machotrouts

Before I get on with the actual updates, I've got one more stats post for you. First of all, here's the average points per team each celebrity received: 1 Joe Biden 21.70 2 Donald Trump 20.54 3 Michael J. Fox 18.72 4 Andy Taylor 17.40 5 Billy Connolly 15.81 6 Clint Eastwood 15.75 7 William Shatner 15.44 8 Ozzy Osbourne 15.32 9 Buzz Aldrin 14.05 10 Janey Godley 13.91 11 Phil Collins 13.07 12 Bruce Willis 12.40 13 Dick van Dyke 11.77 14 Robert Wagner 10.47 15 Prunella Scales 9.37 16 Pope Francis 9.19 16 Rupert Murdoch 9.19 18 David Attenborough 8.19 19 Willie Nelson 7.93 20 Mel Brooks 7.32 21 Tim Bilton 6.60 22 Toby Keith 6.05 23 Yoko Ono 4.51 24 Dave Myers 4.09 25 Erik Jensen 3.86 26 Shannen Doherty 3.53 27 Linda Nolan 3.21 28 Paul Spencer 2.58 29 Cleo Laine 2.47 30 Denis Law 2.12 31 Bob Newhart 1.96 32 Dennis Skinner 1.93 33 Patrick Murray 1.77 34 Roberta Flack 1.58 35 Eva Marie Saint 1.44 36 Theo Burrell 1.35 37 Stanley Baxter 1.23 38 Frank Caprio 1.19 38 Frank Field 0.77 40 June Spencer 0.70 41 Esther Rantzen 0.68 42 James Whale 0.65 43 Michael Tilson Thomas 0.63 44 Rob Burrow 0.61 45 Joanne Woodward 0.51 46 Nigel Starmer-Smith 0.49 47 (Wildlife) Simon Cowell 0.47 48 Jonnie Irwin 0.28 49 Noam Chomsky 0.14 50 Jimmy Carter 0.02 51 Steve McMichael 0.00 Using these numbers, I've calculated all of your most outlying opinions. In the table below is an alphabetical list of Inverse Dead Pool 2024 players. Next to each player, there are two celebrities, each with two numbers in brackets – the first number is the number of points the player has assigned that celebrity, and the second number is the gap between that number and the celebrity's average points value. The celebrity on the left is the celebrity whose points from that player are farthest ABOVE the celebrity's average points value (i.e. the celebrity whose survival that player is most disproportionately invested in). The celebrity on the right is the celebrity whose points (or lack thereof) from that player are farthest BELOW the celebrity's average points value (i.e. the celebrity whose death would probably be most beneficial to that player). This player... Is relatively confident in... And relatively wary of... An Fear Beag Yoko Ono (13, +8.49) Buzz Aldrin (3, -11.05) Annami Cleo Laine (19, +16.53) William Shatner (0, -15.44) arghton Bruce Willis (22, +9.6) Dick van Dyke (4, -7.77) Bentrovato Nigel Starmer-Smith (21, +20.51) Joe Biden (0, -21.7) Bibliogryphon Robert Wagner (23, +12.53) Ozzy Osbourne (6, -9.32) Book Robert Wagner (20, +9.53) David Attenborough (0, -8.19) BuffaloPhil Dave Myers (18, +13.91) Bruce Willis (0, -12.4) Captain Hemlock Bruce Willis (22, +9.6) Dick van Dyke (0, -11.77) CaptainChorizo Buzz Aldrin (24, +9.95) Dick van Dyke (0, -11.77) CastAway Mel Brooks (21, +13.68) Billy Connolly (5, -10.81) chilean way Pope Francis (25, +15.81) Janey Godley (0, -13.91) Clorox Bleachman Prunella Scales (22, +12.63) Phil