London

BGT: 2014 voting results revealed!

7 June 2014 10:47 PM
BGT 2014 ITV Promo

BGT 2014 Promo © ITV

Collabro have won this year’s Britain’s Got Talent.

The musical theatre group take home the £250,000 prize and will be performing for the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance. The boys who wowed tonight with their version of Stars from Les Miserables thanked their fans.

Lucy Kay came second with Bars and Melody taking third place.

Now that we finally know who this year’s winner is, let’s have a look at the percentage of votes from each day of the live shows! You can see last years voting results – which saw Attraction win by clicking here.

Semi Final 1

Collabro 62.3%
Darcy Oake 15.5%
Jon Clegg 9.4%
CountryVive 4.0%
Micky Dumoulin 3.0%
Lauren & Terrell 2.8%
Patsy May 1.3%
Christian Spridon 0.9%
Henrietta Adewole 0.8%

Semi Final 2

James Smith 41.3%
Jodi Bird 16.5%
The Addict Initiative 11.4%
Mini Moves 7.3%
Ed Drewett 7.0%
BoldDog FMX Team 6.4%
SweetChix 5.5%
Ricky K 4.1%
Kony Puppets 0.5%

Semi Final 3

Lucy Kay 45.8%
Yanis, Arnaud & Mehdi 21.5%
Cartel 11.5%
Ellis Chick 9.7%
Reaformed 5.2%
Sam Jones 2.4%
Crazy Rouge 1.9%
Kitty & Rosie 1.5%
Brian Chan 0.5%

Semi Final 4

Bars & Melody 47.5%
Lettice Rowbotham 16.8%
Innova Irish Dance Co 13.8%
Light Balance 11.7%
Eva Iglesias 5.6%
Toju 1.9%
Kieran & Sarah 1.5%
Pyroterra 0.7%
Allan Turner-Ward 0.5%

Semi Final 5

Jack Pack 57.0%
Paddy & Nico 13.9%
Bailey McConnell 12.4%
Jenson Zhu 4.1%
Kings & Queens 3.5%
La Voix & LGBB 3.3%
Andrew Derbyshire 2.3%
Kieran Lai 2.0
Peat Loaf & Elaine 1.5%

Live Final

Collabro 26.5%
Lucy Kay 17.0%
Bars & Melody 14.3%
Jack Pack 10.6%
Darcy Oake 8.5%
James Smith 6.9%
Jon Clegg 5.2%
Lettice Rowbotham 4.0%
Paddy & Nico 3.6%
The Addict Initiative 2.4%
Yanis, Arnaud & Mehdi 1.0%

Are you super-thrilled that Collabro took the title of Britain’s Got Talent 2014 series 8? Let us know down in the comments below!

That’s it from this year, we will see you in two-thousand-and-fifteen!

London Riot Cleanup Begins as Police Look to BBM, Camera Footage

9 August 2011 4:22 PM

Riots that consumed London spread to other cities in England last night, and not surprisingly, affected residents took to sites like Facebook and Twitter to discuss the damage. Efforts to organize attacks via services like BlackBerry Messenger, meanwhile, gave way to online cleanup efforts.

Riotcleanup.com is currently tracking recovery efforts throughout London. People are scheduled to gather at the Brixton tube station tonight at 6:30pm local time, for example, while others will meet up outside Bruce Grove Station at 8:30am tomorrow. Additional details are also available on the group’s Twitter account and Facebook Page.

In some cases, onlookers have reported that local officials are already handling things. A man who stopped by Hackney Town Hall, for example, said that in the 40 minutes he was there, “a good 30 people arrived, saw there was nothing left to do and dispersed, most to go to Clapham . In short, it was pretty much sorted. The main point is that people turned up and shifted the focus back onto localism/community.”

