news articles 16 june

[Inside Australian Idol]

Aussies reality mad
June 16, 2004


REALITY shows kept going strong in the 2003-2004 TV season, a survey showed today, but makeover shows are the new trend with Australia among the trendsetters.

A total of 1,501 new programmes hit TV screens between September 1, 2003 and April 30, 2004 in eight leading markets, said the latest survey from New On The Air, or NOTA, a 20 per cent boost on the previous year.

NOTA covers eight leading television markets, including Australia.

While die-hard reality formats based on Big Brother or Survivor remain popular, the survey highlighted the growing popularity of makeover shows - whether they be for a change of face, a change of house, a change of car or a change of job.

The drastic surgical transformations undergone by participants in some shows have whipped up controversy due to the gore and even been removed from prime-time in Italy to avoid shocking children, NOTA's Amandine Cassi told a news conference.


So the trend is for the softer touch of redoing a home, as in The Block, or looking for a change of job in business reality shows like The Apprentice with Donald Trump, or The Benefactor with Richard Branson.

Extreme formats aimed at pushing candidates to the limit, by swimming in a bath of blood, or suffering from loss of sleep as in Exhausted, are losing favour to the new "twist" concept where the rules are bent to befuddle the players.

In There's Something About Miriam, the beauty queen the men are fighting to conquer turns out to be a man, while The Littlest Groom wins an unexpectedly too-tall partner.

Talent shows such as Starmaker and Pop Idol are still going strong but have inspired new formats involving dance, such as Australia's Strictly Dancing, an upcoming boxing show with Sylvester Stallone, or BBC1's Celebrity Dog School.

NOTA surveys cover viewing in Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States, and are co-produced by Eurodata TV Worldwide, Mediametrie of France and IMCA, a media consultancy.

Agence France-Presse

entertainment.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4459,9860483%255E10229%255E%255Enbv,00.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

Shannon Noll told organisers
Wednesday, 16 June 2004

A meet and greet dinner prior to his concert was not possible

Australian Idol star Shannon Noll told the organisers of his Cowra concert weeks prior to the event that he would not be able to attend a planned dinner with fans the night before.



Speaking to the Guardian last week Shannon, and his tour manager Rick Szabo, said they were disappointed with the outcome of the Cowra visit and the subsequent publicity surrounding the concert.

The local concert organisers had sold tickets to a dinner the night before the concert with the promise of an opportunity to dine with and meet the Australian Idol star.

Shannon's tour manager Rick Szabo said last week that a claim that the local organisers didn't know Shannon wouldn't be attending the dinner until the night it was planned are "absolute garbage”.

"She was advised from the moment the show was booked by the agent that a meet and greet/dinner prior to the night was not possible,” Mr Szabo said.

"She then called me three weeks prior to the date and asked me if I could make it possible and I simply said no.”<br>
Mr Szabo said when Shannon arrived in Cowra and heard that the dinner had still been planned he made every effort possible to meet some 80 to 100 people backstage after the show.

As for a claim that funds for the dinner and concert deal were used to pay costs associated with staging the $80,000 concert, Mr Szabo said "our costs were substantially less than that”.

"It is possible (the cost), but they are not our costs, they are her costs”, Mr Szabo said in relation to a claim by organiser Mrs Debbie Slater.

He added that the tour management had no dealings with the other concert organiser Mr Russell Smith.

"We only dealt with her,” he said.

"We have no issues with anything but the dinner, the show went off well, we did the meet and greet as a goodwill gesture,” Mr Szabo added.

Shannon Noll said he was personally disappointed with the whole outcome of the Cowra visit.

"We made a point when putting the tour together to get as far out into regional areas as possible,” Shannon said.

"It's just disappointing to have this come out of it, it has been a matter of the buck getting passed on by someone who hasn't met their demands.

"Every show I do, I sing with everything I've got, I don't short change people.

"I sang the best I could in the cold, giving everything I could to the crowd.

Meanwhile Mr Szabo said proceeds from an earlier Shannon Noll Concert held at Condobolin Concert were now being held in trust by the Lachlan Shire Council.

Mr Szabo said funds from that show will be dispersed to local charities in the Lachlan Shire when Shannon gets back home and has a chance to have an input into the dispersal.


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