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VIDEO: Boyz II Men Ripped for Awful National Anthem at Las Vegas Grand Prix

Boyz II Men grabbed some unwanted attention from the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday by butchering an a cappella version of the national anthem.

Boyz II Men  came into the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix promising a memorable performance and delivered one for the wrong reason. (Image: YouTube/@Fe1ipe)

It was clear that the four-time Grammy winning soul stars, known for their chart-topping 1992 hit “End of the Road,” were in trouble from only their third note. Their attempt to harmonize on the “Oh” in “Oh say can you see?” resulted in a flat clunker from which the trio never fully recovered.

Oh Say Can You Sing?

Immediately, social media did what it does best — attack.

GPFans editor Chris Deeley tweeted: “Congratulations Boyz II Men for the worst anthem rendition of the season.”

“Ears are bleeding,” echoed Threads user @casperalizander.

“Maybe they didn’t have in ears,” reasoned Threads user @formulawhat. “The wind can be lethal. (I’m coping. This is me 90s rnb coping.)”

Judge for yourself…




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About a month before the race, band member Wanya Morris made last night all the worse by raising expectations.

“I’m not sure if F1 has ever experienced hearing a Boyz II Men anthem,” he said, “but we’ve been told it’s pretty sexy.”

Banner Bad

Boyz II Men’s version was by no means championship-level awful. The high bar for screwing up “The Star-Spangled Banner” remains, of course, comedian Roseanne Barr. Her 1990 rendition at a San Diego Padres game included singing nowhere near any of the notes, grabbing her crotch and spitting on the pitcher’s mound.

After that atrocity, every bad performance finished far behind. They include Christina Aguilera’s Super Bowl XLV attempt that included wrong notes and lyrics, flubbed high notes from Olympic track star Carl Lewis prior to a 1993 Chicago Bulls game, and a slow, throaty rendition by former Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie that cracked up basketball stars Draymond Green and Steph Curry at the 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend.

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French National Lottery Operator FDJ Reports €710M Revenue in Q1

fdj_revenue_increases_7_2pct_-to_e710m_in_q1La Francaise des Jeux (FDJ), the well-known French sports betting, lottery and iGaming operator, has announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2024 and the numbers show a significant increase in revenue.

The company’s revenue in the first quarter amounted to 710 million euros, representing an increase of 7.2 percent compared to the same quarter of 2023. Moreover, the company’s gaming revenue went up by 3.1 percent compared to the first quarter of 2023 to a total of 645 million euros.

The French operator was particularly pleased with the performance of its online games segment, which managed to bring in 100 million euros, a figure which represents almost 15 percent of the group’s total revenue.

The company’s target for revenue growth in 2024 is 8 percent, though, so it will have to do better in the following three quarters in order to meet it. However, with the European Football Championships and the Olympic Games coming up this summer, the company’s revenue from sports betting will surely receive a big boost in the second and third quarters.

The operator’s revenue from its lottery operations also registered an increase of 1.4 percent year-on-year during the first quarter, amounting to 504 million euros. Sports betting and competitive online gaming brought in 141 million euros in revenue, recording an increase of 9.5 percent over the first quarter of 2023.

A Good Start

Stéphane Pallez, chairwoman and chief executive of the FDJ Group, described the company’s results in the first quarter as “a good start” for the year, especially because all the group‘s activities registered growth, from the network of 29,000 retailers to the online gaming business.

Moreover, the revenue from sports betting and competitive online gaming registered an increase despite being compared to a quarter which had seen great numbers as an effect of the impact the World Cup in Qatar had on the entire sporting world.

In fact, revenue from the online sports betting division of FDJ, ParionsSport En Ligne, registered an increase of over 25 percent during the first quarter of 2024, well beyond the other segments of the company’s business.

In other news, the management of FDJ confirmed that the company was still keen on acquiring the Kindred Group, a major international conglomerate of sports betting websites and online casinos. The French company submitted an offer worth 2.45 billion euros in January, attempting to form the second largest operator in the European gaming scene.

Source: “FDJ revenue increases 7.2% to €710m in Q1″. iGaming Business. April 18s, 2024.

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Baroness Mone’s Grand National Favorite in £202M PPE Medpro Fraud Storm

A racehorse owned by the UK’s most controversial couple may be pulled from England’s famous Grand National steeplechase, despite being one of the favorites for the race.

Michelle Mone, Doug Barrowman, Monbeg Genius, PPE Medpro, Grand National, fraud
Baroness Michelle Mone, left, with her husband, Doug Barrowman, may be the UK’s most hated couple. But what does that mean for their racehorse, Monbeg Genius, one of the favorites for the Grand National? (Image: BBC News)

Monbeg Genius is owned by Baroness Michelle Mone and her husband, Doug Barrowman, and is priced by bookmakers at 20/1 to win, making it the third favorite.

But the couple is at the center of a media storm. Mone and Barrowman are currently under investigation by the National Crime Agency, the UK’s version of the FBI, over alleged links to PPE Medpro. That company won government contracts worth £202 million (US$253 million) to produce PPE equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic.

