Comic Relief Does Fame Academy, a spin-off of the original ''

Fame Academy ''Fame Academy'' was a British television talent competition to search for and educate new musical talents. The winner received a chance to become a successful music artist and part of the international franchise ''Star Academy'' known under va ...

'' show where celebrities students sing as students of the Academy to help raise money for the charities supported by

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...

, returned for a second live airing on 26 February 2005. It was once again hosted by

Patrick Kielty Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is a Northern Irish comedian and television personality. Background Kielty was born in County Down, Northern Ireland, and grew up in the village of Dundrum. He is one of three sons born to the businessm ...

and

Cat Deeley Catherine Elizabeth Deeley (born 23 October 1976) is an English television presenter and actress. From 1998 to 2002, she hosted the ITV children's show '' SMTV Live,'' for which she won a BAFTA Children's Award, and its spin-off chart show '' ...

. During the

show on 11 March (

Red Nose Day Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...

Edith Bowman Edith Eleanor Smith (born January 1974) is a Scottish radio DJ and television presenter. She hosted '' Colin and Edith'', weekday afternoons, weekend breakfast, and ''The Radio 1 Review'' on BBC Radio 1 until 2014 and has presented a variety of ...

was announced as the winner.

Contestants

Production and broadcasting

The production and broadcasting for the live shows took place at a new location - the former Lambeth College site between

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames clos ...

and London City Hall on the south bank of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. The building had originally been home to

St Olave's Grammar School St. Olave's Grammar School (formally St. Olave's and St. Saviour's Church of England Grammar School) ( or ) is a selective secondary school for boys in Orpington, Greater London, England. Founded by royal charter in 1571, the school occupied sev ...

between 1855 and 1967.

Format

The elimination mechanism was the same as the second series proper, however Park no longer had a casting vote in the event of the Judges' vote being tied, with the public vote resolving any deadlock.

Teachers

There were changes for this series. '' Strictly Come Dancing'' judge

Craig Revel Horwood Craig Revel Horwood (born 4 January 1965) is an Australian-British author, dancer, choreographer, conductor, theatre director, and former drag queen in the United Kingdom. He is also a patron of the Royal Osteoporosis Society. Horwood is best ...

and opera star

Lesley Garrett Lesley Garrett, CBE (born 10 April 1955) is an English soprano singer, musician, broadcaster and media personality. She is noted for being at home in opera and "crossover music". Early life Garrett was born in the town of Thorne, near Donc ...

were brought in as judges. Singing coaches Carrie and David Grant were no longer on the judging panel, but were present during the live shows and were invited to give their views when necessary.

Guests

The five remaining students were given a masterclass courtesy of

McFly McFly are an English pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the '' Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Danny Jones (lead vocals, har ...

, who released All About You as Comic Relief's official single that year.

Conflict

The series had its fair share of drama and conflict.

Kielty VS. Park

As with series two of the main show, host Patrick Kielty and headteacher Richard Park clashed continually throughout the series. While it was assumed by some that the arguments were staged to build up interest for the show, this appeared to be disproved when Richard Park was spotted making a rude hand gesture towards Patrick Kielty, as co-host Cat Deeley was attempting to introduce the next act. The BBC received over 400 complaints, although Kielty joked about the incident in a subsequent episode. A spokeswoman for the programme said: "Richard Park did not realise he was on camera at the time. It is a live show and tensions were running high but we are really sorry if any offence was caused." The feud between Kielty and Park spilled over into the press after the show had ended. Park claimed that Kielty's presenting skills had been "sub-standard" and speculated that he would never be seen on BBC screens again. Kielty was later announced as the host of ITV's Celebrity Love Island.

Craig Revel Horwood

Teachers Carrie and David were also involved in a feud with Craig Revel Horwood. Horwood regularly criticised the performances of the celebrities, particularly Debra Stephenson and Reggie Yates. In one episode of the show, Carrie accused Craig of trying to kill the spirits of the singers.

Results and elimination

: Indicates the winning contestant : Indicates the contestant who was eliminated from the competition : Indicates the contestant who was the Grade A student for the week : Indicates a contestant who was safe, and was neither the Grade A student or facing probation : Indicates a contestant who faced probation, but was saved by the public vote. : Indicates a contestant who faced probation, but was saved by their fellow students : Indicates a contestant who was unable to perform at the live show : Indicates a contestant who was not eliminated from the show, but had to withdraw due to illness : Indicates that the contestant had been eliminated from the show, and was no longer competing at the academy. Notes: * Note 1: The eliminated students returned to vote.

Voting Controversy

There was also some speculation that the students were colluding with each other during the student vote to ensure 'close' results. The contestants asked the producers to be excused of the student vote, however the producers refused. Because of this, many felt the students deliberately invoked a tie when there was only six left, so that the public would have the casting vote. To stop this happening in the semi-final, where a tie was also possible, ex-students also voted (making 11 votes in total, meaning no tie was possible. Therefore one student was put in the final by the public, another by the Judges and the third by the former and current students.

External links

References

{{Comic Relief British reality television series 2005 British television seasons Comic Relief Fame Academy