title: Blossom (TV series)

text: In the third season, the dancing concept was expanded upon and main cast members Lawrence, Stoyanov, von Oÿ and Wass joined Bialik one at a time as she danced. Portia Dawson and David Lascher's names were included, despite the actors not being physically present in the sequence. This version of the intro lasted through the end of season four. Also beginning in season three, many scenes of the show opened and closed with the first frame frozen in a multi-colored watercolor effect. The watercolor stills lasted through the end of the series.


title: Blossom (TV series)

text: The fifth and final season dropped a full-fledged intro, instead simply displaying the "Blossom" show logo over the watercolor effect to the opening notes of "My Opinionation". During the 1994–1995 season, NBC began running its credits in the squeeze-screen format; thus, cast and crew's credits were positioned at the beginning of each episode.


title: Blossom (TV series)

text: Because "Blossom" aired immediately after "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" on NBC for a period, NBC cross-promoted the shows on two occasions. Will Smith appeared in the season 2 episode "I'm with the Band" as himself under his rap stage name The Fresh Prince, and later that season Karyn Parsons made an appearance on the show in "Wake Up Little Suzy" as her "Fresh Prince" character Hilary Banks. Estelle Getty appeared in one episode in season 1 as Sophia Petrillo, her character from "The Golden Girls" and "Empty Nest".


title: Blossom (TV series)

text: Though "Blossom" provided impressive ratings for NBC, early critical reviews were mixed. Ken Tucker of "Entertainment Weekly" felt the premise of the show was overdone, saying it is "yet another show about a nice, hapless single father (in this case, Ted Wass) coping with kids.” Tucker praised Mayim Bialik and said the show is "raised to a higher level by [her] uncommon charm,” but called the other characters bland, saying, "the male characters could exchange each other's lines and you wouldn’t notice — they’re all the same generic nice-guy wiseacre.”


title: Blossom (TV series)

text: Critic David Zurawik was amongst the few who praised the show and surmised that the lack of attention from other critics was due to many of them being “older, white men” who were more attuned to boys’ coming-of-age stories. Zurawik opined that the dearth of female representation and female-driven stories on TV made "Blossom" an important show, and that by centering on a teenage girl, "Blossom" "is also telling adolescent girls that their concerns and feelings are as important as the concerns and feelings of adolescent boys.” Zurawik added that in "Beverly Hills, 90210", another popular show for teens, "the boys are the main characters, and the girls come up and either create the problem or tag along. The boys talk the most . . . and they are the ones who come up with the solutions.” However, in "Blossom", the female character is at the center and her "problems and concerns are what count. She finds her own solutions. Which is what makes ‘"Blossom"' such a rare show and an interesting case study of network television and our attitudes about what makes for a good TV show."


title: Blossom (TV series)

text: Zurawik also lauded the show for its humor and its inclusion of more serious issues, writing,"‘"Blossom"' does regularly deal with serious topics: Blossom's first period, using condoms, Blossom possibly running away...But some of the plots are as simple as Blossom and Six camping out overnight to get tickets to a C + C Music Factory concert, then meeting the group members and getting to dance with them — a nice half-hour of teen fantasy that ends on some high-energy, feel-good dancing. And let's not forget those ‘fave' outfits Blossom creates or Blossom's own thoughts on what the show is all about."By 1994, "Variety" said "Blossom" was "one of the more sharply written sitcoms of the past five years."


title: Blossom (TV series)

text: In 1993, Blossom received an Emmy Award nomination for Ouststanding Individual Achievement in Lighting Direction for a comedy series, and was nominated for a Humanitas Prize for the episode "The Date." Bialik, Lawrence, and von Oÿ were all nominated for multiple Young Star Awards, with both Lawrence and von Oÿ winning in 1993 for Outstanding Young Comedian in a Television Series and Best Young Actress Co-starring in a Television Series, respectively.


title: Blossom (TV series)

text: The show was unsuccessful when it was first syndicated, running only from September 1995 to September 1999 in local syndication. Reruns also previously ran on cable's WGN and Hub Network / Discovery Family.


title: Blossom (TV series)

text: "Blossom" was heralded for being one of the rare primetime TV shows at the time to center on a teenage girl, the other show being "Clarissa Explains It All" on Nickelodeon. It also received praise for addressing topics like family dysfunction, addiction, sex, single fatherhood, and depression. "Blossom" was the first family sitcom to feature a teenage character dealing with substance abuse recovery. In later seasons, the show increasingly tackled more mature issues, such as the dangers of sexual assault and gun violence.


title: Blossom (TV series)

text: In a retrospective article for "Slate", Willa Paskin wrote that ""Blossom," like any sitcom with teenagers, features lots of lessons learned, but most of those lessons skirt a cheesy "Full House" fate because they aren’t overly simplistic," and that today, "it’s still rare for sitcoms, even the good ones, to embrace ambiguity."


title: Blossom (TV series)

text: Mayim Bialik said in 2016, "What we tried to show was the full range of emotions that human beings can have, but in particular that young women can have. The images of women that most of us raised in the ’70s and ’80s, and even the ’60s, saw of women wasn’t always appropriately complicated. A lot of times it was the bimbo or the nerd, you were either pretty or you were ugly and that’s sort of how characters were written. With "Blossom" we were trying to show someone who had ups and downs. Some days she felt good, some days she didn’t. We did a great episode called 'Blue Blossom,' which was about her being depressed and those were things we were trying to normalize."


title: Blossom (TV series)

text: Bialik added, "The character did not look like a runway model. She wore normal clothes. Some days we had flannel shirts and jeans days. And the actress playing her, me, was not a traditionally attractive female that people were used to seeing on TV, especially for lead women. The fact that it is so commonplace now… I don’t know that we’re uniquely responsible for that, but we definitely were the first network show I knew about at that time that was about a girl.”


title: Blossom (TV series)

text: The outfits worn by Blossom and Six turned the characters into trend setters, popularizing flowered, floppy hats, baby-doll dresses, and sundresses. Costume designer Sherry Thompson and costume supervisor Marion Kirk culled the characters’ eclectic wardrobes, which would average six outfits per episode, from Melrose Avenue boutiques and chain stores. In 1993, an official "Blossom" clothing line was released in department stores.


title: Blossom (TV series)

text: During the series' run and after, it was parodied or referenced in other shows like "Saturday Night Live", "The Simpsons", and "Friends". The show was also referenced in a 2010 episode of "Glee" and on sitcom "The Big Bang Theory", the latter which Bialik joined as a main cast member. In January 2022, the season 2 premiere of "Call Me Kat", a Fox sitcom starring Bialik, featured a reunion of original "Blossom" actors von Oÿ, Lawrence, and Stoyanov. The trio portrayed themselves as actors from the sitcom, but did not refer to the titular character Blossom and only referenced the iconic hats and opening credit dance numbers.


title: Blossom (TV series)

text: On January 27, 2009, Shout! Factory (under license from rights-holders ABC and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment) released Seasons 1 & 2 of "Blossom" on DVD in Region 1. The 6-disc boxset includes all-new interviews with cast members, the original pilot episode, featurettes and audio commentaries.


title: Blossom (TV series)

text: Mill Creek Entertainment released a 10 episode best-of set entitled "Blossom - 10 Very Special Episodes" on October 12, 2010. The single disc release features episodes from the first 2 seasons.


title: Blossom (TV series)

text: For a period of time all five seasons of "Blossom" were available to stream on Hulu. In January 2019, the series was removed from the streaming service. On March 26, 2018, the whole series was made available on iTunes and Amazon Instant Video.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Wong Liu Tsong (January 3, 1905 – February 3, 1961), known professionally as Anna May Wong, was an American actress, considered the first Chinese-American movie star in Hollywood, as well as the first Chinese-American actress to gain international recognition. Her varied career spanned silent film, sound film, television, stage, and radio. As one of the first women depicted on the reverse of the quarter in the 2022–2025 American Women quarters series, she is also the first Asian American to appear on a U.S. coin.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Born in Los Angeles to second-generation Taishanese Chinese-American parents, Wong became infatuated with films and began acting in films at an early age. During the silent film era, she acted in "The Toll of the Sea" (1922), one of the first films made in color, and in Douglas Fairbanks' "The Thief of Bagdad" (1924). Wong became a fashion icon and had achieved international stardom in 1924. Wong had been one of the first to embrace the flapper look. In 1934, the Mayfair Mannequin Society of New York voted her the "world's best dressed woman." In the 1920s and 1930s, Wong was acclaimed as one of the top fashion icons.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she reluctantly played in Hollywood, Wong left for Europe in March 1928, where she starred in several notable plays and films, among them "Piccadilly" (1929). She spent the first half of the 1930s traveling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. Wong was featured in films of the early sound era, such as "Daughter of the Dragon" (1931), "Java Head" (1934), "Daughter of Shanghai" (1937), and with Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternberg's "Shanghai Express" (1932).


title: Anna May Wong

text: In 1935, Wong was dealt the most severe disappointment of her career, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading role of the Chinese character O-Lan in the film version of Pearl S. Buck's "The Good Earth". MGM instead cast Luise Rainer to play the leading role in yellowface. One biographer believes that the choice was due to the Hays Code anti-miscegenation rules requiring the wife of a white actor, Paul Muni (ironically playing a Chinese character in yellowface) to be played by a white actress. But the 1930-1934 Hays Code of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America insisted only that "miscegenation (sex relationship between the white and black races) was forbidden" and said nothing about Asian/white intermarriages. Other biographers have not corroborated this theory, including historian Shirley Jennifer Lim's "Anna May Wong: Performing the Modern". MGM screen-tested Wong for the supporting role of Lotus, the seductress, but it is ambiguous whether she refused the role on principle or was rejected.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Wong spent the next year touring China, visiting her family's ancestral village, studying Chinese culture, and documenting the experience on film at a time when prominent female directors in Hollywood were few.


