for those who have reality tv as their guilty pleasure

OK so we have a contender in apprentice hairdresser Sally Chatfield who sung Hurt by Christine Aguillera, her voice was amazing.Not sure Kyle had to kiss her feet but then he did have to bring her moment back to him.

Now let’s discuss Kyle Sandilands who is the head judge in a sense just by sheer force of personality. In fact I think Channel 7 have edited him well or he has decided to be sarcastic but not cruel. In fact on tonight’s show he gave me several laugh out loud moments. Particularly when he told one female group “Female Proclaimers, no thank you”.

It was a good choice to have Kyle as he seems to be a format suited to him. However, it will be interesting to see him mentor people as his background is not as musically immersed as the other three judges.

And isn’t Ronan Keating the sparkly one. I am not sure which shine more brightly his blue eyes or his white teeth. He is a good addition to the show, however I thought his dummy spit over Kaspa DeVetre was a bit over the top.

Poor Kaspa had kind stumbled through the audition process and found himself on the live show sing Wicked Game by Chris Issak. He did a medium rendition but then when he kind of said he was on The X Factor because his mates told him to put his money where his mouth he was deemed not serious enough and Ronan stormed off.

And Ronan if you have an issue about sitting their for hours having to listen to crap acts have a talk to the producers they are the ones putting them through.  I mean how many Imelda Marcos wannabes did we really need to see.

Yulyia Rai a former  ukraine pop singer who married an Aussie and moved here had a spunky attitude about her but I thought her singing was not that great. But Kyle was giving her extra points for the perve factor and she got through. Props to Natalie Imbruglia for saying no.

Elizabeth Hilton who would have been better sticking with her opera singing genre was not so lucky.

Another made for reality TV was Chris Doe  an 18 year old looking for his real father, I was actually surprised that he had a good voice.

Guy Sebastian’s support bad Mahogany sang A Boys To Men song they were good and were easily put through to boot camp. But it was interesting to hear what they had to say when Ronan asked them why they did not have a record contract yet. And they replied they had had a bit of bad luck.

I think it is going to be a tough competition as some talented people are being sent through to boot camp and these shows are not just about singing well it is also capturing the audiences imagination.

One such person was Tony Munnings a 41 year old fork lift driver  from Perth who sang Proud Mary. He had a huge likeability factor and these shows always like a rank amateur who could potentially become a star. It means there are are thousands of people at home thinking that could have been me. Luke Dickens was a prime example of this.

Next week is boot camp and I spotted Rai Thistlethwaite which begs the question when did reality TV become cool?

I loved the way they go the last person of the day when in fact it was a completely different day.

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It was karate Kyoko’s turn to cook tonight as she did an amazing job to produce so much food in her tiny kitchen.

Her menu was Edaname, Packet Dried Squid with Japanese Mayo, and avocado dip, then she had Japanese mixed entree with about six dishes in it.

Her main was Stewed Japanese Beef Curry, and dessert was Sticky Date Pudding.

Jesse and Sharon were a bit non-plussed about the menu. And the whole episode was shown as some sort of class divide which versace Jane was happy to perpetuate.

Jane thinks “Jesse is trying to keep up” clearly thinking he is on some sort of lower social scale then her. Also she thought Sharon was being a bit intimidated by tonight as well. But those were the only negatives as she was gushing over everything.

Kyoko was a fast cook and had it totally under control. The karate welcome got everyone in the mood for a fun evening. But the down side was the cosy eating space.

Jesse did not like the dried squid, nor did Sharon. Jane thought it was sensational as she did the edaname. David also thought the food was faultless.

For someone who doesn’t drink, Kyoko gave out vodka infused watermelon with persian fairy floss as a pre-dessert, and seemed to be knocking back the sake.

The only downside was the sticky date pudding with the majority thinking it was  average.

However she still scored well as her evening was entertaining.

David scored an 8, Sharon a 7, Jesse a 6, and Jane gave her a 10 which gave her 31 which still means Jesse is in the lead. Tonight David’s turn to cook.

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Thankfully things had not heated up THAT much on Farmer Wants A Wife, but pearl Farmer Jamie was gave the real thing to his lady love the delightful Emma. Last week they tried to make out that Jamie had rejected Vanessa. But in the latest edition of TV WEEK, she said off camera she was encouraging the pair to get together. She said she is still friends with the pair and is going to see them in September. So going by that they still must be on.

Emma is about the only positive thing on this season on Farmer Wants A Wife, her and Becky. The rest of the farmers and girls are lacking in charisma.

