Gangnam Style song is believed to have helped South Korea record its best ever year for tourism and now is turn America into snacking more healthily as PSY appeared in a Super Bowl commercial for Wonderful Pistachios.
PSY took part in a funny parody of Gangnam Style for Wonderful Pistachios which stars including reality TV’s Khloe Kardashian and her basketball player husband Lamar Odom have helped to promote.
Opting for a green version of his smart suit look, PSY, 35, gets his groove on with some oversize nuts as opposed to “sexy ladies” as dancers.
The video begins with him cracking out of a pistachio shell to the words “crackin” Gangnam Style’ before he finds himself in a dance battle with a life-size version of the snack.
PSY then whips off his bright blazer and grinds on the floor beneath the brand’s mascots while the background music lyrics are changed to “hey, crack your nuts now”.
Gangnam Style Wonderful Pistachios Super Bowl commercial
The 30-second commercial then continued to show brief moments of the dance craze that swept the globe last year as it rains pistachio skins.
It finally ends with the narrator stating: “PSY does it, then we all go nuts,” with the term “healthy snacking” on the screen.
Despite previously claiming he would retire the annoying track, PSY wasn’t shy about self-promotion.
He tweeted after the advert aired during the huge American football game: “Go nuts for my new #sb47 ad!!! Watch it now & show your love with a 10 at @usatoday. #crackinstyle.”
It marks PSY’s first ever appearance in an American TV advert and Wonderful Pistachio’s debut in the prestigious event’s expensive advertising slot.
Alicia Keys cut a striking figure as she sat down behind a silvery white grand piano in the middle of the field at the Super Bowl on Sunday to deliver an all-new version of the Star Spangled Banner before kick off in New Orleans.
Alicia Keys showed no nerves as she confidently sung a mellow, jazzy rendition of anthem in front of an estimated audience of more than 150 million.
The US National Anthem was interspersed with shots of American soldiers overseas spliced with emotional watching athletes.
At the culmination of her performance, Alicia Keys closed her eyes and held her arms aloft in a type of victory salute.
Following the furor of Beyonce lip syncing to the Star Spangled Banner at President Barack Obama’s Inauguration, the pressure was on Alicia Keys to deliver.
Alicia Keys delivered an all-new version of the Star Spangled Banner before super Bowl kick off in New Orleans
“I’m really excited about it, I can’t even lie,” Alicia Keys told The Huffington Post prior to Sunday’s performance.
“I have to rehearse it totally, as if it’s a brand-new song, because it is actually a brand new song in the style that I’ll deliver it. I’m actually rehearsing it like a maniac.”
Luckily, Alicia Keys’ rendition went off without a hitch, unlike Christina Aguilera’s notorious line fluffing back in 2011.
She follows in the footsteps of stars including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson and Jordin Sparks in performing the anthem.
Visa Credit Card Company has been sued by Australia’s competition watchdog for alleged “misuse of market power”.
The organization has accused Visa of preventing customers from using a currency of their choice in transactions.
The regulator also alleged that Visa “engaged in exclusive dealing” and barred retailers from using rival currency conversion services.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleged that such practices were meant to boost Visa’s revenue.
Rod Sims, chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said that such moves meant that travelers to Australia were not able to decide “who does their currency conversion when withdrawing cash from an ATM”.
Visa has been sued by Australia’s competition watchdog for alleged “misuse of market power”
“In particular, they are denied the ability to know the cost of transactions in their own currency at the time the transaction is made.”
Rod Sims added that Visa’s practices of not allowing use of rival currency conversion systems at merchant outlets also meant that retailers were denied opportunity to share the revenue arising from such transactions.
“Finally, it is alleged that Australian suppliers of dynamic currency conversion (DCC) services were, and continue to be, denied the opportunity to compete with Visa in relation to DCC services at ATMs.”
Iraqi war veteran Eddie Ray Routh has been charged with murdering ex-US Navy Seal sniper Chris Kyle and his neighbor in Texas.
Eddie Ray Routh, 25, is accused of the shootings at a gun range on Saturday.
Chris Kyle and his neighbor, Chad Littlefield, were reported to have been trying to help Eddie Ray Routh deal with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Chris Kyle, 38, wrote the 2012 bestseller American Sniper, about the psychology of a sniper, in which he said that he had killed more than 250 people.
He served four tours of duty in Iraq and was decorated for bravery.
The gunman opened fire at about 15:30 local time at the Rough Creek Lodge range, then fled in a pick-up truck belonging to one of the victims, local media reported.
Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant said Eddie Ray Routh then travelled to his sister’s home, telling her what had happened before leaving.
She called the police and Eddie Ray Routh was arrested near his home in Lancaster, Texas, more than 70 miles from the scene of the shooting, several hours later.
Sheriff Tommy Bryant said the motive for the killings was unclear, but noted “it’s my understanding that the suspect may have been suffering from some type of mental illness from being in the military himself”.
Iraqi war veteran Eddie Ray Routh has been charged with murdering ex-US Navy Seal sniper Chris Kyle and his neighbor in Texas
Travis Cox, director of a non-profit-making organization Chris Kyle had helped found, told the Associated Press news agency that Eddie Ray Routh was suffering from PTSD and that Kyle and Chad Littlefield were trying to help him.
“Chris died doing what he filled his heart with passion – serving soldiers struggling with the fight to overcome PTSD,” Travis Cox said.
Chad Littlefield was Chris Kyle’s “work-out buddy” and volunteered his time with the veterans, Mr Cox said.
Scott McEwen, who co-authored the book with Chris Kyle, said: “It just comes as a shock and it’s staggering to think that after all Chris has been through, that this is how he meets his end, because there are so many ways he could have been killed.”
Chris Kyle, a former cowboy, is regarded as the most prolific sniper the US has ever seen.
Official Pentagon figures say he killed 160 people, but he estimated the total was 255.
According to military intelligence, he was nicknamed “the Devil” by Iraqi insurgents, who put a $20,000 bounty on his head.
The image of a skull which it is thought could be that of Richard III has been released ahead of DNA test results.
Last year a University of Leicester team dug on the site of a church where it was believed the king was buried.
They found a skeleton with a badly curved spine and head injuries consistent with recorded details of Richard’s death in 1485.
Results of DNA tests on the bones are to be released at a press conference which got under way at 10:00 GMT.
Dr. Jo Appleby, from the University’s School of Archaeology and Ancient History, led the study of the skull.
He said: “The skull was in good condition, although fragile, and was able to give us detailed information about this individual. It has been CT scanned at high resolution in order to allow us to investigate interesting features in as much detail as possible.
