Name	Christchurch
Official name	Christchurch
Native name	Ōtautahi (Māori)
Nickname	The Garden City
Settlement type	Metropolitan Area
Total type	Territorial
Motto
Pushpin map	New Zealand
Pushpin label position	right
Pushpin mapsize
Coordinates region	NZ
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name
Subdivision type1	Island
Subdivision name1	South Island
Subdivision type2	Region
Subdivision name2	Canterbury
Subdivision type3	Territorial authority
Subdivision name3	Christchurch City
Parts style	coll
Parts	Suburbs
P1	Aranui
P2	Bexley
P3	Avonside
P4	Avondale
P5	Avonhead
P6	Burwood
P7	New Brighton
P8	South Brighton
P9	Southshore
P10	Bromley
P11	Woolston
P12	Wainoni
P13	Bromley
P14	Linwood
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	Bob Parker
Leader title1	Deputy Mayor
Leader name1	Ngaire Button
Established title	Settled by the UK
Established date	1848
Established date1
Unit pref
Area total km2	1426
Area land km2
Area urban km2	452
Elevation footnotes
Elevation max m	920
Elevation min m	0
Population as of
Population total
Population density km2	auto
Population urban
Population density urban km2	auto
Timezone	NZST
Utc offset	+12
Timezone dst	NZDT
Utc offset dst	+13
Coordinates display	y
Postal code type
Area code	03
Website	www.ccc.govt.nz www.ecan.govt.nz
Blank name	Local iwi
Blank info	Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Mamoe }}

Christchurch () is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of Christchurch.

The city was named by the Canterbury Association, which settled the surrounding province of Canterbury. The name of Christchurch was agreed on at the first meeting of the association on 27 March 1848. It was suggested by John Robert Godley, who had attended Christ Church, Oxford. Some early writers called the town ''Christ Church'', but it was recorded as ''Christchurch'' in the minutes of the management committee of the association. Christchurch became a city by Royal Charter on 31 July 1856, making it officially the oldest established city in New Zealand.

The river that flows through the centre of the city (its banks now largely forming an urban park) was named Avon at the request of the pioneering Deans brothers to commemorate the Scottish Avon, which rises in the Ayrshire hills near what was their grandfathers' farm and flows into the Clyde.

The usual Māori name for Christchurch is Ōtautahi (''"the place of Tautahi"''). This was originally the name of a specific site by the Avon River near present-day Kilmore Street and the Christchurch Central Fire Station. The site was a seasonal dwelling of Ngāi Tahu chief Te Potiki Tautahi, whose main home was Port Levy on Banks Peninsula. The Ōtautahi name was adopted in the 1930s. Prior to that the Ngāi Tahu generally referred to the Christchurch area as Karaitiana, a transliteration of the English word Christian.

History

Overview

Archeological evidence found in a cave at Redcliffs in 1876 has indicated that the Christchurch area was first settled by moa-hunting tribes about 1250. These first inhabitants were thought to have been followed by the Waitaha tribe, who are said to have migrated from the East coast of the North Island in the 16th century. Following tribal warfare, the Waitaha (made of three peoples) were dispossessed by the Ngati Mamoe tribe. They were in turn subjugated by the Ngāi Tahu tribe, who remained in control until the arrival of European settlers.

Following the purchase of land at Putaringamotu (modern Riccarton) by the Weller brothers whalers of Otago and Sydney a party of European settlers led by Herriott and McGillivray established themselves in what is now Christchurch, early in 1840. Their abandoned holdings were taken over by the Deans brothers in 1843 who stayed. The ''First Four Ships'' were chartered by the Canterbury Association and brought the first 792 of the ''Canterbury Pilgrims'' to Lyttelton Harbour. These sailing vessels were the ''Randolph'', ''Charlotte-Jane'', ''Sir George Seymour'', and ''Cressy''. The ''Charlotte-Jane'' was the first to arrive on 16 December 1850. The Canterbury Pilgrims had aspirations of building a city around a cathedral and college, on the model of Christ Church in Oxford.

The name "Christ Church" was decided prior to the ships' arrival, at the Association's first meeting, on 27 March 1848. The exact basis for the name is not known. It has been suggested that it is named for Christchurch, in Hampshire, England; for Canterbury Cathedral; or in honour of Christ Church College, Oxford. The last explanation is the one generally accepted.

Captain Joseph Thomas, the Canterbury Association's Chief Surveyor, surveyed the surrounding area. By December 1849 he had commissioned the construction of a road from Port Cooper, later Lyttelton, to Christchurch via Sumner. However this proved more difficult than expected and road construction was stopped while a steep foot and pack horse track was constructed over the hill between the port and the Heathcote valley, where access to the site of the proposed settlement could be gained. This track became known as the Bridle Path, because the path was so steep that pack horses needed to be led by the bridle.

Goods that were too heavy or bulky to be transported by pack horse over the Bridle Path were shipped by small sailing vessels some eight miles (13 km) by water around the coast and up the estuary to Ferrymead. New Zealand's first public railway line, the Ferrymead railway, opened from Ferrymead to Christchurch in 1863. Due to the difficulties in travelling over the Port Hills and the dangers associated with shipping navigating the Sumner bar, a railway tunnel was bored through the Port Hills to Lyttelton, opening in 1867.

Christchurch became a city by Royal Charter on 31 July 1856, the first in New Zealand. Many of the city's Gothic Revival buildings by architect Benjamin Mountfort date from this period.

Christchurch was the seat of provincial administration for the Province of Canterbury, which was abolished in 1876.

In 1947, New Zealand's worst fire disaster occurred at Ballantyne's Department Store in the inner city, with 41 people killed in a blaze which razed the rambling collection of buildings.

The Lyttelton road tunnel between Lyttelton and Christchurch was opened in 1964.

Christchurch hosted the 1974 British Commonwealth Games.

2010–2011 earthquakes

An earthquake with magnitude 7.1 occurred near Christchurch at 4:35 am local time, 4 September 2010 (16:35 UTC, 3 September 2010). The earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometres (6.0 miles), and despite widespread damage there were no fatalities. A large aftershock of magnitude 6.3 occurred on at 12:51 pm. It was centred just to the north of Lyttelton, 10 kilometres south east of Christchurch, at a depth of 5 km.

Although lower on the moment magnitude scale than the previous earthquake, the intensity and violence of the ground shaking was measured to be VIII on the MMI, among the strongest ever recorded globally in an urban area. The quake struck on a busy weekday afternoon and resulted in the deaths of 181 people. This event resulted in the declaration of New Zealand's first National State of Emergency. Many buildings and landmarks were severely damaged, including the iconic 'Shag Rock' and Christchurch Cathedral. On 13 June 2011 Christchurch was again rocked by two more large aftershocks. A 5.6 at only 9km deep hit at 1.00pm in the general location of Sumner, Christchurch this was followed by another 6.3 at only 6km deep at 2.20pm again in the general location of Sumner, Christchurch. This resulted in more liquefaction and building damage, but no more lives were lost.

Garden City

The authorities has announced that Christchurch will be built as "city in a garden" with cost NZ$2 billion ($1.6 billion). The size of the city's business district will be reduced and the height of building will be limited in the centre and giving over much more space to parkland.

=== Gateway to the Antarctic === Christchurch has a history of involvement in Antarctic exploration–both Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton used the port of Lyttelton as a departure point for expeditions, and in the central city there is a statue of Scott sculpted by his widow, Kathleen Scott. Within the city, the Canterbury Museum preserves and exhibits many historic artefacts and stories of Antarctic exploration. Christchurch International Airport serves as the major base for the New Zealand, Italian and United States Antarctic programs.

The International Antarctic Centre provides both base facilities and a museum and visitor centre focused upon current Antarctic activities. The United States Navy and latterly the United States Air National Guard, augmented by the New Zealand and Australian air forces, use Christchurch Airport as take-off for the main supply route to McMurdo and Scott Bases in Antarctica. The Clothing Distribution Center (CDC) in Christchurch, had more than 140,000 pieces of extreme cold weather (ECW) gear for issue to nearly 2,000 U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP) participants in the 2007–08 season.

Geography

Christchurch lies in Canterbury, near the centre of the east coast of the South Island, east of the Canterbury Plains. It is located near the southern end of Pegasus Bay, and is bounded to the east by the Pacific Ocean coast and the estuary of the Avon and Heathcote Rivers. To the south and south-east the urban portion of the city is limited by the volcanic slopes of the Port Hills separating it from Banks Peninsula. In 2006, Banks Peninsula was incorporated into the city, in effect tripling the city's land area while adding only about 8,000 people to the city's population. To the north the city is bounded by the braided Waimakariri River.

