Talk:James Blunt/Archive 2

GA review
This isn't complete. I'm just going to list some things here as I find them. The full review will be up with results this weekend.

 Lara  ❤  Love  20:17, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * When did his name change from Blount to Blunt?
 * Chart positions, RIAA certifications and sales figures should be backed by sources.
 * There's an inconsistency in large numbers being spelled out (ie. 25 countries vs. twenty-nine countries).
 * Thanks, LaraLove. I will work on these points this weekend, as well as any other comments you may have.  Blunt hasn't actually changed his name, as far as I can tell he has only used it as a stage name since 2003 but his EMI records all list him under his legal name of Blount, so I am not quite sure what to do with that one. Risker (talk) 20:25, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Just note that. Say that Blunt is only a stage name, that he has never legally changed his name. Because, from my point of view, I thought his family or just he had legally dropped the o and it just hadn't been included in the article. I had a similar issue finding a source for a name change for the article I'm working on. I suppose that's where my assumption came from.  Lara  ❤  Love  05:18, 2 February 2008 (UTC)
 * I agree with LaraLove with her assesment. I too feel there needs to be more sources for the RIAA certifications and the numbers need to be consistant. Otherwise, I think you are doing a fine job with this article Canyouhearmenow 13:11, 4 February 2008 (UTC)

Furthermore
Further, this article needs a copy-edit and the tone of this article seems to be POV ("extraordinarily popular"). certificated should certified; refer WP:MOSNUM for numbering: numbers below 10 should be written by word (three not 3). The "Reaction to succes" section reads more like a magazine article than an encyclopedia; remove it entirely (The cockney slang can be incorporated to the Career section). The discography here should only contain studio albums, the rest of it can be found in the Discog article. Remove bold italics from the awards. Also, if the awards have sub-headings for the years, why does every entry also have year mentioned? Shouldn't the music sample be "you're beautiful" being his most recognisable song and all (also include a detailed caption for it)? indopug (talk) 17:47, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Excellent recommendations. In particular, I appreciate the comments on the "Reactions to success" section; it was difficult to decide exactly what to put in there, and your suggestion makes sense to me.  Unfortunately, a lot of the 'negative' comments seem to be writers saying that "critics have said..." without naming particular critics, and I have found almost no published professional reviews that were truly critical of his music. Thanks for your comments.  Risker (talk) 18:22, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Then why is that section is still there? Why is there still no "youre beautiful" sample? That mention about the "record-breaking" X&Y isnt suitable for Blunt's article really. Also, there should be a section explaining his style of music, influences etc. A large portion of this article needs rewriting: the second para of Back to Bedlam talks in extraordinary depth about how the album charted across many charts. This is James Blunt's article, please summarise accordingly. indopug (talk) 20:36, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Please Indopug - cut me some slack. I've had a wonky internet connection due to weather problems, I have a real life job that so far I have worked 60 hours at this week (and it's only halfway through Thursday), I have no idea how to do an .ogg file so have left a message for the editor who uploaded the Goodbye My Lover one asking for assistance. Goodbye My Lover was, however, his second biggest hit, and that isn't incongruent with the samples seen in the articles relating to many other artists (if they have a music sample at all), so it isn't completely out of place. I may wind up removing the Goodbye My Lover sample anyway, if I cannot come up with an appropriate fair use statement in such a way that it can be used in two articles; is it more important in the Goodbye My Lover article, or the James Blunt one? It strikes me that you are looking for FA-level content at a GA-level review. Some of the information you are looking for isn't really available (e.g., Blunt doesn't talk much about his influences) which is part of the reason I haven't aimed for FA status in this article. Please feel free to add sourced and referenced information to this article; Wikipedia is intended to be a collaborative effort.  Risker (talk) 21:04, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Yeah, sorry... I tend to get carried away sometimes. I thought you were simply avoiding doing it. I think I can help out with the "beautiful" sample; drop me a line (telling me which portion of the song you need). An influences section is pretty much standard for music articles, but if there is nothing, well, what can you do? As for that FA thing, you might be right cause I'm quite active on FACs. So sorry again, and best of luck indopug (talk) 16:56, 8 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks, LaraLove (and other reviewers). I have started working on these recommendations and will have them completed within the week.  I'll drop you a note on your talk page when I think it is ready for re-review, or if I have any questions.  All of the recommendations make sense to me, and I will dig further for criticism from professional reviewers.  I believe I may have more success from the reviews of the second album than I did from the first album. Risker (talk) 03:02, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
 * I'll try to drop by tomorrow afternoon or evening to see if I can help some, Risker. You're doing really great work here! Keep it up! Bellwether B  C  05:20, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure why I missed this before, and I apologize, but the lead needs to cover everything. It should include some basic information from each section. For the second paragraph of the lead, some information about his personal life and philanthropy should be included.  Lara  ❤  Love  15:17, 13 February 2008 (UTC)
 * No problem. When I "finished" up my editing it was the wee hours of the morning and I couldn't quite put my finger on what seemed to be missing; now that I've looked at it again, the shortness of the lead is pretty obvious.  I've expanded it to cover some of the information in those sections as well, and will leave you a message on your page.  Risker (talk) 23:36, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

