Author Topic: TARA 2 Media/Ratings/post race news  (Read 8373 times)

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Offline georgiapeach

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TARA 2 Media/Ratings/post race news
« on: February 23, 2008, 11:51:44 AM »
Sounds like fabulous ratings!

(If you haven't seen it yet, this link contains winner info)


Quote
Quoting data from TNS Singapore and AGB NMR Malaysia, the channel says that it was ahead of other international cable channels during the 9-10 pm time slot. It adds that the finale even outperformed all terrestrial channels in Malaysia.


Online, the AXN site recorded over 17 million page views since October 2007, more than double of what the first season had.


http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k8/feb/feb284.php
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Offline georgiapeach

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Re: TARA 2 Media/Ratings/post race news
« Reply #1 on: February 29, 2008, 11:20:22 AM »

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Bertram van Munster Takes Stake in activeTV

SINGAPORE, February 28: Bertram van Munster, co-creator and executive producer of The Amazing Race, has taken a stake in activeTV, the company that produces the Asian version of the hit CBS reality-competition series.

 

“We hope to bring a lot of value to the region and look forward to our team becoming one of the biggest creative production forces in Asia,” van Munster said of his plans to work with activeTV. The value and size of his investment was not disclosed.

 



http://www.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=active022808.htm
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Offline apskip

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Re: TARA 2 Media/Ratings/post race news
« Reply #2 on: February 29, 2008, 12:26:05 PM »
van Munster and Doganieri have always been on the major credits for Amazing Race Asia, but their collaoration is not apparent in the actual casting, planning and production of ARA1 and ARA2. I think that Michael McKay needs some major help, particularly in casting and episode planning, for ARA3 and beyond.

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Re: TARA 2 Media/Ratings/post race news
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2008, 03:24:38 AM »
I think that Michael McKay needs some major help, particularly in casting and episode planning, for ARA3 and beyond.


I agree!  :jam:  Michael McKay and his casting team should be more discerning with their team choices. I think having local celebrities on the race seems akin to laziness as if they were recruited not casted. A friend of mine from an PR company told me this when she saw the cast for TARA2. Sure they had audition videos but they were not that impressive. Marc and Rovilson had the most scripted (there is an unconfirmed report McKay admitted this) while Paula and Natasha bored me to tears.  :res: Ann and Diane had the best.  :tup:  I hope Mr. Van Munster would give a huge amount of input because quite frankly  TARA producers had the weakest and unbalance set of teams and tasks for season 2. Only Collin and Adrian's win and Ann and Diane's casting saved the show.

« Last Edit: March 01, 2008, 03:30:25 AM by nikita »

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Re: TARA 2 Media/Ratings/post race news
« Reply #4 on: March 07, 2008, 09:56:18 AM »
Vanessa update/Interview

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/you/super/view/20080307-123390/The-afterlife-of-Vanessa-Chong

Quote
When watching the race, one cannot help but wonder, is that really ALL real? With CGI and the wonders of editing it’s hard to believe everything you see. However, Vanessa was quick to ensure me it was ALL real. “It’s real time. You are always racing. When you open your first clue there is no stopping. You try not to stop even to buy water but you think twice. The pitstop is the only time you get to freshen up, get a good meal, 3-4 hours of sleep, life is on adrenaline.” Being on a reality show is probably the hardest thing to be cast for. Viewers see all the moments in your life: the sad, the funny, the heartwarming and the ugly. “It’s amazing that people recognize us around Asia,” Vanessa humbly says. ” People feel like they know you and are genuinely concerned!”
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Offline TARAsia Fan

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Re: TARA 2 Media/Ratings/post race news
« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2008, 12:03:48 AM »
I'm surprised this hasn't been posted yet. This is the check presentation to Adrian and Collin after the finale was shown on AXN. Notice Pamela/Vanessa and Mutt/Revolting there as well.

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Re: TARA 2 Media/Ratings/post race news
« Reply #6 on: March 14, 2008, 12:10:12 AM »
Oh and from that same party shown above, here's a video of scenes that weren't aired on the show including Revolting's nekkid butt at the strip club (it's a quick glimpse, but if you want to be on the safe side, don't click on it at work). It's a pretty good vid, but my problem is the use of KT Tunstall's "Suddenly I See" which is used everywhere.

