The Amazing Race Canada - The Finish is in Sight

So the finale is upon us, and there have been sightings aplenty all over Toronto:

• Pearson (of course)
• The Toronto Zoo Panda Exhibit - cluebox sighting
• The Esplanade
• The L Tower
• Cadbury Adams Canada (nothing like a little product placement) - cluebox sighting
• The Queensway

However, until there are identifiable pics, nothing can be confirmed. There have already been a few foilers posted by pranksters, and we can't discard the fact that the production team have and will set up some themselves.

They are supposed to rappel down the west tower and onto the green roof at Toronto City Hall today. Now that's hilarious. Do you have any idea how many reporters are there right now to cover the Rob Ford Fiasco? Oh the jokes are going to fly over this convergence of events! But Ford just showed up at his office. Took the back way in. I guess he didn't want to run into the teams. He'd probably trip them or take out one of the cameramen. Maybe the whole scandal was just dreamed up as a diversion for the Amazing Race Canada filming.  Just joking.

I wouldn't be surprised if the rappelling challenge was cancelled at City Hall because of all the hoopla. 

[Update: I don't think production approached Toronto City Council to approve City Hall as a venue, wasting time and money - only to use it as a diversion. Well unless Rob Ford was doing another one of his favours! I think this challenge was cancelled because of the growing news story that day and there were just too many reporters there.]

The big question is...where's the finish line? It's usually somewhere secluded...a park or large open space. And it's going to be downtown. Toronto has plenty of those! BUT if I was the producer of the show...I would pick Toronto Island, the CNE, High Park or Fort York. Perfect scenarios. And of these places, the most secluded would be inside the grounds of Fort York - if only for the reason that production can control access.

The Amazing Race Canada....Does Anybody Have a Dime?

Quick.....without looking....what Canadian icon is on our dime?

That's right, The Amazing Race Canada was in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia yesterday filming a few challenges. And what's in Lunenburg? It's the Bluenose II.

But first, let me fill you in on where The Race went after Regina:

• In Quebec City, the teams faced some sort of challenge with a block of ice and another with lacrosse on the Plains of Abraham.
• Then it was on to Iqaluit in Nunavut where they apparently had to build very small igloos. After the cast left, it looks like a few people were curious enough to go see what they were doing and snapped pictures of themselves in or on the igloos.

Which reminds me. I know this is Canada, BUT, why do they have to have so many challenges involving ICE? CTV is set to air this show in July and August, and nobody wants to be reminded of winter in the middle of summer. No Canadian that is. It's like an unspoken law. It's only permitted if you don't have air conditioning and you want to dream of cold weather. It's like that old episode of the original Twilight Zone where everyone is dying from the heat because the earth is moving towards the sun, only its really moving away from the sun and they are freezing to death. Or is it the other way around?

Anyways...after Iqaluit, Twitter went eerily silent, until the teams were spotted in Ottawa again at the airport. This is at least three times now they were seen there. Well I should have known better and just went to visit my sister-in-law or camped out at the airport. Air Canada. Maybe next time. This time they were on their way to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Not sure if they filmed any challenges there but yesterday morning they wound up in Lunenburg.

Apparently Lunenburg and the South Shore of Nova Scotia have a lot of webcams which have a 24 hour history and various interval settings for your viewing pleasure. Cool. Sure enough there were two that seemed promising. One is set up at the Bluenose II which right now is in dry dock to do work on it's rudder. The crew showed up just before 8 A.M. to set things up and were gone by noon. The slowest interval refresh rate is one minute, so I can't be 100%, but I counted four teams. Unfortunately, they had to run to the clue box on the other side of the Bluenose. But a camera crew was set up in view - I think to film confessionals from the teams.

There were also a few tweets about a lobster challenge. Another webcam in front of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic showed a lot of activity at the wharf. Yeah, I know. It's a wharf ...with fishermen. But this was on Victoria Day and there were a lot of bystanders gathered. I managed to capture one still of a camera crew with one of the teams.

So...where to next? Seems quiet again. Charlottetown? Moncton? St. John's? They better hurry up because in three days, we know they are supposed to be rappelling down the side of Toronto City Hall. I wonder how the crew is going to keep that one secure. Please, please, please...the finish line can't be in Toronto, can it? I love Toronto, I really do...but that would just be too predictable. Too obvious. They may as well just have "find Rob Ford for a comment" as the final challenge. Well that would be funny actually. They could just as easily be given a clue after City Hall that says something like "Make your way to Parliament Hill". Or some place they haven't been like, oh, I don't know...Manitoba?

The Amazing Race Canada - Hey Isn't That Jon Montgomery?

You bet it is!!! The cat is out of the bag now.

We have known for a few days now that The Amazing Race Canada was going to film today at Regina's Mosaic Stadium. But thanks to CJME News Talk Radio 980, who had several reporters tweeting pics and comments, it is now obvious that Jon Montgomery is in fact the host of the show. You can view the news article HERE.

