Over 4,000 people attended the concert, mounted on a specially built stage at Clough Street Car Park in Hanley (which is just outside Stoke on Trent city centre).
Millions more watched as part of the live television coverage on BBC ONE.

The gates for the free concert, which was sponsored by Asda and Fairy, opened at 5pm on the day - Friday 21st November.

(Were you there? Click here for FIFTY CDs Concert Competition)

Have a look at the Concert Photo Gallery for top action pix from the night of Sophie, Javine, BSquad, Fat Cats, Lionel & Janine, Shine, the Soul Survivor boys, plus YOU!   Photos of the concert crowd   Blazin' Squad pictures   Soul Survivor pictures   Shine pictures   Javine pictures   Fat Cats pictures   Sophie Ellis Bextor pictures   Presenter shots from the concert

Mark Righter sent in his review...
(were you there too? we've had some responses from people who violently disagree with Mark's thoughts - what do you think? See comments)

Blazin' Squad
"...........No doubt that most people were there to see the boy band with mostest... and I just felt sorry for them as didn't realise they were on first - and missed them.
To put the most popular act on first (and they were the most enjoyable too) seemed a little bizarre... but there you go.
Big up to BS, they really got the crowd going.
Pop's answer to the So Solid Crew certainly had the girls screaming for more during their performance!

Shout out for Lionel
The real star funnily enough was the person most people had never heard of - Lionel Vinyl. The guy with the most outrageous Seventies-style act you've ever seen was just brilliant as the compere...

Even after three hours of the concert, the crowd was still buzzing as he kept them pumped up, even persuading them to do a mass John Travolta dance.

He was ably supporting in the compering by BBC Radio Stoke's Janine Machin, who sported a very fetching pink wig. Sty-lisssssssssssssshhh!

And the rest
To be honest, the rest didn't make a lot of impression, even though everyone was really enjoying Lionel.
Shine failed to shine... did their nerves get to them? Soul Survivors were professional, but most of the kids in the audience will not have heard of most of the soul covers they do; and The Fat Cats, a five-piece swing-jive band from Alsager, back in their UK home-area after touring abroad, managed to show why they are in so much demand - but also why they will perhaps always be a "novelty" act.

Javine was really friendly - a lot of people will buy her next album cos of how good she was to the crowd.
Due to support Nelly on his UK tour, Javine is one R&B diva to watch out for.

....but Sophie-Ellis Bextor just did her three numbers -and scarpered off!

She's a star, but a bit too much - and frankly was a let-down, at the end of a fun night.

So..in this particular scorer's eyes....
Crowd (and chief crowd-leader Lionel).... Ten
Bands (except BS)... Four....."
MR

CIN Thanks for the complement Matt glad you wanted to see more, so did we!!! Sarah from SHINE Whitehill Click Here to add a message

"Katie"from shine you are so foxy if you need a bloke from a rock an roll get in touch with this board. your well lovely!!!!!!!!!!! Rock An Roll Rules Stoke Click Here to add a message

CIN Concert I have been watching the message board for a few days now and would just like to ask Mark Righter if he was actually at the same show that we performed at????? I for one, with a proper view of the audience could not see a person that was not singing along and enjoying our performance, and if blazing squads audience was so great, why did they show OUR audience on the "so called" live national T.V. when they were performing. To be quite frank, i think that your review is very unresearched. The top acts are not singers, they are actors and it's about time that people realised that. Well done to The Fat Cats and Soul Survivor, you put on a great show! Katie from "Shine" Click Here to add a message

Children In Need Concert at clought street This was a brilliant night out me n ma m8 went up straight after school and the queue was massive still we queued in the end we ended up bout 10 rows bk from the stage, the only reason we went was for our fave 10 piece BLAZIN SQUAD and they were brill children of the revolution is a brill song n i love it!!! the other bands were a bit rubbish javine was a good act she got us goin again i dont like sophie very much so we went when she came on well apart from that we had a brill time i hope blazin squad come back 2 stoke as this is the 2nd time they've been the first was for signal 1 concert at britannia stadium and again they were brill. Emma cheadle Click Here to add a message

