Episode 4 The Big Performance

Last year on the show, ten terrified kids

found the courage to sing to 40,000 at Proms in the Park.

CHILDREN SING

The Big Performance! It's the biggest cheer of the night.

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 and I'm scared.

-Is this a challenge too far?

-SOBS

# Should have heard us knocked-out jailbirds sing, let's rock. #

This week, they follow in the footsteps of superstars

-at the Brit School...

-THEY SING

# Look at me now. #

..a celebrity mentor joins the tour bus...

Melanie C! CHEERING

..but will it be enough to help them confront their fears,

including singing to a football team?

This is The Big Performance 2!

# Hu uh hu uh hu uh hu uh

# Hu uh hu uh hu uh hu uh ah

# A-a-a-a-ah ah oo oo ooh.

# A-ah yea-eah

# Oo oo ooh a-a-a-ah ah ah ah

# Woa-oah a-ah. #

Ten children who love singing...

CHILDREN SING

..who have been teased into silence.

People might laugh at me. I don't know. They might think I'm rubbish.

They have just seven weeks until they will be performing live

to the nation on Children in Need night.

It falls to one man, choirmaster extraordinaire, Gareth Malone,

-to turn them from shy singers...

-SOBS

-..into practised performers.

-CHEERING

-Last time, Gareth channelled his inner Elvis...

-Uh-huh uh-huh.

..to get the group jiving to rock'n'roll.

Thank you very much.

Today, the group get a taste of the music industry

as they write and record their own song.

-Can I have your autograph?

-Not just yet.

But can they learn it in time to perform live on London radio?

-Gareth, welcome to BBC London.

-We're slightly nervous, I have to say.

# Ah ah ah! #

Today the Big Performance tour bus is in London,

with its world-famous concert venues and music scene,

it's a suitably inspiring location

for the huge task that Gareth has in store.

This week's challenge is the biggest challenge on The Big Performance.

It's not just a singing challenge. There's more to it than that.

It's going to be tough I think.

As usual, the group think they've got Gareth sussed.

I'm thinking it may be some sort of R&B hip-hop track.

I reckon it'll be like some kind of rap.

This is not a hip-hop outfit.

CLICKS All right?

Gareth is ready to reveal all.

-Do you want to know what the theme is?

-Yes.

-Yes.

There is no theme. It's up to you

because this week you are going to be writing your own song.

CHEERING

I'm so excited that we're writing our own songs.

I mean, it's pretty much my dream.

-It's just SO exciting.

-GIGGLES

There's no song yet but there is a soloist.

This week's soloist...

Taylor, it's you. How are you feeling about that?

I like rap music, especially N-Dubz! Word!

I think singing is SUPERB!

It's part of who I am.

Gareth has brought the group to the Brit School.

It's here that some of the UK's most popular musical talent

has been nurtured including Jessie J, Leona Lewis and Adele.

Adele is a perfect example of a successful artist

who writes lyrics from the heart.

# ..Should I just keep on... #

Gareth's hoping Adele's old school will inspire the group

to follow suit and tap into their own feelings.

When writing a song, it's important

to start with an emotion and a real-life experience.

What thing might we have in common to write about?

Bullying. I have bullying.

-Has everyone had experience of bullying? ALL:

-Yeah.

-What about you, Mohammed?

-Primary school.

-What about you, Michael?

-Primary.

-Primary school. Sasha?

-Stuff that started in secondary and stuff.

-Secondary.

-Still going on or kind of finished?

-Still going on.

OK. Imogen?

-Year seven and eight and primary school.

-So you've had quite a lot?

When you get...bullied, you believe them.

When they say, "Oh, you're really ugly," you think that you're...

ugly.

-It's horrible because, yeah...

-Yeah.

I had it at school as well in kind of year eight and nine.

It was really horrible.

So I think this is something that we can ALL relate to.

When Gareth first met Imogen,

a string of bullying incidents had shattered her confidence

and not just with her singing.

I've got my hair colour and my stutter.

It's quite horrible, like they make fun of you.

So I've just been a bit scared.

It's tough but Gareth wants the shy singers

to face up to their experiences to help them write a powerful song.

