It Takes Two (Australian TV series)

It Takes Two was an Australian music talent show, which ran for three seasons from May 2006 to April 2008. It was based on the original UK programme Just the Two of Us.

The show paired celebrities with professional singers who each week competed against each other in a sing off to impress a panel of judges and ultimately the viewing public in order to survive potential elimination. Through both telephone and SMS voting, viewers voted for the duo they thought should remain in the competition. Judges' scores were also taken into account and were combined with the viewer votes when determining which duos stayed and went each week. In all cases, the home viewers always had the final say. The show was originally referred to in the media as Singing with the Stars, partly because of the similarity in concept to Dancing with the Stars. Grant Denyer hosted It Takes Two between 2006 and 2008 with a various of female co hosts such as Terasa Livingstone, Kate Ritchie and the most recent host from the 2008 season Erika Heynatz. Every season finale ended with all contestants, judges and hosts singing the show's theme song "It Takes Two", originally performed by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston, and the studio audience and home viewers were encouraged to join in the singing too. By the end of 2008, Seven Network announced that they had no plans for a fourth season.

This chart is based on the celebrities averages and not their place in the competition. Rank byaverageCompetitionfinishCoupleTotalNumber ofperformancesAverage1 Erika & David 475 14 33.92 Sarah & Guy 427 14 30.53 Kate & Troy 269 9 29.94 Mark & Rachael 314 11 28.55 Simon & Paulini 161 6 26.86 Richard & Wendy 183 8 26.17 Michael & Jade 129 5 25.88 Judy & Glenn 77 3 25.79 Kate & David 88 4 22.010 Richard & Karen 34 2 17.0

There was no episode broadcast on 11 June due to the Seven Network's coverage of a rugby union international between Australia and England, therefore there were no contestant eliminations for that week. On 23 July, Larry Emdur was the fill in host for Grant Denyer. This was due to Denyer's commitments in the second tier of the V8 Supercars series. Nick Lachey was a special guest in the grand finale on 6 August, who performed "What's Left of Me".

The second season premiered on Tuesday, 8 May 2007 and concluded on Tuesday, 10 July 2007. It featured the following celebrities:

Celebrity Occupation Professional singer Genre/s eliminated on Song/s eliminated on Placing Jolene Anderson All Saints actress David Campbell – – Winners Jo Stanley Radio broadcaster Anthony Callea Rock 'n' RollProfessional Hit "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry"The Prayer" by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli Runners up Mimi Macpherson Environmentalist & television presenter David Hobson SwingMovies "My Baby Just Cares for Me" by Nina Simone"Hanky Panky" by Madonna Eliminated 8th Ernie Dingo The Great Outdoors presenter Rachael Beck Rock "Solid Rock" by Goanna Eliminated 7th Daniel Kowalski Former Olympic swimmer Kate Ceberano The 80s "Walking on Sunshine" by Eddy Grant Eliminated 6th Bob Morley Home and Away & The 100 actor Jade MacRae 70s & 80s "Hold the Line" by Toto Eliminated 5th Julia Zemiro Comedian & television presenter Dave Gleeson Rock & Roll "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley Eliminated 4th Russell Gilbert Comedian Wendy Matthews Number One Hits "Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry Eliminated 3rd Krystal Forscutt Zoo Weekly columnist & model Troy Cassar Daley Ballad "Heaven" by Bryan Adams Eliminated 2nd Lochie Daddo Actor & television presenter Paulini Curuenavuli Swing "Come Fly with Me" by Frank Sinatra Eliminated 1st

This chart is based on the celebrities averages and not their place in the competition. Rank byaverageCompetitionfinishCoupleTotalNumber ofperformancesAverage1 Jolene & David 512 14 36.62 Jo & Anthony 456 14 32.33 Russell & Wendy 116 4 29.04 Daniel & Kate 202 7 28.95 Julia & David 141 5 28.26 Ernie & Rachael 253 9 28.17 Mimi & David 306 11 27.88 Bobby & Jade 164 6 27.39 Krystal & Troy 79 3 26.310 Lochie & Paulini 42 2 21.0

It was reported that celebrities Laura Csortan and Candice Falzon also auditioned, but were turned down for a "lack of basic singing ability". Kate Ritchie, a contestant in season one, also replaced Terasa Livingstone as co host for this season. New singing partners included Anthony Callea, David Campbell and Kate Ceberano, replacing Guy Sebastian, Glenn Shorrock and Karen Knowles. On 15 May, Larry Emdur was the fill in host for Grant Denyer. In this episode, Kate Ritchie made a comment that when he was the host last time, she got voted out from last season. On 12 June, the show featured a guest judge, Daryl Braithwaite. On 26 June, the show featured a special guest, Canadian singer Michael Bublé who sang a few songs from his new album, Call Me Irresponsible.

This chart is based on the celebrities averages and not their place in the competition. Rank byaverageCompetitionfinishCoupleTotalNumber ofperformancesAverage1 Julia & David 487 14 34.82 Russell & Kate 485 14 34.63 Virginia & Ian 379 11 34.54 Chloe & David 147 5 29.45 Scott & Ricki Lee 116 4 29.06 Candice & Anthony 199 7 28.47 Sara & Adam 168 6 28.08 Mark & Rachael 80 3 26.79 Paul & Jade 219 9 24.310 John & Wendy 45 2 22.5

Despite being turned down for a lack of basic singing ability in Season 2, ironwoman Candice Falzon is one of the contestants in Season 3. New singing partners in this season are Ricki Lee Coulter, Ian Moss and Adam Harvey, replacing Paulini Curuenavuli, Dave Gleeson and Troy Cassar Daley. Kate Ritchie declined to return for the third season of the show. Scott Draper, Mark Wilson, Julia Morris, John Mangos, and Russell Robertson appeared on the Deal or No Deal – It Takes Two special, which also aired on the Seven Network during the week of 3 February 2008. On 18 March 2008, a countdown special of It Takes Two aired for one hour highlighting each singing duos journey the final six have had throughout their stint in Season 3. Hence, no live performances were aired, therefore no contestant was eliminated that week. Dannii Minogue performed her version of disco track Xanadu (Olivia Newton John and Electric Light Orchestra song) on an episode of this season.

Season 1 was a hit for the Seven Network, providing them with solid numbers post 7:30 pm, where on a Sunday; Seven had little success up against the Nine Network's 60 Minutes, and Big Brother and Australian Idol on Network Ten. Season 2 moved to a new night and time in 2007: 7:30 pm Tuesdays, airing in the slot usually occupied by the highly successful Dancing with the Stars. The premiere ranked third for the night, averaging 1.5 million viewers, behind Seven's news programming and ahead of a special extended edition of Nine's 20 to 1 episode "Great Movie One Liners". The show managed to stay in the top 3 of the rating, and proved to be very successful for the Seven Network. In Season 3, with only one season of Dancing with the Stars to air later in 2008, It Takes Two was moved to February, however retained the highly successful timeslot of 7:30 pm on Tuesdays.