title: Nigel Mansell

text: In , after the CART season ended, Mansell returned to F1 and re-joined the Williams team. Since he had left it in 1993, the team had undergone some significant changes. Damon Hill had been promoted from test driver and was running full-time in one car. Prost, Mansell's replacement, won the 1993 Drivers' Championship and then retired after the season. This allowed Williams and Ayrton Senna to finally work out an agreement, and the team received a new sponsor in Rothmans International for a season in which they were expected to remain as champions. However, the car proved unreliable and tricky to handle early in the season, leading Senna to retire from the opening rounds despite claiming pole. In the third race at Imola, Senna was killed in a crash on the Tamburello curve.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: Williams test driver David Coulthard took over Senna's seat for the majority of 1994 and Williams got permission from Newman/Haas Racing to bring back Mansell at the French Grand Prix and the final three races of 1994 in Europe, Japan and Australia. Mansell was paid approximately £900,000 per race, compared to teammate Damon Hill being paid £300,000 for the entire season. Mansell's return was helped by Bernie Ecclestone helping unravel his contracts in the United States. It was important for F1 to have a world champion driving that season and with worldwide TV viewing figures starting to decline, they needed Mansell. The 41-year-old was not as quick as Hill in race trim but signs that his speeds were coming back were evident in Japan during a battle with the Ferrari of Jean Alesi. Mansell took his final Grand Prix victory in Adelaide, the last race of the season, having out-qualified the two title contenders at the time, Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher, in the process (helped out by the second qualifying session being held on a wet track, with the times from the first session making up the grid). The plan initially was for Mansell to protect Hill from Schumacher, but both drivers passed him at the start and eventually collided (causing the retirement of both), handing Schumacher his first world title.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: Mansell purportedly agreed a new contract to drive for Williams again in 1995, but later claimed this was rescinded. Williams ultimately opted for youth over experience and hired Coulthard for the 1995 season.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: McLaren's title sponsors Marlboro wanted a world champion, whereas McLaren and their engine suppliers Mercedes wanted a lower-profile driver for what was Mercedes' second year back in Formula One since abandoning it in .


title: Nigel Mansell

text: Before the season started, Mansell could not fit into the narrow car and was deputised by Mark Blundell for the opening two rounds in Brazil and Argentina. Mansell's car was completed in 33 days and in time for Imola, where despite being in the top six late in the race, a clash with Eddie Irvine saw him finish 10th and out of the points. The Spanish Grand Prix saw Mansell become frustrated over his car's handling characteristics, he chose to retire after just two races with the team. Mansell cited the decision to retire as his not wanting to make up the numbers and with no hope of the McLaren MP4/10 being competitive. In 2015, Mansell stated that he was wrong to leave McLaren so soon and that in hindsight he should have continued with the team for the season and help improve the car.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: A few testing sessions with F1 teams including Jordan suggested another comeback could be on the cards, but it never happened. Reports at the time suggested that the Mansell–Jordan partnership for 1997 was a real possibility with Eddie Jordan's title sponsor willing to pay for the deal. The Jordan team said after the tests in Barcelona in December 1996 that Mansell decided against it.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: Mansell took part in the 1993 TOCA Shootout, held at Donington Park. Mansell drove a Ford Mondeo with his usual red number 5. The race ended in disaster for Mansell; he was knocked unconscious following a crash with six laps remaining. He lost control of his car through the exit of the Old Hairpin, over-corrected the slide and collided with Tiff Needell's Vauxhall Cavalier, resulting in a spin and a bad crash into the tyre wall under the bridge.Mansell made a return to racing in 1998 in the British Touring Car Championship, driving in a Ford Mondeo for three rounds. With the number 5 already taken by James Thompson, Mansell raced with the red number 55.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: At his first event at Donington Park, he retired three laps into the sprint race, meaning he would start the feature race in 19th position on the grid. As the conditions changed and the track became wetter, Mansell found himself leading the race for several laps, and he finished in fifth position. The race was regarded by many fans as one of the greatest in touring car history.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: It was to be his best finish in the series, as he failed to finish either race at the next round he participated in at Brands Hatch, and at his final race at Silverstone he finished in 14th and 11th place. Having competed in three of the 13 rounds, he finished 18th out of 21 in the Drivers' Championship.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: On 16 July 2005, Mansell took part in a "Race of Legends" exhibition event at the Norisring round of the DTM. He competed against other Formula One World Champions Jody Scheckter, Alain Prost and Emerson Fittipaldi, as well as Motorcycle Grand Prix World Champions Mick Doohan and Johnny Cecotto (himself a former F1 driver), each driver having an opportunity to drive Audi, Mercedes and Opel cars. Prost was announced as the winner by the DTM organisers.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: Mansell became a financial stakeholder and a driver in the new Grand Prix Masters series. Following a period of testing and developing the car, Mansell made a successful race comeback by winning the inaugural race of the series in Kyalami in November 2005 (Mansell had won at the old Kyalami circuit in 1985 and had also won at the new circuit in 1992). After the success of the race at Kyalami, four dates were scheduled for the GP Masters Series in 2006, including one at Silverstone. Mansell won the season opener at Qatar in April from pole position. The Monza round of the series was cancelled due to noise limitations at the venue, whilst technical issues quickly ruled him out of the Silverstone race.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: Also in 2006 he appeared at Brands Hatch, scene of his first Grand Prix win, in October 1985, driving some demonstration laps in the BMW M3 GTR that Andy Priaulx drove to victory in the 2005 24 Hours Nürburgring, as part of the World Touring Car Championship event.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: On the weekend of 6 May 2007 he made an appearance in the second round of the FIA GT Championship at Silverstone driving a Ferrari 430 GT2 for the Scuderia Ecosse team. He was paired with Chris Niarchos, finishing seventh in class and 21st overall.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: Mansell, with his son Leo, tested a Chamberlain-Synergy team Le Mans prototype Lola-AER B06/10 during the week commencing 14 July 2008, at the Estoril circuit. The pair were said to be considering a drive in the American Le Mans series, possibly commencing as soon as October 2008 in the Petit Le Mans event, although neither driver was in the final field.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: On 3 July 2009, Mansell tested his other son Greg's World Series by Renault car at the Silverstone Circuit, setting a best time six seconds off the pace of the fastest driver in the session.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: Mansell took part in the last round of the 2009 Le Mans Series, the 1000 km of Silverstone, driving Team LNT's Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S alongside his son Greg and team boss Lawrence Tomlinson.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: Mansell raced a Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S in the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans, alongside his two sons. According to the BBC, this was the first time a father has raced at Le Mans in the same car as his two sons. However, in the race he crashed after only five laps, following a tire puncture. Reports at the time indicated that he had suffered a concussion, but Mansell later revealed that the accident left him unable to talk or recognize his wife and children. To recover, he took up magic in order to “get [his] brain to work in different ways.” Since taking up the hobby, Mansell has become a member of the Magic Circle and gone on to perform around the world, as he explained in a special video interview to mark 30 years since his F1 world-title win in 2022.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: For the 2010 Formula One season, the Sporting Regulations were changed so that a former driver sits on the stewards' panel. Mansell took this role at the 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 British Grands Prix.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: Mansell participated in Prince Edward's charity television special "The Grand Knockout Tournament" (1987).


title: Nigel Mansell

text: There were three video games endorsed by Mansell: "Nigel Mansell's Grand Prix" (1988, Martech), "Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing" (1993, Gremlin Graphics), and "Newman/Haas IndyCar" (1994). Mansell also appeared as a playable driver for Williams in Codemasters' F1 2013.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: He lived in Port Erin on the Isle of Man during most of his F1 career until 1995. Mansell currently lives in Jersey, Channel Islands. He spent 11 years of his life as a Special Constable on the Isle of Man during his driving career, and in Devon after he retired from racing. During this period, he also developed a golf course in Devon.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: A keen golfer, Mansell revealed a desire to compete in the British Open Golf Championship and briefly participated in the 1988 Australian Open.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: Mansell appeared without his moustache in the first half of the 1988 season. After his official retirement from Formula One in 1995, he shaved it off. The moustache made a re-appearance when Mansell was interviewed by the BBC at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: Mansell raced with a blue helmet with two red and white arrows on each side forming on the front a drawing resembling the Union Jack with the upper angles of the arrows united by a red and white 'U' with the white chin area, when he entered Williams, a blue ring was added on the white part of the helmet. His sons Leo and Greg inherited his helmet design, but Leo's helmet has the red chin area and the white part that envelops the visor (not counting the top) is red with white outline, while Greg's helmet has the blue chin area and the white area that envelopes the visor is blue with white outline.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: Although teams in motor racing series are generally allocated numbers, Mansell has been associated with the number 5 for many years. This began when he joined Williams in 1985 and was allocated car number 5, as at the time Formula One racing numbers were allocated by constructor and Williams received numbers 5 and 6. For the first four races of the 1985 season, both Williams cars had white numbers, but from a distance the numerals "5" and "6" resembled each other. As a consequence, it was decided to give Mansell's car a red number to make it more distinctive. While this was initially just for recognition, BBC F1 commentator Murray Walker began describing Mansell's car as "Red Five", leading to Mansell retaining the red coloured number throughout his first spell at Williams. On his return to the team in 1991, Williams had retained the number 5 car, allowing Mansell to race as "Red Five" once again. After his departure to CART in 1993 to drive for Newman/Haas, he again retained the red number 5. In addition, "Red Five" fit well into the livery of his Indy car, as Newman Haas's main sponsors Texaco and Kmart both shared corporate colors of black, white and red. When he returned to Williams for four races in 1994 the team's numbers were 0 and 2 as they had won the Drivers' and Constructors' titles in 1993 but would not run #1 as Alain Prost had retired. Damon Hill drove car #0 while Mansell raced the #2 with the number on the nose of the car painted red (the #2 was white when the car was driven by Ayrton Senna and David Coulthard). So associated with the red 5 is Mansell that, in 2004, he purchased a yacht from Sunseeker, one of his longtime sponsors, which he named "Red 5".


title: Nigel Mansell

text: Mansell was awarded the title of BBC Sports Personality of the Year in both 1986 and 1992. Only four other people have won the award more than once, including fellow racing drivers and former F1 World Champions Damon Hill and Lewis Hamilton. Mansell was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2005. Mansell won the Hawthorn Memorial Trophy, an award for the leading British or Commonwealth driver in F1 each year seven times.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: Already an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), Mansell was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to children and young people (as president of UK Youth). He has also received the Special Constabulary Long Service Medal.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: In 2015 turn 17 of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez was renamed in honour of Mansell, twice winner of the Mexican Grand Prix (1987 and 1992). He received The London Classic Car Show Icon Award in 2018.


title: Nigel Mansell

text: Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: Aimee Anne Duffy (born 23 June 1984) is a Welsh singer, songwriter and actress. Her music style has been described as a mixture of soul, blue-eyed soul, pop rock, neo soul and pop music.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: Duffy released her debut album, "Rockferry", in 2008. It topped the charts in several music markets, and led to worldwide attention. It was preceded by the lead single "Mercy", which reached number one in several countries and the top ten in twelve others. In 2009, Duffy received the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album for "Rockferry", one of three nominations, and won three out of four Brit Awards nominations, for British Breakthrough, Best British Female and Best British Album. In 2010, she made her acting debut in the film "Patagonia" and released her second studio album "Endlessly" to moderate success.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: In February 2011, she announced an indefinite hiatus from music. She briefly returned in 2015, appearing in the film "Legend" and later contributed three songs to its soundtrack. In 2020, Duffy explained her long term absence from the music industry, saying that she had been recovering following being abducted and sexually assaulted. According to Duffy's official website, she is currently signed to Universal Recording Group.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: Duffy was born on 23 June 1984 in Bangor, Gwynedd, and was brought up by her parents; John Duffy and Joyce Smith (née Williams) in Nefyn, near Pwllheli. She has a twin sister, Kate, and an older sister, Kelly Ann, who was born in 1980. Duffy's parents divorced when she was 10 and she moved to Letterston, near the Pembrokeshire town of Fishguard, with her mother and sisters.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: She attended Ysgol Nefyn (Nefyn School), Gwynedd on the Llŷn Peninsula and Sir Thomas Picton School in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire as a child. At the age of 17, she attended the Pwllheli campus of Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor to study for A-levels. She subsequently went to the University of Chester and studied Commercial Music Production on the Warrington campus. From 2004, she studied Performing Arts at the Parkgate campus.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: In September 1998, at the age of 14, Duffy was briefly put in a police safe house when authorities uncovered a plot by her stepfather's ex-wife to pay a hitman £3,000 to kill her stepfather, Philip Smith. Smith's ex-wife, Dawn Watson, was sentenced to a 3½-year jail term for soliciting to murder. "I was so terrified. I felt so ill", Duffy recounted in 2008, as reported by the "NME". Duffy describes living in the safe house as a dog-eat-dog, claustrophobic and isolating experience. Aged 15, she ran away back to her father's home in Nefyn. Duffy said in retrospect, "It was a horrendous thing to do." Her mother and her sisters did not speak to her for about a year afterwards. In reaction to her parents' break-up, her next three years were a rebellious period that included binge drinking and stealing a rowing boat.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: After finishing her GCSEs in Pembrokeshire, Duffy returned to Nefyn, to live with her father, when she was fifteen, and started singing in various local bands. Duffy then spent six weeks in Switzerland (before she started college), collaborating with the writer-producer Soren Mounir, under the name Soulego. She was advised by a lecturer at Chester University to "Go on the dole, love, and become a singer". She also built up a following at "Alexander's", a local jazz and blues club in Chester, where she performed with guitarist David Burton from the band "The Invisible Wires", and met songwriter Lucia Cordaro, going on to perform and record one of her songs (I Melt). Duffy returned to Wales in 2003 and was invited to appear on "Wawffactor," a Welsh television talent show. She was expected to win but came second to winner Lisa Pedrick.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: In 2004, following success on "Wawffactor", Duffy recorded a three-song Welsh extended play, titled" Aimée Duffy," while working part-time in two jobs as waitress and in a fishmongers. It later achieved Welsh chart success in 2008, charting at number one on the "Siart C2" music chart. Duffy, now in high demand, appeared on Mint Royale's "See You in the Morning" as a back-up singer. Duffy was introduced to Jeanette Lee of Rough Trade Records in August 2004, after singing Richard Parfitt's "Oh Boy". Lee moved Duffy to Crouch End in London, orchestrating a meeting between Duffy and Suede's ex-guitar player Bernard Butler. Lee, with Rough Trade, would eventually manage Duffy. After Butler had given Duffy a soul music "education" by downloading tracks on to her iPod that she could listen to while around London or travelling back to Wales, the pair co-wrote with her and helped create a new retro sound. The music included tracks by Al Green, Bettye Swann, Ann Peebles, Doris Duke, Scott Walker, Phil Spector and Burt Bacharach. Duffy described Bettye Swann as one of her biggest inspirations, particularly her song "Cover Me".


title: Duffy (singer)

text: Duffy was contracted to A&M Records (UK) on 23 November 2007. She performed on the BBC Two television show "Later with Jools Holland", which resulted in a second appearance on the related broadcast "Hootenanny", where Duffy performed with Eddie Floyd. On 22 February 2008, she appeared on "Later with Jools Holland" for a third time and performed "Rockferry", "Mercy", and "Stepping Stone". Duffy also made appearances on the BBC Two television programme "The Culture Show" on 23 February 2008, performing "Mercy". In January 2008, Duffy came second to Adele in the annual BBC News Online poll of industry experts "Sound of 2008", for acts to emerge in the coming year. In Wales, following Duffy's recent promotion of her music, "Aimée Duffy" reached number-one on the "Siart C2" music chart. By 2007, Duffy was finalising her debut album effort, to be titled "Rockferry", after Rock Ferry, where her grandmother lives. She subsequently struck a US label deal with Mercury Records, a newly re-activated imprint of Island Def Jam Music Group. The first single from the album, also titled "Rockferry" was critically well-received with Allmusic calling it a "grand, sweeping ballad".


title: Duffy (singer)

text: Butler and his musical partner David McAlmont, along with a number of other musicians, formed the backbone of Duffy's band for her debut album, "Rockferry", which was released on A&M Records on 3 March 2008. The black-and-white album art and video for the title track were shot by directors Luke Seomore and Joseph Bull, on and around the Ffestiniog Railway in Porthmadog, which was renamed 'Rockferry' for the occasion. According to Duffy, "The album took nearly four years to make. We had to hire cheap, tiny studios and sometimes there would be three-week periods between writing and recording." Bernard Butler, who was not initially paid, produced four songs for the album, including the single "Rockferry". The singles "Mercy" and "Stepping Stone" were co-written and produced by Steve Booker, and the third single "Warwick Avenue", by Jimmy Hogarth and Eg White. Duffy released the debut limited-edition single "Rockferry" in November 2007; it was followed by "Mercy", produced and co-written by Steve Booker, which went straight to number one. "Mercy" was the last song written for the album. The single was physically released on 25 February 2008. She said that both "Mercy" and "Stepping Stone" are autobiographical; "Mercy" is about "sexual liberty" and "not doing something somebody else wants you to do", and "Stepping Stone" is about not expressing her feelings to a person she fell in love with. "Warwick Avenue" was the second single released from the album. The song occurred when Duffy, then 19 years old, was familiarising herself with the London Underground and accidentally found herself at the Warwick Avenue station. The following day the song "just sort of came out". At first the video for the song was meant to be an elaborate production, but ended up a tearful head shot in a taxi cab with Duffy's mascara smudging. Duffy has said "That's as close as I'm ever going to get to doing a performance that's real in a video."


title: Duffy (singer)