All I can say is... Hell yeah! It really is a great move by CTV and Insight Productions. What Canadian didn't freak out when Montgomery won that gold medal in skeleton at the Vancouver Games, or fall in love with the big lug when he walked through the crowds in Whistler carrying a pitcher of beer? Cos that's how a real Canadian wins a gold medal. Oh yeah.

There is just one question...will Monty be able to master the Keoghan Arch? Meh. Maybe he will develop his own unique facial expression. How about a Monty Smirk? Or better yet, how about if he just gives each team a pitcher of beer when they get to each pit stop!!!

The Amazing Race Canada Team Spoilers, Speculation and My First Impressions

The show has only been taping for 6 days, but already there are enough spoilers via social media to identify several of the teams. So take note because if you see these people, you'll know that you are seeing the Amazing Race Canada being filmed. But then again, it's kind of hard to miss people who are scrambling madly about and looking like they don't know what they're doing. Of course, there's the sweaty, exhausted film crew trailing behind them. Now there's a dead give-away.

1) Team Body Break. Oh yeah...you know who I mean. Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod. It's like a trip to the not-so-distant past. They were the first team to be identified because everyone knows these two. They have been spotted everywhere including in my head cos I can't get that damn jingle out of it. There. I just heard it again...Body Break! And it's the kind of music that is so typical of Canadian TV commercials. Really annoying. Do you hear it now? Oh yeah...there it is. Sing it. SING IT!!! Seriously, they are like two teams for the price of one -  they fill the "older couple" as well as the "home-grown, quasi-celebrity" team typecast.

2) Team Dreadlocks. Dude! This is the "young dating couple" type of team. Their names are Darren Trapp and Kristen Idiens. They are also easily identifiable because Darren sports long blond dreadlocks. I am hoping these two will the the "stupids" of the season - there's always one team like this, just because they so look the part. Thinking they know everything but getting totally befuddled. I hope they last long enough to be put through an extreme challenge or two, because I want to hear this guy say "dude!", "like" and "wow!" or some combination thereof. Oh I hope he says it a lot. He has to - otherwise that would just be a waste of a fine set of dreads, right? Maybe we can start a "Dude"-counter.


3) Team Red-Shirts. Not much is known about these two guys, except one looks slightly older than the other, so they could be father and son. Oh and they wear red shirts. Now, anyone who has ever watched Star Trek knows what that means. Yep. In case you don't know, it was always the red shirted guys who were sent on away missions to some crazy planet and would be the first to encounter and fall prey to whatever alien, bad guy, monster or amorphous blob featured in that week's episode. ALWAYS. Sure hope there isn't some challenge that involves caves or wild animals. Yikes. I mean, if they are the first team to be eliminated, that would just be too funny. Update: Damn. What at first looked like red shirts, turned out to be orange. Damn, I could have really had fun with that whole red-shirt thing. Oh well, it wouldn't have worked out ... they aren't the first ones out.

Shaun Majumder ‏@shaunmajumder 6 May

#amazingRaceCanada blasting through YVR! Go cute girls go!

 pic.twitter.com/ilu00ncEBF

4) Team Pink # 1. Yeah there are 2 teams of girls wearing pink. So let's call

this one Team Pretty in Pink. This pink team wears pink workout pants. The reason I am calling them this is because of this tweet by Shaun Majumder. Yeah I know, one has blue pants on. But she was wearing pink before. I swear. Update: the girl on the left is a young Canadian actress, Vanessa Morgan. Her teammate is probably her sister Celina Mziray.

5) Team Pink # 2. So the other pink-wearing girl team i am going to call Team Twin Pinks. Just because they look so much alike they could be twins. These are the two that were photographed at Pearson talking to the guy team wearing blue shirts. Well one of the guy teams wearing blue shirts. Yeah there are two of them too. As well as a couple wearing blue. Confused yet? I am starting to think this was all a dumb ploy by the producers to mess with us. Yeah probably was.

6) Team Blue Friends. Names unknown. These were the two guys talking to Team Twin Pinks at Pearson. Maybe trying to form an early alliance or just trying to hit on them. Like I said before, the one guy looks like he could be saying, "How you doin?" a la Joey Tribbiani. So if they back out of an alliance, they could always claim they were on a break.

7) Team Blue Bros. Formally known as Team Mitic, these two are brothers Cory and Jody. Jody is a double amputee and don't go thinking Jody is in it just to prove something. He doesn't have to prove squat. This guy can flip transport truck tires. Watch their audition tape - "It's just a race, a game. But we're going to <bleeping> win it." 

