Where We Belong Lip-sync

Inspired by the success of homegrown musical ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ the team at BBC Radio Sheffield, along with hundreds of listeners, have created an amazing giant lip-sync video.

‘Out of the Darkness/ A Place Where We Belong’ is the closing anthem of the musical and throughout the autumn the Sheffield team have been asking local people to lip sync along to the song and film themselves in a place where they feel they belong. Videos have been sent in from all over South Yorkshire including colleges, choirs, dance groups, schools and small businesses.

BBC Editor, Katrina Bunker says it was the global release of the film that prompted the team to do something so special, “ Everybody’s Talking About Jamie has been such a success story for Sheffield, from the writing and premiere of the hit West End musical to the fact the brilliant film was all shot and produced in Sheffield. It’s really put us on the map this year and we wanted to celebrate that. Plus, the final song in the movie is so upbeat, so celebratory and has such a strong message about finding the place you belong it seemed to lend itself perfectly to bringing local communities together to do something fun.”

The footage sent in by listeners was mixed with film recorded with the presenters at BBC Radio Sheffield who spent a couple of days driving round iconic places the area in a stretch limousine - an homage to a the prom celebration scene at the end of the film. The station’s weekday Breakfast presenter Toby Foster plays chauffeur to Mid-Morning’s Paulette Edwards. “It was such a joyful couple of days, driving round all the bits of our patch, from the Crooked Spire of Chesterfield to the Dome in Doncaster,” says Paulette. “We had such fun in the limo picking up our other presenters and meeting listeners as we drove around. After such a difficult couple of years for everyone it’s been so great to do something so full of joy.”

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is a musical based on the story of Jamie Campbell – a school boy who caused a stir when he wanted to become a drag queen, and attend his school prom in a dress. The Radio Sheffield team were delighted when Jamie himself agreed to a cameo performance in their lip sync film. “Jamie’s putting the bin out in the opening scene of the film,” says Paulette, “so the real life Jamie just had to be doing the same in our film! Of course, he also joins us for a sing and a dance and he totally steals the show”.

So what are the team at BBC Radio Sheffield hoping to achieve with this lip-sync? “Mainly it’s about bringing a big smile to people’s faces”, says Editor, Katrina Bunker. “After 18 months of struggle through the pandemic, the ‘out of the darkness, place where we belong’ lyrics seem even more apt. BBC Radio Sheffield has stood shoulder to shoulder with local communities through Covid19 and will continue to do so through the years to come. This film shows we’re not just here for the bad times, we’re also about fun and connecting with our communities in a positive and joyful way.”