Gavin Henson early favourite to win series 8 of Strictly Come Dancing

Bruce Forsyth, Tess Daly and the rest of the gang are back for the eighth series of Strictly which starts on Saturday where 14 celebrity contestants will be introduced to what is bound to be an appreciative audience.

There were some negative comments regarding the quality of the celebrities of series seven (won by BBC journalist Chris Hollons) which also included jockey Richard Dunwoody and boxer Joe Calzaghe.

This years sporting stars are rugby player Gavin Henson (and ex partner of Charlotte Church) and former Nottingham Forest and England goal keeping legend Peter Shilton, the rest of the cast are made up of the usual soap stars and musicians with the odd politician thrown in.

Strictly Come Dancing outright winner

All odds for this reality television show come from novelty bet specialists Paddy Power

• 7/2 – Gavin Henson
• 9/2 – Kara Tointon
• 5/1 – Matt Baker
• 5/1 – Tina O’Brien
• 6/1 – Jimi Mistry
• 15/2 – Michelle Williams
• 12/1 – Patsy Kensit
• 12/1 – Scott Maslen
• 12/1 – Peter Shilton
• 14/1- DJ Goldie
• 16/1 – Pamela Stephenson
• 25/1 – Felicity Kendal
• 33/1 – Paul Daniels
• 100/1 – Ann Widdecombe

Click here to place your Strictly bet and claim your free £30 bet from Paddy Power

Lady Gaga is the bookies favourite to win the video of the year at the 2010 VMAs

The 2010 MTV VMA awards take place from the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles on September 12th and it one of the most watched shows on MTV. Each year the event gains a mini controversy, in 2008 English comedian Russell Brand called the then President George Bush “a retarded cowboy” and in 2009 Kanye West jumped on the stage during Taylor Swifts acceptance speech saying that Beyonce should have actually won the award.

Last year Lady Gaga won three VMAs but missed out on the best music video when her song “Poker Face” was beaten by Beyonce with here video “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) and this year the two stars have teamed up for the video “Telephone” which will surely increase their odds of winning.

MTV Video of The Year

With two videos in the nominations for Music Video of the Year Lady Gaga is almost certain to pick up an award, it should put the bad press about her possibly being an hermaphrodite to bed, all odds have been supplied by bookmakers Paddy Power who specialise in the novelty betting market.

• 10/11 – Lady GaGa – Bad Romance
• 2/1 – Lady GaGa feat Beyonce – Telephone
• 6/1 – Eminem – Not Afraid
• 7/1 – B.o.B. feat Hayley Williams – Airplanes
• 10/1 – Florence and the Machine – Dog Days Are Over
• 12/1 – 30 Seconds to Mars – Kings and Queens

Lady GaGa – Bad Romance

The video has been watched an incredible 260 million times on the video site YouTube.

Click here to place your bet on MTV Music Awards and claim your free £30 bet from Paddy Power

Will Miss Venezuela win this years 2010 Miss Universe?

Move over Miss World this beauty competition looks at all the beautiful women that the whole Universe has to offer. The competition had taken a back stage to Miss World in previous years but it has been bolstered by its high caliber of contestants and artists that perform at the event and the fact that it is now backed by billionaire Donald Trump helps.

This year it will be hosted on August 23rd from the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas by rock star and front man of the multi platinum Poison and star of Rock of Love Bret Michaels and NBC television presenter Natalie Morales with musical performances from John Legend and Orianthi.

Last year we had thought that Miss Costa Rica was on to win the competition but in the end it went to Stefania Fernandez, from Venezuela, who won the title for Venezuela for the second year in succession and their sixth win overall can they make it three on the trot?  Their contestant this year is sultry Marelisa Gibson who will have to deal with some stunning contestants including Rozanna Purcell from Ireland who is being hotly tipped at to win at odds of 10/1 by Irish bookmaker Paddy Power.

2010 Miss Universe contestants to look out for

Look out for among others Debora Lyra (Brazil), Natalia Navarro (Colombia), Jimena Navarrete (Mexico) and Irina Antonenko (Russia).

Miss Universe 2010 Outright Winner odds

This is such a tough competition as all the contestants are natural beauties, but after talking to the men in the office there was an resounding call for Miss Canada, Elena Semikina who is at odds of 16/1 with Paddy Power.

• 5/1 – Miss Philippines – Venus Raj
• 8/1 – Miss Colombia – Natalia Navarro
• 8/1 – Miss Mexico – Jimena Navarrete
• 10/1 – Miss Thailand – Fonthip Watcharatrakul
• 10/1 – Miss Ireland – Rozanna Purcell
• 10/1 – Miss Venezuela – Marelisa Gibson
• 10/1 – Miss USA – Rima Fakih
• 12/1 – Miss Indonesia – Qory Sandioriva
• 16/1 – Miss Canada – Elena Semikina
• 33/1 – Miss Great Britain – Tara Vaitiere Hoyos
• 50/1 – Miss Poland – Maria Nowakowska

Click here to place your Miss Universe bet with Paddy Power

Will Andrea Levy’s The Long Song win this years Man Booker Prize?

The nominations for the 2010 Man Booker Prize have been announced and the early favourite to walk away with the literary prize is Andrea Levy for her novel set during the last few years of slavering in Jamaican and she is closely followed by David Mitchell (not the comedian from Mitchell and Webb) for his tale of passion and intrigue set on a tiny island attached to mainland Japan set in 1799.

The final winner of the Man Booker prize is decided by a panel of judges in October that have been selected by an advisory committee, the judging panel normally consists of literary critics, past winners and notable public figures.

Man Booker Prize odds

• 4/1 – Andrea Levy – The Long Song
• 9/2 – David Mitchell – The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
• 5/1 – Helen Dunmore – The Betrayal
• 6/1 – Rose Tremain – Trespass
• 7/1 – Peter Carey – Parrott and Olivier in America
• 8/1 – Howard Jacobson – The Finkler Question
• 8/1 – Paul Murray – Skippy Dies
• 12/1 – Emma Donoghue – Room
• 12/1 – Tom McCarthy – C
• 12/1 – Alan Warner – The Stars in the Bright Sky
• 16/1 – Damon Galgut – In a Strange Room
• 16/1 – Lisa Moore – February
• 16/1 – Christos Tsiolkas – The Slap

Click here to place your Booker Prize bet and claim your £25 free bet from William Hill

How much will the white piano used by Elvis fetch at auction?

A 270 lot of Elvis memorabilia is set to be auctioned in August by US based auction house Heritage Auctions in Memphis which will include the singers white grand piano that was part of the stars music room in his Graceland home up until 1969. The white piano that is painted with a gold trim is thought to be worth in region of between $500,000 and $999,999 but there are many collectors who would gladly pay more than $1 million dollars to own a piece of Elvis history.

Also included in the auction is a handwritten letter to sweetheart Anita Wood in 1958 as well as The King’s contract with RCA records that is signed by Presley, his father and his manager Colonel Tom Parker which is expected to fetch more than $150,000.

Value of Elvis’s White Piano

What will be the final price of Elvis’ piano when it goes up for auction on August 14th.

• 11/4 – Under $500,000
• 9/4 – $500,000 – $999,999
• 5/2 – $1,000,000 – $1,499,999
• 5/1 – $1,500,000 – $1,999,999
• 6/1 – $2,000,000 – $2,499,999
• 3/1 – $2,500,000 or over

Click here to place your bet on Elvis and claim your free £30 bet from Paddy Power

The XX early favourites to win the 2010 Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize

The nominations for the 2010 Barclaycard Mercury Prize have been announced today and the eventual winner will be will be named in a ceremony on September 7th 2010 and they will get to then pick up the £20,000 prize. Early favourites are the indie/dream pop group The XX, who have attained cult status of late and were even included in the 2010 commercials from AT&T for the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. However with this award very often the favourites do not win, last year Florence and the Machine were hotly tipped to walk away with the 2009 Mercury Prize but lost out to Speech Debelle who was at odds of 10/1.

The competition is well known for naming as winners bands that are outside of the normal mainstream acts, past winners of the event have included Elbow, Antony and the Johnsons and Talvin Singh although pop stalwarts such as M People, Pulp and the Arctic Monkeys have found themselves as winners. The prize has also helped to kick off artists career taking them from relative obscurity to the heights of fame, acts like Dizzee Rascal (who is also nominated this year) and Franz Ferdinand have benefited from winning.

2010 Mercury Music Prize nominations

The debut album by The XX has snuck in as the early favourites to win this years prize.

• 9/4 – The XX – XX
• 9/2 – Wild Beasts – Two Dancers
• 9/2 – Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
• 6/1 – Foals – Total Life Forever
• 8/1 – Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
• 8/1 – Villagers – Becoming A Jackal
• 10/1 – I Am Kloot – Sky At Night
• 11/1 – Corinne Bailey Rae – The Sea
• 12/1 – Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions
• 12/1 – Paul Weller – Wake Up the Nation
• 12/1 – Dizzee Rascal – Tongue N’ Cheek
• 14/1 – Kit Downes Trio – Golden

Click here to place your bet on the Mercury prize and claim your free £30 bet from Paddy Power

The XX – Crystalised

They look very happy, we hope if they win they can produce a smile!.

Click here to claim your free £30 bet from Paddypower

Robbie is back in Take That but is he back for good?

The prayers of thousands of Yummy Mummies have been answered and Robbie Williams has announced that his now back in the fold with his former group Take That. He rejoins his band mates Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Howard Donald, but will he be back for good? The recent poor sales of Robbie’s last albums Reality Killed the Video Star and Rudebox which combined sales did not equal that of his 2005 CD Intensive Care may have helped Robbie releaise where the money really is especially as the last Take That CD The Circus sold 3 times as much as Rudebox.

His return was the subject of gossip columns around Fleet Street for months and it was previously thought that he would just be doing a duet with Gary Barlow just for his own Greatest Hits compilation but it is now confirmed that he is back for a full album that is due to be released in November this will be proceeded by the song “Shame” that features Robbie and Gary that is part of Robbie’s Greatest Hits. Once the new CD is out there is sure to be a major tour as the last Take That tour was a complete sell out and with Robbie back its only going to make a lot more money!

