Viva finds Voice for lost loved ones

The Voice's Viva Lale has recorded a song that she wrote about tragically losing her cousins in a house fire.

The Voice Australia contestant Viva Lale on stage. Picture: Channel 9 Source: Supplied

The Voice Australia contestant Viva Lale on stage. Picture: Channel 9 Source: Supplied

Relatives of The Voice Australia contestant Viva Lale .. Jeremiah Lale and Viva Picture: Channel 9 Source: Supplied

Relatives of The Voice Australia contestant Viva Lale .. Paul Lini and Viva. Picture: Channel 9 Source: Supplied

THE last time Viva Lale sang for her cousins, Lini Paul and Jeremiah, was at the teenagers' memorial service, a five-hour tribute to the music-loving brothers and nine other family members lost in Australia's worst ever house fire.

Then she stood grief-stricken and numb with pain just days after the Slacks Creek tragedy of August 2011 which robbed the young men of their futures and took the lives of Lale's aunty Neti and her five children.

Almost two years on, the 26-year-old songbird realised their dream for her by taking to The Voice Australia stage and sharing the gift for singing they had championed before they died.

It was not to be result they had imagined for her, with none of the superstar coaches turning their chairs, but the determined singer from Goodna, near Brisbane in Queensland, told News Limited her dream and theirs will live on long after the reality TV show.

While other unlucky contestants came from the stage in tears, Lale says she took great pride in making that moment happen for herself.

Fans of the US series of The Voice before their shock deaths, Lini Paul, 16 and Jeremiah, 18, had urged their favourite cousin to audition for the first Australian season when it was announced.

"They passed away two months before auditions started for The Voice and at that time I wasn't really ready, but this year I knew I had to do it," the account manager said.

Overcoming her natural shyness, Lale says she felt compelled to live her life with renewed purpose after losing so much.

"I know how precious life is...I know it sounds corny, but it's so true. I could bear (losing) one, but six at the same time has been really, really hard. The only way to get through it was to remain positive. It would have been such a waste of another life if I sat there and did nothing," Lale said.

"That's not the life they wanted to live, that's not what they wanted for me either. I know they would want me to be happy and do what I love to do and that's sing."

Her cousins had big plans for their lives too: Lini Paul was the "clown" aiming for university; while 'Jerry' loved rugby and wanted to play for the Queensland Reds.

But just after midnight on August 24, those ambitions were extinguished after the two-storey home they shared with their aunty Fusi Taufa and her extended family at Wagensveldt St, Slacks Creek was destroyed by a blaze that would shock Brisbane's Samoan community and beyond.

Sharing her memories of that black night for the first time, Lale recalls turning into the street, where emergency vehicles were crowded around her cousins' house.

"It was like a scene out of a movie. The flashing lights and as I realised the house was still burning I just took my hands off the steering wheel and covered my face," she said, blinking back tears.

"I tried to walk (towards the house) but my legs just buckled out from under me. It just wasn't real."

Walking onto The Voice stage was a woman transformed.

"I was not going to sit there on my butt and wait for the moment," she said.

"People do a lot of waiting, instead of doing it and I don't want to be one of those people."

So she didn't win through to the battle rounds, so what? It's not life or death to this focused, talented performer, who has been booked to perform regular Sunday sessions at Brisbane's Southbank and begins recording her first EP this week.

"As soon as I hit that stage I wanted to cry, tears of happiness that I made it. That was my ultimate goal and I feel in myself that they were with me."

Perhaps the emotion of her audition song, Mariah Carey's heavenly reunion anthem, One Sweet Day, got the better of her, but as Ricky Martin remarked: "you have six angels on your shoulder, (you will) go out and do it."

View the original article here

Viva finds Voice for lost loved ones

The Voice's Viva Lale has recorded a song that she wrote about tragically losing her cousins in a house fire.

The Voice Australia contestant Viva Lale on stage. Picture: Channel 9 Source: Supplied

The Voice Australia contestant Viva Lale on stage. Picture: Channel 9 Source: Supplied

Relatives of The Voice Australia contestant Viva Lale .. Jeremiah Lale and Viva Picture: Channel 9 Source: Supplied

Relatives of The Voice Australia contestant Viva Lale .. Paul Lini and Viva. Picture: Channel 9 Source: Supplied

THE last time Viva Lale sang for her cousins, Lini Paul and Jeremiah, was at the teenagers' memorial service, a five-hour tribute to the music-loving brothers and nine other family members lost in Australia's worst ever house fire.

