Michael Barrymore performing Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) has to be seen to still not be believed
You could be forgiven for watching footage of light entertainment from the 1990s and wondering whether they were on mnd-altering substances back then or you are now.
Over on Twitter/X, Ruth Husko: Too Cheeky used her considerable skill at finding quirky old media to dredge up the perfect example of that phenomenon – Michael Barrymore‘s no-holds-barred performance of Backstreet’s Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).
Brace yourself.
Happy Halloween pic.twitter.com/rAXp9JfqYn
— Ruth Husko: Too cheeky (@dank_ackroyd) October 31, 2023
That’s the kind of commitment we’re still waiting for from Ant and Dec, to be honest. Dan Walker was speechless.
I don’t know what to say pic.twitter.com/8hX89PumpU
— Dan Walker (@mrdanwalker) November 2, 2023
These people managed to think of a few things to say.
1.
If you weren’t there in the 90s it’s hard to explain how cringey British light entertainment truly was. https://t.co/qScuLZ63OO
— Jamie Smart (@jamiesmart) November 1, 2023
2.
a) Shall we book a musical guest?
b) No, Michael will do it. https://t.co/ddV6kgiBk5— Max Dickins (@maxdickins) October 31, 2023
3.
This is the greatest thing I've ever seen in my life. https://t.co/5EYKAnv8zr
— Lou-weezus (@Weezus07) November 3, 2023
4.
This is why no one goes to pubs anymore https://t.co/zSOjSil0AT
— edie! edi! edié! (@ediemullen) November 2, 2023
5.
When people say Saturday night TV was "great" in the old days….this is incontrovertible evidence that this statement is not always true……………. https://t.co/KGMZql26A0
— Paul Terry (@Paul__Terry) November 3, 2023
6.
It's as Hitchcock once said. There's no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of seeing Barrymore sing "Am I sexual??" https://t.co/Q5XRROZyfs
— Mike McCarthy (@MikeyMcC1984) October 31, 2023
7.
I hope, long after the apocalypse and society has rebuilt itself, that this video is the only surviving thing from the 90's https://t.co/ipPU0m33r1
— Neal "choose hope" Mackie (He/Him) (@NealDM86) October 31, 2023
8.
Did that actually happen or has AI peaked?
— Frank Costanza (@mikewizz1960) October 31, 2023
9.
Barrymore was probably peak Long Variety – a one stop shop for cryptobiotic studio audiences that had seen off both the V2 flying bomb and the tabloid ecstasy panic https://t.co/g4SwbYlhaV
— St Panks (@truepanks) October 31, 2023
10.
Now this is nightmare fuel https://t.co/XH2Q76JBY3
— Steph is tired ️ (@Melancholic4Evr) October 31, 2023
11.
I may need to have my toes surgically uncurled.
— Ross Lawson (@Ross_Lawson) October 31, 2023
We really want to see a reaction video of Backstreet watching this.
A reminder of what the Backstreet Boys could have been. https://t.co/EwFRMCSuRY
— Duncan Woods (@the__DAW) October 31, 2023
In case you’ve been left curious, here’s the full song.
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Source @dank_ackroyd Image Screengrab