''Electric Circus '' (also known as ''EC'') is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

live

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

television program A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via Terrestrial television, over-the-air, Satellite television, satellite, and cable te ...

that aired on

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

and

Citytv Citytv (sometimes shortened to City, which was the network's official branding from 2012 to 2018) is a Television in Canada, Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consis ...

from September 16, 1988, to December 12, 2003. The name originated from a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

that once existed at

's first studio at 99 Queen Street East in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. Beginning in 1994, the show was also simulcast on MuchUSA. It had a loyal following among United States viewers, especially

fans. A

Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

version of ''Electric Circus'' aired on

Musique Plus Elle Fictions (stylized ELLE Fictions) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Remstar Media Group. The channel broadcasts general entertainment programming targeting young adult women. It replaced the music television channel Mu ...

, broadcasting live from

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in the same format as the Toronto version.

Description

The MuchMusic studio on the main floor of the

CHUM-City Building 299 Queen Street West, also known as Bell Media Queen Street or Bell Media Studios, is the headquarters of the television/radio broadcast hub of Bell Canada's media unit, Bell Media, and is located at the intersection of Queen Street West and J ...

was used to film the show. Audiences often spilled out onto

Queen Street West Queen Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original eas ...

, and on warm days, the windows to the studio were opened with some acts performing outside. It was common for dancers to be stationed on the CHUM-City rooftop, or even on the rooftops of buildings across the street, effectively making the surrounding neighborhood part of the set. Most music was prerecorded, but live acts were invited onto some shows, and in the 1990s guest D.J.s were also featured. The show was hosted by Monika Deol and Michael Williams until 1996, followed by Juliette Powell until 2000. The show also featured dancing floor director MC Craig F. (Craig Halket of

Combat Des Clips ''Combat Zone'' (formerly known as ''Combat des Clips'') was a music video program on Canadian music TV station MuchMusic featuring viewer voting. It was hosted from 1991 to 1997 by Craig F. Halket. The show involved two popular music videos p ...

on MuchMusic). After that, Electric Circus had a variety of hosts. The show ran for an hour and a half until 2001, when it was shortened to one hour. Two concerts were hosted annually: one at

Canada's Wonderland Canada's Wonderland, formerly known as Paramount Canada's Wonderland, is a amusement park located in Vaughan, Ontario, a municipality within the Greater Toronto Area. Opened in 1981 by the Taft Broadcasting, Taft Broadcasting Company and the Gr ...

during the summer, and another at

Winterlude Winterlude is an annual winter festival held in Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec (collectively known as the National Capital Region). Winterlude is run by the Department of Canadian Heritage and was started in 1979. The event is one of O ...

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

during the winter. Like its American predecessors ''American Bandstand, Canadian Bandstand'' and ''Soul Train'', ''Electric Circus'' was known for its flashy dancers. Many of these dancers became fan favorites in their own right. A couple of these dancers later graduated to hosting the show. Many of the dancers lived in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...

and some regulars traveled from

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

and

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

for the Friday evening show. The show's original producer, Joel Goldberg, went on to produce many music videos and a few feature films. He took a minimalist approach to the set, using nothing more than a well-run

Vari-Lite Vari-Lite is a brand of automated, variable-colour stage lighting systems. Their intelligent lighting fixtures are commonly used in theatre, concerts, television, film and Corporate entertainment, corporate events. History Pre-history The ori ...

installation, camera work from videographers (including

George Lagogianes George Lagogianes is a Canadian television personality, best known as a longtime now former reporter and anchor for CP24. Lagogianes graduated from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute with a bachelor's degree in radio and television arts. After gradu ...

), talented dancers and live performances. As a result, Goldberg created a show that highlighted the music and the dancers while throwing cutaways to videos. Guest artists performed live (or live-to-track), none lip-synched. After Goldberg moved on, the set became more elaborate, the dancers' costuming became choreographed, the quality of the dancing declined, and most of the performances were lip-synced, with the exception of the DJs, who mixed the breaks as well as a short feature each episode. In 1988, some of the original featured dancers included The WiZ, Tori G (also an editor for Citytv), WARP-1, The Hoody Boyz, Brenda C, Kenrick Pompey (aka The Cowboy) and Tyra J. Many of the dancers were regulars at "The Club at Richard's" in Mississauga, as well as working professionally in the "Go-Go" circuit. The WiZ (also the first asked to be on the show) was also a DJ and producer, and created the first theme the show ever had, "The EC Rap," as well as a short audio "stinger" for the breaks. In the summer of 1996, the show was completely re-imagined, with a new multi-camera film open directed by MuchMusic Creative Services producer Carl Armstrong. The series' original theme music, an instrumental of

Narada Michael Walden Narada Michael Walden ( ; Michael Walden; born April 23, 1952) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He acquired the nickname Narada from Sri Chinmoy. He began his career as a drummer, working primarily in the jazz ...

's 1988 single " Divine Emotions," was replaced by a new show theme, "Hang On Here We Go!" (Theme to E.C). Almost a year after the new theme went on the air, and because of viewer popularity, a full-length version of the song was released under the name ''Jet Fuel'' and featured lead vocals by Aleah D'Kos and guest vocals by a gas mask-wearing (video) K-os. The song was included on the MuchDance 97 compilation CD (6X Canadian Platinum) and Pure Dance 3 (Canadian Platinum). The song was also released on 12" vinyl and CD single with various mixes and remixes. The song charted on dance radio and in clubs across Canada in the spring of 1998 and was performed live during Electric Circus at Canada's Wonderland in front of 50,000 people that summer. This music theme remained with the show until the last episode. The CD single by Jet Fuel is available on iTunes etc. Guests on the show included: *

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

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Pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

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Alice DeeJay Alice Deejay are a Dutch Eurodance project founded and produced by Wessel van Diepen, Dennis van den Driesschen, Sebastiaan Molijn and Eelke Kalberg (Pronti & Kalmani), fronted by singer Judith Anna Pronk. They are best known for their 1998 sing ...

