For a general description of performances for the monarch, see Royal Command Performance.
The Royal Variety Performance is a gala evening held annually in the United Kingdom, which is attended by senior members of the British Royal Family, usually the reigning monarch. In more recent years Queen Elizabeth II and The Prince of Wales have alternately attended the performance. The performance showcases a variety of family entertainment, including comedy, singing, dance, magic and other speciality acts, with many of the performers and hosts being popular celebrities—a variety show. The event is organised on behalf of the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund of which Queen Elizabeth is patron. All proceeds are donated to the fund.
The performance is televised to the public and is considered by many to be a tradition of the Christmas season, being held late in November, or early in December. The responsibility of producing and broadcasting the performance is shared alternately between the BBC and ITV and it is becoming a tradition for the BBC to stage the performance in London's West End and for ITV to stage it in regional theatres outside of London.
The performance is a New Year's tradition in Norway, where it is broadcast at 00:00 on 1 January. Several other European countries also broadcast the show.
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First show
The first performance, on 1 July 1912 was called the Royal Command Performance, and this name has persisted informally for the event. This was held in the Palace Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, in the presence of King George V and Queen Mary. The king said he would attend a once-yearly variety show, provided the profits went to the Variety Artistes' Benevolent Fund, as the EABF was then known. This first staging was a lavish occasion, and the theatre was decorated with 3 million roses draped around the auditorium and over the boxes[1].
The organisers did not invite Marie Lloyd, one of the most famous music hall artists of the time, because of a professional dispute. Her act was considered too risque and her three public, unsuccessful marriages deemed her unfit to perform in front of royalty.[2] She held a rival performance in a nearby theatre, which she advertised was "by command of the British public". The name of the event was changed to prevent possible royal embarrassment. The Royal Variety became an annual event at the suggestion of King George V from 1921.
Further performances
The show was frequently staged in the London Palladium theatre, and in the 1950s and 1960s a television show based on the same idea, called Sunday Night at the London Palladium and hosted by many entertainers including Bruce Forsyth, ran for over 20 years. Television coverage of the royal show itself traditionally alternates each year between the BBC and ITV.
Almost every conceivable sort of act has at one time or another been presented to the monarch at the Royal Command Performance, including The Beatles in 1963, The Supremes in 1968 and The Blue Man Group in 2005. At the Beatles' show on 4 November 1963, John Lennon delivered a line to the well-heeled audience which has passed into legend: "For our last number I'd like to ask your help: Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewellery ..."
The money raised by the Royal Variety Performance provides most of the funding for Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund and its home, Brinsworth House, a home for retired members of the entertainment profession and their dependants.
List of performances
Where no town or city is noted in the venue column in the following table, it means that the venue is situated in London.
2003
| Date | Broadcast | Venue | Compère | Acts | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday 24 November 2003 | unknown | Edinburgh Festival Theatre | Cat Deeley | Strathclyde Police Pipe Band, Scottish Power Pipe Band, The Drambuie Kirklston Pipe Band, Laine Theatre Arts Dancers, Flur na H-alba, Rachel Stevens, Ronnie Corbett, Daniel Bedingfield, The Oriental Swan (Hua Wong, Chen Wen, Wen Xiaoyan), Busted, Danny Bhoy, Hayley Westenra, Donny Osmond, Gloria Estefan, Al Murray The Pub Landlord, Jamie Cullum, Katie Melua, Cirque du Soleil, Westlife, Luciano Pavarotti | Was held in the presence of HM Queen Elizabeth II & HRH The Duke of Edinburgh K.G.K.T.
The performance was televised later and was produced by Granada Television for ITV by Producer Jeff Thacker, Director Stuart McDonald, Musical Director Trevor Brown, and Production Manager Keith Lascelles. This was the first Royal Variety Performance to be held in Scotland. |
2007
| Date | Broadcast | Venue | Compère | Acts | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday 3 December 2007 | Sunday 9 December 2007 ITV 1 | Liverpool Empire Theatre | Phillip Schofield and Kate Thornton | Bon Jovi, Kiri Te Kanawa, James Blunt, Joan Rivers, Teatro, Viva la Diva, Enrique Iglesias, Katherine Jenkins, Al Murray, Darcey Bussell, Dany & Edina, Paul Potts, Stephen K. Amos, Philip Achille, English National Ballet, Jimmy Tarbuck, Lang Lang, Raymond Crowe, David Jordan, Big Howard, Little Howard, Russell Brand, Seal, Natasha Day, The Cast of Hairspray | Was held in the presence of HM Queen Elizabeth II & HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.
The performance was televised on 9 December and was produced for ITV by Executive Producer Sue Andrews and Mark Wells, Producer Glen Middleham and Director Simon Staffurth. |
2008
2009
| Date | Broadcast | Venue | Compère | Acts | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday 7 December 2009 | Sunday 13 December 2009 ITV1 | Opera House, Blackpool | Peter Kay | Whoopi Goldberg, Bette Midler, Alexandra Burke, Miley Cyrus, Katherine Jenkins, Diversity, Jason Manford, Paddy McGuinness, the West End cast of Sister Act, Anastacia, Lady GaGa, Mika, Chaka Khan and Michael Bublé. |
Britain's Got Talent
Since 2007, one act of the Royal Variety show has been selected by the British public through the ITV1 television talent show Britain's Got Talent.
Devised by music and television impresario Simon Cowell, the show is produced by his company SYCO TV. It was originally due to be launched in the UK in 2006, presented by Paul O'Grady, however a dispute between ITV and O'Grady caused him to leave the station and the pilot series was cancelled. The format was subsequently launched in America, where the winner receives a deal to perform in Las Vegas.
The show follows a series of auditions. First of all, there is an audition tour in which the celebrity judging panel of Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan travel nationwide watching potential acts and picking their favourites. The panel then select the best of these acts to compete in a series of five semi-finals, which are broadcast live on ITV, between Monday and Friday on one week. A public telephone vote decides the most popular act in each semi-final, which then progresses to the final, along with a second act chosen by the judges. The grand final is then broadcast live on the Saturday following the semi-finals and all the acts perform again for the public vote. Whilst the judges comment on the performances, the eventual winner is decided entirely by the public.
2007
The winner of the 2007 series was operatic vocalist Paul Potts. He performed the aria Nessun Dorma from the opera Turandot for the Queen at the RVP staged at the Liverpool Empire Theatre. He also won a £100,000 cash prize and a £1 million multi-album recording contract with Simon Cowell. Subsequently, his first album titled One Chance, reached number one in the music charts of fourteen countries worldwide including the UK, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong and Germany.
2008
The winner of the 2008 series was street dancer George Sampson from Warrington. He performed for the Prince of Wales at the RVP staged at the London Palladium on 11 December 2008. While it was previously believed he would perform a reworked version of his routine to the Mint Royale remix of "Singin' In The Rain", he did only a small segment of this dance silhouetted against a large screen, before performing his song Get Up On The Dance Floor instead. He was introduced by young Olympic diver Tom Daley.
2009
The 2009 winners of Britain's Got Talent are dance group Diversity. They won £100,000 and a slot in The Royal Variety Performance 2009 line-up, meaning that they will be able to perform in front of the Royal Family.
See also
References
- ^ The Royal Variety Performance (London Theatre Museum accessed 24 October 2007
- ^ The Royal Variety Performance, 1912, EABF site
External links
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