Elegant Woman - Shakira, Gerard Pique's Girlfriend

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2, 1977), known mononymously as Shakira (of Arabic origin meaning "thankful"), is a Colombian singer-songwriter, dancer, record producer, choreographer and model who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s. Born and raised in Barranquilla, Shakira began performing in school, demonstrating her vocal ability with rock and roll, Latin and Arabic influences with her own original twist on belly dancing. Shakira is a native Spanish speaker and also speaks fluent English and Portuguese as well as some Italian, Catalan and Arabic.

After a poor commercial reception with local producers on her first two albums, and being little-known outside Colombia, Shakira decided to produce her own brand of music. In 1995 she released Pies Descalzos, which brought her to prominence in Latin America and Spain; her 1998 album, Dónde Están los Ladrones?, was a critical success selling over 7 million copies worldwide.

In 2001, aided by the worldwide success of her first English single "Whenever, Wherever" that became the best selling single of 2002, she broke through into the English-speaking world with the release of Laundry Service, which sold over 15 million copies worldwide. Four years later, Shakira released two album projects called Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation Vol. 2. Both reinforced her success, particularly with the best selling song of the 2000s, "Hips Don't Lie". In 1997, Shakira founded the Pies Descalzos Foundation. It is a Colombian charity with special schools for poor children all around Colombia. During her career, Shakira has performed at a large number of benefit concerts. Among the most famous are the Live 8 benefit concert in July 2005, the Live Earth concert, Hamburg where she headlined the show, as well as the "Clinton Global Initiative" created by former US President Bill Clinton. She was also invited to the Oval Office by President Barack Obama in February 2010 to discuss early childhood development.

In 2000, Shakira started dating Antonio de la Rúa. In a 2009 interview, Shakira stated their relationship already worked as a married couple, and that "they don't need papers for that." On January 10, 2011, Shakira announced on her website that after 11 years together, she and de la Rúa had separated in August 2010 after making "a mutual decision to take time apart from our romantic relationship." She wrote that the couple "view this period of separation as temporary and as a time of individual growth as we continue to be partners in our business and professional lives", with de la Rúa overseeing Shakira's "business and career interests as he has always done."

Shakira is currently in a relationship with Gerard Piqué, centre back for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national football team. Shakira officially confirmed their relationship on March 29, 2011, via Twitter and Facebook posting a picture of the two with a caption reading, "I present to you my sunshine." It was the first time she'd ever spoken of the relationship. In September 2012, Shakira confirmed that she and Piqué are expecting their first child together.

 

Elegant Woman - Nina Dobrev, Bulgarian actress and model

 

Nina Dobrev (born Nina Constantinova Dobreva; January 9, 1989) is a Bulgarian actress and model. She played the role of Mia Jones, the single teenage mother, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, from the show's sixth to ninth season. She currently stars as Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce on The CW American television teen drama, The Vampire Diaries.

Nina Dobrev was born in Sofia, Bulgaria as Нина Константинова Добрева, and moved to Canada at the age of two, where she was raised in Toronto, Ontario. She speaks fluent French, English, and Bulgarian. She has an older brother, Alexander; her father is a computer specialist and her mother is an artist.

Dobrev attended J. B. Tyrrell Sr. Public School, where she started ballet and jazz classes, and competed in rhythmic gymnastics. Then, she attended Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts in Scarborough, Ontario and Ryerson University in Toronto, majoring in sociology. She left in 2006 to pursue her acting career.

 

 

  

Elegant Woman - Kelly Brook, English model and actress

Kelly Brook (born Kelly Ann Parsons; 23 November 1979) is an English model, actress, entrepreneur, and television presenter.
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Brook was born and brought up in Rochester, Kent, England. She is the daughter of Sandra, a cook, and Kenneth Parsons, a scaffolder. She has a younger brother, Damian, and an older half-sister, Sasha. Kenneth died aged 57 in Rochester from lung cancer on 26 November 2007, during Brook's time on Strictly Come Dancing.

