title: Madeira

text: The Venezuelan (14.4%), British (14.2%), Brazilian (12.1%) and German (7%) nationalities constituted the largest foreign communities residing in Madeira in 2017. The Venezuelan community dramatically increased in number (38%) in 2017 due to migration fuelled by the socioeconomic crisis in Venezuela. In terms of geographical distribution, the foreign population mainly concentrates in Funchal (59.2% of the total of the region), followed by Santa Cruz (13.8%), Calheta (7.3%) and Porto Santo (4%). The foreign population with resident status in the Autonomous Region of Madeira totalled 6,720 (up by 10% from 2016), distributed between residence permits (6,692) and long-stay visas (28).


title: Madeira

text: The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 4.9 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 2.4% of Portugal's economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 22,500 euros or 75% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 71% of the EU average.


title: Madeira

text: The setting-up of a free trade zone, also known as the Madeira International Business Center (MIBC) has led to the installation, under more favorable conditions, of infrastructure, production shops and essential services for small and medium-sized industrial enterprises. The International Business Centre of Madeira comprises presently three sectors of investment: the Industrial Free Trade Zone, the International Shipping Register – MAR and the International Services. Madeira's tax regime has been approved by the European Commission as legal State Aid and its deadline has recently been extended by the E.C. until the end of 2027. The International Business Center of Madeira, also known as Madeira Free Trade Zone, was created formally in the 1980s as a tool of regional economic policy. It consists of a set of incentives, mainly of a tax nature, granted with the objective of attracting inward investment into Madeira, recognized as the most efficient mechanism to modernize, diversify and internationalize the regional economy. The decision to create the International Business Center of Madeira was the result of a thorough process of analysis and study.


title: Madeira

text: Since the beginning, favorable operational and fiscal conditions have been offered in the context of a preferential tax regime, fully recognized and approved by the European Commission in the framework of State aid for regional purposes and under the terms for the Ultra-peripheral Regions set in the Treaties, namely Article 299 of the Treaty on European Union. The IBC of Madeira has therefore been fully integrated in the Portuguese and EU legal systems and, as a consequence, it is regulated and supervised by the competent Portuguese and EU authorities in a transparent and stable business environment, marking a clear difference from the so-called "tax havens" and "offshore jurisdictions", since its inception. In 2015, the European Commission authorized the new state aid regime for new companies incorporated between 2015 and 2020 and the extension of the deadline of the tax reductions until the end of 2027. The present tax regime is outlined in Article 36°-A of the Portuguese Tax Incentives Statute. Available data clearly demonstrates the contribution that this development programme has brought to the local economy over its 20 years of existence: impact in the local labor market, through the creation of qualified jobs for the young population but also for Madeiran professionals who have returned to Madeira thanks to the opportunities now created; an increase in productivity due to the transfer of know how and the implementation of new business practices and technologies; indirect influence on other sectors of activity: business tourism benefits from the visits of investors and their clients and suppliers, and other sectors such as real estate, telecommunications and other services benefit from the growth of their client base; impact on direct sources of revenue: the companies attracted by the IBC of Madeira represent over 40% of the revenue in terms of corporate income tax for the Government of Madeira and nearly 3.000 jobs, most of which qualified, among other benefits. Also there are above average salaries paid by the companies in the IBC of Madeira in comparison with the wages paid in the other sectors of activity in Madeira.


title: Madeira

text: Madeira has been a significant recipient of European Union funding, totaling up to €2 billion. In 2012, it was reported that despite a population of just 250,000, the local administration owes some €6 billion. Furthermore, the Portuguese treasury (IGCP) assumed Madeira's debt management between 2012 and 2015. The region continues to work with the central government on a long-term plan to reduce its debt levels and commercial debt stock. Moody's notes that the region has made significant fiscal consolidation efforts and that its tax revenue collection has increased significantly in recent years due to tax rate hikes. Madeira's tax revenues increased by 41% between 2012 and 2016, helping the region to reduce its deficit to operating revenue ratio to 10% in 2016 from 77% in 2013.


title: Madeira

text: Tourism is an important sector in the region's economy, contributing 20% to the region's GDP, providing support throughout the year for commercial, transport and other activities and constituting a significant market for local products. The share in Gross Value Added of hotels and restaurants (9%) also highlights this phenomenon. The island of Porto Santo, with its beach and its climate, is entirely devoted to tourism.


title: Madeira

text: Visitors are mainly from Europe, with Portuguese, British, German and French tourists providing the main contingents (2021). The average annual occupancy rate was 60.3% in 2008, reaching its maximum in March and April, when it exceeds 70%.


title: Madeira

text: Whale watching has become very popular in recent years. Many species of dolphins, such as common dolphin, spotted dolphin, striped dolphin, bottlenose dolphin, short-finned pilot whale, and whales such as Bryde's whale, Sei whale, fin whale, sperm whale, beaked whales can be spotted near the coast or offshore.


title: Madeira

text: Electricity on Madeira is provided solely through EEM (Empresa de Electricidade da Madeira, SA, which holds a monopoly for the provision of electrical supply on the autonomous region) and consists largely of fossil fuels, but with a significant supply of seasonal hydroelectricity from the levada system, wind power and a small amount of solar. Energy production comes from conventional thermal and hydropower, as well as wind and solar energy. The Ribeira dos Soccoridos hydropower plant, rated at 15MW utilises a pumped hydropower reservoir to recycle mountain water during the dry summer.


title: Madeira

text: In 2011, renewable energy formed 26.5% of the electricity used in Madeira. By 2020, half of Madeira's energy will come from renewable energy sources. This is due to the planned completion of the Pico da Urze / Calheta pumped storage hydropower plant, rated at 30MW.


title: Madeira

text: Battery technologies are being tested to minimise Madeira's reliance on fossil fuel imports. Renault SA and EEM piloted the Sustainable Porto Santo—Smart Fossil Free Island project on Porto Santo to demonstrate how fossil fuels can be entirely replaced with renewable energy, using a 3.3 MWh battery. Madeira operates a 15 MW 1-hour lithium iron phosphate battery with black start capability.


title: Madeira

text: The Islands have two airports, Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport and Porto Santo Airport, on the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo respectively. From Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport the most frequent flights are to Lisbon. There are also direct flights to over 30 other airports in Europe and nearby islands.


title: Madeira

text: Transport between the two main islands is by plane, or ferries from the Porto Santo Line, the latter also carrying vehicles. Visiting the interior of the islands is now easy thanks to construction of the "Vias Rápidas", major roads that cross the island. Modern roads reach all points of interest on the islands.


title: Madeira

text: Funchal has an extensive public transportation system. Bus companies, including Horários do Funchal, which has been operating for over a hundred years, have regularly scheduled routes to all points of interest on the island.


title: Madeira

text: Folklore music in Madeira is widespread and mainly uses local musical instruments such as the machete, rajao, brinquinho and cavaquinho, which are used in traditional folkloric dances like the .


title: Madeira

text: Emigrants from Madeira also influenced the creation of new musical instruments. In the 1880s, the ukulele was created, based on two small guitar-like instruments of Madeiran origin, the cavaquinho and the rajao. The ukulele was introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants from Madeira and Cape Verde. Three immigrants in particular, Madeiran cabinet makers Manuel Nunes, José do Espírito Santo, and Augusto Dias, are generally credited as the first ukulele makers. Two weeks after they disembarked from the "SS Ravenscrag" in late August 1879, the "Hawaiian Gazette" reported that "Madeira Islanders recently arrived here, have been delighting the people with nightly street concerts."


title: Madeira

text: Because of the geographic situation of Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean, the island has an abundance of fish of various kinds. The species that are consumed the most are espada (black scabbardfish), blue fin tuna, white marlin, blue marlin, albacore, bigeye tuna, wahoo, spearfish, skipjack tuna and many others are found in the local dishes as they are found along the coast of Madeira. Espada is usually fried in a batter and accompanied by fried banana and sometimes a passionfruit sauce.Bacalhau is also popular, as it is in Portugal.


title: Madeira

text: There are many different meat dishes on Madeira, one of the most popular being espetada. Espetada is traditionally made of large chunks of beef rubbed in garlic, salt and bay leaf and marinated for 4 to 6 hours in Madeira wine, red wine vinegar and olive oil then skewered onto a bay laurel stick and left to grill over smouldering wood chips. These are so integral a part of traditional eating habits that a special iron stand is available with a T-shaped end, each branch of the "T" having a slot in the middle to hold a brochette (espeto in Portuguese); a small plate is then placed underneath to collect the juices. The brochettes are very long and have a V-shaped blade in order to pierce the meat more easily. It is usually accompanied with the local bread called bolo do caco. A traditional holiday dish is "Carne de Vinho e Alhos", which is most closely associated with the pig slaughter that was held a few weeks before Christmas. A big event, traditionally it was attended by everyone in the village. The dish is made of pork which marinates for three days in white wine, vinegar, salt, and pepper and is then cooked with small potatoes, sliced carrots, and turnip. Another common meat dish is “Picado" - cubed beef cooked in a mushroom sauce and accompanied by french fries.


title: Madeira

text: Traditional pastries in Madeira usually contain local ingredients, one of the most common being "mel de cana", literally "sugarcane honey" (molasses). The traditional cake of Madeira is called "Bolo de Mel", which translates as (Sugarcane) "Honey Cake" and according to custom, is never cut with a knife, but broken into pieces by hand. It is a rich and heavy cake. The cake commonly known as "Madeira cake" in England is named after Madeira wine.


title: Madeira

text: Malasadas are a local confection which are mainly consumed during the Carnival of Madeira. Pastéis de nata, as in the rest of Portugal, are also very popular.


title: Madeira

text: Milho frito is a popular dish in Madeira that is similar to the Italian dish polenta fritta. Açorda Madeirense is another popular local dish.


title: Madeira

text: Madeira is known for the high quality of its cherimoya fruits. The Annona Festival is traditional and held annually in the parish of Faial. This event encourages the consumption of this fruit and its derivatives, such as liqueurs, puddings, ice cream and smoothies.