Very nice work. The article has now been listed as a Good article. Thank you for all your hard work. In improving this article, you have improved the quality of Wikipedia!  Lara  ❤  Love  02:19, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Ski lift
The following was added without sources by an anon to the "Military career" section. I'm moving it here until it can be determined if and where to place it, and whether or not it can be sourced.
 * "He mentioned in Top Gear that a ski lift was named after him. To celebrate it's opening he claimed that he had to smash a bottle on the lift and say "I now proclaim this lift opened and good luck to all who ride me". "

Risker (talk) 18:30, 6 February 2008 (UTC)
 * It can be sourced to series 10 episode 8. Dismas |(talk) 10:28, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm watching the episode right now and the actual quote is "I name this chair lift 'James Blunt'. God bless her and all who ride me".  Dismas |(talk) 13:40, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Links to London Gazette
User:David Underdown was kind enough to add some links to the London Gazette providing complete dates and information about Blunt's military promotions and confirming that his father retired as a colonel. Unfortunately, two of the three templated links added are not working properly. I have notified David of the problem on his talk page and will move the links to this page temporarily until he has a chance to sort them out. As the article does not depend on these links for references, they can wait for a bit. Risker (talk) 01:55, 13 February 2008 (UTC) Moved links:

(And this section as well: He had extended his period of service in November 2000, but then retired from the army on 1 October 2002. ) --Risker (talk) 07:44, 13 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Sorry about that, the one referring to his initial commissioning was OK, but the others being post 2000 needed an additional parameter, notarchive=yes which changes &type in the url from (since they were all in supplements) from &type=ArchivedSupplementPage to &type=Supplement (I didn't spot the difference first time I came across the problem either). A small comment, it would have been easier for me to straighten out if you had simply commented out the references (like the comment about real v stage name), and any text depending on them, rather than deleting them all outright.


 * I always mean to verify th elinks manually when I'v eput them in, but frequently forget. David Underdown (talk) 09:19, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Leaving the army
Hopefully my woridng will satisfy the anon, and is simpler than the previous attempt (in any case he still held a commission in the Reserve of Officers. With regard to the anons comments, I notice that on the same page the wording for those who are to receive retired pay is "retires on retired pay" (at least two examples).  David Underdown (talk) 10:24, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Goodbye My Lover
can anyone tel me who stared in this film clip —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.160.106.106 (talk) 01:32, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Matt Dallas and Mischa Barton, along with Blunt. Risker (talk) 02:11, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

Additional info added to "military career" section
The following sentence was added to the military career section on May 24, 2008: "He was the Queen's Life Guard through the Silver Jubilee and commanded the Household Cavalry riding school in Windsor." This appears to me to require a reference from a reliable source, and I have not been able to locate such facts. He was a member of the Queen's Life Guards, but this statement suggests that he was the Queen's personal Life Guard. This is again possible, but a reference source that will confirm such a posting may be impossible to find. I've moved the sentence over to this page but will continue to look for references. Risker (talk) 01:22, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Certainly wasn't the Queeen's SILVER Jubilee!!!! That was in 1977!!!!! 80.6.147.186 (talk) 02:54, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

Folk???

