The Block

With their movie-star looks these twenty-somethings seem to have the energy, skill and determination to beat any competition.

Chris and Carrie (both 27) have been together for 10 years. They met while still in school, working part-time jobs, and hit it off when they discovered a common love of travel. They have spent most of their 20s doing just that.

Carrie always knew Chris would eventually propose, but when and how came completely out of left field. “He dropped to one knee and asked me while we were on a train to visit Hiroshima in Japan,” she said. Chris just thought it was the right moment. “And I wanted it to be really memorable. Would you forget that?” They’ve been married for 18 months.

The couple live in Caringbah, part of the Sutherland Shire in Sydney’s south. Carrie works in customer service for an airline while Chris is a structural landscaper. They both harbour an abiding passion for renovating and being on The Block. They narrowly missed out on being cast for The Block 2010 but they’re nothing if not persistent, and this year here they are. Chris warns everyone that they are ultra-competitive: “We mean to win and we’re up for anything.”

They already have two renovations under their belt: a two-bedroom unit renovated in three months for just $25,000 and a four-bedroom house renovated over 15 months. “We renovated the house while we were living in it, so we know what it takes to win The Block,” says Carrie.

Chris reckons his only weakness is being a perfectionist and having no patience when tradesmen are late or don’t turn up, while Carrie tends to over-react when things go off the rails. “But Chris is the one who remains cool and calm,” she says. “We both know problems don’t fix themselves.”

Together they operate like a well-oiled machine. Carrie has the design eye while Chris gets on with the job. “I work out what I’d like then get out of the way and let him make it a reality,” she says. 

City girl Polly (24) loved all the earlier series of The Block so much that she made her country boy Warwick (27) watch all of them from start to finish. When The Block 2010 ended they sat back, looked at each other and realised they were thinking the same thing: let’s try and get on the next show. And here they are.

Warwick, or Waz to his friends, is described by Polly as the love of her life and an absolute rascal. But he’s a rascal with a heart of gold who has cycled thousands of kilometres around Australia for charities, from Perth to Sydney and Townsville to Broome.

They met at a mutual friend’s birthday party but Polly had a boyfriend overseas and there were no sparks initially. Six months later at a group surfing weekend Waz snatched a sneaky kiss. One date later they were an item. That was three years ago.

Self-confessed “Miss Serious” Polly is glad when Waz lightens her up. “He’s just good fun. He balances us out.” Waz is devoted to Polly and says she’s incredibly kind and caring. The happiest moment of his life was telling Polly he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. “She didn’t make a fuss but I could tell she was waiting to hear it. She’s still waiting for a ring, but she knows how devoted I am to her.”

They own an investment property in Sydney’s eastern suburbs that they’ve partially renovated. But although they don’t have as much experience as some couples Waz isn’t deterred. “Polly has amazing organising skills and an eye for what looks good. I have never seen her back down from a challenge. Competitiveness is strong in this one.”

Polly is thrilled by the challenge ahead. “We have tenants in our unit and have lived in rental properties where we weren’t able to apply the Waz and Pol touch. I’m really looking forward to creating a space we can be proud of, and say we did that.”

Polly fusses over the fine details and Warwick never takes his eye off the big picture. Waz is also ready to dive in with that typical quiet country enthusiasm. “I’ll give 100 per cent and give anything a go. I’m not scared to try, learn or be shown anything, even if it takes 10 gos. I’m not a quitter.”

They are convinced they have what it takes to win and when they do they plan on travelling for a year, first to the Antarctic then through South America and Europe. When they get home they want to buy another property together and “maybe start a real estate empire”.

For sisters Katrina (33) and Amie (31) the greatest concern is being away from their babies and husbands for eight weeks. “We know it’s daunting — two mums from the country tackling The Block on our own. But we reckon we’ll give those city-slickers a real run, so bring it on,” says Amie.

These domestic goddesses, who describe themselves as “crazy, crazy, crazy ladies”, have five kids and reckon they might get more sleep while they’re away than they do at home.

They certainly have a wealth of experience. Both women have built new homes and Katrina has also renovated a 1930s dwelling. These projects provided invaluable insights into the minefield that property development can be, from planning and budgeting to choosing colours, products and tradies. But they love the end result, says Katrina, “where all your hard work is on show, with the excitement of the possibilities we can create”.

To say the sisters are motivated is an understatement. Apart from raising families and developing properties Katrina works in real estate and does freelance social-media work, while Amie is a casual school teacher doing part-time university studies.

When they married the sisters realised their husbands’ businesses meant they could no longer live around the corner from each other. Katrina lives in Wagga Wagga and Amie is a couple of hours away in Thurgoona, outside Albury.

The Block represents a rare opportunity for the girls to spend time together participating in a challenging, creative enterprise. They have similar tastes and share a common-sense, gutsy, get on with it approach. They are confident their personalities will always pull things together. “We were both brought up with the same drive, motivation and organisation skills. Our parents did well,” Katrina says.

