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All-male fight for Idol crown
Australian Idol lost its last female contender tonight as Chrislyn Hamilton was voted off the show.
17yo Hamilton went out in style showing sportsmanship and good humour, singing up a storm with “Get Ready.” She hugged the remaining contestants and kissed the judging panel while singing her swansong, even managing a boogie with Kyle Sandilands. It contrasted with other younger performers who had left the reality series in tears.
Hamilton’s exit leaves Idol for the first time with 4 males competing for the title: Wes, Luke and tonight’s other “bottom two”, Teale and …
Returning: CSI: Miami. Bumped: Rugby World Cup (Vic)
Channel Nine is pushing the telecast of its Rugby League World Cup game this Sunday on GTV9 from 8:30pm to 10:30pm. There is no change to TCN9 or QTQ9.
Instead it will bring CSI: Miami back at 8:30pm with “All In” (S6E16) and follow with a repeat at 9:30pm.
Last night the game attracted just 158,000 viewers in Melbourne and 900,000 viewers nationally, beaten by Dancing with the Stars and Rove. Nine also lost its prized Sunday crown to Seven, although it was first in 18-49 and 25-54. TEN won 16-39.
The semi final …
Drug charges dropped against McKenney
A drugs charge against Dancing With The Stars judge Todd McKenney has been dropped, NSW police said today.
Mr McKenney had previously indicated he would plead not guilty to one count of possessing the illicit drug GHB.
The charge was laid after he was found unconscious in Rushcutters Bay Park, in Sydney’s east, on the afternoon of April 25, allegedly with a vial of GHB in his pocket.
He has publicly stated that his drink was spiked at a party the night before and the drug planted on him.
A NSW police spokeswoman today said …
Kellie bids high five to Hi-5
Another original member of Hi-5 is bowing out.
Kellie Crawford is quitting the group after 10 years to pursue an acting career.
Crawford, 34, said she has been thinking of leaving for the past year and had decided Christmas Eve carols would be the right time for her swansong.
“I’m getting older and I just wanted to try and do as much as I can with my life because I can’t be a kids’ performer for my whole life,” she told AAP.
“I guess I just wanted to open more doors so when I eventually …
Packered by the Rafters
It was the week the Packer family parted ways with Nine causing David Gyngell to vow to prove James Packer wrong, TEN announced a new channel, Pay TV launched another three, Minister Stephen Conroy signalled support for increased ABC & SBS funding, commercial networks (briefly) found a conscience but upset David Leckie, WIN sat down at the gambling table, Kath & Kim (US) got a greenlight for a full season, Andrew Denton announced the end of Enough Rope, David Tennant set his exit from his iconic role, Rove visited …
Nice work if you can get it
Interesting to note that this Sunday’s edition of 60 Minutes has only one story by a regular member of the team, Peter Overton.
There are also stories by Michael User and Ben Fordham, one on Mexican drug barons and another on surfers. Both reporters have previously filed for the show, but like Ray Martin, are occasional journos for 60 Minutes. As they say, nice work if you can get it!
Tara Brown of course is to take maternity leave.
60 Minutes continues to win its timeslot on Sunday Nights, despite the tough compeition from …
Rice says no dice to Dancing
Well this is gonna make life interesting. Following Grant Hackett’s lead, now Stephanie Rice reckons she isn’t going to appear on Dancing with the Stars.
Or warbling on It Takes Two either.
“Definitely not,” she told news.com.au.
“I am just not into that kind of scene. A lot of people have said I am apparently doing Dancing With The Stars but I am like ‘no way’.
But, I like the fact I am not just a swimmer and not just known for my swimming.
“I love what I am doing in (TV). I love swimming …
Current affairs surge at Seven
It was the week that current affairs and finance dominated. Ray Martin lamented the state of commercial news and current affairs at the same time as a former sports presenter won his first week behind a public affairs desk, a CEO lashed out at his rival networks but shot off about the starting date of his new current affairs project, while the network signed a former Sunday journo, TEN reported a 25% slump in earnings, a Telstra boss said Foxtel subscriptions were slowing, another Murdoch stitched up a production deal with …
TT accuses Idol of “insider trading?”
Move over “Hillsong scandal.”
Last night Today Tonight had another story sticking the boot into Australian Idol. Our current affairs shows love to run stories on the machinations of reality shows (instead of the machinations of current affairs shows). It’s commonly seen as a win / win. The show pulls in fans of the reality show which in turn gets a bit of exposure, frequently on a rival network.
TT ran a story on a supposedly huge bet being wagered on former finalist Brooke Adamo. It was wagered when she was at $15 …
Hackett: Dancing “wasn’t a show I wanted to do”
Here’s something we all knew, but at least it’s on record now.
Grant Hackett confirmed Seven’s demands he compete on Dancing with the Stars was the reason he walked to Nine.
“I wouldn’t say Seven was a bad place to be, but we just couldn’t agree on the direction that we both wanted to take . . . and neither of us were willing to compromise,” he told news.com.au
“It wasn’t a show I wanted to do . . . I’m the first person to take the mickey out of myself, I don’t …
Bathurst booms for Seven
Seven’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 notched up some impressive figures with an average of 1.249m viewers across its six and a half hour telecast yesterday.
That’s a figure better than Australian Idol and Dancing with the Stars could manage in the evening.
It peaked at 1.893m.
The audience was evenly divided in Sydney (383,082) and Melbourne (382,723) with 247,779 in Brisbane, 142,554 in Adelaide and 93,468 in Perth.
Adding regional markets it averaged 1.93m and peaked at 2.85m, but Nine just managed to win Sunday night by a slim 1%.
For the various sessions across 5 …
Seven CEO: “Nine is f***ed, TEN a ‘pocket money’ network”
Australia’s Got Talent, Dancing with the Stars, Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy will join Sunday Night as key programmes on Seven’s Sunday night line up in 2009. The shows will air at different times of the year to help prop up the key night that Seven needs to address.
“Sunday night has been our problem slot,” acknowledges Seven CEO David Leckie. “If we grab the territory there it’s all over. I reckon it is all over. I’ve been in the business a long time. I’ve never seen the ratings landscape better for …