text: By May, "Mercy" was a staple on VH1 and a hot Adult Contemporary radio hit and had been featured in the season finale of the American television medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" as well as being on the soundtrack album for "Sex and the City: The Movie". A remix of "Mercy", featuring rap artist The Game, was released on 10 May. On 13 May, "Rockferry" was released in the United States to positive reviews. The album's low cost of production reaped Duffy substantial financial benefits. Despite her album's success in the United States, she was quoted as saying "I don't like how big American stars consider themselves an exception from humanity". In November 2008, the single "Rain on Your Parade", produced and co-written by Steve Booker, was released. The song was first released on download sales only on 10 November 2008, before being released physically on 17 November 2008. Duffy describes this as "a big, disco-y dance song". It entered the UK Singles Chart at number twenty-two before rising to a peak of fifteen the following week. The track was included on the deluxe edition of "Rockferry". At the 2008 MOJO Awards, Duffy won the "Song of the Year" award for "Mercy" and was nominated also for "Album of the Year" and "Breakthrough Act". These three nominations were the largest number of nominations for any one act. She also received a 2008 Q Award in the category of "Breakthrough Act", a nomination for the Q category of "Best Track" for "Mercy", a Music of Black Origin Award nomination for "Best UK Female". At the MTV Europe Music Awards, she received nominations in the categories of "Album of the Year", "Most Addictive Track", and "New Act". She performed at the EMA show.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: Duffy has performed at concerts and festival gigs around the world. Her first American performances took place at the SXSW conference, and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was her first festival gig. To coincide with the release of "Rockferry", Duffy performed at the Apollo Theater in New York City. Duffy received the honour of performing at the Royal Variety Performance 2008. In 2008, Duffy played many festivals in Europe. This included visits to French, Swedish and Irish summer festivals, amongst others. In the United Kingdom, Duffy played venues such as Glastonbury and the Evolution Festival. She also toured the American summer festivals in 2008, including a visit to Lollapalooza in Chicago. She toured the United Kingdom and Ireland during November and December 2008. To promote "Rockferry", Duffy made many visits to American television, including "Late Night with Conan O'Brien", and "Saturday Night Live". Duffy played a fourteen-city North American tour. Plans had called for her to open for Coldplay on six of the dates. During a concert in Cleveland, Duffy accidentally set the left side of her hair on fire. In New York, Duffy was left apologising to an audience after briefly bursting into tears. She stated to the audience that this happens in one out of every 15 of her shows when she feels exposed for reasons she does not fully understand. Duffy also made a recording for British broadcaster BBC, performing at the LSO St. Luke's. The performance was televised in 2009 on the British television station BBC One.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: At the 51st Grammy Awards held in February 2009, Duffy won a Grammy Award in the category of Best Pop Vocal Album for "Rockferry". Earlier she had been nominated for awards in the categories of Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her single "Mercy". Duffy equalled Coldplay with four 2009 Brit Awards nominations. She eventually won three awards, including Best Album for "Rockferry", one behind the record held by Blur for the most won in one night. "I cannot tell you what this means after five years of hard work," Duffy said. At the awards ceremony she performed "Warwick Avenue". Record producers & songwriters Steve Booker & Bernard Butler gained awards for their work on the "Rockferry" album. She shared a 2009 Ivor Novello Award in the category "Most Performed Work" with Steve Booker for their work on "Mercy". Songwriter Eg White won the award for "Songwriter of the Year" in part for "Warwick Avenue", which he co-wrote with Duffy. "Mercy" was played on United States radio and television more than 3 million times earning Duffy a 2009 Broadcast Music Incorporated award. The album was nominated and shortlisted for the "Album of 30 Years" category at the 2010 Brit Awards.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: The album's success led to a period of confusion about her role in the music business that nearly led her to quit music. Duffy has said that she did not mind people illegally downloading her music because she believes most people who do are kids who cannot afford the CDs and will buy them when they get older. Duffy recorded a cover of Paul McCartney and Wings' song "Live and Let Die". It was used on the War Child charity album titled "War Child Heroes, Volume I". Acclaim came from Paul McCartney, saying that Duffy's version "is great –I was really impressed". Duffy and Bernard Butler wrote the song "Smoke Without Fire", which appeared on the soundtrack for the film "An Education". For the 2009 movie called "The Boat That Rocked" in the UK and "Pirate Radio" in North America, Duffy sang Lorraine Ellison's "Stay With Me Baby".


title: Duffy (singer)

text: Duffy said that she needed to slow the pace of her career in order to write her second album. In January 2010, Rough Trade Management, who with Jeanette Lee had managed Duffy, announced that they and the singer had parted amicably. Duffy's new management stated that "the professional relationship between Duffy and Rough Trade management has run its course." On 16 September 2010, Duffy announced the release of her second album, "Endlessly". The album was recorded in New York, London and Spain in the year prior to the announcement. Duffy formed a song writing partnership with Albert Hammond for the record. "Endlessly" was released in the United Kingdom on 29 November 2010 and placed at number 9 in the album charts of 5 December. The album's first single failed to achieve the success of previous singles, entering the UK charts at number 41 on 21 November. Called "Well, Well, Well", the single features a rhythm section by United States hip hop group The Roots.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: Following the release of "Endlessly", it was confirmed that no more singles would be released from the album, and in February 2011, that Duffy would take a two-year break from music before beginning work on her third studio album. In July 2011, Duffy was sued by Angela Becker, the manager she had hired in 2010 to replace her former manager Jeanette Lee. Becker said that she was hired in March 2010 and was dismissed in December 2010, but was supposed to remain Duffy's manager until the end of the promotion of "Endlessly" or alternatively four months after its initial release.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: In August 2011, Duffy was scheduled to perform in Monaco for the Sporting Summer Festival, but cancelled and Melody Gardot was hired to replace her. In October 2012, Duffy was announced as a performer for the Atelier Festival in Dubai but failed to appear and was declared a "no show" by the Dubai media.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: In October 2011, producer and rapper David Banner announced that he and Duffy were to go in the studio for two weeks. Albert Hammond announced in 2012 that he was working with Duffy. In September 2013, Duffy gave her first live performance in three years during a tribute to Edith Piaf in New York City.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: At the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, it was announced that Duffy would return to acting with a starring role in a film project called "Secret Love" which was never released. In the 2015 crime thriller film "Legend", Duffy plays American singer Timi Yuro and contributes three songs to its soundtrack including a new original song; "Whole Lot of Love". This song, alongside new song "Dear Heart", was released as a digital download and streaming single on 11 September 2015.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: In March 2020, Duffy sent an unreleased song, "Something Beautiful", to Jo Whiley to play on her BBC Radio 2 show. Duffy also later debuted a new song entitled "River in the Sky" on her Instagram account in June 2020.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: On 1 February 2009, "The Times" Encyclopedia of modern music named "Rockferry" an "Essential" Blue-eyed soul recording. Albums by Amy Winehouse and Adele were also named as essential Blue Eyed Soul recordings in the "recent" category.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: During her Best New Artist acceptance speech at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, Adele said that she loves Duffy and thinks she is "amazing".


title: Duffy (singer)

text: Duffy has endorsed several products. In August 2008, Duffy appeared in "Fashion Rocks", supporting a new range of Nivea products. Duffy has also appeared in various European television commercials endorsing the beverage Diet Coke. The campaign, showing Duffy cycling through a supermarket singing "I Gotta Be Me", was launched on British television station ITV, following the 2009 BRIT Awards, which saw Duffy take home three awards for her work. Duffy was named as the "face" of the brand, alongside other famous women, though her initial advert for the brand was widely deemed as a career misstep. In addition, the advert went on to spark unexpected complaints about the health of children when it showed Duffy riding without protective gear, to the United Kingdom's Advertising Standards Authority. However, these claims were ultimately rejected.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: Duffy made her film debut playing the character of Sissy in the 2010 drama film "Patagonia", directed by Marc Evans. Sissy's character is "a Welsh student who livens up the holiday of a young Argentinian man on a trip to Wales". The film is about Welsh Argentines living in Y Wladfa, Patagonia, Argentina. "Patagonia" premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival on 10 June 2010, and was released in October 2010.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: Duffy dated Cheshire-born Mark Durston for over five years until November 2006. They lived in Abersoch.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: In September 2008, Duffy said that she was "on the borderline of a nervous breakdown" because of the pressure that fame had brought her. She said that she had considered becoming a recluse, but eventually decided against the idea for the sake of her fans. Although acknowledging that most people do mean well, she spoke of finding it "scary" when people recognised her in the street, and was fearful of her image possibly changing the person she is.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: In 2009 Duffy's estimated fortune of £4 million placed her in 16th place in that year's "Sunday Times" listing of Great Britain's wealthiest young musicians.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: On 3 October 2012, Duffy escaped from a fire in the rented penthouse apartment in which she was living, Abbots House in Kensington, London.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: On 25 February 2020, on her official website, Duffy wrote that she had been "raped and drugged and held hostage over some days". She said she had disappeared from the spotlight so she could recover, adding that she was now doing well, but it had taken her time to recover. She did not specify the identity of her attacker(s) or mention when or where the attack took place.


title: Duffy (singer)

text: In a longer statement published that April, Duffy wrote that she had been drugged at a restaurant on her birthday, taken to a foreign country on a plane, and was then held captive in a hotel room and raped. Since the ordeal, Duffy said that she spent "almost 10 years completely alone" and, thanking her psychologist, said that she now felt she could "leave this decade behind", but added: "I very much doubt I will ever be the person people once knew".


title: Mobb Deep

text: Mobb Deep was an American hip hop duo from New York City. The duo consisted of rappers Prodigy and Havoc. They are considered to be among the principal progenitors of hardcore East Coast hip hop and hip hop in the mid-1990s. Mobb Deep became one of the most successful rap duos of all time, having sold over three million records. Their best-known albums are "The Infamous" (1995), "Hell on Earth" (1996) and "Murda Muzik" (1999), and their most successful singles were "Shook Ones (Part II)" and "Survival of the Fittest." They were known for their dark and hardcore delivery.


title: Mobb Deep

text: The duo disbanded in 2012, but reunited the following year. Prodigy died in June 2017. Havoc is currently working on a new Mobb Deep album.


title: Mobb Deep

text: Havoc and Prodigy met while both were students at the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan—a school that produced creatives like Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs, Amy Heckerling, Lee Quiñones, and Fab Five Freddy. In 1991, they became a duo that went by the name Poetical Prophets. The name Poetical Prophets was a testament to Prodigy, then Lord-T (The Golden Child), and Havoc's gravitation toward New York conscious hip-hop. The duo began making a demo tape and employed a guerilla marketing approach to promote themselves. They would find the addresses of record label headquarters on the back of albums, bring a cassette player, and ask passing artists to listen to their music. The only artist who stopped to hear their music was Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest; Prodigy recalled, "[Q-Tip] introduced us to Chris Lighty that day and a bunch of people in the Rush Associated Labels in the Def Jam office—that's how we met everybody." Shortly thereafter, Prodigy signed a solo demo deal with Jive Records and had an uncredited feature on the song "Too Young" by Hi-Five, which appeared on the "Boyz n the Hood" soundtrack. Jive decided not to sign Poetical Prophets as a duo.


title: Mobb Deep

text: However, they were featured in Matty C's July 1991 "Unsigned Hype" column in "The Source", which helped promote their demo "Flavor for the Nonbelievers". "The Source" dubbed Poetical Prophets a "dynamic duo ... that are fast making a big name for themselves in talent shows and radio stations in the New York area." The following year, the duo changed their name from Poetical Prophets to "Mobb Deep," in part based on the suggestion of Puff Daddy who was courting them to be the first artists on his newly created imprint, Bad Boy Records. In choosing the moniker, Prodigy noted that "we need[ed] something that described how we were living. When [we] got together to hang out, there would be thirty to forty of us, like a mob. The slang we used when we saw a whole bunch of guys together was . . . 'deep.' Both words together sounded good. "Mobb Deep.""


