Tila Tequila

Un article de Vev.

Modèle:Pp-semi-vandalism Modèle:Infobox musical artist Tila Nguyen (Modèle:PronEng) (born Thien Thanh Thi Nguyen October 24, 1981),<ref>[1]</ref><ref> [2]</ref><ref> [3]</ref> better known by her stage name Tila Tequila, is an American model, entertainer, and singer residing in West Hollywood, California. She is known for her appearances in Stuff, Maxim, Time, Penthouse, her role as host of the Fuse TV show Pants-Off Dance-Off and her position as the most popular artist on MySpace (according to page views) as of April 2006.<ref name="Slate">Weiner, Jonah (April 11, 2006) "Tila Tequila for President". Slate.com. Retrieved July 29, 2006.</ref> She was raised in Houston, Texas. Her MTV show A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila premiered on October 9, 2007.

Sommaire

1 Early life
2 Modeling and acting
- 2.1 A Shot at Love
- 2.2 Tila's Hot Spot
3 Music career
4 Discography
5 Filmography
6 References
7 External links

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Early life

Nguyen was born in Singapore, where her family had emigrated from Vietnam after the Vietnam War. When Nguyen was a year old,<ref name="amg">Brown, Marisa. Tila Tequila biography at All Music Guide</ref> she and her family moved to Alief, a suburb of Houston, where they lived until they were admitted to a gated community run by a strict Buddhist temple.<ref name="mtv">Tila Tequila biography at MTV.com</ref> The family left the community when Nguyen was eight.<ref name="TilasHotSpotBio">Nguyen, Tila. "The truth about Tila". TilasHotspot.com. Official autobiography. Retrieved using the Wayback Machine February 10, 2007.</ref>

As soon as she entered middle school, Nguyen developed a tomboy attitude and got in fights.<ref name="TilasHotSpotBio"/> Her behavior eventually got her sent to a boarding school for six months before being transferred to another school. As soon as she reached high school, she used her sister's identification card to enter nightclubs, where she began recreational drug use<ref name="TilasHotSpotBio" /> and joined a gang. In an interview with Import Tuner, Nguyen said she had been searching for a sense of identity: "I was really confused then, 'cause at first I thought I was black, then I thought I was Hispanic and joined a cholo gang".<ref name="ImportTuner">"Up Close & Personal: Tila Nguyen". (2006). Import Tuner. Retrieved October 12, 2006.</ref> Later she made some friends outside the gang who briefly helped turn her life around, however her past caught up with her, and she fled to Queens, New York at the age of 16.<ref name="mtv"/>

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Modeling and acting

Nguyen's career began at the age of 18 when she was discovered at the Sharpstown Mall by a Playboy scout and was offered a chance to model nude for the magazine. She did a test shoot,<ref name="IGN: SRS Babe of the Week">IGN Interview. Interview of Nguyen by IGN. Retrieved August 24, 2007.</ref> then eventually moved to Southern California and was featured as Playboy’s Cyber Girl of the week on April 22, 2002, and soon thereafter she became the first Asian Cyber Girl of the Month.<ref name="TilasHotSpotQuickBio">Nguyen, Tila. "Quick Bio". TilasHotspot.com. Biography covering Nguyen's modeling years. Retrieved using the Wayback Machine on February 10, 2007.</ref>

Nguyen gained further popularity through the import racing scene. She has been featured on the cover of Import Tuner magazine, at car shows such as Hot Import Nights, and in the video game Street Racing Syndicate.<ref name="GameProSRS">"Hands-On: SRS: Street Racing Syndicate" (July 13, 2004). GamePro. Retrieved December 1, 2005.</ref> In 2003, she was a contestant on VH1's Surviving Nugent, a reality TV show where participants performed compromising tasks and stunts for rock star Ted Nugent.<ref name="VH1NugentInterview">VH1's Surviving Nugent interview with Tila. Retrieved November 29, 2005.</ref> She was also the most frequent host on the first season of Fuse TV's dance show, Pants-Off Dance-Off, on which a group of contestants strip to music videos. Tila has also previously worked with VH1 as a commentator on WebJunks's 40 Greatest Internet Superstars.

