Changes for 2010

It's the end of the year and both radio and tv stations are making changes. As we know, Rove will not be returning next year, or ever, on channel 10. Surprisingly Australian Idol will be coming back in 2010 despite bad ratings this year (though the finale last night was a ratings winner), along with the 7pm Project which will be aired twice a day over summer - with a repeat after the late news.

Channel 7 have a call-out for contestants for another series of Beauty and the Geek. The Einstein Factor and Sunday Arts are finishing up on the ABC. Media Watch will be back next year with Jonathan Holmes at the helm and Review with Myles Barlow has been funded for a second series.

On radio, the big news today is that Robbie, Marieke and the Doctor are finishing up this year as Triple J breakfast hosts. They will be replaced by the weekend hosts Tom and Alex. Tim Ross and Kate Ritchie are leaving their Nova 969 breakfast show - ending the long performance relationship between Merrick and Rosso. More locally, the Triple R breakfast show will be losing Sam Pang who is currently hosting the music quiz show ADBC on SBS.  

Ten in the Pink

Australia loves Pink. The fact that I don't have to clarify that I'm talking about the singer and not the colour is testament to that. But how 'Pink' can we get? When digital radio was launched earlier in the year there was an entire station devoted to Pink. At first it was just Pink songs, then when the fact that playing songs from just 5 albums might become a bit repetitive sunk in, the station started playing Pink-inspired music - that's music that Pink likes, and music that's like Pink.

So it's not completely surprising to learn that channel 10's Australian Idol is doing a 'Pink' show this Sunday. That's right, an entire night of the contestants singing Pink songs.

Let's put this in perspective; previously Aus. Idol has done Beatles night, 80's night, disco night, Australian artist night, number 1 hit night, etc, etc. There has never been a Christina Aguilera night, or a Britney Spears night, or even an Anastasia night - you remember - that loud, rambunctious singer that wasn't hugely popular in her own country but made a killing over here?

Don't get me wrong, I think Pink is better than the average pop-singer and I've heard rave reviews of her Funhouse tour from even the most hardened music-elitist - I just think this is one of the most bizarre things the Australian Idol gang have done to try and boost the shameful ratings this season. Introducing a new judge? understandable. Changing the timeslot? Okay. Having a Pink night? Just skip to the Opera House already.
Meanwhile, pocket-rocket Sabrina got the boot last week and 'told-all' to Sydney's Daily Telegraph 'confidential' blog. She said that she misses Kyle and described him as "witty and funny" - clearly the trauma of being evicted has effected her logic.

Rove's Birthday Bash

Tonight was the 10th anniversary of Rove Live which meant a 90 minute special of past cast members and favourite clips. If the world ended tomorrow and all that survived was a tape of Rove's 10th anniversary show, aliens would think that the human race consisted of juvenile pranksters obsessed with self-harm and bad fashion who told far too many bum jokes and had no respect for themselves or anyone else ... and they wouldn't be too far off really. The laugh out loud moments were courtesy of Hamish & Andy and Ryan Shelton, otherwise it was an excercise in cringeworthy self-indulgence - a bit like a 21st birthday party where your dad makes a speech with a whole lot of gags that no one laughs at. Nonetheless, there is something lovable about Rove McManus and it must be said that the show has filled a void in variety entertainment and has endeared where many others would have fallen by the wayside.

Besides all that - an interesting program change for 10 tonight - moving Australian Idol back to 7:30pm and putting a repeat of Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation before it. Obviously ten were hoping that their biggest success of late might lead into some good audience numbers for the failing Aus. Idol. Unfortunately Idol seems dead and buried with it's only stand out performer knocked out in round one, it's left with better than average karaoke and forced bickering between the judgeing panel.

Aus. Idol Kicks Off

Australian Idol officially began the performance shows tonight with the top 12 finalists performing songs of their own choosing.

Let's break it down;










First off was Ashleigh, she's the teenager from Tamworth and tonight sang "Miss Independent".
You might remember her (or someone just like her) in season 1 as Lauren Buckley, season 5 as Lana Krost, or more famously in season 3, as winner, Kate DeAraugo.










