Problem: John William Carson (October 23, 1925 - January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known as the host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962-1992). Carson received six Emmy Awards, the Television Academy's 1980 Governor's Award, and a 1985 Peabody Award. He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987.

In 1973, magician, television personality, and self-proclaimed psychic Uri Geller appeared on The Tonight Show. In the NOVA documentary, James Randi - Secrets of the Psychics, magician and skeptical activist James Randi says that "Johnny had been a magician himself and was skeptical" of Geller's claimed paranormal powers, so prior to the date of taping, Randi was asked "to help prevent any trickery." Per Randi's advice, the show prepared their own props without informing Geller, and did not let Geller or his staff "anywhere near them." When Geller joined Carson on stage, he appeared surprised that he was not going to be interviewed, but instead was expected to display his abilities using the provided articles. Geller said "This scares me." and "I'm surprised because before this program your producer came and he read me at least 40 questions you were going to ask me." Geller was unable to display any paranormal abilities, saying "I don't feel strong" and he expressed his displeasure at feeling like he was being "pressed" to perform by Carson. According to Adam Higginbotham's Nov. 7, 2014 article in the New York Times:  The result was a legendary immolation, in which Geller offered up flustered excuses to his host as his abilities failed him again and again. "I sat there for 22 minutes, humiliated," Geller told me, when I spoke to him in September. "I went back to my hotel, devastated. I was about to pack up the next day and go back to Tel Aviv. I thought, That's it -- I'm destroyed."  However, this appearance on The Tonight Show, which Carson and Randi had orchestrated to debunk Geller's claimed abilities, backfired. According to Higginbotham,  To Geller's astonishment, he was immediately booked on The Merv Griffin Show. He was on his way to becoming a paranormal superstar. "That Johnny Carson show made Uri Geller," Geller said. To an enthusiastically trusting public, his failure only made his gifts seem more real: If he were performing magic tricks, they would surely work every time.

Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?

Answer with quotes: Johnny had been a magician himself and was skeptical" of Geller's claimed paranormal powers,


Problem: Dr. Soo Wincci (Chinese: Su Ying Zhi ; pinyin: Su Yingzhi) is an award-winning Malaysian singer, recording artist, actress, composer, celebrity chef, host, model, beauty queen, PhD holder and also an entrepreneur. Soo was crowned Miss World Malaysia 2008 and represented Malaysia in the Miss World 2008 beauty pageant. In 2013, She was selected by Hollywood's Independence Critics as the world Top 100 most beautiful women in the world.

In 2013, she was selected by Hollywood's Independence Critics as the world Top 100 most beautiful women in the world. In 2014, Soo founded her own talent management company, Beyond Artistes.  In 2014, she completed the 4th place for Master Chef All Stars Malaysia. In the same year, she released her 2nd international Chinese album in Taiwan. All the songs feature on chart of KKBox Taiwan and also other charts in Taiwan and Malaysia. The same year she played as the historical role of Hang Li Po in the tele movie titled "Takhta". The same year, she won awards for her Chinese songs.  In 2015, she won the "Media Choice Award" in Malaysia's most prestige Chinese music award (PWH). She was selected as the Top 10 Chinese actor and actress for NTV7. She also acted as the main lead for the drama "The Injustice Stranger". She held her first solo concert Inwinccible at Plenary Hall, KLCC, showcasing her talents in singing, languages and also dangerous stunts. She invested RM500,000 of her own money for the concert after several sponsors pulled out due to a video she posted in August, where she urged the Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to resign.  In end of 2015, her drama titled "Injustice Stranger" garnered the highest rating drama of the year while winning all 5 out of 5 online voting awards which includes Most Popular Actress, Most Popular Actors, Most Popular On Screen Couple, Most Popular Drama Song and Most Popular Drama.

What awards did she win?

Answer with quotes: she won the "Media Choice Award" in Malaysia's most prestige Chinese music award (PWH).


Problem: Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893 - September 10, 1935), self-nicknamed The Kingfish, was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a member of the United States Senate from 1932 until his assassination in 1935. As the political leader of Louisiana, he commanded wide networks of supporters and was willing to take forceful action. He established the long-term political prominence of the Long family. A Democrat and an outspoken populist, Long denounced the wealthy elites and the banks.

Once in office as governor on May 21, 1928, Long moved quickly to consolidate his power, firing hundreds of opponents in the state bureaucracy, at all ranks from cabinet-level heads of departments and board members to rank-and-file civil servants and state road workers. Like previous governors, he filled the vacancies with patronage appointments from his own network of political supporters. Every state employee who depended on Long for a job was expected to pay a portion of his or her salary at election time directly into Long's political war-chest, which raised $50,000 to $75,000 (equivalent to about $700,000 to $1,000,000 in 2013 dollars) each election cycle. The funds were kept in a famous locked "deduct box" to be used at Long's discretion for political and personal purposes. The American historian David Kennedy wrote that the extremely authoritarian regime Long established in Louisiana was "... the closest thing to a dictatorship that America has ever known".  Once his control over the state's political apparatus was strengthened, Long pushed a number of bills through the 1929 session of the Louisiana State Legislature to fulfill campaign promises. These included a free textbook program for schoolchildren, an idea advanced by John Sparks Patton, the Claiborne Parish school superintendent, and the Long confidant, Representative Harley Bozeman of Winnfield. Long also supported night courses for adult literacy (which taught 100,000 adults to read by the end of his term), and a supply of cheap natural gas for the city of New Orleans.  Long began an unprecedented public works program, building roads, bridges, hospitals, and educational institutions. Huey P. Long's reign of legislation brought textbooks, a highway, natural gas heating to New Orleans, and buildings still standing at LSU. His bills met opposition from many legislators, wealthy citizens, and the media, but Long used aggressive tactics to ensure passage of the legislation he favored. He would show up unannounced on the floor of both the House and Senate or in House committees, corralling reluctant representatives and state senators and bullying opponents. These tactics were unprecedented, but they resulted in the passage of most of Long's legislative agenda. By delivering on his campaign promises, Long achieved hero status among the state's rural poor population.  When Long secured passage of his free textbook program, the school board of Caddo Parish, home of conservative Shreveport, sued to prevent the books from being distributed, saying it would not accept "charity" from the state. Long responded by withholding authorization for locating an Army Air Corps base nearby until the parish accepted the books.

How much was spent on some of these programs?

Answer with quotes: