http://nypost.com/2016/12/29/celebrity-death-pools-list-of-most-likely-to-die-in-2016/
http://nypost.com/2016/12/29/celebrity-death-pools-list-of-most-likely-to-die-in-2016/
Celebrity death pool’s list of most likely to die in 2016
By Yaron Steinbuch
December 29, 2016 | 2:33pm
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Kirk Douglas, Billy Graham and Hugh Hefner have been mentioned as possible victims of 2016. Getty Images
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2016 was not a good year for famous people
It’s a list that will lift your spirits — if you’re morbidly inclined.
With the recent deaths of George Michael, Carrie Fisher and her mother, Debbie Reynolds, folks are now turning to macabre websites that predict which stars will pass away in the waning days of 2016.
“Laughing at death is one of the top things people like to do, right? It’s either that or cry about it, and who wants to do that?” says the site, which uses aggregated opinions to rank the nearly departed.
“Every year we lose people to that big stage in the sky, and the celebrity dead pool is where you predict when it’s going to happen for some!”
As of Thursday morning, 100-year-old actor Kirk Douglas topped the list, with about 3,700 votes. The late Zsa Zsa Gabor, who died Dec. 18 at age 99, still occupied the No. 2 spot.
The evangelist Billy Graham, 98, was in third place, while also in fifth place on Gallup Poll’s list of the 10 men most admired by Americans — the 60th year he made the list.
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Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, 90, who came in fourth, recently reported that rumors of his death had been greatly exaggerated.
Hef’s wife, Crystal, 30, posted a Snapchat video that showed him erupting in laughter at the sight of a dog filter over his face.
George H.W. Bush, 92, Bob Barker, 93, David Rockefeller, 101, and Britain’s Prince Philip, 95, also were in the top 10.
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George H.W. Bush, 92, Bob Barker, 93, Britain’s Prince Philip, 95, and David Rockefeller, 101Getty Images
Oddly, President-elect Donald Trump also made the list — in the No. 8 spot — at the comparatively young age of 70.
The site attributed his presence on the list to a “complicated algorithm that uses both the votes on an item and the ‘reranks’ of a list.
“The more upvotes and higher ratio of upvotes-to-downvotes, the higher something will rank, depending on how often and where it is reranked.”
The Mirror of the UK noted that some celebrity baby boomers — those born between 1946 and 1964 — are showing the results of a hard lifestyle involving booze and drugs.
“The average life expectancy of a lot of people who were big in the ’60s and early ’70s — it’s getting to be that time,” said Jem Aswad, a Billboard senior editor, the Mirror reported.
“They’re all hitting their 70s. [And] given the era, there were a lot of drugs and a lot of cigarette smoking and being a touring musician performing every single night takes its toll on you,” he said.
There also are more and more celebrities who attract fans these days.
“Over the past 10 years, social media has played a big part,” said the BBC’s Nick Serpell, who described the number of famous deaths since January as “phenomenal.”
http://nypost.com/2016/12/29/celebrity-death-pools-list-of-most-likely-to-die-in-2016/
Celebrity death pool’s list of most likely to die in 2016
By Yaron Steinbuch
December 29, 2016 | 2:33pm
Modal Trigger
Kirk Douglas, Billy Graham and Hugh Hefner have been mentioned as possible victims of 2016. Getty Images
More On:
celebrity deaths
Debbie Reynolds was more than just beauty
Carrie Fisher books, toys spike in sales following her death
High number of celeb deaths in 2016 will drive album sales
2016 was not a good year for famous people
It’s a list that will lift your spirits — if you’re morbidly inclined.
With the recent deaths of George Michael, Carrie Fisher and her mother, Debbie Reynolds, folks are now turning to macabre websites that predict which stars will pass away in the waning days of 2016.
“Laughing at death is one of the top things people like to do, right? It’s either that or cry about it, and who wants to do that?” says the site, which uses aggregated opinions to rank the nearly departed.
“Every year we lose people to that big stage in the sky, and the celebrity dead pool is where you predict when it’s going to happen for some!”
As of Thursday morning, 100-year-old actor Kirk Douglas topped the list, with about 3,700 votes. The late Zsa Zsa Gabor, who died Dec. 18 at age 99, still occupied the No. 2 spot.
The evangelist Billy Graham, 98, was in third place, while also in fifth place on Gallup Poll’s list of the 10 men most admired by Americans — the 60th year he made the list.
–– ADVERTISEMENT ––
Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, 90, who came in fourth, recently reported that rumors of his death had been greatly exaggerated.
Hef’s wife, Crystal, 30, posted a Snapchat video that showed him erupting in laughter at the sight of a dog filter over his face.
George H.W. Bush, 92, Bob Barker, 93, David Rockefeller, 101, and Britain’s Prince Philip, 95, also were in the top 10.
Modal Trigger
George H.W. Bush, 92, Bob Barker, 93, Britain’s Prince Philip, 95, and David Rockefeller, 101Getty Images
Oddly, President-elect Donald Trump also made the list — in the No. 8 spot — at the comparatively young age of 70.
The site attributed his presence on the list to a “complicated algorithm that uses both the votes on an item and the ‘reranks’ of a list.
“The more upvotes and higher ratio of upvotes-to-downvotes, the higher something will rank, depending on how often and where it is reranked.”
The Mirror of the UK noted that some celebrity baby boomers — those born between 1946 and 1964 — are showing the results of a hard lifestyle involving booze and drugs.
“The average life expectancy of a lot of people who were big in the ’60s and early ’70s — it’s getting to be that time,” said Jem Aswad, a Billboard senior editor, the Mirror reported.
“They’re all hitting their 70s. [And] given the era, there were a lot of drugs and a lot of cigarette smoking and being a touring musician performing every single night takes its toll on you,” he said.
There also are more and more celebrities who attract fans these days.
“Over the past 10 years, social media has played a big part,” said the BBC’s Nick Serpell, who described the number of famous deaths since January as “phenomenal.”