Dad Mitch Winehouse reversed course and said he'd consider a movie. By Gil Kaufman
Amy Winehouse Photo: Marc Broussely/ Redferns
Singer Amy Winehouse had a brief career full of jubilant highs and crushing lows. From Grammy wins and multiplatinum worldwide sales for her breakthrough Back to Black album and recording with Tony Bennett to drug arrests, struggles with substance abuse and her untimely death at age 27 as a result of excessive alcohol intake, Winehouse's roller-coaster ride seems primed for the big screen.
After initially rejecting reports that a biopic was in the works and saying that the family would not grant the rights to the "Rehab" singer's music for such a project, a spokesperson for the Winehouses clarified on Tuesday that "[father] Mitch [Winehouse] and the family would entertain ideas perhaps for a film but only one they were sure would tell the truth," according to Entertainment Weekly.
On Monday, Mitch Winehouse told England's Daily Mail that he would not let Amy's music be used in a rumored biopic that is reportedly being shopped and produced by his daughter's boyfriend, Reg Traviss. "It would hardly be a biopic without the music and we'd never allow the songs to be released," Winehouse told the paper.
He also threw cold water on rumors that Lady Gaga could be up for the role of his late daughter. "I never said Lady Gaga will play Amy in film," he tweeted on Monday. In the meantime, Mitch is working on a memoir, "Amy, My Daughter," due out in October. Winehouse's posthumous album, Lioness: Hidden Treasures, debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200 charts this week on sales of nearly 114,000.
Can't get enough of The Twilight Saga? Do you love it so much, in fact, that you want to wear the same wedding gown as Bella Swan (played by Kristen Stewart) is in the upcoming movie Breaking Dawn - Part 1? The good news is that Alfred Angelo is already working on a replica of the wedding dress.
What Does the Dress Look Like?
Although we have seen bits and pieces of the very top of the dress, pictures revealing the whole entire gown that will be used for the Swan-Cullen wedding have not yet been released. People who have read the book series know that we should be expecting an old-fashioned appeal, however. What could be more appropriate when you're marrying a vampire who has lived longer than a century?
What we do know so far about Bella Swan's wedding dress is that it was designed by Carolina Herrera, according to E!Online. Although some have been skeptical about this choice of a designer, she is also considered a very influential designer. Herrera has done designs for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. She also designed both Renee Zellweger and Mariska Hargitay's wedding gowns, which were both stunning.
Celebuzz reports that the series's author, Stephenie Meyer, said [of Bella Swan's dress], "It has a vintage feel, but at the same time, there's an edge to it. It's really beautiful." Based on Meyer's description, we can expect the wedding dress to be elegant and traditional enough to complement the antique oval engagement ring that Edward gave Bella in the movie Eclipse.
When will the Alfred Angelo Replica Gown be Available?
According to E!Online, Bella Swan's wedding gown will be available in Alfred Angelo stores and other bridal retailers that carry the designer's dresses in late November 2011. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 has a U.S. release date of November 18th. You can expect to see the replica of the dress in stores shortly after you see Bella Swan wear it on the big screen when she becomes Mrs. Cullen.
If you're a Twilight fan, you already know that this is one of the most anticipated moments of the whole entire series. For most, the dress will be as noteworthy as the royal wedding dress, which Alfred Angelo is also currently working on. Even if you're not a fan of the book or movie series, the dress still may offer some appeal if you're looking for a charming vintage wedding gown.
Keep in mind that it might not be the best option if you're looking for a unique dress, however. We can expect many brides-to-be who are fans of the series to be interested in the dress.
Olympic success: Intangible benefits worth up to $3.4 billionPublic release date: 6-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jane Hurly jane.hurly@ualberta.ca 780-492-6821 University of Alberta - Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation
'Own the Podium' program's benefits vastly outweighed its operating costs
At the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, when Canadians roared with delight at a medal haul that placed the country at an "all-time, all-nation Winter Olympics record of 14 gold medals," athletes did more than win goldthey fired up exuberant displays of national pride and unity across the country.
And new research involving the University of Alberta suggests Canadians are willing to pay to get them.
In fact, the research pegs the intangible benefits generated by the Canadian government's Own the Podium program at between three and five times its cost: between $215 million and $3.4 billion.
U of A economist Brad Humphreys and sport management professor Dan Mason worked with economists Bruce Johnson of Centre College, Kentucky, and John Whitehead of Appalachian State University, North Carolina, to determine Canadians' willingness to pay for Team Canada's success at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Using nationally representative surveys of Canadians, they sought to understand how people saw and valued the Own the Podium program, which supported elite athletes to the tune of $110 million in hopes of putting more Canadian athletes on the podium at the 2010 Winter Olympics than ever before.