title: Mobb Deep

text: In 1992, Mobb Deep signed with 4th & B'way Records. They released the single "Peer Pressure" in promotion of their debut album "Juvenile Hell". The album was released in 1993 and featured production from DJ Premier, Large Professor, and Public Enemy-affiliate Kerwin Young. Later that year, Havoc made a guest appearance on the Black Moon album "Enta da Stage", on a song titled "U da Man."


title: Mobb Deep

text: The group saw its first major success with their second album, "The Infamous", released in 1995. Mobb Deep catapulted to the top of the hardcore hip-hop scene through Havoc and Prodigy's straightforward narration of street life. In this album, Mobb Deep portrayed the struggles of living in New York City's Queensbridge Houses where Havoc grew up. Following the release of "The Infamous", Mobb Deep became some of the most prolific artists of the East Coast. The album title was inspired by a friend Yamit, a Golden Gloves boxer, who resided on Havoc's block in Queensbridge. Prodigy noted "[Yamit] had 'The Most Infamous' tattooed on his biceps in black ink. We were already Mobb Deep, but he dubbed us the Infamous Mobb Deep." The production of this album was very dark and sample-based thanks to Havoc, who produced the beats from this point forward, although Q-Tip also contributed to the production and mixing. Furthermore, the hit single "Shook Ones Part II," a remix to the hit "Shook Ones," received critical acclaim. In 2020, "The Infamous" was hailed by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.


title: Mobb Deep

text: Mobb Deep's third album, "Hell on Earth" was released in 1996, debuting at number six on the Billboard Album Chart; the album continued the duo's portrayal of harsh street life while further pushing them to the forefront of Hip Hop scene along with contemporary East Coast Rappers like The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Wu-Tang Clan and fellow Queensbridge rapper Nas. Nas as well as Method Man, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan appear on "Hell on Earth".


title: Mobb Deep

text: In 1996, they appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD, "America is Dying Slowly", alongside Biz Markie, Wu-Tang Clan and Fat Joe, among many other prominent hip hop artists. This compilation was solely meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men, and this compilation was heralded as "a masterpiece" by "The Source" magazine. In 1997, Mobb Deep was featured on Frankie Cutlass "Politics & Bullsh*t" album track title, "Know Da Game," which also featured Kool G Rap. In 1998, the duo collaborated with reggae dancehall artist Bounty Killer on the track "Deadly Zone" for the soundtrack to "Blade", and were a featured artist on the remix of Mariah Carey's single "The Roof (Back in Time)," which was based around a sample of "Shook Ones Part II". In 1999, they released the "Murda Muzik" album which, despite extensive bootlegging, had the majority of its songs unintentionally leaked. This resulted in delays in the official album release. When the album was officially released, it eventually debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and quickly received Platinum certification and was further promoted by the popular single "Quiet Storm". Shortly afterward, Prodigy released his solo album "H.N.I.C" in which he collaborated with fellow artists like (B.G., N.O.R.E.) and producers (including The Alchemist, Rockwilder and Just Blaze).


title: Mobb Deep

text: Mobb Deep was part of the infamous East Coast vs West Coast hip hop rivalry, that was fueled and increasingly promoted by the private media. The beef started when Snoop Dogg and the West Coast group, Tha Dogg Pound, released "New York, New York." Mobb Deep, along with Capone-N-Noreaga and Tragedy Khadafi, responded with the song "L.A L.A" (This song can be found on Capone-N-Noreaga's debut album "The War Report"). "L.A. L.A." was released during rapper Tupac Shakur's final days of incarceration. Members of Tupac's group, Outlawz, allegedly attended a Mobb Deep concert; they then visited with Tupac over public rumoring that the duo had snubbed them at the concert. Tupac dissed Mobb Deep on multiple tracks, including: "Hit 'Em Up" and "When We Ride on Our Enemies" in which Tupac makes light of Prodigy's sickle-cell disease. Additional Tupac diss tracks include: "Bomb First (My Second Reply)" where Tupac said "You're barely breathin and "Against All Odds," both of which were released on Tupac's posthumous studio album, "". Mobb Deep retaliated on their 1996 release of "Hell on Earth", which contains a diss track entitled "Drop a Gem on 'Em".


title: Mobb Deep

text: "I was happy about it," Havoc told Jack Thriller. "The nigga saying our names. I didn't know what the fuck the beef was about. I didn't even care. I was like damn, did you hear that? 2Pac dissing us. We about to sell some records." Havoc also revealed that Mobb Deep had never even "crossed paths" with Shakur before his death in September 1996. He added, "And we never got a chance to cross paths with him because he passed away," he said. "I saw him from a long distance but I never met him. [I was a] Fan, but didn't even know him."


title: Mobb Deep

text: Mobb Deep released "Infamy" while in 2001 the song "Burn" (featuring Vita) was perceived as a response to Jay-Z's diss song "Takeover" on "The Blueprint", as was "Crawlin'," in which Prodigy's two verses both mention Jay-Z. The album marked a major stylistic change in which the duo moved away from a raw, minimalist, stripped-down beat toward a commercial friendly in terms with such songs as "Hey Luv (Anything)." This transition fostered accusations of "selling out." In 2003, the group split with Loud Records and released "", in which Havoc and Prodigy proclaimed themselves "free agents" and addressed the group's split with its old label and its search for a new label. Jive Records signed the duo later in the year through a deal with the group's own imprint. Mobb Deep then released "Amerikaz Nightmare" in 2004. The record sold poorly and led to the group's departure from the label. Today, as a result of various mergers, all of Mobb Deep's studio albums from 1995 to 2004 are owned by Sony Music Entertainment.


title: Mobb Deep

text: In June 2005, Mobb Deep announced they had signed with G-Unit Records. Fellow Queens-bred rapper 50 Cent had a personal connection to Mobb Deep, and Havoc provided production on tracks by G-Unit, Lloyd Banks, The Game, and Tony Yayo. Mobb Deep released their seventh album, Blood Money in 2006. It features G-Unit members 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and Young Buck, as well as Mary J. Blige and Nate Dogg. In 2006, Mobb Deep became the first American hip hop duo to perform in India, via VH1's Hip Hop Hustle. In late 2009, Mobb Deep were released from their contract with G Unit.


title: Mobb Deep

text: On April 4, 2011, Mobb Deep released a new single called "Dog Shit," featuring rapper Nas. This was the first official song by Mobb Deep since Prodigy's release from jail. It was produced by Havoc and The Alchemist.


title: Mobb Deep

text: On July 27, 2012, Havoc told AllHipHop in an interview that the group was on an indefinite hiatus. According to HipHopDX, Mobb Deep had a falling out after Havoc blasted Prodigy on Twitter, and eventually, a sound clip leaked of him taking numerous shots at his former Mobb Deep partner during their concert at SXSW. At first, Havoc claimed that he was hacked. However, he later confirmed it was him and that he had originally denied it because he felt that Twitter was not a place to resolve a beef. He also stated that he had a diss track aimed at Prodigy in the making, "Same Shit Different Day". The song later turned out to be "Separated (Real from the Fake)," which appeared on Havoc's solo album "13".


title: Mobb Deep

text: However, in January 2013 Prodigy said that he was sure he would record with Havoc in the future. Mobb Deep appeared on Papoose's debut album "The Nacirema Dream" on the track "Aim, Shoot". They later reunited and performed for Paid Dues on March 30, 2013; they went on an international 20th-anniversary tour starting in May 2013. On March 22, 2013, the group officially reunited for an interview and explained that music was the most important thing in their lives and that they had been friends for too long to break up the friendship.


title: Mobb Deep

text: Around the May 2013 release of Havoc's third studio album, "13", Havoc announced that he and Prodigy had been in the studio for over a month working on the duo's eighth studio album which was already "halfway done". He also stated that he will be doing the entire production on the album.


title: Mobb Deep

text: On April 1, 2014, the group released its eighth studio album, "The Infamous Mobb Deep", a double album that included one CD with original new music and one with unreleased tracks from sessions from "The Infamous".


title: Mobb Deep

text: On June 20, 2017, Prodigy died from accidental choking in Las Vegas, Nevada, while hospitalized for complications caused by sickle cell anemia.


title: Mobb Deep

text: Mobb Deep helped popularize the 1990s slang called the "Dunn language," a term first recorded in the 1999 single "Quiet Storm," in which Prodigy raps: "you's a dick blower, [you] tryin' to speak the Dunn Language?/ "what's the drilly" with that though? "It aint bangin"/ you hooked on Mobb phonics, Infamous 'bonics."


title: Mobb Deep

text: The term "dunn" supposedly originated in the Queensbridge housing projects with an acquaintance of Prodigy's, Bumpy, whose speech impediment prevented him from pronouncing the letter "S," such as in "son." The impediment encouraged him to put the tongue on the two front teeth/palate, making a 'th' or a 'd' sound. Mobb Deep has attempted to claim ownership of this body of slang; additionally, they were going to release an album called "The Dunn Language", in 2002, but the project was shelved, due to label issues.