By what definition is Blunt a folk singer?? 80.6.147.186 (talk) 02:54, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

Paragraph on rhyming slang
The paragraph concerning the rumour Blunt's name being "entered into the dictionary of Cockney rhyming slang" keeps popping up. I've deleted it because: If the people who keep reinstating the paragraph just want to say "cunt" on the James Blunt page, I suggest they come up with a way to do it that follows Wikipedia's guidelines. Jack Garfield (talk) 08:25, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
 * It's badly written. For a start, the internet doesn't have any "folk law" [sic].
 * There is no official "dictionary of Cockney rhyming slang".
 * Wikipedia isn't the place for rumours, nor for claims concerning how Blunt is "said to have responded".
 * The URL cited as reference doesn't verify the claim, nor does it verify the quote attributed to Blunt.
 * Thanks, now I know why they keep saying that someone is a "James Blunt" on Nevermind the Buzzcocks. LOL.  But perhaps he would not appreciate that factoid appearing on his wiki page.

Fair enough, but see 'POV again' below for the whole question why that issue keeps coming up.Sartoresartus (talk) 16:43, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Weird Al parody
I've added a section on the Weird Al parody of "You're Beautiful". Could someone please add the following link as a reference? http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5482774 Sorry, I'm new at this, don't know how to add tidy citations yet. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 221.127.98.140 (talk) 10:33, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Done! Basically, you want to put   after it.  Cheers,  This flag once was red propagandadeeds 10:38, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

POV again
I see the community have deemed this a good article, but adherence to house style alone isn't everything. A newcomer to this topic would be surprised, for example, if she discovered from other sources that Blunt, rightly or wrongly, is the whipping boy of the music press and one of the most loathed as well as bestselling musicians of the last decade. The 'musical style' section has already been flagged, and I'm tempted to flag the entire article as a deft PR exercise. If I were to link this cruel but diverting review, would it be seen as restoring some kind of balance? I think it's certainly part of the James Blunt phenomenon that his music has found some vocal (as it were) detractors. Sartoresartus (talk) 16:40, 10 April 2009 (UTC)
 * The section on the All the Lost Souls album is pretty balanced, I think. It starts off by pointing out that the Metacritic rating is 53/100, falling into the mixed/average reviews category, then provides quotes from two negative reviews and two positive ones. As noted in the section, the album was reviewed by just about everyone (Metacritic includes 21 reviews in its aggregator), so it's not really reasonable to include comments from everyone. WP:NPOV requires that there be a balance of information or opinion in roughly the proportion that exists amongst reliable sources, which I think is what was done here. One could quibble about which particular reviews should be selected, but I'd not really be inclined to change the balance. I do agree that the 'musical style' section needs to be cleaned up, though. Quotes should always be sourced, regardless of whether they're negative or positive. Risker (talk) 17:05, 10 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Blunt was voted the fourth most irritating Briton alive round about the time that album appeared, and reviews of the album by three major British newspapers (the Guardian, the Times and the Telegraph) were devastating. I didn't mean I literally want to include this critic's opinion, but I want it stated somewhere that Blunt is, if there can be such a thing in the world of pop, a "divisive figure" or some such. See, the ones who hate him hate him very much, as you can see from the rhyming slang controversy on this here page. Though I daresay the billions who buy his records can't be wrong.
 * While I tend to agree with you (I'm very much in the "nice guy, but hate his music"-camp) I'm not sure too much can be read into the rhyming slang aspect - I suspect it has more to do with the surname than anything else. I can remember Gareth Hunt providing the same meaning back in the day, and Hunt wasn't hated or divisive - he simply had a good name to rhyme off. Cheers, This flag once was redpropagandadeeds 13:56, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

Power metal?
Can somebody find a reference to support this claim? --92.19.116.134 (talk) 16:05, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Umm, no. And since you had just added it a few moments before, the onus is on you to support it. In the interim, I have removed it. Risker (talk) 16:08, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

Comment on 'James Blunt once sexually attacked some rats with a whisk says meg.'
Just a note re: last edit removing obvious vandalism from 19 August 2009. This edit was made live onstage as part of Jon Holmes' show, Rockstar Babylon, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The show was about how rockstar rumours get started; he asked the audience to suggest the three essential elements for a rumour: a celebrity, a kitchen implement and an animal. Ergo -- James Blunt, a whisk and rats. Meg was the name of the woman who suggested the rats. 80.192.81.76 (talk) 13:02, 20 August 2009 (UTC)naomiwv 20 aug 09

Name at birth
The index to births registered in England and Wales for the March quarter 1974 shows his name as James Hillier Blount. Where does the Merryweather come from? It is possible that he was baptised / named in a different name from the registered one. Or is / was known by a different name. Segilla (talk) 18:26, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

Military career
This entire paragraph needs to be re-written by someone with some knowledge of the military.

