- Willa Ford
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Willa Ford Birth name Amanda Lee Williford Born January 22, 1981 Genres Pop, dance-pop Occupations Singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, presenter, actress Years active 2001–present Labels MCA (1999–2000)
Lava/Atlantic (2000–2004)Amanda Lee Modano (née Williford; born January 22, 1981), known professionally as Willa Ford and often as Mandy Modano, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, model, television personality and film actress. She released her debut album, Willa Was Here, in 2001. Ford also has acted in movies such as Friday the 13th, hosted several reality television shows, posed for Playboy and competed on ABC's Dancing with the Stars.
Contents
Early life
Willa Ford was born Amanda Lee Williford on January 22, 1981; she was raised in Ruskin, Florida. She began singing with the Tampa Bay Children's Choir at age eight. At age 11, she started singing with the Tampa-based children's performing arts troupe, Entertainment Revue. She attended East Bay High School in Gibsonton, Florida.
Career
Music career
In 1999, the 18-year-old Ford started performing under the stage name Mandah and was signed to MCA. While with MCA she wrote and recorded a song called "Lullaby," which was featured on the double-platinum soundtrack for the movie Pokémon: The First Movie. Ford's label decided to change her stage name from Mandah into Willa Ford, as to avoid confusion with Mandy Moore.
In 2000 she was one of the opening acts for the Backstreet Boys' Into the Millennium Tour.
In 2001, Ford signed on to a new label, Lava Atlantic Records, while on a mall tour for Nautica Kids. Ford wrote most of her own lyrics and served as executive producer for most of her first album. On July 17, 2001, she released her debut album, Willa Was Here. The album included the single "I Wanna Be Bad." Willa Was Here reached 56 on the Billboard 200 and sold about 200,000 copies. Ford went on to release a second single from the album, "Did Ya' Understand That," which failed to garner much attention.
Ford was the spokesperson for Pantene Pro-V's ProVoice campaign while promoting the album. She also appeared in Uncle Kracker's video for "In A Little While." On April 26, 2002, Willa Ford appeared in an episode of Raising Dad, playing a bully named Edie. Ford also went on to guest-host MTV's TRL and Say What Karaoke, which led to a hosting contract with Viacom. Ford hosted the MTV reality shows The Morning After and I Bet You Will. In 2001, Ford also co-wrote and recorded a duet with South Korean pop star Park Ji-yoon. The song, titled "Nastified," appeared on Park's fifth album, Man.
In 2003, Ford released a song titled "A Toast to Men." The song, which featured guest rapper Lady May, was featured in daytime promotional ads for soap operas. The single came from her unreleased second album Sexysexobsessive, which was previously titled Porn Poetry. The title track, "Sexysexobsessive," was to be the second single, but it was only released through Ford's official website.
In 2011, Willa has finally resumed her music career by a live in The Viper Room in LA. In the live, She revealed the first song since 2003, "Back, Back, Back." She also appeared in the Baub show and performed the song as well as opera singing and the acoustic self-coverage of I Wanna Be Bad.
Television, Magazine Appearances & Film
In 2005, Ford hosted the first season of the fighting competition reality show The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV.The show aired between January 18 and April 9, 2005. After the show's finale, the 24-year-old singer was contracted as a summer's guest doll performer for the Las Vegas shows of The Pussycat Dolls. Ford was later featured as the June celebrity on FHM's 2005 pin-up calendar.
In early 2006, Ford played as one of the four celebrity quarterbacks for the Lingerie Bowl, which was shown during the half-time of Super Bowl XL. Later that year, she was featured in a nude pictorial in the March 2006 issue of Playboy. Stuff magazine ranked her #48 in the 101 Sexiest Online Women supplement later that year. In fall 2006, Ford competed on the third season of Dancing with the Stars. Ford and her partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, were eliminated in the fifth week of competition. She talked about her experience with Maxim in its January 2007 issue; she was featured in a photo shoot.
Ford and hockey player Mike Modano married in a small, private ceremony on August 26, 2007 in Athens, Texas.[1][1] She also announced to Access Hollywood that she was dropping out of the Dancing With The Stars tour, since Maksim Chmerkovskiy was not signed on.
