Celebrity or Not Celebrity Big Brother ?

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

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

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

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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Family Fortunes - We surveyed 100 people (Honest)

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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Re: The Y Factor

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

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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Deal or No Deal... still

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

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.

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

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!

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

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.

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

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 !

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

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.

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

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.

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X Factor 2008 - Week7 - Rhydian Returns

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.

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X Factor 2008 - Week 6, Fantastic Ruth Lorenzo

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.

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

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.

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

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!

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

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.

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

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.

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