Crowded House Step Into Breach to Save Live TV Show

Crowded House saved the day at the filming of 'Later Live ... With Jools Holland' on Tuesday night, May 11, with a last-minute improvisation when the show stopped short of its alloted time.

Spinner was in the audience at the BBC TV music show in London as production staff informed guests the studio they usually filmed in was still in use for ongoing coverage of the country's general election, which took place on Thursday, May 6. They warned that the more cramped surroundings could make filming trickier.

Then, as the live show began, host Jools Holland decided to announce that David Cameron had been declared the new British prime minister, which appeared to affect the timing of the carefully-scripted show, being beamed out on BBC Two.

Following sizzling performances from Kelis, the National and LCD Soundsystem, Crowded House were due to close the show. Holland had said there was only one minute, 14 seconds left to the end of the show, so the band whizzed through a truncated version of 'Weather With You,' only to be told, after playing the last note, that there was still time left to fill.

Holland exclaimed, "You've got another whole minute!" to the band's frontman, a rather amused-looking Neil Finn.

Holland explained to camera, "This is one of the exciting things about live television, sometimes it runs perfectly to time, sometimes it doesn't. You're probably sitting out there thinking, 'Well, they could have bit a little bit more professional,' some of you are thinking, 'Maybe they could just give us a little bit more of a song?'" before turning to Finn and asking, "So what would you like to play?"

Crowded House obliged and immediately launched into 'Better Be Home Soon,' with Holland shouting over them, "You've only got 30 seconds now," to which Finn quipped, "We'll get straight to the chorus real soon," which he did -- just as the end credits appeared on the screen.

A spokesman for the show told Spinner afterwards, "That's the magic of a live show, and illustrates why 'Later Live' can be unpredictable and with the right mix of acts, any can step up to the plate and deliver on demand."

The longer version of the show, Later ... With Jools Holland, is on BBC Two on May 14 at 10:45PM (GMT).