United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest

History.

1950s to 1970s.

It was alleged that the United Kingdom were expected to take part in the first contest in 1956, and that they missed the submission deadline and therefore could not take part. This was later revealed by the EBU in January 2017 to be a myth created by fans of the contest. The EBU further went on to explain that the "Festival of British Popular Song", a contest created by the BBC for the United Kingdom, was the inspiration that brought in format changes to the contest elements from the Eurovision Song Contest 1957 onwards. Patricia Bredin was the first performer to represent the UK at Eurovision, finishing seventh in 1957. The UK was the first choice to stage the third contest in 1958, however following a failure to get an agreement from various artistic unions, the BBC withdrew their bid in the summer of 1957 and the UK did not enter for the second and last time to date.  At their second attempt in the contest in 1959, the UK achieved the first of their record fifteen runner-up positions, when Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson sang "Sing, Little Birdie". The UK would achieve four more second-place finishes with Bryan Johnson in 1960, The Allisons in 1961, Matt Monro in 1964 and Kathy Kirby in 1965, before eventually winning for the first time in 1967. Sandie Shaw was already a successful performer, having twice topped the UK singles chart and she comfortably won in Vienna with "Puppet on a String", which became her third UK number one and topped the charts all around Europe. In 1968, another successful performer was selected to represent the UK with the song "Congratulations". In London, Cliff Richard gave the UK their sixth second-place finish, losing to Spain's Massiel. "Congratulations" remains one of only two non-winning UK Eurovision songs to top the UK charts. The UK's second victory was provided by the Scottish singer Lulu, who won with the song "Boom Bang-a-Bang" in 1969, in a four-way tie with France, Spain and the Netherlands. Another established performer, she had reached the US #1 spot with "To Sir with Love" in 1967.  Having finished second on three further occasions in the 1970s, with Mary Hopkin in 1970, The New Seekers in 1972 and The Shadows in 1975. The UK achieved their third victory in 1976 with Brotherhood of Man and "Save Your Kisses for Me", who won with 164 points, which would remain the highest points total for ten years. In 1977, the UK finished second for the tenth time represented by singer-songwriters Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran.

1980s and 1990s.

The UK's fourth victory came in 1981, with Bucks Fizz and "Making Your Mind Up". The group was created especially for the UK televised selection contest, "A Song for Europe" (a programme which in later years would be renamed to "Making Your Mind Up"). At Eurovision in Dublin, they defeated Germany's Lena Valaitis by four points. The group went on to continued success, with 13 UK top 40 hits over the next five years. This would be the last UK win for 16 years, although the country continued to be competitive at the contest with four more second-place results during this time. In 1988, Scott Fitzgerald lost to Celine Dion, who was representing Switzerland, by just one point. In 1989, Live Report lost out to Yugoslavia by seven points. Michael Ball in 1992, also finished second, behind Linda Martin of Ireland. The 1993 entry, Sonia, had already had 10 UK top 30 hits, including a 1989 number one with "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You", when she was selected to represent the UK in Millstreet. With one country (Malta) left to vote, Ireland's Niamh Kavanagh led Sonia by 11 points. By the time it got to the announcement of the 12 points, neither the UK or Ireland had been mentioned. If the UK had received the 12, they would have won by one point. In the end Ireland received the top marks and won by 23 points. Despite only finishing eighth in the 1996 contest, Gina G went on to huge success with her entry "Ooh Ah Just a Little Bit", which became only the second non-winning UK entry to top the UK Singles chart. It also reached the US top 20 and received a Grammy nomination. The UK's fifth victory finally came in 1997, when Katrina and the Waves, famous for their 1980s hit "Walking on Sunshine", comfortably won the contest with the song "Love, Shine a Light". They scored 227 points, which would remain the highest points total of the pre semi-final era. At the 1998 contest in Birmingham, Imaani achieved the UK's 15th second-place finish and 20th top two result, with the song "Where Are You?", losing to Israel's Dana International. The UK, as of 2019, has not finished in the top two since.

21st century.

The UK has fared less well in the contest in the 21st century. Since girl-group Precious finished 12th in 1999, the UK has failed to reach the top ten in all but two of the last 21 contests (1999–2019) – the exceptions being Jessica Garlick, who finished joint third in 2002 with the song "Come Back" (the UK's only top three result of the century), and Jade Ewen. Ewen in particular, was praised for ending the country's poor run of results for much of the decade, by finishing fifth in 2009 with the song "It's My Time", written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Diane Warren. In 2003, the UK finished last for the first time with the duo Jemini, who received the infamous "nul points". This remains the only time the UK has failed to score a single point. The country has finished last on three further occasions, with Andy Abraham, who received 14 points in 2008, Josh Dubovie, who received 10 points in 2010, and Michael Rice who received 11 points in 2019.  In 2011, the BBC chose the boy band Blue to represent the UK, they finished 11th with 100 points. In 2012, the UK were facing calls to quit the contest when the UK entry, Engelbert Humperdinck, finished 25th (out of 26) with only 12 points. However, the UK confirmed their participation in the 2013 contest, with the Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, most famous for her 1983 US and UK number one hit "Total Eclipse of the Heart", who would perform the song "Believe in Me". In Malmö, she finished 19th with 23 points. She went on to win two internationally voted Eurovision Song Contest radio awards for Best Female Singer and Best Song.  In 2014, the BBC internally selected unknown singer Molly Smitten-Downes, through BBC Introducing, which supports new and unsigned acts. She represented the UK in Copenhagen under her artist name Molly. In the final, she performed the song "Children of the Universe", which she co-wrote with Anders Hansson and finished in 17th place with 40 points, having been regarded as one of the favourites to win the contest. In October 2014, Guy Freeman stated that the BBC are still engaging with record companies and the BBC Introducing platform in order to find an entry for the 2015 contest via the internal selection process, but announced that in addition, for the first time since 2008, they are giving the general public the option to submit an entry for consideration. Ultimately, the entry for 2015 came through open submission, with the song "Still in Love with You" performed by the duo Electro Velvet. The song finished in 24th place, with only five points, the UK's worst performance in terms of points tally since the infamous "nul points" of 2003.  On 30 September 2015, the BBC confirmed the national selection show would return in 2016. Six acts competed in the national final on 26 February and the winner was selected entirely through a public vote, consisting of televoting and online voting. "You're Not Alone" performed by Joe and Jake won the national final broadcast live on BBC Four. At the final they came 24th with 62 points in total. Of these only 8 were from the public vote, the second lowest public score, following 0 to the Czech Republic. In spite of the latest disappointing result, the BBC announced that the national final format would be retained for 2017. Six acts again participated in the final, which was held on 27 January 2017. It was broadcast on BBC Two as opposed to BBC Four the previous year, and the winner was determined by a combination of scores from a professional jury and televoting (including votes cast online). Former "X Factor" contestant Lucie Jones won the show and earned the right to represent the UK at the 2017 contest in Kiev, with the song "Never Give Up on You", becoming the 60th UK Eurovision entry. The song was praised for its impressive staging, and finished 15th in the final with a combined score of 111 points, finishing 10th in the jury vote with 99 points and 20th in the televote with 12 points.  After the 2020 contest was cancelled, the BBC announced that BBC Studios would produce "Eurovision: Come Together", a replacement show for BBC One featuring classic Eurovision performances, interviews and a look at the entries that would have taken part in 2020. The show is part of the BBC's plan to "entertain the nation in time of need".

United Kingdom and the "Big Four/Five".

In 1999, a rule change allowed the United Kingdom, along with France, Germany and Spain, to automatically qualify for the Eurovision Song Contest final (irrespective of their recent scores and without entering a semi-final), due to being the biggest financial contributors to the EBU. Due to their untouchable status in the contest, these countries became known as the "Big Four" (which became the "Big Five" in 2011 following the return of Italy to the contest).  In 2008, it was rumoured that the "Big Four" would lose their automatic qualification, and would have to compete in the semi-finals for the first time. However, it was announced by the EBU that this would not be the case and the four countries would still automatically qualify for the final of the 2009 contest without having to enter a semi-final, and this has remained as of 2019.  In 2008, the BBC defended using money from TV licence fee payers for the contest when Liberal Democrat MP Richard Younger-Ross had tabled a Commons motion which called on the corporation to withdraw its £173,000 funding for the annual contest. That same year, former Eurovision commentator Sir Terry Wogan claimed that the show is "no longer a music contest" after the result was announced.  Since the introduction of the Big Four/Five, the United Kingdom has finished last in the contest four times, with Germany finishing last three times. The United Kingdom also has the fewest top ten results of the Big Five in the 21st century, but has achieved more top five results than Spain, having reached the top five in 2002 and 2009, while Spain has not reached the top five since the 1995 contest.

National selection ("You Decide").

As well as broadcasting the contest each year, the BBC also organises the selection process for the entry with a televised national final (historically titled "A Song For Europe"). The process has varied between selecting both performer and song, or just the song, with the artist being selected internally.  For most years the public has been able to vote for the winner, in the past with postcard voting, where the viewers sent postcards with their vote to the BBC, but more recently televoting and online. In 2009 and 2010, the singer was chosen by a public vote and the song internally selected. From 2011 to 2015, there was no televised selection, and both the artist and song were selected internally by the BBC. This resulted in the national selection process being suspended; however, this returned in 2016, re-titled "", with viewers once again choosing which song to enter into the contest. Since 2017, the votes from a professional jury panel have been combined with the public vote to select the winner.  In September 2019, it was announced that the BBC would not hold a public selection for the 2020 contest, and that BBC Studios would partner with record label BMG to produce and release its entry.

Contestants.

Below is a list of all songs and their respective performers that have represented the United Kingdom in the contest:

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Although the United Kingdom was entered twice into "", with Cliff Richard's 1968 runner-up entry "Congratulations" and Brotherhood of Man's 1976 winning song "Save Your Kisses for Me", the BBC decided not to air the event or participate in the voting, but instead aired an hour-long special programme entitled "" hosted by Terry Wogan.

