[Neil Jones]

Of course Crazy Frog used to be a thing as well, and the Axel F cover topped the charts for a month.
Then of course Teletubbies was number 1 in 1997 and Benny Hill hit number 1 in the early 1970s as well.

All kinds of crap has ridden high in the charts over the years. Of course one person's crap is somebody else's gold.

[James2001]

While that's true, at least they were one offs, not the same joke for 5 years running.

[James2001]

Of course you’re not obliged to buy or listen to that music, other music is still available. The chart is merely reflecting the sales/streams etc if that’s what’s popular then I can’t see how you can be bothered by it.

It's not really a topic for here, but there are plenty of reasons to object to what they have done, or the largely unquestioning, sycophantic media coverage. One of the charting songs is as a response to them getting a number one directly.

The media referring to them as "charity campaigners" when their charity campaigning begins and ends with getting the christmas number 1. And there's questions about whether the charity support is sincere or just something they latch onto to further themselves.

Admittedly it's not a discussion for here.

[tellyblues]

Of course you’re not obliged to buy or listen to that music, other music is still available. The chart is merely reflecting the sales/streams etc if that’s what’s popular then I can’t see how you can be bothered by it.

It's not really a topic for here, but there are plenty of reasons to object to what they have done, or the largely unquestioning, sycophantic media coverage. One of the charting songs is as a response to them getting a number one directly.

The fake punk thing has been trying for Xmas No.1 for years so would have put out a single regardless. As for the fuss about LadBaby, it was wrong to parody a song originally recorded for famine relief but the idea that every penny from charity records go to charity is laughable and not a phenomenon restricted to LadBaby.

One of the criticisms of X Factor winner singles was that they were almost always covers and/or ballads but the real problem not of the show's fault was there was no competition for Xmas No.1 and it hasn't gotten much better with joke acts, old rock songs and choirs which only turn up at this time of year.

[Steve in Pudsey]

Why is it wrong to parody a song about famine relief, with the blessing of the originators, to raise money for food banks?

It's making a point about how in 40 years we've gone from being a rich country raising money for developing countries to a situation where a significant proportion of the country is reliant on charity hand outs to eat.

An uncomfortable truth for some but I don't think that it's an inappropriate way to call attention to it

[Ballinagrappa]

This Top of the Pops is awful. Not the original format at all - presenters are sat on the sofa, no chemistry between them and just introducing clips from the Radio 1 Big Weekend, Glastonbury Festival, Live Lounge and its more a documentary than Top of the Pops used to be.

[Happy2001]

That was 1978 but done cheaper with only 1 New performance in the studio similar to 8/1/87.

[Robert Williams]

1978 was still a proper Christmas special with a full line-up of specially-recorded performances, it's just that for some reason they chose to have Noel presenting from a separate office set rather than the main studio.

I didn't watch the 2022 programme as it was on far too late, but having had a scan through it on iPlayer this morning, it feels like a cynical attempt to keep the TOTP name alive by attaching it to a programme that otherwise bears no resemblance at all to any TOTP we ever seen before.

Confusingly, next Friday BBC2 are putting out 'The Year in Music at the BBC', which seems to be doing more-or-less the same thing, but at a much more reasonable 6.30pm timeslot.

[Keith]

I didn't watch the 2022 programme as it was on far too late, but having had a scan through it on iPlayer this morning, it feels like a cynical attempt to keep the TOTP name alive by attaching it to a programme that otherwise bears no resemblance at all to any TOTP we ever seen before.

Arguably doing as per the original weekly show. Moving it from BBC One to Two with tweaks to the format, so they can initially claim they're not axing it and minimise the negative publicity. Then by being on BBC Two fewer people watch it and ratings decline further. BBC can then finally axe it with less negative headlines, as more of the public will say 'they stopped watching it years ago'.

I've no idea how far in advance this year's TOTP was commissioned. Watching the first few minutes it feels like someone wanted to axe TOTP completely, but cold feet and this was the result. I wouldn't be surprised if this programme was already planned as being "Radio 1's review of 2022", before someone decided to rebrand it as TOTP to disguise the loss of the normal Christmas show. The change of channel, broadcast slot and currently being hard to find on iPlayer makes me suspect their hoping it rates low enough to get away with axing it completely next year.

It'll be interesting to see if this year's programme returns next year under a Radio 1 or BBC Sounds programme title name though.

[Happy2001]

I didn't watch the 2022 programme as it was on far too late, but having had a scan through it on iPlayer this morning, it feels like a cynical attempt to keep the TOTP name alive by attaching it to a programme that otherwise bears no resemblance at all to any TOTP we ever seen before.

I've no idea how far in advance this year's TOTP was commissioned. Watching the first few minutes it feels like someone wanted to axe TOTP completely, but cold feet and this was the result. I wouldn't be surprised if this programme was already planned as being "Radio 1's review of 2022", before someone decided to rebrand it as TOTP to disguise the loss of the normal Christmas show. The change of channel, broadcast slot and currently being hard to find on iPlayer makes me suspect their hoping it rates low enough to get away with axing it completely next year.

The BBC Christmas Press Pack said that it was originally commissioned for BBC One: Similar to the moved to BBC One Two Doors Down Christmas Special saying

"Top Of The Pops: Review of 2022 is a BBC Studios (1 x 60) production for BBC One and and BBC iPlayer"

Similar to the moved to BBC One Two Doors Down Christmas Special saying:
 "Two Doors Down is a BBC Studios Comedy production in Scotland (1 x 30) for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/bbc-christmas-whats-on-iplayer-channels-2022

BBC’s 2022 Christmas line up across TV Channels and BBC iPlayer announced - Medi…
The BBC brings viewers a December to remember with plenty of programmes and box …
  Source: www.bbc.co.uk