Devon and Leila had a night away and he reckons it was one of the best times he had spent with a girl. Was he a virgin? But now he needs to spend some time with Jess, who auditioned for the wrong reality show. She should have tried out for Australia’s Next Top Model as she is stunning. I don’t blame Leila for feeling a tad insecure about her.

And didn’t the producers make sure we got the swimsuit shots of her as Devon took her water skiing. Devon confesses he finds Jess hot. She is only 19 year old and is a vet student so I don’t think she will be moving to Hopetoun any time soon. What I find quite uninspiring about him is the girl has to move to his town, why can’t he move from his town for love.

I still think he will be hanging with his mates all the time.

I really like Farmer Becky who has a million acre station to run. At the moment she is tossing up between Joe and Gavin. I don’t think she ends up with Gavin as he says the best thing about his stay was meeting Charlie her daughter.

Charlie who ran into Walcha hospital with no shoes on when Kristy had been bitten by a red back spider is a nice kid.  Kristy ended up being transferred to Armidale after that. Walcha Hospital probably decided to flick the responsibility onto the larger hospital as who wants a patient dying on camera.

Alison, Charlie’s other girl was grinning from ear to ear when he told her about the spider bite. He is playing his cards close to his chest with his girls, I suspect he will end up with neither.

Shaun who has a rocking body, but is a tad dull as are his girls. Eliza likes him and she gets a date with him tonight but don’t expect scintillating conversation. When she leaned in for a kiss he couldn’t pull back fast enough. The rumours must be true regarding him meeting someone before the girls arrived at the farm as he looks like he is going through the motions.

Nathan and Amanda are on, as seen by the pashing on TV.  Tessa was not happy when she was told that she had no hope and got teary. So I was wrong maybe Nathan has hidden charisma I predicted he wouldn’t get a girl, and it looks like he could have had two of them.

Apparently Tessa could not leave like Vanessa did from Monkey Mia as the location was too remote and the planes only leave 3 days a week and the closest town was 350kms away.

Anyway next week they take their girls on city date and then they decide who they want to be with.

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Well they say guys like a certain type and that certainly is the case for The X Factor judge Kyle Sandilands. He nearly popped a vein when he saw Hayley Teal the 20 year old admin assistant walk on stage. She had the brown red hair with a wave in it, the curvy figure and she could sing. It was a younger version of Tamara Jaber his former wife. I noted he gave her a standing ovation but not the cancer victim on last night.

I presume it was a bit of a set up when Kyle said “Have you got a fella at home” and she said she had a girlfriend. Anyway who cares who she is shagging as she did a great rendition of the Alicia Keys song How Come You Don’t Call Me.

Tonight they showed the auditioners mangling some of the judges song which was actually pretty amusing. Michael Mailo  a 22 year old corrections officer made a Ronan Keating song unrecognisable.

Rennee Chomel 26 gasped out Natalie Imbruglia’s Torn, and some guy murdered Guy Sebastian’s Idol’s winners song Angel’s Brought Me Here (which was pretty bad to begin with).

And you knew Spitzer a 25 year old glacier did not have a hope of getting to boot camp when he was out rapped by Kyle Sandilands. But can someone tell me when rappers dance why do they always seem to be protecting their crotch area? I am sure someone must have done a thesis on this topic.

Olivia robins a 31 year old radiographer brought a bit more talent into the over 25 group, and she had a nice country pop vibe to her.

A big fail to the judges for not putting Vamos through. They were the white boy Milli Vanilli and were funny with it.

A group that did get through were Lazy J & Big Guy had the voice but were very shy on stage it was a great combo of angel voice with the other one rapping. They got a standing ovation and were put through.

Unemployed Angelo Evanglious’s son wanted him to audition for the show, and you knew they were hoping it would change their lives. Unfortunately  you knew he was going to be bad when he said he was going to sing Rick Astley’s – Never Going To Give You Up. Points to Kyle for pointing out to the other three judges they were being hypocritical when they were judging him.   “Thou shalt not lie” he sniped at them.

The judges were all gushing at Darcy Callus a 19 year old student who sang the John Legend song Ordinary People. Ronan told him he had the X Factor. He is guaranteed to be on the live shows.

The person who won the How The Fuck Did You Get To Bootcamp award is Adrian Duffeild whose singing of Dragon’s Rain was abysmal, but for some reason his wild, not in time stage moves got him the nod from the four judges.

