''Starparade'' is a

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

television programme A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

, which aired on

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

from March 14, 1968, to June 5, 1980, and was hosted by Rainer Holbe, along with

James Last James Last (, ; born Hans Last; 17 April 1929 – 9 June 2015), also known as Hansi, was a German composer and big band leader of the James Last Orchestra. Initially a jazz bassist (Last won the award for "best bassist" in Germany in each of ...

and his

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

who founded his world-wide success on the show.

History

''Starparade'' was an elaborate music show which was filmed in different venues across Germany. Each show was broadcast for approximately 90 minutes and showcased music and short interviews with the artists. The inclusion of international acts, and acts more local to Germany, reflected the international reach of the programme that was sold to various broadcasters outside of Germany. Initially, ''Starparade'' was scheduled for Saturday night, but was later moved to Thursday. The series was initially due to be filmed in colour, but the first 13 episodes were transmitted in black and white. These black and white recordings, with the exception of the first episode, have been lost and are no longer in the ZDF archive.

Choice of music

''Starparade'', true to its name, featured popular, sometimes internationally famous acts, who would usually sing multiple songs. It featured domestic stars like

Heino Heinz Georg Kramm (born 13 December 1938), known professionally as Heino, is a German singer of Schlager music, Schlager and traditional Volksmusik. Having sold a total of over 50 million records, he is one of the most successful German musici ...

alongside international artists such as

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

Boney M Boney M. was a German- Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group' ...

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

and

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

. Alongside this,

's orchestra played

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

s, at times even

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

. Every show also featured the official television ballet ensemble, which performed at least two dances, such that every show began with the opening music by Last's orchestra and a dance. Episode 14 (30/9/1971) featured Max Greger and his orchestra.

Special edition

During the 1975 International Broadcasting Exhibition, a consumer electronics fair held annually in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, digital technology made it possible to exhibit the show on a wall of TV screens, with each screen contributing a fraction to the complete picture.

Scottish Television

In 1979

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...

acquired the UK rights to the series. STV repackaged ''Star Parade'', removing the German compere and adding new English continuity. Each episode was 60 minutes long. They were screened from 1979 to 1985 by each of the 15

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

companies.

2013 re broadcasts

On 19 August 2013 ZDFKultur channel in Germany, started to re broadcast the Starparade series, and started with episode 14, featuring

Max Greger Max Greger (April 2, 1926, Munich – August 15, 2015, Munich) was a German jazz musician, saxophonist, big band bandleader and conductor. He recorded over 150 records in jazz and pop music. In 1948 he founded his first sextet with acclaimed mu ...

instead of

Episodes broadcast on ZDF

References

{{reflist, 2 *Online Archive of the Vienna Arbeiter-Zeitung and the Hamburger Abendblatt, closing the original programming

External links

* https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0476114/ * http://www.fernsehserien.de/starparade German music television series ZDF original programming 1968 German television series debuts 1960s German television series 1970s German television series 1980s British television series 1980 German television series endings German-language television shows Scottish television shows Television series by STV Studios