Pop Goes The Band - new TV Reality Show

[Perdita]

'80s funk-jazz singer Jill Saward became seriously ill after having a facelift for a new reality TV show, it has emerged.

The Shakatak frontwoman had the procedure while taking part in Living TV's Pop Goes The Band, which sees former musical stars undergoing surgery in a bid to relaunch their careers.

The Sun reports that complications following the 55-year-old’s operation left her with an infection and weeping wounds.

A source from the show said: "Jill's recovery was touch and go as to whether she would be healed in time for her 'reveal' on camera. She didn't heal very well and had a bad infection."

A spokeswoman for Living TV said: "Pop Goes The Band is about restoring bands to their former glory through either surgery, minor or major, or non-invasive procedures. Jill was one who opted for a facelift and like anyone after major surgery, there is a recovery process."

The series, which is due to begin next month, features Bucks Fizz, Bananarama, Visage, Cleopatra, 911 and Chaka Khan.

Should give those people thinking about plastic surgery something to think about

[tammyy2j]

LIVING welcomes you aboard the nostalgia express this autumn with the launch of its unmissable new TV series Pop Goes The Band, as it turns back time to transform some of the biggest bands of the last three decades. With collective record sales in excess of 30 million units, number one singles, and even close friendships with Madonna, these bands once resided in the heady heights of pop superstardom, only to be brought back down to earth with a bang years later. Now, in 2008, the groups that provided the soundtracks to our youth want another “piece of the action”! With LIVING’s help, each band will be restored to their former glory to perform their best known hits at a very special reveal in front of fans, family and friends.

Arriving on LIVING this autumn, Pop Goes The Band will catch up with The Original Bucks Fizz, Dollar, 911, Shakatak, Visage and Cleopatra and haul them into the 21st Century. Now appearing older than the iconic posters which once adorned the walls of millions of teenagers, the bands will, one by one, be rescued from the proverbial museum of pop history and made over to look even better than their fans remember. A team of experts will put them through a strenuous fitness and diet regime, painful cosmetic procedures and, in some cases, even major plastic surgery to transform them from worn out relics to contemporary pop art.

Every week viewers will witness the efforts of a different band as they bravely undertake the daunting task of recapturing their heyday. Once the transformations are complete, each group will be unveiled to perform their best known hits for their closest friends, family and biggest fans at their very own explosive reveal parties at the end of each show.

Kicking off the show’s line up are The Original Bucks Fizz featuring Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan, Shelly Preston and, for the first time since 1985, Jay Aston returns to perform with the group. Bucks Fizz are the iconic 80’s pop band, best remembered for their 1981 Eurovision winning song Making Your Mind Up and the infamous skirt ripping dance routine. The group had massive success between 1981 and 1985 with their original line-up, scoring three number one singles in just 12 months. After Jay Aston left the group in June 1985 the group continued with new member Shelley Preston, a new recording contract with Polydor and more hit singles such as “New Beginning” and “Keep Each Other Warm”. The demand for the Original Bucks Fizz remains strong, they continue to appear on television and in concert, and are enjoying this 80’s revival.

Cheryl Baker says “my battle with fitness and flubber has been fairly well documented in the past. I always say "This time, I'm going to stick to it” but then I fall back into bad habits. I really hope that with the help of Mark Anthony, THIS TIME I will stick to it and feel good about myself. And the extra help from Nina's magic fingers and Hannah's eye for style will be the cream on my low-fat, low-sugar, low-taste cake!”

Next up are boyband 911, who enjoyed considerable chart success between 1996 and 2000, selling in excess of seven million records around the world. Their energetic dance moves, chirpy songs and boyish good looks allowed Simon ‘Spike’ Dawbarn, Lee Brennan and Jimmy Constable to clock up ten top 10 singles and three hit albums, whilst competing in a ferociously competitive market against such artists as A1, Peter Andre and 5ive. Jimmy says “myself and the guys are very excited to be doing the show and re-living some of the old memories. It’s strange to be performing together and talking about the old days and hope people enjoy some of the stories . "

Also participating are 80’s idols Dollar, comprising members Thereza Bazar and David Van Day. Their brand of perfect pop produced five top 10 singles and three top 40 albums. They scored their biggest hits with Love’s Got a Hold on Me, Mirror Mirror and Give Me Back My Heart before splitting in 1988. Thereza says “This is my opportunity to buy back time! Motivation will come from a team of professionals and the knowledge it will be revealed for all to see on TV!”

