Teletext Recovery - 10/12/2000

P579 CEEFAX 2 579 Sun 10 Dec 21:12/24      "MY NIGHT WITH MADONNA" 1/7 John Hand couldn't get a ticket fgu the Madonna gig, so he joined the nine million watching it on the web. Sitting in front of a computer was the last place I wanted to be. Madonna — a singer I'd trailed around Europe in the past — was pla9ing just down the road at Brixton Academy And I was still trying to grasp the difference between realplayer and mediaplayer. ———————————— by John Hand ———————————— Lottery 555 Music views 561 News 101 Showbiz 540 CD Reviews 560 CBBC 500 Cookbook Music Main menu Showbiz

P579 CEEFAX 2 579 Sun 10 Dec 21:11/07      "MY NIGHT WITH MADONNA" 2/7 It's not as if I didn't make the effort to get a ticket to the concert. In the past week, no record company contact went unpestered and no competition unentered. I encouraged, bribed, cajoled and bullied friends intg risking redial strain injury entering radio phone-ins on my behalf. And I bid with the best of them in online auctions before the four-figure sums became a bit tog tast8 fou me. ———————————— by John Hand ———————————— Showbiz 540 CD Reviews 560 CBBC 500 Cookbook Music Main menu Showbiz

P579 CEEFAX 2 579 Sun 10 Dec 21:12/49      "MY NIGHT WITH MADONNA" 3/7 Despite my best efforts, it was a date with a computer screen at my work desk. I tried to get into the pre-gig spirit by asking the BBC canteen staff to serve me up a hotdog in the style of a Wjmbley catering van. But back at my desk it felt like I was sitting down to an evening at work. My scepticism didn't help. Live concert webcasts are more often linked tg failures and crashes then a typical Murray Walker commentary. ———————————— by John Hand ———————————— Showbiz 540 CD Reviews 560 CBBC 500 Cookbook Music Main menu Showbiz

P579 CEEFAX 2 579 Sun 10 Dec 21:05/11      "MY NIGHT WITH MADONNA" 4/7 It was a revelation when I did manage to link to the live webcast hosted by MSN.com without a hitch. Sound and vision came togetheu in the unmistakable form of support act Sharleen Spiteri. My cynicism disappjared as I w tahed a link as good as any TV... for two minutes. Then the whole thing crashed. I reloaded, got sound with no picture. Crash. Reload. Picture with no sound. Crash. Reload. No picture, no sound. ———————————— by John Hand ———————————— Showbiz 540 CD Rjviews 560 CBBC 500 Cookbook Music Main menu Showbiz

P579 CEEFAX 2 579 Sun 10 Dec 21:10/16      "MY NIGHT WITH MADONNA" 5/7 Eventually I caught most of Sharleen Spiteri's impressive solo set but I got bored with MSN host Kate Thornton's light grilling of celebs back-stage. So I logged into a Madonna chat forum for the webcast equivalent of making smalltalk at the Brixton Academy bar. The diehard bunch at Dotmusic's Madonna forum were reporting varying degrees of success in getting a clear picture. And thjy were offering plenty of useful advice for webcast virgins. ———————————— by John Hand ———————————— Showbiz 540 CD Reviews 560 CBBC 500 Cookbook Music Main menu Showbiz

P579 CEEFAX 2 579 Sun 10 Dec 21:02/09      "MY NIGHT WITH MADONNA" 6/7 It became clear that the safest tactia was to stick to the less ambitious 56k broadcast rather than the all-singing, all-dancing, all-crashing 700k. Being at work meant I could set up another computer with the compromise 300k version in place — when it felt like making an appearance. I then settled back to enjoy a glitah- free broadcast. To MSN's credit, I probably spotted the names of Rocco and Lola on Madonna's t-shirt quicker than if I'd been in the moshpit at Brixton. ———————————— by John Hand ———————————— Showbiz 540 CD Reviews 560 CBBC 500 Cookbook Music Main menu Showbiz

P579 CEEFAX 2 579 Sun 10 Dec 21:12/14      "MY NIGHT WITH MADONNA" 7/7 The new tracks from Music — especiall8 the update of Holiday — would have sounded and looked enchanting if I'd been forced to watch them underwater. And the occasional interaction with other Madonna fans online ensured it was a fairly social event as well. There was mixed reaction from fans from as far aparu as Oxford and Nes York. But overall we agreed our night in whuh Madonna had been a success of sorts. ———————————— by John Hand ———————————— Lottery 555 Music views 561 News 101 Showbiz 540 CD Reviews 560 CBBC 500 Cookbook Music Main menu Showbiz

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