam County, Florida; the fifth of eight children

Mackynzie Renée Duggar (born October 8, 2009 (1 year 8 months) – Josh and Anna's first child

Garrett Floyde Ruark (December 7, 1924 – June 18, 2010 (aged 85)) – Michelle's father (only appeared in one episode); his wife Ethel passed away in 1991.

Special guest appearances

Say Yes to the Dress October 2009 – The family helps Michelle pick out her dress for her vow renewal

The Today Show (NBC, numerous appearances between 2007 and 2011)

Larry King Live February 19, 2009 & April 13, 2009 (CNN)

The View (ABC)

Fox & Friends 2007 (Fox News Channel)

Huckabee August 1, 2009 (Fox News Channel)

CNN's American Morning 2008 & 2009

The Early Show 2006-2008 (CBS)

Overview

The family (who live in Tontitown, Arkansas) originally appeared in several TLC and Discovery Health one-hour specials, most of which focused on four of Michelle's last five deliveries.

Jim Bob has one older sister, Deanna, whose daughter Amy occasionally appears on the show. Jim Bob and Michelle first met when Michelle experienced a religious conversion and Jim Bob, along with another church member, were sent for follow-up visits. They were married on July 21, 1984.

The Duggars elected to delay having children and practiced birth control. It was four years before Josh, their eldest child, was born. They then resumed using birth control; despite precautions, Michelle conceived again but suffered a miscarriage. Believing the miscarriage was due to the contraceptive, the Duggars quit birth control. As they explain, they decided to allow God to determine the number of children they would have. Shortly thereafter, Michelle became pregnant again, this time with her first set of twins, Jana and John-David. Thereafter, approximately every year and a half, Michelle gave birth.

The Duggars are conservative Baptists, and due to their fundamentalist biblical beliefs, they practice the following: The only television the family watches is Christian programming on DVDs, and Internet use is restricted. The male family members keep their hair cut short (by cutting their own hair to save money), while the females keep their hair long. The children are home-schooled using a mix of materials, including those of Switched On Schoolhouse, IBLP, and Accelerated Christian Education (ACE). The children are discouraged from dating, but rather undergo courtship, wherein all meetings between a couple include a chaperone, and the couple abstains from physical contact and intimacy until marriage—except for holding hands and Christian side hugging. And the young man seeks permission from the young woman's father to become engaged.

The Duggars raise their children using a buddy system, wherein an older sibling is assigned to a younger sibling and assists in their primary care. According to Michelle, "They help them with their little phonics lessons and games during the day and help them practice their music lessons. They will play with them or help them pick out the color of their outfit that day and just all of those types of things. In 2004, Michelle Duggar won the "Young Mother of the Year Award" in Arkansas, which is sponsored by American Mothers Incorporated.

Jim Bob served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1999 to 2002. The Duggars' income is derived from the commercial properties they own. They live debt-free, which Jim Bob has said is "the fruit of Jim Sammons' Financial Freedom Seminar" he attended years ago (Sammons' Seminar is endorsed by IBLP). Their 650 square meter (7,000 square foot) house was built by the family itself over the course of three years with minimal assistance from friends, primarily in the form of instruction. The home was completed on January 20, 2006. The painting, decorating, furnishings, appliances, and other finishing touches, such as a stocked pantry, were provided by Discovery Networks and corporate sponsors as part of the one-hour television special. The work on and completion of the house were the focus of a one-hour television special entitled 16 Children and Moving In.

The Voice (U.S. TV series)

The Voice is an American reality talent show that premiered on April 26, 2011 on the NBC television network. Based on the reality singing competition The Voice of Holland, the series was created by Dutch television producer John de Mol and Dutch singer Roel van Velzen.  The Voice immediately proved to be a hit for NBC and in mid-May, it was confirmed that the network had renewed the show for a second season.

Auditions

Contestant auditions were held in eight cities across the United States between mid-January and mid-February 2011: Chicago, New York, Miami, Nashville, Minneapolis, Austin, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Contestants were also allowed to submit online applications, which ended on March 1, 2011. For the online auditions, contestants were required to sing one of ten preselected songs.

Contestants on The Voice as revealed by airing of promotion advertisements or shows were Javier Colon, Frenchie Davis, Nakia, Lukas Rossi, Cherie Oakley and Dia Frampton.

Development and production

In mid-December 2010, NBC announced its intention to bring an adaptation of The Voice of Holland to the United States. The series was originally named The Voice of America, but when audition locations were announced a few days later, the title had already been shortened to The Voice.  In late February 2011, NBC began announcements of the coaches/judges for the series. First to sign on were Cee Lo Green and Adam Levine (frontman for Maroon 5). Christina Aguilera came on board in early March. Blake Shelton was added as the final judge a few days later. Carson Daly is the show's host. Alison Haislip was announced as the show's "backstage online and social media correspondent".

Promotion and marketing

NBC heavily promoted the program's launch during many of its programs, including: The Celebrity Apprentice, The Biggest Loser, and 30 Rock.

Overview and Format

The series is part of the The Voice franchise and is based on a similar competition format in The Netherlands entitled The Voice of Holland won by martial arts fighter Ben Saunders. The show is hosted by Carson Daly, with Alison Haislip serving as the backstage and social networking correspondent. The winner will receive $100,000 and a record deal with Universal Republic. Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Maroon 5 lead vocalist Adam Levine, and Blake Shelton are the judges and vocal coaches. As the competition progressed, Aguilera, Green, Levine, and Shelton were joined by singers Reba McEntire, Monica, and Sia Furler, and music producer Adam Blackstone. Furler coached alongside Aguilera, Maroon 5 music director Blackstone with Levine, Monica with Green, and McEntire with Shelton.

The series consists of three phases: a blind audition, a battle phase, and live performance shows. Four judges/coaches, all famous musicians, will choose teams of contestants through a blind audition process. Each judge has the length of the auditioner's performance (about one minute) to decide if he or she wants that singer on his or her team; if two or more judges want the same singer (as happened with all but one singer in the premiere episode), then the singer gets the final choice of coach.

Each team of singers will be mentored and developed by their coach. In the second stage, coaches will have two of their team members battle against each other by singing the same song, with the coach choosing which team member to advance. In the final phase, the remaining contestants will compete against each other in live broadcasts. The television audience will help to decide who moves on. When one team member remains for each coach, the contestants will compete against each other in the finale.