Christchurch is one of only eight pairs of cities in the world that has a near-exact antipodal city. Half of these antipodal pairs are in New Zealand and Spain/Morocco–with A Coruña, Spain as Christchurch's antipode.

Christchurch is one of a group of only four cities in the world, that have been carefully planned following the same layout of a central city square, four complimenting city squares surrounding it and a parklands area that embrace the city centre. The first city built with this pattern was Philadelphia, later came Savannah and Adelaide. The fourth city using this pattern was Christchurch. As such Christchurch holds an important legacy and a strong platform for future development.

Christchurch has one of the highest-quality water supplies in the world, rated one of the purest and cleanest water in the world. Untreated, naturally filtered water is sourced, via more than 50 pumping stations surrounding the city, from aquifers emanating from the foothills of the Southern Alps.

Central city

At the city's centre is Cathedral Square, surrounding the now-damaged landmark Anglican cathedral, Christ Church. The area around this square and within the 'four avenues' of Christchurch (Bealey Avenue, Fitzgerald Avenue, Moorhouse Avenue and Deans Avenue) was considered the central business district of the city. The central city also has a number of residential areas, including Inner City East, Inner City West, Avon Loop, Moa Neighbourhood & Victoria. Cathedral Square stands at the crossing of two major central streets, Colombo Street and Worcester Street, though both have been blocked off or detoured at the approaches to the square.

Cathedral Square, the heart of the city, hosted attractions such as (until recently) the Wizard of New Zealand, Ian Brackenbury Channell, and evangelist Ray Comfort; regular market days; free standing food and coffee carts; an aquarium, pubs and restaurants and the city's chief tourist information centre.

The central city also included the pedestrianised sections of Cashel and High streets commonly known as 'City Mall'. Refurbished in 2008/09 the mall before the earthquake of February 2011 featured especially designed seating, flower and garden boxes, more trees, paving, and an extension to the central city tram route. The Bridge Of Remembrance commemorating war dead stands at the western end of the mall.

The Cultural Precinct provided a backdrop to a vibrant scene of ever-changing arts, cultural, and heritage attractions within an area of less than one square kilometre. The Arts Centre, the Canterbury Museum and the Art Gallery are located in the Cultural Precinct. The majority of the activities were free and a printable map was provided.

In 2010, the Christchurch City Council released "A City For People Action Plan", a program of work through to 2022 to improve public spaces within the central city to entice more inner city residents and visitors. A primary action was to reduce the impact of motorised private vehicles and increase the comfort of pedestrians and cyclists. The plan was based on a report prepared for the council by renowned Danish design firm Gehl Architects. Since the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake Wellington architect Ian Athfield has been selected to re-plan, although many varied suggestions have been promoted for rebuilding the central city

Inner suburbs

(clockwise, starting north of the city centre)

Mairehau

Shirley

Dallington

Richmond

Avonside

Linwood

Woolston

Opawa

Waltham

St Martins

Beckenham

Sydenham

Somerfield

Spreydon

Addington

Riccarton

Ilam

Burnside

Fendalton

Bryndwr

Strowan

Merivale

Papanui

St Albans

Phillipstown

Outer suburbs

(clockwise, starting north of the city centre)

Richmond Hill

Marshland

Burwood (now largely defunct)

Parklands

Waimairi Beach

Avondale

New Brighton

Bexley (now largely defunct)

Aranui

South Brighton

Southshore

Bromley

Mt Pleasant

Redcliffs

Sumner

Ferrymead

Heathcote Valley

Hillsborough

Murray Aynsley

Huntsbury

Cashmere

Westmorland

Hillmorton

Hoon Hay

Halswell

Oaklands

Wigram

Middleton

Sockburn

Hornby

Islington

Templeton

Yaldhurst

Russley

Avonhead

Harewood

Bishopdale

Casebrook

Redwood

Regents Park

Northwood

Belfast

Spencerville

Brooklands

Satellite towns

Lyttelton

Tai Tapu

Lincoln

Prebbleton

Rolleston

West Melton

Rangiora

Woodend

Pegasus Town

Kaiapoi

Akaroa

Motukarara

Climate

Christchurch has a dry, temperate climate, with mean daily maximum air temperatures of in January, in July. Under Koppen's climate classification, Christchurch has an Oceanic climate. The summer climate is often moderated by a sea breeze from the Northeast, but a record temperature of was reached in February 1973. A notable feature of the weather is the ''nor'wester'', a hot föhn wind that occasionally reaches storm force, causing widespread minor damage to property.

In winter it is common for the temperature to fall below at night. There are on average 70 days of ground frost per year. Snow falls occur on average once or twice a year in the hill suburbs and about once or twice every two years on the plain.

On cold winter nights, the surrounding hills, clear skies, and frosty calm conditions often combine to form a stable inversion layer above the city that traps vehicle exhausts and smoke from domestic fires to cause smog. While not as bad as smog in Los Angeles or Mexico City, Christchurch smog has often exceeded World Health Organisation recommendations for air pollution. The city has funding available to upgrade domestic home heating systems, and in order to limit air pollution has banned the use of open fires as of 1 January 2006. As of 2008, woodburners more than 15 years old are prohibited.

Demographics

The area administered by the Christchurch City Council has a population of making it the second-largest in New Zealand, and the largest city in the South Island. The Christchurch urban area is the second-largest in the country by population, after Auckland.

Ethnicity

The following table shows the ethnic profile of Christchurch's population, as recorded in the 2001 and 2006 New Zealand Census. The percentages add up to more than 100%, as some people counted themselves as belonging to more than one ethnic group. Figures for 2006 refer to just Christchurch City, not the whole urban area. The substantial percentage drop in the numbers of 'Europeans' was mainly caused by the increasing numbers of people from this group choosing to define themselves as 'New Zealanders'–even though this was not one of the groups listed on the census form.

Approximately 62% of the South Island's Pacific Islander community reside in Christchurch and the surrounding Canterbury Province, equalling approximately 11,500 people. People of Samoan descent comprise about half the Pacific Islander population. There are also smaller communities of Cook Islanders, Fijians, Niueans, Tokelauans and Tongans residing in the city.

291,594 ''n/a'' 5.5 7.2 2.4 ''n/a'' 0.6

rowspan=2	2001 census !! colspan=3			2006 census
! Percentage !! People !! National average !! Percent !! People !! National average
European	89.8	|		75.4	255,366	67.6
'New Zealander'	|	''n/a''		12.9	43,671	11.1
Asian people	Asian	|	17,703		7.9	26,631	9.2
Māori people	Māori	|	23,421		7.6	25,725	14.7
Pacific Islander	Pacific Island	|	7,713		2.8	9,465	6.9
Middle East/Latin America/Africa	|	''n/a''		0.8	2,862	0.9
Others	|	2,073		<0.1	114	<0.1
Total giving their ethnicity	|	324,666 (individuals)			338,748 (individuals)

The 2006 Census also provides information about the multilinguality of the region. Of those people in Christchurch City who provided data, 86% spoke one language only, 12% spoke two, and 2% could converse in three or more languages.

Economy

The agricultural industry has always been the economic core of Christchurch. The city has long had industry based on the surrounding farming country. PGG Wrightson, New Zealand's leading agribusiness, is based in Christchurch. Its local roots go back to Pyne Gould Guinness, an old stock and station agency serving the South Island. That firm helped take deer farming techniques abroad. PGG Wrightson's overseas diversification includes dairy farming in Uruguay.

Other agribusinesses in Christchurch have included malting, seed development and dressing, wool and meat processing, and small biotechnology operations using by-products from meat works.

Dairying has grown strongly in the surrounding areas with high world prices for milk products and the use of irrigation to lift grass growth on dry land. With its higher labour use this has helped stop declines in rural population. Many cropping and sheep farms have been converted to dairying. Conversions have been by agribusiness companies as well as by farmers, many of whom have moved south from North Island dairying strongholds such as Taranaki and the Waikato.

Cropping has always been important in the surrounding countryside. Wheat and barley and various strains of clover and other grasses for seed exporting have been the main crops. These have all created processing businesses in Christchurch.

In recent years, regional agriculture has diversified, with a thriving wine industry springing up at Waipara, and beginnings of new horticulture industries such as olive production and processing. Deer farming has led to new processing using antlers for Asian medicine and aphrodisiacs. The high quality local wine in particular has increased the appeal of Canterbury and Christchurch to tourists.

