It seems that live performances on the new TOTP are the exception rather than the rule. On today's show (12 December) Will Young, BEP, and Darkness sang live while all the others including Posh and the Idols mimed. And mimed badly.

Very disappointing.

Posh was pathetic miming.
Can anyone tell me what posh spice "this groove" sounds like? I thought it sounded like a Michael Jackson song.

I'm really surprised at the idols miming. I mean you know, it's not as though they've mimed because they can't sing like Victoria because they have to sing live every week.
Did the Darkness sing live?? I'm not sure but it didn't look like Justins guitar was plugged in, unless they mimed playing them. Can you mime playing a guitar?

I'd just like to say though, i thought Will was fantastic and he looked gorgeous in that hat..

See Maggie.
I can be positive when i have reason to be.

And I've done my share of Gareth-bashing, so we're even.

I thought the Darkness sang live, but I wouldn't swear to it. The kids weren't miked, so who knows?

Will was as fantastic as always, but I'm not sure I agree about the hat.

The Darkness, like with most of their TV performances (of Christmas Time and, previously, I Believe In A Thing Called Love), only had live lead vocals, the instruments and choir were pre-recorded. For some reason.

Posh was rubbish. This could be her last big chance to make it as a solo artist & it looks like she's going to blow it.

To be fair to 'The Idols'; much as I despise the motives behind that record, I'm, sure they haven't had much chance to rehearse a proper live performance of it, what with the series still going on. Therefore, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt miming wise. Can't forgive them for the record though.

I can understand the reasons for all the miming -- it's so much easier than arranging all live performances -- but I thought the whole point of TOTP was to give us live performances.

All the miming looks awful, and the show is beginning to feel sadly out of touch. What's the point of giving us the chart listing from the previous Sunday when most people already know who is going to be number one in the next chart? Maybe they should have moved it to the beginning of the week...and insisted on live performances from everyone.

And yes, that includes you, too, Victoria.

Don't disturb this groove is a cover of a minor 80's hit by The System.

Victoria Beckham is one of those artists who always mime (Like Rachel Stevens, Holly Valance, Westlife) - so it didn't surprise me that she mimed on TOTP. I doubt she'll perform it live at all. It's because she's crap live.

BUT, 'The Idols' have no excuse - they're from a programme which showcases their ability to sing live. And they performed the very same track a couple of weeks ago on Pop Idol - they were live then.
It's just lazy - Will & Gareth both blow away anybody in this years show. (Gareth has started performing live on TV a lot more now).

matt888uk
*************

yeah, she's trying to hide the fact she can't sing... and that song is a cover? - i prefered the other track than that crap effort she sang on the show.

I would have moved the whole show to a Sunday teatime and run through the entire top 40, playing whatever acts they can live and showing the videos for the rest.

Who are you blaming here - the Idols? You think they have a choice? They do what they are told to do. When and if they are successful they can demand to sing live like Will and Ronan Keating does. So don't blame them - blame the BBC or Simon Cowell or somebody who has influence.

In the case of Westlife - they can and sometimes do sing live well - but in their case they are too scared of their management (Simon Cowell again) but should make a fuss. We all know Rachael Stevens is not the strongest singer, neither is Posh - I don't know about Holly so won't comment - but singers who have influence must make a stand at this awful miming!

I can't see that happening, but I would like to see programs such as TOTP insist that all singers and groups perform live. A backing track is okay, but the vocals should be live. I thought that was the whole point of TOTP -- especially now that you can watch the videos on a dozen channels.

I was looking for contact info on the TOTP web site, thinking of writing to them about the lack of live performances, and I found the following "official" response to the miming issue:

Why do so many acts on the show mime?

Chris Cowey, the show's former Executive Producer says:-

"We always ask for a live performance or a live vocal in the first instance. There are often several reasons why this is not possible:-

Increasingly, the production of songs in the studio means that the talent wouldn’t be able to reproduce the sound of the recording when performing live.

Secondly, there might be an exhausting dance routine which would mean that they wouldn’t be able to perform and sing to the best of their ability.

Thirdly, if you’re a pop star, your schedule is immense. You’re doing every radio phone-show, TV appearance, magazine interview that there is, and so by the time that they get to TOTP, they may not have the time to rehearse and do a live performance.

So, do we stand hard and fast and say "No, you’re going to sing live" or, do we look at the performance and say "Ok, we understand why it would work best if you mimed". Each act is rated on its own merits.

Also, I think that there is a lot of misconception. Some artists are victims of genre, where people say "Oh, they can’t sing", but this isn’t the case. Steps sang live twice, Westlife have sung live on the show 3 times and when you go to the major bands such as Coldplay, they never mime. David Gray mimed once but that was because he was very ill."

So I guess we're stuck with the miming. How infuriating.

I thought they had dumped that show ages ago, does anyone over 10 watch it?

the hat was gorgeous!



HATE miming with a passion

I also noticed she doesn't seem to have any sense of rhythm, the small amount of "dancing" she did, and those odd jerks of hers didn't seem to correspond in any way to the beat.

New TOTP = Old TOTP

apart from a bigger set, and other crap like text voting and interviews, and oh yeah, what appears to a very annoying, talking shark (what are those teeth like?) presenting.

I don't think the mime count is much different, and personally wasn't expecting anything different, seems some people were expecting "true" live performances for the new version, I don't know where that impression came from.

I think it's a case of paying your money and taking your choice, TOTP is pop, it's lightweight, you'll get miming. If you want all true live performances, I'd watch Jools Holland instead.

I haven't watched TOTP much lately. It's like watching the dry husk of the UK pop music industry trying to show it still has some credibility. But I did check out the 'new' one, and if that justifies sticking the word 'new' in the title, the program makers obviously think the pop music buying public are stupid. Pretty patronising to the viewers I think.

In some cases I'm not sure whether there is any talent!

I suppose this is what Will means when he says he wants to get rid of the overproduction. That is why he is able (and willing) to do acoustic performances of his songs.