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The Amazing Race has been running on CBS for more than two decades with an average of 10 million viewers per season. The show has become a successful franchise after numerous international versions were developed with the same structure. New Zealand TV personality Phil Keogan has been the host ever since its inception.

The still poster of The Amazing Race | Credits: CBS

Elise Doganieri and Bertram van Munster are the brains behind the TV show, which is produced by their production house Earthview Inc., Jerry Bruckheimer Television for CBS Studios, and ABC Signature. The show has won ten Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program.

How Much Is The Prize Money For The Amazing Race Winner?

The Amazing Race has successfully completed 36 seasons and was renewed for a 37th season, which is set to air in spring 2025. Each of the seasons is split into legs where teams of two race each other.

Guitarist Kiko Loureiro left Megadeth for good in late 2023 after an extended leave of absence from the band. But before he departed, Loureiro suggested another ex-Megadeth axeman to take his place: Marty Friedman.

Friedman famously played guitar in Megadeth during the 1990s, contributing his virtuosic guitarwork to two of the band’s most beloved albums, 1990’s Rust in Peace and 1992’s Countdown to Extinction, among other LPs.

The pairing of Dave Mustaine and Friedman pairing stands as one the greatest twin-guitar attacks in heavy metal history, and some fans thought Loureiro’s initial absence from the band — temporary at first (he sat out multiple tours) — was the perfect time to bring Friedman back into the fold.

Apparently, Loureiro had the same idea.

“Actually, I even mentioned to management and Dave that I thought bringing Marty Friedman back would be amazing,” Loureiro told Guitar World in a new interview.

Instead, Megadeth...

Kiko Loureiro is extending his absence from Megadeth and will remain away from the band during its “heavier touring schedule” in 2024.

The Brazilian guitarist initially sat out the fall leg of Megadeth’s 2023 tour due to “family reasons.” Finnish axeman Teemu Mäntysaari filled in as a replacement and will retain that role for the upcoming tour dates.

Loureiro issued a statement on Instagram regarding his continued absence:

“Dear Megadeth fans, I want to share with you a decision that hasn’t been easy for me.

In September, I had to step away from the U.S. leg of the tour for family reasons. Looking ahead, during 2024, we anticipate an even heavier touring schedule for Megadeth. After thorough reflection and discussions with Dave Mustaine and Megadeth’s management, we have collectively agreed that it is the right move to extend my absence. I don’t want to hinder any of the...

Randy Fullmer, a veteran Walt Disney Animation Studios animator and producer who worked on “The Little Mermaid” and “Chicken Little,” died of cancer on July 10. He was 73. Walt Disney Animation confirmed the news in a statement to Variety.

“Most people are good at one thing in their lives. Randy was good at a lot of things,” wrote Don Hahn, whom Fullmer worked with on “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King.” “He could draw and paint beautifully, but he had the mind of an engineer, and the heart of an artisan. He was great at animation; great at producing movies, too. He was at the very center of the Disney renaissance in animation, then when he needed a new chapter in his life, he started making exquisite and much sought-after bass guitars with that same engineer’s mind and artistic soul he brought to Disney animated movies. His masterful...

Randy Fullmer, the wildly creative effects animator, visual effects supervisor, artistic coordinator and producer who contributed to films including Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid and The Lion King at Walt Disney Animation Studios, has died. He was 73.

Fullmer died July 10 at his home in Woodland Hills following a long battle with cancer, his family announced.

From 1983-84, Fullmer worked for Don Bluth Studios, creating special effects for Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace, the first video games to be produced on laserdisc. He later was employed at John Dykstra’s live-action special effects house Apogee and at Filmation, where he handled animation for such TV shows as Happily Ever After, BraveStarr, She-Ra: Princess of Power and Ghostbusters from 1985-87.

In 1987, Fullmer was hired by Walt Disney Feature Animation (now known as Walt Disney Animation Studios) for a three-month contract to animate the Toon Town section of Who Framed Roger Rabbit...