In earlier years, Christchurch was one of the two heavy-engineering centres of New Zealand, with firms such as Anderson's making steel work for bridges, tunnels, and hydro-electric dams in the early days of infrastructure work. Now manufacturing is mainly of light products and the key market is Australia, with firms such as those pioneered by the Stewart family among the larger employers.

Before clothing manufacture largely moved to Asia, Christchurch was the centre of the New Zealand clothing industry, with firms such as LWR Industries. The firms that remain mostly design and market, and manufacture in Asia. The city also had five footwear manufacturers, but these have been replaced by imports.

In the last few decades, technology-based industries have sprung up in Christchurch. Angus Tait founded Tait Electronics, a mobile-radio manufacturer, and other firms spun off from this, such as Dennis Chapman's Swichtec. Tait proteges include Chapman. In software, Gil Simpson founded LINC, which became Jade.

However, there have been spin-offs from the electrical department of the University of Canterbury engineering school. These included Pulse Data, which became Human Ware ( making reading devices and computers for blind people and those with limited vision) and CES Communications (encryption). The Pulse Data founders had moved from the Canterbury University engineering school to work for Wormald when they set up Pulse Data through a management buyout of their division.

Nowadays, the University of Canterbury engineering school and computer science department play an important role in supplying staff and research for the technology industries, and the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology provides a flow of trained technicians and engineers. Similarly, nearby Lincoln University has played an important role in Christchurch agribusiness.

Tourism is also a significant factor of the local economy. The closeness of the ski-fields and other attractions of the Southern Alps, and hotels, a casino, and an airport that meet international standards make Christchurch a stopover destination for many tourists. The city is popular with Japanese tourists, with signage around Cathedral Square in Japanese.

Government

Christchurch's local government is a democracy with various elements including:

Christchurch City Council, comprising the Mayor of Christchurch, and 13 councillors elected in seven wards.

Community boards (six in the pre-amalgamation city area), each covering one ward, with five members each plus the two ward councillors. The Banks Peninsula ward has two community boards with five members each, plus the ward councillor, who is also a member of each board.

District councils in surrounding areas: Selwyn, and Waimakariri. The Banks Peninsula district council was amalgamated into Christchurch City in March 2006 after a vote by the Banks Peninsula residents to disestablish in November 2005.

Canterbury Regional Council, known as 'Environment Canterbury', including four Christchurch constituencies with two members from each constituency. District Health Board (Canterbury), with five members for Christchurch.

In 1993, Christchurch was selected as the "Best Run City in the World", also known as the 'Carl Bertelsmann Prize: Local Government', by the Bertelsmann Foundation of Germany. Especially noted was the increased efficiency of communal services in competition with private enterprises. Christchurch shared the award honour with Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

Some of the local governments in Canterbury and the New Zealand Transport Agency have created the Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy to facilitate future urban planning.

Education

Secondary schools

Christchurch is the location of Burnside High School, the second largest school in New Zealand with 2,788 pupils. Cashmere High School at Rose Street is another large co-educational secondary school. In recent years, Papanui High School has undergone rapid growth to reach a similar size. Riccarton High School was one of the first state schools in the country to adopt a strong values base – the Riccarton Way. There are Several Single Sex Schools, Shirley Boys' High School & Christchurch Boys' High School are the two state boys High Schools available. Avonside Girls' High School & Christchurch Girls' High School are the main state Girls schools in Christchurch. Christchurch is also well known for several very traditional schools of the English public school type, such as St Thomas of Canterbury College, St Margaret's College, Christ's College, St Bede's College, St Andrew's College, Villa Maria College and Rangi Ruru Girls' School, but also has several less conventional schools such as Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti and Hagley Community College.

Tertiary institutions

A number of tertiary education institutions have campuses in Christchurch, or in the surrounding areas.

University of Canterbury

Lincoln University

Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology

University of Otago Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Transport

Christchurch is served by Christchurch International Airport and by buses (local and long-distance) and trains. The local bus service, known as Metro, is provided by Environment Canterbury. The car, however, remains the dominant form of transport. The central city has very flat terrain and the Christchurch City Council is establishing a network of cycle lanes and paths.

There is a functioning Christchurch tramway system in Christchurch, but as a tourist attraction; its loop is restricted to a circuit of the central city. The trams were originally introduced in 1905, ceased operating in 1954, but returned to the inner city (as a tourist attraction) in 1995. In addition to normal bus services, Christchurch also has a pioneering zero-fare hybrid bus service, the ''Shuttle'', in the inner city.

The Main North Line railway travels northwards via Kaikoura to Picton and is served by the famous TranzCoastal passenger train, while the Main South Line heads to Invercargill via Dunedin and was used by the Southerner until its cancellation in 2002. The most famous train to depart Christchurch is the TranzAlpine, which travels along the Main South Line to Rolleston and then turns onto the Midland Line, passes through the Southern Alps via the Otira Tunnel, and terminates in Greymouth on the West Coast. This trip is often regarded to be one of the ten great train journeys in the world for the amazing scenery through which it passes. The TranzAlpine service is primarily a tourist service and carries no significant commuter traffic. Commuter trains used to operate in Christchurch but were progressively cancelled in the 1960s and 1970s. The last such service, between Christchurch and Rangiora, ceased in 1976.

Vehicles, as they do throughout New Zealand and most Commonwealth Nations, drive on the left side of the road.

Visitor attractions

Garden and parks

* Botanic Gardens

* Hagley Park

* Mona Vale

* Riccarton House and Bush

Canterbury Museum

Ferrymead Heritage Park

Orana Wildlife Park

Willowbank Wildlife Reserve

Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum

Southern Encounter Aquarium and Kiwi House

International Antarctic Centre

Christ Church (the Anglican cathedral), the centre of the Church of England settlement was built between 1864 and 1910.

The Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, consecrated in 1905, is widely considered to be the finest renaissance-style building in Australasia.

Christchurch Art Gallery (A new gallery opened 2003 to replace the 1930 Robert McDougall Art Gallery situated in the Botanic Gardens).

The Christchurch Arts Centre, formerly Canterbury College and the site of "Ernest Rutherford's Den".

Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings, 1858–1876.

The Lyttelton Timeball Station.

The New Brighton pier.

Heathcote (Christchurch) Gondola

Punting on the river Avon

The Summit Road along the top of the Port Hills and Godley Head Road provides numerous spectacular views of the area and features the buildings created as wayside rests, the Sign of the Takahe (now a function centre) and Sign of the Kiwi. The Mt Pleasant Trig offers 360° views from Lyttelton Harbour back over the hills to the southern alps and the city, and out over Pegasus Bay.

Walkways including Victoria Park, the Bridle Path and Whitewash Head, a bird sanctuary.

Mountain biking on the Port Hills and Bottle Lake Forest. Christchurch Mountainbiking

There is a large nesting colony of Spotted Shags immediately south of Christchurch.

Entertainment

Parks and nature

The large number of public parks and well-developed residential gardens with many trees has given Christchurch the name of ''The Garden City''. Hagley Park and the 30-hectare (75 acre) Christchurch Botanic Gardens, founded in 1863, are in the central city, with Hagley Park being a site for sports such as golf, cricket, netball, and rugby, and for open air concerts by local bands and orchestras. To the north of the city is the Willowbank wildlife park. Travis Wetland, an ecological restoration programme to create a wetland, is to the east of the city centre in the suburb of Burwood.

Cinema

While historically most cinemas were grouped around Cathedral Square, only two cinemas remain there. The Regent complex was rebuilt as 'Regent on Worcester' in 1996. In 2009 Metro Cinemas opened in Worcester Street with three screens.

Only one of the first generation of suburban cinemas, the Hollywood in Sumner, remains open. The largest multiplexes are the Hoyts 8 in the old railway station on Moorhouse Avenue and Reading Cinemas (also eight screens) in the Palms shopping centre in Shirley. Hoyts in Riccarton opened in 2005 with one of its screens for a time holding the record for the largest in New Zealand.

The Rialto Cinemas on Moorhouse avenue specialise in international films and art house productions. The Rialto also hosts the majority of the city's various film festivals and is home to the local film society.

The Christchurch Arts Centre includes two art house cinemas, Cloisters and The Academy, screening a wide selection of contemporary, classic and foreign language films.

The Canterbury Film Society is active in the city.

