Category — Dancing with the stars

It was a shock elimination on  Dancing With The Stars last night with Kerri-Anne Kennerley being voted off the show. What was more shocking was that she was in the bottom two with Jessica Watson, someone with a lower profile and worse dancing skills and she was still punted.

Were the voters thinking KAK was so popular and just thought everyone else was voting for her so did not bother?

However the good news is that it does open up the competition, with Danielle Spencer, Zoe Crammond and Johnny Ruffo now favourites to win.

I don’t quite understand the voting formula, which part hinges on points and public vote, but if Danielle continues to get perfect scores as she did last night she will be hard to beat, and you would have to expect that husband Russell Crowe is hitting the phones hard between takes on his movie set or getting his personal assistant to.

Here is her routine that scored her thirty, it is good, but not sure if it is perfect.

It was no surprise that at the start of the episode it was announced that Shannon Noll had pulled out of Dancing With The Stars with a back injury. He was operated on yesterday and will not be returning.

However the big question was whether there would be an elimination tonight and at the end of the episode it was announced everyone was safe. The peoples votes from this week would be rolled over to next week as well.

However there are some questions raised about whether it was kosher that Channel 7 knew Shannon Noll was out and it was not announced, therefore people were still voting for him at betting agencies.

Again Danielle Spencer, Zoe Crammond and Johnny Ruffo were the top three on the leader board, with Kerri-Anne not feeling the love from the judge this week with a low score of 19. However Brian Mannix was at the bottom of the scoreboard with 16 points. How much longer can he stay in the competition for?

The Herald Sun (paywall) is saying that one of the contestants on the set of Dancing With The Stars is too injured to perform tomorrow night.

The article states:

DRAMA has struck Dancing with the Stars, with one of the celebrity twirlers understood to have been carted off for emergency surgery after sustaining a nasty dance-related injury, and may not be able to take part in tomorrow night’s show.

While Channel 7 yesterday was reticent to shed any light on the identity of the fallen fleet-footed star, it is known several of the cast were struggling with agonising back ailments after last Sunday’s show.

The two names being hinted at were Shannon Noll who apparently badly ripped muscles in his back last week, and KAK’s partner Carmello Pizzino.

Dancing With The Stars is on Channel Seven Sunday at 6.30pm.

Dancing With The Stars has one major problem and that is it goes for far too long. Tonight the recording went for 160 minutes, and maybe if that is the only show you are going to watch on a Sunday night it may be OK, but if you want to watch something else it becomes a very long evening. There is far to much filler.

It was Mel B’s first night on the show, and it is a tough gig filling Sonia Kruger’s shoes who at times was more memorable than the hosts. Mel B was noticeably nervous and getting that relaxed banter going in the green room will take a few weeks.

The tension between the judges Joshua Horner and Todd McKenney continued. When Todd had those two other dolts sitting on the panel he was the witty one. But Joshua is taking over that role and I don’t think Todd likes it. Helen is a nice counterbalance between the pair. Also Todd McKenney won’t have made Channel 7 very happy when he joked that he had received a tweet from Sonia.

It was first night nerves for all the contestants and some fared better than others.

First up was Johnny Ruffo and Luda dancing the Cha Cha. In rehearsals she was telling him to keep his hip hop sticking his “package” out moves under control. However considering the cha cha is all about hip moves  personally I did not think it mattered. However lucky for Luda her new partner has a bit of rhythm and The X Factor contestant could be a dark horse in the series.

Joshua Horner who was back for his second season as a judge was quite funny when he noted that with Luda doing the upside down starfish that she was in fact showing off her package.

They got a total of 20.

Erin McNaught also danced the cha cha and it was a little awkward. However that red tail feather may have made it a tad difficult. Chance of her winning the series are low. This cha cha had the touch of the burlesque about it and not in a good way.

Todd told her partner that he over danced her and he needed to make Erin shine. The judges were generous with a score of 16.

Tongue out is for thinking said next contest Caine Eckstein and his partner Jessica Prince, who was on So You Think You Can Dance, she had to leave because of an injury. They did an Vienesse Waltz. He showed he had potential but will he and Johnny Ruffo be battling for the same voting bloc?

As Joshua Horner said “For a sportsman first show, awesome”.

Brian Mannix was relived that he had a dancer who was shorter than him and he was being a tad lecherous as well but maybe that was helping him get into the cha chaing mood. Well the good news is that he is a good performer, however his dance technique was pretty bad. Though his playing up to Helen must have scored him an extra point.

They scored 16.

