Yes, indeed - "The Gay World Cup" is upon us...
Let the madness commence!
Showing posts with label Terry Wogan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terry Wogan. Show all posts
Saturday, 16 May 2026
Saturday, 13 May 2023
Saturday, 13 May 2017
Thought for the Day
RIP, Terry
We've cleaned the place from top to bottom, now all we need to do is the buffet and await our guests...
It's "Gay World Cup" day!!!
Sunday, 31 January 2016
For millions he was a part of the family
"A lot depends on luck, and being in the right place at the right time; which was certainly true in my case."
Sir Terry Wogan, beloved stalwart of undemanding BBC breakfast-time radio, chat shows, game shows, the Children in Need telethon, Proms in the Park and the Eurovision Song Contest, has died.
On the latter, he famously said: "Who knows what hellish future lies ahead? Actually, I do. I've seen the rehearsals."
Having been in the business for fifty years, he was an "institution", a wise (and self-deprecating) head among the babble.
He was often scathing about what he saw as a decline in standards:
"Television has changed. It's not what it was like 50 years ago. Light entertainment is no longer the expensive quality that it used to be. It's all quiz games, reality TV and talk shows. Talk shows these days are just cheap TV. In the same way that reality TV is cheap television that humiliates people. There's no point saying there can't be any humiliation, because the public seem to respond to it, it seems to be something they want. But then again the public liked mass executions as well, but we don't do those any more. To be honest, I don't know where we go from here."Among the condolences from celebs and politicians alike, BBC director general Tony Hall paid this tribute:
"You might say the lunatics have taken over the asylum. The culture now in television is that the presenter calls the financial and, increasingly, the creative shots. It is comparable to what happened in Hollywood 15 or so years ago. Agents have become far more powerful, and through them the stars are able to dictate their own terms."
"Terry truly was a national treasure. Today we've lost a wonderful friend.Rest in peace, Sir Tel. We will all miss you.
"He was a lovely, lovely man and our thoughts are with his wife and family. For 50 years Sir Terry graced our screens and airwaves. His warmth, wit and geniality meant that for millions he was a part of the family.
"Wake up to Wogan was for millions of Radio 2 listeners the very best way to start the day.
"For decades he's been such a huge part of the BBC on television and radio and leaves so many wonderful memories.
"At the centre of Children in Need since its beginning, he raised hundreds of millions of pounds and changed so many lives for the better. He leaves a remarkable legacy."
Sir Michael Terence Wogan KBE DL (3rd August 1938 - 31 January 2016)
Sunday, 14 September 2014
A Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious day
What a day.
What a crowd.
What a line-up of acts!
Proms in the Park was simply wonderful yesterday. We were a small (but perfectly-formed) coterie this year - just me, Madame Arcati, John-John, Sal, Russ and Joe - but we managed to get in (in record time) through the throng to our usual spot near (but not too near) the stage and to manfully eat, drink and be merry enough for a whole troupe.
Thankfully, the weather stayed dry (if a little windier than we'd have liked, which meant it felt rather cold towards the end) as we settled in for a programme of delights. The afternoon session (presided over by the ever-cheesy Tony Blackburn) included the jolly former busker and Radio 2 fave Si Cranstoun, the entertaining cast of the T-Rex musical 20th Century Boy, Welsh "Britain's Got Talent" finalists and pretty-boy twin operatic tenors Richard & Adam (who were perfectly fine until their harmonies went somewhat awry on their final number The Impossible Dream) and the rather dull country-folk duo The Shires.
But the biggest thrill came when the faboo Dhol Foundation took to the stage, complete with traditional costumes, dancers and a guest singer K.S.Bhamrah - and got everyone in the 40,000-strong audience Bhangra dancing! Here they are at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival in 2009:
Whew!
The break threw a new and unexpected spanner in the works of an otherwise enjoyable day. One of the deep joys of outdoor festivals (and I am being sarcastic here) is getting to and from the toilets. Usually at Proms in the Park this causes little problem (for boys, anyhow) - but something went deeply wrong yesterday. With all the Portakabins crushed into the tiniest amount of space in the far corners of the Hyde Park arena, it was bedlam. Men and women, old and young, were faced with the biggest queues I had ever seen. Half the loos had packed up, apparently. Women were barging into the gents, hordes of stewards were trying to keep order (to little avail), and as a consequence I missed several interesting and enjoyable bits of the day's performances. Abysmal.