How did this happen?
The riots were sparked last week by the police shooting of 29-year-old taxi passenger Mark Duggan; violence started the following day when bottles were thrown at two patrol cars near a police station, setting them ablaze, according to a BBC timeline of events. Attacks escalated in recent days, spreading last night to cities like Birmingham, Bristol, and Liverpool.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver tweeted that the riots claimed his Birmingham restaurant. “Sadly my restaurant in Birmingham got smashed up windows all gone whole area closed, cant open, staff and customers all safe!!thankfully jox,” he wrote.

Another building that didn’t survive was a Sony DADC warehouse in Enfield, which was set ablaze (video below). Those hoping to loot PlayStations, however, were likely disappointed; the warehouse produces CDs and DVDs. Last night’s fire is potentially devastating to several independent record labels that housed their stock at the warehouse, The Guardian reported.

One piece of technology that reportedly aided rioters was BlackBerry Messenger, which allowed gangs of teenagers to communicate in a secret and untraceable manner. According to a recent study from the U.K.’s Office of Communication (Ofcom), approximately 37 percent of U.K. teens have BlackBerrys, a preference that is driven primarily because of access to BBM, which allows free texting between BlackBerry owners.

In a Monday statement, Research in Motion said it was cooperating with authorities on the matter.
“As in all markets around the world where BlackBerry is available, we cooperate with local telecommunications operators, law enforcement and regulatory officials,” RIM said. “Similar to other technology providers in the U.K. we comply with The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and co-operate fully with the Home Office and U.K. police forces.”

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, or RIPA, is a law enacted in 2000 that allows for government interception of communications, particularly as it relates to the Internet and encrypted electronic communications.

Scotland Yard, meanwhile, issued a warning to rioters, promising to “identify you and bring you to justice.”

The agency today started releasing photos of alleged looting suspects, captured by surveillance cameras, which will be housed on the Metropolitan Police’s Flickr page. If anyone recognizes those pictured, they can call the Major Investigation Team at 020 8345 4142 or report someone anonymously via the Crimestoppers line at 0800 555 111.

Temporary police commissioner Tim Godwin said today that “there are no plans for the army to get involved.” In the next 24 hours, Scotland Yard has pledged to put 16,000 officers on the street. As of last night, police had arrested 334 people and charged 69.

According to The Guardian, last night’s violence claimed its first life; a man died after being shot in his car in Croydon, south London.

Water cannon will be used on rioters?

9 August 2011 12:12 AM

Cold shower ... Premier Iemma's $600,000 APEC toy / Brad Newman.

The New South Wales Government has unveiled the latest weapon in its battle to stop protesters disrupting next month’s APEC summit – a $600,000 armoured truck, fitted with a high-powered water cannon.

The US-built truck, which has an airtight cabin to protect its users from tear gas, is the first of its type in Australia. Wire mesh covers its shatter-proof windows, a heavy bar at the front allows it to ram obstructions out of the way and has a bigger fuel tank.

The truck can hold 12,000 litres of water to service its cannon, which is capable of knocking people off their feet and drenching a crowd within seconds.

“I hope that we’ll never have to use a piece of equipment like this.” Premier Morris Iemma said after a demonstration of the truck’s ability to shoot water at targets up to 50m away.

“But if the situation arises, if there are people who take the law into their own hands with riotous behaviour on our streets, then this is a good weapon to have to restore order and control.”

The truck, brought to Australia in March when officers started their training for APEC, was officially welcomed into the armoury of the NSW Police’s riot squad today. Mr Iemma said it could be used to protect police if dangerous situations arose during the course of the summit.
“It’s the men and women of the police force who are sent in to the front line to deal with these dangerous situations, their protection is just as important as the protection of the public.” Mr Iemma said.

But the Greens today accused the Government of taking a heavy-handed approach to the September 2-9 conference, which will take place behind a fenced-off area of Sydney’s harbour foreshore.
NSW Greens MP John Kaye said police were yet to sit down for talks with organisers of a major protest that was expected to draw tens of thousands who want to voice their opposition to war in Iraq and call for action of climate change.

“They are not there for violence.” Dr Kaye said today.