Danielle Spencer and her partner did a Vienesse Waltz. It is hard to razzle on Viennese Waltz but she managed to.

Todd said she has the ability to win the competition which could be the kiss of death. Her mother did not look too thrilled about sitting next to her former husband, Don Spencer, in the audience.

They got a total of 25

Shannon Noll has been partnered with a very attractive Russian called Ilena. His wife must be thrilled. The problem with Ilena is that she is difficult to understand. Shannon is going to have to improve if he wants to win the competition, but he does have a lot of fans.

Though they did get 16.

Jessica Watson is quite sweet but pretty unco in rehearsal. However pulled it together for the performance. She was a little bit stiff on the dance floor with the Viennese waltz. Joshua was positive about her, whereas Todd told her there was a lot of work to do. They scored 18.

Vogue Williams who is allegedly an international dj however that was not the thing that scored her a gig on the show, it was her relationship with Brian McFadden which was why she was dancing the cha cha tonight. She has great legs but she does not know how to use them. She is going to be an early casualty.

Todd said there was no fire or spice, and he did not like the choreography said it was mundane and boring. They were lucky to get 14.

Zoe Cramond from Packed To The Rafters did the Vienesse Waltz with Ari and it was stunning.She danced when she was younger and it showed. Josh said it was the dance of the night. And they received a 27.  AS Ari said we have “nowhere to go now”.

Brendan Fevola was trying to rehabilitate his image by showcasing himself as a family man. Props to him for acknowledging that was why he was on the show. He was not as bad as I thought he would be, but he needs to stop the singing along with the music.

Kerri-Anne Kennerley did quite a nice cha cha with Carmello to I Will Survive a slightly obviously dig at former employer Channel NINE. KAK gave some good hip swivelling though her foot work at times was a little sloppy at times but it was better then the girls half her age. She got a respectable 22. I expect to see her in the show until the bitter end.

I should disclose that my partner works for the industry organisation, which oversees Dream Week and the Dream Ball which raises the majority of the funding for the Look Good Feel Better Foundation, Kerri-Anne’s nominated charity. Kerri-Anne is also the charity’s patron. So there may be some pro-KAK in my recaps.

Prediction for elimination next week – Vogue Williams.

 Photo from: Daily Telegraph

How good is Mel B looking? She was signed up to Jenny Craig about two minutes after her baby was born and whatever is in that diet obviously works.

Mel B will be seen on our screens on Sunday when Dancing With The Stars kicks off on Channel Seven at 6.30pm.

If you are a semi-celebrity and wondering how you can get on Dancing With The Stars  consider hooking up with a Channel Seven reality TV judge.

First Kyle Sandiland’s then wife Tamara Jaber scored a place on the show, and now the even lower profile fiancee of Brian McFadden is going to be jiving on the dance floor this season.

Vogue Williams who only started living in Australia this year and is described as a model/DJ and must have only gotten on the show because of her connection to the Australia’s Got Talent judge.

However now she will be going head to head with Brian’s former fiancee Delta Goodrem with both their shows on at 6.30pm on Sunday nights.

To be honest I don’t think it is a huge story as  Delta Goodrem who is going to be a judge on The Voice, has a much higher profile than Vogue in fact if they did not continually remind the viewer that Vogue was going out with Brian McFadden most people would not know.

The Courier Mail had the Irish pair talking about their shows and they touched on the show down. However the issue I would like to know about is why Brian always feels the need to get engaged. Visa issues perhaps?

The article states:

And this is one plucky pair of ex-pats who realise their good fortune, as he quips of their small screen starts – “it beats fruit-picking”.

What they didn’t know when she signed on and we know now is this pits her against McFadden’s former flame Delta Goodrem on The Voice - the two reality shows go head to head at 6.30pm on April 15.

If she’s feeling the pressure, the 25-year-old Dubliner is not showing it.

“I’m just going to be myself and hope that people like me. I don’t really feel the pressure,” DJ Williams says of any comparison to Goodrem.

Asked if she’s a competitive person, the polite beauty pauses but is beaten to the punchline by McFadden.

“How do you even hesitate?” he explodes in laughter. “You’re the most competitive person I’ve ever met.

“She’s already been scanning Twitter going ‘Erin (McNaught) is doing five hours (training), Kerri-Anne’s doing six’. Then she’s ringing her partner (Chris Paul) screaming ‘we’ve gotta do more hours’.”

He may mock, but McFadden is obviously Williams’ biggest fan, encouraging her to take on the TV challenge.

