Courtney Lewdon's blog

 

The final 12 is somewhat of a milestone in the MasterChef kitchen, and we will watch one form before our very eyes tonight. But to get a final twelve going from a final sixteen, four juniors will have to be sacrificed! Let the battle begin!

The kids all arrive at the kitchen where lambs are huddling around the MasterChef logo hedge. The kids pat them before entering the kitchen where Gary, George and Anna welcome them. They are asked to scream to the top of their lungs and Gary congratulates them for getting this far. He then says that to progress, there has to be eliminations and today is one of those days. We have a look at the scoreboard and are reminded that Chandler, Lily, Zac, Greta, Indigo, Alysha, Madi and Miraede are all safe.

That means they all get the day off cooking, and they are asked to go up to the balcony to watch. George tells them that today; the rest of the cooks will be fighting for their place on the show. He tells them that today, there will be two challenges. In the first challenge, two contestants will be saved with the final six going into battle number two where another two will be saved. The remaining four will be eliminated.

Gary tells them that The Perfect will be the first challenge for the day- making the perfect dish with the perfect presentation, flavours and cooking. Today, they will be cooking the perfect…curry! This makes the contestant’s eyes widen.

What type of curry? Well, any type they want and Anna tells them that it doesn’t have to be hot (as we know, George hates hot curry). With that, we are introduced to tonight’s special guest, Kumar Mahadevan (clarified!) but he is most commonly known as Kumar (and no, not THAT Kumar!).

He enters the kitchen and gives them some tips to begin with and use.

The kids will have 80 minutes and they start now! They are all off and running, bashing into each other and in the mess, we hear some dish ideas from the contestants. For time purposes, I’ll detail these when they are presented.

Harry has butter chicken and Kumar wants him to use a lot of honey. Italian Marcus is not too happy with having to do his ‘Kari Curry’, but it is his own dish, so he is confident. The judges are intrigued.

This is Steven’s first curry and he will be doing a fish curry. Kumar gives him some very vital tips that Steven did not know about and he is very happy.

Dee is doing a beef curry a la his grandpa, who grew up in India. Tom is doing a vegetarian curry and he is mostly worried about George eating it. They have 30 minutes to go and the judges are talking about Jack’s Massaman Curry and how watery it is.

Meanwhile, with only 10 minutes to go, Harry has just realised- he’s forgotten to put the cream and yoghurt into the mix!

After the break, we review this problem where Harry begins to scoop out the butter chicken (and taking some of the rice as well) and put it back into the wok to mix in the yoghurt and cream. Who knows how this will go down.
With two minutes to go, Gary goes to try some of Tom’s curry and he is blown away by the heat. Tom tries to cool it down a bit with coconut milk. Soon enough, his and everyone else’s time is up. Jack is happy with his dish tasting almost perfect according to him!

With that, tasting begins and first up is Jack and Marcus. Marcus has an Eggplant & Chicken Kari Curry and Gary calls it a beautiful curry, loving the texture and the cooking of the chicken. Jack has Massaman Chicken Curry and hey, Kumar loves it! He loves the sweet taste and calls it an ‘excellent curry’. Gary thinks he has nailed it.

Kieran and Steven are next up and Steven has his Golden Fish Curry for tasting first. They all seem impressed and Gary asks them to chat amongst themselves as the judges take another bite. Kumar praises it and George mops up some of the curry with bread and he gets a round of applause.

Can Kieran impress with his Duck and Lychee Curry? It looks very watery but I’ve heard this is what they are meant to be. Gary loves the look of it and the balance of flavour. He would have loved a bit of spice and George would have liked some rice.

Harry and Gracie are next with Gracie’s Lamb Rogan Josh to be tasted first. Anna praises the presentation but would have liked a little more sauce but Kumar says everything else is well balanced.

Harry has butter chicken which looks a little dry. Kumar says it is not overspiced but Gary doesn’t know if it is quite butter chicken.

Tom and Dee are next up with Dee’s Beef Curry first. Gary says his presentation is spot on and loves the delicate curry. He also loves the use of spices, calling it clever.

Tom has a Thai Red Pumpkin Curry which has a little extra chilli. George gets a bit sweaty just as Tom says his mouth is still burning after tasting it earlier. The kids chant as George has a mouthful. As we go to ads, his head nearly explodes!

He gives a bit of a cough before reaching for the water and the yoghurt. Gary, with amusement, shows everyone the sweat on his head. Despite the hotness, it was a wonderfully presented curry.

With that, tasting is over, and Gary announces that the two contestants safe due to the challenge are… Steven (who can’t read an autocue to save his life, but he’s a junior so he gets a pass) and… Jack.

They get some compliments before they head upstairs to join their fellow ‘safees’.

With that, it is time for the second challenge. George reminds them that two more will be safe after this. It will be…the pressure test!
Gary then introduces the brains for the invention test… Matt Moran! Yeah, they’re a bit short on guests.

He has a cloche with him nonetheless and when he reveals the dish below the lid, we head to an ad break. What is the dish? It is Mango Cheesecake with Mango Tapioca. Kieran doesn’t even know what Tapioca is and Harry is a bit nervous to be making ‘Matt’s cheesecake’.

Matt gives them some ‘pressure points’ before they are made to taste it. They are in dessert heaven but Dee and Harry try to provide some autocued comments.

They all then head to their bench where their recipe cards await. They have 80 minutes and their time begins. They already have their ingredients there for them and most of them are pureeing their mangoes to begin with, if not all of them.

Kieran is a bit nervous as he starts off very slow in a bid to make it perfect.

Harry is going well when Matt and George come over and give him some support. They head to Gracie where she is about to measure out some sugar. Matt asks her to save some of her Mango to make some cubes but she has already pureed BOTH her mangoes. She needs to pour some out for the gelatine to work. Because of this, Matt brings up the issue of the kids not reading their recipe cards properly.

She is not the only one to have done this with Tom also making the mango mistake.

30 minutes remain as the kids upstairs cheer the danger kids on! The judges go over to Marcus who seems very nervous. They offer him some advice and some compliments and he seems a whole lot more confident.

Gracie’s cheesecake is not setting properly and she fears that she won’t get her cheesecake onto her cheesecake based dish!

After the break, we see Gracie as she takes her cheesecakes out of the chill blaster unset. George points out the obvious that the cheesecakes won’t set and Tom is also having troubles.

Ten minutes remain and Dee and Marcus are getting cheers from above. Marcus finds out that his cheesecake has set after he removes the ring and Dee has the same luck. With two minutes to go, plating is well underway but it is now time for perfecto Kieran to plate up his cheesecake. Will it fall apart? No; and neither does Harry’s. Haha, I love this climax of cheesecake reveals.

With that, time is up and tasting begins with Harry’s rendition of Matt’s cheesecake. He is very happy with how the dish turned out and he hopes it saves him.

They cut it up and Gary proclaims that ‘THAT, is a cheesecake!’.

Matt starts by saying that he has ‘reproduced his cheesecake’, saying he nailed it. Anna calls his attempt ‘stunning’.

Tom is next and his cheesecake didn’t set. He has put it in a glass which actually looks really clever. Can the taste prevail? Well, Gary calls it ‘bowl and spoon licking pleasure’ but it isn’t a cheesecake.

Dee is next and George calls it spectacular as soon as he places the dish on the table. The judges taste and Gary calls the texture ‘soft’ and says it is delicious. Matt says it needed to be a bit firmer.

Next is Gracie whose cheesecake is also in a cup but looks more rounded and fuller. Can she win? Despite being in a cup, Gary says it is well set.

Matt still thinks it is more like a mousse but thinks it is the best they have tasted. Kieran’s cake is next and it looks the most round and most perfect (so, it all paid off) of the lot. Matt says it looks like the one he produced himself and as they taste, their faces light up with Matt saying it is a ‘true’ cheesecake. He is super impressed, as is George and the rest of them.

Gary has a big problem with it however- it is better than Matt’s.

Last up is Marcus and his cake also looks very nice with the attention to detail.

Again, this cake is praised by all. This is going to come down to the wire according to Matt.

In the kitchen, the judges gather the contestants for the results. Anna debriefs on the challenge before reminding them that four will be going home.

Matt calls forward as the first person through to the final twelve…Kieran. No surprises.

The second is… Harry and therefore Gracie, Tom, Dee and Marcus will all be going home. Poor them.

They all receive some prizes and a trophy each before they all leave.

With that, the twelve gather before the judges who wonder what is coming next. The contestants are full of questions as the judges tell them it is a big secret. They let Jack into it and he is over the moon to hear it but before telling the kids, he is more preoccupied in high fiving the judges. He then turns around excitedly and tells them that they are all going to America!

