Last Choir Standing

26th August 2008

There are some special days that stay with you for the rest of your life – for the final 3 choirs left in the competition, Sunday the 24th of August, 2008 will surely be one of those. Unforgettable, first of all, probably for the early start – most of the groups were up at 5.30am so they could get on the coach to The Mall at 6.15am. I say “most” of the group, certain members of a certain choir had to be rushed out of bed – and literally fell out the lift in the hotel because they had fallen back to sleep as they descended to the ground floor!

The reason for the early start was the Olympic Handover party outside Buckingham Palace on Sunday when our choirs performed on stage in front of 40,000 people, surely a daunting prospect if ever there was one?

The choirs had to be picked up at 6.30AM to rehearse. The early start was because the choirs have been so busy preparing for our shows that there’s simply been no time to rehearse for the event. So once arriving (and we’d filmed their bleary faces), it was straight to the stage for everyone to learn the moves with the choreographer. Now, on TV you’ll have seen the sun shining with nice blue skies. Unfortunately for the choirs there was a bit of a drizzle for this rehearsal ...which turned into a downpour! The heavens opened for just a few minutes and everyone had a bit of a soaking. Thankfully they took it like pros and carried on when going through the number with the orchestra.

Once the rehearsals were done, the choirs relaxed as much as they could before their big moment. I say “relaxed”; rather understandably they were more than slightly nervous about the prospect of performing to such a large crowd. They took it with good humour though and were laughing and joking (and celeb spotting!) together backstage. It’s funny how coming together to do an event suddenly wipes away all sense of competition – for a few hours only though!

Just before the big moment all the choirs were walking towards the stage ...and the girls from Ysgol Glanaethwy were particularly excited to bump into Danny from McFly. They stopped and had a photo with him – he gave them some advice about performing to a large crowd before everyone was whisked off by the stage crew to take their positions.

There was a jovial party atmosphere around the whole event – there’s definitely excitement surrounding London being the next host city of the Olympics. There was a swarm of athletes backstage, including one Michael Phelps, winner of no less than 8 Gold Medals!

So, the choirs had come to their big moment – the sun was shining, the orchestra were ready and waiting and the choirs were warmed up. The band fired up and the choirs sang fantastically – the 40,000-strong crowd really enjoyed it and the choirs got a rapturous reception. What an honour to perform right on the doorstep of the Queen – apparently Prince Harry was watching from above. Rumours he was seen singing along cannot be confirmed...

I was down filming with the MDs watching from a position near the crowd and it was obvious how proud they are of their choirs. They should be proud, for being in the final and, for performing so well to such a huge number of people.

It’s fair to say that this day will probably be etched on the memories of our Final 3 for a long while to come, it certainly will be on mine!

I’ll be back later in the week to give you a preview of what’s to come on Saturday night – but it’s fair to say that this is a Choral Showdown not to be missed!

James

Tune in on Saturday at 18:00 on BBC One to watch the final show. Or if you missed the last show, watch it now.