Ford appeared on an episode of My Celebrity Home on the Style Network, which aired on January 31, 2007.[2] She also hosted the third season of Pants-Off Dance-Off on Fuse TV. On August 23, 2007, Ford and husband Mike were featured in an episode of MTV Cribs.
Willa Ford appeared in the motion picture Friday the 13th. To promote the project, Ford appeared as a guest on E!'s late night talk show Chelsea Lately on February 5, 2009. Ford and Modano also attended the film's Los Angeles premiere [3]
On October 10, 2009, she was cast as Becca in Dreamfly Production's new movie, Universal Squadrons, which was originally titled Minuteman.[4] The movie premiered at the Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival 2010[5] and the Angelika Theater in Dallas in December. According to the blog of the production, the movie was released for pay per view/video on demand in April, then DVD in June 7, 2011 from Maverick Films.[6] On her facebook page and twitter, she confirmed to appear on 2 TV dramas, 3 episodes of Magic City and an episode of The Glades aired on August 28.
Discography
Albums
- 2001: Willa Was Here
- 2004: Sexy Sex Obsessive (shelved)
- 2012: TBA
Singles
Year Single Chart positions Album US Hot Dance singles sales US Hot 100 Singles US Hot 100 Singles Sales US mainstream Top 40 US Top 40 Tracks R&R Pop 2001 "I Wanna Be Bad" 4 22 6 11[7] 19[8] 11[9] Willa Was Here "Did Ya' Understand That" - - - - - - "Santa Baby (Gimme, Gimme, Gimme)" - - - - - - MTV: TRL Christmas 2003 "A Toast to Men" (feat. Lady May) 11 - 45[10] - - 46[11] Sexy Sex Obsessive 2004 "Sexy Sex Obsessive" - - - - - - Filmography
Film
Year Film Role 2007 The Anna Nicole Smith Story Anna Nicole Smith 2008 Impulse Clarie Dennison 2009 Friday the 13th Chelsea 2011 Universal Squadrons Becca Music videos
- "I Wanna Be Bad" (2001)
- "Did Ya' Understand That" (2001)
- "Santa Baby (Gimme, Gimme, Gimme)" (2001)
- "In A Little While" (2001) - Uncle Kracker Video (Acting Role)
- "A Toast to Men" (2003)
Television appearances as herself
- I Bet You Will - Host (2002)
- The Ultimate Fighter - Host (2005)
- Lingerie Bowl III - Celebrity Quarterback for the Dallas Desire (2006)
- Dancing with the Stars - Celebrity Dancer (2006)
- Pants Off Dance Off - Host (2007)
- MTV Cribs - Herself (2007)
- My Celebrity Home - Herself (2007)
- Chelsea Lately - Herself (2010)
Television drama roles
- The Mind of the Married Man - Popstar (2001)
- Raising Dad - Edie (2002)
- The Glades - Shelby Daniels (2011)
- Magic City - Janice Michaels (slated to be aired on Starz in 2012)
Television live performances
- Teensasion Hard Rock Live
- Total Request Live
- Tonight Show With Jay Leno
- Live with Regis and Kelly
Television commercials
Other Events
- Pantene Pro-Voice Live
- Guavaween
References
- ^ a b Willa Ford Weds Hockey Beau
- ^ Pop-Star Home Makeover
- ^ Friday the 13th Premiere
- ^ Universal Squadrons News
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=381&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Top+40+Mainstream&ci=3043323&cdi=7778781&cid=10%2F27%2F2001
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=382&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Top+40+Tracks&ci=3042787&cdi=7759493&cid=09%2F08%2F2001
- ^ http://www2.uta.edu/hunt/charts/Songruns/F/willafordi_wanna_be_bad.htm
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=353&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Hot+Singles+Sales&ci=3051899&cdi=8081197&cid=12%2F06%2F2003
- ^ http://www2.uta.edu/hunt/charts/Songruns/F/willaa_toast_to_men.htm
External links
Categories:- 1981 births
- American dance musicians
- American record producers
- American pop singers
- American entertainers
- Atlantic Records artists
- Participants in American reality television series
- Living people
- People from Tampa, Florida
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