26 posts tagged “tv”
Pudsey agreed to have his picture taken at Children In Need 2008.
I didn't spend very much time in his company. He was very busy.
Still, he did agree to have his picture taken.
He seemed like a nice bear, it has to be said.
Robin Williams was the only guest on the Graham Norton Show this week - any other guest would have been sidelined - in what often felt like a treat of a show, not least because we don't see the man on screen anywhere near enough.
Sure, his voice-overs in various Disney films has kept the man gainfully employed, but there's absolutely no substitute for seeing him do his usual shtick in person.
Nice music from Estelle at the end of the show too. If there's one thing Mr Norton's show can be relied on, it's the quality of the musical contributions.
More here.
I have a spring in my step at the moment. Not only have I finally managed to get into work on time on three consecutive days (something of a rariety for me) but I've cracked on with a recently self-appointed task.
Progress has been slow but sure. There's been a lot of mouse clicks, tutting, puffing and moaning on my part, not to mention innumerable windows alerts ringing in my headphones whenever I click on the wrong thing.
Even so, I am sniffing the very real smell of nearby smug self-satisfaction. The task is nearing completion. I feel like awarding myself my very own certificate, framing it and attaching it to my desk divider. Although, on second thoughts, it's probably "cooler" to dream about Friday evening instead.
Friday evening, you see, sees quite an exciting event for me. I was reminded about it when I received an email from a colleague inviting me to a meeting to discuss the "Children in Need Backstage Photography Schedule".
It's a simple and relatively uninspiring task - certainly not one you'd immediately imagine would inspire a blog posting. Me and a bunch of similarly helpful and charming volunteers will be documenting backstage goings on at this year's Children in Need fundraiser. I'm told that the good shots will appear on the website. I advise you here and now that I'm doing this for charidee.
It's hardly a big thing, is it? I know freelance photographers who consider this kind of work as paid work. Why get excited about taking pictures?
It's not, as you might be thinking, the opportunity to meet celebrities. Whilst there will be a number around - although at present noone's telling me who exactly as everything's strictly embargoed - I always find myself over-compensating when I see them. Treat them normally, I reassure myself. They're not that special. It's not like they're gods or anything. They're just human beings who, when prodded, will turn to the camera, plaster on a smile and wait for the shutter to clunk open and shut.
What gives me the buzz is the prospect of hanging around a live television event. There's something inexplicably exciting about being present in and around the vicinity of something occuring in a studio. The opportunity to witness people running around in an organised panic, with earphones clamped to their ears,
walky-talkies hanging out of their back-pocket is something too good to miss.
And then there's Television Centre on a Friday night. The audience arrives, queuing up in the chilly air on Wood Lane. You start recognising people whose names are a complete mystery. There's an urgency in the air. Areas of the building previously accessible by anyone with a pass are unexpectedly roped off.
Portable TV lights are set up in weird and seemingly unnattractive places. In short, Television Centre and its environs is turned into one massive TV set.
There's a buzz about the place in all its weird, grey iconic sixties-designed madness. It's the place to be to feel a part of things during a live event. It is perhaps the time and place when the BBC truly comes alive, when it's raison d'etre becomes obvious to even the most hard-hearted individual.
"Helping out" at Children in Need is something of a perk working for the BBC. For most people I suspect that White City is the last place they'd want to be late on a Friday night. I'm rather looking forward to it myself. I shall wear my Team Pudsey t-shirt with pride, even if I will end up blending seamlessly into the background amongst the hoards of other people decked out the same. I do hope the kiddies appreciate it.
It's not often I feel the need to write an email to Russell T Davies, outgoing bigwig from Doctor Who but reading the latest Doctor Who related story I'm feeling suitably motivated.
According to the story, Russell T Davies has expressed who he feels would be good to be the next time-lordy chappy in Doctor Who. The man Davies speaks of is Russell Tovey.
I could email Davies to express my thoughts and feelings about Tovey (although I figure Davies is probably a little overrun with emails at the present time), so I'll just express my gut reactions here and now in an absolutely-not-gushing-or-sycophantic kind of way.
In short ... we like Tovey we do. Get Tovey to do the role. Go on. Get him to do the role.
My journey to the Royal Albert Hall this evening didn't go quite as smoothly as I'd hoped it might. Police dog "Diesel" reckoned he'd smelt drugs on my person when I strolled into Lewisham train station with my bike. The place was swarming with representatives from the British Transport Police. They were looking for law-breakers with a vengance.
Naturally, I protested my innocence. My face must have said it all. What on earth was the dog thinking when he rubbed his nose up and down my leg? When the lovely policewoman failed to find anything but my cheese and tomato ciabattas, I was certain I could tell the animal was embarrassed.
Events at Lewisham train station only added to the excitement of today's Prom. I'd wanted to go all weekend, especially seeing as I hadn't been able to get to there last week. By the time I'd cycled from Charing Cross to Prince Consort Road, I'd reckoned I'd be a ridiculously long way down the season ticket queue.
