for those who have reality tv as their guilty pleasure

Finally two women chef judges on TV at one time. Was this the My Kitchen’s Rulesnod to International Women’s Day yesterday. Karen Martini and Jacquie Gowan both were guest judges with Tobie Puttock and Guy Grossi, and they were great additions to the show.

Rumour was the Jacquie was a judge in the pilot with Manu Feidel but it was decided to go with the Pete and Manu combination.

Maybe be I am not paying enough attention but I am totally confused by the format of the show. Did Mossy and Gabby line up against Holly and Grace because they were in opposing groups, or was it because they had the second and third highest score from the home restaurants?

I think it is a bit unfair that the top four teams are not judged against each other. Also in fact it is even more unfair because if it was done like final’s footy and CG suggested and the top teams should have gone against the bottom four teams. As they are all in sudden death eliminations. So the top four teams are going head to head with the loser to be eliminated.

Would Holly and Grace still be in if they went against Tania and Gen, or Matt and Mel? I think they would be.

Anyway here is a few observations on the episode:

• Minus ten points for the blatant Coffee Club advertising. I noted neither team drank it;
• I see the 80’s are back in a big way in cuisine with the art nouvelle plating of the girls entree, and Mossy using sundried tomatoes
• I liked the flavour combinations in the girls entree, but thought there was way to much goats cheese, and not sure there needed to be garlic it it. The beetroot looked inedible,  Holly clearly had some brain explosion when she tasted it and declared it perfect.
• Cooking risotto on a cooking show is like trying to sing Celine Dion on Idol, risky and very rarely pulled off. The critics thought the girls porcini risotto was good, However Paul from SA thought it just tasted off salt.
• Mossy’s and Gabe’s stuffed chicken thighs was thought to be a bit dull and Karen Martini proclaimed that tomato sauce and asparagus don’t go together. I am not sure what the fresh pasta was going to add to the dish.
• Manu and Pete I have to disagree with you I think cream enhances everything.  Mossy and Gabe coconut pie with all it’s accoutrements looked sensational.

Holly and Grace were eliminated, losing by one point. I bet they wished they had landed in the bottom half of the competition to have given themselves a better chance at going further in the competition.

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At what stage did Sophie think that she was cooking with a dud? As soon as the pressure is on Rowan folds. They were in a sudden death and he was making some simple mistakes like not browning the lamb racks properly and burning the croquettes. The same thing happened in his home restaurant when he started cooking the fish before the guests had even arrived.

It was a nice change for the show that they were now in the MKR kitchen, and gave the show some energy. The top four scoring teams from the home restaurants going straight through to the semi-finals. With the others battling it out in a sudden death challenge.

And the challenge was to make meat and three vegetables, but the instructions were to be innovative.

First up were Gen and Tanja, and Rowan and Sophie. Team Qld did kofta with roast capsicum and feta in the centre, and a deconstructed ratatoullie. Rowan and Sophie did lamb racks with potato croquettes, and two types of sauce.

I thought Sophie and Rowan’s presentation was very 80’s nouvelle cuisine, except with more food on the plate. But the bright yellow of the aioli’s did not whet the appetite. And seriously can they leave the lemon myrtle alone. As Manu said all he could taste was grass.

I thought Gen and Tanja were being very clever with what they were cooking, both dishes had bold flavours and you could plate it up rustically. However putting the couscous in what looked like a cardboard boat was a bit cutsie, and Manu did not go for it.

Then Mel and Matt made lamb noisettes with three veges,  and Clint and Noah made lamb backstrap in filo with pea puree and mushroom and potato cakes. The boys surprised me and got the thumbs up for the backstrap in filo, something I personally thought would not work.

Melanie and Matt got criticised for dishing up meat and three vege. They cooked the noisette well but the rest was uninspiring to the judges.

The other four teams  that were safe were also eating the food but thankfully they were not getting to score. The power was all in Manu and Pete Evan’s hands.

Pete and Manu scored Clint and Noah a 16, and it was the highest team score and they were in the semi’s. Rowan and Sophie only scored 11 and were eliminated.

Mel and Matt scored 13, and Gen and Tanja scored 15, therefore Melissa and Matt were eliminated. So two of the round two teams are gone. I will miss the SA team as they were not afraid of giving their opinion.

