When I read about this documentary programme advertised, I recognised a couple of the things mentioned that would be included, and I had my guesses of what else may be included, so I was really looking forward to watching. Basically the show was a three hour collection of clips, focusing on the mostly negative moments on television and public, including on the news, live broadcasts, music events, stage performance, interviews, discussion shows, social media, and much more.
These moments included live or pre-recorded mistakes, embarrassing incidents, technical errors, tasteless or inappropriate material that caused controversy, laughably bad stuff, and many more, all based around pop stars, in Britain and/or around the world.
Pop stars going wrong included: Harry Styles falling offstage; Lady Gaga falling offstage with a fan; Grace Jones falling over while leaning on a chair, then continuing to sing on the floor; and Justin Bieber in Spain in an awkward radio interview, the hosts wanted to make a viral video to "break the internet", but he walked out, ironically his bratty behaviour in this footage did go viral. Controversial music moments included: Green Day at a Las Vegas music festival, where lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong swears about the fact they are overrunning, with time up he smashes the electric guitar, Billie Joe went to rehab after this incident; Robin Thicke "Blurred Lines" became a global hit, but was considered misogynist, had an explicit video, and Miley Cyrus twerking against Thicke caused a stir at the MTV Awards, the song was banned in 20 UK universities, and it went to court for plagiarism, accused of copying the Marvin Gaye song "Got to Give It Up", the Gaye family were awarded $7.4 million and Thicke disappeared; George Michael was caught in 1998 in a public toilet and arrested for committing a lewd act, this confirmed he was gay, Michael was fined and sentenced to community service, after which he released "Outside" with lyrics and video poking fun at the incident; Five (or 5ive) achieved fame, but there were many stories about arguments among the band members, including a violent argument during a photoshoot, Jason "J" Brown was accused of bullying, and Scott Robinson couldn't do it anymore, they split in 2001, until The Big Reunion brought them (without J) together again. Other pop stars going wrong included: Kanye West throwing his microphone up in the air after a sound problem at the Pan American Games in Canada; Elton John swearing at the paparazzi and calling them "rude vile pigs"; Snoop Dogg turning up five hours late meeting fans, he was stopped at the border by customs in Oslo, interviewer Atle Jorstad asked him why he was late, Snoop is rude, he was later banned from Norway for possession of thousands in undeclared cash and marijuana; Miley Cyrus was performing in Melbourne when a female fan tried to grab her from behind, Miley is taken away by the bouncer who grabbed the intruder; and Afroman ("Because I Got High") is on stage playing guitar, a fan stands onstage next to him, he slapped her, then carries on playing after doing so, he was arrested, pleaded guilty for assault and took anger management, the fan sued and got a settlement. Music talent show The X Factor included embarrassing and controversial moments, including: contestant Tommy Ludford performing during the Six Chair Challenge and finished falling backwards off stage ; contestants Avenue made it to Judges Houses, and are chosen for the final three, but they were discovered to have already been signed to a management, Louis Walsh told them they were disqualified; and X Factor winner James Arthur caused outrage, UK rapper Micky Worthless criticised Arthur in tweets and a song, Arthur responded with his own derogatory rap song, using the word "queer", offending the LGBT community, and there was an online and text feud between him and fellow lesbian X Factor contestant Lucy Spraggan, he also released a song "Follow the Leader" with the horrible lyric "I'm gonna blow up your family like a terrorist", he lost his recording contract and disappeared for three years. Pop stars failing and being humiliated included: Toni Braxton was performing at a theatre in New Jersey having a wardrobe malfunction unintentionally exposing her bum and is completely unaware, and she invites fans onstage who get an eyeful, the wardrobe department eventually give her a jacket; Jedward (John and Edward Grimes) performed at T4 On the Beach, Edward did a backflip and landed badly, he tore the ligaments in his leg, he continued with John despite the injury; singer Miguel Pimental performed his song "Adorn" at the Billboard Music Awards, he made an unsuccessful running jump from the stage to the walkway, he dropkicked a fan in the head and crushed another when landing, two years later one of the injured fans sued him; and SuRie was