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The Go!Go!Go! Show
For details on booking tickets to see "The Go!Go!Go! Show", visit the News Section
Reviews of "The Go!Go!Go! Show", currently on at The Leicester Square Theatre:
The Stage: "...a veritable sugar rush for the holidays - a gleeful concoction of bubblegum pop and Hi-NRG bass..." and "...Go!Go!Go!...you'd have to go some to find a perkier show for children this summer"
Visit London: "...the kids had a blast"
The Times: "...my two girls, aged 5 and 2... on the Tube home from this new pop musical, the older one asked, "When can we go and see Go!Go!Go! again"" and "Polly, 2... begged to be read the programme for her bedtime story"
Read reviews in full:-
http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/29060/the-go-go-go-show The Stage and
http://blog.visitlondon.com/2010/07/the-go-go-go-show-at-leicester-square-theatre%20Visit Visit London
Eurovision 2010
OSL0
A long way to go to come last.
Still, I'm completely happy with the integrity of our UK effort this year. I also understand why we came bottom of the heap. We all know why Germany won, and it's not just because of political or partisan voting.
Although there is definitely an East / West split in Eurovision. It has become a competition between the Viking alliance and the Baltic confederation. Germany straddles this divide quite nicely, but it still wasn't the main reason for their win.
All the songs in the competition that Pete Waterman and I liked came nowhere. What's wrong with our ears? At least the Irish girl had a lovely voice and a moving song. The Portugese girl also sang a nice musical and lyrical number. Both big ballads of course. But they did badly in the voting.
All other songs were either ethnic style dance records or very derivative of American or British modern pop. From Shakira to Beyonce, from Oh Danny Boy to Walking in Memphis. Maybe a couple of writs for plagiarism would be in order.
When I first saw the German girl I thought there was something wrong or strange about her. Zany, or sweetly scatterbrained. Not quite all there. But it was just an act. Quite a number of British artists have adopted this approach. You pronounce words a bit oddly. You appear deranged and whacky, and it seems to work. Singing in English, as she did, Lena made the picture complete. The song was average and on the night I couldn't understand the lyric. Her accent was so strange. All German and cockney. Weird. Why did everybody like it so much? Surely they couldn't understand it either? It can only mean that many of the voting countries knew the song backwards and had heard it many times before. Otherwise surely everyone would have struggled like me.
Pete, Steve and I believed we had a right to expect that the BBC, having enlisted our help, would have supported the artist and song by playing it on the radio and featuring on TV wherever possible. This is what assisted not just the German entry, but most other countries as well. We in Britain can't make up our mind if we like Eurovision or not. Is it just a camp extravaganza or a song competition to take seriously? But the BBC in radio and TV showed no enthusiasm to support us. It's the same most years, apart from last year, of course, with Lord Lloyd-Webber.
I have read many posts on the forum and appreciate the support and encouragement. I would comment on one or two recent ones that Matt Aitken and Pete Hammond should get involved, in order to recreate an 80s style. We took a decision that we would not go that route. It would have been relatively simple and well within the grasp of my team at present to go all dance pop and HNRG. But Josh is the type of performer where this can't work. However, I am planning to work with a young girl singer for whom this approach would be appropriate. It's the old phrase horses for courses.
I absolutely do not accept that our song was the worst in the competition. Pete and I thought we'd be lucky to finish mid-table and we knew we couldn't win it. Finishing last was down to voting patterns of a partisan nature. I hold my head up and state that our song was one of only a few which was an honest attempt at a new pop song with a new artist. There were no tricks and we didn't resort to Eurotrash.
Good luck to Germany and Lena, but please don't expect me to say it's a good song. It was a comprehensive and expensive promotional campaign. It was a hit record before the competition and fully supported by the German media. The BBC would not and could not support us to that extent. If the UK still wants to do it next year it has to change its approach.
So it will be in Germany next time. Which is still a long way to go to come last.
Unofficial Facebook.
It's probably harmless, but I do need to point out that there is a Facebook site which is phoney. This might convince certain people that it is genuinely to do with me.
Please don't be fooled. I would not feel comfortable with people asking opinion or seeking advice or generally chatting on the site in the mistaken belief that they were actually talking to me. So, I do NOT have a Facebook page. Any comments from the people who are operating this bogus entry are not doing so with my consent. As I say it's probably harmless but be aware.
Mike.
That Sounds Good To Me
Just thought I'd give a final update on Josh Dubovie and the song for Europe.
We mixed the record on Friday and everyone seems to love it. Josh sounds great and we think the style of the new version is better suited to him. The song will be on the Eurovision compilation album which is released before May 29th but we will also release it as a single in the UK.
We'll be concentrating now on developing a stage act for Josh with backing vocalists and a bit of choreography. But mostly it's about rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal. I'll give further updates regarding these preparations in due course which will include styling, photo shoots etc. I expect there will be plenty of press and magazine interest and I'll let you know of any major TV or radio appearances. But for the song itself, that's all over and completed; I can do no more.
That's it for now.
Mike
Calm down dear, it’s only a pop song.
Just to keep everyone updated I have now worked with Josh in the studio and the song, now tailor made to his style and attributes, is shaping up very well.
I'm much happier now. In fact, I'm delighted. Josh is a very nice guy and easy to work with. Now that we're making a record to suit him I can also report that he is an extremely talented singer. There is no doubt that the public vote went the right way and now I'm doing my utmost to justify their faith in us. For now, that's all I want to say on the subject.
I would like to mention the misleading extract quoted from my previous message. I believe the BBC did the right thing in ensuring that all six finalists had a fair crack of the whip. This made my job harder, of course. But I'm glad I stayed up half the night on several occasions to allow for this. The over-arching concern of the BBC was for fairness and they got it. What is more interesting is the thousands of negative comments from all and sundry. It's only a pop song after all. And it's for Eurovision. So what people get so worked up about, I don't know. It's not the Gettysburg address. It's not the Ten Commandments. It's a pop song.
I seem to remember, in the days before the Internet, that the venom and aggression always came from the trendy music press. So many journalists and pop commentators had SAW down as being as evil as muggers and rapists. When I put the Fast Food Song out in 2003 the internet was more important, but the aggressive negativity was the same. Perhaps someone can explain why people who have no interest in our kind of Pop music feel the need to punish themselves by listening to it and then writing about it?
Actually, I know the answer. Music is important. Songs are important. Singers are important. It has always been the case over many years of doing this, that the more critics you have at the start of a promotional campaign, the bigger the hit you end up with. If half the people love it and half hate it, it's a good thing. The response at the moment proves only that you can't ignore it. I'm quite happy for passions to be stirred and for comments negative and positive to flow in abundance. I'll give another update next week.
Mike
Eurovision 2010
Just time to take a breath and reply to all the various questions and comments on the subject of the new song for Europe.
The BBC have their way of doing things. On balance I am happy that Josh won the public vote. However, what I found most frustrating was having to record six different versions of ‘That Sounds Good To Me' incomplete and unfinished. Obviously until you know who has won you can't deliver the final version. This is what has made this year slightly unusual.
Nevertheless, I am now busy getting together the final version which will be significantly different from what has already been served up. I accept the comments that have been posted on the forum and I expect in a short while for everyone to be pleasantly surprised at the end result.
The thinking behind this song is that Eurovision is a theatrical event as much as a song contest. So our song has elements of a show number alongside dance pop. The lyric has a general theme and is not gender specific or too personal.
We need to spice up the performance generally, but in Josh we have a safe pair of lungs who can deliver in these highly charged pressurised circumstances. This is great news for me because we can concentrate on delivering a thumping and exciting mix without worrying if the singer can cope.
Actually the song works in all ways and styles. I have tried it with just a piano accompaniment and it still works. The question is, what style is best? In that regard I am waiting until after Josh has been to the studio and I have recorded his vocals. Then I can tailor make the track to support him. I have not heard him sing in a studio context and this will reveal quite a lot, I think, and lead me to some answers.
Enough for now. Josh is working with me this week and I shall know a lot more after that. Thanks for your messages of support. This has been a bit of a tough call for many reasons. I don't ask myself the question "can we win Eurovision?" I just want only to do a great job and, believe me, it isn't easy because so many things are out of your control. But anything is possible to do.
Mike
Discography
A message was posted on the Forum, but it is appropriate to put it here now too. We want to update and complete the Discography with information from all over the world. All contributions of information are welcome, although we will require source details from you, so that we can double-check that what we are including on the site is accurate!
Thanks, in advance.
Not the News
I'm getting familiar with how the site operates, so please bear with me while I sort things out.
Mobius, I'm not sure which is the best way to discuss things with you. I mean, through the forum or on email, but I will upload 'Forget about Love' as per your request and get around to answering your questions soon. The News listing was not really the right place to make these remarks, so I decided that I needed to arrange a better way. But the 'News' is I'm reading all comments and requests and taking notes!
I'll be discussing with the site constructors how to resolve a few issues, so, as I said, bear with me.
Mike.
Live website and forum
The site is now nearly complete. I wanted to explain to all of my friends that we have much more information, many more songs and clips to upload which we will do in due course. So far I have included some songs which were never completed or released which you can hear on the player. Like Aletia singing "Bird in Flight", or Rowena and "Blinded By Love". These were work in progress and for reasons that I shall deal with in Hot Air, were never finished. I will soon be uploading some more previously unreleased songs plus examples of what I have been doing over the last few years . I am currently writing songs for The Show 4 Kids about which more news very soon.
So far I have received many kind comments and encouragement. I will take note of any suggestions as to how the site can be improved or if anyone has any special requests, so please feel free to comment.