Story.

The film begins with Mr. and Mrs. DeBolt traveling from their home in California to New York, where they will adopt their 19th child, a blind and physically disabled teen named "J.R." The adoption process for J.R., his integration into the family, and his struggle to develop sufficient physical strength to climb the staircase inside the family home are used as a unifying device for telling the story of how the DeBolts became involved in the adoption of "special needs" children and showing how the family approaches the challenges of raising their unusual family.  During her first marriage, Dorothy had five biological children with Ted Atwood and adopted two children from Korea. After her husband's death, she adopted two boys from Vietnam (she relates in the film that many are surprised to learn that she did not ascertain before the adoption whether the children were from North Vietnam or South Vietnam). Following Atwood's marriage to Bob DeBolt, who had one biological daughter from a previous marriage, the couple went on to adopt 10 more children from Korea, Vietnam, the United States, and Mexico — the last was adopted after the initial film was made and is not included in the "19 kids" of the title.  The film introduces the adopted children, shows many details of how they accomplish everyday tasks and household chores, portrays special family events, and includes interviews with some of the older children and with Bob's biological daughter. The DeBolts' web site notes that five members of the production crew lived with the family for 21⁄2 years while filming the movie.

Preservation.

The Academy Film Archive preserved "Who Are the DeBolts?" in 2007.

Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids? is a 1977 documentary film about Dorothy and Bob DeBolt, an American couple who adopted 14 children (12 at the start of filming), some of whom are severely disabled war orphans (in addition to raising Dorothy's five biological children and Bob's biological daughter). VHS and DVD releases use the shortened title Who Are the DeBolts?

Who Are the DeBolts? sous-titré And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids? (littéralement « Qui sont les DeBolts? Et où ont-ils eu leurs 19 enfants? ») est un film documentaire américain réalisé par John Korty en 1977. Le documentaire relate la vie de Dorothy et Bob DeBolt, un couple d'américains qui a adopté 14 enfants dont certains sont des orphelins de guerre lourdement handicapés, en plus de leurs 5 enfants biologiques.


Career.

At the European Youth Chess Championship, Kosintseva took gold medals in 1995 (Girls Under-10, Verdun), 1997 (Girls Under-12, Tallinn) and 2000 (Girls Under-18, Kallithea). At the World Youth Chess Championship of 1998, held in Oropesa del Mar, she took the gold medal in the Girls Under-14 event. She was twice the bronze medalist at the World Junior Chess Championship (Girls, Under-20) in 2001 and 2002.  In 2005, she tied for first place with Kateryna Lahno in the European Individual Women's Championship, held in Chișinău. Kosintseva took the silver medal after losing the playoff match. In the 2007 edition of the same event she won the bronze medal.  In 2006, along with younger sister Tatiana and Elena Tairova, she shared second place at the Russian women's championship superfinal. Kosintseva won the 2008 Russian women's championship in Moscow. She finished second in this event in 2009. The holder and the winner of the honorary FIDE award of Caissa as the 2010 best female chess player. Chess Award of Caissa, designed and executed by artisans of the Lobortas Classic Jewelry House, was solemnly presented on September 18, 2010 within the framework of FIDE Women's Blitz World Championship in Moscow.  In 2010, she tied for 1st–7th with grandmasters Alexander Riazantsev, Vitali Golod, Leonid Kritz, Sébastien Feller, Christian Bauer and Sébastien Mazé in the Master Open of the 43rd Biel Chess Festival, finishing second on tiebreak.

Personal life.

Kosintseva married Leonid Kritz in late December 2012 and a daughter was born in 2014.  In 2013, she moved to the United States to study at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Nadezhda Anatolyevna Kosintseva (; born 14 January 1985) is a Russian chess grandmaster. She was a member of the gold medal-winning Russian team in the Women's Chess Olympiads of 2010 and 2012, and in the Women's European Team Chess Championships of 2007, 2009 and 2011.

Nadejda Anatolievna Kosintseva (en, née le ) est une joueuse d'échecs russe. Elle détient les titres de maître international et de grand maître féminin, tout comme sa sœur cadette d'un an Tatiana Kosintseva.


Early life.

Blake attended St. Jago High School in Spanish Town where his first sporting love was cricket. Blake was a fast bowler, and it was only after the school Principal saw how quickly he ran to the wicket that he was urged to try sprinting.

Career.

Junior.

Blake set the fastest time by a Jamaican junior sprinter over 100 m with 10.11 seconds. The record was set at the 2007 CARIFTA Games held in the Turks and Caicos islands where he also led his team to gold in the 4 × 100 metres relay. At this occasion, he was awarded the Austin Sealy Trophy for the most outstanding athlete of the 2007 CARIFTA Games.  In 2008 when Usain Bolt was asked in an interview whether there was any sprinters that could challenge him, Bolt named his training partner Blake, saying "Watch out for Yohan Blake. He works like a beast. He's there with me step for step in training." The "Beast" nickname stuck.  Blake won the 100 metre "B" race at the 2009 Reebok Grand Prix. His exploits at the Golden Gala in July represented a significant improvement. He proved himself to be a serious competitor at the senior level: he took third place behind Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell and improved his personal best with a 10-second barrier-breaking run of 9.96 seconds, becoming the youngest athlete ever to do so. He improved to 9.93 seconds shortly after, taking third place behind training partners Bolt and Daniel Bailey at the Meeting Areva.

Drug ban.

Prior to the 2009 World Championships, Blake (along with Marvin Anderson and Sheri-Ann Brooks) tested positive for the stimulant 4-methyl-2-hexanamine. A disciplinary panel organised by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) cleared him of a doping infraction on the grounds that the drug was not on the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list. However, JADCO appealed their own panel's ruling, stating that the athlete should be disciplined as the drug was similar in structure to the banned substance tuaminoheptane. As the panel would resolve the issue after the World Championships, the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association took the precaution of withdrawing Blake from the relay race. The appeals tribunal decided that a ban would be appropriate, and Blake and the three other sprinters each received a three-month ban from competition.

World championships.

At the 2011 World Championships, Blake comfortably made the final. Following the disqualification of compatriot Usain Bolt, Blake won the Gold medal in a time of 9.92 s. At, Blake also became the youngest 100 metres world champion ever, surpassing Carl Lewis, who won the event at 1983 World Championships at the age of. Alongside Bolt and other Jamaican teammates in Daegu, Blake won the 4×100 m relay final and broke the world record (set by the Jamaican team at the Beijing Olympics in 2008) with a time of 37.04 seconds.  At the 2011 IAAF Diamond League meeting in Zurich, Blake beat Asafa Powell in the 100 m with a personal best of 9.82 seconds. The following week in Brussels, Blake set a 2011 world leading time in the 200 m with a personal best of 19.26 seconds, the second fastest time of all-time of the event with an improvement of more than half of a second (0.52 s) from his previous best 19.78 s set in Monaco in 2010.

2012.

Blake began his 2012 season strongly, registering the first sub-10-second time of the season (9.90 s) at April's UTech Classic. He went on to register a 9.84 second run at the Cayman Invitational prior to the Jamaican Olympic trials, where he beat Usain Bolt over 100 metres with a time of 9.75 seconds. He also won the 200 metres with a time of 19.80 s ahead of Bolt at 19.83 s.  The 2012 London Olympics was the first Olympics that Blake participated in. He came in as a serious threat to Bolt's 100 m title. In the 100 m final he placed second to Bolt in a time of 9.75 seconds. He also followed Bolt home in the final of the 200 metres where he won the silver medal in a time of 19.44 seconds, the fastest non-winning time in history.  In the 4×100 m final, Blake ran the third leg as the Jamaicans won gold, setting a new world record time of 36.84 seconds.  On 23 August 2012, at the Athletissima Diamond League meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, Blake ran the 100 metres in 9.69 seconds, tying him with Tyson Gay as the second fastest man in history, behind Bolt.

2013.

Blake suffered a hamstring injury in April 2013. After running 20.72 seconds over 200 m in the Jamaica Nationals on 8 June, thus failing to qualify for the 200 m event at the 2013 Moscow World Championships, Blake pulled out of the 100 m event of the World Championships, for which he had an automatic entry as the defending world champion.

2014.

Blake tried competing again in 2014, but placed 6th at the 200 m Lausanne Diamond League event, with a time of 20.48 seconds. He then suffered another hamstring injury and fell at the 40 metre mark during the Glasgow Diamond League 100 m race shortly after that, ending his season. Prior to the end of his season however, Blake anchored Jamaica in the 4x200m relay at the first edition of the I.A.A.F. World Relays in Bahamas to gold which was also broke the previous world record of 1:18:68s.

2015.

Blake decided he was ready to race again in 2015 after recovering from injuries in 2013 and 2014. He failed to advance from the Jamaica Outdoor national championship semi-final in the 100 metres, placing ninth with a time of 10.36 seconds, with the top 8 advancing to the finals. He did not participate in the 200 m trials after that.

2016.

Blake made a strong comeback in 2016, running his first sub-ten since 2012: a 9.95 s in the 100 m at the 2016 Kingston MVP Track and Field meet. He then went on to defend both his 100 m and 200 m national titles in 9.92 s and 20.29 s respectively, in the absence of an injured Usain Bolt.  In the 2016 Summer Olympics, he progressed into the 100 m final, where he finished fourth in a season's best 9.93 seconds. Unfortunately, he failed to do as well in the 200 m, finishing 6th in his semi-final and failing to advance forward. However, Blake won his second career Olympic gold running the second leg in the 4 × 100 m relay.

2017.