People that used to bully me,

-they always use to be about either clothes...

-Yeah.

..or because I liked singing better than football

cos I was no good at it.

This is a really common experience

so we'll turn it into something positive.

We'll make something creative out of it - a song.

Writing down my feelings of being bullied was very hard.

Knowing that other people in the group have been through

similar things as me,

I felt more confident about expressing it to people.

I felt really proud of myself because I was facing up to my fears.

I found the strength when I was bullied at school,

just to be myself and not worry about it.

I want to give them that sense that they can be strong.

They'll create something fantastic.

Sharing painful experiences is difficult

but it's essential for any successful singer/songwriter.

Sometimes it's not easy to just put it all out there

and write it out and say, "Here, this is my life."

But you've got to go for it.

Just write about anything. Write about what you've done today.

I used to do stuff like that and it really helps cos then

you'll sing something that you want to tell to people.

It's an experience that you've had or you've gone through,

it helps to make the song that more meaningful.

They've chosen to sing about bullying.

Now they need to start writing the lyrics.

Gareth has brought in songwriter to the stars, Blair MacKichan

-to help.

-So, are you going to write a great song today?

-ALL:

-Yeah.

Blair has written songs for Lily Allen, Paloma Faith, Pixie Lott...

-# What you gon' do?

-What you gon' do... #

..and even won a Brit award for Will Young's song Your Game.

# ..All the time now playing your game. #

-CHEERING

-He's an amazing songwriter

and he's worked with so many famous people.

He's like worked with Pixie Lott

I was like, "Oh, I love Pixie Lott."

What we need to do with this song is grab people's attention

very quickly. Try to say something universal

-and don't bore us - get us to the chorus.

-I love that.

-Yeah.

Not wanting to bore anyone,

the group take Blair's advice to heart and get straight onto

-that all-important chorus.

-It's my turn to be free.

It's my turn to be free.

That's got a bit of a chorusy feel to it, hasn't it?

-What else can we say in the chorus?

-My sentence is served?

-That's great.

-My sentence is served, I love that.

-It's good.

Yeah, it's great. Let's see if we can get a rhyme with served.

Has anyone got a good rhyme with served?

It's my time to be free. My sentence is served. I'm still standing.

-Now I've been heard?

-Now I've been heard. I like that. That's good.

I Think that you've got to try and find something new to say.

Also get to the point, keep it simple.

I'm all about catching people with that first lyric.

The chorus is nearly finished.

All they need now is one perfect line to complete it.

We need to really tie it up nicely at the end, don't we?

-All I am is just me.

-Yeah.

-It's that, isn't it?

-It's about being me.

-Yeah.

-I think that makes sense.

-All those in favour?

-Say aye.

Wha-hay! We've got the chorus!

It was absolutely brilliant to have Blair there.

He was so good at drawing out the lines from them.

They wrote the lyrics, an idea about what the song was to be about.

It's their song.

I absolutely adore the song. It's so amazing

and we've written that song deep from the heart.

I'm really happy with the song.

It really sends a message through to bullies theirselves

and people who've got bullied.

The lyrics are a hit with the group but what they don't know yet

is when it's finished, they'll debut it on live radio.

They need to work out the melody.

James is an accomplished guitarist and kicks things off.

We need something anthemic and big and happy, don't we?

I like that.

James has come up with a lovely little riff.

-It's really good, isn't it?

-We've got a nice guitar riff.

James is confident playing guitar in front of people

but as Gareth found out in his audition,

this doesn't extend to his singing.

Wow, you're going backwards. Come back and stand here.

-Tell me a bit about yourself, James.

-I play guitar a lot at home,

just in my room.

I try and like make songs and put them together.

Cos I've been playing for six or seven years

I might be a bit good at it.

Then when it comes to singing, everyone can have a go at singing.

I just think that, that's what I'm doing - having a go -

and I'm not as good as most people.

James is fantastic. He has a real talent.

He's a really good singer but really, REALLY underconfident about it.

That, I want to fix.

James's enthusiasm sparks more ideas from the usually timid performers.

Who's got an idea for the I'm still standing melody

-and now I've been heard?

