Terra Nova Blogs: Holly Valance

Holly Valance(born Holly Rachel Vukadinović on 11 May 1983) is an Australian model, actress and singer of mixed English and Serbian heritage. Valance began her career as Felicity "Flick" Scully on the Australian soap opera Neighbours. In 2002, she released her debut album, Footprints, which yielded the international number-one hit single "Kiss Kiss". As a teen, she was cast in the long-running Australian soap Neighbours. Cast as Felicity "Flick" Scully in 1999, Valance left the series in 2002 to pursue a music career. In 2004, Valance returned to acting, this time in the United States, appearing in episodes of the television series CSI: Miami, Entourage. In 2005, she appeared in an episode of CSI: NY. She then guest-starred in Prison Break, in 2006, as Nika Volek, a role which she continued to portray in the show's second season. In 2006, Valance appeared in the National Lampoon comedy Pledge This!, alongside American socialite Paris Hilton. The same year, she was in DOA: Dead or Alive, an adaptation of the popular video game Dead or Alive, where she played Christie. In 2007, she appeared in the TV series Shark and Moonlight. In 2008, she had a role in the film Taken alongside Liam Neeson and Famke Janssen, and appeared in an episode of the The CW series Valentine. In 2009, Valance played Brenda Snow for the video game Command & Conquer Red Alert 3: Uprising.

She is also set to appear as Angela in the movie Red Herring and as Sally in the upcoming thriller titled Luster. She appeared in the Miss Marple television episode called "The Pale Horse". On 6 September 2011 it was announced that Valance would take part in the 2011 series of Strictly Come Dancing. Valance is paired with reigning champion, Artem Chigvintsev. Valance's first single as a recording artist was a cover of Turkish singer Tarkan's "Kiss Kiss" (composed by Turkish "Diva" Sezen Aksu), released in 2002. The song debuted at No. 1 in both the Australian Recording Industry Association and UK Singles Charts charts in April/May 2002. The director's cut version of the music video was notable in that Valance appeared to be dancing naked. She revealed that she was topless but also wearing flesh-coloured underwear. The footage was then digitally retouched adding strategically placed lighting effects. The song was nominated for four ARIA Music Awards. Valance's next single, "Down Boy" peaked at #2 in the UK and at #3 in Australia.

Her début album, Footprints, was released on 14 October 2002. It debuted and peaked at #9 in the UK and #15 in Australia. The album's third and final single "Naughty Girl" peaked at #3 in Australia and at No. 16 in the UK. In 2003, the first single "State of Mind" from Valance's second album of the same name debuted and peaked at #8 in the UK and at #14 in Australia, but the album did not get into the top 50 of either country. Valance has also featured in other music videos, first in 2000, when she appeared in Human Nature's music video He Don't Love You, and again in 2009 with British electro-pop newcomer Frankmusik in the video for his single "Confusion Girl". In 2003, Valance fired her then-manager Scott Michaelson (who owns Biscayne Partners Pty Ltd) by phone, 15 months before his contract was due to expire. Biscayne Partners Pty Ltd sued Valance Corp., won the case and were awarded damages by the Supreme Court of New South Wales. During the trial, Valance's mother claimed that Michaelson was negligent in his duties as a manager, which forced her to take over from his role as manager.

Former Neighbours co-star Kym Valentine also gave evidence that Valance "said she was feeling bad, a bit stressed out, because she was leaving Scott" and that "she said the solicitors for her record company would get her out of the contract and would be faxing him the paper work (from the UK) to do so." Valance denied that she told Valentine this conversation in court, even though she had signed an affidavit where she stated she had no recollection of the conversation. Justice Clifford Einstein said, "I have given close consideration to the question of whether or not the circumstances presently before the Court which do, it seems to me, show a calculated disregard of the rights of Biscayne as well as a cynical pursuit of benefit". The court subsequently ordered Valance Corp. pay $350,000 to Biscayne Partners Pty. Ltd. Of this amount, $47,264.56 was "from shares Ms Valance and Mr Michaelson had bought together on the London Stock Exchange", though the court did not award in favour of Biscayne getting a percentage of sales of her album, State of Mind. Following the legal problems and poor sales from the album State of Mind, Valance was reportedly dropped from her recording company.

She denied this stating, "I asked to be released, but Warner refused, so I hung out for a year until the contract expired. We parted on good terms". Valance later confirmed she is no longer interested in recording music, telling Men's Style magazine: "No one can make any money. It was a really tough slog and I had a good go at it, but it was difficult. You put in so much effort and put in so many long hours for not much return. I was making all my money from endorsements and appearances, but I didn't make that much from the actual record sales. I think everyone is suffering in the music industry. It wasn't just me. I do something until it's not fun any more and then move on. Music wasn't fun any more." In 2005, Valance returned to music, albeit briefly, when she appeared on Har Mar Superstar's album The Handler singing on the tracks "Back the Camel Up" and "Body Request". Valance was born in New Zealand to an English mother and Serbian father. She has two sisters, Coco and Olympia. In addition to film and television roles, Valance has also appeared in ads for Schwarzkopf hair care products and 1800 Reverse. In 2011, Valance featured in an advert for Foster's Gold bottled beer.