2017 proved to be a slight repeat of 2016 for Blake. Despite his teammates dropping the baton in the 4 × 100 metres at the 2017 IAAF World Relays, he was able to anchor his team to a bronze medal in the 4 × 200 metres. Later on in the season, he continued to post 100 m times superior to his 2016 season. At the Jamaican National Championships, he once again completed a double by clocking 9.90 s in the 100 m, and 19.97 s in the 200 m. His 9.90 s was the second fastest time that season, and his 200 m was not only his first sub-20 since 2012 and massive improvement from his previous season, but also tied for the sixth fastest time of the year. After the championships, Blake shaved his signature braids.  At the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London, Blake finished in fourth place yet again in the 100 m final. This time, he clocked 9.99 seconds, just 0.04 behind Usain Bolt, who failed to win his last individual race and instead settled for bronze. Blake was one of the only four men who went under ten seconds during the race, the others being Bolt, silver medalist Christian Coleman, and gold medalist Justin Gatlin. Just as he did in Rio the previous year, Blake failed to progress into the 200 m final, though he was ranked closer this time with 11th overall and a slower 20.52 s to come third in his heat. After this, Blake looked forward to the Men's 4 × 100 metres relay, his last chance at a medal at the championships, and Usain Bolt's final race. During the race, Bolt pulled up 50 metres from the finish line in what was later confirmed to be another hamstring injury. Blake helped the injured Bolt, who refused a wheelchair, to his feet. Blake left the championships with no medals.

2018.

Blake started his 2018 season early, in preparation for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Despite a seasonal best of 10.05 s in the 100 m, he was still considered as the event's favorite. Blake qualified comfortably for the 100 m final with the fastest time in both the heats and the semis. However, he stumbled out of the blocks in the final, and despite his strong efforts to recover, he ultimately placed third in 10.19 seconds, behind Henricho Bruintjies and Akani Simbine of South Africa. Blake won another bronze in the Men's 4 × 100 m relay. After the Games, Blake focused on the Jamaican National Championships, hoping win his third straight national title. However, he false started in the semi-finals, disqualifying his chances. He also opted out of the 200 m. Later on in the season, Blake continued to progress in the 100 m with two sub-tens.

2019.

Blake qualified for the 2019 world championship in Doha for the 100 and 200 metres. He managed to place 5th in the 100m final with a time of 9.97, but was unable to make it past his 200m semi final, placing 6th with a time of 20.37.

Other interests.

Away from athletics, Blake continues to be a keen cricketer, having once held ambitions to play for the West Indies. Playing for the Kingston Cricket Club in the athletics off-season and specialising as a bowler, Blake once took four wickets for ten runs.  On 16 August 2012, Blake rang the bell at Lord's Cricket Ground, London to signify the start of the third Investec test match between England and South Africa. He was the first non-professional cricketer to do this.  Blake is also a fan of IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and has expressed his desire to play for them and also Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

Yohan Blake (born 26 December 1989), is a Jamaican sprinter of the 100-metre and 200-metre sprint races. He won gold at the 100 m at the 2011 World Championships as the youngest 100 m world champion ever, and a silver medal in the 2012 Olympic Games in London in the 100 m and 200 m races for the Jamaican team.

Yohan Blake (né le dans la paroisse de Saint James) est un athlète jamaïcain, spécialiste des épreuves de sprint. En 2011, lors des Championnats du monde de Daegu, en Corée du Sud, il remporte les épreuves du 100 mètres (le favori Usain Bolt avait été disqualifié pour faux départ) et du relais 4 × 100 mètres, discipline dans laquelle il établit un nouveau record du monde en 37 s 04, aux côtés de Nesta Carter, Michael Frater et Usain Bolt.


Development.

All design, development and manufacturing for the Bentley was done by the English outfit, Racing Technology Norfolk (RTN), located in Norfolk, United Kingdom. Chief designer was Peter Elleray. Operations for the car were handled by Audi Sport UK, operating under the title of Team Bentley.  The engine from the Audi R8, a 3.6 litre V8 with (Honeywell Turbo Technologies) turbocharger, was used as the initial powerplant in 2001. The six-speed gearbox was also not the typical Ricardo unit from the R8, but instead a custom unit developed by Xtrac. Bentley also chose to run on Dunlop tyres instead of the Michelins used by Audi.  Following its initial year of competition, the Audi-sourced V8 was modified to better suit the EXP Speed 8. This saw the engine expanded to 4.0 litres, producing approximately 600 hp. This would ultimately lead to Bentley redesigning the car for 2003, leading to the change of name to simply Speed 8. The flat front end was replaced with a raised crash box for a nose, while deep valleys ran between the nose and fenders. This required the addition of large horizontal bodywork between the nose and fenders to shroud the suspension arms of the Speed 8. The cockpit would also be tapered to allow for better airflow to the rear wing. Bentley also decided to switch to Michelin tyres for their 2003 campaign.

Racing history.

In 2001 Bentley returned to the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race, after a gap of 68 years, for a planned three-year campaign with the EXP Speed 8 in the closed-cockpit LMGTP class. During its run, the Bentleys were the only cars to run in the LMGTP class. Two cars were entered, with one earning third place behind a pair of Audi R8s. The other car unfortunately retired after a strong run in the rain due to a fire which caused the driver to abandon the car. Bentley returned in 2002, using their new larger engine, now running a lone entry as a testbed for the evolved Speed 8 in 2003. The car managed fourth place, once again behind only R8s.  For 2003, Bentley decided that their new evolved Speed 8 would need competitive testing in order to prepare for an overall win at Le Mans. The pair of new cars were therefore entered in the American Le Mans Series 12 Hours of Sebring. Despite having to start at the back of the field due to a rules infraction in qualifying, the two cars quickly made their way through the field. The Bentleys were able to take third and fourth places, behind the factory and a privateer R8.  Returning to Le Mans with assistance from Joest Racing, a Bentley started from pole position. With no works Audi team participating, the two cars were able to lead nearly the entire event, with the #7 entry ahead of the #8, which had some electrical problems during the race. After 377 laps, the #7 Bentley successfully took the chequered flag, followed by the sister car two laps behind. This helped give the Volkswagen Group their fourth straight victory at Le Mans, split between the Audi and Bentley brands. It was the last win at Le Mans for a closed cockpit car until Peugeot's win in 2009.  Following Le Mans the Bentley program ended, chassis no. 002-3 was last raced at Road America in 2007 prior to the 2012 RM Monterey auction.  A 2003 Bentley Speed 8 competed in 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed.  A 2001 Bentley Speed 8 chassis no. 002-3 was sold to a Japanese collector, then it was subsequently sold to an American collector where it remains today (as of 2009), and was sold in 2012 RM Monterey auction for US$2,530,000. It remains the sole car outside Bentley ownership.

The Bentley Speed 8 (developed from the Bentley EXP Speed 8) was an Autosport Award Winning Le Mans Prototype race car that was designed by Peter Elleray. The EXP Speed 8 debuted in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2001 and won the race in 2003. It has a strong resemblance to and shares some technology with the Audi R8C, which had raced only once before Audi dropped the project to focus on the later dominant Audi R8. The EXP Speed 8 marked Bentley's return to racing after a 73-year absence.

La Bentley Speed 8 (née Bentley EXP Speed 8 en 2001, parfois orthographiée Bentley EXP-8, pour expérimentale et 8 cylindres) est une voiture de course fabriquée par Bentley Motors et sa filiale sportive Team Bentley pour être homologuée dans la catégorie LM GTP de l'Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). Le projet naît dans un contexte de rachat de Bentley par le groupe Volkswagen. Voyant le succès de l'engagement d'Audi en endurance et constatant que l'image sportive de la marque anglaise se ternit au fil des années, les dirigeants de Bentley persuadent le groupe d'engager frontalement les deux constructeurs aux 24 Heures du Mans. L'étude de la voiture est basée sur l'Audi R8C qui a participé aux 24 Heures du Mans 1999. Au début du développement, la Bentley est équipée d'organes mécaniques (moteur et transmission) provenant de l'Audi R8, sa principale rivale.


Description.

Para Para dancing consists of mostly upper body movements in synchronization with a four-on-the-floor rhythm. Dancing involves choreographed motions with the arms and hands while stepping to the right and left, similar to the movements of traditional festival dances such as Bon Odori and cheering squads called Ōendan. Para Para is generally danced to eurobeat and Eurodance music, with each track having its own dance routine. ParaPara involves very little lower body movement, with the exception of moving one's hips, stepping in place, and jumping or hopping. Some routines feature more complex leg movements. Routines are generally choreographed by groups affiliated with popular clubs in Japan (see below).  Fans of Para Para often refer to themselves as "Paralists" and include official and unofficial teams of dancers in Japan, Chile, Brazil, Spain, The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Finland, and several other countries. Some teams are recognized by major Japanese music labels such as Avex and have been featured in Japanese media such as the magazine "Egg". Para Para dancing's history is largely described by the community and historians in terms of "booms", during which Para Para's popularity was increased. Times of decreased popularity are referred to as "glacial" periods. To date, there have been four distinct "booms", each with a distinct cultural and historical context.

Origin.

There are several theories about the origin of ParaPara dancing. One view is that it started in the early 1980s when men working in the VIP room in clubs would choreograph dances to impress women clientele. Another view is that it developed from the Takenoko-zoku subculture that would gather in the pedestrian plaza of Yoyogi Park in Harajuku to dance choreographed routines to popular music and disco.

Etymology.

It is thought that the term "ParaPara" is derived from the onomatopoeic expression of one's hand movements along with the music, where the beat of the music was described similarly to "Pa-pa pa-pa-ra ra-ra", similar to "boop-boop-bee-doop" in English.

History.

1st Boom (1987–1992).

ParaPara is thought to have started in the late 1980s at high-class discos during Japan's bubble era. Men dressed in black suits would teach routines at clubs such as Aoyama King & Queen and Maharaja Azabu-jūban. It is difficult to learn some of the dances due to the fact that no recordings exist of the routines. It is also largely unknown which clubs made specific routines during this era because of this.

