World of Big Brother Blog

One thing that always bugs me is people doing reviews of the year before the year has even finished. So it’s a bit hypocritical of me to be doing a Big Brother review of the year when there’s still over a day to go until the year ends. But hey, I had some spare time so you’ve got it early and if anything majorly big happens in the Big Brother world over the next 36 hours or so then I’ll do a supplemental post.

A huge milestone was reached this year. On the 16th September 2009, Big Brother celebrated it’s 10th birthday as it was on 16th September 1999 that the first ever Housemates entered the Big Brother Netherlands house. You may have missed this milestone though as to my knowledge it was not celebrated at all by Endemol. It would have been nice to have some kind of 10th birthday edition. Maybe Endemol forgot about it.

So 10 years after the first ever Big Brother, has the bubble finally burst? It would appear so as we have seen a lot less BB editions this year.

There were a total of 19 Big Brother editions launching in 2009. That is made up of 13 main editions, 5 celebrity editions and 1 All Star edition.

19 total editions is the lowest number since 2004 when there were 18 editions and is 6 fewer than last year.

13 main editions is also the lowest since 2004, when there were also 13 editions, we have to go back to 2000 for a year with fewer main editions, when there were 11. Last year there were 19 main editions.

The most worrying statistic for the future of Big Brother is that no new countries launched a Big Brother edition (ie there were no Big Brother 1’s). That is something that has never happened since BB launched in 1999.

So why after a decade of stable numbers of Big Brothers have we suddenly had a sharp decline in 2009? Well I think it is a combination of a number of reasons.

1) The state of the world economy. Big Brother is an expensive show to make. Broadcasters need to re-coup the money through advertising and in most cases phone voting. Unfortunately, companies are not paying as much money to advertise as they used to and the public don’t have as much money in their pockets to use on voting for people on a reality show.

2) Every TV show has a shelf life and after 10 years Big Brother has had a good run. Pretty much all the countries that wanted to do Big Brother have tried it now and the countries that haven’t seem to prefer making shows like Idol or Got Talent.

If we look in more detail at which countries axed Big Brother in 2009 it might give us more idea as to whether Big Brother is just suffering a mid-life crisis or a terminal illness.

In 2008 there were 19 main editions and in 2009 there were 13. 

There are a few anomalies to deal with first. Germany – they launched 2 editions in 2008 and 0 editions in 2009 because the edition that normally launches in January (2009) actually launched December (2008). They have changed back to January now, so although they were airing an edition for 5 months of 2009 it didn’t actually launch.

The next anomaly is the USA. In 2008 they had 2 editions due to a writers strike which created spare airtime for the broadcaster. This year they were back to the usual 1 editions.

The final anomaly is Canada. In Canada their 2009 edition was an All Star edition which replaced their usual main edition.

The other countries that aired editions in 2008 but didn’t in 2009 were -
Slovenia – They axed Big Brother due to the economic crisis. This is understandable as they are the smallest country ever to do Big Brother.
Australia – They axed Big Brother due to poor ratings.
Poland – Presumably due to poor ratings. Although I suspect the poor ratings for BB5 was due to overkill, having 3 almost back to back editions.
Croatia – The 2008 edition got poor ratings, even so the host said during the final that it would be back in 2009. This never happened and the show appears to have been axed for good in Croatia.
Bulgaria – The 2009 edition was axed, however, they are trying again in 2010 with a new concept called Big Brother Family which will air instead of their usual VIP edition.

On the positive side, we have main editions in 2009 some countries that didn’t air BB in 2008. In Serbia Big Brother now airs once every 2 years and so BB returned in 2009 having been absent since 2007. The next main edition will be in 2011 (they run a version of Star Academy during the even numbered years). Philippines returned in 2009 having been absent in 2008. Finally Italy launched 2 editions in 2009 – one in January and a second edition in October.

Briefly, on the Celebrity BB side, Poland and Croatia axed their Celebrity versions. But it returned to Bulgaria after being off air in 2008 and Israel launched their first ever Celebrity edition.

In 2010, we already have 9 definite main editions officially announced – Germany, Brazil, Albania, Canada, Argentina, UK, France, USA and Finland. That may be 10 if the Big Brother Family Bulgaria is classed as a main edition. I am sceptical about Argentina as their edition was supposed to launch in January 2009 but was delayed so many times it never got launched this year and has been pushed into 2010.

There were 27 voluntary Housemate exits in 2009, which is 4 higher than 2008, but 10 less than 2007. And there were a lot less ejections in 2009, only 12 which is much lower than the 20 that took place in 2008.

In March 2009, Jade Goody died, having lost her battle with cancer. As far as I know she was the only person who had been a Big Brother Housemate to die in 2009. Jade still holds the record for the most editions a person has been a Housemate on. She was a Housemate in 4 editions – Big Brother 3 UK, Big Brother Panto UK, Celebrity Big Brother 5 UK and Celebrity Bigg Boss 2 India.

There was only one Housemate swap that took place in 2009, that was between Katlin of Big Brother Finland and Cathy of Big Brother Philippines. 2010 will start off with the worlds first ever double swap between Gran Hermano 11 Spain and Grande Fratello 10 Italy.

A long-standing record was almost broken this year as Nagore in Spain’s current edition was evicted by 95.0% of the vote. This equally the record set by Aline in Big Brother’s 5th edition. Will this record ever be beaten?

Christmas Day 2009 saw 6 Big Brother editions on air, the most ever – Spain, Serbia, Italy, Israel, India and Philippines. The previous highest number of Christmas day editions was 2005 when 4 were on air.

There was a Big Brother edition running somewhere in the world every second of every day during 2009. In fact the last time there was no Big Brother on air in the world was on 12th January 2004, almost 6 years ago.

So that’s it for my 2009 review of the world of Big Brother. This has been a general statistical review. If anyone would like to write a more detailed review of Big Brother in their country then feel free to. You can write your review and send it to me by e mail to webmaster@worldofbigbrother.com

I’d like to wish all blog readers a very Happy Christmas and hope you have a great 2010.

Thank you to all the World of Big Brother bloggers for their posts in 2009. I hope you have enjoyed reading them as much as I have.

Next week, to round off the year, I will be writing my review of the year posts. The first part should be here sometime on Tuesday.

Until then, have a great Christmas.

Graham – your World of Big Brother webmaster.

This just in: Survivor is reporting they’ll be airing a 20-season, 10-year anniversiary special on Februrary 4, 2010. It’s a 2-hour long, 19-season rewind, reunion style show remembering all 291 Survivors, all the scandals, called “Surviving Survivor”. Last year, I figured they’d do a 20-season special spin-off, but I thought it’s be appropriate to do this on May 31, 2010, ten years after Survivor premiered. Anyways, here is the ranking of the winners and seasons including Natalie and Survivor: Samoa.