Eurovision Come Together.

Following the cancellation of the 2020 contest due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the BBC decided to host an All Stars contest on the night of what would have been the cancelled 2020 Grand Final. The show broadcast just before the EBU's main replacement show Eurovision Shine A Light. 19 entries were chosen by a panel of experts. Four of them were entries from the United Kingdom.

Hostings.

The United Kingdom has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest a record eight times. The United Kingdom stepped in and hosted the contest for the in, in, in and in due to the winning countries' financial and capacity issues. In four occasions (1968, 1977, 1982 and 1998) the UK was given the right to host as a result of a victory. The BBC offered to joint host the contest in Belfast, Northern Ireland with Irish broadcaster RTÉ if were to win for a fourth year in a row.

Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits.

In 2015, London hosted "Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits", an event to commemorate the 60th anniversary, which was recorded for television on 31 March 2015 and was shown in 26 countries, starting with the UK and Ireland on 3 April 2015.

Related involvement.

Commentators and spokespersons.

Over the years BBC commentary has been provided by several experienced radio and television presenters, including Tom Fleming, David Vine, David Jacobs, Dave Lee Travis, Pete Murray, John Dunn and Michael Aspel. However, Terry Wogan provided BBC TV commentary every year from 1980 to 2008. It was confirmed on 12 August 2008 that Terry Wogan would no longer present the Eurovision Song Contest for the UK. The BBC Radio 2 DJ, who had fronted the BBC's coverage for 37 years, said it was "time for someone else to take over". He was replaced in 2009 by Graham Norton for the final. Norton has continued in the role ever since.  The final of the contest has been broadcast by BBC One (previously BBC Television Service and BBC TV) since the first contest in 1956, the first live colour transmission of the contest in the United Kingdom was the Eurovision Song Contest 1970, the first high definition broadcast of the contest began in 2007 when the contest was simulcast on BBC HD. The final is also broadcast on radio, initially on BBC Light Programme until the 1967 contest. From 1968 it was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 (simulcast on Radio 2), moving to BBC Radio 2 from the 1971 contest where it has remained ever since (except for 1983–1985). Between 1963 and 1976 and from 1980 until 1985 the contest was also broadcast on BFBS Radio. From 2004 to 2015 both semi-finals were broadcast on BBC Three. Since BBC Three became an online only channel in February 2016, semi-final coverage is now broadcast on BBC Four.  In the contest, hosted in Birmingham, Terry Wogan acted as both commentator and on-stage presenter (together with Ulrika Jonsson). In the contest, each song was introduced by a presenter from its country, the United Kingdom entry being introduced by Noel Edmonds.  No British-born broadcaster has either presented or commentated on the live television final for over thirty years, the last being Jan Leeming, host of the contest.  In recent years, the dual-commentator format during the semi-finals has allowed for the broadcaster to incorporate additional segments, interviews and live viewer interaction during the programme's live airing.  In 2019 the BBC launched "Eurovision Calling", a weekly BBC Sounds podcast hosted by Mills and comedian Jayde Adams.

Separate entrants.

For several years the Scottish National Party (SNP) has campaigned for a place in Eurovision for Scotland but had been rejected numerous times because Scotland is represented as a part of the British entry and is represented by the BBC.  On 11 February 2008 the EBU stated that a Scottish broadcaster could apply for EBU membership, but under the current rules could not enter the Eurovision Song Contest as the BBC currently has exclusive rights to represent the entire United Kingdom. It was announced in late May 2008 that the UK would be participating in the 2009 Contest and, therefore, Scotland was not represented in 2009 as a separate entrant.  Scotland could be represented by STV, ITV Border or BBC Scotland. MEP Alyn Smith has said in the European Parliament: "Other small countries have done it [entered the competition] and I will be happy to help any of the broadcasting companies through the progress."  In 2011 the European Broadcasting Union stated that there was nothing to prevent Scotland from submitting its own entry, although STV stated that there were no current plans for a separate entry.  If Scotland were to participate it is unknown whether or not England, Wales and Northern Ireland would show any interest in entering the Eurovision Song Contest independently as well, although S4C (the Welsh language media channel) has expressed an interest and, in addition, already holds a yearly national song contest called "Cân i Gymru" "(Song for Wales)". S4C also considered a bid for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008 but decided not to go ahead. In 2009 MEP for Wales Jillian Evans stated her interest in securing Wales a place in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, Wales could be represented by either BBC Cymru Wales, ITV Wales & West or S4C. There is a small campaign in Northern Ireland for a separate entrant and it could be represented by UTV or BBC Northern Ireland. There are no plans currently for England to enter separately.  However, to date, these proposed changes have not occurred, and the United Kingdom still participates in the Eurovision Song Contest as a single entrant. It was unknown what would happen if Scotland were to become an independent country. However, on 25 November 2013, the Scottish Government released a referendum blueprint which detailed plans for the transfer of BBC Scotland into the Scottish Broadcasting Service (SBS) and joining the EBU, as well as partaking in competitions, including Scottish entries in the Eurovision Song Contest. However, the referendum result on 18 September 2014 was to remain part of the United Kingdom, and the aforementioned BBC retains exclusive rights to represent the United Kingdom, including Scotland.  Since 2006, Gibraltarian broadcaster Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) has been attempting to gain EBU membership and thus participate independently in the Eurovision Song Contest. However GBC cannot obtain EBU membership due to the British Overseas Territory not being independent from the United Kingdom. Gibraltar broadcast the contest and the final of the contest.

The United Kingdom has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 62 times. They first participated in the second contest in 1957. The UK has entered every year since 1959, and along with Sweden and the Netherlands, is one of only three countries with Eurovision victories in four different decades. The United Kingdom is one of the "Big 5", along with France, Germany, Italy and Spain who are automatically allowed to participate in the final as they are the five biggest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The British public broadcaster, the BBC, broadcasts the event each year and organises the national selection for the entry. The UK has won the contest five times, and has finished second on a record fifteen times.


History.

The province was home of the Bồn Man Kingdom (Muang Phuan Kingdom) since the 14th century. Following a Vietnamese invasion in 1478 led by Vietnamese King Lê Thánh Tông, it became of the Đại Việt Kingdom with the capital at Sầm Châu (present-day Xam Neua). The area was known as Hua Phan Tang Ha Tang Hok, 'the fifth and the sixth province", and listed by Auguste Pavie as "Hua Panh, Tang-Ha, Tang-Hoc."  It remained a Vietnamese outpost territory until 1893 when ownership was switched by French authorities back to Laos during the French colonial period. Under the French spelling, the province was usually "Hua Phan".  The province is the home to the Viengxay caves, an extensive network of caves used by the Pathet Lao. Numerous caves in the province served as hideouts for important figures in the Laos in the 1950s and 1960s. Tham Than Souphanouvong Cave was the hideout of the revolutionary leader and later the President, Souphanouvong, who built a base there in 1964. Revolutionary leader and later the President Kaysone Phomvihane hid out in Tham Than Kaysone Cave from 1964, and later President Khamtay Siphandone hid at Tham Than Khamtay Cave from 1964. He established a base there, with meeting rooms, reception rooms and a research room.  Houaphanh Province was noted for its "samana" ('re-education') camps. The Lao royal family were believed to have been taken to one such camp near Sop Hao in 1977. Crown Prince Say Vong Savang allegedly died at the camp in May 1978, followed by his father King Savang Vatthana from starvation, 11 days later.  Religious minorities often face persecution in the province, and at the end of 1999 numerous minorities were arrested.

Geography.

Houaphanh Province covers an area of. The province is bordered by Vietnam to the north, east and southeast, Xiangkhouang Province to the south and southwest, and Luang Prabang Province to the west.  The terrain is rugged, with dense mountainous forest forming much of the province, particularly on the western side. Notable settlements include Xam Neua, Muong U, Houamuang, Chomsan, Muang Pan, Muang Hom, Muang Peu, Muang Xon, Ban Muang-Et, Ban Nampang, Muong Vene, Xamtai, Muang Na, and Poungthak.  The main road running through the province is Route 6. The principal rivers are the Sông Mã (which flows from and into Vietnam, passing the village of Ban Muang-Et) and the Nam Sam (which the town of Xam Neua lies on).

Protected areas.

Areas of Houaphanh Province are in the Nam Et-Phou Louey National Biodiversity Conservation Area (NBCA) and the Nam Xam National Biodiversity Conservation Area. There are also some Important Bird Areas (IBA).  The Nam Neun IBA area of Nam Et is adjacent to the NBCA. Nam Neun is 85,450 ha in size, and is at an elevation of. The habitat is characterized as mixed deciduous forest, as well as dry evergreen forest, with stands of bamboo, and occasional conifers; cleared areas have been replaced by areas of secondary grassland. Key avifauna include great hornbill ("Buceros bicornis") and Blyth's kingfisher ("Alcedo hercules").  The Phou Louey Massif IBA is in the Nam Et-Phou Louey NBCA and adjacent to the Nam Neun IBA. The Phou Louey IBA stretches beyond Houaphanh Province into Luang Prabang Province. It is 60,070 ha in size and is at an elevation of. The habitat is characterized as mixed deciduous forest, semi-evergreen forest, lower montane evergreen forest, upper montane evergreen forest, and secondary grassland. Key avifauna include beautiful nuthatch ("Sitta formosa"), rufous-necked hornbill ("Aceros nipalensis"), Blyth's kingfisher ("Alcedo hercules"), and yellow-vented warbler ("Phylloscopus cantator"). There are four confirmed species of turtles and two confirmed species of ungulate.  The 69,000 hectare Nam Xam IBA is in the 70,000 ha Nam Xam National Biodiversity Conservation Area (NBCA). The IBA's elevation varies between. The topography is characterized by hills and low mountains. The habitat includes dry evergreen forest, Fokienia forest, mixed deciduous forest, as well as stunted, mossy upper montane forest. Notable avifauna includes beautiful nuthatch ("Sitta formosa"), brown hornbill ("Anorrhinus tickelli"), great hornbill ("Buceros bicornis"), red-collared woodpecker ("Picus rabieri"), and rufous-necked hornbill ("Aceros nipalensis").

Administrative divisions.

The province is made up of the following districts:

Economy.

Houaphanh Province is one of the poorest areas of Laos. In 1998, three quarters of the population were classified as poor. In 2002 GDP per capita was US$50–204, compared to the national average of US$350. Socio-economic problems plague the province, with an infant mortality rate and access to safe water and medical facilities far worse than the national average.  Bamboo is important in rural parts of the province and used as a principal building material. Women play a key role in the collecting of bamboo shoots. In Viengxay District there are two bamboo processing factories that produce items such as floormats, fences, chopsticks and toothpicks for the Vietnamese market. Overall though, the bamboo industry is undeveloped, and many find it difficult to find profitable markets for their goods.  Xam Neua, the provincial centre, is the most important market centre for regional trade. Many villagers come here to sell their goods, especially handicrafts and textiles that the people of the province are famed for. Saleu and Nasala villages in Xiengkho District along Route 6 are noted for their skills at weaving and handicrafts. Samtay is noted for its textiles.  Rice farming is widely practiced in the province, although agriculture employs less than livestock farming. Principal cash crops include corn, sesame, soybean, and medicinal plants such as "man on ling", "duk duea", and "kalamong", paper mulberry, styrax, cardamon and cinnamon. Up to 15 percent are involved in opium cultivation and up to 10 percent involved in making handicrafts. Attempts to control poppy cultivation have been made through the Narcotics Crop Control Project and the Houaphanh Project Agreement.  A tourism development plan has been created for the province, capitalizing on the caves as tourist attractions, providing information and services at the sites.  Asian Development Bank launched a project in 2006 specifically covering 31 villages of Xam Neua and Samtay Districts to wean people away from shifting cultivation practices and to eliminate opium addiction; as of 2006, opium was grown in the province in an area of about 30 ha. The project covers programs to increase income, conserve forest resources, opium eradication and experimenting with pilot projects to enhance livelihood sources.

Demography.

The population of the province, as of 2015, was 289,393. The capital is Xam Neua. Minority groups such as the Phong inhabit this province.

Landmarks.

Viengxay is known as a "Hidden Cave City," the heart of the Pathet Lao Liberation Movement in 1964 to 75 when 20,000 people lived in the caves with facilities such as offices, hospital, temples, markets, school, and entertainment centre.  Historical attractions here are  Wat Pho Xai or Wat Pho Xaysanalam is on the outskirts of Sam Neua. Hintang Archaeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the most important pre-historic sites in northern Laos, dotted with about 2,000-year-old "menhirs" (standing stones) or megaliths, which were unearthed in 1931. Locals refer to it as Sao Hin Tang, meaning "Standing Stone Pillars". It is also known as the Stonehenge of Laos, with many stones. Apart from these finds, funerary burial sites with artifacts of ancient trinkets, standing rock slabs and stone disks were found. These archaeological finds are older than the Plain of Jars and are seen along a 12-km mountain ridge in the southern part of the province. Local animists believe that the stone discs at the site once sat atop the megaliths and fed Jahn Han, the sky spirit. from Sam Neua is the Ban Tham Buddha Cave. Tat Saloei (Phonesai) Waterfall lies off the road to Nam Noen, about south of Sam Neua.  The Nameuang Hot Springs is another landmark amidst the valley of paddy fields on the way to Xamneua, where there is a Houaiyad waterfall close. The springs are the source of a small river. In Houaiyad village, crashed aircraft parts and cans of war relics are recycled into belts.

Houaphanh Province (Laotian: ຫົວພັນ ; Romanization of Lao: "Houaphan") is a province in eastern Laos. Its capital is Xam Neua.


Early life and education.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Iowa State University in 1993 and a Master of Arts in Student Affairs Administration from Michigan State University in 1995.

Early career.

After graduating from college Lawrence became depressed after a string of "100+ rejection letters", he became promiscuous and noting he was good at sex someone suggested he became a male hustler, which he did. He commanded an hourly rate of more than GB£250 (), which was much higher than average, which he attributed to his devotion to customer and self-satisfaction as well as his well-developed website, "By the time someone calls me for an appointment they already know who I am." Lawrence is versatile performing both top and bottom sex roles. Lawrence worked in escorting from December 1993 to 2006. In addition to travel throughout the U.S., he traveled with clients on trips to Mexico and several locations in Europe, including Hungary, Germany, Ireland, and the Czech Republic.

Modeling, films and writing.

A self-professed geek, Lawrence launched his first website in 1997, but it lasted less than a month before being shut down by AOL for "objectionable content". He quickly built a replacement on a private ISP promoting his escorting, modeling, and eventually movies and writings. In 1999 he was Probie nomination for Best Web Presence. Lawrence's website was well-designed and offered updates on his availability and any appearances, as well as chronicling his experiences.  In 1997 Lawrence appeared in a low-budget porn film titled "Pushover" and began recording and releasing his own amateur videos that same year. He cites his entry into pornographic films as a "logical extension" to his entrepreneurial approach. "Porn is a great way for career escorts to increase demand for their services, which in turn means more money." He also started modeling professional and was featured on Twink Search, a site specializing in twinks - young-looking gay men with a slender build, little or no body hair and no facial hair. His first self-produced film, "Aaron Jacks Off" (1997), was followed by "Aaron's Boys Tell All" in 1998. Inspired to become more muscular he works out and in February 1998 is the featured model at www.CruisingForSex.com. In August 1998 he modeled for "Skinflicks" magazine while promoting "Pushover". In September 1998 he did his first full magazine layout for "Freshmen (magazine)". In November he appeared as the featured model on www.Boyweb.com in addition to other websites running his photos in connection to his promotion to find models for his own films. In January 1999 "Unzipped" featured him as one of five rising porn stars of 1999. In May 1999, coinciding with the release of "Dream Team", "XXX Showcase" profiled his career in the sex industry. "Suburban Hustler: Stories of a Hi-Tech Callboy" also garnered both LGBT and mainstream media attention, including the "New York Blade" which ran an article on Lawrence, and "Unzipped", which reprinted an entire chapter. He became a cover model for "First Hand" magazine, and several radio interviews and a story in "The Guide" magazine also helped promote the book and author.  By the time his books and movies were succeeding, his website regularly kept subscribers updated with every step of his career, including his 1999 marriage and "folksy" requests like his search for a housekeeper. When he went on cross-country trips to promote his books or movies, he would invariably have clients on hand to buy his products. The website also contained a paid subscriber area offering sexually explicit images of himself and models he recruited, as well as an online cinema offering video clips from himself and other amateur filmmakers. He included detailed descriptions and even photos of his sexual exploits around the world, all designed to help sell his books, movies and "even a "dildo based on a mold of his 8-inch erection". Using a laptop computer and modem while at film shoots, he offered well-narrated voyeuristic experiences of gay sex, often trying to share cultural differences between countries.  In August 1999, Aaron's Advice, a syndicated online sex advice column, was launched. Lawrence's modeling continued a successful run with the cover of "Encounter Pages", a supplement to the "Dallas Voice" and the centerfold of "Inches" magazine. The 2000 "Adam Gay Video Guide", an early publication documenting the industry including the Gay Erotic Video Awards, listed Lawrence and he was covered in "Best of the Superstars : 2000 : The Year in Sex".  The first of his travel films, "Aaron's American Tour 1" and "Aaron's American Tour 2", were filmed in 2000 while traveling in the US. He would edit and upload videos after each trip in order to finance the next one. He filmed his first foreign-country films in 2001, the two-part "Aaron's Adventures in Amsterdam 1" and "Aaron's Adventures in Amsterdam 2". Eventually he would record films in Russia,; London; Thailand; Ukraine; Latvia; the Czech Republic'; and Slovakia. He produced a total of 36 amateur films, ending with "Aaron's Bareback Orgy" in 2003. "Aaron's Russian Boy Orgy" received a nomination for "Best Amateur Video" at the 2002 Gay Entertainment Awards, where he was also nominated for "Best Amateur Performer" and "Best Gay Author".  During the production of his own amateur films he continued to perform in productions for other studios; in 1999 he appeared in "Virgin No More", a film produced by All Worlds Video. For his role in Studio 2000's "Dream Team (1999 pornographic film)", he was nominated for "Best Supporting Actor" at the GayVN Awards. He also appeared in "Eric Magyar Goes West", an amateur film he did not produce.  In October 2000 he released his second book, "The Male Escort's Handbook: Your Guide to Getting Rich the Hard Way" (2000), a "how-to" guide for those considering work as companions-for-hire. Although generally well-received, there were some individuals who would confront him and accused him of "encouraging" others to take up escort work. He defended the book, pointing out that gay men worldwide were already hustling and he was showing them how to do it safely, in order to avoid being the victim of hate crimes, sexually transmitted diseases and personal safety issues.

Videography.

Lawrence also acted in most of the films he directed.

Aaron Lawrence (born March 29, 1971) is an American gay pornographic film actor, director, sex advice columnist, author and entrepreneur. After graduating from college Lawrence embarked on an unplanned male hustling career, which he parlayed into both a writing and acting career. Lawrence, who is openly gay, then started his own gay pornographic video company utilizing his international travels as an escort to shoot amateur pornography films. He has authored two books, "Suburban Hustler: Stories of a Hi-Tech Callboy" (1999), an account of his own experiences as a male escort, and "The Male Escort's Handbook: Your Guide to Getting Rich the Hard Way" (2000), a "how-to" guide for those considering work as companions-for-hire. He has also written articles for several publications, including "Anything That Moves" and "Unzipped". While advertising himself, and speaking and writing about the gay and bisexual escort industry, he has helped revolutionize the public relation aspects.


