The Year That Was...2000

The year that wasÐ'... 2000

Dubbed "The Year of the Dragon" by the Chinese, the first year of the 21st century was packed with too many exciting and interesting occurrences to be easily forgotten. Take a trip down memory lane and revel in the year that wasÐ'...2000.

NEWS

International

Ð'* Researchers from two competing teams announced in June that they separately had completed a rough blueprint of all the genes of the human body. The accomplishment was hailed as one of the greatest scientific achievements of all time -- as well as one of the most frightening.

Ð'* One of the closest U.S. presidential elections in history was rife with controversy after George Bush was declared the winner

Local

Ð'* American journalist, Claudia Kirschoch went missing in Jamaica, apparently on the grounds of Sandals Negril. Accusations have been made that she was partying with some stranger and after that night went missing. From then on a search was launched but she was not found. It is now thought that she either eloped or got murdered.

Ð'* In July, Jamaica's first locally cultured test tube baby was conceived and transferred to the patient's womb at the newly opened in vitro fertility (IVF) laboratory at the University Hospital of the West Indies.

Ð'* Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne visited Jamaica for three days, February 28 to April 1, as a part of his Caribbean tour

SPORTS

Ð'* The Summer Olympics was held in Sydney, Australia. The Jamaican athletes took home 4 silver and 3 bronze medals

Ð'* Merlene Ottey was cleared to compete in the 2000 Olympics, after her 2-year suspension by the IAAF, after she tested positive for the steroid nandrolone.

ENTERTAINMENT

Movies Ð'- Some top grossing movies of 2000

1. Mission Impossible 2 Ð'- highest grossing movie of 2000 with worldwide box office returns of 545.4 million

2. Charlie's Angels

3. X-men

4. Scary Movie

5. Cast Away

Music

International

Ð'* The Internet song-swapping service Napster came under heavy legal fire this year from the five giants of the US recording industry Ð'- Warner Brothers, EMI, Sony, BMG, and Universal Ð'- who sued to shut down the service, citing alleged copyright infringement.

Ð'* The tune Who Let the Dogs Out performed by the Bahamen was ridiculously overplayed but it was fun.

Ð'* Eminem He may be vile, violent, decrepit, insensitive, moronic, misogynistic, homophobic, offensive, and repugnant, but Eminem's ability to throw down rhymes that outraged nearly everyone helped The Marshall Mathers LP rack up massive sales throughout 2000. No one was more controversial.

Ð'* Carlos Santana won 9 grammy awards

A few more hits of 2000

1. I Knew I Loved You - Savage Garden

2. Bye Bye Bye - NSync

3. Try Again Ð'- Aaliyah

4. The Real Slim Shady Ð'- Eminem

5. Independent Women (Part 1) - Destiny's Child (On the Charlie's Angels soundtrack)

6. Stan - Eminem feat. Dido

Local

Ð'* Father Ho Lung and friends did it big this year with the production Jesus 2000. Jesus 2000 ran from March 31 to April 2 at the National Arena.

Ð'* ALBUM RELEASE Ð'- Sean Paul's debut album Stage One off VP Records, is a compilation of all his strong singles laced with intermittent sketches and interludes. Stage One deserves a place as one of 2000's best.

Ð'* THE REGGAE GRAMMY - Burning Spear snatched the reggae Grammy out of the reach of the much fancied Beenie Man with his 21st album Callling Rastafari

Outstanding artistes

Ð'* Capleton set the airwaves on fire with over 30 songs charting throughout the year. He made major impact with songs like "Hands Up," "Hush Up," "Cooyah, Cooyah, Cooyah," "Slew Dem" and mega-hits "Crazy Look", "More Prophet,"