Episode 1 The Big Performance

Ten kids, terrified of singing...

Hey, don't cry.

-What's up?

-I don't want to do it.

-Two soloists - Chris and Oli.

-No!

..must undergo the toughest performance challenges...

You must be EXTRA nervous.

Argh! I'm still shaking. I don't know why.

..to face their ultimate fear -

singing to a crowd of 40,000 people.

There's enough people there to eat you alive.

Can't explain how I feel. Just really scared.

Could you do it?

This is The Big Performance.

These ten boys and girls love to sing.

But they're crippled by shyness.

-If I look at someone, I can't sing.

-I just like singing to myself.

I'm not confident in front of people.

They can't even perform in front of their parents.

But in 12 weeks' time, they must go from this...

-FLAT:

-# How I wonder What you are... #

I can't really sing properly.

..to this - performing at one of Britain's largest outdoor concerts -

Proms In The Park.

There's only one man who can make this happen -

award-winning choirmaster Gareth Malone.

I find it really upsetting when young people say they can't sing.

I really want to change that.

He's turned the most unlikely singers into seasoned performers...

Hey, hey, I don't want you to cry.

..but he's never come across such extreme stage fright before.

Just a couple of notes, yeah?

I think I've chosen the shyest children in Britain.

Over the next 12 weeks, Gareth will take these sing-shy kids

on an amazing musical journey

on their very own luxury tour bus.

They'll travel around the country,

taking on ever-more challenging performances

in a bid to build their confidence.

They'll get help from a host of celebrity friends...

Morning, children! ALL: Morning!

-Rah!

-Ooh!

..and compete for the solo spot.

# Ahh... #

# Ahh... #

# Eee... #

..at the final big performance.

Can Gareth turn some of the shyest kids in the country

into singing stars?

Could either go brilliantly and it be the best experience of their lives,

or it could be a disaster.

This is where it all starts.

Morning, everyone.

ALL: Morning!

I've brought you to this park for a very good reason.

In 12 weeks' time, you are going to be performing

in a large park like this, in front of - wait for it - 40,000 people.

Yes. Yes way.

40,000 people is about four times the size of Wembley Arena.

It's about the size of a really big football pitch.

It's a lot of people. Who's excited about that?

ALL: Me.

-Me, I'm super excited.

-And scared!

-And scared. Scared is fine.

OK, shall we get started? ALL: Yes.

Let's get on the bus.

MUSIC: "Paparazzi" by Lady Gaga

Oh, my God!

This newly-formed group

will be travelling the country like pop stars.

# Papa, paparazzi... #

-TVs everywhere!

-I wish this was my bedroom.

-Oh, my God!

-Oh, wow!

I thought it would be like a London bus, one of them horrible ones,

all dirty and smelly, but it wasn't, it was like my dream coach!

# Papa, paparazzi... #

As they get settled on the tour bus, the scale of the challenge ahead

is sinking in.

How is Gareth going to get all of us to sing in front of a big stage,

like 40,000 people?

I can't perform in front of ONE person on my own,

so 40,000's, like, a bit scary.

MUSIC: "Starry-eyed" by Ellie Goulding

Gareth has 12 weeks to turn these desperately shy boys and girls

into confident performers.

Welcome to the first stop on our big journey.

This is Hook End in Hampshire -

a state-of-the-art recording studio,

where some of the world's biggest stars have worked.

The Spice Girls recorded here. Robbie Williams has recorded here.

And now it's your turn.

This is where they record the music.

It's straight up to the studio for the novice singers.

Gareth wants to hear what they sound like as a group.

-Right, dump your coats there and go and sit on the chairs.

-Wow!

They are standing in front of thousands

in a matter of weeks.

And I've got to get them singing.

Mmmm! ALL: Mmm!

After a quick vocal warm-up...

Ohhh! ALL: Ohhh!

Ooo! ALL: Ooo!

..they're ready to tackle a simple tune.

# Bella mama, bella mama, oye. #

Try that for me? Three, and...