Anyhoo, this brings us to the joys of the evening programme of Proms in The Park - the part with the real star performers (all introduced by the ebullient Sir Terry Wogan aka "Our Tel"), including our opener, the rather cute tenor Vittorio Grigolo - who, apart from having a beautiful voice also has a charming sense of humour. Not least when he was on stage for the BBC's pioneering "mass participation project" - a "virtual choir" performing Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious:
And of course, the Park audience joined in.
We had an early Royal Albert Hall link-up treat, when Our Tel introduced a further selection of Mary Poppins tunes (it is the 50th anniversary of the film), sung by the lovely Ruthie Henshall...
...as well as quite a pleasant surprise - Walton's Façade:
Ah, Mr Rufus Wainwright. I truly, honestly try my best. I want to love the man who overcame suicide attempts, an awkward coming-out, the death of his mother and all that torment, to carve himself a respected cult musical career (even tackling, song-by-song, the iconic Judy Garland Carnegie Hall concert). It's just a shame he's so - errm - dreary. The three songs he performed (Dinner at Eight, Oh What A World and Going To A Town) were all very heartfelt and impassioned, but there was no spark; not for us anyway.
Miss Pumeza Matshikiza, on the other hand... (what little I caught of her while trying to traverse the inconvenient conveniences again) has a beautiful voice, and loads of joie de vivre to go with it. To open with Puccini's O Ma Babbino Carra was a brave move, but she carried it off with aplomb. We were impressed - as we were when she and Signor Grigolo joined forces a little later on for a stunning set of tunes from the eternal classic West Side Story!
The Fisherman's Friends of Port Isaac were a pleasant diversion, with their fine repertoire of bawdy sea-shanties and folk tunes:
But all of this was merely a warm-up, let's face it. For the band we were all waiting for was the legendary Earth Wind And Fire! Even though their combined ages must be in the region of 300, the "boys" (founding members Philip Bailey, Verdine Scott, Ralph Johnson and ensemble) have certainly still got it - and performed the most magnificent set, which whipped us all up into quite a dancing frenzy... Auntie Beeb in her wisdom has not uploaded any clips, so here's someone's hand-held video of the occasion (we were somewhat closer to the action than this):
Mr Bailey's voice is remarkable, even after all these years.
And so, adrenalin still pumping, flags at the ready, we came to the (second) live link-up with the Royal Albert Hall for the grand finale, including, as is traditional, an exhilarating sing-along on Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance:
And, of course (after lead conductor Sakari Oramo's speech), the rousing - and poignant, given that Scotland later this week could well be separating off from the rest of the "United Kingdom" if the referendum vote is won by the "Yes" campaign - Thomas Arne's Rule Britannia, sung beautifully by Roderick Williams:
With the magnificent Jerusalem and the National Anthem bringing us to a close, that was it for another year.
We love Proms in the Park - one of the brightest highlights of our social calendar!
Sunday, 8 September 2013
The Lounge Lizard, the Dame, the bagpipes, the fiddles and the lesbian Last Night
And so, dear reader, once again we bid a fond farewell to the Summer Season in style.
The Last Night of the Proms traditionally marks the end of summer (for us at least), and for the past six years we have greeted the changeover to autumn by sitting in a blustery park for seven hours - for Proms in the Park! Always a joy.
Thus, expectantly, Sally, Lou, Liz, Madame Arcati, Baby Steve, Alex and I managed to fight our way into the park, laden down with folding chairs, picnic blankets, baskets of food and (of course) copious quantities of booze, running to grab our "usual" pitch (next to the "landmark" lighting tower, fairly close to the stage), ready for the action to unfold.
And the evening's entertainment certainly opened with a bang - as the humorously-titled Red Hot Chilli Pipers took to the stage! Now I am no fan of the bagpipes per se, but this gang of hunky kilt-wearers' particular brand of "bag-rock" whipped the audience up into an early frenzy, pairing traditional standards like Danny Boy with rock classics such as Don't Stop Believing, We Will Rock You and Smoke On The Water...