Children in Need Concert I'm sorry Mark, but I think you'll find that no one said that the local bands performed badly. I think the point was being made by everyone that they all performed brilliantly IN SPITE of all the obstacles they faced compared to the 'professionals', whom I would hardly call 'dance' acts by the way. Blazin' Squad didn't put on any kind of show at all, unless you call ten lads just stomping around a show. Personally, I can see that anytime I want to by just going to a pub holding a karaoke evening. Oh, one difference being the pub singers actually sing. BS certainly didn't exude any 'star quality'. If they'd walked down the street as individuals afterwards I wonder how many people would have recognised them? Yes the crowd screamed, but they did that every time they thought any camera was looking at them as well. Ten people in a band, to quote you, ‘perleaze’. As for Javine I too thought the quality of her audience contact was excellent, until I realised the only part of the audience she was actually contacting with also happened to be the side where all the photographers were stood. Call me cynical.... As for Sophie Ellis Bexter, you didn’t sound too enthusiastic about her ‘showwomanship’ yourself. Or are you changing your whole story now just to save face? Cogsie James Collins Stoke on Trent Click Here to add a message

CIN concert Sorry Katie, I think I have to disagree with you. Shine were real babes. Why couldn’t we have seen more of them at the CIN concert? More please. Matt Baker Tunstall Click Here to add a message

CIN concert review Ppl, perleaze get a grip! What did i say so wrong\? Wot - shine didn't shine? even you lot all say the same whether it's the lousy sound from the PA or the way the show was badly miked. ok i don't know if they were neerrvous or not, but the show wasn't good was it? Blazin, Javine, Sophie EB, I agree were miming, so i was talking about the quality of their audience contact, and maybe you were watching another show but Blazin clearly got the most reaction. And Soul Survivors... well waddid! say? they were the wrong band to suport three modern dance acts? nuffin outrageous with that, and john agrees with me! Fat Cats ok they are I give you more than a novelty act that was cruel but singing songs about cowboys (ha!) is old fashioned and a party band they will always be until they wake up and smell the smell of burning quiffs Mark righter Stoke Click Here to add a message Mark wrote a review for us of the concert - because no one else did basically - but his views are his own, not the BBC's

CiN concert I'm enjoying all the debate about the Children in Need concert and the quality of various musicians. I would just like to say the Fat Cats rock! I had never seen them before but i think they stole the show. Real music, sexy blokes, great show! Katie Hallworth Hanley Click Here to add a message

CIN Concert - FAO Sarah (Also please note your typing error, 'managed to show':) Sarah, please note your own typing errors "There (Their) performance", "the crowd where (were)in high spirits" Pot, Kettle, Black? Also, although the reviews you quote from all describe The Fat Cats in glowing terms they go no way towards telling us whether or not the writers thought of the band as a novelty act or not. They could have loved the band and still thought them a novelty act. Colour Sergeant Lillywhite Stoke Click Here to add a message

CIN concert review Having read the comments and reviews submitted by numerous people with regard to CIN I too felt that I should respond. The night was fantastic mainly due to the talent of local bands, fat cats, Shine and the soul survivors. It is unfortunate that the BBC billed the night as a live music event and then only the least experienced bands actually perform live with little or no mixing. Although blazin squad, Javine and SEB may have looked good they were not in fact performing I ask myself is looking good the main aim of music? Or is talent and hard work a factor? As for Mark's review he has invoked a reaction, maybe this is exactly what he desired. Holly Mow Cop Click Here to add a message

CIN concert review Having watched the televised Children in Need musical spectacular brought from Stoke-on-Trent, I felt compelled to write after reading the astonishing review below on The Fat Cats. (Also please note your typing error, 'managed to show':) "The Fat Cats, a five-piece swing-jive band from Alsager, back in their UK home-area after touring abroad, managed showed why they are in so much demand - but also why they will perhaps always be a "novelty" act." There performance on the night was wonderful, and I only wish you would have shown more of them on television, the crowd where in high spirits and it looks like a great time was had by all. I can only say that your views where evidently not shared by the crowd. Having done some research on The Fat Cats here are some other reviews I think are worth reading and counteract your statement on them being a ''novelty act'', which I believe even The Fat Cats would be enraged at. Press notice include - "The Fat Cats are in town for a series of gigs. These guys (or is it lads?) play block rockin' boogie with a nu-jump twist, sometimes taking detours through ska (Ladies' Man). Chances of this show being run-of-the-mill are close to nil." Time Out - New York "The Fat Cats bring you an inventive cocktail of ska, swing and block rockin' boogie?an electric live show!" The Guardian "One of the most exciting live bands around - the new generation of swing." 100 Club, London "The Fat Cats bring you inventive cocktail of ska, swing and block rockin' boogie." Sheffield Telegraph Through hard work The Fat Cats boast a mailing list of over 5000 fans that include skate kids, ska punks, CEO's, jazzers and indie kids. Is only my humble opinion, Kind regards Sarah Click Here to add a message