The researchers used the contingent valuation method (CVM), commonly used by economists to measure the value of public goods, in a unique way. About 2,000 Canadians were surveyed before and after the Games about their willingness to pay extra taxes to support elite athletes and enhance medal success. No previous study has analyzed outcomes of sports mega-events using the CVM method, according to the authors.
"The heart of the survey revolved around hypothetical scenarios and questions eliciting willingness to pay for Olympic success," said Humphreys. "Before the Games, the survey asked Canadians how satisfied they were with Canada's third-place ranking at the 2006 Olympic Games. After the Games, the survey told them the Canadian government was spending $120 million to support athletes at Summer and Winter Olympicsabout $10 per householdand asked whether they supported that. Survey respondents were told that Own the Podium cost $3 of spending per annual Canadian household and were asked if they thought more money for the program would result in more medals than in 2010.
"This allowed us to estimate willingness to pay for success in the Vancouver Games and conduct a simple cost-benefit analysis of the Own the Podium program."
Next, respondents were presented with a hypothetical scenario about expanded funding of Own the Podium for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. They were told that the extended program would be financed by an annual income tax surcharge for three years of amounts ranging from $10 to $65. They were asked whether they thought this would increase Canada's gold medal count at the Games, how many more it might result in and their level of satisfaction with such an increase.
Respondents were also asked whether they would vote in a referendum on a tax increase to support Own the Podium and how high or low they'd be prepared to go to support such a proposal.
Mason said the results show that "not only are Canadians proud of their Olympic performance, they also think it is important and that, post-Games, Canadians support Own the Podium going forward." Before the Games, 54.3 per cent of those surveyed said they would support continuing to pay additional taxes to fund Own the Podium; after the Games, that was significantly increased, to 80.9 per cent.
"Our results suggest that Canadians believed, even before the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, that the intangible benefits generated by the Own the Podium program far exceeded the costs of operating the program," Mason said. "Their experience with the 2010 Winter Olympics caused them to reassess and conclude that the benefits were even higher that they'd previously expected."
Said Humphreys: "Seeing the national team succeedclearly has the potential to generate significant intangible benefits relative to winning the rights to host a mega-event and then seeing it take place."
###
Contacts:
Brad Humphreys, professor, Department of Economics, brad.humphreys@ualberta.ca; 780-492-5143, 780-940-9182 (cell)
Dan Mason, professor, Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation; dan.mason@ualberta.ca, 778-477-4950. (home) or 250-317-2034 (cell)
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Olympic success: Intangible benefits worth up to $3.4 billionPublic release date: 6-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jane Hurly jane.hurly@ualberta.ca 780-492-6821 University of Alberta - Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation
'Own the Podium' program's benefits vastly outweighed its operating costs
At the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, when Canadians roared with delight at a medal haul that placed the country at an "all-time, all-nation Winter Olympics record of 14 gold medals," athletes did more than win goldthey fired up exuberant displays of national pride and unity across the country.
And new research involving the University of Alberta suggests Canadians are willing to pay to get them.
In fact, the research pegs the intangible benefits generated by the Canadian government's Own the Podium program at between three and five times its cost: between $215 million and $3.4 billion.
U of A economist Brad Humphreys and sport management professor Dan Mason worked with economists Bruce Johnson of Centre College, Kentucky, and John Whitehead of Appalachian State University, North Carolina, to determine Canadians' willingness to pay for Team Canada's success at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Using nationally representative surveys of Canadians, they sought to understand how people saw and valued the Own the Podium program, which supported elite athletes to the tune of $110 million in hopes of putting more Canadian athletes on the podium at the 2010 Winter Olympics than ever before.
The researchers used the contingent valuation method (CVM), commonly used by economists to measure the value of public goods, in a unique way. About 2,000 Canadians were surveyed before and after the Games about their willingness to pay extra taxes to support elite athletes and enhance medal success. No previous study has analyzed outcomes of sports mega-events using the CVM method, according to the authors.
"The heart of the survey revolved around hypothetical scenarios and questions eliciting willingness to pay for Olympic success," said Humphreys. "Before the Games, the survey asked Canadians how satisfied they were with Canada's third-place ranking at the 2006 Olympic Games. After the Games, the survey told them the Canadian government was spending $120 million to support athletes at Summer and Winter Olympicsabout $10 per householdand asked whether they supported that. Survey respondents were told that Own the Podium cost $3 of spending per annual Canadian household and were asked if they thought more money for the program would result in more medals than in 2010.
