The Imbroglios

Celebrity or Not Celebrity Big Brother ?

2010-01-04T17:56:00.005Z

This may well be more indicative of me rather than the housemates of the latest Celebrity Big Brother, but when I look at the list, am I not the only one who says...

"Who the hell are all these people?"

Other years when I've caught this show, I've at least recognised about 90% of them. This time probably the reverse is true. What's going on? Is this a sign of a show in its final death-throes? Well... quite probably. Now we know everything there is to know about the workings of Big Brother, what popular Celebrity would ever want to go on? Tis madness!

The Housemates this time round are, Vinnie Jones, Stephen Baldwin, Stephanie Beacham, Sisqo, Nicola T, Lady Soverign, Katia Ivanova, Jonas Altberg, Heidi Fleiss, Dane Bowers and Alex Reid.

Yes... the solid claims to celebrity fame range from dating model Katie Price to having short affairs with random footballers.

Hmmm, not sure what actress Stephanie Beacham is doing in there. Maybe she was supposed to be auditioning for something and walked into the wrong room.

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New Years Resolutions Time

2009-12-31T02:00:00.001Z

I'm generally not that good at keeping New Years Resolutions, so for 2010, I may as well aim big.

Lets put some big lofty aims and goals in. Not the usual Resolutions like 'Joining a Gym and only going a maximum of 3 times' or 'Drink less Alcohol until the second week in February', no no no, we need something awe inspiring to others and impressive when brought up in general conversation.

"How's your New Years Resolution coming along to install World Peace and Harmony?"

"Give us a chance mate, it's only October!"

Yes well, maybe.

New Years Resolutions then... um, erm, well what about these?

1.Eat more Toast
2.Break the Mens World Long Jump record of 8.95m
3.Win the London Marathon dressed as a Penguin

I'm quietly confident about number of 2. I just have to find another 6 metres.

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How often should you update a Blog?

2009-12-21T15:14:00.003Z

Well... what's the answer? Once a day? Once a week? Once a month? Once a decade ???

Hmmm, there's no real set rule about this and I don't think there ever will be. I suppose that's good. However, if you can keep to a decent posting schedule, then that's great. Regular readers will always know when you have something new to say and it is probably better for the mysterious Google Search Engine also. If you don't update your blog regularly, then people may give it up for dead. Bad news.

However... it's not good to force yourself to Blog when you haven't really anything of interest to say. That's just going to annoy people. Well, it might interest masochists. Um, if you write a masochists blog then that's probably ok.

So... how have I done in 2009? Well, not that well really. I had planed to update regularly and in some parts of the year was pretty successful. Other parts, the blog did look a bit dead and on my return there were quite a few cobwebs about the place.

US President Barack Obama gave himself a B+ on his first year in office. Seeing as we are now allowed to mark ourselves, erm, I'm giving myself a B+ also.

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All hail the Octopus !

2009-12-17T12:11:00.002Z

Is it Octopuses or Octopi? I'm never really sure. Regardless of my woeful ignorance for pluralising oceanic tentacled lifeforms, just how intelligent are these creatures anyway?

This one seems to have worked out that a coconut shell can be both utilised as a crash helmet and a handy hiding place. There's clear intelligence here as the Octopus first finds the coconut and then takes it with him to cleverly use later on.

I wonder what he would do if he found something more useful like a Machine Gun. An Octopus with a Machine Gun could really clean up.

Is this Octopus really that intelligent though? If people saw me up our Local High Street hiding under a coconut, I'd be branded an idiot. They see an Octopus do it and suddenly he's a Genius. Octopuses get all the breaks.

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I'm a Celebrity, Get me out of... Blah Blah Blah

2009-11-13T16:01:00.001Z

Well... the show is back again. I'm a Celebrity, Get me Out of Here 2009! Excuse me why I prevent myself from yawning.

While the show may have once been new and fresh on our television screens, this is now the Ninth series of, what is essentially, exactly the same show. The format is starting to look very tired indeed.

You pretty much know what to expect now. There are no surprises at all as the B-List celebs compete in various tasks (that you've already seen countless times before) in order for food and treats. You know the sort... some one will be covered in bugs, some one will have to eat bugs, some one will have to swim in some snake lake, some one will have to go and find Reward Stars in the Dark or overcome their fear of heights and on and on...

Yes, the show was good initially, but just like Big Brother, it doesn't have much more, if anything to offer the viewing public. I hope in Series 9, that I am wrong.

The reported Celebrities going into the Jungle this time are,

Lucy Benjamin - Former EastEnders Actress
George Hamilton
Camilla Dallerup - Dancer
Gino D'Acampo - TV Chef
Samantha Fox - Former Model
Russ Owen - Actor
Colin McAllister
Justin Ryan
Sabrina Washington - Singer
Jimmy White - Snooker Player
Kim Woodburn - From Kim & Aggie, How Clean is your House

Admittedly, some of these, I have never heard of, but that's pretty consistent with every year. No Celebrity has yet to be eaten by a giant genetically modified Crocodile so perhaps that could be the twist.

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The Simpsons- Online Character Creator

2009-11-09T16:22:00.000Z

Here's me outside Moe's bar... standing in the middle of the road for some reason... reading a book with no words on. By the look on my face, I think a large Truck is coming along. Hmmm, I guess there's an outside chance that Moe will rescue me at the very last second.

Who am I kidding? I'm a gonner. Curse you Moe Szyslak !

On previous Blogs I have mentioned a Mr Man & a South Park Character Creator. It's only fair then, I also mention a Simpsons character creator I come across at http://www.buzzhumor.com/games/5822/The_Simpsons_Character_Maker

It does what it is designed to, but I think it needs a lot more Choices of design as it's a little limited.

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X Factor Carnage - Jedward sing Ghostbusters

2009-11-08T16:00:00.000Z

It's X Factor carnage. A mockery of the whole competition. How long can John and Edward go on in this contest?

Forever, I hope!

Jedward are the most entertaining act that have ever been in it and the whole public are seemingly behind them! This week was Movie songs and mentor Louis Walsh selected the theme song of Ghostbusters. It was later revealed to be an idea of pure genius as the below footage proves.

Hats off to these boys. Without a doubt, by far the worst singers in the contest, but so so much fun to watch. They've got to win haven't they? A joke act like this has got to eventually win one year.

If you ask a person on the street to name an Act in this years UK X Factor, they are probably going to say John and Edward. X Factor is quickly becoming the John and Edward Show!

Who you gonna call? Well, it's got to be John and Edward hasn't it?

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Micheal Jackson - 'This Is It' - Movie Trailer

2009-11-05T16:28:00.003Z

What a series of concerts this would have been. Micheal Jackson was back and seemingly returning to the top of his game.

'This is It' is a movie put together of all the film footage of preparation for the planned 50 Show extravanganza at the O2 arena in South East London.

So far, the movie is said to have grossed $109 Million. It is currently the highest grossing concert movie in history.

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Video hosts of the Internet

2009-11-04T16:22:00.001Z

What is Video hosting?

Ok, well I'm sure you already know, but to give this amazing entry a proper starting point for a change...

Video hosting or sharing refers to websites or software where users can distribute their video clips. So basically, a website where users can upload their video clips for others to view. Generally they are free of charge, but require you to open an account so all your clips can be properly indexed together.

Of all the Video hosts, YouTube is by far the biggest and most popular. When mentioning Video clips on the Internet, YouTube will be the website that most people have heard of. They also provide a HTML code which enables you to put the clips onto other Websites you own or Internet Forums you are a member of.

Look, on YouTube, here's a Lego animation I once did...

Er yes, so moving on. Besides YouTube what other hosts are there?

Well there are quite a few actually. Here are some of the main ones you might want to try if you're looking to get your clips watched by even more of the Earth people.

Dailymotion, Flickr, MegaVideo, Metacafe, Myspace, MyVideo, Photobucket, Truveo, Tudou (Chinese), Veoh, Vuze, Yahoo! Video.

Happy uploading!

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Driver wages in Formula 1

2009-11-03T16:31:00.001Z

No matter how much we earn in life, something in our mind always dreams of having just that bit more. Things would be great if I had X amount more of money. Well, in reality that dreamed Utopia isn't strictly a real one. You see, as humans, we will always live to our means no matter how much we have and so therefore, in the long run, will end up feeling exactly the same no matter. As long as you have enough to pay your bills each month and have a decent life then what the hey. Yes, but we are human so... more more more!

When it comes to the wages of Formula 1 drives, this need for more seems to be hugely amplified. The driver wages earned for the 2009 F1 season has just been published. Some of the money flying around, especially near the top, is absolutely crazy.

The wages displayed are in US Dollars.

1. Kimi Raikkonen $45m

2. Lewis Hamilton $18m

3. Fernando Alonso $15m

4. Nico Rosberg $8.5m

5. Felipe Massa $8m

6. Jarno Trulli $6.5m

7. Sebastian Vettel $6m

8. Mark Webber $5.5m

9. Jenson Button $5m

10. Robert Kubica $4.5m

11. Heikki Kovalainen $3.5m

12. Nick Heidfeld $2.8m

13. Timo Glock $2m

14. Giancarlo Fisichella $1.5m

15. Sébastien Buemi $1.5m

16. Rubens Barrichello $1m

17. Jaime Alguersuari $0.5m

18. Vitantonio Liuzzi $Nil

19. Adrian Sutil $Nil

20. Romain Grosjean $Nil

21. Kazuki Nakajima $Nil

Kimi Raikkonen was paid by Ferrari a staggering 45 Million Dollars. No driver can surely be worth this amount of money. 45 Million? No wonder they're getting rid of him and no wonder he has yet signed a contract for 2010 with another team. Nobody is yet prepared to pay his wages. 45 Million Dollars? Still can't believe this. That's over twice as much as 2nd man Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton has to make do with just 18 Million Dollars... poor chap, hope he survives the winter.

Think I should have got into Formula 1. I wonder how much money Ferrari pay their filing clerk?

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South Park - Online Character Creator / Designer

2009-11-02T16:08:00.003Z

As I mentioned the fabulous Mr Men Character creator yesterday, I suppose it would be pure folly of me not to also mention the South Park Character creator too. There are a few of these on the web, but my favourite is, http://www.sp-studio.de/

I don't know who these two characters are that I created, but they are probably up to no good.

The Character creator is quite advanced in the level of design options it gives you. Choose Male or female, body skin colour, hat, accessories, clothes, eyes, jewellery, mouths, legs, hands and probably some other features I haven't found.

The designer is very easy to use and you should be able to come up with some cool new characters within minutes, if not quicker.

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The Mr Men - Character Creator

2009-11-01T16:12:00.001Z

Who are these two fellas?

It's Mr Idiot and Mr Burglar of course... surprised you didn't recognize them from the popular kids series. Shame on you!

Erm ok, these two aren't actually official characters... they were brought to life about 10 minutes ago using an Online Mr Men character creator.

Great fun. It can be used to create a new Mr Man or new Little Miss character. I very much doubt though that many of your new creations will be fit for the children's series... be careful with those names. :oP

Following the small success of the basic Eric Cartman animation I tried in a previous blog, I'm quite tempted to try the same with Mr Idiot and the Burglar. Wonder what trouble they'll get up to?

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Star Wars: Starring Kurt Russell as Han Solo ?

2009-10-31T16:10:00.000Z

Like many, I'm a great fan of the Star Wars films. More so the original unaltered trilogy than the prequels and CGI'd edited originals. Although all have their fans. This is Star Wars after all.

What made the Originals so special, in my opinion, is the quality that Harrison Ford brought to the role of Han Solo. He made the character an iconic figure in movie history and without him, who knows how successful the film would have become otherwise. This argument will always remain one of much heated debate.

A lot of Actors auditioned for the role of Han. Below is Kurt Russell's attempt.

Interesting. A bit flat I think and I'm not sure how seriously the young Kurt is taking the audition. If only he then knew how much money it could have potentially earned him. Oh well, i don't think his career has gone too badly despite this.

Not sure what become of the chap auditioning as Luke here... maybe he become a Storm Trooper. :op

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Spoof Emails

2009-10-30T16:22:00.002Z

Is there no end to these Spoof Emails I receive each day?

What is a Spoof Email? Surely you know. Surely you've received them. You haven't? Well, I guess you must be the only one. I'm kind of jealous.

A Spoof email is an email received that pretends to be sent from somewhere else in order to get information from you. They are predominantly, if not totally, sent by fraudsters looking to steal your identity or take over your bank account to extract funds. Some coding will alter or disguise the email address they've originally been sent from.