representing the UK at Eurovision Song Contest with "Storm", her performance is interrupted by a stage invader who grabs her microphone, shouting and protesting about the UK media, Graham Norton narrating doesn't know what to say, SuRie finished the song with ironic lyrics, but did not win the contest, coming third to last. Shocking pop star moments included: Shakin' Stevens being out of tune singing "Merry Christmas Everyone" on Loose Women; Color Me Badd members Mark Calderon and Bryan Abrams (who have both gained weight) performing live at a hall, Bryan leaves Mark to sing "I Wanna Sex You Up" alone, when the song finishes Bryan returns to stage and pushes Mark offstage; and Bucks Fizz were on a tour bus in Newcastle, which smashed into a lorry, the bus was extensively damaged, no-one was killed in the shocking incident, but band members Cheryl Baker and Mike Nolan went through the windscreen, Cheryl broke her back and Mike went into a coma with a blood clot on his brain, he died and had to be revived, he recovered and had to learn to walk, eat and speak again. More music based blunders included: Shaun Ryder swearing during a live interview with Chris Evans on TFI Friday, and then he returned three weeks later swearing against whilst performing a Johnny Rotten song live, he was (and still is now) banned from appearing live on Channel 4; Shabba Ranks was interviewed by Mark LaMarr on The Word, discussing homophobia in a song by Buju Banton, Shabba said gay people should be "crucified" according to the Bible, this essentially ended his career; and Icelandic band Sigur Ross (whose music featured on Planet Earth) were interviewed on the radio by Luke Burbank, but are very quiet, with long silent pauses, and only give short answers. Other music related calamities included: Chris Brown was in a relationship with Rihanna, but Brown was arrested for assault, Rihanna was photographed was severe bruises on her face, Brown was sentenced to six months of community service; Shane MacGowan performed in Belgium highly inebriated, his bandmate "Animal" was also highly drunk, Animal slams his head into a mirror, the interviewer tries to end their chat but MacGowan wouldn't leave, this encounter is both funny and tragic; and when Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin was married to Gwyneth Paltrow, they were seen leaving hospital following Gwyneth's mystery illness, Chris attacked a paparazzi cameraman, it was later revealed that Gwyneth had a miscarriage, so this may have caused his outburst, both men were in the wrong. Further pop star fails included: Meat Loaf performing in Canada ended his show with "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)", he started to mumble, then collapsed on stage, the musicians stopped playing to go and help him, the auditorium audience was cleared and Meat Loaf was taken to hospital; Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain was married to Hole lead singer Courtney Love, Cobain committed suicide in 1994, Courtney made the press for outrageous behaviour after, but Hole reunited in 2011 for a gig in Brazil, but a fan upset Courtney holding up an image of Kurt during the performance, she loses it, swearing at the fan and walks off stage, she eventually came back to continue; and Gun N' Roses lead singer Axl Rose during a performance in Missouri leaps into the audience to stop an audience member taking photographs, he went back onstage, smashed the microphone and walked off, causing a riot. The final pop star blunder was: The Beatles singer John Lennon causing controversy saying the band were "bigger than Jesus", he got death threats, and less of their music played, they called a press conference to apologise if what he said was taken out of context.
I had my guesses what music and pop star related moments would be included, the bad ones, the funny or unfunny ones and the awkward ones, I always enjoy the nostalgia seeing these moments again, but it was good to learn about those I did not know, and the serious stuff as well, overall it was an interesting and watchable documentary.
Narrated by Sarah Cawood, with contributions from Jay Aston (Bucks Fizz), Stephen Bailey, Nicki Chapman, Mikey Cobban (Roadtrip), Jess Conrad, Jimmy Constable (911), Hal Cruttenden, Sam Darlaston (DJ), Jim Davis (DJ), Paul Gambaccini, singer Jaki Graham, Tom Green (DJ), Kevin Hughes (journalist and broadcaster), rapper DJ Ironik, pop star Kris James, singer Kele Le Roc, Andrew Levy (musician, Brand New Heavies), The X Factor singer Tommy Ludford, comedian Evelyn Mok, Nathan Moore (Brother Beyond), Tony Moore (musician, Iron Maiden & Cutting Crew), Ritchie Neville (5ive), Mike Nolan (Bucks Fizz), Ben Ofaodu (Phats & Small and Boyz on the Block), Mike Read, Scott Robinson (5ive), Sinitta, SuRie, Jamie Tinkler (former member of Avenue), The X Factor's Katie Waissel, and Toyah Willcox. Very good!
