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Stevens rides Oxbow to 3rd Preakness win via Rickey.org 50-year-old Stevens rides to ‘special’ victory in Preakness aboard Oxbow BALTIMORE (AP) — Although no one really keeps track of such things, Gary Stevens had no problem making the assessment with complete conviction. “I guarantee I’m the first grandfather winner of a Triple Crown race,” said the 50-year-old Stevens, who guided Oxbow to a stunning upset victory Saturday in the Preakness. Stevens retired in 2005 after a long struggle with knee pain. He resumed riding in early January, the same week he got a call from 77-year-old trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who told him about a couple of promising 3-year-old colts who could make the Derby. One of them was Oxbow. With Stevens riding confidently in the saddle, Oxbow led from start to finish and won the Preakness by 1¾ lengths to end Orb’s bid for the Triple Crown. The victory justified Stevens’ decision to return to racing. “I’m not going to lie to you, to win a classic at 50 years old after seven years’ retirement, it doesn’t get any better than this,” he said. “This is super, super sweet. All the stars were aligned. I couldn’t be more pleased winning this thing. It’s even more special winning it for Wayne Lukas and his team.” It was Stevens’ third career victory in the Preakness, the first since 1997 on Silver Charm. Oxbow covered the 1 3/16th miles in 1:57.54. The ride, Stevens said, was easier than it looked. “A lot of critics are going to think that I’m full of it saying this, but I won with a little something left, believe it or not,” Stevens said. Stevens captured his first Triple Crown race in 1988 for Lukas, and they have remained close since then. “Wayne put me on the map,” Stevens said. “When you win that first classic, your phone starts ringing and people want you. I got the call about Oxbow this year dating all the way back to 1988.” It was a phone call Lukas won’t ever regret. Although he changed jockeys on his other two entrants in the Preakness, Lukas remained convinced that Stevens was the right person to ride Oxbow. For days, they talked about the best way to run the race. But there’s really no way to predict what the other horses will do. “I left it up to Gary,” Lukas said. “Let me say, I think I got a Hall of Fame ride. We can plan this thing, we can talk about it, we can talk about strategy. But once that gate is open, they have to make the decisions. Gary made some great ones.” As he was gathering momentum and leaving the other eight horses in his wake, Stevens couldn’t help but think about the trainer that provided him with his first Triple Crown winner and got him back into the game at an age when most jockeys have long since quit. “I was smiling pretty good on the back side. I actually thought about Wayne up in the grandstands,” Stevens said. “I knew he had to be looking at those fractions and was pleased with what he was seeing.” Not long after that, Lukas, Stevens and their brown colt had a wonderful time in the winner’s circle. “He wasn’t a tired horse. He was a happy horse,” Stevens said. “He enjoyed the celebration as much, well maybe not as much as Wayne and I, but he was enjoying it.” Next up for Stevens, Lukas and Oxbow: A ride over 1½ miles in the Belmont on June 8. “What about the Belmont? This horse has a happy kind of pace, and anybody that wants to come and tangle with him early on, bring it on. You’re going to get in trouble if you tangle with him. That’s all I can say.” Oh, he had more. As he was wrapping up his press conference, Stevens said, “You’re only as good as the horses you ride and the people that you ride for. And I rode for what I consider to be one of the greatest trainers of all time.” Then he lo

Teen Wolf – Season 3 – Trailer Preview via Rickey.org Here’s a preview of the Teen Wolf Season 3 Trailer on MTV. Yes I am excited. Teen Wolf is one of my favorite shows ever. The full trailer comes out on Monday. FULL TRAILER COMING MONDAY 5/20 Teen Wolf Season 3 premieres Monday, June 3 at 10/9c on MTV The Latest on Teen Wolf Teen Wolf – Season 3 – Trailer PreviewTeen Wolf – Season 3 – Behind the Scenes: Meet ShadowMTV 2013 Upfronts – Pictures!Teen Wolf at MTV Movie Awards Red Carpet – VideoTeen Wolf – Season 3 – Official Trailer All posts on Teen Wolf Follow me on Facebook! • Follow me on Google+ The Voice • American Idol • The X Factor

CBS Upfront – Pictures! via Rickey.org For the third day of upfronts week, I decided to check out the upfront event for CBS. Although my #1 female celeb was there (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and I saw her with my own eyes, I didn’t get to meet her. I met some cool people though! Check out all my photos from the day. Robin Williams Pauley Perette Josh Holloway LL Cool J Neil Patrick Harris Dylan McDermott Overall Wednesday was amazing, meeting a couple of people I really loved. Hope you enjoyed checking out my pics! CW & USA upfronts pics are coming soon! The Voice • American Idol • The X Factor

Emmelie de Forest wins Eurovision 2013 – Video via Rickey.org Denmark’s Emmelie de Forest wins Eurovision song contest MALMO, Sweden (AP) — Denmark’s Emmelie de Forest wins Eurovision song contest . Copyright (2013) Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. Users may not download or reproduce a substantial portion of the AP material found on this web site. AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing. The Voice • American Idol • The X Factor

Bonnie Tyler – Believe In Me – 2013 Eurovision Video via Rickey.org Bonnie Tyler sang “Believe In Me” on 2013 Eurovision in Malmo, Sweden. The Latest on Eurovision Bonnie Tyler – Believe In Me – 2013 Eurovision VideoEurovision Song Contest 2012 – Winner Results – 05/26/2012Rambo Amadeus – Euro Neuro – 2012 Eurovision Semi Final – VideoAzerbaijan wins 2011 Eurovision Song Contest – Running ScaredJedward – Lipstick – Eurovision All posts on Eurovision Follow me on Facebook! • Follow me on Google+ The Voice • American Idol • The X Factor

