Ra Ra Rasputin

In a bid to amass points by tempting fate, I'd be tempted to drop Zsa Zsa (who is my joker) as she is looking increasingly immortal.

Rumours going round Australian strains of Twitterverse (yes...I know...) that Helen Reddy has been diagnosed with dementia and in care.

Looking at recent pictures of Helen Shapiro, she looks in fine fettle to say the least and younger than she actually is. Her evangelistic gospel outreaches are booked until the end of the year so I doubt she's going anywhere for now.

*waves back* :-) Just checking, but nothing new on this case in the Australian media. Whichever way it goes, unlike some of the older and/or frailer cast members of "Prisoner" Maggie Kirkpatrick appears to be in good nick (pun intended).

Bloody hell that is a shock! Indeed it is. With Lynn Anderson and now Cilla both being gone, I have to fear for other singers from my childhood. Anyway, according to various sources Cilla died of "natural causes"...whatever that's meant to mean.

I really really hope you are not suggesting that being a "strong supporter of gay rights" is a euphemism for being a paedophile/child molester. Anyway, it stands to reason that former "Prisoner" stars might appear at Mardi Gras' considering it was very popular amongst gays and lesbians. To me there's something which appears to be a bit off about this story; life imitating art (in, perhaps, its loosest sense of the word), albeit allegedly. A bit like when Joan Collins got divorced back in the height of her "Dynasty" fame and the press expected her to be all Alexis-like confusing fiction with fact. The Freak = nasty character therefore the actress playing her is easier game than, say, the actress who played Saint Meg. Saying all this though, I was wrong about Rolf Harris, so I'd take no notice of me.

Guys are you really sure that this isn't an archived post?The link you gave brought me to a post with a timestamp from 2010 and a comment that was 5 years old. So isn't this the same leukaemia ordeal that he already survived? Could be, they fool me on rare occasions but I definitely look for a current date. Never heard of him/them so if he's survived an ordeal it's safe to say you're correct. SC Behemoth are touring Australia in October \m/ so it's very very likely this story was from an archive.

Eino Baskin died this year. Does this sound like slavic to anybody? Estonians have nothing except the fact Soviet Union ruined our lives in common with other slavic people. Oooh, I know her from Eurovision 2000 and "Once In A Lifetime". :hatsoff:Anyway, back to the Slavic question; let us also not forget that the Estonians do not tend to vote for the Slavic countries at Eurovision (Russia being an exception and I suspect that has to do with border hopping/ethnic Russians) which empirically and categorically clears that little matter up once and for all.

Posted 45 mins ago over on the Old Folkies thread. Sorry boss. Next time type out her name so a search will pick it up. The search facility at the top of the page does pick up Joni's name even under a link (which is where I'll assume it picks the name up from).

Taken from us too soon... The only 118-118 thing I could come up with was something to do with it being the number for the UK's most expensive directory enquiries provider, but I fail to see the funny side.

Posted 45 mins ago over on the Old Folkies thread.

Australia's actually an associate member as it's outside of the European Broadcasting Area.

Hasn't the Eurovision Song Contest become a parody of itself these days? A parody of itself? Maybe that's a bit too strong. But nowadays, the winners would rarely embark on a huge international career in the music industry, like ABBA had done in the heyday of the contest. Electro Velvet might get some points for its novelty value (strange genre: electric swing) and Bianca has an interesting background story with her cystic fibrosis, but I doubt that these will be enough for a podium. On a positive note, they can't do much worse than Jemini... The Common Linnets haven't been doing too poorly at all after coming 2nd last year; platinum album in NL and Austria, gold in Germany, very respectable chart placings for the album and single in various parts of the globe. Re: Jemini - yes, being ignored by 25 countries is bad enough, Electro Velvet being ignored by 26 countries this year is still a real possibility.

Well I see it has already received some rave reviews in the British press. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/eurovision/11457228/Eurovision-2015-Electro-Velvet-will-ensure-we-dont-win.html But staying on topic, it's worth noting that the female part of the duo, Bianca (26) is living with cystic fibrosis, an incurable, hereditary disease that reduces lifespans by 20+ years with large variance. Some people with the condition may die in their twenties (albeit this is now rare), so she could make a weak but potentially lucrative DDP candidate (low likelihood of dying, but many points if she dies). On a related note, the Finnish contestants are middle aged punk rockers "with learning disabilities". One of them looks as if he had a hereditary genetic defect. Of course, even IF... an obit in the UK would be in doubt. http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/feb/27/finnish-punk-band-take-punt-eurovision-title Is there any Deathlist potential behind the sudden withdrawal of the winner of the German preliminary competition? I was wondering about that, poor lad going from Voice of Germany 2013 to Ideas and Possibilities for 2016. Immortality of sorts.. I had to think about him (in our context) as well. He is a bit of a weirdo compared to the clichés that usually win casting shows. He likes to cancel concerts if he feels his artistry compromised. There are rumours that he molested a female fan during a concert. He just canceled some other concerts but my interest in him is already waning. Apparently, he's been silent on social media for a couple of days, so maybe he's having a bit of a breakdown at the moment, but he does not have any fatal illness as far as we know. Since the last post Andreas Kümmert has posted to Facebook basically giving a vague reason for dropping out of Eurovision as being he didn't know what he would achieve by participating. Mental health probably should be questioned though cynically I wonder whether it's simply a stunt to improve his public profile. Anyway, he has a very nasty beard so I'm quite pleased he's not representing Germany. The less beards the better (unless they're neat and tidy a la Conchita Wurst). Incidentally, is the UK entry for 2015 relevant to this thread seeing as it will die a painful death? Without thinking about it I can recall two worse entries and that doesn't even include Jemini. I think the quality of the song has very little to do with the UK's poor performance. Do tell!

