Australia’s Next Top Muddle

I haven’t watched much of this season of Australia’s Next Top Model but I watched the final. And I was thinking through it all what a terrific job Sarah Murdoch was doing with all the throws she had to do between taped packages, live interviews, moderating the judges squabbles and timing out to commercial breaks.

All with a live audience of screaming fans. Tough stuff. Really tough. And then it was the end and she announced the winner and then it was the wrong winner and it became one of the most compelling moments of live TV in recent memory.

Check it out:

News Ltd’s Sydney Confidential reports:

In a horror stuff-up, the announcement of the model series winner was muddled, with Murdoch announcing Kelsey Martinovich had beaten out fellow favourite Amanda Ware.

After a few seconds, a devastated Murdoch put a hand to her mouth and gasped: “Oh I’m so sorry Kelsey. There’s been a mistake.”

There certainly had. After much anticipation and days of controversy concerning a new voting strategy – audience not judges would choose – Martinovich was in fact the runner-up. Not the winner.

 

That was awkward.

Still, I think Sarah handled it with style and grace, just like she handles everything. In fact, bravo to all three women on that stage who handled a nightmare situation with class.

Having wobbled my way through guest-hosting 2 episodes of Kerri-Anne’s show a couple of weeks ago and wearing an IFB (ear piece) for the first time during the second show (was too scared to wear it for the first), I’m telling you that it’s incredibly difficult.

You have someone (the director and sometimes also the Executive Producer) talking to you in one ear while you’re trying to interview someone or listen to what they’re saying. And I’ve never done it with live audience noise before.

It’s disconcerting enough at the best of times in complete studio silence. You are completely at the mercy of whoever is talking to you through your earpiece. And you have to make your face look perfectly serene as if there’s no little voice in your ear at all.

When I was hosting KAK and the autocue went a bit funny, I nearly vomitted on my own shoes. That’s why I have the utmost respect and sympathy for Sarah and how she handled a horror situation.

So she was fed the wrong name. It happens. THAT’S why live TV is the only exciting bit left of this dwindling medium and the most compelling one. Sarah handled it with her typical motherly concern and reacted in a very human, honest way. That’s what she’s like. I watched from behind my hands with an acute sense of ‘there-but-for-the-grace-of-God-go-I’.

I imagine there will be many mortified people after the show. Sarah. Kelsey. Amanda. Whoever it was who accidentally fed her the wrong name.

But let’s retain perspective. It’s a TV show. About models.

And if nothing ever went wrong, if nobody ever strayed from the script and everything stayed tightly controlled…..it would be boring. THIS is a show that will be remembered.

I also discussed it on What’s Making News this morning with Karl: