Top Of The Pops

[alxx]

Woo PCD!

[Star]

Some performances for the show were recorded yesterday at BBC Television Centre. Further recording will take place on December 14th. The show will feature exclusive performances from some of the year's biggest stars and will include the all important Christmas Number One.

Will they know on December 14 who the X Factor winner is?

(I don't have ITV over here and don't follow X Factor so have no clue if it wraps this weekend - though, I guess they can just record all the remaining acts singing "Hallelujah" anyway, and play the correct one on the day!!!)

Thanks Star...you weren't at any of the tapings, were you?

[Star]

I don't know about that. I wasn't there. I found out through a site that were giving away tickets. But you have to subscribe to apply. And I found out too late.

Edit: The X Factor final is on the 13th - so yeah

[Thriller]

I hope the X Factor winner appears on the show, I'm sure the last few years we've just ended up with the video? :-?

[topopMAC1]

Pretty great show overall I thought - a good mix of genres and stuff really. I wish they'd bring it back full time... long live TOTP!

[Fan]

It was a very good show I liked almsot every act who performed. I was glad to see Alexandra performing instead of just the video and she did a very good job Leona was amazing as usual and Girls Aloud were also fantastic. Duffy was also good, but I cringed at bit at the little dance she did with her arms.
Other good performances: Sam Sparro, Adele, Coldplay and Take That.

[Thriller]

Pretty great show overall I thought - a good mix of genres and stuff really. I wish they'd bring it back full time... long live TOTP!

I agree! It was much better than last year's.

They still annoyed me a little though showing Vampire Weekend's "A Punk" as a highlight from the first 6 months of the year - that song didn't even make the Top 40 so they should never have included it, out of all the songs released between January and June they could've at least showed a clip of a genuine hit. This is just another example of TOTP trying to appeal to the indie kids when TOTP should never ever be that sort of show, it's a show appealing to the masses and should stay true to the "Pop" tag that its name includes.

Apart from that though good mix of music and a lot of big names.

[king_oxymoron]

I was glad to see A=Punk, the rest were tired, overplayed monster hits, A-Punk was not massivr but indicative of a different but popular musical genre!

[Thriller]

But Christmas TOTP is always about playing those massive, tired hits that you've heard all year round, for exactly that reason - it's not about pandering to the slightly obscure in the hope that some indie kids mention how cool Christmas TOTP was! If they wanted to display that genre they could've had a clip of Hot Chip or Wombats.

[king_oxymoron]

Well I was glad of it, and that PCD did I Hate This Part and not When I Grow Up, I iPlayered and skipped most performances as it was.

[topopMAC1]

Pretty great show overall I thought - a good mix of genres and stuff really. I wish they'd bring it back full time... long live TOTP!

I agree! It was much better than last year's.

They still annoyed me a little though showing Vampire Weekend's "A Punk" as a highlight from the first 6 months of the year - that song didn't even make the Top 40 so they should never have included it, out of all the songs released between January and June they could've at least showed a clip of a genuine hit. This is just another example of TOTP trying to appeal to the indie kids when TOTP should never ever be that sort of show, it's a show appealing to the masses and should stay true to the "Pop" tag that its name includes.

Apart from that though good mix of music and a lot of big names.

I totally agree with you! Whilst it was a good song, it was no WAY one of the biggest hits of the year... I was like HUH when it came up on screen!

[steophonic]

It was really good - glad that loads of my favourite songs of the year were played. I'm surprised the line up was so strong and glad they virtually all sang live.

Another amazing Leona performance too!

[Thriller]

Be curious to see what the NYE special is like - apparently it's a review of the year but I've always thought of Christmas TOTP as that. Maybe it'll be more like a magazine with coverage of music events rather than just performances?

[topopMAC1]

More info on the NY special:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00gh64m

TOTP New Year's Eve Special
31 Dec 2008, 17:35 on BBC One

Synopsis:

The Top Of The Pops New Year's Eve Special is a brand new one-off special that will review the year in music.

Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates look back at the year in music, with performances in the studio and highlights from Coldplay at the BBC, and festival performances such as Madonna at Radio 1's Big Weekend and Kings of Leon at Glastonbury.

[MadeOfBricks]

I thought the show was quite good, that confetti machine got a good use!

Alexandra and Leona were both great, Girls Aloud were my favourite though.

I wish they'd have had Estelle and The Ting Tings on, though. :(

[Thriller]

TOTP is back again!

Fearne Cotton will host a Comic Relief special during Red Nose Day on Friday 13th March.

Hope it's good! No doubt The Saturdays will perform during the slot?

[Woaah]

TOTP is back again!

Fearne Cotton will host a Comic Relief special during Red Nose Day on Friday 13th March.

Hope it's good! No doubt The Saturdays will perform during the slot?

Yay!

[nekoocz]

Can´t wait ...

