RICHARD ORD Why belligerent teens trump moaning TV royals every time
Due to pressure from my teenage son, I missed all but five minutes of the Harry and Meghan interview with Oprah Winfrey. Did it go well?
As a committed social commentator for this esteemed organ (or newspaper as you commoners know it), I felt duty-bound to tune in. Unfortunately, teen son trumps TV history every time.
Instead of poring over the bombshell revelations, I was forced to watch Netflix. It was either that, or end up in a volumeraising competition with my son as he, no doubt, would have been moaning throughout the broadcast. Every over-loud sigh and exaggerated yawn to emanate from a bored Isaac, would be met with a ‘shh’ and the TV volume raised another notch.
By the end of the interview the windows would be rattling and cups bouncing on the table as Meghan’s woes and Isaac’s yawns battle it out at 130 decibels.
To be fair, he did well to stick it out for five minutes before asking: “How long left?”
“It’s on for two hours,” I informed him. His face was a picture (have you seen Edvard Munch’s The Scream?).
It wasn’t the time to go into a discussion of the importance, or not, of the Royal Family. They’re money-spinners. Conservative estimates reckon Oprah’s Harry and Megan interview raked in $10,000 dollars a second from all adverts shown.
Those figures give you an idea of the cost faced by the UK of losing Harry and Meghan to the Americans, especially when you consider the paltry ad revenue generated by the Queen’s Christmas message. To be fair, the majority of the advertising raised from the Queen’s speech is through product placement. Every Christmas there’s a marked rise in the sale of Pierre Langlois ornate walnut commodes and 18th Century French carpets after Her Majesty’s broadcast.
And, of course, there’s the history stuff. The royals have been involved in loads of it, but I don’t think youngsters are too interested in it these days.
As the words “it’s on for two hours” left my mouth, I knew the battle was lost. Watching Netflix it was.
We settled on a movie which answered a question that has long plagued my mind: Whatever happened to the actor Billy Zane?
For your information, he’s a Nazi officer in the movie Ghosts of War. And, much like how I expect Harry and Meghan’s interview to play out, it doesn’t end well.
With pubs not able to open until April 12, this year’s Easter Bank Holiday is set to be more subdued than most.
But a Sunderland club night is set to bring the party to people’s homes with a weekend of live stream DJ sets.
Former Chambers DJ Michael Lane runs the Forever 54 club brand and pre-Covid would usually be behind the decks at city venues such as Poetic License, P’s & Q’s and the Manor Bar.
Pubs and clubs may still be closed, but he’s organising an Easter Weekender to help give people the feelgood factor at home.
On Good Friday, April 2, as well as Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, from 2.30pm to 10pm, people can watch free live music from a host of top DJs which will be streamed from the Forever 54 platforms.
The event was inspired by Michael’s time at former city clubbing institution Chambers, and will also be raising money for Cancer Research UK, with people asked to donate to the cause.
He said: “Bank holidays are usually a big event in Sunderland. Especially the Easter one as it’s the first days off most people have had since
Christmas and the weather is starting to pop its head through the clouds.
"This one is going to be a strange one for people.
"Lots of people have built home bars in lockdown and we wanted to be able to give people some of that bank holiday feeling with three days of free music.
"We usually use our own resident DJs for our events. But we decided to shoot for the stars and go for some really high-brow DJs for this one.
"If you wanted to book them for an event they’d cost 30/40k in total, but people will get them streamed into their house for free.”
Each day will consist of eight world class DJs and one world class PA performance.
Included in the event are internet sensation SUAT, house legends Lenny Fontana, Terry Hunter and Angie Brown. Also headlining are Milk & Sugar, The Cube Guys and Hed Kandi sax sensation Ellie Sax.
To access the streams, which will be on all the major platforms, all people need to do is visit the Forever 54 Facebook Group.
Mike says he’s missing pubs and clubs, but that having to stream music instead of playing to people in person has actually introduced them to a new audience.
"We set up Forever 54 because we wanted to raise money for charity with events,” he
said. “But because of Covid, like most DJs, we’ve moved to streaming and we’ve ended up getting a massive following, with people from all over Europe, South America and Australia, and donations from all over the world.
"It will be amazing to get back to performing for people in person though.”
The event will be available to watch on TVs, phones, laptops and tablets via the streaming platforms being used by Forever 54.
To donate to the Just Giving page visit https://www. justgiving.com/fundraising/ forever54
In line with the Government’s
roadmap for leading the country out of lockdown, pubs will open their outdoor areas from April 12, with people being able to sit in from May 17. Nightclubs can trade again from June 21.