Brook attended the Thomas Aveling School in Warren Wood, Rochester. She then studied at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London for three years before becoming a professional model.

 

Elegant Woman - Dayana Mendoza, Miss Universe 2008

Dayana Sabrina Mendoza Moncada (born June 1, 1986 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a model and beauty pageant titleholder who won the titles of Miss Venezuela 2007 and Miss Universe 2008.

Mendoza has stated that she enjoys "design, photography, advertising and wave surfing." She was once kidnapped in Venezuela, and stated the trauma taught her to remain poised under pressure.

In 2001, Mendoza signed with Elite Model Management and was a finalist at the Elite Model Look International 2001, in Nice, France. She has worked with the companies Max Mara and Costume Nacional, where she modeled in New York, Italy, Germany, France, Athens and Spain for Versace, Roberto Cavalli and other fashion designers. She speaks Spanish, English, and Italian. After Elite, she signed to Trump Model Management, and in Milan, Names Model Agency.

Dayana beat 27 other candidates to win Miss Venezuela 2007 on September 13, 2007, and became only the second woman representing the Amazonas state to win (the first being Carolina Izsak in 1991). She was crowned Miss Universe 2008 at the pageant in the Crown Convention Center, Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 13, 2008. Mendoza became the first winner of the pageant from Venezuela since Miss Universe 1996's winner Alicia Machado, thus making her the first Venezuelan Miss Universe in the 21st century.

Miss Universe 2007 Riyo Mori crowned her with a tiara worth 120,000 U.S. dollars. Her prize package includes cash, a year contract promoting Miss Universe, world travel, a rent-free, prestigious New York City flat, luxury apartment and a gift bag stuffed with designer shoes, dresses and beauty products, a $100,000 stipend for a 2-year course at the New York Film Academy and free access to famous fashion houses and beauty parlors. Mendoza will spend her year-long reign traveling the world to lecture on humanitarian issues and to promote education regarding HIV/AIDS.

 

Elegant Woman - Hilary Duff, American actress

Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, and book author. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, Duff gained fame playing the title role in the Disney Channel television series Lizzie McGuire. She subsequently has appeared in films, including The Lizzie McGuire Movie, Cheaper by the Dozen, A Cinderella Story and Cheaper by the Dozen 2.

As a singer, Duff released an RIAA-certified triple-platinum debut album, Metamorphosis. Her next two albums, Hilary Duff and Most Wanted, were certified platinum. Her 2007 album Dignity was certified gold and spawned her highest charting US single as of 2011, "With Love". Best of Hilary Duff, a greatest-hits compilation, was released in late 2008. Duff has sold over 13 million records worldwide. Billboard ranked her the 69th best selling artist of the 2000s.

Duff has also launched her own clothing lines, Stuff by Hilary Duff and Femme for DKNY Jeans, and signed with IMG Models. She has also released two perfume collections with Elizabeth Arden. Her other business ventures include writing a young adult novel, Elixir, and working as an executive producer for the film According to Greta and as a producer for the films Material Girls and Beauty & the Briefcase.

Hilary Erhard Duff was born on September 28, 1987 in Houston, Texas, to Susan Colleen (née Cobb), a homemaker, and Robert Erhard Duff, a partner in a chain of convenience stores. Duff has an elder sister, Haylie, who is also an actress and singer. Her mother encouraged her to enroll in acting classes alongside Haylie. Both girls won roles in local theatre productions. At the ages of six and eight, the two sisters participated in a BalletMet Columbus production of The Nutcracker Suite in San Antonio. The sisters became increasingly interested in acting professionally. Their mother moved with them to California, but their father stayed in Houston to maintain his business. Because she had been pursuing a professional acting career at such a young age, Duff was home-schooled. The sisters auditioned for several years and were cast in several television commercials.