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Offline chealsea

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Re: TARA 2 Media/Ratings/post race news
« Reply #7 on: May 16, 2008, 02:00:39 AM »
nice video. haven't watched this yet. thanks for posting!

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Re: TARA 2 Media/Ratings/post race news
« Reply #8 on: June 17, 2008, 01:40:46 PM »
New Zealand Tourism is jumping in on the TARA 2 bandwagon!

http://www.newzealand.com/travel/about-nz/features/the-amazing-race-asia-2007/the-amazing-race-asia---season-2.cfm

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Ten teams, ten adventures and 48 hours to complete them. AXN’s The Amazing Race Asia returned to New Zealand in its second series for more adrenalin-packed adventures around the country’s largest city, Auckland, and culture capital Rotorua.



Season 2 Activities
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Re: TARA 2 Media/Ratings/post race news
« Reply #9 on: July 01, 2008, 09:56:57 AM »
Interview with Collin and Adrian:

Not since the start of the reality TV trend has a show so captured the Singapore audience. The Amazing Race Asia found Singaporeans Adrian Yap and Collin Low chasing the sun in pursuit of a USD100,000 prize (SGD136,208/AUD104,088), competing against groups from various countries in the region. The duo moved up the ranks week after week, frustrated at the start by the Philippine team (Marc Nelson and Rovilson Fernandez) who constantly managed to stay just ahead of the pack. However, they eventually managed to overcome the odds and take the prize money.

Since the end of the show, Adrian and Collin have returned to the regular routine of city life, although both tell us that they have gained much from the reality show. While Collin is now a participant in the Men’s Health Singapore’s “Are You Men’s Health Enough” competition, Adrian is spending time as a model spokesperson for handicapped associations, seeking to inspire the disabled to live life as fully as he has.

“I was the only handicapped participant in the competition,” says Adrian, who is hearing impaired. “The fact that we won the race gave my peers a morale boost.

“I’ve been invited to give talks at several handicapped schools, to speak about my experience and how being disabled doesn’t necessarily mean that one can’t take part in competitions or compete against others in any situation. That’s something I’m really proud to be involved in, and eager to continue.”

The series brought out the competitive nature of the two, who have been friends for some time now and are also travelling buddies.

“We both enjoy the outdoors and we go on backpacking trips all the time. We’ve been gym buddies and sports buddies for a long time now, so we thought we’d take a long shot and join the game,” says Colin. “It combined our favourite activities into one great adventure.”

Adrian adds, “The incentive to win was there; we’d both taken long leaves of absence from our work, and if we returned empty-handed, it would have been rather disappointing. But even if we hadn’t won the race, the experience itself was well worth the time and energy we invested in it.”

The show took them to 10 countries over four continents, several of which the duo had never visited before. Over the short period of a few weeks, they overcame many challenges and language barriers to win the Race.

Manila was a particularly memorable city the partners had to race in. In the Philippine capital, one of their challenges was to lead a carabao (water buffalo) and plough a field with it, something the two were totally unfamiliar with.

“It was a new experience,” recalls Collin. “I’ve been to Manila many times before for work, but this time, we had to travel on our own, on the ground. It was very different. We had to go to the Star-Mart and deliver packages to an orphanage. Getting around was a bit of a challenge, but the locals were very friendly and helpful.”

Both agreed that the easiest part of the competition was the self-drive section of the show.

Travel Happy
With a large cheque now sitting in the bank, the two are keen to travel some more. Collin is eager to go to Alice Springs and Darwin, as he is an avid outdoor adventurer and both locations offer mountains and countryside. Adrian is enthusiastic about traipsing through India.

“I’ve heard so much about Bangalore’s beauty, and I’ve never been to India before,” says Adrian. “I like the outdoors very much as well, but India is rich in its cultural and architectural beauty, and that’s something I would like to experience.”

The guys are also eager to venture into China. “Shanghai and Hong Kong are the places everyone goes to when you talk about China, but there’s so much more to the country than just these two cities,” says Collin. “I’d like to visit Guangzhou or Xiamen, where I’ll get to see more of the suburban culture and their way of life.”

He and Adrian both agree that, “Having been to so many places on the Race, we’re eager to keep up our travels and venture to more unique destinations. Travel offers us an insight into the lives of people all around the world.”

