Larry Emdur
Birth name	Larry Emdur
Born	(1964-12-09) 9 December 1964 (age 47) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Show	The Morning Show
Station(s)	Sydney
Network	Seven Network
Time slot	9am - 11.30am
Show	The Price Is Right
Station(s)	Sydney
Network	Seven Network
Time slot	5pm - 5.30pm
Country	Australia
Previous show(s)	Celebrity Dog School, Cash Bonanza, Wheel of Fortune, Good Morning Australia and Weekend Sunrise
Spouse(s)	Sylvie Emdur
Children	Jye and Tia

Larry Emdur (born 9 December 1964) is an Australian television personality.

Emdur is currently co-host of The Morning Show alongside Kylie Gillies. He also hosts a reboot of The Price Is Right, which premiered on the Seven Network on 7 May 2012. He also formerly hosted the show on the Nine Network.

He is perhaps best known to Australian audiences for his hosting duties on several game shows, including Cash Bonanza (Nine Network), The Price Is Right (Currently Seven Network and formerly Nine Network) and Wheel of Fortune (Seven Network).

Emdur hosted Hey Hey it's Saturday twice in 1998, and substituted as host of It Takes Two once in 2006 and again in 2007. He has also hosted Celebrity Dog School on Network Ten.

Childhood and early career[link]

Emdur was born in Melbourne. Growing up near the beach at Bondi NSW, he developed a keen interest in surfing from an early age. He dropped out of school at age 15. It is believed that he is of Maltese descent. Emdur began his career as a copyboy at The Sydney Morning Herald, before moving into television, where at age 17 he became Australia’s youngest national newsreader, presenting the overnight news for Seven Network in Australia. After some time in news and current affairs as a reporter and newsreader, and presenter on Good Morning Australia, Emdur switched to hosting game shows and variety television.

TV career[link]

Emdur is perhaps best known as the host of The Price Is Right on the Nine Network, which he hosted for from 1993 to 1998, before its cancellation. It was then revived on 23 June 2003 and ran until 24 November 2005 due to poor ratings and high costs of production. To commemorate the United States version's 40th season in 2011-12, on a July 2011 trip to the United States, Emdur called down a contestant and served as a guest host for Cliff Hangers, under recommendation of host Drew Carey. Emdur also modeled a trip to Australia in one of the two Showcases that are presented on the United States version. Emdur will be one of numerous hosts who have hosted the format to appear as part of the 40th anniversary celebration.^[1] Emdur filled in twice for Daryl Somers on the popular family show Hey Hey It's Saturday. After being "rested" by the Nine Network following the cancellation of The Price Is Right, Emdur became host of the Seven Network's Wheel of Fortune. His contract with Seven was signed mere hours after his deal with the Nine Network expired. While in the first few weeks of his run with Seven's Wheel in the 5:00 pm weekday timeslot, Emdur continued to appear simultaneously on Nine in re-runs of The Price Is Right, until Bert's Family Feud took over the 5:30 pm timeslot on Nine in mid-February 2006. On 19 June 2006 news emerged of Wheel of Fortune's cancellation at the end of the 2006 season. Channel 10's Rove Live then started a campaign to "Save Larry Emdur", although Seven soon put an end to Rove's jokes by issuing a statement that Emdur would be staying with the Seven Network. Emdur has also been a fill-in host for It Takes Two and has filled in for Andrew O'Keefe on Weekend Sunrise and David Koch on Sunrise. Although there was talk of Emdur being in line to host a new game show, Seven's reluctance to risk another game show failure (such as The Master and You May Be Right) has led to Emdur contemplating his career options. In an article with The Border Mail dated 7 October 2006, Emdur stated:

“I have done all the stuff I have really wanted to do and there is nothing jumping out at me in the TV world. I am going to France (to the MIPCOM television festival) to have a look around at the upcoming trends and what’s going on around the rest of the world. I will see how I can contribute to that, whether it be in Australia or not.”