Nguyen was featured on the cover of the April 2006 issue of Stuff magazine; in the interview, she claimed that her nickname "Tila Tequila" came about when she experimented with alcohol in middle school and had a severe allergic reaction.<ref name="Stuff0406">Gilbert, Laura (April 2006). "Enter the Dragon". Stuff.</ref> She was later included in Stuff’s 100 Sexiest Women Online. She appeared on the August 2006 Maxim UK cover, was named #88 in their Hot 100 List,<ref> Maxim. August 2006. </ref><ref name="MaximHot2006">Maxim 2006 Hot 100. Maximonline.com. Retrieved August 9, 2006.</ref> and also appeared in the December 2007 issue.<ref name="MaximDec2007">Maxim 2007, Her Space. Maximonline.com. Retrieved November 20, 2007.</ref>

Nguyen made an appearance as one of the 12 strangers in the first game on the April 6, 2007 episode of NBC's game show Identity. Her identity was that she has "over one million MySpace friends," a number which, as of that date, stood at 1,771,920.<ref name="MySpace">Tila Tequila's profile. MySpace.com. Retrieved June 8, 2007.</ref> On March 4, 2007 Nguyen made a cameo appearance on the show "War At Home."<ref name="War At Home">Tila Tequila Comes Home: New pictures and a clip of the popular MySpace, Playboy and Stuff Model's guest appearance on The War at Home. by IGN Staff. Retrieved 2 November, 2007.</ref>

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A Shot at Love

Main article: A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila

On March 26, 2007, Nguyen announced in her MySpace blog that she would be filming a reality show for VH1. Filming started in May 2007, but the show was moved to VH1's sister network MTV that summer. On October 9, 2007, A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila aired on MTV. The program is a bisexual-themed reality dating show where 16 straight men and 16 lesbian women compete for Tila's affections, the twist being that the contestants were not aware of Nguyen's bisexuality<ref name="mtvbio">« »</ref> until the end of the first episode. The ten-episode series is produced by 495 Productions and MTV.<ref name="TilaTequilaShow">Jon, Lafayette (September 6, 2007) "MTV Greenlights Tila Tequila Dating Show, Debuts Oct. 9" TVWeek article on Tila Tequila's MTV Show. Retrieved September 6, 2007.</ref>

The show was at the heart of a heated online debate between Nguyen and conservative Christians after an article appeared on The Christian Post on September 13, 2007.<ref>http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070913/29285.htm MTV to Air Bisexual Dating Reality Series By Nathan Black; Christian Post Reporter; September 13, 2007</ref> After seeing the article, Nguyen wrote an impassioned response in her blog on September 28, 2007, criticizing churches for "bashing" the gay community while thanking God for saving her life.<ref>http://www.christianpost.com/article/20071002/29546.htm MySpace 'Queen' Tila Tequila: I Made Amends with God By Nathan Black; Christian Post Reporter; October 2 2007</ref>

