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Biography
BLP sources|date=August 2009Infobox musical artist| name = Willa Ford| image =| image_size =| background = solo_singer| birth_name = Amanda Lee Williford| birth_date = birth date and age|mf=yes|1981|1|22| genre = pop music|Pop , dance-pop | occupation = Singer , songwriter , dancer , record producer , presenter , actress | years_active = 2001�present| label = Music Corporation of America|MCA (1999�2000) Lava Records|Lava / Atlantic Records|Atlantic (2000�2004) Amanda Lee Modano ( n�e Williford ; born January 22, 1981), known professionally as Willa Ford and often as Mandy Modano , is an United States|American singer , songwriter , dancer , Model (person)|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 (2009 film)|Friday the 13th , hosted several reality television shows, posed for Playboy and competed on American Broadcasting Company|ABC 's Dancing with the Stars (US TV series)|Dancing with the Stars .
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 Music Corporation of America|MCA . While with MCA she wrote and recorded a song called "Lullaby," which was featured on the double-platinum soundtrack for the movie Pok�mon: 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| 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 Total Request Live|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 Los Angeles|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 Strip|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 (U.S. season 3)|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 (magazine)|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. http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b56017_Willa_Ford_Weds_Hockey_Beau.html Willa Ford Weds Hockey Beau http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/082607dnmetmodanowed.6e23c705.html Texas Wedding for Willa 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. http://www.seenonstyle.com/index.php? v=sosmch& shopi=e207_s01 Pop-Star Home Makeover 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 (2009 film)|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 http://www.etonline.com/news/2009/02/70622/index.html Friday the 13th Premiere
On October 10, 2009, she was cast as Becca in Dreamfly Production 's new movie, Universal Squadrons , which was originally titled Minuteman . http://www.dreamflyproductions.com/exclusive-minuteman-release-date/ Universal Squadrons News The movie premiered at the San Diego Comic-Con International|Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival 2010 http://www.dreamflyproductions.com/ 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 . http://www.maverickentertainment.cc/movies/831/universal-squadrons On her facebook page and twitter , she confirmed to appear on 2 TV dramas, 3 episodes of Magic City (TV series)|Magic City and an episode of The Glades (TV series)|The Glades aired on August 28.
The Glades (TV series)|The Glades - Shelby Daniels (2011)
Magic City (TV series)|Magic City - Janice Michaels (slated to be aired on Starz (TV channel)|Starz in 2012)
Television live performances
Teensasion Hard Rock Live
Total Request Live
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992 TV series)|Tonight Show With Jay Leno
Live with Regis and Kelly
Television commercials
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Other Events
Pantene Pro-Voice Live
Guavaween
References
Barelinks|date=October 2011Reflist
External links
IMDB name|id=0969651
Dancing with the Stars Season 3 Persondata | NAME = Ford, Willa | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = January 22, 1981 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Willa Category:1981 births Category:American dance musicians Category:American record producers Category:American pop singers Category:American entertainers Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:Living people Category:People from Tampa, Florida
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