ITV creates new show Celebrity Karaoke Club after X Factor was scrapped this year
ITV has made an industry out of people who arguably should never have made the jump from a karaoke bar to primetime television.
But now the channel is combining the two, and getting celebrities to be the punters.
Seven famous folk will have a sing-off, and then judge their fellow competitors on the show, which has the working title — most unlikely to be used — of Celebrity Karaoke Club.
And just like The Voice, the show will feature different rounds where they sing in a group, go head-to-head on the same song, and even have to sing random songs with no set lyrics.
A source said: “ITV has always done singing shows and done them well, and with no X Factor on this year they are looking at new formats to fill the gap.
“They’ve started casting for Celebrity Karaoke Club but you’d need to be a brave star to have a go.
“Or have a belting singing voice that you’ve been hiding all these years. The twist here is not having a Simon Cowell judging you, but each other.
“So just like on a night out, if you think someone has had too much to drink and probably should step away from the mic, you can get rid of them.”
The show, currently being prepared for ITV2, will start shooting at the end of July and bosses are hoping to get it on screen in September.
The show does sound similar to The X Factor: Celebrity, which aired last year — with contestants including Martin Bashir, Vinnie Jones and a Love Island supergroup.
I was amazed that producers managed to get such a good cast for that, so I am intrigued to see who they can tempt to take part in this.
Amber turns to bronze
LOVE Island may be off the TV this summer – the UK version, at least – but former winner Amber Davies is still turning up the heat.
She soaked up the sun in a colourful bikini with only dog Oreo for company – having vowed to ditch men on Dolly Parton's advice.
The country music legend told Amber, who starred in her West End show 9 To 5, that boys would “ruin her life”.
Amber said: “I don’t know what I’d do with one at the moment.”
With Instagram content like this, I can’t imagine she is short of offers.
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GC eyes boob op
SHE has made a boob of herself on telly a few times over the years but Gemma Collins has now reached the point where she’s getting fed up of her own boobs.
She said: “My breasts these days are rather large and I would like a reduction at some point.
"Now I can’t wait to rip my bra off and let them hang out. And literally just get the cool air, the breeze, on them.”
But the GC has another big expense before she can go under the knife – buying a house.
And she believes she has found the perfect property in Essex, because a tree in the garden told her it’s the place to be.
Speaking on The Gemma Collins Podcast, she said: “It’s so weird, I knew it was the house for me because literally when I rode up to the house on my bike there was this tree, and it was a rather big tree, and I felt like the tree was talking to me.
“It moved in this way it was like whispering to me.
“When I see this tree, I truly believe we’ve got a bond. This tree is telling me, ‘Gemma you’re meant to be here.’
“I don’t know why but it gives me huge comfort.”
Masked encore
DAVINA McCall has confirmed that filming for ratings winner The Masked Singer will go ahead this autumn.
She also revealed plans are still in place to have an audience – despite doubts over whether it was possible due to social distancing.
On her podcast Making The Cut, she said of the show: “It’s coming back! We are going to start filming in September or October.”
Joining Davina, presenter Jonathan Ross, US comedian Ken Jeong and pop star Rita Ora will again be on the judging panel.
The pandemic has hit the entertainment industry hard. Earlier this year Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway went ahead without an audience for the first time.
ITV also did away with audiences for other shows and cancelled this year’s Love Island.
Davina said: “The audience situation will be easier with a one-metre rule.
"But things are changing so rapidly now with the easing that September is a lifetime away. It may well be that social distancing has gone out the window by that point.”
Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts was unmasked as the UK’s first winner – beating Jason Manford and Katherine Jenkins in the final.
I am already looking forward to series two.
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TELLY regular Denise Van Outen says her partner, commodities trader Eddie Boxshall is “the one”.
She said: “If there was ever a test then it’s lockdown. We have had a lot of laughs together.”
Ollie is Mr Write
SOME of the stories Ollie Ollerton and the SAS: Who Dares Wins lads tell on the Channel 4 show seem too crazy to be true, but now he’s getting paid to write fiction.
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The Sunday Times bestselling author is penning his first novel.
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His first fiction thriller, Scar Tissue, will be published in November and introduces the world to a new hero, Alex Abbott, an ex-special forces soldier whose troubled past is about to catch up with him.
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