These fake emails will be made to look like they're from financial institutions such as world banks, but also heavily include PayPal and eBay. If you suspect a Spoof email regarding the last two you should forward them either to Spoof@ebay.com or Spoof@PayPal.com.

Typically the Spoof email will announce some sort of minor or major disaster that needs your attention. There will be a link for you to click to be taken to the site...

DON'T CLICK IT, YOU WILL BE TAKEN TO A DUMMY SITE THE FRAUDSTER HAS SET UP. THEY WANT YOU TO TYPE IN YOUR USER NAME AND PASSWORD SO THEY CAN STEAL THEM.

Remember: No financial institution will ever send you an email with a link to click in it that takes you to a sign on screen.

How the Fraudsters obtrain your email address in the first place is one of heated debate, but presumably it must have been leaked from somewhere. Data Protection is supposed to protect all your details given to any company. They are not supposed to give them out.

Be careful. Some of the Spoof emails are a lot more sophisticated than others. Some are riddled with spelling errors, some are very professional. Remember... never click on email links. Instead, go directly to the Financial Institutions website and check your account status there or phone them.

Spoof emails I have received today are from three banks I have no account with and are even based in a different country. Desperate stuff.

Always be vigilant and don't let the Fraudsters win.

www.jenkin7 - www.jenkin7.com
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The largest population in the World and Taobao.com

2009-10-29T16:17:00.005Z

You may have heard of the country, China?

It's a little unknown place with a population of around 1.3 billion. Er yes, the largest population in the world in fact. In fact around 20% of the planet. My basic Maths says that's 1 in 5.

1 in 5 represents a huge market for trade and potential customers wishing to purchase products.

Never a company to miss an opportunity, eBay tried to open a branch of its Auction website in China. It failed. With such a huge potential customer base, I hear you ask, how did they fail? The answer... Taobao.

Taobao is an online market place founded by Ma Yun (Jack Ma) in 1999 and is part of the Alibaba group. A Chinese company, that already has such a strong grip on the Chinese marketplace, that nobody, not even the mighty eBay, can seemingly get a look in.

So... with such a strong marketplace and huge world customer base, why doesn't all and sundry list their items there? The one stumbling block? A pretty big one actually... the whole site is in Chinese.

Want to get rich? Learn several forms of Chinese is my tip. Admittedly not an easy task, but in decades or maybe just years to come, it could well be worth the effort.

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How tough is it to animate South Park ?

2009-10-28T16:24:00.000Z

South Park is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Ok, you may probably already know this.

South Park has become a huge success around the world. The look of the show seems pretty basic. In this predominantly two dimensional world, Trey & Matt originally animated the show using card construction cut-outs and stop-motion video. This is a very time consuming process and now, with the aid of computers, the process is a lot lot quicker. However, the show still keeps intact the basic look and feel that it did during it's original airing.

Much of South Park's success is due mostly to the ideas and script writing than the sophistication of the animation. If the animation were changed, it would probably ruin the whole feel of the show and there would probably be uproar!

So how hard is it for an individual on a budget of near zero to create an animation of the same level of South Park? Granted, anything of any decent length is going to take quite a lot of time to produce.

I decided to quickly see if could make something pretty basic in limited time using what I had available. I didn't have any cardboard cut-outs to use, but just really a laptop. Using the basic Paint package and Windows Movie maker, I made the below short and very basic animation.

Yes, it will not win many awards, and was created in under an hour. It shows though, if you have quite a bit of time on your hands, it would be possible to create something quite good. And of course... there are much better software packages out there than Paint and Movie Maker!

Kick Ass!

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Family Fortunes - We surveyed 100 people (Honest)

2009-10-27T16:22:00.001Z

We surveyed 100 people and asked them have they ever been surveyed for the TV show Family Fortunes. The top one answer is up there. Yes, the Top answer is No.

Have you ever met a person who has actually participated in one of these Family Fortunes surveys? My guess is, no. The TV show has been running in the UK on and off since 1980 and in the US as Family Feud since 1976.

Who and where are all these people answering the surveys during this large period? Must be tens of thousands of them. Maybe they're kept on some secret island somewhere. Judging by some of the answers given, some have quite clearly gone utterly mad.

Or maybe it's just the contestants who are mad.

Er yes, it's definitely the contestants, my mistake.

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Dead or not Dead, that is the Twitter Celebrity Question.

2009-10-26T22:10:00.004Z

The answer is probably "Not dead".

I've noticed a rather macabre trend perhaps starting to develop on the micro-blogging network, Twitter. This is the trend for fake reporting of Celebrity deaths. It is somewhat disturbing.

When Michael Jackson sadly passed away in June of this year, his death was one of the most mentioned things on Twitter for over two months. It became the number 1, "Trending Topic".

After this something really odd happened. A rumour started from an individual or individuals that the actor, Jeff GoldBlum, had died. Although completely false, this topic soon become a top trender also. It became such a problem that Mr Goldblum had to come out and publicly announce that he was still alive. Most people believed him.

It would outwardly appear, that if a user is bored on Twitter, they may invent a story that a famous celebrity has died in order to get it into the Top Trending Topics list. This seems pretty desperate stuff and I hope it isn't something that's going to continue... but alas it probably will do.

The latest fake celebrity death to trend is Kanye West. It's a bit tricky to know what to believe anymore. If anyone reports the death of Elvis Presley, I for one, won't believe them.

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Re: The Y Factor

2009-10-26T12:46:00.000Z

And so it continues...

Just had to add a further comment to the previously posted Blog after watching the X Factor results show this Sunday. It's got to a point now where nothing really surprises me anymore. The Y Factor is alive and kicking and doing very well for itself thank you. Why? Why? Why? Best not to reason with it.

John and Edward are most probably... no... most definitely the shows worst ever finalists, but they went through as expected. They are with out a doubt, the most talked about act and the reason why a great percentage of the public watch each week. But do they have the X Factor? Are they the most likely to go on and become long-term recording artists? Why am I even asking myself these questions? The answer is staring me in the face in big bright capital letters. They read, No!

Ok, while it is pretty amusing seeing this kind of act progress each week, it becomes rather shambolic when the best act ends up in the bottom two sing off. It doesn't seem that Danyl Johnson is very popular with the voting public, slightly less popular than Gordon Brown in fact. That's not very popular.

Danyl managed to work his way through this week at the expense of Girl band, Miss Frank. This would have been a major wake up call. John & Edward are more popular than the previous bookies favourite to win the whole show.

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The Y Factor

2009-10-25T10:12:00.002Z

It happens every year with these TV Talent shows. One act is so awful to such an infinite level, that they progress much much further than any sane world would normally allow. But... we don't live in a sane world do we? The proof is there for all to see.

Previous World-Class terrible acts that have featured on the X Factor have included Chico and the Cheeky Girls, but twins John & Edward, this year, have taken the art to a whole new level. When it come to the genre of awful performances, they are surely Galactic if not Universal Class.

But... they are entertaining. This is the Y Factor and they have it in huge great big spades. Each week I cross my fingers they will be voted through, just to see the car wreck they will perform the following week.

If they win the whole competition, Simon Cowell will surely break down in a flood of tears. Good Luck to John and Edward! I probably won't be buying any of your albums though.

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The B of the Bang... and arthritis

2009-10-23T16:24:00.004+01:00

The sprinter, Linford Christie, always said to get a great start in sprinting, you had to go with the B of the Bang.

He was referring to the starting pistol and launching yourself on the very same moment that it went off... the first sound... the B of the Bang.

I think the athlete I was controlling in the below game of Athens 2004 launched quite some time after... missed the Bang completely and started instead in some other word some way off camera. The word may have been Crapola. He went with the second a of Crapola.

I've never been very good at these type of video games where your success is governed by how quickly you can repeatedly pound some buttons. On the plus side however, I probably won't be crippled by severe arthritis in my fingers in later life.

Yeah!

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Life the Universe & everything according to two Random People

2009-10-22T20:21:00.002+01:00

If you have a mind that tends to daydream, drift away and wonder the biggest questions of the Universe and creation, then the last thing you should do is meet somebody who thinks in exactly the same way.

Trust me on this.

By yourself you would perhaps drift away in your thoughts and hypothesise losing a few minutes of time. With somebody else, you will ramble on for hours and hours and end up with even more confusingly deep questions and ideas than before.

I tend to spend a lot of time on a computer these days. To prevent "Brain Explosion", midday I often go for a walk. This tends to work pretty well. I refresh my mind of all poisons and come back recharged ready for Round 2.

On one of my recent Screen-Break walks, I bumped into Dennis.

After briefly sharing a joke about some Ducks that were feeding, I somehow ended up in one of the longest conversations of my life. Don't misunderstand me, I quite enjoyed it. We discussed everything... the Big Bang, Chaos theory, Linear Time, the Hadron Collider, Planet formation, Solar flares, past lives, curved time, dark matter, reality, human perception, quantum mechanics, spacial wormholes, singularities, mass, gravity, atoms, neutrons, photons, light speed, God, Aliens and maybe a few other things... oh yes, and ducks. Dennis was a very clever and intriguing fellow.

What should have been a brief 10 minute walk ended up lasting over 2 hours. Was a bit behind after that. Should have paid a bit more attention to the concept of Linear Time. :o)

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Video Racing Games - Just how real do you want it?

2009-10-21T16:08:00.003+01:00

I recently found myself in a daft conversation (yes it was at the Pub) regarding Formula 1 games and their realism.

The point was made that a certain game was pretty bad as it didn't feel very realistic. Well... just how realistic do you want it? The games can never be 100% realistic otherwise only professional Formula 1 drivers would be able to successfully play them... and they probably have a lot better things to be getting on with... apart from Jacques Villeneuve.

Anyway, as long as they look authentic with cool engine sounds and graphics and are fun to play, I think that's the most you can ask for. If I had to drive a real Formula 1 car, I would probably be extremely tired by the end of Lap 1, fall unconscious on Lap 2 and wake up in hospital 3 weeks later. A game that could provide that level of realism wouldn't be very popular.

A point conceded though, F1 05 on the PlayStation 2 is maybe a bit too easy. Ok, it's your turn to go up to the Bar. Mine's a pint of Fosters.

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The High Street Strikes Back ?

2009-10-19T18:17:00.002+01:00

During my regular trips to the Post Office these last few years, I haven't helped but notice the grim emptying of all the shops. One by one it seems, once vibrant store fronts being replaced by empty dead shells with mountains of never to be opened post shoved through the letterbox. It's pretty depressing stuff.

Running a real life bricks and mortar shop these bad economic days seems incredibly tough. The biggest empty store along our Local High Street is the old Woolworths. It's a very large store which probably no Company believe can make work. Along the relatively short stretch there are around 8 or so smaller premises that have not seen life for many many months. You can tell things are bad when even the Charity Shop closes down!

Rents are high and spending traffic is low. This is not a good formula for long term business prosperity.

Maybe it's just because Christmas is looming, but today, I was pleased to see that two of the smaller empty shops had new ownership and were planning to reopen. Brilliant. Could this be the first signs of recovery for the High Street? Too early to tell maybe. The first is a Shoe shop and the second a Toy Shop. Good Luck to both of them. If starting a real life physical shop, this time of year must definitely be the best moment to start.

www.jenkin7 - www.jenkin7.com
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Deal or No Deal... still

2009-10-16T17:45:00.002+01:00

I've been watching a lot of Deal or No Deal recently. I'm amazed that such a simple concept is still surviving since its first airing 4 years ago back in 2005. Since this time, the show has now given away over 18 Million pounds. Remarkable.

For those that somehow haven't seen it, the show is centered around 1 contestant each day who selects a gradually decreasing number or 22 random boxes with money in them. Future contestants then open the selected box and what ever sum is revealed inside is scratched from the game. Values contained range from 1p to £250,000. At certain stages, The Banker phones in and makes a Monetary offer based on the Money remaining for the Contestant to stop playing. Presenter, Noel Edmonds relays the offer then asks, "Deal or No Deal?". Obviously, the longer you can keep the Big Money Boxes in the game, the larger the offer.

Of course... the whole thing is utterly random, but that doesn't stop Contestants forming strategies and Noel reminding them to think more following a bad run. You're completely in the lap of the Gods with this game unless you resist greed and accept the Bankers offer at some point.

Wonder how you get to be on the Show? Maybe they will read this and I will get a special invite... maybe.

Here's how NOT to play the game. She should have thought a lot harder about her strategy. :oP ---- WARNING: Some Bad language.

