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Maestro and Soccer Aid

Maestro and Soccer Aid
  • Posted at 12:02pm
  • 12 September 2008
  • by DavidButcher-RT
  • 4 comments

Will we ever grow tired of watching celebrities doing things they're not very good at? After ballroom dancing, performing circus tricks etc, we've now had Soccer Aid (7 September ITV1) and the Maestro finale (9 September BBC2) in the space of a few days. Soccer Aid, a charity game featuring showbiz stars and former football legends (plus Jamie Redknapp), was rich with moments that made you rub your eyes. I never thought I'd live to see Angus Deayton skinned by Luis Figo, or Alan Shearer heading a goal courtesy of a lovely cross from the McFly guitarist Danny Jones. It was priceless - and about five times more exciting than your average Premiership game (more sporting, too).

Maestro, meanwhile, daringly combined our love of flailing celebs with a more upmarket challenge - conducting a symphony orchestra without crashing, or looking like frantic Tom in the Tom and Jerry cartoon where Jerry gatecrashes his concert.

The beauty of the show was that its moonlighting stars were genuinely fulfilling a dream, not putting up with humiliation for a PR lift. They loved it. But in the semi-final, newsreader Katie Derham's coach pushed her too hard: she snapped and, in one of the year's TV moments, stormed off in a four-letter huff, like a sulky teenager. Given how regal and fake-smiley she had been throughout, the outburst (and subsequent eviction) had me punching the air with guilty pleasure.

Jane Asher's progression to the final, though, was against the odds. Anyone who saw her jerky version of Bernstein's Mambo in the second programme will find the image horribly hard to forget, like watching your headmistress getting down at the school disco. She got better, way better, but she was a makeweight in the final, which was a duel between electronic musician Goldie and comedian Sue Perkins. I was sure Goldie would win. His authority and sheer, sweeping expressiveness with a baton was magical: people would (and probably will) pay to watch him conduct Rachmaninov.

But perky Sue, grinning at the orchestra conspiratorially as if they were having just too much fun together, edged it, a worthy winner to a joyous show. I wonder if she can play football?

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Comments

  • Posted on 16 September 2008
  • at 2:34pm
  • by Alex

I must admit to being surprised and disappointed by David Butcher's misjudged criticism of Katie Derham.

She may have been more self-conscious than ideally would have been the case, which didn't allow us to see the best from her but she was never anything less than totally committed to the task and demonstrated considerable talent. Not only was she pushed very hard by her mentor, who was intent on teaching her how to conduct rather than just the necessary motions for that week's piece of music, she also coped admirably with being consistently marked down by the disingenuous judging of Zoe Martlew.

To delight in someone being moved to tears by being placed under continued and unwarranted pressure, particularly someone who is undoubtedly a genuinely nice person, is frankly, unbecoming.

  • Posted on 16 September 2008
  • at 2:34pm
  • by Alex

I must admit to being surprised and disappointed by David Butcher's misjudged criticism of Katie Derham.

She may have been more self-conscious than ideally would have been the case, which didn't allow us to see the best from her but she was never anything less than totally committed to the task and demonstrated considerable talent. Not only was she pushed very hard by her mentor, who was intent on teaching her how to conduct rather than just the necessary motions for that week's piece of music, she also coped admirably with being consistently marked down by the disingenuous judging of Zoe Martlew.

To delight in someone being moved to tears by being placed under continued and unwarranted pressure, particularly someone who is undoubtedly a genuinely nice person, is frankly, unbecoming.

  • Posted on 15 September 2008
  • at 1:43pm
  • by Ionaclio

I sincerely hope that there will be a second series of Maestro. It was absolutely wonderful to have a reality show where the audience did not make the usual whooping noises of appreciation. It suited our family viewing admirably. Sue was a worthy winner but we also thought that Goldie would claim the crown as his conducting was excellent. Oh yes, how we punched the air too in this house when the saintly Katie fell from grace.....She might qualify for the next Big Brother series....What did people make of the judges though? One or two of those esteemed people I would have liked to slap...Bravo to all the contestants though for such excellent entertainment over the series.

  • Posted on 14 September 2008
  • at 6:13pm
  • by Laura

Couldnt agree more with David Butcher's assessment of both Soccer Aid and Maestro, the latter of which I caught on the iplayer and was completely hooked, made sure I downloaded episode two straight away! I think a mention should also be made for Bradley Walsh who's tomfoolery and Norman Wisdom-like physical comedy really brightened up what was sometimes a serious and tense competition! The sheer brilliance of the BBC Symphony orchestra's performances sometimes with much more hindrance than help from their never less than passionate if not quite professional conductors really took out the guilt and greatly increased the pleasure of this celebrity reality tv vehicle - a second series in the pipeline?

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