Comic Relief 2011 - Doing something funny for money

By Jason Wright (Entertainment Expert)

SINCE its inception back in 1988, Comic Relief has raised more than over £400 million to help disadvantaged children in both UK and Africa, thanks to its successful Red Nose Day campaign.  Over the last few years, the record for fundraising in a campaign has always been broken and this year was no exception.

     A massive £74.4 million was raised on the night on Friday and where as the final total on the last Red Nose Day finished up on just over £80 million, this figure is expected to topple this when the final totals are published in a few months time.  In total, the biggest donations came from the following:

BT raised £1.7 million for their sponsorship of the Celebrity Desert Trek

Sainsbury’s raised £10 million for sales of official merchandise, a new record for the supermarket

TK Maxx raised £3 million for sales of official t-shirts

Maltesers raised £1.1 million for a public competition

Walkers raised £1.2 million for sales of four special crisp flavours

British Airways raised £801,000 for sales of special scratch cards on selected flights

BBC raised £2.9 for some of their stars attempting various tasks

The remaining £53.7 million was provided by public donations

     BBC One again provided a full evening’s worth of entertainment to help fundraising initiatives.  The programme featured comical sketches of Doctor Who, Outnumbered, Miranda and MasterChef, which featured an appearance by none other than Prime Minister David Cameron himself.  Also, Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton attempted to pull off a high wire walk between two of London’s tallest buildings and Radio 1’s Chris Moyles and Comedy Dave succeeded in fronting the station’s longest ever show, at a staggering 53 hours, setting a new Guinness World Record in the process.

     David Walliams also proved his stern material to survive long hours by attempting to appear on as many panel shows in 24 hours.  ’24 Hour Panel People’, which was broadcast on the BBC website, saw Walliams joined by a selection of guests to participate in various shows past and present, including 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Have I Got News For You, Never Mind The Buzzcocks and They Think It’s All Over.

     Nine famous faces endured an energy-zapping trek across the Kenyan desert to raise nearly £2 million which featured Scott Mills, Lorraine Kelly, Kara Tointon, Dermot O’Leary and Olly Murs.  Meanwhile, Ant and Dec were challenged by Comic Relief to gatecrash as many shows as they could in 24 hours unannounced and steal various items to auction off.  Daybreak, This Morning, Loose Women and The One Show were among those that were targeted.

     On the music front, the campaign has brought out two songs.  Rising boy band The Wanted provided the official track ‘Gold Forever’, the first original song for Red Nose Day since 2005.  However response of the track was largely negative.  The other is another comical edition which has Peter Kay on board again, reprising his alter ego Geraldine McQueen to team up with Susan Boyle to perform ‘I Know Him So Well,’ originally sung by Elaine Page.  As expected, this has gone down as a huge hit and it won’t be surprising if it claims top spot in the charts next Sunday.

     All in all, it has been another successful night for the charity.  Now everyone is indeed wondering how they will top those events for 2013.  A whole 731 days must pass before then.

The BRIT Awards 2010 - A Celebration of Top-Notch Music

This blog was first published on February 17th at http://happydude88.livejournal.com/

Last night saw music’s biggest night of the year at London’s Earls Court. As ever the BRIT awards didn’t disappoint with a night of questionable fashion dresses, stunning music performances and surprising winners.

The big winner of last night was Lady Gaga. Gaga was nominated in three categories and won in all three for Best International Album, Best International Breakthrough Act & Best International Female Solo Artist. She was very emotional and thanked her fans massively for what she considered, was a major surprise. However, her fashion sense was less to be desired. Once again, Lady Gaga’s personality toppled her music. She clearly was affected by the tragic death of fashion designer, Alexander McQueen last week and her performance live was terrible. It was an unrecognisable piece and by pressing the same button regularly on an electronic keyboard, it felt like a 6-year old could have done a better job. Nevertheless, it was a moving tribute to a sorely missed figure in the fashion industry.

On a British side, JLS were the starring performers, with one of the most breathtaking live performances of the night and two awards. It has been an incredible year for the boy band, the 2008 X-Factor runners-up and the group is probably amongst the biggest band for a generation. They were very gracious and thanked almost everybody for their awards. Their win of Best British Single for ‘Beat Again,’ was a major surprise, as the smart money with the bookmakers was with Cheryl Cole’s hit ‘Fight for this Love.’

Speaking of Cole, it was clear that she is struggling personally with her life at the moment, following further revelations of Ashley Cole’s shocking behaviour, which could well end their marriage. She looked down all night and her performance certainly wasn’t that inspiring. One of the best performances was the much-anticipated duet between Dizzee Rascal and Florence + the Machine. The duet for “You’ve Got the Dirtee Love’ might hit the charts as a charity contribution for the Haiti earthquake appeal. It was a great link and both were big winners too on the night. Dizzee edged out Robbie Williams for the title of Best British Solo Artist and Florence thoroughly deserved her award for the MasterCard Album of the Year, for the stunning album ‘Lungs.’

Funny moments of the nights included Lily Allen’s orange wig disguise so the cameras couldn’t pick up a disappointed face for Best British Female Solo Artist. Unfortunately for Lily, she couldn’t hide from the screen as she won the award, her first BRIT. Plus, it completes a full circle for the outspoken artist, who severely criticised the BRITS for their purpose just three years ago. Six years after their breakthrough, Kasabian finally won their first BRIT for Best British Group. In collecting the award, Tom from the band fell over on the stage, probably leaving him with bruising in the morning. However, the award win will probably make up for that.


Liam Gallagher’s childish acting was the one low point of the entire night. Oasis won the Best British Album for 30 Years, (celebrating the 30th anniversary), but didn’t thank his brother Noel on stage, following their bitter split last August. He then chucked his microphone and BRIT award into the crowd, reportedly smashing Alan Carr’s glasses. Gallagher was then called a k##b by the presenter, Peter Kay and rightly so. It was a shameful act and his expletives used in the ITV2 after-party show suggested it wasn’t a heat-in-the-moment incident.

To finish off, Robbie Williams is well and truly back. His medley concert performance at the end, to celebrate winning the BRIT Outstanding Contribution Award was sensational. He delighted the crowd with a showcase of old and new songs, anyone who can question Robbie’s well-being should think again about what they are saying if they watch his performance last night.

The BRIT awards in recent years have been dismal, with drunken performances, low-quality presenters and a distinct lack of organisation. However, it returned to its glamorous days last night, and apart from one individual who tried to ruin things, it was a great ceremony and probably a spectacular party. 2009 was a great year for UK music, let’s hope 2010 continues the tread…