With that, the contestants jump up, run around and scream in 100% pure excitement and unbelief.

 

So that ending was pretty well shot and so was the rest of the episode with some great dishes and some very wonderful ideas. I love curry and cheesecake so this was a perfect episode. But looking back, I can see how someone who would look closely at the preview may pick up who was eliminated because they did air the scene with the screaming exciting kids; so that offered something in the way of a spoiler.

There was a bit of repetition and the use of one of Matt’s dishes, despite him being a well known chef, was a bit lame.

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 9.7/10

 

Ahh, you missed my gaff on Alan Joyce! But I thought you’d enjoy this picture better!

 

It’s been a hefty week yet again for reality with the launch of a real kicker; a few makeovers, some spooky premonitions and a whole lot of cooking!

Junior MasterChef began the week with a challenge that saw the contestants head to a farm to cook a three course Australiana meal. They were split into teams with the green team consisting of Lily, Chandler, Marcus and Zac winning the feast.

On Monday, it was their final chance to earn some points and they did so by cooking breakfast and preparing a shrimp delight in front of none other than Luke Nguyen! In the end, Marcus, Harry, Tom, Stephen, Dee, Gracie, Jack and Kieran couldn’t scrape their way into the top 8 and will face elimination on Sunday.

To The X Factor and the performances weren’t good compared to the week before but it was certainly going to be Johnny’s to lose. He found his way into the bottom two facing off with Mitchell Callaway but sending the show into deadlock, the judges ensured Johnny some hope. That hope prevailed as you lot sent Mitchell, undoubtedly the stronger singer, home. Fair to say, their showdown performances were probably their best yet.

The One- Ooooh why do I bother- Maria was eliminated and really, if you believe in all that- watch it!

Beauty And The Geek- now that’s a hoot! This week was a massive 90 minute fiesta complete with a makeover! Johnny, Gilbert, Bendeguz and Julian rounded out the makeover cavalcade and didn’t they look amazing.

But the event was somewhat shown up by the shocking exit of Maddy who left due to undisclosed medical reasons and was replaced by the bubbly Jacelle.

From there, two challenges saw Julian and Jordan and Gilbert and Jacelle safe from elimination where they chose to send Jimmy & Mackenzie and Helen & Troy into elimination- separating the two partnerships forged between Jimmy & Helen and Mackenzie & Troy. From this, the golden couple- the twist of the season, Helen & Troy, were sent home.

Celebrity Apprentice Australia was the massive highlight of the week- as it comes with being a cab off the rank in this industry. Twelve celebrities began earning bucks for charity doing the work of mere mortals. This included working at KFC (would you like some product placement with that family fun bucket?) and a car wash. Pauline got down to some very colourful dacks to impress customers. Poppy- I mean Polly- salvaged whatever celebrity status she had to go against Deni and her brutal ways. Max danced around like an absolute hoon and Warwick pretty much did nothing.

We got straight into it with Bouris not taking any prisoners- eliminating both Polly and Warwick in the debut week. The show has performed well for Nine and is set to become a fast paced hit.

 

So what happens next week? Well, Junior MasterChef eliminates four more contestants on Sunday before the final 12 head to LA!!! It is sure to be a must see week in a must avoid season as these little kids take on America!

The X Factor and The One will do what they do best with no real standout difference in format. We can expect another elimination from The X Factor and possibly another two from The One.

Beauty & The Geek Australia is now down to five pairs of geeks and beauties as the format returns to its normal façade and the teams compete for that winning prize. What is that winning prize…?

Celebrity Apprentice is now down to ten competitors but by the time the week is up- that number will drop to eight! It’s a cruel world that boardroom!

 

So that’s the recap for the week and don’t forget- Celebrity Apprentice Australia MONDAY will be uploaded early Tuesday afternoon. I believe it is a challenge episode. Other than that, no other disturbances are expected.

 

Cheers to the freakin’ weekend!…

 

Ok, so these All Fired Up specials are supposed to be the Celebrity Apprentice’s answer to The Block’s Unlocked specials. The thing with The Block Unlocked was that there was added material in the form of open inspections. I also found that it was good for storytelling purposes. However, it seems that All Fired Up will not be used for storyline purposes or will not offer new material and will just be a showcase of ‘specials’. If this is the case, I won’t be blogging these past this blog as you and I can assume that all the information contained in this episode has already aired. Rest assured I will continue to watch the episodes in case there is anything worth noting. Any special requests to continue All Fired Up blogging will also be taken into consideration (don’t bother commenting that this blog SHOULDN’T be done as this is the default option, so to speak).

The episode begins as the season did; with that glamorous ‘party’. We see that Warwick made a few lewd comments to Deni but other than that, we’ve seen this all before- how the teams were chosen and how they found out about their first challenge.

We have a look at the challenge and the controversial choosing of that name; Bouris’ Babes. Without all the hectic blogging, I’ve been able to enjoy the perks of this show- like Julia’s comments. Oh and how funny was it when she mocked Pauline for saying ‘resonitates’!

Again, other than this, nothing to note here; except for more of Julia’s comments. For example;

About Jesinta’s body when she strips to her bikinis: ‘Seriously, if I had a body like that, I wouldn’t wear clothes!’

We are reminded of when Pauline had to wash the car in that underwear and I noticed that Deni did actually sing on that occasion; before being reminded that she was paid $10,000 for it.

After the break, we are sent back into the board room for the first elimination. The highlight of this had to be Bouris’ outrage at the name ‘Bouris’ Babes’ and Julia’s previously unseen rebuttal; ‘I don’t mind being called a babe!’

As we know, the girls won and Warwick was fired! Aww. Some funny unseen footage yet again from Julia when Polly mentions that no one will loose in this and Julia says that someone ‘totally will’.

We get to see some behind the scenes thoughts from the contestants about Warwick and a best bits feature for the fallen star. Most people found him funny, but saw his faults in this show.

The best part had to be when a massive stamp saying ‘fired’ was planted over his smug face.

Now to some new content and we get to see Jesinta give her cheque for the money they earned in Monday’s challenge to Reach Australia. Some guy then discusses his life and how it has been improved by Reach Australia which actually does some pretty good work.

The woman who accepts the cheque is very thankful.

After the break, we get to relive Wednesday’s KFC challenge. Polly is on the confessions couch and is very bitter about the whole thing. ‘Pauline said she ran a fish and chip shop when she was younger. I guess Chicken and Fish- Not the same thing!’

We also see Julia schmooze the boss, Tony, in some sort of attempt to win brownie points.

We see the contestants take the KFC aptitude test which is a paper written test. They all failed the test and had to start again. Haha, and that’s WITH cheating.

Remember how Lisa had to do the mopping as her chore (and failed), well that was because she failed a quiz!

Polly mentions the robot the shop got as a bit of show out the front and we cut to a shot of an air tube robot guy you usually see outside car dealers on sale days, and Deni. I wonder who she was talking about!

And all of a sudden, we’re back to a break! God, they don’t have much to use in this episode, do they! I guess this was only put in to fill some time.

After the break, it is time to see the boardroom elimination of Polly. We are reminded of Deni’s hate for the non-celebrity renovator and Polly reveals that she will let them all off the hook if they raise a million dollars.

We then get a recap and best bits package of her time on the show and I’ve come to the conclusion that she really is a celebrity. She appeared on a high rating show, won it, and is recognised in public. She is also the only person, as I’ve said, that I cared to watch on this.

To finish the show, we see Shane take a jog for charity and then present the cheque with the money he won in the challenge to the Breast Cancer Foundation.

The celebrities are now down to ten, so what is in store for next week?

So that is it and while there was a bit of new content, it was mostly repeated stuff. What do you guys think? Post a comment if you want me to keep publishing this!

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 5.0/10

 

Last week we got but a taste test of the makeovers to come as tonight; the rest of the geeks (all of them bar Lachlan and Helen) get a nip and a tuck and will hopefully come out of it looking all the better for it. Should be a good episode!

We begin the episode as the contestants enter the living area. Man do Lachlan and Helen look smoking! Bernard comes in and tells them that this week; they will have to make their performance of a lifetime! More on that later. Beauties, it is time to go from wonder bra to wonder woman as they go from beauties to super heroes.

The geeks will be given the task of designing the clothes that cover up their identity! He wishes them good luck and leaves them all to it. Jimmy thinks this is cool!
He and Mackenzie go outside to study some comics and Mackenzie comes up with the name Super Model. She then goes for The Killer Super Model. Jimmy is not happy at all. She doesn’t even have a back story.