title: Madeira

text: Madeira is a fortified wine, produced in the Madeira Islands; varieties may be sweet or dry. It has a history dating back to the Age of Exploration when Madeira was a standard port of call for ships heading to the New World or East Indies. To prevent the wine from spoiling, neutral grape spirits were added. However, wine producers of Madeira discovered, when an unsold shipment of wine returned to the islands after a round trip, that the flavour of the wine had been transformed by exposure to heat and movement. Today, Madeira is noted for its unique winemaking process that involves heating the wine and deliberately exposing the wine to some levels of oxidation. Most countries limit the use of the term "Madeira" to those wines that come from the Madeira Islands, to which the European Union grants Protected designation of origin (PDO) status.


title: Madeira

text: A local beer called Coral is produced by the Madeira Brewery, which dates from 1872. It has achieved 2 Monde Selection Grand Gold Medals, 24 Monde Selection Gold Medals and 2 Monde Selection Silver Medals. Other alcoholic drinks are also popular in Madeira, such as the locally created Poncha, Niquita, Pé de Cabra, Aniz, as well as Portuguese drinks such as Macieira Brandy, Licor Beirão.


title: Madeira

text: Laranjada is a type of carbonated soft drink with an orange flavour, its name being derived from the Portuguese word "laranja" ("orange"). Launched in 1872 it was the first soft drink to be produced in Portugal, and remains very popular to the present day. Brisa drinks, a brand name, are also very popular and come in a range of flavours.


title: Madeira

text: Football is the most popular sport in Madeira and the island was indeed the first place in Portugal to host a match, organised by British residents in 1875. The island is the birthplace of international star Cristiano Ronaldo and is home to two prominent Primeira Liga teams, C.S. Marítimo and C.D. Nacional.


title: Madeira

text: As well as football, the island is also home to professional sports teams in basketball (CAB Madeira) and handball (Madeira Andebol SAD, who were runners up in the 2019 European Challenge Cup). Madeira was also the host of the 2003 World Handball Championship.


title: Madeira

text: The Rally Vinho da Madeira is a rally race held annually since 1959, considered one of the biggest sporting events on the island It was part of the European Rally Championship from 1979 to 2012 and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 2006 to 2010.


title: Madeira

text: Other popular sporting activities include golf at one of the island's two courses (plus one on Porto Santo), surfing, scuba diving, and hiking.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album "She's So Unusual" (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achieve four top-five hits on the "Billboard" Hot 100—"Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Time After Time", "She Bop", and "All Through the Night"—earned Lauper the Best New Artist award at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards in 1985. Her success continued with the for the motion picture "The Goonies" and her second record "True Colors" (1986). This album included the number one single "True Colors" and "Change of Heart", which peaked at number three. In 1989, she had a hit with "I Drove All Night".


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Since 1983, Lauper has released eleven studio albums and participated in many other projects. In 2010, "Memphis Blues" became "Billboard" most successful blues album of the year, remaining at number one on the "Billboard" Blues Albums chart for 13 consecutive weeks. In 2013, she won the Tony Award for best original score for composing the Broadway musical "Kinky Boots", making her the first woman to win the category by herself. The musical was awarded five other Tonys including Tony Award for Best New Musical. In 2014, Lauper was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for the cast recording. In 2016, the West End production won Best New Musical at the Olivier Awards.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper has sold over 50 million records worldwide. She has won awards at the Grammys, Emmys, Tonys, the New York's Outer Critics Circle, MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), "Billboard" Awards, and American Music Awards (AMAs). An inductee into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Lauper is one of the few singers to win three of the four major American entertainment awards (EGOT). She won the inaugural Best Female Video prize at the 1984 VMAs for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". This music video is recognized by MTV, VH1 and "Rolling Stone" as one of the greatest music videos of the era. She is featured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "Women Who Rock" exhibit. Her debut album is included in "Rolling Stone" list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, while "Time After Time" is included in VH1's list of the 100 Best Songs of the Past 25 years. VH1 has ranked Lauper No. 58 of the "100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll".


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper is known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful and distinctive four-octave singing range. She has been celebrated for her humanitarian work, particularly as an advocate for LGBT rights in the United States. Her charitable efforts were acknowledged in 2013 when she was invited as a special guest to attend U.S. President Barack Obama's second inauguration.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper was born in Brooklyn, New York City, to a Catholic family. Her father, Fred, was of German and Swiss descent. Her mother, Catrine (née Gallo) (1930-2022), was of Italian descent (from Sicily). Lauper's siblings are her younger brother Fred (nicknamed Butch), and older sister, Ellen. Lauper's parents divorced when she was five. Her mother remarried and divorced again.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper grew up in the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens and, as a child, listened to such artists as The Beatles and Judy Garland. At age 12, she began writing songs and playing an acoustic guitar given to her by her sister.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper expressed herself with a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and took a friend's advice to spell her name as "Cyndi" rather than "Cindy". Her unconventional sense of style led to classmates bullying and throwing stones at her.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper went to Richmond Hill High School, but was expelled although she later earned her GED. She left home at 17, to escape her abusive stepfather, intending to study art. Her journey took her to Canada, where she spent two weeks in the woods with her dog Sparkle, trying to find herself. She eventually traveled to Vermont, where she took art classes at Johnson State College and supported herself working odd jobs. In 2019, Lauper gave the commencement address at Northern Vermont University - Johnson, the academic institution that now includes Johnson State. At this event, NVU awarded her the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In the early 1970s, Lauper performed as a vocalist with various cover bands. One, called Doc West, covered disco songs as well as Janis Joplin. A later band, Flyer, was active in the New York metropolitan area, singing hits by bands including Bad Company, Jefferson Airplane and Led Zeppelin. Although Lauper was performing on stage, she was not happy singing covers. In 1977, Lauper damaged her vocal cords and took a year off from singing. She was told by doctors that she would never sing again, but regained her voice with the help of vocal coach Katie Agresta.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In 1978, Lauper met saxophone player John Turi through her manager Ted Rosenblatt. Turi and Lauper formed a band named Blue Angel and recorded a demo tape of original music. Steve Massarsky, manager of The Allman Brothers Band, heard the tape and liked Lauper's voice. He bought Blue Angel's contract for $5,000 and became their manager.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper received recording offers as a solo artist, but held out, wanting the band to be included in any deal she made. Blue Angel was eventually signed by Polydor Records and released a self-titled album on the label in 1980. Lauper hated the album cover, saying that it made her look like Big Bird, but "Rolling Stone" magazine later included it as one of the 100 best new wave album covers (2003). Despite critical acclaim, the album sold poorly ("It went lead", as Lauper later joked) and the band broke up. The members of Blue Angel had a falling-out with Massarsky and fired him as their manager. He later filed an $80,000 suit against them, which forced Lauper into bankruptcy. After this Lauper temporarily lost her voice due to an inverted cyst in her vocal cord.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: After Blue Angel broke up, Lauper spent time, due to her financial problems, working in retail stores, waitressing at IHOP (which she quit after being demoted to hostess when the manager sexually harassed her), and singing in local clubs. Her most frequent gigs were at El Sombrero. Music critics who saw Lauper perform with Blue Angel believed she had star potential due to her four-octave singing range. In 1981, while singing in a local New York bar, Lauper met David Wolff, who took over as her manager and had her sign a recording contract with Portrait Records, a subsidiary of Epic Records.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: On October 14, 1983, Lauper released her first solo album, "She's So Unusual". The album became a worldwide hit, peaking at No. 4 in the U.S. and reaching the top five in eight other countries. The primary studio musicians were Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman (of The Hooters), Rick Chertoff, Richard Termini and Peter Wood. Lauper became popular with teenagers and critics, in part due to her hybrid punk image, which was crafted by stylist Patrick Lucas.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper co-wrote four songs on "She's So Unusual", including the hits "Time After Time" and "She Bop". On the songs she did not write, Lauper sometimes changed the lyrics. Such is the case with "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". Lauper found the original lyrics to be misogynistic, so she rewrote the song as an anthem for young women.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: The album includes five cover songs, including The Brains' new wave track "Money Changes Everything" (No. 27 on the "Billboard" Hot 100) and Prince's "When You Were Mine". The album made Lauper the first female artist to have four consecutive "Billboard" Hot 100 top five hits from one album. The LP stayed in the Top 200 charts for more than 65 weeks, and since has sold 16 million copies worldwide.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Cyndi won Best New Artist at the 1985 Grammy Awards. "She's So Unusual" also received nominations for Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"), and Song of the Year (for "Time After Time"). She wore almost a pound of necklaces at her award ceremony. It also won the Grammy for Best Album Package, which went to the art director, Janet Perr.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: The video for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" won the inaugural award for Best Female Video at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards, and made Lauper an MTV staple. The video featured professional wrestling manager "Captain" Lou Albano as Lauper's father, and her real-life mother, Catrine, as her mother, and also featured her attorney, her manager, her brother Butch, and her dog Sparkle. In 1984–85, Lauper appeared on the covers of "Rolling Stone" magazine, "Time", and "Newsweek". She appeared twice on the cover of "People", and was named a "Ms." magazine Woman of the Year in 1985.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In 1985, Lauper participated in USA for Africa's famine-relief fund-raising single "We Are the World", which sold more than 20 million copies since then.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper appeared with professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, who played her "bodyguard" and would also later make many appearances as herself in a number of the World Wrestling Federation's "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection" events, and played Wendi Richter's manager in the inaugural WrestleMania event. Dave Wolff, Lauper's boyfriend and manager at the time, was a wrestling fan as a boy, and engineered the rock and wrestling connection.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In 1985, Lauper released the single "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough", from the soundtrack to the movie "The Goonies", and an accompanying video which featured several wrestling stars. The song reached number 10 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper received a nomination at the 1986 Grammy Awards: Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for "What a Thrill," another in the same category the following year (for the album track “911”) and yet another in 1988, Best Long Form Music Video for "Cyndi Lauper in Paris".