Then she stood grief-stricken and numb with pain just days after the Slacks Creek tragedy of August 2011 which robbed the young men of their futures and took the lives of Lale's aunty Neti and her five children.

Almost two years on, the 26-year-old songbird realised their dream for her by taking to The Voice Australia stage and sharing the gift for singing they had championed before they died.

It was not to be result they had imagined for her, with none of the superstar coaches turning their chairs, but the determined singer from Goodna, near Brisbane in Queensland, told News Limited her dream and theirs will live on long after the reality TV show.

While other unlucky contestants came from the stage in tears, Lale says she took great pride in making that moment happen for herself.

Fans of the US series of The Voice before their shock deaths, Lini Paul, 16 and Jeremiah, 18, had urged their favourite cousin to audition for the first Australian season when it was announced.

"They passed away two months before auditions started for The Voice and at that time I wasn't really ready, but this year I knew I had to do it," the account manager said.

Overcoming her natural shyness, Lale says she felt compelled to live her life with renewed purpose after losing so much.

"I know how precious life is...I know it sounds corny, but it's so true. I could bear (losing) one, but six at the same time has been really, really hard. The only way to get through it was to remain positive. It would have been such a waste of another life if I sat there and did nothing," Lale said.

"That's not the life they wanted to live, that's not what they wanted for me either. I know they would want me to be happy and do what I love to do and that's sing."

Her cousins had big plans for their lives too: Lini Paul was the "clown" aiming for university; while 'Jerry' loved rugby and wanted to play for the Queensland Reds.

But just after midnight on August 24, those ambitions were extinguished after the two-storey home they shared with their aunty Fusi Taufa and her extended family at Wagensveldt St, Slacks Creek was destroyed by a blaze that would shock Brisbane's Samoan community and beyond.

Sharing her memories of that black night for the first time, Lale recalls turning into the street, where emergency vehicles were crowded around her cousins' house.

"It was like a scene out of a movie. The flashing lights and as I realised the house was still burning I just took my hands off the steering wheel and covered my face," she said, blinking back tears.

"I tried to walk (towards the house) but my legs just buckled out from under me. It just wasn't real."

Walking onto The Voice stage was a woman transformed.

"I was not going to sit there on my butt and wait for the moment," she said.

"People do a lot of waiting, instead of doing it and I don't want to be one of those people."

So she didn't win through to the battle rounds, so what? It's not life or death to this focused, talented performer, who has been booked to perform regular Sunday sessions at Brisbane's Southbank and begins recording her first EP this week.

"As soon as I hit that stage I wanted to cry, tears of happiness that I made it. That was my ultimate goal and I feel in myself that they were with me."

Perhaps the emotion of her audition song, Mariah Carey's heavenly reunion anthem, One Sweet Day, got the better of her, but as Ricky Martin remarked: "you have six angels on your shoulder, (you will) go out and do it."

View the original article here

Manu finds the right ingredients

The My Kitchen Rules star has grown up and turned his personal life around after reaching 40. Picture: Nigel Lough Source: National Features

BEHIND Manu Feildel's boyish grin is a man that has grown up. The My Kitchen Rules judge has turned 40 and his priorities have changed.

Feildel has traded the single life for a steady relationship with Perth jewellery designer Clarissa Weerasena.

The Frenchman has dumped his free-wheeling motor scooter and is finally learning to drive a car.

Feildel is relishing life with his nine-year-old son, Jonti, and been lucky enough to share his good fortune with his mother Evelyne.

He has seen his Channel 7 cooking show grow up too.

In four seasons, My Kitchen Rules has gone from being a solid ratings success to a TV phenomenon. This year it has been averaging upwards of two million viewers per episode.

"I started work when I was 15 shaping a job that I was very dedicated to," Feildel says.

"My son was born when I was 31. Then I had the possibility of doing a bit of TV. My Kitchen Rules has become a big success. You try to find love as well."I am settled in every way in my life now. All the stars have aligned. I think I've got everything I could want at the moment."

A while ago it looked as if things could have gone in a different direction.