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Matt Newton’s week did not get any better with news that his ex-fiancee Rachael Taylor will be taking out an AVO against him.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Rachael’s lawyera has applied though the local court, and the papers will be served on him. Interestingly enough his lawyer high profile Chris Murphy wanted the papers served on him through his office to try and keep it private where Matt is currently hospitalised. However this request was refused.

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Not sure why Sharon went on Come Dine With Me Australia considering she said she is not a great cook, but she reckons she can throw a great party. But maybe she is just used to catering for the 24 year old boyfriend.

Her starter is Smoked Salmon on Cos Boats, her entree is Cajun Chicken with a mango salsa,  her main is veal scallopini with smashed sweet potato, and dessert is Tantalising trio of treats mini lemon cheesecake, toblerone mousse  and homemade strawberry ice cream.

Was she sponsored by Masterfoods, she used it in their cajun chicken spices and lemon butter for dessert. She started off with her version Long Island Ice Tea, with vodka, cointreau, malibu, strawberry liquour.

Jane who considers herself as a woman of the world, and said Sharon’s house was what she expected “suburban”. To be fair to her  the show did go out of their way to show her as a bit of a bogan by flashing her Supre label at the end of the episode.

The cajun chicken did not taste of much at all. There was an hour and a quarter between entree and main. Also it was all pretty flat, so I don’t know why she thinks she is such a good entertainer. I was surprised there was not jelly shots.

It was almost painful to watch the silence of the diners. It looked like a really dull evening and they have another three nights to go.

David looked like he was just shovelling it down his veal so he could get the hell out of there.

Jane said the veal did not taste Italian. David thinks Jane is a bit egocentric. And no surprise that Jane celebrity crush was Silvio Bersculloni. Says a lot about what she wants in a guy – clearly not ethics. I cannot wait for her night to cook.

David gave a 5, Jane a 6, Sharon a 6, and Kyoko 7 which gives her a total of 24.

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Australian girls nearly passed out in excitement when they read the news that Ronan Keating and his wife had now officially separated. As they will have the opportunity to have first crack at him when he comes out here for the live shows of The X Factor.

Lara Bingle who could do with raising her her profile for the summer social season is probably calling him NOW.

The couple separated after it was revealed he had had an affair with a dancer. The couple have issued a statement saying they were still separated but they are working together for the children. I am sure it is not a great time for any of them. (Source: News.com.au).

With Kyle Sandilands now separated from Tamara Jaber, and Natalie Imbruglia single, Guy Sebastian is the only one of the judges who is hooked up. Maybe a romance could brew between out Nat and the irish singer.

UPDATE: The X Factor ratings improved with nearly 1.5 million viewers on Tuesday night.

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Where are the groups auditioning for The X Factor, has Channel Ten siphoned them off for their Glee type show called Don’t Stop Believing? We saw one group audition tonight a sister act called Rheeonya who look like they may have a pushy stage mother who you wouldn’t want to mess with, but otherwise they were really good. Not that they look like they have much competition, as I don’t think any groups were put through last night. So they may barely break a quorum at boot camp.

Thankfully there is definitely some talent in the male and female under 25 categories. There was a likeable  16 year old Mitchell Smith who sang Chasing Cars. The judges thought he had The X Factor, but I am not so sure whether his voice is that strong. I hope I am proven wrong.

Two other girls who were OK but I don’t think will make it past boot camp are 16 year old Stef Barney and Alice McDermott - who I barely heard 10 seconds of.

However loved Ashlee Bellchambers who did a great rendition of Jewel song, and Jessica Ducanesse flawlessly sang Leona Lewis.

In the over 25 group which is the one that none of the judges want to mentor single mum Neridah Leishman sang a Whitney Houston number quite well.

Also in that category, Altiyan Childs, wannabe rock star, was back to sing Sex Is On Fire again. If you missed last night he tanked but was given a second chance by Kyle. Altiyan has been in rock group Masonia and if the wiki page is to be believed they had a single reached number 41 on the ARIA charts.

Also here is Altiyan in one of the bands film clips.

Personally I think his second audition smelt of desperation, but then that is what makes good TV.

I loved how Kyle flicked it to Guy to vote first on whether to put him through, and props to Guy Sebastian for manning up and telling him it was not enough for him. However Ronan and Natalie said yes and finally Kyle acquiesced and said see you at boot camp.

Daniel Conway a 21 year old musician who was probably Altiyan 15 years ago, I really liked.  Kyle said he thought he just won’t show up. Which I took to be he thought he was a stoner.

