British people tend to have a strong "us against them" mindset. We’re just as good as the rest of the world, we think. No, scrap that. We’re better.

And to prove it, London has announced that it will unveil an ‘Avenue Of The Stars’ in Covent Garden next month to rival Hollywood’s Walk Of Fame. It will show the world just how great we are by immortalising our home-grown legends of entertainment such as The Rolling Stones, Sir Alec Guinness, Sir Laurence Olivier, Ant and Dec…

Wait a minute – Ant and Dec?

BBC chairman Michael Grade, writer Kay Mellor, ITV director of
television David Liddiment and composer Don Black were among the
panellists who decided which personalities would go on the first 18
stars outside St Paul’s church on September 18th.

The names picked were chosen because of the impact they’ve had on
British entertainment over the last 50 years – 50 years because the
unveiling of The Avenue Of the Stars was commissioned by ITV as part of
it’s 50th anniversary this year.

Sir Alfred Hitchcock was chosen for being one of the 20th century’s
finest cinematic auteurs, Peter Sellers for elevating comedy into
something approaching art, Sir Charlie Chaplin for using his role as a
clown to make serious messages about world affairs, and Ricky Gervais
for waggling his arms about and going "uh uh uh".

There’s a good chance that the organisers chose to include current
entertainers such as Gervais and Ant & Dec to show what a lively,
vibrant country Britain is. But, if anything, the inclusions just
highlight what a difference there is between the past and the present.

Representing the past we have Sir Laurence Olivier – possibly the
greatest stage actor of all time – and The Rolling Stones – a group who
have been icons for more than 40 years. Representing the present we
have two short blokes who go to jungle once a year to laugh at people
less famous than they are.

Far be it from us to suggest that Britain is short on talent, but
the Avenue Of The Stars has had to play the ‘Greg Rusedski’ card
surprisingly early. Perhaps they knew that the most talented people on
the list are already dead, and that the only people who would turn up
on opening day would be Ronnie Corbett and Ant.

So they’ve decided that people born anywhere in the Commonwealth are
also eligible for inclusion. That’s why Nicole Kidman has a star, so
hopefully she’ll turn up and people will have something to take
pictures of.

We’re looking forward to seeing who’s on the next batch of stars -
at this rate the Chuckle Brothers had better start polishing their best
shoes in preparation.

Who would you like to see on the Avenue Of The Stars? Leave your comments below.

[story by Stuart Heritage]