Winners:

1. Brian Hiedik -Thailand (Dominator in challenges and strategy, kept Chauy Gahn together, and almost got Shii Ann to flip sides)

2. Tina Wesson-Outback (Loyal to Kieth/Colby, and really likeable and respected, who was really humble/honorable by a lot of people in the game)

3. Richard Hatch-Borneo (Kept his allies, knew he had this game in control, and coud’ve made Survivor what it was today)

4. Yul Kwon-Cook Islands (Kept his allies together, was brilliant in getting strategy, and getting votes)

5. Tom Westman-Palau (Played dominant in strategy and challenges, but was playing a predictable season)

6. JT Thomas-Tocantins (Played the game very decietfullly, but made himself look like a complete saint)

7. Todd Herzog-China (Played the game very strategic, got threats out, which helped him win)

8. Aras Baskausaus-Panama (Led Casaya to dominate in challenges, and post merge, and led himself to victory)

9. Chris Daughtery-Vanuatu (Made his way through the woman’s allaince, and outlasted them all to win)

10. Danni Boatwright-Guatemala (Made her way through Stehp’s alliance, simliar to how Chris played)

11. Parvati Shallow-Micronesia (Played a decent soaial game, that eventually ended up having her win)

12. Earl Cole-Fiji (Made a good alliance that dominated, was loyal, then made the right move voting out Yau-Man)

13. Natalie White-Samoa (Played a good loyal, social game, and did call a couple of shots)

14. Ethan Zohn-Africa (Played a nice game, but was just cimply the nicest guy, and the nicest winner, only)

15. Bob Crowley-Gabon (Did win immunities to dave him, but Sugar carried him through, because she loved him)

16. Sandra Diaz-Twine (Didn’t call much shots, was mostly betrayed a lot, but beat out the betrayer)

17. Vacepia Towery-Marquesas (Didn’t do a whole lot, got lucky that Kathy/Neleh could help her advance)

18. Jenna Morasca-Amazon (Was clearly carried, was a whiner and a bully, and won over a bad jury)

19. Amber Brkich-All Stars (Was clearly carried, like all the way to the end, that’s all)

Seasons:

1. Panama (All the cool, wonderful and diverse people made it far, andeveryone was memorable)

2. Micronesia (A crazy season, with lots of blindsides that didn’t get too old yet, but FvF worked out)

3. Pearl Islands (A lot of likable people, tons of tribal turns, and at least a bad twist brought out some good)

4. Thailand (The season with a lot of memorable people, and a good tibe getting to the end, best winner, but I didn’t like that fake merge)

5. China (The season with a lot of memorable people, and good game play, and thebest theme with good challenges)

6. Outback (The season with a lot of delivering episodes, and most of the original game plays come from this season)

7. Gabon (The good people almost got to the end, but I thought Sugar made dumb, series-killer moves)

8. Africa (A good group of people, with an okay, ut messy outcome, but it was still okay watching Lex this season)

9. Samoa (Not bad for a cast of 20, and still good peoplegot to the end, and there was a lot of likable people)

10. Borneo (The original season, with the most interesting people so far, but showed a lack of game play and strategy from most people)

11. Vanuatu (This season was starting off predictable, voting the young ones off, but picked up when good players still got far)

12. Tocantins (This seasson had okay people going far, and Coach/Tyson were stil pretty bad)

13. Marquesas (Didn’t have a whole ot of likable people, but the game play was amazing for this season)

14. Guatemala (Had okay people, but Steph kind of took the wrong type of control, and killed a lot of this season, glad she lost, awful final four)

15. Palau (Had okay people, but this was the most predictable season ever, and it wasn’t very exciting, also had the worst twist ever)

16. Fiji (Everyone was either good, or forgotten, and this season had a series-killing twist that almost ended things)

17. Amazon (Not a fan of these guys, not much likablitity there, awful males vs. females twist)

18. All-Stars (Too predictable, and all the okay survivors were being controlled by Rob, but Amber won)

19. Cook Islands (The race twist was pointless, and the worst overrated twist ever, and almost everyone there I’ve forgotten about)

Day 37: Brett immune & Jaison Voted off (4-1)

This episode started off just like I’d expect it to: The four Foa-Foa members want to vote off Brett, and feel they can, and have the odds stacked up againts Brett. Then, Russell tells Natalie she’s going if Brett wins immunity, just to keep the stronger guys in to beat Brett. Natalie seemed disappointed, and says to Russell she wants to keep her loyalty to him. So, st this immunity challenge, the survivors had to go through a course to retrieve a bag of puzzle pieces and put the puzzle together. The first to finish the puzzle would win. It was close between Mick and Brett, and it ended up to be Brett who won, meaning a former Foa-Foa member would have to send someone home. Back at camp, Russell decides to target Jaison and Mick, instead of Natalie. Russell tells Mick and Jaison who to vote for, and at Tribal Council, it was Jaison who got the votes, and he was voted off.

Day 38: Russell Immune & Brett Voted Off  (3-1)

The Survivors woke up to do the rights of passage, where they remember the sixteen Survivors voted off or in this case, medically evacuated. This is usually nothing special, but they’ve done this in just about every season. Then, it became time to the final immunity challenge. In this challenge, the survivors had to balance a statue on a pole that gets bigger as they go for as long as possible. The last one standing would win. After a little while, it was Mick, following  shortly after that, Natalie, who let go, making the challenge between Russeell and Brett. It was Brett who fell, and Russell won immunity. At the camp, Russell wonders if he’d end up switching the vote, keeping a stronger ompetitior in the game, and get Mick, a weaker competitor out. So, at tribal council, it was Brett who voted for Mick, but the other three stuck together, and Brett was voted off. Natalie, Mick, and Russell have became the official final three of this season.

    Day 39-Final Tribal Council: Natalie Wins, Russell takes Second, Mick takes third (7-2-0)

Natalie, Russell, and Mick head off to the final tribal council where these jurors disappoint me; they were lame in their questions. Jaison asked them who they were, and if they didn’t say who they were, he’d expose that for him. Shambo ripped Natalie and Mick, saying they were too horrible, and clearly stated she’s voting for Russell. Laura talks to Russell about making her leave, in which Rusell says to Laura she’d be up here, if she didn’t leave at that time. Brett’s question to Mick was creepy, he was talking about what they’d do on a “bro-date”, which probably had nothing to do with the game. I think about five or six of these jurors skipped out on asking all three jurors aquestion, they went to just one or two people. Erik was my favorite juror, who made a rather surprising plea. He says Natalie played the better game, as an honest, loyal person, where Russell was just cocky and arrogant the entire time. Erik clerly must have forgoten how Foa-Foa felt at tribal council when Russell S. was medically evacuated. So, in Los Angeles, the winner was revealed. Natalie was the winner with seven votes, recieving a vote from everyone except Shambo and John, who voted for Russell.