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Asda are Great Value... from a certain point of view

2009-10-05T14:59:00.004+01:00

As the wise old jedi from Star Wars Ben Kenobi once sad, "Everything is dependent on a certain point of view."

Fictional tripe some may say, but not me however. The Universe and everything in it is totally dependent on your own personal perspective of it. We are all on the same journey from birth through to death, it's just that some people are in First Class travel, some in Economy Class, a few stuffed in the Cargo hold and a much greater number holding onto the wings outside for dear life.

Yes... very interesting.... so why the Asda logo picture? Well... it's all to do with that certain point of view again or more accurately an advertising point of view.

An advert was on TV today for Asda supermarket boasting that around 1400 of their items were cheaper in store than another leading Supermarket. Great, you may say, lets shop there then. But hang on, Wait! 1400 out of how many items are cheaper? 1400 out of 1400 sounds pretty good, but what if it's 1400 out of 10,000? That would actually mean, most items are more expensive in Asda. So you see, these advertised figures mean nothing as they are arbitrary and cannot be compared to anything.

Supermarkets are very competitive in their pricing these days and are constantly changing to stay competitive against one another. So in summary, it's probably best just to go to the closest. At least you save on Petrol.

Er yes, that's what I say.

www.jenkin7 - www.jenkin7.com
Giftware & Collectables

Healthy Breakfast of the Future: Chocco Flakes with Fizzy Milk

2009-07-28T03:30:00.004+01:00

So then, every drink that it's possible to make has been made by now, so you shouldn't even bother trying. Yes, that's right. Any other possibility that hasn't already been put on the market would be plain gut-wrenchingly horrid.

Hey though, what about fizzy milk?

Fizzy what?

You know, fizzy milk... milk with fizz in. Don't you just hate it when you get some milk from the fridge and it's all flat?

Er... not really.

Erm yes, I'm sure fizzy milk will be just delightful. So delightful in fact that Coke plan to release it onto the market. This can't be a good move can it? In this time of growing World obesity and the health push for our children to eat more healthily, the mad boffin scientists at Coke come up with this.

In the difficult quest to come up with a new revolutionary drink in an over-saturated marketplace and spark increased revenues, this seems to be the answer. We are doomed! Or are we? Maybe it will be nicer than it sounds.

The drink contains skim milk mixed with sparkling water, flavored with fruit and sweetened with cane sugar. It may not be the Real Thing, but will be hitting shop shelves in the near future.

I look forward to Fizzy Cheese, Fizzy Yogurts and Fizzy Mad Cow disease.

www.jenkin7 - www.jenkin7.com
Giftware & Collectables

20p or not 20p that is the Question

2009-07-28T00:01:00.000+01:00

And what a question. It's amazing when even the slightest snifter of an opportunity presents itself, the shear volume of scammers in this modern day Internet world suddenly emerge. There can only be one world to describe this category of people and that word is, "Scumbags". Ok... well maybe there's another one, "Stupid".

You may remember, a little while back, the Royal Mint (The clever ones who produce all the physical money) made a bit of a technical boo boo. They made and circulated around 200,000 20 pence pieces without a date on. So.. no date. Doh! This made them all extremely valuable for some reason... a great deal more than 20p in fact.

Some experts claimed any of these 20p pieces were now probably worth around £50. Some sources said they were worth Hundreds of pounds, a few silly sources said they could even be worth Thousands of pounds. Fate had seemingly taken the day off and left Captain Stupid in charge.

Ok, so these botched undated 20 pences were very rare and probably worth £50 each to hardened Coin Collectors.

Step in the scammers / Scumbags / Stupid people...

Within hours of all this, 20 pence pieces started appearing for sale on the popular Auction site, eBay. How many of these were the real McCoy? How many of these auctions were for the genuine coins? Well.... none that I could definitely confirm. Many listings even showed pictures of regular 20 pences with the date either photoshopped off or badly scratched away.

One Seller was trying to sell one at a cost of 11 Million pounds, another at a more modest 9 Million. Each said they would take Legal Action if the Buyer didn't pay. That would have been a very interesting Court case.... I wonder what the eBay fees are on an 11 Million pound item?

To their merit, eBay did remove a lot of these listings. You have to ask though, what thought processes go on in someones mind to attempt and think they can get away with this sort of scam? Criminal Mastermind or Epic Fail?

Ho hum, I doubt it will be the last time this sort of thing occurs. Roll on to the next one...

www.jenkin7 - www.jenkin7.com
Giftware & Collectables

My Tropical Fish Aquarium Suddenly isn't big enough...

2009-07-25T04:03:00.005+01:00

Any obsessed keeper of Tropical Fish will be well familiar with the term "Multiple Tank Syndrome".

MTS is where your love of the hobby gets to such a point, that you desire to keep more and more different species of fish. You suddenly find your existing aquarium simply isn't big enough anymore for your new growing ambitions. And somewhat inevitably you buy an even larger Aquarium to satisfy your growing fishy addiction. After a while, the cycle then repeats itself and you are now deep inside the realms of Multiple Tank Syndrome. These pretty glass boxes are soon everywhere.

Anything can trigger the start of MTS. Reading about a fish in a book or the Internet, or often just seeing a larger more impressive tank than your own. Anyway, take a look at this...

I hope this has helped any sufferers out there. You can't beat a tank that's so large, the only way to clean it is to put on full Scuba-Diving gear and jump in with a large underwater Vacuum Cleaner.

Care: This size Aquarium may be a bit heavy for some floor joists.

www.jenkin7 - www.jenkin7.com
Giftware & Collectables

Supermarkets cutting down on Plastic Bags. Why?

2009-07-25T02:00:00.004+01:00

Last year in the UK, Supermarkets used 418 Million less plastic Carrier bags in an effort to cut down on landfill. Apparently, according to Environmentalist types these bags take around 1000 years to disintegrate.

1000 years? 1000 years? How is it then, if I put some in my kitchen cupboard, they've already got holes in within just a few days? With most of them, one of the handles have already ripped even before they've caught sight of the cupboard.

1000 years? Who come up such an outlandish estimate? Some one who was about to clock off for the day and desperately get to the Pub I think. "How long can these plastic bags last?", "Er, um, oh just put 1000 years, nobodies going to have time to check it for real are they? Lets go now.", "Ok lets, its tough being an Environmentalist what with all the outlandish estimating and everything."

What a load of rubbish. If I made a suit from these Plastic bags would I expect it to last 1000 years before it disintegrated? I Don't think so. I'd look cool for all of half a day.

"What's up with your suit?", "Oh, it's bloody disintegrated again".

That's no good.

They say the average shopper uses approximately 13,000 bags in their lifetime. And you know why that is. It's because the bag starts disintegrating the second you get it out the shop.

www.jenkin7 - www.jenkin7.com
Giftware & Collectables

"This is It" - Great Jackson YouTube Music Vid

2009-07-19T02:03:00.005+01:00

No real need for a detailed description on this occasion. Uploaded in March 2009, 3 months before Michael Jackson's untimely death, this is a great music Remix by Steve Porter.

Great stuff. Keep a close eye on some of those screaming fans, one is particularly amusing. :oD

www.jenkin7 - www.jenkin7.com
Giftware & Collectables

Link your Social apps together with FriendFeed

2009-07-19T00:01:00.000+01:00

In this new heady Internet world of Web2.0., there are many Social apps that you can suddenly find yourself using.

You may have Blogs, Picture hosting Services, Video Upload Services such as Youtube, networking services such as Facebook or Twitter, various RSS Feed readers and the list goes on and on...

With an increasing amount of social apps all doing their various jobs and operations, wouldn't it be great if you could link them all together in one central place?

Well good news, now you can with FriendFeed!

It's well worth checking out. Link all your Social Apps together and FriendFeed will provide a single Feed of all updates to anything you may be doing related to them.

Easy to set up, simple to operate, free to use... there's no real reason not to open an account.

If you wish to subscribe to my FriendFeed it is jenkin7Nick. I always subscribe back. :o)

www.jenkin7 - www.jenkin7.com
Giftware & Collectables

Twitter Great... hey, I'm not in Main Search all of a sudden

2009-07-17T01:07:00.007+01:00

Having tried some of the micro-blogging competitors including Jaiku and the like, in my opinion, there is nothing really out there that can rival the strength and popularity of Twitter. Used correctly it can be a very powerful tool.

Up until 2009, I hadn't really heard of the Twitter phenomena. I turned on the TV one day and saw Gyles Brandreth talking about it on the BBC's The One Show. Well, good old Gyles made a pretty good case for it so I signed up for an account in February. As is usually the case with these new fangled social Internet things, many user names were already taken and I finally ended with jenkin7nick, whick is made up of my name and the Internet Giftware store I help run.

All has been fairly well ever since. I post some tweets (as they are called) every day (these are status updates with a maximum of 140 characters) and follow a fair few people... yes, including Gyles. He is an all round good egg.

Twitter is fantastic as an information and News source with many News stations having regularly updated accounts like the BBC & ITN. Also Celebrities are using it in every increasing numbers including such huge mega-stars like Keith Chegwin. Yes, it's true.

So why should you open a Twitter account... well, something to do isn't it? Plus you can say you are "With it". You know the score and all that sort of chat that I have a very lose grip on as you can probably tell.

At the moment unfortunately, my Tweets are not appearing in Twitters search facility so I'm a bit invisible. I do not know why this is. I haven't sent any spam or tried to sell weapons grade plutonium to anybody so I'm guessing it's some kind of glitch. Well.. more hoping really. I've submitted a Help Ticket to Twitter support on the 10th July and its current status is, "This request is currently being processed by our staff". Am I worried... well, a little.

If you open an account, take leave of your senses and want to follow me, my account is jenkin7Nick. I always follow back... please don't be a serial killer.

www.jenkin7 - www.jenkin7.com
Giftware & Collectables

Been away, but back with a new face

2009-07-10T02:00:00.000+01:00

All is quiet, ghostly quiet... a tumbleweed would blow past, but resists for fear of making too much noise.

Yes hello & thank you for stopping by. If you have been patiently waiting for the next Blog entry, I hope you did not run out of food. This Blog has been rather neglected for quite some time, but I'm pleased to say it is being fully resurrected. Yes, that's right. Try to calm yourself. This time however the blog will be wearing a rather different costume.

The Imbroglios are back.. kind of, sort of. I need to be more definite. Yes then, they are back... and should be better than ever before... hopefully maybe. Hmmm, yes.

Now that I have your full confidence for the coming Millennia, I'm sure you'll not be at all tempted to go any where else.

The Imbroglios will no longer focus on the goings on of Z-List celebrity Television programs and instead bring to you interesting, wonderful and the down right strangest of the strange of News reports from around the globe.

So strap yourself in. Ahead, warp factor 17!

jenkin7 Giftware & Collectables
www.jenkin7.co.uk - www.jenkin7.com

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 11, Christine Dances out

2008-12-01T06:00:00.004Z

The Public alas failed to save her from the bottom two and after performing two dances and the subsequent dance off, Christine becomes the 11th person to be voted out of Strictly Come Dancing.

The One Show Presenter landed in the bottom two against the impressive Rachel Stevens, who had already scored a maximum. With Lisa Snowdon finishing top of the Leaderboard, Christine must have known that the end was inevitable.

Rachel danced brilliantly once again in the dance-off to survive to the last 4 and Semi-finals. This is the Second time Rachel Stevens has landed in the bottom two despite brilliant scores. It may show that she does not have much Public voting support. This could be crucial if she makes the final.

Christine Bleakley's happy personality will be missed from the show, but it was the right decision for her to go. The Judges votes were unanimous in keeping Rachel in.

There are just four people left in who can win now. They are Austin Healey, Tom Chmabers, Rachel Stevens and Lisa Snowdon. Austin is still the favourite to win, but this year it looks very close and unpredictable to call. If Lisa Snowdon takes it from where she started in Week 1, it would be an amazing achievement.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 8, Ruth Lorenzo out. What?

2008-11-30T14:38:00.005Z

I'm slowly losing the will to live with the X Factor in 2008. The show is perhaps becoming a bit of a joke with the most talented acts being voted off each time. Austin Drage went far too early, then there came the Laura White mystery and now the most powerful act has gone, rock chick, Ruth Lorenzo.

Maybe the voting format has to be changed slightly. X Factor no longer seems fit for purpose. The X Factor now seems to have little to do with singing at all. What is the X Factor? Well... it's the ability to make the public feel sorry for you... great.

Anyhoo, the public has spoken, and Spanish diva Ruth Lorenzo is out. She didn't put a foot wrong during her two songs in Britney Spears week, but it seems that the performances in the competition were irrelevant anyway. If the public had voted without any acts performing, the result would probably have been the same.

