Justin Bieber’s performance on popular live German talk show Wetten Das was canceled over the weekend after a amateur performer was seriously injured during a dangerous stunt jumping over cars. This was big news in Germany where I live, as it’s the first time that Wetten Das, a live show that’s the most popular in the country, has ever stopped airing. The show, which translates to “Wanna Bet,” includes celebrities, musical performances and creative bets that are sometimes dangerous. A 23 year-old student named Samuel Koch was jumping over moving cars while wearing stilts with springs on them. He wasn’t just jumping – he was doing a somersault over each car and then landing on his feet. Koch did the stunt successfully twice over smaller cars before jumping and falling on his third attempt. Sadly, his father was driving the car (an Audi four door) when he fell. The show was stopped at that point, with host Thomas Gottschalk explaining that in the 29 years the show has aired nothing like that has happened before and they’ve done plenty of dangerous stunts.

A live TV game show in Dusseldorf, Germany was halted on Saturday mid-broadcast after a contestant was severely injured in a stunt.

Samuel Koch was hurt when he tried to jump over a moving car driven by his father on Wetten, Dass? (Wanna Bet?).

Canadian singer Justin Bieber was due to appear on the show after the stunt.

“Please pray for Samuel Koch and his family as we wait and hope for his health and safety,” he told his followers on Twitter.

Robbie Williams and Phil Collins had also been due to appear on the show, according to its website.

Koch, 23, underwent surgery on Sunday after he suffered multiple back injuries and fractures the previous night.

Dr Wolfgang Raab of Dusseldorf Hospital told German news agency DPAD that Koch was “in an extremely critical stage”.

Bieber, 16, added on Twitter that he was sorry he could not perform in Germany but “some things are more important than putting on a show.”

Wetten, Dass? has been running for nearly 30 years and regularly draws audiences of about 10 million.

[From BBC]

We taped Wetten Das (I didn’t watch it live, it can be a little boring as it lasts almost three hours) and after the poor kid fell they switched the cameras to the audience and didn’t show him injured or being carried away in a stretcher. It was the right thing to do, as was stopping the show after that point. It’s not like Bieber made a decision not to go on, the show was halted and they switched to archived footage for the rest of the night. Koch is in critical condition in hospital, and may be paralyzed as a result of his injuries. ZDF, the station responsible for Wetten Das, promises better attention to safety after this terrible accident. Wetten Das will go on however. You can watch footage of the accident on TheLocal.de. (Warning: it’s disturbing.)

Nicole Kidman’s new film Australia, despite sitting comfortably in the box office top ten, is not delivering all the actress might have hoped for. Now it seems that in publicizing her film she’s offended the Aboriginal people of Australia by playing the didgeridoo on German show “Wetten, Das.” Women are not permitted to play the traditional instrument under Aboriginal custom.

Baz Luhrmann’s epic Australia and its star Nicole Kidman have angered Aboriginal groups after the actress tried to play a didgeridoo on a German television show at the weekend.

The light-hearted stunt flouted Aboriginal custom in many parts of Australia, where women are forbidden to play the instrument.

It followed an earlier Australia faux pas when a tourism ad associated with the film promoted a sacred site without Aboriginal permission.

Kidman blew feebly into a didgeridoo during a promotional appearance on Wetten, Dass …?, a high-rating German program known for its high jinks.

Sydney Morning Herald

I know that Aboriginal culture was taught in schools when I was a child in Australia (it still is), but Nicole is in her 40s, I’m not sure that her education in the 1970s would have focused so much on indigenous culture. She might not have been aware of the fact women should not play didgeridoo – in fact, not all tribes follow that tradition.

Aboriginal leaders in Australia pointed out that Nicole should have known from her experience on the film Australia, and that she will now have to suffer the consequences. Some Aboriginal people think that playing the instrument makes women infertile, and that Kidman will have the same fate.

Richard Green, an award-winning actor, screenwriter and Dharug language teacher, said he was disgusted.

“People are going to see Nicole playing it and think it’s all right. It bastardises our culture. I will guarantee she has no more children. It’s not meant to be played by women as it will make them barren.”

The didgeridoo, or yirdaki, is said by some to make women infertile, and Mr Green said he feared other women would imitate Kidman without realising its dangers.

Sydney Morning Herald

So, consider yourself warned if you are hoping for children. Although, I have never heard of this myself, and I wonder if this comment is to hurt Nicole directly, after she recently said she’d like more children. Particularly as Richard says “I will guarantee she has no more children” making it personal.

The idea of playing a musical instrument making you barren is obviously one that western culture would find difficult to grasp, but the Aboriginals of Australia have many cultural stories about how the land was formed, and traditions that explain human behaviour. It really is an interesting culture if you get the chance to learn about it, but difficult to study as all the different tribes living in Australia have their own belief system.

It’s a shame that Nicole’s film has attracted more negative attention – this was meant to be make or break territory for the actress, who seems to be getting most of the bad press.

Photos are stills from “Wetten, Das” and feature singer Anastacia, host Thomas Gottschalk, and Hugh Jackman. Credit: WENN

Salma Hayek on German language show “Wetten, Das?” wearing a dirndl

Salma Hayek appeared on popular German talk and variety show “Wetten, Das?” or “Wanna Bet?” this weekend. She was on to promote her campaign with Pampers and UNICEF to help vaccinate children and mothers in the third world against tetanus.