Wangan.

The term mainly describes the choreography that came from the clubs around Tokyo Bay around 1993. Some of these clubs include Eden Roc and Maharaja Azabu-jūban. The choreography is very hard to find, like 1st Boom videos, but it is slightly easier due to the availability of recording devices at the time. Routines of songs from the latter half of the Eurobeat Fantasy, That's Eurobeat, Super Eurobeat volumes 1 through 49, and Maharaja Night Hi-NRG Revolution volumes 1 through 9 music series are usually categorized as "wangan". Some "wangan" ParaPara videos include Venus Cafe Special and Kyoto Gingerman One Gun. Unfortunately, many of the wangan dancers have retired from dancing ParaPara. There are currently very few club events in Japan that play wangan songs.

2nd Boom (1993–1995).

Many ParaPara routines originate from this era. Clubs like Xenon, Twinstar, King & Queen, and Maharaja were very popular during this period. It was also during this period when Avex Trax, an independent music label in Japan that produces Super Eurobeat, released one of the first officially licensed ParaPara videos to clubs on March 21, 1994, entitled ""ParaPara Kyouten 0"" (パラパラ教典 0). The video features 40 songs from the 2nd boom era and most of the featured routines are still danced today. The beginning of this boom can be marked by the release of Super Eurobeat volume 40 and lasted until as late as Super Eurobeat volume 80. During the latter half of this boom, some clubs created "unofficial" routines, referred to as "maniac", which were featured in Hibiya Radio City, Yokohama Maharaja, and Tottori Eleven.

3rd Boom (1999–2001).

The cause of this boom has largely been credited to the appearance of Takuya Kimura on "SMAPxSMAP", a television program, dancing to "Night of Fire" / Niko and "Mickey Mouse March" (Eurobeat Version) / Domino. During this period, with Xenon closed, Twinstar continued to make routines. 9LoveJ and Velfarre started making their own routines. The popularity of this period early on was amplified by gal-culture as well. In commercial videos, Avex and other competitors like Victor and Digibeat began releasing regular commercial parapara videos that featured routines for songs from their respective Eurobeat CDs. Some of these series include ParaPara Paradise, ParaPara Panic!, and Euroパラパラ How. ParaPara Paradise was the most popular series in sales and featured an idol group called ParaPara Allstars (PPA). The group originally consisted of Richie, Maki, Miho, Satoko, Tomomi, and Ryoko. At the time, Richie had been in many Twinstar videos and Satoko was featured in many 9LoveJ videos. Some people regard them as idols today. During this period, maniac dances also were choreographed. Some of the more popular club events were Medusa and Joy.

4th Boom (2005–2010).

Although it is widely disputed that there was a 4th boom, even among Japanese historians, there was a noticeable change in the parapara scene in 2005. Avex became aggressive in selling parapara DVDs like the Gazen ParaPara!! series and We Love TechPara series in 2005, which began in this boom. Its height could be considered to be 2007 when Farm Records was releasing ParaPara DVDs or circa 2009 when the ani-para boom reached its height. Circa 2008, many ParaPara routines were being choreographed to eurobeat remixes of anime songs. The dances were mainly choreographed by 9LoveJ.  When the ani-para boom ended in 2010, Avex stopped releasing videos and 9LoveJ removed ParaPara from their event altogether. At the time of writing, there have been no major commercially released ParaPara videos since then. As for maniac events, Joy and TMD choreographed until around 2008, when they stopped altogether.

4th Boom Glacial Period (2010–).

With Avex Trax halting all commercial ParaPara videos, the marketing that was associated with it dwindled as well. As a result, there has been a noticeable decline in newer paralists. This decline has deeply affected the ParaPara scene and has resulted in a decline of club event attendance. As a response to the attendance decline, many events such as StarFire, Ravenous, and others have moved to smaller venues to save costs rather than stopping.  The Internet has changed the ParaPara scene, even in Japan as well. Currently, the community learns routines from people who film the choreographers teaching the dances at club events. However, many of the lessons can now be found on YouTube, with even some events posting their own lessons as opposed to third parties. In addition, the only official club events that are active are SEF and Starfire. 9LoveJ stopped playing eurobeat and hyper techno around the end of 2010.

Variants.

Some variants of Para Para dancing are TechPara (danced to hyper techno) and TraPara (danced to trance). This is also known as Torapara due to the word trance being written as in Japanese.  There are people who make their own parapara routines to their favorite Eurobeat songs. These Parapara routines are called Oripara. Oripara is typically a reserved word for routines that are not made by famous parapara choreographers or taught at parapara club events.

Official vs. maniac.

The term "official" in the parapara world describes routines made by certain clubs/choreography groups in Japan. A non-exhaustive list of official club events are Starfire, SEF, 9LoveJ, and Twinstar. These routines are danced and learned by most people in the community. In a response to official routines, people have made their own in Japan called "maniac" routines. This movement started in the late 1990s with clubs like Hibiya Radio City and Tottori Eleven choreographing their own routines. In addition to the club events mentioned, other famous maniac club events that existed were Medusa, Area, Joy, AXOS, Bless, and TMD., club events in Japan have not choreographed many maniac routines and this movement has basically stopped. However, some official club events like Starfire and SEF still go on today. Some paralists prefer maniac to official routines, though, and continue to have small events like Ravenous that play songs that have maniac dances to them.

Choreographer groups.

There are a few choreographer groups that have stood out in the history of ParaPara. . Their real names in that order, with the exception of because his real name is unknown, are Keita Fukaya, Takashi Arai, Taisuke Hotta, and Haruki Takahashi. All of these members listed appear in Twinstar club videos at least once., however, the only members of are,, and, who are all currently choreographers of Starfire. Their real names are Yoshihiro Yamada, Ryohei Yamaoka, and Katsuyoshi Inomata.  T-RREX is also a long-running official choreographer group. The initials stand for Twinstar, Rie, Richie, Xenon which refers to when T-RREX was started. The most famous and long-running members are,, and. They mainly choreograph for the club event StarFire these days because Twinstar closed in 2003. As of 2010, has not been active in the ParaPara community and does not dance ParaPara much anymore. It is unclear if is still in T-RREX.  Team SEF is another long-running official choreographer group. They strictly choreograph for the club event SEF. The name "Team SEF" wasn't popular until the SEF Gold club videos were first released around 2004. The members around that time were Ichi, Omami, Rena, Yano, Shingo, Kahori, and possibly Satoko. After Velfarre closed in 2006, almost all of the members were replaced when the SEF event changed names to SEF Deluxe. The members as of 2015 are Manami, Rumine, Kaihei, Kei, Mai, Shiori and Sakiko.

Typical ParaPara club event.

In any given week, there are multiple ParaPara events in Japan. A typical ParaPara club event begins the first 30 minutes by playing either Italo disco, dance, or other genres besides Eurobeat. Usually there are not many people during the first 30 minutes, so this is why it is done. After the first 20 or 30 minutes, depending on the number of people in the club, danceable music starts. Depending on the event, the first danceable songs played are different. For example, if one was at an event where the DJs played only Eurobeat songs from the 1990s, then the first songs would be from 1990-1991. If one were at a more official/modern event like SEF or StarFire, the songs would probably start around 1998-1999, when the 3rd ParaPara boom began. In most events, the songs have some sort of progression by year released, continuing until the end of the club event.  Some events play whatever they feel like and may start playing songs from 2006, for example. There are some events that play Techno as well as Eurobeat. In these events, there are rarely people who dance both ParaPara and TechPara. Most people sit out one or the other, depending on what routines they know. At most club events, there is a where new ParaPara routines are taught. This is a very important part of a club event because, without club lessons, there might not be new ParaPara routines. A lesson is usually taught in 15 or 20 minutes. During a lesson, the new routine is danced first with music. After that, with the help of a commentator to give counts, the dancer slowly dances each part of the routine to help people learn it without music. After this is done, the routine is danced for a final time with music. After the lesson, there are two or three more sets of songs played until the event ends.

Club videos.

Club videos are an important part of ParaPara, but their importance has changed over the years. The first-known ParaPara club video to be released was released by Avex Trax as a promotional VHS on March 21, 1994 called. After that, many club videos were released as people were not able to film lessons in the 1990s. They became highly desirable commodities to some people because lessons were almost impossible to find before 2004-2005 and many dancers perform routines.  These videos are not sold commercially and are generally only distributed at only one event, which makes them extremely rare and impossible for foreigners to see. Because of these reasons, random people began to sell club videos, mainly DVD copies, online on auction websites like Yahoo! Auctions Japan and Mobaku.jp. A full series of SEF Gold for example would usually sell for about 5,000 yen while a much longer series like Xenon would sell for 9,000 yen or more. As of 2010, with the decline of ParaPara, this has basically stopped. However, a project that began on March 9, 2013 on YouTube called ParaPara Open Source Project has attempted to solve the problem of the rarity of club videos by uploading them to the public. Club videos released since 2009 have become less and less important as some people have begun to upload lessons mainly to video-sharing websites like YouTube. Because of this, club events like StarFire have at least one routine on a club video that has never been taught as a lesson. In the 2010s, club videos are not released as much anymore with new DVDs only being distributed by StarFire and SEF every 5–6 months. This is a sharp difference from 1994-1995 when there over 100 club videos released across Japan in only two years.

Refilms.

A refilm is a home-made, usually non-profit video in which dancers film themselves dancing parapara routines. The routines usually come from commercial or club videos, but some have been known to film their own routines, which is a phenomenon called "oripara." These videos have not played a big part in the Japanese parapara community, possibly for copyright reasons, but they are very big part of the international parapara community since there are no large parapara events outside Japan. The two general purposes of a refilm are to highlight a rare routine or to show the public ones' skills. With the advent of YouTube, refilms have become more visible internationally to even non-paralists.

