Posts from — January 2012

Well clearly David Hasselhoff’s head was not turned by that kiss I gave him last week, as this morning he apparently proposed to his girlfriend Hayley on top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge this morning.

However after announcing it on Twitter and posting photos they were strangely reluctant to talk about it to the media later.

Chris Murphy has come out fighting for Matt Newton in court today saying there are hundreds of photos that will absolve him from the alleged assault of a taxi driver.

News.com.au writes:

Lawyer Chris Murphy says 867 photographs recording, second-by-second, the alleged incident show “there is no assault”.

He said his 35-year-old client was not in court today on the advice of his psychiatrist.

Newton, the son of showbusiness couple Bert and Patti Newton, caught a taxi on December 4 last year and allegedly punched the 66-year-old driver in the head.

Mr Murphy said two witnesses, one in a car and one on the footpath, say there was no assault.

The lawyer said while he would love to defend the case, he must put his client’s interest first.

He said due to Newton’s mental illness, it would not be fair for him to face a lengthy hearing.

He is therefore considering applying to have the case dealt with under mental health provisions.

The magistrate adjourned the case to March 27 to allow Mr Murphy to make representations to the police about not continuing the case.

Not sure Matthew Newton is ever going to recover from this. It must be tough on him, tough on his victims and tough on his family.

Spotted online today on The Australian, is this George Calombaris?  Has George Calombaris ditched the Masterchef Australia set to really protest about the industrial relations laws in Australia? Surely they are not THAT bad.

I suspect it is just a doppelganger but the resemblance is eerie.

Excess Baggage kicked off last night and it appears the two weight loss reality shows are going to cannibalise each others audience in the 7.00pm timeslot with ratings for both shows being underwhelming.

However The Biggest Loser would be the ones that may first hit the panic button with figures for the first weigh-in and elimination sitting at 698,000 and Excess Baggage at 880,000. However it will be interesting if there is any big movement in these figures in the coming weeks.

Anyhow I don’t usually get bogged down in ratings as I prefer to comment on what is actually happening on screen.

Last night Excess Baggage went to great lengths to point out the difference between their fat busting program and the Channel Ten one.

There was no vomiting, no weigh-ins, no counting calories, in fact the training was so relaxed that Brandt Webb and Kevin Federline even ducked off for a cheeky cigarette. Former Biggest Loser host Ajay Rochester even put the boot into the show that did make her a celebrity basically saying their weight loss regime is irresponsible and there had been pressure on her to lose weight.

It was an introductory episode, and once the celebrities and the contestants stop being on their best behaviour (which I would guess with the heat, lack of carbs and exercising will be in about one episode) it is going to be highly entertaining.

However here are some quick thoughts on the first episode:

• Did they seriously expect us to believe that the contestants were just “wandering” through the Australian outback and they stumbled across a parcel with their name on it? If so they should all buy a lottery ticket now!
• Kate Dearaugo is mistaken if she thinks there is no one looking over her when she goes to the food buffet. Doesn’t she realise there is a camera crew following her?
• Kevin Federline confessed to a full on soft drink habit, and Ajay helpfully chimed in that “When she was fat she used to drink a lot of soft drink”. I like that she has body confidence but if she wasn’t overweight it is doubtful she would be on the show;
• All of Australia is probably going to fall in love wit Gabby Millgate again, however the melting the cheese in the microwave and eating it was slightly stomach churning;
• Kate Dearaugo had all over body lipo at 19 years of age, and by the looks of her abdomen now appears to still have the incision marks;
• By the way she appears to be the only female contestant agreeing to unclothe;
• Brandt Webb doesn’t look like he is taking it too seriously, but maybe this will change;
• Darren Lyons will indeed be the villain of the series, alongside Ajay Rochester. It will be interesting to see if another emerges;
• Unsure what role bubbly Kate Cebrano will play as host so will reserve judgement on her until I have seen a few more episodes;
• Ditto for the bubbly nutritionist Joanna and personal trainer Christian.

Line of the night goes to Gabby Millgate when she responded to Ajay’s call that the camera person get the best angle of her bottom. She quipped “There isn’t one”.

What did you think of the first episode will you be back to watch it?