"This allowed us to estimate willingness to pay for success in the Vancouver Games and conduct a simple cost-benefit analysis of the Own the Podium program."
Next, respondents were presented with a hypothetical scenario about expanded funding of Own the Podium for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. They were told that the extended program would be financed by an annual income tax surcharge for three years of amounts ranging from $10 to $65. They were asked whether they thought this would increase Canada's gold medal count at the Games, how many more it might result in and their level of satisfaction with such an increase.
Respondents were also asked whether they would vote in a referendum on a tax increase to support Own the Podium and how high or low they'd be prepared to go to support such a proposal.
Mason said the results show that "not only are Canadians proud of their Olympic performance, they also think it is important and that, post-Games, Canadians support Own the Podium going forward." Before the Games, 54.3 per cent of those surveyed said they would support continuing to pay additional taxes to fund Own the Podium; after the Games, that was significantly increased, to 80.9 per cent.
"Our results suggest that Canadians believed, even before the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, that the intangible benefits generated by the Own the Podium program far exceeded the costs of operating the program," Mason said. "Their experience with the 2010 Winter Olympics caused them to reassess and conclude that the benefits were even higher that they'd previously expected."
Said Humphreys: "Seeing the national team succeedclearly has the potential to generate significant intangible benefits relative to winning the rights to host a mega-event and then seeing it take place."
###
Contacts:
Brad Humphreys, professor, Department of Economics, brad.humphreys@ualberta.ca; 780-492-5143, 780-940-9182 (cell)
Dan Mason, professor, Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation; dan.mason@ualberta.ca, 778-477-4950. (home) or 250-317-2034 (cell)
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
BC-FBC--T25-BCS Championship,991Rematch: LSU vs. Alabama in BCS title gameAP Photo NY107, OKSO113, ALDM125Eds: With AP Photos. AP Video.By RALPH D. RUSSOAP College Football Writer
If you like sequels, the BCS has a championship game for you: Alabama-LSU II.
The Crimson Tide edged Oklahoma State in the final round of voting Sunday and will play the top-ranked Tigers in the BCS national championship game on Jan. 9 in New Orleans.
Undefeated LSU is the only team to beat Alabama this season, and the head BCS official sees a rematch as a perfectly good title game.
"Absolutely, if they're 1 and 2, and they are in all the polls released today," executive director Bill Hancock said.
Still, it's not exactly a game the public was clamoring for ? at least outside of Southeastern Conference territory. And it will do nothing to quiet critics of the Bowl Championship Series or calls for a college football playoff.
Like it or not, the system has ensured that the SEC ? home to both schools ? will run its streak of BCS championships to six in a row.
Alabama has one of those and will be making its second BCS title game appearance in the last three seasons. The Crimson Tide claims 13 national championships overall and is one of the most decorated programs in the land. It's won seven AP titles since the wire service started its poll in 1936.
LSU will be seeking its third BCS championship since 2003 at the Superdome ? the site of its first two.
Tide coach Nick Saban won that title for LSU in '03. Current Tigers coach Les Miles matched his predecessor in 2007, winning a championship with a team that lost two games.
These talented Tigers, led by dynamic defensive back Tyrann Mathieu, have rarely even trailed against a schedule that included Oregon and West Virginia.
"This team loves the big stage," Miles said.
Alabama, with its top-rated defense and Heisman Trophy contender Trent Richardson, was the only team to stay within 13 points of the Tigers this season.
The Cowboys made a late surge by beating Oklahoma 44-10 on Saturday night, and closed the gap on Alabama in the polls. But it was not enough to avoid the first title game rematch in the 14-year history of the BCS.
The Tigers (13-0) beat the Tide 9-6 in overtime on Nov. 5 in Tuscaloosa.
"This could be a totally different type of game," Saban said. "There's so many good players on both sides of the ball for both teams.
"There's so much opportunity for this game to play out completely different and have a completely different flavor than the first game."
Alabama (11-1) finished second in both the Harris and coaches' polls by a wide enough margin to overcome Oklahoma State's lead in the computer ratings.
The Cowboys (11-1), champions of the Big 12, will play in the Fiesta Bowl against Stanford from the Pac-12.
"We can't control it," Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden said. "But I know we had a heck of a year and we beat really good football teams in this conference and we're conference champions, so we did everything that we could."
The other BCS matchups are:
?Michigan vs. Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl;
?Clemson vs. West Virginia in the Orange Bowl;
?Oregon vs. Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.
