Episode 1 Turbo Boost

The country's jam-packed full of kids with mind-blowing talents.

Take one!

And they're about to be pushed to their limits by me

and my top team of experts and stars.

-Whoo!

-I'm Turbo, street dance king.

-And this is Turbo Boost...

-Awesome.

-Yay!

..where talented kids are set a tough Final Challenge,

and just four weeks to train for it.

-I'm really excited.

-It's bigger than anything they've ever done.

And there's no guarantee of success.

Buckle up - it's going to be a bumpy ride.

This time on Turbo Boost, I'm in the West Midlands.

Today I've enlisted some star power to help me

boost the dream of an aspiring young singer and guitar player.

One of the best experiences I think I'll ever have in my life!

We've got just four weeks to take him from singing at home

and at school to performing his own set at one of

Britain's biggest music festivals.

It's a big challenge and it's going to be tough.

Will he pull off the gig of a lifetime?

I feel like if I go wrong, then that's it, career over.

I'm in a school in Walsall to surprise a musician who's got

dreams of being a world-famous headlining act.

He's in a music lesson right now.

He has no idea he's about to be Turbo-boosted.

Everyone's just been told that they're about to have a

surprise guest - here I come!

What's up, 701, you guys all right?

PUPILS: Yeah!

I'm Turbo from CBBC's Alesha's Street Dance Stars.

I have an exciting new programme where I take someone's

brilliant talent, give them a boost, and make them amazing.

There is someone who I'm looking for right now

that I want to Turbo Boost.

Where is...Joe?

-That's me.

-Come to me, bro.

Give me some.

-So, Joe, do you want to be Turbo-boosted?

-Yeah.

Let me tell you now, the next four weeks is going to be

the greatest four weeks of your life.

All right? It's going to be a lot of hard work, though.

And at the end of those four weeks, you are going to be

performing at a huge music festival

doing your own set.

How does that sound?

It sounds...pretty scary, but awesome as well.

How does that sound to you guys, exciting?

PUPILS: Yeah!

Hi, I'm Joe, and I've just been Turbo-boosted.

THEY CHEER

'I really love my music and I sing whenever I can.'

This is my family, this is my brother Dave.

-This is my dad, who loves dancing at weddings.

-Thanks for that, Joe.

And this is my mum, who's Welsh, lovely, but not in the morning.

If I ever met Ed Sheeran I would ask him, "Could you teach me?"

Because he's a singer-songwriter, and he's also ginger,

we've got a lot in common.

Joseph sings all the time.

# Today I don't feel like doing anything... #

When he wakes up in the morning, at the breakfast table...

Agh!

He sings in the bath, the shower, when he's asleep.

# I don't feel like picking up my phone

# So leave a message at the tone. #

You never not hear Joe singing.

I really like to sing and I really like to play the guitar,

but when I put the two together it doesn't particularly work out

all of the time.

Music, he lives it, he breathes it.

It's something he's passionate about.

Ready to sing, Andy, here we go.

Superstars like Ed Sheeran can not only sing and play at the same time,

but can also interact with huge crowds of fans.

For Joe to master all of this in four weeks is going to be

a massive challenge.

To get him ready for his supersize festival performance,

I need to get him some help...fast.

He needs an expert music mentor, and I've called in the perfect person.

She's waiting in Joe's music class.

'Let the Turbo Boost begin.'

-Hello!

-How are you?

-I'm fine, thank you.

-Nice to meet you, I'm Nina.

-Oh, you're Nina Nesbitt, aren't you?

-I am.

Scottish singer Nina Nesbitt broke into the charts with

Stay Out at the age of just 18.

She's supported Ed Sheeran on tour and just recorded her debut album.

So she's got all the skills to help Joe get ready

for his festival performance.

So Turbo tells me you're going to be performing at a big festival.

How are you feeling about that?

It's going to be really good, because it's going to be my

first actual taste of performing on a massive stage.

I'm looking forward to getting started.

-How do you feel about doing a performance for me?

-I'd love to.

I've set up something that's a little bit bigger.

You, Joe, are going to be performing in front of your whole year group.

-Would you like my guitar for your performance?

-I would love it.

-Yeah?

-Mm-hmm.

-There you are.

# Doo doo doo doo... #

Suddenly, Joe's performing in front of his whole year group.