More here:

http://tigertales.sg/2008/07/01/taking-the-lead/
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Re: TARA 2 Media/Ratings/post race news
« Reply #10 on: July 01, 2008, 05:12:40 PM »
Both are so cool and so deserving to win. Glad to see Adrian using the fame for something positive and be a role model. The man rocks! :tup: :tup:
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Re: TARA 2 Media/Ratings/post race news
« Reply #11 on: October 14, 2008, 06:15:59 PM »
Post Race Depression? How they coped :lol:!

The Star Online > eCentral > Tv & Radio
Monday October 13, 2008


Amazing Race Asia participants back to normal routine

By S. INDRAMALAR

It has not been easy for some participants to get back to their normal routine after experiencing the excitement of The Amazing Race Asia.

You would think that beating nine other teams from around Asia and emerging the first ever winners of the The Amazing Race Asia (TARA) would have left Zabrina Fernandez on a high for quite a while. After all, it was quite a feat for Zabrina and team mate Tee Joe Jer - two petite girls against 18 others who were almost all bigger than them - to get through the tough physical and mental challenges to win the race and the US$100,000 (RM350,000) prize money.

However, happy though she was about their win, Zabrina found herself depressed almost as soon as the race was over.

“When the Race began, it took me about a week to get into the groove of things and then, once you are into it, you kind of get into a system. I’d make arrangements for food and lodging and Joe Jer would do the laundry ... things like that. It was an amazing high. There were days where by 11am in the morning we would have done so many things. Like in New Zealand, where we had to do a relay (go four laps around a luge circuit), complete a quadbike course and a bungee jump all in the same morning. It was just such a high ... I mean no one really lives like that,” says Zabrina who won the race with Joe Jer in 2006.

 The Amazing Race Asia Season One winner Zabrina Fernandez said it took her a long while to get over the race.
Though she was on TARA for just under a month, Zabrina adapted to the frantic pace of the Race very well, so well that when the Race ended, she felt disoriented.

“After we won the last leg, we went back and I had a long sleep. At night, we had a wrap party and we went out and had a lot of fun. But when I woke up the next morning, suddenly everyone was either leaving or had already left and it was all over.

“It was really hard because it’s not like we can all meet up, you know,” recalls Zabrina.

Things did not get much better after she returned home to Kuala Lumpur either.

“I really was depressed ... I could not do much for one month. I mean after such an experience ... you wake up (at home) and there is nothing planned. I was at a loss. I did not know what to do. I’d think, ‘Ok, maybe I’ll watch a movie,’ ” she says.

Looking back now, Zabrina reckons that her melancholy was the hardest on her “poor husband”.

“He tried to understand what I was going through ... but at the same time he was really happy to have me back. It was quite hard for him, I think,” she says.

It took a while but she is finally over it. Well, almost. She became a producer for the second and third season of TARA. She also wears a pendant in the shape of the date they won the Race!

“I wanted to work on the show because I am a big fan of The Race ... yes, I am actually this big geek! You know, I wrote to Michael McKay, asking for a job on the second season but I did not hear from him. He did write back a couple of times asking me how I was doing and all that but he never addressed my application to work on the race.

 Vanessa (left) and Pamela Chong, the Malaysian sisters who finished runners -up in The Amazing Race Asia 2. They felt some separ ation anxiety from the race.
“Finally, one month before the start of the Race, I wrote to him again. I was a bit angry and my letter was quite stern. I told him it was OK if he said ‘No’ to my application but that I needed an answer.

“And that must have worked because I got the job as a location producer on Season Two,” she says with a laugh.

Before applying to work on the series, Zabrina had to consult her TARA team mate and friend Joe Jer first.

“I had to ask her permission because once I work on the Race, that would end the possibility of us ever being on All Stars .... if there ever is one-lah.”

(The 11th season of the American version of TAR was dubbed the “all-stars” as it brought back teams from previous seasons.)

Working as the producer on TARA was fun for Zabrina as it meant she got to be part of the experience again and again.

“But now, at the end of it all I am quite happy to come home because it is really tiring,” she says.

Another Malaysian team that felt some separation anxiety from the race were the “Strong Chongs”, who came in second in TARA 2 last year.