It is the chicken or the egg question for the contestants on Please Marry My Boy, is it the mothers or the sons that is the obstacle in their ability to find a partner?

Take Melina for instance who appears to have swallowed the Cardamones Handbook on how to raise your son and does everything for him. Vlad who is thirty is still living at home and it does not appear to be for financial reasons. Seriously this guy is not a catch he will have really bad expectations on what a wife does for him. Also Malina would be a nightmare mother-in-law.

Also she is fixated on hooking him up with a Serbian girl so I suspect she is going to be very blinkered when it comes to picking the dates for her son.

The other mother who would be difficult to get on with would be Karen Kenny and you wonder if the reason her son Matt has not found a girl is that her domineering personality has meant he has not developed his own. What is interesting is that Karen in the speed dating appeared to want a daughter that was similar to her.

At the My Kitchen Rules launch yesterday I asked both mother and son why this was. Matt said his mother wanted a friend to get on with. Not sure two strong personalities would gel.

Also Karen said she wanted someone like her with strong morals and values which also included good manners. I did query where the “sex” question fitted into this considering it was quite rude and she did admit it was a “mistake”.

Anyway the episode started off with the mothers and son’s speed dating ten women each, and they could not complain about the quality of the girls the majority were good looking, articulate and personable.

Malina  and Vlad – Vlad does not appear to be a catch, sure he is ok looking but the overbearing mother has clearly had an effect on him.

Also if you are not Serbian chances are you are not going to be good enough, and she does everything for his son. At thirty he still lives at home. He has never been in love.

Like a lot of guys Vlad’s eyes were boggling at the over the top sexy girls. He particularly liked the girl who could do some clenching manoeuvre with her breasts.

Also there was the catholic topless waitress who said she was going to “wait” until she was married. Would you really want to be with someone who was flaunting to everyone but yourself? Also appeared to be a strange set of values. Milena was probably right in saying  no way to that one.

Vlad liked Liz the best.

However Malina picked the Serbian Andrea, Contanza, and Jackie. Jackie showing she was on the show to find love not to have her 15 minutes of fame had picked up the vibes about the mother and son and wanted to get out of there fast. She declined to go to Adelaide. A very wise decision.

In the end Malina selected Liz to go to Adelaide.

Elva and Tony – Tony is 35 year old man-child. Even his mother admits he is shallow. In fact I wonder how Tony turned into such a tool with a mother who appeared to be very likeable indeed.

Tony was like a little kid anyone one with a bit of sparkle, well in this case peroxide blond hair and a mini skirt would attract his attention.  Thankfully his mother is scathing of this approach.

However he did have the kooky Alex, the 40 year old tarot card reader who had never been in a long term relationship to contend with. She told him he would be moving away from his mother and he looked shocked.

Tony picked Tammy-Lee the 30 year-old model as his favourite. Her childhood ambition was to be barbie doll so just maybe he can be her Ken.

Elva picked Sarah, Magadalena and Tammy Lee.

Karen and Matt – Matt is a cute guy, but he does have a touch of the bland about him.  His Mother thinks he attracts floozies. Karen appeared to be enjoying being on a reality TV show experience and was making it all about her. She would think of herself as scary I would probably just call her brash.

One of her questions she asked was how many times one of the girls has had sex. Koa answered more then five less then ten. I take it that was the number of guys she had slept with. I am not sure what that information tells you about a person. It may indicate that Karen has a bit of a double standard in this area.

Amand the Swedish student is smitten with Matt. However Josie is on a student visa and Mum was worried that she would take off back to her homeland. What she did not add in was the possibility she may take her son with her.

Karen picked Lydal, Amanda, and Koa to move in with her.

Anne and Brendan – This was the nicest pair and the pick of the mothers and the sons. However he was having a hard time being seen as a love interest by the girls as his nickname is Frendan. Yes nice guys do finish last.

Anna fitness instructor  charmed Anne and she selected her as one of her three. The other two were another Anna, and Edwina.

Brendan just be the one who may find love on the show.

Who did you like? Who do you think has the best chance of finding love? And would you marry any of these boys?

Normally on My Kitchen Rules we see contestants in this stage of the competition cook dishes they have never tried before which is ludicrous enough, however I thought it had reached new heights when this Helen and Steve revealed they had not used the oven before as it had only been installed the previous evening. I was thinking wouldn’t you at least bake a cake to test it?

