Spandau Ballet’s duet on I Can See Your Voice was ‘good’ – but Jimmy Carr’s pure gold – Reuters

Over two months, but I’m confident enough to say that BBC1’s I Can See Your Voice has just delivered the best light entertainment reveal of 2022.

A duet involving Spandau Ballet legend Tony Hadley, whose 2ft height advantage over his partner was inevitable even before he gave her the line: ‘Nothing makes me feel small anymore, luck m ‘left standing so tall. . .”

BBC

BBC

But could Tony’s new friend, who was called “Go the distance”, actually sing?

It was the question that had reduced Amanda Holden and Alison Hammond to quivering wrecks and Jimmy Carr to a constipated frown for the last minute.

“Gold! Always believe in your so-oh-ul!”

Yes, he could, apparently.

Although, if I’m being honest, it was less because of his voice than the graphics on the screen and the absolute ruckus in the studio that told me he was “good.”

It was an assault on the senses, in fact, and the second-best thing to ever happen to I Can See Your Voice, a show whose ultimate salvation is in its people.

Before I get to the eulogy, I should explain, if you haven’t seen it, that two players must choose a “good” singer from a line-up of six mysterious performers via lip-sync series. , other visual cues, and help from a four-pronged celebrity panel of three regulars and Tony Hadley.

Despite an obvious flaw (three of each variety, good and bad, often ruins the tension of the final reveal), it’s a sufficiently entertaining and solid format, so you immediately know it wasn’t the BBC’s idea. .

Like ITV with The Masked Singer, they borrowed it from South Korean TV and then went at it with the usual random casting results.

The host is Paddy McGuinness, who is much better placed to run this show than Question Of Sport, but may still struggle with the basics, as demonstrated when he addressed a singer dressed as a doctor: “So you’re a medical student, what are you studying?”

“I’m studying medicine.”

The stereo cackling you may have heard after this gem came from regulars Amanda and Alison, who are busy turning into a “GC” parody of themselves and claimed on Saturday’s show that she had once spotted Tony Hadley “trying to avoid me at an airport,” but not the other 27 times he managed to avoid him at an airport, presumably.

That is, by any measure, a lot of ballast to carry for a show.

The fact that ICSYV is running it is entirely for one reason – Jimmy Carr, a comedian who isn’t to everyone’s taste, I completely understand.

sacred cows

He’s pretty much the only remaining stand-up on UK mainstream television, however, who can tell a real joke and build a decent punchline.

Jimmy has also figured out his role here perfectly, so he wipes everyone out and kills all sorts of holy cows in the process.

Paddy, guests, other panelists – everyone is a target, including our friend the medical student who gave Jimmy the chance to ask:

“Would it be appropriate to take a moment to thank the doctors and nurses who have worked tirelessly over the past two years. . .”

(Pause as the audience shouts and applauds their approval)

“On Amanda’s New Face.”

Jimmy has some nerve, obviously, given his own use of cosmetic procedures, but it produced a reaction rarely heard on mainstream TV these days, a heartfelt, uncontrollable laugh.

That happy noise was a regular and essential feature of television, of course.

About 40 years ago though, with rather noble early intentions, the BBC and Channel 4 began phasing it out in favor of a angrier, younger political alternative and brilliant shows like The Young Ones and Not The Nine O’Clock News.

Somewhere along the line, however, the alternative became the nasty new establishment as it was hijacked by talentless ideologues who valued political persuasion far above a comedian’s actual ability to make you laugh. .

Ironically, the revolution returns to where it started tonight as Channel 4 brings back Friday Night Live, starring Ben Elton, not to herald a bright new dawn, as it once did, but to extinguish the last glimmers of hope and everything. as subversive, off message and unawakened as laughter.

Jimmy Carr can’t hope to reverse that trend on his own, but I’m at least thankful he was the one thing that kept me watching until the end of Saturday’s wonderful reveal (I can see your voice, BBC1, Saturday, 9:10 p.m.).

Unexpected goons in the bagging area

TIPPING POINT, Ben Shephard: “Which Simpsons character shares his name with an ancient Greek poet and author of The Odyssey?”

Lesley: Bart.

The Chase, Bradley Walsh: “In the proverb about consequences, what bird comes home to roost?”

Michael: “Pigeons.

Ben Shephard: “Often used in traditional board games, how many sides does a standard die have?”

Gill: “Five”.

Random television irritations

ITV’s DNA Journey revealing comedian Joel Dommett is “46% Scottish”, just a tantalizing four percentage points from being half funny.

All those reporters who think calling the atmosphere in Westminster “febrile” makes them look smart.

Have I Got News For You message panelist Richard Osman dismissed suggestions that Diane Abbott can’t consider “nonsense”, rather than being funny about them.

The BBC2 continuity moron who talked about The Undertones during the credits of Gone Fishing.

And Judi Love having the front to follow appearances on Blankety Blank, The Hit List, Taskmaster, I Lie To You, This Is My House and 15 other recent shows with a documentary titled Black, Female And Invisible.

Invisible? She is damn unavoidable.

Timur is not the happiest

THE HIGHLIGHT of the National Television Awards was the appearance of Ukrainian Eurovision host Timur Miroshnychenko, who escaped from his concrete bunker in Kyiv to announce that Ant & Dec had won the award for best presenter for the 423rd consecutive year.

When Timur wished he was back dodging drone strikes and Russian artillery fire is debatable.

It could have been the moment This Morning winner Phillip Schofield said ‘We never get complacent’, or Trigger Point beating Stephen Graham Time’s masterpiece in the New Drama category, or Martin Lewis using his triumph over David Attenborough in the haste of ITV created the ‘Expert’ category to plug the website which earned him a personal fortune of £87million.

cult of awakening

I’ll say this in NTA’s defense, though – at least most of his mistakes are honest.

Unlike the willful stupidity of BBC1’s TV Baftas, where in 2021 they claimed Sky Arts’ leftist poetry show Life & Rhymes was better entertainment than Strictly Come Dancing, Saturday Night Takeaway and The Masked Singer.

Beeb’s awards show is now so lost to the revival cult that it also claimed the best TV entertainment performance of 2022 was Big Zuu blowing a foghorn on Dave’s Big Eats.

Viewers are obviously not fooled. No one believes these lies. Not even Bafta.

If you imagine the ITV executives weren’t cowardly and stupid enough to fall into the exact same trap of sabotaging their own awards with empty wake-up gestures, you’d probably have disabled the NTAs the moment they handed out the award Lifetime Achievement to Sir Lenny Henry, who said: “I’m writing an ITV drama called Three Little Birds about the post-Windrush generation.”

Get out now, Timur. Get out while you still can.

lookalike of the week

THIS week’s winner is Mary le punk, from EastEnders, at Dot Cotton’s funeral, and Michael Gove.

Sent by Francis Harvey, by e-mail.

Great sports ideas

CLINTON MORRISON: “Liverpool were the better team and dominated the game. But Brighton deserved a point.

Martin Keown: “You can’t have one rule for the other and another rule for the others.”

And Paul Merson: “Wenger bought a lot of centre-halves and had none.”

(Compiled by Graham Wray)

Imposters?

I CAN See Your Voice, Amanda Holden: “This show is all about weeding out all the imposters.”

Yet are you still there?

Gold Television

PARAMOUNT’s drama about the making of The Godfather, The Offer, amply deserving of the description of “the best show on TV”.

Interrogator Dilksy returns to Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, as a Special Forces Fonz.

BBC2’s Rob Burrow: Living with MND. Hamza Yassin’s brilliant salsa with Jowita Przystal taking over Strictly’s gory story week.

And Tony Adams’ wife, Poppy, summing up her contribution to the show perfectly when she told the Sunday Times: “He’s so shitty and I’ve never loved him so much.”

Delusions of the week

CHANNEL 4official mission: “The provision of a wide range of high quality and diverse programs which contribute significantly to meeting the need of licensed public service broadcasters to include programs of an educational nature and other programs of educational value.”

Channel 4, Monday October 24, 10 p.m.: My Massive C**k.

INCIDENTALLYwould the National Television Awards describe a famous straight man who was sentenced to 15 months in prison for assault and forcible confinement of an escort as a “national treasure”?

No. So why was Boy George on top?

DURING THIS TIMEBack on BBC1’s Unbreakable, Denise Welch tells relationship expert Maria McErlane: “I’m 64 now and they wrote this song about us.”

Beat out of . . .

“When I’m sixty-four.”

Oh.