Ben Mulroney
Mulroney at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival eTalk Star Schmooze
Born	(1976-03-09) March 9, 1976 (age 36) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Spouse	Jessica Brownstein (2008-present) 2 Children

Benedict Martin Paul "Ben" Mulroney (born March 9, 1976) is a Canadian television host, and is the son of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

Early life[link]

Mulroney was born in Montreal, Quebec and grew up in Ottawa, Ontario. He is the second of four children born to former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mila Pivnicki Mulroney. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, with a major in history, from Duke University; he subsequently earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from Université Laval.

Career[link]

Mulroney is best known as the host of the entertainment news program, etalk. On etalk he has covered major events in entertainment, including the Oscars, the Golden Globes, and the Juno Awards. He is also known for hosting Canadian Idol. From 2001 to 2002, he was entertainment reporter on Canada AM. Mulroney also wrote a regular column for the Toronto Sun.

In April 2009, Mulroney added radio show host to his résumé with the launch of the CHUM Radio show, etalk 20.^[1] The two-hour radio program is broadcast on 11 radio stations across Canada and counts down the top 20 chart-topping hits and includes celebrity interviews.

In February 2010, Mulroney and other staff from etalk covered the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games for CTV.^[2]

In 2006, Mulroney was appointed as the National Ambassador for UNICEF Canada.^[3]

Mulroney was one of several children of former Prime Ministers who became Canadian media personalities between 1998 and 2001. The others include Catherine Clark, Justin Trudeau and Alexandre Trudeau. Mulroney was invited to and attended Justin Trudeau's wedding.^[4]

Personal life[link]

Mulroney at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival

Mulroney became engaged to his girlfriend of one year, fashion designer and stylist Jessica Brownstein, on December 28, 2007 in Montreal.^[5] They were married on October 30, 2008 in a private ceremony at St. Patrick's Basilica in Montreal.^[6]

Ben and Jessica have two sons who are fraternal twins. Brian Gerald Alexander Mulroney and John Benedict Dimitri Mulroney were born on August 12, 2010.^[7]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ben Mulroney Biography
• Ben Mulroney at the Internet Movie Database
• Ben Mulroney Biography in "Duke Magazine" [2]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012)

World Idol
Finals venue	Fountain Studios
Winner: Kurt Nilsen
Origin	Norway
Runner-up
Kelly Clarkson

World Idol (Germany: SuperStar Weltweit, Middle East: SuperStar El Alaam) was the title of a one-off international version of the television show Pop Idol, featuring winners of the various national Idol shows around the world competing against each other.

The performance show was held on Christmas Day 2003, with the results show held on New Year's Day 2004. It was made in the UK, using the set from the recently completed second series of Pop Idol. After presenting the competitors, viewers from the 11 participating countries were allowed to vote by telephone, but not for the participant from their home country. All participants sang in English except for Diana Karazon, who sang in Arabic.

British presenters Ant and Dec hosted the show in all English speaking countries, while local presenters hosted for their own country in the local language. The only exception to Ant and Dec's English speaking role was that CTV edited the show in Canada to use Canadian Idol host Ben Mulroney instead (the show on Fox, which used Ant and Dec as hosts, was not simulcast with the CTV feed, to prevent Canadians from calling the American toll-free number to vote for Ryan Malcolm). Victoria Beckham performed her UK #3 hit Let Your Head Go during the results interval.

Judge Simon Cowell (from the original Pop Idol) was very critical of the format. He went as far as saying he hated it, in that it made the winners from the ten other Idol competitions into losers. Cowell also thought many of the judges were trying to copy his abrasive style. Television critics also panned the programme, particularly as the UK phone voting was profit-making, whereas tradition dictates that Christmas specials of such programmes donate profits to charity.

