CELEBRITY NEWS .BLOGSPOT.COM

Alicia Keys was born on 25th January 1981, in New York, New York. Blending pop, gospel, R&B and soul, Keys burst onto the music scene in 2001 with her debut album Songs in A Minor.She was raised by her mother, Nikki Augello, a part-time actress and paralegal.

While she was accepted to Columbia University on a full scholarship, after a four-week stint at the school, Keys departed to devote herself fully to her music.In 1999, Clive Davis, the head of Arista Records, left the company to start J Records.

At the 2002 Grammy Awards, Keys took home awards for Song of the Year, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and Best New Artist. Keys fronted for fellow R&B sensation Maxwell in 2001. Her album "Diary" won her four Grammys in 2005.

In July 2010, Keys married Swizz Beatz (real name: Kasseem Dean) and the couple welcomed their first child together in October 2010, a baby boy named Egypt Daoud Dean.

Uma Thurman was born on 29 April 1970 in Boston.Hailing from a highly intellectual background, she might have expected to lead an academic life. Instead, much to her bewilderment and horror, she was seized upon by Hollywood and thrust into the limelight as the latest teen sex symbol - a status that betrayed both her past and her desired future.

Following an unorthodox childhood spent being raised a Buddhist and modeling in New York at a young age, actress Uma Thurman jumped into feature films at 16 years old and never looked back. After mature performances in two independent films, Thurman broke through as an ingénue in the erotic drama "Dangerous Liaisons" (1988).

Her maternal grandfather, Baron Karl von Schlebrugge, was a Swedish nobleman who was jailed by the Nazis during World War II for refusing to betray his Jewish business partners, and her maternal grandmother, Brigit Holmquist, was a famous model in Sweden who, in 1930, posed nude for a statue that overlooked the harbor in Smygehuk.

After leaving the Northfield Mount Herman School, where she performed in plays, and Amherst Regional Junior High School, she moved to New York on her own to attend the Professional Children's School and earn a substantial amount of money as a model.

Sarah Shahi was born Aahoo Jahansouz in Euless, Texas, to an Iranian father and Spanish mother. She is a former National Football League cheerleader and a great-great-granddaughter of the 19th-century Persian Shah Fath Ali Shah Qajar by Begom Khanom.

Her lineage on the latter side could be traced to a 19th-century shah - in Euless, TX on Jan. 10, 1980, Shahi was an overachiever at an early age, participating in sports and beauty pageants, training as an opera singer, and earning a brown belt in karate.

While exploring that venue, Shahi joined up with the iconic Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders from 1999-2000, ending up as the first rookie to ever grace the cover of their calendar. During this time, she also appeared in layouts for Muscle and Fitness and Curve magazines, and toured the Balkans and Southern Europe as part of the U.S.O.

She relocated to Los Angeles and began working almost immediately in television and film. Shahi graduated quickly from bit parts, to recurring roles on series like "Alias" (ABC, 2001-06) and "Dawson's Creek" (The WB, 1999-2003). A turn in the 2003 theatrical comedy "Old School" also earned her numerous male fans, after she gave an impressive pantomime of oral sex.

Maria Shriver was born on November 6, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois. Shriver is the daughter of prominent politican and diplomat Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of John F. and Robert Kennedy. She graduated from Georgetown University in June 1977 with a B.A. in American studies.

She was a reporter for NBC's Dateline NBC from 1989 until August of 2003, when she took a leave of absence when her husband, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, became a candidate in the California recall election. Upon his inauguration as the 38th Governor of California on November 17, 2003, Shriver became the First Lady of California.

She helped develop and launch a special website to match volunteers with organizations needing assistance. Shriver supported the construction of playgrounds and community gardens in lower income areas.Serving as executive producer, Shriver helped bring the documentary The Alzheimer's Project to television in May 2009.

Advancing understanding of the disease and supporting medical research is a personal mission for Shriver. Her father had Alzheimer's disease.Later that year, Shriver experienced two great personal losses. Her mother died on August 11th at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Massachusetts

Zoe Saldana made the transition to acting on screen after an attention-getting performance in the stage musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." Saldana began landing television and feature roles almost immediately, including "Center Stage" (2000), in which she was able to showcase her years of ballet training.

She did make fleeting appearances in large studio fare like "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003) and "The Terminal" (2004). Eventually, Saldana managed to break free from the confines of broad comedy.

Saldana and her two sisters were raised by their parents in nearby Queens, NY. When she was nine, Saldana's father died in a car accident, forcing her mother to relocate the family to the Dominican Republic, where both her parents were born and had extended family.

A natural and charismatic performer, she joined several dance troops in New York City, including the FACES Theater Co., a group that specialized in improvisational and educational skits for teens. She was also part of the New York Youth Theater.