-# I'm still standing

# Now I've been heard. #

-Natasha?

-Instead of I'm still standing

why not I AM still standing?

# I am still... # I think that's better. # I am still standing. #

Yeah, I think that's right.

They're all contributing, which is exactly what I wanted to do.

Get a powerful lyric and a punchy little melody.

This is going to be a song that is made by them and made for them.

And that should give us singing like we've not really seen so far.

-ALL:

-# Forget what they say! #

-All right, you can do it!

-It's a hit.

Later today, they'll be performing their bullying song on the radio

so they need a backing track to sing along to.

This is where the magic is made.

This is where your song is going to come to fruition.

So on this piano we're going to be doing everything.

-You've got drum kit here.

-DRUM BEATS

-Some weird synthy sounds.

-BURBLING NOTES

Let's go. Is that about the right tempo for you?

-Play along, see how that feels.

-PLAYS GUITAR

Feels about right, eh?

Gareth wants the whole group to make their mark on this track

and they quickly find their rhythm.

-PERCUSSIVE BEATS AND JINGLING

-Yeah.

Love that.

-Yeah.

-Yay, well done. A round of applause.

CHEERING

Jamming in the recording studio is making them feel like pop stars.

Will Gareth's radio challenge bring them back to earth?

You are going to be performing this track on BBC Radio London - live.

-Yeah.

-Whoo-hoo!

So it's going to need to be really, really fantastic. Er, Taylor?

-I give you my solo.

-You're giving the solo away? You are the soloist.

It's BBC London. You're from London.

It's the perfect place for this solo to happen.

I'm really scared about singing on live radio because

if I make a mistake there's no second chances.

I think that with a bit more practise of the song

that we're performing, I reckon that we'll give it all we've got

and just show that we've tried.

The thought of singing live and on air

is extremely daunting for the group

with added pressure on the soloist.

12-year-old Taylor is a Londoner born and bred.

He's a typical boy who loves playing Lego and watching TV.

His other love is singing all around the house

but he worries about what people think of him.

At Taylor's audition, Gareth found out

why he's so reluctant to step into the spotlight and sing.

-In my primary I got bullied cos I sing.

-Really?

-Yeah.

If they hear a boy singing they think...

-They say, "Oh, this person's rubbish."

-Really?

-Yeah.

They'll be so many boys out there thinking,

"Singing's not really for me."

Tough boys who feel really like it's something really girlie.

No-one makes anyone feel bad about playing football, do they?

Why should he be picked on because he likes to sing?

Later today,

Taylor's voice will be broadcast live across London's radio waves.

It's an intimidating performance Gareth needs to get him ready for.

Taylor, it's YOUR solo this week.

I'd like you to do this whole bit on your own. Yeah, this whole bit...

on your own. Shall we have a go at it? Oh...

SINGS SCALES

Gareth wants to show Taylor he should be proud of his voice

and not afraid to use it.

I reckon you could go to here... PLAYS A6

..without too much trouble.

I just don't do high notes because I'm worried about what people

will say cos I'm a boy as well.

There'll come a time when you can't sing those high notes

and then you'll never be able to sing those notes again.

So you might as well enjoy it while it's there, don't you think?

Fair enough.

We've a couple of highish notes in this song

so shall we tackle the song and see...?

-I think I should at least try it.

-OK.

# Judging eyes that never cease. # Sing that for me.

# Judging eyes that never cease. #

And then it's... PIANO PLAYS

# See what you do. # Try that.

# See what you do. #

# Take a look at my face. #

# Take a look at my face. #

He sings beautifully when he's singing high.

When he goes for it, those notes are fantastic.

But if he's worried about what people are going to think,

then he'll hold back and it won't sound good.

PIANO PLAYS One, two, three, and go.

# Judging eyes that never cease See what you do

-BOTH:

-# Take a look at my face.

# Broke out of my case They're towering down

# The wounds always here Look at me now. #

High five. This is going to be excellent!

-I'd pay money for that.

-Good!

-Well done, that's really good.

That'll be great.

Now I've sung a high note, I felt really proud of myself,

because only a few boys can do that and some other boys

can't hit 'em and they're jealous.