“I think it’s great, I’m delighted for her. It’s a great opportunity for people of Australia to get to know her, instead of just in magazines. She’s got a great personality and this is going to be a great challenge.”

Then he can’t help himself: “She’s also got two left feet, so it should be a laugh … ” he adds.

Williams might find herself among the relative unknowns of this year’s DWTS line-up, but she leaves little doubt she’ll go out fighting.

Of any signs of trash talk, she purrs “not yet, but I’ll let you know”.

Again, McFadden jumps in.

“As soon as the live shows start, it’ll be on … ‘this one’s a bitch, that one’s a … ‘, he says.

Williams, who has been laughing along with his jibes, arcs up.

“Shut up, you’re making me sound like a bitch. But seriously, I don’t think there’s anybody in this who’s not trying to win the show. Otherwise, why would you bother?”

Brian McFadden also talks about why he would not want to be a judge on a talent show where it was all singing. So clearly we won’t be seeing him as a judge on The X Factor.

He says:

“I couldn’t sit there and listen to singers all day. I’d rather shoot myself in the face. I even get tired when we get three singers in a row … then along comes a guy who can pop his own eyeball out and you’re sweet.”

Expect more of the weird and wacky, he says.

“Kyle’s highlight this year was when he had a jelly-wrestling match with two strippers and a midget.

“This was on the show … Kyle and the midget versus two strippers. It was awesome, he was beside himself. I think I nearly bled, laughing so much.”

Reality TV Wars is kicking off on the week beginning 15 April with Channel NINE  launching three of their masthead programs.

The Voice starts on Sunday 15 April at 6.30pm, The Block on Monday in the 7.00pm timeslot, and Celebrity Apprentice Australia Season Two airs Wednesday the 18th of April at 8.00pm, all on Channel Nine.

Channel Seven also launch Dancing With The Stars on the 15 April and this will go head to head with The Voice. And then add Masterchef Australia into the mix a few weeks later and the battle for the reality TV viewer really gets interesting.

Australia’s Got Talent on SEVEN is also launching on Monday the 16th as well. This was huge last year and beat Masterchef Australia in the ratings on some of the nights they went head to head.

Blog posts will go up during the day specifically on each of these shows but while you are waiting here are some really good analysis about this TV program showdown by Michael Idato at the SMH, and Geoff Shearer for the Courier Mail.

Which shows will you be watching?

Cleo’s list of Top 50 eligible bachelors was announced last week, with some of the hottest contestants on reality TV in the running, including Nic and Rosso from My Kitchen Rules.

The list of 50 bachelors is a good mix of actors, athletes, comedians, musicians and everyday Aussie men making the cut. Among them this year, is a good number of reality hopefuls who now have a real chance of winning something more than a TV competition!

Some bigger names in the running are comedian Matt Okine, Packed to the Rafters actor Ryan Corr, Home and Away and Underbelly actor Richard Brancatisano, politician Wyatt Roy, Rugby Union player James O’Connor, AFL player Israel Folau, Neighbours actor Chris Milligan and Channel Ten news presenter Matt Doran.

I also want to mention NRL player David Williams from Manly, because on his bachelor profile on the Cleo website, he was asked what pisses him off and he said reality television!

Who will you be rooting for? Check out the hunks of reality TV below!

Nic Mazzone and Rocco La Bella – My Kitchen Rules

The two friends are teamed up on Seven’s cooking show, but Nic and Rocco are going head to head in this beauty contest!

While the Cleo competition is for unmarried bachelors, project manager Nic says he’s ready to settle down and get married! His big life goals are to get hitched, start a family and earn enough money to retire!

When asked about what he thought of making it into the Top 50 list, the 26 year-old’s first thought was: “They’re scraping the bottom of the barrel this year!”

Meanwhile, Rocco is already offering to bake cakes in exchange for votes!

The 29 year-old finance manager admits that his first celebrity crush is actress Alyssa Milano, but claims his idea of a perfect date doesn’t exist because it can be anywhere or anything, as long as it’s with the right girl.

Johnny Ruffo – The X Factor Australia and Dancing with the Stars

The Dancing with the Stars hopeful is definitely in for a chance to win, with participation in two high-profile shows. And he certainly had enough votes from the teenage girls when he was competing on The X Factor.

The singer and dancer says he deserves to win the Cleo Bachelor title because he’s “cheeky, down to earth and lots of fun.” But maybe those qualities weren’t enough to get him into the Top 50, as Johnny jokes about sleeping with the editor to get a spot!

Nathan Jolliffe – The Amazing Race Australia and The Celebrity Apprentice Australia

Having won the first season of Australia’s version of The Amazing Race, 26 year-old model Nathan is now eyeing both titles of Celebrity Apprentice and Cleo Bachelor of the Year!

The former beau of Miss Australia Erin McNaught sure is confident about his chances. When asked about why he deserves to win the Cleo Bachelor crown, he says because “I really like winning?”

Tim ‘Timomatic’ Omaji – Australia’s Got Talent and So You Think You Can Dance Australia

The 24 year-old singer and dancer is currently single after a split from girlfriend and SYTYCDA winner Talia Fowler last year. The couple attributed the break-up as due to work commitments and time apart.

He is currently focused on furthering his music career, and says that his drive and ambition should appeal to the ladies. When it comes to qualities in women, Timomatic likes girls who know how to ‘get down’, and is turned off my cockiness.

Hayden Quinn – MasterChef Australia

The aspiring foodie didn’t win the title of MasterChef in 2011, but he now has commentating gigs on Network Ten across a number of sporting events. The 25 year-old surf lifeguard seems quite comfortable with his masculinity in his interview answers on the Cleo website. He talks about his secret knitting talents and crying during the romance film, Dear John.

For Hayden, the biggest turn-off when looking for a potential partner, is too much make-up. And when asked about how he is in the bedroom, he says he’s “usually asleep”.

Lachlan Cosgrove – Beauty and the Geek Australia

While Lachlan’s reality TV relationship with beauty, Jordan Finlayson is going steady, the 23 year-old geek is still eligible as a ‘bachelor’ as long as he has no plans to wed in the near future!

Lachlan hasn’t always had luck with the ladies, as it wasn’t until Beauty and the Geek Australia that he found confidence is speaking to the opposite sex.

David Cardamone – The Family

Last on the list is the eldest Cardamone brother, David from SBS’s The Family. The 21 year-old university student is in a long-term relationship with girlfriend Jess, who also appeared on the reality show.

What David likes in a girl is the confidence in being comfortable in one’s skin and not having to hide behind too much make-up.

You can check out the rest of the Bachelor hopefuls on the Cleo website, where you can also vote for your favourites!

(Source: Cleo)

The nominations for the 54th Annual Logie Awards were announced this afternoon, with many Aussie reality shows not making the cut into the small five-contender field of Most Popular Reality Program.

In the running is the award’s reigning champion and two-time winner, MasterChef Australia (Network Ten). But it’s not the only cooking show in the mix, with Channel Seven’s rival program My Kitchen Rules is also vying for the title.

Seven has the most nominees in field, with Beauty and the Geek Australia and The X Factor Australia also making the cut. And in the final slot to round off the nominees is The Block from the Nine Network.

If I had to predict the winner out of this bunch, my money would definitely be on either MasterChef or My Kitchen Rules! Seeing the popular of MKR at the moment does make me question what faith I have in Ten’s cooking series, but I will back Matt, George and Gary just for another year! Sure, the quality of the show has declined since the brilliant first season, but I still think it has the upperhand over MKR for the loyal fan base that it has.

But I do wonder how many votes were pulled away in favour for Junior MasterChef, even if the kids version of the show failed to make the top 5 list. In the end, I think people would have voted for MC because it really got the reality genre back where it belonged: at the top! However, MKR likely to take the crown in next year’s race. The show keeps getting better and better.

Now, back to the other nominees. I haven’t seen much of Beauty and The Geek Australia and The Block last year, but I don’t think neither have the support to win.

Same goes for The X Factor Australia, which I did watch religiously last year! It was too good to say no with Mel B and Natalie Bassingthwaighte rounding off an amazing panel of judges. It’s a singing show, so the mentors should be performers and not radio hosts! Though I must admit, in order to watch it, I had to give up on The Renovators. I would’ve stuck with Ten’s design show otherwise, but it was getting to a point that things weren’t moving quick enough. And surely, despite realityravings readers voting it the number one reality show in a recent poll, it failed in the ratings and hasn’t landed any Logie nominations. I don’t think there was much support by Ten in the Logie contenders submissions stage to begin with. No presenter from the show was put forward for Most Popular Television Presenter.

So it’s the five nominees for the category are: Beauty and the Geek Australia, The Block, MasterChef Australia, My Kitchen Rules and The X Factor Australia. I’m really not surprised by this list, but I must say this category is definitely one of the most competitive. We’re currently in a television landscape that sees reality shows doing generally better than Aussie dramas.

