Air NZ new safety video has gone viral because it has Richard Simmons in it. However I like it because The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan makes a few appearances in it, and who knew that he had the moves?

Well it was good bye to the Australian leg to the race, but was it was it a first that the pitstop was a form of transport –  train ride from Broken Hill to Sydney?

However at Central Station they kicked off the leg, and it was off to Japan, and Zev and Justin were first to leave. Now if you are not barracking for Team Rainman perhaps DListed can convince you on why we should be. These guys are the best.

Actually there are a lot of teams to like on this all-stars series.

At the airport there was the classic Amazing Race quandry, take the stopover flight and maybe get a 15 minute head start in Tokyo but risk the delay, or fly direct. It was split 50/50, and the luck was with the direct flight, as the other one landed an hour after it.

But this didn’t really have an impact on what happened to the teams once they hit the chaos that is Tokyo, mixing it with having to actually drive in that city. The teams had my sympathy.

Ron and Christina actually made it to the Roadblock first but Ron could not concentrate enough to get the sequence of moves done. Also I found out that Christine is engaged to another Amazing Race contestant Azaria.

It was interesting with the detour that most of the team bar two did the find the frog in the mud one. As that seemed much more random, than the more zen detour the harlem globe trotters, and Ron and Christina did.

However Ron and Christina were not feeling so zen at the end of it all when they noticed their fanny pack (american term) had gone missing. I don’t blame them for being pissed as that has passports and money in it. What happened one of the harlem globetrotters I think accidentally took it and left it in the mens dressing sheds. This got them a 30 minute penalty – not that it mattered as they were still safe. It will be interesting to see what they have to say about this penalty on next weeks episode.

Anyway Zev and Justin managed to rock through both challenges and give some zippy one liners and also come first into the pit stop again.  Helloooo trip to Costa Rica.

The cowboys who are meant to be strong contenders manage to do the challenges fast, but are like stoners when comes from getting from location to location.

The globe trotters, and Keisha and Jen are looking strong, but at the other end of the spectrum the cheerleaders are looking pretty shaky, but boy did they have a rainbow struck up their proverbial in this episode. They were running last, however because the mud detour was so cold Mike and Mel had to stop and be treated for hypothermia and in the end they were eliminated.

A special shout out needs to go to Kent who has seemed to have made it his mission to rub up against any on the younger males in the show. On Shelly Beach it was the young surfie, here in Japan it was the guy who handed them the clue after the mud detour.

Now for all The Amazing Race savants that want to know who arrived when and where during the episode I just found this amazing graph fromThe Amazing Race Analyser (I am in awe of this chart).

Finally do we need to start a petition to get Phil to do an eyebrow raise this season. It is episode three and we still don’t have one.

Also here his an exit interview with Mel who explains what happened at the detour.

Watching the first two episodes of the latest season of The Amazing Race has really shown me how gruelling the race is.

The teams flew overnight from LA headed off to do a roadblock at Manly Aquarium, then sprinted to Shelly Beach, thinking they may finally get a rest. But no they were told they were still racing  and it went on for another day and night before they hit the real pitstop.

The episode started with the Cowboys still trying to work out the puzzle, and the other teams were of looking for the Spirit of Sailing. This clue was pretty obscure and as a Sydney sider I had no idea what it was. However I don’t have problems with the clues being cryptic in the age where the teams just stop anyone with an iphone on the street.

What was hilarious was that some of the teams thought Sydney cab drivers might have known where the clue was. Little did they know they would be lucky if the cab driver knew how to get them back into the city.

However I had no sympathy for Gary and Mallory running around like headless chickens – the first thing you would do would be to find someone with internet access. Maybe they thought Australia was a bit third world.

In an interview with Kris and Amanda they reveal they were asking people with iphones but the search was a few pages in.

After teams finally found the anchor in Town Hall they signed on for two different flights with Rex Airlines to Broken Hill, at 6.00am and 6.30am in the morning. Then it was off to the airport to sleep. The cowboys finally caught up.

At Broken Hill they grabbed cars, Ron had difficulty driving on the left side of the road.

Then it was to the detour it was a choice between spiritual world and natural world. All teams did spiritual world where they had to copy an indigenous motif and then dance on top of it. Kris and Amanda had to do both detours and it looked like the other one was much quicker.

Zev and Justin (one of my favourite teams) were first out of the detour. As Justin said  ”Zev can do this one. He’s artistic.” Zev responded “Autistic, too!”

The dancing confused Kent and Vyksin who grabbed the aboriginal kids and danced around their art work not on it. They finally GOT it.

Christina who appeared to be having father issues again with Ron. Does he really want to be there? Once it gets too difficult he kind of loses it. Anyway their stuff up did make it look like it was close at the end.

The next challenge was to go to the Magpie Football Club where I thought it was going to be an AFL or Rugby League challenge, but they were to dress up as kangaroos and bounce towards there next clue. If you have ever been to Broken Hill you will know it is hot, so this would not have been too much fun.

Also does anyone live there? There were no cars on the road or people. It was like a ghost town.

Then it was figuring out the clue of their destination by a periodic table. Go figure that Kent was the only one who knew the elements Mercury and Bimuth. As he said he finally got to use his A in Chemistry.