That was a really nice surprise, I was not expecting that.

His voice sounds great. He puts in so much conviction,

I want him to get it right. If he does, it'll be fantastic.

In just seven weeks, the ten nervous singers will be performing

live on BBC's Children In Need to around 11 million viewers.

On the night, singing groups across the nation will join them

via satellite link-up.

Including Brit school-band, Simon,

who write and record their own music.

Gareth's hoping a performance from them

will show the group how effective singing your own lyrics can be.

# Echoes they speak

# I cannot sleep

# It's not my... #

Simon was amazing, their music was inspiring

and the lead singer was really, really talented.

All together, they were so in sync...it was unbelievable.

APPLAUSE

-Any questions for them, at all? Taylor.

-What is the song about?

This song is about all your childhood dreams

and aspirations that we had and any of you guys have.

-Aim high!

-Yes! Aim high.

-Mohammed.

-I just wanted to say that you guys were amazing.

Oh, thank you!

Come and stand in front of this mic here.

Back in the recording studio, the music track is complete.

Taylor's ready to start laying down his vocals.

Can he hit those high notes in front of the others?

Soon as you hear the music, I'll bring you in.

# Judging eyes I never see

# See what you do Take a look at my face

# Broke out of my cage They're towering down

# Wounds always heal Look at me now. #

Hey! One-take wonder!

-Genius.

-It was amazing. Can I have your autograph?

-LAUGHTER

-Not just yet.

OK, everyone, let's get the rest of the team in.

Taylor's certainly set a high standard.

Can the rest of the group keep it up for the big chorus?

This is it - the take. We've got to get it right first time. Here we go.

# It's my turn to be free My sentence is served

# I am still standing Now I've been heard

# It's my time to be free

# And now I can see

# Forget what they say... #

They now understand how you get from an emotion, a story,

to a song and THEN you get to a performance.

I think they've really learnt how to do that today,

because it was their emotion and they put that into that song.

# It's about being me. #

CHEERING

Well done!

Fantabulastic, that was! That was so much fun!

Oh my God, I was so excited. I can't believe it.

Oh my gosh, let's do that again!

Laying down their track in the recording studio may have been

a real buzz, but how will they cope when performing it live on air?

A lot rests on soloist Taylor.

Gareth need to know he can handle the pressure

and wants him to stop thinking singing is for girls.

Every soloist has to undertake a solo challenge.

Your challenge is to see if you can sing those high notes in front of

a football team - and inside here are your brother and your sister.

-Uh!

-How are you feeling about that?

-Not good.

I'm feeling really scared about my solo challenge,

because all these boys might think it's a bit bad,

because I'm a boy and they expect me to hit the low notes,

but I can hit high notes as well.

Taylor's got to get over worrying about singing in front of boys.

This is a really important stage for him,

so he can concentrate on the music.

Taylor was bullied by boys at primary school for singing.

If he can get through this challenge,

he'll stand a better chance of succeeding live on air.

Here's Taylor. He'll be singing a song that he helped to write.

This is the first ever public performance of it.

Can he hit the high notes

and impress his audience with this brand-new song?

# Judging eyes that never see

# See what you do

# Take a look at my face... #

He helped write the song, but under this pressure,

he's forgotten the lyrics.

# It's about being me

# It's about being me TAYLOR JOINS IN

-# It's about being...

-Me

# Me. #

MUSIC STOPS

So, Taylor, oof! We had a few words go missing there. Are you OK?

And a couple of lines.

But, you did sing - you sang in front of them - how was it?

-Scary.

-How do you think he did?

Obviously he forgot some words, but he's only just written the song.

-What about the singing?

-It was good.

Yeah? What about the guys in the football team?

-What did you think about his voice?

-Great.

-For a young boy, he's pretty good.

-Yeah.

Give me a hug, I don't care!

'I felt really pleased with myself,'

cos I'm just happy to know they think I'm a good singer.

It proves girls can sing high notes and so can boys.

Taylor did really well. It sounded really lovely,

but he forgot crucial words.

It's particularly difficult to sing a song that's only just been written,

because it's fuzzy in your mind exactly how it goes.

