Paul the octopus, an unlikely star of the 2010 World Cup who 'predicted' the outcome of seven matches, has died at an aquarium in Germany. Staff at the Sea Life centre in Oberhausen said they were "devastated" to learn that he had passed away during the night. Paul made his name by successfully choosing a mussel from one of two boxes bearing the flags of competing nations. Octopuses rarely live beyond two years so his death was not unexpected. Paul was two-and-a-half years old. The centre's manager, Stefan Porwoll, said that Paul had correctly guessed the winner of all Germany's World Cup matches, including their defeat, and had "enthused people across every continent". Paul's finest hour was his choice of Spain as winner of the World Cup As the tournament progressed, the octopus's uncanny knack of selecting the correct box drew increasing interest from the world's media, culminating in his choice of Spain as the eventual winner. He became an instant hero in Spain, prompting a request to have him put on display at Madrid zoo. Amid the euphoria, he was even made honorary citizen of a Spanish town. The Oberhausen centre said he had seemed fine when last checked on Monday night but was found dead on Tuesday morning.
I was actually waiting for someone else to start this thread so I could use that line!!!!! Couldnt wait any longer
Reports are circulating that Paul was seen out on the town in Oberhousen last night and a source has said that he was "legless" at the end of the night. Why did he throw it all away? I blame the press......
RIP Paul.The most exciting memory from the World cup.International football won't be the same without you.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/oct/26/paul-octopus-dead-psychic-world Paul the octopus is dead – but conspiracy theories are thriving Death of psychic octopus who proved a hit during the World Cup triggers claim of cover-up No sooner had death's tentacles slackened their grip on Paul's squidgy body than the first conspiracy theory concerning his demise emerged like a cephalopod from a crevice. Not everyone, it seems, is prepared to accept the news that the "psychic" octopus – who made such a splash over the summer by successfully predicting the results of World Cup games – passed away on Monday in the comfort of the German aquarium he called home. According to Jiang Xiao, the director of a forthcoming thriller entitled Who Killed Paul the Octopus?, the creature had really been dead for the last three months. Jiang told the Guardian she was "60 to 70% sure" Paul had died in July and been secretly replaced by his keepers. Explaining how such a deception could have been perpetrated, she added: "[Octopuses] all look the same. It is impossible to tell the difference." Jiang said she thought it was "kind of strange" that news of Paul's death had broken not long after the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre in western Germany had contacted her team to say they were keen to co-operate on the international distribution of her film. "We have been keeping in touch with the German aquarium ever since the beginning [of production] but it seemed to me that they were afraid," she said. "The movie is about unveiling the inside story behind the octopus miracle, so they felt nervous. "For the movie, we had done quite a lot of investigation and I am 60% to 70% sure that Paul died on 9 July [two days before the World Cup final] and the Germans have been covering up his death and fooling us for a long time." Jiang declined to explain why she believed Paul had died in July — or to say more about the revelations in the movie. Her allegations of submarine jiggery-pokery met with polite bafflement in Germany today. "It's certainly not true that Paul died in the summer," said a spokeswoman for the aquarium. "We can absolutely assure you that he died last night. He was about two and a half, which is the average age for an octopus. He died a simple and straightforward death." Paul is due to be cremated in the next few days. His ashes will be placed in an urn and displayed in a shrine, along with a portrait and video clips from his life, the spokeswoman added. "We've already set up a condolence book where people can write their tributes to Paul," she said. But what of the rumours that Paul had pulled off one last magnificent psychic coup by predicting his own death? "If he did, he kept it to himself," she said.
REVEALED: The ridiculous dead octopus, its links to DIC, Blackstone, ex-Liverpool owner Tom Hicks and Paul Daniels, and PR gone bonkers Nick Harris Sporting Intelligence The death of an octopus called Paul in a German aquarium has triggered a global surge in news coverage that underlines the vacuity of celebrity culture, the power of anything football-related to attract coverage, and the relentless march of clever PR. Far from being a simple cephalopod that got lucky on a 256-1 chance of predicting eight two-option outcomes in a row (matches at the 2010 World Cup), it turns out Paul was / is a publicity stunt for a global entertainment conglomerate, the Merlin Entertainments Group (MEG). The biggest single shareholders in MEG are Blackstone (one-time favoured financiers of the former Liverpool owner, Tom Hicks), while until recently another stockholder in MEG was Dubai International Capital, former bidders for Liverpool. Among other MEG assets, the British-based organisation owns and / or controls the Sea Life group of aquariums, one of which in Oberhausen, Germany, latterly housed Paul, who has, incidentally, already been replaced with another octopus, originally called, errm, Paul. Touching. MEG also owns Legoland theme parks in various countries, the Madame Tussauds chain of waxwork exhibitions, amusement parks including Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventures, and the London Eye. Paul the Octopus, who provided colourful if inane fodder for umpteen news and broadcast organisations during the World Cup, especially those with no rights to any live action in South Africa, was also credited with predicting correct match results for Euro 2008 games. It should be stressed that, contrary to some reports, that was actually a different octopus, and that the different octopus got other results wrong, but such facts shouldn’t get in the way of a good story. Paul – and the Oberhausen aquarium and MEG – got lucky when Paul “defied the odds†to “pick†winners this summer. Since then he has been relentlessly marketed as a brand to make cash. Ridiculous though it seems, he did indeed have his own “agentâ€, Chris Davis, who did 30 media interviews yesterday, including one during a “breaking†news special on BBC TV in a segment that lasted 5 minutes and 42 seconds. That ridiculous excuse for a piece of public service broadcasting can be viewed within this link. (Second piece of video). So how on earth did Paul the Octopus get an agent? Well Davis, who has a stable of showbiz clients that includes TV magician Paul Daniels, Daniels’ wife Debbie McGee, former Wet Wet Wet singer Marti Pellow, former Neighbours star Mark Little, and actor Ken Morley of “Corrie†fame, has done PR work in the past for MEG. “And there was a situation where the aquarium had 200 media people asking questions per day in the summer,†he tells sportingintelligence. “And they needed someone to handle it, so I became Paul’s agent.†Cue some truly ridiculous stories about the octopus, including one that he would record an album of Elvis songs. Chris Davis insists the quotes in the piece linked here were fabricated. True, however, is that books have been written or are planned about Paul, as are cuddly toys, an iPhone app, and a documentary by film company Cinema Vertige. Due for release in the new year, according to the news section of the firm’s website, it’s called Tentacles of Divination (The Extraordinary Tribulations and Fabulous Destiny of Paul the Psychic Octopus, Seer of Seers). And it’s being made in association with . . . Merlin Entertainments Group, who own Sea Life, where attendances have climbed up to fourfold on the back of Paul stories. (Octopus, not Daniels). Davis insists that conspiracy theories about Paul’s death are nonsense and says that a Chinese film-maker Jiang Xiao was just trying to cash in on Paul’s fame by renaming an unrelated work Who Killed Paul the Octopus? As the already oft-repeated gag goes, this story still has legs – even if nobody can predict which way they’ll go. Chris Davis says Paul earned “hundreds of thousands†of pounds since the summer, and “was heading towards being a brand worth £1m by Januaryâ€. The profits will apparently go to a turtle sanctuary in Greece. And the hugely valuable PR will go to MEG and its irms. Final word to Chris Davis on Paul’s career: “I ink it’s all overâ€.