“In order to determine whether this individual is Richard III we have built up a biological profile of its characteristics. We have also carefully examined the skeleton for traces of a violent death.”
Richard’s two-year reign signaled the end of the dynastic struggle known as the Wars of the Roses and is seen by some historians as the last act of the medieval era.
His death at Bosworth – the last English king to be killed in battle – ushered in the Tudor dynasty beginning with Henry VII.
The image of a skull which it is thought could be that of Richard III has been released ahead of DNA test results
Shakespeare then helped to make Richard notorious as one of the English language’s most memorable villains.
While he remains for many historians the prime suspect in the death of his nephews – the Princes in the Tower – the skeleton’s discovery has provided a golden opportunity for those seeking to restore his reputation to put their case.
Dr. Phil Stone, chair of the Richard III Society, said: “This is an incredibly exciting time for anyone interested in Richard – it is simply the biggest news to hit Ricardian studies for 500 years.
“I really hope it is him. It is important, not just because it answers questions about what happened to his body but it gives us a chance to give him the solemn and respectful burial he deserves.
“And along with that it gives us an opportunity to show the wider public what Richard was really like and remind them Shakespeare’s play was fiction.”
In September, the university confirmed there was “strong evidence” a skeleton found beneath a council car park in the Greyfriars area of Leicester was the lost king.
The remains have been subjected to a battery of tests, including DNA, carbon dating and environmental analysis in an effort to confirm the identification.
The DNA tests are based on samples from a possible 17th generation descendant of Richard’s sister.
Who was Richard III?
Richard was born at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, where Mary Queen of Scots was later executed
As Duke of Gloucester, Richard took a rampant white boar as his sign
His coronation took place in Westminster Abbey, in a ceremony very similar to HM the Queen’s
Richard had one of the shortest reigns in British history – 26 months
He was the last English king to die in battle, killed by the forces of the future Henry VII
French jets have carried out air strikes in Mali’s far north as they try to secure the final rebel stronghold of Kidal after a three-week offensive.
Thirty jets targeted Islamist militants’ training and communication centres around Tessalit – a mountainous area near the Algerian border.
France’s President Francois Hollande has pledged to help rebuild Mali after the rebels who seized its north are beaten.
But there are fears the fighters could re-group in the mountains near Kidal.
It is believed that several French civilian hostages are being held by militants in the area, making the situation even more delicate.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told France Inter radio on Monday that the air strikes were aimed at “destroying the bases and depots” of the rebels.
He said: “They cannot stay there a long time unless they have new supplies.”
Although French troops captured Kidal’s airport on Wednesday, rebels from a Tuareg group who want their own homeland in northern Mali – the MNLA – still have control of the town itself.
Malian Interim President Dioncounda Traore has offered to hold talks with the MNLA in order to help secure Kidal.
At the same time, French-led forces will begin chasing down Islamist militants who have retreated to desert or mountainous hide-outs.
Tessalit is about 200 km (125 miles) north of Kidal and is a gateway to the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains, where rebels are believed to have sought refuge after being forced from the main population centres in the north and east of the country.
French jets have carried out air strikes in Mali’s far north as they try to secure the final rebel stronghold of Kidal after a three-week offensive
Reports have also emerged that a senior figure in the main militant Islamist movement – Ansar Dine – has been captured near the Algerian border by a rival separatist group.
Malian security sources quoted by AFP news agency named the man as Mohamed Moussa Ag Mouhamed, third in command of the group. The report cannot be verified.
Speaking in Bamako on Saturday, Francois Hollande pledged more French aid to its former colony and vowed to restore cultural sites damaged by the rebels.
Francois Hollande received a warm welcome on Saturday as he visited the northern desert city of Timbuktu, which was recaptured by French and Malian troops a week ago.
On Monday, Laurent Fabius said France intended to hand over control of Timbuktu to African forces as soon as possible.
He said a French withdrawal from the city “could take place very quickly, we are working on it”.
A total of 3,500 French troops are currently in Mali.
Nearly 2,000 army personnel from Chad and Niger are helping consolidate the recent gains. A further 6,000 troops will be deployed as part of the UN-backed African-led International Support Mission to Mali (Afisma).
Despite the rapid progress of French forces in recapturing parts of the north, it may be premature to talk of mission accomplished, analysts say.
It is thought the mountainous areas around Kidal provide perfect hiding places for the militants.
On Saturday Francois Hollande said it would be wrong to assume the operation was over while Dioncounda Traore said it would be difficult to completely rid the country of Islamists.
Beyonce formally announced the tour dates for her Mrs. Carter Show world tour on her website Sunday night.
Beyonce will kick off in Belgrade on April 15 and make eight stops in the UK and Ireland between April 29 and May 7.
The singer will then take a month off between the European tour’s end in Stockholm on May 29 and resume at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on June 28.
In an ode to her husband Jay-Z – whose real name Shawn Carter inspired the name of the tour – Beyonce will end the tour on August 3 in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York.
The show will be at the newly built Barclay’s Center, which Jay-Z owns a share of and where the couple rent out a basement suite for $1million per year.
The title was first leaked on Friday when ticketing giant LiveNation accidentally posted a promotional poster for Beyonce’s not-yet-announced world tour on its UK site.
Beyonce formally announced the tour dates for her Mrs. Carter Show world tour on her website Sunday night
In the promotional image published Friday, Beyonce Knowles looks every bit the queen of pop with a billowing Victorian updo topped with a crown and golden royal-looking garb.
The snap appears to be part of a royal theme for her performances, which was also used as the story line for an O2 advert released last week that promoted the UK leg of her tour.
Beyonce, who celebrated her daughter’s first birthday on January 7, had been keeping mum on any plans to return on tour until last week at an NFL press conference.
Instead, she was joined by her former Destiny’s Child members Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams – as well as a couple of holograms of herself.
“I may have an announcement after the performance,” she said Thursday.
“Fans should just stay tuned to see.”
The tour’s name has also fuelled speculation that Beyonce and Jay-Z might perform together, and there were even rumors the 43-year-old rap star would join his wife onstage when she performed during this Sunday’s half-time show.
Beyonce took to the stage at Sunday’s Super Bowl with trademark style, with an all-singing, all-dancing spectacular greatest hits set for the half time show, which culminated in her being joined on stage by Destiny’s Child bandmates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams.
Beyonce, 31, sported a plunging leather Rubin Singer corset and skirt which she stripped off to reveal a lace underlay during a slick, energetic show packed with special effects at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
However, her show may have taken up a large amount of electricity, with the power in the stadium going out shortly after the 14 minute set.
Beyonce emerged onstage singing lines from her R&B hit Love on Top under a giant lit up silhouette of herself, with a group of fans running on to the field to watch next to the lit up stage in the shape of two facing profiles of the singer.
Black over-the-knee socks over fishnet tights and high heeled ankle boots completed Beyonce’s sexy outfit designed by little known New York based Rubin Singer.
The stage was dark while fire and lights burst from the sides as she began hit Crazy in Love, complete with a guitar flaming as it played out its solo.
The clearly pumped up star even blew a kiss to the crowd, before beginning her show in front of fireworks and light effects on video screens.
Beyonce’s spectacular performance provided an elaborate contrast to the on-field sporting action between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers, with special effects including a light show, fireworks, and kaleidoscopic multiple video footage of the star.
Her background singers helped out as Beyonce danced around the stage throughout most of her performance.
Beyonce was joined on super Bowl 2013 stage by Destiny’s Child bandmates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams
There was a backing track to help fill in when she wasn’t singing – and there were long stretches when she let it play as she performed elaborate dance moves with a swarm of background dancers and band members.
Beyonce performed a number of hits including End of Time, and Baby Boy before being joined by Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland who wore similar revealing black outfits.
Kelly Rowland sported a leather leotard with identical stockings and boots, while Michelle Williams sported a ultra short black miniskirt over her slinky leather number.
Michelle Williams had previously denied the band would reunite for the event, saying she had a prior commitment to appear in the musical Fela.
So there was clear delight from the crowd when they took the stage, singing with the diva on their massive hits Bootylicious and Independent Woman, along with Beyonce’s smash hit Single Ladies.
However, the trio left out their more recent effort, the slow number Nuclear – the first new Destiny’s Child recording in eight years, which was released last month.
But after the show, there were rumblings from critics and fans that Kelly and Michelle’s vocals were unable to be heard over Beyonce’s.
To close the 14-minute set, Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland left Beyonce to perform emotional show-stopper Halo.
Muhammad Ali’s family is locked in a bitter feud over the former heavyweight boxing champion as his life slips away, his brother, Rahman Ali, claimed.
Rahman Ali said his sister-in-law Lonnie has cut off Muhammad Ali from his family and is “draining” him as his mental and physical faculties are eroded by Parkinson’s disease.
Muhammad Ali’s brother lives in poverty in a small flat in his family’s hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, where the boxing legend owns one of his three mansion homes.
Rahman Ali said he and his family had been barred from visiting the three-time heavyweight world champion and could only speak to him on the phone.
“We’ve all been pushed out. The only time I get to see him is at public events,” said Rahman Ali, himself an ex-boxer.
“She and her family are draining him. It’s so sad. There’s nothing I can do, they’ve blocked us all off.”
Rahman Ali, 69, said his 71-year-old brother was so crippled by Parkinson’s, the degenerative brain condition that has afflicted many ex-boxers, he might not survive until the summer.
“My brother can’t speak – he doesn’t recognize me. He’s in a bad way. He’s very sick,” Rahman Ali told a Sunday newspaper.
“It could be months, it could be days.”
Rahman Ali said his sister-in-law Lonnie has cut off Muhammad Ali from his family and is “draining” him as his mental and physical faculties are eroded by Parkinson’s disease
Rahman Ali, who retired from boxing after suffering several strokes, said he last saw his famous brother in July last year at the Sports for Peace Gala in London.
He said that in the days when his brother could still communicate, he had told him he was not in pain, adding: “I’ve achieved everything I’ve ever wanted to accomplish. Don’t cry for me, I’m in no pain.”
Rahman Ali also claims that his brother, estimated to be worth more than $80million, told him he had set up a trust fund for him. But his sister-in-law had “put a stop to it”.
He added that Muhammad Ali’s nine children were also having trouble getting hold of their father.
Rahman Ali said the closest they get is when Lonnie puts him on the phone, although he is only able to breathe down the line.
“If he knew what was happening and where I’m living now, he’d be as mad as hell, so angry,” Rahman Ali said.
“If he saw what was happening with his children, he’d go crazy.”
The two brothers – born Cassius and Rudolph Clay – were the only two children of poor parents, who worked as a billboard painter and a household domestic.
Rahman Ali copied his brother when he changed his name, but his career in boxing was short-lived and he retired in the 1960s.
Muhammad Ali has been married four times. Yolanda “Lonnie” Williams, became wife number four in Louisville in 1986.
Jacoby Jones scored two of the most spectacular touchdowns in Super Bowl history as Baltimore Ravens beaten San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in a thriller.
First Jacoby Jones, playing in his native New Orleans, caught a long Joe Flacco pass before running into the endzone.
Then, after Beyonce’s stunning half-time show, Jones returned the kick-off 108 yards in barely 11 seconds for the longest ever Super Bowl play.
After a long delay due to a power cut, the 49ers hit back but fell just short.
The third quarter will go down as one of the most crazy and dramatic encounters ever seen in the NFL, let alone in a Super Bowl.
Many of the 70,000-plus crowd at the Superdome were still recovering from a high-octane half-time show performance by Beyonce and her old Destiny’s Child bandmates when Jones received David Akers’ kick-off eight yards deep inside his own endzone.
Rather than take the sensible option of appealing for a fair catch, he elected to run the ball and ghosted past the 49ers defenders without barely a touch.
After Baltimore raced into an early lead courtesy of a pair of Joe Flacco touchdown passes to Anquan Boldin and Dennis Pitta, Jacoby Jones extended Baltimore’s advantage to 21-3 when he caught Flacco’s perfectly floated downfield pass and then, realising he had not been touched by a defender, showed equally quick mental agility to get up and trot into the endzone.
After trailing 21-6 at the break, and then 28-6 following Jones’s kick-off return, San Francisco could have been forgiven for giving up.
But they were inspired by something truly unprecedented – half of the lights going off, and not being fixed fully for 34 minutes.
Jacoby Jones scored two of the most spectacular touchdowns in Super Bowl history as Baltimore Ravens beaten San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in a thriller
While wags joked that 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh may have had something to do with it, the truth was that it was his side – rather than the floodlights – which had a power surge against the Ravens, who are coached by his older brother John Harbaugh.
First they were aided by some comical defending by the Ravens, which let Michael Crabtree turn an already impressive gain into a 31-yard touchdown as two defenders crashed into each other.
Then, after a good punt return, Frank Gore ran unopposed into the right hand corner of the endzone from six yards.
Suddenly the 49ers were only 20-28 down, and things got even worse for the Ravens when San Francisco cornerback Tarell Brown stripped the ball out of Ray Rice’s hands and fell on the loose ball himself for a turnover.
