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Post by Webmistress on Feb 17, 2007 14:27:15 GMT 8
Tom has been announced as a judge on the newest talent show to hit Australia's screens - debuting this Sunday Feb 18 on Channel 7 at 6.30pm.
I will be posting articles in this thread until I have a spare weekend to create a new page on his website.
Red Faces role reborn
February 14, 2007 10:41am Article from: AAP
RED Symons will revisit his Red Faces persona on Sunday as a judge on Seven's variety contest Australia's Got Talent. Symons, the former Skyhooks guitarist who became noted for his acerbic comments on Hey, Hey It's Saturday's talent quest Red Faces, views Australia's Got Talent as "Red Faces with a budget" and, if he doesn't mind saying so himself, says he couldn't be more fit for the job.
"In all honesty, I think I'm entitled to judge other performers on the basis that I've probably had a crack at it myself," he said.
Australia's Got Talent, hosted by Grant Denyer, will feature performers in many guises, from singers and dancers to clever dogs and acrobats.
"The only thing I don't think I'd be qualified to judge is jelly wrestling, but pretty much everything else I've had a go at," Symons said.
Symons is a writer, composer for theatre and commercials - he is credited for writing the jingle for the first Australian condom commercial - and now the breakfast host for 774 ABC Radio in Melbourne.
He joined the 1970s hit-makers Skyhooks after completing a degree in computer programming and pure maths, has worked as a stage and screen performer, produced records and apparently came to Australia from England, where he was born in 1949, on the same boat as members of the Bee Gees.
"The reason my career is so multi-faceted, whatever it is I've done, films, newspapers, breakfast radio as I am now, I've found that I do eventually get found out and have to change jobs," he says.
Symons' most recent television experience has been limited mostly to game shows, including the 2002 flop Shafted, which he hosted, and celebrity versions of Temptation, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire and Australia's Brainiest Comedian, on which he performed admirably.
He is also a regular member of The Einstein Factor's "brain's trust" on the ABC.
Symons is adamant his role on Australia's Got Talent isn't to be the bad guy, but to be himself.
"My role in the past is without fear or favour to give an honest account of what I see before me," says Symons.
"At least, that's the way I see it, everyone seems to think I'm a bad guy."
Hey, Hey It's Saturday was axed by Nine in late 1999, but Symons proves that the nasty Red Faces streak is still alive and willing to dig its heel into unsuspecting artists.
"From my point of view, I'd have to say the first show had some disappointments," he says of the first episode, which has already been recorded.
"Sadly, I'd have to say, everything was quite good.
"It turns out some of these people are actually professionals and not pulled off the street, as in Red Faces."
The worst case scenario for an act lacking talent, he says, is that the audience won't have to put up with them for long.
Each judge, including Symons, Dannii Minogue and Tom Burlinson, will have a button with which they can voice their displeasure.
The button is just like Symons' famous gong from Red Faces, with the only difference being that all judges will have to agree that a contestant deserves to be hooked off stage.
Despite the power to cut off a performer mid-act, Symons talks down the role of judges on TV talent shows.
"I think for all the nonsense about judges and that sort of thing, in the end, all these shows depend on acts," he says.
"The judges are a condiment to the main course."
But he takes light-hearted exception to comparisons with Ian "Dicko" Dickson, who returns this year to Australian Idol.
"Dicko was the new Red," he laughs. "I'm getting it back, remember, and we all got it from Bernard King anyway."
It is largely Symons, Burlinson and Minogue who will decide which acts go to the final stages of the show for a chance to win $250,000.
While he has run into all-round singer and actor Burlinson in theatrical circles, Symons recalls the last time he worked with Minogue was in a similar role to their current one.
"It was Red Faces, we were sitting in the same position, doing the same thing," he says.
"I remember Dannii when she was 13 or 14 years old doing Young Talent Time on Channel Ten. And I remember her as a kid at the Logies.
"I'd have to say . . . she's filled out a little since then."
As for Burlinson: "If you've wondered what Tom can do other than ride horses and sing like Frank Sinatra, you're about to find out."
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Post by Webmistress on Feb 17, 2007 14:31:22 GMT 8
news limited
Networks line up big guns for Sunday battle
February 11, 2007 12:00am Article from: The Sunday Telegraph
CHANNEL Seven will launch an all-out assault on Nine's dominance of the biggest television ratings night of the week.
Seven will next Sunday put US smash hits Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy up against Nine's top-rating stalwarts 60 Minutes and CSI.
