Showbiz 5: From tributes to theme tunes

In the latest Showbiz 5 newswrap Joanna Gumley casts her views over recent entertainment news…

More tributes for The Vivienne 

Following the sad news James Lee Williams – aka The Vivienne – had passed away last Sunday there were several tributes to the first winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. Since then, several others have paid their respects including RuPaul Charles himself, who said…

“With a broken heart, I join the entire Drag Race universe in mourning the loss of The Vivienne—an incredibly talented queen and a lovely human being,” – RuPaul Charles

Production company behind Drag Race, World of Wonder, said in a statement…

“We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of James Lee Williams, AKA The Vivienne this weekend. Her talent, humour and kindness were an inspiration. Our deepest condolences go out to her family and friends, who request the time and privacy required to grieve.” – WOW Productions

And boss of BBC Three added…

“We are currently processing the deeply sad news of the passing of James Lee Williams, known to many as The Vivienne. We are fiercely proud of The Vivienne’s achievements, including winning the first ever series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. Right now our thoughts are with their family and friends, the Drag Race sisterhood and their many fans.” – Fiona Campbell, Controller, Youth Audience, BBC iPlayer & BBC Three

Not everyone was positive about James in the aftermath of his demise. Void of taste, decency and humanity was former stateside Drag Race winner Tyra Sanchez who posted vile comments which were rebuked by RuPaul and many others. Tyra (James William Ross IV) certainly proves you can’t buy class, but maybe that is Tyra Sanchez act, a classless prostitute of so low quality a hovel of a brothel wouldn’t put her on their books. Let’s hope its an act, because if that’s the views of a real person there are no words for such a tasteless individual.

May Simon always be tuned in

Simon May, the man behind endless TV themes including EastEnders, Howard’s Way, Eldorado, TV Weekly, Mornings on BBC One and Trainer to name a few this week spoke to Choices with Phil Riley on Boom Radio.

May, who also had chart hits with Crossroads including Born with a Smile on My Face performed by Stephanie de Sykes, More than in Love with Kate Robbins and his own self-sung Summer of My Life recalled how his career with ATV Music and ATV in Birmingham took off via the BBC while he was a French, German and Sport’s teacher at Kingston Grammar School:

“In my last year [as a teacher] at the school I wrote Smike the musical for my students at Kingston Grammar School. We performed it at Surbiton Assembly Rooms, fortunately a top TV producer called Giani was in the audience, loved the show, took it to Monica Simms Head of Children’s TV at the BBC and they decided to mount a major production of Smike and that’s where my whole career basically started.”

“In those days publishers would invest in unproven songwriters. Sadly, today a publisher will probably only sign a songwriter who has got a massive Spotify following or whatever. But when ATV signed me, they just knew I’d written a musical, which they liked, and they rated me as a potential writer and signed me on speculation. But because of ATV Birmingham my music found its way up to Birmingham [with Crossroads]”

Following his time working for ATV Music Simon became a much in-demand composer and the BBC commissioned May on several projects at this time lyrical collaborations included with Don Black. His most famous being for serial EastEnders where chart hits also followed including with a sung version of the theme tune performed by Anita Dobson, Anyone Can Fall In Love, Every Loser Wins with Nick Berry and Always There by Marti Webb – the latter a version of the theme tune to drama Howard’s Way.

Simon reflects on his favourite version of the tune from EastEnders:

“When I was asked to write what was known as Peggy’s Theme, I based it on Julia’s Theme which was the original reflective version of EastEnders written for Julia Smith who was one of the two creators of EastEnders. Although Julia’s Theme it works really well, and I love it, it always crashes into the EastEnders [regular] theme per se whereas Peggy’s Theme goes into a very extravagant orchestral version of EastEnders after the reflective section that accompanies Peggy’s departure. It is my favourite version of EastEnders to be honest.”

Speaking on EastEnders as a programme, Simon reflects:

“Some people ask me if it makes me unhappy to be branded with EastEnders and I say ‘I don’t mind being branded [with EastEnders] it’s not the same as being a cow is it? that’s a bit more painful’. Yeh EastEnders, it’s my calling card it’s got me so many different commissions during my career and it’s a piece I’m really proud of.

“It’s a fabulous show, it still is. There are some people who don’t get EastEnders but Chris Clenshaw who is the current Executive Producer he’s really brought alive over the last couple of years – the scripts, the direction, the acting – every facet of EastEnders it’s top-quality show. I still watch it, I love it, it’s a great show.”

One happy family at Weatherfield-upon-Sun Hill

Every day last week The Sun had a negative story about Coronation Street. You may have to start wondering what ITV have done to upset the tabloid. There have been stories on unhappy cast, low ratings, cost cutting and the show being in general crisis.