Outside Japan.

The United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Finland, France, Taiwan, Spain, Chile, Scandinavia, Brazil, Argentina and other countries outside Japan have an active fanbase doing refilms on the Internet. These dancers have circles and groups that host panels at anime conventions where they teach parapara routines.  The only western parapara team ever to have been paid to perform ParaPara in Japan is American Dream which performed a special performance at Avex Rave 2005.  In the United States Geneon Entertainment released the "Para Para MAX US Mix" series of CDs, which contain remixes of anime theme music from "Neon Genesis Evangelion", "Pokémon", "Magic Knight Rayearth", and many other anime productions. Volumes 1, 2, and 3 were released in 2005. Geneon held contests to promote the CD and its anime series. 2005's contest was held at Otakon on 20 August 2005. Geneon's efforts failed to expand the reach of Para Para in the United States. Regardless of this, Geneon released a Para Para instructional DVD called "ParaPara MAX: The Moves 101", featuring several United States paralists. The DVD did not sell well due to an exclusive sales agreement with Media Play, Sam Goody and Suncoast Motion Picture Company, which soon went out of business. After the Anime Fusion Tour's conclusion in the summer of 2006, Yoko Ishida's management changed, which led to the end of Geneon's promotion of Para Para in the United States.  Between the years of 2006 and 2007 parapara briefly went mainstream in Germany and Austria due to the artist Shanadoo who danced parapara in some of their music video clips.  In the rest of Asia some editions of the ParaPara Paradise series were released in Hong Kong.  It is widely known and accepted among the members of the international parapara community that parapara's popularity outside Japan is very low.

Para Para is strongly associated with Eurobeat. Dave Rodgers, a Eurobeat artist, has described Para Para as the only way to dance to Eurobeat, which is usually "so fast."

Le est une danse de groupe synchronisé populaire au Japon. Contrairement à la danse de club ou rave dancing, il y a des mouvements spécifiques pour chaque chanson et tout le monde fait le même mouvement, un peu comme dans une danse en ligne.


Orbit and classification.

"Euforbo" is a dark Jovian asteroid orbiting in the leading Greek camp at Jupiter's Lagrangian point, 60° ahead of its orbit in a 1:1 resonance "(see Trojans in astronomy)". It is also a non-family asteroid in the Jovian background population.  It orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.6–5.8 AU once every 11 years and 10 months (4,313 days; semi-major axis of 5.19 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.12 and an inclination of 19° with respect to the ecliptic.  The body's observation arc begins with its first observation as "" at Turku Observatory in March 1943, nearly 46 years prior to its official discovery observation at Bologna.

Physical characteristics.

In both the Tholen- and SMASS-like taxonomy of the Small Solar System Objects Spectroscopic Survey (S3OS2), "Euforbo" is a dark D-type asteroid. It is also an assumed, carbonaceous C-type asteroid.

Rotation period.

Since 1992, several rotational lightcurve of "Euforbo" have been obtained from photometric observations by Stefano Mottola, Robert Stephens, René Roy and astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory (). In November 2010, the best-rated lightcurve by James Brinsfield at the Via Capote Observatory, California, gave a rotation period of 8.846 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.19 magnitude ().

Diameter and albedo.

According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, "Euforbo" measures between 95.62 and 106.38 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.057 and 0.070.  The "Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link" derives an albedo of 0.0558 and a diameter of 102.35 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 8.7.

Naming.

This minor planet was named from Greek mythology after Euphorbus (Euforbo), the Greek hero who wounded Patroclus in the breast before being killed by Hektor. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 19 January 1992 ().

4063 Euforbo is a large Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 1 February 1989, by Italian astronomers at the San Vittore Observatory near Bologna, Italy. The dark D-type asteroid is one of the 25 largest Jupiter trojans and has a rotation period of 8.8 hours. It was named after Euphorbus (Euforbo) from Greek mythology.

(4063) Euphorbe est un astéroïde troyen de Jupiter situé au point de Lagrange L du système Soleil-Jupiter, dans le « camp troyen ». Il a été nommé d'après le guerrier troyen Euphorbe. Il a été découvert par l'observatoire San Vittore près de Bologne le.


Classical hygrometer.

Ancient hygrometers.

Prototype hygrometers were devised and developed during the Western Han dynasty in Ancient China to study weather. The Chinese used a bar of charcoal and a lump of earth: its dry weight was taken, then compared with its damp weight after being exposed in the air. The differences in weight were used to tally the humidity level.  Other techniques were applied using mass to measure humidity, such as when the air was dry, the bar of charcoal would be light, while when the air was humid, the bar of charcoal would be heavy. By hanging a lump of earth and a bar of charcoal on the two ends of a staff separately and adding a fixed lifting string on the middle point to make the staff horizontal in dry air, an ancient hygrometer was made.

Metal-paper coil type.

The metal-paper coil hygrometer is useful for giving a dial indication of humidity changes. It appears most often in inexpensive devices, and its accuracy is limited, with variations of 10% or more. In these devices, water vapor is absorbed by a salt-impregnated paper strip attached to a metal coil, causing the coil to change shape. These changes (analogous to those in a bimetallic thermometer) cause an indication on a dial. There is usually a metal needle on the front of the gauge that will change where it points to.

Hair tension hygrometers.

These devices use a human or animal hair under some tension. The hair is hygroscopic (tending toward retaining moisture); its length changes with humidity, and the length change may be magnified by a mechanism and indicated on a dial or scale. In the late 17th century, such devices were called by some scientists "hygroscopes"; that word is no longer in current use, but "hygroscopic" and "hygroscopy", which derive from it, still are. The traditional folk art device known as a weather house works on this principle. Whale bone and other materials may be used in place of hair.  In 1783, Swiss physicist and geologist Horace Bénédict de Saussure built the first hair-tension hygrometer using human hair.

Psychrometer (wet-and-dry-bulb thermometer).

A psychrometer, or a wet and dry-bulb thermometer, consists of two calibrated thermometers, one that is dry and one that is kept moist with distilled water on a sock or wick. At temperatures above the freezing point of water, evaporation of water from the wick lowers the temperature, such that the wet-bulb thermometer will be at a lower temperature than that of the dry-bulb thermometer. When the air temperature is below freezing, however, the wet-bulb must be covered with a thin coating of ice, in order to be accurate. As a result of the heat of sublimation, the wet-bulb temperature will eventually be lower than the dry bulb, although this may take many minutes of continued use of the psychrometer. Relative humidity (RH) is computed from the ambient temperature, shown by the dry-bulb thermometer and the difference in temperatures as shown by the wet-bulb and dry-bulb thermometers. Relative humidity can also be determined by locating the intersection of the wet and dry-bulb temperatures on a psychrometric chart. The dry and wet thermometers coincide when the air is fully saturated, and the greater the difference the drier the air. Psychrometers are commonly used in meteorology, and in the HVAC industry for proper refrigerant charging of residential and commercial air conditioning systems.

Sling psychrometer.

A sling psychrometer, which uses thermometers attached to a handle is manually spun in free air flow until both temperatures stabilize. This is sometimes used for field measurements, but is being replaced by more convenient electronic sensors. A whirling psychrometer uses the same principle, but the two thermometers are fitted into a device that resembles a ratchet or football rattle.

Chilled mirror dew point hygrometer.

Dew point is the temperature at which a sample of moist air (or any other water vapor) at constant pressure reaches water vapor saturation. At this saturation temperature, further cooling results in condensation of water. Chilled mirror dewpoint hygrometers are some of the most precise instruments commonly available. They use a chilled mirror and optoelectronic mechanism to detect condensation on the mirror's surface. The temperature of the mirror is controlled by electronic feedback to maintain a dynamic equilibrium between evaporation and condensation, thus closely measuring the dew point temperature. An accuracy of 0.2 °C is attainable with these devices, which correlates at typical office environments to a relative humidity accuracy of about ±1.2%. These devices need frequent cleaning, a skilled operator and periodic calibration to attain these levels of accuracy. Even so, they are prone to heavy drifting in environments where smoke or otherwise impure air may be present.  More recently, spectroscopic chilled-mirrors have been introduced. Using this method, the dew point is determined with spectroscopic light detection which ascertains the nature of the condensation. This method avoids many of the pitfalls of the previous chilled-mirrors and is capable of operating drift free.

Modern hygrometers.

Capacitive.

For applications where cost, space, or fragility are relevant, other types of electronic sensors are used, at the price of a lower accuracy. In capacitive hygrometers, the effect of humidity on the dielectric constant of a polymer or metal oxide material is measured. With calibration, these sensors have an accuracy of ±2% RH in the range 5–95% RH. Without calibration, the accuracy is 2 to 3 times worse. Capacitive sensors are robust against effects such as condensation and temporary high temperatures. Capacitive sensors are subject to contamination, drift and aging effects, but they are suitable for many applications.

Resistive.

In resistive hygrometers, the change in electrical resistance of a material due to humidity is measured. Typical materials are salts and conductive polymers. Resistive sensors are less sensitive than capacitive sensors – the change in material properties is less, so they require more complex circuitry. The material properties also tend to depend both on humidity and temperature, which means in practice that the sensor must be combined with a temperature sensor. The accuracy and robustness against condensation vary depending on the chosen resistive material. Robust, condensation-resistant sensors exist with an accuracy of up to ±3% RH (relative humidity).

Thermal.

In thermal hygrometers, the change in thermal conductivity of air due to humidity is measured. These sensors measure absolute humidity rather than relative humidity.

Gravimetric.

A Gravimetric hygrometer measures the mass of an air sample compared to an equal volume of dry air. This is considered the most accurate primary method to determine the moisture content of the air. National standards based on this type of measurement have been developed in US, UK, EU and Japan. The inconvenience of using this device means that it is usually only used to calibrate less accurate instruments, called Transfer Standards.

