February 2008 - Reality TV

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Reality TV - February 2008

America's Next Top Model Cycle 10

February 20th 2008 01:57

Ooh, the vicious back-stabbing, the partner-cheating, the crying-at-the-drop-of-the-hat -to-evoke-sympathy, Tyra’s self-promotion and looking more and more like a caricature of her once glorious self, attitudes with big hair, short hair, no hair and near-catfights (alas for the boys, not even scantily clad), eating disorder confessions – what’s there not to love about America’s Next Top Model? Obviously, I’m not the only one obsessed seeing as ANTM is going into its 10th season in 08.

Cycle 10 Hopefuls

ANTM Cycle 10 is back in the big, bad New York – after spending some time in LA since Cycle 4. Other changes are the number of contestants has been increased from 13 to 14 and Twiggy, ‘fashion model icon’, as Tyra keeps reiterating, will be replaced by Paulina Porizkova, whom I remember only from Tom Selleck’s Her Alibi.

The format should be the same – 14 girls, some looking anorexic, some looking suspiciously like men, other just looking the same as each other, go through fashion challenges every week, followed by a photo shoot or a commercial then critiqued by the judges (including the delicious Nigel oh-love-me Barker) with Tyra Banks at the helm. The girl with the weakest photo or commercial (or the girl whom the judges don’t personally like) get eliminated until the last one standing becomes America’s Next Top Model. Or, in many cases, reading the criticisms of fashion designers and modelling agencies, America’s Disgraced Top Model. The ‘lucky’ girl wins the top-notch prize (which is said over and over again every bloody judging panel) : managed by Elite Model Management, a $100,000 contract with CoverGirl and a six-page fashion spread in Seventeen magazine.

This cycle’s contestants are as follows :

Aimee
Age: 18
Occupation: Hostess
Hometown: Spanaway, Washington

Allison
Age: 19
Occupation: Hostess
Hometown: Waunakee, Wisconsin

Amy (a.k.a. "Amis")
Age: 20
Occupation: Waitress
Hometown: Bartlesville, Oklahoma

Anya
Age: 19
Occupation: Retail Sales
Hometown: Honolulu, Hawaii

Atalya
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York

Claire
Age: 24
Occupation: Production Coordinator
Hometown: New York, New York

Dominique
Age: 23
Occupation: Receptionist
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio

Fatima
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts

Katarzyna
Age: 22
Occupation: Finance
Hometown: Roslyn, New York

Kimberly
Age: 20
Occupation: Customer Service
Hometown: Worcester, Massachusetts

Lauren
Age: 22
Occupation: Artist
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York

Marvita
Age: 23
Occupation: Retail Sales
Hometown: San Francisco, California

Stacy Ann
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Hometown: Miami, Florida

Whitney
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Hometown: Atlantic Beach, Florida

ANTM C10 will premiere on CW on Wednesday, Feb 20.

PS. I'll be on holidays for the next 2 weeks & won't be able to log onto Orble (too busy skydiving

. If you don't get comments from me, please don't think I'm a snob

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Posted By: Aimzster - Category: No Category

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New Reality TV to hit Oz in 08!

February 14th 2008 02:52

Reality TV is like junk food. It’s right in front of you and before you know it, you’re picking at it, putting into your mouth without much thought and regretting it afterwards with a sick, heavy feeling. At the onset, I denied my growing fascination with exploitation, er, reality TV but as seasons of Big Brother, Amazing Race and various Idols turn into double digits and Judge Judy has been signed on to appear on our afternoon TV to 2012, I realised I’m not the only Reality TV fan. With reality TV here to stay, I’ve decided to just embrace the guilty pleasure of a fly-on-the-wall experience.

This year, not only will we see the return of reality TV heavyweights like Survivor and The Biggest Loser, new reality TV shows have cropped up. Here are only some of what’s ahead (and what’s already premiered) in 2008 :

Kitchen Nightmares USA
9.30 pm, Thursdays, Channel Nine
Gordon Ramsay’s violent profanities and his straight-faced tendency to make a head-chef feel nothing more valuable than a dead cockroach were what you would expect in Kitchen Nightmares UK. But this year, he’s heading to the US of A. The first episode, during which Ramsay rescued an Italian restaurant run by a big man who was obviously trying to emulate a Goodfellas character, was shown Thursday, 9.30pm, 7 February. And as much as I loved the big Italian guy running after a diminutive debt collector, pulled back by a bunch of smaller guys, I have to ask : why does the US feel compelled to ‘improve’ an already brilliant formulae? As it is, the show seems to focus much more on the drama and tension between the current restaurant employees than on the food and the restaurant itself. Hopefully, it was just the first episode as I’m not too fond of anyone, Italian or not, cutting into Ramsay’s profanity time – dammit.

