RocKwiz

RocKwiz is an Australian television quiz show series, focused on rock music, and broadcast on the Special Broadcasting Service. It premiered in 2005.

ummary

The program airs on every Saturday night at 9:20 and is hosted by Julia Zemiro. It is shot in The Gershwin Room at St Kilda's Esplanade Hotel, commonly called just the "The Espy", in Melbourne. The program often includes local lesser-known musicians (predominantly vocalists), alongside more well known Australian and non-Australian musicians. It has a cult following for its no-frills style. The show features the "RocKwiz Orkestra" which provides musical clues and support for special music guests/participants.

Cast

The show is hosted by Julia Zemiro, with Brian Nankervis as the scorer and "adjudicator where necessary". Dugald McAndrew features as a "human scoreboard".

RocKwiz Orkestra

*James Black – guitar and Hammond organ
*Mark Ferrie – bass
*Peter "Lucky" Luscombe – drums

Rounds

The quiz comprises six rounds (originally there were five), and one preliminary round called "Ready Steady RocKwiz." A notable feature of the show is its very casual attitude to the scoring system - a fact Brian once addressed on his introductory segment after apparently receiving some complaints from viewers. A common example of this is the awarding of "bonus points", often done when one team appears to be dominant.

* "Ready Steady RocKwiz" - The show often opens with this pre-recorded segment. Brian Nankervis asks questions of several audience members earlier in the evening, to determine the four people that will make up the teams later on in the evening. After the footage has been shown and the guests introduced, Julia Zemiro will usually ask the four guests what the first album they ever bought was, and/or what the first concert they ever went to was. The title of this segment is an allusion to the 1960s British pop music TV show "Ready Steady Go!".

* "Who Can it Be Now?" - This round introduces the show's two musical guest for the evening. Clues are read out in a "Who Am I" style, and a team buzzes in when they know the answer. Ten points are awarded, and then the guest arrives and performs a song. The first guest announced will join the team that correctly guessed them, then the next guest joins the other team (after also performing a song), although the first team can still answer the question. Julia usually asks the guests about their first concert and/or album bought as well. The title and theme music of this segment comes from the song by Australian group Men at Work.

* "Local and/or General" - As the title suggests, this is a general knowledge music quiz section. The title of this segment comes from the song by Australian group The Models.

* "Million Dollar Riff" - The RocKwiz Orkestra plays a series of notable riffs and a team buzzes in when they recognise the riff. The riff played as the intro is AC/DC's "Back In Black". The title of this segment comes from the song by Australian group Skyhooks.

* "Into the Groove" - In this round, brought in in early 2007, Brian gives a quick run down of history and trivia concerning one song. The contestants are then given questions a few aspects about the song, including events surrounding the song's writing and recording, and often information that was given by Brian at the start of the round. The title and theme music of this segment comes from the song by American singer Madonna.

* "Master Blaster" - The musical guests are given a number of questions, usually around five, to answer, on a specialist subject they have nominated. The title and theme music of this segment comes from the song by American singer Stevie Wonder.

* "Furious Five" - This round involves "five or so" minutes of fast and furious questions to both teams. Usually, the Furious Five does not quite reach the five minute mark. The title of this segment comes from the American group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and the theme music is composed of five 'furious' notes.

To close off the show, the musical guests perform a duet, accompanied by the RocKwiz Orkestra. SBS has released a compilation CD & DVD of the best duets.

External links

* [http://www20.sbs.com.au/rockwiz/ Official site]
* [http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/summary/summary.w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;page=0;parentid=;query=Number%3A665495%20|%20Number%3A695536%20|%20Number%3A715243;querytype=;resCount=10 RocKwiz at the National Film and Sound Archive]