I think Natalie winning was a bit of a shock to me, I expected Natalie to just be underestinated by jurors, but apparently that was Mick who had that on him. Sometimes it’s always nice, but very ironic to see the “loyal one” win Survivor. You should’ve seen Russell at the finale/reunion, he was a lousy show off and a sore loser the entire time, and I think I’ve lost respect for him, until season twenty that is. Just like I reported earlier, there is a next season which will be called Heroes vs. Villains (I’m calling it Survivor HVV, for my blogs) that features the best nice players of honor and integrity, heroes play against the best decieptive, backstabbing villains. We’ll just have to see how this turns out, and see if this experiment was worth watching. I’m pretty sure most of my favourites there come from the heroes tribe, for sure. I’ve got one more post (my seasons & winners rankings) until I see you guys next year, as I will be blogging American Idol 9, Survivor: HVV, and The Amazing Race 16 this winter. Enjoy the new Survivor 20 logo.

The X Factor 6 UK winner Joe McElderry’s debut solo single failed to reach number 1 in the official UK singles chart yesterday. Joe was a new entry at number 2 being kept off the top by Killing In The Name by Rage Against The Machine. Joe is the first X Factor winner not to be number one at Christmas (not counting the first winner as that single wasn’t released before Christmas).

Joe sold over 450,000 copies last week which would have been enough in almost any week to reach number 1. But Rage Against The Machine sold just over 500,000 last week.

The Rage Against The Machine song is as a result of a huge internet campaign to stop the X Factor single reaching number 1. The campaign had urged people to by Rage Against The Machine, not because it was any good but purely to stop Joe from reaching number 1. And the campaign worked.

It’s very sad that half a million people bought a song that they don’t like just to stop a young lad with a great voice and a great song obtaining his dream. I guess in this credit crunch society, a lot of people have money to waste.

Some good news for Joe though, his single, The Climb reached number 1 in the Republic of Ireland chart over the weekend.

Joe still has a change at getting to number 1 in the UK next week. As I think people will now stop buying Rage Against The Machine so it is possible that Joe could climb to number 1 this Sunday. I’ll keep you posted.

EDIT 31st December 2009: Joe climbed to number one in last weekends chart after selling about 196,000 copies. Rage Against The Machine could only mange about 65,000 sales. This means that every X Factor winner has had a number 1 debut solo single.

This Survivor episode started with Brett reciting Bible verses to Natalie, who was very impressed by this. Natalie says that she likes how her and Brett share being Christian in common. Brett, who is the last of Loyal Galu, says he knows they’ll all want him out because all of his former allies are in the jury, which is true. Russell tells us that his next target is Brett, simple because Brett has potential to win this game. At the reward challenge, they divided into teams: Mick, Natalie, and Brett were the first team, Natalie picked, in which she picked Brett, clearly because she wanted to pray during this challenge, in which when the challenge actually begun, she did end up praying with Brett, hoping she’d win this reward. However, in this challenge they had to pull strings, hoping to not release coconuts. The first team to release 100 coconuts loses. Natalie’s prayer didn’t work, the reward went to Shambo, Russell, and Jaison. Apparently God has better plans for Natalie, Brett, and Mick, such as a day at camp.

Russell, Shambo, and Jaison went on this reward, which was a meal with locals. By the way, neither Shambo, Russell, nor Jaison could dance, not even with Samoans. Russell says the food will “pump him up” for the next challenge. while Brett and Mick will starve. Jaison talks about this reward was the best day, since apparentlyall of the other 33 other days were crappy for him. Shambo and Jaison ended up having been worried, and confused as to why Natalie picked Brett first in the challenge. Russell tells the cameras that he insists Natalie is with him, and not Brett or anyone else. If Natalie was so into being with Russell, then why she picked Brett for the challenge was something I don’t know. Back at camp, Natalie, Brett, and Mick decided to follow Brett’s idea and pick snails and have dinner by the beach, and just forget about the game.

At the immunity challenge, the survivors had to count various objects, and place the number on a staation, where the numbers would come out to a combonation they’ll need to solve first in order to win immunity. During this challenge, Jaison was the first to finish, but had his combination wrong, and had to recount. So, it was between Brett and Mick, in which it was Brett who won, and was spared making himself win the first ticket to the finale. So, it was time for heading back to camp, where Jaison gets Shambo targeted, simply because Jaison knows him and Mick can easily beat Brett in challenges better than the others. Shambo is told by Russell that Mick is leaving. In which, we hear Russell talk about voting for Mick, simple because he’s likeable, or voting for Shambo, because Mick/Jaison could be reliable for beating Brett in immunity. So, at tribal council, it was Shambo who was voted off, proving that Foa-Foa can remain a loyal four, and showing that turning on your tribe only works if you have more than one motive, not just Laura or Dave.

Shambo leaving was amazing, because I never liked how she was playing the game. It looks like this game could be won by Russell or Brett, then Jaison. Unless those jurors are extremely upset over Russell not really being a firefighting  Hurricane Katrina victim who lost his dog. I kind of want Russell to make the final three, just to see what BS he can tell the jury, and what attitude the jury gives to him. It’s too obvious to viewers, as most viewers would know who’d win if Brett is  there, he’ll win. So, I think the editors are trying to just put that on us, and make people think Brett will win, but I still think it’s too obvious. Russell will only win if the jurorsare in a good mood, and that’s not what I predict. I feel Jiason would win if Brett/Russell are both out the door. One more thing, Russell not playing his idol on the last day you can play it, just goes to show how arrogant and cocky he’s been, and that turns me off. The finale is Sunday, so my finale blog/ and rankings should be up Monday.

Now that the show is over I thought I would give my opinions of this years series as a whole.

Even though The X Factor and Pop Idol before it have been running in the UK for almost 10 years, this is the first edition that I have watched. I’m not really sure why I never watched it before, I guess I just had other things to do or watch on a Saturday evening.

But this year, I found myself without internet access at home and nothing else to watch at that time so I thought I’d give it a go and see what all the fuss was about.

Having not watched previous editions, I have nothing to compare it to so I don’t know if this was better, worse or just average. On the whole I did enjoy the show, although I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it is my favourite show, nor will I be peeing my pants with excitement a few days before next years launch show. But it entertained me and filled a gap in my weekend and I will be watching again next year.

I liked that my favourite contestants seemed to change from week to week. I’m used to watching shows like Big Brother where I form opinions of Housemates that rarely change after the first week. But with this show, I guess because I’m judging on performances each week rather than someones personality that doesn’t really change. As people can put in good or bad performances so my opinion changes.

