Spade_Cooley

I'm assuming my three unique picks for the year will be Kris Travis, Catherine Wybourne and Sadhana Shivdasani, unless anyone else can confirm picking them?

Clare Hollingworth was actually on the winning team last year...

The "Deborah" Jarvis Cocker wrote "Disco 2000" about, dead at 51. She received an MBE for her services to mental health just hours before her death.

As the Crowe flies

Bill Maynard for a night of good hard fucking that I'd cherish forever.

Santiago was one of those picks who went from "100% guaranteed definite" for me when I first read about her to "not a chance" when I started investigating. Between the toss-up nature of the obit (do ICC judges automatically obit?) through to her seeming ability to keep on doing things at full-speed in her career, I went long. Gonna throw a few more names out: Debi Gibson: Model and TV extra, played the young Big Mo Slater in one of those "experimental" Eastenders specials from a few years back. Claims to have terminal eye cancer that'd kill her in weeks but that was back in April. Gets plenty of media coverage despite not being remotely famous though, could be a miss. Guido Westerwelle: German right-wing funster and homosexual. Leukaemia but from what Google translate tells me caught relatively early. Not seen much in public since diagnosis though. Alan Ainscow: One football forum said he had prostate cancer, another said terminal bone cancer. Had a punt on it being the former. Dr Beverley Hall: Woman at the centre of the Atlanta school exam scandal a few years back when inner-city schools were found to be faking exam scores. Probably not notable enough for an obituary though, unless via nefarious Yahoo video means. Bobby Bragg: The guy who did the commentaries on Supermarket Sweep. The final drop from my team but I'm pretty sure he's gone this year.

Dr Nakamats was one of my final dropped picks: from what I understand he's a bit "eccentric", and had previously claimed he was going to live to 144. The pessimist in me thought that perhaps he was overstating the severity of his cancer so he'd look more impressive if he made the year out. If he's still with us in 2016, I'm picking him next year. Jock Scott is a great pick tbh, guaranteed to go and how the fuck does a Scottish punk poet get to knock up Anna Chancellor?

Yeah, Lauren Hill (the basketball player, not the tax-dodging Fugee) is definitely a punt but I'm 95% the Mail will give her the obituary. My main worry is that she would have gone late last night and not be reported until 2015, because I'm pretty sure she's not seeing January 20th. Bob Benmosche is one I'm surprised didn't get mentioned on the forums because he seems a lock and is a guaranteed obituary. Frank van den Bleeken is another big point hopeful if he gets someone to kill him (a fun take on the usual "Right to die" campaigner: he's been granted euthanasia as he says he cannot be cured of his paedophilia), and Kris Travis is a 50/50 to go this year but the Daily Star (of all places) have been covering his stomach cancer battle and he was getting very pessimistic about his chancer of survival over Christmas. I left off a lot of probable popular picks like Clive James, Caroline Aherne and War Criminal Bloke with the Vs in his name because I'm not sure they're actually on the way out.

David Quantick's Showbiz Pals 2K15: Joker (Pick 1): Hill, Lauren Pick 2: Benmosche, Bob Pick 3: Bloomfield, Colin Pick 4: Boggs, Grace Lee Pick 5: Crowe, Martin Pick 6: Dickens, Little Jimmy Pick 7: Dignam, Christy Pick 8: Givens, Ahmad Pick 9: Granger, Kate Pick 10: Kara, Ritchii Pick 11: Kwouk, Burt Pick 12: Scott, Jock Pick 13: Scott, Stuart Pick 14: Shivdasani, Sadhana Pick 15: Simon, Sam Pick 16: Sledge, Percy Pick 17: Travis, Kris Pick 18: van den Bleeken, Frank Pick 19: Wybourne, Catherine Pick 20: Zorreguieta, Jorge

Thanks man. Aided a little by the low-hanging fruit of the year remaining hanging, a little by people not getting Yosra El-Essawy on their radars, it was a less impressive performance than last year but a win's a win. Next year will be a much tougher run for all.

Cracking this open to celebrate my victory. Stoked for 2015.

Good to see Bill Maynard in the Clive Dunn spot, will be giving that a Selwyn Froggitt thumbs-up if he passes by December 31st.

We will all go together when he goes.

Updated for the 2014 alumni: 2010 (8/20) Sanjaagiin Bayar Doyle F. Brunson Bobby Heenan Dawood Ibrahim Peter Macbeth Kauro Matsumoto Seaneen Molloy Salvatore Riina 2011 (7/20) Harlan Ellison Aretha Franklin Zsa Zsa Gabor "Superstar" Billy Graham Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Rajo Devi Lohan Eric "Lord Littlebrook" Tovey 2012 (3/20) Val Armstrong Andrew Walker Chris Woodhead 2013 (2/20) Ryan Buell Alice Munro 2014 (8/20) Bobby Eaton Rev Billy Graham Valerie Harper Clare Hollingworth Wilko Johnson Ritchii Kara Lynne Stewart Mel Stottlemyre

Always thought Lehrer would be a good DL pick tbh.

2015 team submitted, here begins the failed attempt at a threepeat.

Glen Campbell has Alzheimer's.

I think I speak on behalf of the whole DeathList here when I say "omelette du fromage"

What a valid contribution.

That's the kind of DDP contribution I value.

Nah, as said above he's posting regularly on his Facebook and is even considering a drag comeback. I'd make him 50/50 for 2015 tbh, although I have no idea how the final months for a CJD sufferer go tbh.

Still not 100% convinced he's an obit certainty. He was in the first incarnation of Marilyn Manson, pre-"Antichrist Superstar". Not a major band at that point. Could he just be the shock metal Fergie Frederiksen?

Simon will fall into the problem of every half-decent team in 2015 having him as a player though, making his value to your side roughly zero.

Fascinating, thanks for contributing.