i always dreamed of appearing on Top Of The Pops...

CD:UK: Work - they instuct you to clap with your hands in the air so it shows up better. Was really good fun, lots of bouncing around, despite the fact the room is huge and you are all squashed down one end.

Later With Jools Holland: For fun. I had a stupid bet with my mate Paul that I would have married Elvis Costello within five years. That was around three years ago and he still sends me e-mails asking how I'm doing. We went to see the show being recorded because Elvis was appearing. EC waved at me, much to Paul's chagrin. If you can stand boogie woogie piano I'd really recomend going. You see some reall good artists in a much more intimate setting than you ever would normally. Mary J Blige was fucking fantasic and just across the room. You also get to see the artists who are not performing dancing away to other people (who'd have thought Mary J would get so into Soundtrack of Our Lives?).

Am I reading this correctly?

and yes Kardinal Offishall is on the new Texas single - he's quite rubbish on it tho, appropriately enough

Somewhat unsurprisingly, I was the oldest person there by some 10 years; an old half-remembered John Peel interview kept popping into my head, where he's talking about still going to Extreme Noise Terror gigs well into his 50s, his main concern being that everyone else there'll think he's just there to stand at the back and look at the bottoms...

Anyway, no chance of that, as I was cajoled into "dancing" to Sean Paul by the short but forceful warm-up guy. And then suddenly I was standing next to a podium-mounted Cat Deeley! *SCREAM!* Funny, I was expecting her not to be in the slightest bit pretty in the flesh, but...well, she is. And dead friendly and self-deprecating too. Wow.

Naturally I scarpered, for fear of *actually appearing on camera* during a link or something, but I hovered in the background for the GA interview. The grubbly little racist one was away, but the others were all present and correct. None of them was especially interesting tho, and the ginger one looked *absolutely terrified* throughout.

Then they did a terrific medley of their three singles, in order - that 12 minutes made it all worthwhile! (two run-throughs, y'see - one with forework things that didn't really work properly and one without) Now I want to see them at a proper gig...

And to cap it all, I bloody missed the show when it was on telly! Feh.

Oi...

Clea could be fun, seeing as how their career basically ended at #21 on Sunday.

If you get close enough to Murray or Bacon, please throw something at them for me.

Bother, I need to think of a new article. Hmm...actually I have an idea!

Another idol bites the dust.

Which all seemed rather strange when we learned who was on: Beck (fun), Another Level (not), Culture Club (decidedly crusty that eve), Emma Spice + Tin Tin Out (dissapointing, as we knew *a* Spice would be on the show, but we were hoping for Geri), and some flavor-of-the-mo' patois-rapper with dance skillz.

Was also at the filming of the New Years' Eve 2k TUBE special, which was very odd. Prince performed in the mid-afternoon, about 6 hours before anyone else taped. They ran through the song twice -- but only once with HRPurpleness. The second verison featured the band AND crowd miming for reaction shots.

The studio for the main taping was divided, so we missed quite a number of performances, tho the only one I remember feeling abd about was Belle+Sebastian. Robbie Williams was fun, Paul McCartney's face looke dlike it had melted off, tho they did some nice stuff whena couple of the Travis lads joined them for a song or two. And I remember Beverley Knight doing something purty, but I always did like her.