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Willa Ford
Birth name	Amanda Lee Williford
Born	January 22, 1981 (1981-01-22) (age 29)
Genres	Pop, dance-pop
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, presenter, actress
Years active	2001–present
Labels	MCA (1999–2000) Lava/Atlantic (2000–2004)

Amanda Lee Modano (born January 22, 1981), known professionally as Willa Ford and often as Mandy Modano, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, model, television personality and film actress. She released her debut album, Willa Was Here, in 2001. Ford also has acted in movies such as Friday the 13th, hosted several reality television shows, posed for Playboy and competed on ABC's Dancing with the Stars.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Childhood 1.2 Music career 1.3 Television, Magazine Appearances & Film 2 Discography 2.1 Albums 2.2 Singles 3 Dancing with the Stars 3.1 Dancing with the Stars dances 3.2 Dancing with the Stars performances 4 Filmography 4.1 Film 4.2 Music videos 4.3 Television roles 4.4 Television live performance 4.5 Television commercials 4.6 Other Events 5 References 6 External links

Biography

Childhood

Will Ford was born Amanda Lee Williford on January 22, 1981; she was raised in Ruskin, Florida. She began singing with the Tampa Bay Children's Choir at age eight. At 11, she started singing with the Tampa-based children's performing arts troupe Entertainment Revue.

Music career

In 1999, the 18-year-old Ford started performing under the stage name Mandah and was signed to MCA. While with MCA she wrote and recorded a song called "Lullaby," which was featured on the double-platinum soundtrack for the movie Pokémon: The First Movie. Ford's label decided to change her stage name from Mandah into Willa Ford, as to avoid confusion with Mandy Moore.

In 2000 she was one of the opening acts for the Backstreet Boys' Into the Millennium Tour.

In 2001, Ford signed on to a new label, Lava Atlantic Records, while on a mall tour for Nautica Kids. Ford wrote most of her own lyrics and served as executive producer for most of her first album. On July 17, 2001, she released her debut album, Willa Was Here. The album included the single "I Wanna Be Bad." Willa Was Here reached 56 on the Billboard 200 and sold about 200,000 copies. Ford went on to release a second single from the album, "Did Ya' Understand That," which failed to garner much attention.

Ford was the spokesperson for Pantene Pro-V's ProVoice campaign while promoting the album. She also appeared in Uncle Kracker's video for "In A Little While." On April 26, 2002, Willa Ford appeared in an episode of Raising Dad, playing a bully named Edie. Ford also went on to guest-host MTV's TRL and Say What Karaoke, which led to a hosting contract with Viacom. Ford hosted the MTV reality shows The Morning After and I Bet You Will. In 2001, Ford also co-wrote and recorded a duet with South Korean pop star Park Ji-yoon. The song, titled "Nastified," appeared on Park's fifth album, Man.

In 2003, Ford released a song titled "A Toast to Men." The song, which featured guest rapper Lady May, was featured in daytime promotional ads for soap operas. The single came from her unreleased sophomore album Sexysexobsessive, which was previously titled Porn Poetry. The title track, "Sexysexobsessive," was to be the second single, but it was only released through Ford's official website.

Television, Magazine Appearances & Film

In 2005, Ford hosted the first season of the fighting competition reality show The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV.The show aired between January 18 and April 9, 2005. After the show's finale, the 24-year-old singer was contracted as a summer's guest doll performer for the Las Vegas shows of The Pussycat Dolls. Ford was later featured as the June celebrity on FHM's 2005 pin-up calendar.

In early 2006, Ford played as one of the four celebrity quarterbacks for the Lingerie Bowl, which was shown during the half-time of Super Bowl XL. Later that year, she was featured in a nude pictorial in the March 2006 issue of [Playboy]. Stuff magazine ranked her #48 in the 101 Sexiest Online Women supplement later that year. In fall 2006, Ford competed on the third season of Dancing with the Stars. Ford and her partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, were eliminated in the fifth week of competition. She talked about her experience with Maxim in its January 2007 issue; she was featured in a photo shoot.

Ford and hockey player Mike Modano married in a small, private ceremony on August 26, 2007 in Athens, Texas.¹¹ She also announced to Access Hollywood that she was dropping out of the Dancing With The Stars tour, since Maksim Chmerkovskiy was not signed on.

Ford appeared on an episode of My Celebrity Home on the Style Network, which aired on January 31, 2007.² She also hosted the third season of Pants-Off Dance-Off on Fuse TV. On August 23, 2007, Ford and husband Mike were featured in an episode of MTV Cribs.

Willa Ford appeared in the motion picture Friday the 13th. To promote the project, Ford appeared as a guest on E!'s late night talk show Chelsea Lately on February 5, 2009. Ford and Modano also attended the film's Los Angeles premiere ³

On October 10, 2009, she was cast as Becca in Dreamfly Production's new movie, Minuteman.⁴. The movie premiered at the Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival 2010.⁵

Discography

Albums

• Willa Was Here (2001)
• Sexysexobsessive (2004) - shelved

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions						Album
		US Hot Dance singles sales	US Hot 100 Singles	US Hot 100 Singles Sales	US mainstream Top 40	US Top 40 Tracks	R&R Pop
2001	"I Wanna Be Bad"	4	22	6	116	197	118	Willa Was Here
	"Did Ya' Understand That"	-	-	-	-	-	-
	"Santa Baby (Gimme, Gimme, Gimme)"	-	-	-	-	-	-	MTV TRL Christmas
2003	"A Toast to Men" (feat. Lady May)	11	-	459	-	-	4610	A Toast to Men (Single)

Dancing with the Stars

Dancing with the Stars dances

• Week 1: Foxtrot
• Week 2: Mambo
• Week 3: Jive
• Week 4: Waltz
• Week 5: Rumba

Dancing with the Stars performances

• Week 8: "Fame" (Live singing performance)
• Week 9: Group Jive (Live dance)
• Season Finale: Cast Reunion (Live dance)

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role
2007	Anna Nicole	Anna Nicole Smith
2008	Impulse	Clarie Dennison
2009	Friday the 13th	Chelsea
2010	Minuteman	Becca

Music videos

• "I Wanna Be Bad" (2001)
• "Did Ya' Understand That" (2001)
• "Santa Baby (Gimme, Gimme, Gimme)" (2001)
• "In A Little While" (2001) - Uncle Kracker Video (Acting Role)
• "A Toast to Men" (2003)

Television roles

• The Mind of the Married Man - Popstar (2001)
• Raising Dad - Edie (2002)
• I Bet You Will - Host (2002)
• The Ultimate Fighter - Host (2005)
• Lingerie Bowl III - Celebrity Quarterback for the Dallas Desire (2006)
• Dancing with the Stars - Celebrity Dancer (2006)
• Pants Off Dance Off - Host (2007)

Television live performance

• Teensasion Hard Rock Live
• Total Request Live
• Tonight Show With Jay Leno
• Live with Regis and Kelly

Television commercials

• Six Flags Magic Mountain

Other Events

• Pantene Pro-Voice Live
• Guavaween

References

External links

• Willa Ford Inc. (Official site)
• Willa Ford at the Internet Movie Database