Paula Abdul charms at TEN’s Melbourne launch

Paula Abdul was every bit the professional at TEN’s 2014 Upfronts Melbourne event, last night.

The diminutive dance star cheerfully greeted TEN stars and execs -some of whom turned into starstruck fans- at the crammed event at the Stokehouse, St. Kilda.

As she worked the room, escorted by network publicists, she smiled and shook hands with everyone in reach without even needing to know if they were important or not (yes, me included). It’s that kind of attitude that gets you plenty of word of mouth.

So You Think You Can Dance host Carrie Bickmore interviewed Abdul who conceded it was her first visit to Australia and she admitted to preliminary concerns about who might be on the judging panel. But since meeting them only met 4 days ago those concerns have already dissipated.

Bickmore admitted she was desperate to get home to watch The Bachelor finale.

TEN stars in attendance last night included Claudia Karvan, Asher Keddie, Rodger Corser, Brooke Satchwell, Ben Mingay, Mal Walden, Brad McEwan, Mike Larkhan, Steve Quartermain, Charlie Pickering, Gary Mehigan, Matt Preston, George Calombaris, Pete Helliar, Anthony Hayes, Stefan Dennis, Chris Milligan, James Mason, Colette Mann plus various producers including John Edwards, Imogen Banks, Craig Campbell, Nick Murray and Michael Hirsh.

Guests watched a lengthy 30 minute showreel of upcoming content and network achievements with tenplay and zeebox (interestingly, Natasha Exelby had already been excised from the Wake Up clips -ouch!). Secrets and Lies looked enticing while Puberty Blues promises more raw drama from the 70s.

Programming chief Beverley McGarvey and Drama Exec Rick Maier were amongst the TEN execs in attendance.

Spruiking to media buyers for TEN were Hamish McLennan and sales boss Louise Barratt. Chairman Lachlan Murdoch also attended.

Exec General Manager Russell Howcroft had been “banned” from speaking in public, joked McLennan.

And while there were no more programmes announced following the Sydney Upfronts on Tuesday night, it’s becoming increasingly clear that TEN hasn’t detailed its 6pm “family entertainment show” yet because it doesn’t want to let its competitors know what’s coming.