title: Anna May Wong

text: In the late 1930s, she starred in several B movies for Paramount Pictures, portraying Chinese and Chinese Americans in a positive light.


title: Anna May Wong

text: She paid less attention to her film career during World War II, when she devoted her time and money to help the Chinese cause against Japan. Wong returned to the public eye in the 1950s in several television appearances.


title: Anna May Wong

text: In 1951, Wong made history with her television show "The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong", the first-ever U.S. television show starring an Asian American series lead. She had been planning to return to film in "Flower Drum Song" when she died in 1961, at the age of 56, from a heart attack. For decades after her death, Wong was remembered principally for the stereotypical "Dragon Lady" and demure "Butterfly" roles that she was often given. Her life and career were re-evaluated in the years around the centennial of her birth, in three major literary works and film retrospectives.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Anna May Wong was born Wong Liu Tsong (, "Liu Tsong" literally meaning "willow frost") on January 3, 1905, on Flower Street in Los Angeles, one block north of Chinatown, in an integrated community of Chinese, Irish, German and Japanese residents. She was the second of seven children born to Wong Sam-sing, owner of the Sam Kee Laundry, and his second wife Lee Gon-toy.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Wong's parents were second-generation Chinese Americans; her maternal and paternal grandparents had resided in the U.S. since at least 1855. Her paternal grandfather, A Wong Wong, was a merchant who owned two stores in Michigan Bluffs, a gold-mining area in Placer County. He had come from Chang On, a village near Taishan, Guangdong Province, China, in 1853. Anna May's father spent his youth traveling between the U.S. and China, where he married his first wife and fathered a son in 1890. He returned to the U.S. in the late 1890s and in 1901, while continuing to support his family in China, he married a second wife, Anna May's mother. Anna May's older sister Lew-ying (Lulu) was born in late 1902, and Anna May in 1905, followed by five more children.


title: Anna May Wong

text: In 1910, the family moved to a neighborhood on Figueroa Street where they were the only Chinese people on their block, living alongside mostly Mexican and Eastern European families. The two hills separating their new home from Chinatown helped Wong to assimilate into American culture. She attended public school with her older sister at first, but then when the girls became the target of racial taunts from other students, they moved to a Presbyterian Chinese school. Classes were taught in English, but Wong attended a Chinese language school afternoons and on Saturdays.


title: Anna May Wong

text: About that same time, U.S. motion picture production began to relocate from the East Coast to the Los Angeles area. Movies were shot constantly in and around Wong's neighborhood. She began going to Nickelodeon movie theaters and quickly became obsessed with the "flickers", missing school and using lunch money to attend the cinema. Her father was not happy with her interest in films, feeling that it interfered with her studies, but Wong decided to pursue a film career regardless. At the age of nine, she constantly begged filmmakers to give her roles, earning herself the nickname "C.C.C." or "Curious Chinese Child". By the age of 11, Wong had come up with her stage name of Anna May Wong, formed by joining both her English and family names.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Wong was working at Hollywood's Ville de Paris department store when Metro Pictures needed 300 female extras to appear in Alla Nazimova's film "The Red Lantern" (1919). Without her father's knowledge, a friend of his with movie connections helped her land an uncredited role as an extra carrying a lantern.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Wong worked steadily for the next two years as an extra in various movies, including Priscilla Dean and Colleen Moore pictures. While still a student, Wong came down with an illness identified as St. Vitus's Dance which caused her to miss months of school. She was on the verge of emotional collapse when her father took her to a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine. The treatments proved successful, though Wong later claimed this had more to do with her dislike of the methods. Other Chinese thought such as Confucianism and particularly Taoism and the teachings of Laozi had a strong influence on Wong's personal philosophy throughout her life. The family's religious life also included Christian thought, in the form of Presbyterianism and as an adult she was a Christian Scientist for some time.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Finding it difficult to keep up with both her schoolwork and her passion, Wong dropped out of Los Angeles High School in 1921 to pursue a full-time acting career. Reflecting on her decision, Wong told "Motion Picture Magazine" in 1931: "I was so young when I began that I knew I still had youth if I failed, so I determined to give myself 10 years to succeed as an actress."


title: Anna May Wong

text: In 1921, Wong received her first screen credit for "Bits of Life", the first anthology film, in which she played the wife of Lon Chaney's character, Toy Ling, in a segment entitled "Hop". She later recalled it fondly as the only time she played the role of a mother; her appearance earned her a cover photo on the British magazine "Picture Show".


title: Anna May Wong

text: At the age of 17, Wong played her first leading role, in the early Metro two-color Technicolor movie "The Toll of the Sea". Written by Frances Marion, the story was based loosely on "Madama Butterfly". "Variety" magazine singled Wong out for praise, noting her "extraordinarily fine" acting. "The New York Times" commented, "Miss Wong stirs in the spectator all the sympathy her part calls for and she never repels one by an excess of theatrical 'feeling'. She has a difficult role, a role that is botched nine times out of ten, but hers is the tenth performance. Completely unconscious of the camera, with a fine sense of proportion and remarkable pantomimic accuracy ... She should be seen again and often on the screen."


title: Anna May Wong

text: Despite such reviews, Hollywood proved reluctant to create starring roles for Wong; her ethnicity prevented U.S. filmmakers from seeing her as a leading lady. David Schwartz, the chief curator of the Museum of the Moving Image, notes, "She built up a level of stardom in Hollywood, but Hollywood didn't know what to do with her." She spent the next few years in supporting roles providing "exotic atmosphere", for instance playing a concubine in Tod Browning's "Drifting" (1923). Film producers capitalized on Wong's growing fame but they relegated her to supporting roles. Still optimistic about a film career, in 1923 Wong said: "Pictures are fine and I'm getting along all right, but it's not so bad to have the laundry back of you, so you can wait and take good parts and be independent when you're climbing."


title: Anna May Wong

text: At the age of 19, Wong was cast in a supporting role as a scheming Mongol slave in the 1924 Douglas Fairbanks picture "The Thief of Bagdad". Playing a stereotypical "Dragon Lady" role, her brief appearances on-screen caught the attention of audiences and critics alike. The film grossed more than $2 million and helped introduce Wong to the public. Around this time, Wong had an interracial relationship with Tod Browning, who had directed her in "Drifting" a year earlier.


title: Anna May Wong

text: After this second prominent role, Wong moved out of the family home into her own apartment. Conscious that Americans viewed her as "foreign-born" even though she was born and raised in California, Wong began cultivating a flapper image. In March 1924, planning to make films about Chinese myths, she signed a deal creating Anna May Wong Productions; when her business partner was found to be engaging in dishonest practices, Wong brought a lawsuit against him and the company was dissolved.


title: Anna May Wong

text: It soon became evident that Wong's career would continue to be limited by American anti-miscegenation laws, which prevented her from sharing an on-screen kiss with any person of another race, even if the character was Asian, but being portrayed by a white actor. The only leading Asian man in U.S. films in the silent era was Sessue Hayakawa. Unless Asian leading men could be found, Wong could not be a leading lady.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Wong continued to be offered exotic supporting roles that followed the rising "vamp" stereotype in cinema. She played indigenous native girls in two 1924 films. Filmed on location in the Territory of Alaska, she portrayed an Eskimo in "The Alaskan". She returned to Los Angeles to perform the part of Princess Tiger Lily in "Peter Pan". Both films were shot by cinematographer James Wong Howe. "Peter Pan" was more successful, and it was the hit of the Christmas season. The next year, Wong was singled out for critical praise in a manipulative Oriental vamp role in the film "Forty Winks". Despite such favorable reviews, she became increasingly disappointed with her casting and began to seek other roads to success. In early 1925 she joined a group of serial stars on a tour of the vaudeville circuits; when the tour proved to be a failure, Wong and the rest of the group returned to Hollywood.


title: Anna May Wong

text: In 1926, Wong put the first rivet into the structure of Grauman's Chinese Theatre when she joined Norma Talmadge for its groundbreaking ceremony, although she was not invited to leave her hand- and foot-prints in cement. In the same year, Wong starred in "The Silk Bouquet". Re-titled "The Dragon Horse" in 1927, the film was one of the first U.S. films to be produced with Chinese backing, provided by San Francisco's Chinese Six Companies. The story was set in China during the Ming dynasty and featured Asian actors playing the Asian roles.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Wong continued to be assigned supporting roles. Hollywood's Asian female characters tended toward two stereotypical poles: the naïve and self-sacrificing "Butterfly" and the sly and deceitful "Dragon Lady". In "Old San Francisco" (1927), directed by Alan Crosland for Warner Brothers, Wong played a "Dragon Lady", a gangster's daughter. In "Mr. Wu" (1927), she played a supporting role as increasing censorship against mixed-race onscreen couples cost her the lead. In "The Crimson City", released the following year, this happened again.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Tired of being both typecast and passed over for lead Asian character roles in favor of non-Asian actresses, Wong left Hollywood in 1928 for Europe. Interviewed by Doris Mackie for "Film Weekly" in 1933, Wong complained about her Hollywood roles: "I was so tired of the parts I had to play." She commented: "There seems little for me in Hollywood, because, rather than real Chinese, producers prefer Hungarians, Mexicans, American Indians for Chinese roles."


title: Anna May Wong

text: In Europe, Wong became a sensation, starring in notable films such as "Schmutziges Geld" (aka "Song" and "Show Life", 1928) and "Großstadtschmetterling" ("Pavement Butterfly"). Of the German critics' response to "Song", "The New York Times" reported that Wong was "acclaimed not only as an actress of transcendent talent but as a great beauty". The article noted that Germans passed over Wong's American background: "Berlin critics, who were unanimous in praise of both the star and the production, neglect to mention that Anna May is of American birth. They mention only her Chinese origins." In Vienna, she played the title role in the operetta "Tschun Tschi" in fluent German. An Austrian critic wrote, "Fräulein Wong had the audience perfectly in her power and the unobtrusive tragedy of her acting was deeply moving, carrying off the difficult German-speaking part very successfully."