The clue took to the cross section of those two streets. Where strangely enough their cars were waiting for them to drive straight to the pitstop. Hmmm suspicious.

Anyway Zev and Justin were first to the pit stop, with the harlem globetrotters and the cowboys in close pursuit. Kisha and Jen were the first all girl team to arrive.

Phil appears to have stopped the one eyebrow lift, but has replaced it with a salacious remark to the cheerleader team on the mat. He said “these are the best looking kangaroos he had seen”. Kisha and Jen when watching this episode must have been thrilled.

I wasn’t too disappointed when I learnt Kris and Amanda were eliminated.  But Ron needs to stop the racism on Mallory, with his scathing she doesn’t know where she is going. Well she did and ran into the pit stop way before them. Also he could do with a dose of Mallory’s enthusiasm.

Also in this exit interview with Kris and Amanda they reveal they were between 3-5 minutes behind.

On the CBS.com website they have Phil Keoghan’s video diary, and it does reveal how much on the fly they are to stay ahead of the teams.

Because his plane was late landing in Sydney, he had to go back to Oceanworld after the pitstop on Shelly Beach to film the roadblock intro. He also had to wash his hair on the beach before heading off again.

However Rex Airlines won’t be happy with his diary, as the episode showed the teams flying out on Rex (obviously sponsored), however it showed Phil and crew flying back on Qantas.

I always love it when Survivor or The Amazing Race bring back contestants that have been on the show previously, and this latest season has them bringing back the teams who came close to winning or had some terrible luck which meant they were eliminated.

It was gut wrenching when nice guys Zev Glassenberg and Justin Kanew, had to leave the race when Justin lost his passport in Cambodia. So it is great to see them get another shot at the $1 million. The list of who are the teams are in a previous post here.

Kynt, partner of Vyksin  has changed his name to Kent . My theory for the name change was after his awful behaviour in Italy he was being called C**t.

Anyway the episode started of in Palm Springs, with Phil Keoghan declaring the first clue was not on their back packs. But then there was a shot of the clues in Phil’s back  pocket. Most females would get very excited at the thought of grabbing Phil’s butt as they were getting the clue. But unfortunately that did not happen.

The clue was Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service – meaning they had to grab the sign that said Qantas, and this did stump a few teams.

However it was off to Sydney, Australia.

Eight of the teams were on the first flight, however this flight was delayed in Hawaii as some on had a heart attack  and the plane was diverted. The teams were trying to be nice about it but you could tell they were pissed. In Phil’s diary blog on the CBS.com site he was on the first flight, and had to head straight to the pitstop, arriving just 20 minutes prior to them.

Kris and Jamie had had a lucky day considering they had been the last to find the Qantas clue and this meant when they hit the detour they would have to do both challenges.

Once they landed they had to go to Ocean World at Manly to swim with the sharks to find a dish with a code breaker on it.

The african american girls had difficulty due to their lack of swimming ability, however Mallory continued to lead the way.

After that there was a puzzle which half the teams did not get, but other teams gave them the clues. I hate that when that happens. However the cowboys struggled and it is still unclear whether they moved forward.

At the pitstop at Shelley Beach the teams were told the leg had not ended, and rumour has it that they are on the way to Broken Hill.

Vyksin who clearly knows her boyfriend Kent well paid him out when she said they were on the way to Manly, even she was being ironic when she said that adjective described him so well. Also as eagle eyed Injera pointed out, Kent also gave the dishy surfer guy on the pitstop mat a grab on the butt.

If Kent gets lost on Oxford St it would be interesting to see what occurs.

At this stage Gary and Mallory are in the lead, but the cowboys are struggling. Hopefully a bit of luck will swing  their way soon.

For those people who have had to rely on getting their Phil Keoghan kicks from the visit New Zealand ads (yes that spa scene is amazing) , the good news is the new series of The Amazing Race will be starting on Sunday.

But please note the new station (Seven Mate) and timeslot (6.30pm).

TV Tonight has a good article on why it has been shifted – basically so it could be fast tracked from the US.

The bad news is if you don’t have a digital box or are on Foxtel you won’t be able to see it. Foxtel are yet to stream the channel. UPDATE: TV Tonight contacted me and said it is on Foxtel cable but not Foxtel satellite.

The teams for the 18th season are:

From Season 12:

Ronald and Christina Hsu, father and daughter, 2nd place

Kent Kaliber and Vyxsin Fiala, dating pink-clad goths, 5th place

From Season 14:

Margie and Luke Adams, mother and son, 3rd place; Luke is deaf

Amanda Blackledge and Kris Klicka, engaged (dating in Season 14), 8th place

Jaime Edmondson and Cara Rosenthal, former cheerleaders for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, 2nd place

LaKisha and Jennifer Hoffman, sisters and sports coaches, 4th place

Mel and Mike White, father and son writers, 6th place

From Season 15:

Zev Glassenberg and Justin Kanew, best friends, 9th place; Zev has Asperger’s

Herb “Flight Time” Lang and Nate “Big Easy” Lofton, teammates on the Harlem Globetrotters, 4th place

From Season 16:

Jet and Cord McCoy, brothers and rodeo cowboys, 2nd place

From Season 17

Gary and Mallory Ervin, father and daughter, 6th place; Mallory won Miss Kentucky 2009 and was 4th runner-up at Miss America 2010

(Source: Wiki)

The Amazing Race premieres Sunday 27 February at 6.30pm on 7Mate.

