Scott finally meets Psy
Psy joined Scott after “Gangnam Style” had reached number one in 28 countries and accumulated 671 million YouTube views. Scott happily accepted Psy’s claim that he had effectively made the song a UK number one, although the artist’s visit came after a worldwide rise neither of them could have predicted.
Psy said he trusted what he saw more than online figures, so the scale of his British popularity only became real when he arrived and received a complimentary hotel-room upgrade. He had also spoken at the Oxford Union about the decade of success he had enjoyed in South Korea before international listeners discovered him.
The video was released on 15 July. Within days, celebrities began sharing it and Scooter Braun, Justin Bieber’s manager, asked publicly why he had not signed Psy. Braun subsequently did exactly that. Psy remembered realising in early August that something extraordinary was happening.
He had performed and taught the horse-riding dance thousands of times, including an awkward lesson with Britney Spears, whose tight dress prevented her from moving properly. Barack Obama had even said he knew the dance. Psy explained that “Gangnam Style” was the lead single from his sixth album and that his five previous campaigns had featured similarly unusual routines.
The team read an English translation of the lyrics, in which a woman enjoyed the freedom of a cup of coffee and a man drank his before it cooled. Psy confirmed that the unlikely wording was accurate and seemed delighted by the programme’s serious reading of it.
A Guinness World Record surprise
Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records, entered the studio with a surprise. “Gangnam Style” had become the most liked video on YouTube, recording 4,999,154 likes by 8 November and overtaking videos including Justin Bieber and “Charlie Bit My Finger”.
Psy was presented with an official certificate and said it was the first certificate he had ever received, having left college without one. Scott asked whether Chris’s song video qualified for anything with its 1,927 likes, but Glenday could only promise to keep monitoring it.
After a performance of the dance in the studio, Psy discussed the problem of following such an enormous success. He distinguished between an achievement created deliberately and a phenomenon chosen by the public. The next release would be his attempt to make something international on purpose, although he was prepared to accept that listeners might not choose it again.
Psy already had a new song almost finished but would not play it unless Scott brought One Direction into the collaboration. Scott accepted the position of unofficial British manager and promised to make contact. Chris also demonstrated his reindeer version of the dance for a possible Christmas recording, before teaching Psy the fishing-rod move he used to reel somebody towards him on a dance floor.
Gemma Cairney returns to Innuendo Bingo
Before the new game, Scott apologised to a listener named Fiona Dick. The previous edition had placed a clip about Fiona opening her back doors and dropping her load directly beside a Radio 4 scene repeating the name Dick, creating what looked like a very personal attack.
Gemma Cairney then faced Chris. MasterChef featured a contestant entered by his lady, Emeli Sandé announced that she liked nuts and a Radio 4 character wanted to get his hands on somebody’s instrument and play with it for hours. Jamie Oliver said that a proper jerk was all about the sauce, while Kevin McCloud repeated “Flaps up, gentlemen”.
Further clips covered sucking a Fisherman’s Friend, feeling wind in a helmet, late-afternoon nosh around Jason Derulo’s new barbecue and a woman gripping firmly down a shaft. Gemma laughed so hard that she repeatedly fell from her chair, while Chris was driven backwards by the water. Claudia Winkleman closed the game by advising that a back door should be used more often.
Real or No Real with Sara Cox
Sara Cox arrived for the handover and joined Scott for Real or No Real. Madonna really was distantly related to Celine Dion, Gwen Stefani and Camilla Parker Bowles. It had not been illegal for men to buy bras until 1972.
Parents in Switzerland could hire a clown to stalk their child for seven days before throwing a cake in their face. Leonardo da Vinci had also designed an alarm clock which woke him by rubbing his feet. Britney Spears had not shaved her hair again after losing a drunken game of poker and truth or dare with Simon Cowell. Sara won by 30 points to 20.
Dear Scott
The Posh Radio 4 Lady read messages from listeners around the world. Shona in Kansas City tested a Real or No Real fact at an election-night party and confirmed that a dried cranberry repeatedly travelled up and down in sparkling wine, just as a raisin did in champagne.
Louise requested an elaborate birthday greeting for her boyfriend Matt even though he was in a meeting about gas and would not hear it live. A listener in Newfoundland asked for the return of the programme’s Masterpieces, recalling the attempts to play Britney Spears and Busted albums in full before senior management intervened.
Michelle in Brighton found that a stranger had placed a two-hour parking ticket on her car after she overslept and missed the end of the free period. The small act saved her from a possible £60 penalty and restored her faith in other people, giving the feature an unusually sincere finish.
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