All I Want For Christmas Is ‘Video Hits’ To Come Back
2020 has been a horrible year.
We kicked off the year with horrendous bushfires around Australia and ended it with a global pandemic that prevented us from seeing our family and friends. Safe to say, I’m longing for a simpler time.
I’m yearning for the days when all I cared about was who topped the ARIA charts that week. I’m yearning for the days when the biggest decision in my life revolved around working out who I would be voting for in the Interactive Top 10. Yes, it would seem that all I want for Christmas is for Video Hits to come back. Please.
A comfortable lounge, breakfast cereal and Video Hits on full-volume is literally what I imagine heaven to look like. There was nothing like weekend breakfast TV programming to put you in the perfect mood for your days off. And I challenge anyone to tell me that there is anything better than a Top 40 countdown. Because it’s impossible.
Countdowns Are Underrated
Countdowns, in general, are an iconic format. The very nature of a countdown keeps you engaged until the very end out of sheer anticipation. And furthermore, in a pre-VEVO world, this show gave us the dose of music we absolutely needed at the end of the work/school week. Now, before you go and tell me that Rage was better because of their chaotic, ASMR-inspired “Rageeeeeeeeee” sting, let me tell you, Video Hits is superior.
Video Hits had it all. The aesthetic, the hits, the interviews. It was all super current, super flashy and super entertaining. Case in point: the intro video.
Video Hits Had The Best Intro Of Any Show Ever
Depending on which era of Video Hits you watched, you may have gotten a different experience. Although, all the intros had the same intense, siren-sampling, synth-driven song. If you streamed this show in the ‘90s, you would have gotten a whirlwind of throwback music videos mixed together with purple and golden lights.
However, if you tuned into Video Hits in the early millennium, you would have encountered Human Nature, 5ive and Madison Avenue through a cobalt-blue vortex. This is my personal fave intro, by the way.
But, if you tuned in to Video Hits in the mid-’00s, you would have encountered the rebrand which traded in the fancy camera-work for basic clip art and music video clips. Very similar to the So Fresh aesthetic.
The Competitions Popped Off
Regardless, after the intros, Video Hits had it all. My personal favourite thing to look out for was the competitions. At its peak, according to this Wikipedia page the show was raking in 1.5 million viewers in metropolitan markets. As a result, they ran the coolest competitions that were often sponsored by your favourite musicians. Let’s bring that king of spon-con back, shall we?
Video Hits… But Naughty
Oh and also, how naughty did you feel when you tuned into Video Hits: Uncut? I definitely wasn’t allowed to watch it, but whenever I got the chance, I couldn’t resist flicking the channels to “accidentally” tune in.
The Interactive Top 10 Was Peak Television
Finally, the thing I miss the most was Video Hits’ ‘Interactive Top 10’. In hindsight, I had no way of knowing whether my calls were making an impact or not. But you best believe that I dialled the number on the screen to vote for the Spice Girls song to rank the highest on that list. And sure, did I enter to hopefully become the ‘Interactive Top 10 Producer’ of the day? I’d be lying if I said I didn’t.
Video Hits sadly came to an end on the 6 of August 2011, with Channel Ten’s Chief Programming Officer David Mott saying at the time: “Video Hits’ contribution to the network and the music industry over the past 24 years has been outstanding… Music and how people listen to it, watch it and enjoy it has changed dramatically in the last few years and now is the perfect time for the institution that is Video Hits to sign off. The show will always hold a special place in Ten’s history.”
I mean, I couldn’t agree more.
Oh Video Hits, please come back. I miss you dearly.