George Michael sings Last Christmas in first look at WHAM! documentary
The documentary will delve into the ups and downs of the lives of the ‘80s pop duo.
Netflix is expanding its offering of intriguing documentaries with brand new film WHAM!, which will delve into the ups and downs of the lives of Wham! singers George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.
Through archival footage and interviews, WHAM! will look at how the iconic group formed in Bushey in 1981, after Michael and Ridgeley crossed paths at Bushey Meads School.
The documentary will tell the story of how the duo became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, and also pay tribute to the life and career of Michael – and now we have a first-look clip from the documentary, exclusively for RadioTimes.com.
In the footage, Michael speaks about his expectations for Wham!’s 1984 single Last Christmas, which was held off the top spot in the UK singles chart by Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas?.
"I always get really shy when there’s loads of other pop stars about. I just tend to clam up a bit," he says in the clip.
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"The song is really catchy. It's a major threat to our fourth No 1."
Asked about Wham!'s next single, Michael says: "It’s called Last Christmas. It’s a Christmas single."
Asked whether it's Christmassy, he says "very", before proceeding to sing the first lines of the song.
There have been numerous films documenting Michael's life over the years, most recently Channel 4's George Michael: Outed, which delved into the singer's 1998 arrest that led to his public coming out.
However, speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, director Chris Smith revealed how WHAM! differs from previous docs, admitting that he "intentionally" focused on Wham! as a group rather than on Andrew or George individually.
"I didn't look at the later documentaries that exist. We were focused on the period from 1980 to 1986 when Wham! existed. So, for us, it was like looking at the material and trying to find a way to tell it that felt reflective of the experience that they shared," he explained.
"I think at the beginning, going into it, you never know how these things are going to unfold or how many people you're going to talk to, but pretty quickly we realised that there was an opportunity to tell the story through the friendship of these two kids, and that kind of became the focus," he added.
WHAM! Will be available to stream on Netflix from Wednesday 5th July. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
Check out our lists of the best series on Netflix and the best movies on Netflix, or see what else is on with our TV Guide.
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