The majority of the central paragraph on "Military Service" is both speculation and pure imagination and has no basis whatsoever in fact. Without detracting from the part The Life Guards played in Kosovo, they did not "work ahead of the front lines directing forces and targeting Serb positions for the NATO bombing campaign", which largely used Cruise missiles and laser guided bombs. They were not the first "troops to enter Pristina" and he was not "the first British officer to enter the Kosovo capital" - nor has he ever claimed to be. 1 Para had already secured the area, as is well documented, and the airport had already been secured by a small Russian unit which had always planned on handing it over to KFOR - there was no "potentially violent international incident" as described.

The Life Guards were and are a light reconnaissance regiment - they were not equipped with "tanks".

There is no such thing as "the Queen's Life Guard" or "the Queens Life Guards" - they simply do not exist. He was an officer in the Life Guards.

He did not "retire on retired pay", nor was he ever eligible to receive retired pay. Officers are eligible for retired pay who have served until they are at least 38, unless they are made redundant when they may receive a proportion of that pay earlier. This did not apply to him.

He held a Short Service Commission, which limited his liability for service in the Regular Army Reserve of Officers (RARO) to 7 years and 364 days including his six years of service in the Regular Army. He has had no liability for military service since 2004.

He did not "continue to Harrow School on an Army bursary". Army Scholarships/bursaries such as his are only awarded at the age of 16 or above.

The idea that the Life Guards would provide "a secure work placement and income" is mildly amusing, at best. Officers in the Household Cavalry require a substantial private income and his military salary was of little importance or relevance in one of Britain's oldest and wealthiest families (which, for example, owns Knebworth). Beeua (talk) 18:15, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Hate to be pernickety, but British Armoured Recconaissance units - including the Life Guards - are equipped with tanks - albeit small ones. You might want to check out the specs of the Scimitar tank some time... 195.217.166.8 (talk) 11:34, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

How does August 1997 to October 2002 add up to 6 years of service? I assume his postdated (1997) promotion to second lt. for 1996 was for attendance at his military school. It is unclear to me that this should "count"... I believe it likely is more for salary/rank prescedence issues rather than actual affirmation of real "time served". I suggest you make it 5 years.71.31.146.16 (talk) 15:42, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

BBC interview / Blunt supposedly 'claiming to prevent WW3'
A recent edit reads: "In an interview with BBC Radio 5Live, he recently claimed that he prevented World War 3 from happening by refusing to obey a direct order to attack Russian troops while capturing Pristina airfield in 1999 in Kosovo".

The source given reads 'Asked if following the order would have risked starting World War 3, Blunt, who was a 25-year-old cavalry officer at the time, replied: "Absolutely. And that's why we were querying our instruction from an American general".

'' 'Fortunately, up on the radio came General Mike Jackson, whose exact words at the time were, "I'm not going to have my soldiers be responsible for starting World War 3', and told us why don't we sugar off down the road, you know, encircle the airfield instead." ''

Blunt didn't 'claim' anything. He responded to a question. The questioner didn't ask whether he had 'prevented WW3', in any case, but whether following the order would have risked starting it. On this basis, the edit doesn't accurately reflect the source, therefore I'm reverting it.

I don't think trivia like this merits going in the lede in any case. —Preceding unsigned comment added by AndyTheGrump (talk • contribs) 18:32, 14 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Hmm.. I agree. But this trivia about him could be interesting to some curious fans.
 * Also he was part of that world changing event... Atleast mentioning about it gives him the credit that is due.
 * I believe that, legends are no extraordinary people, only they get that chance to be a legend... some get it by their capability .. some by mere luck —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thandermax (talk • contribs) 18:45, 14 November 2010 (UTC)


 * The Pristina International Airport incident is already mentioned in the section on Blunt's military service. Maybe his response to the question might merit including there, but I'm inclined to think that would be overstressing his role - I suspect any officer in the same situation would have reacted similarly, and General Jackson seems to be the person taking the decision. AndyTheGrump (talk) 19:01, 14 November 2010 (UTC)

I made two changes to the article as it relates to the "World War III" BBC interview (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11753050):

(1) Reinstated the "citation needed" tag for the sentence claiming that Blunt was the first NATO officer to enter Pristina - there is nothing in the article to support this.

(2) Removed the claim that "[Blunt's] version of events has been supported by the British army commander, General Sir Mike Jackson" - again, completely unsupported. I don't think anyone disputes that Jackson disobeyed an order from General Wesley Clark, but to the best of my knowledge Jackson has never said Blunt played any part in that episode, and there is nothing in this article to suggest otherwise.