Last July Feildel made headlines during a trip to Perth for the Good Food and Wine Show. He partied hard at the Malt Supper Club and was seen lying on the floor striking an unflattering pose alongside MasterChef judge George Calombaris.

The next day at the show, Feildel dropped utensils and repeatedly complained of a "bad hangover" because of a "big night".

Feildel also had a nasty scare when he clipped a car on his scooter. That was a big wake-up call.

"It is so easy to lose your life on two wheels," Feildel says. "When you're going to crash, your life flashes before your eyes and the first person that came to me was Jonti.

"The bike is in the garage and I'll never look at it again. I've always wanted to have a car but it got harder as I got older and busier to take driving lessons.

"I suddenly had to thump my fist on the table and say 'I need to get a car'. It is about the responsibilities that I have got in my life my work, my son."

A hiccup came in January when Feildel was busted driving through Sydney's eastern suburbs on a learner's permit with no L-plates or a supervising driver. He was fined $762.

Two years ago love was on the backburner for Feildel. Instead, he was driven to succeed professionally.

In 1991 the then 17-year-old arrived in London from France with no friends, no money and no English.

He spent eight years in the UK, working his way from the bottom to head chef at the prestigious Livebait seafood restaurant.

In 1999 he came to Australia for more slog Toofeys in Melbourne followed by Sydney's Hugo's, Restaurant VII, Bilsons and then his own restaurant, L'etoile.

There was a personal cost for all that grind. His 12-year relationship with Jonti's mother ended in October 2009.

"I used to be a frustrated guy who would come home from working so hard going, 'When am I going to get the rewards?' " Feildel told me in 2011.

One of Feildel's greatest satisfactions is that his mother, who recently spent a month in Sydney with the star, has been able to see those rewards delivered in spades.

"She is obviously very proud," Feildel says. "For me, it (success) is repaying the way I was brought up. My dad left when I was four pretty much disappeared.

"She had to bring up two kids by herself from the age of 22 and I think she has done a great job. The only way she could bring us up was to work hard. Now she is realising that all the trouble she went through all the tears and sweat have paid off."

Life is settled. So are there any big dreams for the future?

"I never stop dreaming," Feildel says with a laugh. "There is a lot of things I want to do. I want to continue my career as a restaurateur and chef I'll always have a foot in that business.

"TV is something I really enjoy. I think my biggest dream would be to travel around the world with food (a TV food show). Then I wouldn't mind putting a few kilos on!"

My Kitchen Rules, Channel 7, Monday to Wednesday, 7.30pm

View the original article here

Manu finds the right ingredients

The My Kitchen Rules star has grown up and turned his personal life around after reaching 40. Picture: Nigel Lough Source: National Features

BEHIND Manu Feildel's boyish grin is a man that has grown up. The My Kitchen Rules judge has turned 40 and his priorities have changed.

Feildel has traded the single life for a steady relationship with Perth jewellery designer Clarissa Weerasena.

The Frenchman has dumped his free-wheeling motor scooter and is finally learning to drive a car.

Feildel is relishing life with his nine-year-old son, Jonti, and been lucky enough to share his good fortune with his mother Evelyne.

He has seen his Channel 7 cooking show grow up too.

In four seasons, My Kitchen Rules has gone from being a solid ratings success to a TV phenomenon. This year it has been averaging upwards of two million viewers per episode.

"I started work when I was 15 shaping a job that I was very dedicated to," Feildel says.

"My son was born when I was 31. Then I had the possibility of doing a bit of TV. My Kitchen Rules has become a big success. You try to find love as well."I am settled in every way in my life now. All the stars have aligned. I think I've got everything I could want at the moment."

A while ago it looked as if things could have gone in a different direction.

Last July Feildel made headlines during a trip to Perth for the Good Food and Wine Show. He partied hard at the Malt Supper Club and was seen lying on the floor striking an unflattering pose alongside MasterChef judge George Calombaris.

The next day at the show, Feildel dropped utensils and repeatedly complained of a "bad hangover" because of a "big night".

Feildel also had a nasty scare when he clipped a car on his scooter. That was a big wake-up call.

"It is so easy to lose your life on two wheels," Feildel says. "When you're going to crash, your life flashes before your eyes and the first person that came to me was Jonti.

"The bike is in the garage and I'll never look at it again. I've always wanted to have a car but it got harder as I got older and busier to take driving lessons.