Description.

fNIRS is based on the absorption of near infrared light by hemoglobin. The light moves, or propagates, through the head and lends information about blood volume, flow and oxygenation. This technique is safe, non-invasive, and can be used with other imaging modalities.  To specify, fNIRS is a non-invasive imaging method involving the quantification of chromophore concentration resolved from the measurement of near infrared (NIR) light attenuation or temporal or phasic changes. fNIRS spectrum light takes advantage of the optical window in which (a) skin, tissue, and bone are mostly transparent to NIR light (700–900 nm spectral interval) and (b) hemoglobin (Hb) and deoxygenated-hemoglobin (deoxy-Hb) are strong absorbers of light. These are the principals adapted from pulse oximeters.  There are six different ways for infrared light to interact with the brain tissue: direct transmission, diffuse transmission, specular reflection, diffuse reflection, scattering, and absorption. fNIRS focuses on absorption: differences in the absorption spectra of deoxy-Hb and oxy-Hb allow the measurement of relative changes in hemoglobin concentration through the use of light attenuation at multiple wavelengths. Two or more wavelengths are selected, with one wavelength above and one below the isosbestic point of 810 nm—at which deoxy-Hb and oxy-Hb have identical absorption coefficients. Using the modified Beer-Lambert law (mBLL), relative concentration can be calculated as a function of total photon path length.  Typically, the light emitter and detector are placed ipsilaterally (each emitter/detector pair on the same side) on the subject's skull so recorded measurements are due to back-scattered (reflected) light following elliptical pathways. fNIRS is most sensitive to scalp and skull, so in order to have an increased sensitivity to the superficial cortex, there needs to be a larger source-detector ratio.

Modified Beer–Lambert law.

Changes in light intensity can be related to changes in relative concentrations of hemoglobin through the modified Beer–Lambert law (mBLL). The Beer lambert-law has to deal with concentration of hemoglobin. This technique also measures relative changes in light attenuation as well as using mBLL to quantify hemoglobin concentration changes.

History.

US & UK.

In 1977, Jöbsis reported that brain tissue transparency to NIR light allowed a non-invasive and continuous method of tissue oxygen saturation using transillumination in neonates. Transillumination (forward-scattering) was of limited utility in adults because of light attenuation and was quickly replaced by reflectance-mode based techniques - resulting in development of NIRS systems proceeding rapidly. Then, by 1985, the first studies on cerebral oxygenation were conducted by M. Ferrari. Later, in 1989, following work with David Delpy at University College London, Hamamatsu developed the first commercial NIRS system: NIR-1000 Cerebral Oxygenation Monitor. NIRS methods were initially used for cerebral oximetry in the 1990s. In 1993, four publications by Chance et al "PNAS", Hoshi & Tamura "J Appl Physiol", Kato et al "JCBFM," Villringer "et al" "Neuros. Lett." demonstrated the feasibility of fNIRS in adult humans. NIRS techniques were further expanded on by the work of Randall Barbour, Britton Chance, Arno Villringer, M. Cope, D. T. Delpy, Enrico Gratton, and others. Currently, wearable fNIRS are being developed.

Japan.

Meanwhile, in the mid-80's, Japanese researchers at the central research laboratory of Hitachi Ltd set out to build a NIRS-based brain monitoring system using a pulse of 70-picosecond rays. This effort came into light when the team, along with their leading expert, Dr Hideaki Koizumi (小泉 英明), held an open symposium to announce the principle of "Optical Topography" in January 1995. In fact, the term "Optical Topography" derives from the concept of using light on "2-Dimensional mapping combined with 1-Dimensional information", or "topography". The idea had been successfully implemented in launching their first fNIRS (or Optical Topography, as they call it) device based on Frequency Domain in 2001: Hitachi ETG-100. Later, Harumi Oishi (大石 晴美), a PhD-to-be at Nagoya University, published her doctoral dissertation in 2003 with the subject of "language learners' cortical activation patterns measured by ETG-100" under the supervision of Professor Toru Kinoshita (木下 微)—presenting a new prospect on the use of fNIRS. The company has been advancing the ETG series ever since.

Spectroscopic techniques.

Currently, there are three modalities of fNIR Spectroscopy:  1. Continuous Wave  2. Frequency Domain  3. Time-Domain

Continuous Wave.

Continuous Wave (CW) system uses light sources with constant frequency and amplitude. In fact, to measure absolute changes in HbO concentration with the mBLL, we need to know photon path-length. However, CW-fNIRS does not provide any knowledge of photon path-length, so changes in HbO concentration are relative to an unknown path-length. Many CW-fNIRS commercial systems use estimations of photon path-length derived from computerized Monte-Carlo simulations and physical models, to approximate absolute quantification of hemoglobin concentrations.  formula_1  Where formula_2 is the optical density or attenuation, formula_3 is emitted light intensity, formula_4 is measured light intensity, formula_5 is the attenuation coefficient, formula_6 is the chromophomore concentration, formula_7 is the distance between source and detector and formula_8 is the differential path length factor, and formula_9 is a geometric factor associated with scattering.  When the attenuation coefficients formula_10 are known, constant scattering loss is assumed, and the measurements are treated differentially in time, the equation reduces to:  formula_11  Where formula_12 is the total corrected photon path-length.  Using a dual wavelength system, measurements for HbO and Hb can be solved from the matrix equation:  formula_13  Due to their simplicity and cost-effectiveness, CW-fNIRS is by far the most common form of functional NIRS since it is the cheapest to make, applicable with more channels, and ensures a high temporal resolution. However, it does not distinguish between absorption and scattering changes, and cannot measure absolute absorption values: which means that it is only sensitive to "relative" change in HbO concentration.  Still, the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of CW-based devices prove themselves to be the most favorable for a number of clinical applications: neonatal care, patient monitoring systems, diffuse optical tomography, and so forth. Moreover, thanks to its portability, wireless CW systems have been developed—allowing individuals to be monitored in ambulatory, clinical and sports environments.

Frequency Domain.

Frequency Domain (FD) system comprises NIR laser sources which provide an amplitude-modulated sinusoid at frequencies near 100 MHz. FD-fNIRS measures attenuation, phase shift and the average path length of light through the tissue. Multi-Distance, which is a part of the FD-fNIRS, is insensitive to differences in skin color—giving constant results regardless of subject variation.  Changes in the back-scattered signal's amplitude and phase provide a direct measurement of absorption and scattering coefficients of the tissue, thus obviating the need for information about photon path-length; and from the coefficients we determine the changes in the concentration of hemodynamic parameters.  Because of the need for modulated lasers as well as phasic measurements, FD system-based devices are more technically complex (therefore more expensive and much less portable) than CW-based ones. However, the system is capable of providing absolute concentrations of HbO and HbR.

Time Domain.

Time Domain (TD) system introduces a short NIR pulse with a pulse length usually in the order of picoseconds—around 70 ps. Through time-of-flight measurements, photon path-length may be directly observed by dividing resolved time by the speed of light. Information about hemodynamic changes can be found in the attenuation, decay, and time profile of the back-scattered signal. For this photon-counting technology is introduced, which counts 1 photon for every 100 pulses to maintain linearity. TD-fNIRS does have a slow sampling rate as well as a limited number of wavelengths. Because of the need for a photon-counting device, high-speed detection, and high-speed emitters, time-resolved methods are the most expensive and technically complicated.  TD-based devices are totally immobile, space-consuming, the most difficult to make, costliest, hugest, and heaviest. Even so, they have the highest depth sensitivity and are capable of presenting most accurate values of baseline hemoglobin concentration and oxygenation.

Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy.

Diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) systems use localized gradients in light attenuation to determine absolute ratios of oxy-Hb and deoxy-Hb. Using a spatial measurement, DCS systems do not require knowledge of photon path-length to make this calculation, however measured concentrations of oxy-Hb and deoxy-Hb are relative to the unknown coefficient of scattering in the media. This technique is most commonly used in cerebral oxymetry systems that report a Tissue Oxygenation Index (TOI) or Tissue Saturation Index (TSI).

System Design.

A few open-source fNIRS models are available online:

Data Analysis Software.

HOMER3.

HOMER3 allows users to obtain estimates and maps of brain activation. It is a set of matlab scripts used for analyzing fNIRS data. This set of scripts has evolved since the early 1990s first as the Photon Migration Imaging toolbox, then HOMER1 and HOMER2, and now HOMER3.

NIRS Toolbox.

It is the most recent one. This toolbox is a set of Matlab based tools for the analysis of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). This toolbox defines the +nirs namespace and includes a series of tools for signal processing, display, and statistics of fNIRS data. This toolbox is built around an object-oriented framework of Matlab classes and namespaces..

AtlasViewer.

AtlasViewer allows fNIRS data to be visualized on a model of the brain. In addition, it also allows the user to design probes which can eventually be placed onto a subject.

Application.

Brain–computer interface.

fNIRS has been successfully implemented as a control signal for Brain-Computer Interface systems.

Cerebral Oximetry.

NIRS monitoring is helpful in a number of ways. Preterm infants can be monitored reducing cerebral hypoxia and hyperoxia with different patterns of activities. It is an effective aid in Cardiopulmonary bypass, is strongly considered to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs and extended stays.  There are inconclusive results for use of NIRS with patients with traumatic brain injury, so it has been concluded that it should remain a research tool.

fNIRS Cap.

fNIRS electrode locations and names are specified by the International 10–20 system. In addition to the standard positions of electrodes, short separation channels can be added. Short separation channels allow the measurement of scalp signals. Since the short separation channels measure the signal coming from the scalp, they allow the removal of the signal of superficial layers. This leaves behind the actual brain response. Short separation channel detectors are usually placed 8mm away from a source. They do not need to be in a specific direction or in the same direction as a detector.