# Smoke alarm went off at night... #

He's chosen to sing Gold Rush by Ed Sheeran, one of his musical heroes.

It's not an easy song.

-Nina likes what she sees.

-Very good guitar player for his age, isn't he?

He is, definitely.

# Like, like the way

# I wanna be loved. #

His classmates are impressed,

'but Nina can already see where Joe needs to up his game.'

Go, Joe.

Nina wants to give Joe some feedback to make his performance

good enough for a festival crowd of thousands.

So, firstly, I thought it was really good, very brave getting up there.

Nina's biggest concern is that Joe's timing was off.

Bad timing can mean disaster on a live set.

What I think would be quite a good idea to help you with your timing is

taking the guitar and tapping like a metronome, and just singing over it,

and then doing the same, playing the guitar and tapping your foot.

-Do you want to give it a go?

-OK, yeah, sure.

Sometimes what's better is

if you're using your hands to play the guitar, tapping your foot

in time, and also on a hard surface, like a wooden floor,

so you can hear the beat as well.

I'm extremely nervous about this big performance cos sometimes

I look really confident, and it makes the audience think,

"Oh, he's really confident, he's going to do well."

If I mess up on this big performance, I'm probably not going to have

another chance like it again, am I?

So, Joe, how did your masterclass go?

Yeah, brilliantly. I'm so happy cos she taught me

so much and I'm going to put in so many hours just to maybe

be as good as Nina, cos she's absolutely amazing.

'Nina has set up Joe's next masterclass,

'and sent us to this field in the middle of nowhere.

'I knew we should have used that sat nav!'

ENGINE GROWLS

'What's that noise?'

'This may seem a world away from singing and playing a guitar,

'but manoeuvring a monster tank like this is not like driving a car.

'It requires the driver to multitask,

'juggling many different skills at once -

'something Nina wants Joe to work on.'

-Joey, my bro, how are you feeling?

-I'm feeling excited,

nervous and all the other feelings that come towards being scared.

This is Will.

And he's going to be teaching you how to drive -

that's right, you guessed it - this tank.

-You ready for him, Will?

-Yes, I'm ready, come and get in.

'To get Joe started, Will runs through the controls.'

-I'm guessing you've never really driven much before?

-No.

-Have you driven a go-kart or anything?

-No.

-No, nothing?

Fantastic, a clean slate.

Like a car, this tank has an accelerator pedal to go forward.

But unlike a car, there's no steering wheel.

Instead there are two lever sticks that you pull towards you

to turn right or left.

If you want to turn left, you pull that stick.

To turn right, you pull that one.

'Joe will need a navigator. Time for me to help out.

'And we're off.'

Right stick, right stick.

Make sure you're listening to my orders.

'Will Joe be able to listen to my orders, control the speed

'and use the correct lever to control the direction of the tank

'all at the same time?'

Left stick, brother, left stick. Straight on.

Left stick, left sti-i-i-ick!

'He's doing well. It's not easy driving this 50-year-old tank.'

Left, left, left, left.

And brake for me there, bro.

Give me some. Boom, there you go. That's what I'm talking about.

Will, how do you think Joe did with controlling this tank?

Fantastic.

He's the youngest guy I've ever taught to drive

and he took everything on board and did the course fantastic.

So he was able to do numerous things at once.

Do you think this is going to help you with your Final Challenge

and also with training, playing the guitar and singing?

Yeah, definitely, because driving a tank is really hard -

you've got to listen to the person that's telling you the orders,

see where you're going, plus you've got to control it at the same time,

so playing the guitar and singing is just two things,

so it should be quite easy.

Since Joe's had his fun, when can I have a go?

I thought you were going to say that,

and I've got a tank specially lined up just for you, Turbo.

-Let's do this.

-Let's go.

Turbo. You think that's a tank?

This is not what I signed up for.

You got to drive "Whoa!" I get to drive "Oh."

Yeah, I just had a normal, average day. I've been DRIVING A TANK.

It was so awesome! Literally.

It's going to help me

so much, because you have to do a million things at once.

If I can drive a tank,

then surely I should be able to play my guitar and sing at the same time.

With Joe's final performance fast approaching,

I contact him with some exciting news about his Mini Challenge.

You've been doing so well on your Turbo Boost, I thought

I would throw a little challenge your way.

You are going to be performing on stage alongside superstar

-Gabrielle Aplin.

-Oh, my...