title: Anna May Wong

text: While in Germany, Wong became an inseparable friend of the director Leni Riefenstahl. Her close friendships with several women throughout her life, including Marlene Dietrich and Cecil Cunningham, led to rumors of lesbianism which damaged her public reputation. These rumors, in particular of her supposed relationship with Dietrich, further embarrassed Wong's family. They had long been opposed to her acting career, which was not considered an entirely respectable profession at the time.


title: Anna May Wong

text: London producer Basil Dean brought the play "A Circle of Chalk" for Wong to appear in with the young Laurence Olivier, her first stage performance in the United Kingdom. Criticism of her California accent, described by one critic as a "Yankee squeak", led to Wong seeking vocal tutoring at Cambridge University, where she trained in received pronunciation. Composer Constant Lambert, infatuated with the actress after having seen her in films, attended the play on its opening night and subsequently composed "Eight Poems of Li Po", dedicated to her.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Wong made her last silent film, "Piccadilly", in 1929, the first of five British films, in which she had a starring role. The film caused a sensation in the UK. Gilda Gray was the top-billed actress, but "Variety" commented that Wong "outshines the star" and that "from the moment Miss Wong dances in the kitchen's rear, she steals 'Piccadilly' from Miss Gray." Though the film presented Wong in her most sensual role yet of the five films, once again she was not permitted to kiss her white love interest and a controversial planned scene involving a kiss was cut before the film was released. Forgotten for decades after its release, "Piccadilly" was later restored by the British Film Institute. "Time" magazine's Richard Corliss calls "Piccadilly" Wong's best film, and "The Guardian" reports that the rediscovery of this film and Wong's performance in it has been responsible for a restoration of the actress' reputation.


title: Anna May Wong

text: While in London, Wong was romantically linked with writer and broadcasting executive Eric Maschwitz, who possibly wrote the lyrics to "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)" as an evocation of his longing for her after they parted. Wong's first talkie was "The Flame of Love" (1930), which she recorded in French, English, and German. Though Wong's performance—particularly her handling of the three languages—was lauded, all three versions of the film received negative reviews.


title: Anna May Wong

text: During the 1930s, American studios were looking for fresh European talent. Ironically, Wong caught their eye, and she was offered a contract with Paramount Studios in 1930. Enticed by the promise of lead roles and top billing, she returned to the United States. The prestige and training she had gained during her years in Europe led to a starring role on Broadway in "On the Spot", a drama that ran for 167 performances and which she would later film as "Dangerous to Know". When the play's director wanted Wong to use stereotypical Japanese mannerisms, derived from "Madame Butterfly", in her performance of a Chinese character, Wong refused. She instead used her knowledge of Chinese style and gestures to imbue the character with a greater degree of authenticity. Following her return to Hollywood in 1930, Wong repeatedly turned to the stage and cabaret for a creative outlet.


title: Anna May Wong

text: In November 1930, Wong's mother was struck and killed by an automobile in front of the Figueroa Street house. The family remained at the house until 1934 when Wong's father returned to his hometown in China with Anna May's younger brothers and sister. Anna May had been paying for the education of her younger siblings, who put their education to work after they relocated to China. Before the family left, Wong's father wrote a brief article for "Xinning", a magazine for overseas Taishanese, in which he expressed his pride in his famous daughter.


title: Anna May Wong

text: With the promise of appearing in a Josef von Sternberg film, Wong accepted another stereotypical role – the title character of Fu Manchu's vengeful daughter in "Daughter of the Dragon" (1931). This was the last stereotypically "evil Chinese" role Wong played, and also her one starring appearance alongside the only other well-known Asian actor of the era, Sessue Hayakawa. Though she was given the starring role, this status was not reflected in her paycheck: she was paid $6,000, while Hayakawa received $10,000 and Warner Oland, who is only in the film for 23 minutes, was paid $12,000.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Wong began using her newfound celebrity to make political statements: late in 1931, for example, she wrote a harsh criticism of the Mukden Incident and Japan's subsequent invasion of Manchuria. She also became more outspoken in her advocacy for Chinese American causes and for better film roles. In a 1933 interview for "Film Weekly" entitled "I Protest", Wong criticized the negative stereotyping in "Daughter of the Dragon", saying, "Why is it that the screen Chinese is always the villain? And so crude a villain—murderous, treacherous, a snake in the grass! We are not like that. How could we be, with a civilization that is so many times older than the West?"


title: Anna May Wong

text: Wong appeared alongside Marlene Dietrich as a self-sacrificing courtesan in Sternberg's "Shanghai Express". Her sexually charged scenes with Dietrich have been noted by many commentators and fed rumors about the relationship between the two stars. Though contemporary reviews focused on Dietrich's acting and Sternberg's direction, film historians today judge that Wong's performance upstaged that of Dietrich.


title: Anna May Wong

text: The Chinese press had long given Wong's career very mixed reviews, and were less than favorable to her performance in "Shanghai Express". A Chinese newspaper ran the headline: "Paramount Utilizes Anna May Wong to Produce Picture to Disgrace China" and continued, "Although she is deficient in artistic portrayal, she has done more than enough to disgrace the Chinese race." Critics in China believed that Wong's on-screen sexuality spread negative stereotypes of Chinese women. The most virulent criticism came from the Nationalist government, but China's intellectuals and liberals were not always so opposed to Wong, as demonstrated when Peking University awarded the actress an honorary doctorate in 1932. Contemporary sources reported that this was probably the only time that an actor had been so honored.


title: Anna May Wong

text: In both America and Europe, Wong had been seen as a fashion icon for over a decade. In 1934, the Mayfair Mannequin Society of New York voted her "The World's best-dressed woman" and in 1938 "Look" magazine named her "The World's most beautiful Chinese girl".


title: Anna May Wong

text: After her success in Europe and a prominent role in "Shanghai Express", Wong's Hollywood career returned to its old pattern. She was passed over for the leading female role in "The Son-Daughter" in favor of Helen Hayes; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer deemed her "too Chinese to play a Chinese" in the film. Wong was scheduled to play the role of a mistress to a corrupt Chinese general in Frank Capra's "The Bitter Tea of General Yen" (1933), but the role went instead to Toshia Mori.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Again disappointed with Hollywood, Wong returned to Britain, where she stayed for nearly three years. In addition to appearing in four films, she toured Scotland and Ireland as part of a vaudeville show. She also appeared in the King George Silver Jubilee program in 1935. Her film "Java Head" (1934), though generally considered a minor effort, was the only film in which Wong kissed the lead male character, her white husband in the film. Wong's biographer, Graham Russell Hodges, commented that this may be why the film remained one of Wong's personal favorites. While in London, Wong met Mei Lanfang, one of the most famous stars of the Beijing Opera. She had long been interested in Chinese opera and Mei offered to instruct Wong if she ever visited China.


title: Anna May Wong

text: In the 1930s, the popularity of Pearl Buck's novels, especially "The Good Earth", as well as growing American sympathy for China in its struggles with Japanese imperialism, opened up opportunities for more positive Chinese roles in U.S. films. Wong returned to the U.S. in June 1935 with the goal of obtaining the role of O-lan, the lead female character in MGM's film version of "The Good Earth". Since its publication in 1931, Wong had made known her desire to play O-lan in a film version of the book; and as early as 1933, Los Angeles newspapers were touting Wong as the best choice for the part.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Nevertheless, the studio apparently never seriously considered Wong for the role. The Chinese government also advised the studio against casting Wong in the role. The Chinese advisor to MGM commented: "whenever she appears in a movie, the newspapers print her picture with the caption 'Anna May again loses face for China' ".


title: Anna May Wong

text: According to Wong, she was instead offered the part of Lotus, a deceitful song girl who helps to destroy the family and seduces the family's oldest son. Wong refused the role, telling MGM head of production Irving Thalberg, "If you let me play O-lan, I will be very glad. But you're asking me—with Chinese blood—to do the only unsympathetic role in the picture featuring an all-American cast portraying Chinese characters."


title: Anna May Wong

text: The role Wong hoped for went to Luise Rainer, who won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Wong's sister, Mary Liu Heung Wong, appeared in the film in the role of the Little Bride. MGM's refusal to consider Wong for this most high-profile of Chinese characters in U.S. film is remembered today as "one of the most notorious cases of casting discrimination in the 1930s".


title: Anna May Wong

text: After the major disappointment of losing the role in "The Good Earth", Wong announced plans for a year-long tour of China, to visit her father and his family in Taishan. Wong's father had returned to his hometown in China with her younger brothers and sister in 1934. Aside from Mei Lanfang's offer to teach her, she wanted to learn more about the Chinese theater and through English translations to better perform some Chinese plays before international audiences. She told the "San Francisco Chronicle" on her departure, "... for a year, I shall study the land of my fathers. Perhaps upon my arrival, I shall feel like an outsider. Perhaps instead, I shall find my past life assuming a dreamlike quality of unreality."


title: Anna May Wong

text: Embarking in January 1936, Wong chronicled her experiences in a series of articles printed in U.S. newspapers such as the "New York Herald Tribune", the "Los Angeles Examiner", the "Los Angeles Times", and "Photoplay". In a stopover in Tokyo on the way to Shanghai, local reporters, ever curious about her romantic life, asked if she had marriage plans, to which Wong replied, "No, I am wedded to my art." The following day, however, Japanese newspapers reported that Wong was married to a wealthy Cantonese man named "Art".


title: Anna May Wong

text: During her travels in China, Wong continued to be strongly criticized by the Nationalist government and the film community. She had difficulty communicating in many areas of China because she was raised with the Taishan dialect rather than Mandarin. She later commented that some of the varieties of Chinese sounded "as strange to me as Gaelic. I thus had the strange experience of talking to my own people through an interpreter."