Early in her acting career, Duff primarily played minor roles. In 1997, she appeared uncredited in the Hallmark Entertainment western miniseries True Women. The following year, she played an uncredited extra in an ensemble dramedy, Playing by Heart. Her first major role was a young witch, Wendy, in Casper Meets Wendy. The film, however, was released to mostly unenthusiastic reviews. In 1999, Duff appeared in a supporting role in the television film The Soul Collector, which was based on a Kathleen Kane novel. For her performance, Duff won a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot (Supporting Young Actress).

Elegant Woman - Julianne Hough, American Actress

Julianne Hough (born July 20, 1988) is an American professional ballroom dancer, country music singer and actress. She is most widely known for being a two-time winner of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. She earned a Creative Arts Primetime Emmy nomination in 2007 for choreography. ABC's 20/20 called her one of the "very best dancers on the planet." Hough's brother, Derek, is also on Dancing with the Stars and is a three-time winner himself. Hough was signed to Mercury Nashville Records in December 2007. Her self-titled debut album was released May 20, 2008, debuting at #1 on the Billboard Country Album chart and #3 on the Billboard 200. It sold 67,000 copies its first week, and has sold over 320,000 total copies. On October 12, 2008, she released a holiday album, Sounds of the Season: The Julianne Hough Holiday Collection, which as of January 5, 2009, had sold 157,000 copies. She is starring in her first major motion picture film remake of Footloose that is scheduled for release on October 14, 2011 in theaters.

Hough was born in Sandy, Utah. She grew up the last of five children in a Latter-day Saint (Mormon) family in Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. Her parents are Mari Anne (née Heaton) and Bruce Robert Hough, who was twice chairman of the Utah Republican Party. Her brother, Derek Hough, is also a professional dancer. She also has three older sisters, Sharee, Marabeth, and Katherine. All four of Hough's grandparents were dancers, and her parents met while on a ballroom dancing team in college, in Idaho.

Elegant Woman - Natalie Glebova, Miss Universe 2005

Natalie Glebova (born November 11, 1981) is a Russian Canadian beauty queen, the 2005 Miss Universe title holder.

Glebova was born in Tuapse, Russia, Soviet Union. She studied classical piano and graduated from a professional musical school at age of 12. She also has won various regional rhythmic gymnastics championships. She emigrated to Toronto, Canada together with her parents at the age of 13.

Prior to competing at Miss Universe, Glebova worked as a model and received her Bachelor of Commerce in Information Technology Management and Marketing at Ryerson University in Toronto. She has also worked as a motivational speaker for grade school and high school students.

Glebova was married to Thai tennis player Paradorn Srichaphan. The couple, who met during the 2006 Thailand Open, became engaged in April 2007 and were married on November 29, 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand. They separated in early 2011.

In 2008, Glebova joined The Amazing Race Asia 3 and she partnered with Pailin Rungratanasunthorn. They represented Thailand and came in 8th place.

In 2004, Glebova attempted to win the Miss Universe Canada pageant where she placed as 3rd runner-up. The eventual winner, Venessa Fisher, failed to place in the Miss Universe 2004 finals. Glebova competed again in January 2005, and won the title.

Glebova competed in the Miss Universe 2005 pageant held in Bangkok, Thailand in June 2005, where she became the fourth Canadian in ten years to make the initial cut of semi-finalists. She competed in the evening gown and swimsuit competitions, advancing to the top five where she competed in the final interview round. The final interview round was a tough selection; the strongest delegates who managed the Top 5 were Cynthia Olavarria of Puerto Rico, Laura Elizondo of Mexico, Renata Sone of Dominican Republic, and Monica Spear of Venezuela, who were all considered to be pageant powerhouses. Throughout the contest, Natalie gave a nice traditional Thai greeting known as a "Wai" on every appearance which helped her win over Thai audiences and judges. At the conclusion of the pageant, Glebova was crowned Miss Universe 2005 by outgoing titleholder Jennifer Hawkins of Australia. Glebova's win was Canada's second: Karen Dianne Baldwin of London, Ontario had won in 1982. Glebova and Baldwin graduated from the same high school, London Central Secondary School.