Celebrity Death Pool 2024
Piglet
All Saints Host, Circus Host
in The Circus
Welcome to the 2024 Celebrity Death Pool.
The rules are simple. You must pick up to 13 well-known people who you think will shuffle off this mortal coil in 2024. That is, starting from 00.01 GMT on 1st January 2024 and ending at 23.59 GMT on 31st December 2024.
The definition of "well-known" is that their deaths will be reported by at least one major news outlet. This would include (but is not limited to) The BBC, CNN, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Church Times, The Tablet etc. You get the idea
All selections must be real natural born people. No fictional characters, abstract entities or "corporate persons" will be accepted.
Points are awarded according to the following formula: 100 minus the celebrity's age at the time of death. For example, if the person you choose dies at the age of 67 you will earn 33 points. Should you pick someone who is 100 years old when they die you will receive no points; should your person be over 100 you will lose points.
You cannot choose anyone under the age of 18.
You are disqualified if you contribute in any way to the death of one of your chosen candidates.
All entries must be submitted on this thread no later than 23.59 GMT on 31st December 2023. No entries will be accepted after this time. No exceptions. You may make changes to your list up until this time but only if someone pops their clogs before the beginning of the year or if you've put someone in twice. Surprisingly this has happened in the past
There are also some bonus awards:
Inside Track with the Grim Reaper Award: given for picking the first death of 2024
Quantity Not Quality Award: given for picking the most people who croak in 2024, regardless of their points value.
Sudden Death: given for picking the last death of 2023
This is only a game. The Ship, its management and their associated lackeys do not necessarily endorse the death any human being. This is not in any way a "wish list". Reviewing past years will show that truly evil and nasty dictators seem to have a habit of lingering while those figures we truly respect and admire often don't. The Circus is a place for games, not discussion of the rights or wrongs of those games. If you want to discuss the ethics of this one there are other places you can do that. If you find the game distasteful, that’s fine - you’re under no obligation to take part.
There are no prizes other than the warm fuzzy feeling you get for being a winner.
Good luck to all players and bad luck to your nominees
The rules are simple. You must pick up to 13 well-known people who you think will shuffle off this mortal coil in 2024. That is, starting from 00.01 GMT on 1st January 2024 and ending at 23.59 GMT on 31st December 2024.
The definition of "well-known" is that their deaths will be reported by at least one major news outlet. This would include (but is not limited to) The BBC, CNN, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Church Times, The Tablet etc. You get the idea
All selections must be real natural born people. No fictional characters, abstract entities or "corporate persons" will be accepted.
Points are awarded according to the following formula: 100 minus the celebrity's age at the time of death. For example, if the person you choose dies at the age of 67 you will earn 33 points. Should you pick someone who is 100 years old when they die you will receive no points; should your person be over 100 you will lose points.
You cannot choose anyone under the age of 18.
You are disqualified if you contribute in any way to the death of one of your chosen candidates.
All entries must be submitted on this thread no later than 23.59 GMT on 31st December 2023. No entries will be accepted after this time. No exceptions. You may make changes to your list up until this time but only if someone pops their clogs before the beginning of the year or if you've put someone in twice. Surprisingly this has happened in the past
There are also some bonus awards:
Inside Track with the Grim Reaper Award: given for picking the first death of 2024
Quantity Not Quality Award: given for picking the most people who croak in 2024, regardless of their points value.
Sudden Death: given for picking the last death of 2023
This is only a game. The Ship, its management and their associated lackeys do not necessarily endorse the death any human being. This is not in any way a "wish list". Reviewing past years will show that truly evil and nasty dictators seem to have a habit of lingering while those figures we truly respect and admire often don't. The Circus is a place for games, not discussion of the rights or wrongs of those games. If you want to discuss the ethics of this one there are other places you can do that. If you find the game distasteful, that’s fine - you’re under no obligation to take part.
There are no prizes other than the warm fuzzy feeling you get for being a winner.
Good luck to all players and bad luck to your nominees
Comments
His Holiness Pope Francis
His Holiness the Dalai Lama
His Majesty King Charles III
Donald Trump
Joe Biden
Sir Cliff Richard
Dame Judi Dench
Michael J Fox
Sir Mick Jagger
Ozzy Osbourne
Michael Schumacher
Yoko Ono
Johnnie Irwin
Reserve: Vladimir Putin (managed to forget about him ... )
1 Pope Francis
2 Jilly Cooper
3 Rupert Murdoch
4 Michael J Fox
5 David Blunkett
6 Vladimir Putin
7 Donald Trump
8 Recep Tayyip Erdogan
9 Miriam Margolyes
10 Bob Dylan
11 Tom Baker
12 Michael Schumacher
13 Tony Blackburn
Reserve: Boris Johnson
2. Trump
3. Biden
4. Jonnie Irwin
5. Princess Michael of Kent
6. King Harald of Norway
7. Dick van Dyke
8. Mel Brooks
9. Stephen King
10. Jimmy Carter
11. Dennis Skinner
12. Bill Cash
13. The Pope
But, in any event, as usual my list is of baseball players with the year of birth following the name. Listed oldest to youngest:
1. Whitey Herzog (1931)
2. Willie Mays (1931)
3. Luis Aparicio (1934)
4. Bub Uecker (1934)
5. Sandy Koufax (1935)
6. Bill Mazeroski (1936)
7. Jim Kaat (1938)
8. Steve Carlton (1944)
9. Rod Carew (1945)
10. Reggie Jackson (1946)
11. Nolan Ryan (1947)
12. Mike Schmidt (1949)
13. Cal Ripken, Jr. (1960)
In the event one of those departs the stage prior to the end of...ummm...tomorrow, then my replacement name will be Minnie Mendoza (1933).
