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

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

live

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

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising ...

that aired on

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31, ...

and

Citytv Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television A ...

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

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

that once existed at

's first studio at 99 Queen Street East in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

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

fans. A

Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the ...

version of ''Electric Circus'' aired on Musique Plus, broadcasting live from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

in the same format as the Toronto version.

Description

The MuchMusic studio on the main floor of the CHUM-City Building in

was used to film the show. Audiences often spilled out onto Queen Street West, 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 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 during the summer, and another at Winterlude in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

during the winter. EC4ME

Like its American predecessors ''American 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 and some regulars traveled from

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...

and

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

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 events. History Pre-history The origins of Vari-Lite date t ...

installation, camera work from videographers (including George Lagogianes), 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, a 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 "Divine Emotions" is a 1988 single by Narada Michael Walden, from the album ''Divine Emotion''. A successful producer, Walden billed himself as Narada for his later music releases. After producing acts like Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston in ...

," 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 is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with two ...

* Erasure *

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* Aqua * Alice DeeJay * Martha Wash *

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Darude Toni-Ville Henrik Virtanen (; born July 17, 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 19 ...

* *NSYNC * Stars on 54 *

Steps Step(s) or STEP may refer to: Common meanings * Steps, making a staircase * Walking * Dance move * Military step, or march ** Marching Arts Films and television * ''Steps'' (TV series), Hong Kong * ''Step'' (film), US, 2017 Literature * ...

Anastacia Anastacia Lyn Newkirk ( ; born September 17, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter and former dancer. Her first two albums '' Not That Kind'' (2000) and '' Freak of Nature'' (2001) were released in quick succession to major success. Spurred o ...

* Taylor Dayne * Cathy Dennis *

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

* Debelah Morgan *

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Roger Sanchez Roger Sanchez (born June 1, 1967) is a Dominican-American house music 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 internation ...

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* Emjay * Robin S. *

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* Vengaboys * Sarina Paris * O-Town * Ginuwine * Booker Huffman * Chyna * Bow Wow *

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* Tina Cousins * Bubba Sparxxx * ATC * Eiffel 65 Dancing alumni from the show also include former CFNY-FM Producer and DJ, Edd "The Wiz" Scorpio, radio DJ Ashley Greco of the Z103.5 Morning Show and boy band b4-4, and comedians

Marcus Brigstocke Marcus Alexander Brigstocke (born 8 May 1973) is a British comedian, actor and satirist. He has worked in stand-up comedy, television, radio and musical theatre. He has appeared on many BBC television and radio shows. Early life Brigstocke is ...

and Katherine Ryan. 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) * Brodie Chaisson (1999-2000) *

Nadine Ramkisson Nadine Ramkisson is a Trinidadian-born television host. Ramkisson worked in MuchMusic (Canada), on the show ''Electric Circus'', starting out as a dancer and eventually becoming the show's host from 2000 to 2002. During this time, she intervie ...

(2000–2002) *

Rick Campanelli Rick 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 Z103.5FM CIDC-FM in November 2021, and is currently co-host of t ...

(2002) * Bradford How (2002) * Rainbow Sun Francks (2002–2003) *

Namugenyi Kiwanuka Namugenyi "Nam" Kiwanuka is a Ugandan-Canadian television personality and journalist. Kiwanuka came to Canada with her family in 1983, following the Ugandan Civil War. She was given the Christian name Mary. She was a VJ for MuchMusic from 1999 ...

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

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

External links