Two programs that have been consistently nominated in the last few years but dropped out of the field this year are The Biggest Loser and Dancing with the Stars. As a big supporter of last season’s families edition of Loser, I am upset that it hasn’t been included. It’s actually the show that I voted for! (Didn’t go for MasterChef because I knew it would have enough votes). On the other hand, I don’t watch Dancing with the Stars and it’s popularity has slightly dwindled over the last few years. It still rates considerably well, but struggles to receive the same buzz that it use to.

The good news for Loser fans is that trainer Tiffiny Hall is up for Most Popular New Female Talent! She’s unlikely to win being up against Underbelly‘s Anna McGahan and Chelsie Preston Crayford, Melissa Bergland from Winners & Losers and Demi Harman from Home and Away. But it’s lovely to see her nominated as she brought a different air to the program and livened it up! Realityraver seems to disagree with me about Tiffiny, so maybe she could chime in in the comments?

Realityraver’s Logie pick, The Amazing Race Australia also failed to land a nomination.

Also, not appearing this year is The Farmer Wants A Wife, hosted by Natalie Gruzlewski, who actually shared hosting duties with Bondi Vet‘s Chris Brown at the Logies nominations party in Sydney this afternoon. I’ll only consider voting for the dating show if we start seeing some gay farmers.

From the Nine shows, it was clear The Block would come out as their strongest contender. But some may be disappointed at the omission of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia, which exceeded expectations and really delivered the goods by the end, with comedienne Julia Morris taking about the winning title. You can catch Julia as a presenter at the Logies when the awards special airs on April 15.

Of course, you might not be able to catch it live if you’re watching Dancing with the Stars or MasterChef instead! Seven, Nine and Ten are going all out to win ratings on the Sunday night. If last year’s ratings is any indication, MC has the upper hand in the TV battle, as it averaged 1.569 million viewers to the 1.363 million the Logies pulled. Though, Nine did have the highest overall share for the night (Source: Mediaspy.org).

On another note, I know not many people watch The Family on SBS, but it was really interesting viewing for me to watch the Cardamones in their suburban family life in Melbourne over a few months time. It definitely got me wanting to see Big Brother on air again. It’s a shame the fly-on-the-wall program isn’t being recognised anywhere. It could have been nominated for Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program (peer-voted as opposed to viewer-voted), but the Logie judging panels obviously don’t agree with my praise for the SBS show.

Speaking of Big Brother, maybe we’ll see it nominated next year in Most Popular Reality Program? That’s only if it doesn’t flop and Nine’s willing to put it up for submission, which is something Network Ten didn’t do for the last series. Since it was axed, they just didn’t bother. I was very upset when the show was missing from the initial voting ballot in early 2009 (for the 2008 television year).

And lastly, if you’re wondering why Australia’s Got Talent hasn’t had a mention in this category, it’s because Seven has been submitting the show in another field: Most Popular Light Entertainment Program. It’s definitely an easier category to break into, when you’re going up against shows like Sunrise, and in previous years, Deal or No Deal. Though I really don’t understand why Seven would qualify the program as light entertainment when it’s a talent quest just like The X Factor Australia. The season that saw young singer Jack Vidgen win the competition, is also nominated for Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program.

A full list of nominees can be found here.

You can see who wins on The 54th Annual Logie Awards, airing Sunday April 15 on Channel Nine.

While you are waiting for the MKR recap (sorry jetlag has got me being his bitch, but let me assure you the recap is a cracker), give me your thoughts on the cast for this year’s series of Dancing With The Stars.

Most names had already been leaked except for a 25 year ironman called Caine Eckstein who goes into the who the hell is he file?

Here is the list:

• Kerri-Anne Kennerley, TV icon
• Brendan Fevola, AFL superstar
• Johnny Ruffo, X Factor sensation
• Danielle Spencer, Singer/Songwriter
• Erin McNaught, Television presenter
• Jessica Watson, Solo yachtswoman
• Zoe Cramond, Actor, Packed to the Rafters
• Vogue Williams, International DJ
• Shannon Noll, Singer/Songwriter
• Brian Mannix, 80s Rock legend
• Caine Eckstein, Ironman

There appears to be little eye candy for the over 35 woman here. I do confess to having had a crush on Brian Mannix 25 years ago, but since he is still carrying the same look since that time, that ardour has well and truly faded.

At the moment I think Danielle Spencer and Kerri-Anne are my favourites.

Mel B will be the new co-host with Daniel Macpherson, and the judges stay the same, they are Helen Richey, Todd McKenney, and Joshua Horner.

No news on a premiere date, however it will be on Channel Seven.