B*Witched star Lindsay Armaou reveals what Top of the Pops was really like backstage
B*Witched's Lindsay Armaou says cancelled BBC weekly music show Top of the Pops is a big miss from television.
B*Witched star Lindsay Armaou has revealed what it was really like backstage on Top of the Pops - revealing music legends would mix freely at BBC studios.
The Irish girl group exploded in the late '90s after achieving a Number One hit with their debut single C'est la Vie, which was released in May 1998.
Lindsay, 47, and her three bandmates - sisters Edele Lynch and Keavy Lynch and Sinéad O'Carroll - were just in their late teens and early 20s when the song topped the UK Singles Chart.
Once it reached the top spot B*Witched were asked to perform on BBC One's flagship music show Top of the Pops - which was cancelled in July 2006 after 42 years on air.
Lindsay can vividly remember how unpretentious all the artists were and she and the rest of B*Witched were lucky enough to meet their music idol Celine Dion who took a moment to congratulate them on their hit and dish out some words of advice.
Speaking to website Contact Music, Lindsay said: "On that very first Top of the Pops we did, when we were backstage we met Celine Dion and the Bee Gees - it was just incredible! They were so down to earth. We saw them in the corridor and they came up to us and they were like, ‘Oh, we love your song, well done.’ And Celine was like, ‘You girls stick together. That's the most important thing. You stick together.’ And I'll never forget that, I'm getting goosebumps even thinking about it. It was incredible. Those little interactions with people that you looked up, to and here they were giving you little nuggets of advice. It was so cool."
Lindsay thinks it is a real loss to TV that Top of the Pops and other weekly music shows like ITV's CD:UK do not air anymore, because they were shows that introduced new acts and songs to younger audiences.
Lindsay - who was speaking on behalf of online bingo site Zingo Bingo - said: "You know, it makes me quite sad to think that the likes of Top of the Pops and CD:UK, all those shows that your favourite bands used to pop up on, are not around anymore for this generation. I feel like they don't know what they're missing, to be honest.
"The very first time we were on Top of the Pops - what a surreal thing. We'd grown up watching Top of the Pops and here we were. It was pre-recorded the day before so on the Friday evening we sat down in our little living room, we were all living together in the outskirts of London at the time, in this little house, and we sat down to watch Top of the Pops, knowing that we were going to be the last ones on because we were Number One. We were fully aware that we'd recorded it the day before but it still felt like it wasn't real. Then just watching the whole thing and then at the end the presenter says, ‘At Number One on Top of the Pops it's B*Witched with C’est la Vie!’ We were just like, actually, pinch me, this is actually happening.. It was a real highlight, a real moment in time for us."
