2009 (Complete Interview - Shirley appears on the Paul O'Grady Talk Show)
ABOUT this Interview, by Elizabeth Mahoney, from 'The Guardian', November 9, 2009:
Part cosy reminiscence, part insightful probing, Paul O'Grady's interview with Shirley Bassey was pitched perfectly. Paul O'Grady (Radio 2, Sunday) really suits his slot on the network. His banter is reliably funny and warm, with an occasional top note of comic sourness, and real relish for the music. Yesterday's programme featured an interview with Dame Shirley Bassey, and it was never going to be a serious affair.
They reminisced about last time they got together at an awards show. "I couldn't find any champagne anywhere," Bassey recalled, "and then I found your room. There you were with Carol Vorderman and all this champagne." They stayed there until four in the morning. "You sang your heart out and I croaked along behind you," O'Grady added, the two of them cackling mischievously.
And yet, over the hour, O'Grady did scratch beneath the surface and give us some insight into his guest. I liked the clever choice of tracks from her new album, beginning with The Girl From Tiger Bay -- a place that has long since disappeared, and that even Bassey concedes she left as a toddler -- and ending with the stark emotion of The Performance of My Life, and its focus on donning a façade for so long that it becomes you. O'Grady shone as an empathetic interviewer and Bassey told anecdotes with herself, oddly, in the third person. "Bassey," she said, referring to Glastonbury, "doesn't do mud."
ABOUT Paul O'Grady:
Paul James Michael O'Grady MBE (born 14 June 1955) is a British comedian, television presenter, actor, writer and radio DJ. He is best known for presenting the daytime chat television series, The Paul O'Grady Show and, more recently, Paul O'Grady Live, as well as his drag queen comedic alter ego, Lily Savage, as whom he performed in various television series including Blankety Blank (1997--1999) and Lily Live! (2000--2001). He also appeared in the comedy sitcom Eyes Down (2003--2004) and presented several travel documentaries. In 2003, O'Grady was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy, and in 2006 he was listed by The Independent at number 32 in their 101 most influential gay men and women in Britain. In October 2008, he was appointed MBE in the 2008 Birthday Honours list for services to entertainment. On 23 July 2010, O'Grady received an Honorary Doctor of Arts from De Montfort University, Leicester, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to television, radio and the stage.