Emdur's latest ambition is to create his own production company.^{[citation needed]} Emdur signed up with Network Ten in 2007. He had joined up to host a new show Celebrity Dog School, which began airing in February. In March, the program came close to cancellation, after disappointing first fortnight ratings; however, it was instead moved to a different timeslot (it was originally 6:30 pm Sundays, but moved to 6:30 pm Saturdays). Emdur is currently co-hosting The Morning Show with Kylie Gillies, a top rating morning talk show airing on the Seven Network. The show began in mid-2007. Emdur was invited to participate in the 2009 Sydney to Hobart by finance commentator Anthony Bell. Upon reaching Hobart, Emdur said on The Morning Show that he may never set foot on a boat again.^[2] However, in 2010 Emdur signed on to participate in the Sydney to Hobart again. His crew on the yacht 'Investec LOYAL' finished second. On 4 February 2011 Emdur renewed his contract with the Seven Network, reportedly worth in excess of $800,000 a year. This contract stopped him from defecting to the Nine Network to co-host Today. The contract allows him to stay on as co-host of The Morning Show and 'other opportunities'.^[3] In February 2010, Seven announced that Emdur would co-host Weekend Sunrise on Saturday mornings alongside Samantha Armytage he held this position until the end of 2010. Now Andrew O'Keefe presents both Saturday and Sunday. Emdur is also currently a regular fill in co-host for David Koch on Sunrise and Andrew O'Keefe on Weekend Sunrise if they are away on holidays, sick or on assignment.

Larry vs Rove[link]

In June 2006, an on-air "feud" of sorts developed between Emdur and TV talk show host Rove McManus. This started when Rove received an e-mail from a Wheel of Fortune audience member, who informed Rove that he was the butt of many jokes made by Emdur during breaks at Wheel tapings. Emdur has frequently been teased about his height, and in response, would make comments to the studio audience such as:

"Rove McManus picked a fight with me at the Logies. He came up to me, looked me right in the eye, and all the while, he was sitting on Anthony Callea's shoulders."

McManus confronted Emdur about his remarks when he was invited as a guest on Rove Live's "HelpDesk" segment. Emdur admitted to the jibes, but stated it was all in good fun, and offered an apology. McManus then challenged Emdur to a sumo fight backstage, where both men donned sumo suits, competing in what was billed as the "Smackdown Wheel of Destiny". The fight lasted 8 seconds, after Emdur managed to take down McManus to be declared the winner.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Larry Emdur at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (September 2010)

Kylie Gillies (nee Mills)
Gillies at Martin Place, Sydney in October 2007
Born	(1967-05-04) May 4, 1967 (age 45) Tamworth, NSW, Australia
Occupation	Seven Network Presenter
Spouse	Tony Gillies
Children	Gus and Archie
Website
The Morning Show profile

Kylie Gillies (born May 4, 1967) is an Australian television presenter for the Seven Network, currently based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Gillies is currently co-host of The Morning Show with Larry Emdur.

Career[link]

Gillies started off working as a reporter, producer and news presenter in Tamworth for Prime Television. During her ten year association with Prime she became the face of Northern New South Wales.

Prior to The Morning Show, Kylie's most recognised role at the Seven Network was on Sportsworld as the sports news presenter. She presented the sports news headlines at least twice during the program. Gillies is also a reporter for Seven's Australian Open coverage, providing the weather and the sports reports for each day of the Open.^[1]

Gillies was Weekend Sunrise sport presenter and regularly filled in on Sunrise if Natalie Barr, Mark Beretta or Melissa Doyle were away, taking their position reading the news, sport or presenting the show. She used to also regularly present Seven News late news updates, sharing the position with Chris Bath and Samantha Armytage.

In December 2006, Kylie was a regular presenter of the weekend sport report on Sydney's edition of Seven News, filling in for Nick McArdle, who has since left the network. Gillies has had experience presenting on Sunrise, Weekend Sunrise, Seven Morning News, Seven 4.30 News and Seven News in Sydney.

In June 2007, Gillies began her role as co-host on The Morning Show with Larry Emdur, which airs after Sunrise from 9:00 am to 11:30 am on weekdays.^[2]

In June 2009, Kylie announced that she would take part in Dancing With The Stars. She finished in third place.^[3]

In 2010, Gillies received a Walkley award for her contribution to journalism.

In April 2011, she presented reports for The Morning Show and Seven News live from London for the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

Gillies is also a fill in presenter for Matt White on Today Tonight.