Not even the combined efforts of our inane presenter (the idiotic DJ Tony Blackburn) nor our next act Craig-fucking-Charles and his
Eventually, having had cake (kindly baked for my birthday by Lou), and convened our annual Gay Pride Costume Committee to decide the "theme" for next year - more on that in due course - it was time for the "surprise" act to conclude the first half, the no-longer-boy-band Blue. Never a favourite ensemble, they warbled their way through a melange of their instantly forgettable hits, proving that some bands, once they split up, should stay split. They didn't even play their Eurovision entry I Can - which we liked three years ago. I'd still do Duncan and Simon, though...
As the sun started to set over Hyde Park - it was beautiful - and the break was over, it was time for the big-hitters to arrive on stage. Our host for part two was the ebullient (if slightly more bumbling than usual) Sir Terry Wogan, and he introduced the BBC Concert Orchestra and its conductor Richard Balcombe who, without further ado opened proceedings with the most appropriate and rousing curtain-raiser, Strike Up The Band by Gershwin. Our first performer, however, was a real class apart.
Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja is quite the rising star of the opera world, and at 35 has already performed at the world's greatest venues including Covent Garden, the New York Met, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and the Vienna State Opera. He stunned us with the beauty of his voice, especially on his opening number, Lucio Dalla’s Caruso. Some of us were in tears. Here is some footage of him performing the song earlier in 2013:
From the sublime to... Dame Edna Everage! The "Housewife Superstar" herself - due to finally throw in her ornamented specs and retire next year after her farewell tour - no doubt sparklingly visible even from the back of the 40,000-strong crowd, entered into a battle of wits with Sir Tel before entertaining us with her tribute to us, That's What My Public Means To Me:
Although, as it turned out later (when she was due to lead the finale only to
find the show was overrunning) she never got another opportunity to entertain
us, this brief moment was fabulous enough - as was the (unintentional)
hilarity that ensued when her bouquet leaked water over the stage, and various
stagehands swarmed around her and Tel's feet while they ad-libbed away.
And the reason for the urgency to mop the stage? Another treat was to follow -
as Strictly Come Dancing superstar dancers
Erin Boag and Anton Du Beke
gave us a breathtaking display of their skill by performing the most beautiful
and elegant waltz on stage, accompanied by the full orchestra. We were blown
away.
[If only the BBC would get its arse into gear and post the coverage, I
would add it here for your delectation...]
Not dancing but singing, Mr Calleja returned to the stage next with more silky
smooth numbers - including house fave here at Dolores Delargo Towers
Besame Mucho, and the most marvellous interpretation of
La Vie En Rose. Unfortunately he was immediately followed by the cast
of the West End show Let It Be, who proceeded to murder several Beatles
songs. It mattered little to the audience by this stage, of course, filled
with excessive amounts of liquid refreshment and dancing and singing along. I
went for a pee.
That over and done with, another classical sensation - hot foot from his stint
at the Royal Albert Hall less than an hour earlier - the violin virtuoso
Nigel Kennedy
leapt onto the stage (in an Aston Villa football shirt), accompanied by the
cute Palestinian teen prodigy Mostafa Saad, for a duel of the strings on Mr
K's own composition Melody in the Wind. Utterly stunning, and one of
the finest moments of the evening.
Emotions suitably fired up by the brilliance of that, it was time for the living legend, the great "lounge lizard" himself - Mr Bryan Ferry! I have been a lifelong fan of Mr Ferry and Roxy Music, and yet this is the first time I have ever seen him live. He was superb.
Accompanied by some of the finest backing singers we've heard since the heyday of Carol Kenyon or Helen Terry (Michelle John and Sharon White in particular), he crooned his way through an esoteric selection of his (mainly solo) back catalogue, including A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, Jealous Guy, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Hold On (I'm Coming), Let's Stick Together, and, accompanied by his pseudo 1920s dance band, Love Is The Drug:
We danced our tits off, and sang till we almost popped. But no - we had to
save the best till last...
Dame Edna came on, the audience waved "gladdies" (Gladioli - it's her
emblem), she bantered, we cheered. The choir came on. The live feed to the
Royal Albert Hall came on. Only at that point, methinks, did anyone realise
that the actual Last Night of the Proms was running about twenty minutes
behind schedule, so synchronisation was going to be rather difficult. Dame
Edna shimmied off again. The choir dispersed.
We settled down to a remarkable insight into the world of The Proms
before it turns into something familiar. As the wry commentator
in The Telegraph
observed:
[some in the audience]...took on Granville Bantock’s tricky 'Sea Reivers'
through the art of interpretive dance."
Indeed.
