Pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor is to play host a “New Year Disco” on BBC One as the calendar flips over to 2025.
The booking comes after a year in which her signature song Murder On The Dancefloor enjoyed an unexpected resurgence, after featuring in the hit film Saltburn.
The New Year concert, which has previously been played by Queen, Robbie Williams, Alicia Keys and Sam Ryder, is traditionally one of the year’s biggest TV shows. Last year’s event, hosted by Rick Astley, was watched by an average audience of 5.7 million viewers.
Ellis-Bextor said she would bring “sparkles, singing and dancing” to BBC One for her new year party.
“It’s possibly one of the [biggest] moments of my career,” she told BBC Radio 2’s Scott Mills. “It feels like a real privilege.”
The star said it would be a change from her traditional New Year celebrations, which usually involve being “at home with the telly on”.
“It’s a night where the kids are allowed to stay up late, my mum comes over with other friends and other family.
So I want the concert to be something that can soundtrack that in other people’s homes… Like, what’s the ultimate New Year playlist.”
The BBC said the show would see Ellis-Bextor perform a selection of her hits, including her latest hit Freedom Of The Night, as well as some “surprise numbers” featuring “all-star guests”.
The daughter of former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis, she started her career in indie band Theaudience, before establishing herself as a solo artist with the dance-pop hits Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love), Take Me Home, Get Over You and Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer).
‘Totally cool’
The 45-year-old has enjoyed a career renaissance in recent years, after her Kitchen Disco series took off during the first Covid-19 lockdown.
Streamed live from her West London house every Friday night, it saw the star perform her favourite feel-good pop anthems, aided by a parade of sequinned dresses, disco balls and impromptu interruptions from her five children.
The series earned her a regular show on BBC Radio 2 and a slot on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage, which she called “a very special day”.
This year, she has toured Europe, the US and Australia, supporting Nile Rodgers and Take That; and returned to Glastonbury to play Murder On The Dancefloor with Korean DJ Peggy Gou.
Speaking afterwards, she told fans she’d never grow bored of playing her biggest hit.
“Some people are like, ‘You’ve only got one song’, and I’m like, ‘Yes! Fine! That’s totally cool’.”
Her BBC One concert will bookend the traditional fireworks display from London at midnight.
Fans can apply for tickets via the BBC’s Shows and Tours website.