An odd decision. Ruth Lorenzo was not the worst act and did not deserve to be voted out. The final looks destined to be between Diana Vickers and Eoghan Quigg, the two youngest acts left in the competition.

Ruth did not seem totally surprised by the result. Mentor Dannii Minogue, is the first to lose all her acts. So on to the Semi-Final...

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 11, The Judges Scores

2008-11-30T11:33:00.002Z

Week 11 in Strictly Come Dancing, the celebrities had to perform two dances. One Ballroom, one Latin. The Ballroom dances have tended to score slightly higher this series, but with everybody having to perform both, there were no advantage to be had.

There were a lot of perfect 10 scores bring waved around this week, but here is the Leaderboard before the crutial Public vote is added.

Lisa Snowdon & Brendan 76
Austen Healey & Erin 74
Rachel Stevens & Vincent 71
Tom Chambers & Camilla 70
Christine Bleakley & Matt 58

Lisa Snowdon was odds-on to go out before Saturday's performances. It's extremely hard to see this happening now. She tops the leaderboard on 76 after performing two superb dances.

If the voting public get behind Christine Bleakley again, which is very possible, we could lose one of the big favourites! Tom Chambers looks very vulnerable to finishing in the dance off. If Christine escapes, then Rachel could be dragged into the bottom two with him. This would be amazing after Rachel's maximum 40 score of last week.

Stay tuned this Sunday night, because there may be some carnage!

ww.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 8, Who is going out now?

2008-11-29T12:09:00.002Z

Ruth Lorenzo is the Evan money favourite to go out this week. It is certainly not a bet I will be placing.

If she finds herself in the bottom two sing off against JLS, I think she could blow them away with her power. The only way perhaps JLS could survive in this situation is if the Judges took it to deadlock with the decision resting solely on the Public Vote. JLS are seemingly more popular than Ruth.

Here are the full current odds on each acts chances of being voted out the X Factor this week.

Ruth Lorenzo 1/1
J L S 15/8
Alexandra Burke 5/1
Eoghan Quigg 12/1
Diana Vickers 14/1

The Market looks as if its shaping up to price a final of Diana Vickers verses Eoghan Quigg. There are still a few fences to be jumped yet, and anyone can take a tumble before the final run in.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 11, Tom Chambers Chasing a 10

2008-11-28T15:23:00.004Z

He has remained 2nd Favourite for quite some time, but Tom Chambers is yet to score a perfect 10 from any of the Judges. This fact is starting to rile him and he will be determined as ever to score one this week as the final looms only a matter of weeks away.

Tom Chambers has scored a vast amount of nines in Strictly Come Dancing and last week, his Tango picked up another 4 of them!

Is 10 possible for Tom? Is he always destined to score 9?

Well... 10 isn't completely out his reach and I'm surprised he hasn't been awarded it already. Some of his performances have been superb.

This week the remaining Celebrities have to battle their way through two dances, making the task all the harder. Tom has the Waltz and the tricky Samba. The Waltz gives him a fantastic chance of finally nailing that elusive 10 score.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Who is going in Week 11?

2008-11-28T08:37:00.003Z

Week 11 in Strictly Come Dancing and there are just 5 people left who can win. All 5 definitely have a chance in the closest series the show has ever had.

Here is how the market values the chances of each celebrities chances of being eliminated.

Lisa Snowdon 11/10
Christine Bleakley 2/1
Rachel Stevens 4/1
Tom Chambers 12/1
Austin Healey 12/1

Lisa Snowdon is the favourite to go. I would not be confident putting any money on this, Lisa has topped the leaderboard in this contest on two separate occasions. Christine has very strong public support and Rachel Stevens has only dropped a single point in two weeks.

So who is going to go then?

I haven't the faintest idea! Have you?

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 10, The Public get behind Christine

2008-11-27T12:27:00.003Z

One wondered, when John Sergeant pulled out of Strictly Come Dancing, where was the majority of the Public Vote now going to go?

Well... it seemed to go to the ever happy, Christine Bleakley. Her Cha Cha Cha was not bad earning her 27 points from the Judges. Such is the standard of those left in, unfortunately this score made her bottom of the leaderboard.

It was no dance off for Christine though. The Public saved her. Good!

The bottom two comprised of Lisa Snowdon and Jodie Kidd with Jodie being the one to be eliminated.

This week the Celebrities remaining have to tackle not one, but two dances. Now it is getting really tough. Can The One Shows Christine Bleakley survive again? She is yet to be in the bottom two. If she finishes off the bottom after the Judges scores, I'm sure the voting public will lift her up a place of two to escape again. It should be an interesting week.

The remaining celebrities who can win are Austin Healey, Tom Chambers, Rachel Stevens, Lisa Snowdon and of course, Christine Bleakley.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 8, Alexandra starting to lose favour in the Market

2008-11-27T09:43:00.000Z

Week 7 was Take That week on X Factor 2008. Alexandra Burke gave the kind of performance we have perhaps come to expect and went safely through to Week 8 avoiding the dreaded bottom two sing off. Mentor Cheryl Cole would have been pleased.

Unfortunately though, Alexandra is starting to lose favour in the betting market. It is not thought that she can win the contest. Very early on, she was Favourite to win. She was soon overtaken by Diana Vickers and this week, has slipped to third favourite behind Simon Cowells, Eoghan Quigg. This does not look good.

Although a powerful singer, you have to compare Alexandra to the other acts in the contest. What makes her unique, what makes her stand out. This is maybe a problem. The others you could hear on the radio and identify, Alexandra is not so easy. I wish her well, but progress may now start to get a bit tricky.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

YouTube & Monty Python... will this idea work?

2008-11-27T05:49:00.004Z

I have blogged about this subject a few times before. It is the shear impossibility of protecting Copyright on YouTube. With a short browse you will find a vast collection of material that has been illegally uploaded. There are entire seasons of Lost, whole episodes of Star Trek, music videos, film clips... even the entire Jurassic Park film was once on there running at over 2 hours!

YouTube will eventually remove any offending material if informed by the Copyright owners. But it is a fruitless task. There are Millions of users using YouTube each day and at least one of them will re-upload the deleted material very quickly.

This costs the Copyright owners dearly in lost Sales and Revenue. So what's Monty Python's answer to all this?

An Interesting idea, but I don't think it's going to work. Revenue created by clicking on links and buying Monty Python DVD's after seeing the clips? Surely people are just going to download the YouTube Material directly from the Monty Python Channel and burn it direct to DVD aren't they?

Maybe I'm missing something. Monty Python seem to have made their problem worse. Now users have access to their back catalog in High Definition for free. I'm not sure how this is going to generate more money, but I look forward to watching this Channel often. Monty Python are the greatest!

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 8, Diana Vickers Still Favourite to Win

2008-11-26T16:33:00.000Z

Diana Vickers remains the Favourite to Win the X-Factor at odds of 13/8. She has had her troubles having to miss a week through severe laryngitis and then singing the following week when still ill. Through all this, she has never once slipped from being the strong Favourite in the betting market. If anything, her battle against adversity has only gone to strengthen her support with the voting public who love a story to get behind.

Week 7, Take That week, Diana Vickers had clearly fully recovered.

Patience was a difficult song for Diana to sing, and like everything she performs, she clearly made it her own. In X Factor 2008, Diana will be tough to beat. Her biggest threat appears to be coming from the merging Eoghan Quigg.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 8, Latest Odds to Win

2008-11-26T12:21:00.003Z

There are just 5 acts left in this years X Factor Competition. Just one act will go on to win the coveted recording contract... all though to be fair.. most of these Acts will now be snapped up by someone. Simon Cowell probably, no one can deny, that the X Factor is one of the best promotional tools ever devised!

Here are the latest odds on who will Win!

Diana Vickers 13/8
Eoghan Quigg 9/4
Alexandra Burke 3/1
J L S 5/1
Ruth Lorenzo 16/1

Diana Vickers remains steady as the Favourite. She has maintained favouritism for quite some time now. Oddly this may make her vulnerable. The Public generally like to see an underdog win and if she finds herself in the final against Eoghan Quigg, she could have a problem.

Eoghan moves Second Favourite for the first time and is gaining support. He probably has the weakest voice of the solo acts left in, but is arguably the most marketable in terms of potential record sales.

JLS found themselves in the bottom two sing-off last week, which would seem to indicate they may not have quite enough power to take the title. The very underrated Ruth Lorenzo remains at the back of the field at a staggering 16/1. In a one on one sing-off, Ruth can beat anyone act left, which will be a big worry for everyone else.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 10, Rachel is Perfect

2008-11-26T09:42:00.003Z

So.. you're in Strictly Come Dancing and you manage to survive a bottom two dance-off. How do you come back from this?

Well, if you're Rachel Stevens, you score an amazing 39 the next week, followed by an Outstanding maximum 40 the week after !!!

Yes, 40 was the perfect score awarded to Rachel Stevens and professional dance partner, Vincent Simone for this wondrous Foxtrot.

Rachel was falling out of favour with the Betting market to win Strictly, and at one point, her odds has edged out to as much as an incredible 10/1 ! She is now back down to 11/4 and this still looks amazing value. The quality dancing of both Austin Healey and Tom Chambers are allowing her odds to remain this high, but I still think they maybe a little too high. Rachel has a great chance of winning the series.

Miss Stevens, just has to maintain this standard. She has come good, just at the right time and hopefully she can win this on the finishing line. How do you follow a week where you scored a perfect 40 though? We shall see !

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 11, Latest Odds to Win !!!

2008-11-26T06:00:00.006Z

Week 10 saw two of the Strictly Come Dancing Celebrities leave the contest. First in dramatic fashion, John Sergeant and then, through more conventional means, Jodie Kidd.

The contest is really too close to call this year, but here is how the Market currently values each Celebrities chances of winning.

Austin Healey 7/4
Tom Chambers 2/1
Rachel Stevens 11/4
Christine Bleakley 7/1
Lisa Snowdon 12/1

Austin Healey has edged out slightly to 7/4 and is now more or less the same odds as Tom Chambers to win.

The rapid improving Rachel Stevens looks fantastic value at 11/4. Last week she scored 39 and this week a perfect 40. If she maintains this form, Rachel will be virtually impossible to beat.

Christine has undoubtedly got very strong support with the voting public, but it looks very much as if this will finally develop into a three-way tussle between Rachel, Tom & Austin. I would personally bet on Rachel, simply down to the great odds offered.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 10, John Sergeant out with Dignity intact

2008-11-24T06:11:00.005Z

Who will ever know exactly what went on behind the scenes this week on Strictly Come Dancing? Not me, that's for sure.

Anyway, its seems like John Sergeant has done the right thing by opting to pull out of the competition. He will retire undefeated with his popularity as high as it can perhaps possibly go and his dignity firmly intact. This week he performed a farewell dance with dance partner, Kristina Rihanoff.

It was Kristina's first foray into the world of Strictly and she did a fantastic job with John.

John Sergeant was a breath of fresh air for Strictly Come Dancing and will be one of the most remembered celebrities that the show has ever had. He did the right thing to retire the show. It had got to a point where News reporters were camped in his front garden each day and he was making headline news just for being in a dance contest. When he pulled out, he even had to call a Press Conference. John was fully aware that the whole situation was getting well out of control and he had to put a stop to it.

Respect to John on this tricky but correct decision.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 10, Jodie says Goodbye

2008-11-24T05:54:00.002Z

Week 10 of Strictly Come Dancing and the heat is really on now. No one is safe!

After the viewers votes were added in to that of the Judges, it was Jodie Kidd and Lisa Snowdon who found themselves in the bottom two dance-off, both for the second time.

Jodie Kidd has improved beyond all recognition from the opening weeks and her final dance here, was great to watch. It was a good Jive, but Lisa Snowdon edged it.

Very interestingly, now that John Sergeant has gone, the massive Public vote seems to have switched to Christine Bleakley. It couldn't have come at a better time for her. She finished in the bottom two after the Judges scores, but the Public saved her. It is very possible that Christine could improve to get right up there with the Competition favourites.

Lisa Snowdon is now looking a bit vulnerable, but equally could end up winning the whole thing. This year... you just don't know.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week7 - Rhydian Returns

2008-11-23T20:15:00.001Z

All's fair in Love and War... but not on the X Factor. If it were then Rhydian surely would have won the X Factor 2007 last year. He lost in the final to Leon Jackson.