title: Anna May Wong

text: The toll of international celebrity on Wong's personal life manifested itself in bouts of depression and sudden anger, as well as excessive smoking and drinking. Feeling irritable when she disembarked in Hong Kong, Wong was uncharacteristically rude to the awaiting crowd, which then quickly turned hostile. One person shouted: "Down with Huang Liu-tsong—the stooge that disgraces China. Don't let her go ashore." Wong began crying and a stampede ensued.


title: Anna May Wong

text: After she left for a short trip to the Philippines, the situation cooled and Wong joined her family in Hong Kong. With her father and her siblings, Wong visited his family and his first wife at the family's ancestral home near Taishan. Conflicting reports claim that she was either warmly welcomed or met with hostility by the villagers. She spent over 10 days in the family's village and sometime in neighboring villages before continuing her tour of China.


title: Anna May Wong

text: After returning to Hollywood, Wong reflected on her year in China and her career in Hollywood: "I am convinced that I could never play in the Chinese Theatre. I have no feeling for it. It's a pretty sad situation to be rejected by Chinese because I'm 'too American' and by American producers, because they prefer other races to act Chinese parts." Wong's father returned to Los Angeles in 1938.


title: Anna May Wong

text: To complete her contract with Paramount Pictures, Wong made a string of B movies in the late 1930s. Often dismissed by critics, the films gave Wong non-stereotypical roles that were publicized in the Chinese-American press for their positive images. These smaller-budgeted films could be bolder than the higher-profile releases and Wong used this to her advantage to portray successful, professional, Chinese-American characters.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Competent and proud of their Chinese heritage, these characters worked against the prevailing U.S. film portrayals of Chinese Americans. In contrast to the usual official Chinese condemnation of Wong's film roles, the Chinese consul to Los Angeles gave his approval to the final scripts of two of these films, "Daughter of Shanghai" (1937) and "King of Chinatown" (1939).


title: Anna May Wong

text: In "Daughter of Shanghai", Wong played the Asian-American female lead in a role that was rewritten for her as the heroine of the story, actively setting the plot into motion rather than the more passive character originally planned. The script was so carefully tailored for Wong that at one point it was given the working title "Anna May Wong Story". When the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2006, the announcement described it as "more truly Wong's personal vehicle than any of her other films".


title: Anna May Wong

text: Of this film, Wong told "Hollywood Magazine", "I like my part in this picture better than any I've had before ... because this picture gives Chinese a break—we have sympathetic parts for a change! To me, that means a great deal." "The New York Times" gave the film a generally positive review, commenting of its B-movie origins, "An unusually competent cast saves the film from the worst consequences of certain inevitable banalities. [The cast] ... combine with effective sets to reduce the natural odds against any pictures in the "Daughter of Shanghai" tradition."


title: Anna May Wong

text: In October 1937, the press carried rumors that Wong had plans to marry her male co-star in this film, childhood friend and Korean-American actor Philip Ahn. Wong replied, "It would be like marrying my brother."


title: Anna May Wong

text: Bosley Crowther was not so kind to "Dangerous to Know" (1938), which he called a "second-rate melodrama, hardly worthy of the talents of its generally capable cast". In "King of Chinatown," Wong played a surgeon who sacrifices a high-paying promotion in order to devote her energies to helping the Chinese fight the Japanese invasion. "The New York Times"' Frank Nugent gave the film a negative review. Though he commented positively on its advocacy of the Chinese in their fight against Japan, he wrote, "... Paramount should have spared us and its cast ... the necessity of being bothered with such folderol".


title: Anna May Wong

text: Paramount also employed Wong as a tutor to other actors, such as Dorothy Lamour in her role as a Eurasian in "Disputed Passage". Wong performed on radio several times, including a 1939 role as "Peony" in Pearl Buck's "The Patriot" on Orson Welles' "The Campbell Playhouse". Wong's cabaret act, which included songs in Cantonese, French, English, German, Danish, Swedish, and other languages, took her from the U.S. to Europe and Australia through the 1930s and 1940s.


title: Anna May Wong

text: In 1938, after she auctioned off her movie costumes and donated the money to Chinese aid, the Chinese Benevolent Association of California honored Wong for her work in support of Chinese refugees. The proceeds from the preface that she wrote in 1942 to a cookbook entitled "New Chinese Recipes", one of the first Chinese cookbooks, were also dedicated to United China Relief. Between 1939 and 1942, she made few films, instead engaging in events and appearances in support of the Chinese struggle against Japan.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Being sick of the negative typecasting that had enveloped her throughout her American career, Wong visited Australia for more than three months in 1939. There she was the star attraction in a vaudeville show entitled 'Highlights from Hollywood' at the Tivoli Theatre in Melbourne.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Wong starred in "Bombs over Burma" (1942) and "Lady from Chungking" (1942), both anti-Japanese propaganda made by the poverty row studio Producers Releasing Corporation. She donated her salary for both films to United China Relief. "The Lady from Chungking" differed from the usual Hollywood war film in that the Chinese were portrayed as heroes rather than as victims rescued by Americans. Even after American characters are captured by the Japanese, the primary goal of the heroes is not to free the Americans, but to prevent the Japanese from entering the city of Chongqing (Chungking). Also, in an interesting twist, the Chinese characters are portrayed by Chinese-American actors, while the Japanese villains—normally played by Chinese-American actors—are acted by European Americans. The film ends with Wong making a speech for the birth of a "new China". "The Hollywood Reporter" and "Variety" both gave Wong's performance in "The Lady from Chungking" positive reviews but commented negatively on the film's plot.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Later in life, Wong invested in real estate and owned a number of properties in Hollywood. She converted her home on San Vicente Boulevard in Santa Monica into four apartments that she called "Moongate Apartments". She served as the apartment house manager from the late 1940s until 1956, when she moved in with her brother Richard on 21st Place in Santa Monica.


title: Anna May Wong

text: In 1949, Wong's father died in Los Angeles at the age of 91. After a six-year absence, Wong returned to film the same year with a small role in a B movie called "Impact". From August 27 to November 21, 1951, Wong starred in a detective series that was written specifically for her, the DuMont Television Network series "The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong", in which she played the title role that used her birth name. Wong's character was a dealer in Chinese art whose career involved her in detective work and international intrigue. The ten half-hour episodes aired during prime time, from 9:00 to 9:30 pm. Although there were plans for a second season, DuMont canceled the show in 1952. No copies of the show or its scripts are known to exist. After the completion of the series, Wong's health began to deteriorate. In late 1953 she suffered an internal hemorrhage, which her brother attributed to the onset of menopause, her continued heavy drinking, and financial worries.


title: Anna May Wong

text: In 1956, Wong hosted one of the first U.S. documentaries on China narrated entirely by a Chinese American. Broadcast on the ABC travel series "Bold Journey", the program consisted of film footage from her 1936 trip to China. Wong also did guest spots on television series such as "Adventures in Paradise", "The Barbara Stanwyck Show", and "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp".


title: Anna May Wong

text: For her contribution to the film industry, Anna May Wong received a star at 1708 Vine Street on the inauguration of the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. She was the first Asian American actress to receive this honor. She is also depicted larger-than-life as one of the four supporting pillars of the "Gateway to Hollywood" sculpture located on the southeast corner of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, with the actresses Dolores del Río (Hispanic American), Dorothy Dandridge (African American), and Mae West (White American).


title: Anna May Wong

text: In 1960, Wong returned to film in "Portrait in Black", starring Lana Turner. She still found herself stereotyped, with one press release explaining her long absence from films with a supposed proverb, which was claimed to have been passed down to Wong by her father: "Don't be photographed too much or you'll lose your soul", a quote that would be inserted into many of her obituaries.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Wong was scheduled to play the role of Madame Liang in the film production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Flower Drum Song", but was unable to take the role due to her health issues. On February 3, 1961, at the age of 56, Anna died of a heart attack as she slept at home in Santa Monica, two days after her final screen performance on television's "The Barbara Stanwyck Show" in an episode entitled "Dragon by the Tail". (Wong had appeared in another story in the same series the previous year.) Her cremated remains were interred in her mother's grave at Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles. The headstone is marked with her mother's Anglicized name on top, and the Chinese names of Anna May (on the right) and her sister Mary (on the left) along the sides.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Wong's image and career have left a notable legacy. Through her films, public appearances and prominent magazine features, she helped to humanize Chinese Americans to mainstream American audiences during a period of intense racism and discrimination. Chinese Americans had been viewed as perpetually foreign in U.S. society, but Wong's films and public image established her as a Chinese-American citizen at a time when laws discriminated against Chinese immigration and citizenship. Wong's hybrid image dispelled contemporary notions that the East and West were inherently different.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Among Wong's films, only "Shanghai Express" retained critical attention in the U.S. in the decades after her death. In Europe and especially England, her films appeared occasionally at festivals. Wong remained popular with the gay community, who claimed her as one of their own and for whom her marginalization by the mainstream became a symbol. Although the Chinese Nationalist criticism of her portrayals of the "Dragon Lady" and "Butterfly" stereotypes lingered, she was forgotten in China. Nevertheless, the importance of Wong's legacy within the Asian-American film community can be seen in the Anna May Wong Award of Excellence, which is given yearly at the Asian-American Arts Awards; the annual award given out by the Asian Fashion Designers group was also named after Wong in 1973.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Wong's image remained as a symbol in literature as well as in the film. In the 1971 poem "The Death of Anna May Wong", Jessica Hagedorn saw Wong's career as one of "tragic glamour" and portrayed the actress as a "fragile maternal presence, an Asian-American woman who managed to 'birth' however ambivalently, Asian-American screen women in the jazz age". Wong's character in "Shanghai Express" was the subject of John Yau's 1989 poem "No One Ever Tried to Kiss Anna May Wong", which interprets the actress' career as a series of tragic romances. Sally Wen Mao wrote a book called Oculus, published in 2019, with a series of persona poems in the voice of Anna May Wong. In David Cronenberg's 1993 film version of David Henry Hwang's 1986 play, "M. Butterfly", Wong's image was used briefly as a symbol of a "tragic diva". Her life was the subject of "China Doll, The Imagined Life of an American Actress", an award-winning fictional play written by Elizabeth Wong in 1995.