The show was broadcast on 11 television broadcasters worldwide.^[2]

Results[link]

The points were awarded in a similar fashion as the Eurovision Song Contest, i.e. each country awarded an amount of points from 1 to 10 to each other country, using each number once. The results were:

Points Given	Germany	Australia	Pan-Arabia	Canada	Netherlands	South Africa	Poland	USA	Belgium	UK	Norway	Total	Place
Alexander Klaws	12	1	10	1	4	2	4	1	7	2	1	45	9
Guy Sebastian	2	12	2	6	6	5	5	6	3	6	3	56	7
Diana Karazon	6	4	12	5	1	1	1	8	1	4	2	45	9
Ryan Malcolm	3	5	9	12	5	7	2	4	2	5	8	62	6
Jamai Loman	1	2	1	2	12	4	3	2	4	1	4	36	11
Heinz Winkler	7	8	8	7	2	12	6	9	8	7	6	80	4
Alicja Janosz	8	3	7	3	3	3	12	3	5	3	5	55	8
Kelly Clarkson	9	9	5	9	9	8	8	12	9	9	10	97	2
Peter Evrard	4	7	6	8	7	6	9	7	12	8	9	83	3
Will Young	5	6	3	4	8	9	7	5	6	12	7	72	5
Kurt Nilsen	10	10	4	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	12	106	1

_{Each country's Idol automatically gained the maximum 12 points. Therefore the most points an Idol could gain from another country was 10}

Rank	Performer	Country	Points	Song	Original artist
1	Kurt Nilsen	Norway	106	"Beautiful Day"	U2
2	Kelly Clarkson	United States	97	"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"	Aretha Franklin
3	Peter Evrard	Belgium	83	"Lithium"	Nirvana
4	Heinz Winckler	South Africa	80	"I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"	Aerosmith
5	Will Young	United Kingdom	72	"Light My Fire"	The Doors
6	Ryan Malcolm	Canada	62	"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"	The Hollies
7	Guy Sebastian	Australia	56	"What a Wonderful World"	Louis Armstrong
8	Alicja "Alex" Janosz	Poland	55	"I Don't Know How to Love Him"	from Jesus Christ Superstar
T9	Alexander Klaws	Germany	45	"Maniac"	Michael Sembello
T9	Diana Karazon	Arab States	45	"Ensani Ma Binsak"	original song
11	Jamai Loman	Netherlands	36	"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"	Elton John

Judges[link]

The judges of the competition were:

• Randall Abrahams (South Africa)
• Simon Cowell (representing United States, is also judge on original UK show)
• Nina De Man (Belgium)
• Ian "Dicko" Dickson (Australia)
• Shona Fraser (Germany)
• Jan Fredrik Karlsen (Norway)
• Elias Rahbani (Lebanon)
• Henkjan Smits (Netherlands)
• Pete Waterman (United Kingdom)
• Zack Werner (Canada)
• Kuba Wojewódzki (Poland)

Reception[link]

Ratings[link]

In Canada, the special was watched by 1.9 million viewers.^[3] In Poland, World Idol was the highest-rated in its timeslot, 4.5 million viewers, and 28.6 share percent.^[3] In the United States, World Idol was the number-one show of the night, among adults from 18-34.^[3] In Australia, it was was the highest-rated show of the night, it had about 2.4 viewers in millions.^[3] In the Netherlands, it was the #1 rated show in its timeslot.^[3] Other countries also had good ratings during the Christmas period.^[3]

See also[link]

• Idol series
• Pop Idol
• American Idol
• Canadian Idol
• International versions of Idol

References[link]

External links[link]

• World Idol at the Internet Movie Database
• World Idol at TV.com

v t e Idol National competitions United Kingdom (original) Armenia Australia Belgium Brazil Bulgaria Canada Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Iceland India Indonesia Kazakhstan Macedonia Malaysia Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Russia Singapore Slovakia South Africa Sweden Turkey United States Vietnam Regional competitions Pan Arab Czech Republic & Slovakia East Africa Latin America Serbia, Montenegro & Macedonia West Africa International competitions Asia World List of winners

Ant & Dec in 2009

Anthony McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) and Declan Donnelly (born 25 September 1975), known collectively as Ant & Dec, are an English comedy and TV presenting duo from Newcastle upon Tyne, England.^[1] The duo first rose to fame as actors on the children's television show Byker Grove, during which and in their subsequent pop career they were respectively known as PJ & Duncan – the names of the characters they played on the show. Since then, Ant & Dec have had a very successful career as TV presenters, presenting shows such as SMTV Live, Friends Like These, Pop Idol, Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, PokerFace, Push the Button, Britain's Got Talent, Red or Black? and Text Santa. They have also returned to acting, starring in a 2002 Tribute to The Likely Lads and the 2006 film Alien Autopsy.