Next we had brickie's labourer Scott singing "Come Together" - You might remember this unassuming country lad from season 1 when he was known as Shannon Noll and was equally wide-eyed and unassuming at the wonders of instant celebrity (and in need of a makeover).










Then there was Casey with "On my Mind". Casey is a generic - he's an everyman of sorts but with a slight disability to enable the crowd to tell him apart from the other generics (see Toby and Tim below).










Hayley is the 'rock chick' of the bunch - she sang "See the Light". Australian Idol has a strong history of rock gals. Season 1 = Kelly Cavuoto, season 2 = Emelia Rusciano, season 3 = Milly Edwards, season 4 = Klancie Keough (please also see country-gal Kate below) and season 6 = Amanda Grafanakis.










Young country-boy-at-heart James was next with "How to Save a Life". He has a bit of Milsy about him, a bit of Shannon, a bit of Ben McKenzie, a bit of Tom Williams (from season 6) ... and a few others that I can't remember the names of.










Next we have Sabrina, the migrant/ethnic element, you might remember her most famously as Cosima De Vito and to a lesser extent Natalie Gauci. Her performance tonight of Michael Jackson's "What About Us" was stellar - she certainly has a set of pipes on her and was the highlight of the night.










Nathan is another young lad with an emo fringe. He has a touch of Matt Corby about him without the killer baby-blues. He did a good job of "Stop and Stare" tonight and he's got a bit of that Thanh Bui (from last year) lovable-camp about him.










Next we have 'thank-the-lord-Jesus-for-everything' Stan. He's the kiwi/islander element - seen in past seasons as Joseph Gatehau (season 4) and Levi Keremea (season 1).










Teacher Toby could easily be mistaken for the aforementioned Casey. Again, he's an everyman - just your average Aussie bloke. He ruined Radiohead's "Creep" tonight by overpronouncing every word of it and turning it into a rock-opera. Some songs should NOT be given the karaoke treatment under ANY circumstance.










Next was Kim with "Best of You". She likes sitting down when she sings so you can tell her apart from the other girl with peroxide blonde emo hair (see aforementioned Hayley). Last year she was played by both Sophie Patterson (with a British accent) AND Amanda Grafanakis.










Then there was Tim. I have to say right now he's my favourite. I couldn't care less if he could actually sing of course. He sang Beyonce's "Halo" following the apparent trend of pretending to 'give it your own feel' by singing a song originally done by someone of the opposite sex. For the record, it's still karaoke. He did mention Jesus which certainly doesn't endear him to me - but he did it in a half-assed way that makes me think he's sheepishly gunning for the Guy Sebastian vote and isn't really a God-botherer at all.










Finally we have Kate, the country-hick element that is in every season in various guises. This year it takes the form of a burly lesbian who doesn't take off her cowboy hat ... ever. The last girl to don a cowboy hat was Klancie Keough (season 4) and it certainly didn't do her any favours. Kate "really loves astraya" (Australia) and tonight performed "Stuck in the Middle".

SO - They can all actually sing this year which makes watching the show like seeing a highlights reel of the previous 6 seasons. It's that same old cheesy Idol that we remember - completely fabricated for your enjoyment (there is NO way that the Australian public voted Kate in to the top 12 - I'm sorry, but she gets no reaction from the crowd and is hardly a character that 13 year old girls would go crazy about). Because that's what they are really - characters in a narrative constructed for your enjoyment.

Speaking of characters, there are a few missing this year; the cute ethnic boy (Mark Spano, Anthony Callea), the diva kiwi/islander girl (Paulini Curuenavuli, Emily Williams, Madam Parker) and the 'quirky kid' (Chanel Cole, Bobby Flynn, Lisa Mitchell).

Either way, as Marieke Hardy so accurately pointed out in The Age last week - it's just not the same without James Matheison.

