(seen at the performance on 16th November 2025)
Now firmly in the monkey diary as a pre-holiday season treat, this live event recorded for radio continues to get even better each year.
A stellar mix of favourite artistes singing a mixture of their own hits and Christmas songs played live by an excellent 11-piece on-stage band, compered by Magic Radio presenters.
This year, the bright Harriet Scott, Gaby Roslin and irrepressible Gok Wan hold the show together on a blue-lit stage with a huge white-light Christmas tree background.
First up, Matt Goss for a trio of hits. Telling the audience to get up and dance, his many fans who managed to get tickets do just that.
“I Owe You Nothing,” strutting in a gold jacket, Stetson and sunglasses gives way to “The Christmas Song” (“Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” /”Merry Christmas to You”), and on (via “Darth Vader’s Theme”) to “When Will I Be Famous” to finish the set.
The voice is richer now than ever, and there’s a touch of Robbie Williams showmanship, along with deep respect when dealing with fans who want to give him gifts and shake hands mid-performance.
Next up, Louise. 30 years in music look like yesterday. Opening with “Arms Around the World” from her second album, the black trouser suit matches her energy, as does her seasonal number choice, “What Christmas Means to Me,” in zappy pop style. “Let’s Go Round Again” is as good a suggestion as song choice, her pair of female backing singers enjoying it as much as she does.
Babatunde Emmanuel Baiyewu, Tunde to us, of “Lighthouse Family” scores the biggest hits of the night. “Lifted” lets a warm personality and gravel voice transport us.
Joni Mitchell’s “River” is a stunning Christmas choice, a song for those who feel the pain of personal troubles in a season where most are celebrating.
Ending with his hit “High,” this is one performer who will no longer pass the monkey by.
Rounding off the first half, James Morrison with acoustic guitar performs “You Give Me Something” with smoothness in a welcome change of pace for the show.
His selection of “Stay Another Day” by East 17 is another reminder of absence. Heartfelt, this song about loss of a sibling became a Christmas song. Meaning much to Morrison’s childhood, it means plenty to us all now.
To finish, his young daughter Elsie joins him for his 2008 hit “Broken Strings,” the pair blending vocally for a memorable curtain taker.
Second half, and Pixie Lott is first up. “Cry Me Out” is a reminder of her past, before an absolute treat. A brand-new song about Christmas, and how she will be celebrating it with her new 5-week-old baby.
“First Christmas” has got to be next year’s “John Lewis” advertisement track and theme, and potentially an all-time Christmas classic of the future. And we get to hear it here live, first.
Rounding her set off with “All About Tonight,” for Lott, it really is, rocking the Palladium at will.
Time for the two heavyweights to appear. Tony Hadley never changes. Powerhouse vocal, powerhouse charisma and first to pay tribute to Tim Marple and the band, whom he only met and rehearsed with this morning. They appreciated the recognition, so does the audience that he did so.
“True” reminds the monkey of a horrible period in its life, a number it can’t bear to hear on the radio. Live, it breaks that taboo – meaningful and immediate. Wow, it is such a good song, who knew?
In 1972, Tony Christie recorded “Avenues and Alleyways.” Now, he has worked on it for Hadley’s new album. The sound of an era, Hadley’s voice brings out the soul of the number and those times.
Telling us he is going “Bruce Springsteen,” “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” hits the tempo and power just right, his backing vocalist’s “ho, ho, ho” setting Hadley’s giggles off in the holiday spirit.
Then comes the ending we’ve all been waiting for, “Gold.” Which he is. Hopefully the new knee (coming in January between his Christmas and Australia tours) will end the painful limp which worried us all. We can only wish him well and say thank you.
Final act of the night, Marti Pellow. The noisiest fans in the theatre greet him as he launches into Wet Wet Wet’s debut single “”Wishing I Was Lucky” – a ball of slim energy in brown with purple shirt.
A Joe Cocker style version of The Beatles’, “With a Little Help from My Friends” was the band’s first number 1, as a Childline charity single, and this is a charismatic performance.
Remembering the family’s first (second-hand) hi-fi unit in Christmas 1973, and grandmother’s 78 record he played endlessly on it, Pellow Sinatra’s Sinatra with “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.”
Getting the lyric wrong, with a casual, “that’s showbiz” he starts again to make sure the number is up to his high standard, classic yet contemporary.
With pauses to joke with the band about the station doubling their money, and a reminder from Gok Wan that he used to style Pellow, the end number is inevitably, “Love Is All Around.”
So entrenched in the audience memory, all are word perfect in a mass sing-along, Pellow changing “show” to “snow” as a blizzard falls on stage to signify the end.
Raising funds for “Mission Christmas,” this lavish event more than delivers a gift to all. Do tune in when it is broadcast, this is a treat not to be missed.
5 stars.