Marty Friedman contributed to a number of Megadeth’s all-time classic albums, most notably 1990’s Rust in Peace and 1992’s Countdown to Extinction, but had not shared the stage alongside Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine since his exit from the band in 2000. But that all changed on Monday, February 27th, when the guitar virtuoso reunited with Megadeth for three songs during their headlining performance at Tokyo’s legendary Budokan Arena.

“It was just like a perfect exclamation point on everything that we had done together up until this point,” Friedman told Heavy Consequence a day after the show. “You couldn’t have written a better way for the whole thing to play out. It was just perfect timing, just a very natural and organic way to do it.”

Friedman has resided in Japan for the better part of two decades, and both the timing and location of the gig were more than ideal.

As we await the next season of The Amazing Race, it’s always fun to brush up on the behind-the-scenes secrets and rules of the CBS reality competition series. And for this article, it’s all about cold hard cash. Every team’s goal in The Amazing Race is to make it to the finale and win. However, the first-place finishers aren’t the only ones who leave with money in their pockets.

Emily Bushnell and Molly Sinert | Photo: Dillon Sherlock/CBS Do the second-place and third-place teams earn a prize in ‘The Amazing Race’?

Every Amazing Race fan knows that the team who crosses the finish line first during the finale wins the grand prize of $1 million (before taxes). But what about the racers who fall just short of first place?

Unfortunately, the prize for coming in second and third place is significantly less than what contestants get for winning.

In the six years since Megadeth released their last album, Dystopia, Dave Mustaine has survived a cancer scare, a global pandemic, and his 60th birthday. This summer, the steadfast speed-metal pioneers will put out its 16th album, The Sick, the Dying … and the Dead!, a typically breakneck thrashathon that musicians a third of Mustaine’s age would struggle to keep up with.

Did Mustaine have any reservations about the album title, a Black Plague reference he picked before Covid-19 became the new plague? “No,” he says on a Zoom from Switzerland,...

When Lamb of God decided to cover “Wake Up Dead,” the blistering thrash odyssey their tourmates Megadeth released in 1986, they asked themselves how they could make it bigger. So they decided just to ask Megadeth to record it with them. Their new recording of the song features the five members of Lamb of God with additional vocals and guitar parts by Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine and cameos by the rest of his band.

Following a trek last year that they called the Metal Tour of the Year, the two bands...

After dismissing longtime bassist David Ellefson earlier this year, Megadeth are welcoming the return of bassist James LoMenzo to their lineup for their upcoming tour.

LoMenzo previously played in Megadeth from 2006 to 2010 and recorded their United Abominations and Endgame albums with them. The band will be embarking on what they’ve dubbed The Metal Tour of the Year, alongside Lamb of God, Trivium, and Hatebreed, later this month.

“I’m super stoked to be rejoining Megadeth for the upcoming Metal Tour of the Year,” LoMenzo said in a statement. “There...

Stand Up And Shout For Ronnie James Dio’S Birthday, Saturday, July 10 global virtual concert produced by Rolling Live Studios, has added a wealth of talent to the already star-studded lineup that will bring together unusual musical pairings for one-of-a-kind performances, special birthday messages and artist interviews.

The event, hosted on rollinglivestudios.com beginning at 2:00Pm Pacific time (Pdt), will benefit The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund (www.diocancerfund.org), founded in memory of the late heavy metal icon who was the voice of Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio before losing his battle with gastric cancer in 2010.

The global fundraising event will bring together celebrities and fans all over the world to honor Dio’s undeniable impact both on and off the stage. Among the artists joining the roster for conversations and/or performances are Rob Halford (Judas Priest); Sammy Hagar; Tenacious D’s...

Former Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward was so moved by the resilience of victims of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting at the Route 91 festival that he wrote a folk song, “Arrows” in their honor. He recorded it with his Bill Ward Band. The song’s release coincides with the second anniversary of the shooting.

“Bless the youth, for realizing they could hear the truth,” he sings over strummed acoustic guitar. “Bless the man, who sought to love but fell with his demons/Bless us all, for surely, surely, surely we have cried.