However before I castigate them too much it has been revealed today in the Herald Sun that they had not been cooking in their homes but in their brothers. In fact only four of the 12 couples cook in their own kitchens and this is because of logistics. They need to have the space for the control room and generator.

Also it appears, the kitchen and where the contestants dine has to be separate and considering the trend is open plan living this must be an issue for a lot of people who want to go on the show.

From the ads we could see Leigh and Jennifer from South Australia were being set up as the villains. Leigh looks the most surly, but Jennifer is going to get a lot of air time due to her Paris Hilton type qualities including carrying around a small dog and appearing completely vacuous. Oh and she also has the annoying habit of  sighing “yeah” alot.

However I also found Tom who is partnered with “friend” Clare to be rather arrogant. Both Clare and Tom declared they were just friends, and they don’t want anything else but I am not convinced.  For Tom to only think of Clare as a friend would go against the Ladder Theory which states that guys cannot think of girls as friends.

Steve and Helen from Sydney were the first to cook for the other teams their menu was Saganaki Prawns, Open-style moussaka served with Greek Salad, and Cypriot Pancake with vanilla icecream and walnut preserve.

Their big issue in the kitchen was they could not work the stove so the lamb shoulder for the moussaka was transfered to a frypan, but Steve finally figured out the cryptic instructions and they were able to start cooking.

Their “restaurant” was obviously a greek theme and they went the full kitschness with it including greek statues. This set up the atmosphere nicely.

However Leigh and Jennifer wanted more Greek. How they thought this could be achieved was unclear. Did they want a mini version of the acropolis as the centre piece on the table?

After the judges arrived the other “surprise” of  the mystery couple, Simon and Meg, the New Zealand team.  I dont’ know what the big deal is about having a NZ team there is more rivalry between NSW and Queensland at State of Origin time. There is no way the NZ people will win as the aussie viewers would be peeved to see the $250,000 go off shore.

Helen and Steve argued about the presentation of the entree. Steve wanted lots of sauce and  Helen was not wanting to go the rustic route. Again did these people not watch the last two seasons, Manu Feildel is always going on about how he likes lots of sauce.

Leigh and Jennifer thought it needed seasoning. Justine the truck driver from Perth snapped back there is enough salt in the cheese.

It was then revealed by the New Zealand team that they had not had Greek cuisine before as there are no Greek restaurants in New Zealand.

Ironically it was Pete Evans who complained about the lack of sauce not Manu.

The main course was Moussaka and it looked like stew on a plate, very unappetising.  Pete thought it was a good honest home cooked meal. Manu was not liking the sauce he thought it was far too reduced.

Jennifer picked on every aspect of the moussaka and then at the end said “good effort”. She also  thought the ice-cream was a bit eggy. She wasn’t going to win a popularity contest anytime soon around the dinner table.

The Army boys from Queensland, David and Scott, who appear quite droll scored them a 7, the WA girls gave a 7, Thomas and Carla  gave a 7, the New Zealand team gave a 7, but  Jennifer and Leigh gave a 6. This gave Steve and Helen a total of 34 out of 50.

The judges scored as well with Manu giving an eight for entree, a five for main, and an eight for dessert. Whereas Pete scored the entree a seven, the main a five and dessert an eight.

This came to a total of 75 which if previous seasons are anything to go by should not land them at the bottom, as usually one team totally tanks.

Well Margie just turned herself into the villain of The Biggest Loser by being the first one to cast a vote when in fact she didn’t have to and no one would have been eliminated. Was it tactical or was she just too thick to comprehend what Hayley had been telling her?

Hayley Lewis looked shocked like Margie had gone AWOL on The Biggest Loser script.

Tonight it was weigh-in and elimination night, and this resulted both the under 30 year-old teams members up for elimination. In fact this was interesting in itself as considering the younger ones have a faster metabolism.

Selena and Hamish were sent in to be voted out by the red and black team, however Hayley after whipping up hysteria revealed that if they did not want to vote anyone out this week they did not have to but the decision needs to be unanimous.  Lydia had previously been bitch slapping Selena about her lack of effort, and Margie who I think has a little crush on her was backing her in.

