Minipops

Minipops
Created by	Martin Wyatt
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	6
Production
Executive producer(s)	Mansfield, Mike
Running time	30 minutes (including adverts)
Production company(s)	Mike Mansfield Enterprises
Release
Original network	Channel 4
Original release	8 February – 15 March 1983

Minipops was a television series broadcast in 1983 on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. Designed primarily for younger viewers, it consisted of music performances on a brightly coloured set featuring preteen children singing then-contemporary pop music hits and older classics. The children were usually made to look like the original performers, including clothing and make-up. Controversy over children singing songs that often contained a subtext of adult content (in adult costumes and make-up) led to the show's cancellation after one season.

Minipops was the brainchild of Martin Wyatt, who created a new kid group from London called the MiniPops and released an album in 1982 which reached the top 30 in the UK and Europe. This resulted in a French record label releasing a single from the album, "Stupid Cupid", which was sung by Martin Wyatt's young daughter Jo. The song reached number 1 in France, knocking "Ebony and Ivory" off the top spot.

Head of Entertainment Cecil Korer at Channel 4 and record producer Mike Mansfield embraced the idea of producing a TV show around the MiniPops; Korer believed it would boost and broaden the group's audience appeal. On 4 July 1982, thousands of amateur child performers from across Britain descended on a London theatre for the audition in a search to find additional children to sing and star in the television show with the original five members of the group.

Though the series was a success for Channel 4 (gaining 2,000,000 viewers), little thought was given to the ethics of child performers singing songs originally written for older artists and dressing and dancing in a provocative style (often influenced by the original performance). Whilst embraced by children who loved the idea of ordinary children singing and dancing (as they did) along with their favourite songs, the show sat uneasily with some adults; this was capped by a performance from five-year-old Joanna Fisher, who covered the Sheena Easton song "9 to 5" (known as "Morning Train" in the U.S.) in nightclothes and included the lyrics "night time is the right time, we make love".

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