Get on tv for free! (powerhousetv.co.uk)

Member Name: lula153

Product:	powerhousetv.co.uk
Date:	04/12/01 (1504 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free!, Free!, Free!

Disadvantages: Most shows are in London, POpular shows fill up fast

You saw them - the crowds who stood outside the Big Brother house every Friday night with their 'We love Queen Brian' signs and screamed about how much they loved Helen and her glittery bits

But how did they get there?

And the audience on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - the people who can make the difference between a contestant winning big or going home with barely enough to cover their bus fare.

Have you ever wanted to be one of the people who gets to push the 'Ask the Audience' buttons?

Well you can and it won't cost you a penny.

Powerhouse Television distribute free tickets to more than 550 TV shows a year. They handle BBC 1, BBC 2, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, satellite and cable programmes as well as radio broadcasts. So how do you get your mitts on their tickets?

Well you can see what they've got available on their website - www.powerhousetv.co.uk.

At the moment they've got tickets to shows like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, the BBC show Friends Like These and the Pepsi Chart Show.

There are also reserve lists open for Big Brother Two, Late Night With Jerry Springer and Celebrity Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

Admittedly pretty much all of these shows are recorded in London but it's worth keeping your eyes peeled for other locations. They were recently advertising tickets for the MTV music awards in Germany!

Their bookings page gives brief descriptions of the programmes, who might be appearaning and where and when the show will take place.

You then click on your show of choice and fill in a short online booking form saying which date you'd like and how many tickets you want.

Someone from Powerhouse TV will call you within a couple of weeks to check you still want the tickets before posting them. It's best to give a mobile number because the tickets may have all gone by the time you reply to a message left at h
ome.

I used the service to get tickets for a recording of an ITV entertainment show called the Base a couple of months ago.

The show was a selection of bands performing live at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. The performances were all recorded in one afternoon and then slotted into the shows over the coming months.

We saw Gabrielle, The Beautiful South, Embrace, Sophie Ellis Bextor and Ed Hardcourt perform a couple of songs each.

They all played completely live (no miming) and with only a couple of hundred people watching, you were often standing only a couple of metres away from the artists. It was fantastic.

While these shows are highly entertaining to watch, you do have to remember that they are being recorded and you are there to help the process.

We were constantly being reminded to clap, dance and wave our hands in the air like we were having the time of our lives. It also gets very hot under the studio lights and a few people felt faint and had to leave during the waiting around time between bands.

At most of these performances you will be herded about like cattle and you will get sore hands from clapping a million times on cue.

However, these events offer a fascinating insight into television and how shows are made.

And you might even see yourself on TV.

Try it, I think you'll like it.

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