05/12/2011 Blue Peter

What's your favourite thing about Christmas? Food. I love the food.

Christmas pudding. Can't wait for Hello. We have got a show packed

with celebrities today. Ed Sheeran, the pop star that everybody's

talking about, is going to be joining us in the studio. I see it

as an early Christmas present. Here he is! Ed Sheeran's a singer/song

writer who's taken the British music scene by storm. His debut

album Plus became the best-selling digital debut album ever.

Here's the tip of the iceberg when it comes to pop stars and

celebrities today. It's the one and only Ed Sheeran.

Ed, come in. Lovely to see you. I missed you last time. I was

delighted when you said you could come back and be a guest presenter.

Good to be here. I hear we didn't have to work too hard to persuade

you? It's been a childhood dream. I had a list when I was younger and

this is one of them ticked off. Well, to thank you for coming in

again, we are going to upgrade your Blue Peter badge to a silver badge.

Oh. This is because you have done something extra for us. Should I

give that to you? You can keep that as well. You are going to work for

it as well and do a Christmas make for us, aren't you? Yes, I'm going

to make a sparkly star. That is certainly going to make us feel

very festive. If you are not yet in the Christmas mood, don't worry.

Watch this. There was a brand-new BBC One Christmas promo on your TV

screens at the weekend and guess who not only got to go backstage

and meet the celebrities, but also got to star in it? Yep, it's our

very own Barney. I'm on the set of one of the

biggest ever Christmas promos to be filmed by the BBC. We have the

piano, the tree, surrounded by this beautiful Winter Wonderland. There

are going to be over 30 celebrities getting involved, Gary Lineker, the

cast of EastEnders and little old Yes, I'm going to be in the promo.

So, the plan is to get 30 plus BBC One celebs, including Bruce Forsyth,

Matt Smith and Shane Richie into one big Christmassy house, singing

a musical number from the stage show Oliver. I'm so excited to be

involved in this, but I don't feel very Christmassy yet so I'd better

get changed. So what does Christmas have

normally? Mince pies, singing Christmas Carols and of course the

reindeer jumper. Look at that! How amazing. So excited to be wearing

this. I'm all dressed and ready to go. All I need to know now is what

I'm doing. Hopefully the director Ben will know. It's a very easy

shot. Quite a big moment though in the sketch. The idea is that you,

with a few Holby City and EastEnders people, come through,

the doors open, you stagger in with all this food laden with food

trying to get it all in and then we cut away. Don't drop the food,

don't look down the camera. Don't laugh when you are not supposed to.

OK. Don't er... What are the other rules. Don't do anything I think.

Just don't do anything. Be pretty. I'm going to get into character.

It's a bit like a music video. Each celeb is in their own little scene

which makes up part of the song, then we all come together at the

end to sing the final line. So while I wait for my scene, I grab

Fraser to find out how it's done, he's the creative director. Movies

can take years to film sometimes, this is over three days this one,

this short promo? Four days. We have three days with the celebrity

stars and we have an extra day to film up a the bits that help us

butt it together -- all the bits. It's Christmas, I'm with the stars

of EastEnders and Holby City and have to walk through a door

carrying some mince pies ready for the Christmas party.

Try it. May need to do this a few times. Barney, you are angled to

the side as if you are peering in, please. Action. Get out, go, go, go

go,, go, keep going! Paramedics just in case, please...

director wants to come out quickly. We did, everybody went flying and I

ended up carrying somebody else's tray. This will be about a second

in the actual promo. It's mad. Fun though. Thank you for the bread

sticks. Go, go, go, go, go... Well done, everybody. That's us

finished now. We've got a break and then we are coming back to do some

green screen, more special effects than bread sticks but I can't wait!

I decide to find out what the other celebs like about Christmas and

Thunderball all seem to have one thing on their mind. What's your

favourite thing about food Christmas? Food. Food. From the

moment I get up, I have a big breakfast. Big lunch, eat too much,

try and sleep. A big pile of roast potatoes and loads of turkey.

may have a bacon sandwich, something like that. I love

Christmas pudding. There's a theme here. Christmas chocolate.

Christmas is just about getting all the food to make everyone feel fat

and uncomfortable for the evening, then we play board games. Hungry

now, shame we can't eat the props. Back to the filming and it's time

for the clever bit. For the final line of the song, all the celebs

will be singing together. But because of their hectic schedules,

they can't all be here at the same time, so director Ben has to film

the shot in front of a green screen background awill youing him to film

them in small groups like this one, but then he edits them together so

it looks like they were in the same room at the same time. Sounds

complicated. It is! Straight down the lens, bum, bum,

bum... All right. So this is the finale.