Theatre

Christchurch has one full-time professional theatre, the Court Theatre, which is based in the Christchurch Arts Centre. There is also an active recreational theatre scene with community based theatre companies, such as the Christchurch Repertory Society, Elmwood Players, Riccarton Players, and Canterbury Children's Theatre, producing many quality shows.

Music

The city is known for its many live acts, has a professional symphony orchestra, and is the base of professional opera company, Southern Opera. Christchurch is a home for experimental music scene of New Zealand. The town is the home to such bands as The Bats, Shocking Pinks and Bailter Space.

There are usually buskers around the town square, and Christchurch also hosts the World Buskers Festival in January each year. Singer/songwriter Hayley Westenra famously launched her very successful international career by busking in Christchurch. Soon she was signed to Universal Music Group New Zealand, then later to Decca Label Group in London, England, where she now bases her career.

Christchurch also has an active and relatively large Metal scene, with metal acts playing in various locations around the central city almost weekly.

Christchurch is considered the New Zealand home of Drum and Bass and to a lesser extent Dubstep and various other "Bass Heavy" genres. Some of New Zealand's top performing acts such as Shapeshifter, Tiki Taane and Truth are from Christchurch. Venues and clubs such as The Bedford, Ministry, and Double Happy and many more regularly have international and New Zealand leading acts within the Drum and Bass scene performing live in Christchurch, along with dance parties, raves and gigs all featuring NZ and local Drum and Bass DJs, with often 2 or 3 happening on a single night or weekend (e.g. 2010 when UK Dubstep DJ Doctor P with Crushington was playing at The Bedford, while simultaneously Concord Dawn featuring Trei and Bulletproof was playing at Ministry). Independent Christchurch based radio station Pulzar FM is one of the few radio stations in New Zealand that plays Drum and Bass during the day.

In recent movements, hip hop has effectively landed in Christchurch. In 2000, First Aotearoa Hip Hop Summit was held there. And in 2003, Christchurch’s own Scribe, released his debut album in New Zealand and has received five times platinum in that country, in addition to achieving two number one singles.

Television

Christchurch has its own regional television station Canterbury Television. CTV was first formed in 1991 and still today reflects the Canterbury community through locally made programmes. The building collapsed on the 22 February 2011 due to a 6.3 magnitude aftershock. The cause of the collapse is yet to be investigated.

Venues

The CBS Canterbury Arena is New Zealand's second largest permanent multipurpose arena, seating between 5000 and 8000, depending on configuration. It is home of the Canterbury Tactix netball side. It was the venue for the 1999 World Netball championships and has been host to many concerts in recent years.

The Christchurch Town Hall auditorium (2500 seats, opened 1972) was the first major auditorium design by architects Warren and Mahoney and acousticians Marshall Day. It is still recognised as a model example of concert-hall design. It has an excellent modern pipe organ.

Christchurch also has a casino, and there are also a wide range of live music venues–some short-lived, others with decades of history. Classical music concerts are held at the Christchurch Music Centre.

Sport

Teams

The Crusaders, formerly the 'Canterbury Crusaders', are a rugby union team based in Christchurch that compete in the Super Rugby competition and are made up of players from the Buller, Canterbury, Mid-Canterbury, South Canterbury, Tasman, and West Coast provincial rugby unions.

The Canterbury Rugby Football Union, which governs rugby union in Christchurch and the surrounding region, fields a representative team that represents the city in New Zealand's annual professional domestic rugby union competition, the ITM Cup.

The Canterbury Wizards are Christchurch's men's cricket team in New Zealand's State Championship while the Magicians play in the counterpart women's tournament

The Canterbury Tactix play in the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship netball league. Prior to 2008, the Canterbury Flames played in the national netball league, competing for the National Bank Cup.

Canterbury United play in the New Zealand Football Championship. They play their matches at English Park.

The Christchurch Cougars play in the National Basketball League replacing the Canterbury Rams.

The Canterbury Red Devils play in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL) and play at Alpine Ice.

Christchurch United was founded in 1863, believed to be the oldest club of any code in New Zealand.

Events

1974 British Commonwealth Games

1982 Women's Cricket World Cup

1992 Cricket World Cup

1999 Netball World Championships

2000 Women's Cricket World Cup

2011 IPC Athletics World Championships

''note'': The Rugby World Cup 2011 was set to host events in Christchurch, due to the damage to AMI stadium, due to the 2011 earthquake, these events were moved to other venues.

Venues

AMI Stadium (formerly Jade Stadium & Lancaster Park) is Christchurch's premier outdoor sporting ground, which plays host to rugby union in the winter months and cricket in the summer months. It is home to the Crusaders Super 14 and Canterbury Air New Zealand Cup rugby teams. It is also used by the New Zealand national cricket team and occasionally hosts a New Zealand Warriors rugby league match. AMI Stadium has a capacity of around 38,000 people for sporting fixtures, and around 50,000 for concerts.

Queen Elizabeth II Park was built for the 1974 British Commonwealth Games, which Christchurch hosted. It is used primarily as an athletics park, but also contains a newly upgraded swimming pool complex. It has hosted major concerts from bands such as AC/DC and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Porritt Park in Avonside and Nunweek Park in Bishopdale are the main hockey venues of the city.

CBS Arena in Addington, Christchurch. Hosted the 1999 Netball World Championships and continues to host international basketball and netball games.

Christchurch has more than a dozen golf courses, and has hosted the PGA Tour of Australasia/Nationwide Tour co-sanctioned Clearwater Classic/NZ PGA Championship at Clearwater Resort since 2002.

Alpine Ice Arena is home to the Canterbury Red Devils. It has hosted many national and international Ice Hockey tournaments, figure skating and speed skating events. The Aardwolfs Ice Hockey Club also play at the arena.

English Park in St Albans is the home venue for the Christchurch United Soccer team that plays in the national league.

Sister cities

Christchurch has seven sister cities around the world. They are: Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Christchurch, Dorset, United Kingdom Lanzhou, Gansu, China Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan Seattle, Washington, United States of America Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea Wuhan, Hubei, China

See also

Christchurch City Council

Christchurch City Holdings

List of radio stations in Christchurch

References

Bibliography

Rice, Geoffrey (with assistance from Jean Sharfe)(1999) ''Christchurch changing: an illustrated history'' Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. ISBN 0-908812-53-1 (pbk.)

External links

Official organisations

Christchurch City Council (official council website)

Environment Canterbury (official regional council website)

Canterbury District Health Board (official district health board website)

Culture & information

Christchurchmusic.org.nz (music industry portal)

Christchurch City Libraries (official libraries website)

Christchurch & Canterbury (official tourism guide & visitor information)

BeThere (events in Christchurch and Canterbury)

Localeye (online gateway to Christchurch & Canterbury)

Christchurch.org.nz (official website promoting Christchurch)

Ti Kouka Whenua (local Māori history of the Christchurch area)

The Big City (private website listing events, New Zealand music info archive)

WhatsonChristchurch (events and local resources website)

Tourism & maps

Christchurch maps (from www.zoomin.co.nz)

Christchurch maps (from www.wises.co.nz)

Heritage Maps (from Christchurch City Libraries)

Category:Host cities of the Commonwealth Games Category:Populated places established in 1843

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name	Travis Alan Pastrana
fullname	Travis Alan Pastrana
nationality	American
birth date	October 08, 1983
birth place	Annapolis, Maryland
sport	Rally, Motocross, Supercross, Freestyle Motocross, Base Jumping, NASCAR, monster truck freestyle
event	X Games, Red Bull X-Fighters, Dew Tour, Rally America
supercross	125cc AMA Supercross Championship (2001)
motocross	125cc AMA National Championship (2000)
xgames	Freestyle MotoX Gold (7) and Silver Medalist, MotoX Best Trick Gold, Silver and Bronze Medalist, Rally Racing Gold (2) and Silver Medalist. }}

Travis Alan Pastrana (born October 8, 1983, in Annapolis, Maryland, USA) is a motorsports competitor and stunt performer who has won championships and X Games gold medals in several events, including supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, and rally racing. He runs a show called ''Nitro Circus'' with some of his friends. For 2011, Pastrana has partnered with NASCAR team owner Michael Waltrip to form Pastrana-Waltrip Racing. He planned to drive the #99 Boost Mobile Toyota Camry for 7 races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, but after an accident, his Nationwide Series debut was delayed until 2012.

