Despite temperatures below 40 F, Team Bermuda made its appearance at Sochi Winter Games Opening Ceremony rocking the namesake leg garment of their nation.
Team Bermuda it’s just one person – Tucker Murphy, a 32-year-old cross-country skier who was born in Dallas.
Tucker Murphy finished 88th in the 15 km event in 2010 in Vancouver.
More than 2,900 athletes from 87 nations paraded before 40,000 people in the Fisht Stadium before President Vladimir Putin declared the Games open.
The Olympic flame was lit by Russian former triple gold medalists Vladislav Tretiak and Irina Rodnina as fireworks illuminated the night sky.
At a cost of $50 billion, the Sochi Games is the most expensive Olympics in history.
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach used his welcome speech at the ceremony to promote Olympic values of diversity and non-discrimination.
“The Olympics are about building bridges to bring people together,” Thomas Bach said.
“They are not about erecting walls to keep people apart. Embrace human diversity and unity.”
President Barack Obama and UK’s PM David Cameron stayed away from the ceremony, which was attended by 44 heads of state.
Vladimir Putin avoided making a political statement as he stuck to protocol by using a single sentence to declare the Games open.
Spectators inside the stadium and television viewers worldwide were treated to a glittering show lasting nearly three hours and featuring 22 tonnes of fireworks.
In a grand finale, tennis star Maria Sharapova, who grew up in Sochi, carried the Olympic flame into the stadium before it passed through the hands of pole vault world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva, wrestler Aleksandr Karelin and gymnast Alina Kabaeva,
It was carried out of the arena by former figure skater Irina Rodnina and ice hockey player Vladislav Tretiak, who lit the cauldron in the middle of the Olympic park while Igor Stravinksy’s Firebird Suite filled the stadium.
In a break from Olympic tradition, the teams had earlier entered in the order of the Russian alphabet, with the host nation coming in last to deafening cheers.
Athletes from the competing nations appeared to emerge from their country’s map courtesy of a dazzling light show.
While some nations – including Nepal, Mexico and Pakistan – are sending only one competitor, the US team of 230 athletes is the largest in the history of the Winter Games.
The US have never appeared at an Olympics on Russian soil having boycotted the Moscow summer Games in 1980.
The ceremony featured a colorful journey through Russian history, celebrating the country’s rich heritage in art, music and ballet, with 3,000 performers and 2,000 volunteers taking part.
In a moving sequence the lights were lowered as performers, dressed in white to symbolize peace, danced to the strains of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Hosting an Olympics for the first time since 1980, Russian athletes are under pressure to improve on the embarrassment of 11th place at the last Winter Games in Vancouver.
Russia has devoted $940 million to elite winter sport since winning the bid to host these Games seven years ago.
The first medals of the Games will be decided on Saturday with five golds up for grabs in biathlon, cross country skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboarding and speed skating.
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Sochi Winter Games kicked off with a little girl named Lubov walking us through Russian history and culture in an eye-catching opening sequence.
When it was over, five giant illuminated snowflakes appeared suspended inside the Fisht Olympic Stadium, looking like something straight out of a child’s Spirograph.
The snowflakes morphed into the five Olympic rings. Except for that pesky last snowflake.
Vancouver had its own issues during the Opening Ceremonies back in 2010, when the elaborate cauldron failed to fully form, leaving Wayne Gretzky hanging.
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Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died last week at the age of 46, played gamesmaker Plutarch Heavensbee in the film.
He had only a week left of filming for the franchise’s final film when he died of an apparent overdose on Sunday.
Instead of rewriting the script, the film’s editors will use computer effects and camera tricks to digitally insert Philip Seymour into at least one major emotional scene, according to New York Post’s Page Six.
“You can do digital things, you can have conversations where you’re not focusing on him but the people he’s talking to,” a source tied to the films told The Hollywood Reporter.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 will be released in November 2014.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 is set for November 2015.
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Police have used rubber bullets and tear gas against protesters in the capital Sarajevo and the northern town of Tuzla.