In the early weeks of the live shows I liked Lloyd, Lucie and John/Edward. It wasn’t until Joe sang Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me in week 7 that I thought wow, I really like this guy. After that he was the one I wanted to win. Although I thought Olly put in a great performance in the final and would also have been a worthy winner.

Simon Cowell
As far as the format of the show, I think the show suffers from the dominance of Simon Cowell. He is an executive producer and also a judge/mentor. There seems to me to be a big conflict of interest in his 2 roles from the show and I would like to see him step down from one of the roles. An example of this are that he made it clear during the audition process that the category that he really wanted was the over 25s, and surprise surprise, that was the category that he got.

Deadlock
The biggest problem with the format is the even number of judges. Having 4 judges means that so often the judges are tied 2-2 with their voting. Out of the 6 votes when there were 4 judges present, 5 out of the 6 ended at 2-2 and deadlock. What happens at deadlock is that it goes back to the earlier public vote and the lowest placed is eliminated. However, the problem with this is that the public vote is on the previous days performance as the voting lines closed before the sing-off, this made the sing-off a complete waste of time almost every week. A better way of doing it is to have the voting open for 2 or 3 minutes after the sing off and have the public as a 5th judge.

Percentages

http://worldofbigbrother.com/Talent/XFactor/UK/6/pics/Voting1.jpg
http://worldofbigbrother.com/Talent/XFactor/UK/6/pics/Voting2.jpg

After the final the percentages were released for every public vote. If you click on the links above you can see the 2 graphics.

The early public favourite was Danyl who won the vote in week 1 withover 27%, twice as many as Stacey who came second. However in week 2 Danyl had slipped down to 7th place and it was Stacey who won the vote, but very little separated the top 4.

By week 3 Danyl had slipped to 9th place andwas in the bottom 2. Amazingly Rachel won the vote even though she had been bottom 2 for the previous weeks. In week 4 it swung round again with Rachel going from first to last and Danyl going from last to first.

Danylwon the vote again in week 5, but each week Joe was slowly increasing his vote, coming second this week. Week 6 went to Stacey andthen came week 7. This was the week that Joe turned it around his performance of Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me won over the public and he got 34% – twice as many votes as Stacey. He never lost another public vote. Week 7 was the only week of the competition that the bottom place act wasn’t eliminated. John and Edward were eliminated by the judges vote. Had it gone to deadlock Olly would have been the one to leave.

Joe won week 8 with 37% and easily won week 9 with 42%. This was the week where 4 remained and Danyl was eliminated. The vote was extremely close with less than 1% separating Danyl in last place and Olly in 2nd place.

Down to the final 3 and Joe hit 52%, Olly got 28% meaning Stacey was eliminated 1 day before the final with 20%.

In the final Joe was the clear winner with 61.3% to Olly’s 38.7%.

The only question left to be answered is will Joe’s single be Christmas number 1 on the singles chart. All 5 previous winners singles have reached number 1, will Joe keep this record going? We will find out on Sunday.

Sunday 13th December 2009

With 2 contestants remaining – Joe and Olly – each will perform two songs this evening, meaning there will likely be a lot of padding in the 2 hour long final.

The first performance of the night was all 12 contestants back together singing Never Forget by Take That.

Round 1: Contestants choice (the contestants chose their favourite song that they had previously performed)

1) Olly Murs (sang Twist And Shout by The Beatles, previously performed in week 5)

Louis: You’re bubbly and sexy and will have a great career.
Dannii: You are a great entertainer
Cheryl: I enjoyed that performance
Simon: There could be an upset tonight, that was brilliant
Me: This song would have been my choice as will. A great all-round performance.

2) Joe McElderry (sang Don’t Stop Believin by Journey, previously performed in week 4)

Louis: You have everything and you have a great future
Dannii: The best voice on this stage tonight
Simon: I’m proud of what you’ve achieved, brilliant
Cheryl: Everyone believes in you, you can do this
Me: Not his best and not the song I’d have chosen. A good solid performance.

My order after round 1:
1) Olly
2) Joe

Louis’s order:
1) Joe
2) Olly

Dannii’s order:
1) Joe
2) Olly

Next up is a joint performance by Alexandra Burke (last years winner) and JLS (last years runner-up). After that Leona Lewis (The X Factor 3 winner) performed.

Round 2: Theme – The winners song (Each finalist performed the song that the winner will release as their debut solo single).

1) Olly Murs (sang The Climb by Miley Cyrus)

Louis: You look confident, I like everything about you
Dannii: I have never heard you sing like that before [note - she said it in a complementary way]
Cheryl: A beautiful version of that song
Simon: I really hope people get behind you after that
Me: What a great performance, I loved that

2) Joe McElderry (sang The Climb by Miley Cyrus)

Louis: A note perfect performance, better that Olly
Dannii: A beautiful performance, I loved it
Simon: I saw your nerves. The first half was shaky but the second half was brilliant
Cheryl: I hope tonight you achieve your dream
Me: The song suits his style and voice, but I didn’t think he did it as well as Olly.

My order after round 2:
1) Olly
2) Joe

So I think Olly has been the best tonight, but I think Joe has been the best over the series as a whole. I won’t be disappointed whoever wins.

George Michael is the next person on stage to perform.

Paul McCartney and all 12 contestants do a joint performance which is followed by a Paul McCartney solo performance.

We are told that the voting has now closed. And there have been over 10 million votes cast.

The winner of The X Factor 2009 is…… Joe. Which means that Olly is the runner-up. Joe looks in total shock.

Joe then performs his debut single The Climb which is released at midnight. The performs ends the show and the series. The X Factor 7 will be back in 2010.

It’s very confusing with calling the 12 contestants “finalists”, then calling the final 4 “semi-finalists” and the final 3 “finalists”. It gets even more confusing when after last weeks Semi-Final, they have a last minute change of plan and have the Semi-Final this week and so making last weeks Semi-Final a Quarter-Final. Totally confusing!!!!

Saturday 12th December: The Semi-Final
So we are down to the last 3 – Joe, Olly and Stacey. Each will perform 3 times tonight and the one with the least public votes will be eliminated tonight.

The first round of songs is themed “Audition Songs”, and the contestants perform the song they originally sang at their first audition.

1) Stacey Solomon (sang What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong)

Louis: Love your voice, love your personality, you’re great
Cheryl: You looked comfortable and I enjoyed it
Simon: Singing beautifully, you continue to surprise me
Dannii: I’m very, very proud of you, well done.
Me: A great performance, has set the bar high for the rest of the evening.

