2015 Predictions

It's time to make New Year's predictions for 2015!  Last year, I gave this a shot and my results were questionable at best (I got 6/20 on the political predictions and 5/14 on entertainment...possibly 7 depending on the Chastain and Pixar ones).  Despite these terrible prediction ratios, I'm going to give it a shot again this year, though since it's an off-political year, I'm giving the twenty predictions to entertainment.

20 Predictions About Entertainment

1. Seth Rogen and James Franco receive a standing ovation when they present an award at either the Globes or Oscars.

2. Jennifer Aniston takes at least one major Best Actress prize from Julianne Moore, though not the Oscar.

3. Avengers: Age of Ultron ends up making more money than Star Wars, but Star Wars gets a better Rotten Tomatoes score and more Oscar nominations.

4. Viola Davis gets an Emmy nomination while Kerry Washington does not, receiving calls of racism since two black women aren't nominated in the same category despite history indicating they probably would normally be.

5. At least one major celebrity will be outed by a phone hacking.

6. Kelli O'Hara finally takes home a Tony Award for her role as Anna in yet another King & I revival.

7. Kristin Chenoweth ends her unusual Tony Award nomination drought when she is nominated for On the Twentieth Century.

8. The end of Glee results in a number of articles about how the show never lived up to its pilot, despite it being relatively strong its first couple of seasons.

9. Ansel Elgort ends up signing a major leading role with a prestige director, as well as a superhero role in an upcoming comic book film.

10. Stephen Colbert's turn on the Late Show will receive mixed reviews at best.

11. Spy with Melissa McCarthy ends up being another massive hit, causing her to FINALLY get her first Golden Globe nomination.

12. Adele releases her third album and it becomes the highest-grossing record of the year, despite most complaining it isn't as good as 21.

13. Rush Limbaugh will say something truly despicable about Michael B. Jordan playing the Human Torch in Fantastic Four, and no one on the Right will call him on it.

14. Neil Patrick Harris will sing at least two musical numbers during the Oscars, the latter involving rapping and "edge" and yet neither will land properly.

15. Shane Dawson will quit YouTube as an onscreen personality.

16. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will give birth to a baby girl, and Elizabeth will be one of her names, though not necessarily the first.

17. In retaliation, Kim Kardashian will become pregnant yet again.  Her sister Khloe will become one of the biggest tabloid cover models of the year when she ends up in an equally high-profile relationship with another celebrity, causing accusations of a feud between the two.

18. Justin Bieber will be arrested.  Possibly so will Lindsay Lohan, but no one will care.

19. One Direction break-up rumors will fly when the band members start recording duets as solo artists, though they'll stick it out through the year.

20. Looking will not get strong enough ratings, resulting in it being cancelled during its second season, which will cause at least two rants on this blog.

15 Predictions About Politics

1. President Obama's approval ratings recover in the face of an improving economy, though they never steadily remain above 50%.

2. Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, and Chris Christie all declare their intentions to run for president.

3. Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, and Paul Ryan do not.

4. Rep. Tammy Duckworth becomes the Senate nominee for the seat in Illinois.

5. Sec. Alison Lundergan Grimes watches her once promising career go up in flames as she loses reelection in Kentucky.

6. The Democrats also lose the governor's race in Kentucky without picking up Mississippi or Louisiana, marking their lowest count of governor's mansions in 17 years.

7. Gov. Peter Shumlin, despite a major push by Republicans, will win another term in Vermont despite a weird aberration in the voting law that has left his race undecided months after the November elections despite him winning the popular vote.

8. Sen. Barbara Boxer's retirement will cause major headaches for Democrats in California, as a number of ambitious Democrats enter the primary, causing worries of two Republicans advancing to the runoff.

9. Former Senator Russ Feingold will run for his old seat in the U.S. Senate, setting up a marquee matchup against the man who defeated him in 2010, Ron Johnson.  Other former senators such as Mark Begich and Kay Hagan will be courted to run for seats in their states, but will ultimately decide against it.

10. No member of Congress will switch parties.

11. President Obama will end up signing the Keystone Pipeline into law, but not without at least one major concession from the Congress (likely on immigration).

12. Bernie Sanders decides to run for president under a third-party banner, potentially causing him to be dumped from the Democratic caucus of the Senate and causing major comparisons to Ralph Nader.

13. Harry Reid and John McCain both end up running for reelection, with McCain getting a very strong third party challenge from the right.  As a result, expect maverick McCain to disappear into arch-conservative McCain for a while.

14. George W. Bush hits the campaign trail in the South for his brother Jeb, ending both his moratorium on campaigning and his silence on the Obama administration.

15. The NRSC and NRCC go back to continually out-earning the DSCC and DCCC.

And those are my predictions for this upcoming year-what about yours?  What are you expecting to see in the year ahead?