Ant is the taller of the two at 5'8" (1.73 m) and Dec is two inches shorter at 5'6" (1.68 m). It is a running joke that many people do not know who is Ant and who is Dec, even though their appearances differ significantly. To assist with identification, they follow the 180 degree rule; all their TV appearances and publicity photos have Ant on the left and Dec on the right, but even this does not help everyone.

Background[link]

Anthony McPartlin was born on 18 November 1975 and Declan Donnelly was born on 25 September 1975. They met each other while working on the BBC children's drama Byker Grove in 1989. After a shaky start,^[2] they soon became best friends.^[2] They have achieved such popularity as a duo that they are hardly ever seen apart on screen. Indeed, it is reported that they are each insured against the other's death, although the amount is unknown.^[3] Their inseparability has led to them receiving joint nominations for many awards. They are both managed by the James Grant Group

Career[link]

Acting[link]

Although Ant had built some television experience with a brief stint on the children's television series Why Don't You?, which was broadcast on the BBC, Dec was the first of the two to acquire his place on the BBC children's drama Byker Grove. He joined in 1989, playing Duncan. A year later, Ant joined the cast playing PJ. Their friendship began when their storylines collided, creating a friendship off screen as well as on.^[4] Dec also played a stable boy in the adaptation of the novel The Cinder Path in his teenage years.^[5]

Music[link]

After leaving television, the duo turned their hand to pop music. Their first single was a song they performed while part of Byker Grove, entitled "Tonight I'm Free". The single had some success, and the duo went on to record two albums under their character names of PJ & Duncan. Later songs included "Why Me?", "If I Give You My Number", "Eternal Love" "Our Radio Rocks", "U Krazy Katz" and a cover of the The Monkees classic "Stepping Stone". Their most famous hit during this period was the BRIT Award nominated "Let's Get Ready To Rhumble", for which the video was choreographed by Mark Short, who had previously worked with Tina Turner and Peter Andre. For their third album, the duo reinvented themselves under their real names of Ant & Dec. The album featured their signature single "Shout". Their final single release was "Falling", which was the track that subsequently ended their musical career. The track was pulled from the British charts under the instruction of their record label, Telstar Records, after claims of copyright infringement were made, brought about by a pop duo, 'And all because...', who were also managed by Ant and Dec's management team. The duo claimed that Ant & Dec had stolen the song from them and released it without their consent. Subsequently, Telstar Records decided not to renew their existing contract, and they were dropped from the label. During their time, the pair released sixteen singles and three studio albums, however, none of their releases managed to reach number one, with their highest UK chart position being #3. The duo did, however, reach the top ten in Germany and Japan, and even had a number-one single in Germany, with their cover of the Everly Brothers' "All I Have to Do Is Dream". Success also struck in other European countries. The duo had a short lived revival in the music industry, releasing a song for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, entitled "We're On The Ball". The track peaked at #3,^[6] being beaten by Will Young and Gareth Gates.

Presenting[link]

Children's television[link]

Ant & Dec got their first presenting job in 1994, while they were still releasing music under the alias of PJ & Duncan. They co-presented a Saturday-morning children's show entitled Gimme 5, which was broadcast on CITV. The show only lasted two series before being dropped from the airwaves.^[7] In 1995, the duo were once again offered a job on CBBC, this time presenting their own series, entitled The Ant & Dec Show. The series was broadcast from 1995 to 1997, and in 1996, Ant & Dec won two BAFTA Awards, one for 'Best Children's Show' and one for 'Best Sketch Comedy Show'.^[8] In 1997, a VHS release, entitled The Ant & Dec Show – Confidential, was made available in shops, and featured an hour of the best bits from three years of the programme, as well as specially recorded sketches and music videos.^[9] In 1998, the duo switched to Channel 4, presenting a early-evening children's show entitled Ant & Dec Unzipped.^[10] This show also won a BAFTA, but was dropped from the airwaves after just one series.^[11] ITV soon signed the duo in August 1998,^[12] and within weeks, were assigned to present ITV1's Saturday morning programmes SMTV Live and CD:UK, alongside old friend Cat Deeley. The duo presented the shows alongside Deeley for three years, before making their permanent departure from children's television in 2001. Two VHS releases, compiling the best bits from both shows, were released in 2000 and 2001 respectively. The pair also starred in the children's TV series Engie Benjy during their time on SMTV.^[13][14]