2) Olly Murs (sang Superstition by Stevie Wonder)

Louis: You definitely have The X Factor, I loved you
Dannii: That was great
Cheryl: You are an entertainer
Simon: That was the performance of your life
Me: A good solid performance from Olly

3) Joe McElderry (sang Dance with My Father by Luther Vandross)

Louis: You have an incredible voice
Dannii: Brilliant performance, amazing voice, you are an adorable young man
Simon: A great example, you deserve to be in tomorrow’s final
Cheryl: You stole me heart, I pray you are in tomorrow’s final
Me: Joe has improved so much over recent weeks, although this wasn’t his best performance.

My order after Round 1:
1) Stacey
2) Joe
3) Olly

The round 2 theme is Celebrity Duets. Each contestant sings the first part of a song solo and then is joined by a celebrity to duet the second half. There were no judges comments for this round.

1) Stacey Solomon duet with Michael Bublé(sang Feeling Good by Michael Bublé)

Me: Stacey is putting in the best of her performances tonight, this was her best yet.

2) Olly Murs duet with Robbie Williams (sang Angels by Robbie Williams)

Me: I thought Olly sand it better than Robbie did.

3) Joe McElderry duet with George Michael (sang Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me by George Michael & Elton John)

Me: This was just awesome – best performance of the night.

My order for Round 2:
1) Joe
2) Stacey
3) Olly

Round 3 was themed “Best Previous Performance” where the mentor chose what they considered to be the contestants best performance in the series so far.

1) Stacey Solomon (sang Who Wants to Live Forever by Queen, originally performed in week 6)

Louis: Vocally incredible, I hope you are in the final
Cheryl: You looked and sounded incredible
Simon: You smashed it
Dannii: Another incredible performance
Me: I loved this the first time she sang it and I loved it again this time

2) Olly Murs (sang A Fool in Love by Tina Turner, originally performed in week 2)

Louis: Sexy and soulful – I hope you are in the final
Dannii: Your best performance of the series
Cheryl: You have improved so much since the last time you sang that
Simon: You have been a pleasure to work with, I’m so proud of you.
Me: A strange song choice, I thought he had done much better performances over the weeks.

3) Joe McElderry (sang Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word by Elton John, originally performed in week 8 )

Louis: You’ve got the voice, you deserve to be in the final [note Louis has not said he thinks all 3 should be in the final]
Dannii: So beautiful, you need to be in the final
Simon: You are really special, you have had an incredible night
Cheryl: I adore you. You have to be in the final
Me: Perfect, that was just perfect.

My order for round 3:
1) Joe
2) Stacey
3) Olly

My overall order for tonight:
1) Joe
2) Stacey
3) Olly

So we come to result time. First of all (in no particular order) Olly is told he is in the final. That leaves Joe and Stacey. The second finalist is…… Joe, which means Stacey has been eliminated.

I was surprised by that result, I had expected Olly to be eliminated.

So Joe and Olly are in tomorrow’s (Sunday) all male final. My blog for the final will be posted on Tuesday.

Survivor ended up voting two people out last night, spliting the episode into two immunity challenges, and two tribal councils where two people were voted off. During this episode we were promised that Russell would pull “his boldest move ever” at Tribal Council. More explained as we go along. So, it’s night 30, and we see that Shambo is truely shocked that John was voted off, instead of Dave, what her “vision” said last episode. Russell lies, and tells Shambo it was John who was trying to target Shambo. Umm, if Shambo was John’s target, than how can Russell who thinks he’s a genius explain John voting for Mick and not Shambo? Anyways, it’s Day thirty one and we see Jaison, Monica, and Brett talking about Russell posibly being a jury threat, due to the way he’s played the game. OK, we see that these other people are aware of the puppet master, but aren’t doing anything yet. Then, Jaison tells Monica and Brett that Russell is actually a self mde millionaire, making an atempt to shake things up.

It’s an immunity challenge, and during the immunity challenge, it was simply a traditional game of bowling. Each Survivor had to face someone head to head in a two shot round. If they knock over more pins, they advance. The final round was between Shambo and Jaison. After Shambo missed both of her two shots, Jaison managed to hit two pins, and it was enough for Jiason to take another immunity win. At Camp, Shambo is still dead set on taking Dave out, continuing to play the game personal and delusionally. However, Russell begins scheming, again, as usual, and says that Davehas a lower shot of winning than Shambo, and wants to consider taking Shambo out. So, at tribal council, Dave and Shambo clearly voted for each other, but all the others voted for Dave, and Dave was the eleventh person voted off, and Shambo’s vision was delayed, but true.

It’s the next visible day, and Russell begins telling everyone and taking about Brett being the next biggest threat. Considering that Brett has all his Galu tribe members and has no negative vibes from those Galu jurors, him as a jury threat is clearly logic to say. So, it was time for the next immunity challenge, in which they had to swim out and receive bags, then launch them on a calipult into a basket. It was clearly a close race between Brett and Mick, and it was Brett who won, foiling the plans of Russell, as he was left to not vote for Brett. Back at Camp, Monica confronts Rusell about being a self made millionaire. Great job Russell, you tell one person something, and now you know everyone knows it. You have nobody to blame but yourself, congratulations. Russell gets upset that he made a mistake telling these people his secret, and storms around camp, upset and outraged, out to find out who told Monica this. The fingers are pointed to Jaison, who says Monica is stirring up stuff because she’s trying to stick around.

At Tribal council, Monica begins telling Russell like it is, and Russell pulls out his idol. Not to play it, but to just simply wear it, and let everyone knows he has it. Sure, that’s a “bold move”, I mean, we all saw Yul of season thirteen show everyone the idol. Not at tribal council, but at an auction, but still, Russell was just being like what Monica said at Tribal Council, “humble”. At tribal council’s vote, it was Russell who took two votes (From Monica, Brett) and Monica who took five votes, and she was voted off. Clearly she wasn’t the one who told everyone Russell was a millionaire, Jiason did that trick, and Russell was just dumb to believe Jaison. I truly feel Jaison will be the only one bold enough to take Russell down, if Russell is taken down. Mick and Natalie seem too scared to take him down now, and Brett has no numbers, and Shambo won’t turn on Russell.

Since this is the near end of the game, with just two episodes left, I want to give a complete analysis of what the jurors could do, and where I believe the current final six stand with the jury:

The present Jurors and their potential views:

Erik-Could vote for either Shambo or Brett, who were most loyal to him, or Russell, as he isn’t likely to be an extremely bitter juror. I don’t see him voting for Mick, Jaison, or Natalie, unless he has to. If anyone becomes a swing vote in the jury, it’s him, hands down.

Kelly-I think she’s pulling for Brett, and obviously not Russell or Shambo. Will possibly vote for either Jiason, Natalie, or Mick next, if Brett is out.

Laura-Will not vote for Russell or Shambo, and is clearly pulling for Brett all the way. Will vote for Natalie, Jaison, or Mick is one of them is there.

John-Is likely pulling for Shambo, then Brett. I don’t see him voting for Russell, and could vote for Mick, Natalie, Jaison, if Bret and Shambo are absent from the final three.