title: Anna May Wong

text: In 1995, film historian Stephen Bourne curated a retrospective of Wong's films called "A Touch of Class" for BFI Southbank.


title: Anna May Wong

text: As the centennial of Wong's birth approached, a re-examination of her life and career took shape; three major works on the actress appeared and comprehensive retrospectives of her films were held at both the Museum of Modern Art and the American Museum of the Moving Image in New York City. Anthony Chan's 2003 biography, "Perpetually Cool: The Many Lives of Anna May Wong (1905–1961)", was the first major work on Wong and was written, Chan says, "from a uniquely Asian-American perspective and sensibility". In 2004, Philip Leibfried and Chei Mi Lane's exhaustive examination of Wong's career, "Anna May Wong: A Complete Guide to Her Film, Stage, Radio and Television Work" was published, as well as a second full-length biography, "Anna May Wong: From Laundryman's Daughter to Hollywood Legend" by Graham Russell Hodges. Though Anna May Wong's life, career, and legacy reflect many complex issues which remain decades after her death, Anthony Chan points out that her place in Asian-American cinematic history, as its first female star, is permanent. An illustrated biography for children, "Shining Star: The Anna May Wong Story", was published in 2009.


title: Anna May Wong

text: In 2016, the novelist Peter Ho Davies published "The Fortunes", a saga of Chinese-American experiences centered around four characters, one of whom is a fictionalized Anna May Wong, imagined from childhood until her death. In a conversation published in the 2017 paperback edition, Davies described his novel as an exploration of the Chinese-American quest for authenticity—a third way of being Chinese-American—with Anna May Wong representing an iconic example of that struggle.


title: Anna May Wong

text: On January 22, 2020, a Google Doodle celebrated Wong, commemorating the 97th anniversary of the day "The Toll of the Sea" went into general release.


title: Anna May Wong

text: In 2020, actress Michelle Krusiec played Wong in Ryan Murphy's Netflix drama series, "Hollywood". The limited series tells an alternate history of Hollywood in the 1940s. Also in 2020, her life story was told as part of PBS's documentary "Asian Americans."


title: Anna May Wong

text: In 2021, the United States Mint announced that Wong would be among the first women depicted on the reverse of the quarter coin as a part of the American Women quarters series. When the quarters with her depicted on them went into circulation in 2022, Wong became the first Asian-American depicted on American coinage.


title: Anna May Wong

text: Li Jun Li has been cast in Damien Chazelle's upcoming film "Babylon", playing a role inspired by Wong.


title: Anna May Wong

text: A biopic from Working Title Films is in development, with British actress Gemma Chan set to portray Wong.


title: Vachirawit Chivaaree

text: Vachirawit Chivaree (; born in 1997 ), popularly known as Bright Vachirawit or Bright (), is a famous Thai actor, singer, host, model and entertainer. He is best known for his main lead roles in "" and "."


title: Vachirawit Chivaaree

text: Bright was born on 27 December 1997 in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand as Kunlatorn Chivaaree to a father of Thai and white American descent & a mother of Thai and Chinese descent. His parents got divorced when he was a child. He grew up in Thailand along with his maternal relatives and his cousins.


title: Vachirawit Chivaaree

text: Bright completed his lower secondary education at Suankularb Wittayalai School and upper secondary education at Triam Udom Suksa School. During this time, he would work as part-timer for small roles in the entertainment industry and would self sponsor his education. He initially took up the Thammasat English Program of Engineering (TEPE) under the Faculty of Engineering of Thammasat University, afterwards he decided to take an academic leave for a year in order to focus on his career as an actor and later decided to pursue Bachelor's Degree in Marketing (International Program) at Bangkok University International College. He graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing in 2021 and will attend the graduation ceremony in December 2022.


title: Vachirawit Chivaaree

text: In 2013, Bright debuted as one of the 6th generation of Strawberry Krub Cake variety show on Ch3 and had his acting debut in a Strawberry Krub Cake's short drama titled "The Beginning - Run Lovers Run" produced by Duang Malee Maneejan and Nadao Bangkok. After that, he featured in several small roles in projects within the industry which includes TV dramas, music videos and a film. His supporting roles in 'Social Death Vote' as Day & Peter in 'I Sea U' got positive review.


title: Vachirawit Chivaaree

text: In 2018, Bright auditioned in GMM25 New Face 2018 project & got signed as a GMMTV actor/artist. He received mostly supporting roles in several series until he won an audition for the young Dr. Peng in Nadao Bangkok's My Ambulance in 2019, which gave him the spotlight. In the same year, he joined in as one of the host of GMM25's "Toe Laew" Season 1 from Episode 135 onwards. In 2020 Toe Laew Season 2, he reprised his role as host.


title: Vachirawit Chivaaree

text: In 2020, Bright earned his breakthrough when he played Sarawat, his 1st lead role in "," starring opposite with debut actor Win Metawin Opas-iamkajorn"." This series became No.1 most viewed series on LINE TV Thailand in the first half of 2020 and it gained fans internationally. Banking on the success, he reprised his role as Sarawat again in Still 2gether the Series, the sequel released later in the same year.


title: Vachirawit Chivaaree

text: In 2021, Bright then bagged lead role of Thyme (same as Domyoji Tsukasa) opposite debut actress Tu Tontawan, who has been cast as Gorya (same as Makino Tsukushi) in : Boys Over Flowers, a Thai adaptation of famous Japanese manga - Hana Yori Dango. It aired on 18th December, 2021 and was huge international success which garnered many awards and appreciations.


title: Vachirawit Chivaaree

text: In 2022, he starred as Kimhan main lead in series 'Astrophile' opposite one of the top actress Davika Hoorne. Lately, he's announcing his movice project 'The Interest' (a Thai adaptation of Man in Love (2014) and Man in Love (2021) opposite another top actress Yaya Urassaya Sperbund.


title: Vachirawit Chivaaree

text: Since 2020, Bright has been modeling for Burberry. In 2022, the company announced him as their newest ambassador in the South Asia Pacific region.


title: Vachirawit Chivaaree

text: Bright launched his first merchandise under the brand name "Astro Stuffs" in late May 2020 where proceeds of the sale go to the Seub Nakhasathien Foundation to support its works in conservation of wildlife and forest land in Thailand. In September 2021. He reimaged 'Astro Stuffs' giving it a new branding.


title: Vachirawit Chivaaree

text: He has expressed his support for the LGBT community. He has also shown support for the legalization of same-sex marriage in Thailand. He constantly advocate and support on wildlife and forest conservation, animal shelters and several charity projects.


title: Vachirawit Chivaaree

text: In addition, he is interested in boxing, soccer and photography. He has his official photography Instagram account named '@isawitbefore'.


title: Markelle Fultz

text: Markelle N'Gai Fultz (born May 29, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Washington Huskies before being selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the first overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft.


title: Markelle Fultz

text: During his single season (2016–17) with the Huskies, Fultz played point guard and shooting guard. Despite Washington's relatively disappointing year, he was named a third-team All-American and first-team All-Pac-12. He began his NBA career with the 76ers before being traded to the Magic in 2019.


title: Markelle Fultz

text: Fultz was born on May 29, 1998 in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, the younger of two children. His father abandoned the family, so he relied heavily on his mother, Ebony. Impassioned by basketball, Fultz was mentored in his early years by a local instructor named Keith Williams. In 2012, he began attending DeMatha Catholic High, an all-boys prep school as well as basketball powerhouse. He had shown promise on the DeMatha Stags' freshman team; but as a sophomore, the guard was cut from the varsity roster. He was overlooked due to his awkward gait, having the appearance of "Bambi"; as assistant coach Cory McCrae explained, "He was long and lanky, and he’d walk and his knees would be hurting". However, Fultz outplayed the competition at the junior varsity level, making it apparent that he did not belong there.


title: Markelle Fultz

text: Assistant coach Raphael Chillious of the Washington Huskies was the first to notice Fultz's potential, describing him as an athlete with the makings of an NBA All-Star-caliber player if he continued to grow. At the start of his junior season, Fultz stood . As a starter for DeMatha's varsity team, he averaged 16.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game and was named the Player of the Year in the highly-competitive Washington Catholic Athletic Conference. Among the highlights of his junior campaign were the game-winning foul shots he made in a 16-point performance while being guarded by Jayson Tatum of Chaminade and the triple-double he posted in a matchup against Roselle Catholic at the Hoophall Classic. His recruiting stature abruptly soared during this season, with Rivals.com ranking him number 24 in the Class of 2016 and over 20 college programs offering him scholarships.


title: Markelle Fultz

text: On August 21, 2015, Fultz committed to the University of Washington. He concluded his high school career as he recorded the Stags' single-season record for assists with 278 and led the team to their second consecutive conference championship. At the McDonald's All-American Game on March 31, 2016, Fultz tallied 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. At the Jordan Brand Classic come April, Fultz accumulated 19 points in a 131–117 East team victory. During the summer, he was selected to Team USA's FIBA Americas Under-18 roster. With Fultz as its leading scorer, the team progressed to the gold medal championship game; and in dominant fashion, Fultz posted 23 points and earned the tournament's MVP award for his performance.


title: Markelle Fultz

text: By the end of his senior year, Fultz was rated as a five-star recruit and was ranked number one point guard in the 2016 class and number three overall by Scout.com, number five by Rivals.com, and number seven by ESPN. At DeMatha, Fultz was a basketball teammate and friend of Chase Young, who was later named the 2020 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year after being selected by the Washington Football Team second overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.


title: Markelle Fultz

text: The Washington Huskies were fully expecting to open the 2016–17 season with Dejounte Murray and Marquese Chriss; instead, however, both freshmen were selected in the first round of the 2016 NBA draft. Fultz said of the anticipated scenario if they had stayed: "I think we would be No. 1 in the country. We would have gone to the (NCAA) tournament and won". Without any proven talent and only one returning starter, Fultz took charge as a team leader and primary scorer. As the starting point guard, he debuted in a 98–90 home game loss to the Yale Bulldogs in which he posted 30 points.