The blond haired wonder has a unique and powerful voice and like all true professionals it all seems so effortless. You just know that Rhydian will deliver time and time again and there will not be a note in the song that he won't be able to hit.

Rhydian returned to the X Factor studio this week to sing his version of Impossible Dream.

Wow! There is no one quite like Rhydian Roberts. His new album comes out on the 24th November and I hope he is around in the Music Industry for a long time to come.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 7, Rachel Hylton goes out

2008-11-23T10:12:00.003Z

X Factor 2008, Week 7, Rachel Hylton was the odds-on favourite to go out and that's exactly what happened. A fantastic raw talent, but she never really gained a great deal of popularity with the British voting public. She has the power, determination and talent to match any of the contestants out there, but just didn't have enough general appeal.

After the Public votes were totalled up, Rachel found herself in the bottom two sing-off with Louis' Boyband, JLS.

A very impressive powerhouse display from Rachel, but this was her third time in the sing-off which I think was her eventual undoing. Lets face it, in terms of record and Album sales, JLS are hugely more commercially viable. Simon Cowell struggled with the final decision on who to send home, but eventually he had to be a realist. It was goodbye to Rachel.

Hopefully this is not the end for Rachel Hylton, but in this ruthless cut throat entertainment industry, it very well could be. I hope I'm wrong.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 10, The Judges Scores

2008-11-22T20:12:00.002Z

It just isn't the same without John Sergeant in Strictly Come Dancing. Gone is the clever humour and comedy, but now we have a rather interesting little dance competition. Strictly Come Dancing is now much a different animal.

Here are the marks after the Judges Saturday scores.

Rachel Stevens & Vincent 40 !!!!!!!!!!
Tom Chambers & Camilla 36
Austin Healey & Erin 35
Lisa Snowdon & Bendan 35
Jodie Kidd & Ian 30
Christine Bleakley & Matt 27

Rachel Stevens continues her sudden increase of form with a perfect 40.

In my opinion any one of four couple can win it this year, but it will be very interesting to see this week where the public vote goes. Before John Sergeant got oractically all of it, and who know now where those votors will go. They could very well decide to save Christine and leave Jodie Kidd and Lisa Snowdon in the bottom two dance off.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 6, Fantastic Ruth Lorenzo

2008-11-21T16:09:00.004Z

Ruth Lorenzo has been massively underrated throughout the X Factor 2008 Competition. She has landed in the bottom two more than once, but luckily survived each time. She is a fantastic singing who deserves to have great success.

Thankfully this week, her version of Robbie Williams' Angels was enough to see her through.

Ruth is not fancied at all in the betting market and they predict her to land in the bottom two in Week 7. I for one, hope she doesn't. Although, it does look likely that either Ruth or Rachel Hylton may be knocked out.

Like all of these Public Voting competitions these days, it's sadly not totally based on a performers talent. This was 100% proved this week when John Sergeant decided it best to quit the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing programme for fear of becoming a laughing stock.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 7, Who will be the next to fall?

2008-11-21T12:54:00.003Z

There are not many acts left in the X Factor now as we approach the Business end of the competition. This is where the real battleground lies. Each act is there by merit, each have a separate and individual quality.

Here are the current Market odds on who will be voted out this week by the Voting public.

Rachel Hylton 8/11
Ruth Lorenzo 2/1
J L S 10/1
Eoghan Quigg 16/1
Diana Vickers 16/1
Alexandra Burke 16/1

Diana Vickers should be fully recovered from her Laryngitis and will be firing on all cylinders once again. Alexandra Burke should be safe again. Eoghan Quigg and JLS are both gaining fan bases with the voting public.

The bottom two could be a battle of the powerhouses this week, Rachel Hylton verse Ruth Lorenzo... should be something special. Fasten your seatbelts!

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 9, Tom Chambers blitzes the Salsa

2008-11-21T09:40:00.001Z

35 points? That will do nicely, Tom Chambers and professional dance Partner Camilla Dallerup move through to Week 10 with ease.

Judge Craig said, "It was a little too much about you. It felt slightly selfish." The other judges disagreed strongly, with Len Goodman labelling Craig "a born again plonker!"

Craig seems to be taking a lot of Stick this series... maybe it is written into his contract.

This week, Tom and Camilla take on the Tango. Should be no problems and this dance gives them a strong chance of topping the leaderboard after the Judges scores.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 10, Who is going out next?... tricky

2008-11-21T05:40:00.004Z

With John Sergeant finally doing the decent thing and pulling out of Strictly Come Dancing, it has really thrown the competition wide open. Entertaining as he was, there was a serious threat developing of John actually winning the whole show! This would have been rather silly, but quite amusing none the less.

At a Press Conference,John said, "It was always my intention to have fun on the show and I was hoping to stay in as long as possible. The trouble is that there is now a real danger that I might win the competition. Even for me that would be a joke too far. I would like to thank Kristina and all those viewers who have been rooting for me through the series."

Respect to Mr Sergeant. I think it was the was the right decision, made at the right time. Apparently anybody that voted for him this week, will get a refund. Oh well, you can't say fairer than that I suppose. It will be strange without him there this week... it will be a bit like watching a dancing competition.

Here is now how the market looks on who will be eliminated next,

Jodie Kidd 10/11
Christine Bleakley 5/2
Lisa Snowdon 7/2
Rachel Stevens 10/1
Tom Chambers 20/1
Austin Healey 33/1

Jodie Kidd is odds on to go, but I don't think it is as cut and dry as that. The competition is extremely close and now, without John Sergeant getting the majority of viewers votes, any one can end up in the bottom two dance off. With John gone, the voting public may adopt a new hero and that could very well be Jodie Kidd.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 6, Alexandra Better Week by Week by Week

2008-11-19T12:36:00.002Z

With performances like this it would not be remotely controversial if Alexandra Burke won the X Factor this year.

She was pure class this week. You can never predict the voting public at home these days, but thankfully the right decision was made and Alexandra went through to the next round.

Daniel Evans left the contest this week, he had experienced a good run and can be pleased with his progress.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 10, Austin Healey still the Favourite

2008-11-19T09:31:00.004Z

Austin Healey was back on form with a fantastic Tango in Week 9 of Strictly Come Dancing. Great music, Great choreography and a Great performance sees Austin maintain his place as the Favourite going into week 10.

The ever excitable Bruno Tonioli said of the dance, "You went for that Tango like a rampaging beast!". I think that meant he liked it.

This dance was Austin's best so far and scored an impressive 38 points. This was somehow beaten by a 39 from the new and improved Rachel Stevens.

With the shock exit of Cherie Lunghi, Strictly looks set to eventually become a three-way battle between Austin Healey, Tom Chambers and Rachel Stevens. There are some that would add John Sergeant to this trio. Good God!

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 9, Christine Holding her Own

2008-11-18T16:33:00.002Z

Nine weeks have passed on the BBC Strictly Come Dancing series. Although never being amongst the favourites in the betting market or have topped the Judges leaderboard, Christine has continued to dance well and has never appeared in the bottom two. Could she be the dark horse of the contest?

Christine is popular with the voting public and one feels she would only need to improve slightly to be right up there fighting it out.

Her Waltz with Matthew Cutler this week was another sound performance which earned her 34 points. Christine is considered an outsider and is quoted at 12/1 to win the contest.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 10, Their Odds to Win

2008-11-18T12:12:00.002Z

Yes, it's true... John Sergeant is still in the competition. Of course, it's because of his amazing dancing prowess and nothing to do with the voting mad Public voting. John to win? Well you can currently get odds of 16/1.

Cherie Lunghi surprisingly went out last week, having to tackle one of the tricky latin style dances which everyone seems to struggle on. Here are the latest odds on who the betting market think most likely to win.

Austin Healey 6/5
Tom Chambers 9/4
Rachel Stevens 6/1
Lisa Snowdon 8/1
Christine Bleakley 12/1
John Sergeant 16/1
Jodie Kidd 25/1

After her last two improved performances, Rachel Stevens is looking great value at 6/1. Lisa Snowdon has topped the leaderboard before and is at 8/1.

However, the market just wants to know about Austin Healey. His odds are very short. So short in fact, that the Bookmakers don't seem to want people to bet on him. I wonder why?

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 7, Eoghan Quigg to win?

2008-11-18T09:48:00.003Z

Can Eoghan Quigg win this years X Factor?

As each week goes by, it's looking like he could.

Cheryl Cole's original acts of Laura White, Alexandra Burke and Diana Vickers were so strong in the betting market it was very hard to look elsewhere for the eventual winner. But, Laura White is gone, Diana Vickers is still recovering from illness and Alexandra Burke is now joint second favourite with the improving Eoghan.

Louis Walsh has always maintained that Eoghan would reach the final, but I seriously had my doubts... until now. He doesn't have the most powerful voice in the world, but a quality pitch and smooth tone. You could imagine him selling records and having Number ones.

I'm still behind Diana Vickers to win, but a final between her and Eoghan Quigg would be quite exciting to see. Down to just the Public Vote, guessing the winner would be extremely unpredictable.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 7 - The Latest Odds to Win

2008-11-18T05:53:00.003Z

Last week we saw the exit of Daniel Evans after a bottom two clash with Rachel Hylton. Ruth Lorenzo escaped the sing off this time round so perhaps the British public are finally warming to her. Here are the latest quoted odds on who will win the X Factor 2008!

Diana Vickers 13/8
Eoghan Quigg 11/4
Alexandra Burke 11/4
J L S 9/2
Ruth Lorenzo 20/1
Rachel Hylton 33/1

Diana Vickers has had her troubles these last couple of weeks recovering from severe laryngitis and although still the favourite, she is not as strong as she was.

Most significant in the Market is that Simon Cowell's, Eoghan Quigg, has moved up to become joint second favourite with Alexandra Burke. That is an interesting move. Acts that improve like this historically have a good chance of winning.

JLS remain steady in the middle of the pack with Ruth Lorenzo and Rachel Hylton some way behind. These two have shown however, when caught in a bottom two sing off, are capable of beating anyone. Both girls would be dangerous to come directly up against.

This week should be a cracker!

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 6, Diana staggers through

2008-11-17T16:33:00.002Z

Respect has to be given to Diana Vickers in the X Factor Competition. She was looking good as the Favourite and then was struck down by severe Laryngitis. Unlucky is not the word.

Diana was forced to miss last week and this time, she was clearly still ill. Despite this Miss Vickers did a miraculous job. A very tough week for her to get through, but get through she did. Mentor Cheryl Cole will be mightily relived after losing Laura White last week.

With this performance of Coldplay's Yellow, Diana Vickers deservedly sails through to Week 7. Not only did she sing through the pain of Laryngitis, due to a last minute song change, she had hadly any rehearsal time. Simply amazing.

This Week was one to just survive and hopefully 7 more days can bring Diana to full recovery. The X Factor needs a unique singer like her.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008, Rachel Stevens Coming Good

2008-11-17T12:15:00.002Z

In Strictly Come Dancing, Rachel Stevens is getting good just at the right time. She had a fairly modest start, but last week scored 35 and this week, an astonishing 39!

Her Rumba earned the highest score of the Series so far and one suspects there maybe even more to come.

I can't believe that Rachel's Boyfriend had to sit and watch this. To describe the dance as steamy would be a bit of an understatement. It certainly ticked all the boxes with the four Judges anyway!

It was a fantastic dance by Rachel and dance partner Vincent Simone. Maybe they will start getting a bit more Public support from here on in. They finished in the bottom two the previous week.

A very tight competition this, but it will probably be down to 4 couples. The Enigma that is John Sergeant is not one of them, but he may very well take out one of the Favourites along the way. Not directly of course. The voting public will save him from the Bottom two one week and two of the Favourites will have to battle it out for survival.

The big four are currently, Austin Healey, Tom Chambers, Rachel Stevens and Lisa Snowdon. Lisa landed in the bottom two this week, but survived to knock out Cherie Lunghi. Both Jodie Kidd and Christine Bleakely were safe this time and it will be interesting to see what they can come up with to close in on the leaders. The task will be tough, but not entirely impossible.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 9, The Curse of the Latin

2008-11-17T09:42:00.001Z

There is perhaps no doubt, when it comes to Strictly Come Dancing, the Latin dances are always a lot harder to perfect than the Ballroom. Because of this fact, the Ballroom dances always score a bit higher.

If your favourite celebrity in the show is dancing a Latin performance, then be worried. It is probably time pick up the phone and get voting. This week the bottom two finishers, Cherie Lunghi and Lisa Snowdon, both were engaging in Latin dances. Coincidence? I think not.

