September 24th, 2009 by Lisa McGarry. Tags: Curtis Moore, Curtis Stigers, itv, X Factor, X Factor 2009

Curtis Moore made his X Factor debut last Saturday night, when he was seen getting a little lippy with Simon Cowell. After Curtis’s performance of ‘Let Me Love You’, Simon said “I really like you” but warned him to “stop being such a smarta**e”.
It turns out he’s not just a smart arse, he’s also a bit of a young hooligan. A lady who was too scare to reveal her name, told The Sun:
“Curtis used to cause so much trouble in the shopping centre and carried a knife. He shoplifted mainly with lads older than him and even attempted stealing a bike the young owner was sat on in the middle of a busy bus station.
Read more & comment »
March 7th, 2006 by Lisa McGarry. Tags: bbc, Curtis Stigers, Just The Two Of Us, Penny Smith, Reality TV, TV
Singer Songwriter Curtis Stigers who recently appeared on the BBC duets show ‘Just The Two Of Us’ has invited his partner on the show Penny Smith to perform at his upcoming concert in Belfast’s Waterfront Hall.
“Sure we kind of made fools of ourselves a little bit,” Curtis confessed, “but Penny has a great sense of humour and can laugh at herself.
“I’d be glad to welcome her on stage in Belfast to renew our friendship from the television thing.”
Penny is said to be considering the offer, but ultimately her decision will depend upon her GMTV rota.
March 4th, 2006 by Lisa McGarry. Tags: bbc, Chris Fountain, Curtis Stigers, jo o\'meara, Just The Two Of Us, Mark Moraghan, Natasha Hamilton, Reality TV, russell watson, sian reeves, TV
There have been many travesties in the world of reality TV, take the eviction of Maria Lawson from the X Factor while The Conway Sisters remained….awful!
But tonight almost matched that for unfairness. ‘Just The Two Of Us’ on BBC1 saw the public vote to keep celebrity duos Mark Moraghan and Natasha Hamilton, and Russell Watson and Sian Reeves in the show for tomorrow nights final while Chris Fountain and Jo O’Meara were sent home.
I just wonder….were the public watching the same show as me? Sian is not only mentally unstable, but she can’t hold a note! Russell may have a technically good voice but he is soul-less. His duet with Curtis Stigers tonight was in tune, but while Curtis sang with passion and emotion, Russell looked like a big cold fish. He rarely smiles, when he does it looks fake and all Sian does is witter relentlessly. Then if she doesn’t cry she always looks like she’s about to.
I just can’t bear watching them in the final, I think that at the start of the show Vernon Kay and Tess Daly should declare Mark and Natasha the winners, end the show early and the BBC could then resort to some old re runs of ‘Only Fools And Horses’ to fill the gap. It would be a whole lot more entertaining than watching ‘The Voice’ and ‘The Nervous Wreck’ for another night!
March 4th, 2006 by Lisa McGarry. Tags: Curtis Stigers, Just The Two Of Us, Penny Smith, Reality TV, sian reeves, TV, vernon kay
Well the day finally came. Many thought that Penny, undoubtedly the worst singer in the BBC’s ‘Just The Two Of Us’ competition, should have left on the first night. So with that in mind she did really well to last until the show before the semi-finals.
I admit to being a real Penny Smith Fan, even when she reads the news on GMTV in the mornings she is witty and oozes personality, more than some of the so called presenters they use. I’d be the first one to admit that she can’t sing, but hey neither could the Spice Girls and look what they acheived.
I enjoyed her and Curtis’ performance of ‘The Street Where You Live’ from My Fair Lady much much more than Russell Watsons and Sian Reeves version of ‘Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now’ which was out of key and boring. At least Penny was funny and entertaining to watch!
Had I been choosing who went tonight I would definately have kept Penny and sent Sian packing. Poor Penny has faced criticism every single night and responded with dignity. Maybe if she had collapsed in floods of tears like Sian she would still be in the show.
It was refreshing to see an honest celebrity for once….when Vernon Kay asked Penny if she thought she deserved to make it through to the semi finals she said no. How many other contestants, talented or not, would have admitted that eh?
February 21st, 2006 by Lisa McGarry. Tags: Curtis Stigers, Just The Two Of Us, Penny Smith, Reality TV, TV
Penny Smith has admitted that nerves have been getting the better of her ever since the dress rehearsal for the new BBC show’ Just The Two Of Us’ on saturday.
Penny said: “After Saturday’s dress rehearsal I can’t stop giggling. I’ve gone into hysterical meltdown.
“After the rehearsal I laughed and laughed so much there was no moisture in my body because I was crying. I just couldn’t stop.
“I’ve discovered I don’t sing as well as everybody else, but then I’m the only person who hasn’t been taught how to sing. I’m the only total novice there.
“The only reason I agreed to do it was because I thought everyone else would be a novice, but they all either learned how to sing because they are actors or have sung in bands. I’ve only sung in the church choir and while giving out pints at a folk club.”
Despite her fears of making a fool of herself, the bookies yesterday made her and Curtis Stigers third favourite – with William Hill offering odds of 5/1.
This isn’t Pennys first time on arelaity Tv show though. In 2004 she appeared as Debbie Harry singing Denis in a celebrity special of Stars In Their Eyes.
She said: “I hated it so much and was so awful. I’ve never seen it. I loved dressing up. I was having really good fun until the moment it came to sing and then I wished I’d never done it.”
So why is she doing this? She said: “It’s duets so I felt a little more protected, but now I can’t even pretend to be someone else!”
But then she shrugged: “It’s not that I’m going to miss every single note. I can get the high notes. I just can’t do the wobbly bits. They are all show-offs and I’m not. I could karate chop my throat frantically throughout the whole song to make my voice wobble.”
“My agent said: ‘I’m coming along on Thursday to support you’. I said: ‘Come on the last night’. And he said: ‘What, do you think you’ll win?’
“I told him: ‘No my last night. . . Friday’.”
February 14th, 2006 by Lisa McGarry. Tags: Alexander O'Neal, bbc, Beverley Knight, Chris Fountain, Curtis Stigers, Fiona Bruce, Gaby Roslin, jo o\'meara, Jocelyn Brown, Just The Two Of Us, Mark Moraghan, Martin Fry, Matt Allwright, Natasha Hamilton, Nicky Campbell, Penny Smith, Reality TV, russell watson, sian reeves, tess daly, vernon kay
Just The Two Of Us is the BBCs new show which pairs professional singers with familiar celebrities for a series of duets.
Singers include
*Beverley Knight
*Soul star Alexander O’Neal
*ABC singer Martin Fry
*Disco diva Jocelyn Brown,
*Jazz singer Curtis Stigers,
*Ex-S Club’s Jo O’Meara,
*Ex-Atomic Kitten Natasha Hamilton,
*Russell Watson
Celebrities Include
*Hollyoaks hunk Chris Fountain,
*Ex-Cutting It actress Sian Reeves,
*Actor Mark Moraghan
*Presenter Matt Allwright.
*GMTV Newsreader Penny Smith
*BBC Newsreader Fiona Bruce.
*Gaby Roslin, who recently starred in Chicago.
*Presenter Nicky Campbell
The show will be presented by Tess Daly and Vernon Kay