But despite the official start of the ratings period today, Seven is holding off until next week to avoid competing with the cricket.
In what is expected to be the most tightly contested ratings battle in more than a decade, Sunday nights are shaping as a microcosm of how the 2007 ratings battle will be played out.
While much hype surrounds Ugly Betty's debut, 60 Minutes' executive producer John Westacott believes his current affairs program will continue to dominate the 7.30pm timeslot.
"I expect a fight - I dare say it might even get ugly - but I'm confident we'll bang on and come out on top," Westacott told The Sunday Telegraph.
"We've had 140 shows up against us in the program's 27 years, but what's kept us going all this time is the consistency and the quality of the stories, the journalism and the people working on the show."
By moving Grey's Anatomy to the key 8.30pm timeslot, Seven is attempting to mirror the series' success against CSI in the United States.
Last week, the popular hospital drama averaged three million more viewers than CSI in the US, sounding an ominous warning for Nine.
Despite the results, Nine's head of programming, Michael Healy, remained confident in his network's familiar line-up.
"Seven are certainly coming firing but we feel good about our Sundays," he said. "There's no denying that Grey's Anatomy is a great show, but CSI has been a great brand for Nine, established here on Sunday nights and I'm confident that will continue."
Healy said he welcomed the tight battle for this year's ratings.
"There's no secret that Seven's output deals have been good for them this year,"
he said. "Ultimately, such a contest makes for great viewing for the public."
At 6.30pm, Nine is hoping its recent news dominance will lead viewers into a repeat of the Bert Newton-hosted 20 To 1, while Seven is banking on Tom Burlinson's return to television to lure audiences.
Burlinson said the program heralded the return of "real variety" to our screens.
"While there are other programs like Australia's Got Talent, this has a different spin to it. It's true variety on TV again," he said. "I'm expecting some acts that are wonderful, many that are weird and some that will be woeful."
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Post by Webmistress on Feb 17, 2007 14:56:20 GMT 8
How the show works:
Three strikes and you're out!
During the Australia's Got Talent heats the judges will have a buzzer in front of them which they can use to ?strike' the act from continuing.
Approximately 24 acts will perform per episode and the judges will select acts they think worthy of making it through to the next stage.
At the beginning of the semi-final episodes the judges will make their final decision on just who will get a chance to perform in that week's semi-final. Not all successful contestants from the heats will be offered a position.
In the semi-final episodes two finalists will be chosen per episode to through to the Grand Final. The judges will choose one act and the viewer vote will decide the second.
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Post by Webmistress on Feb 17, 2007 17:27:13 GMT 8
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Post by Webmistress on Feb 23, 2007 23:44:32 GMT 8
The Age:
Enough to drive you to kids on stilts
Marieke Hardy February 22, 2007
I really don't know what kind of magnificent life-changing televisual experience I was expecting by watching last Saturday night's Grammy Awards. You'd think I might have been warned off after the hundred-year-old Simpsons episode where Homer and his barbershop quartet (the B-Sharps, for those of you quizling dorks out there wanting to be best in show at the next East Brunswick Club trivia night) win a Grammy and throw it out of a hotel window, only to have it tossed back in disgust by a passing bellhop. Are they really worth anything apart from making everyone in archly critical indie-rock Australia sit up and say "Ooh, get them" when scruffy-haired neighbourhood moplettes such as Wolfmother land themselves a gong?
Sure, it's nice to have the local "connection", but as a sit-down, Saturday-night, board-up-the-kids'-bedroom, we're-having-ourselves-a-grown-ups-lock-in-with-shots-of-absinth-and-pork-tortillas, the broadcast was a little on the dry side.
OK, so it opened with a reformed Police performing Roxanne, which was kind of exciting if you've been hanging around Cherry for the past seven years losing your gourd on the dance floor every time it gets "spun", which I have, and I will ask you not to judge my lifestyle choices, thank you. Requisite "Doesn't the Tantric yoga seem to be working for Sting?"-type murmurings aside, there's only so jazzed you can get about three middle-aged men yelping about prostitution while a subdued mosh pit gazes up at them appreciatively. No, the Grammys' real strength lay in the maximum awesomeness of their "Star Power A-List Names", of which there were several.