This is where we all sing together and there'll be about 40

celebrities in the one room. They'll be put in later. Are you

talking to them? I am. There's a little camera there. Hi mum.

mum. # Consider yourself, one of us... #

Perfect. Let's move on to this set, please. The special effects don't

end there. The walls of the house are going to magically fall down to

reveal everyone in the Winter Wonderland scene. For that, they

need another set, more green screen and very clever CGI.

# For after some consideration we can state

# Consider yourself one of us... # Thank you very, very much, guys,

fantastic. That's how the acting side of it works. I've come to meet

Peter, the musical director in charge of the singing. Why are you

recording it twice? We use a lot of the stuff recorded on set. Some of

it may have noises, coughs and stuff. With the record, you record

the band and the studio and then the single, go from the top and add

to it to get the best quality. We use the booth over there with the

guys, they come in, re-record it like a mix and match the two...

have taken to you # So strong # It's clear we're # Going to get

along My turn # Consider yourself one of us

Great, Barney, perfect. It's period stepping out the booth like that.

My voice is now on track, it's been recorded and that will be put with

everybody else's and hopefully you will hear me singing at the end of

the promo. Exciting! And this is how it turned out. Here

And now for the grand finale. after some consideration

# We can state # Consider yourself

# One of us... # When I watch that, I'm going to be

going, he's there, no, he's there, he's there. Well done, Barney.

We'll have our own sing-along in a while, it's an exclusive

performance from Pixie Lott. Are you keen? Very, yes. You are a fan,

aren't you? She's great, yes. this is your moment? Yes, a Blue

Peter make. Dream. Not just any make, the Christmas decoration, a

lot of pressure? The Christmas star, yes. All you need is six coat

hangers, you can find them in your parents' wardrobe, don't tell them

you are taking them, they'll be annoyed. These are the views of Ed

annoyed. These are the views of Ed Sheeran, not Blue Peter. Stretch

them out into a diamond like that and you end up with one I made

earlier, nice one. They could have laughed.

He said there's one he made earlier!

Angle the hook into the middle and add the sixth one into the middle

there, make sure you have some tape. Take it round the top. Not the

middle but just the top and the bottom to make it sturdy on either

side of the star. You are doing well there. Strikes

me this isn't your first Blue Peter make? I made a Blue Peter bat cave

when I was around six I think. Lots of paper mache and water and gunk

and stuff like that. It was quite fun. Wicked. Once that's all done

up, it should look like another one I made earlier, spent a lot of time,

as you can see. Talking of things you made earlier. That-dah. Nice

and solid and stuck together. Get some tinsel from your local

tinsel shop. Put some on you to doll you up a bit. Much needed!

Cheers! Use some tinsel and go around the

edge of the thing, maybe scrunch it up so you can put it through the

holes. Who decorates the tree in the Sheeran household? Probably one

of my parents because me and my brother are never there, but yes,

my dad used to, you know all the pins they get on the floor, when I

was younger to occupy me because I was hyper he was like I'll give you

1p every single pin you pick up and I thought I would be a millionaire

by the end of it. I was there for hours and I got �3 and he got rid

of me for the day which is good! OK. We should have a Blue Peter appeal

for you. But you are doing all right. Put it all around the edge

like that and it will end up like this. This is nicely decorated. You

have added some baubles? You will get some from the bauble shop, you

can probably find it! What is a bubble shop and a tinsel shop?!

find some garden wire, either from your mum or dad. If your mum wears

the trousers, she probably has some bauble wire, and if your dad

doesn't, then he probably doesn't. What?! Just go to the parent that

does the gardening. Yes, thread it up and do it up quite tight. That

hides all the hooks? Yes, cover it up with the tinsel so it looks nice

and pretty and there you have it, a Christmas star. You can all maken

eco version, we have one covered in pine cones, ivy. Little robins.

and tinsel. Any Christmas traditions in the Sheeran

household? We tend to watch films, I think everybody does that. There

you have it. And pick up pine needles? Yes, Christmas star,

courtesy of Sheezer. If you haven't decorated your tree yet, look at

this next film for instraition. I went to one of the most famous

households in the country to help them put up their tree. Brace

yourselves for some flash photography -- illustration.

Every iconic landmark has a Christmas tree and almost every

home in Britain has one. Including the most famous address

in the country. Number Ten Downing Street.

So how do they choose the tree that will stand here? They won a

competition. The champion tree growers' prize is to see their tree

displayed here outside the Prime Minister, David Cameron's front

Minister, David Cameron's front door.