# Bella mama, bella mama, oye. #

Very good. The next one goes...

HIGHER: # Bella mama, bella mama, oye. #

Try that one, and...

# Bella mama, bella mama, oye. #

Some of us are not quite singing. We're just going,

MUMBLES: "Bella mama." Speaking. We've got to make sure we're singing.

'They were really nervous.'

Not really opening their mouths, looking at the floor...

"Don't look at me, don't look at me."

# ..mama, oye. #

Good. How do you think that went?

-Quite good.

-QUITE good? OK. Oliver, what did you think?

-I'm extremely embarrassed.

-Why?

-Cos that was kind of weird.

-What was weird about it?

The... I don't know. ..Bella mama part of it?

the fact that you were singing "beautiful earth"?

No, because I was singing.

I'm Gareth. Good to meet you.

When Gareth met Oli at the auditions,

he discovered just how self-conscious he was about singing.

I can sing in front of anyone when I've got my eyes closed

and I've got headphones on, so I can't hear my own voice

and I can't see anything.

So when you get this gig at Wembley Stadium, you'll be this...

# The way you make me feel... #

I'll have headphones on and shades that I can't see through.

That won't be a good look at the big performance.

I told you earlier that you're going to be singing at Proms In The Park.

The song you'll be singing is...

Rule The World by Take That.

# Oh-oh

# Yeah, you and me We can ride on a star

# If you stay with me, girl We can rule the world... #

Take That are one of the most successful boy bands of all time,

achieving 11 number ones.

Rule The World was the soundtrack for the box office hit Stardust.

In 12 weeks' time, Gareth's new group will be singing this track,

accompanied by an 80-piece orchestra,

in front of 40,000 people,

but the challenge doesn't end there.

There is also an opportunity for one of you to sing a solo.

THEY LAUGH NERVOUSLY

-Chris, you're putting your hand up. You want to do it.

-What?

-I thought you were putting your hand up.

-For what?

-For the solo.

-Does anyone fancy that?

-No, cos they'll boo you off!

They'll boo you? They won't boo you!

It's no surprise none of these timid singers

want to stand out from the crowd.

I felt very nervous, even singing with those people,

so I don't think I'll get the solo.

I don't feel that confident.

I'd like to be good to do the solo. I don't think I'm good enough.

Have a seat. We're going to learn the song.

So...

# You light the skies... # Sing me that.

# You light the skies... #

And then it goes, # Up above me... #

HE PLAYS THE MELODY

Try that.

# Up above me... #

That's a really nice sound. We have to do all of that in one breath.

They need their confidence building up. I've got to be nice to them.

I've got to draw some good singing out of them.

# ..bright, you blind me Yeah, yeah... #

Really well done.

It's the end of their first session,

and Gareth sets the group their opening performance challenge.

I want you to go away now and choose a song

that makes you feel really good about yourself.

And then you're going to sing it in front of everybody.

This will be the first time any of them have sung solo

in front of an audience.

They've all got their issues. They're all scared of singing.

They're very underconfident.

Not one person that I know

would want to pay money to see them sing at the moment.

# You've got the love I need To see me through... #

# I can almost... #

Choosing the right song

could make or break their debut solo performances.

I am going to sing Fifteen by Taylor Swift

which I am dreading

because, although it's an amazing song - one of my favourites -

I can't sing it.

I'm singing Florence and the Machine - You've Got The Love

but I'm really scared about singing it in front of everybody.

I'm singing N-Dubz - Number 1.

-RAPS:

-Now I'm losing my head

# I'm tellin' you one thing

# You're number one. #

It's very hard to feel confident

because, like, you're wondering what everyone's going to say

but you have to put on a brave face somehow, so...

# You know you love me

# I know you care... #

As the shy singers rehearsed in the studio grounds...

Gareth calls them in one by one for some extra coaching.

Emily! Are you ready?

11-year-old Emily from Liverpool is first in the studio.

# I can almost see it... #

She's chosen Miley Cyrus's The Climb.

# There's a voice inside my head Saying, you'll never reach it... #

She's EXTREMELY underconfident.