Black smoke could be seen gushing from the presidency building in Sarajevo.
The protesters are unhappy about the lack of economic and political progress in the Balkan country.
About 40% of Bosnians are unemployed. The unrest is the worst since the end of the Bosnian war.
At least 100 people have been injured in Friday’s protests in the capital.
Sarajevo-based newspaper Dnevni Avaaz says that police used water to disperse protesters who were throwing stones at the presidency building.
On Thursday, clashes between police and demonstrators in Tuzla injured more than 130 people, mostly police officers.
The unrest began in Tuzla earlier in the week, with protests over the closure and sale of factories which had employed most of the local population.
Demonstrators in other towns, including Mostar, Zenica and Bihac, supported the Tuzla workers and criticized the government for failing to tackle the rampant unemployment.
Hundreds of people also gathered in support in the Bosnian Serb capital, Banja Luka.
Local media are reporting that the premiers of two of Bosnia’s cantons – Sead Causevic of Tuzla canton and Munib Husejnagic of Zenica-Doboj canton – are to resign.
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“The other day I was at the hair salon getting these extensions put in,” Ellen DeGeneres joked.
“And there were tabloids all over the hair salon… and on one of them, Portia and I were in the top right-hand corner. And I thought, <<Oh that’s so sweet, they’re honoring us>>. But then I read the headline underneath. And it said, <<Ellen and Portia Marriage Crumbles>>. And I was like, <<Oh, what happened? They seemed so happy>>. And then I was like, <<Wait, I’m Ellen>>. And I should know if that was happening.”
Ellen DeGeneres’s monologue took a more serious turn when she shot down the rumors.
“It’s so ridiculous to me. There’s not one ounce of truth to any of it. I’m very happily married. In fact, the only thing we ever argue about is who loves who more. That is all. It really is true,” she said.
“And we argue if we’d let a kangaroo carry us around in its pouch for a year. I would. She wouldn’t. She’ll change her mind. Who wouldn’t want to be in the pouch of a kangaroo for a year? Hopping around. And she’s like ‘no’ but anyway.”
And if an announcement about some big change in her life ever needs to be made, Ellen DeGeneres, 55, promised: “I’ll announce it here first.”
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi married in August 2008 after 4 years of dating.
After scoring a healthy 3.0 rating in the crucial 18-49 year old age group last week, the redneck reality show dipped back down to 2.5 for the February 5 episode.
However, the rating was enough to lead Duck Dynasty reality show to another Wednesday night victory among all cable shows.
Duck Dynasty topped the night as it has each of the four weeks so far in Season 5.
The Mark Wahlberg-generated reality series, Wahlburgers, also took a dip, likely suffering from the weaker Duck Dynasty lead-in. But in the absence of usual second-pace finisher American Horror Story, Wahlburgers managed to squeak into the second-ranked cable spot last night, with a 1.5 rating, down somewhat from its 1.7 of the previous week.
Wahlburgers, similar to Duck Dynasty, follows a wealthy family as they try to keep a business running smoothly.
Duck Dynasty also pulled in more than 6.5 million sets of eyeballs last night, almost twice as many as Wahlburgers, which had just under 3.5 million viewers.
George C. Wolfe is expected to direct the production, which will star fellow Tony Award winner Audra McDonald as a mother desperate to prevent her daughter from killing herself.
Scott Sanders is among the producers, who are reportedly aiming for the 2015-16 Broadway season.
‘Night, Mother is a 1983 play by Marsha Norman about a daughter, Jessie, and her mother, Thelma.
Marsha Norman worked with Oprah Winfrey and Scott Sanders as the book writer on The Color Purple.
“Oprah has had a longstanding desire to act on Broadway,” Scott Sanders told the New York Times.
“She understands how unique and challenging performing live on stage will be as an actress. She and I have been looking at a number of plays and roles in order to find material and a character that truly resonate with her. We’ve recently read something that we’re both excited about but are not yet ready to officially announce the specifics.”
Oprah Winfrey and Audra McDonald are believed to have participated in a reading of ‘Night, Mother last year with George C. Wolfe at Scott Sanders’ apartment.
Oprah Winfrey is currently working with Scott Sanders on a stripped-down Broadway revival of the musical The Color Purple, having previously teamed to produce the original Color Purple production in Broadway in 2005.
A small study of middle-aged men living in New Zealand found children born first into their family were about 14 lbs heavier and had a bigger BMI than second-borns.
They also had more insulin resistance, which can lead to health problems.
Birth order may affect the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, say researchers.
Larger studies are needed to fully evaluate this link, they add.
There is some evidence to suggest birth order may influence the body’s fat make-up and metabolism, from infancy to the teenage years.
However, the potential impact in mid-life is unknown.
Prof. Wayne Cutfield and colleagues at the University of Auckland studied 50 overweight but otherwise healthy men between the ages of 40 and 50.
“First-born men were heavier and had lower insulin sensitivity than second-borns,” they report in the journal, Scientific Reports.
“Thus, first-born adults may be at a greater risk of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.”
Prof. Wayne Cutfield said the risk of developing obesity or diabetes occurs when enough risk factors come together.
“Being first born is one such risk factor, it does not mean first-borns will become overweight or diabetic, being first-born simply increases the risk.”
The researchers say the study needs to be repeated in pairs of siblings and with more subjects.
Economists had predicted an increase of about 180,000 new jobs last month.
However, the unemployment rate fell to 6.6%, the lowest level since October 2008, as more people began looking for work.
The jobless figures will raise concern that, after a strong second half of 2013, growth in the US economy is beginning to lose its steam.
Earlier this week an unexpectedly weak manufacturing report raised concerns about the strength of the US economy and sent the Dow Jones tumbling by 326 points.
December’s surprisingly weak figure was revised up only modestly to 75,000, from 74,000.
The construction industry, most vulnerable to the impact of bad weather, added 48,000 in January indicating that while the weather may been responsible for December’s weak figures, it does not appear to have been a factor in January.
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The artwork depicts a somnambulant in nothing but underwear at Wellesley College.
Nearly 300 people have signed a petition to have the statue removed.
The work, on campus to promote a forthcoming exhibition, is designed to trigger “unexpected new ideas”, the college president said.
The sculpture – by New York-based Tony Matelli – was placed in a busy area of the Wellesley College campus days before the opening of an exhibition of the artist’s work there.
Students have reported feelings of apprehension and fear after witnessing the sculpture, and have called for it to be removed.
The art exhibition at the college’s Davis Museum runs from February 6 to July 20.
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More than 80% of tickets to Sochi Olympic events have been sold, the organizers say.
Russian spectators, who were allocated 70% of the total available, have faced lengthy lines in Sochi to collect their tickets.
Ticket collection points are operating at the airport, at railway stations in downtown Sochi and at the Olympic Park in the borough of Adler. Tickets can also be collected in Moscow.
A ticket for this evening opening ceremony costs 20,000 rubles ($578).
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Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State Victoria Nuland has apologized after a voice resembling hers used a graphic swear word in a conversation said to be with the US ambassador to Ukraine.
A recording of the apparently bugged conversation was posted online, with the US hinting at Russia’s involvement.
The EU and the US are involved in talks to end months of unrest in Ukraine.
After meeting Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych in Kiev, Victoria Nuland said she would not make a public statement on the matter.
“I will not comment on a private diplomatic conversation,” she told reporters.
Mass anti-government protests erupted in Ukraine in late November after President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign a far-reaching association and trade agreement with the EU – under heavy pressure from Moscow.
Russia has been widely accused of using its economic clout to persuade Viktor Yanukovych not to pursue closer ties with Brussels.
Russia has itself accused Washington and the EU of meddling in Ukraine.
German spokeswoman Christiane Wirtz said Angela Merkel fully supported the work EU policy chief Catherine Ashton had been doing to find a solution to the crisis.