So Alex starts the vote and says he is abstaining, and then Margie votes for Selena. Quite frankly understandably everyone was stunned.  Hayley even asked her if Margie was playing the game and she denied this. She also said Selena needed to be there, and Hayley responded with an incredulous “she could have stayed”!

Also I suspect this manoeuvre by her will make her a pariah with her house mates and put a target on her back.

I truly believe she was just stupid. Anyway this meant Selena ended up being eliminated. Which was a pity as I don’t think she will have the motivation once she is outside the house.

Anyway it was the first weigh-in and as expected there were big numbers dropping. Interesting that some of the contestants can drop 10 kilos and not feel the difference.

The red team were the first to weigh in:

• Margie was first up and she lost 8.4 kgs so was down to 150.7 kgs;
• Brenda lost 7.7 kgs and now weighs 113 kgs;
• Lisa lost 6 kg is now 98.2 kg;
• Lydia 131.6kgs and lost 10.3 kgs.

Team has a total weight loss percentage of 6.16%

The White team (under 30 girls):

• Kasey weighed in at 125.9kg and lost 6.9 kgs;
• Michelle weighed in at 102.4 kgs which is a loss of 8 kgs;
• Bek – lost 5.3 kgs and now weighs 121.0 kgs;
• Selena weighed 158 kgs and lost 4.8 kgs.

Team weight loss percentage was 4.69%.

Selena was upset that she only lost a small amount and Hayley reassures her that she has lost nearly 5 kgs. It is a pity that Selena didn’t point out that the show places high expectations on contestants to drop big numbers.

Blue Team (under 30 boys):

• Luke weighed in at 137.3kgs and lost 7.9 kgs;
• Hamish weighed in at 143.8 kgs and lost 4.9 kgs;
• Ryan weighed in at 228.4kgs and has dropped 12.6 kgs;
• James weighed in at 126.4 kg lost 9.9 kgs.

Percentage of weight loss is  5.26 %.

Black team weigh in:

• Graham lost 11.3 kgs and now weighs 198kgs;
• Shane has lost 10.1 kgs and now weighs 154.7 kgs;
• Simon lost 9.9 kgs now weighs 154 kgs;
• Alex lost 10.7 kgs and now weighs 150kgs.

And with the extra 2 kgs they had a weight lost percentage of 6.29 kgs.

The two youngest people in the house, Hamish and Selena, were the two that lost the least and were put up for elimination. Did you think Margie do the right thing by voting or should she have abstained?

My Kitchen Rules season three was launched today with a lunch at Channel Seven studios, and being the professional I decided to use my scarf for something other then an accessory…. well you know it is a tough gig.

The judges Pete Evans and Manu arrived on a boat and then gave a welcome speech, and yes the obligatory “this season is better than last” line was delivered. I think we will be the judge of that.

Having said that I did post review this morning - saying as a reality TV show it does tick all the boxes.

I met a couple of the contestants, the NSW potential in-laws Sam and Jillian who were both lovely and spoke about the long hours the filming took. Which why there are tears….

Unfortunately I didn’t get the opportunity to talk to Jennifer one of the princesses from Adelaide to ask her what she thought of her edit. As she is the current villain of the show she was in high demand.

My Kitchen Rules premieres tonight on Channel 7 at 7.30pm and screens four nights a week from Monday to Thursday.

Just when I consider My Kitchen Rules judge Manu Feildel a little bit 2010, he pops back on the screen showing he does have the onscreen TV presence to engage the viewer. This is a positive thing as My Kitchen Rules is going into its all important third season and the show needs to maintain the momentum it had last year.

The cooking competition reality TV show should rate well, as it is entertaining television, because it ticks of the reality TV boxes.

