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Israeli magician Uri Geller. (Reuters) Last update - 09:50 20/01/2008 Paranormalist Uri Geller works his magic on German TV show By Assaf Uni, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Hayoresh, Uri Geller, Germany For those using Berlin's public transportation in recent weeks, it was difficult to avoid the penetrating glance of Uri Geller, which could have been directed either at them or at the teaspoon he held in his hand. The portrait of the Israeli magician stared out at passengers from large billboards advertising his new TV show, "The Next Uri Geller," which aired for the first time last week on the German commercial channel ProSieben. The premiere of the show, which is based on the popular Israeli program "Hayoresh" ("The Successor"), attracted a large audience (more than 20 percent of viewers aged 14-49 tuned in) and received particularly extensive media coverage. Advertisement On the show, 10 "mentalists," as they are called in Germany, compete for the title of Geller's successor and for a prize of 100,000 euros. Geller himself appears as a guest and displays the psychic powers that have made him famous in Europe and elsewhere- bending cutlery and repairing electrical appliances. Many members of the country's media debated with typical German seriousness whether the paranormalist from Tel Aviv and the program's 10 contestants were experts at deception or possessors of authentic magic powers. "Is Uri Geller a wizard magician- or a charlatan?" wondered the daily Die Welt on its Web site, after Geller promised on the debut program to fix electrical appliances with his powers, via a TV set. "I put the broken television remote control next to the set," wrote one surfer, "and after Uri Geller said in Hebrew the three magic words 'ahat, shtayim, shalosh' ('one, two, three'), the remote started working again." Other surfers and television critics accused Geller of lying and of using magnets. The German network claimed during and after the broadcast that it had received a huge number of responses: more than 20,000 phone calls, letters and e-mail messages, many of them from people whose electrical appliances came back to life. Geller himself reported that 1,600 e-mail messages were sent to his handheld computer, and later announced to the press: "I've never encountered such a huge response." Television critics were more skeptical. "The search for a successor hints at the fact that Geller will retire after the program, but that is turning out to be a false hope," suggested a writer for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The critic called Geller "a sad sight," and criticized the network for the air of mystery in which it casts the contestants, instead of admitting that they are chosen for their sleight-of-hand talents. On the program's Web site, a lively discussion developed surrounding explanations of the magic tricks. Several surfers talked about the trick in which one of the contestants "stopped" his own heartbeat for half a minute. "All you have to do it stick a golf ball in the right place under your arm," explained one. Geller, who originally captured German audiences with his television appearances in the 1970s, spoke about those appearances and the experience of returning to perform in the country. "When I landed at the Munich airport recently, customs officials asked me to bend teaspoons. They had seen me when they were children on West German TV," he said in an interview with the weekly Focus. He also mentioned that he had had eating problems and was once bulimic, and once again recounted the mystical experience he underwent in Tel Aviv at age 4, when he ate soup and discovered that his spoon had bent. Many German newspapers also told their readers about the embarrassment of the team that had produced the Israeli program, when surfers revealed online just how Geller was able to pull a magnet out from behind his ear and held it between his fingers. Related articles: Uri Geller calling all teaspoon-benders for reality TV show Keshet wins gold medal for Uri Geller promo ad Bookmark to del.icio.us   Vision of cooperation Saudi prince says if Israel leaves Arab land, it could join the Arab world. At odds with PM Bolton says the final IDF op in Lebanon had no impact on UN truce talks.   1.   Geller is a total fraud 09:57  |  Clickfool 20/01/08   2.   Sorry folks 10:08  |  Clickfool 20/01/08   3.   why is this nonsense front page news? 10:30  |  Bruno 20/01/08   4.   Perhaps he`s able to bend Qassams,IDF being unable to 13:03  |  Absolute Sweden 20/01/08   5.   Clickfool and bruno 13:05  |  Marco 20/01/08   6.   Bruno - because newspapers are entertainment too 13:15  |  Eli Baekan 20/01/08   7.   Old Sussex gnome thinks that Geller has real magic 13:32  |  Iz Ray Leigh 20/01/08   8.   NASR`AL-LAT CAN DO IT TOO! 13:42  |  Iskander 20/01/08   9.   For Bruno, who believes in magic # 5 13:51  |  Clickfool 20/01/08   10.   I wasn`t criticising Geller, I was criticising Ha`aretz 14:49  |  Bruno 20/01/08   11.   Clickfool - you need to read more carefully 14:52  |  Bruno 20/01/08   12.   true genius--uri geller 15:53  |  jehovah 20/01/08   13.   For Jehovah # 12 16:38  |  Clickfool 20/01/08   14.   Geller 16:40  |  JK 20/01/08   15.   By the way, Jehovah # 12 16:44  |  Clickfool 20/01/08   16.   Geller chose Britain for a reason 17:54  |  Realistic 20/01/08   17.   Clickfool take a deep breath 23:54  |  Nissim Mizrahi 20/01/08   18.   Geller is an entertainer not a fraud 00:18  |  Yossi Saar 21/01/08   19.   how does he get those all those spoons to bend 05:52  |  tony 21/01/08   20.   Geller is a fraud 06:41  |  Bill 21/01/08

Today Online J'lem sources: Power shortage in Gaza worse than expected Responses: 29 Source: Israel won't free 2/3 of prisoners demanded by Hamas Responses: 4 Poll: Only 16% of Israelis back Diaspora input on fate of J'lem Responses: 10 Gideon Levy: The mass killing in Gaza does nothing but make matters worse Send response Catrin Ormestad: Qassam attacks are destroying life in Gaza Responses: 67 Bolton: Final IDF op in Lebanon had no impact on UN truce Responses: 36 Rosner's Domain Domain's guest: Americans must help improve Israel's education system Why Huckabee worries the Jewish voter 67% of Nevada Jews voted for Clinton Meadow Soprano is more proud of Israel than the US (WTR) Blog & Poll: Can Joe Lieberman convince Jews in Florida to vote for McCain? More Headlines 09:55 Satellite launch bolsters ability to spy on Tehran 08:54 Israel: Gaza power shortage worse than expected 08:35 Source: Israel won't free 2/3 of prisoners Hamas wants released 05:08 Poll: Only 16% of Israelis back Diaspora input on fate of J'lem 09:19 IDF officer lightly wounded, militant killed in Tul Karm raid 01:58 Bolton: Final IDF op in Lebanon had no impact on UN truce talks 06:16 PM works to pre-empt Labor revolt ahead of Winograd report 04:48 Holocaust survivor kills wife in botched suicide pact 07:50 State to compensate farmers for crops lost over Negev, Arava drought 09:18 New industrial dispute looms as lecturers end 90-day strike Previous Editions Select Day 20 jan 18 jan 17 jan 16 jan 15 jan 14 jan 13 jan 11 jan 10 jan 09 jan 08 jan 07 jan

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