Despite the fact Gilbert saved her last week, Maddy is not putting any effort into this at all but she does come up with the name Spirit Sparkle! Troy wants to go with Tan Man. He seems to like this challenge.

Jordan wants to be Naughty Jordy Bang Bang which is absolutely hilarious (especially when Julian says it) and I reckon this could be a hoot. With that, the geeks are off to gather materials for the girly beauties and to make their costumes.

Jimmy wonders to Helen how the corset works which is quite funny but Helen is able to point him in the right direction.

With that, the contestants arrive at a warehouse with a catwalk for the showcase. Bernard is joined by comic book distributor Jim Papagrigoriou, Baden Kirgan and Wonder Woman artist Nicola Scott. These judges will be choosing their favourite idea. With that, the contestants go back stage to get ready.

Jordan sees her costume for the first time and thinks it is disgusting. When she comes on stage, it does look quite horrific but she works it well! It is so funny to see her wearing a boob tube on her skirt.

Mackenzie the Killer Super Model is next and she looks very…model-like! Still, this is more of a fashion fare than a comic book showcase.

Luscious Leopard Lady aka Sarah is next and she wears her costume well; I do like hers the best, but she looks a lot like cat woman.

Tan man is next and Troy’s costume is a bit bland but I think his image was what he wanted. Dolly Dancer is next and her costume is quite bright. Lachlan thinks her costume looks like what a care bear’s vomit would look like. Haha, quote of the series I reckon!

Maddy goes back stage to see her costume and she has a mild break down. What has Gilbert done?

After the break, she heads on stage as Capt. Spirit Sparkle. She does a horrific job at parading it; sounding apathetic and no confidence.

So, who won the challenge? Bernard has them gathered by the catwalk as he debriefs the challenge. The judges announce that the one stand out character was Naughty Jordy Bang Bang and yet another challenge going to Jordan and Julian.

They win immunity and the power to eliminate. Looks like someone will have to go home this week.

Bernard then announces that the rest of the contestants will be getting makeovers tomorrow.

Apparently, they will need all the confidence they can get for their next challenge.

Maddy and Gilly have a rare one on one when she asks Gilly what she will do if Dolly gets the hots for him after he is done with the makeover. She is having the same conversation with Sarah. Maddy then snaps out of being sweet and tells him to stop being such a baby. A deal they make is that if, after the make over, Gilbert does not kiss Dolly, she will.

The day after, it all begins. Julian is first. Henry Roth and Julian make a pact to take a layer off him and make him more adventurous. Meanwhile, Jordan is in his wardrobe with Mackenzie to update his wardrobe. She makes weird remarks about his braces (who gets to take them off) and his style.

Gilbert is next and Maddy thinks he needs a makeover because he looks like a gorilla. Haha, that was so funny yet so true.

Henry thinks he can turn Gilbert into a model. Jimmy is also ready for his transformation and he gets to have a nice and relaxing waxing session.

After the break, the transformations continue as the girls continue to update the boy’s wardrobe. The girls are already getting ready for the revelations as they discuss having to help the boys look good in the morning. Apparently, according to Mackenzie, you have to be looking good on the outside to be feeling good inside.

It is now time for Bendeguz to get rid of that ridiculous moustache. Still, I will actually miss that Bendeguz. He does it himself.

Then, it is time for the dramatic changes to be revealed. The ceremony will be taking place outside this time on the glamorous balcony. First up is Gilbert and this will hopefully look good. A wall with him on it is featuring as he makes his walk up to it as his old self.

Of course we won’t see it until after the break!

He has a massive skater look about him and he still looks like a bit of a dork but he does look very spiffy in his cutaway where he isn’t wearing any braces! In his new do, he tells them all to ‘get bent’ haha.

With that, Bernard introduces transformee number two- Bendeguz. This is going to be quite an interesting transformation. He looks like quite the biker! He looks so different and he does not look like a geek at all! Without the moustache, he is a different, but better looking person.

Dolly pretends to cry as she gets shocked by him. She is proud he has been able to sacrifice so much to go along with all this. I agree.
Jimmy is next and I expect this to be good!
And I am gobsmacked! He looks like a completely DIFFERENT person. I have never seen a bigger transformation! I am smiling this is a completely different man! WHAAT! Most people who go through this look different, but Jimmy. Looks. Different!

Mackenzie is crying, but we all know she won’t be jumping ship from Troy!

Bernard pups them up for this one- Gilbert! I think he is the last one. How does he look after Jimmy’s transformation?

Well, well, well. He looks transformed and then some! Still not as good as Jimmy’s in my opinion but he’s not a geek anymore!

He even gives the girls some gun action!

He heads over to the others and the countdown begins until his and Dolly’s kiss! Haha, I was about to type ‘kids’.

Bernard then says there is one more thing to address. Maddy has bad news to share. She came into the competition unwell and can’t give the deserved 100%; so she will be leaving the competition. She breaks down saying this, but this has obviously been premeditated. Bernard sees her off and I’m just wondering who will replace her!

Bernard does get to this fact, saying the rules state that she will be replaced with the last eliminated beauty. As Troy correctly says, it was a long time ago, and I can hardly remember who that was. It was Jacelle and she returns donning a cowboy hat. I was wondering what this competition would be like with that Blondie still here!

Gilbert is happy to have Jacelle but will miss Maddy (pfft, yeah right).

So, to tomorrow’s challenge and the geeks will be forming an all geek dance troupe. They will have to put together a routine, doing the FULL MONTY! Heeelllloooo entertainment!

After the break, Gilbert and Dolly spend some time together and he tells her she is the most beautiful girl who has ever spoken to him. So will he kiss her? Maddy is no longer here so he can break his deal!

Yep, they kiss! And they are glad they did that.

In the morning, the guys begin their new morning routine and they do look transformed. Even the girls need to hurry them up!

Jacelle and Gilbert then begin their partnership by preparing for the Full Monty challenge. The rest of the contestants also practice to a hoard of laughs. Except Helen who is not sure about stripping down; as a bit of a personal issue. Troy wants her to have a go but Helen doesn’t think Troy understands.

They turn up to their venue; some sort of club. It is all donned up like a midnight club and Bernard wonders how they will feel doing this routine in front of a packed crowd who will judge who is the most entertaining geek. Helen is still freaking out.

Soon enough, the crowd is there and ready to perform!
First up is…oh, that’s Bernard. Then, out they all come (including Helen) in a YMCA style showcase. Lachlan is first to take centre stage and it is so funny. Jimmy is next and he is a real show man. He can’t believe people aren’t throwing food at them.

Julian is next and he throws his top out in the crowd so funnily. Helen is next but she doesn’t take her top off. Oh well, she was still pretty groovy! And good on her for getting up there and giving her a go! The other two boys were also quite funny.

Now it is time to derobe! And they all do it. Helen doesn’t, but hey, she’s still up there! Troy wants to ask the boys for some tips and tricks.

Afterwards, it is time for the results. Getting to the point, the winner of this challenge is, winning immunity and the power to nominate…Gilbert and therefore Jacelle as well (which is good for a returnee).

Afterwards, Helen confides in Jimmy about her fears of being nominated. She cries, but she is happy for the support. Could they become lovers? Hmm, maybe at a later date.

After the break, the couples head down the stairs for nomination with Jordan and Julian standing with Jacelle and Gilbert for the nomination ceremony. Bernard debriefs on the week before the votes are cast.

Jordan and Julian are first and their team of choice does not embrace the challenges as much as everybody else. They nominate Helen and Troy.

Gilbert & Jacelle are nominating a team that as a couple are weakening. They are Jimmy & Mackenzie. This means that Helen and Jimmy will be split tonight.

With that, they head upstairs to pack their things. Helen entrusts Troy that she has studied. I also realise that Troy and Mackenzie will also be split.

Jimmy and Mackenzie are not OK with this set up but they have a D&M before they head downstairs into elimination.

Bernard is waiting for them as usual and runs through the way the elimination will work which remains the same as always. Beauties will be going first.

Their subject; Superheroes.

Troy is first with this question; ‘Which superhero has an alter ego as Princess Dianna?’ and he answers correct; Wonder Woman.

Mackenzie gets; ‘The green goblin is the arch nemesis of Spider Man, so who is Lex Luther the enemy of?’ The answer is Super Man and she gets it right!

Troy gets a picture question. He gets a picture of the words ‘P.S. I’m A Nerd’ and he is given 10 seconds to decipher the anagram into the name of a super hero. He says Spider Man which is correct (despite Helen saying ‘Poor Troy’).

Mackenzie final question is; ‘Heath Ledger won an Oscar for his portrayal of what villain’? She answers Joker which is correct.

It is now time for the geeks to have a go and their subject is Showbiz.

