A very Sundae Sunday running the BBC Sports Personality Red Carpet
On the weekend before Christmas the Sundae team headed down to the vibrant city of Birmingham, where Andy Murray was crowned once again as BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2016 for a record breaking third time.
The prestigious awards ceremony was held at Birmingham’s Genting Arena and after a massive year of Olympic success in Rio, we were proud to run the biggest SPOTY red carpet ever seen!
The atmosphere was electric as some of the biggest names in the sporting world arrived to walk down the carpet. It was an honourable experience being able to chaperone the likes of Judy Murray, Jamie Vardy and England rugby star James Haskell through the hustle and bustle of flashing photographers, live television crews and journalists. It gave me a brilliant insight into how hectic their showbiz lifestyles must be.
We welcomed press from near and far onto the carpet including the Daily Mail, The Sun, Daily Star, P.A., Birmingham Mail, Style Birmingham and Radio 1’s Newsbeat who were joined by Olympic medallists, Jason and Laura Kenny, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Premier League cup winners, Leicester City Football Club, plus a rich selection of non-sporting celebrities like Eddie Izzard, Laura Mvula, Bake Off’s Candice Brown, Gareth Malone and Strictly Come Dancing 2016 winner, Ore Oduba.
In front of a 12,000-strong audience, the show was another huge success, with performances from Robbie Williams and Laura Mvula, a lifetime achievement award for Michael Phelps and a surprise appearance from Prince William! Murray accepted the award via video-link from Florida as runners up Alistair Brownlee and Nick Skelton collected theirs in person.
It was an amazing feeling to see all the blanket entertainment coverage the next day in the Daily Mail, Daily Star, Mirror Online, The Sun and The Times and making the front page of the Metro! Here’s to 2017!
Marie-Clare x
A festive Red Carpet at BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2015
On the Friday before Christmas, Sundae’s bags were packed and headed for Belfast to BBC Sports Personality of The Year 2015.
This year’s much talked-about, prestigious awards ceremony was held at Belfast’s SSE Arena and we were very excited to be running the SPOTY red carpet for the fourth year.
Andy Murray was crowned the BBC’s Sport Personality of The Year, after walking the red carpet with his Davis Cup-winning Great Britain squad, who also picked up the award for Team of The Year.
We welcomed press from near and far onto the carpet including the Guardian, The Daily Mail, P.A., Reveal, Closer and The Belfast Telegraph who were joined by guests including Jessica Ennis-Hill, Greg Rutherford, Becky Adlington, James Nesbitt, Eamonn Holmes and Ella Henderson to name a few. I loved seeing Northern Ireland’s golfing great Rory McIlroy walk the carpet with his star 1D caddy Niall Horan, sending photographers into frenzy.
For the first year, BBC2 were on the carpet filming a live red carpet show, which was great to watch back and spot the team! It was also the perfect place to see some of the glittering outfits close-up, including Lizzie Armistead’s gorgeous Stella McCartney dress.
With amazing performances from Ella Henderson and Sigma, and an on-stage gymnastic routine from Max Whitlock, which was my favourite moment in the show (followed closely by Jess Ennis-Hill picking up third place), the show was another roaring success.
It was fantastic to see entertainment coverage appear the next day in Daily Express, The Mirror, The Sun, OK Magazine, Daily Mail Showbiz and Belfast Telegraph.
Katy x
Stars line the blue carpet for the launch of Clangers
Sundae has just landed back on earth after the premiere for the new series of much-loved children’s TV classic, Clangers!
Four decades after they first appeared on TV screens, Clangers are now set to make a return thanks to Coolabi and CBeebies, and Sundae was tasked with creating and producing a launch event that officially introduced the pink, whistling space mice to a select audience. I was looking after the Blue Carpet and the photographers and it was great to see celebrities like Kate Garraway, Shaun Dooley, Shappi Khorsandi, Ranvir Singh and Rani Price join Clangers Costume Characters for some pictures!
Sundae created a Clangers Planet within a central London hotel, with beautiful felt flowers lining the blue carpet and the stage, wire copper trees and mini dustbin lids hanging from the ceiling (which were my favourite!) setting the scene for the children’s Clangers activities including tile painting, model making and the creation of a giant collage!
The highlight of the event was seeing narrator Michael Palin join creator Peter Firmin, executive producer Dan Postgate and, of course, Major Clanger on the Blue Carpet.
Among the first to see the Clangers episodes were a whole host of journalists from Guardian, Daily Telegraph, What’s On TV, Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph to name a few. Before the screening started, guests were treated to a musical performance from composer John Du Prez and Young Musician of the Year Sophie Westbrooke.
Swanee-ese expert Dan Maddicott then took to the stage to show the kids how the Clangers talk to each other, shortly before our fantastic host Maggie Aderin-Pocock was joined by Michael Palin, Peter Firmin and Dan Postgate to talk about what went into creating the new series.
The event saw coverage from Yahoo, BT, Independent, Sunday Express and Sunday Telegraph, among many more and the event was part of a huge press campaign for the launch of Clangers!
Clangers is on CBeebies every day at 5:30pm.
Katy x