Wild dates with Cliff and his animal friends

Shots of Cliff Richard posing with dolphins and shooting basketball hoops for his 2012 annual calendar have been met with a mixture of excitement and bemusement today after the snaps surfaced in the Daily Mail.
 
The 70-year-old singer has enjoyed incredible recent success as a pinup – according to Amazon, he was the UK's biggest-selling male celebrity calendar last year, beating the likes of Justin Bieber – and his latest efforts will certainly not disappoint his fan base.
 
The new calendar's cover shot shows a tanned Richard's emerging from the sea sopping wet, flippers slung over the shoulder and snorkel in hand. Another snap catches the singer on the basketball court, crouched down, sporting a vest and staring into the camera.
 
Exercise is clearly one of the calendar's themes - with the singer turning 71 next month, perhaps his vitality is a key part of the appeal. Less easy to explain are the frequent animal shots. Richard's wears leather chaps and wraps an arm around a horse in one picture, while elsewhere he is shown in the water, holding an arm up triumphantly as a dolphin leaps into the air behind him.
 
That shot in particular drew criticism on Twitter. "Cliff Richard has gone too far," tweeted Ben Ayliffe. "Way too far. What's the wetsuit / dolphin pose about?" But for other users, the pictures were the perfect tonic for a September morning. "This has made my day. Cliff Richard. I adore you," wrote Alison Jackson, while @CarrWestley simply said "Cliff's still got it".
 
Calendar makers Danilo will be hoping Sir Cliff's latest offering can match past success: he is the company's all-time biggest seller, with more than 1.5m calendars sold.

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