Then tonight’s tear jerker story was brought out and it was a good one.

Karl Dimachki had had tongue cancer and he was told he would not be able to sing again, and it really was a great achievement getting up on stage. He did a nice rendition  of Hello by Lionel Ritchie, but he must have been great prior to the operation. But without the sad story would he have got through to boot camp?

Points to Kyle for telling him like it is and said the audition was more for you then to advance in the competition, but then Guy and Natalie voted to put him through and Ronan realising he did not want to be lynched by the weeping crowd had the casting vote and said yes.

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The X Factor had a solid start in the ratings last night getting 1,186,000 for their first episode, but the real winner out of all this was the Bert and Patti interview about their son Matt Newton on A Current Affair.

The interview must have been hard to do, however they did reveal that Matt Newton has been having mental health issues since he was 14 years old.

Amanda Meade writes a good article in The Australian about it.

She says Patti revealed that Matt has had problems for awhile and is currently on suicide watch:

Last night his show business parents, Bert and Patti Newton, spoke about their son’s battle with anger and depression.

Bert sat largely silent beside Patti with tears in his eyes as she told how they had watched from the sidelines as their talented but troubled son had lurched from one catastrophe to another.

“He didn’t want us to be very much involved – there’s been a bit of that through his life – he loves us but he’s always wanted to do his own thing,” Patti said.

The Newtons believe their son has a mental illness rather than a problem with drug and alcohol misuse.

“He’s never really accepted the fact that he had an illness,” Patti said, describing how at 14 he had been told by a psychologist to “make sure you never do drugs or alcohol because you have the sort of personality where it will take over your life”.

“All that Bert and I can do is be very sorry for everything that he’s done to cause any hassle with anybody and also to try and get him the best help that he can have, so that maybe there’s something, a life, that he can still have.”

I think anyone who is a parent or knows what it is like to deal with mental illness must feel for Burt and Patti.

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It is week two of Come Dine With Me Australia and first out of the blocks is Jesse who is portrayed as a bit of a sports loving yob. He calls his home Hotel Hibiscus which he thinks people don’t want to leave.

It was interesting that even though he had the Uncle Norm persona he was using some to top quality ingredients, and serving some interesting wine and beer.

His first course was chicken, bacon and mushroom risotto.

His main was Hibiscus Hotel Prime Rib-Eye with veges, one being bali corn which he said he survived on when he was holidaying there. He said otherwise there was only slugs and grasshoppers to eat. As James Valentine said what part of Bali was he in?

Also is Arnott’s Chocolate Ripple Biscuit’s sponsoring the series, it has been the second chocolate ripple dessert in a week. I’d never heard of the biscuit nor the dessert, but David the 42 year old advertising guy seemed to know it. Obviously a culinary delight I have missed.

The other diners this week was 35 year old Jane Izzaro a marketing manager for her husband’s fashion business. Her Italian husband is 28 year old older then her. I think thought she was a bit more posh then she actually was. For someone who preferred to read rather than dirt bike ride, she did not seem that articulate.

However she was presenting herself as nice and the person who gets on with everyone, which I am not sure I am completely buying it.

I really like the Japanese karate lady Kyoko, I think she will be telling the people what she really thinks by the end of the week. Also she is not drinking much as it does not agree with her so she will get bored quicker than the others.

At the other end of the relationship spectrum, we have bogan scrummy muumy 36 year old full time mum Sharon. She is into dirt bike riding and hanging out with her 24 year old boyfriend. She has just come back from getting a boob job in Thailand, and may have gotten some botox when she was over there as well if her unanimated face is anything to go by.

Since she cannot cook I am unsure why she has applied to go on the show.

41 year old David Whiteside who is in advertising and looks like he is a neat freak. But seems to be cast as the nice guy of the week like Paula was. But like her he might be a little dull.

Jesse’s rissotto did not rock their socks off, and Jane thought it more an Australian way of cooking it rather than Italian.

The steak main looked pretty damn good, and got the thumbs up from all involved, whilst the dessert was given mixed reviews. Kyoko did not like the alcohol taste of it, and David thought it was not complex enough.

Jesse finished the evening with a song he had written about his daughter and it was quite good, maybe he should have toddled up to The X Factor auditions.

David gave him a 7, Kyoko an 8, Sharon an 8, and Jane gave him a 9 for a total of 32. A stand out score that will be hard to beat. Jane has not given herself much room to move if she has a really sensational evening on another night. However, Sharon’s turn tonight does not look like she will be able to crack a ten.

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