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TAR 27 MEDIA
georgiapeach:
There are some great interesting bits in that article!! Thanks for sharing it.
Adding in the rest....
Amazing Race” host Phil Keoghan, who has been at the helm of the U.S. juggernaut for 27 seasons, is also quite happy about the success of the show, which wrapped its third season in September.
“I’m so pleased that it’s worked in Canada and fans are happy because after making ‘Amazing Race’ in America successful you don’t want to have a blemish in the franchise and so we’ve had not just success but great success,” says Keoghan over the phone from the UK.
“I think the Canadian (version) from what I’ve seen … it does definitely have a Canadian feel to it, which is great. Maybe it’s closer to what the Canadians want and some of the things they don’t like about the American show they’ll like more in the Canadian show. Ultimately I think people like to watch themselves, their own people, people that they can connect with.”
So what makes our teams so distinctly Canadian?
“You hear ‘sorry’ from a Canadian a lot more than you do from an American I think,” says Keoghan with a laugh.
“It’s awesome that it’s worked and that Canadian fans are happy and don’t feel that somehow it’s not a match. It’s something that they’re really proud of and that they love.”
Apply now to be on 'The Amazing Race Canada!'
The Emmy Award-nominated Keoghan, who is also a producer on “The Amazing Race,” says the success of the show – no matter which country is producing it – depends on three key elements: the teams, what they’re doing and where they’re doing it (in that order).
“A huge amount of credit has to go to our casting team over the years because that is the No. 1 most important factor in making any series a success: are the teams interesting? And then (when) we put them into an interesting situation is their reaction to that stimulus interesting to watch? The third layer is where are they and what are we seeing behind them?”
Keoghan says a really captivating team being lost in a taxi can surpass anything else in the show.
“It’s about the teams. The focus is how do we get them to react to an amazing race? It’s imperative we get that right. We get that wrong then we lose out on having a great show.”
It doesn’t mean “The Amazing Race” hasn’t tried new elements over the years though, including a family edition and bringing former contestants back for all-stars and unfinished business. They also tried a blind date concept in Season 26, with half the teams being existing couples and the other half meeting for the first time on the mat.
Even though there were no love connections, Keoghan says there’s a possibility they’d do it again or something else like it.
“I loved it just to try something different. It surprised me, it surprised the fans. Who would’ve guessed that three out of the four teams in the final leg would be teams who had never met each other before? That certainly dispelled a lot of my beliefs about what teams do well and a lot of fans, too.”
The current season of “Race” has returned to the show’s typical format (teams with existing relationships) but they are revisiting some familiar spots, including the Batoka Gorge in Zambia, the very first challenge ever on “Amazing Race” when Season 1 aired in 2001.
“I love going back and this season we’ve done it quite a bit, visiting some of the iconic spots, the switchbacks are always to me a lot of fun. We have such history to draw on and it’s great to have that history.”
In the next episode, airing tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, teams will visit another familiar site – the Arc de Triomphe in Paris – the Pit Stop for the second leg in Season 1.
“Next to the Taj Mahal and the Pyramids it’s right up there. It’s absolutely iconic on the Champs-Elysees, it’s absolutely stunning and beautiful and then they have some really interesting challenges – a rapping challenge, they get in some biplanes. It’s awesome.”
They will also be travelling to Poland and India later in the season, something Keoghan is particularly excited about.
“Those episodes through India are my favourite this season, just because of taking ordinary people or so called ordinary people and putting them in an extraordinary situation with vivid colours and culture and where they are a complete fish out of water … It’s a great finish. Lots of drama.”
claude_24hrs:
Episodes 8 and 9 from TV Guide:
claude_24hrs:
Episode 8 title
georgiapeach:
Amazing Race's Phil Keoghan praises Canadian version of hit show
Phil Keoghan has deep-rooted Canadian connections, but that's not why he loves our version of The Amazing Race
By Steve Tilley, Postmedia Network
First posted: Wednesday, November 04, 2015 01:55 PM EST | Updated: Wednesday, November 04, 2015 02:07 PM EST
We Canadians are a polite and reserved people most of the time. But when it comes to The Amazing Race, we were not going to sit quietly until we got what we damn well wanted: a version of the show that highlighted Canuck courage and competitiveness.
And nobody is happier about the success of The Amazing Race Canada than Phil Keoghan, the longtime host of the U.S. version of the globe-trotting, Emmy-winning reality show.
Canada’s pent-up demand to take part in The Amazing Race “was more than any other country in the world, I’ve got to say,” said Keoghan, on the phone from the U.K. where he was watching his New Zealand All Blacks defeat Australia in last weekend’s Rugby World Cup final.
“Any country likes to watch its own compete,” said Keoghan. “There’s a certain amount of patriotism, and there’s that rivalry between Canadians and Americans, and I think Canadians initially felt like they were left out.”
With Canadian Olympic gold medalist Jon Montgomery as host, The Amazing Race Canada kicked off in 2013 with a debut season that never left Canada’s borders. Some cynics snarked that it made the show a lesser version of its American cousin, but Keoghan disagrees.
“I think it was a really smart move to focus in on Canada, because I think it rallied the fans around the franchise, and I think it made Canadians – who are such a proud people, and such a great country – think, ‘Wow, we really do live in an amazing place,’ ” he said.
The two subsequent seasons have ventured outside of Canada – to China and France in Season 2, and Chile, Argentina and India in Season 3 – and there’s no reason to think next year’s Season 4 will be any different. (If you and a partner think you’ve got what it takes to win the next season of The Amazing Race Canada, head to theamazingracecanada.ctv.ca/casting to apply.)
“And then when they did go out (of Canada), it got everyone excited because it’s like, ‘Oh, OK, now we get to see the Canadian version go out into the world,’ ” said Keoghan. “It was a good move.”
Before The Amazing Race, Keoghan was a well-known TV personality in his native New Zealand, and he’s travelled the world crossing items off a very impressive bucket list, including making one of the world’s tallest bungee jumps and eating dinner at the edge of an erupting volcano.
But he comes by his love of Canada – and of rugby – very honestly, eh, having spent four years living in Ontario as a kid.
“My dad coached the University of Guelph rugby team,” said Keoghan. “There was a big match back in 1971 between Guelph and Queen’s (University), and my dad was the coach and they were a bit short on players. So my dad jumped into the game and they ended up winning it.”
Currently in its 27th season, the U.S. version of The Amazing Race heads from France to the Netherlands in Friday’s episode, where two-wheeled transportation is likely to factor into a challenge.
“We’re going to Rotterdam, an absolutely spectacular city,” said Keoghan. “It’s a country that is very advanced, they love technology, they love bicycles of course – any excuse to get a bicycle in the show is good with me, so you might see some pedalling – but it’s also one of the busiest harbours in the world.”
And while the Green Team – Philadelphia radio personality Justin Scheman and his fiance,
schoolteacher Diana Bishop – have dominated the race with strategy and cunning, previous seasons have shown there’s no such thing as an unbeatable team in The Amazing Race.
“At the end of the day there are still cancelled flights, there’s still a taxi driver that takes them to the wrong side of town, there’s still the possibility they pull a leg muscle or they ostracize themselves from the other teams and the other teams want to gang up on them and eliminate them,” said Keoghan.
“The people who win are not always the fittest, they’re not always the smartest, they’re not always the strongest.”
Sometimes, they’re not even the politest. Eh.
The Amazing Race airs Friday nights at 8 p.m. on CBS and CTV.
http://www.torontosun.com/2015/11/04/amazing-races-phil-keoghan-praises-canadian-version-of-hit-show
claude_24hrs:
Episode 9 title
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