Wow, man. Wait, this is only the Mini Challenge?!

Yep. It's making you think how big

your big challenge really is, all right?

Oh, my life, I can't believe it.

I'm going to send you the music so you can practise the song

and nail it down to a T.

-Thank you so much.

-Take care, and I'll see you soon.

Two weeks ago Joe embarked on his musical Turbo Boost,

and now he's strumming his way to success.

But if he wants to be a festival hit, like his singing hero

Ed Sheeran, he'll need to get some serious experience under his

guitar strap, performing to larger crowds than just his year group.

Today is the day of Joe's Mini Challenge,

and we've come to Camp Bestival in Dorset.

With three music stages, this is a family event,

and what better way to launch his festival career than to

sing on the Bandstand Stage at the busiest time of the day, lunchtime?

Welcome to Camp Bestival.

If you take a look over here behind you, you will see that that is the

stage where both you and Gabrielle are going to perform later today.

And how have you been getting along with your song?

Have you been practising and making sure your tune is perfected?

Well, at first I learnt the wrong version.

I was strumming it and playing it differently, then I went

to my guitar teacher and he showed me that it was, like, quite hard.

-But I've got it right now.

-You've got it down now?

-Uh-huh.

Ready to perform it, yeah? Sweet.

So, family, we're going to see you guys a little bit later.

-Ready to go?

-Yep.

-Let's do it.

Learning the wrong music means Joe's had hardly any time

to perfect Gabrielle's song.

This could be a huge problem for his performance.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-Hi, Gabrielle, you OK?

-Yeah, I'm good, thank you.

It's a pleasure to meet you.

Last year, singer-songwriter and YouTube sensation Gabrielle Aplin

went straight from her bedroom to the top of the charts with

The Power Of Love.

And she's no stranger to large audiences

after seven sold-out tours across the UK.

-You've been learning my song?

-Yeah, I have.

-Can you show me?

-Yeah, sure.

# Summer comes, winter fades

# Here we are, just the same... #

I've left Joe and Gabrielle practising,

and in 15 minutes they're going to take to this stage.

It's her song, so if Joe hasn't got it down, she'll know pretty quickly.

-Yay.

-Thank you.

-That's awesome, your voice is amazing!

When we play it I'll do some backing vocals for you

so you can really sing it, cos I think that sounds great.

Not only is Joe singing her song, but now she's letting him

take the lead vocals.

There's no room for error.

-Hi, guys.

-Hello.

-Hi, Turbo.

-So how does he sound?

Really good, I'm really impressed.

How did it feel playing it to Gabrielle?

It's kind of nerve-racking, because if you get a single thing wrong,

they'll notice it, cos it's their song.

I didn't notice anything.

Do you feel like you're ready to go on stage and perform now?

-Definitely, yeah.

-You sure?

-Yeah.

All right then, let's do it, let's go, guys.

'Joe's worked so hard that Gabrielle hasn't noticed

'that he started learning the wrong version of her song.

'But he's still nervous.'

Loads of things could go wrong cos I learnt the wrong version first.

I could start playing that one, then I could vary between the two.

It's just going to be really difficult.

Of the 30,000 people visiting the festival today,

it seems Joe is drawing a bigger crowd than he expected.

Look how many people are there now!

There's got to be more than a thousand, there's got to be.

He's now looking really nervous.

Joe's family are ready to watch his biggest performance yet.

Let's hope he plays the right version and his practice pays off.

This song's called Please Don't Say You Love Me.

Go on, Joe.

# Summer comes, winter fades

# Here we are, just the same

# Don't need pressure, don't need change

# Let's not give the game away

# Heavy words are hard to take

# Under pressure, precious things can break

# And how we feel is hard to fake

# So let's not give the game away... #

It seems like his timing with his singing, his guitar, is on point.

# Please don't say you love me, cos I might not say it back. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Joe, everyone!

-Thank you very much.

He did it! Well done, Joe.

I think your next step, for your next gig, would be

to maybe interact with the crowd, chat in-between songs,

and just think about what you're going to say to them.

It's important feedback for his Final Challenge,

but right now, Joe's overwhelmed by his Camp Bestival success.

'I can't believe I've just performed with Gabrielle Aplin.'

It's just so cool because...

I'm playing my guitar, she was singing with me...

It's one of the best experiences I think I'll ever have in my life.

