It's the Sound Ah....of Girls Aloud (The Girls Aloud Christmas Party)

Member Name: jupiter28

Product:	The Girls Aloud Christmas Party
Date:	15/12/08 (425 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stunning outfits, the songs

Disadvantages: Variety, Formulaic

When Girls Aloud first hit the scene from the reality TV show Popstars: The Rivals, I thought they would soon disappear into oblivion. Their male counterparts certainly did. Anyone remember them?

Anyway, I have gotten into the band and their music quite recently and I really do like their hits. Many a time I have spent a late evening watching Top 10 Girls ALoud or a re-run of their concert.

I watched this show on Saturday and wondered what the point of it was. They sang their current hits like The Promise and their original Sound of the Underground amongst a few others. There was even a showcase for their Christmas single, though surely it won't go up against Alexandra? Even if it does, I think the X-Factor winners single has it nailed this year unfortunately.

As well as performing all their hits, they were joined by singers James Morrison and Ricky Wilson of the Kaiser Chiefs as well as Cilla Black, Paul O 'Grady and Julie Goodyear. There was some jamming with The Kaiser Chiefs, though they seemed incidental to me as it led to one of their songs.

A lot of it was tongue in cheek. As the show was between the X-Factor shows and with Cheryl being one of the judges (and later the winning judge) when asked some cheeky questions like what was on next (ie the show) she said X-Factor meaning the next show.

There was also a send-up of the girls as little girls, playing on their character traits such as drinking and make-up. This was obviously not true but an homage to how the tabloids portray them. One issue I had with this particular scene was Sarah's drunkeness. Her little character was seen staggering drunk into her bedroom late at night, but I thought this was inappropriate. Many of the bands fans are going to be little girls Agreed it was shown past the 9pm watershed, but on a Saturday a lot of girls do stay up a bit later to watch TV.

It wasn't the bands fault as they do need to appeal to a wide range of audiences on a Saturday night, but the programme would have been all the better without that particular incident in the scene.

They did look absolutely fabulous, no denying that. They performed The Promise in silver fishtail gowns and each of them looked absolutely gorgeous. It's great that they all have their own identities even though the band brings them together.

I think the Girls were paid a tidy sum, but that is only indicative of their popularity which is still strong after these years and a credit to them. I think ITV are trying to keep them on their channel as they gave 'birth' to them - well that is the rumour. I actually thought the trailer for the show was much better than the show itself. You can see the trailer on youtube. It shows Kimberley acting the grown-up having to prepare for the party whilst the other girls take it easy. It is quite funny.

This will be a must for any Girls Aloud fan. If you want to catch it again, there will be re-runs of this before Christmas and ITV2, so don't think you have missed out, though most things you could catch on their concert recordings. For me I will give it 4 stars for the songs, would have given it 5 if it had been more varied and original.

Thank you for reading. This review may be posted on other sites by me.

© jupiter28 2008

Summary: I thought the trailer for this show was better