Tony Bennett, Beyonce, the magnificently dignified Joan Baez, a heavily sedated Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas (there's really no other way to describe her work as a presenter than "coma victimesque", and that's being kind). Even tiny Jehovah's Witness Prince/The Purple Squiggle made an appearance looking offensively youthful and enigmatic, though nowhere near as frighteningly smooth-skinned as Smokey Robinson, whose poor song choice, Tracks of My Tears, recommended we "Take a good look at my face/You'll see my smile looks out of place (because I have been recently injected with botulinum toxin type A)".
Watching the Grammys, it's easy for an audience to become lost in the mightiness of the rock'n'roll royalty on display without realising that what they're bearing witness to is actually the most tedious exercise since grouting.
When you consider the best part of Saturday's ceremony was some wag at Channel Ten deciding to drop in a Biggest Loser WHO'LL LOSE THE MOST WEIGHT/SECOND WEIGH-IN 7PM SUNDAY graphic promo at the exact point hefty soul singer Stevie Wonder plonked his girth on the stage, you know you could've spent your evening more productively.
Like watching Australia's Got Talent, for instance. Why bother with all those "the man who invented r'n'b" montages of the 49th Annual Grammy Awards when you can enjoy stilt walkers, comedy canines, a man playing a gum leaf, and other such acts rarely seen outside the Swagman theatre restaurant circa 1973?
Hosted by Grant "Tom Cruise" Denyer, Australia's Got Talent is a fascinating glimpse into the inner workings of a cheery high-school talent show. I'm yet to discover exactly how it's going to stay alive given the cutthroat nature of today's free-to-air programming, though. Sure, we've got the old-hand judge (Tom Burlinson - "If anyone deserves the title 'Mr Showbiz', it's him", according to the permanently shouting Denyer, which must have come as a crushing blow to John-Michael Howson), the nasty judge (Red Symons, "the man who started it all", which must have come as a crushing blow to, you know, God) and "the lady judge" Dannii "two I's are better to see you with" Minogue, who appears to revel in her role by looking permanently stunned and encouraging the slightly more homosexual performers with festive fist pumps and booty shaking. But where's the kick to give it the edge over the competition?
That said, there really are elements of sweetness to this show which make you love your country in a "kiss the flag"-type way. Mostly for the fact that while overseas series such as So You Think You Can Dance push highly toned and skilled performers to their physical limits, we've got people playing tiny violins and squeezing themselves into yellow balloons for some mystifying purpose and the audience going crazy-eight bananas as though it's the best thing they've ever seen.
Possibly no one in the studio had left the house for 30 years and was simply excited to be out in the real world, but I couldn't help but feel a stirring fondness for my old-fashioned countrymen and their love of cheesecore talent. I do hope they live to jazz-tap at least another day.
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Post by Webmistress on Feb 25, 2007 11:20:22 GMT 8
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Post by momserphilly on Feb 27, 2007 6:54:05 GMT 8
Karina, I don't know if this is my bag or not! I watched a couple of the clips and frankly, my dear, I don't know what to say about some of the acts. Tom appeared shocked at some. Guess I'll just have to keep tuned in and see what happens. What's your opinion? I really am not into reality TV, don't watch American Idol or Survivor shows. I prefer movies and other drama or comedy. I'll give it my best shot because Tom's on it. Thanks for the link Karina!
Moms
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Post by Webmistress on Mar 1, 2007 18:30:17 GMT 8
I watch it totally for a laugh. I love that people are willing to make complete fools out of themselves on TV. I love that some of them are so deluded that they think they are incredible - it shocks them when 3 judges explain how bad they really are !! And there is always the potential that one truly talented person sneaks through. I just love having Red and Tom on TV again.
Somebody is regularly adding clips to You Tube so keep your eyes out for new clips of Tom.
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Post by Webmistress on Apr 6, 2007 14:49:21 GMT 8
/www.starnewsgroup.com.au
Bonnie strikes a chord
By Kath Gannaway
4th April 2007 10:15:28 AM
Bonnie Anderson’s got talent... and she’s out to prove it! SHE’S only little, but 12-year-old Yarra Glen singer Bonnie Anderson wasn’t going to let big, bad talent-show judge Red Symons get the better of her.
Bonnie got the thumbs up from all three judges after getting through to the semi-final of Channel 7’s hit show Australia’s Got Talent a week ago.
But it was a different story the week before that.
Bonnie got ticks and lots of encouragement from judges Dannii Minogue and Tom Burlinson for her performance, but Red was back to his old tricks and had Bonnie in tears with his harsh words.
