Every year I try and predict the year ahead, and every year I'm rubbish at it. Let's see what I predicted, how accurate I was, then I'll have a stab at foreseeing 2024.
Kev F's Confident Predictions for 2023
1 - No General Election in 2023. Rishi Sunak remains Tory leader, Keir Starmer remains Labour leader.
CORRECT - Well done me
2 - Candidates for US Presidential Election: Alexandra Ocasia Cortez, Kamala Harris, a big Hollywood actor that no-one saw coming, Kanye West, Donald Trump, a Republican who's surprisingly not very Right Wing.
PARTLY RIGHT - I got Donald Trump right, no one else
3 - Petrol prices fall, starting year around £1.60, ending around £1.20
CORRECT - Prices currently hover around £1.35
4 - House prices plummet (let's face it, we just bought a house, what else could happen?)
CORRECT - Well, not a plummet, but they went down slightly. (House prices fall 1.8%)
5 - Eurovision won by Ireland
WRONG - Won by Sweden, Ireland didn't even make the final
6 - Marvel cancel production on a movie or one bombs so bad they have to reassess their schedules
CORRECT - Though it was the writers and actors strikes that mostly caused it, they also had poor box office for a couple of movies. (Why Marvel is only releasing one movie in 2024)
7 - A well known manga title becomes an international hit live action film, spawning an explosion in titles that start to rival Marvel & Disney franchises
NOT THAT I'M AWARE OF
8 - TV remakes: The Avengers, Stingray, Quatermass, Crossroads, Mr & Mrs, Gallery (the old George Melly series), Roald Dahl's Tales Of The Unexpected, Happy Days, That Was The Week That Was.
CORRECT (in part) - Nolly told the Crossroads behind the scenes story, and Roald Dahl's back catalogue is being made into TV including short stories.
9 - Eastenders has a record number of deaths
NOT REALLY - Two deaths (Lola and Keanu) which is about average
10 - National newspaper goes out of business: Daily Star
WRONG - Local papers both closed and opened (here's a list of them all) but no biggies
11 - Surprise technology hit: AI versions of your dead relatives, from old VHS recordings
WRONG - Well, not yet. The biggest thing AI did this year was draw people with the wrong number of fingers
12 - Bands that get virtual revivals (like ABBAtars): Kiss, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Genesis, an immersive Starlight Express, and a Busby Berkeley musical
CORRECT - I knew Kiss would be the first and, as you can see here, I was right.
13 - Strictly contestants: An old Radio 1 DJ (Mike Read, Bruno Brookes, Peter Powell), a respected author (JK Rowling, Val McDermid, Mallorie Blackman), a social pariah (Justin Lee Collins, Graham Linehan, Rebekah Vardy)
WRONG - Nobody fitted any of those categories at all
14 - Things that I predict cos I don't want them to happen:
- Widespread power cuts - SADLY RIGHT, this week in Scotland
- War in Ukraine continues right through year - SADLY RIGHT
- Another big war somewhere - SADLY RIGHT, in Israel and Gaza
- Lots of celebrity deaths and they're all younger than me - SADLY RIGHT, inevitably. In fact it was a big year for them
So, to conclude last year's list, I can reveal that I got MORE GUESSES RIGHT than ever before. Unfortunately that's mostly a result of predicting wars would continue, celebs would die, house prices would fall, and obvious things would stay the same. But I struck lucky with those mentions of Crossroads and my predictions about Marvel movies and virtual avatar performers.
And so to 2024. What do I think will happen...?
Kev F's Confident Predictions for 2024
1 - A General Election, and it'll be won by Labour.
2 - New Tory Leader by Christmas and it'll be Penny Mordaunt
3 - US Presidential Election won by Trump for Republicans (NB: I'll be glad to be wrong)
4 - House prices up slightly (2%)
5 - Petrol prices remain very similar (currently £1.35 to £1.45)
6 - Eurovision won by Australia
7 - Disney drops or downgrades one of its properties, Marvel or Star Wars
8 - Comics that get made into TV or movies: Robot Archie, Lucky Luke, the old gasmask Sandman, Challengers Of The Unknown, Metal Men.
9 - TV revivals: I Claudius, a show by the children or grandchildren of Monty Pythons, Call My Bluff, Jeux Sans Frontieres, Not The Nine O'Clock News
10 - Biopic subjects: Ned Sherrin, Paul Daniels, Noel Coward, Marti Caine, Victoria Wood
11 - Tribute bands get their own TV talent show
12 - Surprise technology hit: Walking talking AI toy kids have conversations with
13 - There'll be a White Christmas
14 - Hot summer or wet summer? I say... hot.
15 - Things that I predict cos I don't want them to happen:
- Widespread flooding
- War in Ukraine continues right through year
- War in Israel and Gaza continues right through year
- Lots of celebrity deaths, inc acts who were on Top Of The Pops 83/84 and Live Aid
On which positive note, onwards and upwards and a Happy New Year when it comes
My Books and where to get them:
Shakespeare Omnibus Collection (all 3 books) -
Amazon
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