Good news for those of you out there looking forward to Penance Lane! Music icons George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob) and James LoMenzo (Megadeth, White Lion, Black Label Society) are teaming to handle the film's score.

Check out a fun video that James and Tyler Mane put together below!

Filming of Penance Lane is set to begin in the first quarter of 2014. Horror veteran B.J. McDonnell (Hatchet III) will direct the script written by Munier Sharrieff (Battle Chasers, Battle of the Planets). Tyler Mane (Halloween, X-Men, Troy), Renae Geerlings (Halloween II, Compound Fracture), and Justin Beahm will produce. The cast also includes Leslie Easterbrook and Dan Roebuck.

Synopsis

Penance Lane is an action-packed horror film that tells the harrowing story of Crimson Matthews, a hardened criminal fresh out of the joint who takes a job as a handyman in a dilapidated house; but the twisted horrors he finds inside are enough to send anyone running.

The Amazing Race bid farewell to long-haired music industry veterans James LoMenzo and Mark "Abba" Abbatista on Sunday night, and ETonline caught up with the pair to find out how hard it was to have their bags stolen in Moscow, if they ever made it out of Russia, and what they thought of two other teams taking their cash, in an interview filled with lots of laughs.

James: (Plays the Et theme song on his guitar).

Abba: That was James by the way. How are ya?

ETonline: I'm good how are you? I'm sad to be talking to you guys honestly.

James: Oh we're not… we're happy.

Abba: I'm not. (laughs)

ETonline: Because I wanted you to keep going. Oh my gosh it was so hard to see you--

James: Who says we're out of the race yet -- Abba?

ETonline: You're still out there racing, right?

Abba: There may be a gas leak...

"We was robbed," James LoMenzo quipped at the end of Sunday night's The Amazing Race. "Literally," chimed in Mark "Abba" Abbatista. Which sums up the duo's stroke of seriously bad luck leading to their elimination in Sunday night's episode. It all started in last week's episode, when James, a former member of the bands White Lion and Megadeth, and Abba, an entertainment lawyer, left their backpacks in a taxi while heading to perform one of the challenges to receive their next clue -- and the cab driver drove off with their belongings, including Abba's passport. As longtime viewers know,

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Amazing Race 21 eliminated James LoMenzo & Mark Abbattista in episode 8 tonight. Tonight's episode kicked off with James & Mark being told,they have to somehow retrieve their passports to be able to check in and complete this leg of the race. The only problem is, a cab drove off with all their stuff in the last episode. Also, this episode was continuing from the last episode,which did not complete last week. Meanwhile, Abbie & Ryan and Josh & Brent worked together to complete the leg of the race. Abbie & Ryan and Josh & Brent ended up arriving in 4th and 5th place,so they got to continue on to the next leg. Poor James & Mark came in last since they couldn't get their passports back. However,host Phil Keoghan told them,it was a non-elimination leg so they got to continue as well if they could get new passports. It was revealed that they contacted the U.

Teams race around the world while CBS tries to attract high ratings for The Amazing Race, their aging reality TV series. Will the network end up cutting this show to just one cycle a season?

Below are the TV show's ratings for the Fall 2012-13 season, the best way to tell if The Amazing Race will be renewed for another cycle.

Hosted by Phil Keoghan, The Amazing Race typically airs on Sunday nights on CBS. There are usually 15 or 16 episodes. This season's contestants include Natalie Anderson, Nadiya Anderson, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Brent Ridge, Rob French, Kelley Carrington-French, Trey Wier, Alexis "Lexi" Beerman, James LoMenzo, Mark "Abba" Abbattista, Abbie Ginsberg, Ryan Danz, Jaymes Vaughan, James Davis, Caitlin King, Brittany Fletcher, Gary Wojnar, Will Chiola, Rob Scheer, Sheila Castle, Amy Purdy, and Daniel Gale.

These figures will be updated as the weeks...