The final episode of the latest series of The Amazing Race tonight history could be made with an all-girl team winning the race for the first time. There are two all-girl teams in in the final three. The two doctors, and the home-shopping hosts.

Here  is a video that outlines the best of the thrills and spills on The Amazing Race. Clearly I have been watching too many series as I knew all of the incidents. Jonathan and Victoria’s arrival on the pitstop mat in Berlin is a particular highlight.

Channel Seven can expect a strong start to the 2011 ratings season as My Kitchen Rules will be starting late January/early February. This show debut this year to solid ratings, but any food show in Australia who does not get Masterchef Australia viewer figures is automatically called a flop. Teams from each State compete to win the title. This time around a team from Tasmainia is involved.

If cannot wait to see Manu Feidel and Pete Evans check out the new promo above.

Hopefully the much anticipated Conviction Kitchen also gets screened early in the new year. The show hosted by Ian Curley is about training former criminals in the hospitality industry, either in the kitchen or front of house in a restaurant in Brisbane just opened for the show. The official press release calls in a documentary series, but I call it reality TV.

Other shows on Seven will be the Australian version on The Amazing Race hosted by Grant Bowler. This is currently being filmed.

No news on whether The X Factor will return, however no one is bothering to ask if Iron Chef Australia will be making a second season. With its poor ratings there is no way it will be renewed.

Other shows that will be seen on the small screen next year are Dancing With The Stars, Beauty And The Geek, Four Weddings, Australia’s Got Talent,World’s Strictest Parents, Border Security and RPA.

Chad did not see the irony that he was going to U Turn the team that U Turned them. Earlier in the episode Chad had said he was going to U Turn the two doctors.

In this highly entertaining episode, Chad was not shown at his best. He shouted at everyone and basically came across as an arrogant douche. And Stephanie just kept on apologising to him. And now she is married and pregnant to him. (See previous blog post here)

But the episode highlight was when he was trash talking to Nat and Kat at the Roadblock. Nat and Kat were apologetic but he kept on going. I was hoping Nat would turn around and say “Well I was feeling bad about it, however since you are being a complete c**t about it I am glad I U Turned you.”

The Amazing Race is always at its best when the teams are thrown into the more confronting countries, and tonight  it was Bangladesh. In fact I don’t think anyone seeing that episode is going to rush off and holiday there.

Highlights from the episode:

• Jill think rickshaws were wheelbarrows;
• Jill and Thomas getting tickets on an early flight to Dhaka while Chad and Stephanie ate burgers;
• Vicki telling Nick to keep cool when doing the rickshaw challenge;
• Phil looking a bit sweaty at the pit stop, but I don’t like the hair dye job; and
• Chad and Stephanie being eliminated.

Here is Chad and Stephanie talking to Deadbolt and an interview on Reality TV Lounge they reveal they were only three minutes behind Brooke and Clair at the pitstop.

Fans of The Amazing Race will know on last week’s episode Chad proposed to Stephanie in Oman. And she surprisingly or stupidly accepted.

Well news has just trickled out that they have married and she is three months pregnant. Chad has not had a good editing on the show and is looking like an immature douche, but on the plus side he still has not knocked Jonathan from the Victoria and Jonathan team, as most reviled guy ever on the show.

Congratulations guys, and good luck Stephanie, I think you are going to need it.

In other The Amazing Race news the US all stars production is currently running through Sydney, with rumours they are on there way to Broken Hill. I am suspecting Rex Airlines put on a special flight for them, as there is no way 12 teams can rock up with camera crew and fit on those planes.

Here is the list of teams on the all-stars from a commenter on TV Tonight:

Chasingvegas says:

Teams are made up of the last few seasons (S?)

Kynt and Vyxsin (12)
Ron and Christina (12)
Amanda and Kris (14)
Kisha and Jen (14)
Jaime and Cara (14)
Margie and Luke (14)
Mel and Mike (14)
Steve and Linda (14)
Flight Time and Big Easy (15)
Zev and Justin (15)
Jet and Cord (16)
Gary and Mallory (17)

It looks great with some of my favourite teams from the last couple of seasons. Love the cowboys Jet and Cord, and for some reason I liked Gary and Mallory.

In The Amazing Race episode in St Petersburg, Russia, there was no speed bump for Nick and Vicki after they had come in last the previous leg.

I had noticed it at the time of watching the episode but I thought it had been taken out in editing.

However Reality Blurred writes the reason there was no speed bump was there was a production hitch in the previous leg of the race.

Production hitch can mean issues with cameras, but he cites a source which says Nick and Vicki in the classical music detour had been told one music pieces was wrong when it was in fact right.

Also in the next leg, all the teams took off at the same time. I had not picked that.

Props to Reality Blurred as he updates the story here and he goes on to say the production issue effected a few teams.