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper released her second album, "True Colors" in 1986. It entered the "Billboard" 200 at No. 42 and rose to its #4 peak.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In 1986, Lauper appeared on the Billy Joel album "The Bridge", with a song called "Code of Silence". She is credited as having written the lyrics with Joel and she sings a duet with him. In the same year, Lauper also sang the theme song for the series "Pee-wee's Playhouse", credited as "Ellen Shaw". In 1987, David Wolff produced a concert film for Lauper called "Cyndi Lauper in Paris". The concert was broadcast on HBO.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper made her film debut in August 1988 in the quirky comedy "Vibes", alongside Jeff Goldblum, Peter Falk, and Julian Sands. Lauper played a psychic in search of a city of gold in South America. Deborah Blum and Tony Ganz produced the film, with David Wolff as associate producer. To prepare for the role, Lauper took a few classes in finger waving and hair setting at the Robert Fiancé School of Beauty in New York, and studied with a few Manhattan psychics. The film flopped and was poorly received by critics, but would later be considered a cult classic.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper contributed a track called "Hole in My Heart (All the Way to China)" for the "Vibes" soundtrack, but the song was not included. A music video was released, a high energy, comic action/adventure romp through a Chinese laundry. The song reached No. 54 on the US charts, but fared better in Australia, reaching No. 8.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: "A Night to Remember" – Lauper's third album – was released in the spring of 1989. The album had one hit, the No. 6 single "I Drove All Night", originally recorded by Roy Orbison, three years before his death on December 6, 1988. Lauper received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance at the 1990 Grammy Awards for "I Drove All Night", but overall album sales for "A Night to Remember" were down. The music video for the album's song "My First Night Without You" was one of the first to be closed-captioned for the hearing impaired.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Because of a friendship with Yoko Ono, Lauper took part in the May 1990 John Lennon tribute concert in Liverpool, performing the Beatles song "Hey Bulldog", and the John Lennon song "Working Class Hero". She also took part in Ono and Lennon's son Sean's project called "The Peace Choir", performing a new version of Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance".


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper's fourth album "Hat Full of Stars" was released in June 1993 and was met with critical acclaim, but failed commercially, unsupported by her label. The album, which tackled such topics as homophobia, spousal abuse, racism, and abortion sold fewer than 120,000 copies in the United States and peaked at No. 112 on the "Billboard" charts. The video for the album's song "Sally's Pigeons" features the then-unknown Julia Stiles as the young Cyndi.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In 1993, Lauper returned to acting, playing Michael J. Fox's ditzy secretary in "Life with Mikey". She also won an Emmy Award for her role as Marianne Lugasso in the sitcom "Mad About You".


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: On November 19, 1997, Lauper gave birth to her son, Declyn Wallace Lauper Thornton. Her fifth album, "Sisters of Avalon", was released in Japan in 1996, and elsewhere in 1997. The album was written and produced with the help of Jan Pulsford (Lauper's keyboard player) and producer Mark Saunders. As in "Hat Full of Stars", some of the songs in "Sisters of Avalon" addressed dark themes. The song "Ballad of Cleo and Joe" addressed the complications of a drag queen's double life. The song "Say a Prayer" was written for a friend of hers who had died from AIDS. "Unhook the Stars" was used in the movie of the same name. Again without support from her label, the release failed in America, spending a single week on the "Billboard" album chart at No. 188. This album also met with much critical praise, including "People" magazine, which declared it "'90s nourishment for body and soul. Lauper sets a scene, makes us care, gives us hope."


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: On January 17, 1999, Lauper appeared as an animated version of herself in "The Simpsons" episode "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken", singing the National Anthem to the melody of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". That same year, Lauper opened for Cher's "Do You Believe? Tour" alongside Wild Orchid. She also appeared in the films "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle" and "The Opportunists". She contributed to the soundtrack of the 2000 animated film, "", performing the song "I Want a Mom That Will Last Forever".


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: On October 12, 2000, Lauper took part in the television show "Women in Rock, Girls with Guitars" performing with Ann Wilson of Heart and with the girl group, Destiny's Child. A CD of the songs performed was released exclusively to Sears stores from September 30 to October 31, 2001, and was marketed as a fundraiser for breast cancer.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In 2002, Sony issued a best-of CD, "The Essential Cyndi Lauper". Lauper also released a cover album with Sony/Epic Records entitled "At Last" (formerly "Naked City"), which was released in 2003. "At Last" received one nomination at the 2005 Grammy Awards: Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s), for "Unchained Melody". The effort was also a commercial hit, selling 4.5 million records


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In April 2004, Lauper performed during the VH1's benefit concert Divas Live 2004 alongside Ashanti, Gladys Knight, Jessica Simpson, Joss Stone and Patti LaBelle, in support of the Save the Music Foundation.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: She made appearances on Showtime's hit show "Queer as Folk" in 2005, directed a commercial for "Totally 80s" edition of the board game "Trivial Pursuit" in 2006, served as a judge on the 6th Annual Independent Music Awards and made her Broadway debut in the Tony-nominated "The Threepenny Opera" as Jenny. She performed with Shaggy, Scott Weiland of Velvet Revolver/Stone Temple Pilots, Pat Monahan of Train, Ani DiFranco, and The Hooters in the VH1 Classics special Decades Rock Live. In 2006, she sang "Message To Michael" with Dionne Warwick and "Beecharmer" with Nellie McKay on McKay's "Pretty Little Head" album.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: On October 16, 2006, Lauper was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. In 2007, she served as a guest performer on the song "Lady in Pink" on an episode of the Nick Jr. show, "The Backyardigans".


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper's sixth studio album, "Bring Ya to the Brink" was released in the United States on May 27, 2008.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Other projects for 2008 included the True Colors Tour and a Christmas duet with Swedish band The Hives, entitled "A Christmas Duel". The song was released as a CD single and a 7" vinyl in Sweden. Lauper also performed on the "Girls Night Out", headlining it with Rosie O'Donnell in the US.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: On November 17, 2009, Lauper performed a collaborative work with Wyclef Jean called "Slumdog Millionaire", performing it on the "Late Show with David Letterman".


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In January 2010, Mattel released a Cyndi Lauper Barbie doll as part of their "Ladies of the 80s" series.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: "Memphis Blues"—Lauper's 7th studio album—was released on June 22, 2010, and debuted on the "Billboard" Blues Albums chart at No. 1, and at No. 26 on the "Billboard" Top 200. The album remained No. 1 on the Blues Albums chart for 14 consecutive weeks; "Memphis Blues" was nominated for Best Traditional Blues Album at the 2011 Grammy Awards.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper made international news in March 2011 for an impromptu performance of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" while waiting for a delayed flight at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery in Buenos Aires. A video was later posted on YouTube.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In November 2011, she released two Christmas singles exclusive to iTunes. The first release was a Blues-inspired cover of Elvis Presley's classic "Blue Christmas", and the second was a new version of "Home for the holidays", a duet with Norah Jones. In June 2012, Lauper made her first appearance for WWE in 27 years, to promote WWE Raw's 1000th episode to memorialize "Captain" Lou Albano.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In September 2012, Lauper performed at fashion designer Betsey Johnson's 40 year Retrospective Fashion show. She also released a "New York Times" best selling memoir that detailed her struggle with child abuse and depression.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper composed music and lyrics for the Broadway musical "Kinky Boots", with Harvey Fierstein writing the book. The musical was based on the 2006 independent film "Kinky Boots". It opened in Chicago in October 2012 and on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on April 4, 2013. In May, she won Best Score for "Kinky Boots" at the 63rd annual Outer Critics Circle Awards. The musical led the 2013 Tony Awards, with 13 nominations and six wins including Best Musical and Best Actor. She won the award for Best Original Score. Lauper was the first woman to win solo in this category. After a six-year run and 2,507 regular shows, "Kinky Boots" ended its Broadway run on April 7, 2019. It is the 25th-longest-running Broadway musical in history. It grossed $297 million on Broadway.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In the summer of 2013, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of her debut album "She's So Unusual", Lauper embarked on an international tour covering America and Australia. The show consisted of a mix of fan favorites and the entirety of the "She's So Unusual" record. She was a guest on 36 dates of Cher's Dressed to Kill Tour, starting April 23, 2014. A new album was confirmed by Lauper on a website interview.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper hosted the Grammy Pre-Telecast at the Nokia Theatre, L.A. on Jan 26, where she later accepted a Grammy for "Kinky Boots" (Best Musical Theater Album).


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: On April 1 (March 1 in Europe), Lauper released the 30th Anniversary edition of "She's So Unusual" through Epic Records It featured a remastered version of the original album plus three new remixes. The Deluxe Edition featured bonus tracks such as demos and a live recording as well as a 3D cut-out of the bedroom featured in the 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' music video with a reusable sticker set.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: On September 17, 2014, Lauper sang on the finale of "America's Got Talent". On September 25, as part of the Today Show's Shine a Light series, Lauper re-recorded "True Colors" in a mashup with Sara Bareilles' "Brave" to raise awareness and money for children battling cancer. By October the project had raised over $300,000.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: The Songwriters Hall of Fame included Lauper in its nomination list in October 2014. Also during October, Lauper's fourth consecutive 'Home for the Holidays' benefit concert for homeless gay youth was announced. Acts included 50 Cent and Laverne Cox with 100% of the net proceeds going to True Colors United


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper promoted her work with Novartis and the National Psoriasis Foundation, and discussed her own five years with psoriasis, on "The Today Show" in July 2015. She also announced a project with producer Seymour Stein, which she later told "Rolling Stone" was a country album coproduced by Tony Brown.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: On August 30, 2017, songwriters Benny Mardones and Robert Tepper sued Lauper for lifting elements from their song "Into the Night" for "Kinky Boots" final song "Raise You Up". In August 2019, a filed letter by Mardones' lawyer stated that all parties involved have agreed in principle to settle the case. No more details were given at the time.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In January 2016, Lauper announced she would release a new album on May 6, 2016. This was composed of her interpretations of early country classics entitled "Detour". The announcement was supported by a release of her version of Harlan Howard's "Heartaches by the Number" and a performance on Skyville Live with Kelsea Ballerini and Ingrid Michaelson. On February 17, 2016, she released her version of Wanda Jackson's "Funnel of Love".