Take That betting specials

Now that Robbie has rejoined the band there is a lot of interest in the 5 piece, and the Tesco mums are bound to buy the new albums in force, but how long will Robbie cope with being back in a band?

• Evens – To appear on the X- Factor
• 2/1 – To win a Brit Award
• 3/1 – To be the next Christmas Number One
• 5/1 – Shame (first single out Oct 4th) to break all-time UK download sales
• 8/1 – Take That to headline Glastonbury next year
• 10/1 – Take That to play Knebworth
• 10/1 – Robbie to leave the band before the end of the year
• 33/1 – Shame to break record for number of weeks at number one

Click here to place your music bet and to claim your £20 free bet from Boylesports

Who will star in the SuperBowl episode of Glee?

The surprise hit television show that has won plaudits from the teeny crowd and adults alike will soon be having a special episode for its Season 2 that will be broadcast following Super Bowl XLV in February 2011, the episode is set to be filmed sometime in August and celebrities are rushing to appear in the ratings winning show as themselves and get to sing with Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) and Mercedes (Amber Riley).

Artists have found that by getting a song on the show for will mean good sales as proved by Journeys song “Don’t Stop Believin” that was covered by the cast and released as a single and subsequently the original was downloaded a record of times and also entered the chart in the UK.

Click here to place you bet on Glee and to claim your free £30 bet from Paddy Power

Star to feature in SuperBowl Glee

Beyonce is being touted as the singer most likely to appear but we have a feeling that Katy Perry will be artist chosen and maybe a quick cameo from Madonna!

• 5/1 – Beyonce
• 6/1 – Lady GaGa
• 8/1 – Katy Perry
• 10/1 – Justin Timberlake
• 10/1 – Madonna
• 12/1 – Christina Aguilera
• 12/1 – Rihanna
• 20/1 – Susan Boyle
• 40/1 – Amy Winehouse

Glee Cast – Don’t Stop Believin

Click here to place you bet on Glee and to claim your free £30 bet from Paddy Power

What are the odds that Dublin Airport will get a new name?

There are rumours circulating in the Irish press that the Irish Government is considering renaming Dublin Airport after the Aer Lingus founder and former Republican Party Leader Sean Lemass, several major airports have already gone through this change including Liverpool Airport which is now Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Doncaster Airport which is oddly named Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield and more locally to Ireland Belfast Airport was renamed to George Best Belfast City Airport.

Lemass was the most prominent Irish politician of the 20th century, but if they were to change the name there would be little opposition some punters believe that a more populist name could emerge although the odds of it being called Roy Keane International Airport are at high odds of 150/1.

What will be Dublin Airports new name?

All odds are supplied aptly by the Irish based bookmaker Paddy Power

• 1/5 – Sean Lemass
• 8/1 – Charles Stewart Parnell
• 10/1 – Daniel O’Connell
• 12/1 – Michael Collins
• 18/1 – Eamon de Valera
• 20/1 – Padraig Pearse
• 20/1 – William Butler Yeats
• 25/1 – James Connolly
• 33/1 – James Joyce
• 40/1 – Oscar Wilde
• 50/1 – Ronnie Delaney

Click here to claim your free £30 bet from Paddy Power

Miss Liverpool is favourite to win the 2010 Miss England competition

The current holder of the Miss Liverpool title Amy Jackson is according to the Irish bookmaker Boylesports the current favourite to win the prestigious 2010 Miss England competition. The finals of the event take place at the Birmingham Hilton Metropole on 31st August and 1st September and for the first time in 22 years it will be shown live on television thanks to the Active Channel (Sky Channel 281). The winner of the competition then goes on to represent her country in the 2010 Miss World contest that takes place in October in China.

Another first for the event will be that this will be first Miss England event that will not feature the now controversial swimwear round which will this year be replaced by a sports round, the organiser of the event Angie Beasley said “”Whenever Miss World or Miss England footage is ever shown on TV , they always feature the old beauty parades of swimwear and high heels, Its not how we run Miss England or how Miss World is run now and this years Miss England final will be different for sure!”.

2010 Miss England outright odds

The winner of the event will be taking away the crown from the reigning Miss England winner Lance Corporal Katrina Hodge. All odds are supplied by Boylesports.

• 6/1 – Amy Jackson (Miss Liverpool)
• 8/1 – Holly Ikin (Miss England Cheshire)
• 8/1 – Lisa Lazarus (Miss Talent Expo)
• 10/1 – Charlotte Thomson (Miss Portsmouth)
• 10/1 – Anna Watts (Miss London)
• 12/1 – Charlotte Holmes (Miss Guildford)
• 12/1 – Pascal Craymer (Miss Southend-On-Sea)
• 12/1 – Natalie Deegan (Miss Stratford-Upon-Avon)
• 12/1 – Amy Green (Miss Hertfordshire)
• 16/1 – Malin Andersson (Miss Bedfordshire)
• 16/1 – Amber Gamble (Miss Buckinghamshire)

Click here to place your Miss England bet and claim your £20 free bet from Boylesports

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