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Portishead (band)

2008-08-03T18:03:18Z

72.219.236.199: /* Portishead (1997) */

{{Otheruses4|the musical group|the town|Portishead, Somerset}}
{{Infobox musical artist
|Name = Portishead
|Img = Portishead Wolverhampton 20080413-1.jpg|300px
|Img_capt = Portishead playing live at [[Wolverhampton Civic Hall]], 13 April 2008
|Background = group_or_band
|Birth_name =
|Alias =
|Born =
|Died =
|Origin = [[Bristol]], [[England]]
|Instrument =
|Genre = [[Downtempo]] [[Art rock]] [[Electronic music|Electronic]] [[Experimental Music]] [[Trip hop]]
|Occupation =
|Years_active = 1991 – present
|Label = [[Island Records]]
|Associated_acts =
|URL = [http://www.portishead.co.uk/ Official Site]
|Current_members = [[Beth Gibbons]] [[Geoff Barrow]] [[Adrian Utley]] 
|Past_members =
}}

'''Portishead''' ({{IPA2|pɔːtɪsˈhɛd}}) are a [[United Kingdom|British]] musical group from [[Bristol]]. They are mainly associated with the [[Electronic]] and [[Trip hop]] genres, although they have expressed distaste for the latter tag. The band is named after the nearby town of [[Portishead, Somerset|the same name]], {{convert|13|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} west of [[Bristol]].<ref>[http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.46513,-2.684784&spn=0.096249,0.251999&z=12 Portishead and Bristol] on [[Google Maps]]</ref>

==History==
The band was formed in Bristol in 1991, by [[Geoff Barrow]], [[Beth Gibbons]] and [[Adrian Utley]]. Previously, Barrow had been working as a tape operator (including work with [[Massive Attack]] and [[Tricky]])<ref>[http://kotinetti.suomi.net/heikki.hietala/geoff.htm Geoff Barrow bio] <nowiki>[P]</nowiki> fansite, Retrieved on [[2008-03-09]]</ref>, Gibbons was singing in pubs, and Utley had played jazz guitar for [[Big John Patton]] and [[The Jazz Messengers]].<ref>[http://music.yahoo.com/ar-260850-bio--Portishead Portishead bio] Yahoo! Music, Retrieved on [[2008-03-09]]</ref> The trio created the short film ''[[To Kill a Dead Man]]'', which was heavily inspired by [[espionage]] films, and its accompanying soundtrack persuaded [[Go! Beat Records]] to sign the band.<ref name="amg">[http://wm10.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gxfwxqr5ldje~T1 Biography] All Music Guide, Retrieved on [[2007-12-28]]</ref><ref>{{cite book
|last=Reynolds
|first=Simon
|authorlink=Simon Reynolds
|title=Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture
|publisher=Little, Brown and Co.
|date=1998
|pages=320
}}</ref>

===''Dummy'' (1994)===

{{Sound sample box align right|Music sample:}}
{{Listen|filename=Sour Times.ogg|title="Sour Times"|description=From ''[[Dummy (album)|Dummy]]'' ([[1994]])|format=[[Ogg]]}}
{{sample box end}}
Portishead's first album, ''[[Dummy (album)|Dummy]]'', was released in [[1994]] and the first single was "Numb." Despite the band's aversion to press coverage, the album was successful in both [[Europe]] and the [[United States]] (where it sold more than 150,000 copies even before the band toured there).<ref name="amg" />
''Dummy'' spawned three singles, "[[Numb (Portishead song)|Numb]]", "[[Glory Box (Portishead song)|Glory Box]]" (which was used in the 1996 film ''[[When the Cat's Away]]'') and "[[Sour Times]]", and went on to win the prestigious [[Mercury Music Prize]] in 1995.<ref>The song "Roads," was also made a showing for both the Tank Girl movie and it's soundtrack album, which was released on March 28, 1995 on Warner Bros./Elektra Records.

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456975/html/nn1page5.stm Mercury Music Prize Winners] BBC Online, Retrieved on [[2007-12-28]]</ref>

===''Portishead'' (1997)===
After their initial success, Portishead withdrew from the spotlight for three years until their self-titled second album, ''[[Portishead (album)|Portishead]]'', was released in [[1997 in music|1997]]. The album's sound differed from ''Dummy'', the main differences being that much of the music was composed and recorded by the band, then pressed to vinyl.{{Fact|date=July 2008}} This created a grainy, harsher sound. Three singles, "[[All Mine]]", "[[Over (Portishead song)|Over]]" and "[[Only You]]" were released, the first one achieving a Top 10 placing in the UK.