Also, the order Jackson disobeyed was to block the runways in order to prevent more Russian aircraft from landing, not to "attack" the airport. - Lexington50 (talk) 19:06, 17 November 2010 (UTC)

As to (2), the link for that is, an excerpt from an interview with Gen Sir Mike Jackson. (There is also a link to that clip in the other interview.) As to the "first officer in Pristina" quote, it was referenced at one point, and now it is time to dig through the history to find it. I do agree that, despite the BBC hyperbole, saying that this stopped WW3 is probably a bit of an exaggeration. Risker (talk) 07:18, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

What year was Blunt born?
A recent change (reverted and then made again) changed Blunt's year of birth from 1974 to 1968. Assuming this to be vandalism, I changed this back to 1974, the date given in the source. However, I wasn't entirely sure this source (allmusic.com) would necessarily be reliable, so I looked in other sources cited. One from the BBC says he "...was born James Blount in a military hospital in Tidworth, Wiltshire, in 1978..." Clearly, this needs further investigation... AndyTheGrump (talk) 02:53, 2 January 2011 (UTC)


 * This article from May 2005 says he was 28, which if he would suggest 1977. A lot of Google hits seem to be repeating/quoting Wikipedia at 1974.Apau98 (talk) 09:53, 2 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Also this article quotes 23 Feb 1977  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Apau98 (talk • contribs) 10:00, 2 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I just looked him up on Ancestry.co.uk and according to the England & Wales, Birth Index: 1916-2005 Vol 6b p446, James Hillier Blount was born in Q1 of 1974. The registration district is given as Andover in Hampshire and mother's maiden name as Amos. So, I would assume 22 February 1974 is correct. I'll add that as a source. Apau98 (talk) 11:47, 2 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Thanks. Perhaps strictly speaking using a site like Ancestry.co.uk could be seen as WP:OR, but I doubt that there is much chance of this being incorrect in this case. AndyTheGrump (talk) 17:43, 2 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Early news articles about Blunt were definitely incorrect; one can speculate that this was a marketing decision more than anything else. Blunt was born in 1974. I'm currently reviewing this article with an intention of improving it, and this is going to be a recurrent issue, as many of the same articles that are used to cite other facts will have his age stated incorrectly.  Risker (talk) 07:41, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Other James Blunt credits
My first exposure to his music was while watching the Carrier series on PBS, about the Nuclear Aircraft Carrier. After that I had to find his music because it really resonated with me. I added this because I didn't see credit for it anywhere. In the series I saw on PBS though, cut into several 1 hour episodes, there was more than 1 of his songs played, I'm sure. 204.42.21.121 (talk) 07:20, 17 July 2011 (UTC)
 * There is reference to the fact that the songs from his first album were used extensively in television and advertising. "Cry" is indeed from that first album. As the songs were used in at least 50 TV shows and/or advertising campaigns, and there is really no central repository in which to verify this information, I've not included precise details. I confess, this is a new one to me; it sounds like it would be a good fit. Risker (talk) 07:45, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

james blunt life
Hello - I have a problem. I have added information from a reliable source, but added deleted why? To explain more:
 * At the beginning of the definition of the person I have added his own name also in Spanish, because from a reliable source that he is live in Spanish of several years.

I hope that explanation and assistance. The link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Blunt. Please reply as soon as possible.

Thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.178.243.247 (talk) 21:36, 6 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi there, I assume that you are probably also the account User:Naife. The reason your edits were not kept is that James Blunt's name is the same in English and Spanish. There is an article about him in the Spanish Wikipedia, which you can find here:  https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Blunt I hope this helps. Risker (talk) 21:48, 6 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Hello - To clarify I am talking about James Blunt English article and not the article in Spanish.  James Blunt is a British and Spanish also because he lives in Spain.  Why when I add Spanish policy that is deleted?
 * Example: - Singer Celine Dion is Canadian, French and also by the beginning of the article we can see her name mentioned in English and French.
 * Why delete the name of James Blunt in Spanish at the beginning of the article? And how to add his name in Spanish next to English?  Thank you very much.  Please reply as soon as possible.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.65.236.186 (talk) 19:44, 10 November 2011 (UTC)
 * James Blunt is not Spanish, he is English. Living in Spain does not make him Spanish. Perhaps more importantly, his name is exactly the same in Spanish as it is in English. That is why any attempt to add another version of his name is being reverted.  What you are looking at in the Celine Dion article is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols illustrating the pronunciation of Dion's name. Because Celine Dion's mother tongue is French, and her name is French, the pronunciation guide specifies that the pronunciation is French rather than English.  If you feel strongly motivated to work out the IPA "spelling" of Blunt's name, it should only be in English, because his name is pronounced the same whether he is in England or Spain.  I hope this helps.  Risker (talk) 22:52, 10 November 2011 (UTC)

james blunt life (q
Hello . I need help How do I use the International Phonetic Alphabet on Wikipedia The reason is I want to add James Blunt in an article in English.