This year's winner comes from The Tree Barn in Christmas Common. It's

a real place! I've come to see the champion Christmas tree for myself

before it heads off to Number Ten. The man in charge is Andrew Ingram.

So this is it, the tree that will be heading to Number Ten? That's

right. Why have you cut the branches off the bottom then?

tree is bigger than we need. It's got to be five metres tall. This is

seven or eight metres, we don't need the bottom half so in order

for it to be easier for us to cut it, we trim the lower branches.

long has this been growing for? 25 years. It looks good. I'm sure

it will look good outside Number Ten. I should feel sad we are

chopping this tree down, shouldn't I? No, it's destiny. What it's

meant to do? Yes. Right, then, let's get it ready for Mr Cameron.

A round of applause is in order. What do we do with this now then?

It's going to go through the netter, we'll net it to protect it while

transporting it to London. Whilst growing Christmas trees recycle

carbon dioxide by turning it into oxygen. Every acre of trees grown

produce the daily oxygen for 16 people and don't worry, for every

tree cut down, at least two others are planted.

That's it. Wrapped and ready to go to Downing Street. I'll see you

Here it comes. Christmas tree has made its way from Christmas Common

and is almost there at its final destination, Number Ten.

Well done. Wow, it's tall, isn't it? They've put the tree in place

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 114 seconds

and now I'm going to unwrap it. OK. Andy! Oh, no, did that just happen.

I won't be in charge of the star at Downing Street. The tree is up. The

decorating is well under way, but to finish it off, I've enlisted the

help of our latest gold badge winners, Jonah, Lauren and Toby.

Eight-year-old Jonah from Surrey won his gold badge for making a

life-saving call to 999 emergency services team when his grandad

collapsed. Law reason is ten from Wiltshire, she has cerebral palsy

as a result of contracting meningitis at six weeks old.

Despite this, she's continued to challenge herself and raise money

for the Meningitis Trust -- Lauren. Most recently, she cycled 25 miles

and raised over �4,000. Eight-year-old Toby from Guernsey

spotted an unexploded World War bomb whilst playing outside at Cubs.

He acted calmly and ensured the right people were informed so no-

one was hurt. Good work, guys! The tree going up is national news.

So the street is lined with members of the press. Now, there's only one

thing left to go. 4, 3, 2, 1... Look at that. A round of applause.

Merry Christmas, everybody. I haven't put up a single Christmas

decoration at any house yet. But to be honest, I don't think I need to

any more. This tops it all. A Christmas tree for the Prime

Minister decorated by three amazing kids.

Do you know what, I expected the Prime Minister's tree to be bigger

than that, I don't know why. You cheeky thing, anyway, don't you

read the newspapers, were in troubled times. You are going to

give this away tonight aren't you? I'm at the Apollo tonight, yes.

Pixie Lott will be pr forming for us while I tell you what is

happening on Blue Peter tomorrow. The author of How To Train Your

Dragon, Cressida Cowell, will be here to announce the nominations

for the Book Awards. We'll be at The Clothes Show live with Georgia

Locke and Alexandra Burke and the megastar Nicole Scherzinger will be

here in this very studio! We've been friends for a while pixie, a

couple of weeks ago I invited you to a gig to play and we had a

conversation about Stevie Wonder collaborating on your new album.

Tell us more about that? I was very lucky, in the right place at the

right time in LA and he's my all- time favourite, I grew up listening

to him and he was in the same restaurant. I met him, was

overwhelmed, it was quite a moment for me, but then I wrote a song and

he collaborates on it, playing the harmonica. He sounds amazing, so I

was very lucky. You can hear that on Young, Foolish and Happy,

Pixie's album. Right now she's going to sing Everybody Hurts from

# I don't know how to turn it all around

# When I feel hopeless can see my way out

# Dawn so low will I ever get back # When I am broken and I've just

had enough # Pick up the pieces and I'll put

myself all together # Crying it out there's no doubt it

got to get better # And it's alright to go in let

your tears fall down # And everything crushes to the

ground # And it's alright do it if it

makes it out alive # Sometimes

# It's so hard not to let emotion burge

# Turn my head upside down on a thread, huhuh

# Cut me loose so I can stanch fade up again

# I feel love is bitter empty space # Pick up the pieces and I'll put

myself all together # Crying it out there's no doubt it

got to get better # And it's alright to go in let

your tears fall down # And everything crushes to the

ground # And it's alright do it if it

makes it out alive # Everybody hurts sometimes

# Sometimes # So when you're stuck and can't

move on # You're allowed to cry, we all get

hurt sometimes # And it's alright

# To go in and let your tears fall down

# When everything crashes to the ground