Amie describes herself as the organiser who knows how to get things done. “I’m a leader. I’ll speak up. I push until I get what I want.” Katrina is a whirl of creativity. “I’ve got that many tricks up my sleeve, I’ve got ideas that are just flowing. My brain is going to explode.”

They eventually want to be their own bosses, running businesses that provide the money and flexibility to come and go as they please. The sisters hope The Block will provide a massive step towards finding that ideal balance between work, family and play.

The youngest couple ever to appear on The Block met six years ago when Josh (24) crashed a party for Jenna (23). Since then they’ve been inseparable and plan to get married. Their friends pester them about it but they claim to be just too busy. Josh says, “I wanted to get a ring but I bought her a house instead.” Jenna doesn’t seem to mind. “I know I have to wait but we want to get to a certain place in our life first.”

This down-to-earth country couple have considerable experience for their age, having renovated their first home, in Albury, for $30,000. They moved to Melbourne and recently bought their second house at auction. “It will be the next reno we do after The Block. We’re on our way and think we’re two or three houses away from our dream home in Melbourne’s Albert Park,” says Josh.

Jenna has a clear vision for their future: a dream home, a boat, and twins. They also share a guilty pleasure, being on a quest to find Melbourne’s best parmigiana.

Josh walks the walk. He works in plumbing and construction and has started studying construction management. He does everything he can himself. “There’s not much I can’t handle and if I don’t know how to do it then I learn.” He also admits to a fiery temper when he’s working. Jenna has to remind him not to take it out on the screws: “It’s usually not their fault.”

She’s a hairdresser by day but renovation is her passion. “I watch all the renovation shows. It’s my obsession. I love to imagine a space when it is just bare bones and think about what would work.”

They are very hands-on and confident. Jenna does all the budgeting, sourcing bargains and keeping Josh fired up. He handles the designs and planning. Jenna sometimes stresses out if things don’t go to plan. “I tend to think my way is the only way and I hate having to admit when I’m wrong. It’s a weakness, I know, and it can cause friction. But Josh tries to stay calm for both of us and find a way around any problem.”

They intend to take on The Block with all guns blazing and are tipped to be the couple who’ll set the cracking pace. Their watch word is motivation.

The contestants have been picked and have moved into those four ugly, hideous terrace houses for the next 8 weeks. Tonight, they finally begin to deuglify them! What does this show have in store for us this week?

We start with a recap of the previous week’s events which decided that Jenna & Josh, Polly & Waz, Katrina & Amie and Tania & Rod would move on.

For some reason, the ‘key and door’ challenge was made up to be some sort of game changer. All the challenge determined was who got first dibs on the house of their choice which would have happened in some form or another anyway.

So the show starts with Scott explaining that the contestants should have been careful what they wished for as we get a dramatic look at the contestants moving into their luxurious abodes. The image of Jenna & Josh standing out in the backyard (which looks like a Romanian slum) just sums up the job perfectly.

In big letters that come onto the screen, Scott reveals that ‘the game has changed’. Seriously, is this just a promo, or the actual show?

Finally we get a preview of Shelley Craft’s role in the show as we take a look at her challenges that will take place on Tuesday nights.

There’s a brand new judging system as well, getting a score out of ten on a few aspects of their house. And to cap this all off, there’s a twist that will blow the game apart! Be careful Nine; better deliver this said ‘twist’.

To be honest, the first part of this episode is just a massive preview that looks more like one of those dodgy sneak peaks and it doesn’t really help with the smoothness of the episode but it does give us an insight of some of the attitude’s these contestants will show when they are put in stressful situations.

It amazes me that the opening titles don’t roll until 4 minutes into the show; definitely showing signs of time filling.

We return to the events of last week’s Friday episode where the contestants enter the house (I actually thought they had done this before the opening credits). In house three, Katrina & Amie have entered to find a construction site, not a house.

These ocker girls begin the tour with Katrina uttering a Kath & Kim line to describe the house- ‘noice, unusual, different’- definitely loving the humour.

They look around quite shocked at their surroundings and make funny sarcastic comments that crack me up;

KATRINA: ‘Nice floorboards (trips over a floorboard)’

 

Or;

AMIE: (in dilapidated kitchen) ’This is the kitchen no doubt!’

 

What is most surprising is the fireplace in the supposed kitchen!

Meanwhile in number one, Jenna & Josh move into their house which is no better. Their reactions are glummer than those of Amie & Katrina.

Josh comments that the couple would love to own a double frontage house like number one, however they have a job to do before getting this one up to living standard.

They find that the back wall of the house is in fact the outside wall. They push it in to reveal the backyard; the Romanian slum as I call it. It has holes everywhere from where the house was before. Half a wall has been left undemolished and it just looks helpless.

Meanwhile, Tania & Rod move into house four. As Rod explains, it has a very unique frontage and seems interesting. But when they go inside, they realise this house actually looks like it is about to collapse; half the bloody house is missing! The back door is nearly off its hinges and their backyard; well they can’t go outside safely that’s for sure. This looks like the only house where NO room is recognisable.

The good news is their floor isn’t too bad and they can start on it straight away. Also, they have a mattress for a bed to work with.