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In February 2016, Lauper was nominated for an Olivier Award for her contribution to the UK production of "Kinky Boots" along with Stephen Oremus, the man responsible for the arrangements. In January 2017, this production's album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In May 2016, Lauper was featured on "Swipe to the Right" from "" by French producer Jean-Michel Jarre. This second album of the Electronica project is based on collaborations with artists related to electronic music (Tangerine Dream, Moby, Pet Shop Boys, etc.).


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In October 2016, her son Dex Lauper was the opening act for her Scottsdale, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada dates on her Detour Tour.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In January 2017, Lauper was featured on "Austin City Limits" 42nd season performing some of her classic songs alongside country tunes from "Detour". The episode aired on PBS.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In March 2018, it was announced that Lauper together with co-"Time After Time" songwriter Rob Hyman is going to compose the score for the musical version of the 1988 film "Working Girl" which starred Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver. She teamed up with Hyman because she wanted "the music to sound like the 80s". The musical will be staged by Tony Award winner Christopher Ashley. A developmental production premiere of the musical is planned for the 2021/2022 season.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: For Grandin Road, Lauper exclusively designed her own Christmas collection, 'Cyndi Lauper Loves Christmas', available from September 2018. "I've always loved Christmas, it reminds me to find some happiness in the little things," said Lauper.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Her annual Home For The Holidays concert at the Beacon Theatre in New York was held on December 8, 2018.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper guest starred playing a lawyer in an episode of the reboot of the television series "Magnum P.I.". The episode, titled "Sudden Death", aired on October 22, 2018.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: On November 15, 2018, it was announced that Lauper would receive the Icon Award at the Billboard's 13th annual Women in Music Event on December 6 in New York City. According to Jason Lipshutz, Billboard's editorial director, "The entire world recognizes the power of Cyndi Lauper's pop music, and just as crucially, she has used her undeniable talent to soar beyond music, create positive change in modern society and become a true icon."


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: The song "Together" was featured in the Canadian computer-animated film "Racetime" released in January 2019. Originally written and performed in French by Dumas, Lauper performed the English translation in the English version of the film originally titled "La Course des tuques".


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: On June 26, 2019, Lauper performed at the opening ceremony of Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019. Backed by the Hollywood Bowl orchestra, conducted by Thomas Wilkins, Lauper played two concerts on July 12 and 13, 2019 at the iconic Hollywood Bowl.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: "Japanese Singles Collection – Greatest Hits" is a 2-disc greatest hits album that includes all of Laupers' singles released in Japan from 1983 to 1995 in chronological order. The second disc contains 26 music videos. Nine of these are available for the first time on DVD. The album was released on September 6, 2019, nine days after its original Japanese release.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In September 2019, it was announced that Lauper would star alongside Jane Lynch in the new Netflix comedy series described as "kind of "The Golden Girls" for today". As of March 2021, there had not been any updates on this project.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: On January 26, 2020, Lauper sang a chorus from the song "I sing the Body Electric" of the soundtrack from the 1980 movie "Fame" at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards Show held in Los Angeles. Other performers were Ben Platt, Camila Cabello, Debbie Allen, who starred in the original movie, and more. It was a sendoff to long time Grammy Awards television producer Ken Erhlich. He retired after a four-decade run of producing the show.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: On April 23, 2020, Lauper participated in an online fundraising concert to raise money for LGBTQ nightlife workers who struggled financially because of the coronavirus pandemic. Lauper ended the concert performing "True Colors". The concert was initiated by the Stonewall Inn Gives Back nonprofit organization of the historic Greenwich Village gay bar. Other performing artists were Kate Pierson, Our Lady J, Rufus Wainwright and Darren Hayes amongst others.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In November 2020, Lauper dueted with former top ten "American Idol" finalist Casey Abrams on a cover version of the song 'Eve of Destruction'.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In November 2021 Lauper featured as guest vocalist on the track 'Blame it on Christmas' by Shea Diamond. An official video was released the following month.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper performed at the 2022 MusiCaresPerson of the Year Tribute Show honoring Joni Mitchell on April 1.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In May 2022 it was announced that Alison Ellwood will direct a career retrospective documentary about Lauper. The project is already in production but does not yet have a release date. Let The Canary Sing will be the title of this career spanning documentary produced by Sony Music Entertainment.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: On 13 December 2022 Lauper performed 'True Colors' at a White House celebration. That day president Biden signed The Respect for Marriage Act into law. Quote, 'The new law provides federal recognition to same-sex marriages, a measure born out of concern that the Supreme Court could reverse its legal support of such relationships.'


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper has been married to actor David Thornton since 1991. They have one son, born on November 19, 1997.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper has been an LGBT rights supporter throughout her career, campaigning for equality through various charities and gay pride events around the world. Lauper stated that she became involved in gay rights advocacy because her sister Ellen is a lesbian and because Lauper herself was passionate about equality. Lauper cites her sister Ellen as a role model.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Her song "Above the Clouds" celebrates the memory of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man beaten to death in Wyoming. As a member of the Matthew Shepard Foundation Board, Lauper devoted a concert tour in 2005 to promoting the Foundation's message.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: She co-founded the True Colors tour for Human Rights throughout the United States and Canada in June 2007. One dollar from each ticket was earmarked for the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates equal rights for LGBT individuals.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In 2008, Lauper started True Colors United (TCU) after learning that, while 10% of American youth identify themselves as LGBT, up to 40% of American homeless youths do so. The organization works to end youth homelessness, focusing on the experiences of LGBT youth. She set up the "True Colors Residence" in New York City for LGBT homeless youths. The 30-bed facility offers temporary shelter and job placement help. In April 2010, TCU launched the Give a Damn campaign, to help get straight people more involved in LGBT rights. In December 2022, Lauper performed her song "True Colors" at the ceremony where U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In August 2008, she contributed an article titled "Hope" to "The Huffington Post", encouraging Americans to vote for Barack Obama in the 2008 United States presidential election. Lauper performed at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: In 2022, Lauper launched the Girls Just Want To Have Fundamental Rights Fund, with a mission to support organizations “fighting for the right to abortion and reproductive healthcare.”


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Lauper was described by AllMusic's Lindsay Planer as "an iconoclastic vocalist who revolutionized the role of women in rock and roll". Over her 40-year career, she influenced multiple recording artists including Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Vanessa Paradis, Tegan and Sara, Kim Petras, and Yelle. Due to her success and influence Lauper has been inducted into both the Hollywood and Songwriters Hall of Fame.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Spotify said "She's So Unusual" and Lauper's distinctive idiosyncratic appearance "helped popularize the image of punk and new wave for America, making it an acceptable part of the pop landscape". "Rolling Stone" magazine stated that her debut was "arguably the first time explicitly punk-influenced elements were front-and-center on the pop landscape, both musically and via Lauper's Patrick Lucas-styled ensembles, dressing up the droll Reagan decade in feminist chutzpah." The album ranked at No. 487 on "Rolling Stone"s list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003. The album ranked at No. 41 on "Rolling Stone"s list of Women Who Rock: The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2012. "Rolling Stone's" review stated, "A wild and wonderful skyrocket of a voice ... Lauper's extraordinary pipes connect with the right material, the results sound like the beginning of a whole new golden age." Thirty years after its release, "Entertainment Weekly" called it an "everlastingly saucy supersmash".


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: Sheila Moeschen argued that "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" "embodied a different kind of feminine aesthetic that ran counter to the raw sensuality and edginess of her contemporaries like Madonna or veteran rockers Joan Jett and Pat Benatar", that introduced "a nation of women to a new kind of female role model, one that celebrated difference and encouraged playfulness in self-expression". John Rockwell wrote that the song was "a giddily upbeat attestation to female pleasure that simultaneously made a feminist statement, fulfilled male fantasies and—especially in its often-played video version—evoked the warmth of family and friends". Its music video won the first-ever Best Female Video prize at the 1984 VMAs. It featured a multicultural cast of women with teased, sideways hair and neon eye shadow, singing alongside Lauper.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: "Time After Time" has been covered by over a hundred artists and was ranked at No. 22 on "Rolling Stone"s 100 Best Songs of the Past 25 Years and at No. 19 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: "She Bop", the third single from "She's So Unusual", is the first and only top ten song to directly mention a gay porn magazine. An ode to masturbation, it was included in the PMRC's "Filthy Fifteen" list that led to the parental advisory sticker appearing on recordings thought to be unsuitable for young listeners. In a retrospective, "Rolling Stone" ranked it the 36th best song of 1984, praising its unusual playfulness regarding sexuality.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: "True Colors" is a gay anthem, after which True Colors United, which advocates for runaway and homeless LGBT youth, is named.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Lauper has won two awards from 16 nominations.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known informally as the Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. Lauper is the first woman to win a Tony solo for Best Score.


title: Cyndi Lauper

text: The MTV Video Music Awards were established in 1984 by MTV to celebrate the top music videos of the year. Lauper won one award from 14 nominations, the first "Best Female Video".


title: Absinthe

text: Absinthe (, ) is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from several plants, including the flowers and leaves of "Artemisia absinthium" ("grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. Historically described as a highly alcoholic spirit, it is 45–74% ABV or 90–148 proof US. Absinthe traditionally has a natural green color but may also be colorless. It is commonly referred to in historical literature as "" ("the green fairy"). It is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a liqueur, but is not traditionally bottled with added sugar, so is classified as a spirit. Absinthe is traditionally bottled at a high level of alcohol by volume, but it is normally diluted with water before being consumed.


title: Absinthe

text: Absinthe originated in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland in the late 18th century. It rose to great popularity as an alcoholic drink in late 19th- and early 20th-century France, particularly among Parisian artists and writers. The consumption of absinthe was opposed by social conservatives and prohibitionists, partly due to its association with bohemian culture. From Europe and the Americas, notable absinthe drinkers included Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Lewis Carroll, Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust, Aleister Crowley, Erik Satie, Edgar Allan Poe, Lord Byron, and Alfred Jarry.