title: Markelle Fultz

text: Although the Huskies finished with a disappointing 9–22 record, Fultz enjoyed one of the best freshman seasons in all Pac-12 Conference history. In 25 games that season, his 23.2 point average was the highest mark in the Pac-12 in 20 years and second in Huskies history behind Bob Houbregs' 25.6 points per game in 1952–1953. Fultz also led the team in minutes played with 35.7 per game as well as assists with 5.7 per game and was second in rebounds with 5.9 per game. By the time Pac-12 honors were awarded, Fultz—the lone Husky selected—was named to the First-team All-Pac-12 and Third-team All-American. A player who "jumps off the page athletically and possesses creative scoring instincts and playmaking skills", the consensus among sports analysts was that Fultz would be the first overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft.


title: Markelle Fultz

text: Fultz was selected as the first overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, who then finalized his four-year rookie contract on July 8. The 76ers, after years of mediocrity, had lofty expectations of returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2012; such were the high hopes that rested on their new core consisting of Fultz, Joel Embiid, and Ben Simmons. In his first regular season game, on October 18, the rookie posted 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist in 18 minutes of play coming off the bench. It was not long, however, before a shoulder injury—termed a "scapular muscle imbalance"—so ravaged his shooting that he shot only 33 percent from the field and attempted zero three-pointers in four games. In response, the 76ers decided to sit Fultz indefinitely until he recovered. Debate ensued between sports analysts and the organization over how much his shooting woes were of physical versus psychological origin. Fultz himself later clarified: "What happened [...] was an injury. Let me get that straight. It was an injury that happened that didn’t allow me to go through the certain paths that I needed to, to shoot the ball."


title: Markelle Fultz

text: During his hiatus, Fultz's basic shooting mechanics appeared to change under a trainer from outside the 76ers organization; this and his lengthy recovery period taken were heavily scrutinized. The team's president of basketball operations, Bryan Colangelo, suggested that the rookie might very well sit for the remainder of the season; but on March 26, 2018, it was announced that Fultz would return to the hardwood for an upcoming game against the Denver Nuggets. Despite some missteps, such as one air ball shot and some shots blocked, Fultz put up 10 points and 8 assists in 14 minutes of playing time. On April 11, at the age of 19 years old and 317 days, Fultz became the youngest player in NBA history at the time to record a triple-double, putting up 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 130–95 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, a record that was later broken by LaMelo Ball.


title: Markelle Fultz

text: For the 2018–19 season, head coach Brett Brown named Fultz the starting shooting guard over veteran JJ Redick. Fifteen games into the season, however, Fultz lost the position to Jimmy Butler, whom the 76ers acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Conflicting statements regarding Fultz's health and poor production continued to be sources of conflict and drama for the team. On November 20, 2018, his agent Raymond Brothers announced Fultz would not participate in practice or games until a shoulder injury was evaluated; his ailment was later described as thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS), the neurogenic type of the disorder which “affects nerves between the neck and shoulder resulting in abnormal functional movement and range of motion, thus severely limiting Markelle’s ability to shoot a basketball”.


title: Markelle Fultz

text: On February 7, 2019, Fultz was traded to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Jonathon Simmons, an Oklahoma City Thunder first round pick, and a Cleveland Cavaliers 2nd round pick. Magic coach Steve Clifford later stated in March that he did not anticipate Fultz returning to play during the season, stressing that his shoulder injury was indeed "very serious." Fultz made his Magic debut on October 23, 2019, putting up 12 points, six assists, and two steals in a 94–85 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.


title: Markelle Fultz

text: On December 27, 2020, Fultz put up 26 points in a 120–113 win over the Washington Wizards. On January 6, 2021, Fultz suffered a torn ACL against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first quarter and missed the remainder of the 2020–21 season.


title: Markelle Fultz

text: Fultz resumed playing on February 28, 2022 against the Indiana Pacers. On April 10, Fultz put up a career-high 15 assists in a 125–111 win over the Miami Heat.


title: The Magicians (American TV series)

text: The Magicians is an American fantasy television series that aired on Syfy and is based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Lev Grossman. Michael London, Janice Williams, John McNamara, and Sera Gamble serve as executive producers. A 13-episode order was placed for the first season in May 2015, and the series premiered on December 16, 2015, as a special preview. In January 2019, Syfy renewed the series for a fifth and final season, which ran from January 15 to April 1, 2020. In the show, students at a secretive school of magic find that the magical world is more dangerous than they realized.


title: The Magicians (American TV series)

text: Quentin Coldwater enrolls at Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy to be trained as a magician, where he discovers that the magical world from his favorite childhood book is real and poses a danger to humanity. Meanwhile, the life of his childhood friend Julia is derailed when she is denied entry, and she searches for magic elsewhere outside of the school.


title: The Magicians (American TV series)

text: Michael London first optioned the books in 2011, intending to develop the show for the Fox Broadcasting Company. "" co-writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz wrote the pilot, but did not get the green light. London then redeveloped the pilot with McNamara and Gamble taking over writing duties, and took the script to Syfy, which ordered a pilot. The pilot, directed by Mike Cahill, was filmed in New Orleans in late 2014 and wrapped in December. Syfy picked up the show for a 13-episode first season, to be aired in 2016. McNamara and Gamble became executive producers.


title: The Magicians (American TV series)

text: Series production began on August 4, 2015, in Vancouver, and it was announced that Olivia Taylor Dudley had replaced Sosie Bacon as Alice Quinn. It was also announced that Rick Worthy had been cast as Dean Fogg, Anne Dudek as Professor Sunderland, with Esmé Bianco also cast. Syfy aired an advance commercial-free screening of the first episode on December 16, 2015, ahead of its January 25, 2016, premiere, when it was shown along with the second episode.


title: The Magicians (American TV series)

text: The show was renewed for a second season in February 2016, and the second season premiered on January 25, 2017. On April 12, 2017, the series was renewed for a third season of 13 episodes, which premiered on January 10, 2018. On February 28, 2018, the series was renewed for a fourth season of 13 episodes, which premiered on January 23, 2019. On January 22, 2019, Syfy renewed the series for a fifth season, which premiered on January 15, 2020. On March 3, 2020, Syfy announced that the fifth season will be the series' final season.


title: The Magicians (American TV series)

text: The first season received positive reviews. On Metacritic, it has a score of 60 out of 100, based on 24 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 74% based on 46 reviews, with an average rating of 6.47/10. The site's critics' consensus reads: ""The Magicians" impressive special effects and creative storytelling help compensate for a derivative premise and occasionally sluggish pace."


title: The Magicians (American TV series)

text: Some critics and fans criticized the show for its brutal depiction of Julia being raped and that, after having survived being raped, she develops extra magical powers and betrays her friends by allying with a murderer who is also a rape survivor. Lisa Weidenfeld of "The A.V. Club" stated: "the show has now suggested that the two victims of sexual assault are its villains".


title: The Magicians (American TV series)

text: The second season received positive reviews. On Metacritic, it has a score of 74 out of 100, based on 5 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 91% based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 8.06/10. The site's consensus reads: "A clearer sense of purpose and extra helpings of cynicism and danger lead "The Magicians" to a higher level of engagement."


title: The Magicians (American TV series)

text: The third season also received positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 100% approval rating, based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Surprising and wildly entertaining, "The Magicians" third season has more than enough tricks up its sleeve to keep viewers under its spell."


title: The Magicians (American TV series)

text: The fourth season received positive reviews. On Metacritic, it has a score of 81 out of 100, based on 4 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 92% approval rating, based on 23 reviews, with an average rating of 9.04/10. The site's consensus reads: ""The Magicians" conjures a mind-bending fourth season that reinvigorates the ensemble with heady twists and spellbinding turns – all leavened by the series' signature glib humor." While the season started with a 100% score, reception became more mixed in the second half. The finale was not well received by some fans, who mainly criticized the romanticization of suicidal ideation that was displayed but also the treatment of marginalized groups.


title: The Magicians (American TV series)

text: The fifth season also received positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 100% approval rating, based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 7.87/10. The site's consensus reads: "Following an uncertain finale, "The Magicians" recuperates with a fifth season that pushes forward without losing where it came from."


title: The Magicians (American TV series)

text: The first season of "The Magicians" was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on July 19, 2016, in Region 1. The release included all thirteen episodes, as well as multiple special features, including deleted scenes, a gag reel, "The World of "The Magicians"" featurette, and UltraViolet digital copies. The first season was made available to stream on Netflix on December 26, 2016, the second season on December 12, 2017, the third season on December 24, 2018, and the fourth season on December 26, 2019.


title: Starship (band)

text: Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Initially a continuation of Jefferson Starship, it underwent a change in musical direction, the subsequent loss of personnel, and a lawsuit settlement that led to a name change. Starship's 1985 album, "Knee Deep in the Hoopla", was certified platinum by the RIAA, and included two singles that went to number one on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart: "We Built This City" and "Sara". Their follow up album, "No Protection", released in 1987, was certified gold and featured the band's third number one single, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". After a short hiatus in the early 1990s, the band reformed in 1992 as "Starship featuring Mickey Thomas" and resumed touring.


title: Starship (band)

text: In June 1984, Paul Kantner, the last remaining founding member of Jefferson Airplane, left Jefferson Starship. In October 1984, Kantner took legal action over the Jefferson Starship name against his former bandmates. In March 1985, Kantner settled out of court and signed an agreement that neither party would use the names "Jefferson" or "Airplane" unless all members of Jefferson Airplane Inc. (Bill Thompson, Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Jorma Kaukonen, and Jack Casady) agreed. Jefferson Starship briefly performed as "Starship Jefferson" while legal proceedings occurred, before settling on the shortened name "Starship".