Optical.

An optical hygrometer measures the absorption of light by water in the air. A light emitter and a light detector are arranged with a volume of air between them. The attenuation of the light, as seen by the detector, indicates the humidity, according to the Beer–Lambert law. Types include the Lyman-alpha hygrometer (using Lyman-alpha light emitted by hydrogen), the krypton hygrometer (using 123.58 nm light emitted by krypton), and the differential absorption hygrometer (using light emitted by two lasers operating at different wavelengths, one absorbed by humidity and the other not).

Applications.

Aside from greenhouses and industrial spaces, hygrometers are also used in some incubators, saunas, humidors and museums. They are also used in the care of wooden musical instruments such as pianos, guitars, violins, and harps which can be damaged by improper humidity conditions. Hygrometers play a big part in firefighting as the lower the relative humidity, the more vigorously fuels may burn. In residential settings, hygrometers are used to assist in humidity control (too low humidity can damage human skin and body, while too high humidity favors growth of mildew and dust mite). Hygrometers are also used in the coating industry because the application of paint and other coatings may be very sensitive to humidity and dew point.

Difficulty of accurate humidity measurement.

Humidity measurement is among the more difficult problems in basic metrology. According to the WMO Guide, "The achievable accuracies [for humidity determination] listed in the table refer to good quality instruments that are well operated and maintained. In practice, these are not easy to achieve." Two thermometers can be compared by immersing them both in an insulated vessel of water (or alcohol, for temperatures below the freezing point of water) and stirring vigorously to minimize temperature variations. A high-quality liquid-in-glass thermometer if handled with care should remain stable for some years. Hygrometers must be calibrated in air, which is a much less effective heat transfer medium than is water, and many types are subject to drift so need regular recalibration. A further difficulty is that most hygrometers sense relative humidity rather than the absolute amount of water present, but relative humidity is a function of both temperature and absolute moisture content, so small temperature variations within the air in a test chamber will translate into relative humidity variations.  In a cold and humid environment, sublimation of ice may occur on the sensor head, whether it is a hair, dew cell, mirror, capacitance sensing element, or dry-bulb thermometer of an aspiration psychrometer. The ice on the probe matches the reading to the saturation humidity with respect to ice at that temperature, i.e. the frost point. However, a conventional hygrometer is unable to measure properly under the frost point, and the only way to go around this fundamental problem is to use a heated humidity probe.

Calibration standards.

Psychrometer calibration.

Accurate calibration of the thermometers used is fundamental to precise humidity determination by the wet-dry method. The thermometers must be protected from radiant heat and must have a sufficiently high flow of air over the wet bulb for the most accurate results. One of the most precise types of wet-dry bulb psychrometer was invented in the late 19th century by Adolph Richard Aßmann (1845–1918); in English-language references the device is usually spelled "Assmann psychrometer." In this device, each thermometer is suspended within a vertical tube of polished metal, and that tube is in turn suspended within a second metal tube of slightly larger diameter; these double tubes serve to isolate the thermometers from radiant heating. Air is drawn through the tubes with a fan that is driven by a clockwork mechanism to ensure a consistent speed (some modern versions use an electric fan with electronic speed control). According to Middleton, 1966, "an essential point is that air is drawn between the concentric tubes, as well as through the inner one."  It is very challenging, particularly at low relative humidity, to obtain the maximal theoretical depression of the wet-bulb temperature; an Australian study in the late 1990s found that liquid-in-glass wet-bulb thermometers were warmer than theory predicted even when considerable precautions were taken; these could lead to RH value readings that are 2 to 5 percent points too high.  One solution sometimes used for accurate humidity measurement when the air temperature is below freezing is to use a thermostatically-controlled electric heater to raise the temperature of outside air to above freezing. In this arrangement, a fan draws outside air past (1) a thermometer to measure the ambient dry-bulb temperature, (2) the heating element, (3) a second thermometer to measure the dry-bulb temperature of the heated air, then finally (4) a wet-bulb thermometer. According to the World Meteorological Organization Guide, "The principle of the heated psychrometer is that the water vapor content of an air mass does not change if it is heated. This property may be exploited to the advantage of the psychrometer by avoiding the need to maintain an ice bulb under freezing conditions.".  Since the humidity of the ambient air is calculated indirectly from three temperature measurements, in such a device accurate thermometer calibration is even more important than for a two-bulb configuration.

Saturated salt calibration.

Various researchers have investigated the use of saturated salt solutions for calibrating hygrometers. Slushy mixtures of certain pure salts and distilled water have the property that they maintain an approximately constant humidity in a closed container. A saturated table salt (Sodium Chloride) bath will eventually give a reading of approximately 75%. Other salts have other equilibrium humidity levels: Lithium Chloride ~11%; Magnesium Chloride ~33%; Potassium Carbonate ~43%; Potassium Sulfate ~97%. Salt solutions will vary somewhat in humidity with temperature and they can take relatively long times to come to equilibrium, but their ease of use compensates somewhat for these disadvantages in low precision applications, such as checking mechanical and electronic hygrometers.

A hygrometer is an instrument used to measure the amount of water vapor in air, in soil, or in confined spaces. Humidity measurement instruments usually rely on measurements of some other quantities such as temperature, pressure, mass, a mechanical or electrical change in a substance as moisture is absorbed. By calibration and calculation, these measured quantities can lead to a measurement of humidity. Modern electronic devices use temperature of condensation (called the dew point), or changes in electrical capacitance or resistance to measure humidity differences. The first crude hygrometer was invented by the Italian Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci in 1480 and a more modern version was created by Swiss polymath Johann Heinrich Lambert in 1755. Later, in the year 1783, Swiss physicist and Geologist Horace Bénédict de Saussure invented the first hygrometer using human hair to measure humidity.

Un hygromètre est un appareil qui sert à mesurer l'humidité relative de l'air (l'hygrométrie relative). Ces appareils utilisent la température de condensation de la vapeur d'eau dans l'air (appelée point de rosée), des modifications de la capacité ou de la résistance électrique pour mesurer les différences d'humidité. Le premier hygromètre brut fut inventé par le polymathe de la Renaissance italienne Leonard de Vinci en 1480. En 1755, Jean-Henri Lambert a créé une version plus moderne et en 1784, Horace Bénédict de Saussure, physicien et géologue suisse, inventa le premier hygromètre utilisant le cheveu humain pour mesurer l'humidité.


Process.

Firstly, the production designer will read the script and break it down into categories such as interior, exterior, location, graphic, vehicles, etc., which will be highlighted for better following. Depending on the scene, the production designer will have different approach and focus, thus, discussing with the director is essential and always done in the beginning of the process.  Secondly, the PD will move to researching which is important in every design process. They will use mood board which consists of images, sketches, inspiration, color swatches, photos, textiles, etc. that help with the ideation. Learning about the time period, the place and the culture also assists with coming up with an idea. Moreover, the PD has to plan to create a convincing space within a budget, therefore, it is important that the space can speak about the character or enhance the flow of the story, rather than being filled with unnecessary decoration. Additionally, it also affects the location of filming, whether it is in a studio or at a specific location.  Finally, the PD will ensure that every visuals is made and ready to be used or re-used or re-made. It is their responsibility to be at the set all the time. A production designer never works in isolation. They are the head of a team of people known as the art department, which they lead along with the art director, who has a role much like that of a project manager. This is when all other creative artists come in to help. The art director’s role is to manage the realization of the production designer’s vision and deal with the many and varied logistics of filmmaking including, schedules, budgets, and staffing. Depending on the size of the production the rest of the team can include set decorators, buyers, dressers, runners, graphic designers, draftspeople, props makers, and set builders.

The Importance of Production Design.

Production design plays an essential role in storytelling, for instance, in the movie Titanic, when the characters Jack and Rose are in the cold water after the ship sank, we know that they are cold because of the setting: it is nighttime and there is ice on their hair. A more specific example is "The Wizard of Oz", in which we know the story takes place on a farm because of the bale of hay Dorothy leans on and the animals around, as well as the typical wooden fence. In the scene in which Dorothy’s dog is taken away, we know that it happens in her aunt and uncle’s house, which adds more tension because her beloved friend, Toto is not killed, lost or kidnapped on the street, but is forced to leave by an outsider, Ms. Gulch, who enters Dorothy’s private and safe zone (her home). Jane Barnwell states that the place the characters exist in gives information about them and enhances the fluency of the narrative (175). Imagine Dorothy’s home was dirty and everyone in her house were dressed untidily, the viewer would have supported the outsider instead, perhaps thinking that the outsider in a way, rescued the dog from an unhealthy environment. Additionally, the characters’ clothing, especially that of Ms. Gulch, makes the description “own half the county” more reliable in portraying Ms. Gulch, and also supports the reason why Dorothy cannot rebel against Ms. Gulch by making the dog stay. However, this does not mean that the setting or costume should be extremely detailed and cluttered with information. The goal is to not let the viewer notice these elements, which, however, is how production design works. Jon Boorstin states in his book, "Making Movies Work Thinking Like a Filmmaker", that the background, the camera motion or even the sound effect is considered well-done if the viewer does not notice their appearance.

Societies and trade organizations.

In the United States and British Columbia, production designers are represented by several local unions of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). Local 800, the Art Directors Guild, represents production designers in the U.S., with the exception of New York City and its vicinity. Those members are represented by Local 829, the United Scenic Artists. In the rest of Canada, production designers are represented by the Director's Guild of Canada. In the United Kingdom, members of the art department are represented by the non-union British Film Designers Guild.  The production design credit must be requested by a film's producer, prior to completion of photography, and submitted to the Art Directors Guild Board of Directors for the credit approval.