Early life

He was born on October 8, 1983 in Annapolis, Maryland to parents Robert and Debby Pastrana. His uncle, Alan, played as a quarterback from 1965 to 1968 at the University of Maryland, which Travis Pastrana also attended. On June 11, 2003, 19-year old Pastrana was seriously injured when he crashed his Corvette into a tree in Davidsonville, Maryland. On June 4, 2011, Travis proposed to his longtime girlfriend Lyn-z Adams Hawkins.

Motocross/Supercross

Pastrana has won two motocross racing championships: the 2000 A.M.A. 125cc National championship, the 2001 125cc East Coast Supercross Championship, and the 125cc Rose Creek Invitational. Pastrana also raced in the 2000 MX des Nations. He moved up to the 250cc class in 2002. His stand-up style, ability to spot jump combinations and great speed through the whoops make him easy to spot on the track. Although Pastrana has never won a 250cc race, his kindness to the fans and love of the sport still makes him one of the most popular riders of all time. Pastrana has always raced and competed on Suzuki motorcycles, and remains fiercely loyal to the brand. He races with Team Cernic's Suzuki. All of his motorcycles and rally cars carry the number 199. He even sponsors a Monster Jam truck called Pastrana 199, and Nitro Circus after the TV show on MTV.

Team Puerto Rico

Robert Pastrana, Travis' father, is a native Puerto Rican, which made Travis directly eligible to represent Puerto Rico in international competition. On February 27, 2008, the ''Asociación de Motociclismo de Puerto Rico'' (Motorcycling Association of Puerto Rico) provided him with a license to represent the island, which was accepted by the ''Unión LatinoAmericana de Motociclismo'', the relevant sanctioning body in Latin America. His debut with the team took place on March 15, 2008. Here he qualified to the finals by defeating Erick Vallejo of Mexico. In the finals he finished third, behind local Costa Rican racer Roberto Castro and Vallejo.

X Games

1999 - Pastrana wins the first ever MotoX Freestyle event at the X-Games. He also scores the highest ever run of 99.00 points.

2000 - Pastrana wins the gold medal for the second time, and attempts the first ever backflip on a motorcycle.

2001 - Pastrana wins his third gold, still the only person to win the event.

2003 - Pastrana claims his fourth gold and becomes the second rider ever to complete a 360 in competition.

2004 - Pastrana crashes while trying a 50 ft (15m) 360, sustaining a concussion, but is able to compete the next day and wins a silver medal. Nate Adams becomes the only rider to beat Pastrana at that time. Before this event, he had won Bronze in Best Trick, performing a One-Handed 360 and a Superman Seat Grab-Indian Air Back flip.

2005 - Pastrana wins his fifth gold in Freestyle and also attempts the first ever Backflip Barspin on a motorcycle, however the bike fails and he resorts to a regular bike and performs a Backflip Saran Wrap to take Silver in Best Trick.

2006 - Pastrana becomes the third athlete to win three Gold medals at a single X Games Event. He wins Gold in MotoX Best Trick, MotoX Freestyle, and Rally Car Racing. Pastrana also performs the first Double Backflip in competition, scoring a 98.60, the highest score in the Best Trick competition at X Games.

2007 - Pastrana takes bronze in Rally after sliding into the other drivers area while inside the Home Depot Center. He is disqualified but retains his medal. He also competes in the first MotoX Racing event at X Games, but does not achieve a medal after two false starts in the heat race and last chance qualifier.

2008 - Pastrana takes gold in Rally and competes in the Speed & Style event but does not place.

2009 - Pastrana attempts a rodeo 720 at X Games 15 in the Moto X Best Trick Event. He crashes on his first attempt and withdraws from his second after experiencing blurred vision. He places 4th for his efforts. He takes silver in Rally after being defeated by rookie and former Indy Car/Indy 500 champion Kenny Bräck. On November 8, Pastrana landed the famous Rodeo 720, and filmed it in his newest movie, Nitro Circus - Country Fried. Once he landed the trick, he named it the TP7, due to the fact that he was 20 degrees short of 720.

2010 - Pastrana wins Moto X Freestyle, landing yet another Double Backflip, the first one done at an X Games Freestyle. Travis also wins Moto X Speed & Style, beating silver medalist Nate Adams by a landslide. Travis had problems with his Rally Car during competition, costing him gold at Rally Car Racing and a chance to compete in the new event, Super Rally.

2011 - Pastrana launches "Pastranathon" which included Best Trick, a race at Lucas Oil Raceway in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and then flying back to Staples Center in Los Angeles for RallyCross. However, Pastranathon seemed to be done when, in XGames Best Trick, Travis attempted the Rodeo 720, also known as the TP7, and failed, landing on his right leg. He had broken his foot and ankle, and was taken to a local hospital. Travis was thought to be done, and backed out of the NASCAR race. His team worked diligently to get Travis in the RallyCross event. A special hand-controlled device was made for the steering wheel, and Travis had to relearn to drive the car using the new controls. Travis won a qualifying event, then finished 4th in the final after a crash on the last lap.

Rallying

In 2003, Pastrana opened a rallying career in the Race of Champions, and began driving for the Subaru-backed Vermont SportsCar rally team in 2004. Starting in 2006, Pastrana was signed by Subaru to lead their new Subaru Rally Team USA, being paired once again with veteran co-driver Christian Edstrom. On August 5, 2006 Pastrana won the gold medal in the first rally car competition at the X Games, edging out rally legend Colin McRae by 0.53 seconds after McRae rolled his car through the last jump.

Pastrana and Edstrom clinched the 2006 Rally America National Series overall and open class championship on October 22, 2006 during day one of the Lake Superior Performance Rally. The team finished out the 2006 series with another first-place victory at the Wild West Rally in Olympia, Washington on December 31, 2006.

On December 16, 2006 Pastrana competed at the 2006 Race of Champions at the Stade de France in Paris. He represented the United States in the Nations' Cup by himself, after injuries forced teammate Jimmie Johnson and his replacement Scott Speed to withdraw.

February 19, 2007 brought news that Pastrana's longtime co-driver Edstrom had announced a sabbatical to concentrate on his career and family. Although former McRae co-driver Derek Ringer is set to compete with Pastrana for the 100 Acre Wood Rally in Salem, Missouri and Rally America, he has not announced a permanent replacement co-driver.

In September 2008, Pastrana took part in the ''Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally'', a round of the Scottish Rally Championship centred in Perth in Scotland. Derek Ringer was his co-driver and they entered in a historic Ford Escort RS1600. He was one of a number of celebrity drivers to take part in the event in memory of McRae, who died in 2007.

On August 29, 2009 Pastrana claimed the overall victory at Ojibwe Forests Rally, his fifth of the 2009 Rally America season. The victory sealed his fourth consecutive Rally America driver's title, the most in series history.

Complete Rally America results

! Year

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! Drivers Championship

! Points

! Subaru Impreza WRX STi

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

! Subaru Impreza WRX STi

! Subaru Impreza WRX STi

! Subaru Impreza WRX STi

! Subaru Impreza WRX STi

! Subaru Impreza WRX STi

International competition

On December 13, 2006, Subaru Rally Team USA announced plans to enter Pastrana in certain World Rally Championship events in 2007, 2008, and 2009.

In the 2007 season, he raced three P-WRC events in the Group N class, driving a Subaru Impreza WRX STI–based rally car. During March 9–11 2007, Pastrana competed in his first world rally at the 21º Corona Rally México. He finished fifth in the P-WRC (Group N) class (the best in-class finish by an American in a WRC event since John Buffum finished third in the Acropolis Rally in 1988), followed by a tenth place in Rally Argentina and an eleventh in Rally GB. Pastrana described his season as having gone "horribly".

Pastrana's 2008 season in the P-WRC was even less successful, with one retirement following a crash on stage one of Rally Argentina and one thirteenth place on the Acropolis Rally.

Injuries

''“I don’t remember most of the injuries, there have been too many.”'' - Travis Pastrana

Injuries have often taken Travis Pastrana off the circuit for weeks or months at a time. His medical records include: a dislocated spine, he has torn his ACL, PCL, LCL, and MCL in his left knee, his bucket handle meniscus, broken his tibia and fibula, he’s had surgery on his left wrist twice, left thumb once, two surgeries on his back, one on his right elbow, nine on his left knee, six on the right knee, one shoulder surgery which left him with the only piece of metal he has in his body.