8) Team Boring Blue Couple. These two were also spotted at Pearson and also wearing blue. Names unknown. Don't know their relationship, but for now I am just going to presume they are married or engaged. She has blonde hair, he has dark. Maybe if we are lucky these two will be either using the race to test their relationship or see if it will help heal their broken marriage. Because that's the best way to do it...on national TV. So are we in for a crapfest of snarky comments and bitchy arguments? I hope so.

9) Team Cowboys. Yeah. Can you guess why I am calling them this? You got it...they are both wearing cowboy hats. They HAVE to be Alberta guys. Either that or they are really fishermen from Newfoundland traveling incognito. Now that would be funny. Those hats can't be practical when you're running or doing a challenge. Seems...silly. Wait...you don't think maybe they are smuggling an iPhone or GPS under those things, do you? Yeehaw!!!

Just having a little fun for now. I will update the team data once CTV makes it's formal announcement. 

The Amazing Race Canada ... and Thus It Begins. Spoilers That Is!

During last night's finale of The Amazing Race, we were treated to a commercial announcing the premiere date for The Amazing Race Canada. Yep, the premiere is July 15th. The grand Prize is $250,000 and it is the biggest in Canadian TV history. The winners also receive 2...count 'em TWO, Corvette Stingrays and one year of free flights worldwide with Air Canada in Executive 1st Class. There is still no formal announcement as to who the host will be or the teams.

BUT...

Big Brother Canada Week 10 Finale Episode 29 Spoilers and Recap

Spoilers:
These are unconfirmed spoilers from audience tweets:
Final 3 Competitions: Emmett wins 1st; Gary 2nd; Gary 3rd.
Gary evicted Emmett

Final Jury Vote: Gary vs Jillian...Jillian wins. However there is a rumour that Topaz voted for Jillian in error.

Big Brother Canada Week 10 - Recap of Episode 28, Wednesday May 1, 2013: Bad Math Teacher

Arisa starts the show off by informing us there is no studio audience and everything is Top Secret. Of course it is. Slice stopped airing After Dark and cut the live feeds early Sunday afternoon. Arisa appears on the house's TV screen and the HGs are asked to gather in the living room. For once, Talla doesn't scream. Instead she yells "Oh my God!" Well Talla, let me explain. It's Sunday...the show ends in four days...there are four of you left. Did you think this was just another week and the eviction wasn't until Thursday? Nope. Things are going to start happening quickly.

Talla gets to the living room first and sits on one couch. Emmett, Jillian and Gary are sitting on the other couch. Hmm. Looks like a bit of foreshadowing to me. Arisa says, "House guests...things are about to change. Tonight, someone will be evicted."

But, of course, we have to get caught up with what has been happening in the house. Talla thinks she has a F2 deal with Emmett, along with the F2 she has with Jillian. Gary thinks he has a F2 deal with Emmett. Emmett has a F2 deal with each of the other three. Only Jillian and Gary don't have a F2 agreement - that we know of. Emmett lets it slip to Jillian that Talla has a deal with him. So now Jillian is upset. Emmett is keeping secrets from her. I guess the honeymoon is over Jillian. Give me a break. You are playing for a prize...you're not there to find a husband. Remember Jillian, this is Big Brother, not Bachelor Pad.

The POV comp is called "Safe from Eviction". The HGs have to solve 3 equations on a blackboard, based on events that happened in the house. Each solution is part of the combination to the safe that holds the POV necklace. Sounds simple right? Jillian should have this one in the bag, and of course she tells us math is her subject. Not just that, but because she's a teacher, she's used to using blackboards and stuff. Duh. Well, not as easy as you would think. First of all, the clues to each number were preposterous. These HGs must write everything down in diaries and memorize it all, because there is no way someone would remember these things. But the funniest part was the second equation, 50 - 11. Both Emmett and Jillian misread the minus sign and thought it was addition. Nerves I guess. Then, Jillian - the math teacher, answered 38. Okay. She can't even claim that she threw the comp. No she was trying to win because she wanted to save Talla.

Maybe Jillian should rethink her career choice. When she first hooked up with Emmett, started dry humping him and then let it progress to all out monkey sex, I thought she would have a difficult time holding down a teaching position. Don't be fooled...it might be 2013, but the parents are still going to complain and gossip like it's 1962. But any good union will save her from termination. Now this. She's never going to live this down. She'd be lucky if she doesn't see a giant 50 - 11 = 38 sprawled on the blackboard the next time she walks into a classroom. Anyway, it's Emmett who snaps out of the stupid zone first and wins the over-sized lucite V necklace.

Everyone scrambles for position. Talla talks with Jillian, sounding assured that Emmett will vote out Gary and she will be in the F3. Jillian backs out of the situation. Talla must have known something was up. She only flashed a smile when Jillian looked at her. You know, one of those phoney, kind of awkward smiles? The kind that makes you cringe? Yeah, one of those. Emmett has to warn Talla that he is voting her out because he wants to get her jury vote. She's pissed. She starts packing.