In film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall visual look of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the location where the protagonist is existing, what the characters are doing or feeling and why. Working directly with the director, cinematographer, and producer, they have a key creative role in the creation of motion pictures and television. The term "production designer" was coined by William Cameron Menzies while he was working on the film "Gone with the Wind". Previously (and often subsequently) the people with the same responsibilities were called "art directors"; however, accurately, production designers decide the visual concept and manage the budget to create it while the art directors manage the process of making the visuals, which is done by graphic designers, set designers, costume designers, lighting designers, etc.

Au cinéma, et à la télévision, le chef décorateur est chargé de rechercher et de créer les lieux et les décors d'un film. Il est le principal responsable du décor : il prend en charge les aspects esthétiques, techniques, matériels et budgétaires. La charte de l'Association des chefs décorateurs de la production cinématographique définit ainsi son rôle :.


Background.

In 2004, Jackson performed at the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show with guest artist Justin Timberlake, who accidentally exposed her right breast at the end of their performance. A month later, she released her eighth studio album, "Damita Jo". The album debuted at number two on "Billboard" 200, was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and sold over three million copies worldwide. However, its singles received minimal airplay due to a blacklist of Jackson's music and videos on many music channels and radio formats caused by legalities surrounding the incident. At the end of 2004, Jackson announced that she intended to start work on a new album project in the coming year. It would involve her then boyfriend—record producer Jermaine Dupri, who was commissioned to executive produce the project—in addition to a roster of other producers. Dupri said at the time,  "For this record, it's gonna be all dance, though. It's gonna be straight 'Control', 'Nasty', hard-ass beats, memorable melodies. It's directed to her fans, people who miss dancing, people who miss seeing videos with dancing. These [younger artists] are sloppy, they don't take it as serious as she do. They don't rehearse for the hours she do. It's serious business for her and her family and her brothers. It's important for kids to see that and bring that back to life".  "20 Y.O." became Jackson's final album with Virgin Records, and marked the end of an thirteen-year recording history with the label. Following the album's release Kwamé Holland, a producer who worked on the original "20 Y.O." concept prior to Dupri's involvement, stated, "the finished project we had before Jermaine took everything over is crazy. Ask Jimmy & Terry how they felt when Jermaine came in and changed almost everything." In 2005, Jackson initially worked with various producers, including The Neptunes, Dr. Dre, Kwamé, and Polow Da Don, but the concept was changed when Dupri was selected to manage the project after becoming a division president at Virgin Records. After the album's release, Dupri was condemened for his production and misguidance of the album, and subsequently was removed from his position at Virgin Records.

Development.

For the album, Jackson reunited with longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to work with her and Dupri. Conversations between the group began before December 2005, when they elaborated the first themes, and songwriting and recording began in earnest in February. The discussion turned to how Jackson was feeling during the recording of her third studio album "Control" in 1986. "I started asking questions like, 'What was the feeling of life when you were 20?' I was so intrigued with what was going on in her life then that I just thought her album should be called that", Dupri said. Jam agreed, saying it made sense as a concept because it meant a sense of rejuvenation for her. A sense of that excitement that people have when they are 20 years old, when their life are beginning. He finished saying Jackson had that same sense of hunger and excitement than she had when she was younger. Jackson wanted to create an R&B and dance album, but with an emphasis on dance. Rather than contribute to separate songs for the album, Dupri Jam and Lewis decided to collaborate. According to the group, the process caused ego and procedural conflicts, but they complemented each other. Jam said: "The great thing about working with Jermaine, he came in with total respect for us, we had total respect for him. The fact is that we were fans of each other and for Janet". The singer stated,  "This time it was four of us collaborating – Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Jermaine and myself. But it was the same process: Everyone getting all of their thoughts and ideas out on the table, then talking about which ideas to keep or throw out. Johntá Austin also played a part in the album. It was really a collaborative effort, and that's what made it so nice. Jermaine would run into the studio and talk about the songs Jimmy and Terry had done on someone's album. Then Jimmy would start playing the song, and Jermaine would say, 'You know what? Let's do something kind of along those lines as a bas'e. He understood them, he understood me and vice versa".  "20 Y.O." was recorded chiefly at Jam and Lewis' Flyte Tyme Studios in Los Angeles and Dupri's Southside Studios in Atlanta, with some sections undertaken at The Village in Los Angeles and the Hit Factory in Miami. The concept of "20 Y.O." is a celebration of what was happening musically when "Control" was released. The addition of Dupri, quotes Jackson as saying, "It's an edge, an attitude, an exciting vibe that's assertive. It's about taking charge. It says, 'Here I am. I'm coming on. Musically, I have it. You want it. And I'm giving it to you.'" With the album Dupri wanted to reconnect Jackson with her urban fan base without losing her pop and dance audience she had built during the last two decades before the album's release. "Times have changed from when Michael and Janet were out in the '80s", he noted, pointing to the fact that urban artists no longer had to cross over to pop genres before achieving maximum exposure and sales. "Janet shouldn't be changing or trying to change to get on pop radio", the producer completed.  Dupri also demonstrated the possibility for a duet with Jackson and American singer Mariah Carey for the album. Carey commented in April 2006, "He never talked to me about that, but if Jermaine has a concept, we should go and write something. I love Janet. I’ve been a big fan of Janet since 'Con-tro-ol!'". Later, Dupri said that the closer he got to Jackson and Mariah's duet, the more he knew where it should be at, elaborating that he felt it was going to happen. "It depends on how quick my mind moves. We’re mixing records for ["20 Years Old"]. We’re not done yet. When I did Usher's "My Way" album, the last record I created was 'You Make Me Wanna...'. I'm thinking I might go back in, and I might tamper with it. [...] We gotta try to figure it out", he commented. However, the duet never came to fruition.

Composition.

"20 Y.O." is composed by eleven songs, an introduction, three interludes and an outro. It starts off with Jackson stating "There's something to be said for not saying anything. I've covered a lot in my 20 years. And I've uncovered a lot" in its intro. The opening song, second single "So Excited" featuring rapper Khia, is a hip hop track which samples the drum break and turntable scratches from Herbie Hancock's 1983 song "Rockit". In the song, Jackson promises submission for her lover, singing, "If you like it then I’ll do it/I’ll go head to toe" and "I'm-a keep your body thumping, baby". "Show Me" follows, with Jackson spelling its title throughout the song. The fourth song, "Get It Out Me", is a dance song which was noted to feature Jackson's vocals sounding like her brother Michael's ones. The following song is "Do It 2 Me". It marks a return to Jackson's conversational style; in the song, She is searching for her lover: "My first and only call is to you, time after time, babe, throughout my life". Its music is punctuated by handclaps and by low swoops of a string section. Sixth song "This Body" lyrically is about men who have appreciation with Jackson's appearances in magazines. She addresses her fans in the line "Just had to buy me, had to try me, oooh, you're in love with the hottest girl in the magazine". The song brings sinuous and dark beats incorporating a rhythmic pattern of heavy breathing and the sound of a jet taking off, which was noted to be a metaphor.  An interlude is the opening for eighth track "With U", which was described as "the follow-up to 1986's 'Let's Wait Awhile'", where a couple postpone intimacy. "With U" takes place after the act, which results in romantic confusion. In it, she sings, "I wish you were the one the one I could be with forever". "Call on Me" is the ninth song and lead single from "20 Y.O." It features Nelly, and samples The SOS Band's 1983 song "Tell Me If You Still Care". It includes whispered vocals from both Jackson and Nelly. Second interlude finds Jackson remembering her "Good Times" days as Penny. "Daybreak", the eleventh song, begins with fairy tale infused chimes before introducing electronic soul handclaps before Jackson starts singing. It has a few lyrics which deal about sex. The following track, "Enjoy", is composed by piano and bass. In the song, Jackson's vocals were heavily treated. Both songs have additional carnival charms, sing-along melodies, and a children's chorus at its end of the latter. An interlude follows, with Jackson calling her lover, asking him to come home. Fourteenth song "Take Care" is a love song which finds the singer pleasuring herself while she waits for her lover. The last song from the album, "Love 2 Love" was recorded by Jackson with her brother Michael in mind. She sings, "We are a couple / Which love knows no bounds". An outro closes the album.

Titling and artwork.

In February 2006, Dupri revealed the album's title as "20 Years Old", making reference to her third studio album, "Control" (1986), which commemorated its twentieth release anniversary in 2006. The singer, who at that date was 40 years old, confessed she felt half her age. However, Jackson changed the title to "20 Y.O." after a fan suggestion. Eric Henderson from Slant Magazine heavily criticized the title, saying it did not "let on whether the first letter is plural or singular, whether it's a noun or an adjective. And it would make all the difference". He declared that if it was supposed to stand for "years", it was a forgivable conceit. However, the reviewer feared the acronym was for "20-Year-Old", which would mean a "misguided" move from a woman who was 40, and would illustrate everything wrong with Jackson's direction with the album. He later joked that his third interpretation and his personal favorite was the title to be read phonetically "I'm 20, yo".  A contest for fans to create an album cover image for "20 Y.O." was announced on July 18, 2006, through Yahoo!. Fans were able to create and submit their own album-cover design, with four winners being chosen by Jackson herself. The first million copies of the album would be published with these fan-created covers. The concept of the contest was to create an image that best celebrated Jackson's past twenty years. The singer hand-picked dozens of images that span over twenty years of Jackson's career were made available for download for use in creating the design. "They told me that I should pick maybe 20, 30 photos, but I think I went a little crazy. I picked way more than that. I gave them some of the new stuff I just shot for the album cover shoot. So they have some really recent photos as well as some stuff from 20 years ago", Jackson confessed. For the official artwork for the album, Jackson appears sporting big hair and a wrist full of bracelets.

Critical reception.

