I’m completely with Martin Kelner on the various merits of Sport Relief. Kelner mentions Chris Evans high-fiving some tsunami survivors, while I was unfortunate enough to be there at the end when all the participants starting hugging one another congratulating themselves on a job well done.
The most truthful comment came from a showstopping Peter Kay sketch where he first of all performed Chumbawumba’s Tubthumping, before in the guise of Max (or Paddy – I don’t know) mentioned that he wouldn’t be watching live. He’d be Sky+ing the show so he could fast forward through all those “let’s remember what this evening’s really about” films with X-Factor presenters watching babies being born in Malawi or whatever. Isn’t it too patronising that we have to have light-entertainers explain to us what’s going on in the world on the basis that they’ve spent three days in the area talking to NGOs who are living their lives out there and could really give us an insight.
Maybe Davina McCall could present an episode of Horizon so that we could truly understand how the quantum physics works. Because she could spend a day or so with a few experts and then give us her down to earth expertise. Or perhaps Jonathan Ross could front an episode of Panorama after he has a brief sojourn to the middle east, letting us know about the background to the current Hezbullah/Israeli conflict. I mean, he’d bring it home so much more than some dull journalist who has a deep understanding of the situation wouldn’t he?
Then there’s the wanton advertising that you get. There was actually a short film about quite how marvellous Sainsburys is, a massive BT logo on the video wall at one point and various other plugs. “I do a lot for charity mate, but I don’t like to talk about it” is a line that somehow comes to mind.
I’ve no problem with charity fundraising, although I suspect that the cost of putting on Sport Relief mightn’t fall that far short of the £12.2m actually raised so far…