Primetime[link]

Ant & Dec's first primetime presenting job came in the form of BBC Saturday-night game show Friends Like These, which was first broadcast in 1999. The duo presented four series of the programme between 1999 and 2001.^[15] In 2001, the duo's contract with ITV was renewed for a further three years, following their appearances on SMTV Live and CD:UK, and received their first primetime presenting job on the station, presenting brand new Saturday night reality series Pop Idol. The series was broadcast for two series only, and was replaced in 2004 by The X Factor, to which Kate Thornton was assigned presenting duties.

In 2005, as part of the ITV Network's 50th birthday celebrations, they were back on television fronting Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon, a celebration of some of ITV's most enduring gameshows from the past 50 years.

Ant & Dec also created and presented their own show, entitled Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway. The show has so far ran for nine series, broadcast between 2002 and 2009. itv.com confirmed that the show is set to return in 2012 after being off air for three years. During the fourth series, Dec broke his arm, thumb and suffered a concussion whilst completing a challenge for the 'Ant vs. Dec' segment of the show. The incident involved learning how to ride a motorbike and jumping through a ring of fire. During the challenge, Dec failed to pull hard enough on the throttle of the bike, causing it to topple over and sending him flying through the air. The accident caused the pair to miss the Comic Relief charity telethon of 2005. In 2006, the first episode of series five saw the duo abseil down the side of the 22-storey high London Studios, where the show was filmed. Two DVDs, a best-bits book and a board game of the series were released during 2004.

In May 2002, Ant & Dec took the helm of a further reality series, entitled I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. The series has been broadcasting on ITV1 since 2002, and ten series have been broadcast. The duo drew their highest viewing figures to date while presenting the series in February 2004, with nearly 15 million tuning in to watch the climax of the third series. In May 2006, the duo were assigned to present coverage of the charity football match Soccer Aid. The duo were then invited back to present coverage of the second match in September 2007, and have since presented coverage of each yearly match.^[16] In June 2006, the duo announced they had created a new game-show format for ITV1, entitled PokerFace. The show featured members of the public gambling high stakes of money in an attempt to win the ultimate prize. The first series began airing on 10 July 2006, and was aired for seven consecutive nights. The second series was broadcast in early 2007, and saw a move to a prime-time Saturday slot. Ratings for the series fell to below 3.5 million, and the series was subsequently axed in March 2007. A board game of the format was released in 2008.

In April 2007, the duo signed a two-year golden handcuffs deal with ITV, reportedly worth £40 million, securing the duo's career at the station until the end of 2009.^[17] In June 2007, the duo were offered the job of presenters on new ITV reality platform Britain's Got Talent by Simon Cowell. The series features contestants aiming to win £100,000 and spot on the bill at the Royal Variety Performance, while performing and being judged by Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan. The series was highly successful, drawing in nearly 12 million viewers. A second series was broadcast in May 2008, and drew in nearly 14.5 million viewers.^[18] The duo have since returned to present three further series of the show, and have also had a regular feature on the ITV2 spin-off show Britain's Got More Talent.

The pair filmed a series of six episodes for a new American game show, Wanna Bet?, in November 2007. The episodes was broadcast in 2008, but failed to attract enough interest for a second series to be commissioned.^[19] What You Wrote, another format created by the duo, was due to air in Autumn 2008 but was reportedly axed by ITV.^[20] In 2010, the duo debuted a replacement for their previous Saturday-night game show format, Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, entitled Ant & Dec's Push the Button. The series was a success, and a second run of the programme was broadcast in 2011.

Ant & Dec have also presented the new game show Red or Black?, a creation of Cowell's, airing live on ITV1. On 24 December 2011, they presented ITV's charity initiative Text Santa with Holly Willoughby.

Other activities[link]

In 2006, a celebration to the show Spitting Image saw Ant and Dec having their own puppets made. They have also been made into cartoon characters on the comedy show 2DTV, and face masks in Avid Merrion's Bo Selecta. Wax works of the duo can also be seen in London's Madame Tussauds.

