Hey Hey Its Saturday

Hey Hey It’s Saturday will complete its extended first series of programs on July 21 with the return of Kylie Minogue to Australian television screens.

“Daryl and the Hey Hey team have done a terrific job with the show in a really competitive environment,” said Michael Healy today. “We always planned for the season to be in two bursts at the beginning and end of the year and it is a great tribute to the team that they have secured Kylie Minogue one of Australia’s most outstanding performers to appear on the final show for the first half run.”

“Negotiations for an exclusive Kylie edition of the show started back in early March so we are thrilled it’s finally happening. It’s a great way to finish our first season before we recess and plan for the second half.” Daryl Somers said today.

American singer, actress and all-round entertainer KELLY ROWLAND will appear on Hey Hey it’s Saturday tomorrow night at 7.30pm on Channel Nine (9.30pm in NSW and Qld).

Rowland, who rose to fame in the late 1990s as a founding member of girl group DESTINY’S CHILD, will chat with Hey Hey’s Danny Clayton in Los Angeles.

Tomorrow night’s show also features part two of Daryl Somers’ world exclusive interview with THE EAGLES, their first in three years. The band will serve up performances of Take It Easy and In the City, both recorded live as part of their Long Road out of Eden tour which has been running for more than two years and will conclude in Melbourne in December.

Veteran rocker ROSS WILSON, whose career spans more than 40 years, will sing the title track from I Come In Peace, his first album in eight years.

Country music sensation CATHERINE BRITT, who has enjoyed success both in her native Australia and the United States, will perform her latest single, Can’t Change a Thing.

Newly crowned world snooker champion NEIL ROBERTSON drops in for a chat with Daryl.

Plus OSSIE OSTRICH is back this week to take a look at what irks viewers in Wot Cheezes Me Orf.

HEY HEY IT’S SATURDAY: Tomorrow night at 7.30pm on Channel 9 (9.30pm in NSW and Qld)

Executives at the Nine Network are reportedly discussing the future of Hey Hey it’s Saturday, following renewed ratings pressure from last night’s dismal performance.

The two-hour program averaged 801,000 viewers nationally, which is a little over half the audience it attracted when it returned this year and a third of the audience who watched last year’s reunion specials, the Herald Sun reports.

The two nostalgic events on September 30 and October 7, performed remarkably well against Celebrity MasterChef, securing an audience of 2.169 million and 2.308m respectively. Even the premiere of this year’s return on April 14, pulled a strong 1.521m viewers, competing with the premiere of The Pacific.

Ratings began to slide particularly fast from the second episode. In recent weeks it has fallen from 1.101m to 1.003m, then to 995,000, 908,000 and now 801,000.

“Would they be happy with the figures — no. There is not a lot of options,” a Nine spokesman commented.

Meanwhile, a network insider confirmed that, “If it doesn’t hit a million, it is a big problem.”

Managing director of Fusion Strategy and media analyst, Steve Allen, said, “I’d take it off air immediately and put something else on next week.”

Initially, Nine is believed to have only wanted a small series of specials. However, host and co-producer, Daryl Somers, persuaded the network to increase its order to a twenty episodes season, consisting of two blocks of ten episodes. The network has since brought five of those episodes forward with plans to air the remaining five in the final quarter this year.

“We’ve always said that Hey Hey doesn’t have 20 episodes in it.

“It’s a joke that can’t go 20 times. It was loopy to run it continuously.”

Allen recognises the tough compeition in MasterChef Australia, but says the bigger problem is the show’s lack of new segments and creativity.

“It’s not fresh, they haven’t renovated the format, it’s not compelling viewing.

“People have abandoned a tired format that doesn’t have legs.”

Despite this, the broadcaster will likely hold out until later this month to make a decision on the program’s fate. Nine will be hoping that Kylie Minogue‘s appearance on July 21 will result in a much needed ratings boost.

Source: TSR

Hey Hey It’s Saturday is under fire after ratings for the variety show slipped further this week.

The show rated this week at just over half of what it did in its 2010 debut several months ago and around a third of what it did during its return specials last year.

MasterChef is continuing to pound Hey Hey on Wednesday nights on top of Highway Patrol, Police Under Fire, Spicks and Specks and Lie to Me all rating higher than the Channel Nine show.

“Would they be happy with the figures – no,” a Nine spokesman said.

“There is not a lot of options (to move it to another time slot or night).”

Media analyst Steve Allen believes the show must go.

“We’ve always said that Hey Hey doesn’t have 20 episodes in it,” Allen said.

“It’s a joke that can’t go 20 times. It was loopy to run it continuously.

“It’s not fresh, they haven’t renovated the format, it’s not compelling viewing.

“People have abandoned a tired format that doesn’t have legs.”

Source: News.com.au

JIMMY BARNES, one of the most popular and successful Australian singers of all time, will perform his new single, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, on Hey Hey it’s Saturday tomorrow night at 7.30pm on Nine.

The song is from hard-rockin’ Barnsey’s first original CD in more than 10 years.

Fellow Aussie rockers THIRSTY MERC will be in the studio to perform their new hit song, Mousetrap Heart. The ARIA-nominated band is preparing to tour Australia with their newly released third album.

The music continues with the 10-piece Melburnian ensemble THE CAT EMPIRE who will treat audiences to a lively performance of their new song, Feeling’s Gone.

From the makers of Irish dancing phenomenon Riverdance comes CELTIC WOMAN, an all-female music group. The girls will perform their rendition of Nil Se’n La, a popular Gaelic song.

We welcome back DANNY CLAYTON, who joins the Hey Hey team as a regular cast member. Danny and SUZE RAYMOND bring us a colourful report from the Supanova pop culture expo in Perth.

ANT & BECKS saddle up alongside RUSSELL GILBERT for the segment Lost for Words, while AKMAL SALEH returns to Hey Hey and will take part in Joking Off.

Red Faces acts feature not one, but three Zorros; a fun song about the useless stuff for sale on eBay; and ‘The Lone Cowgirl’ – when you see her, you’ll know why she’s alone.

And from 150,000 entries, we’re down to five finalists in our competition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Ford Falcon. Each of our finalists will be given a key, only one of which will fit a special edition Ford Falcon XR6 to be given away on the show.

HEY HEY IT’S SATURDAY: Tonight at 7.30pm on Channel Nine

With the State of Origin series already decided, Hey Hey its Saturday will not break for a week on July 7 when the third State of origin is played in Sydney.

While the State of Origin is seen in Sydney and Brisbane from 7.30pm July 7, Hey Hey its Saturday will air in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth at that time. In Sydney and Brisbane, Hey Hey will air around 10.30pm, after the State of Origin.

The July 7 episode of Hey Hey will be the 11^th out of 20 for the year. Originally, Hey Hey was to be played out in two blocks of 10 episodes, with the 10^th being on June 30. Nine have extended the first run to 15 episodes so they can see how it goes once Masterchef finishes in the third week of July.

Hey Hey has been falling in ratings overall, but performs very well in Melbourne which represents over half the audience watching the show. With overall ratings for the third State of Origin expected to be low compared to the first two, the move to show Hey Hey in other markets could help Nine win the night.

In recent weeks (non-origin), Ten have won Wednesday nights of the back of the strength of Masterchef and new episodes of Lie to Me that have been performing well. It would surely be embarrassing to Nine to lose to Ten on a State of Origin night.

Someone was quick with this. Before you watch, here is your “offensive language warning”.

Australia’s queen of pop, KYLIE MINOGUE, will make her first performance on Australian television in 10 years when she appears on Hey Hey it’s Saturday on Wednesday, July 21, at 7.30pm on Channel Nine.

“Hi Daryl, hey everyone, big hello from London,” Minogue said. “Hey Hey – you’re back! I’m suddenly eight years old, lying on the floor, watching Hey Hey it’s Saturday. I’ve always, always, always loved you and I’m going to be with you on July 21st. I’m going to come play with you and perform my new single so look out – and Dickie, I don’t want any grief from you. Doubt that’s going to happen, but I’ll see you guys soon.”

Minogue, who has sold more than 60 million records around the world, will perform two tracks from her eleventh studio album, Aphrodite, set for release on July 5. One of the tracks will be the first single off the album, All The Lovers, while the other will be the yet-to-be-determined second single.

“Kylie has had a rich history with Hey Hey it’s Saturday over the many years of the show, dating back to the 1980s when she was starting out,” Hey Hey host Daryl Somers said. “It’s a joy to have her on the show again.”