title: Absinthe

text: Absinthe has often been portrayed as a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug and hallucinogen. The chemical compound thujone, which is present in the spirit in trace amounts, was blamed for its alleged harmful effects. By 1915, absinthe had been banned in the United States and in much of Europe, including France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria-Hungary, yet it has not been demonstrated to be any more dangerous than ordinary spirits. Recent studies have shown that absinthe's psychoactive properties (apart from those attributable to alcohol) have been exaggerated.


title: Absinthe

text: A revival of absinthe began in the 1990s, following the adoption of modern European Union food and beverage laws that removed long-standing barriers to its production and sale. By the early 21st century, nearly 200 brands of absinthe were being produced in a dozen countries, most notably in France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the Czech Republic.


title: Absinthe

text: The French word "absinthe" can refer either to the alcoholic beverage, or less commonly, to the actual wormwood plant. "Absinthe" is derived from the Latin "absinthium", which in turn comes from the Greek "apsínthion", "wormwood". The use of "Artemisia absinthium" in a drink is attested in Lucretius' "De Rerum Natura" (936–950), where Lucretius indicates that a drink containing wormwood is given as medicine to children in a cup with honey on the brim to make it drinkable. Some claim that the word means "undrinkable" in Greek, but it may instead be linked to the Persian root "spand" or "aspand", or the variant "esfand", which meant "Peganum harmala", also called Syrian rue, although it is not actually a variety of rue, another famously bitter herb. That "Artemisia absinthium" was commonly burned as a protective offering may suggest that its origins lie in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language root "*spend", meaning "to perform a ritual" or "make an offering". Whether the word was a borrowing from Persian into Greek, or from a common ancestor of both, is unclear. Alternatively, the Greek word may originate in a pre-Greek substrate word, marked by the non-Indo-European consonant complex νθ (-nth). Alternative spellings for absinthe include "absinth", "absynthe", and "absenta". "Absinth" (without the final "e") is a spelling variant most commonly applied to absinthes produced in central and eastern Europe, and is specifically associated with Bohemian-style absinthes.


title: Absinthe

text: The precise origin of absinthe is unclear. The medical use of wormwood dates back to ancient Egypt and is mentioned in the Ebers Papyrus, around 1550 BC. Wormwood extracts and wine-soaked wormwood leaves were used as remedies by the ancient Greeks. Moreover, some evidence exists of a wormwood-flavoured wine in ancient Greece called "absinthites oinos".


title: Absinthe

text: The first evidence of absinthe, in the sense of a distilled spirit containing green anise and fennel, dates to the 18th century. According to popular legend, it began as an all-purpose patent remedy created by Dr. Pierre Ordinaire, a French doctor living in Couvet, Switzerland, around 1792 (the exact date varies by account). Ordinaire's recipe was passed on to the Henriod sisters of Couvet, who sold it as a medicinal elixir. By other accounts, the Henriod sisters may have been making the elixir before Ordinaire's arrival. In either case, a certain Major Dubied acquired the formula from the sisters in 1797 and opened the first absinthe distillery named Dubied Père et Fils in Couvet with his son Marcellin and son-in-law Henry-Louis Pernod. In 1805, they built a second distillery in Pontarlier, France, under the company name Maison Pernod Fils. Pernod Fils remained one of the most popular brands of absinthe until the drink was banned in France in 1914.


title: Absinthe

text: Absinthe's popularity grew steadily through the 1840s, when it was given to French troops as a malaria preventive, and the troops brought home their taste for it. Absinthe became so popular in bars, bistros, cafés, and cabarets by the 1860s that the hour of 5 pm was called "l'heure verte" ("the green hour"). It was favoured by all social classes, from the wealthy bourgeoisie to poor artists and ordinary working-class people. By the 1880s, mass production had caused the price to drop sharply, and the French were drinking 36 million litres per year by 1910, compared to their annual consumption of almost 5 billion litres of wine.


title: Absinthe

text: Absinthe was exported widely from France and Switzerland and attained some degree of popularity in other countries, including Spain, Great Britain, the United States, and the Czech Republic. It was never banned in Spain or Portugal, and its production and consumption have never ceased. It gained a temporary spike in popularity there during the early 20th century, corresponding with the Art Nouveau and Modernism aesthetic movements.


title: Absinthe

text: New Orleans has a cultural association with absinthe and is credited as the birthplace of the Sazerac, perhaps the earliest absinthe cocktail. The Old Absinthe House bar on Bourbon Street began selling absinthe in the first half of the 19th century. Its Catalan lease-holder, Cayetano Ferrer, named it the Absinthe Room in 1874 due to of the popularity of the drink, which was served in the Parisian style. It was frequented by Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Aleister Crowley, and Frank Sinatra.


title: Absinthe

text: Absinthe became associated with violent crimes and social disorder, and one modern writer claims that this trend was spurred by fabricated claims and smear campaigns, which he claims were orchestrated by the temperance movement and the wine industry. One critic claimed:


title: Absinthe

text: Edgar Degas's 1876 painting "L'Absinthe" can be seen at the Musée d'Orsay epitomising the popular view of absinthe addicts as sodden and benumbed, and Émile Zola described its effects in his novel "L'Assommoir".


title: Absinthe

text: In 1905, Swiss farmer Jean Lanfray murdered his family and attempted to kill himself after drinking absinthe. Lanfray was an alcoholic who had drunk a lot of wine and brandy before the killings, but that was overlooked or ignored, and blame for the murders was placed solely on his consumption of two glasses of absinthe. The Lanfray murders were the tipping point in this hotly debated topic, and a subsequent petition collected more than 82,000 signatures to ban it in Switzerland. A referendum was held on 5 July 1908. It was approved by voters, and the prohibition of absinthe was written into the Swiss constitution.


title: Absinthe

text: In 1906, Belgium and Brazil banned the sale and distribution of absinthe, although these were not the first countries to take such action. It had been banned as early as 1898 in the colony of the Congo Free State. The Netherlands banned it in 1909, Switzerland in 1910, the United States in 1912, and France in 1914.


title: Absinthe

text: The prohibition of absinthe in France eventually led to the popularity of pastis, and to a lesser extent, ouzo, and other anise-flavoured spirits that do not contain wormwood. Following the conclusion of the First World War, production of the Pernod Fils brand was resumed at the Banus distillery in Catalonia, Spain (where absinthe was still legal), but gradually declining sales saw the cessation of production in the 1960s. In Switzerland, the ban served only to drive the production of absinthe underground. Clandestine home distillers produced colourless absinthe ("la Bleue"), which was easier to conceal from the authorities. Many countries never banned absinthe, notably Britain, where it had never been as popular as in continental Europe.


title: Absinthe

text: British importer BBH Spirits began to import Hill's Absinth from the Czech Republic in the 1990s, as the UK had never formally banned it, and this sparked a modern resurgence in its popularity. It began to reappear during a revival in the 1990s in countries where it was never banned. Forms of absinthe available during that time consisted almost exclusively of Czech, Spanish, and Portuguese brands that were of recent origin, typically consisting of Bohemian-style products. Connoisseurs considered these of inferior quality and not representative of the 19th-century spirit. In 2000, La Fée Absinthe became the first commercial absinthe distilled and bottled in France since the 1914 ban, but it is now one of dozens of brands that are produced and sold within France.


title: Absinthe

text: In the Netherlands, the restrictions were challenged by Amsterdam wineseller Menno Boorsma in July 2004, thus confirming the legality of absinthe once again. Similarly, Belgium lifted its long-standing ban on January 1, 2005, citing a conflict with the adopted food and beverage regulations of the single European Market. In Switzerland, the constitutional ban was repealed in 2000 during an overhaul of the national constitution, although the prohibition was written into ordinary law, instead. That law was later repealed, and it was made legal on March 1, 2005.


title: Absinthe

text: The drink was never officially banned in Spain, although it began to fall out of favour in the 1940s and almost vanished into obscurity. Catalonia has seen significant resurgence since 2007, when one producer established operations there. Absinthe has never been illegal to import or manufacture in Australia, although importation requires a permit under the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulation 1956 due to a restriction on importing any product containing "oil of wormwood". In 2000, an amendment made all wormwood species prohibited herbs for food purposes under "Food Standard 1.4.4. Prohibited and Restricted Plants and Fungi". However, this amendment was found inconsistent with other parts of the pre-existing Food Code, and it was withdrawn in 2002 during the transition between the two codes, thereby continuing to allow absinthe manufacture and importation through the existing permit-based system. These events were erroneously reported by the media as it being reclassified from a "prohibited" product to a "restricted" product.


title: Absinthe

text: In 2007, the French brand Lucid became the first genuine absinthe to receive a Certificate of Label Approval for import into the United States since 1912, following independent efforts by representatives from Lucid and Kübler to overturn the long-standing US ban. In December 2007, St. George Absinthe Verte produced by St. George Spirits of Alameda, California became the first brand of American-made absinthe produced in the United States since the ban. Since that time, other micro-distilleries have started producing small batches in the US.


title: Absinthe

text: The 21st century has seen new types of absinthe, including various frozen preparations, which have become increasingly popular. The French Absinthe Ban of 1915 was repealed in May 2011 following petitions by the Fédération Française des Spiritueux which represents French distillers.


title: Absinthe

text: Most countries have no legal definition for absinthe, whereas the method of production and content of spirits such as whisky, brandy, and gin are globally defined and regulated. Therefore, producers are at liberty to label a product as "absinthe" or "absinth" without regard to any specific legal definition or quality standards.


title: Absinthe

text: Producers of legitimate absinthes employ one of two historically defined processes to create the finished spirit – distillation or cold mixing. In the sole country (Switzerland) that does possess a legal definition of absinthe, distillation is the only permitted method of production.


title: Absinthe

text: Distilled absinthe employs a method of production similar to that of high-quality gin. Botanicals are initially macerated in distilled base alcohol before being redistilled to exclude bitter principles, and impart the desired complexity and texture to the spirit.


