Category — It Takes Two

So You Think You Can Dance – Cirque to Soleil To Be Guest Performers on Tonight’s Show.

The Daily Telegraph says the guests for tonight’s final six elimination show will be performers from Cirque du Soleil. The US winner Sabra Johnson, and Kameron Binks will be in the audience – but will have no part on the show. Which I consider this a ridiculous decision considering Sabra’s popularity.

American Idol performers that have appeared on the show ie. Kelly Clarkson have not overshadowed the local contestants.

Photo of final six with Cirque du Soleil in hard copy of newspaper, with Vanessa with her leg in the air again. Does she ever take a photo without her leg pointing straight to the ceiling?

Erika Heynatz to plug her Single on It Takes Two Tomorrow Night.

Erika Heynatz will sing her new sing Slide on It Takes Two tomorrow night. Her rationale is that the other singers on the show have been plugging their new material so why shouldn’t she? Fair enough.

Link to article in the Daily Tele here.

Australia’s Next Top Model – Jodhi Meares admits how bad she was on last years live finale.
Jodhi Meares admits in an article that her startled live performance in last years ANTM finale “was done under duress”. She does not say whether the finale will be live this year.

She has been in New York last week with the final three contestants. The very popular show will commence on 22 April at 7.30pm on Fox 8.

Article here.

Dicko said Mark Holden Made My Life a Misery
This story is such bollocks. This is the biggest beat up of a yarn in a long time. Shame on you Dicko. Is to get publicity for Australian Idol this year?

“Mark always tried to turn it into pantomime,” said Dicko, pictured, who also admitted he’ll be happy to steal his culled comrade’s trademark “touchdown!” catch cry.

“I was really, really thrilled to come back last year. And this year, now that Holden’s gone, it’s even more exciting,” Dicko said.

“Mark always kept me at arm’s length. I like him. I think he’s an interesting character but he would do whatever he could just to make my life a misery.”

Yawn, yawn, yawn.

Full article here.

Defamer has an article where it is revealed Anthony Ikin the most recent male dancer eliminated from So You Think You Can Dance implies if he had decent choreography he would still be in the competition.

Exerpt from the article below:

Apart from a handful of solo performances, the former sport aerobics champion is peeved that he never really got a routine he could sink his teeth into thanks to some less than earth-shattering choreography.



“And I think the judges knew that too because they made a lot of comments saying as much,” Anthony told Confidential yesterday.

Full article here.

Anthony sorry mate, but I think the Australian voters got it right, you showed us the same thing each week.

Another reality tv evictee Candice Falzone who was eliminated from It Takes Two last night has revealed she is now seeking a career in the media. The Daily Telegraph have an article here which says she has been talking to some people at Channel Seven, but she is still on the ironwoman circuit.

The Daily Telegraph who were responsible for the majority of the negative media Candice received last year couldn’t resist the temptation but to mention the Sonny Bill incident again. At least they refrained from putting in the link to the notorious picture this time.

Australia’s Next Top Model’s Have Had Their Make Over – Leiden Got a Buzz Cut.

Leiden Kronemburger has appeared on stage at the Royal Easter Show with a buzz cut. Make-over week in Australia’s Next Top Model must have occurred. In the American series normally one of the model contestants will received the buzz cut.

Bianca from Cycle 9 was much improved because of the radical change.

The picture of the the new hair do is here. Other top modellers in the photo are Kristy Coulcher, Rebecca Jobson and Alyce Crawford.

For the before shot here is a group photo here.

Australia’s Next Top Model commences on Fox 8 on April 22.

It Take Two Jade McCrae and Paul O’Brien say Judges Want Them Out.
Jade McCrae has lashed out at the It Takes Two judging panel to protest at what they claim is unnecessary and unfair criticism.

The Daily Terror article said:

A normally composed MacRae couldn’t contain her anger backstage after the Channel 7 talent show aired on Tuesday night, infuriated by judge James Valentine accusing Home and Away star O’Brien of not wanting to be a part of the singing competition.
“I am so f . . king angry,” MacRae raved to Confidential. “We’re all for constructive criticism, but when they put him down week after week, it’s just not nice.