Collins (6, -7.07) deadsox Tim Bilton (20, +13.4) Phil Collins (0, -13.07) Death Impends Phil Collins (21, +7.93) Willie Nelson (0, -7.93) diego Frank Caprio (20, +18.81) Andy Taylor (0, -17.4) En Passant Toby Keith (19, +12.95) Dick van Dyke (1, -10.77) Famous6Eva Erik Jensen (23, +19.14) Phil Collins (0, -13.07) Funeralopolis Phil Collins (22, +8.93) Janey Godley (4, -9.91) gcreptile Erik Jensen (24, +20.14) Michael J. Fox (0, -18.72) Great Uncle Bulgaria Yoko Ono (16, +11.49) Dick van Dyke (0, -11.77) Grimgrass Robert Wagner (17, +6.53) Rupert Murdoch (3, -6.19) GuyFromFuture Tim Bilton (23, +16.4) Ozzy Osbourne (1, -14.32) Hell Pope Francis (23, +13.81) Janey Godley (0, -13.91) JoeMoneypenny Tim Bilton (22, +15.4) Donald Trump (2, -18.54) Joltin Joe Linda Nolan (14, +10.79) Janey Godley (0, -13.91) ladyfiona Yoko Ono (17, +12.49) Buzz Aldrin (0, -14.05) Lafaucheuse Frank Caprio (12, +10.81) Willie Nelson (0, -7.93) livingbygrace Willie Nelson (22, +14.07) Janey Godley (1, -12.91) LizLemon Phil Collins (21, +7.93) Buzz Aldrin (5, -9.05) machotrouts Erik Jensen (14, +10.14) Willie Nelson (0, -7.93) machotrouts' mum Dennis Skinner (25, +23.07) Donald Trump (0, -20.54) MalePoster Paul Spencer (20, +17.42) Ozzy Osbourne (0, -15.32) MariNisia Erik Jensen (21, +17.14) Clint Eastwood (0, -15.75) maryportfuncity Dave Myers (23, +18.91) Donald Trump (8, -12.54) max_bossetti Linda Nolan (20, +16.79) Robert Wagner (0, -10.47) MortalCaso Toby Keith (19, +12.95) Dick van Dyke (0, -11.77) msc Shannen Doherty (17, +13.47) Joe Biden (0, -21.7) Newjack Phil Collins (23, +9.93) Mel Brooks (0, -7.32) Nick Ozzy Osbourne (22, +6.68) David Attenborough (0, -8.19) Pedro67 Denis Law (16, +13.88) Bruce Willis (0, -12.4) Perhaps Shannen Doherty (12, +8.47) Pope Francis (0, -9.19) Sideik Toby Keith (18, +11.95) Dick van Dyke (0, -11.77) Sleepiestpeep Toby Keith (20, +13.95) Robert Wagner (0, -10.47) Spade_Cooley Tim Bilton (18, +11.4) Billy Connolly (0, -15.81) Summer in Transylvania Ozzy Osbourne (25, +9.68) Bruce Willis (7, -5.4) Thatcher Paul Spencer (19, +16.42) Janey Godley (0, -13.91) The Immortal Dennis Skinner (12, +10.07) Janey Godley (0, -13.91) The Old Crem Tim Bilton (16, +9.4) Phil Collins (0, -13.07) The Unknown Man Dave Myers (21, +16.91) Janey Godley (0, -13.91) theoldlady June Spencer (18, +17.3) Joe Biden (0, -21.7) Toast Dennis Skinner (9, +7.07) Rupert Murdoch (0, -9.19) Torva Messor Rupert Murdoch (25, +15.81) Donald Trump (0, -20.54) TQR Janey Godley (24, +10.09) Bruce Willis (4, -8.4) tracy Linda Nolan (23, +19.79) William Shatner (4, -11.44) wannamaker Rupert Murdoch (16, +6.81) Toby Keith (0, -6.05) YorkshireBanker Theo Burrell (17, +15.65) Donald Trump (5, -15.54) YoungWillz Pope Francis (23, +13.81) Donald Trump (0, -20.54)

Dave Myers makes me 3 updates behind – been too busy to update this month (with another game I've been running on another forum! Infidelity!) but I'll sort it out soon.