title: Absinthe

text: The distillation of absinthe first yields a colourless distillate that leaves the alembic at around 72% ABV. The distillate may be reduced and bottled clear, to produce a "Blanche" or "la Bleue" absinthe, or it may be coloured to create a "verte" using natural or artificial colouring.


title: Absinthe

text: Traditional absinthes obtain their green color strictly from the chlorophyll of whole herbs, which is extracted from the plants during the secondary maceration. This step involves steeping plants such as petite wormwood, hyssop, and melissa (among other herbs) in the distillate. Chlorophyll from these herbs is extracted in the process, giving the drink its famous green color.


title: Absinthe

text: This step also provides an herbal complexity that is typical of high-quality absinthe. The natural coloring process is considered critical for absinthe ageing, since the chlorophyll remains chemically active. The chlorophyll serves a similar role in absinthe that tannins do in wine or brown liquors.


title: Absinthe

text: After the coloring process, the resulting product is diluted with water to the desired percentage of alcohol. The flavor of absinthe is said to improve materially with storage, and many distilleries, before the ban, aged their absinthe in settling tanks before bottling.


title: Absinthe

text: Many modern absinthes are produced using a cold-mix process. This inexpensive method of production does not involve distillation, and is regarded as inferior for the same reasons that give cause for cheaply compounded gin to be legally differentiated from distilled gin. The cold mixing process involves the simple blending of flavouring essences and artificial colouring in commercial alcohol, in similar fashion to most flavoured vodkas and inexpensive liqueurs and cordials. Some modern cold-mixed absinthes have been bottled at strengths approaching 90% ABV. Others are presented simply as a bottle of plain alcohol with a small amount of powdered herbs suspended within it.


title: Absinthe

text: The lack of a formal legal definition in most countries to regulate the production and quality of absinthe has enabled cheaply made products to be falsely presented as traditional in production and composition. In Switzerland, the only country with a formal legal definition of absinthe, any absinthe product not obtained by maceration and distillation or coloured artificially cannot be sold as absinthe.


title: Absinthe

text: Absinthe is traditionally prepared from a distillation of neutral alcohol, various herbs, spices, and water. Traditional absinthes were redistilled from a white grape spirit (or "eau de vie"), while lesser absinthes were more commonly made from alcohol from grains, beets, or potatoes. The principal botanicals are grande wormwood, green anise, and florence fennel, which are often called "the holy trinity". Many other herbs may be used as well, such as petite wormwood ("Artemisia pontica" or Roman wormwood), hyssop, melissa, star anise, angelica, peppermint, coriander, and veronica.


title: Absinthe

text: One early recipe was included in 1864's "The English and Australian Cookery Book". It directed the maker to "Take of the tops of wormwood, four pounds; root of angelica, calamus aromaticus, aniseed, leaves of dittany, of each one ounce; alcohol, four gallons. Macerate these substances during eight days, add a little water, and distil by a gentle fire, until two gallons are obtained. This is reduced to a proof spirit, and a few drops of the oil of aniseed added."


title: Absinthe

text: Adding to absinthe's negative reputation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, unscrupulous makers of the drink omitted the traditional colouring phase of production in favour of adding toxic copper salts to artificially induce a green tint. This practice may be responsible for some of the alleged toxicity historically associated with this beverage. Many modern-day producers resort to other shortcuts, including the use of artificial food coloring to create the green color. Additionally, at least some cheap absinthes produced before the ban were reportedly adulterated with poisonous antimony trichloride, reputed to enhance the louching effect.


title: Absinthe

text: Absinthe may also be naturally coloured pink or red using rose or hibiscus flowers. This was referred to as a "rose" (pink) or "rouge" (red) absinthe. Only one historical brand of rose absinthe has been documented.


title: Absinthe

text: Absinthe was historically bottled at 45–74% ABV. Some modern Franco–Suisse absinthes are bottled at up to 83% ABV, while some modern, cold-mixed bohemian-style absinthes are bottled at up to 90% ABV.


title: Absinthe

text: The modern-day interest in absinthe has spawned a rash of absinthe kits from companies that claim they produce homemade absinthe. Kits often call for soaking herbs in vodka or alcohol, or adding a liquid concentrate to vodka or alcohol to create an ersatz absinthe. Such practices usually yield a harsh substance that bears little resemblance to the genuine article, and are considered inauthentic by any practical standard. Some concoctions may even be dangerous, especially if they call for supplementation with potentially poisonous herbs, oils and/or extracts. In at least one documented case, a person suffered acute kidney injury after drinking 10 ml of pure wormwood oila dose much higher than that found in absinthe.


title: Absinthe

text: In baking and in preparing the classic New Orleans-style Sazerac cocktail, anise-flavored liqueurs and pastis have often been used as a substitute if absinthe is unavailable.


title: Absinthe

text: The traditional French preparation involves placing a sugar cube on top of a specially designed slotted spoon, and placing the spoon on a glass filled with a measure of absinthe. Iced water is poured or dripped over the sugar cube to mix the water into the absinthe. The final preparation contains 1 part absinthe and 3–5 parts water. As water dilutes the spirit, those components with poor water solubility (mainly those from anise, fennel, and star anise) come out of solution and cloud the drink. The resulting milky opalescence is called the "louche" (Fr. "opaque" or "shady", IPA [luʃ]). The release of these dissolved essences coincides with a perfuming of herbal aromas and flavours that "blossom" or "bloom," and brings out subtleties that are otherwise muted within the neat spirit. This reflects what is perhaps the oldest and purest method of preparation, and is often referred to as the "French Method".


title: Absinthe

text: The "Bohemian method" is a recent invention that involves fire, and was not performed during absinthe's peak of popularity in the Belle Époque. Like the French method, a sugar cube is placed on a slotted spoon over a glass containing one shot of absinthe. The sugar is soaked in alcohol (usually more absinthe), then set ablaze. The flaming sugar cube is then dropped into the glass, thus igniting the absinthe. Finally, a shot glass of water is added to douse the flames. This method tends to produce a stronger drink than the French method. A variant of the Bohemian method involves allowing the fire to extinguish on its own. This variant is sometimes referred to as "cooking the absinthe" or "the flaming green fairy". The origin of this burning ritual may borrow from a coffee and brandy drink that was served at Café Brûlot, in which a sugar cube soaked in brandy was set aflame. Most experienced absintheurs do not recommend the Bohemian Method and consider it a modern gimmick, as it can destroy the absinthe flavour and present a fire hazard due to the unusually high alcohol content present in absinthe.


title: Absinthe

text: In 19th century Parisian cafés, upon receiving an order for an absinthe, a waiter would present the patron with a dose of absinthe in a suitable glass, sugar, absinthe spoon, and a carafe of iced water. It was up to the patron to prepare the drink, as the inclusion or omission of sugar was strictly an individual preference, as was the amount of water used. As the popularity of the drink increased, additional accoutrements of preparation appeared, including the absinthe fountain, which was effectively a large jar of iced water with spigots, mounted on a lamp base. This let drinkers prepare a number of drinks at onceand with a hands-free drip, patrons could socialise while louching a glass.


title: Absinthe

text: Although many bars served absinthe in standard glassware, a number of glasses were specifically designed for the French absinthe preparation ritual. Absinthe glasses were typically fashioned with a dose line, bulge, or bubble in the lower portion denoting how much absinthe should be poured. One "dose" of absinthe ranged anywhere around 2–2.5 fluid ounces (60–75 ml).


title: Absinthe

text: In addition to being prepared with sugar and water, absinthe emerged as a popular cocktail ingredient in both the United Kingdom and the United States. By 1930, dozens of fancy cocktails that called for absinthe had been published in numerous credible bartender guides. One of the most famous of these libations is Ernest Hemingway's "Death in the Afternoon" cocktail, a tongue-in-cheek concoction that contributed to a 1935 collection of celebrity recipes. The directions are: "Pour one jigger absinthe into a Champagne glass. Add iced Champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness. Drink three to five of these slowly."


title: Absinthe

text: Most categorical alcoholic beverages have regulations governing their classification and labelling, while those governing absinthe have always been conspicuously lacking. According to popular treatises from the 19th century, absinthe could be loosely categorised into several grades ("ordinaire", "demi-fine", "fine", and "Suisse"the latter does not denote origin), in order of increasing alcoholic strength and quality. Many contemporary absinthe critics simply classify absinthe as "distilled" or "mixed", according to its production method. And while the former is generally considered far superior in quality to the latter, an absinthe's simple claim of being 'distilled' makes no guarantee as to the quality of its base ingredients or the skill of its maker.


title: Absinthe

text: Absinthe that is artificially coloured or clear is aesthetically stable, and can be bottled in clear glass. If naturally colored absinthe is exposed to light or air for a prolonged period, the chlorophyll gradually becomes oxidized, which has the effect of gradually changing the color from green to yellow green, and eventually to brown. The colour of absinthe that has completed this transition was historically referred to as "feuille morte" ("dead leaf"). In the pre-ban era, this natural phenomenon was favourably viewed, for it confirmed the product in question was coloured naturally, and not artificially with potentially toxic chemicals. Predictably, vintage absinthes often emerge from sealed bottles as distinctly amber in tint due to decades of slow oxidation. Though this colour change presents no adverse impact to the flavour of absinthe, it is generally desired to preserve the original colour, which requires that naturally coloured absinthe be bottled in dark, light resistant bottles. Absinthe intended for decades of storage should be kept in a cool (room temperature), dry place, away from light and heat. Absinthe should not be stored in the refrigerator or freezer, as the anethole may polymerise inside the bottle, creating an irreversible precipitate, and adversely impacting the original flavour.