"20 Y.O." received generally mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, out of 100, to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 52, based on 14 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". Andy Kellman of AllMusic gave the album a three-and-half out of five-star rating, writing that "with only a few exceptions, 20 Y.O. provides further refinements of the fun, flirtatious, midtempo songs of her past several albums. This is not a problem." "The New York Times" music critic Jon Pareles had mixed feelings, saying "Janet is as crafty and poised as ever. Her flirtations are still a pleasure, but an overly familiar one. She's done these same slinky moves too often to surprise listeners now." "Newsday"s Glenn Gamboa gave the album a grade of A-, and said that Jackson "may not want to dwell in that past, either. After all, "20 Y.O." shows that her future could be even better." Richard Cromelin from "Los Angeles Times" was positive saying that "20 Y.O."'s sex themes were slightly toned down from its predecessor, "Damita Jo", and, "In the opening set of songs alone, Jackson promises to do it all [...] And she manages to do this without sounding especially raunchy."  Eric Henderson from Slant Magazine said that the saddest thing about "20 Y.O." was Jackson's decision to make a terrible R&B instead of great dance music, which would likely pay off. He also referred to Jam and Lewis's production as "ice-cold beats [that] have melted into a lugubrious, lukewarm pudding—at under an hour, it still feels almost twice as long as "Janet." and "The Velvet Rope"." With a C+ rating, Thomas Inskeep from Stylus Magazine called it "half-decent" and went to say, "there's precious little to get, well, excited about here. Janet commits the ultimate sin of making an album that’s thoroughly mediocre. Apart from the sticky ear-candy of "So Excited," there’s little I’d miss here if I went six months without it. This doesn’t sound like rejuvenation—it sounds like the beginning of the end." "The Village Voice"'s music critic Miles Marshall Lewis commented that Jackson's last two albums also talked excessively about sex, and with the new release, it was getting tired. Evan Serpick from "Rolling Stone" disagreed with the album's reference to Control, saying "If we were her, we wouldn't make the comparison." Angus Batey, writing for Yahoo! Music UK, remarked that in Jackson's producers desire to take Jackson back to her roots, they made not a great album for Jackson, but a facsimile of one; correct in all the details, but lacking substance and soul. Robert Christgau gave it a "dud" score (). Additionally, "20 Y.O." earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album in 2007.

Promotion.

On May 1, 2006, a web-only song called "Weekend" was made available as a "gift" to fans to download via Jackson's official website. The song is a remake of "Lookout Weekend", a 1984 single by Debbie Deb. It was soon removed from the site and although not included on the album, footage of Jackson recording the track can be seen in the "20 Y.O. The Project" piece on the deluxe edition bonus DVD. A MySpace account for Jackson was also set up with new music and videos to promote "20 Y.O." In the lead up to the album's release, Jackson shot covers for "Us Weekly", "Vibe", "Billboard", "FHM", "GIANT", "W", "Jezebel", "OK!", "Ebony", "King", "Sophisticates Black Hair", "Movieline's Hollywood Life", "Hype Hair", "Men's Fitness", "Unleashed", "Upscale", and "In Touch". Her "Us Weekly" cover became the biggest-selling issue in the magazine's history, selling 1.4 million copies. Jackson's "Vibe" issue also received attention from the media after she appeared topless on the August cover.  On September 9, 2006, Jackson went to France to perform "So Excited" at NRJ's Back to School concert, along with past single "Nasty". While on "The Oprah Winfrey Show", she was interviewed and performed both tracks again. The show aired on September 25. Jackson held an album signing in Times Square at the Virgin Megastore on September 26, the album's release date. Jackson performed live on the "Today" show — as part of their Concert Series — three days later. In October, she traveled to Japan to promote the album and wore a red kimono during a press conference there. In November, Jackson performed on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", while she was interviewed on "The Tyra Banks Show" to further promote the album. On December 4, the singer opened the 2006 "Billboard" Music Awards with a medley of "The Pleasure Principle" and "So Excited". During rehearsals for the awards two days prior, she taped a performance featuring two classic singles from her catalog, "Nasty" and "Let's Wait Awhile", which was streamed on American Express' website.  Jackson planned to embark on a tour to promote "20 Y.O." after the album's release around March 2007, with rehearsals beginning in the end of the previous year. According to a "Billboard" report in September 2006, she and her choreographers were working on ideas for a world tour, but the singer was still not prepared to share these ideas. However, the unnamed tour was canceled after she signed a record deal with Island Records, and company executives asked her to record a new album instead, which became "Discipline". Jackson stated, "I was supposed to go on tour with the last album [...] We were actually in full-blown tour rehearsals at that point... learning numbers, getting everything together, set designs [...] I had to kind of shut everything down and go into the studio."

Chart performance.

"20 Y.O." debuted on the US "Billboard" 200 at number two with 296,000 copies sold at its first week, being beaten by Ludacris' album "Release Therapy", which sold 309,000 copies. This was considerably lower than Jackson's previous release, "Damita Jo", which also opened at number two with 381,000 copies sold across the United States in 2004. "20 Y.O." became her smallest first week sales since "The Velvet Rope" (1997), which reached number one with 202,000 copies. However, the effort debuted at the top on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. In its second week, the album fell to number nine, selling 77,000 units, representing a 74% drop in sales. It additionally reached number two and number three on Top Digital Albums and Top Tastemaker Albums charts, respectively. On November 13, 2006, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million copies within the country. As of January 2008, the estimated sales of the album in the US were 679,000 copies.  On the Australian Albums Chart, it peaked at number 55. It became her lowest-peaking album in the region since "Control" in 1986, which reached number 25. In Japan, the album debuted at the number 12 on the Oricon Albums Chart selling 20,380 copies in its first week. It ultimately peaked at number seven in the region. A few weeks after, the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) certified "20 Y.O." gold for shipments of 100,000 copies.  In the Flemish region of Belgium, "20 Y.O." debuted at number 67 on October 7, 2006, moving to its peak of number 58 the next week, and staying on the charts for five weeks. In contrast, it reached number 22 in the Walloon region of that country. The album entered the French Albums Chart at number 32 in the week dated September 30, 2006, this being its peak. It lasted on the chart for four weeks, felling off the chart on October 21, 2006, at number 175. "20 Y.O." debuted and peaked at number 46 on October 6, 2006 in Germany, next week the album fell to number 96 before falling off the charts. On the Italian Albums Chart it fared better, reaching number 21. In Switzerland, the album debuted and peaked at number 35 on the Swiss Albums Chart and stayed on the charts for four weeks. In the United Kingdom, the album peaked at number 63 on its album chart. In the Netherlands, "20 Y.O." debuted and peaked at number 34, the issue dated September 30, 2006. Almost one month after, it fell out of the chart at number 93. On the European Top 100 Albums, the record reached number 43. The album had sold an estimated 1.5 million copies worldwide.

Singles.

The album's first single, "Call on Me", was released to US radio on June 19, 2006. It received mixed reviews from critics. The song was a success on the charts, becoming her most successful single in some countries since "All for You" in 2001. It peaked at number 25 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. Additionally, it spent two non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, making it Jackson's sixteenth R&B chart-topper and thirtieth top ten single. Internationally, the song peaked inside the top-twenty in Italy, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The music video for "Call on Me" was directed by Hype Williams and took ten days to be completed. The music video incorporates Indian, Asian, and African styles, with a mixture of outfits and hairstyles, with a total of five wardrobe changes. "Call on Me" is one of the most expensive music videos of all time, with a production cost of over US$1,000,000. Following its release, it was reported that the video was blacklisted by MTV following her incident at the Super Bowl halftime show, which was co-produced by the network.  The second single, "So Excited", was released on August 28, 2006. Like the previous single, the song also was met with mixed reviews from music commentators, with some considering the song the highlight from "20 Y.O." while others found it disappointing. "So Excited" peaked at number 90 on the Hot 100, and also became her 39th top forty single on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, reaching number 34. Additionally, on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, "So Excited" became Jackson's 22nd consecutive top ten single and her 17th number-one hit on the chart. It was well also received in Europe. In Finland, "So Excited" peaked at number nine, while in Italy, it reached number 28, and peaking at number 13 in Spain. Director Joseph Kahn directed its accompanying music video. It decipts Jackson's clothes disappearing through a complex dance routine with female dancers. Also, occasional skeleton people appear in an X-ray effect, and images of Khia appearing in a small TV in an empty room. Due to her diminished role in the music video, she criticized Jackson online. The third single in North America was "With U", which was released to radio on December 11, 2006. Well received by critics, the song managed to reach number 65 on the region's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. "Enjoy" was released only as a promotional single in Japan and received no commercial release.

Track listing.

Additional credits

20 Y.O. is the ninth studio album by American singer Janet Jackson. Released on September 20, 2006, by Virgin Records, the title makes reference to her third studio album "Control" which was released in 1986, a commemoration to its twentieth anniversary. "20 Y.O." represents the "celebration of the joyful liberation and history-making musical style" of "Control". An R&B and dance album, Jackson enlisted a range of producers to work on material with, including LRoc, Manuel Seal, The Avila Brothers and No I.D., in addition to her longtime partners Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and then-boyfriend Jermaine Dupri.

20 Y.O. est le neuvième album de Janet Jackson, sorti le. L’album était censé célébrer ses 20 ans de carrière depuis l’album "Control" commercialisé en 1986, dont le titre "20 Y.O" (20 Years Old) (20 ans), est un échec commercial. Le titre "So Excited" en duo avec Khia est un échec commercial passant incognito à la radio qui ne rencontrera aucun succès, tout comme les autres titres de cet album. Malgré cet échec, il s’est quand même vendu à 1,2 million d’exemplaires dans le monde, ce qui est un échec comparé au ventes de ces anciens albums.


Background.