I'll accept @Lafaucheuse as I hadn't definitively declared submissions closed with a post that says "submissions are definitely now closed", but submissions are definitely now closed. Here's our complete list of Inverse Dead Pool 2024 candidates, ranked by the total number of points we've all banked on them, with a second column for how many teams they're on (out of a total 57). I've colour-coded the 51 names – the top slightly-less-than-half in green, and the bottom slightly-more-than-half in red. TOTAL POINTS # OF TEAMS 1 Joe Biden 1237 54 2 Donald Trump 1171 53 3 Michael J. Fox 1067 56 4 Andy Taylor 992 55 5 Billy Connolly 906 56 6 Clint Eastwood 898 53 7 William Shatner 880 53 8 Ozzy Osbourne 873 53 9 Buzz Aldrin 801 56 10 Janey Godley 793 48 11 Phil Collins 745 49 12 Bruce Willis 707 50 13 Dick van Dyke 671 51 14 Robert Wagner 597 47 15 Prunella Scales 534 51 16 Pope Francis 524 47 16 Rupert Murdoch 524 48 18 David Attenborough 467 47 19 Willie Nelson 452 43 20 Mel Brooks 417 38 21 Tim Bilton 376 35 22 Toby Keith 345 27 23 Yoko Ono 257 27 24 Dave Myers 233 26 25 Erik Jensen 220 21 26 Shannen Doherty 201 23 27 Linda Nolan 183 25 28 Paul Spencer 147 17 29 Cleo Laine 141 23 30 Denis Law 121 18 31 Dennis Skinner 110 18 32 Bob Newhart 107 17 33 Patrick Murray 101 14 34 Roberta Flack 90 12 35 Eva Marie Saint 82 22 36 Theo Burrell 77 8 37 Stanley Baxter 70 14 38 Frank Caprio 68 7 39 Frank Field 44 6 40 June Spencer 40 6 41 Esther Rantzen 39 8 42 James Whale 37 12 43 Michael Tilson Thomas 36 5 44 Rob Burrow 35 8 45 Joanne Woodward 29 4 46 Nigel Starmer-Smith 28 4 47 (Wildlife) Simon Cowell 27 6 48 Jonnie Irwin 16 1 49 Noam Chomsky 8 2 50 Jimmy Carter 1 1 51 Steve McMichael 0 0 Stop the count! Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump in the 2024 popular vote. A reassuring show of faith in American democracy that we don't all think the two presumptive main party candidates will be literally dead by election day. Michael J. Fox has a healthy debut at #3, and Andy Taylor at #4 must be one of the biggest rises in Inverse Dead Pool history (I'm not checking) – he was #35 last year. Also, Billy Connolly at #5 was picked by literally every player other than my mum, and she only didn't pick him because she doesn't find him funny. Not a single one of us picked Steve McMichael this year – he's the Inverse Dead Pool's first unanimous snub since Rush Limbaugh in 2021. On the bright side, the last place celebrity in 2023 was James Whale (who is now #42) and 2022 was Frank Field (now #38), so – congratulations Mr McMichael, looks like it's all uphill from here. Also near the bottom is DDP #1 Jimmy Carter with exactly 1 point, donated by @JoeMoneypenny; Noam Chomsky has 4 points apiece from @Bentrovato and @Annami; and all 16 of Jonnie Irwin's points came from my mum – she didn't know who he was, but when I told her, she said "oh, I like A Place in the Sun. He can live".

Here's machotrouts' team (that's machotrouts' mum's son, if you're not familiar with him): 1. Michael J. Fox 2. Ozzy Osbourne 3. Billy Connolly 4. William Shatner 5. Donald Trump 6. Joe Biden 7. Phil Collins 8. Clint Eastwood 9. Janey Godley 10. Dick Van Dyke 11. Buzz Aldrin 12. Erik Jensen 13. Mel Brooks 14. Andy Taylor 15. Tim Bilton 16. Rupert Murdoch 17. Prunella Scales 18. Denis Law 19. Bruce Willis 20. David Attenborough 21. Robert Wagner 22. Pope Francis 23. Eva Marie Saint 24. June Spencer 25. Dennis Skinner SUBSTITUTES: Willie Nelson, Bob Newhart, Patrick Murray

Everyone else (including me) – you have about 19 hours left to submit a team.

As usual, I'm posting this on behalf of a valued Inverse Dead Pool regular – it's the 2024 machotrouts' mum team: Dennis Skinner Michael J. Fox Janey Godley Joe Biden Yoko Ono Phil Collins Robert Wagner Dave Myers Bob Newhart Jonnie Irwin Buzz Aldrin Frank Field Bruce Willis Dick van Dyke Esther Rantzen William Shatner Joanne Woodward Mel Brooks Andy Taylor Prunella Scales Linda Nolan Roberta Flack Eva Marie Saint Shannen Doherty Rob Burrow SUB: June Spencer As scientific as all of her previous teams. Dennis Skinner is #1 because "aww, he was my nan & granddad's MP, I'm not having him dying".

Couple of problems here: - You've got two Bruce Willises. You're only allowed one Bruce Willis. - Sandy Gall is not one of the 51 playable celebrities! Thankfully, you've got two substitutes, so your team is still usable. (By default, I'll remove Sandy and the lower of the two Bruces, shunt everyone else up, and add the subs in at the bottom, but you can amend the team yourself if you want.) This (hopefully) won't matter, but since I'm on a proofreading kick: you've got Tim Bilton at #22 and as your second sub.

^ Facepalm this post all you like, the rest of us are going to look very silly indeed if these are all still alive next year.

A pick for my "Special:RandomInCategory/Living_people" DDP theme team this year – the unceremoniousness of his retirement caught my eye. His blog/column abruptly stopped in Nov 2022, no final column to wrap things up, before the media went "oh he retired btw" in Jan 2023. (I just tried to check his site to confirm my memory, and it's gone down since I visited last month.) Looking again now, I see I missed a one-off column he did promoting Ron DeSantis in Mar 2023 (not published on his site). He'll probably outlive that candidacy, at least.

Additional notes: Glynis Johns, Derek Draper, and Franz Beckenbauer are also in this year's DDP top 50 – but as they've already died, they are not in play, on the basis that dead people are typically precluded from surviving the year. The above names are the top 50 (+1) still alive as of the Inverse Dead Pool starting line.  The top name not currently in play, at #52, is Vladimir Putin. As there are already 51 names in play, he won't be subbed in unless 2 more of our eligible celebrities die during the submission period.

YOUR ELIGIBLE PICKS ARE HERE: Jimmy Carter Jonnie Irwin Esther Rantzen James Whale Shannen Doherty Rob Burrow Linda Nolan Frank Field Dick van Dyke Steve McMichael Bruce Willis Nigel Starmer-Smith Yoko Ono (Wildlife) Simon Cowell Prunella Scales David Attenborough Roberta Flack Andy Taylor Michael Tilson Thomas Mel Brooks Billy Connolly Theo Burrell Noam Chomsky Joanne Woodward Toby Keith Patrick Murray Clint Eastwood Denis Law Buzz Aldrin Eva Marie Saint Willie Nelson Phil Collins Tim Bilton Ozzy Osbourne Stanley Baxter Pope Francis Bob Newhart Janey Godley Rupert Murdoch June Spencer Cleo Laine Paul Spencer William Shatner Donald Trump Michael J. Fox Erik Jensen Dave Myers Robert Wagner Frank Caprio Joe Biden Dennis Skinner (NB: Joe Biden and Dennis Skinner are the joint 50th most popular DDP pick of the year. Even though I'm sure we've all had recurring fantasies about the two of them being doused in oil and wrestling it out, I'm not tie-breaking them – you simply have 51 names to pick from.) Submissions are open. Select and rank 25 of the above names to survive 2024, and post your teams in this thread. The deadline to submit a team is Tuesday, January 23, 23.59 (GMT) – a little over a week from now.