Just seems like she's got no self-esteem.

The song lyrics are more apt than Emily realises.

# There's always going to be a... #

Read me the words just after you stopped.

-Got to keep trying.

-What does that mean?

-It's a high note, and I can't do it.

-As the song says,

"There's a voice inside my head saying, 'You'll never reach it.'"

The lyrics are telling you what you've got to do.

Believe in yourself and try.

Low self-esteem is a common theme for the girls.

# You got the love You got the love

# You got the love. #

-How do you think it went?

-Awful.

-It wasn't. Are you terrified?

Good. Let's do it together.

BOTH: # Ah-ah-ah. #

I would bet a lot of money

on there being a much bigger voice in there.

# When you're 15 and someone tells you they love you

# You're going to believe them. #

-I sing really badly.

-No, you don't!

You don't, honestly, you don't.

We need a bit more confidence, that's all.

There's a voice in her head saying, "You can't sing"

and we've got to abolish that.

# And you cast your fears aside. #

12-year-old Miriyah from Birmingham

has picked Mariah Carey's song Hero to sing as her first solo.

# Look inside you and be strong. #

# And you'll finally see the truth

# That a hero lies in you. #

Can she pull off a performance worthy of her namesake?

Do you know this song well?

I might get it a bit wrong here.

Let's do the first bit.

Are you Miriyah? I'm Gareth. Hi.

At the auditions, Gareth was keen to get to the bottom

of Miriyah's fear of singing.

What's the worst thing that's happened?

At primary school, people made fun of my singing.

-That must have been upsetting.

-Yeah.

Is it just about improving your voice?

Being able to sing in front of people without laughing,

or going funny, or getting shy.

-You'd like to be a confident person?

-Yeah.

Miriyah's nerves have prevented her from reaching her full potential.

# There's a hero

# If you look inside your heart

# You don't have to be afraid

# Of what you are. #

Wow! She's seriously very, very good. Pure, natural talent.

# That a hero lies in you. #

Good! Well done, Miriyah. That's great.

'She doesn't know how good she is.'

I think this is going to be the making of Miriyah, I really do.

Singing in front of Gareth is one thing,

singing in front of 10 people is scary.

Every time I think about 10 people, I think of 40,000 people.

You sing yours and I'll sing mine.

-It's the boys' turn.

-I can't do it. I don't want to do it.

Can they impress Gareth with their song choices?

This is the song he's going to sing in front of Gareth.

# Am I on fire?

# Your world's desire?

# I know it's too late But I want it that way. #

-Out of 10, how much would you give him, Jordan?

-Two.

-Howard?

-One.

-How much would you give yourself?

Zero.

Hi.

-Oli's first in.

-Good morning.

-I'm quite nervous.

Singing his favourite song, Michael Buble's I Just Haven't Met You Yet.

# I came up with a million excuses

# I thought of every possibility. #

So you did really well.

Don't go into despair, Oliver. Come back from the brink of death.

It's OK.

You've got the notes in your voice.

-I don't have that note.

-You just did it!

Excuse me, who's the singing expert?

# I'm not surprised Not everything lasts. #

If he can just sing a bit of this song in front of the others,

that will be a major victory for him.

# I just haven't met you yet! # Oh...

It took me a while to be able to sing to Gareth,

but I did, and when I did, I did terribly!

So I really just want to get out of here.

Oli found the high notes hard,

but Chris, Ishtiaq and Jordan have hardly hit any at all.

# Through the cracks

# And I tried to get back... #

-Ah...

-Ah...

Ooh, OK.

# I don't understand how you're number one

# When it was just a fling before... #

Jordan, you...are...speaking.

Last in is 11-year-old Howard from Rugby.

-Hello.

-Nice to meet you.

When Howard first auditioned,

it was clear that singing had a big impact on his life.

I don't get a single tic when I sing.

-You suffer from Tourette's?

-Yes.

Tourette's is a condition that causes Howard to move

or tic uncontrollably.

While I'm singing, I don't get a single tic.