Helen goes first and gets a picture clue. A picture of a jumbled Hollywood sign comes up with an extra letter. She is asked to guess what letter it is. She says ‘W’ which is correct.

Jimmy gets; ‘what piece of furniture is rumoured to be used by producers to seduce wannabe actors who desperately want a role?’ He guesses a casting couch which is correct.

Helen is next with; ‘Which current Broadway show is the most expensive ever made?’ She goes for a guess with ‘Wicked’ which is incorrect (Spider Man: Turn off the Dark is the correct answer).

Jimmy needs to get this incorrect for Helen to stand a chance but it is such an easy one; ‘which body part would you suggest breaking to wish an actor good luck?’ and it is of course, a leg.

With that, Helen and Troy have been eliminated.

They all say their goodbyes and head off!

So a pretty lengthy yet entertaining episode full of various shocks and a makeover episode which was not to be missed. That question at the end was a ruiner, but it seems to be the luck of the draw on that one.

Otherwise, this was a lovely episode but I gotta run now due to low battery!

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 9.0/10

 

The boys have gone through this very process and now a bunch of catty, stressed out, tedious females are about to brave the boardroom, each other and an elimination. May the best bitch…lose!

Team Ignite are currently in boardroom and after already 3 minutes of recapping, we are thrown into another recap!

After that, the grilling begins. Wait, no it doesn’t, we instead head to the boys who are celebrating a big win in the safe room. Shane tells Max he will definitely get a KFC job after this! They believe this challenge brought them together and after a bit of banter, they turn the TV and we return to the boardroom.

Mark talks about the money they raised and Brad calls it a failure. He notices the lack of strategy. Mark doesn’t understand how they went so wrong. Polly says she put the challenge up on Facebook for her The Block fans to see but Mark is not impressed, knowing Polly only raised $100.

Polly puts the failure on the entire team and highlights the front people and their job doing. This includes her, Pauline, Lisa and Deni. She feels people coming in were not aware of the donation boxes. The boys just say ‘ouch’. Mark wonders why Jesinta did not use social media.

She suggested putting aside a section of the restaurant for corporate bodies; an idea she posed to the group. Mark wants to know what she means by this and she says she put it to the group and pushed it aside due to her own personality.

Mark wonders who is not taking her seriously and Jesinta fingers at Deni, Lisa and Pauline which I would say is correct. Lisa does not believe she is a problem and thinks that her using the ‘beauty pageant’ card is getting tiring.

Pauline knows about Jesinta’s idea and says she didn’t go for it because she didn’t have the manpower to sit in with the corporates. The boys cannot believe she said no to corporate donations.

Mark wants to know if she would change things but as she begins to explain things, Mark herds her to a yes or no answer, not a political answer. The offended Pauline bites back a bit but in the end she says yes.

After the break, we get a recap of Deni and Polly’s scuffle after Deni made a quip about Polly not being a true celebrity.

Mark asks Polly if she was spoken to like Deni spoke to her beforehand. She talks about times in the past Deni has said comments like it. Deni defends herself by saying she just wants Polly to take a back seat on issues because she and the rest of them have been doing this for a very long time and knows what to do. She would take Polly’s advice when it came time to.

Mark wants to know if she would see Polly as a celebrity. She says no at first, before saying she does but does not see herself as a celebrity. Mark wonders why because she is a celebrity goddess and while Deni tries to back up her point, she goes off by saying something about anyone becoming a celebrity these days with a few minutes of fame (a la Polly). Jason does not like this comment at all.

Mark highlights that Polly raised $100 more in tips than Deni (who raised nothing); stating this is not bad for a ‘non-celebrity’. Deni says this was because people recognised her and Polly tells her that that would make her a celebrity. Deni says she said she was one. Jesinta shakes her head. So did I.

Mark wondered how she made any revenue (because she didn’t raise it through tips) and Deni said she stood out on the streets and people who recognised her came in. Mark wonders to Brad if this is true and Brad mentioned that at times, Deni did not desire to help out in the name of charity (the jingle gate).

Lisa agrees that Deni did not put the charity before her beliefs. She did not believe Deni was a team player in this event. Mark said the PM does not look happy because of the rifts in the group. Mark tells Polly he thinks she is the most experienced person in the room and the most nerve free and Polly calls that a cover. Lisa uses this against Polly, saying this means she isn’t being herself. The boys wonder why Lisa is using this to attack Polly in the name of strategy.

Mark turns to Pauline and wonders who she will be bringing into elimination. She then nominates Polly and Deni to join her in elimination. With that, Lisa, Julia (who did not get a look in tonight and I forgot existed) and Jesinta are safe.
The executives deliberate before Mark brings the girls back in.

Pauline does not want to go because if she runs for politics again, she wants people to say ‘she survived Celebrity Apprentice’. Neither Deni nor Polly wants to go either. With that, the weird secretary sends them in.

Pauline explains that she chose Polly because she hasn’t made an effort to bring people in and does not think people have confidence in her. She brought Deni in for the obvious reasons. Pauline says she would fire Polly and that Mark should keep her there because she feels she did what was required of her. She bumbled a bit over this.

Polly would fire Deni and says she should stay because she has a hard working ethic and there is a lot to bring. Deni would fire Polly because of her followers…that did not arrive at the challenge. Deni says she would do the job if she continued.

After the break, Mark turns to Polly and says he was disappointed that she did not use whatever celebrity she had to get their money quota up. Mark pretty much calls Deni a hypocrite. Mark says Pauline failed to deliver as a project manager. He does compliment how she rolled her sleeves up and helped on the front line.

With that, he turns to Polly and with that, she is fired! This is pretty sad, the only person I was looking forward to seeing on this show.

She leaves and the other two reunite with the other 8 contestants.

So a pretty interesting episode all up; much better than the elimination on Tuesday. Rounding down to the end of the year and I am quite liking the two eliminations per week thing this show is doing; it keeps up a fast pace and keeps me wanting to watch. I just feel that maybe the show won’t be as memorable this way.

Other than all that, it was boring at times, and the constant recaps at the start did drag on.

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 8.8/10

Sigh, yes Australia, you love it! Last week, two of these ‘psychics’ went home on our almighty quest to find The One – Australia’s Most Gifted Psychic. But don’t get me wrong, I look forward to this show every week! There’s nothing more satisfying to see one or more of these contestants faces when sceptic Richard tells them they aren’t The One!

Andrew welcomes us to the show and there’s a smashed up red car in the background with a weird thing on the stage. He tells us that tonight, the psychics will be asked to feel violence and anger; which goes hand in hand with road rage.

With that, we head to a clip of a car yard where a buff nut starts tearing apart a car! It is the same red car as we see in the background of the stage. That ‘thing’ on the stage is actually holding a set of bats, all of which hit the red car at some stage, but only one was used by the buff nut.

It’s not a bat sorry, it is a sledge hammer.

The task is to simply match the hammer with Jason, the buff nut!

Debbie is first and she is given permission to touch Jason. She goes to touch Jason and then touches the hammers. She guesses hammer 4 straight away, which is the correct answer. Stacey calls this a wonderful confirmation and Richard was also a little convinced despite the good chance of getting it right.

Next up is Anthony who babbles on a bit before guessing that it is either one of two hammers. He goes for number 6 which is incorrect. Heidi is next and she picks five which is off by one! Greg is next and he picks four which is right on the money!

Richard says the odds of two people getting it right is 26% which is quite large if you think about it. Stacey says this isn’t about statistics; this is about people being able to do it.

Salvatore is next and thinks either 4 or 6. He ends up going for 6 which is wrong.

After the break, it is Katrina who has a go and she is looking for an energetic connection like the rest of them have been using.

She thinks it is either 4 or 5 but she ends up going for 4 which is correct as we all know. Stacey doesn’t see this as spooky, just people who can do what they can. Richard says it is only just a little surprising but Jason isn’t spooked at all.

Maria is last and while she thinks she already has a number, she still wants to feel Jason, haha. Jason is now cracking up as this girl who has been single for eight years ponders around him. She thinks 3 and stays with it despite wanting to feel him again. She is wrong, but she is happy to have got a feel out of it.

Andrew gets Jason to stay on stage while Maria is still out back.

Stacey and Richard then debate whether psychics are human but Richard does say he was a little surprised.

To their next challenge and a body is hidden in the boot of a car in the middle of a public carpark. The psychics are given an outline of the 55 car filled carpark and an item belonging to the ‘victim’.

Katrina is first and she remains around the right car before veering off a bit, and then a lot.

She goes to one car but her guides tell her to go back. She does go back, but not quite to the right car. She isn’t too happy. Richard does call it a good start but reveals that there aren’t 55 cars as they eliminated a few.