INVERSE DEAD POOL 2024    Welcome to the 13th edition of the Inverse Dead Pool, the nice dead pool where you don't want your picks to die. How to play I post a list of the year's 50 most popular Derby Dead Pool picks. From this list of 50, you must pick 25 people who you think will SURVIVE the year. The premise is to AVOID picking people who will die. Rank your picks – from least likely to die to most likely to die. You receive points according to their position on your team – 25 points if your #1 pick dies, 24 points if your #2 pick dies, and so on, down to 1 point if your #25 pick dies, and 0 points if anyone you haven't picked dies. You do NOT want points. The winner is the player with the fewest points at the end of the year (Dec 31, 23.59 GMT). You may also appoint a substitute, or substitutes, in case any picks die before the submission deadline (or in case you accidentally include a name twice). If that happens, everyone in a lower position on your team moves up a place, and your top substitute is drafted in at #25. Once you have a team ready, post it in this thread. If an eligible pick dies during the submission period, then the 51st top DDP pick becomes eligible; if another dies, then the 52nd becomes eligible, etc. You may amend your team after posting it, as long as it's before the submission deadline (you might want to do this if, for example, the 51st name becomes eligible and you want to include them). If you do, make sure to post again in this thread to clarify what you've changed.  Tie break details If two or more players are tied for victory at the end of the year, the winner is whoever had the fewest points most recently (i.e. whoever had the most recent pick to die, or whoever ranked that pick higher if all tied players picked them, or whoever had the second most recent pick to die if those are the same, etc). If all tied players have the exact same hits in the exact same positions (or if they achieve a heretofore-unachieved perfect score of 0), the tie is not broken – all tied players share victory. Congratulations to our previous winners... 2023 tracy 1 point 2022 YorkshireBanker 27 points 2021 BabyBlue 25 points 2020 The Quim Reaper 34 points 2019 drol 10 points 2018 machotrouts 17 points 2017 drol 25 points 2016 Pedro67 21 points 2015 Death Impends 15 points 2014 Bibliogryphon 10 points 2013 N/A 2012 Esturian Float 4 points 2011 Garn2 15 points Thank you to our previous hosts... 2018-2021 Death Impends 2014-2017 The Dead Cow 2011-2012 Spade_Cooley Links to previous Inverse Dead Pools... 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2012-2016, 2011