title: Mobb Deep

text: On September 15, 2018, during an interview for "HipHop4Real", Havoc stated that he was working on a new album Mobb Deep, which would be the duo's latest album. He is also working on a joint project Mobb Deep with The Alchemist, announced a few years ago.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: The Twilight Saga: New Moon (or simply New Moon) is a 2009 American romantic fantasy film directed by Chris Weitz from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the 2006 novel "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer. The sequel to "Twilight" (2008), it is the second installment in "The Twilight Saga" film series. The film stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, reprising their roles as Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and Jacob Black, respectively.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: Summit Entertainment announced it had greenlit the film on November 22, 2008, following the early success of "Twilight". Principal photography began on March 23, 2009, in Vancouver, Canada, and ended in Montepulciano, Italy on May 29.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" premiered in Los Angeles on November 16, 2009, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 20, by Summit Entertainment. Despite receiving generally negative reviews from critics, the film grossed over $709 million worldwide, becoming the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2009. It set domestic box office records as the biggest midnight opening in the United States and Canada, grossing $26.3 million, which was superseded by its sequel, "". This led to the highest single-day domestic gross on an opening day, with $72.7 million, until it was beaten by "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2" (2011). The film also became the widest independent release, playing in 4,024 theaters, until it was surpassed by "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse". "New Moon" was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on March 20, 2010. As of July 2012, the film has grossed $184.9 million in North American DVD sales, selling more than 8.8 million units, four million of which were sold within its first weekend, beating "Twilight"s 3.8 million units sold in its first two days.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: The film received three sequels, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse", "", and "", in 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: On her eighteenth birthday, Bella Swan awakens from a dream where she is an old woman and Edward Cullen, her immortal vampire boyfriend, is forever young. Despite her lack of enthusiasm, Edward's family host a birthday reception for her at their residence. While unwrapping a gift, she receives a paper cut. Edward's foster brother, Jasper, is overwhelmed by the scent of Bella's blood and attempts to attack her but is restrained. Believing that he and his family are putting her life in danger, Edward ends their relationship, and the Cullens leave Forks.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: Bella is left severely depressed and isolated for months. Her concerned father, Charlie, wants to send Bella to live with her mother in Jacksonville, Florida. She refuses, promising to spend more time with her other school friends. After she and Jessica see a movie, Bella approaches some rough-looking bikers outside the theater, much to Jessica's dismay. The dangerous encounter reminds Bella of a previous near-assault where Edward rescued her. She imagines seeing and hearing him and realizes that thrill-seeking activities evoke his image.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: Bella's Quileute friend Jacob Black helps ease her pain by engaging her in various activities. He says that many of his tribal friends follow and obey Sam, another Quileute. While attending a movie with Bella and Mike, Jacob abruptly leaves after becoming inexplicably upset and suffering a burning fever. Bella drives to his home after he avoids seeing her. Jacob has cut his long hair and now has the same Quileute tattoo on his upper right arm as Sam and other tribe members. He tells Bella to stay away.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: When Bella hikes to the meadow that she and Edward often visited, she is confronted by Victoria's vampire companion Laurent. As he is about to kill her, a wolf pack appears and attacks him. Bella eventually discovers that Jacob and the other tribe members are giant werewolves. Their age-old enemies are vampires, though a treaty exists between the Cullens and the tribe. Jacob's pack members are currently on alert for Victoria, the vampire seeking to avenge her mate, James, whom Edward killed to protect Bella. With Jacob focused on adapting to his new shape-shifting powers, Bella again finds herself alone and returns to seeking thrill-inducing activities, deliberately oblivious to Victoria's presence.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: Through a series of miscommunications, Edward believes that Bella has killed herself after Edward's sister Alice has a vision of Bella jumping off a seaside cliff. Distraught, Edward travels to Italy to ask the Volturi (a powerful coven that act as vampiric overlords) to end his life, as he is incapable of doing so himself. When they refuse his request, he plans to force their hand by exposing himself as a vampire to humans during a large festival. Alice returns to Forks, shocked to find Bella is still alive.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: Alice and Bella travel to Italy to save Edward, arriving in time to prevent him from revealing himself as a vampire. Overjoyed that Bella is alive, he confesses that he left Forks, out of concern for her and promises never to leave again. Edward defends Bella from Felix, one of the Volturi, as the Volturi do not allow humans to confide in vampire society, but Edward is easily overpowered. As the Volturi are about to kill him, Bella asks they kill her instead.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: Impressed by a human's willingness to sacrifice her life for a vampire, the Volturi determine that Bella, knowing that vampires exist, must either be killed or be transformed into a vampire. Alice shares her vision of Bella as a vampire with Aro, a Volturi elder able to read thoughts through touch. Aro decides to let them go after extracting a promise that Bella be turned eventually. After returning to Forks, Bella asks the Cullens to vote on her becoming a vampire. Much to Edward and Rosalie’s chagrin, everyone votes yes.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: Jacob reminds Edward that the years-old treaty with Quileute will be broken if any Cullen bites a human, but Bella tells Jacob it is her choice, not the Cullen’s.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: At the meadows, Edward admits that he will only let Bella transform into a vampire, if she agrees to marry him. Initially Bella refuses, but contemplates afterwards (serving as the drive of the plot for the ).


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: In early November 2008, Summit Entertainment obtained the film adaptation rights to the remaining novels in the "Twilight" book series, "New Moon", "Eclipse", and "Breaking Dawn". On November 22, 2008, one day after the theatrical release of "Twilight", Summit confirmed that they would begin working on "New Moon". Author Stephenie Meyer said, "I don't think any other author has had a more positive experience with the makers of her movie adaptation than I have had with Summit Entertainment." In early December 2008, it was announced that "Twilight" director Catherine Hardwicke would not be returning to direct the sequel. Hardwicke cited time restrictions as the reason behind her leaving the project. On December 13, 2008, it was announced that Chris Weitz had been hired to direct "New Moon". Weitz released a statement shortly after the announcement, assuring fans that he would "protect on their behalf the characters, [the] themes and story they love." He continued by saying, "This is not a task to be taken lightly, and I will put every effort into realizing a beautiful film to stand alongside a beautiful book."


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg had been working on adapting the novel prior to "Twilight"s release and handed in the draft for "New Moon" during "Twilight"s opening weekend in November 2008, adding, "I would sit down at ten o'clock in the morning and work on [the script]… until six o'clock in the evening." Rosenberg spent the months of June through October 2008 alternating between writing for the Showtime television series "Dexter" and writing "New Moon" on weekends. She and Meyer kept in touch during this five-month period.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: Due to major physical changes that occur in the character of Jacob Black between "Twilight" and "New Moon", Weitz considered replacing Taylor Lautner in the sequel with an actor who could more accurately portray "the new, larger Jacob Black". In an attempt to keep the role, Lautner weight-trained extensively and gained approximately 30 pounds. In January 2009, Weitz and Summit Entertainment announced that Lautner would continue to play the role of Jacob in the sequel. In an interview, fellow cast member Kristen Stewart talked about Lautner's transformation saying, "He's an entirely different person physically."


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: In late March 2009, Summit Entertainment released a list of the actors who would be portraying the "wolf pack" alongside Lautner. The casting for the rest of the Quileute tribe was headed by casting director Rene Haynes, who has worked on films with large Native American casts, such as "Dances with Wolves" and "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". A casting call was also held in Vancouver in February 2009, specifically asking for "any first nations/aboriginal actors and actresses between the ages of 15 and 25".


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: Pre-production for "New Moon" began in December 2008. Principal photography was scheduled to begin on March 23, 2009 in Vancouver, but began a few days early. Weitz envisioned a warm color palette for the sequel, contrary to the first film in the series, whose blue tones were prevalent. His intention resulted in golden tones, a change that was inspired by Italian paintings, and ultimately served as the basis for the crew's collaborative work. The approach also included the use of specific colors at certain points in the movie. For example, although Jacob's house is red, the color does not dominate until the climax of the movie. The director noted that, "The square becomes a flood of red, that's how conscious we were of every visual aspect."


