RocKwiz

RocKwiz
Genre	Quiz show
Presented by	Julia Zemiro
Judges	Brian Nankervis
Country of origin	Australia
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	11
No. of episodes	153 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	60-90 minutes
Production company(s)	Renegade Films
Broadcast
Original channel	SBS One
Picture format	576i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV)
Audio format	Stereo
Original run	31 January 2005 – present
External links
Website

RocKwiz is an Australian television quiz show series, focused on rock music and featuring different guest artist musicians who perform live in each episode. It is broadcast on SBS One and premiered in 2005. As of August 2013 it is in its 11th season.

Summary

The program airs on Saturday at 8:30 pm, and is hosted by Julia Zemiro. It is shot in The Gershwin Room at St Kilda's Esplanade Hotel, commonly called just The Espy, in Melbourne. The program often includes local lesser-known musicians (predominantly vocalists), alongside more well known Australian and international musicians, often performing live. It has a cult following for its no-frills style. The show features the "RocKwiz Orkestra" which provides musical clues and support for special music guests and participants in the competition segment.

Cast

Hosts

Co-creator and co-host Brian Nankervis

Co-host Julia Zemiro

The show is hosted by Julia Zemiro, with Brian Nankervis as the scorer and "adjudicator where necessary". Dugald McAndrew features as a "human scoreboard". The show has had the following guest hosts:

• Tex Perkins (10 January 2009 and 27 February 2010)
• David McCormack (17 January 2009)

Orchestra

RocKwiz Orkestra comprises:

• James Black (see The Black Sorrows) – guitar, Hammond organ
• Mark Ferrie (former member of Sacred Cowboys and Models) – bass guitar
• Peter "Lucky" Luscombe – drums

Rounds

The quiz comprises five rounds, and one preliminary round called "Ready Steady RocKwiz" which happens off air to select the contestants for the show. A notable feature of the show is its very casual attitude to the scoring system – a fact Brian once addressed on his introductory segment after apparently receiving some complaints from viewers. A common example of this is the awarding of "bonus points", often done when one team appears to be dominant.

• Ready Steady RocKwiz – Early series of RocKwiz often opened with this pre-recorded segment, however more recently this is all done off air. Brian Nankervis asks questions of several audience members earlier in the evening, to determine four people that will make up the two teams later on in the evening. After the footage has been shown and the guests introduced, Julia Zemiro will usually ask the four guests what the first album they ever bought was, and/or what the first concert they ever went to was. The title of this segment is an allusion to the 1960s British pop music TV show Ready Steady Go!.
• Who Can it Be Now? – This round introduces the show's two musical guest for the evening. Clues are read out in a "Who Am I?" style, and a team buzzes in when they know the answer. Ten points are awarded, and then the guest arrives and performs a song. The first guest announced will join the team that correctly guessed them, then the next guest joins the other team (after also performing a song), although the first team can still answer the question. Julia usually asks the guests about their first concert and/or album bought as well. The title and theme music of this segment comes from the 1981 song "Who Can It Be Now?" by Australian group Men at Work.
• Local and/or General – As the title suggests, this is a general knowledge music quiz section. The title of this segment comes from the song by Australian group Models on their 1981 album of the same name.
• Million Dollar Riff – The RocKwiz Orkestra plays a series of notable riffs and a team buzzes in when they recognise the riff. The riff played as the intro is from AC/DC's "Back In Black". The title of this segment comes from the 1975 song by Australian group Skyhooks.
• Master Blaster – The musical guests are given a number of questions, usually around five, to answer, on a specialist subject they have nominated. The title and theme music of this segment comes from the 1980 song "Master Blaster (Jammin')" by Stevie Wonder.
• Whole Lotta Facts - This segment replaced Master Blaster in Season 11. The musical guests essentially pick a topic and talk (or sometimes sing) on that topic. The riff played as the intro is from "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin, which also inspired the segment name.
• Thirty Three and a Third - A new segment for Season 11. Each team has 33 and one third seconds to answer as many questions as they can. The title of the segment comes from the number of revolutions per minute of a vinyl album. There is no intro riff.
• Furious Five – This round involves "five or so" minutes of fast and furious questions to both teams. Usually, the Furious Five does not quite reach the five minute mark. The title of this segment comes from the American group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and the theme music is composed of five 'furious' notes.

To close each show, the musical guests perform a duet, accompanied by the RocKwiz Orkestra. SBS has released a compilation CD & DVD of the best duets.

Episodes

As of May 2013, the show has had eleven seasons. In addition to the regular episodes, there have been a number of specials and Christmas shows. Episode running times for Seasons 1 & 2 was 26 minutes. Seasons 3 to 10 had a regular running time of 44 minutes. Season 11 has a regular running time of 52 minutes.

DVD Releases

• RockWiz Salutes The Bowl was released on DVD in Australia on 21 August 2009^[1]
• RocKWiz Duets vol 1-3 DVDs were collected into a box set released on DVD in Australia on 28 May 2010^[2]
• The 2010 National Tour highlights were released on DVD in Australia on 29 October 2010^[3]
• Season 1 was released on DVD in Australia on 5 October 2011^[4]
• Season 2 was released on DVD in Australia on 5 October 2011^[5]
• Season 3 was released on DVD in Australia on 30 November 2011^[6]
• Season 4 was released on DVD in Australia on 6 June 2012^[7]

References

External links

• Official website
• RocKwiz at the Internet Movie Database
• Rockwiz at the National Film & Sound Archive
• Tex Perkins and Clare Bowditch on YouTube sing "Fairytale of New York"