article: He told Radio 4's Front Row: "I think it's important that the Proms continues to reach out to different audiences and the younger demographic to keep the whole idea of the Proms alive." He added: "To the audience that go to Ibiza... these are our classics." The late night Prom will be aired live from the Royal Albert Hall on 29 July. Tong - who has been presenting regular dance music shows on Radio 1 since the 1990s - said it was important to be open-minded, "whatever area of music you're in". "Just to stay stuck in the past or stay stuck within rigid guidelines, whatever you're doing, you'll struggle over a longer period of time," he said. Billed as "less concert and more dance-party", the event will help mark the 20th anniversary of Radio 1 in Ibiza. Special guests including Ella Eyre and John Newman will perform with Jules Buckley and his Heritage Orchestra. "It's going to be an entertaining evening," said Tong, "hopefully it's going to be a bit of a riotous evening. That's not necessarily a first at the proms." He said he'd worked closely with the orchestra to come up with "an interpretation of the Ibiza classics". "I started out by getting together with some of the music team of Radio 1 and some of my fellow DJs and also some faces on the island. "We got into a bit of a debate to discuss what music should be represented. It was a constant trimming down process, but we've ended up with probably about 20 tracks which will be presented on the night." Earlier this month Radio 3 presenter Suzy Klein branded critics of the event "snobs and scaremongers". Last week Proms host Katie Derham also defended the event, calling it a "celebration of electronic dance music". "There'll always be the odd raised eyebrow," she told BBC Breakfast, "but ever since the Proms began 120 years ago, the idea was to bring good music to as many people as possible, for it to be accessible, for it to be a celebration of great tunes. "So the fact that we're pushing the boundaries and bringing in new audiences in this way, I don't think should upset anybody." She added: "When they get down to it there is the most amazing classical music being celebrated with the most fantastic musicians from all over the world - all the greats are going to be there." The First Night of the Proms kicked off the eight week event on 17 July. It runs until the Last Night of the Proms on 12 September.
summary: DJ Pete Tong has defended BBC Radio 1's first ever Prom, a musical homage to Ibiza, saying those opposed to dance music at the Proms need to "chill out".