Phil Keoghan blogs 'The Amazing Race': episode 3
Mar 2, 2009, 12:01 AM | by Phil Keoghan
Categories: Reality TV, Television, Things That Are Awesome!
You know you have another great episode when you've got quotes like these:
I personally don't want to see you in a unitard. That's just not sexy.
I'm not wearing that girl's leotard.
I don't want to stay here tonight. It's kind of freaky.
I want my frickin' medal.
I think your brain just froze.
Gotta keep our eye out for Dracula.
Why are we driving on the sidewalk?
Look, we're doing so great.
Tell me when we're going to stop.
My Superwoman leotard is full of poop.
Go ahead. Scare me. I don't even care.
We're alive and that's what matters.
You know that feeling you get when you're being chased in a dream and you can't seem to run fast enough? Well it's a feeling many of us in production get during the Race. The reality is it's not a dream, we are being chased...all the time. I'm constantly getting calls from my colleagues making sure I'm heading to the next location to stay slightly ahead of the teams at each event. The challenge is maximizing my time so I can shoot something for my behind-the-scenes diaries. There's nothing worse than rushing away from a great location and missing out on sharing something cool. Check out my second diary and you'll see what I'm talking about. I really wanted to hang with those paragliders, but we got word teams were arriving at the bottom of the mountain. As a matter of fact, when I got down to my car I saw a couple of teams running up to the gondola. I always keep myself out of sight just so they don't get the feeling they are on the right track.
The one spot I was really keen to hang at during last night's leg was Olympic gold medalist Nadia Comaneci's old gym. Looks like we've all been saying Nadia's last name incorrectly. Coman-nich, not Coman-nichi. Grown men in tights, mmmm, there is something very wrong with that. Clearly some of the racers agreed "...I personally don't want to see you in a unitard. That's just not sexy." "...I’m not wearing that girl's leotard."
Of course, we would never let a piece of Lycra get in the way of good television. Naturally we got a few raised eyebrows from the locals, a good indication we are creating some water-cooler moments. Reminds me of a great Robin Williams quote, "...so tight you can tell what religion they are." I think he said it at one of his "Live at the Met" concerts.
Golden rule on the Race: Be very careful about isolating yourself from other teams when booking flights...especially flights with tight connections. Tammy and Victor were far enough ahead that they could fall back with the other teams on a later flight but Brad and Victoria let everyone get away from them while they stressed out in another country.
Another good rule of thumb: Listen to your teammate. On paper, Tammy and Victor are one of the smartest teams we've had on the race, and yet they made a huge blunder by aimlessly climbing a mountain while following the wrong markers. Victor simply refused to listen to Tammy. He'll have to change his approach pretty quickly if they want to stay in this race.
http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/03/phil-keoghan-bl.html