Now for the least experienced renovators, Polly & Waz, they get house two. As they lost Friday’s challenge, they didn’t get to pick this house, they had to settle for it but it might not be the worst of the bunch.

They go inside to see a wet brick wall held together by glue that is dripping off the side of the wall. Like Tania & Rod, they see a stamp saying ‘week one’. They head into the other rooms and comment on the stench of the house. They are expecting to see something dead it is that bad. On the constructive side of things, the house is in tact at least; just the individual elements suck in their own right.

After a break, we get the back story of Polly & Waz which, coupled with Lazy Song by Bruno Mars, was quite sweet. It didn’t run for long before we move back into the events of day 1. In house three, Katrina & Amie are still gawking over some of the half finished rooms and the smells of the house. They still laugh as they look at asphalt that looks like ‘poo’. It’s quite funny to see, but these kindred souls look like they can break pretty easily.

In house four, Tania & Rod are having conflicting predictions of the house. Tania is happy that it is a big space and has a lot of things to work with but Rod is a bit thrown by it all. He is happy that the under construction rooms have new building elements to it.

At Polly & Waz’s house, the feeling is uniform, it will be a HUGE and horrible job.

To the youngest couple, Jenna & Josh, they seem to like some of the wardrobes and the little features of the rooms.

Katrina & Amie have been through all their rooms and realise there is no bathroom or toilet (Amie seemed to go on about the loss of a bathroom more than the loss of the toilet) however going around the corner, they find a shed with a muddy, foul and disgusting toilet & bathroom.

The teams has two sheds however, one for the amenities and one for tools.

Back at their houses, they also find things like beanies, jumpers (courtesy of Mitre 10 by the look of it), phone’s, drills and on top of everything else, laptops, vouchers and fridges!

The teams go through their vouchers before they begin the cleanup. Each team must now get rid of the rubbish, cabinets, fireplaces, rugs, carpet etc that they don’t want.

In itself, this is quite a job however Jenna & Josh are using the carpet to make a rug and the paper for the wall painting.

Now for a weird scene, Polly & Waz going through ‘The Block’ website to see the profiles of the other couples. Coupled with a few back stories, it is just a huge promotion of the website however it’s funny to see the couple gawk over the experience of some of the other teams.

The contestants now get ready for bed and they record a video diary for us before going to bed for day 2.

When we return, we get the back story of Tania & Rod about their renovating dreams. We also look at Tania & Rod’s lives on a construction site and their hobbies.

The sun rises for Day 2, the contestants are woken with a knock. Katrina & Amie are less than impressed to wake up as they talk about the ‘Hilton’ or something.

In their week one room, Tania & Rod are sipping coffee as Rod nearly falls through the floor! They plan their job as Katrina & Amie have a shower. When Amie comes back from the shower, she is unhappy to see the other teams looking at her in just a towel.

At 9PM, council noise restrictions are lifted and it’s time for work. The on site construction workers come around to put in some windows.

Amie & Katrina are still removing things from their week one room and they are a little bothered by how heavy some of the things they have to remove including the stove which Josh helps them with.

Polly is on the phone trying to find a builder but she nearly breaks down when she can’t find anything. Waz tells her it will be ok, they can try it themselves!

The construction workers arrive at Tania & Rod’s house with their windows while Polly & Waz finally find a builder and are over the moon when they find out the builder can come today!

We get a back story (a funny one at that) of Katrina & Amie before we return to the events of day 2. Back on the block, the sisters are trying to remove a cabinet (how much stuff do they need to move) and yet again yell the words ‘we need a man’. Luckily, their builder comes and helps them move their cabinet before another builder shows up! How many builders do they need but Katrina didn’t want someone coming in telling them they’re up ‘sh*t creek’. With two builders, there are two opinions but they offer some advice to the confused Katrina & Amie.

In the end, they convince the sisters to remove a fireplace, something they did want. At Polly & Waz’s house, they have a fireplace that actually looks really nice.

Polly & Waz’s builder arrives and answers some of their most important questions; and there were many questions. They begin by knocking down the wall paper to start over, a job that is easy for the inexperienced pair.

Back at the sister’s house, three MORE builders have turned up and they are all deliberating on what to do with the week one room. It’s quite funny to see the sisters in this predicament.

Tania & Rod haven’t got a builder right now, however Rod, an experienced builder, begins on the room by removing the floor however with council restrictions quickly approaching (3pm), they have to hurry.

When 3pm Friday hits, tools are done for the weekend as council restrictions come into place. Scott comes in to the sister’s house which is now void of the builders and brings some flowers for Amie with a message from her husband Josh. It is their anniversary.

With the work finished for the week, the room has been stripped back and it looks clean at least, but no where near finished!

We get a cheeky look at Jenna & Josh’s back story which looks like quite an interesting one. We are back for day 3 at house three; Amie & Katrina remake their design plan as Jenna & Josh show for lights at the shops.

The day doesn’t start well as Josh dings the brand new car and Tania & Rod are conveniently on scene to give him a bit of flack for it.

Katrina & Amie are in the car driving around and the funny comments from the two girls just keep on flowing. Back at the accident site, Rod is still giving Josh a bit of a hard time for the crash.

At the end of the day, Scott is cooking a barbecue complete with beers as the happy family toast in a very lovely scene of togetherness with Birds of Tokyo playing in the background. Scott tells them that they are a happy family (even joking around about Josh’s Corolla)… until tomorrow! The music stops dead as we head for an ad break. Ooo the announcement looks juicy!

As Day 4 arises, it’s Monday and the council noice constructions go out the window. Katrina has the builders working like crazy as they have a bit of breakfast. So how much of the room do the contestants HAVE to renovate; or do the builders do it for them while they all sit back and relax? I’m guessing they just do the painting and the furnishings.

At house four, revisit Rod’s near fall through the floor as the plasterers and painters arrive. At Josh & Jenna’s house, they are measuring up stuff before Scott tells all the contestants to go to Carpenters Lane in Collins Street.

They all stop work and go over to see what is there and they meet the wonderful Shelley Craft. She tells them that she will be hosting the challenges. The contestants will play for money and this week, they are playing ‘run for your money’.
There’s a board game sitting on the table. Shelley moves a piece around the board telling them as they move their piece around, they must go to the destination picked and find a big red house statue. Each red house is worth $5,000 in cash. But there’s a twist, the first couple with 5 houses will not only win $20,000, but the master key to ALL four houses!

The winners can move into ANY house on the block! WHAT, that IS ridiculous! These contestants have just started and there might already be a game change.

Well, very impressive episode first up as we move into the usual format and that HUGE twist at the end a very big enticer to return!

I wasn’t too impressed however, with the beginning of the episode. It was very choppy and at times I was confused as to whether it was a promo, or a sneak peak or the actual real time events. I was shocked when the title sequence finally came on!

It was also a bit repetitive at times; showing the contestants ‘move in’ about three times in one episode; it definitely wasn’t a good look.

Content wise, this show is great thanks to those sisters. Their quotes are brilliant and one of them may just become a staple in culture hereafter (maybe). All in all, I just cannot wait for the contestants to begin to crack (although Polly is well on her way) and much closer to now, I can’t wait for tomorrow’s challenge.

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 8.8/10

So I thought I’d return to do this list again now that proper information is available, just as an easy visual for people who don’t want to sift through ratings and find their favourite show. Here is a clear list of ALL reality television episodes (or average of multiple episodes), their ratings (or, again, the average of multiple episodes) and their weekly ranking.

 

1 Masterchef Australia Wed Ten 1,778,000 512,000 582,000 303,000 180,000 201,000
2 Australia’s Got Talent-Tue Seven 1,756,000 526,000 546,000 283,000 209,000 192,000
4 Masterchef Australia Mon Ten 1,692,000 430,000 620,000 274,000 189,000 179,000
6 Masterchef Australia Sun Ten 1,615,000 510,000 504,000 251,000 168,000 182,000
7 Masterchef Australia Tues Ten 1,597,000 425,000 533,000 265,000 196,000 178,000
8 Dancing With The Stars Seven 1,550,000 450,000 437,000 311,000 175,000 178,000
10 Masterchef Australia Thurs Ten 1,510,000 398,000 486,000 287,000 169,000 170,000
16 The Amazing Race Australia Seven 1,214,000 338,000 411,000 200,000 112,000 155,000
22 The Block Nine 1,044,000 298,000 381,000 176,000 83,000 106,000
27 Masterchef Australia – Masterclass Ten 978,000 251,000 353,000 159,000 113,000 102,000

 

So MasterChef is definitely a clear winner of the week for its Wednesday edition. Australia’s Got Talent hasn’t been able to recover from the other week when its numbers were down due to the State of Origin.

The number for The Block is an average of the five episodes for the week as Nine doesn’t split the episodes into individual codings.

Other than that, pretty standard week all round. If I do this next week, I will provide a week on week comparison for each show to see whether it is building on the previous week; or falling short.

One last note; there will be major disruptions to my blogging schedule on Tuesday due to events happening on my end. Due to this, blog posts for ALL Tuesday shows will be up on Wednesday however bare in mind, Wednesday is pretty busy as well, and so if all doesn’t go to plan, I will let you know as soon as possible of further changes. This message will be repeated in ALL blogs from Sunday & Monday.

Nepals Stolen Generation, CNN, 10pm
Partnering with the CNN Freedom Project, Demi Moore, the actress and activist joins 2010 CNN Hero of the Year Anuradha Koirala and her organization, MAITI Nepal, which has rescued more than 12,000 stolen Nepalese children from sex trafficking since 1993, to collaborate on this documentary about the children of Nepal.

Dolphins Of Shark Bay, ABC1, 7.30pm
New insights into the lives of wild dolphins living in the shark-infested waters of Western Australia’s spectacular Shark Bay.

Downton Abbey, Seven, 8.30pm
The village is preparing for its annual flower show. Isobel and Violet are in conflict over Violet’s long-held Best Bloom title. Mary is introduced to a potential suitor, yet she appears to be more interested in Matthew. A valuable snuff box goes missing, and Mrs Patmore tearfully reveals her fears to Carson that her career may be coming to an end.

The Block, Lifestyle Home, 8.30pm
This is the first series of the Channel Nine show currently in it’s fourth season. Tonight see the precious Amity try and launch a singing career from a renovation show.

xXx, Gem, 9.30pm
Xander Cage is your standard adrenaline junkie with no fear and a lousy attitude. When the US Government “recruits” him to go on a mission, he’s not exactly thrilled. His mission: to gather information on an organization that may just be planning the destruction of the world, led by the nihilistic Yorgi. Stars Vin Diesel.

 

Well guys it’s no secret we are now reaching the half way mark for the ratings year 2011 and with one extra reality show added to the mix this week (and plenty more to come), you can really appreciate how alive and well reality television is in our current lives. Let’s take a snapshot of this from the past week!

Dancing with the Stars kicked off the week yet again as six dancers took to the floor. It was a tight battle with a lot of dancers tying with their competitors in the judges scoring. A quick boy’s v girl’s dance off quickly sorted this out as Damien danced his way to the top of the leaderboard in the wake of Nick Bracks leaving in sixth place.

With Nick’s departure, only five dances and three weeks remain until the big finale where one star; Damien Leith, Haley Bracken, Samantha Armytage, Manu Feildel or Lara Bingle will be crowned the winner! Should be somewhat spectacular to say the least.

MasterChef came on next with a Korean twist on its Sunday challenge. Ellie, who was sick and therefore could not compete sending her straight into elimination, joined Adam, Danielle & Michael to cook up a Greek storm with one of the most specialist special guest this show has ever had, Mary Calombaris; George’s mum!

The episode was a treat with Mary jumping in to help the contestants to the comical annoyance of the other judges. The night was special in a different way however, as contestant Adam decided to quit during judging period as he felt his passion for cooking was no where near as high as the other contestants. His selfless act saved Danielle from elimination and it was all happy families.

Hayden, who produced the best dish on Sunday, then went on to face Vincent Gadan in an immunity challenge that caused quite a stir off the field. Matt Preston had announced on his facebook page ahead of the airing of the episode that Hayden won. This stunt seemingly spoilt the ending of the episode; or did it? As it turned out, Hayden didn’t win and the fuel building up the media storm surrounding Matt Preston’s facebook page increased. Nonetheless, Hayden would be happy to know he is at least immune from the next elimination!

The contestants then went to Westfield Sydney where they were split into two teams of six. Each team members were sent to one of the six different counters in the massive food court in order to cook a dish that came with some tricky dietary requirements. Each counter had two contestants; one blue team member and one red team member, both of which had to cook off against each other to produce a better dish and score a point from the judges for their team.

In the end, Blue won and the red team consisting of Craig, Alana, Dani, Peter, Mat and Michael were sent to elimination twelve.

The contestants were split into two teams of three with each team cooking once in the infamous ‘round’. In these two preliminary stages, two of the three competitors were saved with the person plating up the least impressive dish sent into a two way elimination round. Craig & Alana were the unlucky ones and in the end, Alana pipped Craig at the post and made her way into the top twelve, leaving Craig to be eliminated.

This week, the contestants will face even harsher challenges (including cooking for Matt Moran’s father) that will see two more contestants thrown out of the kitchen to make way for season three’s official top ten! Cannot wait myself!

Monday night saw the launch of The Block season four in a relaunched elimination round format where eight teams battled it out for one of the four places on The Block. Over four nights, two teams were sent to battle it out in a warehouse containing a drama filled garage door, and a blank room in which to renovate. Judges Neil Whittaker and John McGrath along with Scott chose Jenna & Josh, Polly & Waz, Tania & Rod & Katrina & Amie to progress to The Block where on Friday; they were introduced to the four terrace houses after a quick session opening a few doors.

This week, the eight intense weeks begin as these fun loving couples begin to crack under the pressure and their true personalities finally come out.

To the Amazing Race Australia and with Mo & Mos gone, Dave & Kelly travelled with the other seven teams to Europe as the new comical team. The teams somehow managed to run straight past a very obvious clue box, uncover a ‘holey’ statue, carry princesses, shoot arrows and walk around a Czech Republican town centre donning a knights uniform all after eating scrumptious Dutch doughnuts and riding through the night on a train!

In the end it was SA sisters Alana & Mel who fell ‘into the dungeon’ and after coming last at the end of the leg, was eliminated from the competition. Aww.

So I wonder if this week will see a non-elimination leg; one is definitely well overdue. I just hope it doesn’t come into play to save a team like the surfers or the lovebirds!

Australia’s Got Talent sent through three new acts to their final and they were Ben Price, David De Vito & Dan Conway. The acts that performed on Tuesday were quite amazing, yet had nothing on the third semi final night.

If my calculations are correct, we still have two more semi final rounds before the competition moves into finals. With sixteen more acts to go, I wonder if any of them have the potential to wow me even more?!