Stacey says that because she found the right general area, her information would be beneficial to police.

After the break, it is time for the next contestant to step up for the challenge. That person is Heidi.

She is pulled towards the same car as Katrina (but of course, it is wrong). All the time, she seems to remain close to the right car except for when she went to cover her base. She then turns around to stare at the right car, but gets it wrong, choosing the same car as Katrina.

She was disappointed about that, but that was quite good. Can good-hit Debbie find the right car tonight?

She begins by scaling the park but is drawn to the same car as Katrina and Heidi. She then goes straight to the right car and even gets a buzz from it. She keeps walking but feels nothing. She goes back to the right car and I’m just like, bloody choose it!

She goes for the wrong car (the same as Katrina and Heidi) but she is happy to have nailed the car. Richard acknowledges that the chance that Heidi, Katrina and Heidi choosing the same car is 1% and Stacey wants to know what’s in the chosen car.

Salvatore is next and he is drawn to a red car. He doesn’t feel a big energy around the actual car, but is drawn back to it. He goes for the car behind it and it horrified by how close he was.

Maria is next and she is still around the general area but does she find the car? No, actually she was quite far away.

Stacey and Richard notices how close this is and are not looking forward to the decision ahead. Anthony is next and he is drawn to a white car next to a red car. He finds one but is not feeling any pull. It is the car Salvatore chose but he does narrowly come close to the right car. Can he guess right?

He chooses the white car and is surprised to know he is standing in the correct car park as the right car despite choosing the wrong car.

Stacey explains that ‘pull’ means a kinaesthetic feeling towards a certain object.

Greg is last and it again drawn towards the correct area. He looks straight at the right car and is confident about it. He goes to scale the area just in case he gets something. He gets a few other cars, but no pull, so he goes to the correct car and… YEP! Absolutely correct. He is astonished by this; but he shouldn’t be. Surely he should know this would happen.

Richard calls it surprising but said he would be surprised if he won a raffle. Stacey is offended by the comparison and details the amount of close calls the psychics got.

So to the last game, psychic lost and found. Seven people in the audience have leant something special to them (jewellery or whatnot) and the psychics need to match one item to one audience member.

Maria is first and says it is not her type of thing. She dribbles on a bit but gets the wrong person however he is sitting in front of the people she thought it belonged to. She guessed that the item represented a life changing moment for the owner which the owner revealed is correct. And he is a sceptic.

Richard thinks she made a few generalisations and didn’t get the right person. Stacey says she got a hit.

Heidi is next and utters the words, ‘zest for life’ and goes to the same people Maria was drawn to. The person it does relate to says Heidi did not get anything right and Richard is not impressed at all.

Anthony is next and he believes his item is a hand me down. He believes it belongs to a Maria or a Marie. He asks a group of girls if that makes sense. The item is a broach or a pendant and it does NOT belong to the ladies down the front. Did anything resonate with person? Well, it was a hand me down.

After the break, it is time for Debbie who has been doing well thus far. She feels sick in the stomach when she tunes into the item and feels as if it has something to do with children. She doesn’t get the person right but does get the worry wart problem right. The person is impressed with her.

Salvatore is next and he goes to someone straight away but it is not their ring. Nothing really resonates with the person it belongs to and Richard pulls up the fact Salvatore was giving the person he went to first the task of finding out about the ring.

Greg is next and is drawn to someone and feels someone in their life is pregnant (which is quite right) and a name with the letter M in it is also important (her sister’s name is Maria). But it is the wrong person, and the owner of the jewellery does not connect to anything Greg has said.

Andrew thinks it was a good reading by Greg to the person (despite that person being the false owner) but Richard accuses the questions he asked as being too general. Stacey disagrees.

Katrina I think is last and is feeling ‘sewing’ and ‘young’ with ‘wicker basket’ and guesses whether it connects to someone in one of the sections. It does connect to someone, but it isn’t her ring.

The owner does find connections to what Katrina was talking about.

After the break, it is time for the elimination and again, Andrew hints at a double.

Stacey goes to Greg and compliments his work at guessing the hammer and the car. With that, Richard confirms that he might be the one.

Katrina and Debbie are called up next and are also complimented before being told that they might be the one.

Heidi and Salvatore are called up next and Stacey loves how they work but is concerned by their consistency and accuracy. Still, one of them may be the one.

That leaves Maria and Anthony. Maria is branded as fun but inaccurate while Anthony is branded inconsistent and inaccurate. He will definitely be going home tonight, I reckon!

Maria and Anthony are told that it will only be a single elimination tonight; and the person going home is… Maria! As a sceptic, this still doesn’t shock me. Eliminate the lot I say.

So they were able to cram a lot of stuff in which actually affected editing. There were a few times where they chopped a little bit too much off the start of a scene and you could tell that the scene was pasted together (for example, when Andrew introduced some of the contestants for challenge one, he began to speak as soon as the camera was centred on him which signified that this scene was not following directly on from the scene before).

Still, these psychics seem to be getting better which is something I didn’t think would happen, so let’s see if this trend continues next week.

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 8.2/10

McDonald’s, McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut! We all know the tune, and now the remaining eleven contestants are about to become all too familiar with no less than three words of that chant! Who’ll be too chicken to take this one on?

We are delighted by a quick shot of Sydney Harbour which are quite stunning as the celebrities gather before Mark and his executives who welcome them to the next challenge. He tells us that this challenge is about quality before introducing us to Tony Lowings who is the CEO of KFC. He tells them that they have to run a KFC branch for three hours. They have to ensure quality but have speedy service.

Deborah tells them that they will take orders and serve food while providing a great family dine in experience. The team who makes the most money wins.

Brad then tells them that KFC prides itself on serving customers in 60 seconds. In this spirit, they are given 60 seconds to choose their project manager.

Polly automatically puts her hand up but Pauline is not happy, having owned a F&C shop for 10 years. She goes with Pauline being PM in order to brush off conflict.

The boys take longer but it seems Shane will take one for the team this time. In this time, the girls choose their new name- Ignite.

Mark says a few words before he leaves. Deni gets annoyed as she is a vegetarian, but she can do the wraps. In the cars on the way there, Polly and Deni talk contacts and Polly realises she doesn’t need them to win.

Max is already not listening and Jason is already arking up at this fact. Without Warwick, hopefully we don’t hear too much from Mr. Coleman.

Pauline’s first lines as PM are ‘we don’t want people running around like headless chooks’. Yeah, bad choice of words.

The females arrive at their KFC store and Pauline sits everyone down to outline their shift goals. They want good service and a good environment. Pauline wants to use this challenge to show her skills as leader.

The boys get their act together but Shane suggests lunch to begin with. Yeah, this will go so smoothly.

Pauline thinks about doing a theme for the dine in area but doesn’t think it is necessary. Still, the girls like the idea and ideas are flying off everywhere. Brad seems happy with Pauline so far.

Wendell wants to use his profile to attract people in. Max wants Khemal (sorry, I don’t know how to pronounce that) to come down for some reason. Jason suggests putting Max out back considering he was out front for their failed first challenge. Max doesn’t mind being the cook.

Back to the girls and having worked out their mascot, they are now bickering over the placement of their banner (they are allowed one).

Jesinta isn’t getting a word in edgeways and is just worried they aren’t getting the right formula for a great dine in experience.

The boys are already getting into practice and Max is a little too talkative for the trainer to handle. He doesn’t think he will do well tomorrow acting the way he is.

Ignite are also getting into it and Polly is already daunted by the task of cashier (despite being good at it apparently in the last challenge). Lisa can’t seem to work the mop while Julia recounts her horrible experience as a KFC worker where she dropped a whole batch of chicken on the ground. Always makes for great laughter that Julia!

After the break, Wendell was quite shocked to realise his ‘hosting’ roll meant cleaning toilets!

Pauline is now working with the girls to maximise their profit potentials. Well, she should be; but Pauline is on the phone doing other things. And the girls are in the same predicament as they were last challenge; no direction due to PM AWOL.

Shane puts Didier in charge of designing, branding and colouring and after a hard day of practice, he is tired and worn out, and rushing around to get everything done before everything shuts does not help. Yeah, try doing it in Adelaide!

Wendell is helping him, but they seem to be a bit of an odd couple. They seem to muck around with masks for a bit.

After the break, the boys are still preparing and Shane hopes people with the big bucks will come in. At the girls shop, Pauline is on the phone organising the last of the designing and signage but Jesinta is making her get off the phone. Pauline isn’t happy one bit. Time is up in the think room.

The next day, the contestants head to the big day but Shane is annoyed that the big contacts aren’t biting at his phone calls.