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Tila's Hot Spot

In 2001 Nguyen started up her website entitled "Tila's Hot Spot".<ref name="TilasHotSpotHistory">Nguyen, Tila. "Wayback Machine historical cache of The Official Tila Nguyen Website". Retrieved from the Wayback Machine on July 14, 2007.</ref> Originally it was a website featuring her information, quotes, blog, and pictorials<ref name="TilasHotSpotHistory">Nguyen, Tila. "Wayback Machine historical cache of The Original design of Tila Nguyen's Website". Retrieved from the Wayback Machine on September 6, 2007.</ref> including content that required adult verification and a monthly payment fee to view.<ref name="TilasHotSpotSignUp">Nguyen, Tila. "The Official Tila Nguyen Website". TilasHotspot.com. Membership information to join her site. Retrieved using the Wayback Machine on August 07, 2007.</ref> Later the site format was revamped by TAJ Designs Inc.<ref name="TilasHotSpotAboutUs">AboutUs. "AboutUs information about the design of Tila Nguyen's Website". Retrieved on September 6, 2007.</ref> to feature all-ages content and information to promote her current career, business ventures, personal information, and a premium membership section including videos, non-nude picture galleries, blogs, and chat sessions.<ref name="TilasHotSpotMembership">Nguyen, Tila. "Current Membership information about the Official Tila Nguyen Website". Retrieved on September 6, 2007.</ref><ref name="TilasHotSpotSignup">Nguyen, Tila. "Current Sign-Up information about the Official Tila Nguyen Website". on September 6, 2007.</ref>

During 2005 Nguyen launched Tilafashion.com,<ref name="TilasFashionhistory">Nguyen, Tila. "Wayback Machine historical cache of The Tila Fashion Website". Retrieved from the Wayback Machine on September 6, 2007.</ref> a site featuring her custom line of clothing for men and women originally using the slogan "So hot you'll just want to take it all off!"<ref name="TilasFashionhistory">Nguyen, Tila. "The Tila Fashion Website showing original slogan". Retrieved from the Wayback Machine on September 6, 2007.</ref> In 2006 Tila created a website entitled "Tila Zone,"<ref name="TilasZoneHistory">Nguyen, Tila. "Wayback Machine historical cache of The TilaZone Website". Retrieved from the Wayback Machine on September 6, 2007.</ref> which features content to use on Myspace and other social networking websites including layouts, widgets, and clipart.<ref name="TilasZone">Nguyen, Tila. "The Official TilaZone Website". Retrieved on September 6, 2007.</ref>

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Music career

Nguyen used modeling as a stepping stone for other ventures. At age 20, she acted on her interest in rock music and started looking for bands willing to have her join. She eventually assembled a band called Beyond Betty Jean, for which she was singer and songwriter. Following the breakup of Beyond Betty Jean, Nguyen started working in recording studios to sharpen her vocal skills and write music.<ref name="TilasHotSpotQuickBio"/> Nguyen became the lead singer of a band called Jealousy, which has released songs over the Internet. Jealousy has appeared on MySpace Records' inaugural compilation album, released through MySpace Records and Interscope.

A major turn in Nguyen's music career occurred during the April 24, 2006 taping of MTV's Total Request Live. In an interview with the TRL VJs, will.i.am announced that Nguyen was signed to the Will.I.Am music group, a record label under A&M Records.<ref name="PostChronicle">World Entertainment News Network (July 25, 2006). "Will.I.Am's New Signing Is A Tough Girl". PostChronicle.com. Retrieved July 29, 2006.</ref> Despite her major-label signing, Nguyen independently released her first single "I Love U" through iTunes on February 27, 2007, justifying the independent release through her desire to become famous by herself.<ref name="amg"/> "I Love U" made its way to the top of the ITunes charts within 24 hours.<ref>[4] Tila Tequila : Reality Show? By Veronika Fevers; March 27, 2007</ref> She shot a music video for the song, which is available for free after the song is downloaded. A preview for the video debuted on February 14, 2007 on her MySpace page. The video has also been released via mobile phones. On March 6, 2007, Tila's video was the #1 most downloaded on Apple's iTunes. In March 2007, Washington-based record label The Saturday Team released an EP called Sex, by Tila Tequila.<ref name="amg"/> On July 27, 2007, Italian website MusicBlob revealed that The Saturday Team and distributor Icon Music Entertainment Services sued Tila over breaching her contract related to the album.<ref name="MusicBlob">MusicBlob (July 27, 2007). "What happened to Tila Tequila?". MusicBlob. Retrieved July 27, 2007.</ref>