Connacht Tribune
Galwayman in search for stars at the helm of American Idol
Lifestyle – Senior Producer on hit TV show American Idol is Galwayman Jonathon Ridgard whose working day in Hollywood involves mixing with celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Harry Connick Jnr, Lionel Richie and Katie Perry. He tells Judy Murphy how his career path started the day his parents bought a camcorder when he was only seven or eight years old.
It’s a long way from Ballybane in Galway City to West Hollywood in California, but it’s a route Jonathon Ridgard has negotiated successfully, thanks to talent and hard work. The Senior Producer on the latest series of the hit TV show American Idol, which is due to air in America next month, took his first steps towards the entertainment industry when he was still a child in Ballybane.
“The family got a camcorder when I was seven or eight. That’s when I first started going around interviewing people,” he recalls.
After primary school in St Michael’s, Mervue, and secondary in St Joseph’s (the Bish), he left Galway aged 17. The fan of reality TV was determined to pursue his love of travelling, but otherwise, he didn’t know what he wanted to do in life.
Since then, Jonathon who just turned 36 last week, has clocked up serious TV credits in a career that has brought him to the UK, Canada, Asia, Australia and the USA.
He worked on three X Factor series in the UK, producing and directing interviews with Simon Cowell, Danni Minogue, Cheryl Cole and Louis Walsh. In Australia, he helped relaunch Australia’s Got Talent in 2010, when it gained its highest ever ratings. He moved to California in 2012, becoming a producer for Undercover Boss and winning an Emmy for that reality TV show.
Jonathon then went on to become Senior Producer for America’s Got Talent, which saw him based in New York for four months, producing packages in Radio City Music Hall for its live shows – a highlight, he says. There was a stint in Asia in 2014, as Consulting Producer in Asia’s Got Talent, which attracted audiences of one billion people across that continent.
Back in America, he became Senior Producer for American Idol in its final season on Fox TV and worked closely with judges, Jennifer Lopez, Harry Connick Jnr and Keith Urban. Lopez became so fond of him that she invited him to the opening week of her show in Las Vegas – where he had front-row seats and partied in her dressing room afterwards.
It’s a far cry from his early days in TV, as a helper on ITV’s talent show, Grease is the Word, in 2007.
Jonathon had just moved to London from Canada, having saved money so he could take time to decide his future. He got a gig helping with auditions for Grease is the Word, via a friend who was employed on the show. This was a Simon Cowell production and while it wasn’t a particular hit, Jonathon was offered a position as a full-time runner with the entertainment guru’s company. He eventually became Cowell’s personal runner. That led to him working on The X Factor and it grew from there.
Currently he’s Senior Producer on American Idol, which is being relaunched on the ABC network next month – it was on the Fox Network from 2002 to 2016.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