Following an exchange of field goals, Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick capped a long drive with a 15-yard run into the endzone down the left sideline.
But his two-point conversion attempt failed, and Justin Tucker’s 38-yard field goal made it 34-29 to Baltimore deep into the fourth quarter.
San Francisco tried to battle back, but ultimately their recovery stalled when Colin Kaepernick’s pass towards Crabtree fell incomplete.
Jim Harbaugh cried foul, arguing his receiver had been held by a defender, but the officials were never going to change their mind and Baltimore were able, just about, to wind down the clock and seal their second Vince Lombardi trophy.
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, who ended his 17-year career with a second Super Bowl win, said: “How could it end any other way than that. And now I get to ride into the sunset with my second ring.
“It’s no greater way, as a champ, to go out on your last ride with the men that I went out with, with my team-mates. And you looked around this stadium and … Baltimore! Baltimore! We coming home, baby! We did it!”
San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh congratulated his big brother John’s triumph while struggling to come to terms with his side’s loss: “Had several opportunities in the game. Didn’t play our best game. Ravens made a lot of plays. Our guys battled back to get back in it. We competed and battled to win.”
Super Bowl is the biggest annual sporting event on the planet, but that was not enough to stop the Sunday spectacular being brought to a dramatic and shuddering halt by a huge power cut.
The incident sparked outrage over why, despite staggeringly-expensive advertising slots and record-high ticket prices, “the greatest show on Earth” could not be run without a hitch.
As the clash approached its nerve-tingling climax, the 76,000-seater stadium was suddenly plunged mid-play into near-total darkness for more than half an hour.
Spectators watching from the stands, who had paid an average of $3,000 for the privilege, were in an instant left with no football and no explanation.
Meanwhile, advertisers wondered if the 30-second commercial for which they had shelled out up to $4 million to air during the game’s closing stages would be shown at all.
Indeed, with millions of football fans in Europe and across the world staying up into the early hours of Monday to watch the game, it was unclear how much of their audience been lost to the blackout. With no idea when, if at all, play would resume, many television viewers simply gave up and went to bed.
The Baltimore Ravens had been cruising along with a 28-6 lead when the power to the New Orleans Superdome suddenly shut down early in the third quarter.
For 34 minutes, the players tried to stay loose, the fans milled about in darkened corridors, and stadium officials scrambled to figure out what went wrong.
Finally, after a nervous wait in all camps, the power was switched back on and the Ravens hung on for a 34-31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, needing a goal-line stand in the closing minutes to preserve the championship.
“We had lot of momentum.”
About two hours after the game, officials revealed that an ‘abnormality’ in the power system triggered an automatic shutdown, forcing backup systems to kick in. But they weren’t sure about the source of the problem.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu called the outage “an unfortunate moment in what has been an otherwise shining Super Bowl week for the city of New Orleans”.
Super Bowl is the biggest annual sporting event on the planet, but that was not enough to stop the Sunday spectacular being brought to a dramatic and shuddering halt by a huge power cut
The outage provided a major glitch to what has largely been viewed as a smooth week for the city, which was hosting its first Super Bowl since 2002 and was eager to show off how it has been rebuilt since Hurricane Katrina.
But there is sure to be some fallout for the city and the 41-year-old Superdome – especially since New Orleans plans to bid for the title game in 2018, in conjunction with the 300th anniversary of its founding.
“In the coming days, I expect a full after-action report from all parties involved,” Mitch Landrieu said.
Escalators stopped working and credit-card machines shut down, though auxiliary power kept the playing field and concourses from going totally dark.
“We sincerely apologize for the incident,” Superdome spokesman Eric Eagan said.
Most fans seemed to take the outage in stride, even starting up the wave to pass the time.
In the absence of any concrete information about the outage, jokes began to pour in on Twitter.
Several fans jokingly blamed the outage on Beyonce’s electric – and electricity-intensive – halftime show.
A joint statement from Entergy New Orleans, which provides power to the stadium, and Superdome operator SMG shed some light on the chain of events, which apparently started at the spot where Entergy feeds power into the stadium’s lines. The problem occurred shortly after Beyonce put on a halftime show that featured extravagant lighting and video effects.
“A piece of equipment that is designed to monitor electrical load sensed an abnormality in the system,” the statement said.
“Once the issue was detected, the sensing equipment operated as designed and opened a breaker, causing power to be partially cut to the Superdome in order to isolate the issue. … Entergy and SMG will continue to investigate the root cause of the abnormality.”
The FBI quickly ruled out terrorism, and the New Orleans Fire Department dismissed reports that a fire might have been the cause.
On the CBS broadcast, play-by-play announcers Jim Nantz and Phil Simms went silent. Sideline reporter Steve Tasker announced to viewers a “click of the lights” as the problem. Later, the halftime crew anchored by host James Brown returned to fill the time with football analysis.
“We lost all power up here at the press box level,” Jim Nantz said after power was restored. He and Phil Simms were off the air for most of the outage.
The failure occurred shortly after Jacoby Jones returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a 108-yard touchdown, the longest play in Super Bowl history and pushing the Ravens to a commanding lead. But when play resumed, the momentum totally changed.
The Niners scored two straight touchdowns and nearly pulled off a game-winning drive in the closing minutes. They had first down inside the Ravens 10, but Baltimore kept them out of the end zone to preserve the victory.
The blackout, it turned out, became more of a footnote than a spark to what would have been the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.
“It just took us longer to lose,” moaned San Francisco linebacker Ahmad Brooks.
No one could remember anything like this happening in the title game, but it wasn’t unprecedented.
Just last season, the Niners endured two power outages during a Monday night game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Candlestick Park.
“I didn’t know what was going on,” San Francisco safety Dashon Goldson said.
“I just tried to keep my legs warmed up.”
The Ravens felt the delay turned what looked like a blowout into a close game. Safety Ed Reed said some of his teammates began to fret as the delay dragged on.
“The bad part is we started talking about it,” he said.
“Some of the guys were saying, <<They’re trying to kill our momentum>>. I was like, <<There’s two teams on the field>>. But once we started talking about it, it happened. We talked it up.”
A few of the Ravens threw footballs around to stay loose. Others took a seat on the bench, or sprawled out on the turf.
“I was a little stiff when I got back out there,” Baltimore running back Ray Rice conceded.
“I’m just glad we were able to finish the game and be world champions.”
Finally, the lights came back on throughout the dome and the game resumed.
Put 2.5 cm (1in) water in a roasting pan and place in the oven.
Whisk the eggs, yolk and 100g (3½oz) of the sugar in a bowl.
Place the cocoa, chocolate and cream in a pan over a medium heat and stir until the chocolate melts and steam rises – about 5 minutes. Add the egg mixture, whisking, then vanilla.
Divide the mixture among 8 small (100 ml/3½fl oz) ramekins then place the cups in the roasting pan, pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the cups and bake for 30 minutes until almost set. Chill for at least 3 hours.
Mix the remaining sugar with 50 ml (2fl oz) water in a pan over a medium heat, swirling occasionally, for 4 minutes until the sugar dissolves.
Increase the heat to high and cook for about 10 minutes, until it turns amber.
Remove from the heat and place the bottom of the pan in cold water.
Coat a tablespoon with cooking spray and use it to drizzle ¾tbsp of the sugar mixture into each ramekin, tilting to spread the glaze.
Eddie Ray Routh, a veteran suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), has been identified as the suspect in the deadly shooting of American Sniper Chris Kyle.
Chris Kyle, 39, was blasted in the back by Eddie Ray Routh, 25, after taking him on an outing to a shooting range to help him deal with his demons.
Eddie Ray Routh also allegedly shot dead his neighbor Chad Littlefield, 35, who was on the trip too.
Chris Kyle’s death sparked a huge outpouring of tributes across America with many saying that he was a “true American hero”.
He notched up 255 kills during the Iraq war and became so feared by insurgents they put a $80,000 bounty on his head and nicknamed him al-Shaitan Ramad, or “the Devil of Ramadi”.
In one battle alone he shot dead 40 enemy soldiers although his greatest achievement was his longest kill – from a staggering 1.2 miles away.
Chris Kyle told of his career in his memoir called “American Sniper” which went on sale last month and became an instant bestseller.
He also worked with veterans charity the FITCO Cares Foundation, which is where he appears to have come into contact with Eddie Ray Routh.
The shooting happened at the Rough Creek Lodge near Stephenville in Texas on Saturday evening.
Eddie Ray Routh shot dead American Sniper Chris Kyle
Eddie Ray Routh is said to have “turned on” his two victims and shot them before tried to flee the scene in Chris Kyle’s pickup truck.
The former marine – who was reportedly highly trained in the use of firearms – was arrested around 9pm following a chase and is now in custody.
Eddie Ray Routh is now expected to be charged with capital murder over the double shooting.
Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant said that he had “no clue” as to the motive but US reports focused on Eddie Ray Routh’s PTSD.
In interviews Chris Kyle himself has told of how hard it is to leave the military and said it left you with “no identity”.
Chris Kyle left the service in 2009 in order to save his marriage to wife Taya and spend more time with their two children.
Paraguayan presidential candidate Lino Oviedo has died in a helicopter crash.
Lino Oviedo, a 69-year-old retired general, was running for Paraguay’s third largest party in April’s presidential election.
He had been involved in politics for decades, helping lead the coup which overthrew the military ruler Alfredo Stroessner in 1989.
Lino Oviedo was returning from a rally when his helicopter crashed north of the capital, Asuncion. An inquiry into the cause of the crash is under way.
The pilot and Lino Oviedo’s bodyguard also died. Police found their bodies in the province of Presidente Hayes.
Defence Minister Maria Liz Garcia said residents had heard a single explosion and the aircraft disintegrated. A storm had been reported along the flight path.
President Federico Franco has declared three days of mourning.
Paraguayan presidential candidate Lino Oviedo has died in a helicopter crash
Lino Oviedo was running for the National Union of Ethical Citizens party (UNACE) in the presidential elections due on April 21.
As an army colonel he played a prominent part in the uprising which overthrew General Alfredo Stroessner in 1989, delivering the news that he was under arrest.
In the aftermath of the coup, Lino Oviedo rose quickly through military ranks, becoming brigadier-general and, by 1993, army chief.
His continued political campaigning, however, was criticized by then-president Juan Carlos Wasmosy, who asked him to step down as army chief in 1996 – an order he ignored.
He eventually stepped down and ran as a candidate for the Colorado Party in the 1998 presidential election.
However, before the election he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for plotting to overthrow President Juan Carlos Wasmosy. His running mate, Raul Cubas, was elected instead and ordered Lino Oviedo’s release.
But the killing of Vice-President Luis Maria Argana in 1999 and accusations by his relatives that Lino Oviedo had been behind the killing sent him into exile.
In 2004 he returned to Paraguay, where he was convicted over his 1996 insubordination. The conviction was overturned in 2007, allowing him to run in the 2008 election, which he lost.
Seen as a populist, Lino Oviedo often switched between Spanish and Guarani during his speeches.
SodaStream ad that was banned from Sunday night’s Super Bowl game can now be viewed by anyone on YouTube and the company behind it is reaping the benefits.
SodaStream, which makes home water carbonators used to whip up homemade soda, directly challenged Coca-Cola and Pepsi in its commercial that was set to air in the fourth quarter.
CBS saw the ad as a challenge to two behemoth advertisers and promptly banned it.
“Because SodaStream is a direct competitor of the Big Soda brands that tend to be ubiquitous during the Super Bowl,” SodaStream told The Huffington Post. “The rejection of one of the company’s proposed ads, which takes aim at Big Soda, is perhaps not surprising.”
The ad pits a Coke and a Pepsi delivery driver against each other in a dueling banjos moment that culminates in both drivers’ merchandise exploding as a man opts for Soda Stream, instead.
It was reported banned on Friday.
This is not an unusual occurrence. The biggest night in football draws a massive viewership and seconds-long ads can cost millions.
But SodaStream claims they didn’t intend for their ad to be cancelled, as other advertisers have been doing for years to win some cheap PR.
SodaStream ad that was banned from Sunday night’s Super Bowl game can now be viewed by anyone on YouTube and the company behind it is reaping the benefits
Forced to rework the commercial for air during Super Bowl XLVII, the original spot has now gone viral on the internet and SodaStream has been rewarded with a mountain of publicity nonetheless.
Despite their claims to innocence in the matter, this a path the company has gone down before.
An ad intended for UK viewers was banned by the company Clearcast in November 2012 for the exact same issue when the broadcaster claimed the spot “denigrated other soft drinks”.
SodaStream subsequently posted its largest ever stock market gains.
Prior to that, the company received a cease and desist demand from Coca-Cola after placing displays made out of used water bottles and soda cans that portrayed the company as wasteful in South Africa and elsewhere.
It remains unclear if the Isreali company is intentionally culling publicity from its advertising misbehavior.
However, SodaStream will certainly win at least a few fans as the banned Super Bowl ad gains millions of free views on YouTube.
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot in the head by the Taliban, is now recovering after skull surgery in Birmingham.
Malala Yousafzai, 15, was attacked in October after campaigning for girls’ rights to education.
A bullet was removed from her head by surgeons in Pakistan, before she was flown to the UK for further treatment.
Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital said a titanium plate and cochlear implant were successfully attached in two operations on Saturday.
A spokesperson said she was continuing to recover and was in a stable condition after the surgery, which lasted five hours.
They said the medical team was “very pleased” with the progress Malala Yousafzai had made so far and that she was awake and talking to staff and members of her family.
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot in the head by the Taliban, is now recovering after skull surgery in Birmingham
Malala Yousafzai had been discharged as an inpatient from the hospital in January after undergoing weeks of specialist treatment.
The Queen Elizabeth is also home to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, which has treated many of the injured servicemen and women returning from Afghanistan.
In December the president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, visited her at the hospital.
Malala Yousafzai’s family are currently living in the West Midlands.
Her father has been appointed education attaché at the Consulate of Pakistan for the next three years.
Chris Kyle, the Iraq veteran and ex-US Navy Seal known as the deadliest sniper in US history, has been shot dead on a Texas shooting range, reports say.
His body was found at Rough Creek Lodge range on Saturday with that of another man. A suspect was arrested.
Chris Kyle, 38, wrote the 2012 bestseller American Sniper, about the psychology of a sniper, in which he said that he had killed more than 250 people.
He served four tours of duty in Iraq and was decorated for bravery.
The gunman opened fire at about 15:30 local time then fled in a pick-up truck belonging to one of the victims, local media reported.
Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant said the motive for the killings was unclear, and was unable to explain how the two men were shot.
But he said a 25-year-old suspect was detained five hours later more than 70 miles (110 km) from the scene.
Chris Kyle, the Iraq veteran and ex-US Navy Seal known as the deadliest sniper in US history, has been shot dead on a Texas shooting range
Scott McEwen, who co-authored the book with Chris Kyle, said: “It just comes as a shock and it’s staggering to think that after all Chris has been through, that this is how he meets his end, because there are so many ways he could have been killed.”
Chris Kyle, a former cowboy, is regarded as the most prolific sniper the US has ever seen.
Official Pentagon figures say he killed 160 people, but he estimated the total was 255.
According to army intelligence, he was nicknamed “The Devil” by Iraqi insurgents, who put a $20,000 bounty on his head.
He appeared to show little remorse for his victims.
“Every person I killed I strongly believe that they were bad,” he said in an interview in 2012.
“When I do go face God there is going to be lots of things I will have to account for but killing any of those people is not one of them.”
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt called China an Internet menace that backs cyber-crime for economic and political gain in a new book, The New Digital Age, due for release in April.
The New Digital Age reportedly brands China “the world’s most active and enthusiastic filterer of information”.
China is “the most sophisticated and prolific” hacker of foreign companies, according to a review obtained by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
China denies allegations of hacking.
Beijing has been accused by several governments, foreign companies and organizations of carrying out extensive cyber espionage for many years, seeking to gather information and to control China’s image.
The New Digital Age analyses how China is dangerously exploiting an Internet that now permeates politics, business, culture and other aspects of life, the WSJ says.
It quotes the book as saying: “The disparity between American and Chinese firms and their tactics will put both the government and the companies of the United States at a distinct disadvantage.”
This, it says, is because Washington “will not take the same path of digital corporate espionage, as its laws are much stricter (and better enforced) and because illicit competition violates the American sense of fair play”.
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt called China an Internet menace that backs cyber-crime for economic and political gain in a new book, The New Digital Age, due for release in April
The book argues that Western governments could do more to follow China’s lead and develop stronger relationships between the state and technology companies.
States will benefit if they use software and technology made by trusted companies, it suggests.
“Where Huawei gains market share, the influence and reach of China grow as well,” the WSJ quoted the authors as writing.
The WSJ this week said its computer systems had been hacked by specialists in China who were trying to monitor its China coverage.
It was the second reported attack on a major US news outlet in days, as the New York Times reported earlier that Chinese hackers had “persistently” penetrated its systems for the last four months.
China’s foreign ministry dismissed the New York Times’ accusations as “groundless” and “totally irresponsible”.
Sarai Sierra, a US woman who disappeared last month while on holiday in Turkey, has been found dead in Istanbul, reports say.
The body of Sarai Sierra was discovered near Istanbul’s ancient walls, Turkish media report.
Police have arrested nine people in connection with the case, the state-run Anadolu agency says.
Sarai Sierra, a 33-year-old mother of two from New York, had been missing since January 21, the day before she was due to arrive back in New York City.
She had left for Turkey two weeks earlier and made short trips to the Netherlands and Germany, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
Police had released security camera footage showing Sarai Sierra at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport before she flew to Amsterdam.
Her body is reported to have been found close to the Galata Bridge, a popular tourist site spanning Istanbul’s Golden Horn waterway.
Shortly before her disappearance, Sarai Sierra had allegedly told her family that she planned to visit the bridge.
Although police have not yet commented on the case, reports say the American may have been stabbed to death.
Sarai Sierra, a US woman who disappeared last month while on holiday in Turkey, has been found dead in Istanbul
Andalou says she may have been killed at a different location before her body was hidden near the city walls.
The US embassy in Ankara had been working with Turkish authorities to help track down the missing woman.
Police in Istanbul set up a special unit to find Sarai Sierra, AP says.
Her husband and her brother had also travelled to Istanbul to join the search.
The case attracted extensive media coverage in Turkey where the disappearance of tourists is rare.
At least 30 people have been killed after gunmen and a suicide bomber attacked a police headquarters in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, police say.
A city official told AFP news agency that militants had tried to seize the compound but were unsuccessful.
No group has said it carried out the attack.
Kirkuk is ethnically mixed, and at the centre of a dispute between the Iraqi government and Kurds over oil and land rights.
Two weeks ago at least 10 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack on the offices of the Kurdish Democratic Party in the city.
Sunni insurgents linked to al-Qaeda have been blamed for much of the recent violence in Iraq.
However, there has been a relative calm in recent days.
At least 30 people have been killed after gunmen and a suicide bomber attacked a police headquarters in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk
The attack took place during morning rush hour in the centre of Kirkuk, police Brig-Gen Natah Mohammed Sabr told AFP.
At least 70 people were injured as militants reportedly dressed in police uniforms and armed with guns, grenades and suicide vests rushed the main gate of the headquarters after a bomb was detonated.
They threw grenades but were killed before they reached the building of the headquarters.
The attack caused massive damage to nearby buildings, Brig-Gen Sabr added.
Traffic in the city centre was stopped, and offices in the area were evacuated.
With its massive oil reserves, Kirkuk is the most bitterly contested of Iraq’s disputed territories.
It houses a mixture of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen.
The Kurds want to incorporate it into their largely autonomous region, while Arabs and Turkmen oppose any change to its current status, ruled directly from Baghdad.
Correspondents say militants often exploit differences between the Iraqi and Kurdish security forces by launching deadly attacks in the city.
Andre Cassagnes, the inventor of the classic toy Etch A Sketch, has died last month in Paris, at the age of 86.
Andre Cassagnes died in Paris on January 16, the Ohio Art Company, the US-based firm that made the toy, said.
He came up with the idea for a mechanical toy that creates erasable drawings by twisting two dials in the late 1950s, while working as an electrical technician.
Picked by the Ohio Art Company at a toy fair in 1959, Etch A Sketch went on to sell more than 100 million copies.
Etch A Sketch, with its familiar red-frame, grey screen and two white dials, allows children to draw something and shake it away to start again.
Andre Cassagnes saw the potential for the toy when he noticed, while working with metal powders, that marks in a coating of aluminium powder could be seen from the other side of a translucent plate.
Andre Cassagnes, the inventor of the classic toy Etch A Sketch, has died last month in Paris, at the age of 86
The Ohio Art Company spotted the invention at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in 1959, and the next year it became the top-selling toy in the United States.
“Etch A Sketch has brought much success to the Ohio Art Company, and we will be eternally grateful to Andre for that,” the firm’s president Larry Killgallon said.
“His invention brought joy to so many over such a long period of time.”
The toy may seem old-fashioned in an age of tablet computers, but the Ohio Art Company says it still has a steady market, thanks in no small part to its appearance in the Toy Story movies.
And it became a feature of last year’s US presidential campaign, when an aide to Republican candidate Mitt Romney likened his campaign to the toy.
“You can kind of shake it up and restart all over again,” said campaign spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom, a comment seized upon by his rivals as evidence that Mitt Romney was willing to change his position to get elected.
Etch A Sketch has been named by the American Toy Industry Association as one of the most memorable toys of the 20th century.
As well as being the man behind Etch A Sketch, Andre Cassagnes also developed a reputation as the most successful designer of competition kites in France during the 1980s.
Ben Affleck has won 2013 DGA’s Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for Argo, further sealing its status as best-picture front-runner at this year’s Oscars.
Saturday’s prize also normally would make Ben Affleck a near shoo-in to win best-director at the February 24 Oscars, since the Directors Guild recipient nearly always goes on to claim the same prize at Hollywood’s biggest night.
But Ben Affleck surprisingly missed out on an Oscar directing nomination, along with several other key favorites, including fellow Directors Guild contenders Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty and Tom Hooper for Les Miserables.
Ben Affleck’s Oscar snub has not hurt Argo and may even have earned it some favor among awards voters as an underdog favorite.
Argo has dominated other awards since the Oscar nominations.
Ben Affleck has won 2013 DGA’s Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for Argo
“I don’t think that this makes me a real director, but I think it means I’m on my way,” said Ben Affleck, who won for just his third film behind the camera.
The Directors Guild honors continued Hollywood’s strange awards season, which could culminate with a big Oscar win for Ben Affleck’s Argo. The guild’s prize for best director typically is a final blessing for the film that goes on to win best-picture and director at the Oscars.
Ben Affleck can go only one-for-two at the Oscars, though. While Argo is up for best picture, the director’s branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences overlooked him for a directing slot.
Backstage at the Directors Guild honors, Ben Affleck said he had nothing but respect for the academy and that “you’re not entitled to anything”.
The winners of the Directors Guild of America Outstanding Directorial Achievement Awards for 2012 were announced tonight during the 65th Annual DGA Awards Dinner at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland in Los Angeles.
FEATURE FILM
Ben Affleck – Argo
DOCUMENTARY FILM
Malik Bendjelloul – Searching For Sugar Man
MOVIES FOR TELEVISION AND MINI-SERIES
Jay Roach – Game Change (HBO)
DRAMATIC SERIES
Rian Johnson – Breaking Bad, “Fifty One” (AMC)
COMEDY SERIES
Lena Dunham – Girls, “Pilot” (HBO)
Directors Guild of America Outstanding Directorial Achievement Awards for 2012
MUSICAL VARIETY
Glenn Weiss – 66th Annual Tony Awards (CBS)
REALITY PROGRAMS
Brian Smith – Master Chef, “Episode #305” (Fox)
DAYTIME SERIALS
Jill Mitwell – One Life To Live, “Between Heaven and Hell” (ABC)
CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS
Paul Hoen – Let it Shine (Disney Channel)
COMMERCIALS
Alejandro G. Inarritu, Anonymous Content Best Job, Proctor and Gamble – Wieden + Kennedy
Hôtel de Glace in Quebec, Canada, is a palatial building constructed entirely out of ice.
Hôtel de Glace is built each year with a new themed design out of hundreds of thousands of tons of ice and snow.
The hotel opened its doors on January, kicking off its 13th season.
2013 theme was inspired by Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, focusing on the natural beauty of the winter season.
The walls were meticulously crafted to transport visitors to a winter wonderland fit for an ice queen filled with ornate decor and sculpted furnishings, according to the site My Modern Met.
Tourists eager to visit the splendid ice palace can spend the night, get a drink at the Ice Bar, or even tie the knot in its unique chapel, the hotel has expanded the number of rooms and suites to 44 from its previous 36.
Hôtel de Glace will remain open through March 24, offering packages ranging from $399.50 to $549.50 per person.
This year’s photos of Hôtel de Glace were captured by photographer Xavier Dachez .
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Hôtel de Glace in Quebec, Canada, is a palatial building constructed entirely out of ice (Photo Xavier Dachez)
Kathy Etchingham, Jimi Hendrix’s former girlfriend, recalls their relationship, as fans of guitar legend anticipate the release of a new album featuring 12 previously unreleased studio tracks in March.
In September 1966, a DJ and hairdresser from Derby walked into the Scotch of St James nightclub in London.
“There were stairs winding down to the basement and everybody was leaning over the banisters to listen to this guy sitting in the corner of the club playing,” remembers Kathy Etchingham, who was then just 20.
“They were enthralled.”
Jimi Hendrix, who was then just 24 and newly arrived from New York. His talent was obvious, but at this stage his new English manager, Chas Chandler, hadn’t even found him a backing band.
