MyWikiBiz: GFDL & CC-BY-SA 3.0 article copied from: English Wikipedia (as of 5 October 2009, at 19:26) by Rjwilmsi, and hereby released under same license(s).

2009-12-26T17:32:47Z

GFDL & CC-BY-SA 3.0 article copied from: English Wikipedia (as of 5 October 2009, at 19:26) by Rjwilmsi, and hereby released under same license(s).

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{{Infobox Internet celebrity
|name =Derek Michael Sheldon
|image =DerekMichaelSheldonHeadshot.jpg
|image_size =
|caption = Official Headshot
|birthname =Derek Michael Sheldon
|birthdate ={{birth date and age|1981|04|29}}
|birthplace =[[Reading, Pennsylvania|Reading]], [[Pennsylvania]]
|deathdate =
|deathplace =
|period active =2008 - present
|homepage =[http://worldasiderseeit.com www.worldasiderseeit.com]}}

'''Derek Michael Sheldon''' (born April 29, 1981), is an [[United States|American]] [[blog]]ger and music personality. His blog, ''worldasiderseeit.com'',is known for posts covering items about [[musicians]], [[music]] and music celebrities. He is also known for changing the names of musicians he dislikes -ie- [[Amy Whinehouse]] (Amy Whineyhouse) [[Taylor Swift]] (Taylor Boobless Swift) and [[Madonna (singer)|Madonna]]. He was the first music blogger to change the [[Twitterview]] to a pictorial format via the [[Twitter]] time line in his posts. Derek Michael Sheldon interviews [[musicians]] on [[Twitter]] and posts [[Twitter]] music flashbacks everyday branding the #musicflashback hashtag. He currently is the leading [[blog]]ger to use the micro-blogging site to deliver music news and information. The ''worldasiderseeit.com'' was the first music site to leak information on [[Whitney Houston]]'s new album "I Look To You." in 2009. His blog has garnered positive and negative attention for its attitude, its active "[[bashing]] and [[support]]" of musicians he likes or dislikes. Derek Michael Sheldon has exclusively covered works by [[Canadian]] singer [[Jann Arden]], [[Dawn Langstroth]]; [[Anne Murray]]'s daughter and [[English people|English]] [[musician]] [[Imogen Heap]].

==Early and personal life==
Sheldon was born in Reading, [[Pennsylvania]] to parents Michael Charles Sheldon (deceased) and Sheila Ann DaDamio. He graduated from Fleetwood Area High School and pursued his [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in [[music]] and [[psychology]] from [[Albright College]] and [[University of Southern California]]. During his junior year in high school an accident caused the death of his grandparents where he received a large sum of money. In 1999 Sheldon moved to [[Beverly Hills]], [[California]], and pursued his life long dream to be a [[film|screen]] [[actor]]. He attributed his desire to act on the basis he grew up on [[classic]] [[movies]] his grandfather taped for him as a child, wanting to give back to such actors that changed his life. Moving to [[Los Angeles]] [[California]] not knowing a single person he signed with talent agent Dale Garrick who discovered [[Faye Dunaway]].
<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bbs.backstage.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6031061/m/872104161|title=Dale Garrick International |publisher=[http://bbs.backstage.com]|accessdate = 2009-09-28}}</ref> After some brief success with commercials he abandoned his hopes of a screen career and returned back to Reading, [[Pennsylvania]]. Sheldon's music background came from his father Michael Sheldon who was a professional drummer in [[California]], working with groups such as [[The Who]] and David Browne. Sheldon is a [[classical]] trained [[vocalist]] studying with Jeffrey Lentz, opera singer, [[Grammy Award]] nominee.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.naxos.com/news/default.asp?pn=News&displayMenu=Naxos_News&op=117|title=Classical Music News |publisher=[http://www.naxos.com]|date = 2004-12-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=30177|title=Jeffery Lentz Highlights|publisher=[http://www.readingeagle.com]|date = 2007-04-15}}</ref>

