There needs to be a way to challenge (and resolve challenges to) picks revealed only in the closing minutes of the old year.
Quite reasonably, AFAIAC, some players want to keep their lists secret until the last minute, so that other players don’t get to piggyback on the research they did, and vulture their best picks. But it also means there’s no time to question whether their picks are legitimate celebrities before the game begins.
There needs to be an adequate opportunity for players to review each other’s picks, and challenge picks that they don’t think qualify as celebrities, or are only famous for being sick. There also has to be a point after which people’s lists can’t be challenged. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be the beginning of the new year. It’s not like that many picks are going to die right off the bat.
My suggestion would be to allow challenges through, say, the end of January 3.