Dave-Will not vote for Shambo or Russell, and will pull for Brett. Will only vote for Natalie, Mick, or Jaison if it’s the only option.

Monica-Will not vote for Shambo or Russell, and is pulling for Brett. Will only vote for Natalie, Mick, or Jaison is necessary.

The final six, and their chances of winning is a specific order:

Brett- He will get a vote from Kelly, Laura, Dave, and Monica hands down. Erik may vote for him, depending on what the circumstance is, and who’s there, and how well the finalists present themselves. He could get John’s vote, if Shambo is absent from the final three. He will only get to the final three by two shots: winning the next three immunities, which could happen, I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened, or the Foa-Foa members use him as a pawn to turn on each other, and he slides to the final three, or perhaps a combo of the two scenarios. He would be considered in my books, a Jenna Morasca type winner. Used as a pawn, could potentially win immunity  in order to stick around, and recieve a landslide amount of votes from the jury.

Jaison- He isn’t in Russell’s final three plans, so what he needs to do is get him, Mick, and Natalie to the final three, and execute that plan. I only see him winning if he is somehow gets bitter juror votes. If Brett, say, is the next to go, he’ll likely, and this was in the previews, take Shambo/Russell to the final three, and could get votes, considering some jurors will never vote for Shambo or Russell (Laura, Kelly, Dave, & Monica). Or Jaison could be thinking Russell/Shambo are more dangerous, and execute a plan to boot them 5th & 4th, and could still win. I sense Jaison is the potential swing vote at final five, if Brett’s next.

Natalie- If Russell has his current way, and we see him, Shambo, and Natalie in the final three, I can see  Natalie winning this way and this way pretty much only. Laura, Kelly, Dave, and Monica were betrayed when Shambo turned on Galu, and clearly don’t like Russell, and have no interest in seeing Russell win. If Russell has his final three plans go into action, Natalie could be the benefit from this.

Mick- He will only get to the final three by winning immunities, and could only beat out Russell and Shambo, if he’s in the final three with them. I can tell he’s Russell’s alternate target is Brett gets immunity, or perhaps, he gets cut loose for being caught targeting Russell. He’s not in Russell’s final three plans, and would easily lose to Jaison or Natalie, if he went to the final three with them. I don’t see a Mick/Shambo/Russell combo, right now.

Shambo- Will get a vote from Erik and John, and probably just those two. I don’t see any other vote for her, right now. Two won’t be enough votes for her, and Monica, Kelly, Laura, and Dave could be last on  their lists for her to win.

Russell- I can only see him recieving a vote from Erik, and if Brett isn’t blindsided, maybe Brett. I clearly see that if he betrayed Mick and Jaison, they’ll be way to bitter.

Here are what I feel are the most Likely Final three outcomes and how things could turn out:

Russell/Natalie/Shambo – If Russell has his final three plans executed epically, this should be the outcome I predict. Shambo would get 2 votes (Erik, John), Natalie has an easy four votes (Kelly, Laura, Dave, Monica). It wouldn’t matter what Brett, Jaison, or Mick did, but they’d porbably vote for Natalie anyways. Natalie could win with at least a 2-3-4 vote, or a 2-7-0 vote. Mick and Jaison will hold a huge grudge if Russell turns on them, I can easily see that.

Brett/Any 2 – If Brett gets to the final two, withany of the other two of the other five, simply by winning the last three immunities, he’s already got five votes, four of them already set in stone, with Erik who could go either way. He’s got Kelly, Laura, Dave, Monica, and could get Erik’s vote to call it a deal.

Russell/Shambo/Jaison – In the event Natalie became a loose cannon, and Russell had to let her go, this is potentially Russell’s next dream final three. In this event, I can see the same four Anti-Shambo/Anti-Russell four (Kelly, Laura, Dave, Monica) voting for Jaison. Mick and Natalie would be just as bitter that Russell didn’t take them to the end, and Brett would likely follow with this, too. I see Shambo getting Erik/John to vote for her, dead set in stone. If this combo occurs, it’ll likely end in a 2-7-0 vote, Jaison’s favour.

Jaison/Natalie/Mick – If Foa-Foa and Shambo take out the last target, Brett, and these guys go to the finale, I see Jaison will easily try to weasel himself as a swing vote, and make the decision to take Natalie/Mick or Russell/Shambo to the final three. If he takes Natalie and Mick there (and I think it’s less likely), I see the jurors being less present jurors actually voting for the better player, if Jaison executes this final three, he will get the votes from the present jury plus Brett’s vote, simply  only losing a vote from Russell/Shambo, or maybe Russell could admit defeat and vote for Jaison. If this final three occures, I can expect to see Jaison winning with at least seven votes (first six jurors, Brett), With Russell/Shambo going either of the three ways.

Episode 20: Monday 7th December
No, the Coming Out show wasn’t about celebrities coming out of the closet, but rather coming out of the jungle.

The show showed each of the 13 celebrities exits with behind the scenes footage and interviews.

The show starts with Gino being crowned king of the jungle and the hosts introducing the show. They tell us that 3 voluntary exits is a record for I’m A Celebrity UK.

Camilla walks – Says she feels she let everyone down and won’t ever be able to watch the show back.

Katie walks – Katie is told that her boyfriend has been doing deals with the newspapers and so she dumps him.

All the friends and family of the 11 celebrities in camp gather to watch the first elimination.

Lucy eliminated – She is re-united with her husband and daughter. Later she meets up with Katie who tries to give her advice about making money from the press.

Colin eliminated – Colins mum says she’s really shocked it was Colin voted out.

We go back to Katie who says she’s going home and not staying for the final. She finds out that Alex (her ex) has been seen at her hotel.

Sam eliminated - Sam’s girlfriend is there to meet her

Joe eliminated – Says he was beaten fair and square in the challenge with Stuart. Joe surprises his wife at the hotel as she didn’t know he’d been eliminated. He embarrassed his wife by saying on camera that he is looking forward to having sex with her later that night.

George walks – George shocks his girlfriend who thought he was still in the jungle. First thing he does is go to the bar for a drink.

Sabrina eliminated – She says the memory trial with Jimmy was the best thing as it was so fun.

Stuart eliminated – He’s thrilled at the luxury of his hotel room and jumps on his bed.

Justin eliminated – Colin says Justin looked so good in leather during the trial. Justin tries to get Sabrina and Stuart to admit they want to start a romance.

Jimmy is 3rd – He is greeted by his wife. He says he will never go camping again in his life.

Kim is runner-up – Her best friend is there to greet her.

Gino is the winner – He is re-united with his 2 boys and his wife. He says it was an amazing experience and he never for one minute thought he would win. He shows us how he smuggled sachets of salt inside his shoes.

