Episode 1 The Big Performance

Last year on The Big Performance, ten kids found the courage

to sing to 40,000 people at Proms In The Park.

# We can rule the world. #

The Big Performance. Biggest cheer of the night.

But for this year's kids

the challenge is much bigger and much scarier.

Singing live on BBC One to an audience of 11 million

on Children In Need night.

This is the biggest thing I've ever done.

Is this a challenge too far?

# Should've heard those knocked-out jailbirds sing... #

I'm being hard on you because I know you can do better.

Don't make me sing.

Do not go into that dark place of fear.

This has got to be fantastic and, if it's not, we're in trouble.

This is The Big Performance.

THEY HARMONISE

Ten children who love to sing but have been bullied as a result.

I was up on stage and all these boys laughed at me.

It used to be about cos I liked singing better than football.

Too terrified to perform to even family and friends.

-I can't do it.

-Yeah, you can. Awww.

There's only one man for this job -

award-winning choirmaster Gareth Malone.

When you get up there, I want you to shine.

For these children, who have all lost confidence,

this gives them that confidence back.

These kids have the right to sing, just as much as anyone else.

In a matter of weeks, Gareth must help these timid children

find the strength to sing live on BBC One

in front of millions on Children In Need night.

-I can't do it. I honestly can't.

-People might laugh at me.

My stomach feels like I'm about to be sick cos I'm that scared.

To prepare them for this event,

Gareth is taking them round the country,

onboard their very own tour bus.

They'll be encouraged by celebrity mentors...

Hello! I'm very excited to hear you sing.

..and take on increasingly difficult performance challenges.

-Welcome to BBC London.

-It's good to be here. We're a bit nervous.

The first performance on live television

by the newly formed Children In Need choir.

One by one, they'll compete to lead the group as the solo singer.

THEY SING

Can Gareth push these singers to forget the bullies' words,

and find their voices?

It's tragic - they're so talented but are too scared to sing.

Or will the pressure of singing to millions prove too much?

I can't do it.

I'm going to keep pushing until it is right.

Gareth has arranged to meet the kids at the BBC,

where their Big Performance will take place.

They have no idea what's in store. Time to reveal all.

-Hello, everyone.

-ALL: Hello!

-Welcome to BBC Television Centre.

I wanted to start your journey here

because, in just ten weeks' time, you're going to be coming back here

for your Big Performance.

You are going to be performing in front of the whole nation,

live on television, for BBC's Children In Need.

THEY GASP

Yeah, scary. I mean, it is a scary thing.

This is the biggest television event in this country.

I thought we'd do a performance.

I had no idea it was going to be on live TV.

I'm scared. I don't think I can do it.

It makes my heart pound.

This is enormous, this challenge. It's huge.

For 50 years, Television Centre has played host

to singers and entertainers from The Beatles to Beyonce

on Strictly Come Dancing and Top Of The Pops.

But for now, it's where these ten children

must start to find the courage to become singers.

This is just the bare bones of the studio.

It's a good place for your first training session

because here are the bare bones of a choir.

So, they know where their Big Performance will be.

Time to find out the song.

It's a really great song by Avril Lavigne

and the song is called Keep Holding On. Do you know it?

Brilliant. Good, it's going really well.

# You're not alone Together we stand... #

Canadian singer Avril Lavigne

is one of the world's most successful artists,

having sold over 30 million albums.

Gareth chose Keep Holding On for their Big Performance

because of its powerful lyrics.

# Keep holding on... #

But it isn't a hit with the bashful boys.

-James, not your thing?

-I can't sing that.

-You can't sing that?

-I couldn't.

-No? Not at all?

-I couldn't.

Oh, wow, you're going backwards. Come closer.

At the auditions, 13-year-old James

revealed how much he doubted his ability.

I just want to show everyone that I can sing

but I just don't feel like I'm good enough.

Let's hear you sing.

# It's too cold outside for angels to fly. #

Sorry, that was really bad.

He's the kind of kid I want to help because there's so much potential.

Gareth's hoping his choice of song will inspire James

and the other nervous singers.

"There's nothing you can say... When it comes to the truth

"So keep holding on cos we'll make it through."

What do you think about those words?

It reminds me of the Good Samaritan,

where he crosses the street to help the man.

It's about helping others.

I think that's right for Children In Need

but it's also right for you,

because you are, at the moment, quite shy, quite scared of singing

and I'm here because I believe that you can do it.

OK, shall we stand up? Let's get ready to sing. Up we get.

Stand up tall and go for it. Three and go.

THEY MUMBLE

It's not an impressive start.

The kids have all been teased about their singing in the past

and no-one wants to stand out from the crowd.

THEY LAUGH

This is really strong stuff, yeah?