Mel and Matt

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(Photo courtesy of www.couriermail.com.au)

Thanks to Kaylen for sending me this link of who will be the guest judges on My Kitchen Rules.

The Courier Mail says the guest judges will be Karen Martini, who writes for the Sun-Herald, and is on Better Homes and Gardens. Jacquie Gowan, Tobie Puttock and Guy Grossi.

Guy was probably glad to be on the show as I will be surprised if he turns back up on Masterchef Australia since he appeared to be not happy with what judge Gary Mehigan said about his signature dish.

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Seriously how good would the Mardi Gras party have been last night, George Michael and Adam Lambert. Adam the runner up from last year’s American Idol closed the party, and above his his performance. Please note it is not the greatest quality but it shows he was getting into the Mardi Gras spirit, with his costume and dance moves.

Also here is Adam Lambert at his signing at Hum records on Oxford St. Just for the record I was not there.

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Lara Bingle if the Sunday Telegraph is to be believed is being spruiked around as a potential reality TV star ala Paris Hilton. Emails sent around to TV Stations are asking $1 million for where she would allow  ”The network, or its nominated production company, (would be) provided exclusive access to Lara’s day-to-day life to be used for a possible reality television series,”

Would her life be that interesting? Maybe I think it is time she went and did some further study.

Someone else who may consider getting a day job is Cassi Van Den Dungen.  Cassi Van Den Dungen who was last year’s Australia’s Next Top Model runner up but the one deemed to have the most modelling potential has managed to insult a huge international modelling agency according to the Sunday Telegraph.

The article says:

After finally landing a much sought-after trip to Paris for Fashion Week, the controversial Australia’s Next Top Model runner-up almost caught the first plane home with her builder boyfriend, virtually as soon as someone said “Bonjour” to her.

According to some outrageous posts on her Facebook page, she insulted the French and her international heavyweight agent, IMG.

Van Den Dungen, who arrived back in town on Wednesday, labelled the French “frog eaters” and “snail slurpers”. The immature posts were also scathing about “Frasians” (French Asians), labelling them as “idiots”.

As for IMG, well, “all these people are f***** in the head: the agency is trying to run me, not the other way around”.

Her long-suffering Sydney agent, Helena Vitolins, of Work Agency, said she just “wasn’t emotionally ready for Paris”. Clearly, she’s not prepared for other cultures.

For the full story on the Cassi Van Den Dungen Paris debacle go to the excellent fashion blog Frockwriter.

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“Vote for the dancing Australia,” moaned Matt Lee down the camera obviously not happy with who landed in the bottom three couples. “I think we are going to have to go backstage to discuss this,” he continued. What? Don’t you judge it on the solos? Clearly Australia had just wrecked the story the judges thought was going to play out tonight. 

I was surprised that  Carly and Kieran were in the bottom three, but  Grace and Nick, and Jess and Doug I wasn’t.

I know the judges raved about Grace and Nick’s hip hop routine, but I found it flat and dull. Jess and Doug just have not popped yet, they should, but maybe they just lack chemistry. Issi and Don should have been there but obviously they have a lot of fans out there.

And Jason Coleman gave the viewer another lecture at the end of the show about voting for the best dancers, but really the show has always been about voting for Australia’s favourite dancer. Now some years that will mean the best dancer will win, other years it won’t. Deal with it.

However I think the judges eliminated the wrong girl. I thought Carly should have gone. I thought her solo was more rhythmic gymnastics then dancing. And Grace’s I really enjoyed. I think Grace has more depth to her dancing than Carly. Also I think Kieran and Grace would have made a great partnership.

With the boys I thought Doug was the logical choice, for three weeks in a row he has been pretty weak with the lifts and has not stood out. Also I thought his solo was more athletic than dancing. However I found him very likeable.

Now if Don could give Issi an extra hard squeeze on the ribs Grace might be able to come back in the competition.

The third contract was announced tonight it will be a role in the musical Hairspray. David Atkins is to be the director and Jason Coleman the choreographer. The prizes this year are fabulous.

Unfortunately for Ten the ratings are not as good as they were when it was screening on Sunday nights. However with Adam Lambert, the American Idol runner-up on the show tonight, that could pull in a few more viewers. And in unsurprising news Adam announced he will be performing at Mardi Gras.  Hope he has a ball.

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An historic first has started in the reality genre, with the reality show If I Can Dream premiering on the internet this week.

The premise of the show produced/created by Simon Fuller is five people go live in a house together to try and fulfill their dreams in LA.

There is a 30 minute show each week to watch on Hulu, and and you can also watch live action from the house 24/7.  And it proving to be pretty addictive. It is like The Truman Show but the cast know that they are in it. And like The Truman Show it goes on in perpetuity.

The cast members are all young and good looking:

• Kara – An aspiring actress who in a radio interview said “this is not a reality TV show” – huh clearly she missed the memo from Simon Fuller.
• Amanda – an aspiring actress who was previously flipping burgers at 24, I would have thought she would have been working on a Plan B like college at this stage.
• Giglianne – an aspiring model, extremely attractive, but she seems a little short.
• Justin – an aspiring songwriter/singer, who dated Miley Cyrus, and
• Ben – an aspiring actor who has also modelled.

However once they get their break they leave the house and someone else takes it. You can audition at If I Can Dream and overseas applications are welcome.

One thing I would like to see on the show is someone over 24, talented, but not necessarily fabulously good looking. The talented singer who does not look like Britany. The actress or actor who is not a size 6. Also it would be good to have an aspiring comedian or dancer in the house to add a bit of occupational diversity. As one of the great things about reality TV is seeing the ordinary person’s life transformed.

They have only been in the house two days and already there appears to be a cooling of the friendship between Amanda and Kara. Also I thought I heard on the livestream that Justin and Giglianne were ‘dating’. Apparently inter-cast interaction has not been banned.

Anyway check it out at If I Can Dreamalso you can follow it on Twitter, Facebook and My Space.

Compulsive viewing.

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For those who are still in a catatonic state from last night’s men’s top ten semi-final the good news Crystal Bowersox will be performing tonight on the show.  So it probably is worth while tuning in.

You know it was a bad night for the boys when Tim Urban was probably in the top three performances. Unfortunately this is not Australian Idol where the top 12 get through regardless of gender, here it is a strict six and six ratio.

I decided not to waste anymore of my time to do a recap but here is one from EW titled Boys of Slumber that sums it up nicely.

It is still not revealed what her illness is/was, but below Ryan Seacrest chats to the Executive Producer of American Idol about why they swapped the semis on his morning radio show.

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Love her or loath her, Mary Murphy adds a positive energy to the judging panel on So You Think You Can Dance Australia her comic timing is great and she knows how to break a tense moment as she did when Carly was having a meltdown.

Natalie Bassingthwaite looked smoking hot tonight, and fulfilled the hosting role really well by keeping things rolling along nicely.

Again tonight showed if you get the good choreographers you are going to have a better opportunity to shine.

Nick and Grace – Hip Hop by  Tiana Canterbury – Rhianna -Rude Boy

Both of these dancers have hip hop in their dancing past, so they both danced well, but I just hated the routine. Yes I know I have hip hop issues, but maybe Australia just does not have that many good hip choreographers, as it always seems to be a bit unsophisticated ie  bit hip hop 101. However the judges loved it.

Jason told Grace he liked his hip hop to be a bit more of an effortless, but he thought it was a great routine.

Matt Lee thought Grace hit how it should have been hit. And he thought Nick was comfortable.

Mary Murphy put both of them on the hot tamale train. WTF?

Kieran and Carly – Walz  by Aric & Marsha – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – Hushaby Mountain

Do you really want to be doing ballroom the week Mary Murphy noted ballroom specialist is on the show? Now I think the waltz can be a bit of deathtrap for the unweary, butI thought it was enjoyable helped by an interesting song choice. How good lookng were the choreographers? Marsha looked like a European starlet.

Mary would have like to have seen more from Carly, but liked Keiran.

Matt Lee thought Kieran was the one to watch in the competition.

Jason Coleman wants her to open up her shoulders, but he upset her when he asked her how she felt about her shoe becoming caught in the skirt. But I think she was upset about being the weak link in the routine. He also said that he did not think that Kieran would be as good in the competition as he is. Hellooooo I predicted he would go top four from the beginning.