My congratulations to the Inverse Dead Pool 2023 champion – and the new all-time lowest-scoring player – @tracy! You are now at least 25% of the way to achieving your coveted EGOI (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Inverse). THE WINNING TEAM: Honourable mention also to runner-up @LizLemon for achieving the second best score in Inverse Dead Pool history – and for only being 4 days off tying for the lead after Glynis Johns' death. (Which would have remained a @tracy win under current tie-break rules, but still...) FINAL LEADERBOARD: 1. tracy 1 2. LizLemon 3 3. diego 12 3. Perhaps 12 5. gcreptile 13 6. Grimgrass 14 7. Joey Russ 15 8. CaptainChorizo 20 9. Book 24 9. Summer in Transylvania 24 9. Sean 24 12. Spade_Cooley 26 13. Grim Up North 27 14. deadsox 28 15. wannamaker 29 16. Nick 30 17. MortalCaso 31 18. machotrouts 32 19. ThereWillBeDeaths7 34 19. The Unknown Man 34 21. Death Impends 35 21. Torva Messor 35 21. The Immortal (née TheSpinosaurus) 35 24. Great Uncle Bulgaria 37 24. Bibliogryphon 37 26. CalebH 38 27. An Fear Beag 40 28. TQR 44 29. Captain Hemlock 45 30. Annami 47 30. BuffaloPhil 47 30. marinade 47 33. Newjack 51 34. nantonian2013 55 34. BabyBlue 55 34. MariNisia 55 37. Pedro67 57 37. The Old Crem 57 39. Funeralopolis 59 40. Wormfarmer 61 41. En Passant 62 41. Hell 62 43. Toast 68 44. YoungWillz 71 45. Sir Creep 72 46. chilean way 74 47. Alcalina 86 48. machotrouts' mum 87 48. theoldlady 87 50. msc 113 FINAL CELEBRITY ROUND-UP: TOTAL POINTS # OF TEAMS 1. Donald Trump 1147 49 2. Vladimir Putin 916 48 3. Ozzy Osbourne 841 48 4. Bill Cosby 834 44 5. Clint Eastwood 817 45 6. Billy Connolly 806 48 7. Phil Collins 799 45 8. Buzz Aldrin 780 46 9. Dick Van Dyke 749 44 10. Rupert Murdoch 710 44 11. David Attenborough 609 42 12. Shane MacGowan 594 39 13. Prunella Scales 531 43 14. Mel Brooks 496 44 15. Willie Nelson 488 43 16. Yoko Ono 457 39 17. Burt Bacharach 392 39 18. Randy Jackson 368 35 19. Shannen Doherty 353 33 20. Linda Nolan 266 28 21. Tony Bennett 257 26 22. Janey Godley 248 27 23. Rhod Gilbert 228 26 23. Stanley Baxter 228 32 25. Tim Bilton 202 23 26. Francoise Hardy 195 21 27. Bobby Charlton 176 22 28. Harry Belafonte 169 20 29. Henry Kissinger 162 16 30. Eva Marie Saint 161 25 31. Roberta Flack 146 14 32. Ted Kaczynski 134 16 33. Kate Keltie 127 20 34. Jimmy Carter 115 13 35. Andy Taylor 97 16 36. Bob Barker 81 11 37. Glynis Johns 67 13 38. Rob Burrow 58 7 38. Larry Pressler 58 8 40. Frank Field 55 5 41. Johnny Ruffo 51 11 42. Ryuichi Sakamoto 49 4 43. Rolf Harris 46 3 44. Joanne Woodward 44 9 45. George Alagiah 41 3 46. Jonnie Irwin 37 2 47. Nigel Starmer-Smith 31 5 48. Steve McMichael 22 3 49. Simon Cowell (wildlife) 10 2 50. James Whale 4 1 And congratulations, somehow, to the entire bottom five on their survival. (@Great Uncle Bulgaria was the one person who trusted that James Whale would still be with us.) Thank you for playing. See you in the Inverse Dead Pool 2024 soon.