In April 2008, it was reported that Ant & Dec's production company, Gallowgate Productions, had purchased the rights to Byker Grove and SMTV Live, after the production companies that made them, Zenith Entertainment and Blaze Television, had both gone bankrupt in 2007. According to reports, the duo decided to purchase the rights to stop digital channels showing repeats of the programmes.^[21] On 28 September 2008, it was reported that the pair were attacked by the Taliban whilst in Afghanistan to present a Pride Of Britain Award.^[22] In December 2008, the duo starred in a seasonal advert, their first in seven years, for the supermarket chain Sainsbury's. The duo appeared alongside chef Jamie Oliver.^[23] In March 2009, the duo filmed a short film for inclusion on Comic Relief, which highlighted their story upon visiting a community centre for young carers in the North East. In September 2009, the duo released their official autobiography, entitled "Ooh! What a Lovely Pair. Our Story".^[24] In October 2010, the duo appeared in several Nintendo adverts playing both the Wii^[25] and Nintendo DS.^[26] In 2011, they both appeared on Celebrity Juice on ITV2.

Controversies[link]

In 1997, Welsh pop duo 'And all because...' successfully obtained legal aid and filed legal papers against Ant & Dec, along with their management team, record company and producers for copyright infringement over the song "Falling", and this was subsequently Ant & Dec's last single.

Law firm Olswang were commissioned to investigate the 2005 British Comedy Awards when the producers overturned the voting public's first choice, The Catherine Tate Show in favour of Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway for the People's Choice Award. The incident is also the subject of an investigation by media regulator Ofcom.^[27][28]

Following allegations of fraud in 2007, an investigation by auditors Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu discovered that two shows, Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon and Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, had defrauded viewers participating in phone-ins. The programmes were subject to a further investigation by Ofcom which found that between January 2003 and October 2006 Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway had:^[28][29]

• selected competition finalists before the telephone lines were announced as closed
• staggered the selection of competition finalists which meant that viewers entering the competition did not have a fair and equal chance of winning
• selected finalists on the basis of their suitability to be on television and where they lived
• selected an individual already known to the production team to be placed on the shortlist of potential winners and who went on to win the competition

and between September and October 2005, Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon had:

• on six occasions in the Prize Mountain competition, selected winners based on their suitability to be on screen
• failed to account for almost half of the competition entries

One episode of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! was also found to be in breach of Ofcom rules.

The pair were ridiculed for their alleged participation in the fraud on the front cover of the satirical magazine Private Eye.^[30]

On 10 September 2008, Ant & Dec announced that the frauds "will never happen again", insisting that a high-tech system and strict rules will ensure viewers cannot lose out with poorly monitored premium rate phone lines.^[31] On 30 September 2008, it was reported that Ant & Dec were being sued for $30 million by Greek American stand-up comedian and actor ANT for using his name in the United States. The lawsuit, among other things, alleges trademark infringement and fraud.^[32] The suit was dismissed in May of 2010.^[33] In October 2009, Kelly Brook claimed that Ant & Dec had been the cause of her removal as the fourth judge on Britain's Got Talent. She claimed that she was asked to leave the show after she upset the pair.^[34]

Acting[link]

They have, albeit infrequently, returned to acting. They played themselves in the film Love Actually^[35] (in which Bill Nighy's character referred to Dec as "Ant or Dec"). They have returned to their Geordie roots in a one-off tribute to The Likely Lads^[36] and also by returning to Byker Grove for Geoff's funeral.^[37][38]

In 1998, the pair starred in the pantomime Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs at Sunderland's Empire Theatre alongside Donnelly's partner at the time Clare Buckfield. The show was financially unsuccessful, making £20,000 less than it cost to stage, with the duo footing a large share of the shortfall.^[39]

Al Burton, creator of the American gameshow Win Ben Stein's Money, had approached Ant & Dec's talent agency with a proposal for a new reality television show entitled Ant & Dec Get Killed (after the film Penn & Teller Get Killed), in which the two scheme to murder one another, framed with a lighthearted soundtrack and canned laughter. Burton received negative public reaction and narrowly escaped being charged with several accounts of premeditated murder in British courts, and Ant & Dec refused the offer from the talent agency.^[40]