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Kelly Osbourne turns Japanese
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Rachel C. Barawid

Would you trust fun, fearless and and freaky Kelly Osbourne to be your tour guide?

Apparently, the people behind Discovery Travel and Living Channel will as Kelly, daughter of

rock icon Ozzy Osbourne, clinches a new travel series premiering tomorrow, Dec. 4.

In the show titled "Kelly Osbourne: Turning Japanese," the young British singer, actress, television personality and fashion designer -- who rose to fame in The Osbournes hit series -- comes across as a not-so-typical guide/host who embarks on the ultimate working holiday in this country that brims with high technology and wild fantasy.

Characteristically though, the show is not the average travel program but more a reality TV fare that chronicles the most bizarre, unusual and culturally-alien experiences of Kelly — from working as a waitress in a French maid outfit, or providing lovers at a hotel with sex toys, to performing Buddhist tasks as a nun and training as a geisha — all in a bid to "turn Japanese" in mind, body and soul.

With an obsession for all things Japanese, Kelly later on discovers that not everything is rosy and fun in the Land of the Rising Sun. At one point in this three-part series, Kelly (whose trip to Japan has been the longest time she has been away from her parents), almost breaks down in tears as she gets homesick and frustrated for being there. She finds comfort, however, in a package from home stuffed with personal items she can’t live without: her favorite pillow and blanket, and eight rolls of the "real, absorbent toilet paper" from Los Angeles, California which she claims is a no-match for those low-quality toilet papers in Japan.

The show is packed with the spontaneity and unadulterated kind of entertainment that is an Osbourne trademark, particularly of Black Sabbath heavy metal front man Ozzy.

Over three-hour long episodes, viewers will get to know old and modern Japan as well as the unknown stories of its society through the eyes of a blunt, transparent and conservative Kelly who is not afraid to speak her mind and disagree on certain Japanese practices and customs which do not conform with her own set of principles.

Not lost in translation

In the first episode, Kelly starts her first job as a waitress in a "geek café" where she serves tables while dressed in a French maid costume. She also trains with a samurai so she can take part in a much respected public performance.

Then, Kelly finds her next job at a Tokyo love hotel where providing sex toys, beer and noodles are part of her regular tasks.

The second episode features the adventures of Kelly as an all-dolled-up character of a cartoon magazine, an anime, and gets to share the stage with youngsters who are aficionados. However, the seemingly conservative Kelly didn’t find the experience so pleasant especially of photographers making girls pose in inappropriate positions.

On the contrary, Kelly loved her job at an oxygen bar where she helps patrons get their fill of much-needed oxygen therapy for a day. In fact, she loved the oxygen unit so much that she decided to put it on her Christmas wish list.

Later on, Kelly gets wrapped up in a mating ritual and finds herself enjoying it. She also hies off to the mountains to experience life as a Buddhist nun for a day.

However, no matter how hard she tries, she just couldn’t stand being all covered in the nun attire. The Burning Doll festival, a uniquely Japanese event is her next stop after performing Buddhist tasks.

Finally, Kelly’s Japan sojourn winds up as she starts embrace its extraordinary culture. Again, she finds herself in extreme jobs: as a teacher to kids, attending to pampered Tokyo pooches in a dog hotel, and training as a geisha in Kyoto.

(Kelly Osbourne: Turning Japanese premieres on the Discovery Travel and Living Channel every Tuesday starting tom. Dec. 4 at 10 p.m. with encores every Saturday at 11 p.m.)

 

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