Top-Rated Ellen DeGeneres in Sydney! Lovin' Australia!

From The Australian this morning, they have this headline: "Sydney puts a spring in Ellen DeGeneres' step" with these highlights: " In comedy, as in politics, timing is everything. Ellen DeGeneres was undoubtedly the most popular woman in Australia yesterday, given the kind of public reception PM Julia Gillard can only dream about. Such is the TV favourite's appeal, DeGeneres and her Aussie posse, including Geelong-born wife Portia and mum Betty, was mobbed from the moment she danced her way through Sydney Airport's arrivals hall to her first brush with our wildlife on the tourism trail. Her first visit to Sydney and Melbourne was postponed by a week due to illiness. The 55-year-old hit the ground running. She shunned a secret VIP arrival and chose instead to stroll down the public entrance into Sydney Airport. The Emmy-winner was welcomed by thousands of fans and the Qantas choir, who set the tone for the celebratory trip ahead. Instead of a luxury yacht or speed boat for a trip to Taronga Zoo, the Ellen show boarded the Borrowdale - a 1985 steel twin catamaran."

Ellen and her party are staying at the Intercontinental Hotel in Sydney. Since Oprah "retired" from broadcast, network station TV in in American, Ellen has become the top-rated for these talk/entertainment types of shows. From an AP newswire story, they noted: "Ellen DeGeneres was applauded by a rapturous Aussie audience like a cherished part of the family on a Sydney Harbour-side stage on Saturday. She is doing a six-day filming trip to Australia. 'I'm moving here, it's so beautiful,' DeGeneres told 3,000 admirers, who were clearly delighted to be in the sun-bathed Royal Botanic Gardens near the Sydney Opera House despite the 86-degree Fahrenheit early afternoon heat. Guests included Oscar-winning actor and Sydney local Russell Crowe. He presented the 55-year-old host with two kangaroo-hide cattle whips that he said DeGeneres might need to catch 'some brumbies' _ an Australian term for wild horses _ when she visits Australia's southeast. The pair took turns at whip cracking. The show was packed with games involving audience members, including an Australia-themed trivia event in which fans had to take a harbor plunge for a wrong answer."

In the U.S., check your local listing for when her Aussie shows will boardcast in the next couple of weeks. It should be a good warm-up for those of us planning our early January 2014 adventure in Sidney, Australia, etc.

Full stories at:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sydney-puts-a-spring-in-ellen-degeneres-step/story-e6frg6n6-1226603735173

http://www.themonitor.com/entertainment/tv/article_e55f82e9-aa04-5745-a9ea-8a6dd6eedb4a.html

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Celebrity Solstice Visual Highlights? From our June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in France, Italy, Kotor and Dubrovnik, I have pull together a number of wonderful visuals of the Solstice, its features, food, entertainment, options, etc. We are now at 2,028 views for this shorter version started late last week of my larger full review of that cruise and all of the port pictures/details. Check these postings and added info at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1803477

Never even heard of her before I saw her and her 'wife' plastered all over our media.

I think Ellen would have to say she likes it downunder as her tour is being sponsored by Swisse,Qantas and to a lesser extent by the NSW and Victorian tourism boards.I don't think her sponsors would like it if she said she hated the place.

Regards Elaine.

Never even heard of her before I saw her and her 'wife' plastered all over our media.

I must admit that whole thing has made me fell sick the way she is getting so much attention. Her TV show is rubbish. They are making such a thing about her and her 'wife'. Will be pleased to see her go back.

I like her :)

I like her :)

Me too 😀

Every time I fly into Sydney I get greeted by the qantas choir and Russell Crowe and after a few times it becomes tiresome. I'm glad she enjoyed it. Have they booked Hugh jackman to dive face first into a stage light?

Maybe the US should sponsor Alan Jones or Kerri Ann Kennerly to go over there. :D

Ellen who !

Did I miss something, which cruise is she on.

Ellen who !

Did I miss something, which cruise is she on.

We had Pauline Hanson on our cruise at Xmas time.

I like her sense of humour.

