After 24 years on air, the music show that we all grew up with Video Hits is coming to an end. The final episode will air tomorrow - Saturday morning 6th August 2011, 10am on Ch10. Hosts Faustina and Dylan will bid farewell to us all. It will be a truly sad day in television.
I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to have a chat with Faustina this week about the end of VH. The interview will be broadcasted next Friday on CherriiPOP’s season 4 premiere. I also had the chance to talk to Faustina about uni, Asian pop and so much more. She’s amazing! So you all must tune in to Radio Monash at 7pm, Friday 12th August.
Here are some photos of the final VH episode that Faustina shared on her facebook fanpage
For me, VH was the coolest and I mean the COOLEST show on earth growing up. Back in the 90’s, the only way to watch awesome music videos was on TV. Hard to believe right? Today the media landscape has completely changed; now with the internet, music videos are easily accessed on our phones and any tech gadgets. VH was the biggest and coolest show that I grew up with.
My Western music knowledge wasn’t that good when I was young. An example, I learnt who Bon Jovi was when I was in grade 2. I felt like an alien for being the only person in class to not know who he was. In my defense, I grew up listening to Vietnamese music since I was a baby. So my knowledge in VPOP was quite good, but I couldn’t talk about the artists I liked in class because no one knew who they were.
From my school friends I started to get exposed to Western music and they told me to watch this ‘super cool’ music show – Video Hits. When I watched the show, it opened up another world for me. I became huge fans of Janet Jackson, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, The Corrs, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Kylie - All because of Video Hits.
Each week I had to watch Video Hits for new music videos from my favourite artists. It was a huge deal! At school, my friends and I will talk about music videos, cool songs and new bands. At home, I would record my favourite music videos on video tape (very old school). When taping a music vid on video tape, I had to sit by the TV to wait and wait for my song to come up. There was no playlist posted online back then, or link to download the Music Vid. The remote must have been broken, because I don’t remember using it to record. I always had to sit next to the TV to record music videos from Britney, BSB.
During my teen years, I appreciated the interviews with the artists more. I became interested in the stories behind the songs, meaning of lyrics, how artists got their inspiration. The interviews made me appreciate music more as an art form of expression. It wasn’t all about music videos for me anymore, it was about music.
Now in my 20’s, I have followed Video Hits for close to 2 decades. VH has been apart of my life for so long, expanding my music knowledge. I still can’t grasp the fact that it is all about to end. Yes, I know watching the artists music videos can be easily done on the internet. But, it’s just not the same! Video Hits sometimes had shows dedicated to an artists career like Michael Jackson. In that show you can watch all his music videos and learn about his career in the show.
Watching Dylan and Faustina on weekend mornings have been a joy and it will be greatly missed. I have really enjoyed learning from their music brains and watching their interviews. It will be up to them to farewell the Australian audience; and all the young adults who have grown up with the show.
Thank you for all the music Video Hits! You will be missed greatly.
Tune in 10am on Ch10 tomorrow for one last VH show!