# There's nothing you can say Nothing you can do. #

Try that. And go.

# There's nothing you can say Nothing you can do... #

Only time will tell whether they can actually do this.

Some may find it too frightening.

I have no idea until we get into boosting their confidence.

You have to move your mouth. Naming no names, Imogen.

LAUGHTER

-I can't sing high.

-You can't sing high?

So, the high note - # Nothing you can say #

-Bit of a problem?

-Yeah.

-Hello, Gareth.

-Nice to meet you.

At her audition, Imogen revealed the real reason she's reluctant to sing.

When I was in year seven, I was up on stage

and all these boys laughed at me

and then I got really upset and I've never sung again.

-Never sung again?

-No.

She's been bullied for more than just her singing.

Got a bit of a stutter. It started when I was four,

and then again, when I was in year seven,

when those boys laughed at me.

They think if you've got ginger hair

they can just bully you for it.

It's such a shame that she doesn't feel confident about singing.

She's exactly the sort of person you think,

"Why shouldn't you sing?" No reason at all.

It's dawning on the kids just how big a challenge this is.

But it's not just them under pressure.

On the night itself, Gareth will mastermind

not only their performance of Keep Holding On,

but nine other choirs all over the country,

who'll join them live via satellite.

THEY SING

It's enough of a challenge in one room,

but getting choirs to sing all over Britain

will be a technical and musical challenge.

Gareth's first ever nationwide choir

requires someone to take centre stage.

I think it's really important that we start the song with a soloist.

Who feels like they could do a solo in front of the nation on BBC One?

No?

-I think I'd stumble.

-You think you'd make mistakes?

-I'd just freeze and be like...

-You'd freeze?

The soloist starts the song and sets the tone for the entire performance.

If they get it wrong, we're in trouble.

# Keep holding on... #

I don't think any of us want to do the solo but, obviously,

one of us has to.

I couldn't summon up the confidence.

# There's nothing you can say There's nothing you can do... #

This is so scary, what they're going to do.

Even the most talented would find this scary,

so to take children who are this shy, it's a tall order.

Come on board The Big Performance bus!

Over the next ten weeks, this newly formed group

will be travelling like pop stars.

I want to buy this bus. This is going to be my new home.

Oh, yeah!

On board their very own luxury tour bus,

they'll pitch up at exciting destinations

and face tough performance challenges.

But their fear of singing is so extreme,

Gareth wants to start slowly. So, for their first challenge,

they'll be singing in front of each other in pairs, karaoke style.

Karaoke's about having fun, putting on a show.

I want them to have a sense of fun about singing

and not get too het up about it.

I'm expecting them to put something into this performance.

The first duet's going to be Michael and Molly.

You two are going to be singing my favourite from Aladdin,

A Whole New World.

# I can show you the world

# Shining, shimmering, splendid. #

Charlize and Taylor,

you're going to be singing Higher by Taio Cruz and Kylie Minogue.

-You know that?

-Yeah.

# I know how to get down on the floor... Floor

# Experienced in moves you can't ignore

-Do you know that?

-No.

-OK.

Sacha, and James,

you're going to be singing Breaking Free from High School Musical. Yeah?

-You know the one?

-Yeah.

-Do you know that?

-High School Musical.

Imogen, where are you? There.

And Mohammed, you two are going to be singing

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us by Starship.

-Do you know it?

-No.

-Never heard of it. OK. It's a great song.

Joanne and Tia, you two are going to be singing

It Takes Two by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston.

You're going to have a very little amount of time

to get the song together.

# Come over here and take a closer look... #

While the shy singers get practising, Molly and Michael

are first in to rehearse with Gareth.

-So, Molly, you know this really well.

-Yes, some bits of it.

They'll be singing A Whole New World from Aladdin.

Do you think you can sing it straight away?

# I can show you the world

# ..shimmering splendid... #

Have you never heard this? You haven't seen Aladdin? OK.

Sacha and James have heard of their song but that doesn't help.

That's definitely your part.

# Flying... #

No?

# In heaven that we can be... #

-Do you like it?

-No.

-No? Do you like it? OK.

What I don't want to see is two people looking embarrassed

upon that stage.

I want you to use each other to get a bit of confidence.

How do you feel about that?

-Nervous now.

-Really?

When Gareth first met Sacha, she was crippled by anxiety.

I'm sorry.

# When the rain is blowing in your face...

# And the whole world is on your case... #

I've never seen fear like that.

Just palpitations and breath all fluttering. Really scared.

Will she find the support in James to sing in front of the group?

I think it's better starting off in duets and that

because you don't want to be thrown into solos already.

Because we're all not very confident.

# ..I see a paradise... #

Imogen and Mohammed's song lyrics prove rather awkward.

