Posts from — January 2011

You just know as the week goes on that this group of contestants  are going to go off. I would expect nothing less from the Gold Coast.

There is Vanessa a very personable vet, Sheila a sophisticated lady who sells lingerie, Lachlan a little bit dull surfer and teacher, and  Warren an art gallery owner, and wannabe comedian. And quite frankly if the footage from his open mike night is anything to go by a wannabe he is going to stay.

I thought Warren exuded a smug sense of superiority at tonight’s dinner party something I hope Anita belts out of him by Wednesday. Anita is a director of a security company and she has the expensive skank look down pat. She seems a little be nuts but I wonder if she is playing up to the cameras.

Anita may not be that bright, but she got Warren in one when she said “Warren wants to be heard, and we are all hearing him.”

Vanessa was hosting tonight, and according to the website, she says she is an average cook, but she produced a nice menu, and let’s face it no ones meal is going to be worse than Aimme’s in week one of this series.

Her menu was Pan Fried Scallops With Pea puree followed by marinated flank steak with jus, green beans, roasted cauliflower with creme brulee for dessert.

Anita may not be that bright, but she got Warren in one when she said “Warren wants to be heard, and we are hearing him.”

Anita gave a seven, Sheila gave a 7, Lachlan also gave a 7, Warren gave her a 6 for a total of 27. A solid start to the week, and if she hadn’t used skirt steak she may have received an even higher score.

Ok even I was sceptical about the entree of chicken and bug meat with a frangelico cream and chive sauce. Pete Evans summed it up nicely and said “Why?”. However I am sure the editor of the 1970 Woman’s Weekly Cookbook was kicking herself for not thinking up this dish herself.

Tonight it was Queensland team Artie and Johnny who had the job of kicking off Season Two of My Kitchen Rules. This year is the same format, with the first lot of six teams doing their “instant restaurants”, in two weeks the second group of six will do theirs, and then they meet up in the My Kitchen Rule’s kitchen to duke it out.

The first lot of six teams are:

• Melanie & James – TAS
• Artie and Johnny – Qld
• Daniela & Sefania – WA
• Sammy & Bella – NSW
• Kane & Lee – Vic
• Donna & Reade SA

Now back to the stuffed chicken breast, the likeable Qld pair were always going to find it difficult to overcome the judges negativity to the dish. Manu thought it was  bit desserty and the chicken was a bit dry. Pete thought there was no wow in the dish.

However, James from Tasmania, and Donna from South Australia liked the frangelico sauce.

However, James was quickly rebuffed by Melanie his wife. If Melanie’s first husband had been reminiscing about her, this would have come to a crashing halt about half way through this episode. She appears to be a little uptight.

Artie and Johnny started getting panicky whilst cooking their main of twice cooked pork belly with scallops and vegetables.  The scallops were not searing, they cabbage was under cooked, and they had to replate when they realised they had not put the cauliflower puree on the plate.

I thought the main looked fantastic. Pete thought the pork was amazing and said it was one of the best porks he had ever had. Manu concurred but didn’t like the lack of salt on the vegetables.

However Lee thought her pork was a bit dry, and Melanie thought the scallops could have been cleaned better.

Dessert was poached pear in a chocolate almond cake served with a chocolate ganache.

Pete thought presentation was the dish of the night. However he thought they should have served more ganche with it as he thought his pear was hard and his cake was overcooked.

“Has anyone got a hard one?” queried Pete, deliberately  not looking at Manu as he said it,as he was turning on the gallic charm on the attractive Stefania beside him.

However all the other teams had perfect desserts.

All teams scored Artie and Johnny a seven for a total of 35.

Manu gave the entree 5; main 8; dessert 7, and Pete gave the entree 5; main 8; dessert 8.

They got a score of 76, which is pretty respectable start, and should keep them in the mix over the coming two weeks.

My Kitchen Rules Season 2 kicks off tonight with new contestants, but with the same judges the delectable Manu Feildel, and the enigmatic Pete Evans.

Channel 7 kindly sent me a preview disc and I watched episode two. Not going to give anything away but this is what you can expect from the show.

1. The format is the same, a cross between Come Dine With Me, and Masterchef Australia, except this time the second lot of teams is not a surprise.
2. The first episodes are where they go to the teams “restaurant” and the other teams and judges score them.
3. Then the top teams from the two groups go head to head in a Masterchef kitchen scenario.