title: Absinthe

text: Absinthe has been frequently and improperly described in modern times as being hallucinogenic. No peer-reviewed scientific study has demonstrated absinthe to possess hallucinogenic properties. The belief that absinthe induces hallucinogenic effects is rooted, at least partly, in the findings of 19th century French psychiatrist Valentin Magnan, who carried out ten years of experiments with wormwood oil. In the course of this research he studied 250 cases of alcoholism and concluded that those who abused absinthe were worse off than those who abused other alcoholic drinks, experiencing rapid-onset hallucinations. Such accounts by opponents of absinthe (like Magnan) were cheerfully embraced by famous absinthe drinkers, many of whom were bohemian artists or writers.


title: Absinthe

text: Two famous artists who helped popularise the notion that absinthe had powerful psychoactive properties were Toulouse-Lautrec and Vincent van Gogh. In one of the best-known written accounts of absinthe drinking, an inebriated Oscar Wilde described a phantom sensation of having tulips brush against his legs after leaving a bar at closing time.


title: Absinthe

text: Notions of absinthe's alleged hallucinogenic properties were again fuelled in the 1970s, when a scientific paper suggested that thujone's structural similarity to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active chemical in cannabis, presented the possibility of THC receptor affinity. This theory was conclusively disproven in 1999.


title: Absinthe

text: The debate over whether absinthe produces effects on the human mind in addition to those of alcohol has not been resolved conclusively. The effects of absinthe have been described by some as mind opening. The most commonly reported experience is a "clear-headed" feeling of inebriationa form of "lucid drunkenness". Chemist, historian and absinthe distiller Ted Breaux has claimed that the alleged secondary effects of absinthe may be because some of the herbal compounds in the drink act as stimulants, while others act as sedatives, creating an overall lucid effect of awakening. The long-term effects of moderate absinthe consumption in humans remain unknown, although herbs traditionally used to produce absinthe are reported to have both painkilling and antiparasitic properties.


title: Absinthe

text: Today it is known that absinthe does not cause hallucinations. It is widely accepted that reports of hallucinogenic effects resulting from absinthe consumption were attributable to the poisonous adulterants being added to cheaper versions of the drink in the 19th century, such as oil of wormwood, impure alcohol (contaminated possibly with methanol), and poisonous colouring matter – notably (among other green copper salts) cupric acetate and antimony trichloride (the last-named being used to fake the ouzo effect).


title: Absinthe

text: It was once widely promoted that excessive absinthe drinking caused effects that were discernible from those associated with alcoholism, a belief that led to the coining of the term "absinthism". One of the first vilifications of absinthe followed an 1864 experiment in which Magnan simultaneously exposed one guinea pig to large doses of pure wormwood vapour, and another to alcohol vapours. The guinea pig exposed to wormwood vapour experienced convulsive seizures, while the animal exposed to alcohol did not. Magnan would later blame the naturally occurring (in wormwood) chemical thujone for these effects.


title: Absinthe

text: Thujone, once widely believed to be an active chemical in absinthe, is a GABA antagonist, and while it can produce muscle spasms in large doses, there is no direct evidence to suggest it causes hallucinations. Past reports estimated thujone concentrations in absinthe as being up to 260 mg/kg. More recently, published scientific analyses of samples of various original absinthes have disproved previous estimates, and demonstrated that only a trace of the thujone present in wormwood actually makes it into a properly distilled absinthe when historical methods and materials are employed to create the spirit. As such, most traditionally crafted absinthes, both vintage and modern, fall within the current EU standards.


title: Absinthe

text: Tests conducted on mice to study toxicity showed an oral of about 45 mg thujone per kg of body weight, which represents far more absinthe than could be realistically consumed. The high percentage of alcohol in absinthe would result in mortality long before thujone could become a factor. In documented cases of acute thujone poisoning as a result of oral ingestion, the source of thujone was not commercial absinthe, but rather non-absinthe-related sources, such as common essential oils (which may contain as much as 50% thujone).


title: Absinthe

text: One study published in the "Journal of Studies on Alcohol" concluded that high doses (0.28 mg/kg) of thujone in alcohol had negative effects on attention performance in a clinical setting. It delayed reaction time, and caused subjects to concentrate their attention into the central field of vision. Low doses (0.028 mg/kg) did not produce an effect noticeably different from the plain alcohol control. While the effects of the high dose samples were statistically significant in a double blind test, the test subjects themselves were unable to reliably identify which samples contained thujone. For the average man, the high dose samples in the study would equate to 18.2 mg of thujone. The EU limit of 35 mg/L of thujone in absinthe means that given the highest permitted thujone content, that individual would need to consume approximately 0.5 litres of high proof (e.g. 50%+ ABV) spirit before the thujone could be metabolized in order to display effects detectable in a clinical setting, which would result in a potentially lethal BAC of >0.4%.


title: Absinthe

text: Most countries (except Switzerland) at present do not possess a legal definition of absinthe (unlike Scotch whisky or cognac). Accordingly, producers are free to label a product "absinthe" or "absinth", whether or not it bears any resemblance to the traditional spirit.


title: Absinthe

text: Absinthe is readily available in many bottle shops. Bitters may contain a maximum 35 mg/kg thujone, while other alcoholic beverages can contain a maximum 10 mg/kg. The domestic production and sale of absinthe is regulated by state licensing laws.


title: Absinthe

text: Until July 13, 2013, the import and sale of absinthe technically required a special permit, since "oil of wormwood, being an essential oil obtained from plants of the genus "Artemisia", and preparations containing oil of wormwood" were listed as item 12A, Schedule 8, Regulation 5H of the "Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956" (Cth). These controls have now been repealed, and permission is no longer required.


title: Absinthe

text: Absinthe was prohibited in Brazil until 1999 and was brought by entrepreneur Lalo Zanini and legalised in the same year. Presently, absinthe sold in Brazil must abide by the national law that restricts all spirits to a maximum of 54% ABV. While this regulation is enforced throughout channels of legal distribution, it may be possible to find absinthe containing alcohol in excess of the legal limit in some restaurants or food fairs.


title: Absinthe

text: In Canada, liquor laws concerning the production, distribution, and sale of spirits are written and enforced by individual provincial government monopolies. Each product is subject to the approval of a respective individual provincial liquor board before it can be sold in that province. Importation is a federal matter, and is enforced by the Canada Border Services Agency. The importation of a nominal amount of liquor by individuals for personal use is permitted, provided that conditions for the individual's duration of stay outside the country are satisfied.


title: Absinthe

text: In 2007, Canada's first genuine absinthe (Taboo Absinthe) was created by Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery in British Columbia.


title: Absinthe

text: The European Union permits a maximum thujone level of 35 mg/kg in alcoholic beverages where "Artemisia" species is a listed ingredient, and 10 mg/kg in other alcoholic beverages. Member countries regulate absinthe production within this framework. The sale of absinthe is permitted in all EU countries unless they further regulate it.


title: Absinthe

text: The sale and production of absinthe was prohibited in Finland from 1919 to 1932; no current prohibitions exist. The government-owned chain of liquor stores (Alko) is the only outlet that may sell alcoholic beverages containing over 5.5% ABV, although national law bans the sale of alcoholic beverages containing over 80% ABV.


title: Absinthe

text: Édouard Manet's first major painting "The Absinthe Drinker" was controversial, and was rejected by the Paris Salon in 1859. Despite adopting sweeping EU food and beverage regulations in 1988 that effectively re-legalised absinthe, a decree was passed that same year that preserved the prohibition on products explicitly labelled as "absinthe", while placing strict limits on fenchone (fennel) and pinocamphone (hyssop) in an obvious, but failed, attempt to thwart a possible return of absinthe-like products. French producers circumvented this regulatory obstacle by labelling absinthe as "spiritueux à base de plantes d'absinthe" ('wormwood-based spirits'), with many either reducing or omitting fennel and hyssop altogether from their products. A legal challenge to the scientific basis of this decree resulted in its repeal (2009), which opened the door for the official French re-legalisation of absinthe for the first time since 1915. The French Senate voted to repeal the prohibition in mid-April 2011.


title: Absinthe

text: It is legal to produce and sell absinthe in Georgia, which has claimed to possess several producers of absinthe.


title: Absinthe

text: A ban on absinthe was enacted in Germany on 27 March 1923. In addition to banning the production of and commercial trade in absinthe, the law went so far as to prohibit the distribution of printed matter that provided details of its production. The original ban was lifted in 1981, but the use of "Artemisia absinthium" as a flavouring agent remained prohibited. On 27 September 1991, Germany adopted the European Union's standards of 1988, which effectively re-legalised absinthe.


title: Absinthe

text: The Fascist regime in 1926 banned the production, import, transport and sale of any liquor named ""Assenzio"". The ban was reinforced in 1931 with harsher penalties for transgressors, and remained in force until 1992 when the Italian government amended its laws to comply with the EU directive 88/388/EEC.


title: Absinthe

text: Although absinthe is not prohibited at national level, some local authorities have banned it. The latest is Mataura in Southland. The ban came in August 2008 after several issues of misuse drew public and police attention. One incident resulted in breathing difficulties and hospitalising of a 17-year-old for alcohol poisoning. The particular brand of absinthe that caused these effects was bottled at 89% ABV.


title: Absinthe

text: The sale and production of absinthe has never been prohibited in Sweden or Norway. However, the only outlet that may sell alcoholic beverages containing more than 3.5% ABV in Sweden and 4.75% ABV in Norway, is the government-owned chain of liquor stores known as Systembolaget in Sweden and Vinmonopolet in Norway. Systembolaget and Vinmonopolet did not import or sell absinthe for many years after the ban in France; however, today several absinthes are available for purchase in Systembolaget stores, including Swedish made distilled absinthe. In Norway, on the other hand, one is less likely to find many absinthes since Norwegian alcohol law prohibits the sale and importation of alcoholic beverages above 60% ABV, which eliminates most absinthes.


title: Absinthe

text: In Switzerland, the sale and production of absinthe was prohibited from 1910 to March 1, 2005. This was based on a vote in 1908. To be legally made or sold in Switzerland, absinthe must be distilled, must not contain certain additives, and must be either naturally coloured or left uncoloured.


title: Absinthe

text: In 2014, the Federal Administrative Court of Switzerland invalidated a governmental decision of 2010 which allowed only absinthe made in the Val-de-Travers region to be labelled as absinthe in Switzerland. The court found that absinthe was a label for a product and was not tied to a geographic origin.