Functional Neuroimaging.

The use of fNIRS as a functional neuroimaging method relies on the principle of neuro-vascular coupling also known as the haemodynamic response or blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) response. This principle also forms the core of fMRI techniques. Through neuro-vascular coupling, neuronal activity is linked to related changes in localized cerebral blood flow. fNIRS and fMRI are sensitive to similar physiologic changes and are often comparative methods. Studies relating fMRI and fNIRS show highly correlated results in cognitive tasks. fNIRS has several advantages in cost and portability over fMRI, but cannot be used to measure cortical activity more than 4 cm deep due to limitations in light emitter power and has more limited spatial resolution. fNIRS includes the use of diffuse optical tomography (DOT/NIRDOT) for functional purposes. Multiplexing fNIRS channels can allow 2D topographic functional maps of brain activity (e.g. with Hitachi ETG-4000, Artinis Oxymon, NIRx NIRScout, etc.) while using multiple emitter spacings may be used to build 3D tomographic maps.

Hyperscanning.

Hyperscanning involves two or more brains monitored simultaneously to investigate interpersonal (across-brains) neural correlates in various social situations, which proves fNIRS to be a suitable modality for investigating live brain-to-brain social interactions.

Music and the Brain.

fNIRS can be used to monitor muscians' brain activity while playing musical instruments.

Pros and Cons.

The advantages of fNIRS are, among other things: noninvasiveness, low-cost modalities, perfect safety, high temporal resolution, full compatibility with other imaging modalities, and multiple hemodynamic biomarkers.  However, any system can't be without its limitations. For fNIRS those include: low brain sensitivity, low spatial resolution, and shallow penetration depth.

Future Direction.

Despite a few limitations, fNIRS devices are relatively small, lightweight, portable and wearable. Thanks to these features, applications for the devices are astounding—which make them easily accessible in many different scenarios. For example, they have the potential to be used in clinics, a global health situation, a natural environment, and as a health tracker.  Ultimately, future at-risk individuals in hospitals could benefit from neuromonitoring and neurorehabilitation that fNIRS can offer.

fNIRS Compared with other neuroimaging techniques.

Comparing and contrasting other neuroimaging devices is an important thing to take into consideration. When comparing and contrasting these devices it is important to look at the temporal resolution, spatial resolution, and the degree of immobility. EEG (electroencephalograph) and MEG (magnetoencephalography) have high temporal resolution, but a low spatial resolution. EEG also has a higher degree of mobility than MEG has. When looking at fNIRS, they are similar to an EEG. They have a high degree of mobility as well as temporal resolution, and they have low spatial resolution. PET scans and fMRIs are grouped together, however they are distinctly different from the other neuroimaging scans. They have a high degree of immobility, medium/high spatial resolution, and a low temporal resolution. All of these neuroimaging scans have important characteristics and are valuable, however they have distinct characteristics.  Among all other facts, what makes fNIRS a special point of interest is that it is compatible with some of these modalities, including: MRI, EEG, and MEG.

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), or Optical Topography as it is called in Japan exclusively, is the use of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for functional neuroimaging. Using fNIRS, cerebral hemodynamic responses are measured by near-infrared light, which go in line with cerebral activation or deactivation. In particular, this technology is capable of visualizing changes both in oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin concentration.


Historical overview.

Throughout history, precious metals such as gold and silver have been used for trade, sometimes in the form of bullion, and from early history the coins of various issuers – generally kingdoms and empires – have been traded. The earliest known records of pre-coinage use of precious metals for monetary exchange are from Mesopotamia and Egypt, dating from the third millennium BC. Early money took many forms, apart from bullion; for instance bronze spade money which became common in Zhou dynasty China in the late 7th century BC. At that time, forms of money were also developed in Lydia in Asia Minor, from where its use spread to nearby Greek cities and later to many other places.  Sometimes formal monetary systems have been imposed by regional rulers. For example, scholars have tentatively suggested that the Roman king Servius Tullius created a primitive monetary system in the early history of Rome. Tullius reigned in the sixth century BC - several centuries before Rome is believed to have developed a formal coinage system.  As with bullion, early use of coinage is believed to have been generally the preserve of the elite. But by about the 4th century BC coins were widely used in Greek cities. They were generally supported by the city state authorities, who endeavoured to ensure they retained their values regardless of fluctuations in the availability of whatever base or precious metals they were made from. From Greece the use of coins spread slowly westwards throughout Europe, and eastwards to India. Coins were in use in India from about 400 BC; initially they played a greater role in religion than in trade, but by the 2nd century they had become central to commercial transactions. Monetary systems that were developed in India were so successful that they spread through parts of Asia well into the Middle Ages.  As a variety of coins became common within a region, they were exchanged by moneychangers, the predecessors of today's foreign exchange market, as mentioned in the Biblical story of Jesus and the money changers. In Venice and the other Italian city states of the early Middle Ages, money changers would often have to struggle to perform calculations involving six or more currencies. This partly led to Fibonacci writing his Liber Abaci which popularised the use of Indo-Arabic numerals, which displaced the more difficult Roman numerals then in use by western merchants. When a given nation or empire has achieved regional hegemony, its currency has been a basis for international trade, and hence for a "de facto" monetary system. In the West – Europe and the Middle East – an early such coin was the Persian daric. This was succeeded by Roman currency of the Roman Empire, such as the denarius, then the Gold Dinar of the Ottoman Empire, and later – from the 16th to 20th centuries, during the Age of Imperialism – by the currency of European colonial powers: the Spanish dollar, the Dutch guilder, the French franc and the British pound sterling; at times one currency has been pre-eminent, at times no one dominated. With the growth of American power, the US dollar became the basis for the international monetary system, formalised in the Bretton Woods agreement that established the post–World War II monetary order, with fixed exchange rates of other currencies to the dollar, and convertibility of the dollar into gold. The Bretton Woods system broke down, culminating in the Nixon shock of 1971, ending convertibility; but the US dollar has remained the "de facto" basis of the world monetary system, though no longer "de jure", with various European currencies and the Japanese yen also being prominent in foreign exchange markets. Since the formation of the Euro, the Euro has also gained use as a reserve currency and a medium of transactions, though the dollar has remained the most important currency.  A dominant currency may be used directly or indirectly by other nations: for example, English kings minted the gold mancus, presumably to function as dinars to exchange with Islamic Spain; colonial powers sometimes minted coins that resembled those already used in a distant territory; and more recently, a number of nations have used the US dollar as their local currency, a custom called dollarization.  Until the 19th century, the global monetary system was loosely linked at best, with Europe, the Americas, India and China (among others) having largely separate economies, and hence monetary systems were regional. European colonization of the Americas, starting with the Spanish empire, led to the integration of American and European economies and monetary systems, and European colonization of Asia led to the dominance of European currencies, notably the British pound sterling in the 19th century, succeeded by the US dollar in the 20th century. Some, such as Michael Hudson, foresee the decline of a single base for the global monetary system, and the emergence instead of regional trade blocs; he cites the emergence of the Euro as an example. See also Global financial systems, world-systems approach and polarity in international relations. It was in the later half of the 19th century that a monetary system with close to universal global participation emerged, based on the gold standard.

History of modern global monetary orders.

The pre WWI financial order: 1816–1919.

From the 1816 to the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the world benefited from a well-integrated financial order, sometimes known as the "first age of globalisation".  There were monetary unions which enabled member countries to accept each other's currencies as legal tender. Such unions included the Latin Monetary Union (Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, France) and the Scandinavian monetary union (Denmark, Norway and Sweden). In the absence of shared membership of a union, transactions were facilitated by widespread participation in the gold standard, by both independent nations and their colonies. Great Britain was at the time the world's pre-eminent financial, imperial, and industrial power, ruling more of the world and exporting more capital as a percentage of her national income than any other creditor nation has since.  While capital controls comparable to the Bretton Woods system were not in place, damaging capital flows were far less common than they were to be in the post 1971 era. In fact Great Britain's capital exports helped to correct global imbalances as they tended to be counter-cyclical, rising when Britain's economy went into recession, thus compensating other states for income lost from export of goods. Accordingly, this era saw mostly steady growth and a relatively low level of financial crises. In contrast to the Bretton Woods system, the pre–World War I financial order was not created at a single high level conference; rather it evolved organically in a series of discrete steps. The Gilded Age, a time of especially rapid development in North America, falls into this period.

Between the World Wars: 1919–1939.

The years between the world wars have been described as a period of "de-globalisation", as both international trade and capital flows shrank compared to the period before World War I. During World War I, countries had abandoned the gold standard. Except for the United States, they later returned to it only briefly. By the early 1930s, the prevailing order was essentially a fragmented system of floating exchange rates. In this era, the experience of Great Britain and others was that the gold standard ran counter to the need to retain domestic policy autonomy. To protect their reserves of gold, countries would sometimes need to raise interest rates and generally follow a deflationary policy. The greatest need for this could arise in a downturn, just when leaders would have preferred to lower rates to encourage growth. Economist Nicholas Davenport  had even argued that the wish to return Britain to the gold standard "sprang from a sadistic desire by the Bankers to inflict pain on the British working class."  By the end of World War I, Great Britain was heavily indebted to the United States, allowing the US to largely displace it as the world's foremost financial power. The United States, however, was reluctant to assume Great Britain's leadership role, partly due to isolationist influences and a focus on domestic concerns. In contrast to Great Britain in the previous era, capital exports from the US were not countercyclical. They expanded rapidly with the United States' economic growth in the 1920s until 1928, but then almost completely halted as the US economy began slowing in that year. As the Great Depression intensified in 1930, financial institutions were hit hard along with trade; in 1930 alone, 1345 US banks collapsed. During the 1930s, the United States raised trade barriers, refused to act as an international lender of last resort, and refused calls to cancel war debts, all of which further aggravated economic hardship for other countries. According to economist John Maynard Keynes, another factor contributing to the turbulent economic performance of this era was the insistence of French premier Clemenceau that Germany pay war reparations at too high a level, which Keynes described in his book The Economic Consequences of the Peace.