These are:

1. Two good looking personable male hosts, Manu Feidel and Pete Evans, MKR producers obviously realise the majority of Reality TV viewers are women;

2. However for the men there are some cute female contestants, and a few guys that may also appeal to the fairer sex, well if you like droll men in army uniforms;

3. Casting is great, even in episode one, we see who the villains are, and it is not just Jennifer and Leigh the “princesses” from SA, yes Tom I am casting a side eye at you;

4. The savvy casting will ensure lots of chatter both online, at work and in the media because everyone is going to want to have an opinion;

5. Because of said casting, friction and sniping is already occurring around the table  and by some of the looks the judges give one of the girls by episode two you can see they don’t particularly like them;

6. The cooking and drama in the kitchen is entertaining with the usual stuff ups,  forgotten ingredients – there will be tears; and

7. Also the new $250,000 has upped the ante so expect much more strategic scoring as the show progresses.

There does not appear to be too much fiddling with the format at this stage. The judges and the teams go to each others homes and have to score the couple cooking and then after the two groups have completed this they will go back to the My Kitchen Rules kitchen where the eliminations will commence.

It could be argued including a New Zealand couple into the mix to try and bring up some trans-Tasman rivalry is a format change. But seriously who gives a rats? They can’t win as when they have to cook some ethnic food they are going to struggle, apparently there are no Greek restaurants in New Zealand. I am sensing a business opportunity for George Calombaris there, I wonder what the industrial relations laws are like over there?

The only thing that irritated me was the whole judges deadpanning as they ate the food, and looking concerned and then breaking into a smile and saying I loved it. It felt a little drawn out and we have seen that trick in season’s one and two.  Other then that My Kitchen Rules is a lovely diversion from all the weight loss shows on our screens.

My Kitchen Rules starts tonight, Monday 30 January at 7.30pm and will screen four nights a week  from Monday to Thursday in this timeslot. 

You know a reality TV show is good when at the end of an episode including the ad breaks you think “is that it?”. Please Marry My Boy was a one hour episode that felt like it was over in twenty minutes!

It was fast paced entertaining TV with quite a few laugh out loud moments. If you are a fan of Dinner Date, Four Weddings and Beauty and The Geek chances are you will love this show, and it makes the Farmer Wants A Wife speed dating episode look like it is on valium.

Please Marry My Boy is about four single guys who are letting their mothers select their girls for them. It is well cast with two mothers who appear to be absolute nightmares, and two of the guys who may not be quite the catches they may superficially appear to be. Read my recap which will be up after the show has screened to get my full and frank views of the cast.

The show is based on the US show Momma’s Boys which was screened very late at night on Channel Seven last year, and had quite a few fans on this blog.

The cast of the show is here, however it includes Matt Kenny and his mother Karen, Tony Turco and his mum Elva, Brendan Smith and Anne, and Vlad Lalic and Milena. Ada Nicodemou is host.

The episode starts off with each mother and boy interviewing ten girls in a speed date type scenario. The mother ends up picking three to go with her to live. Seriously there obviously is a lack of single guys in Australia as the majority of these girls seemed lovely as well as attractive. OK there were a couple of dodgy girls….

What is interesting about the concept of this show which we will see over the coming weeks is does a mother know best about who would be a good life partner for her child?

In western society we have this notion of romantic love and picking out own marriage partner however in other cultures marriages are arranged on factors that may not include physical attraction and love.

Do these relationships last longer because they are based on expectations that don’t involve mind blowing lust for the next 20 years of their life?

A recent study by a Queensland University says this may be the case, as the divorce rates are lower. However the study was flawed in my opinion as it contrasted Chinese marriages to Australian ones. It stated the divorce rate was lower as smaller gestures like washing up or fixing the car were seen to be showing the love between the partners.

I also suspect the lower divorce rates were also related to the lower socio-economic status of families in that country, and would be similar to the separation rates that Australia had at the beginning and middle of last century. Financial constraints do make it difficult for couples to split. The study does acknowledge the Chinese divorce rate is starting to increase because of the rising affluence of the country. So maybe the notion of romantic love comes with the freedom of increased education for women and men and not having to worry about where the next meal is coming from or how the rent is going to be paid.

It should be noted Chinese culture is not one where marriages are arranged as much as other asian or middle eastern cultures, however family approval would be extremely important when choosing a match.

There are pros and cons to both marriage models. What do you think?

Please Marry My Boy does not really delve into that, well not in episode one, it is just hilarious TV with a well cast ensemble.

Please Marry My Boy premieres tonight, Monday 30 January, on Channel 7 at 8.30pm. If you only have time for one hour of reality TV in a week this is the show to watch.