At the very end, I go bright red.

And all of a sudden it comes on?

So I get nervous and try to run off stage.

-Is that frustrating?

-Very.

Howard has endured years of teasing because of his tics.

# Where is love?

# Does it fall from skies above? #

He's nervous because he's shy about having Tourette's.

That really affects his confidence.

I'm hoping that this is an opportunity for him to be respected.

# Will I ever know the sweet hello

# That's meant for only me? #

He's one of the best singers,

and I don't think they realise how good he is.

This group are afraid of performing, but they're in good company.

A little bit of nerves is not a bad thing.

I always get a tendency to get butterflies before I go on stage,

especially when it's a live show.

Imagine and visualise that the entire audience

are different sections of vegetables.

Organic fruit and veg in every seat. That'll take off the nerves.

You turn nerves into positive energy.

It's like when you go on a roller-coaster.

You go up the incline,

and you go over the edge, and once you've done that,

you feel brilliant and you want to get on again.

Ride it out, you'll want to do it again.

There's no need to panic and worry,

you wouldn't be there in the first place

if you weren't good at what you do.

Later today, these petrified performers

must sing in front of each other.

To succeed, they need to shake off their fear.

Gareth's brought in a special guest to show them how.

I've got somebody here who can really help you

to get more confidence. It's somebody very exciting.

I'm going to go and get her.

-This is Camilla.

-Hello!

Strictly Come Dancing champion Camilla Dallerup

knows about performing with confidence.

-I've come to get everyone going.

-Shall we stand them up?

Let's get up.

Unbeknown to the trainee singers,

Camille was observing them during their first music session.

I'm watching their body language, how they hold themselves,

because if you're hunched over, you're not very confident.

I would like to help them today to bring that confidence out,

cos I know they're here, so their confidence will be within.

We need to find it.

An exercise to help us open up the chest.

When we're like this,

we don't look very confident.

When we're closed like this, or like this.

But if we open up.

Just open up the arms like this.

It's not easy for the self-conscious group to let go of their anxieties.

What I want them to learn is that if they look scared,

the audience won't enjoy it, but if they look confident,

the audience will believe what they're doing.

When we open up, it's easier for the breathing.

That's the same whether you're dancing or singing,

or you're on stage. Come on, Jordan.

That's it, smiling!

So could you just maybe follow? All we'll be doing is just a few walks

and a little clap and a little walk the other way and a clap.

Can we just try that?

Camilla is hoping the fun dances moves will help them to relax

and shake off their embarrassment.

See, it doesn't matter if we're doing exactly the same move,

as long as we're having fun.

Maybe a little turn to finish?

Yeah!

Camilla's really helped them to understand

how they can look more confident, just by standing a bit taller

and dance is really useful for that

and it's absolutely applicable to singing as well.

When Camilla arrived, the group could barely look her in the eye.

-Hi, I'm Camilla.

-Hi, I'm Ishtiaq.

-Oh, wow, I like that!

It seems her confidence has rubbed off on them.

Hi, my name's George.

I like that! You see, I like the charm!

Hi, my name's Howard.

That was a nice, firm handshake. Thank you very much, Howard!

I feel like I've just walked into a completely different room.

You all just changed. Your body language is open.

I think you should all be really proud of yourself.

Cos you all proved to me today that you ARE confident.

I thought it was really helpful.

Shall we give her a round of applause?

Thank you. And good luck!

If they can now work on that, every single day,

getting a little bit taller, getting a little bit more confidence,

they'll be good enough to go on stage.

Gareth has one last surprise before they attempt their first ever solo.

Here are your lovely outfits. Come and have a look.

To coordinate the group, the outfits are the same colour,

but each have their own individual look.

Annabel, that's for you. It's got sparkles.

It's lovely for them to get out of their normal clothes

and step into the world of performing.

And costumes really help you to do that.

Jordan, that's for you.

You'll notice they all match.

I like my skirt because it's really nice.

I like mine cos of the hoodie and the shirt.