PPE Medpro Scandal

Mone, a Scottish former model who founded the lingerie company Ultimo in 1996, was made a “life peer” in September 2015 for her services to business. This allowed her to sit in the House of Lords, the UK’s upper house, and call herself Baroness Mone of Mayfair.

PPE Medpro was contracted to supply facemasks and surgical gowns without competitive tenders under COVID-19 emergency rules that waived regular procedures.

In January 2022, it emerged that Mone used her government position to “aggressively” recommend Medpro for the contract five days before the company had been incorporated.

Much of the supplied equipment fell below the required standard, and the UK government has initiated proceedings to recoup £122 million (US$153 million) from the company.

Despite the couple’s repeated denials of involvement with PPE Medpro, The Guardian reported in November 2022 that an offshore trust received £29 million from the company via a series of transactions involving Barrowman. Mone and her children were the beneficiaries of the trust.

In late January, it was reported that £75 million worth (US$94 million) of assets controlled by the couple had been “frozen or restrained” by a court order obtained by Crown prosecutors.

Wedding Present

Meanwhile, the British Horseracing Authority is investigating whether Monbeg Genius is one of those frozen assets. Mone purchased the eight-year-old gelding in November 2020 as a wedding present for her husband.

The BHA is aware of reports regarding a court order in relation to the assets of Michelle Mone and Doug Barrowman,” a British Horseracing Authority spokesperson said in a statement. “We are in contact with the relevant individuals to understand what implications, if any, there are for their involvement with racing.”

Should Monbeg Genius be free to run, as has been suggested by The Daily Mirror, it would be bad optics for the BHA.

The Grand National is a national institution and the only horse racing event with which the general public engages every year. For bookmakers, it’s huge because it captures the “one-bet-a-year” demographic – those who choose to place a bet. After all, they see it as a harmless tradition.

The race comes with a £500K (US$627K) prize for the winning horse’s owner. Should Monbeg Genius run and come through at 20/1, he may just be the most unpopular winner in the race’s 185-year history.

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The 2023 National Basketball Association Draft Lottery

the_2023_national_basketball_association_draft_lotteryOn Tuesday, May 16th, 2023 the National Basketball Association draft lottery day has finally arrived, and the NBA is about to find out which franchise will possess the number one overall draft pick that will enable them the chance to select Victor Wembanyama in next month’s 2023 NBA Draft.

The NBA Draft Lottery Process

The 2023 NBA draft lottery will be held on Tuesday night in Chicago, Illinois where 14 – NBA franchises will ultimately have a chance to win the number 1 overall draft selection for the 2023 NBA Draft which will be held on June 22nd, 2023. The Detroit Pistons, the Houston Rockets, and the San Antonio Spurs all have the best possibility of winning the number one overall draft pick at 14 % each.

The NBA draft lottery revolves around 14 ping – pong balls going into a machine, and the 1st – four balls that come out will be matched to the predestined NBA teams that are assigned to them determining the order of the first several picks of this year’s 2023 NBA Draft this upcoming June.

The results from Tuesday night’s NBA draft lottery will be nationally broadcasted on ESPN even though the official National Basketball Association draft lottery itself actually occurs about an hour before air time in a secured room.

Each NBA franchise will have one representative in the room as well as some league officials, lottery observers, and some major sports media outlets will also be in the set room, but no one will be allowed to leave the room or communicate with anyone else until the results are eventually displayed on tv to the general public.

The NBA draft lottery originated way back in 1985. Throughout the first 5 – years, the NBA draft lottery teams (7 in 1985 – 1988, and 9 in 1989) all had an the same or an equal chance of winning the number one overall pick.

Odds started to be weighted way back in the year of 1990. During those 33 – years, the NBA franchise with the best odds of winning the number one pick only prevailed to go on and get it just 11 – times, or 33.3 %, but the NBA team holding (or tied for) the best odds entering the NBA draft lottery won the number 1 pick 7 – times over the course of last 8 – years.

Victor Wembanyama

The now 19 – year – old Wembanyama just so happens to be a 7 – foot 3 – inch power forward / center that can do it all on the hardwood. The young phenom from France is just now finishing up his 3rd – professional basketball season overseas, and he has been the consensus number – 1 2023 NBA draft pick for quite some time now.

Victor Wembanyama has the overall size of a center, the shooting touch of a wing player, and the passing ability as well as the ball handling skills of a point guard too. He is predicted to be the best number one overall draft pick entering the NBA in quite a long time.

Victor Wembanyama’s Basketball Career Achievements, Honors, & Awards

  • Pro A Champion (2022)
  • LNB All – Star Game MVP Award Winner (2022)
  • 2 – Time LNB All – Star Selection (2021, 2022)
  • 2 – Time Pro – A Best Young Player Award Winner (2021, 2022)

Sources:

The Associated Press News Services. “Draft Lottery day arrives, with the NBA about to learn where Wembanyama is going”. The Associated Press. Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

Basketball Reference News Services. “Victor Wembanyama”. Basketball Reference. Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

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