title: Absinthe

text: In 2007, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) effectively lifted the long-standing absinthe ban, and it has since approved many brands for sale in the US market. This was made possible partly through the TTB's clarification of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) thujone content regulations, which specify that finished food and beverages that contain "Artemisia" species must be thujone-free. In this context, the TTB considers a product thujone-free if the thujone content is less than 10 ppm (equal to 10 mg/kg). This is verified through the use of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The brands Kübler and Lucid and their lawyers did most of the work to get absinthe legalized in the U.S., over the 2004–2007 time period. In the U.S., March 5 sometimes is referred to as "National Absinthe Day", as it was the day the 95-year ban on absinthe was finally lifted.


title: Absinthe

text: Absinthe imported in violation of these regulations is subject to seizure at the discretion of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.


title: Absinthe

text: Beginning in 2000, a product called Absente was sold legally in the United States under the marketing tagline "Absinthe Refined," but as the product contained sugar, and was made with "southernwood" ("Artemisia abrotanum") and not grande wormwood ("Artemisia absinthium") (before 2009), the TTB classified it as a liqueur.


title: Absinthe

text: The Absinthe (Prohibition) Act 1915, passed in the New Hebrides, has never been repealed, is included in the 2006 Vanuatu consolidated legislation, and contains the following all-encompassing restriction: "The manufacture, importation, circulation and sale wholesale or by retail of absinthe or similar liquors in Vanuatu shall be prohibited."


title: Absinthe

text: Numerous artists and writers living in France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were noted absinthe drinkers and featured absinthe in their work. Some of these included Édouard Manet, Guy de Maupassant, Paul Verlaine, Amedeo Modigliani, Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Vincent van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Rimbaud, and Émile Zola. Many other renowned artists and writers similarly drew from this cultural well, including Aleister Crowley, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, August Strindberg, and Erik Satie.


title: Absinthe

text: The aura of illicitness and mystery surrounding absinthe has played into literature, movies, music, and television, where it is often portrayed as a mysterious, addictive, and mind-altering drink. Marie Corelli's "" (1890) was a popular novel about a Frenchman driven to murder and ruin after being introduced to absinthe. Intended as a morality tale on the dangers of the drink, it was speculated to have contributed to subsequent bans of absinthe in Europe and the United States.


title: Absinthe

text: Some of the earliest film references include "The Hasher's Delirium" (1910) by Émile Cohl, an early pioneer in the art of animation, as well as two different silent films, each entitled "Absinthe", from 1913 and 1914 respectively.


title: Anna Kournikova

text: Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova (; born 7 June 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player and American television personality. Her appearance and celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis stars worldwide. At the peak of her fame, fans looking for images of Kournikova made her name one of the most common search strings on Google Search.


title: Anna Kournikova

text: Despite never winning a singles title, she reached No. 8 in the world in 2000. She achieved greater success playing doubles, where she was at times the world No. 1 player. With Martina Hingis as her partner, she won Grand Slam titles in Australia in 1999 and 2002, and the WTA Championships in 1999 and 2000. They referred to themselves as the "Spice Girls of Tennis".


title: Anna Kournikova

text: Kournikova retired from professional tennis in 2003 due to serious back and spinal problems, including a herniated disk. She lives in Miami Beach, Florida, and played in occasional exhibitions and in doubles for the St. Louis Aces of World Team Tennis before the team folded in 2011. She was a new trainer for season 12 of the television show "The Biggest Loser", replacing Jillian Michaels, but did not return for season 13. In addition to her tennis and television work, Kournikova serves as a Global Ambassador for Population Services International's "Five & Alive" program, which addresses health crises facing children under the age of five and their families.


title: Anna Kournikova

text: Kournikova was born in Moscow, Russia on 7 June 1981. Her father, Sergei Kournikov (born 1961), a former Greco-Roman wrestling champion, eventually earned a PhD and was a professor at the University of Physical Culture and Sport in Moscow. As of 2001, he was still a part-time martial arts instructor there. Her mother Alla (born 1963) had been a 400-metre runner. Her younger half-brother, Allan, is a youth golf world champion who was featured in the 2013 documentary film "The Short Game".


title: Anna Kournikova

text: Sergei Kournikov has said, "We were young and we liked the clean, physical life, so Anna was in a good environment for sport from the beginning".


title: Anna Kournikova

text: Kournikova received her first tennis racquet as a New Year gift in 1986 at the age of five. Describing her early regimen, she said, "I played two times a week from age six. It was a children's program. And it was just for fun; my parents didn't know I was going to play professionally, they just wanted me to do something because I had lots of energy. It was only when I started playing well at seven that I went to a professional academy. I would go to school, and then my parents would take me to the club, and I'd spend the rest of the day there just having fun with the kids." In 1986, Kournikova became a member of the Spartak Tennis Club, coached by Larissa Preobrazhenskaya. In 1989, at the age of eight, Kournikova began appearing in junior tournaments, and by the following year, was attracting attention from tennis scouts across the world. She signed a management deal at age ten and went to Bradenton, Florida, to train at Nick Bollettieri's celebrated tennis academy.


title: Anna Kournikova

text: Following her arrival in the United States, she became prominent on the tennis scene. At the age of 14, she won the European Championships and the Italian Open Junior tournament. In December 1995, she became the youngest player to win the 18-and-under division of the Junior Orange Bowl tennis tournament. By the end of the year, Kournikova was crowned the ITF Junior World Champion U-18 and Junior European Champion U-18.


title: Anna Kournikova

text: Earlier, in September 1995, Kournikova, still only 14 years of age, debuted in the WTA Tour, when she received a wildcard into the qualifications at the WTA tournament in Moscow, the Moscow Ladies Open, and qualified before losing in the second round of the main draw to third-seeded Sabine Appelmans. She also reached her first WTA Tour doubles final in that debut appearance — partnering with 1995 Wimbledon girls' champion in both singles and doubles Aleksandra Olsza, she lost the title match to Meredith McGrath and Larisa Savchenko-Neiland.


title: Anna Kournikova

text: In February–March 1996, Kournikova won two ITF titles, in Midland, Michigan and Rockford, Illinois. Still only 14 years of age, in April 1996 she debuted at the Fed Cup for Russia, the youngest player ever to participate and win a match.


title: Anna Kournikova

text: In 1996, she started playing under a new coach, Ed Nagel. Her six-year association with Nagel was successful. At 15, she made her Grand Slam debut, reaching the fourth round of the 1996 US Open, losing to Steffi Graf, the eventual champion. After this tournament, Kournikova's ranking jumped from No. 144 to debut in the Top 100 at No. 69. Kournikova was a member of the Russian delegation to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1996, she was named WTA Newcomer of the Year, and she was ranked No. 57 in the end of the season.


title: Anna Kournikova

text: Kournikova entered the 1997 Australian Open as world No. 67, where she lost in the first round to world No. 12, Amanda Coetzer. At the Italian Open, Kournikova lost to Amanda Coetzer in the second round. She reached the semi-finals in the doubles partnering with Elena Likhovtseva, before losing to the sixth seeds Mary Joe Fernández and Patricia Tarabini.


title: Anna Kournikova

text: At the French Open, Kournikova made it to the third round before losing to world No. 1, Martina Hingis. She also reached the third round in doubles with Likhovtseva. At the Wimbledon Championships, Kournikova became only the second woman in the open era to reach the semi-finals in her Wimbledon debut, the first being Chris Evert in 1972. There she lost to eventual champion Martina Hingis.


title: Anna Kournikova

text: At the US Open, she lost in the second round to the eleventh seed Irina Spîrlea. Partnering with Likhovtseva, she reached the third round of the women's doubles event. Kournikova played her last WTA Tour event of 1997 at Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Filderstadt, losing to Amanda Coetzer in the second round of singles, and in the first round of doubles to Lindsay Davenport and Jana Novotná partnering with Likhovtseva. She broke into the top 50 on 19 May, and was ranked No. 32 in singles and No. 41 in doubles at the end of the season.


title: Anna Kournikova

text: In 1998, Kournikova broke into the WTA's top 20 rankings for the first time, when she was ranked No. 16. At the Australian Open, Kournikova lost in the third round to world No. 1 player, Martina Hingis. She also partnered with Larisa Savchenko-Neiland in women's doubles, and they lost to eventual champions Hingis and Mirjana Lučić in the second round. Although she lost in the second round of the Paris Open to Anke Huber in singles, Kournikova reached her second doubles WTA Tour final, partnering with Larisa Savchenko-Neiland. They lost to Sabine Appelmans and Miriam Oremans. Kournikova and Savchenko-Neiland reached their second consecutive final at the Linz Open, losing to Alexandra Fusai and Nathalie Tauziat. At the Miami Open, Kournikova reached her first WTA Tour singles final, before losing to Venus Williams in the final.


title: Anna Kournikova

text: Kournikova then reached two consecutive quarterfinals, at Amelia Island and the Italian Open, losing respectively to Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis. At the German Open, she reached the semi-finals in both singles and doubles, partnering with Larisa Savchenko-Neiland. At the French Open Kournikova had her best result at this tournament, making it to the fourth round before losing to Jana Novotná. She also reached her first Grand Slam doubles semi-finals, losing with Savchenko-Neiland to Lindsay Davenport and Natasha Zvereva. During her quarterfinals match at the grass-court Eastbourne Open versus Steffi Graf, Kournikova injured her thumb, which would eventually force her to withdraw from the 1998 Wimbledon Championships. However, she won that match, but then withdrew from her semi-finals match against Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. Kournikova returned for the Du Maurier Open and made it to the third round, before losing to Conchita Martínez. At the US Open Kournikova reached the fourth round before losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. Her strong year qualified her for the year-end 1998 WTA Tour Championships, but she lost to Monica Seles in the first round. However, with Seles, she won her first WTA doubles title, in Tokyo, beating Mary Joe Fernández and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the final. At the end of the season, she was ranked No. 10 in doubles.