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You Go, Girl! In Praise of Angela Rippon
“Who is Angela Rippon?” You may ask.
And it’s perfectly fine if you do. I’m ready to go to war on her behalf.
I know who Angela Rippon is mostly because I’m old enough to remember her insurgence on the BBC as its first permanent female journalist on the national television news. And also–not to put too find a point upon it–I remember Dad calling her a “poppet,” one of his favorite words for a woman who deserved recognition not only because of her charming female persona, but also because she had nerve, intelligence, and presence. If Dad hadn’t thought Angela Rippon worth bothering with, I’m not sure I would have either. But he did. And so here I am.
These days, she’s a national institution.
Angela Rippon will be 79 years old next week. She’s recently appeared irregularly on GBNews (something which takes guts in its own right, the political climate being what it is).
And she’s signed up as the oldest contestant ever on the perennially popular BBC series Strictly Come Dancing (parent of the US series Dancing with the Stars.)
Here’s this week’s entry, in which she dances with her professional partner, who’s 50 years younger than she is. If you’re not charmed (starting with the choice of music), I’m not sure I want to know you:
You might not win the trophy, Angela dear, but thank you, from women of a certain age, everywhere.
Published in General
She’d be cherishable even if she weren’t so attractive. Bravo, Angela.
And as for the author of the post: ditto.
Well done, Angela! She not only danced beautifully but she had the best enthusiasm! What a delight!
I enjoyed the video. Very enchanting.
I was never exactly sure what they meant.
What a delightful post! Thanks, “She”.
In grateful reciprocity, here for your enjoyment is a slightly more up-tempo rendition of the song, with the added charmingly amusing element of being sung by the male/male duet of Frank Sinatra and Charles Aznavour:
I remember her from What’s My Line. A real lady.
https://youtu.be/RGTh00rEYDw?si=BFTw8i_TiGsfq5PE
(I came back to rewatch that video. Start My day off in a good mood.)
Sinatra, definitely for me.
Heh. “She” would like that song, I think. So, let’s share it with her, shall we?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajjdY070VU4
Thanks. You have to get up very early in the morning to find something of Charles Aznavour’s that I haven’t heard before, as my Granny idolized him. I mentioned his iconic recording in this post, Proudly Declaring My Preferred Pronoun Since 2010! and included a link to a more recent version by Elvis Costello. (The video that goes with Aznavour’s recording is lovely.)
That was really lovely. Thanks.
Heh.
Shirley you wouldn’t think it presumptuous in any way for me to be thankful that your Granny introduced and then helped you appreciate Monsieur Aznavour’s song interpreting skills, I hope?
PS:
Good on ya for doing that, “She”‘s Granny.
Granny’s taste in music was, for the most part, pretty dire, spanning the gamut from Believe Me If All These Endearing Young Charms all the way to the fussier arias from The Merry Widow. Her appreciation for Charles Aznavour was surprising, and his music refreshingly edgy by comparison.
Angela Rippon appearing on a dancing show will not surprise those who remember the Morecambe and Wise 1976 Christmas Show (M&W were a celebrated British comedy duo) in which she performed a high-kicking dance routine. The coverage was sensational (Angela Rippon has legs!) as she was presenting serious programs at the time (she may have still been a BBC newsreader, which is the modest British name for what Americans call an “anchor’).
Here is her appearance on that show, 47 years ago: Eric and Ernie: Medley with Angela Rippon – YouTube.
Yes, that performance cemented her place in the hearts of the Great British public for decades. It wasn’t uncommon for M&W to feature a stuffy BBC newsreader (male, of course) in a skit on their Christmas shows. None of them was quite so appealing, nor was any of them quite so–well–leggy, as Angela.
It’s remarkable, in one way, that this skit made it onto the television only about a year after Rippon started reading the news on the BBC in 1975. She was only the second woman to read the national news for the broadcaster, and there was still a considerable breadth of opinion that women were too “frivolous” to be trusted with the job, dealing as it did with matters of national importance and/or serious consequence. The first female broadcaster (early 60s) didn’t last long, and the experiment wasn’t a success. It’s to Rippon’s credit that she made it very competently through a dance routine in which she showed a lot of leg (and wiggle), and then resumed her duties behind the desk without apparently suffering any diminution in the respect accorded her, either by her employers, her coworkers or her audience.
Five weeks on, and she is still in the hunt. Argentine Tango:
The woman is awesome!! Good for her!
She was eliminated in the competition this week.
I don’t mind.
Every performance on her part–and that of her partner–was joyful, even unto the last, which was this one:
Sure. Not always perfect, and perhaps she couldn’t wiggle her hips quite as well or as flexibly as her competitors more than half-a-century younger. I understand. Because, God, here I am.
Still: Team Angela!