Cherie Lunghi eventually went out after the Judges decision, but you couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for her. Cherie definitely deserved to progress a little further in the contest. She had struggled with the Latin side, but this was one of her better attempts at the genre.

Of the original performance an animated Judge Bruno said, "What a pair of pins! This is a breakthrough - you can do Latin. I loved it!"

Judge Craig added, "You're magnificent to watch and you're beginning to conquer Latin".

Good comments, but not enough votes I'm afraid. Judge Arlene said she felt she wasn't Judging a Dance off, but instead a Final. Who will be in the bottom two next week? Well... it could be anyone! The least likely is probably John Sergeant.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 9, Shock: Cherie Lunghi Out !!!

2008-11-17T05:21:00.004Z

Cherie Lunghi had a serious chance of winning Strictly Come Dancing this year, but now shockingly, after landing in the bottom two with Lisa Snowdon, is out of the running.

When Cherie danced Ballroom she was outstanding, maybe the best in contest. Unfortunately, the latin side let her down slightly and this sadly was her eventual undoing. Still... she probably deserved to progress further than John Sergeant, but this is what we have come to expect of these types of public vote orientated TV competitions.

Lisa Snowdon was a tad better in the dance off and based on that alone, deserved to stay in with professional dance partner, Brendan Cole. The decision was not unaninmous however,

This would have been a scare for Lisa & Brendan who have before finished top of the Leaderboard. Stictly Come Dancing is now wide open.

Can John Sergeant now get to the final? I can see him avoiding the bottom two for a few more weeks, which would see him pick off Christine Bleakley, Jodie Kidd and Lisa Snowdon. Sometimes you don't know whether to laugh or cry... maybe a bit of both is appropriate.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 9, Can John Do it Again ?

2008-11-16T17:30:00.003Z

John Sergeant danced the American Smooth this week on Strictly Come Dancing. Although, he did show some improvement over previous shambles, John predictably finished bottom again after the Judges scores.

Not embarrassing this week, Mr Sergeant scored a credible 25 points.

But... Can John defy the odds once again and survive yet another week?

Well, it's certainly possible. Very impossible in fact. If he were to finish top of the Viewers votes, this will average him to finish mid-table and free of the bottom two placings and the subsequent dance off. I think this is very likely to happen.

As John Sergeant himself puts it. Himself and professional dance partner Kristina Rihanhoff are a team... she does the dancing, he does the jokes.

In just a few hours we will find out the results (in no particular order of course). Tune in to BBC1 this evening. It could be a shock result!

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 6, Leona Lewis Returns

2008-11-16T11:56:00.001Z

Global Pop Star, Leona Lewis won the X Factor in 2006. Since then her career as exploded forward like a powerful shooting star.

This week she returned to the X Factor stage to perform her new song, Run. It was a song originally performed by Snow Patrol.

Leona is a rare talent. This was an extraordinary performance, but every performance Leona give is extraordinary so maybe that is no surprise. The competition would be hard pushed ever again to find somebody of her quality. There are some fantastic acts this year, but Leona Lewis is Leona Lewis.

X Factor 2006 saw her Mentored by Simon Cowell and I'm sure he knew, pretty early on, he had a guaranteed chance of winning.

I wonder what happened to Ray?

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 6, Daniel Evans Finally goes out

2008-11-16T09:33:00.004Z

Daniel Evans had perhaps been living a charmed life in X Factor 2008. A few weeks running, he had been quoted as odds on to go out, but somehow managed to scrape through. As the weeks went by though, the competition just got tougher and tougher and inevitably, he was unable to hold on.

This was one of those performances where I liked it, but not sure if was for the correct reasons. It's Not Unusual is a forgiving song if done badly because it always will bring in a slight comedy element.

To be fair to Daniel, he did improve over the weeks, but now was probably the right time to go. When he landed in the bottom two with the powerful Rachel Hylton, there was only ever going to be one result.

In the Sing off, Daniel sang Bridge over Troubled Water. It was pleasant, but not over sparkling of future X Factor stardom.

Hat's off to Daniel for lasting as long as he did, and for coming back uneffected each week despite the continued dire summings up from Louis Walsh. Hopefully the X Factor can give him the platform to go on to do other things.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 9 - The Judges Scores !

2008-11-15T19:27:00.003Z

It's week 9 and the dancers of Strictly Come Dancing are really looking good now. Well... all of them apart from one. But that one was so entertaining then I will let him off this week. Here are the Judges scores!

Rachel Stevens & Vincent - 39
Austin Healey & Erin - 38
Tom Chambers & Camilla - 35
Christine Bleakley & Matt - 34
Jodie Kidd & Ian - 33
Cherie Lunghi & James - 32
Lisa Snowdon & Brendan - 30
John Sergeant & Kristina - 25

After drifting in the market week after week, suddenly a bomb goes off and Rachel Stevens delivers the performance we all she was capable of. Last week she performed will with 35 points, but this week was something else entirely with a huge 39 to top the leaderboard. Wow! She is safe from the bottom two this week... unless some one changes the rules.

Austin was back in gear, scoring 38 and everybody did particularly well. If the Public save John Sergeant again, the bottom two are going to be fairly unpredictable.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 9, Tonights Dances

2008-11-15T08:56:00.004Z

Heather Small was eliminated last week and Rachel Stevens surprisingly found herself in the bottom two. In Strictly Come Dancing this year, seemingly anything can happen. Three couples shared first place on the leaderboard and John Sergeant went through without a scrape.

What dance is everyone performing this week for round 9? Here is the list.

Austin Healey & Erin - Tango
Tom Chambers & Camilla - Salsa
Cherrie Lunghi & James - Cha Cha Cha
Rachel Stevens & Vincent - Rumba
Lisa Snowdon & Brendan - Samba
Christine Bleakley & Matt - Waltz
Jodie Kidd & Ian - Quickstep
John Sergeant & Kristina - American Smooth

With a solid definite styled dance like the Tango, Austin Healey has a great chance of bouncing back from last weeks troubles to top the Leaderboard.

The most talked about dance with the British public is most likely to be John Sergeant's American Smooth. This really is car crash television and its obviously what the people at home want. All we need now is Harry Hill to do the commentary.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

I'm a Celebrity, What are my Chances of Winning?

2008-11-14T12:16:00.007Z

The yearly Jungle show hasn't even properly started yet, but already the Bookmakers are quoting odds on the eventual winner. I suppose it is not much of a surprise really, such is the popularity of the show. Ever since the Celebrities for Get Me out of Here! were revealed, interest has grown to the usual expected frenzy.

If anything can be drawn at this early or pre-early stage, here are the market odds of victory.

Joe Swash 7/2
Simon Webbe 4/1
Martina Navratilova 7/1
George Takei 7/1
Esther Rantzen 8/1
Carly Zucker 8/1
Dani Behr 12/1
Brian Paddick 12/1
Robert Kilroy Silk 14/1
Nicola McLean 14/1

Ex-Eastenders star is installed as the early favourite from Simon Webb, formally of the boyband Blue.

Robert Kilroy Silk has never been in a Boyband or Eastenders or indeed very popular which may explain why he is not very favoured to win. He is however, equally favoured to glamour model Nicola Mclean, who is largely unknown to just about every one outside her own house.

I'm hoping that Mr Sulu wins, aka George Takei. He never let the Starship Enterprise down so I'm definitely with him. If Martina Navratilova turns out to be a Klingon, then it could really get interesting.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 6, Which Mentor will win? The Current Odds !

2008-11-14T09:41:00.005Z

The brightly lit path of the X Factor 2008 has been a bit controversial this year. Good acts that you think may have a chance of winning seem to quickly get shown the exit door. First Austin Drage, who didn't really put a foot wrong and then the following Week, the shock elimination of Second Favourite Laura White.

Who will go next? Who knows, the results at the moment seem completely random. Here is how the current market values each of the four mentor's chances of winning.

Cheryl Cole 4/11
Simon Cowell 5/1
Louis Walsh 5/1
Dannii Minogue 12/1

It's been a tough week for Cheryl Cole's acts. She unbelievably lost the talented Laura White and the unique Diana Vickers is still desperately trying to recover from Laryngitis. Despite all these problems, Cheryl is still quoted at odds-on to win. Cheryl should still do it, but at these odds is looking fragile, and it would be a brave person to take these on.

Dannii Minogue is the only Mentor to have all three acts left in the competition, but is quoted as the rank outsider at 12/1. Her secret weapon appears to be Daniel Evans, who has found some support with the voting public. To be fair, he is a long way off being the best act.

Simon Cowell has Eoghan Quigg and Louis Walsh, improving boyband JLS.

If Cheryl were to lose another act this week, then the X Factor would become very interesting indeed.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008, Week 8/9, Is Lisa Waltzing to Victory?

2008-11-14T05:37:00.005Z

Are Lisa Snowdon and professional dance partner Waltzing to victory? Well... they very well might be!

After a fairly modest start to Strictly Come Dancing, Lisa Snowdon has shown she is more than capable of Winning the Title. Not for the first time this series, Lisa finished again top of the table after the Judges votes and has to be considered a serious contender.

This beautiful Viennese Waltz scored a high total of 36 points to land joint-top with Tom Chambers and Cherie Lunghi.

The four judges all gave glowing praise.

Head Judge, Len Goodman said, "...from week one you are the most improved dancer of this series."

This week Lisa Snowdon has to successfully navigate the Samba. This dance has caused a number of the celebrity dancers a few problems. It saw the demise of Andrew Castle and was Jodie Kidd's lowest scoring dance so far. But... if anyone can do it, Lisa can!

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 6, Will Diana Vickers have to pull out of the Competition?

2008-11-13T19:08:00.002Z

Due to severe Laryngitis, competition favourite, Diana Vickers was given a bye last week. This meant that although unable to perform, she was allowed to progress to the next round of the X Factor.

It is now Thursday and it is still very unclear whether Diana has recovered. We are just 2 days aways from the next Live round.

She has been to the Doctor's this week for a second check-up, but there is still no news of her progress. Such is Diana Vickers popularity, people are now asking,

Should Diana be given another week off if she is still too sick to sing?

No doubt, she would have got through any way, but is this exactly fair on the other entrants? The answer is probably no... it will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

It is an uncomfortable time for Mentor Cheryl Cole, who last week saw Laura White surprisingly leave and now faces the chance of Diana Vickers having to leave the show through illness.

Fingers crossed that Diana can comeback this Saturday. Last week she was certainly missed.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 5, Daniel Evans still In

2008-11-13T15:19:00.001Z

Daniel Evans is a good singer... but he's not a great singer.

Is he unique? Is he a recording artist? Does he have the X Factor? I would have to say NO.

Everyone has their own opinions of course and the fact Daniel is still in the contest shows, he does have some Public support behind him. It also probably helps each week that Louis Walsh, in particular, tears apart his performance. This time, Walsh said he couldn't win the contest in a Million years. It's probably nearer two Million I would say.

To be fair, on Mariah Carey theme night, Daniel did sound a bit better than previous outings.

Daniel Evans is again, odds-on to go out of the X Factor Competition this week. It's very possible he could go through again to leave Ruth Lorenzo and Rachel Hylton battling it out in the bottom two sing off. Hopefully this doesn't happen.

All will be revealed this Saturday.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 6, The Next Elimination?

2008-11-13T12:11:00.004Z

Week 6 of the X Factor 2008 is themed Best of British. With only 7 acts now left in and the shock elimination of Laura White last week, the remaining contenders are fully aware, that you are only as good as your last performance... and even then a huge chunk of randomness also gets tossed into the mix.

Here are the odds on each Acts chances of elimination from the contest this week,

Daniel Evans 4/5
Rachel Hylton 11/4
Ruth Lorenzo 4/1
J L S 20/1
Eoghan Quigg 20/1
Diana Vickers 20/1
Alexandra Burke 25/1

Daniel Evans is the odds-on favourite for the third week in a row. He seems to be living a charmed existence at the moment. The more the four judges slate his performance, the more home votes Evans attracts. Surely he can't escape again though can he?

Danni Minogue is the only Mentor to have all three acts left in the competition, but this time round they are first, second and third favourites to go out. If the bottom two end up being Ruth Lorenzo and Rachel Hylton, then Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and Cheryl Cole will have an almost impossible decision to make.

For what it's worth, JLS, Eoghan Quigg, Diana Vickers and Alexandra Burke all look safe. However, I thought this before with Laura White. Still can't believe that she went. The voting Public, you can't really trust them can you?

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 8/9, Could Tom Chambers snatch it?

