The BBC today confirmed it has not filmed a Glastonbury set of Sophie Ellis Bextor due to “crew shift patterns” – footage of the Pyramid Stage was captured only by the festival’s own cameras.
The 44-year-old singer rioted the crowd when she performed on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday, describing the show as a “career highlight”.
But viewers at home couldn’t join in the fun after the BBC failed to show her set during live coverage on BBC One – apart from 10 seconds of highlights alongside an interview with her.
The company also failed to upload the full highlights to iPlayer. After being inundated with requests from fans, Sophie revealed that her performance was not filmed by the BBC, despite appearing on the festival’s main stage.
The BBC has since told Web that it did not film Sophie’s appearance due to “camera crew shift patterns”. It was said the brief footage of Sophie, which aired on BBC One, was captured by Glastonbury’s own cameras.
Snubbed: Sophie Ellis Bextor’s fans are outraged after her performance at Glastonbury was not shown by the BBC
Sad news: viewers at home couldn’t join in the fun as the BBC failed to show their set, nor upload it to iPlayer
Sophie took to Twitter to offer her take on the controversy, tweeting: “I get a lot of messages asking if I’d like to watch my @glastonbury set on iPlayer.” Obviously that would have been wonderful, but unfortunately it was unable to report on my set for the BBC due to the number of hours that day. Next time…! xx’
Footage of Sophie’s performance was captured by Glastonbury’s own cameras, with BBC One then broadcasting just a few seconds of the show.
Fans were outraged by the snub, tweeting: “Very gracious of you Sophie.” Shame on you @BBCiPlayer!!’; “I was looking for it. Really disappointed’; “It was rude of them not to release your set. I kept checking and hoping it would show up on iPlayer.”
‘Cored. One of the few chances to see you live and BBC does it :(‘; ‘Not that! ‘; ‘Totally unacceptable 🙁 Really enjoyed you at Warwick Castle, would have loved to see your Glastonbury set too!! xx
“I was looking for your set to watch”; “Oh that’s a shame :(“; “crap”; “I’m disappointed”; “I was looking for this and wondering. How annoying!”
A BBC spokesman told Web: “This year the BBC made over 90 on-demand sets available to Glastonbury weekend audiences on BBC iPlayer, in addition to our live streams from the five main festival stages and our live stream in British Sign Language from the Pyramid Stage.’ Performances and Glasto-Cam Live.’
Aside from stars like Lana Del Rey, Sophie isn’t the only star whose performance has been omitted from iPlayer.
The 38-year-old singer headlined the Other Stage on Saturday night, but the next day those dying to watch wondered why it wasn’t made up for.
Unfortunately, that night Lana had her microphone completely turned off during the set as she entered curfew after going on stage 30 minutes late.
She left the festival-goers and eagerly awaited their arrival as she was due to enter the stage at 10:30 p.m., but didn’t leave the stage until around 11 p.m.
Despite the delayed start, many on Sunday were frustrated that they couldn’t watch the show on iPlayer.
Loving life: The 44-year-old singer wowed crowds when she performed on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday, calling the show a “career highlight”.
Not impressed: Fans were outraged by the snub, which revealed they had tried to find footage of the performance online
A BBC spokesman said: “Lana Del Rey’s set was broadcast in full on Saturday night and we are delighted to be able to include select titles in our on-demand offering on BBC iPlayer, as agreed with the artist.”
Lana started her performance with a bang, but quickly addressed why she was late. She bizarrely said it was because her hairstyle took a long time, and she even brought in a stylist onstage to complete her look.
Lana had vowed to perform her performance as originally planned, but was unable to do so as she was abruptly interrupted mid-performance when the midnight curfew came.
Glastonbury are not permitted to play music on any major stage after midnight and Lana’s performance was supposed to end at 11.45pm but was still going on more than 15 minutes later.
After being interrupted, Lana began addressing the audience without a microphone and gesturing, and her fans soon realized what she wanted as they all started singing her hit song “Video Games.”
The star had undoubtedly left her favorite song by the end, making the crowd sing her the hit when she couldn’t sing anymore.
To make it up to her fans, Lana left the stage and greeted the festival-goers in the front row, signing “Summertime Sadness” with them and giving autographs.
Lana was escorted by security and her team as she greeted her emotional and overwhelmed fans before being escorted off the stage after the very abrupt end.
Earlier on in her show, Lana had pointed out why she was 30 minutes late and vowed to perform her setlist as originally planned, even if the organizers “turned off the power”.
She told viewers: “I was so freaking late that today I’m about to rush this set. If they turn off the power, they turn off the power.”
“I’m so sorry my hair is taking so long. Let’s run the set the way it’s supposed to run, let’s do it!’
After getting her hair done, the reason she was late was that Lana also got her stylist on stage to complete her look while she performed her hits.
As she sat in a chair for her performance, her hairstylist was spotted undoing her updo and set about combing out her locks so they fell loosely over her shoulders.
Lana originally appeared on stage with her glossy brunette locks, all pulled up in a voluminous updo and secured with a silver hairpiece.
Not happy: Lana Del Rey fans were furious that her Glastonbury set was still not available on BBC iPlayer on Sunday afternoon
Undeterred: Despite the delayed launch, many on Sunday were frustrated at not being able to watch on iPlayer, with one writing: “Will the #lanadelrey set be on BBC #glastonbury #iPlayer?” Still not gone live. Or is she on the wrong track?’
But later she let the bottom half of her locks fall past her shoulders after her stylist came on stage with combs and hairbrushes.
Lana had first appeared on stage in a black coat held together with a thick belt before her backing dancers ripped it off to reveal her dress underneath.
She looked effortlessly elegant in a long-sleeved white satin shirt, which she paired with a matching mini skirt and heeled shoes.
Their performance came at the same time as headliners Guns N Roses were performing on the Pyramid stage, which also featured a slew of stars performing on Friday.