[Star]

Woop!

[Thriller]

6.7m tuned in the for the Comic Relief special on BBC2 Friday night at 10pm, it was the highest rating programme in that slot and surely must the highest rating TOTP episode in many years?!

They should definitely look at bringing it back now, the demand is obvious.

[DoctorClaw]

It's a pity the demand wasn't obvious when it was axed in 2006. As much as I loved the show I think it holds little relevance today. The last few years that it was on air were quite dreadful to be honest with annoying celebrity presenters and always getting shifted about in the schedules. Fact is people have a huge choice when it comes to accessing music and music info on tv these days. The only justifiable reason to resurrect TOTP is for nostalgia sake and at the end of the day that isn't reason enough.

PLUGGER DYLAN WHITE’S
CAMPAIGN to bring back Top of the
Pops has moved forward, with the
launch on an online petition
demanding a “tween-friendly” time
slot for the iconic show.
White’s petition, one of a
number calling for the programme
to be reinstated on the television
schedules, is unique as it specifically
targets the music industry, but he
also has plans to reach out to the
public in the near future.
The plugger gathered hundreds
of signatures at the recent Music
Week Awards and says that his bid
to revive TOTP in a post-Blue Peter
slot that appeals to a young
audience was warmly received by
the Grosvenor House crowd.
He claims only a lack of
resources prevented him from
gathering more signatures. “On the
night I had no problem getting
people to sign it. I just ran out of
time and clipboards to get round
the whole room. I ended up with
just under 500 signatures, which at
least is a start,” he says. “A
marketing executive said to me, ‘I
see you’re targeting tweens’, which
he then explained was the new
phrase for eight- to 12-year-olds, to
which I replied, ‘Exactly’ as this is
the next generation discovering
music.”
White is also calling for the
regular return of sister programme
TOTP2, which currently appears
sporadically on the schedules, most
recently throughout 2008’s
Christmas holiday period.
“TOTP2 would, of course, be
targeting ageing teenyboppers,
punks, new romantics and, dare I
say it, Britpoppers all now serving
the tweens their tea but still loving
music, old and new,” he adds.
White, who runs Dylan White
Promotion and Management, did
not reveal who had signed his
petition at the awards ceremony,
although he says he has the support
of some very high-profile executives.
The petition is now online at
http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/27165.html and White is
encouraging the rest of the music
industry to get behind his crusade.
“I’ve put the petition online for
all of us in the industry to sign first
before we go public, which we can
do in due course,” he explains.
The petition states, “We the
undersigned would like to see
TOTP brought back on BBC1 as a
teatime kids programme aimed at
readers of Top of the Pops magazine
and listeners to the Radio One Top
40 show.
“We would also like to see
TOTP2 brought back on BBC2 as
an evening programme for adults
featuring new artists alongside
archive clips.”
White’s efforts to revive TOTP
have already seen him contact BBC
Vision director Jana Bennett, the
executive with overall creative
responsibility for BBC1, BBC2,
BBC3 and BBC4, who explained the
Corporation’s plans for the iconic
music show are not quite dead and
buried. He has also received a letter
of support from Culture Secretary
Andy Burnham.
“Once the tweens are in bed, the
parents could enjoy a later evening
TOTP2,” White says, adding that he
estimates the combined weekly
audience of the two shows at being
between 4-6m if broadcast at his
suggested times. “That is millions
more than are currently being
exposed to music on the BBC.”
Since the BBC axed Top of the
Pops in 2006, the iconic programme
has returned for one-off specials,
notably around Christmas and New
Year last December.
While the BBC has long resisted
calls to bring the show back in a
regular slot, Bennett explained to
White in an email, “We are still
considering occasional specials and
our wider popular music strategy,
so we will stay in touch.”

Pet Shop Boys: 'Bring back Top Of The Pops'

Neil Tennant joins campaign for return of BBC music show

Pet Shop Boys frontman Neil Tennant has urged the BBC to bring back 'Top Of The Pops'.

The music TV show, which ran for 42 years, was axed in 2006.

"I don't see why Top Of The Pops isn't on," he said. "I think it's a shame. I think it was defeatist to get rid of it.

"I think it must be really strange to be a new artist. Like if JLS are Number One on Sunday, they won't have that great moment of being crowned that week's Kings Of Pop."

The Ting Tings have already campaigned for the show's return as has former Culture minister Andy Burnham.

Responding to Tennant's comments, a BBC spokesman said there were no plans to bring back the programme, reports BBC News.

"Top Of The Pops was decommissioned in 2006 as it became clear that the ever increasing competition from multimedia and niche musical outlets meant it no longer occupied the central role it once did," he said.

[Blondini]

Shitty excuse. Even if it's only at 10PM on BBC2 it should still be on. The charts are no longer represented by terrestrial TV. If we can have Jools Holland why can't we have TOTP?