I must admit that whole thing has made me fell sick the way she is getting so much attention. Her TV show is rubbish. They are making such a thing about her and her 'wife'. Will be pleased to see her go back.

wildweston: I like her fayfam: Me too

need_a_holiday: Every time I fly into Sydney I get greeted by the qantas choir and Russell Crowe and after a few times it becomes tiresome. I'm glad she enjoyed it. Have they booked Hugh jackman to dive face first into a stage light?

Interesting range of comments' date=' views, etc., on Ellen. Personally, I am not a fan of her politics, but her show style, from the limited times I have watched, is fairly light and positive. Not everyone likes her or watches her show in America, but it does have the highest ratings for this type of daytime talk show. In the last few weeks, a local Columbus TV anchor that I know well went to LA to interview Ellen. There were huge restriction on what could be asked and not to be brought up during the taped interview. This include not asking about her difficulties in breaking the smoking habit, her wife, etc., etc. The anchor was amazed at the high degree of "control" that was demanded by Ellen's people.

Great sense of humor by need_a_holiday. Not sure i want Russell Crowe greeting me at the Sydney airport. As a I re-call on some days and in certain of his movies, he was not always super friendly.

From The Australian newspaper this morning, they have this headline: [b']"Ellen DeGeneres plays it for laughs"[/b] with these highlights: "Her fascination with kookaburras apparently dates back to when she forced Nicole Kidman to mimic the native bird's infectious laugh. At the moment of her Sydney taping yesterday, Ellen DeGeneres got to hear what all the jokes have been about. Just minutes after telling the crowd she was desperate to hear the famous call of a "kook-o-borrow'' came the unmistakable sound of a lone kingfisher, who had serendipitously come to rest atop the stage scaffolding. But for the screaming diehards who had lined up outside the Royal Botanic Gardens gates from midnight to see their TV favourite, the close encounter was enough to keep them on their feet and dancing for the duration of the show. On the receiving end of her trademark generosity, Sydney couple and health workers Maddie and Patrick, were gifted $10,000 from Swisse to help pay off their student loans."

Full story at:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/ellen-degeneres-plays-it-for-laughs/story-e6frg6n6-1226604185167

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Celebrity Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 124,372 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

Hubby and I find her very funny. She had us dying as the voice of Dorie in Finding Nemo. We don't watch her show as we are working when it comes on.

I really like watching her giveaway shows, but I have to turn down the volume because of the screaming. Meh, it's Christmas. And I hate how work intervenes with me watching her shows usually. She's just a bit of fun, and heaven knows, we need a bit of that sometimes.

Terry

Thanks for your interesting article on Kangaroo Island. It is a unique place.

We live in South Australia and get most upset that a lot of overseas people think that Kangaroo Island is the only place worthwhile seeing in South Australia. I have gone out of my way when in Europe and USA to obtain travel pamphlets on Australian tourism and Kangaroo Island seems to be the dominant place depicted with regard to South Australia.

There are so many other tourist attractions in South Australia, too many to list here and if visitors only go to Kangaroo Island they are missing out on so much in the rest of our State.

I wonder what our tourism promoters are doing when promoting our State overseas?

They are certainly not doing it justice by only promoting Kangaroo Island.

Dont get me wrong; I have been to Kangaroo Island a couple of times and it is all of what is described in your posted article but many of the things you can see in Kangaroo Island can also be experienced in other parts of South Australia.

It seems like I am pushing the "South Australian Barrow" and I am unashamedly doing so because I am proud of my State but to be fair, Australia is a great country and overseas visitors will be charmed no matter what part of the country they visit.

John

I think her show is great. It is light hearted and funny. She is always helping those in need out. Good on her!!!

I dont watch the show, or like any hype surrounding tv stars and media following them.

If it can bring tourism here then that is a good thing for us. It is good to see people wanting to travel to Australia from all parts of the world.

From past experiences the Tourism Australia adds that they try and sell to other countries are completely ridiculous that just promote unknown Australian celebrities and not our country. I just hope that having international people come here and promote the country in their own format works to get people visiting here.

No one has to like the show watch it or even know who she is. We just got to hope it gets the right message to Americans to visit here. Perhaps other countries should follow suit and send their celebrities here to generate tourism.

Personally, I don't think it matters who promotes our country to the Americans as I think we are too far away for the majority to travel here.

