Joe McFadden & Katya Jones with Strictly Come Dancing 2017

Joe McFadden & Katya Jones with Strictly Come Dancing 2017

Courtesy https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/dec/17/strictly-winners-2017-joe-mcfadden-katya-jones

Strictly crowns Joe McFadden and Katya Jones in a sea of schmaltz

It was a sparkling sugar-rush of nerves for the BBC Strictly Come Dancing final, a culmination of the winning formula of fake tan, sequins and a little controversy

As the Strictly Come Dancing final unfolded, amid all the glitz, camaraderie and spangles, a mutinous thought formed in the showbiz ether – had this series missed the Ed-factor?

Well, perhaps a bit. Few could forget the former shadow Labour chancellor Ed Ball’s appearance in the last series, including his now infamous Bafta-nominated Gangnam Style routine, where he danced as though demonstrating the tragic effects of lifelong undiagnosed rickets.

However, as the 2017 final got going, it soon became clear that even mentioning Balls was just “So 2016!” The night belonged to the finalists, singer Alexandra Burke and her partner, Gorka Marquez; former magician’s assistant and widow of Paul Daniels, Debbie McGee and Giovanni Pernice; former Holby City actor, Joe McFadden and Katya Jones; and Hollyoaks actor, Gemma Atkinson and Aljaz Skorjanec.

They all faced the de-fanged near-powerless judges (only viewers’ votes count in the final) Craig Revel Horwood, Darcy Bussell, Bruno Tonioi, and new head judge for 2017, Shirley Ballas, who were all lined up on their panel like the cast of a failed Grimm’s fairy tale. Then there were the presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman – it continues to be remarkable how, since the departure of the late Sir Bruce Forsyth, these mere women have managed to host this primetime show, and in such an expert entertaining way. It could only speak of witchcraft.

All the contestants showed what they could do with their three final dances of the series, proving from the off that, with grace, style, athleticism, Strictly has become the equivalent of the showbiz Olympics. Sure, Strictly’s television dominance this year had been helped by The X Factor committing what amounted to weekly ratings hari-kari over on ITV. (I’m not saying that The X Factor’s viewing figures are low, but a strong rumour went around that, one week, a suburban man putting the bins out too early got more people watching). However, Strictly also proved yet again that it understood its own winning formula – drown the contestants in a vat of fake tan and what a cynic might term even faker bonhomie, and let the controversy and sequins fly.

This year, the major controversy came in the reactivation of what is sadly becoming the annual Strictly race row – in that, despite two past non-white winners, including last year’s Ore Oduba, non-white contestants generally tend to vanish with disquieting swiftness, and seemingly due to the viewers’ votes. This year, Chizzy Akudolu had gone out first, while Aston Merrygold, and Davood Ghademi, had gone out shockingly early, and Burke ended up in the bottom two dance couples, despite coming at the top of the leaderboard after the judges had given their marks.

At which point, one could raise a facetious eyebrow and muse, gosh, what could it all mean? However, is it fair to also factor in how predominantly white most weekend primetime television is? In short, could the race be less of a Strictly-problem than it is a general British light-entertainment issue?

Highlights included Joe and Katya performing their tin soldier– themed Charleston as though determined to out-do last week’s Tango in which Katya had lifted Joe’s entire body in a human wheelbarrow move usually seen at school sports days during particularly eventful dads’ races. There was also Gemma and Aljaz moving through their show-dance as though living inside their own sparkly romantic snow globe, and Alexander and Gorka performing a jive as though the floor had been electrified and then flooded with Prosecco. And Debbie performing moves in her Argentine Tango that reminded a younger and lesser woman such as myself that, one, I’ll never to be able to do the splits, and two, if I tried, I would saddle the already beleaguered NHS with a gynaecological emergency.

Ultimately, it was McFadden, the favourite, who triumphed, though all the finalists and the other contestants (even the ones who had gone out deservedly early, after dancing like a communal “walk of shame”) were quick to say that they all felt like winners. At this point, the Strictly final descended into what could only be described as a sugar-rush of schmaltz combined with a brawl on the entertainment deck of a cruise ship. So, basically Strictly business as usual, and why not? It’s what the people want.

Mannix star Mike Connors dead at 91

Mannix star Mike Connors dead at 91

The actor played the famous square-jawed detective in the 1970s hit show, known for driving high speed cars and not taking advice.

Courtesy of http://news.sky.com/story/mannix-star-mike-connors-dead-at-91-10744277

Mike Connors, known for his role as a hard-hitting private eye in the long-running TV series Mannix, has died aged 91.

The actor, who was recently diagnosed with leukaemia, died on Thursday afternoon at a Los Angeles hospital.

Mannix, one of TV's pioneer shows, premiered on CBS in 1967 and ran for eight years, and won Connors a Golden Globe for his role as detective Joe Mannix.

Chasing after villains, driving high-speed cars and listening to no-one but himself, Connors said Mannix stood out for getting "emotionally involved" in his cases.

"Up until Mannix, most private investigators were hard-nosed, cynical guys who lived in a seedy area and had no emotions," Connors told CBS in 1997.

"Mannix got emotionally involved. He was not above being taken advantage of."

Viewers were intrigued by the smartly dressed, square-jawed, well-spoken Los Angeles detective who could still mix it up with thugs.

Leaping from car hoods and getting his hands dirty, Mannix usually finished off the episode with a brawl.

Apart from the hit show, Connors also starred in the short-lived TV shows Tightrope and Today's FBI.

His movie roles included Sudden Fear with Joan Crawford, Island in the Sky, 'The Ten Commandments, and a remake of the 1939 classic John Ford western Stagecoach.

The actor was born Krekor Ohanian in 1925 from an Armenian family.

He served in the Air Force during World War II and played basketball at the University of California.

Recently, he appeared in several TV shows like Two And A Half Men, Murder, She Wrote and Walker, The Texas Ranger.

He also starred in CBS' documentary series Pioneers Of Television.

Stars have shared their condolences on social media, with Daredevil actor Vincent D'Onofrio writing: "Loved Mannix. Great actor Mike Connors. Watched every episode."

And Ash Vs Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell thanking Connors "for guiding me through the formative years".

"Well played," he added.

Connors is survived by his wife Mary Lou, daughter Dena, and granddaughter Cooper.

THE 30 HARSHEST ACTOR ON ACTOR INSULTS!

The 30 Harshest Actor-on-Actor Insults in History

Courtesy Jason Bailey http://flavorwire.com/466677/the-30-harshest-actor-on-actor-insults-in-history/view-all

 

In the current ultra-managed, publicist-controlled, sound-byte-driven media atmosphere, you don’t get to hear stars really speaking their minds anymore — at least, not about anything fun, like how they really feel about their fellow stars. But occasionally a little something sneaks through the PR wall, both now and back in Hollywood’s golden age, sometimes as whispers, sometimes as gossip, sometimes long after the fact. And thus, we present another, long-overdue installment of our ongoing series (following authors, filmmakers, and musicians) of really famous people really cutting each other down.

 

1. Bette Davis on Joan Crawford: “Joan Crawford — I wouldn’t sit on her toilet!”
“I wouldn’t piss on Joan Crawford if she were on fire.”
“Joan Crawford — Hollywood’s first case of syphilis.”
“She has slept with every male star at MGM except Lassie.”
“Why am I so good at playing bitches? I think it’s because I’m not a bitch. Maybe that’s why Miss Crawford always plays ladies.”
“You should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good… Joan Crawford is dead. Good.”2. Joan Crawford on Bette Davis:
“Bette will play anything, so long as she thinks someone is watching. I’m a little more selective than that.”
“She may have more Oscars… she’s also made herself into something of a joke.”
“Miss Davis was always partial to covering up her face in motion pictures. She called it ‘art.’ Others might call it camouflage — a cover-up for the absence of any real beauty.”
“I don’t hate Bette Davis, even though the press wants me to. I resent her — I don’t see how she built a career out of mannerisms instead of real acting ability. She’s a phony, but I guess the public likes that.”
3. Vivien Leigh on Bette Davis (after turning down Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte:
“I could almost stand to look at Joan Crawford’s face at 6am, but not Bette Davis.”
4. Barbara Stanwyck on Marilyn Monroe:
“Her body has gone to her head.”
5. Bette Davis on Cary Grant:“He needed willowy or boyish girls like Katharine Hepburn to make him look what they now call macho. If I’d co-starred with Grant or if Crawford had, we’d have eaten him for breakfast.”
6. Cary Grant on Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, James Dean:
“I have no rapport with the new idols of the screen, and that includes Marlon Brando and his style of Method acting. It certainly includes Montgomery Clift and that God-awful James Dean. Some producer should cast all three of them in the same movie and let them duke it out. When they’ve finished each other off, James Stewart, Spencer Tracy and I will return and start making real movies again like we used to.”
7. Richard Burton on Marlon Brando:“Marlon has yet to learn to speak. He should have been born two generations before and acted in silent films.”
8. Marlon Brando on James Dean:“Mr. Dean appears to be wearing my last year’s wardrobe and using my last year’s talent.”
9. Richard Harris on Michael Caine:“An over-fat, flatulent, 62-year-old windbag. A master of inconsequence masquerading as a guru, passing off his vast limitations as pious virtues.”
10. Rex Harrison on Charlton Heston:
“Charlton Heston is good at playing arrogance and ambition. But in the same way that a dwarf is good at being short.”
11. Harrison Ford on Shia LaBeouf:
“I think he was a fucking idiot.”
12. Dean Martin on James Stewart:“There’s a statue of Jimmy Stewart in the Hollywood Wax Museum, and the statue talks better than he does.”
13. Sir John Gielgud on Ingrid Bergman:
“Dear Ingrid — speaks five languages and can’t act in any of them.”
14. Frank Sinatra on Shelly Winters:
“A bowlegged bitch of a Brooklyn blonde.”
15. Shelly Winters on Frank Sinatra:
“A skinny, no-talent, stupid Hoboken bastard.”

16. Ava Gardner on Mia Farrow and Frank Sinatra:
“I always knew Frank would end up in bed with a boy.”
17. Traci Lords on Johnny Depp:“He’s the kind of guy that would be really sweet to a girl and bring her flowers, but still take a pee in the alley.”
18. Bill Murray to Chevy Chase:
“Medium talent!”
19. Julia Roberts on Nick Nolte:
“A disgusting human being.”
20. Nick Nolte on Julia Roberts:
“It’s not nice to call someone ‘disgusting’. But she’s not a nice person. Everyone knows that.”

21. Sharon Stone on Gwyneth Paltrow:
“[She’s] very young and lives in rarefied air that’s a little thin. It’s like she’s not getting quite enough oxygen.”
22. Katherine Hepburn on Sharon Stone:“It’s a new low for actresses when you have to wonder what’s between her ears instead of her legs.”
23. Susan Sarandon on Mel Gibson:“Mel Gibson is somewhere to the right of Attila the Hun. He’s beautiful, but only on the outside.”
24. Walter Matthau to Barbara Streisand:“I have more talent in my smallest fart than you have in your entire body.”
25. Elliot Gould on Jerry Lewis:“This arrogant, sour, ceremonial, piously chauvinistic egomaniac.”


26. Graham Chapman on John Travolta:
“How difficult can it be to fly an airplane? I mean, John Travolta learned how.”
27. W.C. Fields on Mae West:
“A plumber’s idea of Cleopatra.”
28. W.C. Fields on Charlie Chaplin:
“He’s a goddamned ballet dancer.”
29. Robert Downey Jr. on Hugh Grant:“A self-important, boring, flash-in-the-pan Brit.”
30. John Wayne on Clark Gable:“Gable’s an idiot. You know why he’s an actor? It’s the only thing he’s smart enough to do.”