We've got to nail that down and get it right,

in a...very short space of time.

The next stop is the radio station,

where they'll have to sing to hundreds of thousands of listeners.

This is their most public performance

and that makes the soloist's job much tougher.

This is where we start to see what they're made of.

Children In Need is just seven weeks away,

and there'll be no second chances.

Singing live on radio will be their first taste of this kind

of pressure, so Gareth has called in some celebrity backup.

Today, it's all about doing it live. When that light goes on,

you're singing to the whole of London.

This is SUCH a big challenge

that I've got a celebrity mentor for you - oh, NOW you're listening,

NOW you're listening!

Your celebrity mentor is Melanie C!

THEY SQUEAL

-How are you all, are you OK?

-ALL: Yes!

As a former member of one of the world's most famous girl bands,

the Spice Girls, and a hugely successful singer-songwriter,

Melanie C knows exactly the sort of pressure involved in

a live radio performance.

Melanie, we are about to go live to London on BBC London.

-You've done lots of live performances.

-Yeah.

-Have you got any tips?

-You're doing a song you've written,

so all of these words mean something to you -

they're very important to you.

I think whenever you're performing, if you can identify

with the words you're singing and MEAN what you're singing,

you'll get the best performance.

Taylor is doing the solo. Taylor, how are you feeling?

I'm really scared that I'll mess up, cos if one of us mess up,

everyone'll look around and go, "Uh!"

And it'll sound really wrong on the radio.

If something goes wrong, you're a team. You're in this together.

You have to carry one as if everything's just gone great.

Best of luck. Got everything crossed for you.

Me too. Everything, literally.

Time to put all the hard work where it counts -

into the performance live on radio.

Luckily for them, Melanie will be there for some added moral support.

I'm quite nervous, but I'm trying to put the nerves behind me.

Now I feel empowered, ready to sing to the bullies and say, "stop it".

I'm really nervous about going live on air,

-but I'm just hoping it goes well.

-I've been on radio before

-and

-I

-get scared, so I can't imagine what this is like for them.

This is very frightening. It's the biggest thing they've done so far.

JINGLE PLAYS

'This is BBC London, 94.9.'

This song means the world to the group

and everyone wants to get it right.

-'Weekdays, from 12.'

-Gareth, welcome to BBC London.

It's very good to be here. We're slightly nervous!

Tell us about the song.

We wrote it in a short space of time. It's called It's About Being Me.

They're about to be broadcast across London.

Can Taylor get the song right this time?

# Judging eyes that never see

# See what you do Take a look at my face

# Broke out of my cage

# They're towering down

# Wounds always heal Look at me now

# It's my turn to me free

# My sentence is served

# I am still standing

# Now I've been heard It's my time to be free

# And now I can see

# Forget what they say

# It's about being me

# It's about being me

# It's about being me

# It's about being me

# It's about being me

# It's about being me

That was fantastic!

APPLAUSE

Gareth and The Big Performance team,

that was a very big performance indeed! Well done.

-You've done it?

-We've done it!

-Yes!

-That was amazing!

-I can't believe we just did that.

That was SO nerve-racking!

They did a great job. I'm really proud of them. What a thing to do.

When I walked in, I had butterflies, but when I started singing,

it was really good.

Being on the radio felt really brilliant,

because it was singing in front of loads of people.

I felt really pleased with myself.

I think the message we sent out was really powerful and I hope

the listeners listened to the words, cos I think it really meant a lot.

Writing a song was a huge challenge for them

but I think it paid off. They sang to the people of London about bullying.

They sent a really strong message.

They said no to bullying, and that takes great courage and strength.

I'm proud of them. We've all made mistakes under pressure - it happens.

It's human nature.

But today Taylor just fluffed a bit too much for me and I wonder

if under pressure of The Big Performance, he might just forget

what he's doing and I can't afford for that to happen.

So, I'm giving him a medium-to-low chance of doing the solo.

Next time, on the Big Performance 2, the pressure mounts...

-Everybody has to have a say.

-I can't do it.

-Yes, you can.

..as the boys and girls go head to head...

-We are on FIRE.

-..and sing to their first celebrity audience.

I can't do this.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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