Well I see it has already received some rave reviews in the British press. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/eurovision/11457228/Eurovision-2015-Electro-Velvet-will-ensure-we-dont-win.html But staying on topic, it's worth noting that the female part of the duo, Bianca (26) is living with cystic fibrosis, an incurable, hereditary disease that reduces lifespans by 20+ years with large variance. Some people with the condition may die in their twenties (albeit this is now rare), so she could make a weak but potentially lucrative DDP candidate (low likelihood of dying, but many points if she dies). On a related note, the Finnish contestants are middle aged punk rockers "with learning disabilities". One of them looks as if he had a hereditary genetic defect. Of course, even IF... an obit in the UK would be in doubt. http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/feb/27/finnish-punk-band-take-punt-eurovision-title Is there any Deathlist potential behind the sudden withdrawal of the winner of the German preliminary competition? I was wondering about that, poor lad going from Voice of Germany 2013 to Ideas and Possibilities for 2016. Immortality of sorts.. I had to think about him (in our context) as well. He is a bit of a weirdo compared to the clichés that usually win casting shows. He likes to cancel concerts if he feels his artistry compromised. There are rumours that he molested a female fan during a concert. He just canceled some other concerts but my interest in him is already waning. Apparently, he's been silent on social media for a couple of days, so maybe he's having a bit of a breakdown at the moment, but he does not have any fatal illness as far as we know. Since the last post Andreas Kümmert has posted to Facebook basically giving a vague reason for dropping out of Eurovision as being he didn't know what he would achieve by participating. Mental health probably should be questioned though cynically I wonder whether it's simply a stunt to improve his public profile. Anyway, he has a very nasty beard so I'm quite pleased he's not representing Germany. The less beards the better (unless they're neat and tidy a la Conchita Wurst). Incidentally, is the UK entry for 2015 relevant to this thread seeing as it will die a painful death?

Sorry, but 14 Top 30 hits does not make Shania Twain a one hit wonder in any sense of the expression.

Sergio Blanco Rivas of Mocedades and Sergio y Estibaliz has died aged 66. Mocedades came 2nd in 1973 (beating Cliff - grrrrr ) with "Eres Tu" and as the Sergio part of Sergio y Estibaliz came 10th in 1975 with the not quite as memorable "Tu Volveras".

The linguist and sci-fi writer Suzette Haden Elgin died on the 27th January though, as of yet, I can't find an obit other than Wikipedia. Perhaps I should conduct a search in Láadan...

Your mirror talks to you aswell !! Thank god thought I was going mad for a minute there . Wikipedia is now saying brain cancer. Either way... I'm rather sad about this. Anne Kirkbride was truly someone I can say I grew up watching. I've probably had a few of her (1970s) hairdos too. R.I.P.

Well, she's free now. R.I.P. Dierdre. Well, she's free now. R.I.P. Dierdre. Sad news. Does anyone know what she died of (yet)? The newspapers are all saying "a short illness". My guess would be cancer, but...

Your poor punctuation and grammar negates any sensible argument you may have had regarding Ched Evans. Nasty man and rapist full stop. He's as unlikely to be being used as a "distraction" for the Rotherham abuses as he is to commit suicide.

Poor timing a it also buggers up any chance of him appearing at Vienna 2015 though I'm betting €0,10 right now there will be a tribute. Incidentally, listening to Trijntje Oosterhuis and the Dutch entry for 2015 I can't see Magere Hein's lot doing as well as last year's brilliant entry - sorry. Blast, just realised I forgot Katie Boyle on my DDP.

Valerie Harper or BB King. I'd like to ask the latter whether he thinks Bono's a twat.

Anybody on my DDP list for 2015 should probably go on an 'Ideas And Possibilities For 2016' list given my number of hits for 2014...

Apols if this has already been posted (though I did do a thorough fora search and couldn't find a mention anywhere) - Renee Asherson, best known by me for "Tenko" and having been on my DDP list many moons ago - but not this year - died back in October. Obit here .