title: Starship (band)

text: David Freiberg stayed with the band after the lawsuit and attended the first studio sessions for the next album, "Knee Deep in the Hoopla". He became frustrated with the sessions because all the keyboard work in the studio was being done by Peter Wolf (who had played on the sessions for "Nuclear Furniture" and briefly joined the band on the road for the follow-up tour) and that was the instrument Freiberg was supposed to be playing. Freiberg was dismissed from the band in 1985. The album was finished with the five remaining members, consisting of Slick, co-lead singer Mickey Thomas, guitarist Craig Chaquiço, bassist Pete Sears, and drummer Donny Baldwin. In 1984, Gabriel Katona (who had previously played in Rare Earth and Player) joined the band to play keyboards and saxophone on the road with them through to the end of the 1986 tour. "Knee Deep in the Hoopla" was released in September 1985 and scored two number-one hits. The first was "We Built This City", written by Bernie Taupin, Martin Page, Dennis Lambert, and Peter Wolf and was engineered by Grammy-winning producer Bill Bottrell and arranged by Bottrell and Jasun Martz; the second was "Sara". The album itself reached No. 7, went platinum, and spawned two more singles: "Tomorrow Doesn't Matter Tonight" (#26), and "Before I Go" (#68). The band had not had a number-one hit record since previous incarnation Jefferson Starship released "Red Octopus" in 1975.


title: Starship (band)

text: In 1986, the group recorded "Cut You Down to Size" for the film "Youngblood". By the time the 1987 sessions for the album "No Protection" began, bassist Pete Sears had left the band. Sears went on to play keyboards with former Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady in Hot Tuna for ten years. In early 1987, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now", recorded while Sears was still with the band, appeared in the film "Mannequin" and reached No. 1 on the U.S. and British charts. At that time, the song made Slick the oldest female vocalist to sing on a number-one "Billboard" Hot 100 hit, at the age of 47 (she held this record until Cher broke it at the age of 52, in 1999 with "Believe"). "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song in 1988. "No Protection" was released in July 1987, and also featured the singles "It's Not Over ('Til It's Over)" (#9), and "Beat Patrol" (#46). The last song on the album, "Set the Night to Music", would later become a hit in 1991, re-recorded as a duet by Roberta Flack and Maxi Priest. Following the completion of the album sessions in 1987, Brett Bloomfield was brought in to replace Sears and Mark Morgan joined the band on keyboards.


title: Starship (band)

text: Slick left Starship in February 1988, going on to join the reformed Jefferson Airplane for an album and tour in 1989, before retiring from music. As Kantner, Sears and Freiberg had left the band, all the new and remaining members were more than a decade younger than she was. Slick has been quoted as saying that "old people don't belong on a rock and roll stage".


title: Starship (band)

text: With Thomas the sole lead singer, the revamped lineup recorded "Love Among the Cannibals" from 1988 to 1989, and it was released in August 1989. The song "It's Not Enough" peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Wild Again" (which reached No. 73 on the "Billboard" singles chart) was also used in the film "Cocktail". The band went on another tour to support the album; recruiting backing singers Christina Marie Saxton and Melisa Kary to fill the gap left by Slick's departure. On September 24, 1989, while the band was in Scranton, Pennsylvania for a show, Baldwin and Thomas got into a violent altercation during which Thomas was seriously injured and required facial surgery, and three titanium plates implanted in his skull. Baldwin resigned from the band immediately afterward; he would later join the revived Jefferson Starship in 2008. The remainder of the tour was postponed until Thomas had recovered and was able to tour again.


title: Starship (band)

text: After Thomas was well enough to tour, the band continued to tour in support of "Cannibals". Kenny Stavropoulos was recruited to be the band's new drummer. After the "Cannibals" tour wound up in 1990, Chaquico, the last remaining original Jefferson Starship member, handed in his notice. Thomas attributes the comparative lack of commercial success of the last album to the interruption of the tour, among other factors. "Cannibals" remains his personal favorite Starship album. Brett Bloomfield, Mark Morgan, and Kenny Stavropoulos also departed the group in 1990. Peter Wolf was added as a member on keyboards at this time. The band recorded new music with Thomas and Wolf supplemented by studio musicians from late 1990 through early 1991. In May 1991, RCA assembled a compilation album, "Greatest Hits (Ten Years and Change 1979–1991)". The collection also included two new tracks, "Don't Lose Any Sleep" with Thomas and Chaquico (recorded before Chaquico had left) and "Good Heart" (#81) with Thomas, Wolf, and session musicians. A third track originally recorded during this time period, "Keys to the City", was released in October 2012 on the album "Playlist: The Very Best of Starship". Shortly after the release of the 1991 greatest hits album, manager Bill Thompson decided to fire the group and told RCA that the band was done making records. The band was let go by RCA, and Starship became inactive.


title: Starship (band)

text: In early 1992, Thomas obtained the usage rights to the name and revived Starship as "Mickey Thomas' Starship" before changing the billing name to "Starship featuring Mickey Thomas", and has toured steadily ever since. Although Thomas has toured with mostly new band members, bassist Brett Bloomfield returned to Starship for several years in the 1990s. Melisa Kary and Christina Marie Saxton, who had both performed with the group as backing singers on tour in 1989 through 1990, also had stints as official members in the revived band. Drummer Darrell Verdusco (formerly of KBC Band), and keyboard player Phil Bennett joined the band in 1995. The band recorded the album "Live at Stanley Cup" in 1997. Jeff Adams came aboard on bass in 2000.


title: Starship (band)

text: In 2003, "Starship featuring Mickey Thomas" released a DVD documentary "Starship: Greatest & Latest". The album accompanying this release contained re-recordings of some of the Starship's biggest hits, songs originally from Thomas's tenure in Jefferson Starship, as well as "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" which Thomas originally sang during his time in the Elvin Bishop Group in 1976. Female vocalist Stephanie Calvert joined the band in 2006. A live album titled "Layin' it on the Line Live in Las Vegas" was released in 2007. The band released the non-album single "Get Out Again" in 2007. The compilation album "Playlist: The Very Best of Starship", was released in October 2012, and included the newly recorded song, "Karma (Everything You Do)".


title: Starship (band)

text: Starship's first new studio album of original music in over two decades, "Loveless Fascination" produced by Jeff Pilson of the band Foreigner, was released on September 17, 2013. "It's Not the Same As Love" was released as a single from the album. The band performed at the Streamy Awards on September 8, 2014. The non-album single "My Woman" was released in 2016. On February 1, 2019, Rhino Entertainment acquired the rights to the Starship catalog for all the albums released between 1985 and 1991.


title: Starship (band)

text: In 1999, former Starship trumpet player Max Haskett, who performed with the band from their reformation in 1992 until the following year, died from pancreatic cancer. Lead guitarist Erik Torjesen, who performed with the band from 1996-2000, died of cancer at age 34 in 2001. Lead guitarist Mark Abrahamian died from a heart attack, at age 46, following a concert on September 2, 2012. Abrahamian was replaced as guitarist by John Roth.


title: Starship (band)

text: In August 2021, vocalist Cian Coey began filling in for Stephanie Calvert at concert dates. On October 31, 2021, Calvert revealed on her social media that she was dismissed from the band on September 7, 2021. Although no statement was issued by the group, the biography section of the official Starship website was updated, removing Calvert and listing Coey as a band member.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic sports, with varied distance events in butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, and individual medley. In addition to these individual events, four swimmers can take part in either a freestyle or medley relay. A medley relay consists of four swimmers who will each swim a different stroke, ordered as backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Swimming each stroke requires a set of specific techniques; in competition, there are distinct regulations concerning the acceptable form for each individual stroke. There are also regulations on what types of swimsuits, caps, jewelry and injury tape that are allowed at competitions. Although it is possible for competitive swimmers to incur several injuries from the sport, such as tendinitis in the shoulders or knees, there are also multiple health benefits associated with the sport.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Evidence of recreational swimming in prehistoric times has been found, with the earliest evidence dating to Stone Age paintings from around 10,000 years ago. Written references date from 2000 BC, with some of the earliest references to swimming including the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Bible, Beowulf, the Quran and others. In 1538, Nikolaus Wynmann, a Swiss–German professor of languages, wrote the earliest known complete book about swimming, "Colymbetes, sive de arte natandi dialogus et festivus et iucundus lectu" ("The Swimmer, or A Dialogue on the Art of Swimming and Joyful and Pleasant to Read").