The show ends with the hosts saying they will be back in Australia next year for a 10th season.

Here is the next ranking of the winners & seasons of The Amazing Race:. Yes, this time, they are together, and the words being said about them are a lot less.

Winners:

1. Flo/Zach (TAR3) – He was really nice, She was really horrifically entertaining. It couldn’t get better for them.

2. Uchenna/Joyce (TAR7) – They beat Rob/Amber, that’s why I rank them so high. How much better could they be?

3. Tammy/Victor (TAR14) – A dominating, intelligent, witty team I still loved to root for and see win last season.

4. Chip/Kim (TAR5) – I remmeber liking them in seasson five, especially when they beat the other TAR5 teams.

5. Tyler/James (TAR10) – They were a good team, and I loved to see them win, except they had little competition.

6. Rachel/TK – I loved them too, and they were a nice couple who raced well, and was glad to see them win.

7. Freddy/Kendra – I liked them, and will easily defend Kendra’s comment on Africa not being a truely bad comment.

8. Nick/Starr (TAR13) – Starr was the star of the show, but Nick was bland, but they did dominate the season a whole lot.

9. Meghan/Cheyne (TAR15) – Were not my favourties, a bit bland, but did race as well as Nick/Starr.

10. Eric/Danielle (TAR11AS) – Would’ve been a beter team if it was Jeremy there, and not Danielle.

11. Rob/Brennen (TAR1) – They were a nice team, and did okay, but I wanted Frank/Margarita to win.

12. Chris/Alex (TAR2) – I clearly don’t remember them that much, so I don’t have anything else to say.

13. BJ/Tyler (TAR9) – Rewatching TAR9 last weekend, they kind of grew on me, just a tad little.

14. Linz Family (TAR8FE) – They were arrogant, especially to the Weavers, and not very good, really.

15. Reichen/Chip (TAR4) – Just winners, that I didn’t like.

Seasons:

1. TAR14 – Entertaining challenges, interesting teams that didn’t fight so much, and one of the best winners.

2. TAR11AS – One of the most competitive seasons ever made, thanks to Eric, Charla/Mirna, and Dustin/Kandice.

3. TAR12 – Had a lot of interesting, unexpecting, diverse teams make it very far that made the season very good.

4. TAR7 – They had a lot of good teams who made the race competitive, which is always a plus. Also, it was good seeing Romber lose.

5. TAR1 – It was a very good classic for a good show like TAR. It had good teams, a lot of which we’ll remember forever.

6. TAR15 – It was a good season, that had a lot of okay teams, in which it was still a good season.

7. TAR10 – It was very good, that had a nice first major plot, the 6-pack alliance and Dustin/Kandice & Tyler/James.

8. TAR5 – It had a lot of competitive spirit, and went to some amazing places like Phillipines, Egypt & Canada.

9. TAR9 – It had Hippies, Frats, and Mojo who made it very competitive, and they went to some good places, too.

10. TAR3 – It had Flo/Zach who were my all time favorites, which was just about the best memorable thing there.

11. TAR6 – It had a lot of dramatic teams, but they still went to interesting places like Norway & Iceland.

12. TAR13 – They had all the teams we wont remember, and it was stable due to Nick/Starr there.

13. TAR2 – Easily the season I hardly remember anythign from, probably since I didn’t see it all yet.

14. TAR4 – Had a good start, loved Tian/Jaree,m but fell apart due to a bad, boring ending.

15. TAR8FE – Had an okay concept, but why  again did they gang up on the Weavers?

Note – This blog was written as the show was being aired, therefore my comments and predictions were made before I heard the judges comments and the actual result.

The Saturday Performance Show
We have reached the semi-final stage of The X Factor. Four contestants remain, but only three of them will make the final. The contestants will perform two songs tonight. Their first song will be a Michael Jackson song and their second song will be an open choice by their mentor.

1) Olly Murs (sang Can You Feel It by Michael Jackson)

Louis: Talented, can sing, can dance, deserves to be in the final
Dannii: Has the whole package, has to be in the final
Cheryl: You’re an entertainer and show be in the final
Simon: You have the presence of a star and must be in the final
My comment: A great all round performance, worthy of a finalist

2) Joe McElderry (sang She’s Out Of My Life by Michael Jackson)

Louis: An amazing tone to your voice, you have the talent to sell millions of records
Dannii: A superb performance, you have to be in the final
Simon: Getting better and better, one of the best versions of that song I’ve heard
Cheryl: I couldn’t be prouder, your best performance
My comment: It was a beautiful performance, he sang it with emotion and made the song believable

3) Stacey Solomon (sang The Way You Make Me Feel by Michael Jackson)

Louis: I wasn’t crazy about it, thought it was the wrong song choice
Cheryl: I disagree with Louis, I really enjoyed it
Simon: It was fine, but it just wasn’t you. Wrong song choice which affected your vocals
Dannii: The look suits you and you did it well
My comment: I don’t think the song suited Stacey, she would have done better with a ballad

4) Danyl Johnson (sang Man In The Mirror by Michael Jackson)

Louis: Incredible, I loved everything about your voice
Dannii: A really good performance
Cheryl: Really good, gave it 110%
Simon: Absolutely incredible, brilliant
My comment: He did the song well but not good enough to win me over

At the halfway point my order is -
1) Joe
2) Olly
3) Danyl
4) Stacey

5) Olly Murs (sang We Can Work It Out by The Beatles)

Louis: Another great performance, really, really good
Dannii: The song didn’t show the best of your ability, but I would still vote for you
Cheryl: I can see people voting for you
Simon: Taking everything into account you deserve to be in the final
My comment: I wasn’t convinced by that performance, maybe it was the wrong song, something just didn’t click for me

6) Joe McElderry (sang Open Arms by Journey)

Louis: If you recorded that tomorrow you’d have a number 1
Dannii: We all love you, you have to be in the final
Simon: You’re mentor chose a song that no-one knows, but it was 100% the right song choice. You’ve listened and learnt and deserve to be in the final
Cheryl: I pray to God that people vote for you
My comment: Top marks again for Joe, he is better than most professionals, a must for the final.

7) Stacey Solomon (sang Somewhere from West Side Story)

Louis: That was incredible, well done
Cheryl: That gave me goosebumps, the best you’ve been
Simon: You are back in the game, that was the Stacey I really like
Dannii: A perfect performance, world class
My comment: This was the perfect song for Stacey’s voice. I hope this makes up for her first performance. she deserves to be in the final.