As it was, the rest of the season ticket holders had, apparently, made a value judgement on tonight's conductor. Consequently, whilst the day ticket queue stretched way down the steps and quite possibly down Prince Consort Road, I skipped to the end of my queue little knowing quite how close to the front I'd be when I got in to the arena.
I was in the second row, directly opposite the leader of the orchestra and within spitting distance of the conductor. For those of us who used to work in orchestral management, this was the perfect spot. I could assess the first violins and have line of site of the first desk of the cellos and pretty much most of the violas too. Those of us who enjoy judging like this kind of position.
There were two works in what felt like a short, intense gig. The first half's Romeo and Juliet ballet music by Prokofiev is bound to be recognisable to all. The "big tune" - the Montagues and Capulets - is at the top and pales into insignificance in comparison to the rest of the suite which did at times leave me breathless.
It was Tchaikowsky's Fifth Symphony I was really looking forward to, something a pal who was on the front row during the first half didn't know when he offered to swap with me after the interval. It was my first time on the front row in a long, long time and the Royal Philharmonic's stunning performance made it perfect, no mistake.
The capacity audience may have had something to do with the presence of Pierre Boulez. I knew of Boulez from seemingly interminable music history lectures at college and hours spent in the library trying to get my head around why it was that the music he had composed which I found so impenetrable was so important to 20th century compositional technique. I understand it now, obviously, but back then I wanted Boulez' music to be more like Beethoven's. It goes without saying I was spectacularly missing the point about Boulez when I was studying for my degree.
One of the prommers agreed with me in the bar pre-concert that it was undoubtedly the opportunity to see the 82 year old Boulez conduct the BBC Symph again which had attracted so many people to come on this particular evening. She also went some way to reassure me that contrary to the conclusion I had already jumped to, I would enjoy Janacek's Sinfonietta.
She was absolutely right. The opening brass sequence was instantly recognisable and provided the perfect hook for me to discover some of the more unfamiliar parts of the work. Being on the second row also helped introduce me to some marvellous musical textures throughout the work, something I'll be paying attention to in the radio mix when I listen back over the next few days.
But perhaps the most important thing about this particular concert was how I left the hall feeling like I was part of the promming clan. Don't get me wrong - there isn't some kind of weird initiation ceremony - this was purely and simply to do with engaging in conversation with one or two familiar faces I'd seen repeatedly over the past few weeks. There's a very special feeling to be had there and one which makes the Royal Albert Hall more than just a venue which hosts a series of concerts all summer long.
The nicest moment came shortly before the beginning of the first half, however, when one prommer stood behind observing my attempts to pictures of myself with my SLR offered to take a picture of me with the orchestra in the background. A very nice gesture on his part and one I hope I look back on at the end of this year's season with the same warm, fuzzy feeling I do now.
Prom 40 on BBC iPlayer
Prom 40 (Part 1 - Audio) - Janacek Sinfonietta
Prom 40 (Part 2 - Audio)
Prom 40 (TV Broadcast)
Friday night was a special night at the Royal Albert Hall. In addition to the very real sense of excitement present on any Friday night gig, Prom 40 had the added benefit of sporting a very long promming queue and a packed auditorium - it's always special when the Albert Hall is full for a Prom. The capacity audience may have had something to do with the presence of Pierre Boulez. I knew of Boulez from seemingly interminable music history lectures at college and hours spent in the library trying to get my head around why it was that the music he had composed which I found so impenetrable was so important to 20th century compositional technique. I understand it now, obviously, but back then I wanted Boulez' music to be more like Beethoven's. It goes without saying I was spectacularly missing the point about Boulez when I was studying for my degree.
One of the prommers agreed with me in the bar pre-concert that it was undoubtedly the opportunity to see the 82 year old Boulez conduct the BBC Symph again which had attracted so many people to come on this particular evening. She also went some way to reassure me that contrary to the conclusion I had already jumped to, I would enjoy Janacek's Sinfonietta.
She was absolutely right. The opening brass sequence was instantly recognisable and provided the perfect hook for me to discover some of the more unfamiliar parts of the work. Being on the second row also helped introduce me to some marvellous musical textures throughout the work, something I'll be paying attention to in the radio mix when I listen back over the next few days.
But perhaps the most important thing about this particular concert was how I left the hall feeling like I was part of the promming clan. Don't get me wrong - there isn't some kind of weird initiation ceremony - this was purely and simply to do with engaging in conversation with one or two familiar faces I'd seen repeatedly over the past few weeks. There's a very special feeling to be had there and one which makes the Royal Albert Hall more than just a venue which hosts a series of concerts all summer long.
The nicest moment came shortly before the beginning of the first half, however, when one prommer stood behind observing my attempts to pictures of myself with my SLR offered to take a picture of me with the orchestra in the background. A very nice gesture on his part and one I hope I look back on at the end of this year's season with the same warm, fuzzy feeling I do now.