2008-11-13T09:43:00.001Z

Tom Chambers may be behind favourite Austin Healey to Win 2008's Strictly Come Dancing, but he is definitely the more consistent of the two. Austin has had the odd bad week, but Tom is yet to put a dancing foot wrong.

His Quickstep this week was fantastic. An inventive and impressive start, the dance held energy and excitement right until the final beat.

Tom Chambers's performance here score 36 points to claim joint top of the leaderboard with the comeback queen, Cherie Lunghi and, the vastly improving, Lisa Snowden. All three of these could threaten Healey's chances of victory.

The Bookmakers all have Austin Healey as the strong favourite to win, but I think Tom Chambers could just beat him by a short head at the line. It maybe a photo-finish with both Cherie Lunghi and Lisa Snowden also in the picture.

This promises to be one of the closest finishes ever... unless John Sergeant makes it to the final of course, then it won't be worth watching. Hopefully his run soon ends and Strictly Come Dancing turns into a proper dance competition again as it was originally intended.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing - It's Week 9, Who is going out this time ?

2008-11-13T05:45:00.006Z

Not many weeks left to go now. Week 9 marks the start of serious territory in the BBC Strictly Come Dancing show. Here is how the betting market values each celebrities chances of being eliminated from the dance floor this time round.

John Sergeant 8/11
Jodie Kidd 9/4
Christine Bleakley 7/1
Rachel Stevens 12/1
Lisa Snowdon 14/1
Cherie Lunghi 14/1
Tom Chambers 50/1
Austin Healey 66/1

John Sergeant is odds on to go, which probably means he won't. Judges have never seemed to grasp in these contests, the worse you say about a performance, the more the Public vote for the performer to stay in. There will be plenty of bad things to say about John this week. That is a given.

Taking the Sergeant Factor into account, Jodie Kidd looks extremely vulnerable. Jodie was very appreciative that the voting Public kept her in last week and has promised to give a great performance in thanks.

Rachel Stevens scored a fantastic 35 points last week, but still ended up in the bottom two with seemingly very little or no Public voting support. You need the Public behind you on Strictly Come Dancing otherwise it is very difficult to win. If this pattern continues, the bottom two this week could well be Rachel Stevens verses Jodie Kidd.

If this is the case, Jodie would have to pull off something pretty stunning to stay in the running.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Jodie through with Entertaining Samba

2008-11-12T15:54:00.005Z

A very fun entertaining Samba from Jodie Kidd I thought, but a bit underscored from the Judges who deemed it to be worth just 23 points. Judge Craig awarded the performance a measly 3 out of 10.

None of the Judges were very complimentary, but as usual, good old Len Goodman came to the rescue.

Bruno said, "Jodie you're like the stock markets, up and down, but here we crash again... you were never quite on it. You really have to focus on those latins.. get into the rhythm."

Craig said, "You crucified that Samba, no real bounce action... limp.. very sticky rolls."

Arlene commented, "it wasn't good, but it wasn't that bad. You have an easy bounce, you just lost it, it wasn't a carnival in Rio, it was more like a birthday party in Bournemouth."

I think Arlene had been working on that comment for quite some time before the show even started. For comedy value, I will score her a 2.

Len Goodman finished on a much needed positive, "it had a fun element, you moved nicely, but it doesn't suit you, its a small person's dance...but that doesn't mean your not a good dancer... it doesn't matter."

Jodie Kidd thankfully escaped the bottom two this week and lives to dance again. Congratulations to Jodie. She and Lisa Snowdon are the Strictly Come Dancing's strongest improvers from where they started.

3 out of 10? Ridiculous! This week Jodie Kidd and Ian Waite are training for the Quickstep.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - JLS continue to make headway

2008-11-12T12:11:00.003Z

If JLS were a racehorse, they would be the one you initially didn't notice loitering at the back of the pack. As the race unfolds, the horse moves with confidence through the others and is tracking the leaders coming around the final bend.

Can JLS kick on and win from here? From a point of almost nowhere, it seems they have created a chance of doing so. Their improvement throughout the X Factor competition has been nothing short of phenomenal. JLS have the important likability factor, can sing and are extremely marketable.

For Mariah Carey week, the boys sang One Sweet Day.

From a point of despair, Mentor Louis Walsh must be very happy on how this is working out. Second Favourite, Laura White is gone, the Favourite Diana Vickers is still trying to recover from Laryngitis and JLS are now third favourites to win at 5/1.

JLS are currently the biggest movers in the betting market.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 6, The Best of British

2008-11-12T09:42:00.005Z

With the shock eviction of Laura White last week, the X Factor has become a bit of a Monster. Everyone seems to be getting involved. MPs, Pop stars, big online petitions...

Put Laura back in!, they scream.

I can't see this happening really. It does appear a bit weird that Laura White went out when being such a strong second favourite to win, but go out she did. Both Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh had previously described Laura as World Class. Apparently though, World Class isn't good enough.

If Acts could be put back into the contest pending online petition or Political intervention, then the show would quickly become a mockery. Well... a bigger mockery than it is at the moment.

It has been proven time and time again. On Voting shows, you can never trust the public to make the perceived right decision. Hmmm...

... And with the uproar, controversy and mangled twisted wreckage quickly disappearing in the rear view mirror, into Week 6 we go.

The Theme for the sixth installment is Best of British. I'm not 100% sure quite what this means, but you can bet your life, they won't be singing Chaz and Dave.

The most successful X Factor winner of all time will return to the stage, the amazing Leona Lewis. She won't be singing Chaz and Dave either. Shame.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

I'm a Celebrity Get me Out of Here 2008 !!!

2008-11-12T05:27:00.004Z

This Sunday, it is back! I'm a Celebrity Get me Out of Here !!!

Is this a good thing? Is this show now old hat? Yesterdays news?

Well... each year the shows success is totally dependant on the Celebs themselves.. or almost celebs as rarely have you heard of all of them. Some Jungle outings are a lot better than others. For some reason, I have a good feeling about this one.

Cheeky Newcastle chappies, Ant and Dec will of course, be there again. The initial Television advert is currently running comprising of clips from last years show. In 2007 I'm a Celebrity was won by the shy and retiring, Christopher Biggins. Ok... he wasn't that shy... or indeed retiring.

Related Story
2008 Celebrities revealed

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I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here !!! - 2008 Celebrities revealed !!!!

2008-11-11T20:52:00.004Z

Not long now. The 2008 version of I'm a Celebrity Get me Out of Here starts this Sunday. Speculation has been running rife for some time on who will be featuring this time round. If the ITV's website is to be believed and they are not just throwing us some elaborate bluff, here are this years celebrity Jungle campers.

Brian Paddick
George Takei
Joe Swash
Robert Kilroy-Silk
Simon Webbe

Carly Zucker
Dani Behr
Esther Rantzen
Martina Navratiliva
Nicola Mclean

It was reported on The Sun's website that Comedian, Ricky Grover had signed to do the show. Mysteriously, there is no mention of him in the announced lineup.

Some of the above names you will recognize, some you will not. Carly Zucker is Footballer, Joe Cole's, fiancee. Nicola Mclean is a glamour model, Joe Swash formally was in Eastenders playing Mickey Miller, George Takei famously played Mr Sulu in the original Star Trek and more recently featured in the hit show, Heroes.

Is this announced lineup correct? Well, for now we will have to believe it, but won't really know for definite until the start of Sunday's show.

One questions why either Martina Navratilova or George Takei have agreed to live in jungle squalor and be covered in and eat bugs for the next few weeks. With an extremely successful Tennis career behind her, Martina is hardly strapped for cash and George Takei has probably got money coming out of his ears. He has a distinguished actor career behind him, so why chose this?

On Sunday the waters should become a lot clearer... it is then when you normally spot the Alligator!

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 5, Rachel Hylton sings Mariah Carey

2008-11-11T15:30:00.002Z

It's been a bit of rough week for Rachel Hylton. She stands at odds of 33/1 to win, had a bit of a bust up with her Mentor Danni Minogue and seems to have lost a bit of confidence. It was rumoured in the press at one stage, that she had even sacked her Mentor and was going it alone.

Rachel gave a magnificent performance, but the weeks events really seem to have taken their toll emotionally.

There seems to be some sort of clash of ideas occurring with Hylton and Minogue. I'm hoping this can be sorted out quickly. Rachel is a talented performer who deserves to go a lot further in this year's contest.

The quoted odds of 33/1 seem way too big compared to her significant potential.

This years X Factor contest contains the most talented group of performers the series has ever seen. Most of the remaining acts, you would not be at all surprised to reach the final. One feels that when it is this close, luck is going to play a rather large factor.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 6, Latest Odds to Win

2008-11-11T12:13:00.000Z

After a bizarre week, which saw the loss of Second Favourite, Laura White, here is how the odds have changed on who is to Win the X Factor 2008.

Diana Vickers 1/1
Alexandra Burke 5/2
J L S 5/1
Eoghan Quigg 5/1
Ruth Lorenzo 25/1
Rachel Hylton 33/1
Daniel Evans 50/1

Just seven acts left in now. Despite not even performing this week, Diana Vickers shortens to become the Even Money favourite to win. She missed the latest show due to Laryngitis. It may be a good idea for Daniel Evans to echo the move this week as surely he must go this time.

Louis Walsh's JLS are coming into play nicely. I'm really started to like these boys. It would be great to see them win against the odds to become the first ever group to win.

Eoghan Quigg holds steady at 5/1 while Ruth Lorenzo and Rachel Hylton are still at massive odds of 25/1 and 33/1. These odds are way too big in my opinion. We have seen that when either one lands in the bottom two sing off, they can deliver a performance that is simply, out of this world.

In a sing off, Lorenzo and Hylton are highly capable of knocking anyone out of the contest. If they were to ever meet each other in this way, the Judges decision would be virtually impossible.

Danni Minogue remains the only Mentor to have all three acts left in the competition. She must be doing something right. What it is though, is a bit of a mystery.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 8, Cherie Lunghi, Ballroom Queen

2008-11-11T09:40:00.003Z

On Ballroom Dancing alone, Cherie Lunghi has a great chance of winning this years Strictly Come Dancing. Last week she performed a fantastic Waltz which scored 36 with the Judges.

36 was an impressive score to finish joint top of the leaderboard with Tom Chambers and Lisa Snowdon. After 2 very mediocre weeks, Cherie was back on form delivering the kind of performances we had previously come to expect.

Latin dances are Cherie's Achilles heal. One feels she needs to improve on them. When there are not many competitors left in the competition later on, a bad performance could spell curtains.

Week 8 would have been a big confidence boost for Cherie. It was looking as if things were starting to come apart after such an impressive first half to the contest. It is rumoured that most of the Home vote is going to herself and John Sergeant. Although, maybe not much of a serious debate, Cherie is a lot better.

Lets face it, a Dung Heap is probably better than John Sergeant. Len Goodman would probably score a Dung Heap 4 points just for turning up and that's exactly how he scored John also.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dacing - Week 9, The Latest Odds to Win

2008-11-11T05:31:00.003Z

Week 8 in Strictly come dancing was a bit of a bad week for Austin Healey. He escaped the bottom two however and his odds in the betting market to win are virtually unchanged.

Austin Healey 5/4
Tom Chambers 5/2
Cherie Lunghi 5/1
Lisa Snowdon 8/1
Rachel Stevens 10/1
Christine Bleakley 16/1
John Sergeant 33/1
Jodie Kidd 33/1

It was a great week for Tom Chambers. He finished joint top of the leaderboad with 36 for his Quickstep. His odds now shorten to 5/2.

The odds of Rachel Stevens winning Strictly Come Dancing continue to drift outwards and she is now looking a bit of an outsider. This is quite surprising. She has taken quite a few weeks to hit her true potential, but this week Rachel really nailed it with the American Smooth. 35 points however was not enough with inadequate votes from the viewers at home.

It is rumoured that a great percentage of the viewers votes are either going to Cherie Lunghi or the hapless John Sergeant.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Heroes Number 1 for Second Week !

2008-11-10T15:14:00.003Z

For 2 Weeks running the X Factor finalists have topped the Charts!

Even if they don't win, any act will be able to walk proudly away knowing they have had a number 1 hit. This is a massive achievement.

Well done to the finalists!

Will they manage a third week at the top? It will be tricky. Beyonce charted at Number 2 this week and her single only comes out to buy in shops from today. Britney's come back song is at number 4 and Christine Aguilera is also in the mix.

All proceeds from the Charity single go to Help for Heroes and the British Legion Poppy appeal.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

Goofbay inceases your chances of Winning eBay Auctions

2008-11-10T12:03:00.002Z

I will try not to make this sound like an advert, because it most definitely is not one.

