It Takes Two (Australian TV series)

infobox television
show_name = It Takes Two


caption =
format = Entertainment
runtime = approx 90 to 120 minutes per episode
"(including commercials)"
creator = Seven Network
starring = Grant Denyer
Erika Heynatz
country = AUS
network = Channel Seven
first_aired = May 28 2006
last_aired =
num_episodes =
imdb_id = 0816226
tv_com_id = 67850 "It Takes Two" is the Australian version of UK series "Just the Two of Us", currently in its third season. [ [http://www.ebroadcast.com.au/enews/It_Takes_Two_-_Judges_Announced_220506.html Seven Network - It Takes Two - Judges Announced] ] The first two series aired in 2006 and 2007 and were hugely successful.Fact|date=June 2008 The third season began on Tuesday 12 February 2008 at 7:30pm on Seven.

The show pairs celebrities with professional singers who each week compete against each other in a sing-off to impress a panel of judges and ultimately the viewing public in order to survive potential elimination.

Through both telephone and SMS voting, viewers vote for the duo they think should remain in the competition. Judges scores are also taken into account and are combined with the viewer votes when determining which duos stay and go each week.

The show was originally referred to in the media as "Singing with the Stars", partly because of the similarity in concept to "Dancing with the Stars".

"It Takes Two" is one of the most successful television programs to air on Australian television (along with "Dancing with the Stars"), after two seasons, the program continues to attract an average of 1.5 million viewers a week nationally.

On Air

Hosts

*Grant Denyer (2006 - )
*Erika Heynatz (2008)

Regular judges

*Marina Prior
*James Valentine
*Amanda Pelman
*Ross Wilson

Musical Conductor

*Chong Lim

Guest judge

*Daryl Braithwaite (Guest judge in season 2)
*Danni Minogue (Guest judge in season 3)

Former Co-hosts

*Kate Ritchie (2007)
*Terasa Livingstone (2006)

Fill-in Host

* Larry Emdur

eries One (2006)

The first series premiered on Sunday May 28, 2006 and concluded on Sunday August 6, 2006. It featured the following celebrities:

Judges Scores

¹Week 5 feautured a guest judge (Danni Minogue), and scores were still out of 40. She replaced Ross Wilson for the week, as he was unable to attend.
²Contestants in weeks 8 & 9 performed two songs, resulting with "two" scores out of 40, and added to out of 80.
³Contestants apart of the grand finale will perform three songs, with "three" scores out of 40, and added out of 120.

Season Summary

*Despite being turned down for a "lack of basic singing ability" in Series 2 ironwoman Candice Falzon is one of the contestants in Series 3.

*New singing partners in this series are Ricki-Lee Coulter, Ian Moss and Adam Harvey, replacing Paulini Curuenavuli, Dave Gleeson and Troy Cassar-Daley.

*Kate Ritchie declined to return for the third season of the show. [ [http://www.backtothebay.net/news/2008/01/16/.shtml Kate Ritchie's decline to return to It Takes Two] ]

*Scott Draper, Mark Wilson, Julia Morris, John Mangos, and Russell Robertson appeared on the "Deal or No Deal" - "It Takes Two" special, which also aired on the Seven Network during the week of February 3, 2008.

*On March 18, a countdown special of "It Takes Two" aired for one hour highlighting each singing duos journey the final six have had throughout their stint in "Series 3". Hence, no live performances were aired, therefore no contestant was eliminated that week.

Ratings

Series 1 was a hit for the Seven Network, providing them with solid numbers post nowrap|7:30 pm, where on a Sunday; Seven has had little success up against the Nine Network's "60 Minutes", and "Big Brother" and "Australian Idol" on the Ten Network.

Series 2 moved to a new night and time in 2007: 7:30pm Tuesdays, airing in the slot usually occupied by the highly successful "Dancing with the Stars". The premiere ranked third for the night, averaging 1.5 million viewers, behind Seven's news programming and ahead of a special extended edition of Nine's "20 to 1" episode "Great Movie One-Liners" [ [http://www.ebroadcast.com.au/enews/daily-tv-ratings-report-090507.html Seven - Daily Ratings Report] ] . The show has now managed to stay in the top 3 of the rating, and has been proved to be very successful for the Seven Network.

In Series 3, with only one season of "Dancing with the Stars" to air later in 2008, "It Takes Two" was moved to February, however retains the highly successful timeslot of 7:30pm on Tuesdays.

Controversy and Criticism

* In each season finale, the couple crowned champions only won if he/she had the most votes, therefore more of a popularity contest than indication of talent. Since the voting process worked that the couple with the most votes gets the most points and merged with their scores. E.g. If a couple had the most votes and had the second highest score with 4 couples remaining, they'll score 4 points from votes and 3 from the performance scores totalling to 7. Since if there was a tie for points in the final two, i.e. 3-3, the couple with the most votes will win.

References

External links

* [http://au.yahoo.com/it-takes-two It Takes Two Official website]
* [http://www.who.com/who/search/results?wlist=It+Takes+Two It Takes Two contestant interviews]