Riverdance: the replay

AT the Riverdance press office in Hammersmith the staff are toying with the idea of presenting an award not to a member of the east, but to the former Conservative Party chairman, Lord Cecil Parkinson.

He has seen the show eight times, and in the press office they say: "we think he should be made a member of the cast, he probably knows the show so well. Everyone in the country will have seen this show and bought the video before long, but he really should get a special mention."

Lord Parkinson explains his addiction to Riverdance is because it is an "excellent production. I had never been to see any productions at the Radio City Music Hall in New York, but when I saw Riverdance there on its opening night this year it was, a very interesting, wonderful performance.

White the show plays to capacity audiences every night on its third run in London, it was the announcement that the video, Riverdance - a Journey, had become the best selling specialist music video in Britain last week, that surprised the compilers of the list at HMV headquarters. The consensus at both HMV and Virgin Megastores is that in the specialist genre, Riverdance videos are currently outselling the Brit pop favourites, Oasis.

"Once the public has been to see the show it follows on that they will then go out and buy the video." At HMV staff agree that it is unusual that a video, which essentially tells the story of the production of Riverdance, should be at Number One on the best seller list. "But as far as we can see anything related with Riverdance will sell, even if it is during the summer holidays when children's videos are usually high up on the list of favourites."

The sales figures for Riverdance - a Journey, have yet to be announced, but with the video sales of the original Riverdance show standing at two million, more than the Three Tenors and The Lion King. HMV predicts that in the final analysis it will not be far behind."

Indeed, it says Riverdance - a Journey could be described as an odd buy. The point is borne out by some people who have bought the video and said they found it "a little tedious, like watching a long story on the news. But the dancing is great and it is generally interesting to listen to how the show grew from a seven minute spot on television to such an amazing piece of dancing".

In London alone the commercial success of Riverdance has been remarkable and sustained. At the Labatt's box office some 1.2 million people have paid on average £25 each to see the show. That figure can be broken dawn to 22,000 people every week, and as Riverdance approaches its 500th performance in London, it is currently booking until October 26th.

At the box office, the telephonists say they are overwhelmed with advance bookings for the show and it seems likely that the Riverdance run will be extended until the beginning of January before the company travels to the US and the Far East.

"An extended run of a show can sometimes fall into the trap where it goes on and on and people get fed up with it. But it is remarkable that Riverdance has never performed in front of 50 per cent crowds and we don't intend to. We have been able to sustain the interest in Riverdance because it is such a special show," according to a Riverdance press office spokesperson.

THE Riverdance show has been able to pull off a great coup in performing at Labatt's Apollo, since it is one of the few venues in London where extend ing a run is possible without incurring incredible production costs. This is an advantage over other venues such as Wembley Stadium or The Royal Albert Hall, which specialise in medium to short term contracts, and it has allowed Riverdance to out manoeuvre its closest rival, Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance.

Whereas Riverdance can run for three to four months in London. Lord of the Dance has been hampered by a shorter run of up to two months and also by criticism from sections of the British press that it is simply "a display of conceit so shameless as to be risible".

It remains to be seen whether Riverdance can sustain its apparently unstoppable momentum when Lord of the Dance: the video is released next year. At HMV a spokeswoman considers the point. "Now that will be interesting, won't it?"

[

96 IN THE SHADE - ANDY GRAY

Striking it lucky

Date of Birth: November 30th, 1955.

Appearance: Genial, balding but energetic, and downright sprightly around the eyes. He may very well be happy in his work.

And how did he achieve this air of personal satisfaction? Usual stuff. Terrier type striker at Dundee United, Everton, Wolves and Aston Villa and Scotland, before joining the sports team at BSB, the satellite network that was eaten up by Rupert Murdoch's Sky television in 1990 to become BSkyB, and that this week announced full year profits of £257.4 million sterling. At the time of the merger, Sky quickly spotted the talent it had scooped up and this season is Andy's fifth as a permanent pundit.

What's so special about him? In the way that the sound of the first cuckoo used to announce the onset of the warmer months, now an equally distinctive - though more varied - set of calls heralds the shortening of the days.

What kind of sound? A tight repertoire that includes variations on "Keane was awees gonna be favourite for tha' bull"; "United have asked plenty questions this evening"; "Mug-nificent skull".

So he has a few catchphrases; that can hardly be the basis of a career. What else does he have going for him? He manages to combine footie acuity and a good dose of puppyish schoolboy enthusiasm in a way that nobody at ITV or the BBC ever managed. At half time, Andy often appears seated at a video recorder with a pile of tapes, blokeishly slipping one in and fiddling with the controls when he wants to illustrate his point. And Gray's curly Scottish vowels would be naked without the swooshing, video arcade sound effects that form the backdrop to his commentaries.

If he is so good and so popular, how come I've never seen him? Maybe you're not paying enough. Unless you watch Sky Sports you'll never see him. And Sky Sports, and its stranglehold on live Premiership football, is one of the most divisive issues of our time. Either you relish Andy Gray and live. Ford Super Sunday Dolby Surround Sound Football, or you think it is the end of the game as we know it.

People presumably object to paying to watch their football? Look at it this way. Before television, you had to pay to watch football. For a brief few years you could - once you had paid your licence fee - see it for free. Now once more you have to pay. You should think of the free years like that brief spell after the invention of the pill and before AIDS.

I'd rather think of it some other way... so coughing up big time is the way of the future? Indeed. It is rumoured that this year the network will have the potential to show "live and exclusive!"

all Premiership matches simultaneously, at a pay per view price. That kind of power should look extremely ugly, but with Andy Gray as its public face he also appears in press ads selling satellite dishes - the vicious expansion of the Sky satellite empire looks disconcertingly benign.