“The chancellor finds these remarks totally unacceptable and wants to emphasize that Mrs. Ashton is doing an outstanding job,” Christiane Wirtz said.
The alleged conversation between Victoria Nuland and the US ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, appeared on YouTube on Thursday.
The 4min 10sec video was entitled “Maidan’s puppets” in Russian – a reference to the square in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, where pro-EU protests have been held for months. A transcription of the whole conversation was also posted in Russian.
At one point, the female speaker mentions the UN and its attempts to find a solution to the Ukraine stand-off.
She says: “So that would be great, I think, to help glue this thing and have the UN help glue it and you know…” she then uses the swear word about the EU.
A notable absentee from Berlin is the late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died on Sunday of a suspected drug overdose.
Philip Seymour Hoffman had been due to attend the festival to promote his film God’s Pocket.
Instead, a screening of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Oscar-winning performance in the film Capote will be screened in tribute on Tuesday.
“He was one of the greatest actors we had in the world,” festival director Dieter Kosslick told the Reuters news agency.
Wes Anderson’s latest movie The Grand Budapest Hotel stars British actor Ralph Fiennes as the famous concierge Gustave H, who woos octogenarian blonde widows at an Alpine hotel. When one dies in mysterious circumstances and leaves him a valuable painting, it sets in motion a chain of murder and mayhem.
It co-stars an enviable line-up of actors including Anderson regulars Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman, Saoirse Ronan, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Jude Law and Tom Wilkinson.
Wes Anderson is a European festival favorite. His last film, Moonrise Kingdom, opened the Cannes Film Festival in 2012 and earned him an Oscar nomination for best screenplay.
His previous films include The Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Royal Tenenbaums.
The eight-member jury, chaired by Brokeback Mountain producer James Schamus includes Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz and actress Greta Gerwig.
It will announce the winner of the prestigious Golden Bear and other prizes on February 15.
Other films screening out of competition include Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac and Calvary, a black comedy drama starring Brendan Gleeson and Chris O’Dowd.
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The announcement follows an investigation into attempts to influence the voting in favor of Azerbaijan during last year’s contest.
Organizers confirmed rigging attempts were detected by its security systems, but the votes were declared invalid.
It added there was no evidence to link Azeri broadcasters to the activity.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said as there was also no evidence to suggest Ictimai TV was aware of the attempt, no sanctions would be made.
Allegations of vote-fixing arose after Azerbaijan failed to award any points to neighboring Russia.
It prompted Azeri President Ilham Aliyev to order an inquiry, as traditionally ex-Soviet republics have regularly given each other top marks.
There were also claims of attempts in Lithuania to buy votes for Azerbaijan’s entry.
It is hoped tightening rules will “strengthen the credibility of the voting and protect the Eurovision Song Contest brand”.
The contest’s governing body, known as the Reference Group, said if voting irregularities are detected before, during or after the contest in favor of any country, it would automatically initiate procedures against the country’s broadcaster.
“Just as football clubs are, in principle, accountable for the behavior of their fans, we will hold – on a case-by-case basis – participating broadcasters accountable and make them responsible to prevent voting irregularities in favor of their entry,” said Dr. Frank Dieter Freiling, chairman of the Reference Group.
EBU executor Jon Ola Sand added: “It’s our goal to do the best we can to assure a fair and correct result.
“We know that audiences in Europe want a fair result and vote with their best intentions, but in nearly every competition, there are attempts to cheat. It’s our job to spot and stop these attempts.”
The new rule follows the announcement last September that each country’s jury will now be revealed ahead of each year’s contest in an effort to increase openness and accountability.
Previously, the identity of jury members – whose votes account for 50% of the total score awarded to competing countries – was not disclosed until after the final.
Eurovision Song Contest 2014 will take place in Copenhagen on May 10.
Jay Leno, 63, appeared emotional as he thanked viewers for their loyalty after his 22 years as host.
The long-time television host was joined by high-profile guests including Billy Crystal, Oprah Winfrey and Garth Brooks.
Fellow comedian and late-night host Jimmy Fallon, 39, takes over the program on February 17 in New York.
Jay Leno was briefly replaced on The Tonight Show by comedian Conan O’Brien in 2009, but returned to the show in 2010.
President Barack Obama was one of many to send in taped goodbyes, offering to make Jay Leno an ambassador to Antarctica.
“I hope you’ve got a warm coat, funny man,” Barack Obama joked.
Other celebrity guests on Thursday night’s show included Jack Black and Kim Kardashian.
Brooks closed the program by performing his hit song, Friends in Low Places.
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Sochi, on Russia’s Black Sea coast, will welcome about 2,900 athletes in 15 disciplines as the opening ceremony begins at 20:14 local time.
The build-up has been overshadowed by security fears, human rights concerns and delays to preparations.
But, at $50 billion, the cost of these Games is more than the combined total of all other Olympic Winter Games to date.
Canada, Norway and the United States are considered the likeliest candidates to top the Sochi medal table.
Hosting an Olympics for the first time since the boycotted Moscow Games of 1980, Russian athletes are under pressure to improve on the embarrassment of 11th place at the last Winter Games in Vancouver.
Russia has devoted $950 million to elite winter sport since winning the bid to host these Games seven years ago.
Russian attention will be focused on the men’s ice hockey team, who have yet to win Olympic gold since the break-up of the Soviet Union (although a Unified Team featuring Russian players won gold in 1992), and popular figure skater Evgeni Plushenko, who has overcome injury to feature in the Games but faces a tough task to win a medal.
Norway will look to biathlon and cross-country skiing for the bulk of their medals, while Canada’s medals will come from short track speed skating, in particular Charles Hamelin, who has the potential to be one of the faces of the Games, as well as freestyle skiing and snowboard.
The US will expect big things from Alpine skiing and bobsleigh.
In the absence of injured skier Lindsey Vonn, the leading American lights are slalom specialist Mikaela Shiffrin and snowboarder Shaun White – despite his withdrawal from the slopestyle contest on Wednesday, citing concerns over the safety of the course.
Security in Sochi has been prominent as the world’s athletes and media arrive for the Games. Threats in recent months have included repeated calls to disrupt the Olympics from the Imarat Kavkaz group in the North Caucasus, suicide bombings in the nearby city of Volgograd, and a recent US warning about the potential for “toothpaste” bombs on flights.
Journalists arriving in the region have found hotel rooms and other facilities unfinished amid a last-minute rush by organizers to complete building work, although the Olympic venues themselves have largely met with praise from athletes.
Russian opposition politicians and analysts have attributed Olympic project delays to corruption, which they say accounts for much of the Sochi Games’ substantial cost – more than three times the London 2012 budget.
Liliya Shevtsova, a senior associate at a Moscow public policy research centre, believes the Games are “an embodiment of corruption, inefficiency, irrationality, extreme vanity and megalomania”.
Sochi’s organizers do not recognize the $50 billion figure (they claim it includes the costs of infrastructure which may have been built anyway) and insist their outlay has been closer to $6.5 billion.
Alexander Zhukov, president of Russia’s Olympic Committee, said the authorities had “uncovered no cases of corruption”.
Meanwhile IOC president Thomas Bach has said athletes who oppose Russia’s “anti-gay” legislation are free to express their views in interviews with the media, but must not do so on the podium or during their events.
Sochi’s Fisht Olympic Stadium should be at full 40,000 capacity for the opening ceremony, although empty seats are anticipated at venues once the action begins.
Two weeks before the Games, organizers reported they had sold 70% of available tickets. Vancouver 2010, by contrast, sold 97% of its tickets with London 2012 achieving a similar figure.
For the first time in 30 years, events at the Winter Olympics began before the opening ceremony.
Women’s ski jump, luge team relay and biathlon mixed relay are among other events appearing on the Olympic program for the first time.
The first medals of the Games will be decided on Saturday with five golds up for grabs in biathlon, cross country skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboarding and speedskating.
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A female voice resembling that of Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland refers to the EU using a swear word, in a conversation apparently with US ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt.
The US said Victoria Nuland had “apologized for these reported comments”.
The EU and the US are involved in talks to end months of unrest in Ukraine.
Mass anti-government protests erupted in Ukraine in late November after President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign a far-reaching association and trade agreement with the EU – under heavy pressure from Moscow.
Russia has been widely accused of intervening in Ukraine, using its economic clout to persuade Viktor Yanukovych to abandon closer ties with Brussels.
Russia has itself accused Washington and the EU of meddling in Ukraine.
The alleged conversation between Victoria Nuland and the US ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, appeared on YouTube on Thursday.
The 4 min 10sec video was entitled “Maidan’s puppets” in Russian – a reference to the square in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, where pro-EU protests have been held for months. A transcription of the whole conversation was also posted in Russian.
At one point, the female speaker mentions the UN and its possible role in trying to find a solution to the Ukraine stand-off.
She says: “So that would be great, I think, to help glue this thing and have the UN help glue it and you know…” she then uses the swear word about the EU.
The male replies: “We’ve got to do something to make it stick together, because you can be pretty sure that if it does start to gain altitude the Russians will be working behind the scenes to try to torpedo it.”
The two officials also discuss frankly the merits of the three main Ukrainian opposition leaders – Vitaly Klitschko, Arseniy Yatseniuk and Oleh Tyahnybok.
The female speaker says that Vitaly Klitschko, the former heavyweight boxing world champion, should not be in any new government.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
She adds: “I think Yats [Arseniy Yatseniuk] is the guy who’s got the economic experience.”
US officials refused to confirm or deny the tape’s authenticity, but state department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said: “I didn’t say it was inauthentic.”
Jennifer Psaki said Victoria Nuland had “been in contact with her EU counterparts and of course has apologized for these reported comments”.
She also played down the comments about Ukraine’s opposition, saying: “It shouldn’t be a surprise that at any points there have been discussions about recent events and offers and what is happening on the ground.”
Jennifer Psaki hinted that the tape could have been leaked by Moscow, pointing out that a senior Russian official was one of the first to draw attention to the audio.
She said: “We think this is a new low in Russian trade-craft. This is something they’ve been actively promoting, posting on, tweeting about.”
White House spokesman Jay Carney added: “I would say that since the video was first noted and tweeted out by the Russian government, I think it says something about Russia’s role.”
Earlier on Thursday, a senior aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Washington of interfering in Ukraine’s domestic affairs.
Sergei Glazyev said the US was spending $20 million (14.8 million euros) a week on Ukrainian opposition groups, supplying “rebels” with arms among other things.
And he suggested that Moscow could also intervene.
Viktor Yanukovych held talks in Kiev with Victoria Nuland on Thursday, at which he said he favored dialogue and compromise with the opposition.
The Ukrainian leader is to meet Vladimir Putin on Friday on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
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The restrictions come a day after US officials warned that explosives could be smuggled on flights to Russia in toothpaste tubes.
Terrorists could attempt to assemble explosive devices in flight or upon arrival, the officials warned.
Security has been elevated in the lead-up to the Games, which start on Friday.
The US airline restrictions unveiled on Thursday temporarily ban carry-on liquids, gels or aerosols aboard direct flights to Russia.
Russia has already banned all liquids, pastes and gels from its airports and internal flights last month.
On Thursday, President Barack Obama said Russia had an “enormous stake” in foiling terrorism at the Games.
He told NBC television network the US government was doing everything it could to ensure athletes’ safety.
The US has already placed two warships in the Black Sea, ready to offer help in case of a security emergency during the Games.
Russian Deputy PM Dmitry Kozak has said the level of security at Sochi “is similar to that of any other safe city in the world”.
Fears surrounding the Winter Olympics in Russia were heightened following two suicide attacks in Volgograd in December, as well as numerous threats from Islamist militants in the Caucasus region.
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The lighting is traditionally performed by a prominent person from the host country, so Alina Kabaeva would certainly qualify on her own merits.
Rumors of Alina Kabaeva’s relationship with Vladimir Putin – who has been single since his divorce last year – have never been officially confirmed.
Vladimir Putin, for his part, dismissed the conjecture about Alina Kabaeva possibly lighting the torch.
“I’m aware of this [the speculation], I was told of this by [Kremlin spokesman] Dmitry Peskov. These are the usual red herrings,” News.com.au quotes President Vladimir Putin as saying while he toured a nature reserve near Sochi.
“We have many outstanding sportspeople who are significant and known in the whole world, and I am not going to interfere in this process,” Vladimir Putin said in comments broadcast on state television.
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Honey Boo Boo (aka Alana Thompson), 8, flaunted her longer, straighter locks for the cameras as she twirled in front of the studio audience.
The young star dressed brightly for occasion with a pink T-shirt with the slogan “Be Happy” written across it, and a sparkly waistcoat.
Joining Honey Boo Boo on set was Mama June, who was clutching a can of Mountain Dew.
The soft drink is a known ingredients to the controversial Go-Go Juice, that June Shannon was seen giving Honey Boo Boo in an early episode of Toddlers & Tiaras.
However, June Shannon has since revealed that she has stopped supplying the drink, and other stimulants – which she once referred to as “pageant crack”.
After the appearance, Honey Boo Boo was seen wearing her hair back to it’s shorter and curlier trademark style.
Mama June, Honey Boo Boo and the rest of the family have been spending a few days in New York City before the big interview.
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The company has signed a multiyear agreement to serve as title sponsor of the annual spring NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
The largest-attended, single-day sporting event held annually in Texas with estimated average crowds in excess of 150,000 will be known as the Duck Commander 500 with this year’s edition scheduled for Sunday, April 6. The two sides agreed to a three-year deal with a renewal option for an additional three years, but no financial terms of the agreement were announced.
“This is perhaps the most unique sponsorship in professional sports because not only does this come with special branding, it comes with celebrity spokespeople that are followed by tens of millions of people every week,” Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said in a track release.
“Fans will see members of the Robertson Family and cast of <<Duck Dynasty>> and all the rest during Duck Commander 500 week here at Texas Motor Speedway and we have produced some awesome merchandise that both race fans and Duck Commander fans will love. This marriage is perfection.”
The Duck Commander brand also will enjoy a substantial product presence on its race weekend and throughout the year at Texas Motor Speedway. An extensive line of Duck Commander 500 merchandise will be sold at track and in the Speedway World souvenir store year-round in addition to being available through Duck Commander retail partners.
Uncle Si’s Tea™ will be introduced and sold at track in single-serve options in both the sweet and unsweetened varieties. Texas Motor Speedway also will look to integrate products such as Duck Commander Family Foods’ BBQ sauce, salsa and beef jerky with the speedway signature concession items.
The Robertson family members also will have a strong presence on their race weekend, with several attending as well as having various VIP or honorary roles such as Grand Marshal or Honorary Starter.
Tickets for the Duck Commander 500 officially go on sale Friday, February 14.
Fans interested in purchasing tickets prior to that date can do so by securing season tickets or by joining the Texas Motor Speedway Fan Club. Fan Club members will be eligible for a special Duck Commander 500 pre-sale event that begins 10 a.m. E.T. Friday.
Duck Dynasty’s Phil and Miss Kay Robertson bought 21.5 acres of riverfront property in a show of commitment to their Louisiana roots.
Phil Robertson, 67, and Miss Kay, 63, purchased the land on the Ouachita River, Louisiana, before the Duck Dynasty patriarch’s suspension from the reality show by A&E following his anti-gay comments made in GQ magazine.
