The Royal Variety Performance
It’s a gala evening held annually in the UK (around Christmas time). A member of the Royal Family always attends (either The Queen or The Prince of Wales). The tradition started nearly a hundred years ago with King George V and Queen Mary (click here for R.V.P. website). I’m gonna keep it real with you. I stopped watching the Royal Variety Performance ages ago. I seem to recall the “variety” often involved racist comics, second-rate jugglers or gum chewing ventriloquists. The show, for me, became as anachronistic as the Grenadier Guards wearing real bearskin caps. I totally forgot about the show's existence; it was as much a highlight of my personal calendar as a trip the gynaecologist.
Then last week, I switched on the TV and there it was – the Royal Variety Performance 2009 – and guess what…I enjoyed it! It still had that whiff of anachronism that a lot of British traditions (God love dear old Blighty) do. However, the show has evolved, it possessed a far more international and contemporary flavour (with the likes of Mika and Miley Cyrus amongst the line-up). Overall, the show felt a lot less parochial and more like a world-class event.
I must say, I found the whole extravaganza rather pleasurable…and towards the end of the show, I even felt a slight twinge of national pride ricocheting between my thighs. – Especially, when the entire cast got to meet The Queen. Lady Gaga’s curtsy was adorable, as was Bette Midler's quip, about it being the first time she’d performed in front of a, “REAL Queen.”
Some of my personal highlights were: Peter Kay (I thought he was an excellent host), Bette Midler, Whoopi Goldberg, Chaka Chaka Chaka-Khan, Anastasia, Jake Shimabukuro, Michael Bubbly-Bublé, Alexandra Burke, Andre Reiu (who was brilliant) and Lady Gaga (whose allure I’ve never really understood, but whose performance at the gala went a long way to enlightening me).
So for this week’s Sunday Service, I’m recommending the Royal Variety Performance 2009. Honestly, check it out – I wouldn’t lie to you. Plus, by catching it on YouTube, you can cut out all the bits that don’t interest you anyway. Thing is, we’re not gonna have our Queen for much longer, after all, she is notching up the miles on the royal clock. I have a feeling a lot of these traditions will die with her, if not in practice, then certainly in spirit. So enjoy her and the royal show while you can – cos variety, is after all, the spice of life.
- Cheyelle Omar
- Royal Variety Performance 2009
COPYRIGHT ©2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: CHEYELLE OMAR
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