Meanwhile Jillian is getting upset about this. She wonders why Emmett insists on telling Talla, when last week, Emmett wouldn't let her warn Andrew about his eviction. She is starting to think that Emmett is just in this for himself. Holy shit! Here we go again. Jillian...it's a frigging game. To win money and a car and furniture.

But of course there is a possibility this reaction from Jillian could all be producer-driven. It wouldn't be the first time that producers have asked leading questions in the Diary Room confessions just to garner a certain response. Or they could have used some creative editing to set up a dramatic situation. I guess we will see what happens tomorrow night.

Emmett tries to smooth things over with Talla. He gives her a bracelet that Dan Gheesling left. Talla gives Emmett the most gullible look you could possibly imagine, like a lamb on her way to slaughter. Holy crap, I am actually starting to feel sorry for her. Oh well. When the Eviction ceremony comes around, both Talla and Gary give their plea speeches. Talla's actually made sense. Emmett decides not to use the POV, and he chooses to evict Talla. Talla leaves without incident surprisingly enough. Poor girl didn't even get a live studio audience. Just Arisa sitting there. Arisa questions Talla about her talk with Jillian and "playing dumb" about the F3 agreement...as if it was Talla's strategy. Sorry. Not convinced. There is no way I am going to believe her lack of intelligence was just an act.

Arisa ends the episode reminding us that Thursday is the special 2 hour season finale. Yeah I think we know.

Big Brother Canada Recap of Episode 27 Sunday April 29, 2013

We left off last Thursday after the first question in the HOH Competition. It was kind of a random break. Seeing how the so-called "live eviction" isn't really live, you would think they could have timed the whole thing better. Oh well. The comp came down to a tiebreaker, and of course Jillian won. Great. This is just getting ridiculous. And boring.


Talla is a bit upset she didn't win HOH. Jillian tries her best to explain how HOH this week doesn't really matter - winning POV is perhaps more important. The nitwit doesn't get it.


But Emmett certainly does. He also knows that it doesn't even matter who is nominated. He realizes that he is the least desirable person right now to bring into any F3 scenario. He thinks they will all try to target him, but then again, they all should have gotten rid of him long ago.


Then the cry goes out, "Who wants to see my HOH room?" Apparently no one...Including Emmett. Been there done that. In more ways than one. Jillian confesses in the diary room that she knows it's all boring and annoying to everyone. So why does she jump around and act all excited about it? Obviously she just wants to rub everyone's noses in it.


They find a rack of fancy clothes in the Haves bedroom. Talla screams. Apparently they will be the stars of the Bib Brother Awards. Talla screams. They all get ready to the occasional scream from Talla. If I were an HG in that house, those unrelenting screams and screeches would turn me into a nervous wreck. I really think the girl needs to see a doctor, preferably a psychiatrist. Perhaps she needs a few sessions of electric shock therapy. Every time she lets go of a scream...zap!!! Maybe just one of those collars for dogs to stop barking. That might work.

They all get the red carpet treatment, along with the opportunity to strike a pose. Talla ended up looking like a Bratz doll. Jillian looked...meh. Gary looked like, well, Gary. Maybe with a bit more shimmer to his glitter. But Emmett? Now there was a real transformation. Yowza!!! Not too shabby, Emmett!!! Is this guy really a farmer?

They all sit down at a table, like they are at the Oscars only there is no host, guests or fancy dance numbers. They go through a series of nominations and then announce the winner in each category. Then there was even a tribute to the people that were lost. A lovely montage of people that Jillian lied to. Nice. Everyone is having a great time, talking about everything that happened during the season, when Talla's yammering is cut off by Emmett. She gets all hissy about it and goes inside to toss things around and jump on the Bi-Polar Express. Emmett doesn't want to make any enemies, so he follows her inside to calm her down and apologize.

Later on, Jillian takes a moment with Talla to take advantage of the situation. Jillian re-enforces their F2 agreement. Wait a minute. I thought Jillian was planning an F2 with Andrew? Anyway, Jillian is playing Talla. And Talla is buying it. Jillian doesn't have to do this crap anymore. Then she starts to feel guilty and runs to Emmett. Here's the thing - Jillian is constantly lying to everyone about her alliances to other players. Then she goes into the Diary Room and tells us how different she is in real life, and how this game has turned her into a manipulating liar. Then she pulls this kind of crap. It wasn't necessary to do this to Talla - Talla's role in the game is inconsequential at this point...her part is over. So why is Jillian doing this stuff still?

We hear that line, "Part of my duties as Head of Household is to nominate 2 players for eviction." Part of her duties? I am getting kind of tired of hearing this line. And what other duties are there? She nominates Talla and Gary, even though it would have been a good time to nominate Emmett. Dan Gheesling was so right. She is playing for second place. Oh well.