Australian Idol FAIL

It's round one of the live performances tonight and I'm watching in pain as the performers are made to sing in the wrong key, to bad arrangements of bad songs. Where the hell is John Foreman when you need him?

Some gorgeous young thing was singing Stevie Wonder's "For Once in my Life" almost an entire octave below where she should have been - almost too low to hear her over the band. In fact, there are lots of old songs being bandied about tonight ... the 'country gal' boot-scooting to "You're Mamma don't Dance and your Daddy don't Rock'n'Roll" was almost too much to bear.

Could this be the beginning of the end for Australian Idol? Last nights show did badly in the ratings and whilst the new judge (Jay Dee Springbett) is likeable enough, all three of them seem to be waving from a sinking ship.

The novelty of a national karaoke competition is wearing off this old chestnut and I wonder how long it can stay even remotely entertaining?

Hopefully it comes good when the themed shows start and the real farce begins!

* Speaking of farce; Toby's vocal 'theatrics' on Coldplay's "Yellow" ... let the games begin.

Packed with Advertising

I've noticed during the final ad-break for Packed to the Rafters (channel 7, Tuesdays 8:30pm) that there is an advertisement for Sunrise with Mel and Kochie talking about a hot-topic from the show. For example, tonight it was something like this; (Kochie says to camera) "Wow, Trish certainly has some tough times ahead, join us tomorrow when we talk about separation and finding yourself divorced in middle-age." (- relating to the plot-line of tonight's Rafters and the character "Trish" dealing with her divorce).

It's been happening every week. Then of course, the Sunrise ad is followed by an ad featuring Jessica McNamee (who plays Sammy in the show, and is also currently starring in channel 7's Dancing with the Stars) flogging some kind of insurance. Later in the ad break we have Zoe Ventoura (who plays Mel) flogging a skin product.

And another thing - speaking of overkill, I'm looking at you Delta Goodrem. Let's see, Delta flogs Nintendo DS, Sunsilk, So Good, Proactive skin products, and even Australia in general ...

I couldn't tell you when she last released an album - or anything she's done in the way of singing actually (besides above, of course) - I guess the ads are paying pretty well.

Oh, and if that's still not enough, you can also see Delta in ads for Australian Idol at the moment where she will be featuring as a guest judge.

Idle Idol

So the ratings are in and the first episode of Australian Idol last night was beaten by Domestic Blitz (channel 9) and Dancing with the Stars (channel 7). It was only pipped at the post by DWS but it was still down from last years launch episode.

So have the public spoken? Are the ratings down purely because of Kyle Sandilands? Or is Australia just sick of over-edited, we-already-know-the-winner, let's-just-make-fun-of-people reality television? Will Australian Idol go the way of Big Brother? I guess we'll see in a few weeks when Sandilands is no longer a feature of the show.

Speaking of Kyle, he really showed what a great bloke he was on last nights episode by (a) leering at the young girls, (b) asking a contestant about their sex life - they were over 14 so that's ok, right? and (c) asking a lovely man who seemed to have an intellectual disability, "so how many sandwiches short are you?". I might say that I was shocked, but I really wasn't.

Idol last night was generally underwhelming. I don't know what's wrong with me but I just don't get any joy out of asshole producers making fun of people ... sure I was yelling at the TV "He is sooooooo shit!" - but that was mainly at the ones they actually let through to Sydney. There was one clearly tone-deaf man who sang Over the Rainbow who was interviewed before going in and was basically set up to look like an idiot. As was the overweight woman who, we were told, has her "fiance" (said in a condescending manner as though someone so unattractive could hardly have a fiance) to comfort her in her failure.

The web entries were torn to shreds - one of them was actually pretty good but was nevertheless ridiculed with Funniest Home Video style commentary.

I know, I know - the contestants are to blame - they put themselves out there to be ridiculed after all. But some are very young, some are very naive and some are very stupid. When did we become a society that loves watching people being taunted so cruelly? Their hopes dashed? their dreams crushed? I know that there are stupid people out there - I don't need to see them being made fun of on what is supposed to be family viewing.

Sandilands is only one part of the program that is offensive.

Of course I'll keep watching, because my sensibilities aren't so delicate *wink*.

Kyle Unfit? ... Shocking!

In an announcement today from Austereo publicity manager, Kate Whitby, the Kyle and Jackie O show has been suspended indefinitely;

"... following a great deal of consideration and having consulted Jackie O and all stakeholders, Austereo has formed the view that it is in the interest of all parties, for the Kyle and Jackie O show to go into recess until we have completed an across-the-networks review of the principals and protocols of our interaction with our audience. This review commenced last Wednesday, July 29."

It seems Kyle is 'unable to perform his duties'. - That's a laugh, considering his 'duties' up to this point seem to have been to behave like a self-obsessed wanker, I'd say he's currently excelling at his duties.

There has also been talk of channel 10 possibly dropping him from Australian Idol, the thing is, he would simply be replaced with someone else exactly like him. Just like if the Kyle and Jackie O show was never to be reinstated - I doubt its replacement would be anything of any higher quality than the crap we hear on any commercial station.

The best result we can hope for from this event is that the Broadcasting Codes of Practice are reassessed.

7pm Verdict

I thought I'd wait til at least night 2 to cast judgement on channel 10's news/talks program The 7pm Project. Overall I think it's good. Dave Hughes and Carrie Bickmore have a comfortable rapport and Charlie Pickering is quick-witted and generally charming - unfortunately he made a comment last night that irked me; when discussing a pair of gay penguins, he referred to one of the male penguins developing a relationship with a female penguin rather than a male as "how things should be". Considering that gay rights are being fought tooth and nail at the moment this sort of ignorance bothers me intensely. Since then, he's getting on my nerves a little bit - what can you do?

Ruby Rose is awkward and punching above her weight - but she might grow into the role. And last but not least; James Matheison - he is the dark horse in this ensemble cast - he's funny, sarcastic, naughty but nice and oh so likeable. Night one he was in studio and was being left high and dry by the rest of the panel - but tonight he really shone on location with Masterchef winner Julie - he was cracking jokes with the family and working well under pressure. I look forward to seeing him develop outside the scripted host format of Australian Idol.

Overall the show's not amazing, but then it's not altogether terrible either. I'm interested to see where it goes and how the cast develop as a team. It's night one ratings were good (of course it remains to be seen if viewers come back for more) and I'm generally happy with any program that takes viewers away from that vaccuous abyss that is Two and a Half Men.

Cooking up a Storm in a Teacup

The Masterchef finale is the talk of the town today as the popular program attracted 3.7 million viewers last night in the official ratings results. I'm not sure that it was entirely a shock to anyone, after all, it's been one of the most popular shows on TV since about week 4 of the series. Not to mention the fact that the weekly evictions have made the front page of most papers on a regular basis.

Besides, look at its esteemed colleagues in the three-point-something million club; two Australian Idol finales and The Block finale. The only other programs that get a look in are sports events. Mind you, I'm not about to go on an elitist rant about how Australian viewers should be more discerning in their program choices ... because I too watched the Masterchef finale (whilst multi-tasking several other activities - after all, I can't devote a whole 2 hours to one program!)

I came in at the end, to what I thought was the video of the speeches at my cousin's 21st - it was very friendly wasn't it? Judge Gary Mehigan fighting back proud tears was almost too much to bear. Some critics have suggested that in these "times of financial instability" family viewing is on the up and up - Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation being a prime (time) example. And who better to personify the image of homeliness and comfort than the chubby home-cooking specialist Julie?

It is certainly a much better program than the other reality drawl - Dancing with the Stars and Australia's Got Talent; where the stars aren't even B grade anymore and the only talent is the production team that manage to edit this crap into an hour around all the replays, recaps and suspenseful commercial break outro banter.

Channel 10 execs will be hoping the 7pm Project (starting tonight at, you guessed it, 7pm) can ride the wave of Masterchef's success, with winner Julie being a guest on tonight's debut show. And of course Australian Idol will be back on our screens next month.