Personal life[link]

Gillies is married to Tony Gillies and they have two sons Gus and Archie.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kylie Gillies profile on The Morning Show website

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Michael Bolton
Bolton performing in Barcelona, January 14, 2010
Background information
Birth name	Michael Bolotin
Born	(1953-02-26) February 26, 1953 (age 59) New Haven, Connecticut, United States
Genres	Soft rock, pop rock, hard rock, blue-eyed soul
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1975–present
Labels	RCA, Columbia, Jive, Concord
Associated acts	Blackjack, The Lonely Island
Website	Official website

Michael Bolotin^[1] (born February 26, 1953), better known as Michael Bolton, is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack. He is best known, however, for his series of soft rock ballads, recorded after a stylistic change in the late 1980s. He is noted for his distinctive tenor/countertenor vocals.

Bolton's achievements include selling eight top 10 albums, achieving two number one singles on the Billboard charts, and receiving awards from both the American Music Awards and Grammy Awards.

Early life[link]

Bolton was born Michael Bolotin in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Helen (Gubin) and George Bolotin. He has a brother, Orrin, and a sister, Sandra, both older. His family was Jewish, and all of his grandparents had been immigrants from Russia.^[2] His parents were divorced when he was very young and his father died when Michael was 13 years old.^[1]

Career[link]

Musician[link]

Bolton began recording in 1975. This first album was self-titled using his original surname, Bolotin. Early in his musical career, he focused on hard rock. His band, Blackjack, once toured with heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne.

Michael gained his first major hit as a songwriter, co-writing "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" for Laura Branigan, previously best known for singing the pop hit "Gloria". Narrowly missing the Top 10 on the US pop chart, Branigan took the song to number one on the Adult Contemporary chart for three weeks in 1983. The two sought to work with each other again, and their next collaboration was when Bolton co-wrote "I Found Someone" for Branigan in 1985. Her version was only a minor hit, but two years later, Cher resurrected the song, and with it her own singing career. Bolton co-wrote several other songs for both singers.

Bolton would achieve his greatest success in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a singer on the adult contemporary/easy listening charts. One of his first major hits was his 1987 interpretation of the Otis Redding classic, "(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay." Always interested in soul and Motown classics, Bolton's success with that song encouraged him to tackle the standard "Georgia On My Mind," with which he had another hit. In 1991, Bolton released the album Time, Love & Tenderness which featured his Grammy Award winning cover version of "When a Man Loves a Woman".^[3]

As a singer, he has performed with other artists such as: Lucia Aliberti, Patti LaBelle, José Carreras, Tony Cetinski, Ray Charles, Céline Dion, Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming, Wynonna Judd, BB King, The Lonely Island, Luciano Pavarotti, Percy Sledge, and Zucchero.

As a songwriter, he has written and collaborated on several songs for other artis as well.

Bolton's last Top 40 single in the US in his own right was the 1997 hit "Go the Distance" (featured in the Walt Disney motion picture Hercules), which peaked at No. 1 on the US adult contemporary chart. He hired conductor Larry Baird (orchestral musical director/conductor/arranger for The Moody Blues, Three Dog Night, Al Jarreau, etc.) for his 2001 tour.

In 2006, Bolton and his then fiancee Nicollette Sheridan sang a duet, "The Second Time Around," for the album Bolton Swings Sinatra. In March 2007, Bolton toured South Africa for the first time. He was the headline act at Jacaranda 94.2 FM's two day concert.

For Over the Rainbow, an album which was recorded in five days, Bolton recorded the song "New York, New York" (also on his Bolton Swings Sinatra album). This was for an episode of the TV series, Challenge Anneka. The proceeds from the album went to children's hospices across the UK.

Bolton performed a duet entitled "Il Mio Amico" with the Italian singer Anna Tatangelo at the Sanremo Music Festival 2008. The song was originally sung by Tatangelo alone, but the duet version contained English lyrics as well. It is a song about the difficulties of being gay in Italy, written by Tatangelo's partner, Gigi D'Alessio.^{[citation needed]}

Bolton at the 1990 Grammy Awards

Bolton's album Only A Woman Like You was released in 2001. The title song was co-written by Shania Twain and with background vocals by Skyler Jett. Bolton released his album One World One Love in the UK on September 21, 2009. The first single, "Just One Love," was released one week earlier.^[4]

In 2011, Bolton was featured as a guest vocalist in The Lonely Island's song "Jack Sparrow" on their Turtleneck & Chain album. His performance with the notorious comedic hip-hop trio focused on his (intentionally) off-topic chorus and miscommunication with the group, and the video featured him dressed in costumes as Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, Forrest Gump, Erin Brockovich, and Tony Montana from Scarface.^[5]

Bolton is currently working on his new studio album. He has collaborated with Indian musician A. R. Rahman for a song which was recorded in February 2011.^[6]

Acting[link]

Bolton has made a number of cameos in films. He is also rumored to have appeared as an extra in Dune as a "spice-eyed" drummer, but Bolton has said in interviews that it is not him.^[7]

Television[link]

Michael Bolton was a contestant on the eleventh season of Dancing with the Stars.^[8] He and his partner, Chelsie Hightower, were the second couple to be eliminated, on September 28, 2010.

