Top Of The Pops Relaunch: Who Is Excited By It?

In the early 80s, i was 10 in 1980 i watched every week till around the mid 80s - since then hardly ever.

I will not be watching the new look TOFP, as most of the music in the charts means nowt to me.

Anyone got other favourite clangers? John Peel at the end of a Bon Jovi track - those guys give music a bad name.

Is this the Andi Peters of yesteryear? How has he assumed control of TOTP if it be he?

It seems generally that hit singles are more generally the preserve of younger people; 12-25 say. I see no reason why it is essential that there is a young host, or a 'yoof' tone to the programme. Surely, the ability to create excitement in the music, and a sure hand in terms of the presenter, is key. Having people behind the show and also in front of the camera, who care about music and could not just be involved with any shouty youth programming (c.f. Theakston, etc. etc. the people they have generally) is a *must* for me. Whether young, or old; that should not matter.

And heres the answer they have : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3239478.stm

Kylie Minogue and Sir Elton John are to help launch revamped BBC chart show All New Top of the Pops on Friday.
Sir Elton will perform his hit Your Song live from Atlanta, Georgia, while Minogue will be in the TOTP studio.

The show will also screen the video for troubled singer Michael Jackson's track One More Chance, expected to make the top five in Sunday's charts.

Victoria Beckham will join the live one-hour special and The Darkness's Christmas video will have its première.

The show will continue to be broadcast live every week.

The Michael Jackson video is a "performance video" of the singer performing the track One More Chance, made to coincide with the release of album CD Number Ones which topped the UK album chart on Sunday.

Jackson was last week charged with child abuse following a police investigation in the US.

'On merit'

A BBC spokeswoman said the video was being shown because Number Ones had done so well.

"All New Top of the Pops is showing the Michael Jackson footage as part of the album chart countdown where his album is currently number one," she said.

"The decision to air this performance is based purely on the merit of Michael Jackson's music. To not reflect his popularity with music fans would look odd on a chart-led music show."

Former Spice Girl Mel C is to host a special 40th anniversary edition of Top of the Pops to be shown around the world.
The New Year's Eve edition of the show will be shown on BBC prime and seen by audiences in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Viewers will be able to choose their favourite performances from the last 40 years of the show.

Are they trying to turn the Friday TOTP into the Saturday TOTP? Will they have Busted on every week, as well?

A longer show with less music, how is that possible? Are they just going to turn it into a chat show or something? I mean, Feoarn (or however you spell her name) is hot and all, but I wouldn't want to see her all. the. time.

I laughed and then went out and did something less boring instead.

'...'

That's the new face of TOTP, Tim Kash. Think he's presenting it on his own...

And here's the new logo. Note that, despite ripping off those hats the Pet Shop Boys used to wear and the Pet Shop Boys being number 10 in the singles chart at the moment, the Pet Shop Boys will not be appearing on Top Of The Pops this week.

The BBC is putting its faith in youth, hiring a virtual unknown as the face of the All New Top of the Pops.
When the first All New Top of the Pops is broadcast live on 28 November, the BBC will be hoping the fresh face of Tim Kash will give the old show new appeal.

Described by the BBC as an "edgy, quick-witted and talented presenter" and "one of music television's rising stars" he is a surprise choice as the front man for the BBC's flagship music programme.

Twenty-two-year-old Kash was not even born when the first ever Top of the Pops (TOTP) was broadcast in 1964.

Let's just say that by 30, I want to have had an international best-selling autobiography

Tim Kash in 2000

From Kingston Upon Thames, in Surrey, he is already the youngest ever presenter on music network MTV in the UK.

According to the MTV website he spent his first 18 years "dreaming of becoming a Jedi, joining the Rebel Alliance".

But his relative youth will be the very quality TOTP producer Andi Peters will be hoping can make the programme relevant for an audience which has left the show in droves.

If nothing else. he is certainly a strong contrast to former DJ and TV host Jimmy Savile - TOTP's first ever presenter.

'Biggest'

Before his new appointment, he had begun to gather a lot of fans working on the news side of MTV's Total Request Live.

Kash himself described the MTV show in the very terms Peters will be praying are translated to TOTP.

Earlier this year he said: "It's going to be the biggest and best.

"For the level of guests, live music and getting these big names to hang out and talk about stuff you normally don't see - no other programme can compete."

Website

Interestingly, Kash will continue to present for MTV and the hope is that there will be a level of cross-pollination with the more youthful cool of Total Request Love rubbing off on TOTP.

Fittingly for someone so young, Kash's star qualities were spotted on that most youthful of mediums, the internet.

Three years ago he was a presenter on Network of the World (NOW), which was billed as the world's first converged TV and web service and mp3TV, an online music show.

He has also worked on the gaming website Gamer TV.