Jess and Doug – Jazz by Adam Williams – LadyHawke Delirium

This pair should be a strong partnership as they are both professional dancers. And this week they were better, but they still  are not getting me to pick up the phone. I agree with Jason’s view that he thought it was an improvement but he still thinks they are part way there. I really get the feeling that Jason Coleman does not particularly like Adam Williams? Normally he acknowledges the choreographer particularly if the routine is good, but he did not. I am unsure whether it is professional or personal.

Phillipe and Renee – Contemporary by Debbie Ellis – Selena Cross Silence

A couple of weeks ago I had written a blog post on another site titled I Don’t Want To Be A Cougar.  Phillipe I lied. My favourite routine of the night. Phillipe made those lifts look effortless, I am really starting think he is going to go a lot further than I thought he was going to. And I am not just saying that because he was not wearing a shirt.

Mary Murphy thougth it was powerful routine, and thought Renee can really dance. Mary’s head was also turned by the six pack and thought he was a star.

Jessica and Heath – Tango by Trent and Gordana – Muse – Undisclosed Desires

I did not think this routine was as bad as the judges said it was. Some of the lifts were abit clunky, but I did not find it unenjoyble.  However someone should have raised the issu of Heath’s peroxide mullet, that definitely deserves a bottom three position.

Mary Murphy said she did not believe the chemistry between them.  She thought it was not that great.

Jason Coleman thought they did an OK job.  Matt Lee required more fire in the routine.

Matt and Jessie – Hip Hop by Travers Ross – Xavier Rudd Fortune Teller

All I could think of his how are they going to get Jessie’s dreds out. Also Jessie is an amazing dancer. Matt was not aas good as her but still OK.  I really liked this hip hop routine, but it was called an earthy hip hop, so it was more a jazz number.

Jason hated the routine, and thought he had no idea what it meant. Really without being told in the pre-performance package what the ”plot” of the routine is would we ever know what story they are telling. He also did not think it was accessible to the audience. However the other judges did like it.

Don and Issi – Contemporary by Sarah Boulter – Led Zepplin – Stairway to Heavan

Apparently Issi’s ribs are not great and the routine needed to be altered so Don did not have to do the lifts where his hands were around her ribcage. With all the alterations to the choreography I think this did not make Sarah Boulter’s routine quite so outstanding as they usually are. I suspect if Issi lands bottom three she will be sent home, the same probably for Don.

Matt Lee thought it fell short particularly Don as his eyes were on his feet.

Mary thought it showed Don’s weaknesses. She did like watching Issi dance and thought she was angel like.

Jason did not follow the story of the routine.

Robbie and Ivy – Jazz by Juliet Verne – Lady Gaga – Bad Romance

I think Robbie is loving dancing with Ivy, he was not unkind about Mikhaela, however you could tell he was relieved to have a change.

I really loved this routine I thought Ivy popped in it. She looked great in the blonde wig. They danced really well together. Robbie struggled a little bit on one of the lifts, but it was not as clunky as some of the other lifts going around tonight. Great news for Robbie fans.

Jason thought it was different, intense and memorable. One of the best routines of the night, along with Renee and Phillipe.

My bottom three predictions – Grace and Nick, Don and Issi, and Heath and Jessica.

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Calling on all American Idol savants – apparently the producers of this week show have swapped the shows and the boys top 10 will be singing tonight as one of the girls is ill.

EW reports that Crystal Bowersox is ill with complications with her diabetes and have postponed the girls top ten show to tomorrow night to give her an extra day to recover.

This has never happened before, but then I am not sure if there has been a sick girl or guy at this stage of the competition. Some people on forums are saying Kristy-Lee Cook had to sing, when she had been sick, but I think this was after she had made top 12.

Either way it is a controversial move by the show, and I suspect there is fear and loathing in the American Idol house as it gives the boys one less day to rehearse.

Personally I think they are playing favourites, but then I don’t care as I really like her and think she adds something different to the show. But I suspect if the producers had been ambivalent about one the contestants it would have been the show must go on mantra.

However if the show did somehow contribute to her hospitalisation eg she was not able to get access to regular food, they should definitely moved it.

Your thoughts?

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