When Travis was 14-years-old, he was severely injured while competing in an FMX competition. He came up short landing on the top of the front side of the landing ramp and the motorcycle went from 50 mph (80 km/h) to in less than one second. The bike was stuck into the dirt ramp with the front wheel just over the top and the crank case smashed into the dirt deep enough to support the entire bike upright. Upon impact Travis froze in the upright riding position and his feet went straight out to the sides like he was trying to straddle a bull. As soon as his legs went outward he fell off the motorcycle and his father took off across the dirt course in fear of what everyone just witnessed. He was seriously injured; he separated his spine from his pelvis. It also left him in a wheel chair for three months.

“I was in and out of consciousness for about three days and had six blood transfusions,” says Pastrana. He also adds that according to doctors, only three people in the U.S. have ever lived after such an injury. It was a long and difficult recovery. Pastrana would routinely ride wheelies in his wheel chair, around the hospital and therapy areas. While in the wheel chair recovering he vowed to continue motorcycle jumping. He was also injured in July 2011 while competing at the X Games when his bike did not rotate to the landing position, crushing his ankle and causing a fracture. However, Travis was back in his Subaru Impreza and competing in the Rally Cross final where he overshot the corner, forcing himself into the wall, on board footage shows his leg in plaster being slammed against the wheel well, much to his discomfort. He will need an operation to repair his ankle in the near future.

Other activities

Travis is featured as a hidden surfer in the 2002 video game ''Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer''.

Travis lent his voice to the game Colin McRae: DiRT as himself, and the in-menu voice.

Travis also has part ownership in Ethika, an underwear company specializing in products for athletes.

Travis features as a driver in Colin McRae: DiRT 2 for Subaru Rally Team USA.

On September 26, 2007, Pastrana jumped out of an airplane over Arecibo, Puerto Rico, without a parachute in a carefully choreographed stunt. He met up in midair with another jumper, then latched himself into a harness to make a safe tandem landing.

On Sunday, February 8, 2009 at 10:00 PM, MTV Nitro Circus, his new television show that he is an executive producer, premiered on MTV. A spinoff of MTV's Jackass, the two shows shared producers, Jeff Tremaine and was partially created by Jackass frontman, Johnny Knoxville. It features Jolene Van Vugt, Erik Roner, Streetbike Tommy, Andy Bell, JD Larson, Jim DeChamp, among others doing dangerous stunts. Jackass' Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Chris Pontius and Steve-O; BMX freestylers, T. J. Lavin and Mat Hoffman; and actor, Gary Coleman have guest starred on various episodes. Nitro Circus was also featured on an episode of MTV's Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory and vice-versa.

Travis and the rest of Nitro Circus appeared in the music video for Spaceship by Puddle of Mudd.

On Friday, January 1, 2010, Travis officially set a new world record in a ramp-to-ramp car jump. He jumped his rally car off the Pine Street Pier onto a floating barge anchored in Long Beach’s Rainbow Harbor, shattering the existing mark of and establishing a new world distance record of . To celebrate, after getting out of his car, he performed a gainer from the landing ramp into the harbor below.

In September 2010, Travis set the world record for fastest ascent of Mount Washington in a car, using his Subaru WRX STi: 6min 20.47sec. Travis is featured in "X Games: The Movie"; Travis' work with motocross and rally cars is shown.

Pastrana 199/Nitro Circus Monster Truck

Pastrana' 199 is a monster truck that races on the USHRA circuit. The truck is owned by Live Nation/FELD Motorsports and sponsored by Travis Pastrana. It was originally driven by Paul Cohen, then driven by Chad Tingler, then driven by Courtney Jolly and now driven by Cam McQueen. Travis made his monster truck debut on October 18, 2006 in the Pastrana 199 monster truck at the 2006 Monster Jam. Also, on an episode of Nitro Circus, Travis attempts to backflip the Nitro circus themed monster truck. Though unsuccessful, he walked away without injury. In 2008-2009, the Pastrana 199 truck was driven by Pastrana's good friend Cam McQueen. McQueen was invited to the 2009 World Finals for his second appearance. Pastrana himself competed in the freestyle competition of the event, finishing in a three-way tie for 5th place in a field of 24 trucks. On February 27, 2010 in Jacksonville, FL Cam McQueen nailed successfully a backflip in the Nitro Circus monster truck during the freestyle competition, making Nitro Circus the first to do a backflip in competition.

References

External links

Pastrana's official website

Travis Pastrana Fan Site

Pastrana at EXPN (X Games) site

Pastrana at WRC.com

Nitro Circus

Category:1983 births Category:AMA National Motocross Champions Category:American motorcycle racers Category:American rally drivers Category:American people of Colombian descent Category:American people of Puerto Rican descent Category:Freestyle Motocross riders Category:Living people Category:Motocross riders Category:NASCAR drivers Category:NASCAR owners Category:People from Annapolis, Maryland Category:People from Maryland Category:Sportspeople from Maryland Category:University of Maryland, College Park alumni Category:X-Games athletes

ca:Travis Pastrana de:Travis Pastrana et:Travis Pastrana es:Travis Pastrana fr:Travis Pastrana it:Travis Pastrana hu:Travis Pastrana nl:Travis Pastrana ja:トラビス・パストラーナ pl:Travis Pastrana pt:Travis Pastrana ru:Пастрана, Трэвис fi:Travis Pastrana sv:Travis Pastrana th:ทราวิส พาสทรานา

name	Tokio Hotel
background	group_or_band
origin	Magdeburg, Germany
years active	2001–present
genre	Alternative rock, electronic rock, pop rock, teen pop emo, pop punk (early)
label	Universal Music GermanyCherrytree, Interscope (US)
website	www.tokiohotel.com
current members	Bill KaulitzTom Kaulitz Georg ListingGustav Schäfer
past members	}}

Tokio Hotel is a pop rock band from Germany, founded in 2001 by singer Bill Kaulitz, guitarist Tom Kaulitz, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bassist Georg Listing. The quartet have scored four number one singles and have released three number one albums in their native country, selling nearly 5 million CDs and DVDs there. After recording an unreleased demo-CD under the name "Devilish" and having their contract with Sony BMG Germany terminated, the band released their first German-language album, ''Schrei'', as Tokio Hotel on Universal Music Germany in 2005. ''Schrei'' sold more than half a million copies worldwide and spawned four top five singles in both Germany and Austria. In 2007, the band released their second German album ''Zimmer 483'' and their first English album ''Scream'' which have combined album sales of over one million copies worldwide and helped win the band their first MTV Europe Music Award for Best InterAct. The former, ''Zimmer 483'', spawned three top five singles in Germany while the latter, ''Scream'', spawned two singles that reached the top twenty in new territories such as France, Portugal, Spain and Italy. In September 2008, they won in the US their first MTV Video Music Award (VMA) for Best New Artist. In October 2008, they won four awards including Best International Artist and Song of the year at Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica (MTV Video Music Awards Latin America) held in Mexico. Tokio Hotel became the first German band ever to win an award at the MTV VMAs and also at the MTV Latin America Awards. They also picked up the Headliner award at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 held in Liverpool on November 6, 2008 and the Award for Best Group on November 5, 2009 at the MTV Europe Music Award (EMA) held in Berlin. They won an Award for Best World Stage Performance on November 7, 2010 at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Madrid. In July 2011, they became the first German band to win an MTV Video Music Awards Japan (VMAJ).

History

Founding

Tokio Hotel by vocalist Bill Kaulitz and guitarist Tom Kaulitz, who are identical twin brothers, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bass-guitarist Georg Listing. The four met in 2001 after a live show in a Magdeburg-Club, where Listing and Schäfer, who knew each other from music school, watched from the audience while Bill and Tom Kaulitz played on the stage. Under the name Devilish, the band soon began playing in talent shows and small concerts. After Bill Kaulitz's participation in a children's Star Search in 2003 at age thirteen (which he lost in the quarter-final), he was discovered by music producer Peter Hoffmann. Devilish changed their name to Tokio Hotel: "Tokio", the German spelling of the Japanese city Tokyo, due to a love of the city, and "Hotel" due to their constant touring and living in hotels. In 2006, a third and fourth single, "Rette mich" ("Rescue Me") and "Der letzte Tag" ("The Final Day"), were released; both reached #1 as well. "Der letzte Tag" contained a B-side called "Wir schließen uns ein", which was also accompanied by a music video.