The Bretton Woods Era: 1944–1973.

British and American policy makers began to plan the post-war international monetary system in the early 1940s. The objective was to create an order that combined the benefits of an integrated and relatively liberal international system with the freedom for governments to pursue domestic policies aimed at promoting full employment and social wellbeing. The principal architects of the new system, John Maynard Keynes and Harry Dexter White, created a plan which was endorsed by the 42 countries attending the 1944 Bretton Woods conference, formally known as the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference. The plan involved nations agreeing to a system of fixed but adjustable exchange rates so that the currencies were pegged against the dollar, with the dollar itself convertible into gold. So in effect this was a gold – dollar exchange standard. There were a number of improvements on the old gold standard. Two international institutions, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank were created. A key part of their function was to replace private finance as a more reliable source of lending for investment projects in developing states. At the time the soon to be defeated powers of Germany and Japan were envisaged as states soon to be in need of such development, and there was a desire from both the US and Britain not to see the defeated powers saddled with punitive sanctions that would inflict lasting pain on future generations. The new exchange rate system allowed countries facing economic hardship to devalue their currencies by up to 10% against the dollar (more if approved by the IMF) – thus they would not be forced to undergo deflation to stay in the gold standard. A system of capital controls was introduced to protect countries from the damaging effects of capital flight and to allow countries to pursue independent macro economic policies  while still welcoming flows intended for productive investment. Keynes had argued against the dollar having such a central role in the monetary system, and suggested an international currency called bancor be used instead, but he was overruled by the Americans. Towards the end of the Bretton Woods era, the central role of the dollar became a problem as international demand eventually forced the US to run a persistent trade deficit, which undermined confidence in the dollar. This, together with the emergence of a parallel market for gold in which the price soared above the official US mandated price, led to speculators running down the US gold reserves. Even when convertibility was restricted to nations only, some, notably France, continued building up hoards of gold at the expense of the US. Eventually these pressures caused President Nixon to end all convertibility into gold on 15 August 1971. This event marked the effective end of the Bretton Woods system; attempts were made to find other mechanisms to preserve the fixed exchange rates over the next few years, but they were not successful, resulting in a system of floating exchange rates.

The post Bretton Woods system: 1973– present.

An alternative name for the post Bretton Woods system is the Washington Consensus. While the name was coined in 1989, the associated economic system came into effect years earlier: according to economic historian Lord Skidelsky the "Washington Consensus" is generally seen as spanning 1980–2009 (the latter half of the 1970s being a transitional period). The transition away from Bretton Woods was marked by a switch from a state led to a market led system. The Bretton Wood system is considered by economic historians to have broken down in the 1970s: crucial events being Nixon suspending the dollar's convertibility into gold in 1971, the United States' abandonment of capital controls in 1974, and the UK's ending of capital controls in 1979 which was swiftly copied by most other major economies.  In some parts of the developing world, liberalisation brought significant benefits for large sections of the population – most prominently with Deng Xiaoping's reforms in China since 1978 and the liberalisation of India after its 1991 crisis.  Generally the industrial nations experienced much slower growth and higher unemployment than in the previous era, and according to Professor Gordon Fletcher in retrospect the 1950s and 60s when the Bretton Woods system was operating came to be seen as a golden age.  Financial crises have been more intense and have increased in frequency by about 300% – with the damaging effects prior to 2008 being chiefly felt in the emerging economies. On the positive side, at least until 2008 investors have frequently achieved very high rates of return, with salaries and bonuses in the financial sector reaching record levels.

The "Revived Bretton Woods system" identified in 2003.

From 2004, economists such as Michael P. Dooley, Peter M. Garber, and David Folkerts-Landau began writing papers describing the emergence of a new international system involving an interdependency between states with generally high savings in Asia lending and exporting to western states with generally high spending. Similar to the original "Bretton Woods", this included Asian currencies being pegged to the dollar, though this time by the unilateral intervention of Asian governments in the currency market to stop their currencies appreciating. The developing world as a whole stopped running current account deficits in 1999 – widely seen as a response to unsympathetic treatment following the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. From 2004, This supposed "New Bretton Woods", as a "fiction", and called for the elimination of the structural imbalances that underlie it, viz, the chronic US current account deficit.  However, since at least 2007 those authors have also called for a new "de jure" system: for key international financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank to be revamped to meet the demands of the current age, and between 2008 and mid-2009 the term "New Bretton Woods" was increasingly used in the latter sense. By late 2009, with less emphases on structural reform to the international monetary system and more attention being paid to issues such as re-balancing the world economy.  Since 2011, Sanjeev Sanyal, a colleague of Dooley, Garber and Folkerts-Landau has taken the framework a step further to argue that periods of global economic expansions are almost always underpinned by symbiotic imbalances. Such imbalances cause distortions but are an inevitable part of expanding economic ecosystems. Thus, he argues that the next round of economic growth will again be underpinned by a return to global imbalances, probably with China supplying capital and the US again running deficits to absorb it. He names this relationship Bretton Woods III.

Calls for a "New Bretton Woods".

Leading financial journalist Martin Wolf has reported that all financial crises since 1971 have been preceded by large capital inflows into affected regions. While ever since the seventies there have been numerous calls from the global justice movement for a revamped international system to tackle the problem of unfettered capital flows, it was not until late 2008 that this idea began to receive substantial support from leading politicians. On September 26, 2008, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, then also the President of the European Union, said, "We must rethink the financial system from scratch, as at Bretton Woods."  On October 13, 2008, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said world leaders must meet to agree to a new economic system: However, Brown's approach was quite different from the original Bretton Woods system, emphasising the continuation of globalization and free trade as opposed to a return to fixed exchange rates. There were tensions between Brown and Sarkozy, who argued that the "Anglo-Saxon" model of unrestrained markets had failed. However European leaders were united in calling for a "Bretton Woods II" summit to redesign the world's financial architecture. President Bush was agreeable to the calls, and the resulting meeting was the 2008 G-20 Washington summit. International agreement was achieved for the common adoption of Keynesian fiscal stimulus, an area where the US and China were to emerge as the world's leading actors. Yet there was no substantial progress towards reforming the international financial system, and nor was there at the 2009 meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos Despite this lack of results leaders continued to campaign for "Bretton Woods II". Italian Economics Minister Giulio Tremonti said that Italy would use its 2009 G7 chairmanship to push for a "New Bretton Woods." He had been critical of the U.S.'s response to the global financial crisis of 2008, and had suggested that the dollar may be superseded as the base currency of the Bretton Woods system.  Choike, a portal organisation representing Southern Hemisphere NGOs, called for the establishment of "international permanent and binding mechanisms of control over capital flows" and as of March 2009 had achieved over 550 signatories from civil society organisations. March 2009 saw Gordon Brown continuing to advocate for reform and the granting of extended powers to international financial institutions like the IMF at the April G20 summit in London, Also during March 2009, in a speech entitled "Reform the International Monetary System", Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the People's Bank of China came out in favour of Keynes's idea of a centrally managed global reserve currency. Dr Zhou argued that it was unfortunate that part of the reason for the Bretton Woods system breaking down was the failure to adopt Keynes's bancor. Dr Zhou said that national currencies were unsuitable for use as global reserve currencies as a result of the Triffin dilemma – the difficulty faced by reserve currency issuers in trying to simultaneously achieve their domestic monetary policy goals and meet other countries' demand for reserve currency. Dr Zhou proposed a gradual move towards increased use of IMF special drawing rights (SDRs) as a centrally managed global reserve currency His proposal attracted much international attention. In a November 2009 article published in Foreign Affairs magazine, economist C. Fred Bergsten argued that Dr Zhou's suggestion or a similar change to the international monetary system would be in the United States' best interests as well as the rest of the world's.  Leaders meeting in April at the 2009 G-20 London summit agreed to allow $250 Billion of SDRs to be created by the IMF, to be distributed to all IMF members according to each countries voting rights. In the aftermath of the summit, Gordon Brown declared "the Washington Consensus is over". However, in a published during September 2009, Professor Robert Skidelsky, an international expert on Keynesianism, argued it was still too early to say whether a new international monetary system was emerging.  On Jan 27, in his opening address to the 2010 World Economic Forum in Davos, President Sarkozy repeated his call for a new Bretton Woods, and was met by wild applause by a sizeable proportion of the audience.  In December 2011, the Bank of England published a paper arguing for reform, saying that the current International monetary system has performed poorly compared to the "Bretton Woods system". In August 2012 in an "International Herald Tribune" op-ed, Harvard University professor and director of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation Hal S. Scott called for a global response to the Euro-zone crisis. He wrote that two failures to address European problems around German power had led to world wars in the 20th century and that the current crisis was also beyond the capacity of Europe, with Germany again at the center, to solve on their own. Accepting that leadership transitions were underway in both China and America, Scott called on all concerned—with Japan included with China and America—to begin organizing a global restructuring through the International Monetary Fund with possibly a Bretton Woods II conference as part of the process. "MarketWatch" commentator Darrell Delamaide endorsed Scott's idea but concluded "unfortunately it’s not likely to happen". He added first the example of the failure of Europe to address successfully the breakup of Yugoslavia without outside assistance as a reason for his endorsement. But he found U.S. presidential and Treasury Department leadership and IMF leadership dramatically lacking in the capacity to mount an initiative such as Scott proposed.

An international monetary system is a set of internationally agreed rules, conventions and supporting institutions that facilitate international trade, cross border investment and generally the reallocation of capital between nation states. It should provide means of payment acceptable to buyers and sellers of different nationalities, including deferred payment. To operate successfully, it needs to inspire confidence, to provide sufficient liquidity for fluctuating levels of trade, and to provide means by which global imbalances can be corrected. The system can grow organically as the collective result of numerous individual agreements between international economic factors spread over several decades. Alternatively, it can arise from a single architectural vision, as happened at Bretton Woods in 1944.