These moments included live or pre-recorded mistakes, embarrassing incidents, technical errors, tasteless or inappropriate material that caused controversy, laughably bad stuff, and many more, all based around pop stars, in Britain and/or around the world.
Pop stars going wrong included: Harry Styles falling offstage; Lady Gaga falling offstage with a fan; Grace Jones falling over while leaning on a chair, then continuing to sing on the floor; and Justin Bieber in Spain in an awkward radio interview, the hosts wanted to make a viral video to "break the internet", but he walked out, ironically his bratty behaviour in this footage did go viral. Controversial music moments included: Green Day at a Las Vegas music festival, where lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong swears about the fact they are overrunning, with time up he smashes the electric guitar, Billie Joe went to rehab after this incident; Robin Thicke "Blurred Lines" became a global hit, but was considered misogynist, had an explicit video, and Miley Cyrus twerking against Thicke caused a stir at the MTV Awards, the song was banned in 20 UK universities, and it went to court for plagiarism, accused of copying the Marvin Gaye song "Got to Give It Up", the Gaye family were awarded $7.4 million and Thicke disappeared; George Michael was caught in 1998 in a public toilet and arrested for committing a lewd act, this confirmed he was gay, Michael was fined and sentenced to community service, after which he released "Outside" with lyrics and video poking fun at the incident; Five (or 5ive) achieved fame, but there were many stories about arguments among the band members, including a violent argument during a photoshoot, Jason "J" Brown was accused of bullying, and Scott Robinson couldn't do it anymore, they split in 2001, until The Big Reunion brought them (without J) together again. Other pop stars going wrong included: Kanye West throwing his microphone up in the air after a sound problem at the Pan American Games in Canada; Elton John swearing at the paparazzi and calling them "rude vile pigs"; Snoop Dogg turning up five hours late meeting fans, he was stopped at the border by customs in Oslo, interviewer Atle Jorstad asked him why he was late, Snoop is rude, he was later banned from Norway for possession of thousands in undeclared cash and marijuana; Miley Cyrus was performing in Melbourne when a female fan tried to grab her from behind, Miley is taken away by the bouncer who grabbed the intruder; and Afroman ("Because I Got High") is on stage playing guitar, a fan stands onstage next to him, he slapped her, then carries on playing after doing so, he was arrested, pleaded guilty for assault and took anger management, the fan sued and got a settlement. Music talent show The X Factor included embarrassing and controversial moments, including: contestant Tommy Ludford performing during the Six Chair Challenge and finished falling backwards off stage ; contestants Avenue made it to Judges Houses, and are chosen for the final three, but they were discovered to have already been signed to a management, Louis Walsh told them they were disqualified; and X Factor winner James Arthur caused outrage, UK rapper Micky Worthless criticised Arthur in tweets and a song, Arthur responded with his own derogatory rap song, using the word "queer", offending the LGBT community, and there was an online and text feud between him and fellow lesbian X Factor contestant Lucy Spraggan, he also released a song "Follow the Leader" with the horrible lyric "I'm gonna blow up your family like a terrorist", he lost his recording contract and disappeared for three years. Pop stars failing and being humiliated included: Toni Braxton was performing at a theatre in New Jersey having a wardrobe malfunction unintentionally exposing her bum and is completely unaware, and she invites fans onstage who get an eyeful, the wardrobe department eventually give her a jacket; Jedward (John and Edward Grimes) performed at T4 On the Beach, Edward did a backflip and landed badly, he tore the ligaments in his leg, he continued with John despite the injury; singer Miguel Pimental performed his song "Adorn" at the Billboard Music Awards, he made an unsuccessful running jump from the stage to the walkway, he dropkicked a fan in the head and crushed another when landing, two years later one of the injured fans sued him; and SuRie was representing the UK at Eurovision Song Contest with "Storm", her performance is interrupted by a stage invader who grabs her microphone, shouting and protesting about the UK media, Graham Norton narrating doesn't know what to say, SuRie