 The highlights of the episode were: 

1. It was about the food and the cooking;
2. Manu and Stefania from Western Australia getting a bit flirty – you go girl.
3. This year’s teams appear to be more animated then last years lot.

 What I would like to see:

1. More dinner table conversation between the teams rather then just their opinion on the dishes served.
2. More alcohol to elicit the above.
3. A mixing up of the editing, a bit it felt a bit formulaic.
4. When they hit the second half of the competition, make them cook outside their comfort zone, last year they chose the menus.

 My Kitchen Rules will be a nice entrée before the main course of Masterchef Australia arrives. It ticks a lot of the boxes that makes a good reality TV show, good topic, cast and contestants.

 My Kitchen Rules starts tonight on Channel Seven at 7.30pm, it will be screening Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Channel Seven has rescheduled the start of Conviction Kitchen to later in February. It was scheduled to start tonight  after the debut of My Kitchen Rules. Rumour has it was moved because it did not want to go head to head with Underbelly.

By the way I am half way through the preview disc, and it is riveting.

This year the show looks like it is going to focus more on the trainers rather than the host. In all the pre-publicity this year and on the posters and she was in one scene in the debut episode.

This year they are mixing it up a bit with four teams consisting of families, and a new trainer Tiffany Hall has joined Michelle, Shannon, and the Commando to knock the contestants into shape.

Tiffany is a good edition to the show, as she is easy on the eye, and natural on camera. Each trainer gets a family.

The Westren Family were to be trained by Shannon It consisted of a mother, father and son, plus the son’s girlfriend.

The Challenor Family consisting of three uncles and a nephew, will be trained by Michelle. This team allegedly has the show’s heaviest contestant ever when he weighs in at over 260 kgs.

The Moon Family which consists of two sisters, and two cousins will be trained by the Commando.

Tiffany they new trainer will be training the Duncan family, all siblings.

As usual this episode was meant to make the viewer feel revulsion and pity towards the contestants, and this year for the first time ever the trainers had to go live with the families for a week and eat what they ate.

The contestants must have exaggerated what they ate as they couldn’t eat all that crap on a daily basis and still be alive. Also how do they afford it?

Tiffany might have been in hell having to eat and drink what they were eating, but her diet appears to be just as extreme but at the other end of the spectrum. At the pub meal she turned her nose up at the garlic bread, and said the brushetta would keep her going at an elite training level for two days. WTF was the bruschetta deep fried in duck fat?

Conversely I was also amused when the brother Jarrod about how great the flavours were in the chicken parmagiana Tiffany was eating. It looked like a pretty dodgy one. But I don’t think what she ate and drink should have brought her to tears. However it should be noted she is lactose intolerant hence the puffed out stomach.

I bet there are some viewers who would like to hear “I’m hear to stay” from the Commando, but his all female team were pretty non-plussed on hearing the news. Sarah has an interesting back story with a father who was a junkie so did not get regular meals.

Also I was shocked when Kellie admitted her kids eat MacDonald’s most days. Is she depressed? Is that why she is so unmotivated to cook for her kids. I must admit I was shocked by that.

Interesting enough when Michelle turned up to the Chinese restaurant to meet her family there were no other customers there. So a set up for the characters, and I suspect they were told to over order. Later in the episode I did feel sorry for her having to eat a hotdog, and she did puke up eventually after eating some cream.

When Sharlene the mum from the Westran family was told she had to strip down to their underwear in front of family and friends she said “no” and got teary. Didn’t she realise that in a few months hence a million viewers would see her semi-naked body?

A good start to The Biggest Loser and more drama is expected this week with them hinting one of the contestants quitting. All fingers are pointing at Sharlene at this stage but would Channel Ten make it that obvious?

And of course the trainers arrived at a meal time.

We finally the highly anticipated baby bump has arrived. Rachel Zoe is looking great here at the Elle Women in Television awards. She is now seven months pregnant.

American Idol started last week and it is good to see the popular series can survive without Simon Cowell. In fact from the episode I watched last night it showcased the talent, and the judges personalities did not dominate as they have in previous years.

That could be because J Lo doesn’t have much of one…

Steve Tyler seems to have taken on the dippy, flamboyant role and he is fun. However parents lock up your daughters, as he does have an eye for the young ladies.

Anyway the two names that have emerged from this week’s auditions they are 15 year old Lauren Aliana and Chris Medina . Yes you read that right Lauren is  15, Idol producers have reduced the age to audition down a year. LA Times outline why they think she will be a contender here.

