| Cheryl Cole's Night In | |
|---|---|
 Cheryl Cole's Night In title card | |
| Presented by | Cheryl Cole Holly Willoughby |
| Starring | Alexandra Burke will.i.am Will Young Rihanna Snow Patrol |
| Theme music composer | Steve Kipner Wayne Wilkins Andre Merritt |
| Opening theme | "Fight for This Love" by Cheryl Cole |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Michael Kelpie |
| Production location | BBC Television Centre |
| Running time | 44 minutes(approx.) 60 minutes(inc. breaks) |
| Production company | ITV Studios |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 12 December 2009 (2009-12-12) |
| Related | |
| ITV Specials The Girls Aloud Party | |
Cheryl Cole's Night In was a one-offtelevision special, starring English recording artistCheryl Cole, produced forITV, that aired on 12 December 2009 at 6:30 pm. The programme was hosted byHolly Willoughby, featured a host of other performers and acted as a lead-in to the final of thesixth series ofThe X Factor, in which Cole is a judge. Cole performed songs from her debut solo album,3 Words, and the programme also featured performances from other musical acts as well as interviews conducted by Willoughby. The programme received mixed reviews from critics and was watched by 5 million people; this is substantially less than the viewing figures of other programmes airing at the same time.
Tabloid newspaperThe Sun published a report on 21 November 2009 claiming that Cole would receive£100,000 for appearing in a programme entitledCheryl Cole's Night In; ITV confirmed the programme two days later, with Cole saying that she would be "working with some of [her] favourite artists".[1][2] The programme was recorded through the week beginning 7 December at theBBC Television Centre and images of Cole performing the song "Fight for This Love", whilst dressed as aninja, were released.[3] Cole also debuted a song from her album,3 Words, titled "Parachute", where she danced withDerek Hough, a professional champion ofDancing with the Stars.[citation needed]
| Song | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| "Fight for This Love" | Cheryl Cole | Preceded by a sketch between Cole andSimon Cowell backstage atThe X Factor talking about the show; then followed by an interview between Cole and presenterHolly Willoughby |
| "Russian Roulette" | Rihanna | Followed by a further interview between Cole and Willoughby with a behind the scenes look at thesixth series ofThe X Factor |
| "Bad Boys" | Alexandra Burke | Followed by an interview between Cole, Burke and Willoughby |
| "3 Words" | Cheryl Cole andwill.i.am | Followed by an interview between Cole, will.i.am and Willoughby |
| "Leave Right Now" | Will Young | Each followed by a further interview between Cole and Willoughby |
| "Run" | Snow Patrol | |
| "Parachute" | Cheryl Cole | Featured dancing accompaniment fromDerek Hough |
Anna Pickard ofThe Guardian described the programme as "an hour of commissioning genius", despite Stuart Heritage of the same publication arguing that "just the title is enough to put you off".[4][5] In a separate article, Heritage voiced his belief that the programme saw Cole "discussing her life in the blandest possible terms while wearing a variety of impractical dresses".[6] Rick Fulton of theDaily Record was complimentary of the programme as he compared the dance routine that accompanied "Parachute" to a routine from the programmeStrictly Come Dancing.[7]Alexandra Burke, who featured in the programme, praised Cole by complimenting her hairstyle and by stating that her performance had "gone up another level".[8] Sian Brewis of theLeicester Mercury was critical of the programme; she claimed that it was an "hour-longplug for Chezza's [Cole’s nickname] album", branded Willoughby's questions "vacuous" and compared Cole's costumes to that worn by characters ofStreet Fighter II.[9] Rachel Holmes, writing inThe Guardian, was also critical of Cole's choice of attire and argued that the programme was uninformative. Holmes also claimed that viewers "were suffering from Chezza overload" due to her appearances onThe X Factor the same weekend.[10]
The programme attracted 5 million viewers, a 22% share of the viewing audience, on its first airing. However, an episode ofMerlin and an installment of theseventh series ofStrictly Come Dancing, which aired at the same time onBBC One, attracted 5.2 million (25% of the audience) and 8.1 million (33%) respectively.[11]