 

So it has been a hearty week of reality television and it is only going to get better from here as Dancing with the Stars moves into the home straight; Australia’s Got Talent uncovers some more stars, MasterChef Australia plates up some more dishes & The Amazing Race pisses of some more locals.

With The Block and shortly, Jamie Durie’s Top Design, X Factor, Junior MasterChef, The Renovators, Australia’s Next Top Model & Beauty & The Geek Australia all coming up, I definitely will be keeping my head down and my fingers going!!

 

We’ve met the teams, we’ve seen the eliminations, and now it’s time for The Block to move to the terrace! Tonight is the big reveal for us and the teams as we finally get to see these houses and all their flesh!

Scott introduces us to the houses and they just look like renovation nightmares. After a montage showing us how crappy these houses really are, Scott announces that there will be a twist that will occur when the teams get to the houses.

As the contestants come to the terrace, we get a recap of how each team got here. First are Jenna & Josh who are surprised to be rocking up first. They are divided on who will be rocking up next but as we already know, it’s Tania & Rod.

Next up are last night’s winners Katrina & Amie who arrive to the claps of the other contestants. Might I add that Katrina is looking HOT in those cutaways despite her age. The last team to arrive on the block are Polly & Waz. Actually, I think they are outside the warehouse from the week that’s been.

Scott formally welcomes them all when they all turn up. Scott tells them that they will all be moving into the block, but not before one last challenge. The garage door opens quite dramatically as the lights turn on to reveal what look like four coloured doors. Well, I know they are coloured doors, but what they hold I actually don’t know!!

After a break, Scott tells us that this is the main game, now all eliminations are over. He stresses how tough these next eight weeks will be before telling them that the location to The Block is hidden behind these coloured doors, which turn out to be locked. Hang on? Do the contestants yet know that there are four houses this season? I’m guessing not.

Now something interesting we haven’t yet seen (wow, Nine have done well to keep this challenge under wraps) is that behind these set of locked coloured doors are about three more sets of doors that are too locked.

The first team to get through all their four doors get the first choice on the Block with the second team getting second choice, the third team getting third choice and the last team getting what is left.

The winner of this challenge will have a great advantage over everybody else. Scott tells them they will need keys to get through the doors and he goes to collect them. The keys are on a massive silver block- all 400 of them! With four doors per set of doors; that means a total of 16 doors. So of the 400 keys, only 16 keys will ever actually be needed in this challenge and only four keys will be needed per team.

Each team will be trying to open the same coloured door for each set so technically, as there are only 100 keys per coloured door, they will only have to pick 4 from 100; but that is still bloody tricky. It all comes down to luck!

The teams gather behind their coloured door of choice with Jenna & Josh behind the red door, Tania & Rod behind the blue door, Polly & Waz behind the yellow door and Katrina & Amie behind the green door.

Scott counts down and on GO, they all bolt for the keys. I don’t actually see how this challenge can be too exciting if it carries on for too long but before long, Tania & Rod have their first door opened just before Josh & Jenna.

Tania & Rod quickly get their second door open as Katrina & Amie & Polly & Waz still look for the first key. It seems that the contestants will be sticking to the same coloured door after all and I think they just have to run to the door on their row. Finally, Polly & Waz move forward with their first door open. It seems Polly & Waz were also confused about the coloured door arrangement.

Katrina & Amie also get their door open, the last for set one.

Tania & Rod are lucky and get their third door open just after Josh & Jenna get their second door open. Katrina & Amie pick up the pace and get their second door open before Josh & Jenna get their third door open. They’ve now caught up with leader’s Tania & Rod.

Polly & Waz get their second door open as Katrina & Amie now reach their fourth and final door. Polly & Waz make it through the third door and now ALL teams are on their fourth and final door. We hear two girls scream, so obviously Katrina & Amie win, but we still have to go to a break before it is officially revealed.

They do end up winning it with Josh & Jenna finishing in second place. I reckon former leaders Tania & Rod will get through last but as it turns out, they finished in third with Polly & Waz coming last.

Scott then shows them four garages containing new cars (more product placement) as the teams choose their cars in winning order.

Scott tells them that he’s programmed the address to The Block in the GPS and the contestants are off to the terrace. They are all excited to see where the terrace is and as they turn up, Katrina & Amie are truly appalled at the houses they have to renovate. They scout the houses to ‘Little Lion Man’ in the background and it makes the scene very powerful as they get their first glimpse of their workplace for the next 8 weeks.

Next to arrive are Jenna & Josh as they scout out the four run down terrace houses before Tania & Rod turn up to even more excitement. Rod is happy to see single storey houses but knows the job is still going to be hard seeing how dilapidated these houses are!

Last to arrive are Polly & Waz who are very surprised to see the houses. Scott arrives afterwards and welcomes them to the official Block and explains that these are four houses, not four apartment blocks. He asks if Katrina & Amie have made a decision and after saying they haven’t, he asks them if they want to see inside. They can’t!

They then go and stand outside their house of choice which turns out to be house three (I know that doesn’t really help readers, but that’s just their house number). Jenna & Josh go and pick house 1 next up as Rod & Tania pick house four.