Martha Wash Martha Elaine Wash (born December 28, 1953) is an American singer and songwriter. Known for her distinctive and powerful voice, Wash first achieved fame as half of the The Weather Girls, Two Tons O' Fun, along with Izora Armstead, as they sang b ...

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Carl Cox Carl Andrew Cox (born 29 July 1962) is a British house and techno club DJ, radio DJ, motorsport team owner and record producer. He is based in Frankston, Victoria, Australia. Cox has won and been nominated for numerous awards. He has perfor ...

Darude Toni-Ville Henrik Virtanen (; born 17 July 1975), better known by his stage name Darude (), is a Finnish DJ and record producer from Eura, Satakunta. His music is characterised by its progressive/uplifting style. He started making music in 1995 ...

* *NSYNC *

Stars on 54 "If You Could Read My Mind" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. Lightfoot wrote the lyrics while he was reflecting on his own divorce. It reached 1 on the Canadian Singles Chart on commercial release in 1970 and charted in ...

* Steps *

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Cathy Dennis Catherine Roseanne Dennis (born 25 March 1969)Gregory, Andy (2002) ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa; , p. 133 is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. She was discovered as a teenager by music manager Simon F ...

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Debelah Morgan Debelah Laksh Morgan (born September 29, 1977) is an American singer and songwriter. Morgan is best known for her 2000 single " Dance with Me", which peaked at number eight on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Career She signed with Atlantic Records ...

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, tech ...

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Roger Sanchez Roger Sanchez (born June 1, 1967) is an American house DJ, remixer and producer. He won a Grammy Award for his remix of "Hella Good" by No Doubt in 2003, and is best known for his song " Another Chance", which was an international hit in 2001. ...

Bob Sinclar Christophe Le Friant (; born 10 May 1969), better known by his stage name Bob Sinclar (), is a French record producer, DJ, and remixer. He is the owner of the record label Yellow Productions. Musical career A native of Paris, Le Friant began D ...

Deborah Cox Deborah Cox (born July 13, 1974) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Born and raised in Toronto, she began performing on television commercials at age 12, and entered various talent shows in her teenage years before ...

* Emjay *

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Vengaboys Vengaboys ( ) is a Dutch Eurodance music group based in Rotterdam consisting of lead and female vocalist Kim Sasabone, female vocalist Denise van Rijswijk and male vocalists Robin Pors and Donny Latupeirissa. Created by Dutch producers Wessel va ...

Sarina Paris Sarina Paris (born December 22, 1973) is an Italian-Canadian singer, best known for her international dance-club hits " Look at Us" (1999) and "Just About Enough" (2000). Early life Born on December 22, 1973, Paris is of Italian descent and ...

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* Bow Wow *

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* ATC *

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Dancing alumni from the show also include former CFNY-FM Producer and DJ, Edd "The Wiz" Scorpio, radio DJ Ashley Greco of the

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Morning Show and boy band

b4-4 B4-4, later known as Before Four (both stylized in lowercase), was a Canadians, Canadian boy band from Toronto, Toronto, Ontario. The band was composed of twins RyanDan, Ryan and Dan Kowarsky, along with Ohad Einbinder. They were signed to Sony ...

, and comedians

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and

Katherine Ryan Katherine Louisa Ryan (born June 1983) is a Canadian comedian, writer, presenter, actress and singer. She has appeared on British TV and radio panel shows, including ''8 Out of 10 Cats'', ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'', ''A League of Their Own'', ...

. MuchMusic aired an ''Electric Circus'' special on Christmas Day 2006 and featured an ''Electric Circus'' New Year's Eve special on December 31, 2011. In the days before the 2011 special it was advertised as the return of Electric Circus. MuchMusic aired ''Electric Circus'' on October 27, 2012, for Halloween.

Past hosts

* Monika Deol (1988–1996) * Juliette Powell (1996–2000) * Nadine Ramkisson (2000–2002) *

Rick Campanelli Richard Adam Matthew Campanelli (born January 5, 1970) is a Canadian television and radio personality known for his work as a VJ and host for MuchMusic and for co-hosting ''ET Canada''. He joined CIDC-FM in November 2021, and was co-host of th ...

(2002) *

Bradford How Bradford How (born Bradford Michael Lorne How in Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a Canadian entertainer. A former MuchMusic VJ from 2000 to 2003, he has hosted shows including Nick at Nite's '' Bet The House'', VH1's ''Top 20 Countdown'' in 2005, and as ...

(2002) *

Rainbow Sun Francks Rainbow Sun Francks (born 3 December 1979) is a Canadian actor known for his role as Lt. Aiden Ford in the television show ''Stargate Atlantis'', and his recurring roles on ''The Listener'', ''The Umbrella Academy'' and ''High Fidelity''. Ea ...

(2002–2003) * Namugenyi Kiwanuka (2002–2003) *

Amanda Walsh Amanda Walsh is a Canadian actress, writer, and former VJ for the Canadian television station MuchMusic. Early life Walsh was born in Rigaud, Quebec. She went to Hudson High School, in Hudson, Quebec. Career Walsh began working as a profession ...

(2002–2003) * Liz Trinnear (2012) * Tyrone "T-RexXx" Edwards (2012) * Michael Williams *

References

External links

* {{coord, 43.649701, N, 79.390233, W, type:landmark, display=title Much (TV channel) original programming Dance television shows 1980s Canadian music television series 1990s Canadian music television series 2000s Canadian music television series 1988 Canadian television series debuts 2003 Canadian television series endings

Description

Past hosts

See also

References

Further reading

External links