 | Press ReleasesJonathan Ross hosts Royal Variety Performance |
Jonathan Ross hosted the 78th annual Royal Variety Performance at the London Coliseum last night in the presence of Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall. Prince Charles and his wife were greeted on arrival by Katie Price - in a low-cut princess gown - Peter Andre and Take That. "Your host, Jonathan Ross - you're surprised!" Jonathan quipped as he took to the stage in his first Royal Variety appearance. Jonathan introduced an illustrious line-up from the worlds of theatre, television, comedy and music including one of the biggest hits of the night, Take That, returning to the Royal Variety after 12 years. "They left as boys and returned as men pretending to be boys," said Ross. Addressing the audience, a clearly delighted Mark Owen said: "It's such an honour, 12 years since we were last here: more lines, grey hairs, but we had to come back." The night's numerous highlights included a huge ovation for bill topper Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow and the cast of The Sound Of Music including BBC winner Connie Fisher, newcomer Michael McIntyre, Meatloaf, John Barrowman, Ken Dodd, Sugababes, the casts of Spamalot, Wicked and Avenue Q and stand-up from Omid Djalili, Jason Byrne and Lee Mack. Other guests on the night included Paul O'Grady, Noel Edmonds and TV's newest reality show star David Gest, fresh from the jungle for his first television appearance since I'm A Celebrity . Get Me Out Of Here. The Royal Variety Performance is an annual charity event in aid of the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund and will be broadcast on BBC One on Tuesday 12 December 2006. JP | 
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