Children in Need concert I feel compelled to write having read the so-called 'review' of Friday's Children in Need concert by Mark Righter. Unfortunately about 90 percent of what he says is rubbish. He rates Blazin' Squad having not seen them and seems to have not noticed that not only was Javine not singing her band were also faking it... It's not too difficult to be friendly when you don't have to actually perform live. The local bands were on a completely unfair playing-field given that a) they were the only ones performing live and b) the sound was badly mixed by bbc technicians who couldn't care less. It would have been very difficult for 'Shine' to shine under those circumstances and as for the Fat Cats being a novelty act....Mark, this is an internationally renowned band and their fan base suggests they're certainly not just 'novelty'. And as for S E-B just scarpering off...is it any wonder given that it was completely obvious the whole night was purely organised for the benefit of national television; and the crowd were there simply to make nice cut-away shots for the cameramen. sarah biddulph Click Here to add a message Thanks - we did check with Mark. He says he did see Blazin Squad - HOST

CIN concert review Having just read the review of the Hanley Children in Need concert I feel moved to reply. Your reviewer does not seem much up to the task as he missed the performance of Blazin' squad and yet still seemed moved to give it a high regard, this despite the fact that all they gave was three mimed songs and then gone. I was far from impressed and if it wasn't for the screaming of the young audience this would have been considered a most mediocre performance. In particular I think the criticism of Shine most unfair as they were dealt a poor hand by the BBC who cut short there performance to three songs on the alter of showmanship and not on how well the band were performing. I for one was in front of an initially hostile member of the audience who was won over by their first song. Javine was professional in how she played the crowd but that was the highlight of her performance (much show, only a little substance). Sole survivors were excellent but I agree not that crowds kind of music, but they still managed to keep them reasonably captivated. The Fat Cats were too similar in every song they played to be to captivating but what they did they did well. It is interesting to see that your reviewers complaint of Sophie-Ellis Bextor is similar to mine of Blazin' Squad - "just did her three numbers and - scarpered off". Sauce for the goose.....I myself would not presume to make any comment on her performance as I did not witness it (unlike certain other reviewers). It seems to me that this review is similar to the events of the evening - a sop to the fashion of the enterainment industry of the moment with no regard to talent. Do agree about Lionel Vinyl - played the audience well, but if the bands were as poor as your reviewer suggests he wouldn't have managed to hold them for long. yours sincerely, John Staniforth Click Here to add a message

CIN concert review Response to your article concerning the Children In Need concert. I attended the concert, consider myself a music fan and take exception to some of the comments made in your article. I would like to first point out that it was clearly obvious that the three 'big' name acts were all miming, just as it was equally obvious that the three local acts were not. Unfortunately for the true performers, that night little effort was afforded by the BBC (or if it was, it was done to little effect) in mixing the three live bands. This was most obvious with Shine, a band who are reliant on their harmonies (see the local news report that you yourselves broadcast before the start of Children in Need) who will find it hard to 'shine' when only one of their voices can be heard. I am sure that all of the local acts had put much effort into their performances for the night, which for all of them must surely have been a big thing. It is a pity that it was not rewarded in the way that it should have been, either at the time or now with your subsequent report of the event. The whole night was clearly geared as 'show' with little or no substance. Not once was I asked to make a donation to the cause, which, after all, was the whole point of the evening, was it not? The acts also made little reference to it, with Blazin' Squad instead choosing to tell us innumerable times when their next album is out, and slipping in "Oh, yeah, Children in Need" as an afterthought at the end. On one score I agree with your article, that Lionel Vinyl made an excellent host for the evening, but getting the crowd to dance along to him whilst the BBC faked to the nation that we were bopping to Blazin' Squad instead, is yet another example of how important the music was that night. I know that the music wasn't the main point of the evening and that the reason for it, Children in Need, is an excellent cause. I was also extremely pleased that Stoke-on-Trent, given its economic climate, was chosen as one of the national venues. I extend my congratulations to whoever it was that must have put so much effort into pushing for Stoke to be awarded this. Don't get me wrong. However, I think you do a huge disservice to all of the musicians involved, who gave both their time and effort, by the flippancy of your article. So... in this particular scorer's eyes.... Mark Righter.... Zero. Andrew Skinner Click Here to add a message Thanks for your thoughts. In fact, we've had a few phone calls expressing similar opinions. Mark Righter is a local student who decided to send in a review, and, as it's the only one we've received so far, we put it up. We believe it's an honest opinion by him, but we reckon - on the response so far, he could be in the minority..... HOST