Sir Garfield (Gary) Sobers
Nigel Farage
Ann Widdecombe
Vladimir Putin
Boris Johnson
Graeme Garden
Joe Brown
Adam Hart-Davis
Don McCullin
David Bailey
Priti Patel
Raman Subba Row
Harvey Weinstein
1. Pope Francis (1936)
2. David Hockney (1937)
3. Esther Rantzen (1940)
4. Bob Dylan (1941)
5. Alex Ferguson (1941)
6. Lech Walesa (1943)
7. Jose Carreras (1946)
8. Donald Trump (1946)
9. Ozzy Osbourne (1948)
10. Michael Fabricant (1950)
11. Phil Collins (1951)
12. Stephen Fry (1957)
13. Paul Whitehouse (1958)
1. Princess Alexandra
2. King Charles III
3. Patricia Greene (hoping this is the kiss of life )
4. Engelbert Humperdinck
5. Elton John
6. Ghislaine Maxwell
7. Liza Minelli
8. Elon Musk
9. Katie Price
10. Vladimir Putin
11. Donald Trump
12. Harvey Weinstein
13. Bruce Willis
2. José Carreras
3. Placido Domingo
4. Chris McDougall
5. Prince Andrew
6. Princess Anne
7. King Charles III
8. Ismail Haniyeh
9. Benjamin Netanyahu
10. Vladimir Putin
11. Donald Trump
12. Alexander Lukashenko
13. Joe Biden
1. Shane McGowan
2. Pope Emeritus Benedict
3. Boris Johnson
4. Paul Gascoigne
5. Adam Hart-Davies
6. Michael Schumacher
7. Michael Crawford
8. Mike Oldfield
9. Billy Connolly
10. Donny Osmond
11. Dick Van Dyke
12. Boy George
13. Donald Trump
14. Suella Braverman
I'm afraid your first two choices have already died.
1. Charlie Sheen
2. Julie Andrews
3. Daniel Radcliffe
4. Michael J Fox
5. Frankie Muniz
6. Elton John
7. Ben Affleck
8. Nick Cannon
9. Morgan Freeman
10. June Lockhart
11. Jimmy Carter
12. Donald Trump
13. Vladimir Putin
Spare just in case:
Tionne Watkins
2. Russell Brand
3. Prunella Scales
4. Yoko Ono
5. Elton John
6. Paul McCartney
7. Princess Michael of Kent
8. Jilly Cooper
9. Bill Bryson
10. Keith Richards
11. Maggie Smith
12. Tom Jones
13. Bryan Johnson
1. James Cleverly
2. Suella Braverman
3. Grant Shapps
4. Priti Patel
5. Sajid Javid
6. Amber Rudd
7. Theresa May
8. Alan Johnson (MP for Hull West 1997 to 2017)
9. Jacqui Smith (first female Home Secretary)
10. Boris Johnson
11. Rishi Sunak
12. Vladimir Putin
13. Benjamin Netanyahu
Edit to add a spare just in case - Donald Trump
2. Ozzy Osbourne
3. Jimmy Carter
4. Garry Sobers
5. Esther Rantzen
6. Billy Connelly
7. Dick Van Dyke
8. Prunella Scales
9. Jo Biden
10. Keith Richards
11. Prince Michael of Kent
12. Timothy West
Thanks. Amendment made
1. Michael J Fox
2. Ozzy Osbourne
3. Jimmy Carter
4. Garry Sobers
5. Esther Rantzen
6. Billy Connelly
7. Dick Van Dyke
8. Prunella Scales
9. Jo Biden
10. Keith Richards
11. Prince Michael of Kent
12. Timothy West
13. Dennis Skinner
1. Rudi Giuliani
2. Clarence Thomas
3. Ginni Thomas
4. donald trump
5. Mitch McConnell
6. Benjamin Netanyahu
7. Alexei Navalny
8. Jimmy Carter
9. Bill Clinton
10. Mahmoud Abbas
11. Salman Rushdie
12. Alex Jones
13. Bernie Sanders
124 individuals have been tipped the black spot.
95 of these are, as it were, hapax legomenon.
Shout out to Hedgehog with their baseball strategy resulting in nobody else having any of their names on any of the other lists.
Most of us (9) have picked The Donald - liberal bias anyone? - His friend Vlad came second on top picks with 7.
Oldest person on the lists Jimmy Carter at 99
Youngest person on the lists Daniel Radcliffe (how dare you, Jedijudi) at 34.
If all 124 people were to die today, Celtic Knotwood would win with 535 points. Telford would lose with only 202 points. Average points available is 325.
Good luck everyone - especially our nominees.
I did change it and then managed to copy the old version. Doh.
1. Peter Kaye
2. Priti Patel
3. Boris Johnson
4. Paul Gascoigne
5. Adam Hart-Davies
6. Michael Schumacher
7. Michael Crawford
8. Mike Oldfield
9. Billy Connolly
10. Donny Osmond
11. Dick Van Dyke
12. Boy George
13. Donald Trump
14. Suella Braverman
@TheOrganist and @The Rogue - and anyone else who'd like to - please join us!
All my suggestions from 2023 are still with us so I’ll repeat the list:
1 Collins, Phil
2 Douglas, Michael
3 Fox, Michael J
4 Holder, Noddy
5 Manilow, Barry
6 Mitchell, Joni
7 Nolan, Linda
8 Rea, Chris
9 Ronstadt, Linda
10 Sheen, Charlie
11 Taylor, Andy (Duran Duran)
12 Thomsett, Sally
13 Wood, Ronnie
@Schroedingers Cat 4 names here - you need to choose which one to loose.
Birth years are all gathered from Wikipedia. If they're wrong it's Wiki's fault.
Church
The Rt Revd Thomas McMahon
Lord (Richard) Harries of Pentregarth
Politics
Jimmy Carter
Michael Heseltine
Edith Cresson
Royalty
HRH The Duke of Kent
Sport
Bill Beaumont
Rob Burrow
Entertainment
Mel Brooks
Petula Clark
Mick Jagger
Michael Aspel
Miscellaneous
Thomas Markle Sr
1. Cheech Marin
2. Tommy Chong
3. Christopher Walken
4. Jane Seymour
5. Tommy Lee Jones
6. Candice Bergen
7. Dyan Cannon
8. Danny Trejo
9. Clint Eastwood
10. Willie Nelson
11. Donald Sutherland
12. Ann-Margret
13. Shirley MacLaine
I would be happy for all my nominees to survive and I would be thrilled to actually see them all alive at the end of the year
Lose Priti Patel. Sorry, my editing ability is being seriously compromised due to old age.
la vie en rouge, Circus host
Vladimir Putin
Billy Connolly
Rick Kemp
Cliff Richard
Shirley Bassey
Kim Jon Un
Tom Jones
Rod Stewart
Michael Schumacher
Jeremy Clarkson
Debbie Harry
Elton John
As far as I know, I only got two last year. So, this is my new list, mainly but not entirely carried over,
1. Paul Gascoine (Gazza).
2. Ronnie Wood (a Stone).
3. Paul Gambaccini (Presenter).
4. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.
5. Douglas Hurd (Lord Westwell).
6. Joseph (Sepp) Blatter. (former President of FIFA and under a cloud)
7. Bashar Hafez al-Assad, (former west London doctor and now President of Syria).
8. Alan Bennett (National Treasure).
9. Dennis Skinner (Beast of Bolsover rtd).
10. Dame Esther Rantzen.
11. Sir Frederick Hugh Barclay, the surviving Barclay Brother.
12. Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. US President.
13. Donald John Trump, former US President.
Reserve. Dame Julie Andrews.
1. Kausea Natano of Tuvalu.
2. Gaston Brown of Antigua and Barbuda
3. Andrew Holness of Jamaica
4. Manasseh Sogavare of Solomon Islands
5. James Marape of Papua New Guinea
6. Anthony Albanese of Australia
7. Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines
8. Terrence Drew of St Kitts & Nevis
9. Johnny Briceno of Belize
10. Christopher Luxon of New Zealand
11. Philip Davis of the Bahamas
12. Justin Trudeau of Canada
13. Philip Pierre of St Lucia
And (no comparison intended) David Soul ("Hutch" of "Starsky & Hutch") has died, age 80.
RIP Mr Soul.
1. Donald Trump
2. Dame Maggie Smith
3. Prunella Scales
4. His Holiness Pope Francis
5. Michael Schumacher
6. Alexei Navalny
7. Yahya Sinwar
8. Joe Biden
9. Lady Susan Hussey
10. Seiji Ozawa
11. Ken Clarke
12. Rt Rev Richard Holloway
13. Jackie Stewart
As promised, we've given an extra week for entries in the Death Pool; as of midnight tonight GMT, 8th January, no more lists will be accepted.
Good luck, everyone!
Piglet, Circus host
Very sad.
For those on the other side of the pond who may be unfamiliar JPR Williams was a legendary Welsh rugby player of the 1970s, widely considered one of the greatest full-backs of all time.
RIP Jonnie Irwin. 😢
It's been a tough couple of weeks for Welsh rugby - RIP.
Tree Bee has Barry Manilow - but that's the closest I could see.