Australia's Brainiest

Australia's Brainiest is a television game show series produced in Australia by Crackerjack Productions, a FremantleMedia company. It originally aired on the Seven Network before moving to Network Ten. The format was taken from the British series Britain's Brainiest Kid.

"William Xi" redirects here. Not to be confused with William XI of Auvergne.

Australia's Brainiest
Australia's Brainiest Specials logo
GenreGame show
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes13 + 14 specials
Production
Running time60 minutes
Release
Original network
Original release28 November 2004 (2004-11-28) –
20 August 2006 (2006-08-20)

The first season of Australia's Brainiest Kid was produced in May 2004, airing on the Seven Network on Sundays, starting 28 November 2004. It was hosted by Anna Coren.[1] It was publicised through Australian primary schools, with children sitting an online test, followed by a selection of them taking a supervised written test. Of those that scored highly on these written tests, some of the highest scoring children appeared on the show as contestants. A second season was produced in 2005, and was broadcast on Network Ten at 6:30 pm on Sundays, starting 25 September 2005. It was hosted by Ten News newsreader Sandra Sully[2] and co-hosted by Samuel Shaed.

The second season of Australia's Brainiest Kid was followed by a series of specials on Network Ten featuring celebrities, reality TV contestants and sports stars, under the Australia's Brainiest Specials title. After the broadcast of the specials no further series have been commissioned.

Australia's Brainiest Kid

The format of Australia's Brainiest Kid went unchanged during its transition from Seven Network to Network Ten, except for the number of rounds and contestants. In Seven Network's version, there were 4 heats and a final, and 12 children per show; in Network Ten's version, there were 7 heats and a final, and 9 children per show.

Season 1

The first season aired on the Seven Network in 2004. Over 5000 children sat the online test, 800 were selected to sit the supervised test.[1] All of them won copies of the 2004 CD-ROM edition of Encyclopædia Britannica.

Everybody in the third round went on to the final; they were competing for an Apple Computer iBook. The winner of the first series final, Aaron Chong, won the title of "Australia's Brainiest Kid" and A$20,000 to be held in trust until he turns 18.

Season 2

The second season aired on Network Ten in 2005. 12,000 children sat the online test for the second season of Australia's Brainiest Kid, aired on Network Ten. Some of them were selected to sit the supervised test. The seven winners of the heats, plus two others who made it into the final rounds of the heats played in the final. This series had considerably more children participating, mainly due to the popularity of the first series.

All contestants received a Mathemagic computer tutor from the Australian Institute of Mathematics as a "participation" prize. The heat winners received ASUS laptops. The winner of the second series final, William Xi, won the title of "Australia's Brainiest Kid" and a trust fund worth A$20,000 that he cannot touch before his 18th birthday.

Commentators noted that children of Asian descent dominated the preliminary televised rounds during this series. The Chaser's War on Everything parodied the series with an advertisement for "Australia's Brainiest Non-Asian Kid," in which a Caucasian contestant is unable to answer "What's two plus three?" correctly. The parody ended with promos for dozens of supposed upcoming Australia's Brainiest episodes featuring numerous animals, inanimate objects, and three subliminal messages.

Australia's Brainiest Specials

Network Ten's specials pitted celebrities, sports stars and reality TV contestants from Ten's shows against each other with the winner given the opportunity to donate money to a charity of their choice. Episodes of Australia's Brainiest were normally rated G.

Australia's Brainiest Comedian

Australia's Brainiest Comedian aired on 24 November 2005, and was repeated on 16 April 2006. This episode of Australia's Brainiest was given the television rating of PG, for mild coarse language.

Contestants

Australia's Brainiest TV Star

Aired on 12 February 2006. It was repeated on 28 December 2006.

Contestants

Australia's Brainiest Quiz Master

Australia's Brainiest Quiz Master aired on 19 February 2006, and featured winners from Nine Network's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Sale of the Century and Temptation. It was repeated on 21 December 2006.

Contestants

Australia's Brainiest Housemate

Australia's Brainiest Housemate aired on 26 February 2006, and featured Big Brother Australia housemates from the first five seasons.

Contestants

Australia's Brainiest Radio Star

Australia's Brainiest Radio Star aired on 5 March 2006, and the contestants were radio announcers from major FM networks such as DMG, Macquarie Radio Network, and Austereo. It was repeated on 7 December 2006.

Contestants

Australia's Brainiest Olympian

Australia's Brainiest Olympian aired on 12 March 2006. The winner's prize money was donated to K.I.D.S. Foundation, a children's charity.

Contestants

Australia's Brainiest Musician

Australia's Brainiest Musician aired on 19 March 2006. The winner's prize money was donated to Club Friday.

Contestants

Australia's Brainiest Neighbour

Australia's Brainiest Neighbour aired on 26 March 2006. The contestants were actors whose characters were in soap opera Neighbours at the time of its broadcast. The winner's prize money was donated to Open Family Australia.

Contestants

Australia's Brainiest Footballer

Aired on 2 April 2006, featuring players from the various codes of football such as soccer, AFL, Rugby Union and Rugby league. The winner's prize money was donated to the McGuinness McDermott Foundation.

Contestants

Australia's Brainiest Cricketer

Australia's Brainiest Cricketer aired on 9 April 2006, and contestants were Australian cricketers.

Contestants

Australia's Brainiest Loser

Aired on 6 August 2006, it featured all of the contestants from the first Australian season of The Biggest Loser. The winner's prize money was donated to the Australian Red Cross.

Contestants

  • Jo Cowling (Winner)
  • Kristie Dignam (Runner-up)
  • Shane Giles (Runner-up)
  • Ruth Almeida De Campos
  • Fiona Falkiner
  • David Hilyander
  • Harry Kantzidis
  • Tracy Moores
  • Vladimir "Big Wal" Milberg
  • Adriano Sarnelli
  • Artie Rocke
  • Cat White

Australia's Brainiest BB06 Housemate

Australia's Brainiest BB06 Housemate aired on 13 August 2006, and featured nine housemates from Big Brother 2006. David donated his prize money to Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. This episode was classified PG without consumer advice. It was repeated on Thursday 14 December 2006.

Contestants

  • David Graham (Winner)
  • Dino Delic (Runner-up)
  • Jamie Brooksby (Runner-up)
  • Claire Madden
  • Gaelan Walker
  • Katie Hastings
  • Camilla Severi
  • Anna Lind-Hansen
  • Michael McCoy

Australia's Brainiest Comedian 2

Australia's Brainiest Comedian 2 aired on 17 August 2006, and featured an all new batch of Australian comedians. The winner's prize money was donated to Anaphylaxis Australia. This episode was classified PG without consumer advice.

Contestants

Australia's Brainiest Idol

Australia's Brainiest Idol aired on 20 August 2006, and featured former contestants from the reality-TV series, Australian Idol. It was repeated on 25 November 2006 on the eve of the Australian Idol fourth-season finale.

Contestants

References
  1. "Australia's Brainiest Kid". The Age. 25 November 2004. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  2. Razer, Helen (17 November 2005). "Dawn of the quiz mistress". The Age. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  3. "Lego Masters: Everything you need to know about Hamish and Brickman". Mediaweek. 16 April 2021. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  4. Kandie, Lynn (21 May 2021). "Julia Zemiro age, children, husband, parents, career". Briefly. Archived from the original on 15 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  5. Pobjie, Ben (26 September 2018). "'Better at rude than nice': Tom Gleeson insulting celebs for a living". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 27 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  6. Obsessed Much (23 July 2021). "The unknown candidate who should take charge of the Pies". The Roar. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
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