I have travelled a fair bit in the U.S due to having relatives just across the border in Canada as well as visiting friends in Ohio and the common response I heard when people asked where I was from was "I would love to go there but it's too far away" or that the flight is too long.

Australians and New Zealanders are used to long flights as it is our only option if we want to go anywhere.

The Chinese are our biggest tourists and when I was on a land based holiday in India a few months ago the advertisement promoting Australian tourism was being shown frequently on the telly.

Regards Elaine.

Please, can we put Ellen on a repositioning cruise from Sydney to the West Coast of USA? Maybe she could 'work her passage' in the Dance troupe or something like that. LOL.

Tell you what, it'd be a sell out.

Let us now what cruises many of you will be on...want to avoid them like the plague.

Bunch of sour faced munchins.

Whether she is good or not is irrelevant (and I don't watch her show and never met her so I like others are in no position to say whether she is nice or not) ....she has something many of you don't have...manners. And I wonder how many of you are as successful.....

Goodbye. :D

Let us now what cruises many of you will be on...want to avoid them like the plague.

 

Bunch of sour faced munchins.

 

Whether she is good or not is irrelevant (and I don't watch her show and never met her so I like others are in no position to say whether she is nice or not) ....she has something many of you don't have...manners. And I wonder how many of you are as successful.....

 

Goodbye. :D

I am at a loss to understand why you would call me a sour faced munchin.All I said was that Ellen was sponsored so she would be obligated to say nice things and that the Australian,NSW and Vic tourist boards should forget about trying to entice Americans over here and concentrate on the wealthy Chinese and Indian people looking to holiday somewhere.

Regards Elaine.

I am at a loss to understand why you would call me a sour faced munchin.All I said was that Ellen was sponsored so she would be obligated to say nice things and that the Australian,NSW and Vic tourist boards should forget about trying to entice Americans over here and concentrate on the wealthy Chinese and Indian people looking to holiday somewhere.

Regards Elaine.

Just a friendly suggestion that I think our cruise board host like us to stay focused on cruise and travel issues. The personal comments about "sour faced munchin" and debating the politics on gay marriage or not tend to be outside the areas they expect and prefer.

I just shared this "news" as Ellen's visit will pump up lots of interest for travel and cruising to Australia as happened a couple years back with Oprah.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Celebrity Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 124,555 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

From The Australian this morning, they have this headline: "Ellen DeGeneres visits Melbourne" with these highlights: "The superstar TV talk show host was at Melbourne Girls Grammar for about an hour and a half, filming segments for her American talk show. Colourful banners, costumes and T-shirts were on show as anxious fans braved up to 18 hours of sleeplessness and hunger to witness the talk show superstar's arrival at Tullamarine. Lord Mayor Robert Doyle sent a welcome message to the stars on Twitter. DeGeneres confirmed the timing for her Melbourne show at Birrarung Marr on Twitter this morning. She is urging fans to head to the area at 11am tomorrow where a stage is currently being constructed for the event. The couple will be special guests at tomorrow night's black tie dinner at the Grand Hyatt hosted by Victorian Premier Denis Napthine, Swisse boss Radek Sali and Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce."

The party are staying at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne. The second story noted for in Sidney: "Ellen DeGeneres led Sydney fans on a mad game of "Where's Wally" yesterday as she popped up at Manly Beach but was a no-show to watch Russell Crowe's Rabbitohs at Penrith. They weren't the only locals put out by the US celebrity's whistlestop trip, with Botanic Gardens staff receiving complaints from wedding parties that noise from The Ellen Show taping on Saturday had been so loud it drowned out their vows."

Full stories at:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/ellen-degeneres-visits-portia-de-rossis-old-school-in-melbourne/story-e6frg6n6-1226605031922

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/ellen-degeneres-express-skips-rabbitohs-game-for-a-beach/story-e6frg6n6-1226604552488

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Celebrity Solstice Visual Highlights? From our June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in France, Italy, Kotor and Dubrovnik, I have pull together a number of wonderful visuals of the Solstice, its features, food, entertainment, options, etc. We are now at 2,085 views for this shorter version started late last week of my larger full review of that cruise and all of the port pictures/details. Check these postings and added info at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1803477