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Dom Robinson reviews
Granada Media
- Cert: E
- Cat.no: GVD 006
- Running time: 76 minutes
- Year: 1999
- Pressing: 2000
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 34
- Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround)
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: None
- Widescreen: 16:9
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 5
- Price: £19.99
- Extras: Q&A, Hidden Photo Gallery
Director:
- Jonathan Glazier
Producer:
- Graham R. Smith
Featuring:
- Tom Jones with Mick Hucknall, Cerys Matthews and Tommy Scott.
An Audience with Tom Jonesfollows the long tradition of celebrity back-slapping allowing an artist torun through their favourite musical numbers, promote their latest albumand be asked staged questions by various other celebs sitting in front ofthem.
The guests that join him onstage are Mick Hucknall (Ain’t That aLot of Love), Cerys Matthews (Baby It’s Cold Outside andWhat’s New Pussycat?) and Tommy Scott (Sunny Afternoon),while questions are fired at him from Clive James, Robbie Williams, AinsleyHarriot and Frank Skinner to name but four.
Shot in anamorphic 16:9 widescreen, Granada Media prove that after theCold Feetdebacle, they DO know how to make a good job of one of their own TVshows. With strong colours, lifelike flesh tones and no artifacts,it looks fantastic.The average bitrate is a very good 7.49Mb/s.
Most TV shows are now filmed in Dolby Surround. The box states stereo only,but it’s definitely a surround event, with some band instruments eminatingfrom behind you along with the audience’s applause. The voice of the Welshmanbooms out without a hitch and, sonically, it doesn’t get better than that.
Extras :
First up is a run-down of the songs on the DVD. There’s actually 34 chaptershere – 15 for the songs, 13 for the questions, plus a few extra for songintroductions. One chapter lasts a mere six seconds as he introducesSex Bomb!
The track listing is as follows :
- 1. Kiss
2. Delilah
3. Ain’t That a Lot of Love
4. Thunderball
5. Green Green Grass of Home
6. Sunny Afternoon
7. I’ll Never Fall in Love Again
8. Help Yourself9. Motherless Child
10. What’s New Pussycat?
11. Baby It’s Cold Outside
12. Sex Bomb
13. Are You Gonna Go My Way?
14. You Can Leave Your Hat On
15. It’s Not Unusual
Of the actual extras, the Q&A just separates the questions into theirown section and the Hidden Photo Gallery is divided into two sections:a “Backstage pass” in which six various Z-list celebs pose with a cardboard cut-outof Tom, while “Live on stage” provides another 16 pics during the show.All the pics are quite small though.
Curiously, all the songs have been included on the disc twice. Once in themain feature and again as “title 2” for the song selection menu,so you get those on their own, the same as the Q&A.Occasionally, you can also spot places where they stopped filming to insertad breaks.
Fans of Tom Jones and this sort of programme will find it very enjoyableand now as they’ve discovered what 16:9 is, perhaps Granada Media can goback and redress the balance withCold Feet.
Not all of the songs were to my taste and I marked the content score down abit as the sycophantic nature of people like Ainsley Harriot, Babs Windsorand Ulrika-ka-ka gets on my nerves the second they appear.
DVD Trivia: Also in the audience – and keeping her mouth shut for achange – is a pre-dead Paula Yates.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.