Australia’s Got Talent

What a week in TV – with so many shows to chose from and so much competition between Seven and Nine in particular.

Thankfully, both networks are giving viewers a second chance to see their hit shows of the week, with many encores over this weekend (April 20-22) and at other times. Ten are getting into the act as well, with an encore screening of Offspring this weekend. Continue reading »

In Sydney the auditions are in their third night.

The first act is the dance troupe of seven, Ziggity Dance Crew aged between 9 and 13. They are super cute and have been together for just over a year. Their heroes are Justice Crew, who won previously If they win they will move out of home, haha. Kyle asks them if their good, and the cutie spokesman says “you decide”. They are really good, mini little dynamos and the music is fantastic. Continue reading »

After a recap of last nights show that included a poodle driving a car, a mindreader and great stuntmen.

It’s now the 2nd round of auditions and here they are:

Name – Sean Bridges, 41
Talent – Street Performer
“Bike Boy” as he is known will ride a bike while juggling fire and with 26 years experience you would expect alot. He tries to be funny dropping his fire sticks , but alas, doesn’t even make it to his bike. NO’s from Dannii and Brian. See ya! Continue reading »

Grant Denyer is back to kick off auditions of Australia’s biggest and most unpredictable talent show.

Who will be unearthed as this country’s greatest undiscovered talent by impressing celebrity judges BRIAN MCFADDEN, DANNII MINOGUE, and KYLE SANDILANDS. Ultimately it’s Australia who will decide who will take home the massive grand prize of $250,000.

Tonight is the first night and the first contestant is – Continue reading »

The Block, 7pm, Nine
Back again at 7 O’Block – first of elimination week.

The Voice, 8pm, Nine
Over 2 mililon tuned in last night, how many will be back tonight?

The Biggest Loser, 7pm, Ten
Following on from last nights’ shock elmination.

Australia’s Got Talent, 7.30pm, Seven
Back for a new season.

Revenge, 9.00pm, Seven
Returns after a week off with major twists and turns.

All blogged tonight on Throng, except for Revenge.

Easter non-ratings for 2012 runs from April 1-14 this year, meaning many shows will be either off or in repeats during that time. But come the week after Easter non-ratings, and we a re set to be bombarded with choice for returning shows and premiering shows.

Updated April 15, 2012. Continue reading »

This year, the Nine Network have decided to pit their ratings hopeful, The Voice, up against Seven’s proven juggernaut, Australia’s Got Talent. With the latter at its peak popularity but the former lighting up screens abroad, exactly what can viewers expect from this looming battle?

This year, we saw Nine’s Excess Baggage go up against Ten’s The Biggest Loser; a battle between two like-shows which saw one absolutely smash the other. In this case, Ten’s The Biggest Loser had the advantage of a strong fan base, years of experience and an early start. Still, Excess Baggage had the advantage of a fresh start, a good lead in and a f***-ton of promotion.

There are many similarities between the just-gone battle of the bulge, and the upcoming battle of the voice; however there are also many different factors.

When The Voice and Australia’s Got Talent begin, they’ll be doing so in the same week. The Voice will actually be airing before Australia’s Got Talent, and has the advantage of being launched on Nine’s (and television’s) night of nights. It will also benefit from what should be a good Block lead in on Tuesday and Wednesday.

To me, this is the best thing The Voice has going for it. That, and possibly some very good promotions, which has captured me more than those of Australia’s Got Talent based on the fact that we can actually hear the singing, and feel the emotion, of the contestants. Australia’s Got Talent’s promotions are just too ‘sneak peak-y’ for me.

But, if The Biggest Loser’s longevity and fan-base could have helped it beat Excess Baggage, then surely Australia’s Got Talent’s phenomenal fan base, which just seems to grow and grow at unprecedented rates, can help it trump out Nine’s new offering. It also has a persistent 7.30pm start time. The Voice, as we know, begins at different times every night in its first week. What we saw from The Renovators, inconsistent start times are not a good sign.

But could it be possible that Australia’s Got Talent is getting too old? While it may not be showing the decline other reality television shows succumb to, its demise is inevitable, and more than likely, this year could be the beginning of the end…oh, how pessimistic I know!

To judge how each show is going, it will be important to see how the two shows go when they are head to head with each other. Reason being? In the UK, where Britain’s Got Talent (also currently in its sixth season) and The Voice (also currently in its first season) are running up against each other, an odd pattern is forming.

While Britain’s Got Talent regularly pips The Voice in final ratings, this is only because the two shows ONLY OVERLAP FOR 20 MINUTES. During that 20 minute period, Britain’s Got Talent is actually beaten soundly by The Voice.

For example, just last week, Britain’s Got Talent scored 10.28 million viewers to The Voice’s 9.0m. However, in their overlap, The Voice actually grabbed 9.8m to BGT’s 7.0m. This week, the third week of this competition, The Voice has actually pipped BGT with 9.54m to 9.43m. Britain’s Got Talent was saved from being beaten overall because of good figures from ITV1′s (the channel on which it airs) +1 catch up service. (source: Digital Spy)

But as you can probably tell, there are a lot of differences to the way Britons and Australians view their reality television. In the UK, both shows only air once a week; and both air at consistent timeslots. They also air on Saturday’s, which wouldn’t benefit Australians at all.