# And we can build this dream together

# Standing strong...

It's sort of a love song.

And the other double acts are cringing

for a totally different reason.

# Now I know how to get down on the floor... Floor. #

# ..Wish upon a star... #

No? A bit of movement?

He couldn't have picked out a worse song.

It's not even like... It's rubbish!

Later today, they've got to find the nerve to sing to each other,

so practise at every opportunity.

# I can't... #

# Just fall apart at... #

All I want to see is a bit of personality.

I want to see them not being afraid to put themselves

into the performance and working together.

Even though it's karaoke, a song you don't like,

you've got to get over that and make your audience feel good.

In an effort to boost their confidence for their performance,

Gareth has another surprise up his sleeve

and has roped in a familiar face to help.

Barney Hawood!

-Nice to see you, how are you doing?

-I'm very well, thank you.

I'm here to set you a challenge today.

You're going to become TV presenters.

What you're going to do is go away,

write an introduction about yourself and come back

and present it to Gareth and myself.

-My temper is because of my hair colour.

-Your temper?

-Yeah.

This challenge is all about being yourself, having the confidence

to stand in front of an audience, albeit only a camera,

and just be you. That's really, really difficult.

If you watch a swan gracefully swimming across the lake,

you'll see them gracefully moving

but they're doing that with their feet.

That's what presenting is like. Loads of things going on.

You've got to make it look effortless.

All eyes will now be on the 10 novice singers

as they make their TV presenter debut.

The trick here is going to be, even if they do feel embarrassed,

to make us feel like they're relaxed.

That way, we'll know how good they are at kidding the audience

and how capable they are singing in front of all those people.

First up is James.

Can he overcome his doubts to reveal his true personality?

My name's James. I'm 13 years old and I'm from Somerset.

I'm a beatboxer, here's an example.

HE BEAT BOXES

I'm a guitarist. When I'm older, I want to be a musician.

Really good to give an example of the beatboxing, your talent.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

It's a great start. Imogen is next.

Will her stutter get in the way of a slick performance?

I've red hair, as you can see,

and I have a very bad temper because of it.

I just... Sometimes I just want to let go.

Hello, my name is Sacha and I'm 12 years old.

Um...

I can't remember.

I was quite nervous with you then.

Sacha's nerves are catching.

Sorry.

You always forget this stuff, don't you?

You just go blank on TV.

Good recovery from Michael, but will the others follow suit?

Hi, I'm Mohammed. My favourite colours are black and white,

-like the yin-yang symbol.

-Ad lib, that's what it's all about.

-Hi, my name's Taylor.

-I like listening to music

and the question I've asked myself plenty of times, can I sing?

Really good job, well done.

Last in is 13-year-old Joanne from Coventry.

Can she find the courage to present her real personality?

Hi, my name's Joanne. I love singing but I lack confidence.

And...that's it really.

Nice to meet you, how are you doing?

From the very beginning, Joanne's nerves

have at times been uncontrollable.

Ah, Joanne, I'm sorry. Ah, are you going to be OK?

But she's shown real promise.

# Amazing grace

# How sweet the sound... #

Great. What a great voice, and has no idea.

Well done. Thank you.

Joanne has got a long way to go, I think.

It's a stark reminder for Gareth

just how big a challenge he's taken on.

What this has shown is that it doesn't matter if it's singing

or presenting, you've got to feel good about yourself.

You've got to feel confident about who you are

and that's very difficult to solve.

These children dream of being able to sing with confidence

but even the biggest pop stars

have had trouble performing and being themselves.

I don't really like to look at people in the eye.

I don't find that's a good way for me to engage because it throws me.

Doing it with family is helpful,

singing in front of them, practising in front of friends.

Don't take it too seriously.

Yeah, that will come out on stage.

People are going to go, they're conscious of how they are.

If you're comfortable, people like to see that.

People like to see you enjoying yourself.

Look!

In 10 weeks' time, these desperately shy singers will be fronting

a nationwide choir on Children In Need.

Today, they're taking their first step towards their final

big performance, singing in front of each other for the very first time.

As soon as I saw the red carpet and that sign

saying the big performance premier, I was about to fall over and cry.

My heart's beating really, really fast.

My stomach feels like I'm going to be sick because I'm that scared.

It's very difficult because this is a frightening thing

but they need to conquer this. These are very nervous children.

This is it, your vocal premiere.

This is the first time you're all going to sing in front of each other.

It's a really big moment.

Before we do that, I've got a very special message

from some celebrity friends.

Hi, guys!

This is JLS right about now.

Listen, everyone, if you feel the nerves, don't.

All you need to do is sit back, smile and enjoy yourself.

Have as much fun as possible. All right, guys? Good luck.

-We'll see you later.

-Bye, guys.