This leaves Polly & Waz with house two but it turns out to be the house they wanted as it has a yellow door! So these are their new homes for the next eight weeks.

We then get a spiffy look at the house plans and couples who will be renovating it before they move into their chosen houses.

We’ll see more of this on Monday as the team leave us there.

So with that, the first of nine weeks of this reality show is over and might I add it has been growing on me since Monday and I’ll definitely be wanting more soon! The houses do indeed look dilapidated and the teams are just as shocked as each other. The episode tonight was quite nice and like MasterClass for MasterChef, it was something a little different to the competition feel it had during the week; although I’m guessing the Friday’s to come won’t be as good.

There’s a lot of product placement in these shows which at times are ok (like the shops they visit or the products they use) but they didn’t need to dribble all over their brand new cars (which I can’t even remember what they were) and make a huge deal out of them; it looked cheap.

But speaking of cheap; one thing is for sure, this show definitely isn’t that word! It is produced brilliantly and fulfillingly and I expect 7 O’Block weeknights to just get better from here!

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 9.5/10

Three teams have now been eliminated in this gruelling week of different strengths but this show is still one couple to big and in tonight’s jam packed hour, one more team will leave the show with the final four teams moving on to The Block!

So with elimination week wrapping up today, many questions will be answered…except of course what the hell tomorrow’s episode will be about!

We begin with a fleeting view of the night time skyline of Melbourne before we get a full recap of the week that has been. For a ‘week to date’ wrap up, I was very content on its size. We are then introduced to tonight’s episode and the two sister teams that will be going head to head tonight.

These couples are, firstly, Laura & Emily and secondly, Katrina & Amie. These teams are sisters and they are both relatively young, despite the fact Katrina is a mum.

Tonight, considering it has been done three times this week, the show doesn’t even make a big deal of the garage door opening scene as we jump straight into the warehouse and yet again, get the rules explained to us and of course, the contestants.

There is another core decoration; I wonder if it will be as complicated as yesterday’s gift but as time starts, we quickly find out what is in the mystery box. At first, Katrina & Amie have no idea what it is however the younger Laura & Emily realise it is just a weaved wooden box. They think they have to build a kids room, something that makes them a bit uncomfortable.

This team is obviously the bubbly team, with one of the girls wondering if they have to put the box together themselves; obviously yes! There is also confusion as to whether or not you pronounce the word ‘poof’ as ‘poof’ or ‘peuf’ with one twin thinking they couldn’t possibly say the word ‘poof’ in this timeslot!

Katrina & Amie decide to do a lounge room very quickly before the twins decide to do an adults room. The twins are about to leave for equipment before they find out they haven’t done any measurements. After they quickly go back to measure up with a bit of confusion as per usual, they are off to do a bit of floor choosing.

Katrina & Amie are explaining to Scott their ideas before they get in their car and leave just before the twins go off.

The twins, who think they have an advantage over Katrina & Amie because they are from Melbourne, still don’t have any luck with the windy roads and both teams find themselves a little lost.

The twins make it to Mitre 10 where they funnily try to guess the name of the man who is kind enough to help them. They are just a couple of ditzes; they would be perfect for the show.

Katrina & Amie are strapped for ideas and try to look at what paints and equipment the twins are picking out for a bit of ‘inspiration’. Katrina & Amie’s antics soon turn into taunts and games as they try to psych the other team off. This doesn’t go down well with either Laura & Emily.

As Katrina & Amie leave, we see that one of the twins is crying over the stress the challenge has placed on her already. This is met by taunts by the other twin in the cutaway. Has anyone else noticed that the hair colour of the twins is blonde in the show and brunette in the cutaway? You probably have!

Just before the girls leave, the nice man from before gives them their paperwork they were about to leave behind. They are then quickly off to purchase some items that Scott says will ‘set the two rooms apart’.

Katrina & Amie have already found a lounge suite and try to bargain their way through to a good price. They are happy to find a reasonable price with the man and are very confident with their efforts.

There are a few more things the girls need before they can truly relax and go to purchase rugs, cushions and a coffee table.

Meanwhile, the twins have found IKEA and are off to find an ‘inspiring’ bedroom. The size of the room means no wardrobe will be able to fit so the girls quickly decide against doing a bedroom and switch their idea to a lounge room instead.

One of the girls wants a plasma, stating that although it is about 2 grand, ‘its 24 months interest free!’ Haha, haven’t laughed so hard at this show; It’s good to see a team that isn’t completely stressed and has a bit of a laugh here and there.

As we return from the break and a few hours into the challenge, Emily begins to paint for the twins as Laura heads out to get a list of stuff. Emily thinks she is doing the hard stuff but Laura seems to be getting frustrated with the amount of stuff she has to do.

Emily paints the feature wall as a ‘normal coloured’ wall and wonders if she can paint over it. She then goes and spots the lounge that Katrina & Amie has bought and tells Laura, who is still out shopping.

Emily inspects the couch and doesn’t really like it but it looks like Laura is going to find one! Meanwhile, Katrina comes back to the warehouse and begins to paint as Amie goes to buy the rest of their stuff.