For the first time since the 2005 season, none of the big-money games will feature a BCS buster such as Boise State, TCU or Houston, which had a chance but lost Saturday in the Conference USA championship to Southern Mississippi. The Cougars will play Penn State, which dropped to the Ticket City Bowl in Dallas following the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal that has overshadowed the Nittany Lions' season.
As the power-brokers in college football begin to plot how top-tier bowls will be set up in the future, flaws in the current system were once again being exposed this season.
Oklahoma State and Alabama, two teams with perfectly good arguments to play for a national championship, wound up fighting over one spot, with subjective voters and mysterious computer ratings ? the formulas of which are not even publicly known ? doing the choosing.
Alabama won out and Oklahoma State, with one of the most potent offenses in the country, got its first BCS appearance as a consolation prize.
"We wanted the opportunity to settle the debate that has gone all year about the offense in the Big 12 and the defense in the SEC," Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said on ESPN.
The Tide and Tigers played a hard-hitting defensive slog billed as the Game of the Century. And it was exciting in the way Notre Dame and Army's scoreless tie was exciting in the 1946 version of the Game of the Century.
The game was barely over when talk of rematch started, pro and con.
Oklahoma State was in position to keep it from happening. The Cowboys were undefeated and second in the BCS standings heading into a Friday night game at Iowa State, a day after Oklahoma State women's basketball coach Kurt Budke and an assistant coach were killed in a plane crash.
The Cowboys lost 37-31 in double OT to the so-so Cyclones (6-6), missing a potential game-winning field goal at the end of regulation by inches.
With no other undefeated teams left from the major conferences, Alabama returned to No. 2 and the debate grew more heated.
Ultimately, Oklahoma State couldn't overcome that one loss.
Now Saban and Miles, who have been tussling for supremacy in the SEC West on the field and the recruiting trail, will square off for the ultimate prize.
And don't dare suggest to either of them that it's for anything less.
"I think whoever wins the game should be viewed as the national champion," Saban said, echoing Miles' sentiment. "Rather than rehash the system we should do research on what would make the system better in the future."
____
AP Sports Writer Jeff Latzke in Stillwater, Okla., contributed to this report.
___
Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP
>>>tonight a dozen people are recovering from injuries after they ended up in a stampede when thousands of
football fans
stormed on to the field at
oklahoma state university
celebrating a big victory over an arch rival. nbc's
george lewis
has more.
>> reporter: this was the scene as the game ended, the
osu cowboys
beating the
oklahoma sooners
44-10 and winning the
big 12 conference championship
.
>>the students are storming the field.
>> reporter: fans stampeding on to the grass by the thousands to salute the heroes of the game and tear down the
goal posts
.
>>i've never been more packed into one area and getting pushed and shoved and just all over the place. people were so excited. and just -- the atmosphere was ridiculous. it was awesome.
>> reporter: but not so awesome was the fact that some people got trampled and others were seriously injured when they tumbled out of the stands.
>>only saw part of it. when they started piling over, i got out of there as fast as i could. i'm looking forward to seeing it on the newscast.
>>down go the
goal posts
.
>> reporter: some of the fans probably wish they too had gotten out of there. the list of injured included a dozen people, some with fractures. one person fell at least 15 feet on to concrete. the most seriously injured were airlifted to an
oklahoma city
hospital while others were hauled away by nine ambulances.
>>i was scared this guy had just died and i had a lot of things going through my head. i was just terrified and kind of wanted to cry in the middle of all of the excitement.
>> reporter: a big celebration for the
oklahoma state cowboys
ranked third in the nation, marred by a mob scene that went completely out of control.
george lewis
, nbc news,
los angeles
.
INDIANAPOLIS ? Wisconsin got the late touchdown it needed, the late stop it needed and the big break it needed Saturday night.
Otherwise, the inaugural Big Ten championship game may have ended the same way the Badgers' first round with Michigan State did.
Montee Ball scored four touchdowns, the last coming on a 7-yard run with 3:45 left, and the Badgers used a running into the kicker penalty to kill the clock as No. 15 Wisconsin hung on to beat No. 11 Michigan State 42-39 and earn a second straight Rose Bowl bid.
"It makes it twice as nice," Badgers coach Bret Bielema told the crowd after hoisting the trophy. "They came out today, they weren't going to be denied, and to do it here, first time ever ? Big Ten champs, twice!"
Yes, the Badgers (11-2) were ready to party when streamers started covering the field. Some players walked into the postgame news conference carrying roses. Quarterback Russell Wilson, the game's MVP, tucked the rose behind his ear.