Despite his tender years, Kash certainly does not lack confidence.

In an online interview for NOW in 2000, he spoke of "Tim's Master Plan".

'Worth writing'

He explained: "If you're asking what's next for me, then I couldn't possibly tell you. But, if you want to know what I intend to do in the next five years, then that's another story altogether.

"Let's just say that by 30, I want to have had an international best-selling autobiography. Why? Because if I have that, then the next 10 years of my life will be worth writing about."

It is not the first time that the BBC has turned to youth to try and reinvigorate a flagging programme.

Last year 24-year-old Wes Butters was plucked from obscurity to front the chart show on BBC Radio 1.

But listening figures have declined since he took over - although a poor year for chart singles is being blamed.

A spokesman for BBC Radio 1 said: "We are really happy with such a young presenter who is out there buying singles like his listeners."

So Will , Is Wes Butters to blame?

But the omens don't seem that promising.

But yeah, maybe one is prejudging far too much - having never seen his MTV show or him in any context - but I don't sense that it is a choice based on anything to do with music. Maybe he's an assured presenter, I don't know; but the precedent of Wes is not a good one.

I've no particular objection to less music if they can think of something interesting or funny or even vaguely relevant to fill up the time.

Think they might be doing it in the presenters unique to shows template - main TOTP will be Kash, TOTP Saturday Fearne (& Reggie Yates?), TOTP on BBC3 Margherita & Bacunt. Which is a good idea, just a shame about some of the presenters (see if you can guess which one...)

So, ya'll want the goss on Tim Kash? For the whole of 2001 I was one of the hacks providing shimmering copy for the aforementioned Network Of the World/mp3tv website/TV station thingy from which Tim sprungeth - in fact, I wrote a fair whack of his scripts back in the day...*

Well, maybe his sudden leap to fame might make mp3tv a bit easier to explain during interviews. Every cloud etc.

*oh, the glamour.

I seem to remember Lee & Herring being great when they were on.

So the moral of this story? Get presenters who take the piss out of the acts, ie. get Simon Amstell.

Yes, it is the same one. Peters has been at Channel 4 for the last few years as the head of youth programming, where he was responsible for instigating the T4 strand among other things.

Now only if they'd bring back The Old Grey Whistle Test, what with that coked-up ex-copper compere and those endless Humble Pie sessions.

Them were the days.

Assuming Chris Morris wouldn't.

You have to wonder about the chances for the programme when the BBC's own site feels the need to enlightnen us all by helpfully adding that MTV is a 'music network'. And when 'virtual unknown' stands for 'having your face all over MTV, every hour, on the hour'.

Oh, wait. Hang on. Who else reckons that the BBC are trying to kill the show off slowly?

What the fuck?

The only real prob AFAICS is the "less music, more celeb" ideas!!!! I mean, it's not as if most of todays popstarz are actually intresting in any shape or form!!!!! Anyway, I thought fluffly showbiz gossip was NME woops I mean Smash Hits' department!!!!

All the same, I await tonight with interest.

The bit about the Darkness in the US was reasonably interesting: why hasn't TOTP been doing this since the BBC got rid of 'The O Zone'?

Tim Kash has absolutely no on-screen personality, though. They show him reading out his lines in front of a huge crowd and it comes across like CD:UK crossed with Children In Need, only there's a complete lack of background noise until the 'spontaneous' applause is started off by some dude behind the camera waving at the audience.

I'll being bollocksed if they think I'm going to 'text in' on 0898 666 TOTP or whatever the fuck, however.

And I don't need to be reminded every four minutes what's 'still to come'. I'm still to come, obviously. It's not been that good so far.

On second thoughts, Top Of The Pops HAS turned into Children In Need.

Thank God we didn't hear it.

Tim Kash heads outside to the petrol station over the road from TV Centre to interview some stalkers Blazin' Squad fans. Lord, don't encourage them. You would have thought the BBC had learnt something from the Barry George debacle.

Blazin' Squad and a cast of literally thirty jog around outside on that fountain outside the BBC reception that you always see on Children In Need. Spot a running theme, anyone?

Don't think anyone except Elton has actually sung live yet.

The Craig David-in-South Africa thing was hideous. Why did anyone ever think that this would make for good television? I have no idea what they even want TOTP to be any more.

BBC's revamped Pops is launched


Kylie sang live on the show
BBC One has re-launched veteran music show Top of the Pops with a new look and format to boost ratings.
The new, longer live show was kicked off by girl group Mis-Teeq and also featured performances by Will Young, Elton John and Gareth Gates.

The re-launch was hit with the late withdrawal of a Michael Jackson video because it was not ready for broadcast.

And the show ended in embarrassment when wrong answers were shown on screen in a Robbie Williams competition.

