Ok, so it’s not often you get to go to BBC’s Television House and see the return of one of the country’s most-loved TV shows but that’s exactly what we did recently.
What are we talking about? The return of Top of The Pops, of course! It’s back for one off shows on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day and has been off your screens since July 2006. The BBC haven’t decided if it will return for good, despite Simon Cowell and several bands demanding it. And as it’s Christmas, we thought a blog about it might provide some light entertainment while you wind down and prepare for the big day.
So what can you expect on Christmas day? Alex Burke from X Factor appeared, singing her ‘number 1’ single, accompanied by five (FIVE) make-up artists chiefly tasked with stroking her hair. Burke said she had only one hour’s sleep (she won X Factor the previous night) and had to do two takes as some festive glitter paper went up her nostril during filming. That was the most interesting part of her performance. She didn’t even cry.
Chris Martin and Coldplay ran through euphoric versions of Viva La Vida and Life in Technicolor. Pausing to pick out an audience member with a frankly ridiculous festive jumper, Chris Martin protested that he did write Viva La Vida after claims that he pinched bits from another band. Martin also said that because their military style uniforms had got so much stick from the press, he was going to put them all on eBay. For charity of course…
The man in the festive jumper looked a bit scared when he was pulled on stage and predictably danced like an idiot. Sam Sparro appeared seconds after, played hit single Black and Gold before taking pictures of his band and the audience.
And as the show slipped further into the realms of pop music, the cast of Mamma Mia (the musical) ran into the studio and danced like pirouetting, sequinned jelly beans, offering an ABBA medley including Dancing Queen and, of course, Mamma Mia. We may have been given festive dress and been told to dance, though we’re reticent to provide concrete details.
Elsewhere, Adele gave a stunning performance of Chasing Pavements and Hometown Glory making Alex Burke look underwhelming by comparison. Naturally, Radio 1 fave Fearne Cotton presented the show in her own excited scattergun garble. BBC haven’t given exact broadcast times or confirmed a BBC HD version of the show but tune in - it deserves to be a part of your big day if only to see a man in a festive jumper that’s even worse than yours.