Top Posts of the Week – 5/18/2013 via Rickey.org Here are the top posts on the blog for the week ending May 17, 2013. Wow, at Survivor! Survivor: Caramoan – Winner Results – Finale Video American Idol 12 – Finale and Winner Results The Voice – Season 4 – Results – Top 12 American Idol 12 – Top 2 Perform Candice Glover – I Who Have Nothing – American Idol 12 Top 10 American Idol 12 Top 2 – Who Will Win American Idol? – Poll Malcolm Freberg of Survivor to make soap opera debut on ‘The Bold and The Beautiful’ Kelly Rowland – Dirty Laundry – MP3 Listen Candice Glover – I Am Beautiful – Full Winner’s Single Listen Dancing with the Stars 16 – Results – Week 9 Follow me on Facebook! • Follow me on Google+ The Voice • American Idol • The X Factor

We know for certain that Randy Jackson is leaving American Idol. It was announced during the Finale a few days ago. Also, it appears that Nikki Minaj has expressed that she doesn’t plan to return to the show. So that leaves Mariah Carey and Keith Urban – but, if the rumours are true that American […]

So, what do y’all think? Truth be told, at the beginning of Mariah’s performance, I really thought she was singing live. Maybe it was wishful thinking on my part or an unwillingness to let go of the past – where everyone performed live. Ha! However, once those high note riffs popped in midway through this […]

ABC Upfront – Pictures! via Rickey.org For my second day of upfronts week, I tried to meet people at the ABC upfront and it was mostly a fail. Luckily, many of the stars showed up for the afterparty and stopped for fans. I met my idol Joss Whedon, aka God. He was just as nice as I’d hoped! Check out all my pictures. The day started out bumping into Seth Green and Zachary Levi! I just got a great pic with Seth the previous night, so I didn’t ask for a pic but I did ask Zach. He was so nice! Zachary Levi Next I got another pic with Lucas Neff. He seriously makes me want to watch Raising Hope. Lucas Neff The actual upfront event was a fail for meeting people, but I did get a pic with Robin Roberts. She was looking great! Robin Roberts The real fun was at the afterparty, where most people stopped for fans. I was so close to getting a pic with Rebel Wilson. Always next time, I guess. Christian Slater Toks Olagundoye Clark Gregg Wendi McLendon Blurry pic with Julie Bowen Hayden Panettiere Kerry Washington And last but definitely not least… my favorite pic of the night… Joss Whedon!!!!!!! Overall, it was a great night and made worth it for the sheer amazingness of Joss Whedon alone. Hayden was also one of my top celebs to meet so I was beyond excited she was there as well. Hope you enjoyed checking out my pics! The Voice • American Idol • The X Factor

‘Game of Thrones’ to end after seventh season? via Rickey.org Credit: HBO George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire is set to have seven installments. And, if Game of Thrones producer Frank Doelger has any say, so will the TV series. Though Martin has yet to publish the sixth and seventh books in the bestselling fantasy series that spawned the hit HBO drama, Doelger says that talks are already underway for setting a prospective end date for the show. “[The number of series] is being discussed as we speak. The third season was the first half of book three, season four will be the second part of book three. . . George R.R. Martin has written books four and five; six and seven are pending,” Doelger told Radio Times at the BAFTA Awards last weekend. “I would hope that, if we all survive and if the audience stays with us, we’ll probably get through to seven seasons.” Of course, for this to work, at least one of the seasons following next year’s fourth will have to condense two entire books’ worth of material into one ten-episode allotment. And this is only if Martin’s next two installments don’t prove to be the massive, epic tomes that the third book, A Storm of Swords, proved to be. Sure, they could probably fit the fourth and fifth books, A Feast For Crows and A Dance With Dragons, into one and a half seasons (probably even less, if they cut around the prodigious amounts of excess in those novels — SO many needless subplots). But if The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring are full-scale epics that don’t allow for paring down, then they might not have any other choice but to stretch to eight or nine seasons, provided the show is still a hit in five years’ time. Yet that’s not exactly a proposition that appeals to showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who told Entertainment Weekly that they would prefer not to run for ten seasons. Given that Benioff and Weiss are the only two people on the planet, other than Martin, who know how the series ends (reportedly revealed as a contingency in the event of Martin’s death), they could implement elements of Martin’s ending to bring the TV series to a close, regardless of whether or not the final book in the series has been released. However, much like the “ten seasons” proposal, this isn’t something that appeals to the duo: “Ideally, the books come out first,” said Benioff. “We don’t want to become a show that outstays its welcome and tries to turn each book into three seasons. Part of what we love about these books, and this show, is this sense of momentum and building toward something. If we tried to turn this into a 10-season show we’d strangle the golden goose. There is a ticking clock here.” The only question now is when that clock stops ticking. At seven seasons? Eight? Ten? It’s going to be hard to know for certain as long as the last two books in the series remain unpublished. Then again, as a writer who puts the “pro” in “procrastination,” I have no business telling any author to “get writing, already.” Via: Rolling Stone / IO9 The Voice • American Idol • The X Factor