The girls are discussing Max and Polly thinks he is nice but Deni tells her that she wouldn’t know because she’s only been a celebrity for two seconds. Polly tells her that her comments were offensive but Deni pretty much says she doesn’t care. Yeah, very immature.

Polly feels she has earned her right to be here and I find it so funny that Polly’s reality television star status is being called into question.

The boys enter the restaurant and pump each other up before getting into it. The girls arrive at their restaurant and they too have finally gotten over their bickering with a bit of laughter (from everyone but Lisa and Pauline).

Pauline brings up Jesinta’s actions yesterdays and tells her to not undermine her or underestimate her when she is on the phone. Jesinta apologises but said time was running out. Julia is loving every second of the team imploding. Finally, doors open.

The boys are decorating their store ‘pink’ in support for Shane’s breast cancer charity. The only problem, Didier’s banners arrive but they’re not pink, they’re black. Because the message was still there, he doesn’t care.

The girls ask Deni to come up with a jingle but because she ‘has a very recognizable voice and she doesn’t sing for just anyone’, she doesn’t want to do it. Deni is now my least favourite contestant, ever.

Jesinta tells Pauline that she and Polly have come up with a jingle and they perform it but Pauline will have to talk to the others for their opinion. Lisa hated it, so it was a no go. Oh well, Jesinta will continue to come up with ideas.

To the boys and Deborah loves their bid to get donations from the big breast cancer donation advertising.

The doors are about to open and the girls are getting happy in preparation for the customers. They start to roll in and already the girls are getting donating customers.

The boys finally open but Max is out in the dining room instead of in the kitchen. No one comes in at first as the store sits dormant. Even for a celebrity challenge, this is weird. This is Australia; we love our KFC!

Back to the girls, where things are actually happening, Pauline’s contacts are already donating large amounts of money along with the steady flow of the customers. Julia is working on her rap which they perform along with Jesinta’s chant from before (which was branded childish, but they seem to have used it or a rendition of it).

Brad thinks it is a good way to get the entertainment factor rolling.

After the break, 2 hours remain and the boys are still not getting anyone. Where are people’s contacts?

They get Wendell out on the streets to get people and he finally finds some people.

Deni for the girls is standing out on the street giving out cuddles to possible customers, even the AFP who refuse, to get them all in. Lisa is also trying to get people in, but not by hugging them.

We return to the boys where Shane is detailing the team strategy when the customers all of a sudden start turning up!

Max is still not quite down with how to prepare the chicken and his trainer is still standing onside to help.

When the customers start to come in, they START TO COME IN! It is busy as anything.

Tony Lowings turns up to the girls store with a bunch of people to see how they do in terms of customer satisfaction and service under pressure. He will do the same with the boys and the best team wins $5,000 towards their total.

The camera does not show how the celeb gals were able to provide the massive order, but they get it done and Tony is very impressed. Their average time is 34 seconds, which is brilliant. Polly thinks the boys would deserve to win if they get a better time.

Meanwhile, to the boy’s team, a massive order has been placed (60 super variety buckets!) for a large sum of money. With half an hour left, this could be huge. Yet the customers continue to pour in which throws them off course.

Max is still acting like a dufus and yet there is still so many more of them to come.

The girls have gone quiet in their store so Pauline decides to do a bit of spring cleaning. Brad notices this and I don’t know if he is impressed or not.

Julia thinks the ship is going down and she just hopes the water isn’t going to go cold (I don’t know why she said that).

The boys are still trying to finish their mammoth order and Deborah is happy that that they are focussing on the money, which will get them over the line, but she is not happy with the dine in comments flying from the customers.

Soon enough, they are able to fill up the boot while Deni sits down and plays with a puppy which is annoying Lisa who is working her ass off. She does not look happy.

As the time ticks down, everyone looks exhausted but they pull it off! Pauline was pleased with her efforts. Polly thinks that together with the donations, their money will get them over the line.

Tony then walks in to the boy’s restaurant and judges their customer service. He is impressed with the atmosphere and the entertainment they are proving.

Their time finishes and Shane is incredibly happy with himself.

After the break, it is time for the boardroom segment.

Mark enters and welcomes them to the evening ahead. He asks if the girls ignited and Pauline says they did despite her ups and downs. He, Pauline and Jesinta discusses the confrontation with Jesinta not happy with how Pauline handled the situation and Pauline annoyed about Jesinta’s disrespect.

Moving to the boys and Shane and he discusses how everything went. Mark asks for the strategy and Shane said it was to create awareness for BC while also providing a good experience. Any weak players, Shane? He says Didier could have dragged more money through the store.

He then talks about the huge order which shut the counter down, which Mark is not happy about.

Shane reveals that the order was $11,500 in worth.

Mark wonders why Max was out the back when he was able to raise so much money but it was a group decision which they have to deal with.

Brad then discusses the girl’s effort and thought their cleanliness and jingle was brilliant. Pauline says that as PM, Deni didn’t pull her weight enough, talking about how Deni did not put her hand up to sing a jingle.

Deni says she didn’t believe in KFC so she couldn’t make a jingle. She refers to him as ‘honey’ which is funny because Mark doesn’t like that.

Mark then gets to the $5,000 prize provided by Tony Lowings for the best dine in experience. We find out that he has given it to the boys. Deborah then says that they all raised $21,929. Brad says the girls raised $2,381 which is obviously because of the lack of that $11,500 the boys made. All up, the boys have made $29,310.81 for Shane’s charity.

With that, the boys are safe and go into the safe room as the girls prepare for elimination. This should be good.

Yeah, this episode did drag on a bit and was at times a bit boring. But it does feel realer than you would imagine. In particular, the spats tonight felt real and were actually quite entertaining to watch. Production quality was high but overall, it was a bit over the place as we darted back and forth from shop to shop.

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 9.5/10

 

Unlike last week, this week has had weaknesses; so this is either going to be a really predictable outcome or a real shocker. Either way, it’s going to be a real reality for one of these potential rising stars!

Luke comes on stage and welcomes everyone to the show. He then welcomes the judges; Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Mel B, Ronan Keating and Guy Sebastian. This is after debriefing on the night that was.

He tells us that Savage Gardens’ Darren Hayes and current hit maker Aloe Blacc will perform tonight.

The final seven then hit the stage with a Savage Garden medley. Reece and Andrew were standouts here but Christina and Johnny were a bit of a let down, even Three Wishez didn’t do that well.

Like usual, Darren comes on stage to perform with the contestants performing his songs.

Hmm, wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. Luke interviews Darren, who did help Natalie pick her over 25’s. He says he is still a huge fan of his Savage Gardens hits and loved coming back and performing some of them.

With that, we take a look back at the night that was with some backstage comments to add.

Luke then asks the judges for their comments. Mel says she and Christina are worried but feels the Australian public should vote for her due to her current stress with exams and all that this week.

Guy doesn’t pay attention to odds but considering he has nearly half the contestants, he may lose someone. He points out that if he doesn’t, he literally will have half the contestants.

Ronan would be devastated if he loses Three Wishez and Natalie loves how neither of her two remaining acts have gone into the bottom two.

Luke congratulates Australia for making the X Factor app the most downloaded app in Australia before throwing to an ad.

After the break, it is time for an X Factor exclusive, a performance by Aloe Blacc with his now not-so-new single, I Need A Dollar.

He sounds really good on stage. For some reason, he looks a little nervous, but he has suave. Also, his song which is a favourite of mine just sounds so different to the usual contemporary beats.

Luke asks Aloe for advice for the contestants and he just tells them to study their crafts. Very well spoken to complement a knockout performance.

After the break, it is time for the bottom two verdict. Here come the acts; Ronan with his group Three Wishez. Guy with his boy’s Johnny Ruffo, Reece Mastin and Declan Sykes. Mel and her girl Christina. Natalie with Andrew Wishart and Mitchell Callaway.

So who will be safe? The lucky first contestant who can take a breath is…in no particular order… Christina Parie. And right off the bat, Mel is safe for another week.

The second act through to the top six is… Three Wishez and Ronan is also safe.

The third act through to the final six and safeness is… Reece Mastin!

The fourth act safe for next week’s show is… Declan Sykes! Well, that’s a relief! Natalie will have a member in the bottom two.

It is now down to Andrew, Mitchell and Johnny for that final place.
That final safe place will go to… Andrew Wishart.

That leaves Mitchell Callaway and Johnny Ruffo in the bottom two. I think we all know who’s going tonight.

Natalie thinks her guts are ‘over there’ and Guy just calls it that stage of the competition.

After the break, it is time for Darren Hayes to come back on stage for his real purpose, to show off his new single- Blood Stained Heart.