When the set was over, Chas Chandler introduced Kathy Etchingham to Hendrix. With his army jacket, Afro hair and flowery shirts, the black American was unlike any man she had ever met before.
“He just looked unusual – stunning really,” she says. “He was fresh and he had a very soft sort of American accent.”
Within minutes, Jimi Hendrix was whispering: “I think you’re beautiful” in her ear.
Kathy Etchingham acknowledges the line was corny, but she says that coming from a man like Jimi Hendrix, it worked.
Within hours, they were heading down Piccadilly towards Jimi Hendrix’s hotel.
Jimi Hendrix, unused to London traffic, was nearly hit by a car when he looked the wrong way while crossing the road.
“He stepped out and a taxi just brushed across his chest,” Kathy Etchingham says.
“I dragged him by the back of his coat and pulled him back. You’ve got to look the other way I told him.”
Kathy Etchingham discovered that Hendrix was an “experienced and imaginative” lover who could make sex more romantic than she’d ever known it before.
But the next morning, the couple were interrupted at the hotel by another woman with designs on the young guitarist.
“She burst into the room at about 11 in the morning, screaming, swearing and calling him a bastard,” Kathy Etchingham says.
“She grabbed a guitar, lifted it by the neck and was poised to bring it down on our heads while we were in bed.”
“I dived under the covers and half under Jimi, while he shouted, Put it Down, Put it Down.”
The guitar was Jimi Hendrix’s only instrument at the time, and he was desperate to stop it being smashed.
To the couple’s relief, the woman eventually backed down, merely flouncing out with the guitar before disappearing in a blue Jaguar.
Jimi Hendrix eventually got his guitar back and started living with Kathy Etchingham. The couple, both former runaways, had a lot in common.
In long, late-night conversations, Jimi Hendrix would tell her how his father used to beat him “senseless” for trying to learn the guitar by putting string on a broom. Kathy Etchingham told him about her alcoholic father and how her mother had walked out on the family when she was 10.
In a romantic gesture, the guitarist cut off a lock of his girlfriend’s hair with scissors. Following a voodoo superstition, he put it in his boots so that his body would always be in contact with part of hers.
“Jimi was very funny, very entertaining,” says Kathy Etchingham.
“I used to take him round to my friend, Brenda, who’d just had a baby. He didn’t have much money and he bought the baby a little toy pony. That was very sweet.”
Kathy Etchingham, Jimi Hendrix’s former girlfriend, recalls their relationship, as fans of guitar legend anticipate the release of a new album featuring 12 previously unreleased studio tracks in March
Virtually penniless, the couple would relax by watching Coronation Street or playing board games such as Monopoly and Risk.
A particular favorite was Twister, which would usually end up with the two of them collapsing on the floor in giggles.
But the couple also had blazing rows – particularly over cooking. One such argument, she says, led to the composition of a famous Jimi Hendrix song.
That evening, Kathy Etchingham was trying to make mashed potato and not doing a very good job of it.
“He comes along and tastes them with a fork and says they’re all lumpy,” she recalls.
“I knew he couldn’t cook himself and that’s how the argument started. It ended with my screaming and shouting, throwing the plates on the floor and marching out.”
Kathy Etchingham spent the night at a friend’s and Jimi Hendrix missed her so much that he sat down to write one of his biggest hits, The Wind Cries Mary.
Mary is Kathy Etchingham’s middle name and the guitarist would sometimes use it to wind her up. That may be why when she first heard the song, she was distinctly underwhelmed.
“It was just the twanging of an electric guitar disconnected,” she says.
“It was only when it was recorded that I realized it was a nice, sad song – he was obviously a bit upset.”
The Wind Cries Mary was released in 1967 and featured in the US release of his debut album Are You Experienced?.
By this stage, Jimi Hendrix was on the way to being one of the biggest stars in 60s London, and early in the year, he played two famous gigs at the tiny Marquee Club.
“Jimi was fresh and sounded fantastic. Everybody’s eyes were glued to him,” Kathy Etchingham says.
The audiences included all the stars of the era – from the Beatles to Eric Clapton. They were knocked out by Jimi Hendrix’s completely new way of playing the electric guitar and his flamboyant performances.
“It was so packed you could hardly breathe,” she says.
“Everyone was riveted to the floor, standing there sweating.”
Within a year, songs such as Wind Cries Mary, Foxy Lady and Purple Haze made Jimi Hendrix a global superstar. But that meant he started disappearing on long tours of the US and the lifestyle put his relationship under increasing strain.
“All these hangers-on appeared,” Kathy Etchingham says.
“They were dodgy, undesirable people, with an aggressive edge to them. I really didn’t like that atmosphere and it was the beginning of the end.”
Katy Etchingham says that as drink and drugs took hold, Jimi Hendrix’s sweet character started to change. He would get nasty with people, she says, and he started smashing up hotel rooms.
“He started to look really rough. His hair was breaking off, he didn’t have healthy skin, he looked as if he’d aged 10 years in two and a half.”
Kathy Etchingham decided she had to move on and the couple split up in 1969.
By the summer of the following year, Jimi Hendrix was in such a state that on one occasion his entourage panicked and called Kathy Etchingham over to his hotel room. They thought she was the only person who could calm him down.
“Everybody was frightened to go in, but I walked in and he was fine with me.”
Kathy Etchingham could see that the glass table in the hotel suite was smashed and that Jimi Hendrix had the heating on full blast even though it was a warm day.
“He said he had a terrible cold,” she says.
“I got a flannel and wiped his forehead. I didn’t know what was wrong so I was made sure he was comfortable in bed and left.”
Kathy Etchingham saw Jimi Hendrix for the last time a few weeks later.
“I bumped into him in Kensington antique market,” she says.
“He was buying belts or scarves. And he sort of <<squidged>> me and invited me over to his hotel.
“I said I might – but that was it. I never saw him again. The next morning he was dead.”
Jimi Hendrix had died after choking on his own vomit. Initially, Kathy Etchingham felt guilty about not going to visit him, but now, she says, she realizes it probably wouldn’t have made any difference.
“To begin with, I thought that if I’d gone round, maybe it wouldn’t have happened. But then I realized we’d probably have had a drink and a chat. I’d have left and he’d still have done the same thing that happened that night.
“I wish that I’d gone round, but I didn’t and that’s all there is to it,” she adds.
Kathy Etchingham now lives abroad. She has written a memoir called Through Gypsy Eyes, after another Jimi Hendrix song that she inspired.
She wants Jimi Hendrix to be remembered not just as a guitar superhero, but also as a “really lovely person – a natural, normal human being”.
