Category — The Renovators

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.

The TV Week The Logies is now open for voting and one category is Best Reality TV Show and regular reader Picnic contacted me and suggested a campaign to get some support for people to vote for The Renovators.

Interestingly The Renovators was probably one of the most vilified programs by the mainstream media, however it was voted best reality TV show of 2011 on this blog at the end of the year.

It appeared the viewers who were actually watching it, liked it.

The Renovators was deemed to be the most expensive flop of 2011 with poor ratings, and there were flaws in the show, mainly consistency, clarity and the viewers not seeing enough of the houses being renovated. Also there were too many contestants so it was hard to connect with a lot of them until they were whittled down. However the contestants were entertaining and had some depth to them as did the cast. We saw some great design and renovation talent.

Barry Dubois also was one of the most favourite personalities on this blog for 2011, when the show was screening he was accessible to his fans via Twitter. Hopefully we will see him on our screens again this year in another show.

However it does deserve  some acknowledgement, so on Picnics behalf if you are thinking of voting for the Logies (the link is here) consider giving a vote to The Renovators.

The Renovators appears to have been demolished from Network Ten’s schedule however there appears to be some collateral damage emerging with allegations the winner, Michael Lynch, cheated.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Michael Lynch made a deal with a local plumber for free work if he mentioned him on the show.

The article states:

However, a source close to the show claims Lynch broke the rules by using free labour from Sydney plumber Michael Sidaros in Blacktown, whom Lynch allegedly promised free on-air plugs in exchange for gratis plumbing.

“The deal was for the plumber to receive some free promotion on the show and for that he did quite a significant amount of work for free,” said a set insider.

But the on-air plugs failed to materialise on the low-rating TV turkey and, subsequently, Sidaros’s plumbing company, Dr H2O Plumbing and Maintenance, is now seeking compensation to the tune of $15,000.

Contacted yesterday, Sidaros confirmed he is seeking compensation for “around $15,000″ of plumbing work but declined to say any more “for legal reasons”.

Lynch told Confidential he was unable to comment, while a rep for Shine Australia bosses Mark and Carl Fennessy said the production company “would not be making any comment on the matter”.

On the show each house to be renovated had a strict budget they had to adhere to.

In other Renovators news, the rumour circulating is that there will be a spin-off lifestyle program.

According to TV Tonight:

The [TEN] network is currently calling for homeowners ‘in desperate need of renovating advice and help” for an unnamed new Lifestyle show.

“If you have a DIY job gone wrong, a bad taste interior disaster, or you’re paralysed by ideas and don’t know where to start? Then we want to hear from you! Tell us your renovation budget and we’ll add our design expertise, manpower and materials to help you get the biggest bang for your buck,” says the TEN website.

But be warned. To apply you must own your own home, partake in the renovation and make a financial contribution.

More infomation should emerge about this in the future months about this new show.

Network Ten’s new Chief Executive James Warbuton started this week, and it looks like he will axe reality shows The Renovators and Junior Masterchef.

He thinks the Network relies too heavily on the big name reality shows for ratings.

In an article in the Daily Telegraph he gave his view about these matters.

As he entered his new office for the first time yesterday, Mr Warburton said Ten’s dependence on the reality programs that take up much of its schedule had to be reduced.

“We’ve got to do more than that, and have more of a connection with the viewer on multiple fronts throughout the course of a week,” he said.

Other sources close to Ten indicated Junior MasterChef and The Renovators were set to be two of the first programs to get the chop under the Warburton regime, as Ten sought a greater range of programming to win viewers.

He also talked a little bit about his strategy to bring the viewers back to Network Ten.

Part of that rebuilding will be developing a broader consistency in programming outside the network’s big reality franchises, boosted by a $50 million injection of funds into programming in 2012.

“We now have a number of new franchises such as Young Talent Time, which add a layer of depth and consistency to our schedule,” he said.

“We need to have more depth for the viewer and we need to ensure as many viewers as possible have an appointment to view programs consistently throughout the week.”

If the Courier Mail is correct, it would appear The Renovators won’t be renewed this year. The show that launched to much fanfare in 2011 just never managed to get a foothold in the ratings.

This was due to the lack of clarity and consistency in the format, but also The Block was rating well and people at the start of the series did not want to add it in to their reality schedule.

This is a pity as can be seen by the poll on this page on Which Was The Best Australian Reality TV Show of 2011, that The Renovators was very popular with the people that did actually watch it.

The Renovators had the skeleton of being a great reality TV show and with a few format changes I think would have been a ratings winner in 2012. Channel Ten should have seen how Channel Seven stuck with The X Factor and My Kitchen Rules which in 2010 ratings were very average indeed, but this year boomed for them.

It is a pity, but I am sure there will be a new show to fill the void and I am hoping it will be Professional Masterchef.

In disappointing news TV Tonight has noted that The Renovators may not be be renewed by Channel Ten.

TV Tonight says that Channel Ten in their video presentation to clients did not include The Renovators in their 2012 line up.

This is a pity it had the potential to be a really great show. However it rated poorly for something that was such a big production. Personally I think with some tinkering it could have rated big next year. It just needed a different slot – maybe later on in the year when people have forgotten about The Block.

It also needed the reality TV holy grail – the three C’s – Casting, clarity and consistency and this would have made it compelling.

David Knox also noted that Junior Masterchef was not on the lineup, however he states it was never guaranteed to be. However there could be a professional version of the show. Now that would be great particularly if they stick with the current Masterchef format.

Tonight The Renovators finally showed the finale. Most viewers would know the houses went to auction a couple of weeks ago over a three night period.

However not in The Renovators land. Brendan and the judges were pretending the auctions were all on the same night. In fact everyone wore the same clothes three nights in a row. I hope they were washed at least once in that time.

Brendan was also now pimping that the winner will be Australia’s best renovator not whipping them into a frenzy about all the money they could potentially win.

Anyway the auction kicked off with the weatherboard with Melissa as keyholder.

Brendan told her the weatherboard profit point was $573,855.

It sold for $575,000. Mel was disappointed and thinks they got a bargain. In a previous episode she thought it was worth over $700,000. She was dreaming. So she made a profit of $1,145. However as Brendan cheerfully pointed out she was the leading renovator. Even Melissa was not that stupid as she realised if she won the show her prize winnings would be less than $6,000.

Next up was August at the Marrickville shop.

The profit point for the Marrickville shop was $713,676. There was only one bid who came in with $700,000. He must be kicking himself he should have started at $650,000.

At this point Robyn Holt did a Scott Cam (when Chez’s apartment had not sold) and looked at her shoes and said nothing. Props to Barry Dubois for carrying an uncomfortable moment through.

Luke’s inner city terrace’s  price profit point was $899,268.

It was hilarious all the inner city latte drinkers asked for their faces to be pixelated. Possibly not cool to be seen on a reality show.

It is sold for $925,000. Which gave it a profit of $25,732 which give him a profit point of 2.86%. He took over the lead.

The half done house auction was a disaster.  Melissa thought it would suit a gay couple because it is immaculate. Let’s not stereotype. However Peter would have liked anyone with a bit of cash to turn up.

The profit point was $802,083. As Baz tried to whip up some excitement Robyn was the voice of reason when she said “we need another bidder”. The bidding stalled at $710,000. There was  a vendor’s bid at $750,000. the house eventually sold for $770,000.

It was Natalia’s turn to have her real estate dreams dashed. The sixties suburban looked great and either nothing is happening in Castle Hill or there were some genuine buyers there. The profit point was $758,194. There was a lot of action but only sold for $730,000. Suzanne smirked and Nathan had his head in his hands.

Then it was time for the final house. The fibro house was the one the producers must have thought would win as they put it last.

All of the contestants are at the fibro house and it looked cold. Brendan gives Michael the bad news that currently the profit pool is only $26,000.

The profit point was $371,988.

The Fibro shack sold for $440,000 to a very nice young lad, so Michael won. His prize pool was $94,889. Brendan told him they were going to round it up to $100,000.

Unfortunately I don’t think we will be seeing another series of The Renovators which is a pity as the bones were there for a great reality show.

Who will prevail? Will Baz cry? Will Peter’s arm be fixed? Will Robyn be there cheering on Lukey?

I will sitting down in about 10 minutes to watch until then talk amongst yourselves but what is happening on The Renovators Finale.

Oh my God it has hit the height of lame it has a game show feel, and they are pretending it is live two weeks after the event.

Love the way the real estate agent only said we can expect three of the houses to sell. Not wanting The Block issue happening.

Melissa said if she won she would be able to renovate fulltime. Is she carrying a Louis Vuitton?

WEatherboard profit point is $573,855.

And the weather board sold for $575,000. Mel said she was disappointed and thinks they got a bargain. So she made a profit of $1,145.

At this stage The Block $100,000 is looking positively generous.

The profit point for the Marrickville shop is $713,676. Interesting that they are not adding in all the extra money they were given throughout the series.

The guy who made the bid for $700,000 must be kicking himself he should have started at $650,000.

And the Marrickville house sold for $700,000 and Christie said “He got a bargain”. No he didn’t the location is crap.

Robyn Holt did a Scott Cam and looked at her shoes and said nothing. Props to Barry Dubois for carrying an uncomfortable moment through.

And we are up to the Inner City Terrace with Luke as key holder. What I would like to know is whether the DA’s were in for the houses before the contestants even got their hands on the properties.