Accompanying Minogue will be a troupe of 25 dancers, with her choreographer jetting in from the UK to oversee the performance.

“No expense will be spared. It will be full on – with lighting, costumes and the wow factor that audiences have come to expect from a full-scale Kylie concert. This will be a very special performance. As they say, must-see TV,” Somers said.

As well as performing two new songs, Minogue will stick around for the whole show to chat with Daryl and the rest of the cast. She will also make an appearance on at least one segment, possibly Red Faces or Celebrity Head.

“This is so exciting for all of us,” Somers said. “Kylie is a world-class artist. It’s wonderful to see how career has taken off and realise we were there on the ground floor when she started.

“It will be like catching up with an old mate. She has remarked to me over the years how much she loved the show. I guess she grew up watching it, like so many other people. Then she became involved in the show throughout her early career. So it’s wonderful we’re still around to welcome her back.”

HEY HEY IT’S SATURDAY FEATURING KYLIE MINOGUE: Wednesday, July 21, at 7.30pm on Channel Nine

Underbelly – Final three weeks.
Australia’s highest rating drama show at the moment Underbelly: The Golden Mile has just three weeks to go before it concludes. The final episode of the third series of the franchise will air on June 27, at 8.30pm.

The conclusion of Underbelly prompts the question as to what Nine will schedule in its place from Sunday July 4. Possible candidates could be the second season of Rescue: Special Ops which aired in that timeslot last year or one of their new cop dramas like AFP or Cops: LAC.

Seven Sunday nights:
Seven could well be waiting for Underbelly to end before committing to any new Sunday night programming from 8.30pm. This Sunday June 13, Seven have the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall on, with next Sunday’s (June 20) programming at this stage still “to be advised” although looking at the timing on that night, it would appear a movie is most likely. Pitching new programming against existing high rating shows can generally result in a poorer result and potentially damage the long term potential of a new show.

One thing seems to be for sure though – Seven will not be launching Dancing with the Stars on Sunday June 20 although with the night of Tuesday June 22 filled with three hours of “to be advised” Dancing could make a move back to Tuesday nights to fill the timeslot vacated by Australia’s Got Talent. Sunday Night remains in the program on Sunday June 20, as does Border and The Force. Last year, Dancing started the first Sunday of July.

Hey Hey: extended first run
Back to Nine, and it appears the network are going to extend Hey Hey’s first run beyond the ten weeks it had previously planned for. The 10^th episode of Hey Hey is due to air June 30, with the third State of Origin airing in the following week, July 7.

An extra five episodes of Hey Hey are to be played from July 14, meaning the first run will conclude (assuming no off weeks) August 18. This would give Hey Hey an opportunity to see how it rates without having master chef on Ten for its first hour.

A further five episodes would then air later in the year making up the complete order of 20. Surely it would be better for Nine just to keep going and play out the full 20 rather than filling Wednesday nights with alternative programming until Hey Hey returns?

CROWDED HOUSE, one of the finest Australasian pop bands of all time, will play an exclusive set for Hey Hey it’s Saturday viewers tomorrow night at 7.30pm on Channel Nine.

The band will perform their new single Saturday Sun as well as their classic track Mean to Me, live via satellite from the Hammersmith Apollo in London.

Aussie rock outfit KISSCHASY will treat viewers to a live performance of their latest single, Dinosaur.

JOHN EDWARD of Crossing Over fame, one of the world’s foremost psychic mediums, will demonstrate his uncanny ability to predict future events and communicate with those who have crossed over to the “other side”.

We’ll also catch up for a chat with audience favourite JACKI MACDONALD.

Funnyman RUSSELL GILBERT unveils his latest project, Channel Gilbo. Poor old Russ has been pitching concepts for TV shows around town, without success. So he decided to launch his own channel. This week we get a sneak preview of some of the shows that will go to air on Channel Gilbo.

ROB MILLS, fresh from a two-year stint playing the role of Fiyero in the musical Wicked, will jam with the Hey Hey band throughout the show.

Rising singer-songwriter MARK COLLIS, who has supported Nickleback and John Farnham, will show audiences why he is being touted as the “next big thing” in Australian music.

And OSSIE OSTRICH returns to the Hey Hey desk this week to present a series of bloopers from newspapers around the nation in Media Watch Press.

HEY HEY IT’S SATURDAY: Tomorrow night at 7.30pm on Channel Nine