Danyl Johnson (sang I Have Nothing by Whitney Houston)

Louis: Totally deserve to be in the final, you have the talent
Dannii: A good performance, but I didn’t love it
Cheryl: I wish you the best of luck
Simon: I believe you 100% deserve your place in the final
My comment: A solid, but unspectacular performance

My order based on part 2 songs -
1) Joe
2) Stacey
3) Danyl
4) Olly

My overall order -
1) Joe
2) Stacey
3) Olly
4) Danyl

My prediction -
I think Joe and Stacey are certainties. My guess that the ones at risk will be Olly and Danyl (who are the ones that have previously been in the bottom 2). My prediction is that Olly will be eliminated.

The Sunday Results Show
The first 45 minutes consisted of lots of voting number reminders a performance by Lady GaGa and a performance by Janet Jackson. The 4 semi-finalists also did a group performance of Wanna Be Starting Something by Michael Jackson.

The we come to result time (announced in no particular order) -
The first person into the final is….. Olly – when he name is announced, he is overcome with emotion and starts to cry
The second person into the final is…. Joe
The third person into the final is….. Stacey

Meaning that Danyl has been eliminated. Danyl closes the show with his performance of Man In The Mirror by Michael Jackson.

So we have the three finalists – Joe, Stacey and Olly. Danyl being eliminated shows once again how rubbish I am at predictions, although I’m pleased to be wrong as I agree with the public vote.

Also this weekend we had official confirmation that The X Factor will be back in 2010 – although this was never in any doubt given the huge ratings this show has been getting. Casting is now open at the official website.

So who do you want to win the final of The X Factor next week? Please vote in the poll and also leave your comments.

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TAR 15 ended last night, and we have our winners, Meghan & Cheyne, and they have won seven out of twelve legs this season, making it a tie for the most legs won, as they are tied with Nick & Starr of season thirteen.

In this race, teams had to make their way to the Graceland wedding chapel where an Elvis Impersonator will hand them their next clue. Then, the teams were at their roadblock: The Mandalay bay, where one member had to rappel down. At the Mirage, the teams had to harness in a bungee cord and be lifted up high enough to grab a bouquet of flowers and hand them to a hippy actress. Then, teams had to figure out their next destination was the Monte Carlo, where they had to count $1,000,000 of poker chips to recieve their next clue. Then, finally, teams had to make their way to the MGM Grand, where teams had to find Mr. Las Vagas, or Wayne Newton, to tell them their finish line spot. The finish line was in Wayne Newton’s house, or Casa De Shanandoah. Here is the recap of how the teams performed in reverse placing order:

Brian Ericka (3rd place) – Brian/Ericka started off with the best of the three taxi drivers, and Ericka completed the roadblock first, before Meghan/Cheyne or Sam/Dan. They fell behind at the Bouquet task, when Ericka couldn’t get the bouquet easily, as they got very frusterated, especially Ericka. They failed to figure out the chip counting twice, which pretty much put them in third place. I really had fun rooting for them, and enjoyed them he most throughout the race.

Sam/Dan (2nd place) – They started off with the slowest of the taxis, and were the last at the roadblock. They were going to follow Meghan/Cheyneat the wrong hotel, but easily found out they needed to go to Monte Carlo. They got the chip count wrong the first time, in which this got them second place. They really only bickered on the chip count, but not as bad, since there was no detour.

Meghan/Cheyne (1st place) – Meghan/Cheyne started on the roadblock, with Cheyne competing, andthey finish just behind Brain/Ericka. Then, after they finish the bouquet challenge, they ended up driving to the wrong hotel, in which they let Sam/Dan in first place. Then, they finished the chip counting first and arrived to the finish line first, becoming the first team to arrive, winning The Amazing Race’s 15th season. I fairly agree they were good racers, and were probably one of the best racers on the race to win, ever, simply because of their good first place finishes.

Now, we have season sixteen to look after for, in which one team we’ll always remember from that season is Jeff/Jordan from Big Brother US 11. Also, we have discovered another beauty queen, Miss Teen 2007, Caitlyn Upton, who the first underaged contestant to break the must-be-over-21 rules. TAR always has a lot of beauty queens, as it seems that is the present obsession for TAR. Check in later to see my rankings of Seasons & Winners of TAR.

Episode 19, Day 22, Friday 4th December
After three weeks in the jungle we have reached the final.

The group react to Justin’s eviction and the realisation that they are in the final. Kim says she is in shock but very happy. Gino says it is unbelievable and Jimmy is overwhelmed.

The celebrities are shocked when they hear that they will each be doing a buck tucker trial today. They thought that there were no more trials – haven’t they seen the show before? the individual bush tucker trials for the final 3 happen every year.

Kim’s Trial is shown first. Her trial is called John Travolting. A part of her body is covered in insects. After 2 minutes a second part of her body is covered in insects and this continues until she has 5 parts covered. First her right leg has cockroaches and crickets, then her left arm has green ants that bite. Next her head is covered with large spiders. Her left leg with yabbis and finally giant stick insects on her right arm. She survives the 10 minutes and wins 3 fully prepared starters for evening meal and 2 special treats.

Now it’s time for Gino’s trial which is called The Bushtucker Bonanza. Gino must eat 5 things in order to get 5 stars.
1) A fermented duck egg (which he says is disgusting)
2) A rhino beetle
3) A live cockroach, a widgety grub and a handful of mealworms
4) Some beach worms
5) A crocodile tongue
He eats them all and wins 3 fulls prepared main courses for evening meal and 2 special treats.

Finally it is Jimmy’s trial and this one is called Flash Flood. He is chained up and put into a chamber. He must get 5 keys that are dropped in the chamber and use them to unlock the chains. The chamber will be filling up with water and other things like yabbis and water spiders. He gets 4 out of 5 within the time limit and wins 3 fully prepared desserts and 1 special treat.

After we are shown the bush tucker trials, the voting is frozen for a vote count.

Whilst the votes are counted we are shown more highlights of the previous day where they have a jungle awards ceremony.

After the the hosts go into camp and reveal that Jimmy has finished in third place. The voting re-opens for the winner which will be either Gino or Kim.

Back to the highlights and the 3 finalists enjoy their last dinner in camp and they get letters from their loved ones.

The hosts go back into camp to chat with Gino and Kim. Gino says that winning would mean that his 2 sons would be princes of the jungle. Kim says that winning would inspire other “old birds” out there. The phone lines are closed for the final time.

We are shown highlights of the whole 3 weeks and after an advert break it is time for the result.

The winner is…….. GINO.

Runner-up Kim is interviewed and says she is pleased to be runner-up as she didn’t expect to get to the final. She described camp as a hell hole.

Finally it’s Gino’s turn to be crowned King of the jungle. He says he really enjoyed every moment of it. His two little sons are brought on to hug him and sit with him on the throne. Last years winner Joe Swash hands over the crown to Gino and the show is over for another year.

Out of the three finalists I was pleased that Gino won. Kim was rather annoying and Jimmy was not as entertaining as Gino. I actually wanted Justin to win, but after he went my support went to Gino.