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: The use of film, rather than digital, cameras added to the "old-fashioned" nature of the production. Two main Panavision cameras, a high-speed Arri 435 camera capable of shooting at 150 frames per second, a Steadicam, and VistaVision cameras for visual effect shots were among the equipment used to bring the book to the big screen. As with the use of specific colors, the different cameras and shooting setups would help serve the story points. When Bella was with Edward, the camera was moved on a dolly, in a very rigid, straight line to reflect how their relationship was "perfect". When Bella is with Jacob, the Steadicam provided a fluid and organic style; and when she is with her schoolmates, a slangy visual language was reflected by a handheld.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: Once the film went into production, the decision to shoot in Vancouver, rather than in Portland, came after debate on how to match the locations that were introduced in the first film. One member involved in the decision process pointed out that Vancouver had been scouted as a potential setting for "Twilight", and it was only because the U.S. dollar had, at that time, dropped below the Canadian dollar that Oregon drew "Twilight" principal photography to Portland and its surrounding areas.<ref name="Vaz-41/42"></ref> Vancouver was chosen because it allowed a higher production value, while the surrounding areas contained beautiful forests and gray weather. With this decision, however, came the issue of reconstructing key sets that were used in the first film. For the exterior of Forks High School, crew members were able to find a parking lot, but the school's steps needed to be filmed with a greenscreen backing to match those that were originally presented in "Twilight". David Thompson Secondary School would then be able to serve as the interior for the high school scenes.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: The Cullen house was one of the major "match" assignments, mainly because of the Portland area location's unique design. The production team agreed upon finding a house in the Vancouver area with an interior that emulated the high ceilings, glass walls, and forest surroundings of the first location. One location was positively compared to the one in Portland, and therefore Weitz and the production team filmed portions of the film there. In order to keep with the design of the original house, portions of the story that took place in "New Moon" were moved to different sections of the house that were not seen before.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: After scouting Vancouver for a place to film scenes that involved the Swan house, the decision was made to recreate the house on an empty lot with a tree line and approaching road.<ref name="Vaz-48/57"></ref> The production team was able to rearrange the exterior of the house to match that in the first movie. When faced with creating the interior, the team measured the house in Portland, and built various pieces of the house on the lot and on a stage in Vancouver. The second film also attempted to clarify the location of Bella's room, which, as seen in the first film, seemed to be located in the front of the house, when in reality it was on the right-hand side. Complications arose when the Portland house was repainted after "Twilight"s release, which took away the aging the house had come to depict in the film. When recreating the house, the production team referenced the first film on high-definition Blu-ray Disc.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: As a director, Weitz had the pleasure of introducing and filming on new locations and sets. Of particular interest was the Quileute reservation and Jacob's house.<ref name="Vaz-64/66"></ref> Using the Quileute country in Washington as a basis, the production team decided to place Jacob's house on the edges of the territory, rather than in the community, because of Jacob's attachment to the wolves. To Weitz, Jacob's house was the stepping stone into the forest world, where the reality of the werewolves is hidden. The production designer was faced with a "real world" versus "book world" challenge when the barn they located, described in the book as a red barn, was green. Initially bordered by a green fence, the decision of painting the barn, aging it, and renovating the exterior proved to be a layout that fit well with Jacob's character.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: After scouting more than twelve possible locations to film scenes that would take place in Volterra, Italy, the scouting team selected the town of Montepulciano, which they believe was the best representation of Meyer's description in the book. Principal photography concluded with the scenes that were filmed in this area from May 25 through the 29. For the face-off between the Volturi and Edward, the idea was to have a bigger "bang", rather than just the paralysis of Edward.<ref name="Vaz-122/127"></ref> Initially what was a huge battle with vampires being thrown everywhere turned into a one-on-one fight between Felix and Edward, after receiving a stamp of approval from Meyer. The idea quickly changed from the typical outlandish battle, to portraying Edward as an average guy caught in the middle of a bad situation; for Bella, conveying the feeling of being caught in the middle of a group of vampires fighting was important as well. This scene also required special effects, stunt work, and figuring out how to portray vampires fighting at very fast speeds.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: Overseeing the visual effects department for "New Moon" was Susan MacLeod, who had previously worked with Weitz during the production of "The Golden Compass". MacLeod enlisted Tippett Studio to create the computer-generated wolves, while Prime Focus of Vancouver handled the effects of the vampires. To prepare for the aggressive task of making the wolves look real, Tippet artists studied wolf culture.<ref name="Vaz-84/87"></ref> They also were able to reflect leadership and human muscle size by adjusting certain features of the wolves, such as their fat and height. In February 2009, a group of artists were able to travel to Wolf Mountain Sanctuary, outside of Los Angeles, and see real wolves. The artists were able to observe the behavior of both the timber and arctic wolves, who ran in packs of three to five. The idea was to give everyone a deeper feeling of the creature that they were creating.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: MacLeod explained that creating the shape-shifting werewolves was not an easy task.<ref name="Vas-82/86"></ref> The wolf work included shooting "plates", or photographic imagery into which CG creations are integrated. Since the book described the wolves as being as big as horses, full-scale aluminum and board wolf cutouts were used as a visual reference for both actors and crew members. Once the actors had a reference, the cutouts would be removed allowing the cameras to capture the scene. In order for the CG wolves to be in sync with the live action cameras and actors' movements, the team used match movers, a land surveying tool that recorded the shooting location's topography with reference marks.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: A raw 3D model of Jacob's wolf was the basis for creating the others. A muscle system, which gave the appearance of muscles firing and flexing, contributed to this model. From there, the initial fur layout went to painters who were responsible for its color and groom. They also added characteristics, such as wet hair clumping together, and applied it to the fur. They refined this look before passing it off to the lighting and technical directors.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: One challenge for the production team was how to convey Bella's depression once Edward departs. In the novel, these pages were filled with the names of the passing months, and in the movie, would be represented as a visual effects shot with a camera circling around Kristen Stewart. The window that was used for the original film did not quite fit what Weitz was looking for, so the production team created a bay window when recreating the Swan house. The effect was one of the 300 visual effects helmed by Prime Focus led by visual effects supervisor Eric Pascarelli. It required matching two camera shots: one that shot the actress in a chair, and the other shooting the view outside the window as seen from the house built on location. Using a greenscreen, Prime Focus was able to enhance the changing of seasons with computer-generated leaves and falling snow.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: The score for "New Moon" was composed by Alexandre Desplat while the rest of the soundtrack was chosen by music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas, who also produced the "Twilight" soundtrack. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" was released on October 16, 2009, by Patsavas's Chop Shop label, in conjunction with Atlantic Records. It debuted at number two on the "Billboard" 200 albums chart, and climbed to number one a week later after selling 153,000 copies in its first full week of release.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: In February 2009 it was announced that the franchise would take the name "The Twilight Saga" with the book's title separated by a colon, though the title that appears on-screen is simply "New Moon". The first promotional poster was released on May 19, 2009. On May 31, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner revealed the film's first trailer at the MTV Movie Awards. Following the release of the trailer, two scenes from the film were presented at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con. A 14-second preview of the second trailer was released online on August 12, 2009, and the full-length trailer was featured before theater showings of the film "Bandslam". The film's third trailer was shown at the MTV Video Music Awards on September 13, 2009. Spike TV also aired a new trailer at the 2009 Scream Awards on October 27, 2009.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: "American Idol" finalist Allison Iraheta hosted an 8-minute block prior to the showing of the film in over 1,200 theaters across the United States, where she talked about her upcoming album and played some tracks, including "Friday I'll Be Over U", "Pieces", and "Trouble Is". In addition, prior to the film's release, author Stephenie Meyer made an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to promote the film.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: Many theater showings sold out as early as two months prior to "New Moon"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s release date. The film set records for advance ticket sales, causing some theaters to add additional showings. The film is also the biggest advance ticket seller on Fandango, surpassing "". "New Moon" accounted for 86 percent of Fandango's online ticket sales the weekend before the film was released, and its total morning ticket sales on November 20, 2009 are estimated to total $13.9 million.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: Various midnight release parties were held to help promote the film's DVD and Blu-ray Disc release on March 20, 2010, in the United States and on March 22, 2010, in the United Kingdom. Special features include an audio commentary by director Chris Weitz and editor Peter Lambert, a behind-the-scenes documentary, and music videos. Unlike the DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions, the Ultimate Fan Edition DVD includes a 7-minute first look at the sequel, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse". Within its first weekend of release in the U.S., the film sold over 4 million units, beating "Twilight"'s 3.8 million units sold in its first two days. In North American DVD sales, the film has currently grossed $185,166,822 and has sold more than 8,864,541 units.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: "New Moon" set records as the biggest midnight opening in domestic (United States and Canada) box office history, grossing an estimated $26.3 million in 3,514 theaters. The record was previously held by "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", which grossed $22.2 million domestically during its midnight premiere. In 2010, the following sequel, "", broke "New Moon"s record with $30 million in over 4,000 theaters but surpassed by "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2", which made $43.5 million in 2011. The film grossed $72.7 million on its opening day domestically, becoming the biggest single-day opening in domestic history, beating "The Dark Knight"'s $67.2 million. This opening strongly contributed to another record—the first time that the Top 10 films at the domestic box office had a combined gross of over $100 million in a single day. The record was later broken in 2011 by "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2", which made $91.1 million.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: "New Moon"s opening weekend is the ninth-highest opening weekend in domestic history with $142,839,137 and also is the tenth-highest worldwide opening weekend with $274.9 million total. At the time of its release, the film achieved the highest weekend debut in November, breaking "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"'s record ($102.7 million) until "" surpassed it with $158.1 million. With an estimated budget of just under $50 million, it is the least expensive movie to ever open to more than $200 million worldwide. On Thanksgiving weekend, the film grossed $42.5 million, and including Wednesday and Thursday ticket sales, grossed $66 million. It has earned $230.7 million in total since opening last week, 22% more than the previous film grossed in its entire theatrical run. Internationally, the film grossed roughly $85 million over the weekend, adding up to a total worldwide gross of $473.7 million in 10 days. In its third weekend "New Moon" grossed $15.7 million in the domestic market and another $40.7 million internationally for a worldwide gross of $570.1 million. In its fourth weekend, the film dropped down to #4 with an estimated $10 million, bringing its domestic total to $296,623,634.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: "New Moon" received generally negative reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 28% of 232 critics gave the film a positive review, with a rating average of 4.80/10. The site's general consensus is that ""The Twilight Saga"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s second installment may satisfy hardcore fans of the series, but outsiders are likely to be turned off by its slow pace, relentlessly downcast tone and excessive length." On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film has a rating score of 44 based on 32 reviews. Audiences polled by Cinemascore gave the film an "A−" grade.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: Robert Ignizio of the "Cleveland Scene" described the film as an "entertaining fantasy", and noted that it "has a stronger visual look [than "Twilight"] and does a better job with its action scenes while still keeping the focus on the central love triangle." Michael O'Sullivan of "The Washington Post" gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, praised Kristen Stewart's performance in the film and wrote, "Despite melodrama that, at times, is enough to induce diabetes, there's enough wolf whistle in this sexy, scary romp to please anyone." The "Seattle Post-Intelligencer" gave the film a "B" grading and said, "the movie looks tremendous, the dialogue works, there are numerous well placed jokes, the acting is on point."


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: "Time Out New York" gave the film 4 stars out of 5, calling it "acceptable escapism for those old enough to see it yet still young enough to shriek at undead dreamboats." Jordan Mintzer from "Variety" stated, "Stewart is the heart and soul of the film", and added that she "gives both weight and depth to dialogue…that would sound like typical chick-lit blather in the mouth of a less engaging actress, and she makes Bella's psychological wounds seem like the real deal."


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: British film critic Mark Kermode gave the film a positive review, saying, "After an initial 20-minute dip, when I thought, 'This is actually going to be two hours of mopey-mopey,' I thought it found its feet." He also excused the film's characterization of Taylor Lautner's character, saying, "The sight of the buff, young guys running through the forest with their tops off was slightly smirk-inducing. But it's fine. They know what their target-audience is."


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: Mick Lasalle from the "San Francisco Chronicle" responded with a more mixed review, stating, "[E]xpect this film to satisfy its fans. Everybody else, get ready for a bizarre soap opera/pageant, consisting of a succession of static scenes with characters loping into the frame to announce exactly what they're thinking." Digital Spy gave the film 2 stars out of 5, praising Kristen Stewart for "carrying the film on her shoulders and, once again, bringing plenty of soul to a character who might otherwise come across as self-indulgent", but was critical of its lack of action, ultimately calling it "a draining experience". Roger Ebert gave the film 1 star out of 4 and said that it "takes the tepid achievement of "Twilight", guts it, and leaves it for undead." Richard Roeper graded "New Moon" with a C− and called it a "plodding, achingly slow, 130-minute chapter in the saga".


