BBC chiefs moved quickly to cover up the embarrassment of the head of music at Radio 1 and 1Extra, George Ergatoudis, after he took part in a TV quiz last night.
Mr Ergatoudis was appearing on Christmas University Challenge, a variation on the regular show featuring university alumni, as captain of a team representing Sheffield.
He was introduced by quizmaster Jeremy Paxman as having championed artists like Dizzee Rascal and Ms Dynamite. He graduated in architecture in 1986.
However, on a bad night for his team (they were utterly stuffed by Warwick), Mr Ergatoudis, the only music expert on either side, did not recognise the city of Nashville - an important centre in the history of popular music - when it was described as a starter-for-ten. The description included the information that the city was the home of the Grand Ole Opry.
But it got worse. Mr Ergatoudis sat as blank-looked as the rest of the players when they were asked to name the band The Boo Radleys playing their sole hit Wake Up Boo as the music starter. He did have a stab after his opponents answered incorrectly, but went for Dodgy.
He was spared any further blushes, however, as Warwick later picked up the music bonuses on names of pop groups derived from literature.
When asked how embarrassed they were by their music head's performance, a spokesman for Radio 1 laughed it off: "Ha ha... George isn't there to know about half-decent music. We just ask that he knows about the crap we play on the station."
EIF News & Features music editor Pierre Noxious said: "Radio 1? Crap. Radio 1 Extra? What's that? Who's George Ergatoudis?"