''Zimmer 483''

The first single off their second album ''Zimmer 483'' (''Room 483''), called "Übers Ende der Welt" (later re-released in English under the name "Ready, Set, Go!"), was released on January 26, 2007 and quickly reached #1 in Germany and Austria, and #2 in France. ''Zimmer 483'' was released in Germany on February 23, 2007, along with a deluxe edition of the album containing a DVD. The album's second single, "Spring nicht" ("Don't Jump") was released on April 7. The tour accompanying the release of the album, The Zimmer 483 Tour, was scheduled to start in March 2007, but was delayed by two weeks because the band members wished to have a different stage design. A third single, "An deiner Seite (Ich bin da)" ("By Your Side"), was released on November 16. The single contains the B-side "1000 Meere" ("1000 Oceans"), for which a music video was also produced. On April 28, 2008 Tokio Hotel released their single "Heilig" but no music video for the single was released, because of the tight schedule they had.

''Scream''

Tokio Hotel's first English language album, ''Scream'', was released on June 4, 2007 throughout Europe. In Germany, the album was released as ''Room 483'' in order to emphasize the continuity with their last German album ''Zimmer 483''. ''Scream'' contains English versions of a selection of songs from their German-language albums ''Scream'' and ''Zimmer 483''. "Monsoon", the English-language version of "Durch den Monsun", was the first single from the album. "Ready, Set, Go!" (the translation of "Übers Ende der Welt") was released as the album's second single and "Don't Jump" (the translation of "Spring nicht") as the third single. A video for "Scream", the English-language version of their 2005 hit "Schrei", was also recorded, and was released to the iTunes Store in early March 2008.

Tokio Hotel gave their first concert in the United Kingdom on June 19, 2007. "Ready, Set, Go!" was released in the UK as the band's first single on August 27, 2007. The song reached #77 in the UK Singles Chart.

Tokio Hotel won an MTV Europe Music Award for Best InterAct on November 1, 2007 and were also nominated for Best Band. They performed "Monsoon" at the event.

Tokio Hotel released their first US single, simply called "Tokio Hotel", in late 2007. The single contains the tracks "Scream" and "Ready, Set, Go!", and was available exclusively at Hot Topic stores. Their second US single, "Scream America", was released on December 11, 2007. The single contains the track "Scream" and a remix of "Ready, Set, Go!" by AFI's Jade Puget. In February 2008, the band toured North America for five dates starting in Canada and finishing up in New York. After appearing and performing live on MuchMusic, while touring in Canada, "Ready, Set, Go!" entered the MuchOnDemand Daily 10, a countdown of videos chosen by viewers. It remained there for over a week, then returned to the top of the MOD Daily 10 chart on April 8. "Scream" was released in Canada on March 25 and in the US on May. 6

1000 Hotels Tour

The "1000 Hotels" European Tour began on March 3, 2008 in Brussels and continued to locations including The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Scandinavia, and was scheduled to finish on April 9; during the concert in Marseille, France on March 14, Bill started to experience vocal problems. He let the audience sing more frequently than normal and instead of the original 21 songs that were on the set list, they only played 16 songs. Bill apologized, in German, for his bad singing and explained that he was sick. Two days later, the band canceled Lisbon, Portugal concert minutes before it was supposed to commence. The rest of the "1000 Hotels" Tour and a scheduled North American Tour were cancelled following an announcement in Bild by the band's manager that Bill Kaulitz had to undergo surgery to remove a cyst on his vocal cords.

Bill Kaulitz had been putting strain on his voice after playing 43 concerts in the 1000 Hotels tour without vacation. He had to undergo Larynx surgery on March 30 to remove a cyst that had formed on his vocal cords. The cyst was the result of a throat infection that went untreated. Following his surgery, Bill was unable to speak for twelve days, and had four weeks of vocal rehabilitation. If Bill had continued singing the rest of the tour, his voice would have eventually been permanently damaged. Tokio Hotel started performing again in May 2008 and after that they embarked on a 2nd part of their 1000 Hotels European Tour adding many Open Air concerts and wrapping up the tour on July 13 in Werchter, Belgium.

North American Tours and ''Humanoid''

Tokio Hotel embarked on a second tour of North America in August 2008, which included a performance at the Bamboozled festival in New Jersey. The band's music video for "Ready Set Go!" was nominated for Best Pop Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, where they also won the award for Best New Artist. They returned to North America again in October 2008 for a month long tour of concerts and record store signings. In December 2008, a behind-the scenes DVD called ''Tokio Hotel TV – Caught on Camera'' was released. It contains footage from Tokio Hotel TV and backstage feature stories of the previous year on disc one entitled "History – The very best of Tokio Hotel TV!". A deluxe edition contains a second disc entitled "Future – The road to the new Album!" which features footage of the band on promotion tours and preparing for their third studio album.

In between the North American tours, the band returned to their record studio in Hamburg to record their third studio album, ''Humanoid'', which, according to their producer David Jost, is currently set for release on October 2 in Germany & October 6, 2009 in the U.S. This is despite earlier statements predicting a March/April 2009 release or a May/June 2009 release. The album was recorded in both German and English with both versions were released simultaneously worldwide. Nevertheless, the video for the single was released on September 3.

On November 2, it was announced on Tom's Blog that the second English single would be "World Behind My Wall" and its German counterpart, "Lass uns laufen", would be the second German single. The music videos for both versions were released on December 14 and December 15.

On June 24, the live music video for their single, "Dark Side of the Sun" was released on the band website.

On July 20, 2010 they released their second live album Humanoid City Live from Milan, Italy On November 22, 2010, their new song "Hurricanes and Suns," premiered on the Greek radio station Mad Radio. It was included in the bonus track on all versions of "Tokio Hotel: Best Of," a compilation album of their most successful songs. As well as the single for the 'Best of' release. The album will also include "Mädchen aus dem All", the first song the band recorded in a studio.

On December 14, 2010 their 'Best of' was released. December 2 was the World Premiere of the video for "Hurricanes and Suns" on their Official Website. On April 28, 2011 they received the "Fan Army FTW" award at the MTV O Music Awards, the networks first online award show. A clip of Bill and Tom thanking their fans was played after the winner was announced.

Asian performances

Tokio Hotel performed their first concert in Asia (excluding their concert in Israel) at the Audi Showcase in Singapore, followed shortly by the TM Connects With Tokio Hotel event in Malaysia, promoting the sales of their album Humanoid. They concluded the series of mini-concerts with Taiwan. They returned to Malaysia a couple of months later to perform at MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia 2010. They performed in Tokyo on December 15, 2010, after their South American Tour concluded in Distrito Federal, Mexico on December 2, 2010. In February, 2011 Tokio Hotel travelled to Japan to complete a second promo tour. A number of TV appearances and media interviews took place between February 8 and February 11.

On June 24, 2011 Tokio Hotel performed in Japan at “The Next Premium Night Tokio Hotel in Tokyo". The event was presented by Audi A1 and 150 fans were chosen to win tickets to attend the show. The event was the bands first acoustic performance in Japan. On June 25, 2011 the band performed live at the MTV Video Music Aid Japan in Tokyo. The show, which was formerly called the Video Music Awards Japan, was used as a music benefit to raise money for the Japanese Red Cross in order to help those who were affected by the recent earthquake.

Modeling and commercials

On January 19, 2010, lead singer Bill Kaulitz teamed up with twins Dean and Dan Caten of DSquared to walk the runway at a fashion event in Milan. Kaulitz made two appearances, as he opened and closed DSquared's Menswear Autumn/Winter 2010 show to Tokio Hotel song "Screamin".

Car maker Audi hired the two frontmen to star in their new advertising campaign to attract the younger generation. They were featured in an episode of Tokio Hotel TV (on Tokio Hotel's website) and also in a commercial.

On August 4, 2010, Tom Kaulitz got his own Reebok shoe commercial. Reebok signed the 20-year-old Tokio Hotel guitarist and sneaker addict to model shoes for the company. "At home, I created a little room like a little storage room," he said of his sneakers. He also said that he gets 10 new pairs a week. That's 520 sneakers a year.

Band members

Bill Kaulitz

Bill Kaulitz was born on September 1, 1989, in Leipzig ten minutes after his identical twin brother, Tom.

Tom Kaulitz

Tom Kaulitz (born 1 September 1989 in Leipzig, German Democratic Republic) is a German guitarist singer, songwriter and model from Tokio Hotel. He is the twin brother of Bill Kaulitz, and Tom was born 10 minutes before Bill.