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: Since its release, "New Moon" has received several nominations and awards. In March 2010, the film received the ShoWest Fandango Fan Choice Award for 2009's Best Movie. At the 2010 Empire Awards, Pattinson was nominated for Best Actor and Anna Kendrick was nominated for Best Newcomer, the film won the award for Best Fantasy Film, while Pattinson won an award for Best Performance. At the 2010 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, the film was nominated for Best Movie, but lost to "", Lautner won an award for Favorite Movie Actor, and Jacob and Bella, who were also nominated alongside Edward and Bella, won an award for Best Couple. At the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, Pattinson, who was nominated alongside Stewart and Lautner, won the award for Global Superstar; the Best Male Performance award was also given to Pattinson, who was, again, nominated against Lautner. Stewart and Pattinson won the award for Best Kiss, while "New Moon" won the award for Best Movie. For the 2010 Teen Choice Awards, held on August 8, the film and its actors were given a combined total of ten nominations, eight of which the film won, and three separate awards going to "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse". In addition, the film was nominated for Best Horror Film and Taylor Lautner was nominated for Best Performance by a Younger Actor at the 36th Saturn Awards, but lost to "Drag Me to Hell" and Saoirse Ronan, respectively. Lautner was also nominated for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Actor at the 2010 Young Artist Awards. However, it was nominated for four Razzies: Worst Supporting Actor (Robert Pattinson), Worst Screen Couple (Kristen Stewart and either Taylor Lautner or Robert Pattinson), Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel, and Worst Screenplay.


title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

text: In February 2009, Summit Entertainment scheduled a film adaptation of "Eclipse", the third novel in the "Twilight" series, for release on June 30, 2010. Weitz would not be able to direct the third film of "The Twilight Saga" as it would be filming while "New Moon" would be in post-production. David Slade was therefore confirmed as the director of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" on April 22, 2009.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: The 2008 Noida double murder case refers to the unsolved murders of 13-year-old girl Aarushi Talwar and 45-year-old man Hemraj Banjade, a live-in domestic worker employed by her family. The two were killed on the night of 15–16 May 2008 at Aarushi's home in Noida, India. The case aroused public interest as a whodunit story, and received heavy media coverage. The sensational media coverage, which included salacious allegations against Aarushi and the suspects, was criticised by many as a trial by media.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: When Aarushi's body was discovered in her bedroom on 16 May, Hemraj was missing at the time, and was considered the main suspect. The next day, Hemraj's partially decomposed body was discovered on the terrace. The police were heavily criticized for failing to secure the crime scene immediately. After ruling out former domestic servants of the family, the police treated Aarushi's parents—Dr. Rajesh Talwar and Dr. Nupur Talwar—as the prime suspects. The police suspected that Rajesh had murdered the victims after finding them in an "objectionable" position, or because Rajesh's alleged extra-marital affair had led to his blackmail by Hemraj and a confrontation with Aarushi. The Talwars' family and friends accused the police of framing the Talwars in order to cover up the botched-up investigation. The case was then transferred to the CBI, which exonerated the parents and suspected the Talwars' assistant Krishna Thadarai and two domestic servants—Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal. Based on the 'narco' interrogation conducted on the three men, the CBI assumed that they had killed Aarushi after an attempted sexual assault, and Hemraj for being a witness. The CBI was accused of using dubious methods to extract a confession, and all the three men were released for lack of evidence.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: In 2009, the CBI handed over the investigation to a new team, which recommended closing the case. Based on circumstantial evidence, it named Rajesh Talwar as the sole suspect, but refused to charge him because of critical gaps in evidence. The parents opposed the closure report, calling CBI's suspicion of Rajesh Talwar as baseless. Subsequently, a special CBI court rejected the CBI's claim that there was not enough evidence, and ordered proceedings against the Talwars. In November 2013, the parents were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, amid criticism that the judgment was based on weak evidence. The Talwars successfully challenged the decision in the Allahabad High Court, which acquitted them in 2017. The case remains unsolved.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: Aarushi Talwar (24 May 1994 – 16 May 2008) was a 13-year-old student at the Delhi Public School. She was the daughter of a dentist couple, Dr. Rajesh Talwar and Dr. Nupur Talwar. The family lived in an apartment in Sector 25 (Jalvayu Vihar) of Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. Rajesh and Nupur practiced together at their clinic in Sector 27 of Noida. They also saw patients at the Fortis Hospital, where Rajesh headed the dental department. In addition, Rajesh taught at the ITS dental college in Greater Noida. Anita and Praful Durrani, another dentist couple and close family friends of the Talwars, lived in the same city. The couple shared the Noida clinic with the Talwars: Rajesh and Anita worked at the clinic in the mornings (9am–12pm), while Praful and Nupur worked there in the evenings (5pm–7pm). The Durranis and the Talwars also shared a clinic in Hauz Khas area of Delhi.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: Yam Prasad Banjade, better known as Hemraj, was the Talwar family's live-in domestic help and cook. He belonged to Dharapani village in the Arghakhanchi district of Nepal.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: The 1300 sq. ft. apartment had 3 bedrooms(including servants' room), a drawing-dining room and a servants' quarters, where Hemraj slept. Rajesh and Nupur slept in the master bedroom, while Aarushi slept in an adjacent room. Hemraj's room had a separate entry from outside the apartment; it also opened into the apartment from inside.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: The entrance to the Talwars' apartment at Jalvayu Vihar had three doors: the outermost grill gate, a middle mesh door, and the innermost wooden door. The middle door and the wooden door were attached to the same frame Hemraj's room had two doors - one door opened inside the apartment, and the other door was located between the two grill doors. The Talwars had the outermost gate removed a year after the murders.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: On 16 May 2008, the family's housemaid Bharati Mandal (35) rang their doorbell around 6 am. She had been employed six days earlier. Every day, Hemraj would open the door for her, as Nupur and Rajesh were late risers, but this time, nobody opened the door even after she rang a second time. She later stated that she tried pushing the outermost gate, but it did not open.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: After Bharati rang the doorbell a third time, Nupur opened the innermost wooden door. Speaking through the mesh of the middle grill door, she told Bharati that this door was locked from outside. She asked Bharati about the whereabouts of Hemraj. When Bharati said that she had no idea, Nupur remarked that Hemraj must have gone outside to fetch milk and must have locked the door from outside. She asked Bharati to wait outside until Hemraj returned. Bharati did not want to wait and asked Nupur to throw the keys. Nupur asked her to go downstairs so that she could throw the keys to her from the balcony.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: Nupur then called Hemraj's mobile phone, but the call was abruptly cut. When she tried calling him again, the phone appeared to have been switched off. When Bharati reached downstairs, Nupur asked her to go back and check if the door was just latched, not locked. Bharati insisted that Nupur throw the keys anyway, so that she wouldn't have to take the stairs again, in case the door was locked. Nupur then threw the keys down to Bharati.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: According to the Talwars, by this time, Rajesh also woke up. He entered the living room and saw a near-empty Scotch whisky bottle on the dining table, which surprised him. He asked Nupur who had kept the bottle there, and then alarmed, asked her to check Aarushi's room. Aarushi's room had a self-locking door, and it would generally be locked. It could be opened only from inside or from outside with a key. But the couple found it unlocked on that morning. When they entered the room, they saw Aarushi's dead body lying on her bed. Rajesh started screaming, while Nupur remained silent (due to shock, according to her).