Celebrities on “Wetten, Das?” make bets as to whether everyday guests with odd talents can complete out of the ordinary tasks within a certain time limit. Salma lost her bet and had to wear a dirndl, or traditional Bavarian costume. You may recognize dirndls as the outfits worn by Octoberfest waitresses, their bustlines competing for attention with giant mugs of beer. In Salma’s case there’s no contest.

Photos via Huffington Post.

Paris Hilton was on popular German variety show “Wetten, Das?” or “Wanna Bet?” this weekend. Overall she was rather boring, although she got the crowd laughing with a stupid comment that wasn’t meant to be a joke. Host Thomas Gottschalk made two cracks about her high intelligence and it didn’t seem like she understood that he was making fun of her.

When Paris came on stage she kissed the five guests that were already there on both cheeks, although that’s not a custom at all in Germany. She seemed nervous at first, but warmed up as the show went on. The show is broadcast in German and English-speaking guests rely on a translation of the questions from a listening device.

Host Thomas Gottschalk asked Paris about her boyfriend, Benji Madden, and mentioned that she’s on tour with him. Gottschalk asked if she was able to step out of the spotlight and let her boyfriend take center stage.

Paris is “really in love”
She said, “I’m so proud of him. I love the band. I’m really in love so it’s nice being on tour. It’s exciting being here as well.”

Then the host asked Paris about her reputation. He said everyone is talking about her and that some people call her a clever businesswoman and others call her a comic figure. He asked how she would describe herself.

Paris answered “I’m definitely a businesswoman. I have several business projects.”

Paris talked about her upcoming show to find a best friend and said it would include girls and guys.

Gottschalk joked that Paris might chose one of the cute one German male actors on stage, and one guy said he was taken and the other one said “I’m not.”

Paris said “I’m very loyal, especially now.”
Paris said she was taken and that “I’m very loyal, definitely, especially now,” which made the crowd crack up laughing, although she didn’t seem to intend it as a joke.

They had three female German biatheletes on stage and Paris said “I love sports, I love to ski.” She complimented one of the biatheletes on her bright red hair.

On the show the guests bet whether people can complete bizarre tasks and if the celebrities lose they have to do something that’s meant to be embarrassing and/or uncomfortable. For instance the two young German guys, Jimi Blue and Wilson Gonzalez, had to take a bath in a vat of ice water on stage when they lost their bet.

Paris’ lame challenge
Paris’ bet involved whether an Australian guy could hit a squash ball three times into a tiny box outside the court. She bet he could do it and lost, and all she had to do after she lost was pick someone out of the audience and pose with them in a photo booth, something that comes naturally for her.

Host mocks Paris
Gottschalk asked Paris to pose for a photo with another guest, soccer goalie Oliver Kahn, and made a joke that they needed a photo for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (similar to the NY Times) for a report on people of high intelligence. Paris didn’t laugh so they either didn’t translate that it for her or she didn’t get it.

Overall it’s safe to say that Paris remains an object of derision in Germany.

You can watch the video of Paris’ lame challenge on ZDF.de. Pictures from local newspaper thueringer-allgemeine.de.

Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner were on popular German talkshow “Wetten Das?” or “Wanna Bet?,” which broadcast from Basel, Switzerland on Saturday. The show features average people performing silly stunts, with guests betting on whether they’ll be able to successfully complete the bet in the time allotted. They were on to promote The Kingdom. Garner said they had just been in Berlin but had some time to check out Basel that day.

The interview wasn’t that revealing and they just promoted the film, with Garner giving a very diplomatic response about the film being balanced in its portrayal of American politics. Host Thomas Gottschalk praised The Kingdom and said given the subject matter he was quite surprised how good it was. The best part of the show was when Foxx lost the challenge they were betting on and had to yodel for the crowd.

The bet was if a little girl could identify five of over 50 hard puppets by feeling them with her nose within a certain time period. It was weird, but most of the bets on that show are strange. The other three challenges of the night involved a farmer sinking balls into a basketball hoop using the upwards exhaust air from a tractor, a guy holding 10 bricks against a wall for 20 seconds using just his thumb, and a man throwing plungers on his friends’ naked backs.

The 12 year-old girl successfully identified the puppets and Garner won the bet, since she bet that the girl would be able to complete the task, saying she thought that girls should stick together. Foxx bet against the girl and since he lost he had to yodel. After Melissa Etheridge performed the host asked her if she would play the guitar to accompany Foxx’s yodeling. A yodeling clip was played for Foxx to emulate, and he danced along to it and was able to mimic it well. Foxx is an accomplished singer and he was a good sport. This cracked me up:

Jamie Foxx remained on the show until nearly the end, and joked with super hot boxing twins Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, posing with them at one point. Garner left shortly after the yodeling, saying she had to get back to the states to film a movie with Kevin Kline. Along with Melissa Etheridge, musical guests included Avril Lavigne and Sunrise Avenue.

“Wetten Das?” is the most popular show in Europe and has been on the air since 1981.

Photos are screenshots available from the full length video on the ZDF website. The clip here is an excerpt from a longer video accessible from their site. Foxx is still rocking those clip-on earrings.