I thought Joe's performance was great, really confident,

and you wouldn't have thought he'd just learnt the song.

It's given me way more confidence.

Now I've performed on stage, I think it's going to be a lot easier for me

to do my Final Challenge,

because I don't know how anything can be harder than that.

A couple of days after his Mini Challenge, I want to break

the news to Joe about the size of his final performance.

The festival you're going to be performing at...

will be the Green Man Festival.

You'll be performing in front of thousands of people.

Oh, my life, it's... Agh, I'm so...

I don't know what to say. It's just absolutely brilliant.

I've performed on the Bandstand Stage,

now I'm just moving up to the big daddy.

When you hit that stage, it's one time only.

So you've got to make sure it is epic.

-It will be. Thanks a lot, Turbo, this is brilliant.

-Sign out, take care.

With only one week to go before his big festival performance,

Joe's come to Birmingham city centre for his final masterclass.

Gabrielle wants Joe to connect more with his audience,

so today he's going to learn

the difficult art of singing on the street and attracting a crowd.

Who better to show him the tricks of the trade than Robbie Boyd,

who's a former winner of Gigs -

a competition to find London's best busker.

-Hello, man.

-Hi.

-How are you doing, Joe? I'm Robbie.

-Hi, Robbie.

Nice to meet you.

Turbo's been telling me

that you need some help with your performance skills.

Yeah, I do. I need to interact with the crowd a bit more,

because I seem a bit shy on stage.

OK. A big part of busking is connecting with people,

and a great way to do that is looking at them in the eyes.

They feel more part of what you're doing.

When you're busking, getting passers-by to notice you

and stick around is not easy.

Robbie shows Joe how he uses a bit of banter to attract a crowd.

Hi, guys, how are you doing? My name's Robbie Boyd.

This is Joe. I'm warming up for him.

Once you've got an audience, it's important to keep them entertained,

so Robbie has some tips for Joe.

I guess the main thing to do is introduce yourself.

Tell them a bit about you and what you're going to play for them.

Make sure you're singing into the microphone so they can hear you.

If you want to get them singing along, then do that.

-Hi, I'm Joe, everybody.

-Let's give him a round of applause.

And I'm from the West Midlands,

and I'm going to play you Waterloo Sunset by the Kinks.

It's a really nice song and it's classic,

and if any of you know it, you can join in.

# Dirty old river, must you keep rolling

# Flowing into the night... #

And they seem to be working.

# Long as they gaze on Waterloo sunset... #

Joe's only been singing for a matter of seconds,

and he's already attracted attention.

# Waterloo sunset's fine. #

Thanks very much, everybody.

How do you think that went?

I think it went really well cos the crowd were really happy at the end.

They were massively clapping, and as I was performing,

I saw the smiles on their faces. It made me want to carry on.

Yeah, yeah.

I just want to do it again.

Today I met Robbie Boyd.

He taught me so much, because he was telling me,

"You can't back away from the crowd,

"you can't shy away from them, you've just got to act yourself,

"you can't let your personality shrink inside of you

"and become somebody else. You've got to be yourself on that stage."

I really, really, really loved it. I wish I could have carried on

because it was one of the best days of my life so far.

I absolutely loved it!

All of Joe's masterclasses are over.

With just days to go before his Final Challenge performance,

he gets a surprise call from someone who is touring Japan.

-Oh, hi, Gabrielle!

-Hi, how are you?

-I'm fine, thank you.

Oh, good. I was ringing to see how everything's been going

since I sang with you, and talk about your set and stuff.

I'm slightly nervous cos it's going to be a massive crowd

and I've probably not performed in front of that many people before.

But you've told me to engage more with the crowd and tell people a bit

about me, so I'm thinking of speaking to them before I do any songs.

Just tell them about yourself.

-OK, yeah.

-Well, I hope you have an amazing time, and good luck.

I will, thank you.

Four weeks ago, I Turbo-boosted 12-year-old Joe's

dream of becoming a headlining musical act.

With the help of singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt, and a bit of

tricky tank manoeuvring, Joe mastered

singing and playing in time.

And his performance skills were given a boost

by chart-topper Gabrielle Aplin and London's best busker.

But is four weeks enough to pull off a crowd-pleasing performance?

Or will his nerves jeopardise the gig of a lifetime?

It's the morning of Joe's final challenge

and we've come to the Green Man International Music Festival

in the Welsh Brecon Beacons.

