‘Strictly Come Dancing’: Who Will Win This Year’s Series? We Rank The Chances Of Finalists Joe McFadden, Debbie McGee, Alexandra Burke And Gemma Atkinson

The ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ final is almost upon us, but this weekend will see Joe McFadden, Debbie McGee, Alexandra Burke and Gemma Atkinson battle it out on the dancefloor in a bid to be crowned ‘Strictly’ champ 2017.

This Saturday’s climax will see each of the four finalists dance a judges’ pick, a showdance and their own favourite dance from the past 12 weeks.

Then it’s up to the public – and the public only (sorry judges) – to pick their favourite, with the winner being announced at the end of Saturday’s show.

So who will win? Well, we’re not Mystic Meg, but we’ve taken into account the latest bookies’ odds and the form of each of the finalists over the course of this year’s series to try and determine who stands the best chance of lifting that coveted glitterball trophy.

Joe McFadden – The Dark Horse

Odds: 1/1 Favourite

Out of all the finalists, ‘Holby City’ star Joe has had the biggest journey, which has helped him become this year’s favourite ahead of the final. He got off to a decent, but fairly unremarkable start, but as the series has progressed he’s improved week after week. This has been reflected in his scores, and along with dance partner Katya Jones, it culminated in the pair topping the leaderboard in week 11 for their 1920’s-inspired quickstep. The semi-final saw them unleash an incredible tango to Rag N Bone Man’s ‘Human’, which was arguably their best dance yet, so we’re expecting to see that crowd-pleaser again in Saturday’s grand final.

Debbie McGee – The Surprise Showstopper

Odds: 2/1

From the off, Debbie has wowed us all with her natural dance ability. The 59-year-old has shown she’s more than a match for many of the younger contestants with pretty much every routine featuring a seriously impressive array of high-kicks, splits and lifts (but let’s just forget that Spice Girls routine ever happened, ok?). However, some viewers can’t seem to get past her dance background, insisting her ballet experience gives her an unfair advantage. Quite how much that will impact her chances remains to be seen, but older viewers will not only be rooting for her, but more importantly picking up the phone to vote – so we wouldn’t rule her out of lifting the glitterball trophy. If she does, she’ll become the oldest winner ever to do so.

Alexandra Burke – The Fallen Favourite

Odds: 4/1

We couldn’t be happier that Alexandra has made it to the final after finding herself in the bottom two for the previous two weeks. None of that had anything to do with her insane dancing ability, and everything to do with the public’s perception of her. For weeks, she has been accused of being “fake”, acting like a “diva” and falling out with her dance partner Gorka Marquez by certain sections of the press, leading to the former ‘X Factor’ winner to write an open letter to a certain tabloid addressing their “lies”. At the eleventh hour, it looks like it could have paid off, with her avoiding the dreaded dance-off in semi-final week after delivering a perfect score of 40 for her in-cre-di-ble salsa routine. On dance ability alone, Alexandra deserves to win, but will people pick up the phone and vote?

Gemma Atkinson – The Rank Outsider

Odds: 9/1

Gemma failed to really wow us – or the judges – for the first few weeks of the competition, but then Blackpool happened. The ‘Emmerdale’ star admitted that was when she finally conquered her nerves, and it really showed in her American Smooth in the city’s iconic ballroom, which left head judge Shirley Ballas gushing about her performance. Her dance partner Aljaž Škorjanec is a firm favourite with viewers, which could help her in the final, but we’ll eat our feather boa if she wins. Having said that, after Trump and Brexit, we all know that when it comes to people power, literally anything is possible.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/who-will-win-this-years-strictly-come-dancing-final-joe-mcfadden-debbie-mcgee-alexandra-burke-and-gemma-atkinson_uk_5a2e9026e4b073789f6b66b4

‘Cruel Intentions: The Musical’ Is a Wicked Delight for ‘90s Lovers: REVIEW

These are tough times for sordid sex dramas — especially one involving coercion, deceit, and minors (oh, my!). Les Liaisons Dangereuses, last on Broadway in 2016, just barely gets away with it for being French, set hundreds of years ago, and featuring adults. Cruel Intentions, the 1999 movie that transfers the latter’s ruthless plot of erotic conquest to would-be Gossip Girl Manhattan, is great fun — but also vacuous and a bit perverse.

Cruel Intentions: The Musical (aptly billed as a “musical nightlife experience”), which opened downtown last night at (Le) Poisson Rouge, solves all that with a clever and often inspired score of ‘90s pop-rock favorites, whose emo lyrics have never made more sense. (If they ever made sense at all: It’s been decades since we gave up trying to decipher “Genie in a Bottle” or “Sex and Candy.”) The musical’s nostalgic score actually brings the story to new heights, supplanting some of its empty cruelty with exactly the kind of soaring, confusing emotions that color teen romance.

Pop music is practically — if not explicitly — made for lending words and major chords to teenage drama of epic proportions. Co-creators Jordan Ross and Lindsey Rosin (who also directs) assemble a spot-on score of ‘90s gems that accompanied a whole generation of sexual and romantic awakenings, from the smitten passion of Sixpence None the Richer’s “Kiss Me” and The Cardigans’ “Lovefool” to defiant anthems from Garbage and Melissa Etheridge. Some are made into duets, others serve as earnest ballads of self-expression.

Quick primer on this prep school saga: Step-siblings Kathryn (a fierce and corseted Lauren Zakrin) and Sebastian (a built, square-jawed Constantine Rousouli) have a Cersei and Jaime Lannister thing going. Their grand scheme involves Kathryn exacting revenge on her ex, Sebastian deflowering the principal’s daughter, and a wager where if Kathryn wins, she gets his Jaguar, and if Sebastian wins, he gets, well.. another kind of sweet ride involving Kathryn.

Their pawns are Sebastian’s viginal conquest Annette (Carrie St. Louis, theme song: No Doubt’s “I’m Just a Girl”) the naive-turned-nasty Cecile (Jessie Shelton), and her Black music teacher Ronald (Matthew Griffin) — who get together to the tune of Deep Blue Something’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” In an expanded gay subplot, the entrapment turned romance between hipster Blaine (Spring Awakening’s Alex Boniello) and football player Greg (Brian Muller) brilliantly unfolds to boy band hits “I Want it That Way” and “Bye, Bye, Bye.”

Not every number is a home run. TLC’s “No Scrubs” is greeted by the same nostalgic yelps as all the others, but it doesn’t land, or do much to solve the problem of Cecil’s racist mother (Patricia Richardson of Home Improvement fame). When Griffin’s Ronald reprises the song as a sort of clapback, it makes even less sense.

The screenplay by Roger Kumble (also one of the musical’s creators) remains with its most iconic lines in tact (e.g. Cecile: “He took down my pants and started writing the alphabet, but he was writing it with his tongue.). The West Village club setting, in addition to being ideal for the young ensemble’s belting talents, is a perfect homage to the movie’s ‘90s Manhattan milieu. The production premiered two years ago in L.A., where it earned seals of approval from the film’s stars Sarah-Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon and Selma Blair. After a pop-up performance here in February, fortunately for nostalgic New Yorkers, Cruel Intentions: The Musical has come home to roost.

Recent theatre features…
How to Save Civilization from Certain Disaster? Take a Cue from ‘SpongeBob’ on Broadway (Yes, Seriously): REVIEW
In Broadway Revival of ‘Once on This Island,’ a Modern Fable, Beautifully Told: REVIEW
Uma Thurman Opens in ‘The Parisian Woman,’ a Fiction That’s No Match for Reality: REVIEW
Amy Schumer Rains Down Laughs in Steve Martin’s Curious ‘Meteor Shower’: REVIEW
In Drew Droege’s ‘Bright Colors And Bold Patterns,’ a Hilarious Portrait of Living Out Loud: REVIEW
In New Musical ‘The Band’s Visit,’ an Exquisite Meditation on Hopes Won and Lost: REVIEW
Julie Taymor Directs Clive Owen in Stylish but Earthbound ‘M. Butterfly’ on Broadway: REVIEW

Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar
(photos: jenny anderson)

The post ‘Cruel Intentions: The Musical’ Is a Wicked Delight for ‘90s Lovers: REVIEW appeared first on Towleroad.

‘Cruel Intentions: The Musical’ Is a Wicked Delight for ‘90s Lovers: REVIEW

7 Women the Golden Globes Snubbed for Best Director

Lady Bird is one of the best-reviewed films of all time, and Wonder Woman is a critical smash and a cultural phenomenon, but the women who directed them were snubbed. 

www.advocate.com/film/2017/12/11/7-women-golden-globes-snubbed-best-director

Did E.T. Send Us Our First Interstellar Asteroid? Scientists Search for Communication Signal

Artist impression of Oumuamua / ESO / M. Kornmesser

Scientists have been watching ‘Oumuamua, the first known interstellar asteroid, with fascination since it landed on their screens in October. And beginning on Wednesday, a team will be studying it in search of something that would make the object even more groundbreaking: signals indicating it is in communication with extraterrestrial intelligent life. That decision is based…

The post Did E.T. Send Us Our First Interstellar Asteroid? Scientists Search for Communication Signal appeared first on Towleroad.

Did E.T. Send Us Our First Interstellar Asteroid? Scientists Search for Communication Signal

SPD-Chef Schulz erwägt nie da gewesenes Koalitionsmodell

www.huffingtonpost.de/entry/spd-chef-schulz-erwagt-nie-da-gewesenes-koalitionsmodell_de_5a2f1c57e4b07895028302f3

Girls Still Regularly Facing Sexual Harassment At School, Disturbing Report Underlines
More than a third of girls have suffered sexual harassment at school, a disturbing new report reveals.

The research from the National Education Union and UK Feminista shines a light on an epidemic of sexism behind the UK’s school gates.

Sixth form students hear sexist language regularly and gender stereotyping happens “on a weekly basis” at primary schools, the ‘It’s just everywhere: Sexism in schools and how we tackle it’ report says.

The NEU also calls on Ofsted to target the problem and for the Government to give schools more resources for projects to combat the rising tide of sexism.

Findings include:

It also mirrors the findings of a Parliamentary report on the issue more than a year ago, suggesting little is changing.

Women and Equalities Committee chair Maria Miller MP and fellow committee member Gavin Shuker, a Labour MP, will launch the report in Parliament today.

A total of 1,508 students and 1,634 teachers were questioned about their experiences and views on sexism in schools.

Miller says: “Without doubt, there is clear evidence that sexual harassment is blighting the lives of girls in our schools. It is worryingly ‘normalised’ and often goes unreported.”

The committee’s own report detailed how widespread sexual harassment and sexual violence had become.

Miller adds: “Fourteen months on from our report, schools seem no better placed to tackle the problem than they were then. We made many recommendations and ministers urgently need to review the guidance, support and resources made available and send a clear message to schools that girls’ safety and equality must be prioritised.  

“Government has to take urgent action on this problem. Negative stereotypes, sexist attitudes, expectations about relationships and sexual harassment and violence not only impact on children’s lives, but create problems in later life.” 

The new report calls for the Government to issue national guidance to schools on how to prevent and respond effectively to sexual harassment and sexual violence, and ensure teachers receive the necessary training, resources and support to develop a whole school strategy. 

Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary at the NEU, says: “As we come to the end of 2017, we’ve lived through a year in which sexual harassment of women and girls has been at the forefront of the public eye.

“This study shows us how normalised and pervasive it is for young people also. Sexual harassment and regular sexist remarks are patterns that most girls and young women come to view as ‘normal’.”

Schools need more resources to respond to the concerns, he adds.

“Schools and colleges have an important role to play in breaking down stereotypes but education policy is making it harder and not easier. We are not giving schools and teachers the tools, time and teaching environments they need.

“The Government, alongside the profession, needs to develop teacher training about the best ways to reduce sexism in the classroom and to use the formal and informal curriculum to make a difference for girls and boys. In this study, only one in five teachers say the national curriculum gives them adequate scope and flexibility to enable schools to prevent sexism.”

Sophie Bennett, spokesperson for UK Feminista, says: “The solutions are clear; what has been lacking is the political will to act. All those with the power to make schools safe for girls must now step up – from Downing Street to the staff room.

“We need to stop schools being places where girls and boys learn that sexual harassment and sexism are routine, normal, accepted. It would transform school life – and society as a whole.”

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/sexism-inschools_uk_5a2ea1b0e4b073789f6b85cd

Victory! Court Orders U.S. Military to Immediately Halt Ban of Transgender Troops

Today, a federal court in Seattle ordered an immediate halt to the Trump Administration’s discriminatory plan to ban transgender people from serving openly in the U.S. Armed Services. The ruling came in the lawsuit brought by Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN challenging the ban and prevents the ban from being implemented while the case proceeds.

“There is no valid reason to deny transgender people the right to serve their country. The court heard that argument, and agreed,” Lambda Legal Senior Attorney Peter Renn said. “Before the President’s vicious attack on transgender Americans, transgender service members had been serving openly and proudly in every branch of the U.S. Military. Today’s ruling allows them to continue to do the job of defending our country while the case continues. With yet another court ruling that the President has engaged in unlawful discrimination, the policy’s days are clearly numbered, and its final demise can’t come fast enough for those whose military careers hang in the balance.”

Today’s ruling came in response to the motion for a preliminary injunction Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN filed in September in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The motion asked the Court to preliminarily enjoin the government from taking actions inconsistent with the military policy that existed prior to July 26, 2017, under which transgender service members were allowed to serve openly, and transgender Americans seeking to join the military had a path forward for doing so.

“I’m incredibly relieved to know that I can continue to do my job and serve our nation without the additional stress of worrying that I could be discharged as soon as next March,” Staff Sergeant Cathrine Schmid said. “Being transgender has no impact on my ability to perform my duties, and I’m grateful that I will be able to continue to serve the people of the United States as this case moves through the courts.”

“The President’s ‘guidance’ to remove transgender service members from the United States armed forces and deny them healthcare was nothing less than the initiation of a purge,” OutServe-SLDN Legal Director Peter Perkowski said. “This court has recognized the President’s action for what it is–a discriminatory attack on the people who have volunteered their lives for the defense of the country. Qualified and dedicated individuals serve our country each and every day in the armed services and thousands happen to be transgender. An individual’s gender identity is not a valid reason to deny them the right to serve their country in uniform; a fact even the Pentagon has affirmed. Judge Pechman’s ruling today is a testament to that argument and a step to reassure our transgender service members that this country will have their backs even if the Commander-in-Chief does not.”

In the lawsuit, Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN represent nine individual plaintiffs and three organizational plaintiffs. The individual plaintiffs, all of whom are transgender, include:

• Staff Sergeant Cathrine (“Katie”) Schmid, a 33-year-old woman and 12-year member of the U.S. Army currently serving in Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, who has applied to become an Army Warrant Officer;
• Petty Officer Terece Lewis, a 33-year-old woman and 14-year member of the U.S. Navy serving on the U.S.S. John C. Stennis out of Bremerton, Washington;
• Chief Warrant Officer Lindsey Muller, a 35-year-old woman and 17-year member of the U.S. Army serving at Camp Humphreys near Seoul, South Korea;
• Petty Officer Second Class Phillip Stephens, a 30-year-old man and five-year member of the U.S. Navy serving at Eglin Air Force Base near Valparaiso, Florida;
• Petty Officer Second Class Megan Winters, a 29-year-old woman and five-year member of the U.S. Navy serving in the Office of Naval Intelligence in Washington, D.C.;
• Ryan Karnoski, a 23-year-old Seattle man who currently works as a social worker and wishes to become an officer doing social work for the military;
• Conner Callahan, a 29-year-old man who currently works in law enforcement in North Carolina;
• Drew Layne, a recent high-school graduate from Corpus Christi, Texas, who is 17 years old and, with parental support, wants to join the Air Force; and
• A ninth individual currently serving in the military who remains anonymous.

The organizational plaintiffs are the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Seattle-based Gender Justice League, and the American Military Partner Association (AMPA), who joined the lawsuit on behalf of their transgender members harmed by the ban.

In October, a U.S. District Court judge in Washington, D.C., granted a preliminary injunction in a similar lawsuit challenging the transgender military service ban filed by the National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, and in November, a U.S. District Court judge in Maryland granted a preliminary injunction in a case filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The lawsuit is Karnoski v. Trump. Read more about the case here: www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/cases/karnoski-v-trump

The Lambda Legal attorneys working on the case are: Peter Renn, Jon W. Davidson, Camilla B. Taylor, Tara Borelli, Natalie Nardecchia, Sasha Buchert, Kara Ingelhart, and Carl Charles. They are joined by co-counsel Peter Perkowski of OutServe-SLDN. Also on the legal team are pro-bono co-counsel at Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Newman Du Wors LLP.

“Today’s preliminary injunction is a victory in the fight against Donald Trump and Mike Pence’s cruel and animus-fueled policy,” said HRC National Press Secretary Sarah McBride. “Allowing this discriminatory ban to take effect would cause serious harm to our national defense and to the thousands of transgender people serving and wishing to serve their country. We thank Lambda Legal and Outserve-SLDN for representing us in this landmark case, and we are grateful that Judge Pechman has ruled against discrimination.”

“We’re thankful for this judge’s decision which gives us hope that justice will prevail,” said AMPA President Ashley Broadway-Mack. “Our transgender service members and their families deserve better than to be singled out by the Trump-Pence administration for discrimination. They deserve better than the uncertainty, fear, and turmoil President Trump’s transgender ban has inflicted on their lives. At the end of the day, what matters is whether or not someone is qualified and willing to serve, not their gender identity.”

“Gender Justice League is relieved by this injunction and the justice that it has served for our members,” said Gender Justice League Executive Director Danni Askini. “We have seen our members’ lives thrown into chaos since the July tweets barring open transgender service. We hope that this is the first step in bringing closure to this case and serving justice and equality for our members and their families who have been deeply impacted by the ban on transgender military service.”

www.hrc.org/blog/victory-court-orders-u-s-military-to-immediately-halt-ban-of-transgender-t?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed