A Wiggley time had by all
Mikey 8 comments
I never thought I would write about the Wiggles, but in light of this morning's announcement and having just attended the first ever concert with the official new line up, I thought I might share my thoughts.
I will confess - I am a fan of the Wiggles. Not the sort of fan that wears a coloured skivvy or drives a big red car, but the kind that appreciates the joy they bring to my children and on another level, appreciates just how well orchestrated and conceived their shows are towards the target demographic. To me, anyone in an industry that directly benefits or entertains children are heroes.
Greg Page was no doubt the most popular Wiggle, which is common for the lead singer of any band. And like any other band, replacements are initially met with a certain amount of doubt, scepticism and lots of questions. Will everything be the same? Can the new guy fill the shoes? Will a different direction be taken? Will they still call him 'Greg'?
Replacing the lead singer is the biggest change a band can make, which places a lot of pressure on the replacement. But to his credit Sam Moran seems to be doing a fantastic job donning the yellow skivvy.
To be fair this is not Moran's first outing as a 'replacement Greg', or 'Greg Beta' as I often refer to him. With Page's health issues the past several months Moran has been driving the big red car more often than not. But today he officially became a Wiggle, an actual Wiggle. Or more accurately; The Wiggle. Let that sink in for a moment. The primary member of Australia's largest and richest entertainment export, with all the perks, merchandising opportunities and fame that comes with it.
Moran's first official outing as the group's front face did not disappoint, and you could tell he was pumped, with both adult and pint sized portions of the audience welcoming him with open arms. In fact Greg's absence was barely noticeable thanks to the professional attitude of the group, despite their obvious sadness at the news during this morning's press conference.
My daughter goes mental for the Wiggles, and even she knows something is 'not quite right' with her favourites. When we show her a picture of Sam Moran and ask "Who's that?", we are met with the response "......".
But this generation will adapt quickly and the next generation will not even know who Greg Page is. This is a sad but true reality that people have began to accept, with already popping up on the Internet. If you have not seen it yet, Greg's official goodbye and hand-over video can be viewed on this page of the Wiggles web site.
For the sceptical, I leave you with just a few of the 258 digital snaps I took at today's concert.
Debby
Thursday 30th November 2006 | 09:55 PMI was at the concert today too. My youngest toddler fell asleep 15 minutes in! I had my doubts going in but I think the new guy is fine. We left early when my son woke up and would not stop crying :-( I think I was behind you! Were you the guy with the Canon SLR?
Adenia
Friday 1st December 2006 | 01:22 AMThe 1st photo is gorgeous! Can you send me a high quality version if I email you or post it on this site?
Hi Adenia. Send me a message via the https://rustylime.com/contact.php">contact page on this site and I will see what I can do :-)
Debby: No that was not me with the delicious hardware. I wish!
Fran
Friday 1st December 2006 | 09:38 PMI ponder the educational value of the wiggles but just like your daughter my kids 'go mental' for them. We were at the concert and I gotta say educational values aside it was a delightful show.
Hi Fran. At risk of diverting from the topic, I just could not let that comment slide by...:-)
It depends on how you define 'educational value' for a toddler. The same parents who 'ponder the educational value' of Children's entertainment groups are usually blissfully ignorant of just how much easier the coloured Skivvy clad gentlemen make their lives.
The shows our daughter loves - The Wiggles, Hi-5, Dora, Hooley Dooleys etc... drum important lessons into her. Put on your seat belt; Brush your teeth; Look both ways when crossing the road; Share your toys, Eat healthy food; Don't talk to strangers...and many others.
And we witness her putting these lessons into action on a daily basis - because her heroes says its OK to do so and at that age kids want to be just like them. It is the simple act of doing these things (without having to be told and lectured by us) that makes our lives easier.
Between all the many different children's entertainment groups she has learned a heck of a lot - including how to sing, dance, play, and to our amazement she can count and solve basic mathematics problems in a foreign language. Did I mention she is not even 3 years old yet?
If only we had these opportunities on TV when we were growing up. All I remember is Fat cat, Percy Penguin, and Humphrey Bear - and they were all mute! What were the creators of those characters thinking?!?
PS: Hey are we off topic here...?
Aquila
Sunday 10th December 2006 | 12:57 PMMichael: A good point about the lessons learned by our kids because of the kids shows. We do take them for granted and that is the whole point. It makes you wonder how things would be without them.
Chuck
Thursday 15th November 2007 | 12:17 AMI DIDN'T KNOW THE NEW GREG, AKA, SAM, HAD BEEN AROUND SINCE 2006. I JUST TOOK MY 2 YEAR OLD TO SEE THE WIGGLES SHOW LAST WEEK IN WASHINGTON DC. HE LOVED IT. HE'S A WIGGLES FREAK. I ON THE OTHER HAND, BEING USED TO THE TV CONCERT CLIPS, WAS A BIT DISAPPOINTED. NO BAND, SMALLER STAGE, NOT MANY BACK UP PERFORMERS. MANY IN THE CROWD WERE ALSO UPSET (I.E., CRYING CHILD RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME), THAT NO ONE CAME AROUND TO PICK UP THE ROSES FOR DOROTHY. WONDER IF THIS WAS JUST A SUBPAR SHOW? NO IDEA.
Josh
Thursday 30th November 2006 | 09:49 PMMy girls didn't even notice Greg missing. But one of them has outgrown the Wiggles and the other is just getting into them. Awesome photos BTW