Countdown (game show) Stelling was confirmed as the new host, with Oxford graduate Rachel Riley in the Vorderman role. It was announced on 24 May 2011 that Stelling would be leaving the programme, and he presented his final show on 16 December 2011. On 16 November 2011, it was announced that Nick Hewer would be taking over as host, with his first show broadcast on 9 January 2012. "Countdown" quickly established cult status within British television – an image which it maintains today, despite numerous changes of rules and personnel. The programme's audience comprises mainly students, homemakers and pensioners, owing to the "teatime"
Countdown (Beyoncé song) stadium" when Knowles was singing "Countdown". Referring to "Countdown" as an "experimental [and] framing an expression of artistic freedom", Jody Rosen of "Rolling Stone" wrote that the song "made [Knowles'] case." Jozen Cummings of "The Wall Street Journal" commented that "when [Knowles] went up-tempo on songs like 'Countdown', her virtuosic ability to engage in crisp choreography without cracking her huge voice took center stage." Echoing Cummings' sentiments, Mike Wass of Idolator added that "as great as those two tracks sounded live, 'Countdown' and 'End Of Time' garnered the most applause. Both were accompanied by brilliant dance routines and boast sing-a-long