Thank you very much I apologize for any inconvenience

Please reply as soon as possible. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.66.236.143 (talk) 12:27, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

help -james blunt
Hello

. I need help How do I use the International Phonetic Alphabet on Wikipedia The reason is I want to add James Blunt in an article in English.

Thank you very much I apologize for any inconvenience Please reply as soon as possible — Preceding unsigned comment added by Naife (talk • contribs) 23:02, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

James blunt is not dead.
In the references provided, there is no claim that James Blunt died on the 5th of May 2012. These are just artist biographies, and they have no information whatsoever about his death. Just google it, you won't find a single article stating his death. 220.255.2.132 (talk) 02:29, 5 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Just an idiotic internet hoax: . AndyTheGrump (talk) 17:46, 5 May 2012 (UTC)

to quote <- redacted -> — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.220.135.193 (talk) 16:03, 8 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Note - I have removed the above link to the hoax, as it is almost certainly a copyright violation, using the CNN logo etc. We don't need links to hoaxes anyway. AndyTheGrump (talk) 23:01, 9 May 2012 (UTC)
 * It's actually the news report of Michael Jackson's death, photoshopped. We don't use something made up at school one day as a reference source. Risker (talk) 03:32, 10 May 2012 (UTC)

Date of Birth
In connection with an issue at Suicide of Amanda Todd can I seek guidance on what are acceptable sources for date of births?

In this article a blog and a primary source are cited. In the case of Amanda Todd we have multiple sources in the form of rememberance pages (hundreds of them) and in particular her own family remembrance page. Normally one could safely note her date of birth without providing a citation, but the date has been challenged on the basis of an article in the Huffington Post, which implies a different date.

Thank you. FrontBottomFracas (talk) 02:59, 2 November 2012 (UTC)


 * The best place to ask about issues like this is at the Reliable sources/Noticeboard. I'd agree that sourcing for the DOB given in this article isn't ideal - there is some discussion of the question in the talk page archive. AndyTheGrump (talk) 03:48, 2 November 2012 (UTC)


 * Thanks AndyTheGrump. I will take it to [Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard]] as you suggest. FrontBottomFracas (talk) 04:08, 2 November 2012 (UTC)

NATO bombing in Kosovo
An unregistered user has proposed the addition of the following:

" In Top Gear show he praised that We bombed the crap out of the Serbs A. famous Serbian musician Cane responded that only cretin could say something like that .B "


 * A: http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/drustvo/aktuelno.290.html:478732-Dzejms-Blant-Usali-smo-Srbe-od-bombardovanja
 * B: http://www.telegraf.rs/jetset/956178-cane-partibrejkers-dzejms-blant-je-totalni-kreten

There's little doubt that there was massive NATO aerial bombing during the Kosovo War. The quote itself is taken out of context (unfortunately it is not possible to link to an internet copy of the interview with assurance that copyright is being respected), and "praised" is not the correct description; "explained" may be closer, but even that is not completely right. However, the reaction to the statement by a popular musician is pretty irrelevant; it might be different if the reaction was from a high level politician, but such is not the case. This is pretty much a tempest in a teapot. Risker (talk) 07:07, 20 February 2014 (UTC)

Married?
Plenty of news on a marriage but although they say its happened none of them seem to have any substantive evidence unless someone has seen it? Garlicplanting (talk) 13:12, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

