Sunday 4th July 2010 @ The Beach, Weston-Super-Mare
Featuring Performances From: Jedward, Ellie Goulding, Diana Vickers, Dizzee Rascal, N-Dubz, Taio Cruz, Pixie Lott, Jason Derulo, Alexandra Burke, Kelis, Kids In Glass Houses, The Saturdays, JLS

As the Channel Four Sunday show makes anchor in Weston today for the eighth year running amid a flurry of Pineapple Dance Studio Dancers and screaming teens, not even the grey skies and the building site that is Weston’s sea front at the moment can contain the excitement of 40,000 teenage pop-music lovers. As presenter Steve Jones welcomes the crowd and viewers at home to T4’s summer party, it dawns that this is perhaps the best explanation of how the day feels. It is in essence a large scale cabaret show, certainly not a concert and certainly not a festival.

What it is however, it’s a chance to take part in perhaps the largest TV studio audience assembled upon our fair shores. A chance to catch a glimpse of the who’s who in the modern media savvy world - be it five minute flash in the pans (Jedward) or genuine future superstars (Ellie Goulding). Of course the day comes with both its highlights (Edward of Jedward breaking his leg) and lowlights (Diana Vickers going down like a limp summer salad) but a genuine highlight of the day had to be Dizzee Rascal who effortlessly rolled off number one records, instantly creating the producer’s desired atmosphere, even if he lacked the presence and tour de force his act becomes when backed by a full band.

The day progressed and chart toppers continued to fill the stage; however, the ten and fifteen minute slots mean most acts have to leave the stage just as they’ve hit their stride. As T4’s musical connection canon continued to fire out chart topping crowd pleasers though, we were graced with the presence of N-Dubz, Taio Cruz, Pixie Lott, Jason Derulo, Alexandra Burke and Kelis to name but a few, and only a couple of acts seemed genuinely out of place. Kids In Glass Houses whose rock’n’roll ‘scream at the crowd till they do something’ routine seemed lost on the masses and Diana Vickers, who as a replacement for late drop outs Faithless, was never really going to fill those giant shoes.

As the hours drifted by into a pulp pop daydream, the afternoon became more formulaic and the crowd become harder to rouse with the temperature dropping and the impending threat of rain looking to dampen spirits. However, the day soon brightened up by sunshine pop and eye-candy from both The Saturdays for the boys and JLS who enjoy their own moments of Shea Stadium madness from the crowd’s female and some male population.

As a live TV show/party, T4 On The Beach certainly delivered and when it keeps on bringing this much excitement, celebrity glamour and spotlight to a small seaside town, long may it continue to do so!

www.channel4.com/entertainment/t4

Adam Hooper
Photos by Laura Palmer ©