Pioneers of the New Romantic movement, pop group Visage emerged in 1978 from the London club Billy's, a neo-glam nightspot which stood in stark contrast to the prevailing punk mentality of the time. The group are best known for their single Fade to Grey which became a huge hit in 1980 (making the top ten in the UK and topping the chart in several other countries). The band will comprise of members Steve Strange, Rusty Egan and Sandrine Gouriou for the show. Steve says “I’m delighted to be on this show, hopefully by the end of it I’ll feel like and look like it’s 1980 again.”

Cleopatra came to prominence in 1998 and continued to be a chart success until they called it a day in 2001. The group comprises sisters Cleo, Yonah and Zainam Higgins who all hail from Manchester’s infamous Moss Side. Their pop and R&B sound was a big hit which spawned four top 5 singles, two albums, and a hit sit-com series on CITV. In the US, the band were signed to Madonna’s record label Maverick by the lady herself, and fronted a campaign for cosmetics company CoverGirl. Cleo says "I'm really apprehensive about the impending surgery, but the show is really exciting. It's come at a good time for us as we've just reformed and it'll be great fun to have Hannah Sandling and the team help restyle us to find Cleopatra's look for 2008! I can' wait to see how my sisters look at the end of this too!"

Shakatak are a British jazz-funk band formed in London in 1980. Comprising members Bill Sharpe, Jill Saward, Roger Odell and George Anderson, the band scored a number of chart entries, including two top ten hits in the UK singles chart, "Night Birds" and "Down on the Street". The group is still very popular in Europe and the Far East, touring there regularly and recording a new album each year for JVC in Japan. Roger says “we are all enjoying the experience immensely. We're really looking forward to the journey and to what we hope will be a positive outcome".

Joining the groups will be a panel of four experts who will contribute to returning the bands to their former glory. Celebrity fitness guru Mark Antony will slim down and tone up each band member using his very own Easy 1/7 day Workout. Mark has helped to sculpt stars such as Jordan and Billie Piper into perfection and is looking forward to working his magic on the show.

High profile fashion stylist Hannah Sandling, responsible for creating iconic looks for the likes of Sienna Miller, Carmen Electra and Jamelia, will recapture the looks that made each band famous, while adding her own contemporary style to bring them bang up to date.
Also contributing to the bands’ transformation will be aesthetic practitioner Dr Nina Couvaras. Hailing from South Africa, and qualified for over 20 years, Nina specialises in facial, body and skin rejuvenation and will be applying her expertise to restore each group’s heyday glow.
Finally, plastic surgeon Dr Fabian Blaschke will be on hand to nip and tuck away those extra .lbs and flabby skin. Fabian is a member of ISAPS, open only to Plastic Surgeons with a proven record in aesthetic surgery. He performs cosmetic surgery in both Germany and the UK.
Pop Goes The Band will be essential viewing this autumn as the bands are put through their paces and returned to the limelight, looking and sounding better than ever. Don’t miss your chance to witness the rebirth of the some of the best pop bands of all time.

[Perdita]

Before his 'Biff Baff Boff' jungle antics, David Van Day was still best known for being the former member of '80 pop act Dollar. With hits including 'Mirror Mirror (Mon Amour)' and 'Love's Gotta Hold On Me', they were one of the most successful girl-boy duos of all time. Now, as part of Living's new reality series Pop Goes The Band, Van Day is back with Thereza Bazar and getting a modern day makeover. We gave the I'm A Celeb... wind-up merchant a call to find out whether a chart comeback is on cards.

What's happens in Pop Goes In The Band?
"There's six episodes and the first one is me and Thereza getting Dollar back together. The show allows us to have anything from drastic plastic to a haircut. I thought it would be quite vain of me not to want the plastic surgery, so I decided, 'why not?' I'm quite pleased with the results and it's all on the film. It's also about what we've been up to and where we might now go as an act."

How would you describe Dollar to kids who are too young to remember you first time around?
"That's interesting because most people do know me as the guy from the jungle now. I quite like it actually, it's refreshing. How would I describe Dollar? If you were around in the early '90s then it was a similar look to Kylie and Jason. The music was actually highly-produced by a chap called Trevor Horn and was a very sophisticated bubblegum pop. It's 30 years since our first hit and people my age just remember the glamour side of Dollar. But kids today just see the video and music and it's still fresh. There hasn't been another really successful boy-girl duo since in Britain."