Pristina Incident
I removed the claim that Captain Blount had recieved orders direct from Wesley Clark. The only source for this is a puff piece of celebrity journalism which simply repeats Blunt's claims. In fact the chain of command was through British commander Mike Jackson. The arguments between the commanders took place in Skopje in Macedonia where the force was based. This is covered in detail in Jackson's autobiography. There is no evidence of Blunt having direct input or being party to the decisions. The independent article may be a valid reference Blunt not being willing to action such an order, and I can find no other source, but it is otherwise just plain misleading.Charles (talk) 09:56, 30 December 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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I have just modified 5 external links on James Blunt. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110721021957/http://www.alumni.bris.ac.uk/publications/intouch/intouch-aut05.pdf to http://www.alumni.bris.ac.uk/publications/intouch/intouch-aut05.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20081027004249/http://www.livedaily.com/news/12879.html to http://www.livedaily.com/news/12879.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20130818044510/http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/8331594-some-kind-of-trouble-optimistic-ala-james-blunt to http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/8331594-some-kind-of-trouble-optimistic-ala-james-blunt
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/james-blunt-set-to-be-a-dad-after-wife-is-spotted-with-baby-bump/story-fni0cvc9-1227564224084?sv=cf083dc13732b3baa5ae9fdbb544e6ce
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20101231021135/http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/patrons.html to http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/patrons.html

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External links modified (January 2018)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on James Blunt. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20131112223823/http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/edinburgh-college-art/music/staff/academic-staff?person_id=24&cw_xml=profile.php to http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/edinburgh-college-art/music/staff/academic-staff?person_id=24&cw_xml=profile.php
 * Added tag to http://www.atlanticrecords.com/news/article/?articleId=atlnewsarticle35800031

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GAR request
A request for a good article reassessment has been made for this article. Before I open one formally I would like to give a chance for editors to fix up any problems. I don't actually think it is far away from staying Good. From a cursory look I will say that the lead is a little weak and could probably be expanded. The prose is a bit jilted (especially the Personal Life section). A few more references would not go amiss. It probably just needs a spruce up of the materiel addded since the GA review. AIRcorn (talk) 00:29, 23 March 2018 (UTC)
 * I haven't edited meaningfully in something like eight and a half years. Fascinating to be tagged in something like this now. Is my name listed somewhere that suggests I am still involved with GAs?  Indubitably (Talk)  03:47, 24 March 2018 (UTC)
 * You reviewed it ten years ago, my time has flown. I didn't really expect you to be interested, but the reassessment instruction suggest letting the reviewers know. Have had complaints before, so thought it best to ping you on the off chance. AIRcorn (talk) 04:39, 24 March 2018 (UTC)
 * It might help to check the contributions of said people you ping. Andy looks like he locked it and threw away the key without another word two and a half years ago. Most people, if not blocked, relapse at some point, even for just a couple edits, because that's just the way things go here.  danny music editor  Speak up! 20:30, 24 March 2018 (UTC)
 * The aim is always to get the articles up to GA standard and the best way to do that is to let editors who may be interested in doing so know. Some people who don't edit much now care about the articles they have edited in the past. If I ping inactive editors there is no loss as the are inactive. If I ping editors no longer interested in working on the article they are free to ignore the ping. I would rather over ping and cause minor annoyance to some than under ping and risk missing someone who wants to get the article back into shape. Also I don't really have time to go through every major contributors edits in detail as there are a lot of GAR requests and as far as I can tell I am the only one systemically responding to them. AIRcorn (talk) 21:26, 24 March 2018 (UTC)

Very well, then. I am not very knowledgeable on Blunt. I haven't listened to terribly many of his songs, but I thought its structure looked rather weak...unless I am truly passionate and enjoying of the subject, I usually struggle to write about it unless I'm doing transwiki work or I happen to find sources by accident. I was also concerned that it might need more content, or is there not that much? I don't know. Is the Spanish GA article any better? I know their modern standards are among those closer to English Wiki's. Regretfully, I think this article suffers from a bit of "who cares" syndrome - he's faded from popularity and thus doesn't have much to say. Sourcing effort isn't awful, either, shame.  danny music editor  Speak up! 23:40, 24 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Sorry I missed this. I am not seeing a hell of a lot wrong. Good articles are not perfect articles. Content seems fine, unless you can point to something that is missing in particular. AIRcorn (talk) 23:35, 5 April 2018 (UTC)
 * I always think of it this way: "If it makes me want to template tag it, it probably shouldn't be a GA." Several sections draw a desire to do so for me.  danny music editor  oops 02:39, 6 April 2018 (UTC)
 * I have copy edited the personal life section. To my mind nothing else is really worthy of opening a GAR. There is nothing stopping you opening one yourself if you still feels it fails the criteria though. AIRcorn (talk) 21:35, 14 April 2018 (UTC)