So DR are asking for more money to host Eurovision whilst plugging the third season of hit US show Homeland. Broadcasting a show just three days after its Stateside premiere isn’t cheap – in fact, it’s almost unheard of for a state channel. DR may have bought the rights a long time before Emmelie de Forest brought home the crown, but you have to question the wisdom of investing so much cash in a series that SVT1, a free-to-air channel that is available to most Danish viewers, will be showing two days earlier. At least the CTC’s autumn production is a Danish premiere. Oscar and Felix: A New Look at The Odd Couple – a 2002 version of the classic play, written by the same dramatist, Neil Simon – has a plot everyone can relate to: the housemate from hell.
My most challenging co-habitant had little in common with Oscar and Felix, but the dynamic was identical. We annoyed the hell out of each other. His feet stank, I was stingy, he came on to women I brought home, I slept with his ex-girlfriend. So every time Oscar shoots Felix a glance, or Felix huffily avoids eye contact, it’s a reminder of the kind of experience we’ve all had: a universal theme for one of the classic comedies of the last century.
Also new this week are the Frank Sinatra-inspired ballet Come Fly Away and Australian mime show Speedmouse, both of which have considerable promise.Less promising is the film Diana, although I must applaud Mark Walker for giving it three stars when most have opted for less. I often disagree with our film reviews – for example, I saw Rush over the weekend and would give it a five – and will no doubt disagree with Mark’s, although I doubt I’ll watch it because of the bad memories.
No, it’s not what you think! In 1995, I wrote a song called ‘The Queen of Hearts’ about Princess Diana that was never put to music. It had the line: “The people cheer, they’re full of beer, for you they’d shed a single tear.” Just imagine the infamy if that had been in the charts in September 1997 – a ‘God Save the Queen’ for the Britpop generation. But then again, nothing could be worse than splashing out on Homeland and getting trumped by the Swedes.