Next up for Wisconsin is Pac-12 champion Oregon, which beat UCLA in its conference title game Friday night.
But the Badgers almost didn't make it.
After losing on a deflected Hail Mary pass in October in East Lansing, the Spartans (10-3) looked as if they might pull off another miracle comeback Saturday night when they forced what appeared to be a three-and-out with less than two minutes to go.
Coach Mark Dantonio called for a punt block, but instead of getting the ball or taking advantage of Keshawn Martin's return inside the Wisconsin 10-yard line, Isaiah Lewis hit punter Brad Nortman. The 5-yard penalty gave Wisconsin the ball with Michigan State out of timeouts.
Game over.
"I don't know if he hit him," Dantonio said. "You probably have seen all the replays, but he threw the flag. I thought he flopped a little bit."
It's the second straight year, Michigan State and Wisconsin have been in the Rose Bowl hunt at season's end.
The Badgers got the invite last year based on a tiebreaker. This year, they took the undisputed title thanks primarily to their two offensive leaders ? Ball and Wilson.
Ball was his usually spectacular self early and efficient late. He ran for more than 100 yards and scored on two 6-yard TD runs in the first quarter. He scored two more times in the final 13 1/2 minutes -- once on a 5-yard shovel pass and the other a 7-yard TD run that gave Wisconsin a 40-39 lead. A conversion pass from Wilson to Jacob Pedersen made it 42-39 with 3:45 left.
Ball finished with 27 carries for 137 yards and three scores, and his four TDs put him within one of breaking Barry Sanders' FBS mark (39) as he tried to impress the Heisman voters.
Wilson was nearly as good. He was 17 of 24 for 187 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions and broke the NCAA record by throwing a TD pass in his 37th consecutive game. Graham Harrell of Texas Tech held the previous mark (36).
"This is one of the reasons I came here," Wilson said of the Rose Bowl ticket.
The loss not only extended Michigan State's Rose Bowl drought, it hasn't gone since 1988, and ruined Dantonio's pregame prediction. In an interview taped Friday, Dantonio told a local radio station that the Spartans would win the game and go to the Rose Bowl.
He and the Spartans tried everything to make that happen.
The Spartans ran a fourth-down pass play, called a fake extra point and even got an impromptu lateral for a score ? and that was just in the first half. Kirk Cousins made most of it work. Only one of his 17 first-half passes hit the ground in the first half, and he wound up 22 of 30 for 281 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
But it was Cousins' ability to fool the normally stout Badgers' defense that nearly won the game.
On fourth-and-1 in the second quarter, he got Wisconsin to bite on a fake pitch and hooked up with a wide open B.J. Cunningham for a 30-yard TD pass to cut the deficit to 21-14.
On its next possession, Michigan State receiver Keith Nichol, who wrestled the Hail Mary pass across the goal line to beat Wisconsin in October, beat the Badgers again. This time, he caught a short pass from Cousins and just before stepping out of bounds lateraled to Cunningham, who ran the final 4 yards for a TD. Michigan State then called for a fake extra point that Brad Sontag ran in to make it 22-21.
"We felt we were having our way offensively the whole game," Cousins said. "We never felt like it was won. But we felt like we had our way offensively."
Even after playing more conventional football for most of the next two quarters and taking a 36-34 lead, the Spartans lined up two different players in the Wildcat formation, ran a reverse and drove for a 25-yard field goal to make it 39-34 with 8:31 left in the game.
But just like the first meeting, the Badgers answered.
Wilson led Wisconsin on an eight-play, 64-yard scoring march, converting a fourth-and-6 when Wilson scrambled, threw back across the field and Jeff Duckworth made a spectacular adjustment to haul in a 36-yard pass. On the next play, Ball burst up the middle for the 7-yard TD to give the Badgers the lead.
This time, the Wisconsin defense stiffened and after a replay review overturned a third-down play that would have gone for a first down, the Spartans punted for only the third time in the game.
They never got another chance.
"It's tough," Cousins said. "We came close two years in a row. We don't get to go, it's tough."
Michigan State's Martin had a career-high nine receptions for 115 yards, the second 100-yard game of his career.
This year's parade was watched by children of all ages, plus a number of SEC fans that were just in town for the game!
The Children's Christmas Parade began at Peachtree Street near Baker Street in downtown Atlanta. The?route?follows Peachtree Street and turns right onto Marietta Street. It will then turn left and end on Centennial Olympic Park Drive.
Leave your sleigh at home. The Five Points and Peachtree Center?MARTA?stations are within walking distance of the parade route.
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Public release date: 6-Dec-2011
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