Meanwhile, it looks like the finale show next year will be live to air after all the trauma the pre-record has caused the media ... particularly the Daily Telegraph. Check out Andrew Dodd's post on Crikey here.

One more thing ...

Prediction: there's going to be a celebrity version of Masterchef taping from September - If I were a betting gal (which I certainly am not) I'd put money on Vince Colosimo (even though he's currently contracted to channel 9) and maybe Pete Hellier being involved.

Australian Idol

Let's face it, Australian Idol is seen as a bit of a joke among serious musicians. The fact that it's not so much a singing contest as an exercise in marketing doesn't build its street cred amongst independent artists. And promos like this certainly aren't helping the cause any;

Is it just me or is this ad the ultimate in tacky commercialism? It's making me preemptively hate them all when in order to watch the series (which of course I will) I'm going to need to like at least one of them. Basically Aus Idol is as tacky and crass as the pop-tarts it wants its contestants to emulate (and why we secretly love it and them).

But then it goes and gives us Lisa Mitchell - a unique, young artist who's music is not at all the norm and who we would otherwise not have heard about were it not for the show. She's not pop, and she's not easily marketable - but she is testament to the fact that young artists can indeed use the sap-wagon that is Aus Idol to get a break.

One 'serious' artist who has been very vocal about the fact that Australian Idol is a joke is Kate Miller-Heidke. The classically trained Brisbane artist has had some nasty things to say about the show - which is why I found the fact that her song "The Last Day on Earth" is currently being used for a Neighbours promo a bit odd.

After all, Neighbours is where ex-idols go to die (anyone remember Daniel O'Connor or Dean Geyer?) and someone who thinks Aus Idol is a talentless exercise in consumerism surely wouldn't want their wares flogging a channel 10 soap that is equally scorned for its tackiness?

I wonder what a channel 10 promo is worth these days?

Reality Poor Sports

The phenomena of reality TV failures having a bitch about the show after they're kicked to the curb is getting a bit tired. Of course I speak of Masterchef's Poh Ling Yeow who was eliminated from the show this week after a minestrone taste-test.

Poh made comments after the show about 'in-fighting' and 'sabotage' and insinuated there was some underhand dealings between competitors ... ummm ... correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it a competition? A footballer doesn't hand the ball to his opposition with a "there you go chap, I believe that's what you're after" and a pat on the back. As if any person in a competition wouldn't do everything they could to win.

Here was the article about Poh in the Herald Sun and here was a similar article the week before about ousted contestant Geni.

Contestants on reality TV need to realise that it has nothing to do with talent and that it has everything to do with demographics and ratings. Robert Mills and Shannon Noll are perfect examples of this - neither of them were able to sing in tune or with any sense of musicality at the start of their respective series of Australian Idol - yet they moved ahead every week while people with actual singing talent were dropped by the wayside. Why? Because they filled a demographic. Young, (supposedly) good-looking lads that they were, the teenage girls who vote for Australian Idol were inevitably going to develop RSI in their texting thumbs in support of these lovable lads.

You can almost pick the 'types' of people there will be on these programs. Australian Idol as an example will have; the big-voiced girl who loves singing Whitney and Mariah. The 'ethnic' boy or girl (Anthony Callea, Mark Spano, Natalie Gauci), the Rocker, the Emo, the Blonde Bombshell, the Sensitive-Little-Thing (Lisa Mitchell), and the musical-loving Stage Singer. There will also usually be a Kiwi element and of course the 30 or 31 year old getting their 'last chance' to shine. My particular favourite element is the 'quirky-kid' - these are usually not at all the kinds of people you would expect to see on reality TV and eventually get torn apart by the judges - remember Chanel Cole? Bobby Flynn anyone?

Basically, it's more luck than talent when it comes to reality TV - so I wish the contestants would stop being spoil-sports, appreciate their 5 minutes of fame for what it was, and fade into obscurity so the next batch of wannabes can have their shot at the title.