Some of the stars of The Street came out on social media to deny there were any problems – although this ‘one big happy family’ succession of posts from the likes of Jane Danson who plays Leanne and Andy Whyment who plays – the way overdue for a departure – Kirk, led people to think ITV had asked them to post such happy comments about the Salford-produced saga that will turn 65 this December. ‘One big happy family, The Addams Family clearly’ one responded. Another suggested on the issues they ‘doth protest too much’.

There are clearly issues with both ITV soap operas, but ITV executives don’t seem particularly – at the moment – much concerned. Maybe they’re of the view Corrie and Emmerdale rate generally better than EastEnders, so all is well. However, what they need to remember is EastEnders is fighting its way back up from the bottom following an abysmal period up to 2020. The Street and The Dales are coming from the other end, a slow decline from the top downwards.

While the Beeb take positive and quick action whenever EastEnders ends up in a slide ITV, it seems, will wait until the shows’ ratings no longer can sustain the production costs – and by then it’ll be too little too late. I suspect Hollyoaks may be bowing out after its 30th anniversary with recent figures show for the first time in its history its fallen out of the top end of the ratings charts, even beaten by a show on the BBC News Channel.

A soap agent was also criticised this week for listing characters she’d like to see out of Weatherfield. What can I say? The soap operas are not a home for life, a place for those who have little ambition to do more. The entire acting world is one where no one part or programme is a given to remain until retirement. It isn’t an industry of job security. And it seems at the moment bosses on The Street are a little clueless when it comes to their gems among their tat, getting rid of the wrong characters and keeping copious amounts of dross. Sue Devaney as Debbie Webster is a gem and should have been cherished, that decision alone to ditch her should have had the big wigs in the ITV ivory towers asking what the Ena Sharples is going on.

Keep it on, Keep it on, Keep it on…

This weekend’s latest instalment of The Masked Singer left viewers wondering why the de-masked Macy Gray bothered to sign up to the show at all. Gray clearly thought it was some sort of serious ‘great singer’ contest – having previously gotten further in the stateside version of the show. Of course, the ITV1 series is just a bit of light entertainment fun and isn’t about who is the best singer – it’s as the jingle in the theme tells us over and over ‘who’s that behind the mask?’

It seems Macy was offended to have been guessed so soon into the new series and flounced off stage dressed as a toad in a hole. After producer persuasion – and some reports of up to an hour after her initial walk-out – Macy returned to the stage, took off her mask and revealed a face like a slapped arse, and an attitude very unprofessional. Virtually all the answers she gave were single words and her reprise of the song was so short it could be called Ronnie Corbett.

Speaking on Radio 2, host of The Masked Singer Joel Dommett noted, “The funny thing is, I think it’s a win-win scenario on that game – whether you go through to the final it’s a win as you’re winning it. But also if you go home early it’s a win because you get to go early and you get the same money.”

Johnathan Ross however came across incredibly well trying to tease decent answers out of Gray, who had a hit many years ago with I Try. Clearly not hard enough Macy sweetie.

The Price Is Right

In a rare moment of good news for everyone’s favourite living wax work Katie Price, this week ‘justice’ was rightly served on a now ex-Met police officer who had sent messages mocking her son, Harvey Price, over WhatsApp.

The Metro newspaper noted, ‘In 2023, officer Carlo Francisco was found to have committed gross misconduct over messages shared in several group chats. Some of these included making fun of Harvey, 22, who is autistic, with vision-impairing septo-optic dysplasia and also Prader-Willi syndrome.‘

Price, wrote to her 2.7million followers on social media, ‘Finally some justice for my son’. In other news articles about Katie this week it was reported that some of her friends are ‘concerned her plastic surgery has gone too far’. What? Are we in 2016? Bit too late to be concerned now, she’s on course to be facially Joan Rivers II by 2030.

In the showbiz departure lounge this week… Laurie Holloway, the TV pianist and music composer died aged 86. He became a presence on television as a conductor including on Dame Edna Everage’s ITV programmes produced by LWT. With that company he also created the theme tunes to series such as Blind Date, Beadle’s About, Punchlines and Game for a Laugh. In later years he was also the musical director of BBC entertainment shows such as Parkinson and Strictly Come Dancing. In the world of music, he worked with names such as Petula Clark, Tom Jones, Englebert Humperdinck, Cleo Laine, Judy Garland and Sammy Davis Jr to name just a few.

Also, actor Tony Mathews who appeared in show such as Central Televison’s Inspector Morse, Thames TV’s The Bill and LWT’s Poirot. Mathews died after surgery aged 81.

Peter Yarrow best-known as a folk singer as part of the group Peter, Paul and Mary alongside Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers (1936-2009). The trio had hits in the sixties, most notably ‘Where Have All the Flowers Gone?‘ Peter as a composer also wrote ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’. Peter passed away aged 86 in his home in New York city.

The views expressed are of Joanna Gumley and not ATV Today. Penelope Teeth, Judi Dentures and Joanna Gumley are ATV’s exclusive showbiz drag queens with bite.