Sisters Vanessa and Pamela Chong said they too had post-TARA withdrawal symptoms.

“Pam and I both felt like we broke up. The experience being on the Race was like falling in love and when it ended ... it was like going through a break-up. When we returned, normal life was just very, very boring,” says Vanessa.

Says Pamela: “I would not say that I was depressed really ... I don’t think it was as bad as that. But I’d lie on my bed and think, ‘what’s the point?’ I would go shopping, hoping that it would make me feel better but even that did not help ... I did not even feel like going shopping!”

 Last season’s champs Collin Low (left) and Adrian Yap from Singapore admit to being lost after the race.
“I really think we should call it the post-race syndrome,” adds Vanessa.

The two were the only all-girl team in the final leg of the race and emerged second after Singaporeans Adrian and Colin in TARA 2.

“Do you want to know how sad we were? We had downloaded the TARA theme song and when we just returned from the Race we would play the song ... when no one was around because we were not allowed to talk about the Race ... and get excited again,” says Vanessa.

The sisters would also get excited every time they saw or heard the promotional trailer for TARA2 on TV or the radio. Sometimes they’d get excited just hearing the word “amazing”.

“We’d hear the word (amazing) on the radio and get all excited only to realise it is some amazing bargain at Courts Mammoth or something! We thought we owned rights to the word,” shares Pamela.

Apart from the “once-in-a-lifetime” experience of running the race (and coming out second), the sisters also missed the many friends they made on the race.

“When you watch the Race on TV, you don’t really realise how much emotion you (the racers) put into it. The intensity of it all made one day seem like a week,” says Pamela.

“We all became really close and after the Race we’d fly to the Philippines or Thailand and visit each other. In fact, we did not come home immediately after the Race ended ... we flew to Bangkok and hung out with Paula (from the Thailand team) for a while. We missed home a lot but we just wanted to hang on to that experience a while more. And since then, Sawaka (Japanese team) has come over here three times, and Paula and Marc and Rovilson (from the Philippines) too. It’s been great,” says Vanessa.

Adds Pamela: “It became an expensive friendship (visiting their friends from the other teams). We still travel, but we try and space out our trips. Or we try and do some work while we are there.”

The bond formed €“ not just between the racers from Season Two but also Season One €“ has been among the most treasured things the racers gained from the show.

Though it has been more than two years since she completed the race, Zabrina still keeps in close contact with her running mates and has visited many of her fellow racers from season one.

She’s been to Sri Lanka (where she stayed with Sahran), Hong Kong (incidentally Sandy and Francesca from team Hong Kong are no longer a couple), Thailand (to visit Andy and Laura), Singapore (to hook up with Sharon and Melody) and the Philippines where she met up with Ernie and Jeena.

Last season’s champs Adrian Yap and Collin Low also admit to being lost after the race, though not to the point of being depressed.

“Yes, we did feel lost and disoriented ... as if there was no more purpose in life,” laughs Colin. “We miss the racing experience greatly. We have formed a support group through Face­book so that we can recall all our experiences.”

His team mate Adrian (who amazingly completed the final task of the race literally in seconds) has an easier time getting over the Race blues.

“I guess I kinda got used to it after a week or more. I did not feel depressed-lah because I had tonnes of things to do after the race.

“I think we tried not to think about it so much and just immersed ourselves in our work to try and get back to our normal routine.

“We also tried to think of something we could do to contribute back to society. That kept us busy,” says Adrian.

For the moment though, Zabrina, Vanessa, Pamela, Adrian and Colin are reliving their experiences by watching the third season of TARA airing on AXN.

“When we heard about Season Three, we felt like ‘has-beens’! But no ... we still keep our experience close to us. We are watching TARA 3 on TV but it does take courage to watch it because it makes us kind of sad. We are really emotionally tied to it,” shares Pamela.

Adds Vanessa: “Yeah ... I feel like I am about to cry (when I am) watching it sometimes.”

TARA 3 airs on AXN (Astro channel 701) on Thursdays at 9pm.


LINK
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Offline apskip

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Re: TARA 2 Media/Ratings/post race news
« Reply #12 on: October 15, 2008, 08:02:24 AM »
Interesting article. The most interesting thing in it is the news that Sandy and Francesca are no longer a couple. I wonder what might have happened had they won ARA1?