Background.

In the late-1980s, Jim Henson had been in talks with Disney CEO Michael Eisner to sell Jim Henson Productions to the Walt Disney Company. In August 1989, the two officially announced a deal for Disney to purchase Jim Henson Productions for $150 million. The deal fell through several months after Jim Henson's death in 1990.  Despite the collapse of the merger deal, by 1992, Disney and Jim Henson Productions had already struck a number of deals:  The Henson family subsequently sold the entirety of the Jim Henson Company to German conglomerate EM.TV in 2000. In 2003, the Henson family repurchased The Jim Henson Company from EM.TV.

History.

Muppets Holding Company.

Eisner, still interested in the Muppet properties, re-opened negotiations with the Hensons and announced the purchase of "The Muppets" and "Bear in the Big Blue House" assets from The Jim Henson Company for $75 million on February 17, 2004. The acquired Muppet assets were then placed into The Muppets Holding Company with Chris Curtin as general manager within Disney Consumer Products. One of the first appearances that the Muppets made after the purchase was on the TV special "The Nick and Jessica Variety Hour" in April 2004, starring Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. A new website was launched in November 2004 and the Muppets made an appearance on the 2004 Christmas episode of "Saturday Night Live".  The first Muppet production under full Disney control, "The Muppets' Wizard of Oz", went into production immediately and aired on ABC in May 2005. On July 30, 2005, Animal and Pepe the King Prawn made appearance on The X Games 11 Preview show of All Access on ESPN2. Bear's first appearance under Disney's control was in the reality show, "Breakfast With Bear" in 2005.  A fiftieth birthday tour for Kermit, "Kermit's World Tour" was planned with leadership changes made just days before the tour began. The tour made its initial three stops before being canceled: Kermit, Texas; Johnson Space Center tour; and cake with The Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, NYC. Following Eisner's exit from Disney, new CEO Bob Iger removed the head of the Muppets Holding Company and several senior staff members hand-picked by Eisner. The Muppets Holding Company was then paired with Baby Einstein (before it was acquired by Kids II, Inc. in 2013) under Senior Vice President and General Manager R. Russell Hampton, Jr.  ABC, in October 2005, commissioned "America's Next Muppet", a script and five script outlines, but ABC was reluctant to green light "America's Next Muppet", and it never got out of the planning stage. Muppet Holding's new general manager instead licensed the Muppets out to TF1, a French television network, to produce "Muppet TV" in September 2006.

The Muppets Studio.

In 2006, the Muppets Holding Company was transferred from the Disney Consumer Products unit to The Walt Disney Studios; with studio executives passing on oversight, the unit was placed in the special events group. That same year, Disney contracted with Puppet Heap to rebuild, maintain, and create puppet characters for the Muppets Studio. In April 2007, the Muppets Holding Company changed its name to The Muppets Studio under new leadership by Special Events Group SVP Lylle Breier.  In 2008, The Muppets Studio began a licensing agreement with F.A.O. Schwarz to create a Muppet-themed boutique where customers can design their own Muppet. In 2013, Disney Theatrical Productions revealed that a show based on The Muppets was in active development and that a 15-minute show had been conducted by Thomas Schumacher to see how the technical components would work out.  The company was transferred in 2014 to Disney's new media unit, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media, specifically DCPI Labs. On April 3, 2015, a series of shorts named "Muppets Moments" premiered on Disney Junior. The series features conversations between the Muppets and young children. By April, Bill Prady was commissioned to write a script for a new Muppets pilot with the title "The Muppets". A new series, called "Muppets Now", is planned for 2020 for the streaming service Disney+.  Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media became part of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products in a March 2018 company reorganization.

The Muppets Studio, LLC, formerly The Muppets Holding Company, LLC, is a wholly owned entertainment subsidiary of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, formed in 2004 through The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of The Muppets and "Bear in the Big Blue House" intellectual properties from The Jim Henson Company.


History.

In 1990, Disney Consumer Products discontinued its license for "Topolino", an Italian Mickey Mouse magazine. This led Michael Lynton, the Disney Consumer Products business development director, to start up its own Magazine Group with the similarly outlaid "Disney Adventures". Through Walt Disney Publications, Inc., Disney Publishing launched Disney Comics in the United States. That same year, Disney began publishing "Disney Adventures". In 1991, Disney Publishing purchased "Discover" magazine from Family Media, placing it within its Magazine Group and purchased the "FamilyFun Magazine" after its second issue from Jake Winebaum.

Incorporated.

The Disney Publishing Group (DPG) was incorporated in January 1992, and included the already formed Hyperion Books, Hyperion Books for Children, Disney Press and its units.  In 1994, DPG launched the Mouse Works and Fun Works divisions in February and November, respectively, in order to publish interactive children books. By April, the Magazine Group agreed with Ziff-Davis Publishing Company to a joint venture publication, "Family PC", to be launched in September. In June, Lynton left his position as senior vice president of DPG to become president of Disney's Hollywood Pictures.  In March 1995, with the market too crowded with Disney books, DPG merged Hyperion Books for Children with the Disney Press units. In August, Disney Magazine Publishing was reorganized into three divisions, each headed by a vice president/group publisher: Disney Family Magazines, Disney Kids Magazines, and Disney Special Interest Magazines. Family Magazines and Special Interest Magazines were expected to acquire additional publications beyond their single titles, "Family Fun" and "Discover" respectively. Special Interest Magazines' publisher was assigned responsibility for the Discovery Channel TV show, "Discover Magazine". Kids Magazines included the newly developed Big Time weekly newspaper supplement to have a Fall 1996 launch. Magazine President Jake Winebaum was transferred to head up Disney Online. On May 11, 1998 Disney Publishing was renamed Buena Vista Publishing Group.

Disney Publishing Worldwide.

In April 1999, Buena Vista Publishing Group changed its name to Disney Publishing Worldwide, Inc. (DPW) with Hyperion Books transferred to Disney's ABC Television Group.  Disney Publishing launched its first original comic book, "W.I.T.C.H.", in 2001. It was successful, selling one million copies per month by August 2004, and was adapted into an animated series. In mid-2001, DPW and Baby Einstein (which Disney acquired later that year) agreed to publish a baby book line to introduce fine art, foreign languages, poetry, and classical music. Gemstone Publishing licensed the rights to publish Disney comics from DPW beginning in June 2003. Following its collapse in June 2004, the CrossGen trademark and properties were purchased by DPW's educational publishing division that November for its reading aids, with additional publications based on CrossGen books. The Disney Consumer Products' Disney Fairies franchise debuted in September 2005, when Disney Publishing unveiled the novel "Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg" paired with a virtual world. The first book in The Kingdom Keepers series, based on Disney Parks and Disney Villains, was released August 29, 2005.  In 2005, "Discover Magazine" was sold to Bob Guccione Jr. and the "Disney" magazine was shut down. In February 2006, "Wondertime" magazine, which focused on mothers of children up to age six, was launched. DPW licensed out CrossGen to Checker Publishing Group to reprint comic book series as trade paperback editions starting in February 2007.  In February 2007, Disney merged its kids and family focused television, online, radio, and publishing businesses' advertising sales and promotion teams into Disney Media Advertising Sales and Marketing Group, all of which were overseen by the presidents of Disney Channels Worldwide, Walt Disney Internet Group, and DPW. DPW canceled "Disney Adventure" with its November 2007 issue.  By 2009, Disney Publishing Worldwide was organized into three divisions: Global Book Group, Disney English, and Global Magazines with four revenue areas: Global Magazines, Global Books, U.S. Magazines, and Disney English. Disney Publishing launched Disney Digital Books on September 29 with five hundred books online. In 2009, Disney Press released "Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen", the first of the Villains book series written by Serena Valentino.  Disney Publishing Worldwide (India), a division of Walt Disney Company (India), announced a licensing agreement in April 2009 with local publisher Junior Diamond to publish Disney comic books, in both English and Hindi. On December 8, 2010, DPW's India unit signed a multi-year contract with India Today Group to print and distribute Disney comics in India.  With few books issued under the imprint, Marvel Worldwide and Disney Books Group relaunched the Marvel Press imprint in 2011 with the Marvel Origin Storybooks line. In November DPW announced a new publication, "FamilyFun Kids", a bi-monthly magazine with kids' craft, games, puzzles, and recipes. In January 2012, DPW agreed to sell "Family Fun Magazine" to the Meredith Corporation.  By September 2012, the White Plains, New York office was closed with staff being moved to Glendale after less than 5 years after moving from New York City. Fifty sales and marketing staff moved to New York City to join editors that remained there.  In January 2013, DPW launched the Never Girls book series, an extension of the Disney Fairies franchise, with publishing partner Random House. With the June 2013 announcement of the Hyperion Books division sale, Hyperion's adult trade book list was sold to Hachette Book Group. Books related to existing Disney–ABC Television Group properties, young adult titles, and Disney-Hyperion imprint and titles were transferred to DPW. By January 2014, the Kingswell name was selected as a placeholder imprint name for the Hyperion titles withheld from the Hyperion division sale; Kingwell Avenue was Disney's location before moving to Hyperion Avenue.  In November 2013, Disney Publishing revived Disney Comics as an imprint in the US for sporadic publishing. The imprint's first publication was the "Space Mountain" graphic novel, its first original graphic novel, released on May 7, 2014.  Disney Publishing Worldwide transferred the Disney Fairies franchise main publishing license to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in January 2014 except for the Never Girls series. DPW announced in April 2014 that Del Rey Books would publish a new line of canon Star Wars books under the Lucasfilm Story Group from September onward on a bi-monthly schedule while previous, non-canon, Expanded Universe material would be reprinted under the Star Wars Legends banner.  Disney Publishing has been a focus for Disney Consumer Products to launch new franchises. In May 2014, DPW released the first book in the Waterfire Saga mermaid book series, along with a song and music videos. Disney's first deal with Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment resulted in The Zodiac Legacy book series, with the first novel released in January 2015 through DPW. The Never Girls chapter series reached the "New York Times" Best Sellers List - Children's Series on the week of August 10. Disney Learning launched its Disney Imagicademy program on December 11. At that time, DPW was organized into three main units: Core Publishing, Digital Publishing, and Disney Learning.  Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media (DCPI) was formed in June 2015 as merger of Disney Consumer Products and Disney Interactive with Disney Publishing Worldwide reporting to the co-chairs of DCPI. DPW launched Star Darlings, its first franchise under DCPI, on September 15, 2015 with two books.  In October 2015, Disney Publishing announced the launch of the Freeform imprint to coincide with the relaunch of ABC Family as Freeform. This imprint was to be headed up by editor-in-chief and associate publisher Emily Thomas Meehan and would focus on young-adult and teen crossover fiction and nonfiction working with Freeform channel partners to develop new intellectual property from both developing and bestselling authors. The first book from Freeform was "Two Truths and a Lie", written by Melissa de la Cruz and Margaret Stohl, and was the first in a trilogy.  Disney-Hyperion started a new imprint, Rick Riordan Presents, for middle grade readers featuring mythology-based books by September 2016. Riordan would act as in a curator-type role and his editor, Stephanie Owens Lurie, would be editorial director of the imprint. The imprint was planned to be launched with two books in 2018. By April 2017, the imprint had acquired three titles for its 2018 launch with audio rights sold to Listening Library. Riordan Presents first book, "Aru Shah and the End of Time", will be written by Roshani Chokshi to be published in April 2018 and will be the first in a quartet of novels. The other two, Yoon Ha Lee's "Dragon Pearl" Korean folklore novel and Jennifer Cervantes’s Mayan based "Storm Runner" novel, will be stand alone novels released in September 2018.  As part of The Walt Disney Company’s March 2018 strategic reorganization, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media was merged into Walt Disney Parks and Resorts segment and renamed Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. With the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney by August 2019, National Geographic Partners publishing operations, NG Media, were transferred to Disney Publishing while ending Traveler magazine's US edition.  With group publisher Mary Ann Naples exiting to Hachette Books, in May Disney Publishing promoted two to take up Naples duties. Lynn Waggoner continued as vice president and global publisher, franchise while adding Disney Press, Marvel Press, Lucasfilm Press, and Disney Editions imprints. Emily Thomas Meehan moved up from director, editor-in-chief and associate publisher of the Disney Book Group to vice president and publisher of Hyperion, original content strategy and IP development.  In February 2020, Hachette Book Group acquired 1,000 titles for young readers from Disney Book Group. These books will be re-released by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Franchises.

Disney Publishing launched unplanned franchises starting with "W.I.T.C.H." in 2001. DPW's educational division purchased the CrossGen comic book assets in November 2004. DPW was then drafted as an outlet for Disney Consumer Products' planned franchises: Disney Fairies, Disney Bunnies (and their extensions), the Never Girls book series, and Disney Princess Palace Pets apps. DPW started to originate planned franchises with the "Waterfire Saga" in 2014 and "The Zodiac Legacy" and "Star Darlings" in 2015.

Waterfire Saga.

Waterfire Saga is a Disney Publishing franchise based on mermaids launched in May 2014 as a multimedia release around a core book series.

Waterfire history.

The Waterfire Saga was developed by Disney Publishing's various departments after some years of considering doing a mermaid mythology project. A 200-page franchise bible was compiled that included cultures, story arcs, images of the undersea world and its inhabitants, and main character profiles. In the summer of 2011, Global Books' publisher Suzanne Murphy approached Jennifer Donnelly to write the book series. Donnelly agreed.  In early 2014, Disney Publishing Worldwide announced the launch of the Waterfire Saga. By March 2014, Donnelly had already finished work on the first two books and had started on the third. The first novel, "Deep Blue", was released under the Disney-Hyperion imprint on May 6, 2014 with a print run of 250,000 copies and a national book tour. The novel's marketing plan included advertising in print, TV, and in-theater; ABC Family and Hollywood Records would run additional promotions as well as a retail floor display with riser. A song and music videos were included in the simultaneous e-book edition release. The book was released simultaneously in the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain. Other foreign editions were to be released in late 2014 and early 2015. The second book in the series, "Rogue Wave", was released in January 2015. In 2015, DPW's Milan comic unit was scheduled to start issuing comics and graphic novels to expand the franchise. "Dark Tide" was released Summer 2015 and the final book, "Sea Spell" was released in Summer 2016.

Plot.

Merpeople came into existence after their ancestors' island of Atlantis was destroyed.  The four-book series centers around six mermaids who try to save their world. "Deep Blue" initially focuses on Serafina, a mermaid of the Mediterranean Sea, who has a premonitory dream about an ancient evil returning on the eve of her betrothal. Her mother is hit by assassin’s poisoned arrow, which confirms the dream. She has additional visions that lead her to find five other mermaids across the world's oceans. The six bond and find a world threatening conspiracy.

Additional media.

An audio book version of "Deep Blue" was recorded by Bea Miller released through Listening Library. In 2015, DPW's Milan comic unit was to begin issuing yet to be announced comics and graphic novels to expand the franchise. The song “Open Your Eyes” was issued through Hollywood Records, and is sung by Bea Miller.

Zodiac Legacy.

"The Zodiac Legacy"' is a superhero franchise created by Stan Lee that debuted in illustrated novels published by Disney Publishing with POW! Entertainment under the Disney Press imprint. Working with Stan Lee on the books are co-writer Stuart Moore and Andie Tong, artist.  The first illustrated novel, "The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence" was released on January 27, 2015. The second novel in the illustrated series, "The Dragon's Return", was released on January 26, 2016. "Dragon's Return" made the New York Times best seller list for the week ending January 30, 2016. With Papercutz, the first Zodiac Legacy graphic novel, "Tiger Island", hit the stands on March 30, 2016 with the writing team joined by artist Paris Cullins. In early April 2017, the third and final book in the trilogy, "The Balance of Power", was released. By that time, a second Papercutz graphic novel in the series was released with art from P.H. Marcondes. In July 2017, the third graphic novel was released.  Plot: The series follows a Chinese-American eighth grader from Philadelphia going on a Hong Kong class trip and finds himself involved with an ancient secret unleashing twelve Zodiac magical superpowers. The eighth grader, Steven, has to deal with being a superhero and how that effects him family and friends as he ends up in the middle of a worldwide adventure. With the second book, Steven attempts to keep his allies together as they enter a grey area.

Star Darlings.

Star Darlings is a Disney Publishing multimedia franchise based on an original wish-granting fey people called the Starlings. Star Darlings is a trademark of Star Darlings, LLC. owned by DPW.  Barry Waldo was selected to manage the franchise, which is an inspirational brand targeted at tweens designed to: "celebrate their individuality, make positive choices, and turn their wishes into reality". Justice is the franchise's primary retail partner carrying Jakks Pacific doll line, clothing, and books. Disney Stores would carry a limited product line.  The Star Darlings plot is about 12 young Starlings at Starling Academy on Starland who learn about Wishworld (Earth) and are selected to go on a secret mission there. Sage, Libby and Leona are the Star Darlings up first for books with the other nine being Adora, Astra, Cassie, Clover, Gemma, Piper, Scarlet, Tessa and Vega.

Star Darlings history.

Shana Muldoon first registered a trademark for the Star Darling name in 2009, but it was considered abandoned for lack of use on. Shana Muldoon Zappa, Ahmet Zappa, and Disney Publishing began development in 2011 on Star Darlings. On, Star Darlings, LLC filed to register the trademark with two extensions granted with the last given on.  The franchise was announced at the D23 convention in and launched on with two chapter books "Sage and the Journey to Wishworld" and "Libby and the Class Election". Kirkus Reviews found the first volume, "Sage and the Journey to Wishworld", to be "complicated, retrograde, and very sparkly" and for ages seven to eleven.  On September 24, 2015, a social media event and a press day would be held for the franchise as part of its launch phase of the marketing campaign. Expected releases through November are the Jakks dolls at Justice, a storytelling and lifestyle app, music through Walt Disney Records and the first episode of a YouTube animated series.  In 2016, two animated specials based on Star Darlings were broadcast on Disney Channel, "Becoming Star Darlings" on January 29 and "Star Darlings Friendships" on March 25. The TV specials featured a remixed version of the Star Darlings theme song by teen singer-songwriter Skylar Stecker. The remixed theme song was also featured in a music video. Another TV special, "The Power of Twelve" (22 minutes) was broadcast on Disney Channel on November 26, 2016.  The future of this series is unknown as three books that were supposed to be released after "Stealing Starlight" were canceled, with no new franchise activity after its release on January 17, 2017. However, Shana Muldoon Zappa said on Twitter that there is "an exciting reason" for things being put on hold.  <br>

Units.

Hyperion Books for Children.

Hyperion Books for Children (HBC) and Disney Press were both launched in 1990. The Disney Publishing Group was incorporated in January 1992 and included the already formed Hyperion Books, Hyperion Books for Children, Disney Press, and other units. In March 1995 with the market too crowded with Disney books, Hyperion Books for Children merged with Disney Press. Hyperion Books for Children started a new imprint, Jump at the Sun, in September 1998 for the African-American children's market. DPW slated Abadazad four book series from its CrossGen property for publication after purchasing the CrossGen assets under this imprint.

Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), formerly known as The Disney Publishing Group and Buena Vista Publishing Group, is the publishing subsidiary of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Its imprints include Disney Editions, Disney Press, Kingswell, Freeform, and Hyperion Books for Children. It has creative centers in Glendale, California, and in Milan, Italy.