-Has that made you feel a bit better now?

-A little bit.

Singing in front of an audience is extremely daunting.

Michael and Molly have the added pressure of going first.

Can they rely on each other to get through it?

# I can show you the world

# Shining, simmering, splendid... #

Michael starts off well but struggles with the chorus.

# ..world

# A fantastic point of view...

# Point of view... #

It's left to Molly to get it back on track.

# From way up here, it's crystal clear

# That now I'm in a whole new world with you. #

APPLAUSE

Well done, you two. Really well done.

I'd like to see both of you loosen up a bit more,

really start to enjoy yourself.

I didn't see as much personality as I'd like to.

It was OK for most of it and then it went a little bit wrong.

We brought it back and we enjoyed it by the end.

Sacha's fear of performing is so severe,

she was shaking uncontrollably in her first audition.

Can she find the courage to sing with her duet partner, James, today?

# We're soaring, flying

# There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach

# If we're trying, so we're breaking free... #

After a promising start, Sacha's nerves take over.

# We're breaking free

# Flying

BOTH: # There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach

# If we're trying

BOTH: # Yeah, we're breaking free

# Oh, we're breaking free... #

APPLAUSE

Wow! You're shaking like a leaf. Show me your hand.

I've never seen anyone shake that much.

That's what we have to get rid of, this terror.

The beginning, when you started, you started really well,

but you broke down. What happened?

We were singing and I felt really good

and then suddenly it got to me that I was singing and boom.

It went completely wrong.

I need to do it again without all these nerves.

Next up is Charlize and Taylor, singing Higher

by Kylie Minogue and Taio Cruz.

# We know how to get down on the floor... Floor.

# Experienced in moves you can't ignore

# Higher, higher

# Higher off the ground... #

This is me and you together.

Confusion over who sings what sees them falter.

And they find it hard to recover.

All right, you two, well done.

He didn't know it so I was like, "Get the song right."

But he'd probably tell me to get the song right now. It was a bit weird.

But, yeah, I'm happy that I got through.

Mohammed and Imogen were embarrassed by their song's soppy lyrics.

Will they deliver a convincing performance?

# Standing here beside you

# Want so much to give you

# This love in my heart and my feeling for you...

# Don't care about that...

Imogen's missed her cue. Can she recover?

Hey, hey! Hold the music for one second.

Hey, hey, hey. Are you OK? Take a deep breath.

Shall we start again, because you just missed your start.

It's going to be all right, I promise you.

I wouldn't make you do this if I didn't think it would do you good.

She must get it this time or risk a massive setback.

# Let them see we're crazy

# I don't care about that

# Put your hand in my hand, baby

# Don't ever look back... #

Well done, give them a round of applause. Guys, well done.

I think there's a lesson about getting control of the performance.

Don't let it beat you.

At the moment I'm feeling really bad about myself

so I'm going to say be brave... and don't be a wimp, like I was.

I don't know why she's sad with herself. I think she did very well.

She should be proud of herself.

Joanne and Tia are last up.

Joanne's terrified of what other people think of her singing.

Can she start facing that fear today?

SHE MUMBLES

Joanne's nerves are so extreme, she can't even start the song.

Stop, stop the music.

OK, are you OK, Joanne? Are you all right? Joanne, it's all right.

It's OK, it's OK. Sit down for a second.

-What are you worried about?

-I don't know.

No, I don't either.

It's going to be OK. Everyone here wants you to do well.

-Do you think you can do it?

-No.

APPLAUSE

Ah! They're giving you a round of applause. You can do this.

-You can do this.

-I'm going to do.

-Great, she's going to do it!

She's on. Come on, that's the spirit.

Come on.

With support from her new friends, Joanne attempts the song again.

# ..Stand alone in the dark

# Two can make the light shine

BOTH: # It takes two, baby

# It takes two, baby

# Me and you

# It just takes two... #

APPLAUSE

Well done, girls.

You got it together by the chorus, didn't you?

Then you started to look at each other and it was much more fun.

I know that was really scary.

I'm glad you've got over that first hurdle.

It's hard because you have to face your fears and try.

That's all you can do, really.

These children, all bullied for their love of singing,

today found the courage to sing in front of each other.

Karaoke is really difficult.

It's a very hard thing to do because you've got to have fun.

It's got to be a performance and I wanted to see their personality.

I know it's there but I'm not getting it from all of them.

But choosing the soloists

and turning these fearful performers into singers

capable of fronting a nationwide choir is a massive challenge.

I thought that was good. It showed potential.

That was just in front of each other. They've got a long way to go

before they're ready for millions of people... millions!

Totally different.

Next time, a celebrity guest pays a visit.

And there's panic as the group face their first public performance.

I can't do it.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]