In this spoiler box is #1 Hits, my regular theme team of UK #1 hitmakers. Below it are 20 more people who were in consideration for the team. SUBSTITUTES: 21. David Soul 22. John Edwards (The Detroit Spinners)  23. Connie Francis 24. James Dunn (The Stylistics) #13 last year 25. Len 'Chip' Hawkes (The Tremeloes) 26. Lena Martell #12 last year 27. John Gorman (The Scaffold) 28. Mike Peters (Ferry Aid) 29. Ernest Ranglin (The Commonwealth Band) 30. J.J. Barrie #15 last year 31. Craig Douglas 32. Nick Carter (The Backstreet Boys) 33. Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden) 34. Earl Falconer (UB40) 35. Brian Bennett (The Shadows) 36. Clem Cattini (The Pirates, The Tornados) 37. Andrew Davis ("Various artists") 38. Mick Jones (Foreigner) 39. Sandra (Enigma) 40. Tony Christie   Two people I posted in the 2023 salvage lot thread proved to be misses for the #1 Hits team: Shane MacGowan (35) and Tina Turner (37). In this spoiler box is Unpersons, my regular theme team of Big Brother housemates. Below it are 20 more people who were in consideration for the team. SUBSTITUTES: 21. Bruce Jones 22. Renee Graziano 23. Christopher Biggins 24. Wayne Sleep 25. Michael Barrymore 26. Kellie Maloney 27. Jim Davidson 28. Ann Widdecombe 29. Paddy Doherty #11 last year 30. Carole Vincent 31. Alexander O'Neal 32. James Cosmo 33. Winston McKenzie 34. Angie Bowie #18 last year 35. Tara Reid 36. Stephanie Beacham 37. Andrew Tate #3 last year 38. Stephen Bear #15 last year 39. Lee Ryan 40. Denise Welch None of the people I posted in the 2023 salvage lot thread proved to be misses for the Unpersons team. In this spoiler box is Special:RandomInCategory/Living_people, my regular theme team of 20 people whittled down from 4000 random biographies on Wikipedia. Below it are 20 more people who were in consideration for the team. SUBSTITUTES: 21. Cliff Lazarenko  British darts player 22. Pooh Shiesty  American rapper 23. Hu Jintao  President of China 2003-13 24. Stephen Trombley  British-American author, filmmaker, songwriter 25. George William Penrose, Lord Penrose  Scottish judge (The Penrose Inquiry, The Penrose Report) 26. Sviatoslav Vakarchuk  Ukrainian rockstar 27. Viktor Yanukovych  President of Ukraine 2010-14, now in exile 28. Mykhailo Shpir  Ukrainian journalist turned Russian minister 29. Abdul-Hafez al-Saqqaf  Yemeni ex-general 30. Antonio Gasalla  Argentine comedian 31. Pete Rose  American baseball star 32. Ahmed Khalidi  Palestinian lawyer 33. Efraim Halevy  Former Mossad director 34. Robert C. Hastie  Lord Lieutenant of West Glamorgan, 1995-2008 35. Marlo Thomas  American actress (That Girl) 36. Marlen Chow  Nicaraguan activist, critic of Ortega 37. Lin Liheng  Lin Biao's daughter, subject of CCP denunciation and rehabilitation 38. The Fabulous Sports Babe  American sports broadcaster 39. Paul Larudee  'Free Gaza' activist, subject of Facebook ads calling for his assassination 40. Daayiee Abdullah  America's first openly gay imam Two of these were previous picks that coincidentally came up again in this year's random bios: Stephen Trombley (picked in 2023) and George William Penrose, Lord Penrose (picked in 2021). None of the people I posted in the 2023 salvage lot thread proved to be misses for the Living_people team.