Anyhow, eventually we got to the point where the Hall and the expectations
of the sozzled Prommers-in-the-Park could relate to each other, as the
commanding presence of the first woman (and she's a lesbian!) to conduct a
Last Night, Marin Alsop took control and ushered in the beautiful
mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato to the stand.
A very special lady indeed, as I found out today from
Gay Star News:
Opera star Joyce DiDonato will be dedicating her performance of Somewhere Over The Rainbow at the Last Night of the Proms to the victims of LGBT persecution across the world.What a gal!
Speaking on BBC Radio 4, DiDonato said: "there’s a lot of those voices that are being silenced today, by families, by governments, by countries and I take that really personally.
"If I literally and figuratively have a voice that I can use in their honour I’m really happy to do that."
DiDonato has previously shown her support to LGBT people.
Speaking further on her personal blog, DiDonato wrote: "The Russian Government (among others) is systematically silencing their own citizens and those of us that support them around the world.
"But, you know what? It’s not only Russia. There are well-intentioned parents, siblings, friends, strangers, communities, schools, as well as governments, that insist on trying to make homosexuals feel like lesser human beings, hoping for their silence, which is seemingly so much easier for their oppressors to bear.
"This simply cannot stand. We are TRULY better than this."
Opening the sing-a-long section (appropriately, perhaps) with You'll Never Walk Alone, resplendent in her Vivian Westwood-designed patriotic frock she led us - 40,000 flags aloft - into the traditional Proms finale with a rousing Rule Britannia, accompanied by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (which they followed swiftly with the equally magnificent crowd-pleaser Land of Hope and Glory).
After that exhausting set, it was time for Ms Alsop to give her début speech
(in which she said, to booming cheers:
“Quite a lot has been made of me being the first woman to conduct the
Last Night of the Proms. I’m incredibly honoured and proud to have this
title, but I have to say I’m still quite shocked that it can be 2013 and
there can still be firsts for women. Here’s to the second, third, fourths,
fifths, hundredths to come.”). With that triumphant mood, it was time for more singing and flag-waving
to Jerusalem, then the National Anthem, before the whole place
exploded with fireworks!
And that was it, for another year.
A splendid occasion, and one incredible day.
Sunday, 9 September 2012
On a night like this, just wanna be together
'Twas a magnificent, hot, sunny day as our tribe descended on Hyde Park for Proms in the Park yesterday. It is one of our annual treats - a highlight of the "Social Calendar" (it is traditionally the signal for the change-over between Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter seasons). We always manage to bag ourselves a spot close enough to the stage to be able to see the artists, but with the big screen ahead of us (all the better to catch the details), not too far from the facilities, and with landmarks to enable us to find our way back in the dark.
It is an exciting day at the best of times, and this year was particularly special - for our headliner was none other than Princess Kylie herself!
However, Proms in the Park provides a long day's worth of entertainment before we get to the top-billing artists, and the opening segment (aka "the daylight bit", this year with presenter Tony Blackburn) gave us some genuine treats - including a rare appearance (accompanied by the Chicago Blues Brothers) by none other than the truly legendary Miss Madeline Bell (of Blue Mink fame; she has worked with some of the world's greatest artists including Led Zeppelin and Rod Stewart) - who added a touch of class early on in the proceedings.
As well as the fantabulosa Bjorn Again (again!), the London Community Gospel Choir and the cast of not-so-fab Beatles musical Let It Be, the other highlight was a recent discovery, the Gypsy Queens, whose version of L'Americano - the dance version of which was in the charts a few years ago - is rather wonderful.
[2019 UPDATE - gone from YouTube]
As the blazing sun began to set, the picnic was half-consumed and the copious quantity of booze was beginning to kick in, it was time for the second half of the day's entertainment to begin, with the beautiful tenor voice of Mr Alfie Boe, here singing You Are My Heart's Delight:
The rather hunky Il Divo followed soon after, and true to their "boy band for the classically-minded" style, mixed light classical (including a unique vocal interpretation of Barber's Adagio) with pop numbers. Here's their take on one of my favourite gay anthems, Somewhere (from West Side Story):
Excellent stuff. After another rather wonderful appearance from Mr Boe, it was the moment we had all been waiting for!
Adorned in a most beautiful scarlet evening gown, the tiny but striking fame of Miss Minogue took centre stage to deafening cheers from the 40,000-strong crowd, and gave us what we had been promised - a selection of her hits brilliantly orchestrated in a more classical style. We were completely blown away!
