TV3 GROUP NEWS RELEASE IMMEDIATE: Thursday, 4th June

 TOTAL XPOSURE:   

JUDGES REVEALED!   

The judging panel for new TV3 show Total Xposure was revealed today, Thursday 4th June at 10.30am at a reception in the Penthouse of the Morgan Hotel, Dublin.

The three judges consist of Publisher & Magazine Mogul, Michael O'Doherty, Former MTV Presenter & Leading Communications Consultant, Emma Ledden and Public Relations Guru, Gerry Lundberg.   

Each judge will bring their individual experience and expertise to the show which will be vital when selecting the new Xposé Presenter.  The newest member of the team will join Karen Koster, Glenda Gilson, Lisa Cannon and Aisling O'Loughlin on the daily entertainment show, Xposé. Applications opened 15th May and closed yesterday, Wednesday 3rd June at 5pm. 

TV3 received over 1,000 individual applications and show reels, with an upsurge in delivery the days prior to the closing date.  Applicants included a variety of people with very different backgrounds including reality TV Stars from Ireland and the UK, both former and the Current Miss Ireland representatives, many working journalists, twins, models, beauty pageant winners and children's TV presenters.  Applications came from far and wide, from every corner of the Nation and international cities, including London, Liverpool, New York and Sydney!  Entries include a large number of men and even a Drag Queen!  

The finalists will face the team of Michael O'Doherty, Emma Ledden and Gerry Lundberg on the judging panel.  Over the course of Total Xposure, the contestants will complete a number of tasks directly relating to the potential job to join the Xposé team.  

The first hour long show will air June 30th and run for eight consecutive weeks.  The new presenter will be revealed on the final show Tuesday, August 18th.   

Director of Programming, Ben Frow said: "The judges will bring a wealth of knowledge to the show, while bringing a level of honesty, compassion, sensitivity and in some cases frankness that can only come from experience within their individual industries.  The show is sure to produce a lot of fun over the summer weeks."  

Please see www.tv3.ie/totalxposure for further information about the show.  

ENDS.  

For Further Information regarding TV3:

Maureen Catterson  
TV3 Press Office 00 353 1 419 3430 / 00 353 87 780 0737 Maureen.catterson@tv3.ie publicity@tv3.ie www.tv3.ie  

 For Interviews and Imagery:

Sonia Harris 00 353 87 797 9703 sonia@burrell.ie    

Editor's Notes   

MICHAEL O'DOHERTY   Michael O'Doherty is the publisher of the VIP Magazine Group, one of Ireland's biggest publishing companies, employing 35 people, and includes the well-known titles VIP, TVNow, KISS, Stellar and The Dubliner. Born in Dublin 44 years ago, Michael has worked all his life in Dublin, starting up Ireland's first nationwide student magazine in 1986, at the age of 22, right in the middle of Ireland's last recession! For the next ten years, he published various student magazines, while also working as a graphic designer and freelance journalist for The Irish Press and The Sunday Tribune. His first taste of mainstream magazine publishing occurred in 1997 when, along with Vincent Browne and John Ryan, he re-launched Magill magazine. Eighteen months later, Michael and John Ryan launched VIP, the Irish publishing phenomenon of the past decade. Since then, Michael has launched four new magazines, taken one over - The Dubliner - and also launched two of Ireland's highest profile events, The VIP Style Awards and the TVNow Awards. He is also a regular contributor on Irish TV and radio, and writes a weekly column in the Evening Herald. During the past decade, VIP has featured just about every Irish personality from the fields of TV, music, entertainment, sport and politics. It has launched many careers, and throughout its history championed the best talent that Ireland has to offer, putting Michael in an ideal position to judge the star quality of would-be TV presenters.  

EMMA LEDDEN   In her 31 years, media-chameleon Emma Ledden has done it all - MTV VJ, BBC children's TV presenter, covergirl, lads' mag totty, radio host, Irish representative in Miss Hawaiian Tropic and now a communications hotshot.  At just 17, Emma became the regular "Pop Gossip" girl on the seminal kid's show Den TV for RTE.  However it wasn't until 1999 that she first shot to stardom and stormed into the public consciousness when she was chosen out of 2000 people to become the first Irish presenter on MTV UK and Ireland.  Here, she presented The Dancefloor Chart Show, Select, Weekend Edition and MTV News.  Later that year, she teamed up with Steve Wilson to present the BBC's flagship, anarchic Saturday show "Live and Kicking".  Next, she presented 'Pure' for the then fledgling channel BBC 3.  During this time Emma fronted major ad campaigns including Pepsi and Lee Jeans as well as gracing the front covers and pages covers of international magazines including Maxim, Ministry, Loaded, Heat, FHM and Company.  Emma has interviewed some of the world's biggest stars including Posh and Becks, Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams, The Spice Girls, Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani, The Rock, Britney, Take That and Beyonce.  Returning home to Ireland in 2002, Emma launched Dublin's Spin 1038 and presented a weekend style show for the radio station.  She subsequently swapped the limelight for a behind-the-scenes role when she joined Carr Communications as a senior consultant.  Over the past six years Emma has trained everyone from CEOs to Ireland's highest profile broadcasters for radio, television and the public arena.  She is recognised as the leading Presentation skills consultant in Ireland.  In 2007 she established Emma Ledden Communications and created an exclusive TV Presenters course which she currently runs in partnership with Carr.     

GERRY LUNDBERG   Gerry Lundberg is one of Ireland's leading publicists with over 25 years of experience in public relations, specialising in film, television, theatre, music, festivals and cultural events.  Perennially heralded in the media as the nation's "PR Supremo" and "Publicist to the Stars", this PR trailblazer has a diary occupied by countless world premieres, launches and celebrity client vehicles.  A showbiz guru, Gerry is a frequent media commentator and contributor on all facets of the entertainment business.  Over the course of his career, Gerry has handled many Irish and international superstars including Eartha Kitt, Nanci Griffith, Stephane Grapelli, Don McLean, Quentin Crisp, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa, Montserrat Caballe, Crystal Gayle and Tony Christie.  As worldwide international publicist for Riverdance, Gerry managed international press and red carpet opening events around the world including New York (on Broadway), Japan, central Europe and the UK.  Gerry has extensive experience as unit publicist for film and television in Ireland and has worked with many of the world's top profile actors, writers, directors and producers.  Credits include The Tudors, Reign of Fire, In America, My Left Foot, P.S., I Love You, Laws of Attraction, In The Name of The Father, Evelyn, Laws of Attraction, Ballykissangel, Ella Enchanted, Tara Road and How About You.  Major theatrical and fashion productions have included: Beckett Centenary Festival, The Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival, Wexford Opera Festival, West Coast Cooler Glamour Fashion Shows, Celtic Woman, The Dublin Cinemagic International Film & Television Festival for Young People, Dublin Fringe Festival, Macbecks, MAMMA MIA!, I, Keano, Russian State Ballet, Broadway's The Pirate Queen, The Shawshank Redemption, Abbeyonehundred - The National Theatre's 100th birthday celebrations and The Gate Theatre's first all-Ireland tour with Waiting for Godot.  Gerry is a fellow of the Public Relations Institute of Ireland, a member of the Marketing Institute of Ireland and a member of the NUJ. Gerry also acts as a mentor to organisations under the Business2Arts programme.