Star Sparkle Blog

Sorry the post is later this week; I intended to post yesterday but went to a belly dance event and didn't have time. :) I'm currently working on a Music Index page where you can find posts on Star Sparkle from different music genres. I had the idea a while ago and I decided to go ahead and do it, especially since I changed the blog to a different design/theme   there aren't any tags at the top anymore.The page isn't ready yet but I thought today I'd do a round-up of television related posts. (There aren't as many posts so I'm doing this rather than a page). So here we go. :) Dance shows Dance Moms: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2014/03/dance-moms.html Dance Moms/Raising Asia: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2014/09/dance-moms-asia.html Dance Mums UK: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2015/11/dance-mums-with-jennifer-ellison.html Bring It!:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2014/08/dance-videos.html Step It Up: https://starsparklex...

As I've mentioned on here before, I like watching the Japanese gameshow Takeshi's Castle . It ended in 1990 but I recently came across a video on YouTube for Takeshi's Castle Thailand. It''s a new version of the show called Hod, Mun, Ha (Cruel, Thrilling Fun) based on the Japanese format. The storyline is that Shogun Takeshi has kidnapped Princess Woonsun. Her lover General Shahkrit gets an army together to storm the castle (the contestants who accomplish this by completing Takeshi's games) and free Woonsun. Like the original, by the end of the game there are only a few contestants left. This is an episode from September 2014. They currently show this on Channel 7 in Thailand every Sunday. I don't think it's on in the UK at the moment but hopefully it will be in the future because I personally prefer watching longer videos on TC, since it's more comfortable than sitting at the computer, lol. (If you have a laptop I expect it's better!). Upda...

Like Takeshi's Castle , Ninja Warrior (its original title is SASUKE) is another Japanese gameshow that I like. They were showing it on Challenge but I haven't seen it lately, so I'm not sure if it's on at the moment. Ninja Warrior is a bit different to Takeshi's Castle because it's more of an athletic sports competition.The format of the show is that 100 people compete against other by taking an obstacle course that has 4 stages. The course (which involves obstacles such as climbing up walls and ropes, jumping and hanging from pipes and bars and crossing bridges) is very hard and people are often out in the early stages. The majority of the competitors in the main competition are men, although you might get the odd woman. There are also special all women programmes called Women of Ninja Warrior ( KUNIOCHI ). SASUKE debuted in 1997 and has had 30 series so far. An American version called American Ninja Warrior was launched in 2009. The commentary on the Br...

I thought today I would post another Takeshi's Castle video. :) This is Knock Knock, one of my favourite games. It's simple really, it involves running into doors and trying to get through them! lol. Some are solid, so you can't get through, others you can break through but you end up falling into a net and some you can get through and keep going to the end. The game began as the second half of Skipping Stones. (Click the link on Takeshi's Castle to see a clip from Skipping Stones.                                 And here's another version of Knock Knock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu0MZqq5phE Check out Wipe Out here: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2013/09/takeshis-castle.html

Here's another of the Takeshi's Castle games I like. This one's called Wipe Out and involves standing on a surfboard which moves round the course, while jumping over pink whales, getting on platforms and avoiding a man dressed as a Native American! Update 10/12/14: The original video has gone, so here's a link to a Takeshi's Castle Special which includee Wipe Out:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUR2SFnQ1Gs There was also Takeshi's Castle Rebooted earlier this year but that wasn't as good, so I think I'll stick to the older ones! lol. Here's a bonus video called Greatest Wipeouts!                                  

There's a new version of the Japanese gameshow Takeshi's Castle starting on Challenge tomorrow. It's called Takeshi's Castle Rebooted and features highlights from the gameshow, including previously unseen footage and exclusive links filmed by General Tani (General Lee). The series is on Fridays at 10pm. (Takeshi's Castle was on in Japan during the 80s, it's not a current show). So in honour of that, I thought I'd post a clip of my one of my favourite games, "High Rollers!" There are two new presenters now, Richard McCourt and Dominic Wood, so no more Craig Charles. :( But hopefully they'll be funny! For more on Takeshi visit this post: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2012/02/takeshis-castle.html And for more on the new series visit: www.keshiheads.co.uk

Takeshi's Castle was a Japanese gameshow that was on TV in Japan in the 80s. It was based around Count Takeshi (Japanese actor/director Takeshi Kitano ) who lived in a castle and the aim of the show was for contestants to beat the challenges Count Takeshi set and defeat him by "storming the castle". The challenges were silly but also quite hard and by the end of the game there weren't often that many contestants left. It seemed to be very rare for players to beat Takeshi! Takeshi's Castle is the British version of the show (featuring certain games). There is also an American version, MXC (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge) which they sometimes show on British TV and various others around the world. This post is based on the British version, which is narrated by actor Craig Charles. It ended in 2004 (although it was brought back in 2009 but according to Wikipedia they had just changed the opening sequence) but they currently show repeats on the TV channel Challeng...