Determined not to let the ageing rockstar’s comments undermine her confidence, Bonnie said she did a little role-playing in the lead-up to the semi-final with mum Connie-Lee playing the “mean Red” part.
“I was ready for him,” she said.
“I don’t want to be remembered as the girl who cried,” Bonnie told host Grant Denyer before she wowed the audience and the judges with a brilliant performance on 25 March.
Her hopes of getting into the grand final, with a chance to win $250,000 in prize money, was in the hands of the voting viewers last week.
Whether Bonnie makes it through or not, for someone who has been having singing lessons for more than half her life, it’s a taste of what she hopes will be a successful singing career.
“Ever since I was young I always wanted to be a singer,” she said. “It’s what I want to do for the rest of my life.”
The grand final will be screened towards the end of April.
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Post by Webmistress on Apr 27, 2007 12:42:06 GMT 8
yourtv.com.au
Friday, 27 April 2.41pm News & Gossip Australia's extra talent The Seven Network has confirmed that its popular variety series Australia's Got Talent will return for a second season.
Based on a format devised by American Idol judge Simon Cowell, Australia's Got Talent is hosted by former Sunrise weatherman Grant Denyer and has proven a hit for Seven, regularly ranking among the top programs in the country.
Denyer is expected to return for season two, along with the program's judging panel: former Hey Hey it's Saturday star Red Symons, singer Dannii Minogue and The Man From Snowy River actor Tom Burlinson.
Seven has not yet revealed when the second season will go to air. However, wannabe stars can audition by visiting the show's official site.
Australia's Got Talent has introduced the nation to everyday people with a host of talents - from singers and dancers to those with more unusual abilities, such as fire-breathing and magic tricks.
The first season grand final of Australia's Got Talent begins on Seven on Sunday, April 22, at 6.30pm. The winner of the $250,000 grand prize will be named in the second instalment of the grand final, to air on Sunday, April 29.
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Post by Webmistress on Apr 27, 2007 12:43:34 GMT 8
ebroadcast.com.au
Australia’s Got Talent Grand Final starts this Sunday Author: Seven Network | Apr 20, 2007, 11:46
The Grand Final of Australia’s number one new light entertainment program, AUSTRALIA’S GOT TALENT, will start this Sunday night at 6:30pm and conclude next Sunday 29 April.
Since February, over 100 contestants have entertained, amused and had the nation squirming with their very own unique talent. This weekend, the cream of the crop, as voted for by the viewers and judges, will perform one last time for a chance at $250,000.
Sydney’s sole representative in the Grand Final is contortionist, Al Millar, otherwise known as The Human Knot. Born in Blacktown and now based in Pyrmont, Al is a full time street artist and has been performing his street show at Darling Harbour regularly over the past 10 years. He’s also taken his act around the world, performing in 23 countries at last count, and is happy to say he’s had no more than a few cuts, bruises and pulled muscles to show for his often dangerous act.
Al says he’s upped the ante for this Sunday’s Grand Final performance by incorporating fireworks into his act. “It’s more freaky and more dangerous,” he promises.
Judges Red Symons, Dannii Minogue and Tom Burlinson put Al through to the Grand Final, along with 15 year old pianist Max Foster, vegetable musician Col-E-Flower and quick change artists Soul Mystique.
The Australian public voted through gum leaf player Herb Patten, singer Bonnie Anderson and young dancing duo Chase and Lily. The final viewers’ choice will be announced at the start of this Sunday's Grand Final.
All eight finalists will perform this Sunday night and the final vote will rest solely with the Australian public. Voting lines will open at 7:30pm and will close at 12 noon on Thursday 26 April.
The winner of AUSTRALIA’S GOT TALENT will be awarded at the series finale next Sunday 29 April.
