Tribute for shamed Ross

Performing on Ross’s BBC Radio 2 show, he said he thought the £6 million-a-year presenter was great, and wrote the song to represent the people in the nation who love the shamed talk-show host. [>

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The support comes after Ross was criticised last year by the BBC Trust for making a lewd remark to Chris’s wife, Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow.  [>

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The BBC said comments made on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross were “gratuitous and unnecessarily offensive”.  [>

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Ross, who refers to his suspension from the BBC as his “dark period”, returned to the airways last week after a three-month suspension for making lewd phone calls to veteran actor Andrew Sachs.  [>

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Before Chris sang the specially written song, he told Ross that the –people who banned him were “idiots” and he thought the shamed star was brilliant. [>

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He said: “You are great man; don’t put yourself down. Everyone thinks you are great except for some idiots that shouldn’t be listened to and I can say what I like cos’ I can leave.” [>

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He added he wanted to sing the song about Ross’s and Brand’s troubles “to represent the people in the nation that love you, which is a lot of people”. [>

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He said the lyrics had come to him while watching Ross interviewing William Shatner on his BBC1 chat show on Friday night. [>

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The song began: “Back on TV, after a month or three, I done my penance for my wrong. Back on TV, back at the BBC, way back in the spotlight where I belong.”  [>

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When the song finished, Ross hesitated and said: “Well that was…beautiful and exhausting and will hopefully feature on the biggest selling album of 2009.” [>

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Despite the praise, Ross has suffered a severe ratings blow, with the popularity of his chat show plunging.  [>

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After only one week back from suspension, almost two million viewers switched off Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on BBC1. [>

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The show drew an audience of only 3.2 million after scoring more than 5.1 million in its first week back after three months. [>