Teh J-Lo

Jennifer Lopez(born July 24, 1969), popularly nicknamed J.Lo, is a Golden Globe Award-nominated Puerto Rican-American actress, Grammy Award-nominated singer, songwriter, dancer, and fashion designer. She is often considered as one of the world's most beautiful women. She is known as the triple-threat in the entertainment business. She is the richest Latin American in Hollywood according to Forbes magazine and also the most influential Hispanic entertainer in America according to People en Español's list of 100 Most Influential Hispanics which pays tribute to Hispanics who have had an impact on their communities.

Early years

Jennifer Lopez was born and raised in the Castle Hill neighborhood in the Bronx, New York City, New York to Puerto Rican parents Guadalupe Rodríguez and David Lopez. Lopez spent her entire academic career in Catholic schools. She also financed singing and dancing lessons for herself from the age of nineteen. After leaving a one semester-long career at Baruch College, Lopez divided her time between working in a legal office, dance classes, and dance performances in Manhattan clubs at night. After months of auditioning for dance roles, Lopez was selected as a dancer for various rap artists' music videos, and was given a guest spot on the American Music Awards. After being rejected for the gig twice, Lopez gained her first regular high-profile gig as a "Fly Girl" dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color in 1991. Soon after, Jennifer Lopez became a back-up dancer for famed singer Janet Jackson and made an appearance in her 1993 video "That's the Way Love Goes".

Acting

Contrary to popular belief Lopez's Hollywood career actually started when she released her first album, before her television debut. Lopez has appeared on the short-lived television programs South Central, Second Chances, and Hotel Malibu, and the made-for-television film Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7. Lopez broke into the big screen in 1995, in the drama My Family and then appeared opposite Wesley Snipes in the action film Money Train. Lopez has also played roles in Francis Ford Coppola's 1996 comedy Jack starring Robin Williams, and the 1997 thriller Blood and Wine with Jack Nicholson. Lopez played the lead role in the 1997 film Selena for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for "Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy" in 1998. She also became the first Latin actress to get paid $1 million or more for a film role.[3] Some of her other critically-acclaimed films include Selena, Out of Sight, The Cell, and An Unfinished Life. Lopez's performances were less well-received in the financially successful films The Wedding Planner, Maid in Manhattan, and Monster-in-Law.

Lopez has finished shooting two new independent films: Bordertown and El Cantante. El Cantante was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival where it got mixed reviews, the critics agreeing on Lopez's driving performance and her on-screen chemistry with Marc Anthony. Bordertown was shown at the Brussels Film Festival. Both movies are surrounded by Oscar buzz for Jennifer Lopez. Her performance in both movies is said to be the best in all her career.

In May 2006, MTV gave the greenlight on her executively produced reality show, DanceLife. The show will follow the lives of six aspiring dancers as their struggle to make it in the competitive world of professional dance. Lopez, who took an active role in selecting the show's participants, is also slated to make cameo appearances over the course of the season and the show's eight-episode run is scheduled to begin on January 15, 2007.

The producer of Dreamgirls, Laurence Mark expressed its desire to work with Jennifer Lopez who presented him an award at the 2007 Golden Globe Awards. "It would enchant to me to continue making musical and in special making a musical comedy with Jennifer Lopez".

Lopez's debut album On the 6, a reference to the 6 subway line she used to take growing up in Castle Hill, was released on June 1, 1999, and reached the top ten of the Billboard 200. The album featured the multi-week Billboard Hot 100 number-one lead single, "If You Had My Love", as well as the top ten hit "Waiting for Tonight". It also contained the Spanish-language, Latin-flavored duet "No Me Ames" with Marc Anthony. Though "No Me Ames" never had a commercial release, it reached number one on the U.S. Hot Latin Tracks. Despite this, the music video for "No Me Ames" received moderate airplay on the music channels VH1 (United States) and The Box (United Kingdom). On the 6 also featured guest artists such as Big Pun and Fat Joe on the track "Feelin' So Good". It failed to make the top fifty of the Billboard Hot 100. "Let's Get Loud", the final single, earned Lopez a Grammy Award nomination in the "Best Dance Recording" category in 2001. "Waiting for Tonight" was nominated for the same category the previous year. "No Me Ames" received two nominations at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards – "Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" and "Best Music Video".

Lopez's second album, J. Lo, was released on January 23, 2001 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The lead single, "Love Don't Cost a Thing", was her first number-one single in the United Kingdom and took her into the top five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. She followed it up with "Play" which gave her another top twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number three in the UK. Her next two singles were "I'm Real" and "Ain't It Funny" which were quickly rising up the charts. To capitalize on this, Lopez asked The Inc. Records (then known as Murder Inc.) to remix both songs, which featured rap artists Ja Rule (on both) and Caddillac Tah (on the "Ain't It Funny" remix). Both remixes reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for several weeks. She re-released J. Lo on her thirty-second birthday with the remix of "I'm Real" as a bonus track. Following the success of the album re-release, Lopez decided to devote an entire album to the remixing effort, releasing J to tha L-O!: The Remixes, on February 5, 2002. This album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first remix album in history to debut at the top on the chart.[4] Featured artists on J to tha L-O!: The Remixes included P. Diddy, Fat Joe, and Nas, and the album also included rare dance and hip-hop remixes of past singles.

On November 26, 2002, Lopez released her third studio album, This Is Me... Then, which reached number two on the Billboard 200 and spawned four singles: "Jenny from the Block" (featuring Jadakiss and Styles P), which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100; "All I Have" (featuring LL Cool J), which spent multiple weeks at number one; "I'm Glad"; and "Baby I Love U!". This album included a cover of Carly Simon's 1978 "You Belong to Me". In 2004, Lopez once again participated in a duet with Marc Anthony, called "Escapémonos", this time on his 2004 albums Amar Sin Mentiras and Valió la Pena. Lopez and Anthony performed "Escapémonos" at the 2006 Grammy Awards.

Rebirth (2005)

After a year away from the music scene, Lopez released her fourth studio album, Rebirth, on March 1, 2005. Although debuting and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200, the album quickly fell off the charts. It spawned one hit in "Get Right", which reached the top fifteen in the U.S. and became her second Platinum hit (after "If You Had My Love"). "Get Right" was also successful in the UK, becoming her second number-one single there. The second single, "Hold You Down", which featured Fat Joe, reached number sixty-four on the U.S. Hot 100; it peaked at number six in the UK and ascended to the top twenty in Australia. Rebirth was certified Platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA.

Lopez was later featured in the LL Cool J's song, "Control Myself", which was released on February 1, 2006. It reached number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart. It was Lopez's first U.S. top ten hit in three years.

She is to release her first full Spanish-language album, titled Como Ama Una Mujer, on April 3, 2007. The lead single, the ballad "Qué Hiciste" (Spanish for "What Did You Do"), was released to radio stations in January 2007. The follow-up single is rumored to be the title track of the album. Its music video is said to be shot in Puerto Rico.

She is also working on her fifth English studio album, in which she is working with producer Swizz Beats. "It's coming out incredible", he said. "We're putting together some great things, and not what everyone's expecting. Think a little Jamiroquai, a little Sade. It's real feel-good music". Other producers are Timbaland, Cory Rooney, and Jermaine Dupri. It has been confirmed to be released in November 2007 and that Jonathan "J.R." Rotem is working on some tracks as well.[5]

Jennifer further confirmed reports of the English album on her red carpet interview for E! at the 2007 Golden Globe Awards, saying that she had been working on the Spanish album for the last 2 years and the new English album for the past 8 months.