“This water cannon will not be effective if there is a small number of protesters who muck up … water cannons don’t work in those type of environments. Innocent people can get mowed down, knocked over and injured by a water cannon.”

The NSW opposition said today it supported the water canon’s acquisition.

But Liberal leader Barry O’Farrell said more advertising was needed to alert Sydney residents to the APEC public holiday on Friday, September 7.

“While I don’t normally support government advertising, particularly because of its regular abuse by this Labor Government, there is still considerable confusion about the APEC public holiday.” Mr O’Farrell said.

Alex Bainbridge, spokesman for protest group Stop Bush Coalition, said the water cannon would not deter activists from protesting against the war in Iraq, global warming and the Federal Government’s workplace reform at Sydney’s Town Hall on September 8.

The group also is planning a smaller visual stunt to mark US President George W Bush’s arrival in Sydney on September 4.

“It’s not a comforting thought to think that they might be going to prepare to use a water cannon against us.” – Mr Bainbridge said.
“But it’s even more worrying to think about the innocent people being killed in the war in Iraq, and the fate of humanity if global warming isn’t held in check.”

BREAKING NEWS: Amy Winehouse, 27, found dead at her London flat

23 July 2011 5:49 PM

Amy Winehouse aged, 27

Amy Winehouse has been found dead at her home in London, it has been reported. The Back To Black singer was apparently found at 4pm and her death is believed to be unexplained.
Winehouse had been seen with her goddaughter Dionne Bromfield earlier this week as the teenager took to the stage at the iTunes festival.

While she didn’t perform any tracks, Winehouse apparently begged the crowds to buy Dionne’s album. A source said: “Amy staggered onstage and grabbed the mic to beg the crowd to buy her protege’s new album.” Winehouse’s appearance at the concert came after she cancelled her European tour following a disastrous performance in June when she stumbled onto the stage in Belgrade and gave an incoherent performance appearing very disorientated and removed from reality.

Following the concert which saw fans enraged and the subsequent video that circulated to millions she cancelled the remaining dates of her European tour. A statement released by the troubled singer’s spokesperson said that the 27-year-old would be given ‘as long as it takes’ to recover. The statement read “Amy Winehouse is withdrawing from all scheduled performances. Everyone involved wishes to do everything they can to help her return to her best and she will be given as long as it takes for this to happen.“

[LIVE] Theft knocks out O2 coverage in parts of South East (Updated!)

17 May 2011 1:38 PM

is racing to restore mobile coverage in parts of London, Kent and East Sussex, after theft and vandalism hit an East London operations site.

The mobile network operator put up a service message at 12:50am on Tuesday, reading: “We’ve got a problem that means you can’t make calls, use the internet, or send/get texts and emails in parts of East London, North London, east Sussex and Kent.” The message was still up around 12 hours later, at the time of writing.

“We continue working hard to address the issue affecting services in parts of North and East London, Kent and East Sussex,” O2 said in a statement shortly after midday. “This was caused by theft and vandalism at one of our operations sites in East London. We sincerely apologise to affected customers and will update progress regularly.”

The mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Giffgaff, which uses O2’s network to provide its services, has maps on its forum detailing the extent of the 2G and 3G outages.

Keep an eye on http://status.o2.co.uk, Iif you’ve been affected by this – o2 have added some frequently asked questions on our blog and hope to get this fixed as soon as possible. (blog post)

Update: Tuesday, 17 May 2011, 16:24:49 BST – There is reports that o2 is working again (as of texts & calls) in Sittingbourne Kent area. (ME10)

Update: Tuesday, 17 May 2011, 16:42:04 BST – Another report that you might have to restart your Phone/Device for it to start working again! (thanks to Steff Duchesne for this update!)

Update: Tuesday, 17 May 2011, 17:30:24 BST – o2: “We’ve been restoring service to the affected areas and from 16:30 onwards people have started to be able to use their phones again, although there are still some pockets of no coverage remaining. We are carefully monitoring this throughout the night.”