Cos we all look the same, I think it'll look much better

and show that we're a team.

In 12 weeks, the group will be performing

with an 80-piece orchestra

to a crowd of 40,000 at Proms in the Park.

Today is their initial performance challenge.

They must sing solo for the very first time in front of an audience -

each other. Can they find their courage?

I'm really determined

because I want to show that I could do it in front of 40,000 people.

I'm just going to be thinking about confidence, "Don't be scared".

They're all going to make mistakes, they're all going to be nervous

and they will see that that's OK

and that everyone's in the same boat and we're all in this together.

I think they'll really learn from each other.

OK, first up is Chloe.

Opening the show adds even more pressure to an anxious Chloe.

I am singing Florence and the Machine, "You've Got The Love"

# Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air

# I know I can count on you... #

Chloe is so nervous, she can't even acknowledge the audience.

# Lord, I just don't care

# You've got the love I need to see me through. #

I thought you did really well. You hit the high notes,

I could hear all the words. I think you did a great job,

you didn't fall to pieces.

Really good job. Thank you, Chloe. Round of applause.

Will Emily remember her song's positive lyrics

and give it everything?

It's all about really trying hard and not giving up. OK, here we go.

# I can almost see it That dream I'm dreaming

# There's always gonna be another mountain

After a shaky start, Emily's discovered her inner voice.

# Always gonna be an uphill battle Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

# Ain't about how fast I get there

# Ain't about what's waiting on the other side. #

Very good. Well done. Give her a round of applause. And a bow.

Can the other insecure girls follow her lead?

# You want my heart

# And we will never ever ever be apart. #

# This is, this is life before who you're gonna be

# 15. #

You got through to the end.

You did it, you performed in front of everyone.

Last up for the girls is Miriyah.

Will she finally start believing in her ability?

# So when you feel that hope is gone

# Look inside you and be strong

# And you'll finally see the truth

# That a hero lies

# In you

# Ooh-ooh. #

You really did that high note very, very well.

I was really impressed with that.

It's a tough act for the boys to follow.

Well, you done done me in You bet I felt...

Chris holds his nerve, but he's too shy to actually sing

and resorts to speaking the lyrics.

..Fell right through the cracks.

Ishtiaq gives a high note a go.

# I want it that way. #

And an ill at ease Jordan falters at the first hurdle.

Oh, I've not...

Can I start again?

I forgot, I forgot.

But there's success for Oli.

# I get so much more than I get

# I just haven't met you yet. #

Stand up, take the applause. So we're going to learn this lesson.

You're going to stand there, Oli,

and look at your audience who want to clap you

and you're going to just smile at them, a nice smile.

Howard has Tourette's

and his fear of ticcing in front of an unknown audience

has seriously dented his confidence.

Is he brave enough to sing for his new friends today?

# Where is love?

# Does it fall from skies above?... #

The group is stunned by his natural talent.

# Where is love? #

APPLAUSE

Whoa!

He's normally really quiet and when he just sung that, I was like,

-"Whoa".

-Beautiful isn't it?

-Yeah.

-I think the song suited him.

-Song suited you.

I'm just amazed.

I think they liked it, Howard. Anyone else want to say anything?

-What did you want to say?

-Can I go now?

-Can you go now! Ha, ha!

They've taken their first step towards the Big Performance.

Singing in front of each other

is a massive achievement for these cripplingly-shy kids.

I think my first performance went OK.

I think I could have done a bit better, but I had a go.

I think I can improve, a lot. Hopefully with the help of Gareth.

The first hurdle for them this week

was just to be able to sing in front of each other without being terrified

and I think we've succeeded in that.

But their singing is miles away

from the standard expected at Proms in the Park.

We've still got to give them style, confidence and real musicality.

But we've got them over the first hurdle

and that feels really successful.

Next week on the Big Performance...

A music superstar makes an appearance...

..Soul singing pros show them how its done...

Hey, hey, hey. I don't want you to cry.

..And begin to appear as the pressure builds.

I think I've chosen the shyest children in the whole of Britain

and they are struggling.

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