==The World As I Der See It!==

After returning from [[Los Angeles]], [[California]] in 2002, and before beginning his blogging career, Sheldon attempted to work as a [[musician]] starting a [[band]]. He worked with [[music teacher]] and [[record producer|producer]] Ronnie Cremer, one [[Taylor Swift]]'s guitar teachers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_originally_taught_Taylor_Swift_how_to_play_guitar_and_write_songs|title=Who taught Taylor Swift Guitar |publisher=[http://www.wikianswers.com] |accessdate = 2009-09-29}}</ref> He also briefly worked as a property manager for a [[Reading]] property management company, and was a [[freelance]] writer for local music publications. He says he started blogging "because I loved music, I knew I would no longer have a career as a musician, so I said to myself I refuse to leave this industry completely."

Upon losing his professional job and the band less than lucrative, he created The World As I Der See It! Sheldon started out covering information he knew internally about the business and his contacts. He did a point by point article explaining in great detail why [[Cyndi Lauper]] was greater than [[Madonna]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldasiderseeit.com/previous-posts/2009/7/13/cyndi-lauper-and-madonna-a-primadonna-comparison.html|title=A A Primadonna Comparison World As I Der See It! |publisher=[http://www.worldasiderseeit.com] |date = 2009-06-13}}</ref> He was one of the first bloggers to report on [[Paula Abdul]]'s release on [[American Idol]] almost 3 hours before the AP wire received it.
<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldasiderseeit.com/previous-posts/2009/7/26/paula-abdul-will-not-be-returning-to-idol-she-says.html|title=Paula Will Not Return to Idol, she Says World As I Der See It! |publisher=[http://www.worldasiderseeit.com] |date = 2009-06-26}}</ref> Sheldon also covered the James Cabooter scandal with [[Imogen Heap]]'s new album [[Ellipse]] which was posted on [[Ebay]] before its release.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldasiderseeit.com/previous-posts/2009/7/6/imogen-heaps-10000000-ebay-nightmare-arrested.html|title=Imogen Heap Ebay Arrested, World As I Der See It! |publisher=[http://www.worldasiderseeit.com] |date = 2009-06-06}}</ref>.His rise to fame began when he exclusively received information from an undisclosed [[source]] providing [[track]] listings on [[Whitney Houston]]'s new [[album]] "[[I Look To You]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prlog.org/10282445-breaking-new-inside-information-to-be-released-on-whitney-houstons-new-record.html|title=Press Release Whitney Houston|publisher=[http://prlog.com]|date= 2009-06-14}}</ref> His [[website]] received over 55,000k hits in one day after the post was released. He continues to post articles about [[Jann Arden]], and [[Imogen Heap]] daily remaining in close contact with them. His website is currently ranked 173,000 in the [[United States of America]] and 868,000 in the [[world]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/www.worldasiderseeit.com|title=Alexa World As I Der See It! |publisher=[[alexa]] |accessdate = 2009-09-28}}</ref> Derek Michael Sheldon continues to use the micro-blogging platform [[Twitter]] to release his information, interview, garner feedback from his readers, while posting images of the "tweets" in his posts.

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://worldasiderseeit.com/ Official website]
* {{YouTube user|Dstersaab05|Derek Michael Sheldon}}
* http://www.facebook.com/pages/Derek-Michael-Sheldon-The-World-As-I-Der-See-It/114701407759
* http://www.whitneyhouston.com/us/users/world-i-der-see-it

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Derek Michael}}
[[Category:American bloggers]]
[[Category:German Americans]]
[[Category:Gossip columnists]]
[[Category:Infotainment]]
[[Category:People from Reading, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:1982 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American journalists]]
[[Category:American musicians]]
[[Category:American columnists]]

Directory:Derek Michael Sheldon - Revision history

MyWikiBiz: GFDL & CC-BY-SA 3.0 article copied from: English Wikipedia (as of 5 October 2009, at 19:26) by Rjwilmsi, and hereby released under same license(s).