Legal troubles[link]

On May 9, 2000, a US Court of Appeals affirmed a jury's 1994 decision that Bolton's 1991 pop hit, "Love Is a Wonderful Thing," infringed on the copyright of the 1964 Isley Brothers song of the same name, and let stand the jury's award of $5.4 million against the singer, his co-author, Andrew Goldmark, and their record company, Sony Music Entertainment.^[9] This was the biggest payout in musical copyright infringement to date.

Personal life[link]

Bolton was married to Maureen McGuire, but they divorced. They are the parents of three adult daughters: Isa, Holly, and Taryn.^[10][11] Taryn gave birth to a daughter in October 2010.^[12]

Bolton was introduced to actress Nicollette Sheridan in 1992 by adult contemporary/jazz saxophonist Kenny G.^[10] Bolton and Sheridan dated until 1995, stopped dating, then reunited in 2005 and became engaged in March 2006;^[10] however, it was confirmed in August 2008 that they had broken off their engagement.^[13] Bolton also dated Sheridan's former Desperate Housewives co-star Teri Hatcher in the early 1990s.^[14] Hatcher featured in the music video for Missing You Now, one of the songs from Bolton's Time, Love & Tenderness.^[15]

Charity work[link]

In 1993, he established the Michael Bolton Foundation (now Michael Bolton Charities) to assist women and children at risk from the effects of poverty as well as emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.^[16] The foundation has provided over US$3.7 million in funding to local and national charities.

Bolton also serves as the honorary chairman of Prevent Child Abuse America,^[17] the national chairman for This Close for Cancer Research,^[18] and a board member for the National Mentoring Partnership^[19] and the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital.^[20]

In March 2003, Bolton joined with Lifetime Television, Verizon Wireless, and many others to lobby on behalf of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence,^[21] urging legislation to provide more assistance for victims of domestic violence, such as affordable housing options.

Bolton has received the Lewis Hine Award from the National Child Labor Committee, the Martin Luther King Award from the Congress of Racial Equality, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations.^[22] The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce^[23] also recognized Bolton with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his musical and charitable contributions.

Discography[link]

Since 1975, Bolton has released at least 17 studio albums and 35 singles. Nine of his singles have peaked at No. 1 on either the Billboard Hot 100 or the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts in the US. He has also released numerous compilation albums and three Christmas albums.

Filmography[link]

As actor[link]

• 1997: Meet Wally Sparks
• 2002: Snow Dogs
• 2002: High Voltage
• 2008: The Onion Movie

As executive producer[link]

• 2001: Offside (short)
• 2001: Good Advice
• 2005: Terror at Home: Domestic Violence in America (TV)
• 2008: The Other Side of the Tracks

See also[link]

• List of best selling music artists
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
• Michael Bolton Charities Inc.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Michael Bolton

• Official Web site
• Michael Bolton 2006 interview on "I Like Music"
• Michael Bolton at the Internet Movie Database

Laura Csortan
Csortan in September 2011
Born	(1976-11-09) 9 November 1976 (age 35) Australia
Occupation	Actress
Years active	Since 2000
Website
http://www.twitter.com/lauracsortan

Laura Csortan (born 9 November 1976) is an Australian model and television presenter. Her national pageant titles include Miss Universe Australia 1997 and Miss World Australia 1998.^[1]

Laura started her modelling career featuring in Harris Scarfe advertising catalogues. She is currently dating Silverchair's bassist Chris Joannou^[2].

Career[link]

From October 2000 until November 2006, she has been a host of The Great Outdoors on the Seven Network.^[1][3] She formerly also co-hosted the Australian version of Wheel Of Fortune, with Larry Emdur but the show was cancelled due to low ratings six months into her debut.^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Laura Csortan at the Internet Movie Database
• Laura on Twitter