===''Roseland NYC Live'' (1998)===
In 1997, the band performed a one-off show with strings by the [[New York Philharmonic]] orchestra<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/dvd/portishead/roseland_new_york/index.html|title=Review of ''PNYC''|work=Ultimate Guitar|accessdate=2008-01-05}}</ref> at [[Roseland Ballroom]] in [[New York City|New York]]. A [[Roseland NYC Live|live album]] primarily featuring these new [[orchestra]]l arrangements of the group's songs was released in [[1998 in music|1998]]. There was also a long-form VHS video of the performance, and a DVD followed in 2002, with substantial extra material including many early videos.

===Hiatus (1999–2005)===
For the next few years, the band members concentrated on solo and other pursuits, until in February 2005, the band appeared live for the first time in seven years at the Tsunami Benefit Concert in Bristol.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2005/02/18/tsunami_views_feature.shtml Tsunami benefit concert review] BBC Music, Retrieved on [[2008-01-05]]</ref> Around that time Barrow revealed that the band was in the process of writing its third album. In August 2006, the band posted two new tracks on its [[MySpace]] page--described by Barrow as "doodles".<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1859997,00.html Quote from Geoff Barrow] ''[[The Guardian]]'' [[29 August]] [[2006]], Retrieved on [[2007-12-28]]</ref>
Around the same time, Portishead covered [[Serge Gainsbourg]]'s "Un Jour Comme un Autre (Requiem for Anna)" on the tribute album ''[[Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited]]''.

===''Third'' (2008)===
On [[October 2]], [[2007]], Portishead stated that the new album, titled ''[[Third (Portishead album)|Third]]'', had been mixed and was nearly complete, and was due for release in early April 2008. The release date was later pushed back to [[April 28]]. On December 8-9, 2007, the band curated the [[All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)|All Tomorrow's Parties]] festival in [[Minehead]], England. The festival featured their first full live sets in nearly 10 years.<ref>[http://strangeglue.com/news/atp-the-nightmare-before-xmas-portishead-review/990 Review of December 2007 ATP shows] StrangeGlue.com, Retrieved on [[2007-12-27]]</ref> They premiered five tracks from the new album; "Silence", "Hunter", "The Rip", "We Carry On" and "Machine Gun". On [[January 21]], [[2008]], a European tour to support the album was announced,<ref>[http://www.nme.com/news/portishead/33772 Portishead announce 2008 tour] NME.com, Retrieved on [[2008-01-27]]</ref> together with a headline spot at the [[Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival]] on [[April 26]], [[2008]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coachella.com/updates/news |title=Coachella lineup|work=Coachella.com|accessdate=2008-01-22}}</ref>

Portishead's newest 11-track album "Third" went live on [[last.fm]] the week before release, attracting 327,000 listeners in just under 24 hours.<ref>[http://www.side-line.com/news_comments.php?id=31271_0_2_0_C Portishead fans flock together for early album stream]</ref> It was the first time Last.fm has made an album available before its official release date. The site estimates that a quarter of a million people have visited their site expressly to listen to the Portishead tracks. The album was released on April 29, 2008 to coincide with band's appearance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.<ref>[http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Portishead/ SuicideGirls > Interviews > Portishead]</ref> On May 29, 2008 Portishead's Geoff Barrow realized a "boyhood fantasy" when [[Chuck D]] of [[Public Enemy (band)|Public Enemy]] joined the band onstage at the [[Primavera Sound]] festival in Barcelona. He contributed a freestyle rap over Portishead's single 'Machine Gun'.<ref>[http://www.thequietus.com/2008/06/portishead-on-public-enemy/ Portishead on Public Enemy] TheQuietus.com, Retrieved on [[2008-06-11]]</ref>

===Future (2008-present)===
On May 18, 2008, producer/instrumentalist Geoff Barrow expressed the band's enthusiasm for recording new material on their official website's blog, stating that he "can't wait to write some new tunes."<ref>[http://www.portishead.co.uk/blog.php back home]</ref>

== Discography ==
{{main|Portishead discography}}
Portishead have released four albums.
* 1994 ''[[Dummy (album)|Dummy]]''
* 1997 ''[[Portishead (album)|Portishead]]''
* 1998 ''[[Roseland NYC Live]]''
* 2008 ''[[Third (Portishead album)|Third]]''
As well as their main recorded output, Portishead have been involved in a large number of remixes and collaborations with other artists.

== See also ==
*[[List of bands named after places]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.portishead.co.uk/ Portishead Official site]
* {{myspace|PORTISHEADALBUM3|Portishead}}
* [http://www.pheadweb.com Unofficial Portishead site]
* {{Discogs artist|artist=Portishead|name=Portishead}}
* {{amg|id=11:gxfwxqr5ldje}}
* {{lastfm}}
* [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/49555-interview-portishead ''Pitchfork'' interview: Portishead], [[April 7]], [[2008]]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/04/12/sm_portishead.xml Portishead: back on the beat], ''Telegraph'', [[April 12]], [[2008]]
* [http://www.birmingham-alive.com/reviewpage.asp?reviewid=69 Review of Wolverhampton Civic Hall show] [[April 13]], [[2008]]
* [http://music.aol.ca/article/trip-hop-portishead/544/ Portishead feature on AOL Music Canada]
* [http://webinfront.net/?p=202/ Podcast of Portishead's entire 2008 Coachella performance]

{{Portishead}}

[[Category:Musical groups established in 1991]]
[[Category:Trip hop groups]]
[[Category:English electronic music groups]]
[[Category:English musical groups]]
[[Category:Music from Bristol, England]]

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NFL Cheerleader Playoffs

2008-07-18T03:57:18Z

72.219.236.199: /* Current status */

[[Image:Special_hdr-1-.jpg|right]]
'''''NFL Cheerleader Playoffs''''' was a [[television show]] that debuted in 2006 on the [[NFL Network]]. The official channel of the [[National Football League]] premiered each episode on Saturdays at 3 p.m. [[Eastern Time Zone (North America)|Eastern Time (ET)]].

The competition was produced by [[IMG (business)|IMG]]'s television production division. [[Matt Gallant]] was the host, and [[Ian Eagle]], [[Chad Johnson]], and [[Carrie Milbank]] are reporters.

The playoffs were taped between [[July 17]] and [[July 21]], [[2006]] at [[Six Flags New England]] in [[Agawam, Massachusetts]]. Two-person teams of [[NFL Cheerleading|cheerleaders]] from 25 of the NFL's 32 teams participated in a four-event series of competitions.

The first two events test the cheerleaders' athletic abilities in events like the [[Athletics (track and field)|100-yard dash]], [[kayaking]], tandem [[cycling]], and the [[obstacle course]]. The third event is a [[trivia]] challenge called "Know Your NFL". The final competition is a one-minute [[dance]] routine, similar to what they normally perform on NFL [[sidelines]].

There were six first-round episodes, five with four teams and one with five. The top two teams from each show (based on the point system below) advanced to the second round. Three winners moved to the third round, with the top two teams going head-to-head in the final. Each member of the winning team of cheerleaders received $5,000 cash and a [[Nautilus machine|Nautilus exercise machine]], made by [[Bowflex]].

==Point system==

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0 auto;" align="center"
! style="background: #ddffdd;"|Place
! style="background: #ddffdd;"|1st half of show
! style="background: #ddffdd;"|2nd half of show
|-----
| First place
| 50
| 100
|-----
| Second place
| 35
| 70
|-----
| Third place
| 20
| 40
|-----
| Fourth place
| 10
| 20
|-----
| Fifth place*
| 5
| 10
|}

The total combined points will determine the standings.
''* Episode 6 was the only show to have five competing teams.''
==Episodes==
The following are the final standings for each episode.
===First round===
In this round, the top two teams (both in '''bold''') advanced to the second round.
*''Episode 1 (aired September 14, 2006)''
'''[[Tampa Bay Buccaneers]]''', '''[[Denver Broncos]]''', [[Jacksonville Jaguars]], [[Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders|Dallas Cowboys]]
*''Episode 2 (aired September 21, 2006)''
'''[[Atlanta Falcons]]''', '''[[San Diego Chargers]]''', [[Oakland Raiders]], [[Seattle Seahawks]]
*''Episode 3 (aired September 28, 2006)''
'''[[St. Louis Rams]]''', '''[[Tennessee Titans]]''', [[San Francisco 49ers]], [[Miami Dolphins]]
*''Episode 4 (aired October 5, 2006)''
'''[[Buffalo Bills]]''', '''[[Minnesota Vikings]]''', [[Philadelphia Eagles]], [[Houston Texans]] 
''NOTES: The Bills won all four individual competitions with a perfect score of 300 points. The Vikings and the Eagles tied for second; the Vikings advanced based on a higher individual judges' score in the dance competition.''
*''Episode 5 (aired October 12, 2006)''
'''[[Washington Redskins]]''', '''[[Cincinnati Bengals]]''', [[Indianapolis Colts]], [[Carolina Panthers]] 
''NOTE: A Panthers cheerleader, identified only as Shannon, suffered a leg injury during the obstacle course and had to withdraw from competition, along with her teammate, Misty.''
*''Episode 6 (aired October 21, 2006)''
'''[[New Orleans Saints]]''', '''[[Kansas City Chiefs]]''', [[New England Patriots]], [[Arizona Cardinals]], [[Baltimore Ravens]]

===Second Round===
In this round, the top team (in '''bold''') advanced to the semi-finals.