He is a true singer; this song was so pure and so magical, he could have been mistaken for lip syncing. The simple stage set up also helped him connect with his audience by making this superstar the front and centre attraction. The fog on the ground increases intimacy and helps direct our attention upwards to this glorified singer.

Luke thanks Darren for his amazing performance before we head to a break.

After the break, it is time for the final showdown and Natalie introduces her act in danger tonight; Mitchell Callaway.

His performance is full of passion and if he needs any proof as to why he should still be in this competition more than Johnny that was it. Nonetheless, Johnny Ruffo is called out on stage with his Michael Jackson rendition.

He’s cool, and his dancing moves are out of this world, but this is not a dancing show. Still, his singing isn’t bad this time either. In fact, it is one of his better performances. May be a bit late for that now.

So who will go home? Johnny or Mitchell.

After the break, the judges vote. To the more obvious votes and Guy is first. I won’t go into everything this incredible talking man says, he just saves Johnny.

Natalie is next and while they both compliment both renditions, she does send home Johnny.

To Mel and she congratulates them for getting this far. With that, she chooses to send home the person who hasn’t grown in this competition as much. She sends home Mitchell. To Ronan and he is shocked that these guys are only performing well in the bottom two and tells them to up their game. He compliments Mitchell on his song choice and his emotion. He compliments Johnny on his attitude and performance. He chooses to send home… Johnny. This sends us to deadlock. Surely this is planned (Mel would hate Guy if last night was anything to go by so why did she save Johnny).

Anyway, the act going home due to our votes is… Mitchell Callaway. And what should have been an obvious choice, Mitchell leaves Guy with his three men standing!

With that, we see a recap of Mitchell’s time on the show and the show itself comes to a close.

So a pretty decent episode all up with knockout performances by Darren, Johnny, Aloe and Mitchell and a somewhat shocker ending. Production was high and it actually ran on time for once! Other than that opening performance, this was a pitch perfect episode. And thank god Guy shut up!

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 9.9/10

 

 One of Mark Bouris’ celebrity men will be going home. Didier, Max, Jason, Warwick, Wendell and Shane are up for the cut and after Mark’s attitude yesterday, this doesn’t look clean.

We return to the boardroom where the boy’s remain. We get a recap of how they dropped to this position in the first place which is quite lengthy. We then have a look at the girls celebrating in the safe room. Popping the champer’s doesn’t really seem deserved for winning just one car washing challenge. They will however get to watch the boardroom.

Mark wants to find out what went wrong; announcing one of them will be fired.

He wonders how much as an individual they raised. Jason thinks $5,000; Warwick thinks $3,000 (which Wendell refutes, claiming he did nothing); Didier did $6,200 with Max doing $50,000. Shane thinks $15-20,000 with Wendell thinks $1,000.

Deborah reads out the numbers. Max raised $36,500. Shane raised $30,500. Didier did $5,000. Jason did $1,000. Wendell did $250 with Warwick doing $50. This is quite a shock to many; including Wendell who laughs at Warwick.

Warwick can’t believe it and Mark wonders how he didn’t raise as much money with his status. Warwick feels he made a good impact to the team elsewhere. Warwick claims to have put as much into it.

Didier is the first person to refute that and Wendell backs this up; telling us how he was sitting down washing a car at one point. Cue flashback.

Jason tells Mark he told Warwick he lost his respect. In the safe room, the girls feel sorry for Warwick with Polly thinking they are attacking him. Wendell didn’t think they would lose the challenge and puts this down to cockiness. He feels he didn’t bring his game.

After the break, we get another recap of the challenge the day before. Is this just filler due to the last minute decision to strip this format?

Back in the boardroom and Mark wonders what went wrong. Max wanted the world’s most expensive car wash, but someone beat them on the same day. He knows some customers left and Jason says this is because no one had no idea what is going on due to the poor direction from Max.

Wendell thinks this is because of the truck and how they were all told to go to the truck. Mark quizzes Max about his idea not to service ‘Aussie bums’. Max says that setting the minimum price high may have been a mistake but Jason says it was argued by the team to lower the minimum price for service. Mark wants to know why no one arked up against Max’s direction. Jason says this is because Max doesn’t listen and didn’t listen at any given occasion.

Didier believes he should have spoken up and Deborah says she noticed Didier continuously walking around with his head exploding. Again, this looks badly against Max. It seems the safe girls want Max to go home.

To Shane, who is shaking his head. He says Max was fantastic at getting people, but not at leading and directing. Julia kisses Shane’s face for saying that.

With that, she goes back to get a champagne.

Shane does agree he didn’t do much, but claims Max was mad. Max now needs to choose two people to join him in the board room for firing.

He chooses Warwick Capper and… Warwick Capper. And Wendell! The rest of them are safe with Wendell, Warwick and Max going to prepare for elimination.

The girls turn the television off and they all believed Jason was going to be chosen for elimination. The judges discuss who should go and Deborah thinks he should stay based on his personality however Robert discusses his $20 profit.

They talk about Max and his mistake at eliminating the ‘Aussie bum’ from the picture.

Max thinks Warwick should leave, but Warwick thinks he should stay because he is funny. Wendell thinks Max should go. The secretary then tells them to enter the board room (oh my god that was horrible) where Bouris is waiting for them.

He asks why Max brought Warwick and Wendell into the board room. Max says because of the lack of money they brought in. He would rather Mark eliminate Warwick. Warwick states that he had a bust finger and that Max’s leadership should cost him. He says he should stay because he is a hard worker and knows a lot of people.

Wendell thinks Warwick should go but thinks he should stay himself because of how hard he worked.

After the break, Mark compliments Max’s reputation on the outside; but on this occasion there was a bit of a glitch and it did come down to his ‘Aussie bum’ rule. Mark tells Wendell that he had a huge respect for him. On this occasion though; he didn’t get there financially.

Warwick is in the same boat.

Mark does congratulate Max for raising so much money and Wendell for raising more than Warwick. And with that;

 

Warwick… YOU’RE FIRED!

 

The boys leave dejectively and as Warwick leaves, the other two enter the safe room and the girls get a shock but for now, Warwick leaves ‘fuming’ and rooting for the girls (as he is famous for doing).

So overall, this episode did work well on its own, but it will get boring. There is no essence to this episode except for interviewing the losing team over and over again. The constant time filling recaps were horrendous. But in terms of quality, it was quite good; other than the secretary, who should be fired herself.

Oops, after writing this, I realise that the ‘Aussie Bum’ they were referring to was the company the guy in the SUV who made Pauline wash his car in his underwear belongs to.

Courtney’s Verdict: 8.0/10

 

What could be the most odd reality television series Australia has seen since, well, 2008 at least, celebrities will begin to pit themselves together for the sake of money and fortune, most of which is going to charity fortunately. Tonight, I believe a carwash is in order! If anything, it will be nice to see the always bubbly Polly Porter back at 7PM!

We’re given some sort of preview of the ups and downs we can expect and I already like Deni and Julia!

We head straight to a fancy room where the celebrities ‘meet for the first time’. There are a lot of bold statements being made here. Some of the comments, like those made by Pauline, seemed a bit contrived.

In walks Mark Bouris who welcomes them to the first ever Celebrity Apprentice. He tells them that this game is all about raising money. He goes to Max and asks him who he doesn’t want in his team. He goes for Jesinta straight away; telling them to fire her. Lisa doesn’t want Warwick, and neither does Pauline. I have just this second realised that these two went up against each other for a seat in the last election!

For their first challenge, Mark tells them it will be boys v. girls. He then introduces Brad Seymour who tells them that this challenge will see them starting a car washing business. He then introduces Deborah Thomas who tells them that they will have to think smart in this challenge; wash a thousand cars for $1 each; or one car for $1,000?

These two are his executives.

Mark tells them that the team, who makes the most money, wins. He tells them to utilise social media for their challenge. From the losing team, one will be fired.

The next morning, the girls get together and Polly wants to name the team ‘Caritas’ as it means charity in Latin (she doesn’t know any Latin). They shut it down straight away.

Julia goes for ‘Bouris’ babes’ which they all like; except Pauline who does not consider herself a babe. She doesn’t have a say in the end.

The boys get together and Jason believes alpha could be good, but Warwick wants ‘team Capper’. Wendell goes for ‘team unity’ which is accepted.

Both teams then elect PM’s with Jesinta designated the girl’s leader who goes for a ‘six star’ business model.

For the boys, Max wants to put his hand up and Jason thinks he should be saved for somewhere down the line. Does this mean that you can’t have the PM title more than one time? He is elected regardless and his strategy is to ring people for their money!