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Swimming emerged as a competitive recreational activity in the 1830s in England. In 1828, the first indoor swimming pool, St George's Baths was opened to the public. By 1837, the National Swimming Society was holding regular swimming competitions in six artificial swimming pools, built around London. The recreational activity grew in popularity and by 1880, when the first national governing body, the Amateur Swimming Association was formed, there were already over 300 regional clubs in operation across the country.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: In 1844 two Native American participants at a swimming competition in London introduced the front crawl to a European audience. Sir John Arthur Trudgen picked up the hand-over stroke from some South American natives and successfully debuted the new stroke in 1873, winning a local competition in England. His stroke is still regarded as the most powerful to use today.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Captain Matthew Webb was the first man to swim the English Channel (between England and France), in 1875. Using the breaststroke technique, he swam the channel in 21 hours and 45 minutes. His feat was not replicated or surpassed for the next 36 years, until T.W. Burgess made the crossing in 1911.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Other European countries also established swimming federations; Germany in 1882, France in 1890 and Hungary in 1896. The first European amateur swimming competitions were in 1889 in Vienna. The world's first women's swimming championship was held in Scotland in 1892.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Men's swimming became part of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. In 1902, the Australian Richmond Cavill introduced freestyle to the Western world. In 1908, the world swimming association, Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA), was formed. Women's swimming was introduced into the Olympics in 1912; the first international swim meet for women outside the Olympics was the 1922 Women's Olympiad. Butterfly was developed in the 1930s and was at first a variant of breaststroke, until it was accepted as a separate style in 1952.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Competitive swimming became popular in the 19th century. The goal of high level competitive swimming is to break personal or world records while beating competitors in any given event. Swimming in competition should create the least resistance in order to obtain maximum speed. However, some professional swimmers who do not hold a national or world ranking are considered the best in regard to their technical skills. Typically, an athlete goes through a cycle of training in which the body is overloaded with work in the beginning and middle segments of the cycle, and then the workload is decreased in the final stage as the swimmer approaches competition.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: The practice of reducing exercise in the days just before an important competition is called tapering. Tapering is used to give the swimmer's body some rest without stopping exercise completely. A final stage is often referred to as "shave and taper": the swimmer shaves off all exposed hair for the sake of reducing drag and having a sleeker and more hydrodynamic feel in the water. Additionally, the "shave and taper" method refers to the removal of the top layer of "dead skin", which exposes the newer and richer skin underneath. This also helps to "shave" off mere milliseconds on your time.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Swimming is an event at the Summer Olympic Games, where male and female athletes compete in 16 of the recognized events each. Olympic events are held in a 50-meter pool, called a long course pool.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: There are forty officially recognized individual swimming events in the pool; however the International Olympic Committee only recognizes 32 of them. The international governing body for competitive swimming is the "Fédération Internationale de Natation" ("International Swimming Federation"), better known as FINA.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: In open water swimming, where the events are swum in a body of open water (lake or sea), there are also 5 km, 10 km and 25 km events for men and women. However, only the 10 km event is included in the Olympic schedule, again for both men and women. Open-water competitions are typically separate to other swimming competitions with the exception of the World Championships and the Olympics.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: In competitive swimming, four major styles have been established. These have been relatively stable over the last 30–40 years with minor improvements. They are:


title: Swimming (sport)

text: In competition, only one of these styles may be used except in the case of the individual medley, or IM, which consists of all four. In this latter event, swimmers swim equal distances of butterfly, then backstroke, breaststroke, and finally, freestyle. In Olympic competition, this event is swum in two distances – 200 and 400 meters. Some short course competitions also include the 100-yard or 100-meter IM – particularly, for younger or newer swimmers (typically under 14 years) involved in club swimming, or masters swimming (over 18).


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Since the 1990s, the most drastic change in swimming has been the addition of the underwater dolphin kick. This is used to maximize the speed at the start and after the turns in all styles. The first successful use of it was by David Berkoff. At the 1988 Olympics, he swam most of the 100 m backstroke race underwater and broke the world record in the distance during the preliminaries. Another swimmer to use the technique was Denis Pankratov at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he completed almost half of the 100 m butterfly underwater to win the gold medal. In the past decade, American competitive swimmers have shown the most use of the underwater dolphin kick to gain advantage, most notably Olympic and World medal winners Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte; however currently swimmers are not allowed to go any further than fifteen metres underwater due to rule changes by FINA. In addition, FINA announced in 2014 that a single dolphin kick can be added to the breaststroke pullout prior to the first breaststroke kick.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: While the dolphin kick is mostly seen in middle-distance freestyle events and in all distances of backstroke and butterfly, it is not usually used to the same effect in freestyle sprinting. That changed with the addition of the so-called "technical" suits around the European Short Course Championships in Rijeka, Croatia in December 2008. There, Amaury Leveaux set new world records of 44.94 seconds in the 100 m freestyle, 20.48 seconds in the 50 m freestyle and 22.18 in the 50 m butterfly. Unlike the rest of the competitors in these events, he spent at least half of each race submerged using the dolphin kick.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: World Championship pools must be (long course) long and wide, with ten lanes labelled zero to nine (or one to ten in some pools; zero and nine (or one and ten) are usually left empty in semi-finals and finals); the lanes must be at least wide. They will be equipped with starting blocks at both ends of the pool and most will have Automatic Officiating Equipment, including touch pads to record times and sensors to ensure the legality of relay takeovers. The pool must have a minimum depth of two metres.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Other pools which host events under FINA regulations are required to meet some but not all of these requirements. Many of these pools have eight, or even six, instead of ten lanes and some will be long, making them Short course. World records that are set in short course pools are kept separate from those set in long course pools because it may be an advantage or disadvantage to swimmers to have more or less turns in a race.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Competitive swimming, from the club through to international level, tends to have an autumn and winter season competing in short course (25 metres or yards) pools and a spring and summer season competing in long course (50-metre) pools and in open water.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: In international competition and in club swimming in Europe, the short course (25m) season lasts from September to December, and the long course (50m) season from January to August with open water in the summer months. These regulations are slowly being brought to competition in North America.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: As of right now, in club, school, and college swimming in the United States and Canada, the short course (25 yards) season is much longer, from September to March. The long-course season takes place in 50-meter pools and lasts from April to the end of August with open water in the summer months.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: In club swimming in Australasia, the short course (25m) season lasts from April to September, and the long course (50m) season from October to March with open water in the summer months.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Outside the United States, meters is the standard in both short and long course swimming, with the same distances swum in all events. In the American short course season, the 500-yard, 1000 yard, and 1650-yard freestyle events are swum as a yard is much shorter than a meter (100 yards equals 91.44 meters), while during the American long course season the 400 meter, 800 meter, and 1500-meter freestyle events are swum instead.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Beginning each swimming season racing in short course allows for shorter distance races for novice swimmers. For example, in the short course season if a swimmer wanted to compete in a stroke they had just learned, a 25-yard/meter race is available to them, opposed to the long course season when they would need to be able to swim at least 50 meters of that new stroke in order to compete.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Referee: The referee has full control and authority over all officials. The referee will enforce all rules and decisions of FINA and shall have the final answer to all questions relating to the actual conduct of anything regarding the meet, as well as the final settlement of which is not otherwise covered by the rules. The referee takes overall responsibility for running the meet and makes the final decisions as to who wins each race. Referees call swimmers to the blocks with short blasts of their whistles. This is the signal for the swimmers to stand next to their blocks. Then the referee will blow a long whistle that will tell the swimmers to step on the block. For backstroke events, the long whistle is the signal for the swimmers to jump into the water. The referee will then blow another long whistle, signalling the swimmers to grab the gutter or the provided block handle. Finally the referee will hand over the rest to the starter by directing their hand to the starter.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Starter: The starter has full control of the swimmers from the time the referee turns the swimmers over to them until the race commences. A starter begins the race by saying, "Take your mark." At this point, the swimmers will get into stationary positions in which they would like to start their race. After all swimmers have assumed their stationary position, the starter will push a button on the starting system, signaling the start of a race with a loud noise (usually a beep or a horn) and flash from a strobe light. A starter sends the swimmers off the blocks and may call a false start if a swimmer leaves the block before the starter sends them. A starter may also choose to recall the race after the start for any reason or request the swimmers to "stand", "relax" or "step down" if they believe that (a) particular swimmer(s) has gotten an unfair advantage at the start.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Clerk of course: The clerk of course (also called the "bullpen") assembles swimmers prior to each event, and is responsible for organizing ("seeding") swimmers into heats based on their times. Heats are generally seeded from slowest to fastest, where swimmers with no previous time for an event are assumed to be the slowest. The clerk of the course is also responsible for recording and reporting swimmers who have chosen to "scratch" (not swim) their events after they have signed up or qualified to a semifinal or final. The clerk is also responsible for enforcing rules of the swim meet if a swimmer chooses to not show up ("No show" - NS) to their events.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Timekeepers: Each timekeeper takes the time of the swimmers in the lane assigned to them. Unless a video backup system is used, it may be necessary to use the full complement of timekeepers even when automatic officiating equipment is used. A chief timekeeper assigns the seating positions for all timekeepers and the lanes for which they are responsible. In most competitions there will be one or more timekeepers per lane. In international competitions where full automatic timing and video placing equipment is in use timekeepers may not be required.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Inspectors of turns: One inspector of turns is assigned to one or more lanes at each end of the pool. Each inspector of turns ensures that swimmers comply with the relevant rules for turning, as well as the relevant rules for start and finish of the race. Inspectors of turns shall report any violation on disqualification reports detailing the event, lane number, and the infringement delivered to the chief inspector of turns who will immediately convey the report to the referee.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Judges of Stroke: Judges of stroke are located on each side of the pool. They follow the swimmers during their swim back and forth across the pool. They ensure that the rules related to the style of swimming designated for the event are being observed, and observe the turns and the finishes to assist the inspectors of turns.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Finish judges determine the order of finish and make sure the swimmers finish in accordance with the rules (two hands simultaneously for breaststroke and butterfly, on the back for backstroke, etc.)


title: Swimming (sport)

text: If an official observes a swimmer breaking a rule concerning the stroke they are swimming, the official will report what they have seen to the referee. The referee can disqualify (or DQ) any swimmer for any violation of the rules that they personally observe or for any violation reported to them by other authorised officials. All disqualifications are subject to the decision and discretion of the referee.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Those who are disqualified may choose to protest their disqualification . Protests are reviewed by a panel of officials instead of the deck referee or stroke judges who may have made the initial disqualification report.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: Brands such as Arena, Speedo, TYR, and Adidas are popular regular swimwear brands. The most durable material for regular swimming is Polyester. The main difference between competition and regular swimwear is that competition swimwear is tighter and compresses the muscles of the swimmers. Regular swimwear is easier to put on and more comfortable for leisure activities.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: The most used practice swimwear for men includes briefs and jammers. Males generally swim barechested.


title: Swimming (sport)

text: There was controversy after the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 when many Olympic swimmers broke records an unprecedented number of times using revolutionary swimsuits that covered their entire legs. To highlight the issue, in 2008, 70 world records were broken in one year, and 66 Olympic records were broken in one Olympic Games (there were races in Beijing where the first five finishers were swimming faster than the old world record).


title: Swimming (sport)

text: As of 1 January 2010, men are only allowed to wear suits from the waist to the knees. They are also only permitted to wear one piece of swimwear; they cannot wear briefs underneath jammers. This rule was enacted after the controversy in the Beijing Olympics and Rome World Championships.