But if this proves anything, it is that Australia’s Got Talent will have a fight on its hands. My prediction? I actually think The Voice will win. It’s inconsistent timeslot is more than made up for by its brilliant promotion, strong panel and the amount of hype generated. Ideally, this will be a tight battle, just to make things interesting.

So what do you think? Who will win; The Voice, or Australia’s Got Talent? Which will you be watching? And what will this do to MasterChef Australia’s audience?

The Voice begins on Nine Sunday April 15 at 6.30pm. Blogs to be provided by Loz.

Australia’s Got Talent begins on Seven Monday April 16 at 7.30pm Blogs to be provided by Alicia B.

Throng has you covered for this whacky reality season.

On Sundays we will have Dancing with the Stars, The Voice and Biggest Loser until Masterchef.

Mondays will be The Voice, Australia’s Got Talent ,The Block and Celebrity Apprentice and either Loser or Masterchef

Tuesdays will be Australia’s Got Talent, Loser or Masterchef, Voice and The Block.

Wednesdays is Australia’s Got Talent, Loser or Masterchef, The Block and Celebrity Apprentice.

Thursdays are Masterchef or Loser, The Block and Celebrity Apprentice.

Fridays just have recap of The Block.

Courtney will recap ALL the shows, but for Australia’s Got Talent and The Voice which current writer Loz will do. You will know her from her Rafters and Home and Away recaps. I will do Dancing With the Stars and Australia’s Got Talent – expect some harsh comments and sarcastic humour!

Courtney therefore will be doing Loser/Masterchef, The Block, Celebrity Apprentice and later Australia’s Amazing Race. How unbelievable is that!

Throng has all the recaps for you – should you miss an episode and the greatest of thanks go to Courtney for her crazy love of reality TV and Loz!

Much loved audience warm-up buffoon, Dave Eastgate, is a household name to the Australia’s Got Talent and X Factor fanatics keeping the crowds amused, confused and under control during the long tapings. 

Keep an eye out for his hilarious cameo in DUI (Let’s Get High) – the comedy video that received over 25,000 hits in one day on Perez Hilton.  

Also starring Priscilla Bonnet and Krew Boylan it was nominated for Best Music Video at the LA Comedy Festival and is currently being developed into a TV series with Producer, Rick Kowalski of Quail Television  (At Home With Julia), which will be shot in the United States.

Once again, we ask – just how much is too much reality TV?

From April 15, there will be major chunks of our weekly schedule where reality TV will air on Seven, Nine and Ten at the same time.

Even without confirmation of all timeslots (at time of posting), it is clear that reality fans will need at least a twin channel PVR, and the ability to watch a third channel live as well as alot of time on their hands to be able to catch everything on offer from April 15. This does not take into account titles coming to Foxtel, nor US titles in the mix.

At 6.30pm Sunday April 15, Ten will continue with The Biggest Loser. At the same time, Nine will launch new singing reality show The Voice, while Dancing with the Stars is back on Seven for yet another season.

Monday April 16 sees The Biggest Loser continue at 7pm, now up squarely against Nine’s The Block 2012, which is set to air 7pm weeknights. The Biggest Loser and The Block will air at the same time Monday to Thursday.

Interrupting Nine and Ten’s 7pm starting shows, will be Seven’s Australia’s Got Talent from 7.30pm Monday April 16, continuing on Tuesday and Wednesday night that week.

On Wednesday April 18, Nine premieres the second season of Celebrity Apprentice Australia from 8pm.

At time of writing, we do not yet know what other nights The Voice will air on, other than its premiere night, nor if Celebrity Apprentice will air more than once per week.

But even before these times are added to the schedule, there are timeslots where all three commercial networks are airing reality TV. For those who do not like reality TV? Try ABC, SBS or time to give the digitals a look-in during prime time.

Looking at Sunday – Wednesday, here’s the summary of overlapping reality shows across the three commercial channels.

Sunday April 15
6.30-7.30 3 – DWTS / Loser / Voice
7.30-9.00 1 – DWTS

Monday April 16
7.00-7.30 2 – Loser / Block
7.30-8.00 3 – Loser / Block / AGT
8.00-9.00 1 – AGT

Tuesday April 17
7.00-7.30 2 – Loser / Block
7.30-8.00 3 – Loser / Block / AGT
8.00-8.30 1 – AGT

Wednesday April 18
7.00-7.30 2 – Loser / Block
7.30-8.00 3 – Loser / Block / AGT
8.00-8.30 2 – AGT / CelebAp
8.30-9.00 1 – CelebAp

In coming weeks, The Biggest Loser will conclude, and Masterchef will take over its 7pm timeslots, as well as at least an hour on Sunday nights. Additional timeslots for The Voice and Celebrity Apprentice not yet confirmed. Australia’s Got Talent will settle into a regular weekly Tuesday night timeslot, and The Amazing Race Australia will air probably from a date in May.