Holly Rachel Vukadinovic (born 11 May, 1983), who is better known by her stage name of Holly Valance, is an Australian actress and ARIA nominated singer.
Her next single, "Down Boy" peaked at #2 in the UK and at #3 in Australia. Her début album Footprints was released on October 14, 2002. It debuted and peaked at #9 in the UK and #15 in Australia. The album`s third and final single "Naughty Girl" peaked at #3 in Australia and at #16 in the UK.
In 2003, the first single "State of Mind" from Holly`s second album of the same name debuted and peaked at #8 in the UK and at #14 in Australia, but the album didn't get into the top 50 of either country.
"Desire" was, according to some rumours, to be the second official single from the album and she even made a few performances for the promotion, but it was cancelled due to poor album sales. Following legal problems with her manager/boyfriend, and poor sales from the album State of Mind, Valance was dropped from her recording company.
Though her official website originally reported Valance would release new material via another label, this never materialized, with Valance recently confirming she is no longer interested in recording music, telling Men`s Style magazine:
"No one can make any money. It was a really tough slog and I had a good go at it, but it was difficult. You put in so much effort and put in so many long hours for not much return. I was making all my money from endorsements and appearances, but I didn't make that much from the actual record sales. I think everyone is suffering in the music industry. It wasn't just me. I do something until it`s not fun any more and then move on. Music wasn't fun any more."
She signed a £3 million deal with the hair products company Schwarzkopf Live to front the new line aimed at an early teen to early 20s market. Valance was seen modelling Cosmic Blue, Sahara True Blonde, Hypnotic Red as well as XXL dresses and XXL hats (each colour has a strapline which referenced other popular culture artists). The adverts could be seen across the United Kingdom at bus stops, shopping malls, on buses and in magazines.
During this time, Valance appeared on Har Mar Superstar`s album The Handler singing on tracks "Body Request" and "Back the Camel up".
In 2002, she won the British GQ Award for Woman of the Year.
In 2004 Valance returned to acting, this time in the United States, appearing in episodes of the television series CSI: Miami and Entourage, and in 2005 she appeared in an episode of CSI: NY. She then guest-starred in Prison Break in 2006 as Nika Volek, a role which she continued to portray in the show`s second season. She also had a small role in an episode in the second season of US TV show Entourage.
She appeared in the National Lampoon comedy Pledge This!, alongside American socialite Paris Hilton, and DOA: Dead or Alive, an adaptation of the popular video game Dead or Alive, where she played Christie.
She'll be working on the new Luc Besson feature called "Taken" starring Liam Neeson in Paris in March and an Australian drama later on in the year within Australia.
Valance is also set to play a Bosnian Muslim in a new movie titled 'The Tourist', a true story set in the Balkan war.
Holly Valance stars in the Bushells Tea TV Ad (Australia)
She also served as the promotional face of Australian collect call company 1800-Reverse and the UK equivalent.
During the trial Valance`s mother claimed that Michaelson was negligent in his duties as a manager, which forced her to take over from his role as manager. Former Neighbours co-star Kym Valentine also gave evidence that Valance "said she was feeling bad, a bit stressed out, because she was leaving Scott" and that "she said the solicitors for her record company would get her out of the contract and would be faxing him the paper work (from the UK) to do so." Valance denied that she told Valentine this conversation in court, even though she had signed an affidavit where she stated she had no recollection of the conversation.
Justice Clifford Einstein said, "I have given close consideration to the question of whether or not the circumstances presently before the Court which do, it seems to me, show a calculated disregard of the rights of Biscayne as well as a cynical pursuit of benefit". Though the court did not award in favour of Biscayne getting a percentage of sales of her album, State of Mind.