Here are a few of the songs our Princess sang...
We danced, we sang, we shouted, we bawled! I think Miss Minogue appreciated it. She looked utterly radiant, beaming smiles throughout, so I guess she knew we all adored her...
Whew! What an emotional roller-coaster... My first Kylie concert. And what a show!
However, even as the lady twinkled her way off the stage, the show was far from finished - it was time for the Grand Finale, as we joined via a live link the Last Night of the Proms concert itself from the Royal Albert Hall. Once more, we had the traditional selection of British pride numbers - including the Sea Shanties, Jerusalem, Land of Hope and Glory and Rule Britannia, and waved our Union Jacks till a wind whipped up!
This being a very special year for the UK, the tenor Joseph Calleja was joined on stage by a few of the medallists from the Olympics and Paralympics (which was a superb and emotional moment):
Last night was definitely the very best, most memorable, and most amazing Proms in the Park I have ever been to. I am still coming down to earth! Despite having spent the day with Madam Arcati's Mum and folks for her 80th birthday, the echoes of last night still resonate...
Heaven!
Proms in the Park on the BBC
Sunday, 11 September 2011
A season closes...
As ever, we had a fantabulosa time at the Proms in the Park (our traditional finalé for the Summer Season). A small but perfectly formed crowd this year - just me, Madame Arcati, John-John, Sal and Lou - but we still managed to polish off a banquet and gallons of booze while experiencing everything the weather could throw at us (blazing sunshine, rain, chilly gales and muggy humidity - no snow)...
We got our treasured spot close to the stage, and settled in ready for the action to start.
The entertainment was an eclectic mix, to be sure - in the first half (introduced by Ken Bruce) we had a trip down memory lane courtesy of Deacon Blue, some Japanese drummers (from Glasgow), a few numbers from the godawful cheesy "heavy metal musical" Rock of Ages, and a delightful treat courtesy of doo-woppers The Overtones. Remarkably, I had never heard of them before - very camp, quite cute, very good performers; we loved it!
After the break (during which the queues for the loos were phenomenal - this was one helluva busy event!) it was time for the big numbers, and for Terry Wogan to take over as host. First up was pianist Lang Lang, the first performer to appear on stage at the park and at the Royal Albert Hall on the same (last) night! He is sublimely talented, tackling the complexities of Liszt as if it were Chopsticks...
Lang Lang plays Liszt (BBC Proms 2011)
Proms in the Park favourite Katherine Jenkins glittered on stage and sang for us some beautiful arias - Chopin L'alba terra, I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables, and this sumptuous number from Kismet:
Russell Watson (a Proms in the Park newcomer) was remarkably good (I had never rated him much before), as he played to the crowd with such familiar classic numbers as the intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana and Puccini's Nessun Dorma. He even got us all involved in singing along to Volare (O-o-o-o-o)!
In the absence of Josh Groban (throat problems, apparently), Miss Jenkins returned to the stage for a few more beautiful ballads (the traditional folk song Black is the Colour and Sartori's Time to say Goodbye) before providing a foil for our own particular star turn of the evening - Rolf Harris (of course)! She shimmied on stage to hand him his didgeridoo, and shimmied off again (as Mr Harris's "glamorous assistant"). Speaking of crowd-pleasers, all the familiar hits were here - Sun Arise, Two Little Boys, Tie Me Kangaroo Down (twice - the second time set to the tune of Land of Hope and Glory!) and of course Stairway to Heaven. Wonderful, simply wonderful!
Westlife, were, well... Westlife, really. Dull, simpering, unlikeable. We didn't sing along.
Bringing the mood back up again, it was soon time for the live link with the Royal Albert Hall ("Hello Hall!" we shouted), and the evening's big sing-a-long, starting with Climb Every Mountain and You'll Never Walk Alone, which warmed up the tonsils nicely for the traditional concluding numbers - Land of Hope and Glory, Jerusalem and Rule Britannia. We sang our tits off, waving Union Jacks and rainbow flags in unison!
Soprano Susan Bullock sang Katherine Jenkins off the stage...
A truly wonderful night, concluding with brilliant fireworks and then a late drinkie in The Quebec which meant two night buses home unfortunately - I didn't get in till 5am! Farewell to summer, and roll on the Autumn/Winter Season!
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