The price profit point for the inner city terrace is $899,268. Brendan says “the Parramatta house sold tonight for…..” then Melissa turns up in the suit she wore yesterday. In fact Brendan is wearing the same clothes I hoped they washed them.

Hilarious all the inner city latte drinkers have all got their faces pixelated. Don’t want to be seen on a reality show.

And it is sold for $925,000. Profit of $25,732 which give him a profit point of 2.86%. He is currently in the lead.

Brendan now pimping that the winner will be Australia’s best renovator not about all the money they could potentially win.

And the half done house is up, with Peter with the keyholders. Sweet his parents are there. Melissa thought it would suit a gay couple because it is immaculate. Let’s not stereotype.

The profit point is $802,083.

Lisa is looking very chic.

Robyn was the voice of reason when she said “we need another bidder”. the bidding stalled at $710,000. There was  a vendor’s bid at $750,000. the house eventually sold for $770,000.

Now we have the sixties suburban with Natalia holding the keys. This is one of my favourite houses.

Poor Nathan.

Either nothing is happening in Castle Hill or there are genuine buyers out there. Profit point is $758,194. There was a lot of action but only sold for $730,000. Great house it is definitely my favourite in layout and style.

All of the contestants are at the fibro house and they look cold. Brendan gives Michael the bad news that currently the profit pool is only $26,000.

The profit point is $371,988.

The Fibro shack sold for $440,000 to a very nice young lad. So Michael won. His prize pool was $94,889. Brendan told him they were going to round it up to $100,000.

They must have had a fair idea Michael was going to win at the Fibro and that is why the house was put up last.

Apologies about not blogging on Friday night, but I forgot to record it and went out, bumped into an old frenemy tequila and only just got my equilibrium today.

Good news about Michael winning the keys to the fibro cottage, but feeling a bit mixed about Nathan losing out to Natalia. However as the strongest woman in the competition she deserved to have the keys to a house.

Tonight on the show they show the finished houses. As has been written about on this blog by commenters, we have not seen enough of the transition of the houses. However it was like renovation fast tracking, they went from 75 per cent done last week, to fully done tonight.

The houses were good, however when Peter was vacuuming under that shelf you could see glue had leaked. But loved the ensuite bathroom. The sixties suburban was lovely, and the fibro cottage had a resort type feel. My least favourite would be the shop, however I did love their kitc

All the houses had positive aspects and were quite stylish.Unfortunately my recording clapped out before I could see who won. Twitter informs me it was Luke from the inner city terrace who won the holiday to Bali.

So the only guy with a six pack on the show, Keenan, has been eliminated and we have been left with the most painful female, Melissa, to have the keys to the weather board house.

But superficiality aside Keenan was one of the standouts on the show, but maybe his design skills were not as good as his craft skills. And tonight it was more of a design challenge and that is what the judgement came down to.

I admit to hypocrisy, I hate it when producers manipulate the show to get the outcomes they want, conversely I hate it when they don’t manipulate it to get the outcomes I want.

The challenge was all about painting and furniture, whilst last night was more judged on craftmanship. Melissa went shopping for three hours for her child’s bedroom. Keenan sent out Peter. Had Keenan picked out the furniture or did Pete pick it for him. By the looks of it Keenan selected them as there was no razzle dazzle to them.

He selected the room which needed the fireplace to be repaired, which meant he had to do more of the work. However Keenan, as keyholder, did have the advantage of picking the room and his team.

Keenan picked his team of Nathan and Peter. Peter was back in for the day and Michael was too sick to work. Melissa had Jarrod and Natalia on her team.

Keenan really did not get to complete his room. He said it had turned into a flat pack challenge. A chest of drawers was not made, also some curtains were lost in transit. The judges criticised the fireplace. Baz said it was only 95% there, and Peter Ho said he would have liked it opened up, as it was covered. However Peter did realise there were time frame issues in being able to do that.

Melissa personalised her room on previous advice from judge Robyn Holt, and maybe this was what got her over the line. Even she looked shocked when she was announced the winner. I wonder if the judgement was unanimous as Baz was teary when he gave Keenan his farewell speech.

Anyway Melissa is the only female at this stage to hold the keys to a house.

Interesting that the clapping from the other contestants was pretty unspontaneous when she was announced the winner and they looked shocked.

It now makes sense why the back rooms of the weatherboard are not furnished as she probably had to spend more money on labour. To be fair to her she does know how to use a power tool and is a hard worker, but in my opinion Keenan was more deserving, and not just because he was The Renovators eye candy.

Tomorrow night the khaki team and the blue teams will be fighting it out for the keys to their houses. Then we have to wait until Wednesday to see who wins.