In a heavily publicised competition, offering a trip to see Robbie Williams in Australia, the viewers were asked to choose between three completely wrong answers.

Send us your review of the show

Viewers were asked to name the singer's first number one single in the UK, out of a choice of three: Freedom, Angels and Old Before I Die.

In fact, William's first UK number one was Millennium in September 1998.

Later, the question was re-worded to "first solo hit" and a viewer rang in and said Freedom and was rewarded with the trip to Australia.

Top of the Pops through the years

In pictures

The programme was fronted by new host Tim Kash, who introduced the show, saying: "Good evening and welcome to the first All New Top of the Pops."

The revised format included the singles and album chart, studio interviews, music news, competitions and 15 different performances.

In a throwback to the show's roots, audience members featured heavily, although they often seemed more startled than excited by the cameras.

The show was a mix of live performances and pre-recorded material.

Before the start live guests were paraded along a red carpet, with attendant paparazzi , in attempt to give the show a more glitzy, "event" feel.

Will Young performed his song Leave Right Now
Sir Elton John performed Your Song, "direct from Atlanta", in a clip of a recent concert he performed in the US city.

There were also live performances in the studio from Pop Idol Will Young.

Victoria Beckham appeared on the show and told host Kash: "It looks fantastic. The BBC budget has gone sky high."

BBC executives will be hoping the show will be able to claw back viewers and return to the days when the show had audiences of six million.

The new show is the vision of executive Andi Peters, who was brought into the BBC to give Top of the Pops a change of image after viewing figures halved to three million since 1995 amid competition from other music shows.

He said the fact that singles sales had fallen sharply in recent years showed there was a need to offer different types of music, including album tracks and unreleased tunes.

"I felt that we had to broaden the appeal to make it more popular to more people," he told BBC Breakfast.

"There are a lot of people who do not buy singles but buy albums and so by reflecting the album chart it will help us keep our market share."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back to top

Did you watch the new Top of the Pops? Will the new look and format help boost ratings or is the programme no longer required viewing for music lovers?

It's got a much fresher, sharper feel than before. It had become almost unwatchable before with the ridiculous star bar and dated theme music - now I'll probably have it on if only in the background each week. Although hopefully someone will do something to make it look slightly less obvious when someone is holding up signs to the crowd saying "scream and applaud". And please...put it back on Thursdays before Eastenders.
James, London, England

They say less is more. Surely, the original formula is what makes TOTP? Anything else is just another mediocre show.
Kelly, England

How many times can we say "new" in a minute! Rubbish. Could have put money on Peters filling the screen with logos and annoying "coming next" - we don't all have attention spans of seconds. Can't say I'll be watching again.
Philip, UK

Why do we need that logo in the corner of the screen?
Graham Kirk, uk

What the hell is the logo doing in the top right hand corner? It didn't work for T4 and it won't work for TOTP.
g lane, uk

I'd like to see some other genres played - how about some more rock or metal, since that is usually always pushed aside for what pre-teens dictate for everyone else as "popular" music?
Svend "Dreadknux" Joscelyne, UK

Yet again the show has missed the chance to show which artists are truly talented by making them play their songs live with real musicians and no backing tracks. Go on I dare you.
Andy, UK

I'll stick with the specialist music channels, thanks all the same.
Jim, UK

TOTP is my favourite programme. Revamping the show is cool because albums will be explored.
Mo Bangura, UK

I have avoided totp for years now. It is aimed at a childrens market.
bob, UK

Since when has "backstage gossip" supplanted music as a subject worthy of the channel's attention?
Sky Holden, uk

"It's NEW, it's ALL, it's ALL NEW Top of the Pops! Coming up next on ALL NEW Top of the Pops, is ALL NEW Top of the Pops acts and ALL NEW Top of the Pops songs that are ALL NEW (Top of the Pops)..." [repeat 400 times without blinking] Erm yeah, think we got the message...
Stuart Manning, UK

A phone-in competition where none of the answers shown on screen is the correct answer!
Richard, UK

Having an impossible to win Robbie Williams competition may have saved us some licence fee, but unfortunately they incorrectly said Freedom was his first number 1! I wonder if they can really mess up so badly or was it just a stunt to make the papers tomorrow? Apart from that, the new format was an excellent carbon-copy of CD-UK.
Simon Chiplin, UK

Come back Pan's People - all is forgiven.
Dominic Carman, uk

The music was the same as ever, but the "new look" made it look like CD:UK; TOTP should be innovating, not following its rivals. Don't start me on the presenter - all the personality of Will Young's microphone stand.
Stuart Taylor, UK

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3245744.stm

Who watched TOTPS? Did anyone like it?

Tim Kash was woeful. Zero personality, it could have been a shop dummy wearing a Tim Kash mask. What was wrong with Fearne?

It was just an all-round amateur show.