finished the song with ironic lyrics, but did not win the contest, coming third to last. Shocking pop star moments included: Shakin' Stevens being out of tune singing "Merry Christmas Everyone" on Loose Women; Color Me Badd members Mark Calderon and Bryan Abrams (who have both gained weight) performing live at a hall, Bryan leaves Mark to sing "I Wanna Sex You Up" alone, when the song finishes Bryan returns to stage and pushes Mark offstage; and Bucks Fizz were on a tour bus in Newcastle, which smashed into a lorry, the bus was extensively damaged, no-one was killed in the shocking incident, but band members Cheryl Baker and Mike Nolan went through the windscreen, Cheryl broke her back and Mike went into a coma with a blood clot on his brain, he died and had to be revived, he recovered and had to learn to walk, eat and speak again. More music based blunders included: Shaun Ryder swearing during a live interview with Chris Evans on TFI Friday, and then he returned three weeks later swearing against whilst performing a Johnny Rotten song live, he was (and still is now) banned from appearing live on Channel 4; Shabba Ranks was interviewed by Mark LaMarr on The Word, discussing homophobia in a song by Buju Banton, Shabba said gay people should be "crucified" according to the Bible, this essentially ended his career; and Icelandic band Sigur Ross (whose music featured on Planet Earth) were interviewed on the radio by Luke Burbank, but are very quiet, with long silent pauses, and only give short answers. Other music related calamities included: Chris Brown was in a relationship with Rihanna, but Brown was arrested for assault, Rihanna was photographed was severe bruises on her face, Brown was sentenced to six months of community service; Shane MacGowan performed in Belgium highly inebriated, his bandmate "Animal" was also highly drunk, Animal slams his head into a mirror, the interviewer tries to end their chat but MacGowan wouldn't leave, this encounter is both funny and tragic; and when Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin was married to Gwyneth Paltrow, they were seen leaving hospital following Gwyneth's mystery illness, Chris attacked a paparazzi cameraman, it was later revealed that Gwyneth had a miscarriage, so this may have caused his outburst, both men were in the wrong. Further pop star fails included: Meat Loaf performing in Canada ended his show with "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)", he started to mumble, then collapsed on stage, the musicians stopped playing to go and help him, the auditorium audience was cleared and Meat Loaf was taken to hospital; Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain was married to Hole lead singer Courtney Love, Cobain committed suicide in 1994, Courtney made the press for outrageous behaviour after, but Hole reunited in 2011 for a gig in Brazil, but a fan upset Courtney holding up an image of Kurt during the performance, she loses it, swearing at the fan and walks off stage, she eventually came back to continue; and Gun N' Roses lead singer Axl Rose during a performance in Missouri leaps into the audience to stop an audience member taking photographs, he went back onstage, smashed the microphone and walked off, causing a riot. The final pop star blunder was: The Beatles singer John Lennon causing controversy saying the band were "bigger than Jesus", he got death threats, and less of their music played, they called a press conference to apologise if what he said was taken out of context.
I had my guesses what music and pop star related moments would be included, the bad ones, the funny or unfunny ones and the awkward ones, I always enjoy the nostalgia seeing these moments again, but it was good to learn about those I did not know, and the serious stuff as well, overall it was an interesting and watchable documentary.
Narrated by Sarah Cawood, with contributions from Jay Aston (Bucks Fizz), Stephen Bailey, Nicki Chapman, Mikey Cobban (Roadtrip), Jess Conrad, Jimmy Constable (911), Hal Cruttenden, Sam Darlaston (DJ), Jim Davis (DJ), Paul Gambaccini, singer Jaki Graham, Tom Green (DJ), Kevin Hughes (journalist and broadcaster), rapper DJ Ironik, pop star Kris James, singer Kele Le Roc, Andrew Levy (musician, Brand New Heavies), The X Factor singer Tommy Ludford, comedian Evelyn Mok, Nathan Moore (Brother Beyond), Tony Moore (musician, Iron Maiden & Cutting Crew), Ritchie Neville (5ive), Mike Nolan (Bucks Fizz), Ben Ofaodu (Phats & Small and Boyz on the Block), Mike Read, Scott Robinson (5ive), Sinitta, SuRie, Jamie Tinkler (former member of Avenue), The X Factor's Katie Waissel, and Toyah Willcox. Very good!