"I suddenly had to thump my fist on the table and say 'I need to get a car'. It is about the responsibilities that I have got in my life my work, my son."

A hiccup came in January when Feildel was busted driving through Sydney's eastern suburbs on a learner's permit with no L-plates or a supervising driver. He was fined $762.

Two years ago love was on the backburner for Feildel. Instead, he was driven to succeed professionally.

In 1991 the then 17-year-old arrived in London from France with no friends, no money and no English.

He spent eight years in the UK, working his way from the bottom to head chef at the prestigious Livebait seafood restaurant.

In 1999 he came to Australia for more slog Toofeys in Melbourne followed by Sydney's Hugo's, Restaurant VII, Bilsons and then his own restaurant, L'etoile.

There was a personal cost for all that grind. His 12-year relationship with Jonti's mother ended in October 2009.

"I used to be a frustrated guy who would come home from working so hard going, 'When am I going to get the rewards?' " Feildel told me in 2011.

One of Feildel's greatest satisfactions is that his mother, who recently spent a month in Sydney with the star, has been able to see those rewards delivered in spades.

"She is obviously very proud," Feildel says. "For me, it (success) is repaying the way I was brought up. My dad left when I was four pretty much disappeared.

"She had to bring up two kids by herself from the age of 22 and I think she has done a great job. The only way she could bring us up was to work hard. Now she is realising that all the trouble she went through all the tears and sweat have paid off."

Life is settled. So are there any big dreams for the future?

"I never stop dreaming," Feildel says with a laugh. "There is a lot of things I want to do. I want to continue my career as a restaurateur and chef I'll always have a foot in that business.

"TV is something I really enjoy. I think my biggest dream would be to travel around the world with food (a TV food show). Then I wouldn't mind putting a few kilos on!"

My Kitchen Rules, Channel 7, Monday to Wednesday, 7.30pm

View the original article here

Big Bang finds the right formula

The Big Bang Theory is now the second-most popular show in the US, after gaining an audience through constant repeats. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

WHAT a difference four years have made for the cast of The Big Bang Theory.

When the cast first appeared at television showcase PaleyFest in 2009, their sitcom wasn't even among the top-40 rated shows in the US.

Last week's first-run Big Bang episode topped the list in US viewers most coveted by advertisers, those ages 18-49; and it was the second most-watched show overall (behind NCIS) with more than 20 million viewers.

What made Bang so much bigger? Credit syndication. Reruns of the show have been almost impossible to avoid in the US since local stations and cable network TBS debuted them in September 2011 - introducing the series and hooking millions of viewers who didn't catch episodes the first times around on CBS.

"You're kind of forced to watch the show now," joked actor Simon Helberg, who plays oversexed nerd Howard Wolowitz.

"We're shoving it down people's throats, and then they're learning that they love that."

From co-creators Chuck Lorre (Two and a Half Men) and Bill Prady (Dharma & Greg), The Big Bang Theory spins around two roommates, physicists Leonard Hofstadter (played by Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parson), as well as their friends and colleagues, engineer Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and astrophysicist Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar).

Parsons may play a genius, but he's having a tough time getting his head around the show's current success.

"There's something impossible to fathom about viewers and numbers and things like that," Parsons explained.

"I can barely picture 20 people in one room. If you want to say 17 or 18 million, well you've lost me."

The Big Bang cast and crew were careful to withhold any major upcoming plot developments, except for one - to be revealed in the first-run episode airing tonight in the US: the discovery of a letter from Howard's long-lost father.

"They (Howard and his scientist wife Bernadette) find the letter," revealed actress Melissa Rauch, who plays Bernadette. "Or someone finds the letter," Rauch added, coyly.

No other cast members or co-creator Lorre would go near discussions of the characters' futures. But Helberg did agree to dream up a season-20 endgame for the Big Bang bunch.

"Well I think (Howard's) pants will probably be as skinny and probably a bit tighter," Helberg began.

"I think that Sheldon will probably still be sitting in his spot. It may be in a different apartment. I think he'll sit in that spot until he's in a home. Howard and Bernadette probably will ... God, God help them if they have children. We know she hates them and we know that Howard, essentially, is a child. So I wish them luck."

PaleyFest, an annual open-to-the-public series of TV-series cast and crew panel discussions, runs through Friday at the Saban Theatre in Los Angeles.

View the original article here