Prom 40 on BBC iPlayer
Prom 40 (Part 1 - Audio) - Janacek Sinfonietta
Prom 40 (Part 2 - Audio)
Prom 40 (TV Broadcast)
"You're really into the Proms, arent you?" asked a colleague when she saw me reach for my Proms brochure to confirm my availability for a post-work drink this week.
"Yes," I replied, I am. It's my own personal diary for the summer. Everything is built around what ever is going on in the Royal Albert Hall.
Now I think about it more, I realise the priority is attending as many concerts as I possibly can. For some reason - lost on me at the present time - I think that if I can't actually be there in person then my committment to the season is less than it should be.
Shamefully, I got along to only one concert this week. Prom 15 saw me an unexpected recipient of a ticket to a very hot Loggia Box in the hall to hear Nicholas Daniel and the BBC Symphony Orchestra tackle Elliot Carter's Oboe Concerto - a work I'm in no particular hurry to hear again - and Beethoven Five.
Janine Jansen undoubtedly sparkled in her performance of Bruch's Violin Concerto and clearly wowed the audience in the hall. Ultimatel, however, ultimately anyone was going to find it difficult to overwhelm me with this concerto. It's one of "those" works which is played out on radio stations way too often. I've yet to be reacquainted with it's inner joy.
Other gigs of note: Dr Who Prom (Prom 13) - I think I'm right in saying there were dancing Cybermen on stage although I'll wait to see it on BBC One later in the season before I judge exactly how nimble they were.
Wayne Marshall's organ recital (Prom 22) provided the perfect backdrop for a spot of Sunday afternoon baking and confirmed in my mind that I absolutely don't have a problem with Messiaen. In fact, I might even go as far as to say I may possibly have become a fan of organ music. Beethoven 1 (Prom 23) from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra was also a real winner for me too.
But it was the first Stockhausen gig on Saturday night (Prom 20) which was the real big draw for me. Gruppen featured three separate orchestras dotted around the Royal Albert Hall in the arena and on stage, each playing to a different time signature, each directed by a conductor who clearly had a seemingly tough job keeping things together as far as I could see.
Me and sometime Proms-widow Simon chose to escape to the gallery for the second piece Klang. Simon was tired standing on his feet for half and hour and I was intrigued to hear what the mix would sound like at the top of the hall. I hadn't heard Klang before that night nor had any real idea what effect the gargantuan soundscape would have on me.
As the weird and wonderful electronic sounds boomed out from the speakers I found myself transported to another dimension. There was something ominous from the beginning of the performance. Unexpected and imposing. The stage was plunged into darkness. Only houselights and the lights from the mixing desk in the middle of the arena. This was a view of the Royal Albert Hall I hadn't seen before.
The growing cacophany of sound made it seem as the Royal Albert Hall was finally answering back for all those years of concert performances it never enjoyed. Electronic sound combined with the imposing Victorian interior and the sight of prommers laid strewn about the gallery made for an eery experience. An experience brought about solely by sound and light (or lack of it).
I read blogs where people speak of the Stockhausen Day as a real highlight of this year's season. Perhaps it is a little early to say, but out of a series of 12 concerts, it will be the 13th hour from Klang by Karlheinz Stockhausen (Prom 20) which will ultimately stick in my mind the most.
I'm a sucker for things which creep up on me and take me by surprise. I put way too much store in them. I end up admiring them because of some kind of warped sense of value on my part.
News that Carol Vorderman "felt forced to quit" Channel 4 show Countdown has upgraded what began as quite a surprising story yesterday into a strangely exciting one.
If the news is true - and why would one dispute it - then its quite a sad end to quite a long held position in TV presentation.
I did always rather like Countdown.
I suspect I may possibly have had a Proms overload these past few days. Last year I attended around about four concerts. I've attended as many in the first week this year.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not being smug about it. Just really did think I ought to make the effort this year given that I spend so much time banging on about to all and sundry. What I fear now is that I'm boring myself even thinking about them. Maybe I need a night off.
I had originally thought I'd write something after every concert but, to be completely honest, by the time I've finished attending, travelling home or listening to a gig then ruminating about it I'm pretty much a) sick of the Proms and b) keen to go to sleep.
Consequently, all I'd like to say in reference to the end of the first week of the Proms is that I've enjoyed them very much thus far - First night Strauss Festival Prelude, Messiaen organ stuff on Monday and definitely the Vaughan Williams from Prom 10. The cup-of-tea-all-over-my-jeans incident in the bar before the first Prom is now a distant memory. With only sixty-five other concerts to go before the end of the season you'll all be pleased to hear that I promise not to go on about them too much longer. *
* Unless of course you take a look at my Flickr account. I figure it's OK for me to obsess about the Proms there.
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