A little while back whilst bidding on eBay auctions, I was finding I was being outbid in the final few seconds of an auction. I would be winning for quite some time and then time and time again, another user would win the item at the death. Initially I just accepted this as part of the process, but then it just started to get plain annoying!

I decided to try and use the same strategy by bidding right near the end. I found this very tricky to time right, sometimes I wasn't available to bid and other times, I just forgot.

Then I found an Auction Sniping tool called Goofbay.

Goofbay offers a FREE auction sniping service. If you open an account with them and fill in the required details, Goofbay automatically bids on your behalf with your maximum bid. You can even set the bid to happen within 2 seconds of the end. Nobody has much chance of responding to a bid placed 2 seconds before the end.

I was dubious at first and little concerned about typing in sensitive information to people I didn't even know who were running a Free service. To apply the bids for you, Goofbay require your eBay password.

I need not have been worried at all. The service worked beautifully and I was now winning items at great prices!

If you are experiencing similar problems and always being outbid right near the end, I would strongly recommend Goofbay. I found their service to be both safe and extremely reliable.

Placing the snipes is also very easy. You just need the eBay listing number, the amount you are willing to bid and when you want to bid. Not only that, Goofbay will send you emails when the bidding has gone above your entered amount!

Overall, I have been very impressed.

www.goofbay.com

www.jenkin7.co.uk

DVD out today - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull !!!

2008-11-10T09:40:00.005Z

It is the 10th of November and the fourth Indiana Jones film is available on DVD in the UK from today !!!

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

The epic was created by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg and comes nineteen years after the last Jones movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

The Movie is set in 1957, which takes account of Indy's increased age compared to the earlier chapters.

Harrison was 64 when he reprised the role as the legend, Indiana Jones, but it isn't really that noticeable. Ford is still the man.

It is questionable whether it was a good idea to make a fourth Indy film after such a long gap, but yes... I think it definitely was.

Go Indy !!!

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 8, Rachel Stevens 35 points = Bottom Two Dance Off

2008-11-10T05:27:00.006Z

So... these days in Strictly Come Dancing, 35 points from the Judges can leave you ending up in the bottom two dance off. What a joke this is and not a very funny one.

Professional dance partner, Vincent Simone, choreographed a brilliant American Smooth routine and wouldn't have believed what happened with the voting public. This was Rachel's best performance week so far and she was rewarded with this travesty of events. It appears she must have very little support with the viewers at home which is a bit of a mystery. Has something gone wrong with the vote counting system?

One thinks that maybe it has.

Thankfully Rachel survived the dance off this week, but it was to the detriment of Heather Small, who also danced well. Truth be told, neither of the women should have been there.

Head Judge Len Goodman said of Rachel's original routine, "Diamonds come in small packages and that was a gem of a performance."

Bruno added, "it was Fred and Ginger for me tonight, so elaborate and demanding... you did that effortlessly."

It is perhaps impossible to fathom. Bruno said he felt as if he were in the Twilight Zone. In a week where a score of 35 out of 40 can land you in the bottom two, the dance part of this competition is becoming less and less relevant.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 8 - Heather Small leaves

2008-11-09T21:02:00.005Z

Shocks aplenty on UK television voting competitions this week. This time on Strictly Come Dancing, singer, Heather Small, was the one to go. It was the fourth time in the series she had landed in the bottom two and this one, by far, was the most unfair.

And who was in the dance off with Heather?

Rachel Stevens of course.

What??? How did this happen? Rachel scored 35 out of 40 with the Judges, just 5 points short of a maximum score! There's something very odd going on this week. Maybe someone should check the water supply.

Heather's Tango was the best she had danced so far and she didn't really deserve to be in the bottom two either. Judge Craig described the result as a travesty.

The Judges voted unanimously to keep Rachel in the competition. Having originally scored her a whopping 35 points, there was little much else they could have done. Public voting figures for Rachel must have been ridiculously low which does not bode well.

John Sergeant must genuinely be feeling a bit guilty this time. Maybe he should invent a fake illness and drop out. At this rate, there is a distinct possibility he could reach the final. This week, John scored a meagre 12. That is 23 points less than Rachel Stevens.

Strictly Come Dancing is in danger of becoming a bit of a mockery. A dance competition where you don't have to be a good dancer. Next year my money is on Stephen Hawking to win.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

The Football Premiership - Spurs off the Bottom... at last

2008-11-09T17:59:00.001Z

Another week, another win for Tottenham in this great reversal of fortune.

New manager, Harry Redknapp is the man !!!

Manchester City 1 - 2 Tottenham Hotspur

That will do nicely !!!

Brazilian Robinho scored first for City in the 16th minute, finding the net from point-blank range. That thankfully was the end of their tally as resurgent Tottenham were to come back strongly.

Manchester City deservedly had Gelson Fernandes sent off for a clumsy challenge and the home side were down to just 10 men. It was now a very different game.

A rejuventated Darren Bent scored a brilliant individual goal in the 30th and from here the game was Tottenham's to be won.

Bent added a second goal in the 64th and the victory was sealed when City had yet another man sent off. Tottenham had Assou-Ekoto sent off in the 87th, but by that the time the game was already won. 2-1 to Tottenham and 3 much needed points.

Spurs finally climb out the relegation zone to 17th. It looks as if they will finish the season about mid-table. One wishes Harry Redknapp had turned up a lot earlier. Under Redknapp's command Tottenham Hotspur are a completely different animal.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 8, Sergeant taking the...

2008-11-09T15:01:00.004Z

As entertaining as he has been, I think it is now time for John Sergeant to go from Strictly Come Dancing.

He has progressed far further than he really should have and the show has been undeniably richer for him being there. However, it is now getting rather silly. John is knocking people out the contest who are generally quite good.

John Sergeant's performance of the Cha Cha Cha this week was simply awful or as a friend maybe less eloquently put it, bloody crap!

He managed a total score of 12, but really it didn't even deserve double figures.

Each week, John is looking worse and worse as the overall standard of his competitors left in averages higher and higher. The shear gap between him and the others is now far larger than the greatest canyons of Mars. I would have said larger than the Grand Canyon, but that didn't seem quite large enough.

Secretly, I think John would rather go also, this is starting to get very embarrassing indeed. Somehow though, I'm worried that this week Jodie Kidd will go.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 5, Mariah Carey sings Hero

2008-11-09T11:58:00.004Z

For week 5 of the X Factor 2008, Mariah Carey was in town. She was on hand during the week to meet the remaining finalists and give them performance tips and support.

Hero was written by Mariah and she performed ths song Live on the show.

The version of Heros sung solely by the X Factor finalists currently sits on the number one spot. The record sold over 313 thousand copies in its first week which astonishingly outsold the rest of the Top 10 put together. Hero also became the fastest-selling single of the year.

All proceeds from the record goes to the charity, Help The Heroes, a charity that supports wounded servicemen and women and the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.

Mariah Carey Night was an unpredictable one, in terms of the final result. It saw the demise of Second Favourite Laura White. As Victor Meldrew would put it, "I don't believe it!".

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Major Shock! Laura White is Out !!!

2008-11-09T09:25:00.003Z

Laura White is out of X Factor 2008. How on Earth did this happen? This is a major shock and probably one of the biggest upsets in the competition I have ever seen.

Second favourite and 3-1 to Win, Laura looked destined for the final, but sees her self go out as early as Week 5. On Mariah Carey song night she sang, "Endless Love", played the piano and surely deserved to go through to week 6.

All comments from the Judges were positive apart from those of Simon Cowell and yet after the viewers votes were finally counted, she found herself in the bottom two.

It perhaps goes to show, the X Factor isn't just about having an amazing singing voice. It's also about image, style, likability and overall popularity with the public. Despite being exceptionally talented, Laura has failed to connect with those watching at home which is a bit of a shame.

Rank outsider, Daniel Evans escaped yet again, and Laura was in the dreaded bottom two sing off with the awesome and massively underrated, Ruth Lorenzo.

As before, Ruth Lorenzo gave an awesome performance in the sing off. She sang Knocking On Heavens Door which was absolutely amazing. Laura sang, Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

To be honest, neither girl should have been voted out. This shock result shows, that in the X Factor, no one is safe.

Laura was faultless this week, but still goes out. Maybe Cheryl Cole's acts are not such a dead cert to win after all, with Laura White eliminated and Diana Vickers suffering from Laryngitis, the competition has been thrown wide open.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly come Dancing 2008 - Week 8, The Judges Scores are in

2008-11-08T19:18:00.005Z

It's week 8, the dances have been done, and the Judges scores are in. Wow, what a high scoring week... well... for all non-former ITN people.

Here are how things shape up at the half-way stage,

Tom Chambers & Camilla 36
Cherie Lunghi & James 36
Lisa Snowdon & Brendan 36
Rachel Stevens & Vincent 35
Christine Bleakley & Matt 31
Austin Healey & Erin 29
Heather Small & Brian 27
Jodie Kidd & Ian 23
John Sergeant & Ola 12

3 couples top the table on a fantastic 36 points. This is the first time this has ever happened. Tom Chambers was outstanding, Cherie Lunghi was back to the style of dances she does best and Lisa Snowdon showed she is not to be underestimated.

Rachel Stevens finally came good to indicate she perhaps now will be a threat in the competition's final stages ahead. Thank goodness. Up until now, she had been Strictly Come Dancing's serial under performer. Not by any means bad any week, but you sensed she was not performing to the best of her ability. Rachel's American Smooth scored a well deserved 35.

Jodie Kidd struggled a bit with the Samba, but compared directly to John Sergeant's Shambles, she was the greatest dancer of all time.

Favourite to win, Austin Healey, had his worst week yet, but that's mainly due to being scored a shocking 5 by Craig. He totalled 29, but should still escape the bottom two.

What can be said about John's Cha Cha Cha this week? Judge Craig said it was a Disaster. I think he was being polite. Craig scored it a 1, but that is only because there were no score paddle with zero written on it. A woeful total of 12 points still seemed way over-marked. It was the worst dance I have ever witnessed and I'm not 100% sure he was really bothered. I've honestly seen people on fire dance better than him.

In danger of being in the dance off this week are Jodie Kidd and Heather Small.

What? No John Sergeant?

www.jenkin7.co.uk

X Factor 2008 - Week 5 - Diana Vickers, the Favourite, has laryngitis!

2008-11-08T12:46:00.001Z

Shock! Horror! She is quoted as favourite to win, but Diana Vickers has lost her voice! In a singing competition, that's rather significant.

The 17 year old reportedly lost her voice on Tuesday after being struck down by laryngitis. It is so severe that medication has not enabled her to fully recover in time. A specialist has advised her not to sing. She has not taken part in any preparations for tonight's show.

Diana is still hoping to perform tonight, but it is probably best she takes advantage of the bye rule. If an act is struck down with illness so severe they can not perform properly, they are allowed to miss a week of the competition. I think that rule will come in nicely. It is simply not worth Miss Vickers taking the risk in a contest she has a very serious chance of winning. The potential rewards are huge.

We will see if she make the stage tonight, but I'm hoping not so we can see a fully repaired Vickers next week.

www.jenkin7.co.uk

BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 8 - The Dances this Week

2008-11-08T10:06:00.003Z

It's Strictly Come Dancing, it's Week 8, the competition is now starting to get tough. Survival is everything as distant thoughts of the final begin to enter the minds of those left in.

What dances are being performed this week and by who? Well, here's the lineup,

Jodie Kidd and Ian - Samba
Rachel Stevens and Vincent - American Smooth
Heather Small and Brian - Tango
Christine Bleakley and Matt - Jive
John Sergeant and Kristina - Cha Cha Cha
Cherie Lunghi and James - Waltz
Tom Chambers and Camilla - Quickstep
Austin Healey and Erin - Rumba

In training, Austin has been finding the Rumba a little awkward, but should go through without much difficulty. Apparently he has been struggling with conveying the emotional side of the dance.

Jodie Kidd's Samba could be tricky. The Samba felled Andrew Castle previously and is a dance to try and get out of the way. She is much better at the Ballroom dances.

Cherie Lunghi should be back in the groove this week after two relatively poor weeks for her. She has remained in the contest however and is now back to a better suited dance for her, a Waltz.

If Mr Sergeant is rescued from the bottom two again, the dance off could be very tense indeed. John has a great chance of doing this as I'm sure, many people only watch the programme, to see him. John Sergeant has the entertainment factor in spades and is a joy to watch... but, for all the wrong reasons.