These are my three theme teams for 2024. #1 Hits My regular theme team of people who've had a record peak at #1 in the UK Singles Chart (either solo or as part of a group). 9th year in the DDP. Last year's position on the team is given in brackets, where applicable. 1. (re) Eddie 'Tan Tan' Thornton (The Blue Flames) 2. (9) David Graham (Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band) 3. (4) Jane Morgan 4. (new) Mike Sarne 5. (new) Tony Di Bart 6. (new) Marlon Jackson (The Jacksons) 7. (2) Andy Taylor (Duran Duran) 8. (new) Noddy Holder (Slade) 9. (21*) Willie Nelson (USA for Africa) 10. (new) Bruce Foxton (The Jam) 11. (8) Trevor Oakes (Showaddywaddy) 12. (new) Walter Parazaider (Chicago) 13. (new) Steve Harley 14. (new) Chris Stein (Blondie) 15. (17) Chris Rea (Band Aid II) 16. (16) Chris Farlowe 17. (new) Ray Walker (The Jordanaires) 18. (new) Grace Slick (Starship) 19. (re) Plas Johnson (B. Bumble and the Stingers) 20. (re) Ian McCredie (Middle of the Road) (*subbed in last year for Anita Pointer) This is the 2nd appearance for Eddie 'Tan Tan' Thornton, Andy Taylor, Plas Johnson, and Ian McCredie; the 3rd appearance for Trevor Oakes; the 4th appearance for Chris Rea; the 5th appearance for David Graham; the 6th appearance for Willie Nelson and Chris Farlowe; and the 8th appearance for Jane Morgan. This team had six hits in 2023: Rolf Harris (1), Tony Bennett (5), Bobby Charlton (6), Ian Bairnson (7), David Crosby (10), and Harry Belafonte (11). Survivors dropped from the team are: Lena Martell (12), James Dunn (13), Dave Edmunds (14), J.J. Barrie (15), Marilyn (18), Randy Jackson (19), and Young Thug (20). Unpersons My regular theme team of Big Brother UK housemates (including Celebrity Big Brother housemates – in fact, this year, only including Celebrity Big Brother housemates). 9th year in the DDP. Last year's position on the team is given in brackets, where applicable. 1. (2) Linda Nolan 2. (1) James Whale 3. (5) Julie Goodyear 4. (4) Chris Ellison 5. (6) Ron Atkinson 6. (7) Gary Busey 7. (8) Amanda Barrie 8. (new) Anne Diamond 9. (new) Leo Sayer 10. (9) Germaine Greer 11. (13) Jenna Jameson 12. (re) Ken Morley 13. (10) Dirk Benedict 14. (new) Cheryl Fergison 15. (new) Jess Impiazzi 16. (17) Kim Woodburn 17. (new) Jermaine Jackson 18. (new) Hardeep Singh Kohli 19. (new) India Willoughby 20. (20) Lauren Harries This is the 2nd appearance for Chris Ellison and Jenna Jameson, the 3rd appearance for Kim Woodburn, the 4th appearance for James Whale and Dirk Benedict, the 6th appearance for Amanda Barrie, the 7th appearance for Linda Nolan and Ken Morley, the 8th appearance for Germaine Greer, and the 9th appearance for Julie Goodyear, Ron Atkinson, Gary Busey, and Lauren Harries. This team had no hits in 2023. Dropped from the team are: Andrew Tate (3), Paddy Doherty (11), Danniella Westbrook (12), Farrah Abraham (14), Stephen Bear (15), Marco Pierre White Jr. (16), Angie Bowie (18), and Michael Madsen (19). Special:RandomInCategory/Living_people   My regular theme team in which I open 4000 random Wikipedia articles in the category 'Living people', and then whittle them down to the 20 who I believe are most likely to be hits this year. 4th year in the DDP. Names are presented as they are in their Wikipedia article titles, bracketed segments included; nevertheless, given the broad range of claims to fame, I've included an extra column to clarify what they're known for. 1. Artem Chekh Ukrainian soldier 2. Mohammed al-Houthi Former Houthi leader of Yemen, Supreme Political Council member 3. Syed Salahuddin Head of Hizbul Mujahideen in Kashmir 4. John Ashton (musician) Psychedelic Fur 5. John Laws Australian shock jock 6. John Farnham He's the Voice 7. Jon Blake (author) British children's author 8. Tom Brokaw American news anchor 9. Pat Buchanan American conservative figurehead 10. Charles Kay British actor (Amadeus, Fortunes of War) 11. 22Gz Brooklyn drill rapper 12. Sergio Brown American footballer/alleged murderer 13. Anne Dickson Unionist Party of Northern Ireland leader 1976-81 14. Claire Palley First female law professor in Britain, principal of St. Anne's College 1984-91 15. Gary Burton American jazz vibraphonist 16. Brian St. Clair American drummer (Triple Fast Action, Local H) 17. Vera Sharav Israel-based antivaxxer 18. Vardis Vardinogiannis Greek billionaire 19. Viktor Rashnikov Russian billionaire 20. Bedros Kirkorov Russian singer/Russian singer's dad This team had one hit in 2023: Mike Nussbaum (17). Another, Melker Schörling, died without a valid obit. Given the nature of the team, all 18 survivors have been dropped for this year.