Endemol Southern Star
Background
Endemol Southern Star (known as Southern Star Endemol until February 2004) was formed in 2000 as an Australian joint venture between Endemol and Southern Star. The venture was dissolved in 2010 after Endemol bought Southern Star from Fairfax the previous year. Following this, all programmes under the ESS name were credited to Southern Star.
1st Logo (23 April 2001-2003)
NOTE: In the 1st video, skip to 1:34 for the logo
Logo: In outer space, we see the planet Earth rotating, with some reddish clouds above it. An abstract star slowly flies up from the bottom of the globe to the top-left, and as a light shines on top of the Earth, the picture goes bright white. We then fade to see a globe rotate near us, which has a dark teal colour with the Southern Star "segmented star" design on top of it, all on a hazy bluish-white background. The text "SOUTHERN STAR ENDEMOL" zooms up underneath, and a copyright stamp fades in underneath.
Variants:
- Sometimes, the logo lacks a copyright stamp.
- There is a rare early variant where the Earth's texture is pretty different, despite it having blue and green colours, and is already set on a hazy bluish-white background. When the picture goes white, it fades over to the Southern Star and the 1994 Endemol logos with the black text "A SOUTHERN STAR ENDEMOL PRODUCTION" at the top as they are enclosed in a transparent white square. This was used a few times before the 2001 Endemol symbol was introduced.
Technique: Nice CGI.
Music/Sounds: An ethereal choir theme with a long whoosh.
Music/Sounds Variants:
- Burgo's Catchphrase had an announcer say over the logo: "Burgo's Catchphrase is a Southern Star Endemol production; Cameron Humphrey/Mark Kennedy speaking!"
- Big Brother Australia had an announcer say over the logo: "This has been a Southern Star Endemol production for Network Ten."
Availability: Rare. Was seen on episodes of shows such as Shafted, Burgo's Catch Phrase and Big Brother Australia from the era.
2nd Logo (21 April 2003-2010)
Logo: We slowly zoom out from a shot of a human eye with purplish clouds of stars and swirling blue comets superimposed over it. The Endemol logo, along with the Southern Star logo with "southern star" in the Endemol font stacked below, fades in and zooms out. The eye closes and disappears, leaving behind the purplish clouds.
Variants:
- An early version exists where the Southern Star logo is on the left and the Endemol logo is on the right. This variant was used during the 2003/2004 season, before Southern Star Endemol changed its name to Endemol Southern Star.
- On the Aussie version of Deal or No Deal, the logo appears in the split-screen credits, with a copyright date next to it.
Technique: 3D computer animation.
Music/Sounds: A rather dramatic synth-string fanfare. Most of the time, it's drowned out by the closing theme of the show or audience applause; only on Big Brother Australia and Wipeout Australia is it heard in full without any other noises alongside it.
Availability: Uncommon. Seen on the Australian versions of Big Brother, Deal or No Deal, Ready Steady Cook and Wipeout, among others. Post-2010 episodes of these shows, such as the 2012 revival of Big Brother Australia and season 8 onwards of Deal or No Deal, use individual logos instead.