Early life

Tom Kaulitz was born 1 September 1989 in Leipzig. His parents, Simone and Jörg Kaulitz, separated when Kaulitz and his brother were seven years old.His mother began dating Gordon Trumper, and married him in August 2009. Tom's guitar playing and his brother's singing showed their natural aptitude for music, and gave an early indication of their possibility of fame. Trumper helped the twins to start their own band. He and Bill began writing music at the age of seven years old. Due to their great desire to create a band, his twin brother Bill entered and became renowned on the reality TV talent show "Star Search." They met Georg Listing (then 14) and Gustav Schäfer (then 13), in the audience of one of their shows. Listing and Schäfer were friends and after the show, having liked what they heard and saw, made an offer to join. The band was promptly re-named "Devilish" due to an article published at the time that referred to their "devilishly great"[citation needed] sound. This continued until 2005 when Jost arranged a meeting between the band and Universal Music Group's Interscope Records and Tokio Hotel was signed. They began working immediately, releasing their debut LP Schrei ("Scream") later that year. Their first single from the album Schrei was "Durch den Monsun" ("Through The Monsoon"), which reached #1 in Germany within a month of its release. He then continued his dream with 3 members of the group.

Stalking incident

More trouble came for Kaulitz when in late 2008/early 2009 several female stalkers pursued the band relentlessly, even following his twin brother Bill Kaulitz to his parents' home in Germany and attacked the twins' mother. The issue seemed to end after Tom allegedly hit one of the stalkers at a gas station in April 2009 and drove off. However, a recent article in Bild stated that the issue had resurfaced and that Tom Kaulitz may stand trial for assault. In late December 2009, the charges against Tom were lifted and he is pressing charges himself — against the girl he allegedly hit — on grounds of stalking.

Personal life

Tom Kaulitz and his identical twin brother, Bill, used to live in Hamburg but have recently moved to Los Angeles in response to an incident involving stalkers and a robbery. They have also stated that it is easier for them to work on their new album, as it is closer to their manager David Jost. They are currently living in Los Angeles but also have a second home in Hamburg. Tom and Bill, have modeled for a PETA.de photoshoot. He models for Reebok for sneakers and shoes. Tom is friends with Nicole Scherzinger. Tom prefers to listen to hip-hop music. His favorite rapper is Samy Deluxe. As of September 2007, Tom uses Gibson guitars and Mesa/Boogie Rectifier Heads with Mesa Boogie Rectifier 4x12 cabinets. Tom currently has his hair in cornrows, which he had done in early 2009. Tom had allegedly been dating Chantelle Paige after the stalker incident, but later it was said that they had been going out to better publicise Tom and his band, as well as Chantelle’s band, Flipsyde. In an interview with her, Chantelle had said : "I think Tom is quite nice, actually he is my dream boy. But my friends have warned me about him".

Georg Listing

Georg (Moritz Hagen) Listing was born on March 31, 1987. His hometown is Halle. He began playing bass when he was thirteen years old, He has said that his playing style was heavily influenced by Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers, and other musical influences include Die Ärzte and Oasis.

Awards

Since the release of the "Durch den Monsun" single in 2005, Tokio Hotel have gone on to win 102 awards in various categories and countries.

;2005

! Category	!Award	! Date
Best Newcomer	Comet Awards (Germany)	October 6
Super Comet	Comet Awards (Germany)	October 6
Best Newcomer	Eins Live Krone	November 24
Best Pop National Act	Bambi Awards	December 1
Best Single	Golden Penguin (Austria)	...2005
Best Pop	Golden Penguin (Austria)	...2005
Rock Band 2005	Golden Penguin (Austria)	...2005

;2006

! Category	! Award	! Date
Album of the year	Golden Penguin (Austria)	February 8
Band of the year	Golden Penguin (Austria)	February 8
Song of the year – ‘Der Letzte Tag’	Golden Penguin (Austria)	February 8
Best Newcomer	Golden Penguin (Austria)	February 8
Ausverkaufte Tourhalle	Sold-out-Award of Königpilsener Arena	March 11
Best Newcomer		March 12
Best Newcomer	Steiger Awards	March 25
Pop National	Radio Regenbogen (Germany)	March 31
SuperBand Rock – Golden Otto	Bravo Otto	May 6
Music Award	Bild OSGAR	May 22
Best Newcomer International	Popcorn Awards (Hungary)	May 26
Best Newcomer	Bravo Otto (Hungary)	June 24
Best International Band	Bravo Otto (Hungary)	June 24
Best Newcomer Band	Popkomm Bavarian Music Lion	September 21
Best German Pop Band	Goldene Stimmgabel	September 24
Best Selling German Artist	World Music Awards	November 15
Best Pop National Act	Bambi Awards	November 30
Best Live Act	Eins Live Krone	December 7
Best Rock band	MTV France

;2007

! Category	! Award	! Date
Single of the Year – Durch Den Monsun	Golden Penguin
Best Selling German Act – Album Schrei	European Border Breakers Award	January 21
European Border Breakers Award	NRJ Awards	January 21
Rock Award	BZ-Kulturpreis	January 23
Best Video National	ECHO Awards (Germany)	March 25
SuperBand Rock – Golden otto	Bravo Otto	April 28
Best Video	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 3
Best Band	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 3
Supercomet	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 3
Best Band	Jabra Music	July 2007
Digital prize	Festivalbar (Italy)	September 7
Most Successful Group Rock International	Goldene Stimmgabel	September 22
Most Successful Popgroup International	Goldene Stimmgabel Awards	October 3
Best Album	TMF Awards (Belgium)	October 14
Best Video	TMF Awards (Belgium)	October 14
Best New Artist	TMF Awards (Belgium)	October 14
Best Pop	TMF Awards (Belgium)	October 14
Best International Act	MTV Europe Music Awards (Germany)	November 1
Best band of the Year	MTV Italy Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award	December 1

;2008

! Category	! Award	! Date
Band of the Year 2007	Golden Penguin (Austria)	January
Best International Band	Rockbjörnen Award (Sweden)	January 24
Best Music National	Goldene Kamera (Germany)	February 6
Best Music Video	Echo Awards (Germany)	February 15
Best International Artist	Emma Gala Awards (Finland)	March 8
Best International Group	Disney Channel Kids Award (Italy)	March 28
Best Concert	Hitkrant (Netherlands)	May 2008
Best Mood Song – Monsoon	Hitkrant (Netherlands)	May 2008
Song that Satys in your Head – Monsoon	Hitkrant (Netherlands)	May 2008
Superband Rock – Silver Otto	Bravo Otto	May 3
Best Band	MTV TRL Awards (Italy)	May 17
Best Number 1 of the Year with Monsoon	MTV TRL Awards (Italy)	May 17
Best Band	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 23
Best Video – An Deiner Seite	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 23
Best Live Act	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 23
Super Comet	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 23
Best New Artist	MTV VMA Music Awards (USA)	September 7
Fan Choice Best Entrance	MTV VMA Music Awards (USA)	September 7
Best Male Artist International (Bill Kaulitz)	TMF Awards (Belgium)	October 11
Best Video International – Don't Jump	TMF Awards	MTV Europe Music Awards (Germany)	November 5
Best International Rock Band	Telehit Awards (Mexico)	November 12

;2010

! Category	!Award	! Date
Band of the Year	Golden Penguin (Austria)	January 29
Album of the Year	Golden Penguin (Austria)	January 29
Band of the Year	Bravoora Awards (Poland)	February 1
Best International Artist	Emma Gala Awards (Finland)	February 4
Walk of Fame	König-Pilsener Arena (Germany)	February 26
Best International Band	Radio Regenbogen Awards (Germany)	March 19
Favorite Music Star	Kids Choice Awards 2010 (Germany)	April 10
Best Live Act	Comet Awards (Germany)	May 21
Foreign Song of the Year - World Behind My Wall	Rockbjörnen Award (Sweden)	September 1
Concert of the Year	Rockbjörnen Award (Sweden)	September 1
Best World Stage Performance	MTV Europe Music Awards (Spain)	November 7
Best Band National	CMA Awards (Germany)	December 12
Best Single National - World Behind My Wall	CMA Awards (Germany)	December 12

;2011

! Category	!Award	! Date
Band of the Year	Bravoora Awards (Poland)	March
Star of the 20th Anniversary		March
Best Fan Army (Fan Army FTW)	MTV O Music Awards (USA)	April 28
Best Rock Video	MTV Video Music Awards Japan	July 2

References

External links

Official site

Official Youtube channel

Interscope records profile

Tokio Hotel on MTV

Category:German musical groups Category:German rock music groups Category:German pop music groups Category:German-language singers Category:English-language singers Category:People from Leipzig Category:Musical groups established in 2001 Category:Pop rock groups

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