The Paracel Islands, called Xisha Islands (; "Xīshā Qúndǎo") in Chinese and Hoang Sa Islands ("Quần Đảo Hoàng Sa") in Vietnamese, lie in the South China Sea approximately equidistant from the coastlines of the PRC and Vietnam (200 nautical miles). With no native population, the archipelago’s ownership has been in dispute since the early 20th century.  China first asserted sovereignty in the modern sense to the South China Sea’s islands when it formally objected to France’s efforts to incorporate them into French Indochina during the Sino-French War (1884–1885). Initially, France recognized Qing China's sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos, in exchange for Chinese recognition of Vietnam as a French territory. Chinese maps since then have consistently shown China’s claims, first as a solid and then as a dashed line. In 1932, one year after the Japanese Empire invaded northeast China, France formally claimed both the Paracel and Spratly Islands; China and Japan both protested. In 1933, France bolstered their claim and seized the Paracels and Spratlys, announced their annexation, formally included them in French Indochina. They built several weather stations on them, but they did not disturb the numerous Chinese fishermen found there. In 1938 Japan took the islands from France, garrisoned them, and built a submarine base at Itu Aba (now Taiping / 太平) Island. In 1941, the Japanese Empire made the Paracel and Spratly Islands part of Taiwan, then under its rule.  In 1945, in accordance with the Cairo and Potsdam Declarations and with American help, the armed forces of the Republic of China government at Nanjing accepted the surrender of the Japanese garrisons in Taiwan, including the Paracel and Spratly Islands. Nanjing then declared both archipelagoes to be part of Guangdong Province. In 1946 it established garrisons on both Woody (now Yongxing / 永兴) Island in the Paracels and Taiping Island in the Spratlys. France promptly protested. The French tried but failed to dislodge Chinese nationalist troops from Yongxing Island (the only habitable island in the Paracels), but were able to establish a small camp on Pattle (now Shanhu / 珊瑚) Island in the southwestern part of the archipelago.  In 1950, after the Chinese nationalists were driven from Hainan by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), they withdrew their garrisons in both the Paracels and Spratlys to Taiwan. In 1954 France ceased to be a factor when it accepted the independence of both South and North Vietnam and withdrew from Indochina.  In 1956 the PLA reestablished a Chinese garrison on Yongxing Island in the Paracels, while the Republic of China (Taiwan) stationed troops on Taiping Island in the Spratlys. That same year, however, South Vietnam reopened the abandoned French camp on Shanhu Island and announced it had annexed the Paracel archipelago as well as the Spratlys. To focus on its war with the North, South Vietnam by 1966 had reduced its presence on the Paracels to only a single weather observation garrison on Shanhu Island. The PLA made no attempt to remove this force.

Prelude.

On January 16, 1974, six South Vietnamese Army officers and an American observer on the frigate "Lý Thường Kiệt" (HQ-16) were sent to the Paracels on an inspection tour. They discovered two Chinese “armored fishing trawlers” laying off Drummond Island to support a detachment of PLA troops who had occupied the island. Chinese soldiers were also observed around a bunker on nearby Duncan Island, with a landing ship moored on the beach and two additional Kronstadt-class submarine chasers in the vicinity. This was promptly reported to Saigon, and several naval vessels were sent to confront the Chinese ships in the area. The South Vietnamese Navy frigate signaled the Chinese squadron to withdraw, and in return received the same demand. The rival forces shadowed each other overnight, but did not engage.  On January 17, about 30 South Vietnamese commandos waded ashore unopposed on Robert Island and removed the Chinese flag they found flying. Later, both sides received reinforcements. The frigate "Trần Khánh Dư" (HQ-4) joined the "Lý Thường Kiệt" (HQ-16), while two PLA Navy minesweepers (#274 and #271) joined the Chinese.  On January 18, the frigate "Trần Bình Trọng" (HQ-5) arrived carrying the commander of the South Vietnamese fleet, Colonel Hà Văn Ngạc. The corvette "Nhật Tảo" (HQ-10) also reached the islands, moving cautiously because it had only one functioning engine at the time.

Balance of forces.

These four warships from the South Vietnam Navy would participate in the battle: the frigates,,, and, and the corvette. A platoon of South Vietnamese naval commandos, an underwater demolition team, and a regular ARVN platoon were by now stationed on the islands.  China also had four warships present: the PLA Navy minesweepers "271", "274", "389" and "396". These were old and small warships with an average length of and width of, and they had not been well-maintained. However, they were reinforced by two Type 037 submarine chasers ("281" and "282") by the end of the battle. In addition, two PLA marine battalions and an unknown number of irregular militia had been landed on the islands.  Although four ships were engaged on each side, the total displacements and weapons of the South Vietnamese ships were superior. The supporting and reinforcement forces of the PLA Navy did not take part in the battle.

Military engagement.

In the early morning of January 19, 1974, South Vietnamese soldiers from "Trần Bình Trọng" landed on Duncan Island and came under fire from Chinese troops. Three South Vietnamese soldiers were killed and more were wounded. Finding themselves outnumbered, the South Vietnamese ground forces withdrew by landing craft, but their small fleet drew close to the Chinese warships in a tense standoff.  At 10:24 a.m., the South Vietnamese warships "Lý Thường Kiệt" and "Nhật Tảo" opened fire on the Chinese warships. "Trần Bình Trọng" and "Trần Khánh Dư" then joined in. The sea battle lasted about 40 minutes, with vessels on both sides taking damage. The smaller Chinese warships managed to maneuver into the blind spots of the main cannons on the South Vietnamese warships and damaged all four South Vietnamese ships, especially "Nhật Tảo", which could not retreat because her last working engine was disabled. The crew was ordered to abandon ship, but her captain, Lieutenant Commander Ngụy Văn Thà, remained on board and went down with his ship. "Lý Thường Kiệt", severely damaged by friendly fire from "Trần Bình Trọng", was forced to retreat westwards. "Trần Khánh Dư" and "Trần Bình Trọng" soon joined in the retreat.  The next day, Chinese aircraft from Hainan bombed the three islands, and an amphibious landing was made. The outnumbered South Vietnamese marine garrison on the islands was forced to surrender, and the damaged navy ships retreated to Đà Nẵng.  During the battle, the South Vietnamese fleet detected two more Chinese warships rushing to the area. China later acknowledged these were the Hainan-class submarine chasers "281" and "282". Despite South Vietnamese reports that at least one of their ships had been struck by a missile, the Chinese insisted what the South Vietnamese saw were rocket-propelled grenades fired by the crew of #389 and that no missile-capable ships were present, and the Chinese ships closed in because they had no missiles. The South Vietnamese fleet also received warnings that U.S. Navy radar had detected additional Chinese guided missile frigates and aircraft on their way from Hainan.  South Vietnam requested assistance from the U.S. Seventh Fleet, but the request was denied.

Result.

Following the battle, China gained control over all of the Paracel Islands. South Vietnam protested to the United Nations, but China, having veto power on the UN Security Council, blocked any efforts to bring it up. The remote islands had little value militarily, but diplomatically the projection of power was beneficial to China.

South Vietnamese casualties.

The South Vietnamese reported that the warship "Nhật Tảo" was sunk and "Lý Thường Kiệt" heavily damaged, while "Trần Khánh Dư" and "Trần Bình Trọng" were both slightly damaged. 53 South Vietnamese soldiers, including Captain Ngụy Văn Thà of "Nhật Tảo", were killed, and 16 were wounded. On January 20, 1974, the Dutch tanker, "Kopionella", found and rescued 23 survivors of the sunken "Nhật Tảo". On January 29, 1974, South Vietnamese fishermen found 15 South Vietnamese soldiers near Mũi Yến (Qui Nhơn) who had fought on Quang Hòa island and escaped in lifeboats.  After their successful amphibious assault on January 20, the Chinese held 48 prisoners, including an American advisor. They were later released in Hong Kong through the Red Cross.

Chinese casualties.

The Chinese claimed that even though its ships had all been hit numerous times, none of them had been sunk. Warships "271" and "396" suffered speed-reducing damage to their engines, but both returned to port safely and were repaired. "274" was damaged more extensively and had to stop at Yongxing Island for emergency repairs. It returned to Hainan under its own power the next day. "389" was damaged the most by an engine room explosion. Its captain managed to run his ship aground and put out the fire with the help of the minesweepers. It was then towed back to base. Eighteen Chinese sailors were killed and 67 were wounded in the battle.

Aftermath.

A potential diplomatic crisis was averted when China released the American prisoner taken during the battle. Gerald Emil Kosh, 27, a former U.S. Army captain, was captured with the South Vietnamese on Pattle Island. He was described as a “regional liaison officer” for the American embassy in Saigon on assignment with the South Vietnamese Navy. China released him from custody on January 31 without comment.  The leaders of North Vietnam gave a glimpse of their worsening relationship with China by conspicuously not congratulating their ally. An official communique issued by the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam mentioned only its desire for a peaceful and negotiated resolution for any local territorial dispute. In the wake of the battle, North Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyễn Cơ Thạch told the Hungarian ambassador to Hanoi that "there are many documents and data on Vietnam's archipelago." Other North Vietnamese cadres told the Hungarian diplomats that in their view, the conflict between China and the Saigon regime was but a temporary one. However, they later said the issue would be a problem of the entire Vietnamese nation.  After the reunification of Vietnam in April 1975, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam publicly renewed its claim to the Paracels, and the dispute continues to this day. Hanoi has praised the South Vietnamese forces that took part in the battle.

The Battle of the Paracel Islands was a military engagement between the naval forces of China and South Vietnam in the Paracel Islands on January 19, 1974. The battle was an attempt by the South Vietnamese navy to expel the Chinese navy from the vicinity.

La bataille des Îles Paracels est un combat maritime ayant opposé la marine chinoise et les forces navales de la République du Viêt Nam (Sud-Viêt Nam) dans les Îles Paracels le.