CD:UK facts for kids
Quick facts for kids CD:UK |
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| Presented by | Ant McPartlin Declan Donnelly Cat Deeley Holly Willoughby Dave Berry Myleene Klass Lauren Laverne Johny Pitts |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Blaze Television |
| Production location(s) | The London Studios (1998–2003) Riverside Studios (2003–06) |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Original release | 29 August 1998 – 1 April 2006 |
CD:UK (CountDown:United Kingdom), stylised as cd:uk, was a music television programme which ran in the United Kingdom from 29 August 1998 until 1 April 2006. Originally run in conjunction with SMTV Live, the programme aired on ITV as a rival to the BBC's Live & Kicking and was the replacement for The Chart Show, which had been airing on the network for nine and a half years.
In contrast to its predecessor, which only showed promo videos, CD:UK was broadcast live on Saturday mornings with a studio audience and featured live performances, as well as star interviews and competitions. It also featured the Saturday Chart, which although was unofficial, usually reflected the new chart positions a day before the official chart was announced on Radio 1. This made the BBC's long-running Top of the Pops, which aired only the night before, seem very out-of-date broadcasting the previous week's chart. CD:UK later utilised an interactive chart based on viewers' votes, called the MiTracks Countdown. From 1998 to 2006, the show was sponsored by Tizer, Ribena and Rimmel.
In 2002, the programme was criticised for showing "raunchy" performances in a slot aimed at children, sparked by a performance of "Dirrty" by Christina Aguilera. In response, a spin-off programme entitled ', featuring music videos which could be considered unsuitable for daytime viewing, was launched in January 2003 and broadcast overnight.
Music
There have been two compilation albums released between 2 October 2000 and 20 January 2001, featuring many of the bands and singers who have performed on the show. Classic artists include: Westlife, Fatboy Slim, Samantha Mumba, S Club 7, Ronan Keating, Five, Steps, Girls Aloud, A1, Britney Spears, Shanks & Bigfoot and Craig David.
CD:UK Hotshots
CD:UK Hotshots was a spin-off programme, aired on the ITV network overnight. Introduced in January 2003, the show was initially presented by Cat Deeley, but she left to make way for MTV presenter Dave Berry who left in the summer of 2005 and was replaced by a rotating presenting team of Myleene Klass, Lauren Laverne and Johny Pitts.
As opposed to the main show, Hotshots consisted of presenters' links and music videos - some of which had been considered unsuitable for broadcast on CD:UK.
International versions
Although the original UK version has ended, an American version of the programme, CD USA, began on DirecTV's The 101 on 21 January 2006. Australian broadcaster Foxtel also air a local version of the show, renamed CD Live, on the Fox8 channel every Saturday evening.
In Italy, the public television channel Rai Due has aired from 2003 to 2007 an Italian version of the show, renamed CD: Live, which replaced Top of the Pops, every Saturday afternoon at 15:00. In Croatia, the public television channel HRT 2 aired a Croatian version of the show, renamed T-Mobile CD Live, from 2007 to 2008 every Friday afternoon at 18:40.
Images for kids
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The show was at the peak of its popularity between 1998 and 2001, when it was presented by Ant & Dec and Cat Deeley.