Hell’s Kitchen UK
Premieres 8.30pm, Friday, 15 February, Lifestyle FOOD (Foxtel)
Hell’s Kitchen US was supervised by Gordon Ramsay (who is fast becoming my Favourite Celebrity of 2008) who turns up his profanity & temper ten notches with the inclusion of banging on steel counter tops, kicking at rubbish bins, spitting out food in distaste and calling his underlings ‘gremlin’. In Hell’s Kitchen UK, Ramsay is replaced by Marco Pierre White, the first ever chef to receive 3 Michelin stars in Britain and whose temper apparently matches that of Ramsay’s. The other difference is that instead of aspiring unknown chefs, White will be whipping into shape a group of celebrities who have to serve mouth-watering dishes to celebrity diners at Hell’s Kitchen Restaurant.

Ramsay being Ramsay in HK USA

So you think you can dance? Australia
7.30 pm, Sundays & Mondays, Channel Ten
2007 saw the original & US version of SYTYCD on our Aussie screens to make way for our own true-blue version in 08. Thousands of aspiring dancers (some jerking around for 15 minutes of fame) are whittled down to the Top 20 by judges Jason Coleman, Matt Lee & Bonnie Lythgoe and whose fates now lie in the fickle hands of the public. If this version follows the same format as the US, these hopefuls undergo different styles of dancing with different partners every week until one is bestowed Australia’s Favourite Dancer. Hosted by Natalie Bassingthwaite who acts as a friend in the wings with a ready smile & a comforting hug (at one point, when one hopeful tearfully expressed a wish that his mother was still alive so he could tell her the good news that he made it into the Top 20 and most importantly, to hug her, our petite host told him to close his eyes. Then she gave him a hug. *sniff*), the show premiered on Sunday, Feb 3.

The Chopping Block
7.30pm, Wednesdays, Channel Nine
Two restaurants face off for the chance to win $20,000. Every week, two different restaurants are given a budget of $5000 each and, with the assistance of Top Chef Matt Moran, renovate & overhaul their restaurant – from the menus to the décor. In the end, a top food critic eats at each restaurant, judges the variety of the menu, the food, service and décor and gives each restaurant a star rating with the restaurant with the most stars taking home the cash prize.

How to look good naked
Mid-2008, Channel Ten

Carson - lending his chirpy self to women this time 'round

Carson Kressley (the zaniest one out of the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy bunch) hosts this show that helps women of all shapes, sizes and races learn to love themselves without drastic measures such as dieting and/or plastic surgery. Each week, a different woman suffering from self-esteem issues and who doesn’t like being seen naked, is taught the secrets of the beauty and fashion world until she eventually has enough confidence to show off her naked body at the end of the show. Hmm…

Project Runway
Mid-2008, Arena
Glamorous Heidi Klum acts as a host of a show that’s been dubbed ‘America’s Next Top Fashion Designer’, but instead of whingeing, anorexic nymphettes (but I still love you, ANTM), we have contestants vying with each other with pins and a pair of scissors. With limited time, hopefuls create original designs from materials dictated by judges and have to showcase them on models on the runway each week. The designer of the outfit with the weakest reception by the judges is then eliminated.

Million Dollar Salon
Mid-2008, Channel Nine
Auditions are now being called for experienced hairdressers who want to start their own salon business and entrepreneurs (not necessarily hairdressers) who think they can run a busy salon. Twelve lucky people will be picked to try and run six already-thriving salons in six cities across Australia for their chance to win their own million-dollar salon.

Top Gear Australia
Late 2008, SBS
This one’s for the boys! Australia is the only country to secure the rights to make its local version of Britain’s highly-rated show which showcases the honest, sometimes brutal, appraisals and test drives of the world’s favourite cars. The show’s producers promise that Top Gear Australia will have a quintessentially Australian flavour, something they took into account when holding auditions for the four hosts – arguably the top job in a man’s world.

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Posted By: Aimzster - Category: No Category

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