MONTE-CARLO, MONACO - At the 2010 World Music Awards which took place earlier this year (May 18, 2010) in the Principality of Monaco, we photographed the great Italian classical tenor Andrea Bocelli as he sang. Bocelli was born in Lajatico, Tuscany in Italy and is one of the world's top recording artists classified as having sold the most classical albums worldwide as a solo artist.

At the 2010 World Music Awards, Andrea Bocelli won the World's Best Classical Artist award, and he was presented his award by the legendary pop singer and songwriter Robin Gibb, one of the three founding brothers of the pop group the Bee Gees.

To hear Andrea Bocelli sing live is incredible as he is able to deliver such a powerful sound without visibly appearing to be over-stressed by the singing. At the World Music Awards, Bocelli received an extended standing ovation after his performance. Andrea Bocelli is a Grand Officer of the Order of Merit for Italy and he was awarded this honour in 2006. Bocelli's recent album "My Christmas" was produced with David Foster and was the best selling holiday album around the world for 2009.

STUTTGART, GERMANY - the smart car company announced this week that a new generation smart fortwo will be introduced shortly in the autumn of this year (2010). The 2010 - 2011 smart fortwo includes a revised interior, upgraded colours, with five available engines available in designated international markets. The two 45 and 55 kW gasoline (petrol) engines on the smart mhd boast an improved reduction in CO2 emissions to just 97 g/km. The diesel CDI smart still has the lowest emissions of CO2 for a production car at just 86 g/km of CO2.

Colour availability on the new generation 2010 - 2011 smart includes seven colours, and a new matt colour scheme is part of the line-up. Inside there are new fabrics, and on the cabriolet a red or blue soft top are possible in addition to the previously available black. The company is also well advanced in the area of electric mobility with ongoing tests of smart electric ed type vehicles in the cities of Ulm, Germany and Austin, Texas in the United States.

For fuel economy, the smart fortwo cdi diesel has a combined 3.3 L/100 km rating (71.28 U.S. MPG / 85.60 Imp MPG. The 45 kW mhd gasoline (petrol) model has a combined 4.2 L/100 km rating (56 U.S. MPG / 67.26 Imp MPG). The 52 kW mhd gasoline model also has a 4.2 L/100 km rating (56 U.S. MPG / 67.26 Imp MPG) and the more powerful 62 kw gasoline engined smart fortwo has a 4.9 L/100 km rating (48.0 U.S. MPG / 57.65 Imp MPG). There is also a sporty engined 75 kW Brabus model that has a combined 5.2 L/100 km rating (45.23 U.S. MPG / 54.32 Imp MPG) to complete the engine line-up.

Other new features include optional daytime LED driving lights to give a trendy look and improve vehicle visibility to other drivers. A new premium sound system is now available as an otion with an 8x40 watt multi-channel digital amplifier as part of the package and custom installed speakers in the doors and rear fills, a sub-woofer under the driver's seat and tweeters in the mirror triangles. There are also three new 15 inch optional alloy wheels available including two '3 double-spoke' types and a 12 spoke type which looks great on the cabriolet model.

HOCKENHEIM, GERMANY - The German Grand Prix in Hockenheim, Germany will take place this weekend with the race run on Sunday July 25, 2010 at 14:00 (2 PM CET). Nico Rosberg (shown in photo taken after 2010 Monaco Grand Prix), who was third at the recent 2010 British Grand Prix is looking to have a good result this weekend as is his teammate Michael Schumacher.

The German Grand Prix is run on the 4.5 km Hockenheimring race circuit in Hockenheim and the track is known for its high speed flat out straights and high speed braking zones. In fact the Hockenheim circuit is a circuit where the driver and race engineer have to find the balance between just enough downforce for the corners, and minimal downforce and drag for the long high speed sections of the circuit. The lap record of the Hockenheim circuit is held by Kimi Raikkonen driving a McLaren Mercedes F1 car when he lapped the Hockenheimring in 1m 13.780 seconds in 2004.

Seven-time F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher, who drives car 03 for the Mercedes GP Petronas F1 team had the following to say about the upcoming Hockenheim race, "There is one thing for sure; no matter how long you are around, it is always something special to race in front of your home crowd. At Hockenheim, I will definitely try my best for my fans who give me such a lot of support, especially over the race weekend. But the German Grand Prix is very special for any German driver. There are very few areas on any race circuit worldwide comparable to the Motodrom, and as a driver you feel that energetic atmosphere when entering. It will be the first time for me to come to Hockenheim as a Mercedes driver and I am very much looking forward to the experience. Driving in front of our Grandstand and in front of all the employees, members and friends of Mercedes-Benz will be an emotional moment. I will therefore be extra motivated to give them a weekend to remember. We will have some updates for our car which we hope will give us a step forward so we can look forward to an exciting race."

Mercedes-Benz GP Petronas F1 driver Nico Rosberg, in car no 4 had this to say about the upcoming race, "As a German driver, the German Grand Prix is always a very special weekend, and it will be even better this year to be racing there for Mercedes-Benz. I have great memories from Hockenheim as I won there in all the junior categories that I competed in, including my first single seater race win. There’s always a great atmosphere at the German Grand Prix and the fans are very enthusiastic with the huge grandstands in the stadium section creating so much noise! It’s fantastic to see their support for the German drivers. I love the track itself as it’s quite challenging with some good overtaking opportunities and the races here can often be quite exciting. Going into one of the team’s home weekends with the podium finish from Silverstone is a real boost for us, and we will be working hard to continue our improvement in performance and have a strong weekend."

In the 2010 F1 Drivers Championship for the top six, the leader is currently Lewis Hamilton (145 pts), followed by Jenson Button (133 pts), Mark Webber (128 pts), Sebastian Vettel (121 pts), Fernando Alonso (98 pts) and Nico Rosberg (90 pts). The timetable for F1 race fans is the Friday (July 23) practice sessions will be held 10:00-11:30 and 14:00-15:30, with third practice session 11:00-12:00 on Saturday (July 24) and qualifying also on Saturday at 14:00 - 15:00. The race will run at 14:00 on Sunday (July 25).