Is there a potential future for Dollar when the show ends?
"The last shows that me and Thereza did were at Wembley. We also did a TV show called Reborn In The USA four or five years ago. We only take the nice jobs, generally. We have our own lives outside of the band and it's not a priority for me now because of everything that's happened in the jungle. It's not something that I'm chasing, but if something came up, I'd look at it and I'm all ears."

Will you be watching the other shows about Bucks Fizz, Cleopatra and 911?
"Erm... I would be mean if I said no, wouldn't I? But... no! I'm not looking forward to them and I'm only interested in my own show to be honest. I think it's the most interesting one and that's the reason it's the first one out. I'm just being honest."

Were you surprised at how strong people's reactions to you were in the jungle?
"I didn't go for the middle of the road. You either love me or hate me and I think there's more mileage in that. I didn't go in with a gameplan, but when I got there I formulated one. What would have happened if Nicola had been nice to me? There would have been nothing. But she didn't and we had a soap opera with alliances and characters. I only had to throw the lines in and the others would naively bite them. Once they did that, I had control over them and the whole show. And what great TV it made!"

Were you disappointed not to win the show in the end?
"At the end I said quite a lot of stuff about me and Nicola, which she then repeated back in a misleading manner. What came back was that I'd done all this business to her and it threw a spanner in the works. If she'd taken my advice I think she'd have lasted a lot longer. At the end of the day, the public know it's showbiz people playing a game. But they watch EastEnders knowing that's a drama and buy into that! These days, they'll even buy into reality shows and there's nothing real about reality TV. As soon as you put cameras in people's faces, people start overacting."

Is there still genuine tension between you and Nicola?
"I don't really talk to her, but we do get booked to do jobs as a pair because of the nature of our relationship. Yahoo booked us to throw snowballs at each other and the money was good so we went for it. She's still got the hump with me and I don't know why. She should be so pleased that I helped her get the currency that she has. I won't be invited to the wedding, but as a result she won't get as much money from OK magazine as she would!"

Maybe you and Timmy Mallet could turn-up as wedding crashers?
"Oh no, that would turn into a right punch-up. They still buy into [the row] quite strongly and take it a bit too seriously, but there you go."

Is Timmy actually as bonkers as he comes across on TV?
"Timmy is still pals with me and we may do some promotion together. There's rumours about us working on I'm A Celeb... spin-offs but as far as I know they're sticking with their current hosts. I think he is actually more bonkers than me, which is quite worrying. He's a children's entertainer and he was out of his comfort zone in the jungle, but he still made great TV."

Beyond reality TV is there anything else that you would like to work on?
"Eventually I'd like to do some drama, but while we're hot on the reality TV and winding people up side of things, that's what I'm going to pursue. I don't mind what drama it is. It could be a soap or it could be a classic. I'm a great lover of Shakespeare and if someone offered me Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream at an open air theatre, then I'd be there."

Pop Goes The Band airs Monday at 10pm on Living.

[Abbie]

I like Living the channel but Im sick to death of it!!

It annoys me how they always resort to plastic surgery!!!!!

theres no need

[sindydoll]

i cant wait to watch it i liked dollar

[Chloe O'brien]

i cant wait to watch it i liked dollar

Oh you never did. Imagine admitting that. I used to like Visage and Bananarama.

[Abigail]

Is there still genuine tension between you and Nicola?
"I don't really talk to her, but we do get booked to do jobs as a pair because of the nature of our relationship. Yahoo booked us to throw snowballs at each other and the money was good so we went for it. She's still got the hump with me and I don't know why. She should be so pleased that I helped her get the currency that she has. I won't be invited to the wedding, but as a result she won't get as much money from OK magazine as she would!"

Keep dreaming David. It's more like he wouldn't get the currency if it wasn't for her. Nicola is more marketable than he is.

[sindydoll]

i cant wait to watch it i liked dollar

Oh you never did. Imagine admitting that. I used to like Visage and Bananarama.

i liked bananarama too

[Perdita]

I liked them all too

[sindydoll]

ok we need to start a 80's thread