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Post by Webmistress on May 1, 2007 17:47:22 GMT 8
ebroadcast.com.au Bonnie Anderson wins Australia's Got Talent Author: Seven Network | Apr 30, 2007, 12:20 12 year old singing pocket rocket Bonnie Anderson was tonight declared the winner of Australia’s Got Talent by viewer vote and awarded the grand final prize of $250,000. The Australia’s Got Talent finalists performed for one last time last week and Bonnie belted out her very own rendition of the Mariah Carey gospel song Jesus What a Wonderful Child. Bonnie clearly wowed the judges with Tom Burlinson commenting that there was something special about her…a unique given talent. Dannii Minogue believed it was Bonnie’s best performance on Australia’s Got Talent ever. “You have an energy that radiates…so natural,” Dannii said...and Red Symons agreed. “I like that you like what you do. It radiates from you,” he said. The Australian public also clearly agreed and voted Bonnie Anderson the winner Australia’s number one new series. Bonnie is a student at Mount Lilydale Mercy College and lives in the Yarra Valley, just outside of Melbourne. Bonnie tonight said her experience on Australia’s Got Talent has been the happiest time of her life and it has taught her to ‘get out there and have fun’. She plans to save most of her prize money, but will be giving some to two charities she has a connection to. Bonnie has a family member with Juvenile Arthritis and a young friend of hers recently passed away from an asthma attack. She has decided to support The Juvenile Arthritis Foundation and the Asthma Foundation respectively. Australia’s Got Talent will return later in 2007 on Channel Seven and the hunt is on for a new batch of contestants www.yahoo7.com.au/talent - bring on the wild, the wacky and the wonderful!
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Post by Webmistress on Jun 26, 2007 0:36:29 GMT 8
A new series of Australia's Got Talent has been announced:
Herald Sun. June 26, 2007
Mindless Symons chooses Camilla
AS Australia's Got Talent fires up for season two, a question mark hangs over whether Dannii Minogue will be back on the judging panel.
While Channel 7 expects judges Red Symons and Tom Burlinson to return, Minogue's signing of a multi-million-dollar deal to be a judge on British talent show X Factor has left the network scrambling to secure her services for the show's next series.
"We'd love to have her back, but we're still trying to negotiate around her X Factor commitments," a Seven spokeswoman said.
Another network source said Minogue's exit would be a hard gap to fill.
"I don't even want to think about AGT without Dannii," they said.
But Symons had an interesting choice of who he'd like to fill any judging vacancy.
"Perhaps Angelina Jolie?" he said. "No, strike that, I'll think of someone more interesting.
"Maybe Camilla Parker Bowles.
"Why? That's my unconscious talking."
Producers are scouring the nation to unearth showbiz products for the second series of AGT, with Melbourne auditions to be held at the Forum on Saturday from 8.30pm.
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Post by Webmistress on Mar 29, 2008 19:39:40 GMT 8
The 2008 season of Australi's Got Talent is due to start soon so all articles will be posted here.
Tragic talent quest returns Article from: The Courier-Mail
Darren Cartwright
March 27, 2008 11:49am
SURGICALLY altered singer Dannii Minogue, sarcastic wit Red Symons and Frank Sinatra crooner Tom Burlinson will return as judges for Channel Seven's tragic talent quest Australia's Got Talent. The series, which was launched last year and averaged 1.5 million viewers each week, will air in the next couple of months.
It Takes Two gnome Grant Denyer will again host the nationwide talent search which is offering $250,000 for first prize.
Those wanting to auditions are too late. Queenslands talent quests were held late last year at the UQ campus.
"If a bloke who blows a gum leaf to John Lennon can make it to last year's Grand Final then everybody's got a chance and that's what I love about the show," said Denyer.
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Post by Webmistress on Mar 29, 2008 19:41:07 GMT 8
LIVENEWS
Cheerleaders vs contortionists as talent show returns
Tim Brunero
Australia's Got Talent
27/03/2008 4:27:00 PM. Talent quest show Australia’s Got Talent will soon make a comeback virtually unchanged from last year’s season.
Dannii Minogue, Red Symons and Tom Burlinson will again judge the broad range of contestants who pit their skills against each other week in week out.
With virtually no restriction on performance types once again acrobats will go toe to toe with pianists, singers will take on wood choppers and cheerleaders will compete against contortionists.
The home-grown stars will compete for the grand prize of $250,000.
The public decides the winner in the semi-final stage after the judges have had their say in the audition episodes.
This year the show went to a larger talent pool holding auditions in capital cities as well as regional centres like Alice Springs, Wagga Wagga, Newcastle and Tamworth.
Grant Denyer, who is currently hosting another Channel Seven reality TV show, It Takes Two, will front the 2008 season.
“I can’t wait to see this year’s discoveries line up to face the warmth of Dannii, the experience of Tom and the sharp tongue of one very tough Red Symons, all for an amazingly lucrative prize pool,” said Denyer.
“If a bloke who blows a gum leaf to John Lennon can make it to last year’s Grand Final then everybody’s got a chance and that’s what I love about the show.”
Channel Seven will screen the show in the next six weeks.
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