*''Episode 7 (aired October 28, 2006)''
'''St. Louis Rams''', Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Kansas City Chiefs
*''Episode 8 (aired November 4, 2006)''
'''San Diego Chargers''', Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints
*''Episode 9 (aired November 11, 2006)''
'''Atlanta Falcons''', Washington Redskins, Tennessee Titans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 
''NOTE: A Buccaneers cheerleader, identified only as Catherine, suffered a knee injury during the roller skating race and had to withdraw from competition, along with her teammate, Monica, prior to the dance event.''

===Semi-finals Round===
In this round, the top two teams (in '''bold''') advanced to the finals.

*''Episode 10 (aired November 18, 2006)''
'''San Diego Chargers''', '''Atlanta Falcons''', '''St. Louis Rams''' 
''NOTE: Originally only two teams were to advance to the finals. The Falcons and the Rams both tied for second with 195 points. Both teams had identical judges' scores in the dance competition which was the tiebreaker, so all three teams advanced.''

===Final Round===

*''Episode 11 (aired November 23, 2006)''
In a rematch of episode 10, the '''San Diego Chargers''' team (Casie and Shantel) defeated the Atlanta Falcons and St. Louis Rams squads to win the overall championship. This time, all the teams finished in a three-way tie, with 210 points. The Chargers were declared the winners based on winning the dance competition.

This show aired at 6 p.m. ET, one hour before the start of pregame coverage of NFL Network's first [[Thursday Night Football]] game.

==Did not participate==
The following seven NFL teams do not have cheerleaders: [[Chicago Bears]], [[Cleveland Browns]], [[Detroit Lions]], [[Green Bay Packers]], [[New York Giants]], [[New York Jets]], and [[Pittsburgh Steelers]].

==Schedule change==
The premiere of episode 6, scheduled for Oct. 19, was postponed as NFL Network added a fifth ''[[NFL Replay]]'' of the previous weekend, the Bears' victory over the Cardinals. It aired the following Saturday. It was assumed that the regular schedule would resume the next week; however, NFLN soon announced that the move to Saturday would be permanent. NFLN aired a fifth run of ''NFL Replay'' on Thursday nights, either a fifth game or a rebroadcast of one of the previous four telecasts from Tuesday or Wednesday, until November 23, when [[Run to the Playoffs|live games]] took over the time slot.

==Current status==
The playoffs were not repeated in [[2007 in television|2007]], as NFL Network chose not to renew the contract with IMG. The series also repeated of July 14th, 2008 on the NFL Network.

==Other notes==
*This program resembled other IMG multi-event shows like ''[[Superstars]]'' and ''[[Battle of the Gridiron Stars]]''. One significant difference is that the cheerleaders sometimes make comments in a [[confession|confession room]], similar to the one found on many [[reality television|reality TV]] shows.
*The judges for the dance competition were Johnson, [[choreographer]] [[Cris Judd]], and former NFL cheerleader and current [[actress]]/[[model (person)|model]] [[Bonnie-Jill Laflin]]. (On episodes 5 and 7, Milbank replaced Johnson as a judge because the Bengals, for which Johnson plays as a [[wide receiver]], were competing.)
*Most of the songs used for the dance routines were provided by [[Astralwerks]], a major [[electronic music]] label. Artists signed to Astralwerks include [[Fatboy Slim]], [[Gorillaz]] and [[Basement Jaxx]]. Other songs came from [[Virgin Records]] and [[Sony BMG]].
*In the second round, the "Know Your NFL" round resembled the ''[[Pyramid (game show)|Pyramid]]'' series of [[game shows]]. The dances in the same round followed a 20-20-20 format; one member of the team danced alone for 20 seconds, then the other member danced alone for the next 20 seconds, then both danced together for the final segment.
*In the final round, "Know Your NFL" was based on another classic game show, ''[[Concentration]]''. The final dance to which all the teams competed was to the tune of "[[19-2000]]" by Gorillaz. That song was also the [[theme song]] of the entire series.

==External links==
* [http://www.nfl.com/cheerleaderplayoffs Show website]
* [[NFL Cheerleading]]

[[Category:NFL Network shows|Cheerleader Playoffs]]
[[Category:2006 television series debuts]]
[[Category:2006 television series endings]]
[[Category:Cheerleading]]
[[Category:National Football League cheerleaders]]