The producers are keen to push her as she had the lucky last pimp spot.

The other guy that got this spot this week was Chris Medina who currently is nursing his fiancee who has long term brain damage. Even though I knew the back story to the clip, I was still couldn’t hold back the tears. This guy can also sing.

See his audition below:

Guy Sebastian cuffed in LA – Yes the story is a beat up. (Source: news.com.au)

Sophie Monk addresses the elephant in the room – the age gap between her and her fiancee. (Source: news.com.au)

Is Kendra’s career tanking, as a lesbian sex tape has been released, even that is not getting me interested in her. (Source: Huffington Post)

Conviction Kitchen which was scheduled to start this Monday after the debut of My Kitchen Rules, will start the following week. (Source: TV Tonight)

If you are wanting a sneak peek at the Melbourne auditions of Australia’s Next Top Model look here. Also according to the Herald Sun, Sarah Murdoch liked 18 year old Rachel Riddell.

Former ANTM winner Alice Burdeau is in the latest Country Road shoot. (Source: News.com.au)

Jersey Shore to film in Italy, and an American-Italian organisation is not happy about it. (Source: Reality TV World) Also Snooki says she regrets hooking up with Vinny in the last season of Jersey Shore. (Source: Reality TV Magazine)

Reality TV guru Mark Burnett (think Survivor), has had his chat show axed on the Oprah network before it even got off the ground. (Source: Toronto Sun)

Jesus I missed this one – Katie Price and Alex Reid splitting. Were they married for more than a minute? (Source: Unreality TV)

An update on what Australian Idol runner- up Matt Corby is up to courtesy of TV Tonight.

Luanne from Real Housewives NYC will be seen in Law and Order SVU. (Source: Examiner)

So You Think You Can Dance will move to the 7.30pm timeslot on Friday nights on Eleven. 90210 has been bumped.(Source: TV Tonight)

The hotness that is Adriano Zumbo will have his own show on SBS from early February. Hopefully this doesn’t mean he won’t appear on Masterchef Australia this season.(Source: TV Tonight)

Top Chef host and hottie Padma Lakshmi is being taken to court by the father of her baby Krishna.

Padma who gave birth last year at the time of her pregnancy refused to say who the father was, but later on it was revealed it was Adam Dell, brother of the Dell Computer owner.

The New York Post reveals:

Dell, 41, brother of billionaire Dell Inc. founder Michael Dell, last night filed a suit in Manhattan Supreme Court asking for full custody of Krishna, born last Feb. 20. Venture capitalist Dell is frustrated the “Top Chef” host, 40, has allegedly failed to respond to his pleas for more time with Krishna.

His lawyer, Bill Zabel, confirmed the filing and told us in a statement: “Adam Dell, above all else, wants to have an active and substantial role in the upbringing of his daughter with Padma Lakshmi. Unfortunately, Ms. Lakshmi has severely limited his time with their daughter and has refused to negotiate a reasonable co-parenting agreement. Mr. Dell has tried his best to avoid going to court, but Ms. Lakshmi has given him no other choice at this time.”

Sources say Lakshmi and Dell currently have an agreement which allows him to see their baby for seven hours a week. But it’s complicated by Lakshmi’s filming and travel commitments. Dell had to fly to the Bahamas this month to spend a few hours with Krishna. “He has to fit into her schedule,” the source added.

Sources close to Dell said he must deal with her lawyers and her assistant to arrange times to see Krishna. One source said, “Adam does not want to take the baby away from her. He hopes this will result in a reasonable co-parenting agreement.” Dell is also said to be seeking to be named on Krishna’s birth certificate and have her take his surname along with Lakshmi’s.

It will be interesting to see how this will pan out.

Thanks CG for sending in link.

Project Runway host Megan Gale was on The Circle today and talked about her split with Andy Lee and said absolutely nothing of interest.

The Daily Telegraph article states:

The brunette beauty said the pair kept their separation under wraps for two months to try to give themselves some privacy.

“I haven’t really talked about it but, in a nutshell, I guess it was something that we both wanted to not talk about a lot initially,” she said on Channel 10′s The Circle yesterday

“We just wanted to get our heads around it.”

When cheeky host Yumi Stynes asked how long before she could hit on Lee, Gale laughed. “Well it’s been… we’re almost there,” she said.