According to RadarOnline, the deed for the property said Phil Robertson and his wife paid $50,000 on July 17, 2013, for the plot of land.
Phil and Miss Kay Robertson have been living in a modest home in the backwoods of West Monroe, Louisiana, for years.
“As an older brother, Jase has always acted like he’s better at everything,” complained Willie Robertson.
“One time he even told me he was better at flipping channels. But this time Jase has bitten off more than he can chew.”
“The whole town? You don’t make the best burger in the family!” Jase Robertson told his younger brother Willie.
“I make better burgers than you.”
At first, the two asked Uncle Si Robertson to settle the feud but Si was no help. When asked if he preferred Willie’s burgers to Jase’s, Si Robertson answered he preferred Phil’s first and then Miss Kay’s.
“I have to eat one from both of you,” said Si Robertson.
“In a burger-eating competition, there’s no question Willie is your man but this is a burger-making competition,” said a confident Jase Robertson.
“Willie is going down. I’m like the redneck Emeril Lagasse.”
While the two competitors made their way to the grocery store to pick up ingredients, youngest brother Jep Robertson got roped into helping his father get rid of his unwanted junk.
“Around here, stuff tends to pile up,” said Phil Robertson.
“A whole lot of what most people would characterize as junk.”
When Jep Robertson showed up looking for old newspapers for his wife Jessica to use in an arts and crafts project, his father Phil capitalized on the situation.
“When my son comes rolling in, I have to seize upon the opportunity,” explained Phil Robertson.
“Next thing you know, the pile’s not there anymore.”
But Jep Robertson wasn’t falling for his father’s old tricks that easily.
Phil Robertson tried to unload old phonebooks and other paper goods on his son, but Jep stayed true to his mission and only accepted the paper.
“I’ve seen my dad try to set this kind of trap before,” Jep Robertson said.
“I came up for a few stacks of newspaper and that’s what I’m going to leave with.”
But it wasn’t long before Phil Robertson had Jep lugging a pick up truck full of junk to the recycling center.
It wasn’t until Jep Robertson had almost finished unloading the old newspapers, did Phil reveal they were covered in rat pee.
“Subdivision people, [rat pee] runs through them like sauce in a cat,” Phil Robertson said as he warned Jep to wash his hands well after touching the paper.
“Most dads would just ask for their sons help,” Jep Robertson said.
“My dad is different. But most fathers don’t have thousands of newspapers soaked with rat pee. Rat pee in my beard, thanks dad.”
Back at the Duck Commander warehouse, no duck calls were being made per usual and the boys began their cook off.
The competition got serious when Willie Robertson asked to borrow Jase’s pan.
“[Willie] wants to share [a pan] in a burger cook off?” a bewildered Jase Robertson asked.
“As competitive as Willie is, the man doesn’t understand competition.”
“Would Batman give the Penguin his bat mobile? Would I give a duck a bulletproof vest? Of course not!”
In the end, the two brothers only proved that the burger making business is better left to Phil and Miss Kay. Even Duck Commander employee and food enthusiast John Godwin couldn’t stomach their patties.
The latest migrants were found in eight boats and a barge about 120 miles south-east of Lampedusa.
They included 47 women, four of them pregnant, and 50 children, all probably from sub-Saharan Africa, the navy said.
Meanwhile, at least seven migrants have drowned trying to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa.
Local officials say the bodies of six men and a woman were found on a beach in neighboring Morocco. The dead migrants were among hundreds of people who tried to enter Spanish territory on Thursday.
The Moroccan coastguard said it had picked up 150 of the migrants, while the rest swam back to shore.
All of the victims were reportedly from sub-Saharan Africa.
Some 2,000 migrants landed on Italian shores last month, nearly 10 times the number recorded in January 2013.
Once in Italy, the migrants will be assessed to see if they have legitimate grounds for claiming asylum.
They have to satisfy the authorities that they are fleeing persecution and would face harm or even death if sent back to their country of origin.
Nearly three out of four asylum applications in EU states were rejected in 2012.
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