As Katrina gets into the mundane painting job, she plugs in the iPod and begins to sing. This annoys Emily but considering she is a bit lonely without her sister, she doesn’t mind so much. The song in question is Dynamite by Taio Cruz.

Laura finally finds all the stuff she needs with half the budget remaining. With shops closing soon, this puts her out of stress. Back at the warehouse, Scott finally stops Katrina singing by intruding on her room. Katrina is happy with the teams progress so far but is still hopeful Amie has done a good job.

As Scott leaves, Katrina tells us she won’t be singing the next song as it has rude words in it. Thank god. Scott helps Emily with her paint roller which she stupidly doesn’t know how to adjust it, hoping no one speaks of Scott helping her with it again.

Amie isn’t having too much luck with her shopping; rushing around causes herself to smash a set of glasses and at 5.00pm, she has a nervous breakdown of sorts as she gets the finishing touches. She’ll hopefully get the rest of the stuff tomorrow.

Cracks begin to show in the twins team as the paint job takes longer than they thought. Emily also forgets to squeeze out the roller; leaving a heap of paint in the plate. The stress immediately dies down however as Laura cheekily gets paint on her sister and tells her that she can do the shopping tomorrow while she herself stays behind with the tradesmen. They then fight on who will be staying behind tomorrow.

Day 2 follows a quick break as Katrina & Amie plan their second day with smiles on their faces. Laura & Emily are happy to find the floor guy here to do their floors. They plan their day in shopping before they are off.

At first, the shops are all closed to the chagrin of Amie however she finds a $2 shop and is able to find a few things under budget. The twins want to buy a curtain but need a tradesman to install it. With a strict budget, they are able to do this within the rules. They even want ‘mates rates’!!!

Amie buys the last of their equipment and comes back to see Katrina building the flat pack shelves however with screws hanging out, they look terrible.

As Katrina & Amie get their shelves in, the tradesman arrives to install the mirror and curtains. He asks if there is any timbers in the wall to which I think it is Emily who doesn’t know. ‘Stupid question’, Twin: ‘no, it’s just stupid asking me’. Hahaha, definitely my favourite team of 2011.

The bookshelves are in for Katrina & Amie and Scott realises that they couldn’t afford a television; opting to put a television BOX in their room and letting the judges use their imagination. Oh my god, that is the funniest thing that I’ve ever seen!

The tradesman, Kaine, finishes his job with 45 minutes to go. We go to a break as we return to a small recap. I wonder to myself why THIS particular episode needed an extra half hour. It is just the same as the other episodes and I think the other episodes could have been stretched to an hour easily without hassle.

The teams are currently putting their final touches to their rooms as a drill drops from a ladder and hits Katrina in the head. I’ve decided that BOTH these teams are awesome. The teams quickly put their finishing touches as Katrina ties the curtains back with her hair band and decides to take the television box out, saying the room can suit without one.

Clocks are falling down and bits are on the floor as time runs out but again, the girls have both produced really nice looking rooms however again, I think one team has done better than the other. I much prefer the room of the twins.

Scott brings the girls out to discuss their plans, especially the twin’s idea for a tradie. Now for some reason, my Play TV (the thing I use to watch television) has decided to turn itself off so I miss the rest of the conversation.

Never mind, the show went to a break so we didn’t miss much. As the judges, Neil Whittaker and John McGrath are introduced, they move into the twin’s room first. They think it is cosy and warm, calling it ‘mature’ and looks like it has been done by someone who has actually renovated before.

Neil, while liking the plant and the lights, thinks the room is very ‘brown’.

They then move onto Katrina & Amie’s room. John thinks the room is good, thinking the room has the energy that the twins should have produced. They love the five clocks and love the feel of it. They do think the room should have had a television but love the placement of their lounge.

They don’t like the windows and aren’t too impressed with the use of the box.

So who will be moving into the block; well the judges have their decision and they go out to announce the winner. Scott gives some recap criticism to the two teams before announcing that the couple going into the block for the next eight weeks are Katrina & Amie. Before the decision was made, a cutaway of the two teams were shown. The twins wondered that ‘if they got onto the block…’ while Katrina & Amie wondered that ‘If they won the competition…’ with this, it made it pretty obvious who was going to go.

Well, not the right team to go through in my opinion, but it was a fun episode anyway. I think it’s a bit of a shame that this week we’ve seen some good teams that have had to go home, which means that I get a feeling that this show has ‘wasted’ a lot of opportunity at times based simply on the eliminations. Even though the eliminations were always going to be an integral part of this season, I would have rathered the show just go with four couples straight into the show because now I just want the four eliminated couples to come back and compete which I know isn’t going to happen. This feeling was particularly prominent in this episode as I think the twins would have made a great contribution to the show; even if it would have been just for comic relief. I also thought their room was much neater and had more positive aspects to it.

The cutaways being shown just before an elimination was not a good idea. It never, ever is and is the biggest mistake any producer to make. They are way too easy to read and at times, spoils it for the viewer. It sure spoilt it for me.

 

Courtney’s Verdict: 9.0/10