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: Meanwhile, Bharati returned to the outermost gate: she pushed it, and it opened without the key. She found that the middle door was latched, but not locked. She opened the latch and walked in. When she entered the apartment, she saw Rajesh and Nupur crying. Nupur asked her to come inside Aarushi's room. Bharati stood at the entrance of the room, as Nupur walked inside. Aarushi's body lay on her bed; it was covered with a flannel blanket. Nupur pulled the blanket, and Bharati saw that Aarushi's throat was slit. Both the parents blamed Hemraj for Aarushi's murder in front of the maid. Bharati walked out of the apartment to inform the neighbours. She returned to the house and asked the Talwars if they wanted her to do the daily household chores. When they said "No", she moved on to work in other households.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: The Talwars called their family and friends. Puneesh Rai Tandon, a neighbour who lived one floor below the Talwars, asked the Jalvayu Vihar security guard Virendra Singh to inform the police. By the time the police arrived, there were 15 people in the living room and 5-6 people in the Talwars' bedroom; only Aarushi's room was vacant. The crime scene had been "completely trampled upon". The story of a murder in an affluent neighbourhood also attracted many mediapersons, who gathered around the house by 8 am.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: On 16 May, the missing servant Hemraj was the prime suspect. In his police complaint, Rajesh blamed Hemraj for his daughter's murder. He repeatedly told the police to pursue Hemraj instead of wasting time in the apartment, and offered them 25,000 rupees to rush to Hemraj's native village in Nepal. The police suspected that Hemraj entered Aarushi's room in an inebriated state after consuming Scotch whisky, and tried to sexually assault her. When she resisted, he killed her with a kukri (a Nepali knife). The police announced a reward of 20,000 for tips leading to his capture.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: Aarushi's body was taken for post-mortem around 8:30 am by two Uttar Pradesh police constables. Rajesh's brother Dinesh Talwar, his driver Umesh Sharma and his childhood friend Ajay Chadha accompanied the constables. Around 1 pm, the body was brought home and placed on ice slabs in the living room. It was taken for cremation at the Antim Niwas crematorium around 4 pm. According to the Talwars, who were later accused of being in a hurry to cremate the body, it was decomposing fast, and the family elders were pushing for cremation. In addition, the police confirmed that the body was not needed for any further examination.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: The police later alleged that the Talwars' domestic staff showed undue haste in cleaning Aarushi's room. In Talwars' defence, their compounder Vikas Sethi told the court that he had received the permission to clean the house from the police personnel and a lady constable present on the crime scene.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: A part of Aarushi's blood-stained mattress was cut out and sent to the forensics lab along with her pillow, bed sheet and clothes. Vikas Sethi later testified that he, along with three others, tried to dump the remaining part of the mattress on the terrace, but found it locked. An old lady then told him to put the mattress on the neighbouring terrace. Rajesh's driver Sharma then asked the neighbour Puneesh Tandon for the key to his terrace. Earlier, at 4 pm also, Sharma had asked Tandon for the key, saying that he needed to dump the ice brought for Aarushi's body. This time, Tandon opened the terrace himself. Sharma, Sethi and two others dragged the mattress to his terrace. Tandon then locked the terrace door. None of them noticed the body of Hemraj, which was lying on the adjacent terrace, separated by a grilled wall.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: According to CBI, when the post-mortem report was being written between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. on 16 May, a series of telephonic conversations had happened between Dinesh Talwar, Dr. Sushil Chaudhury (Dinesh's friend and the chairman of the ICARE Eye Hospital) and K K Gautam (retired Deputy Superintendent of Police). K K Gautam, while deposing at the CBI court later in 2012, stated that Chaudhury had requested him to get any references to a sexual assault removed from the post-mortem report, but he refused to oblige. He told the court that he had mentioned this incident to the first CBI team, but they left out this information from their records.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: On the morning of 16 May, the visitors to the Talwars' house noticed some bloodstains on the terrace door handle. Rajesh's former colleagues Rajiv Kumar Varshney and Rohit Kochhar later told the police that they saw bloodstains on the terrace door, its lock and the staircase leading to the terrace. While visiting the Talwars' house, Varshney had taken the stairs to the terrace by mistake. However, several other witnesses testified that they had not noticed any bloodstains on the staircase in the morning. These witnesses included several police officers, Umesh Sharma, Puneesh Rai Tandon, Bharati Mandal and Vikas Sethi. Thus, the bloodstains might have been left by the group that tried taking Aarushi's mattress to the Talwars' terrace.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: Kocchar stated that the bloodstains on the terrace door were brought to the attention of a police constable named Akhilesh Kumar. Praful Durrani, who also visited the house, claimed that the policeman initially dismissed the spot on the terrace door as rust, and was also dismissive of the bloodstains on the floor. According to Varshney, the police told him that the killer must have tried to escape through or hide weapon on the terrace, but returned after finding it locked. Eventually, the police were persuaded to investigate the terrace, but they could not get the key to the terrace door. Rohit Kochhar later testified that when a policeman asked Rajesh for the terrace key, he "went into the house and did not come out for a long time." Varshney told the court that Rajesh went "towards staircase and immediately returned and went inside the house". Rajesh later stated that he does not have exact recollection of what happened at that time, but he insisted that he never stopped the investigators from visiting any part of the house. Ultimately, the police were unable to open the door and let it remain locked until the next day. Superintendent of Police (SP) Mahesh Mishra testified that he had asked for the terrace door to be opened on 16 May. However, his subordinates told him that Rajesh Talwar couldn't find the key and they couldn't find a mechanic to break open the door. He also stated that he had filed a report on this "carelessness" with the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Noida.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: On the morning of 17 May, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar left for Haridwar to immerse Aarushi's ashes in the Ganges river as per the Hindu custom. Several visitors continued to arrive at the Talwars' house (which was being managed by Dinesh Talwar) with their condolences. These visitors included retired police officer K.K. Gautam, who had been requested by Sushil Chaudhury to come to the Talwars' house. After arriving at the house, Gautam examined the rooms of Aarushi and Hemraj. Dinesh then showed him the blood stains on the terrace door handle. According to Gautam, Dinesh requested him to get the terrace door unlocked. Gautam then called SP Mahesh Mishra, and told him that the lock needed to be broken. Mishra promised that he would himself visit the crime scene, and meanwhile, sent the station officer Dataram Nauneria to the apartment. The key to the terrace was still missing. Anita Durrani asked the Talwars' neighbour Puneesh Tandon if he had a duplicate key to the Talwars' terrace, to which Tandon replied in the negative. Ultimately, Dataram Nauneria broke open the lock. As the group entered the terrace, they saw bloody drag marks. A body "in advanced stage of putrefaction" was discovered lying in a pool of blood at about 10:30 am.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: Dinesh Talwar couldn't identify the newly discovered body, and called Rajesh and Nupur (who were on their way to Haridwar), asking them to return home. Meanwhile, SP Mahesh Mishra also reached the spot. When the couple arrived at the home, Nupur didn't enter the house: she sat in the car with Aarushi's ashes, as she considered it inauspicious to take the ashes inside. Rajesh went upstairs to identify the body. He told the police that he couldn't be sure that the body was that of Hemraj, due to the injuries and the decomposition. Later, a friend of Hemraj identified the body as his.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: Rajesh and Nupur later resumed their journey to Haridwar and returned the same day. At Haridwar, Rajesh entered the time of Aarushi's death as 2 am in the priest's records. An autopsy of Hemraj's body was conducted at night by Dr. Naresh Raj.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: The UP police did not cordon off the crime scene immediately, and many people, including the media, were freely roaming in the apartment without any permission when the forensic team arrived to gather evidence. According to the CBI team, 90% of the evidence at the crime scene was destroyed due to the police's negligence.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: According to their post-mortem reports, both Aarushi and Hemraj died between 12 am and 1 am. Both had been first attacked with a heavy blunt weapon, which caused a "U/V-shaped" scar and resulted in their deaths. Then, their throats were slit with a sharp weapon. There was no sign of asphyxia.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: In May 2008, the forensic scientists stated that Aarushi was first assaulted with "a heavy sharp-edged weapon". The first hit on the forehead resulted in her death within two minutes, as indicated by the blood clot size.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: In 2012, after Aarushi's parents were charged with the murder, the CBI claimed that according to the experts, the "dimensions of the striking distance" of one of Rajesh's golf clubs was identical to the dimensions of the injuries found on the bodies. Dr. Sunil Dohre testified that the weapon used for the U/V-shaped injuries could possibly be a golf club. The defence argued that the CBI officers had drawn the words "golf club" from Dohre's mouth. Talwars' lawyer stated that Aarushi had had ahairline fracture, and produced the forensic expert Dr. RK Sharma, who told the court that this fracture could not have been caused by a golf club.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: The weapon used for slitting the throats of the victims was never found. The identical measurements of the lacerated wounds indicated that the same weapon was used on both the victims. In May 2008, the forensic scientists remarked that the wounds displayed a "clinical precision and careful thought", as they were inflicted at the right spot to cut the windpipe and dissect the vital left common carotid artery which supplies oxygenated blood to the brain. Initially, when the Noida police first suspected the parents, they stated that the weapon used was a "surgical knife". By June 2008, the CBI's suspicion had shifted to the three Nepali men, and the weapon was believed to be a kukri, a type of Nepali knife.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: The second CBI team returned to the "surgical instrument" theory. In 2013, CBI told the court that according to the faculty at the Talwars' alma mater Maulana Azad Medical College, their dental students were taught surgery. The defence argued that a dentist's scalpel has a cutting surface of about a centimeter: the instrument is too delicate to cut through the carotid artery. According to the defence witness Dr. RK Sharma, the wounds could have been caused by surgical scalpel No. 10 (not used by dentists) or a kukri.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: Aarushi's body lay on her bed, covered with a white flannel blanket. Her face was covered with her schoolbag.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: There was blood on the pillow, the bed, the walls, the floor and the front side of the bedroom door. However, there was no blood on the toys, the schoolbag and the pink pillow kept on the back of the bed. These items were within the range of the splashed blood area, which indicates that they were placed on the bed after the murder. Aarushi's body lay undisturbed on the bed, and the bed sheet was laid out smoothly. According to the CBI, no bloodstains were found on the book "The 3 Mistakes of My Life", which Aarushi was supposedly reading before her murder.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: The 2008 post-mortem report written by Dr. Sunil Dohre marked Aarushi's genital area as "nothing abnormal detected", thus ruling out a sexual assault, but also noted the presence of a "whitish discharge" at her vagina. The whitish discharge sample was sent for pathological examination at the local district hospital, which reported absence of semen. However, later, in 2009, when this vaginal swab sample was sent to CBI's forensic labs, it was suspected to have been tampered with (see below). Ultimately, the CBI concluded that the sample had got contaminated, but not deliberately tampered with. Later, gynaecologist Dr. Urmila Sharma testified that the whitish discharge is normal in 13- and 14-year-old girls after the beginning of a menstrual cycle.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: The bed sheet had a wet circular mark below her pelvic area, which was not urine. There was no such wet patch on her pyjamas, which were untied; no urine or any other bodily fluid was found on her underwear either. The lower garments of Aarushi appeared to have been pulled up or pulled down, as her buttock cleavage was visible. CBI suspected that her pelvic area was swabbed clean, and the pyjamas were pulled up afterwards.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: Later in 2012, Dr. Dohre stated that Aarushi's private parts were "extraordinarily dilated", although there were no signs of rape. He stated that her hymen was ruptured and that it had an old tear. He also stated that her vaginal orifice was "unduly large", the mouth of her cervix was visible and the whitish discharge was confined to the vagina, when it should have spread to the "entire area". Dr. Dohre stated that he had not mentioned these observations in his original report, because these were his "subjective findings", and because "the findings were non-specific and were very strange". He added the wide vaginal opening found on Aarushi's body could have resulted only when someone manipulated it while the rigor mortis was setting in. He thus concluded that Aarushi's private parts appeared to have been cleaned after she died.


title: 2008 Noida double murder case

text: Hemraj's body had been dragged at least 20 feet on the terrace after his death, as evident by a blood trail and abrasion-contusion on his elbows.