Early life
Valance was born in Melbourne, Australia, on 11 May 1983 to a Serbian father and a British mother. She is related to the late British comedian Benny Hill - Hill`s cousin was her grandfather (cousins twice removed). Holly was educated at the Star of the Sea College, a Roman Catholic high school located in Melbourne.Music career
Holly`s first single as a recording artist was "Kiss Kiss", released in 2002. The song debuted at #1 in both the Australian ARIA and UK Singles Charts charts in April/May 2002. "Kiss Kiss" is an English interpretation of the song Simarik by Turkish superstar Tarkan. The video was notable in that Valance appeared to be dancing naked, but in fact she was wearing flesh colored panties but no top. The footage was then digitally retouched adding strategically placed lighting effects. The song was nominated for 4 ARIA awards.Her next single, "Down Boy" peaked at #2 in the UK and at #3 in Australia. Her début album Footprints was released on October 14, 2002. It debuted and peaked at #9 in the UK and #15 in Australia. The album`s third and final single "Naughty Girl" peaked at #3 in Australia and at #16 in the UK.
In 2003, the first single "State of Mind" from Holly`s second album of the same name debuted and peaked at #8 in the UK and at #14 in Australia, but the album didn't get into the top 50 of either country.
"Desire" was, according to some rumours, to be the second official single from the album and she even made a few performances for the promotion, but it was cancelled due to poor album sales. Following legal problems with her manager/boyfriend, and poor sales from the album State of Mind, Valance was dropped from her recording company.
Though her official website originally reported Valance would release new material via another label, this never materialized, with Valance recently confirming she is no longer interested in recording music, telling Men`s Style magazine:
"No one can make any money. It was a really tough slog and I had a good go at it, but it was difficult. You put in so much effort and put in so many long hours for not much return. I was making all my money from endorsements and appearances, but I didn't make that much from the actual record sales. I think everyone is suffering in the music industry. It wasn't just me. I do something until it`s not fun any more and then move on. Music wasn't fun any more."
She signed a £3 million deal with the hair products company Schwarzkopf Live to front the new line aimed at an early teen to early 20s market. Valance was seen modelling Cosmic Blue, Sahara True Blonde, Hypnotic Red as well as XXL dresses and XXL hats (each colour has a strapline which referenced other popular culture artists). The adverts could be seen across the United Kingdom at bus stops, shopping malls, on buses and in magazines.
During this time, Valance appeared on Har Mar Superstar`s album The Handler singing on tracks "Body Request" and "Back the Camel up".
In 2002, she won the British GQ Award for Woman of the Year.
Film and television career
From 1999 to 2002 Holly played the role of feisty, and lustful Felicity "Flick" Scully on Australian soap Neighbours.In 2004 Valance returned to acting, this time in the United States, appearing in episodes of the television series CSI: Miami and Entourage, and in 2005 she appeared in an episode of CSI: NY. She then guest-starred in Prison Break in 2006 as Nika Volek, a role which she continued to portray in the show`s second season. She also had a small role in an episode in the second season of US TV show Entourage.
She appeared in the National Lampoon comedy Pledge This!, alongside American socialite Paris Hilton, and DOA: Dead or Alive, an adaptation of the popular video game Dead or Alive, where she played Christie.
She'll be working on the new Luc Besson feature called "Taken" starring Liam Neeson in Paris in March and an Australian drama later on in the year within Australia.
Valance is also set to play a Bosnian Muslim in a new movie titled 'The Tourist', a true story set in the Balkan war.
Holly Valance stars in the Bushells Tea TV Ad (Australia)
She also served as the promotional face of Australian collect call company 1800-Reverse and the UK equivalent.
Legal action
In 2003 she fired her then-manager Scott Michaelson (who owns Biscayne Partners Pty Ltd) by fax, 15 months before her contract was due to expire. Biscayne Partners Pty. Ltd. sued Valance Corp., won their case and were awarded damages by the Supreme Court of New South Wales.During the trial Valance`s mother claimed that Michaelson was negligent in his duties as a manager, which forced her to take over from his role as manager. Former Neighbours co-star Kym Valentine also gave evidence that Valance "said she was feeling bad, a bit stressed out, because she was leaving Scott" and that "she said the solicitors for her record company would get her out of the contract and would be faxing him the paper work (from the UK) to do so." Valance denied that she told Valentine this conversation in court, even though she had signed an affidavit where she stated she had no recollection of the conversation.
Justice Clifford Einstein said, "I have given close consideration to the question of whether or not the circumstances presently before the Court which do, it seems to me, show a calculated disregard of the rights of Biscayne as well as a cynical pursuit of benefit". Though the court did not award in favour of Biscayne getting a percentage of sales of her album, State of Mind.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Holly Valance".