Normally I find it is the opposite with Channel 7 stars as they get a few bonus points to enable them to stay in the show so they can continue to promote their shows. Channel 7 is the master of the cross promotion.

Another Channel 7 personality was eliminated on Tuesday night Sara Groen the weather/news girl. An exit interview from TV Week is here.

Also another exit interview from Who magazine here.

So You Think You Can Dance Jemma Armstrong Can Expect Strong Support from WA.
Jemma Armstrong the Perth Latin American dancer can expect strong support, ie lots of vote from Western Australia.

I expect the Western Australian media will give her huge coverage over the next few weeks.
The West here has a small article complete with a very nice photo.

Will geographical voting push some of the contestants to the top 4? There does seem to be some advantage of being from an area where there are fewer contestants eg a smaller (population wise) state, or a large regional area.

It was rumoured in 2005 that the winner of Australian Idol Kate DeAraugo won the competition because of the strength of the Ballarat vote.

Also good news for fans of the Australian version of So You Think You Can Dance, Channel 10 have confirmed it will be shown again next year.

Article here.

American Idol – Exit article with Chikezie
Chikezie was the unfortunate singer to be eliminated off American Idol this week, at least he can take comfort in making the top 10 tour.

Here is an exit interview from EW.

Candice Falzone still in It Takes Two – Unbelievable.

Candice Falzone with her singing mentor Anthony Callea are still in the Channel 7 singing competition It Takes Two. Her singing has not been great so who is voting for them?

the Daily Telegraph has a theory that it is all the tricks they do in their routines for example the kiss that occurred at the end of one routine, which was cringeworthy. This week Candice is wearing a micro mini to try and keep the votes rolling in.

Bored at Work? Like Idol? Want to see some funny bits from overseas Idol?
It appears that Idol is one of those products like coca-cola that you can get worldwide.
The Balitmore Sun has put together some You Tube clips that features some of the funnier/quirkier sides of Idol.

The Bulgarian boy singing Michael Jackson’s Bad is the highlight. Backed up by a very cheap set and production values.

Personally I thought the french singer was ok.

Ten Secrets from the taping of American Idol
Billboard have an article on the top ten secrets from a live taping of Idol. I already knew they pre-recorded the special guest performance, but I did not know the musicians only dressed up the top half and then wore jeans below.

Controversy surrounds the American Idol Songwriting Contest.
There are complaints emerging that the Idol songwriting contest (something I think they should do in Australia as well) is not what it seems.

Firstly the entrants have to pay $10 to enter the competition. I am not sure what the rationale is behind this, maybe to pay for the people who will have to listen to them.

Secondly it is open to all songwriters both professionals and amateurs, and their are gripes that the person who won it last year was not ‘undiscovered’ in fact he already had a CD out and other song writing credits. Full story here.

I don’t have a problem with professional writers entering. The winners need a decent song to sing, otherwise the public will be turned off them even before they start their post Idol career.

I have not been watching It Takes Two from week 2 as the format just bored me, and I realised that was two hours of my life I was not going to get back.

However I have been keeping tabs on who has been getting eliminated.

I thought it ironic that Chloe Maxwell, mother and partner of Titans Goldcoast rugby league player Matt Rogers, was eliminated the week the NRL competition was about to start.

With two young babies was this what she requested in her contract, so she could go back to being the main caregiver, so he can concentrate on his job.

Anyway I thought her likeability factor was high, and for fans here is an interview from Who Magazine/

I am surprised that Candice Falzon and Anthony Callea are still in, especially after that kiss which was about as convincing as an Ab Blaster commercial. He must have has a huge personal following.

However in TV Week suggests Anthony Callea is a hard task master, and loses his temper with Candice when she doesn’t meet his high standards.

Paul O’Brien revealed “I saw Candice when she was arriving and she said , ‘I had to go away and have a swim after Anthony walked off stage because I couldn’t hit a note’,”.

“I think he does push [Candice] very hard,”

“He wants to win and he’s done these sorts of competitions before, so he has an eye for what gets votes – and high notes get votes. He’s very sure of himself. He knows what he likes and doesn’t like, and he’ll speak his mind.”

Danni Minogue will be a guest judge on It Takes Two this Tuesday night.

This show has potential but like Dancing With the Stars (which uses the same format) there is far to much filler (no I am not talking about Danni’s breasts and lips) , and not enough singing. Also the judges are not great except for James Valentine.

Danni will be filling in for Ross Wilson. Lets hope she can liven things up.

Article from news.com.au here

Channel 7′s singing equivalent of Dancing With the Stars kicked off last night, and those too cool for school rock stars from the ’80s must should be grateful. Now that their own music careers are dead they have been able to keep their superannuation payments going by either becoming a judge or performer on these shows.

We have Ross Wilson, James Valentine (to be fair he actually has a radio career as well), Ian Moss, Kate Cerbrano, and Wendy Matthews all involved.

It is the same format as DWTS, you sing, you do the post performance patter with the Grant Denyer, hear the judges reviews, then go to the green room for more patter with Erica Heyantz before getting your scores. Basically if you have not recorded it the show goes for an excruiating two hours!

But I will keep on watching until I get the shot of Grant Denyer and Anthony Callea standing side by side just so I can see who is the shortest.

Few comments on the first episode:

• Erica Heyantz looked like a drag queen beside Grant Denyer;
• All the judges were far to nice to some of the more appalling singers.
• James Valentine managed to inject some humour, but really it needs a Todd McKenny or Dicko on the panel.
• I know it was Erica’s first show, but if you going to put her in the exact same role as Sonia Kruger she is going to be compared to her, and of course Sonia’s wit is renown.
• Mariana Prior looks great compared to when she used to run around in Gilbert and Sullivan productions.

The first singers of the night were comedian Julie Morris and David Hobson the very overexposed opera singer. They sang “Everlasting Love” quite well. Julia looked like she was wearing a bath towel this was probably to make her feel comfortable as she has only ever sung in the shower previously.

The judges loved it and gave it a high 29.

Next was the reed thin weather girl Sara Groen with Adam Harvey the country singer. They sang “Fever”. Now she looked hot in a red dress that she needed to be sewed into. However the real surprise was the sex appeal the song gave to Adam. Sara unfortunately looked very nervous and stiff and was relieved when it was all over. The judges again gushed and gave it a very high score of 30 (hold I forgot if you are a channel 7 star you always get extra points). I thought she was flat in parts.

Daily Telegraph gossip page fodder Candice Falzone, and Anthony Callea sang the pop number “Suddenly I See”. Now if I was Randy Jackson I would say “I am afraid that was a little pitchy for me”. However judges were polite and gave them 24.

Chole Maxwell and David Campbell sang “Come Out Swinging” and Chole surprisingly had great stage presence with her big smile.

She also endeared herself to the mothers with pelvic floor muscle issues as she confessed when she is nervous “a bit of wee comes out”. Judges gave them a high 29. I think she could be the surprise package of the show.

Next was AFL player Russell Robinson and Kate Cerbrano singing a Doobie Bros song. I thought it was all a bit non descrip but the judges loved it and gave it 31. Clearly there were a few AFL fans on the panel.

Paul O’Brien Home and Away Star, and Jade McCrae sang Oasis’s “Wonderwall”. This one was first number the judges were ambivalent about, and my extra points for Channel 7 stars theory proved wrong here as they scored a paltry 22.

John Mangos newsreader and Wendy Matthews were next out singing “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life”. Wendy still looks and sounds amazing, however I think I prefer her as a brunette. John Mangos had pitch issues, and the whole routine reminded me of a wedding singer.

A noticeably nervous Mark Wilson and Rachael Beck sang “Baby It’s Cold Outside” which was quite good, except Mark was so effeminate. My thoughts were backed up by James Valentine who told him to “no mincing”. Must be a hangover from his ballrooom dancing days. They got a respectable 27.

The highlight of the evening was All Saints actress Virginia Gay and Ian Moss sing “My Funny Valentine” her voice was superb and she even out shone Ian Moss. The judges were clearly very excited about Ian Moss now becoming a mentor on the show with them all raving about him.

They scored the highest of the evening with 35.

Last was Scott Draper golf and tennis player, and the sizzling Ricki-Lee singing “Playing to Win”. Ricki-Lee looked sexy in a gold lame mini dress, however I don’t think we will be seeing Scott in the competition for long he seemed to lack personality and dare I say it looks. However the judges gave them 28.

Virgina and Ian came first with 35. Second Russell Robinson and Kate Cerbrano with 31, and third to Sara and Adam on 30. However who goes next will depend on the voters at home.

My guess is Candice Falzone will be first to be eliminated.

Carl Risley scores record contract, so no more seeing him in his navy uniform.

All those girls who love navy men will be disappointed that Carl Risley, third in Australian Idol last year has resigned from the navy.

But the good news is he has signed a record contract. He was signed by Universal Records. He has already completed an album called Your Imagination which will also contain a swing number of Waltzing Matilda a song he did on Idol which I hated, but everyone else loved.

To keep the Idol connection going John “Kermit” Foreman produced the album. It will be released in a few months time.
Full story here.

More It Takes Two couples revealed.
Sara Groen the Channel 7 news reader and weather presenter will be a contestant on It Takes Two which is starting this Tuesday on 7.00pm.

Her singing mentor will be Adam Harvey the country music singer.

Julia Morris comedian will be partnered with opera singer David Hobson. Is it only me or does anyone else think David is becoming over exposed?

It Takes Two – Candice Falzon partnered with Anthony Callea to ensure no hanky panky will occur.

The notorious (well I think being caught on camera in a toilet with a first grade footballer shagging means your notorious) Candice Falzon is to have Anthony Callea as her mentor in the new series of It Takes Two.

As Anthony Callea is gay it will mean Candice will have to concentrate on her singing rather then any other extra curricular activities.

The show will start next Tues at 7.30pm on Channel 7 who will be expecting high ratings from it.

The Daily Telegraph has the full story, and you can bet by next week they will have the Sonny Bill and Candice toilet photo on their website again.

The Chopping Block Gets Good TV Reviews
The SMH has given the new reality show the Chopping Block a good review. The Chopping Block starts tonight on Channel 9 at 7.30pm.

The show is where two struggling resturants are up against each other each week. They are reviewed, then Matt Moran has 48 hours to assist in turning them around, and then they are reviewed again. With the one most improved winning $20,000. The first episode is set in two Cronulla places.

It will be interesting to know if appearing on this show will help or hinder their business.

For those really into the nitty gritty of reality tv.
Here is an article which outlines why women on Survivor appear hairless, and how do The Amazing Race contestants exchange their currency.

Carl Risley to get a Gig

It has been announced that Carl Risley on 4barrest.com – the worlds most visited brass website (how do you prove that claim?) that there will be a gala concert in Brisbane Friday the 21 March 2008 featuring the he United States Air Force Band of the Pacific “Alaska Brass”.

Also the Brisbane Army Band will play, as will Australian Idol third place getter the swinging Carl Risley. It is not clear on their website whether he will be sing with the army band or separately. If you were keen to know you could contact the organisers website link above.

Natalie Gauci looking hot
In the Daily Tele gossip column there is a Natalie Gauci looking fantastic walking the red carpet at the 2Day FM and Sony BMG hits and stars party on Thursday night. She looks like she has lost weight and her hair looked great pulled up. No Jenny Craig contract for her…..

Wade Robson to choreograph a ballet
Hot So You Think You Can Dance choreographer, Wade Robson, has announced he will be choreographing his first ballet to debut on January 23 for San Francisco Ballet’s 75th Anniversary.

After that Robson’s next project is that of choreographer for the new Cirque du Soleil production starring Criss Angel at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas.

Is there anything this guy cannot do? I hope he leaves time to be a guest choreographer on the upcoming Australian version of So You Think You Can Dance, which hits our TV screens on Feb 1.

Season 2008 It Takes Two bookies odds have been released

When you see a headline Gay Favourite for singing contest you think has Tim Campbell signed up for It Takes Two – however it is in fact Virginia Gay and actress on All Stars who is the favourite to take out the show.

I have never heard of her but clearly she must have a huge personal following. It will make a change from having a Home and Away star take out the title.