Over a thousand performers will be entertaining

up to 15,000 festival-goers at this nonstop four-day event.

Will Joe sing his way to success or sink without a trace?

Joe, today is your final big challenge day.

-I'm going to show you something. Look behind you.

-Yes.

-See that stage over there?

-Yep.

That is the stage that you're going to be performing on.

OK, now I'm scared. TURBO LAUGHS

It's nearly game time,

so me and Joe head backstage

where only the performers are allowed to go.

What Joe doesn't know is I've asked Aston from chart-topping JLS

to give him some last-minute advice on how to connect

with this supersized audience.

-Hiya.

-How are you, sir?

-I'm good, thanks.

-Good to meet you.

# She is the only one I think about... #

Aston is no stranger to performing to huge crowds.

On their 2012 tour, JLS performed to more than

a quarter of a million fans throughout 34 arena gigs.

Oh, wow.

I'm lost for words. It's brilliant!

This stage is massive.

There's a lot of people for you to engage in your performance

so let's build your confidence up even more.

-Yeah.

-Obviously, try and get the eye contact with people

and really engage them in your performance. Draw them in.

Tell them your story while you're playing and singing to them.

It's the best thing to do.

Joe, I'm going to let you warm up before you hit that stage,

but remember, take all the advice

that Aston's just given to you, plus all your mentors,

and you go out there and you completely smash your performance.

-OK?

-Yep.

It's just 30 minutes before Joe hits the festival's main stage

and nerves are starting to set in.

I am really nervous

because it's like the biggest crowd I've ever performed in front of.

It's the biggest stage I've ever been on. It's the biggest ever.

His family give him some last-minute support.

Give me a hug, Dave.

I feel like if I go wrong, then that's it, career over.

Just minutes to go before Joe will be performing to

thousands of people on the main stage.

His family have a prime position and after a quick sound check

and a nod to Mum and Dad, he's almost ready.

The moment has arrived and all Joe needs now is a big-up from me.

Can you please make some huge amount of noise for Joe?

CHEERING

Hello, everybody. Can you hear me?

CROWD: Yes!

That's good.

He's remembered to kick off with a bit of a chat

to warm up the audience.

Well, that's another good thing.

Right, the first song I'm going to be playing for you is

Please Don't Say You Love Me by Gabrielle Aplin.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# Summer comes... #

Four weeks ago, Joe was strumming his guitar at a school

and singing in the shower.

Now he's performing on a headline stage

at one of Britain's top festivals.

But will he be able to keep his cool for the whole set?

# Just please don't say you love me

# Cos I may not say it back

# Doesn't mean my heart stops skipping

# When you look at me like that

# There's no need to worry

# When you see just where we're at

# So please don't say you love me... #

It's a proud moment for Mum, seeing her son own the main stage.

Whoo!

And even Aston looks moved.

# Please don't say you love me

# Cos I may not say it back. #

CHEERING Thank you.

First song done. Let's see if he can smash the next one, too.

# As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset

# I am in paradise

# But chilly, chilly is the evening time

# Waterloo sunset's fine

# But Terry and Julie cross over the river... #

Joe's having lots of fun out there.

It looks like all the training's paid off.

The crowd is loving Joe's performance.

Even Dad is singing along.

# Waterloo sunset's fine. #

CHEERING

Thank you so much.

Yes, Joe, my bro. High-fives all round.

But Joe's biggest fans are waiting backstage to congratulate him.

Oh, he was absolutely better than Bestival.

That stage is 40 times bigger, there's 40 times more people

and he played 40 times better.

That performance today was by far the best I've ever seen Joe

sing or even, you know, play the guitar,

and he actually really looked like he was enjoying himself.

I really enjoyed his performance.

Like, I honestly can say that I was standing there smiling,

clapping, whistling along. You know, he just looked so confident.

He kept eye contact with so many people in the crowd,

looking around, taking in the atmosphere.

He had me in the palm of his hand, like he did everyone else,

so like I said, I'm a firm fan of Joe now, definitely.

My Turbo Boost has been the best experience of my life so far.

I've really, really enjoyed it and I just didn't want it to end

and now it has ended

I'm just thinking of all the good things it's done for me.

Joe has worked so hard throughout his Turbo Boost.

He was an absolute pro on that stage.

Something tells me that he loved every second of it.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd