Phil Redmond: Surprise surprise

Dec 14 2007 by Phil Redmond, Liverpool Daily Post

SURPRISES. Are you planning any for Christmas? Or are you hoping for them? Are you planning to hide them under a tree, or just hide under one? And bah humbug to one and all?

One surprise already has been the blow dealt to certain politically correct bah-humbug-ers (and I guess you have to be careful of that spelling!), who have been told by the great and the good to abandon Winter Festivals and re-embrace Nativity plays.

And so they should.

Another of life’s surprises is that this piece of news comes just as Liverpool is set to play host to the BBC’s Nativity production.

The bulk of the programme is being recorded on Sunday evening in William Brown Street, but the event itself tends to suggest that the soon to be ordained European Capital of Culture is slightly ahead of the game once again.

It promises to be quite a spectacle, as well as controversial, as reactions to advance publicity already suggest a certain amount of artistic licence being taken. But that’s culture for you.

Further across the cultural spectrum, LFC will play host to Man U earlier in the day and hopefully there will be no unpleasant surprises there.

Manager Rafael Benitez may well be hoping for the same from his American bosses, even though he himself seems to thrive on surprises when pinning up the team sheet.

Across the park, another manager seems to be turning in a season of surprises with his team selections, although, as a Red, I suppose I would say that. Still, for fans of a certain generation, it is good to see both the city’s teams once again featuring in Europe.

At least that’s one part of our cultural legacy that is, as the song says, coming home?

Surprises are also something we hope to sprinkle through 2008 to run alongside the already announced programme.

Shortly before Christmas, the mandatory Year Book will be published, and what a great stocking filler that will be, although as cultural folk we have decided not to call it a Year Book, but simply a guide, as it is designed to help people use the headline events like cultural stepping stones to navigate the year.

And how’s that for a bit of culture-speak?

There will also be a set of seasonal guides published each quarter with more up-to-date information and late additions, although even these will not have everything, as something that has not come as any surprise is how late people leave things to get involved.

Every day we are getting calls from people who have either suddenly realised that the year is upon us, or have picked up the growing media buzz and want to be a part of it.

From conferences to carnivals and singers to sambas, all in all it looks set to be a year of surprises.