The boys want to utilise media such as Zoo magazine to market their company, but the girls want to use social media like Twitter. Pauline is a bit confuzzled with all the Twitter talk and just simply wants a ‘Please Explain’ poster on display. She also can’t pronounce ‘Resonate’ properly (‘it’s a term that ‘resonitate’s well with me’ she says).

With that, they are off and Jesinta has hired some of her Miss Universe colleagues to help out, so her and Polly go and get them dresses. Back at the board room, people are a bit angry that the project manager has left them; and they are frantically calling her every second they get.

Julia hopes they aren’t out having a good time; but as we see, they are simply having a ball trying dresses.

At Team Unity, they are booking in thousand dollar clients for their deal. Max is going mental with the news; so Shane decides to pull a prank and pretend to be a client wanting a $25,000 car wash. He doesn’t get that it is Shane until Shane actually has to take the phone away from his ear and TELL him!

The Bouris’ Babes are also raking in money, hoping to beat Max.

After the break, the contestants head out into the field and they organize people’s delegation of jobs. The girls aren’t so happy with how Jesinta handled the designation but they all seem to listen in the interest of washing cars!

Warwick and Wendell are out purchasing shirts for the team and they are happy to have been given to them for free. They have had to change the design and colour scheme, which annoys Didier. Warwick threatens to punch the aggravated model who leaves the confrontational situation with two fingers up!

To the girls and a sign they have put up isn’t getting Pauline’s seal of approval who calls it tacky. Who cares; the sign stays.

At the boy’s team, they are all getting annoyed that Max isn’t listening to them. Didier puts forth an idea, and they all agree on it (it is a job delegation idea) but Didier isn’t happy at all by the way the situation was dealt with.

Pauline is out sporting the ‘Please Explain’ banners for her team’s car wash and she seems very proud of herself. The team captains then get their teams pumped for the challenge as it begins. A big bus is first up for the boy’s and Didier is already a bit puffed out.

Next car is a Vittoria lager dressed car (product placement aplenty). Everything seems to be moving smoothly.

The girls are also getting their first customers, but Jesinta wants Julia to go out and spruik. From promising ‘international stars’ servicing cars; she is resorted to promising ‘to go nude’ with the lack of hits she is getting.

The boy’s are going out of control as Warwick begins to disobey orders and gets a bit niffy with Didier and his directions; opting for a massage from some models rather than help. Max is inside entertaining a baby.

Russell Crowe comes to the girl’s as a client and has promised a tweet promotion for them. The girls seem to be having fun washing these cars, especially the always funny Julia; a stark contrast to the trouble-stricken Team Unity.

Some guy brings in a forklift which he needs cleaning for $10,000! The girls are happy, but there’s another task needed to be complete. The pap has arrived and it is time for Jesinta to strip to her bikinis. Deni seems a bit jealous, but Jesinta seems a little embarrassed by the fact that these paps aren’t letting her do her real job (which in this case is car washing).

After the break, Team Unity has got their act together and Max is happy with all the business they are finally getting. Zoo babes have turned up and they were able to get $25,000 from donations. Jason has invited some dancers down to get the mood going and all the teams got in on the performance.

Meanwhile, back at the girls, Polly is putting her retail skills to good use at the cash register. Still, her slow moving work gets to Julia and Deni, who keeps calling her Poppy. Deni apparently makes a quip about not watching The Block; but Polly reminds her that 4 million other people did.

At the boy’s carwash, more clients are coming in, including a truck. Warwick still isn’t doing work and Shane dumps a batch of soapy water over the 80’s icon. He doesn’t seem to care. Surely they are doing this to increase content. It looked so scripted.

All of a sudden, the cars behind the truck that needs to be washed are getting impatient, and the contestants who are actually working are going their hardest while they bitch about him. Wendell, Jason and Didier are amongst the most vocal.

Max goes to look for him, but the team has decided he is not a team player.

Soon enough, the truck is done, but a customer has already become fed up, deciding to leave; costing the team $5,000. The team aint happy with Max, hoping that doesn’t lose them the game.

They actually travel to the girl’s carwash and as a fan of Pauline Hansen; the owner will give $50,000 to her if she washes his car in his underwear. Despite this being completely staged, I wonder if she will actually do it.

With 30 minutes remaining, the boy’s business is dwindling. Deborah arrives as business becomes stagnant. She interviews Max who is now just relying on people just turning up. He can’t see the team getting much more money.

Didier tells Jason that they better not chase the general public because the $50 they will pay won’t make any difference. Jason does not agree and Didier thinks it is poor form on Max’s behalf considering this is for charity.

Talking about doing things for charity, Pauline decides to get in the man’s underwear and wash the man’s car for the money and go ahead with the dare in the name of charity. And hey, she doesn’t look that bad in the attire! A clean and easy $50,000 I reckon!

Deni thanks her at least and even helps her out by singing the Australian National Anthem per request for the segment.

With fifteen minutes to go, both teams make a final push for sales. Jason pressures Max to get more cars and he accepts. The celebrities then go out to get more cars and soon enough, people come in. Didier says they made $500 out of their haul.

The girls are also cramming for last minute sales and Jesinta yet again has her shirt off. Pauline doesn’t want the contestants to bully people into doing it; like Polly (or Poppy as Deni says) who uses a megaphone to call people out of their apartments.

Jesinta pressures Pauline to stay out and spruik for the last few minutes, but having been outside for the best part of the day, she wants to go inside, feeling bullied by Jesinta.

Jesinta is annoyed that people are giving up a few minutes before the end. Soon enough; that time ends, and only the results remain to be revealed.

After the break, the celebrities head to the board room for those results. Max is happy to be in a boardroom!

Mark welcomes them to the room and he turns to Max who tells him their team was named Unity. Jesinta tells him about their name and Pauline tells Mark why she doesn’t like it (she doesn’t consider herself a babe). Mark then tells them that he thinks the name is entirely inappropriate and for the girls to never use his name in their name again, ever. It was actually quite tense to watch.

Deborah backs up his sentiments, saying they sound like suck ups.

Max thinks he has nailed the job but Shane brings up the concerns they had with his leadership and how he didn’t listen to anyone. Jason backs this up; saying he was able to provide the clients, but not the leadership.

Max says his goal was to win and he thinks he has been able to do this. He even challenges Mark, which doesn’t go down well.

Jesinta goes through their progress and Deni says they were aiming for a mixed market; washing cars for free and for thousands from big corporate magnates. Max was just interested in running the world’s most expensive car wash.

Deborah wonders if Max was able to get all of his celebrities on the red carpet at once but Max says that wasn’t his focus; he just wanted to get the money in.

Mark asks who on the female team got the biggest donation; and Pauline and Deni talk about the man who gave them $60,000 for Deni singing the anthem and Pauline washing the car in the given attire.

The boys are not happy; considering this was the guy they lost due to their slowness.

Jesinta thinks she has raised $17,000 for stripping down, but tells Mark she wouldn’t do that in a more professional setting. As the celebrities back up her decision to do this, she begins to cry.

Brad knows it didn’t start off well and Mark wants to know who she thinks didn’t pull her wait. She tells him twice that she thinks they all did well, but he doesn’t like that answer and asks her again! This is not a pageant, who didn’t pull their weight.

Jesinta says Polly & Julia just because they didn’t bring in as much money. Julia is annoyed as she believes she brought in the most people that day. Polly doesn’t know that many people but thinks she did pull in people.

Mark asks who on the other team would she fire and she says Max without a second thought. He begins to laugh and she wonders why he is laughing because he thinks the only people who can give to charity are those who can afford it.

She thinks he is arrogant and didn’t like how he dealt with it.

Max would fire Polly and Polly puts this down to her not having any contacts.

Mark tells them that this challenge was successful either way and tells them that between them, they raised $166,000+, but there can only be one winner.

The winning team was Bouris’ babes, landing the boy’s in elimination number one. The money will be going to Jim Synes Reach,

Mark tells Jesinta she did brilliantly, and they head into the green room where the fake secretary awaits.

That’s the end of the episode and how did it go? Well, like any Nine series. Full of product placements, a little bit fake, but good to watch. It was interesting seeing these celebrities compete in this challenge, but the product placement used when the cars with various logos pulled up was just cheesy.

Mark tries a little hard to be a big boss; he seems to have a grin on his face the entire way through his scenes. Sometimes, conflict seems a bit staged. Despite Warwick’s weird ways, I doubt he would attempt to get into a fist fight with a contestant like Didier on a small issue regarding shirts in the first episode. Didn’t buy it at all.

Because this blog is going up late enough, I will spare the details, and we will continue this discussion tonight.

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 7.7/10