Episode 3 Pitch Battle

Choral warfare has broken out.

Oh, my gosh!

# Love that burns hot enough to last... #

My hair stood on end.

Pitch Battle is the show

that's guaranteed to give you goose bumps.

-# From a distance I can entertain

-Ooh ooh ooh... #

# Ain't nobody... #

Last week, Scot Soul booked their place in the live final

-with Chaka Khan.

-Bam!

Tonight, another six groups battle it out to impress Gareth...

Get off my desk!

That was knife edge.

..Kelis...

Yes! Yes!

Game changing!

..and tonight's superstar guest judge, Bebe Rexha.

You know, you blew my mind.

Everything is goose-bumping around my area.

Whew!

Just break through.

Oh, my God, oh, my God!

APPLAUSE

# I'm coming up so you better get this party started

# I'm coming up so you better get this party started

# Get this party started on a Saturday night

# Everybody's waiting for me to arrive

# Sending out the message to all of my friends

# We'll be looking flashy in my Mercedes Benz

# Whoa, sometimes

# I get a good feeling

# I got a good feeling, baby

# I got a feeling that I never, never, never, never had before

# I got a good feeling

-# Oh

-Oh-oh-oh-oh oh oh

# Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

# It's always a good time

# Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh oh

# We don't even have to try

# It's always a good time

# Say, say 2000 zero zero party

# Over, oops, out of time

# Yeah, yeah

# For tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999

# Oh, yeah

-# You got to fight

-Let's fight

-# For your right

-Your right

# To party

# You got to fight

# You got to fight

-# For your right

-Your right

# To party

# We've come too far to give up who we are

# We're up all night 'til the sun

# We're up all night to get some

We're up all night for good fun

# We're up all night to get lucky

# We're up all night 'til the sun

# We're up all night to get some

# We're up all night for good fun

# We're up all night to get

# Tonight I'm gonna party like it's

# We're up all night to get some

# You better get this party started

# We're up all night to get lucky

# It's always a good time

# We're up all night to get some

# Oh, sometimes

# We're up all night to get lucky

# I'm coming up so you better get this party started. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Thank you so much to all of tonight's six amazing vocal groups.

APPLAUSE

A huge thanks to our series musical director,

the pitch perfect Deke Sharon,

who not only got the party started with that opening mashup

but has also been working with our groups. There he is.

APPLAUSE

Hey, Mel! How you doing?

What can we look forward to this evening?

We scoured the nation to find the best of the best.

We have jazz, gospel, rock, pop, soul music, a cappella.

We've got even beatboxers tonight. Are you ready for this?

CHEERING

Deke, you have primed us well.

Now tonight, six of Britain's best choirs and vocal groups are about

to engage in some choral combat and battle it out over

a series of do-or-die

sing-or-be-sung-off vocal challenges.

Only one group will make it through to the live final, where they

will be in with a chance of taking home the amazing £50,000 cash prize.

CHEERING

And being crowned champions of Pitch Battle 2017.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

And deciding their fates are our musical megastars.

She's a music sensation with 10 UK top 10 singles to her name.

It's Kelis!

APPLAUSE

He's the melodic choirmaster who got the whole nation singing.

It's Gareth Malone!

APPLAUSE

Oh, Gareth. It's Saturday night, Gareth's gone a little bit jazzy.

-He's in a stripe.

-I've lost it completely.

He's in a little bit of a jazzy stripe thing.

CHEERING

Each week they'll be joined by a superstar guest judge.

Tonight, she's collaborated with everyone from Eminem and Rihanna

to Nicki Minaj and David Guetta,

and she has a new track coming with One Direction's Louis Tomlinson...

CHEERING

It's Bebe Rexha.

I have been in the music business for ten years.

I got my first big break writing a song for Eminem and Rihanna

called The Monster.

# Cos I'm friends with the monster... #

I started out in a choir as well.

Being in that choir taught me how to write melodies

and how to write songs.

# No broken heart... #

I hope that these groups come in and bring me something weird,

I like weird. You better bring it on. You better be ready!

# Cos we gon' get it pumping tonight. #

It's this week's superstar guest judge, Bebe Rexha.

APPLAUSE

Our judges!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Bebe, don't be fooled by the Harry Potter-esque demeanour,

-he's very, very tough, Bebe. Just warning you.

-OK.

Now, Kelis, what are you looking for?

I want to see some different kind of...

I don't know, like exciting takes on choral arrangements.

I really want to see people take risks

-and kind of do something that's a little bit different.

-Risk, Kelis?

Gareth, is risk on your checklist?

Risk is on my checklist. So is tightness - musically speaking.

LAUGHTER

They have to be tight. Does tightness sound wrong?

That's fine, no, tightness is good. Risk and tightness.

-Risk and tightness.

-Bebe, have you got anything to add

to risk and tightness?

LAUGHTER

-Listen, I look for authenticity.

-OK.

I think we can all see when they're having fun and being themselves.

-Authenticity...

-Yes.

-..risk and tightness.

You heard it here, ladies and gentlemen.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Let's get down to business and battle one.

Our first two choral contenders are about to go ahead to head.

They'll each perform their Showstopper,

the song that they feel showcases the best of their abilities

and then they will battle it out

in a no-holds-barred dramatic Riff-Off.

CHEERING

Our judges will then decide which group deserves to go through

to tonight's Solo Battles, so let's meet tonight's first two groups,

ready to step into the Pitch Battle arena -

All The King's Men...

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

..and the Alle Choir.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

We're All The King's Men.

We are a nine-piece a cappella group

from Kings College in central London.

In the group we've got music students...

..philosophy, medical students.

War historians.

But it's the music that brings us all together.

To perform with your best friends is really special.

# Ba-da, ba-da

# Ba-da, ba-da... #

We're all former choirboys.

# Hallelujah! #

But we all love contemporary pop music

and so we just kind of try and make those worlds meet.

# Oh, I think that I've found myself a champion... #

We get some dancing in there as well sometimes.

We do our own choreography.

It can get pretty sexy.

# Talk dirty to me. #

We've done loads of competitions but nothing can prepare us

for this head-to-head. Hopefully this will be

the best performance All The King's Men have ever done.

-ALL:

-To the battlefield!

-ALL:

-We are Alle Choir!

We are a bunch of Polish friends and we love to sing jazz as a choir.

Although we love singing, we do have different jobs here.

My day job is a motion capture artist.

I played Groot in Guardians Of The Galaxy.

Every Friday we have rehearsals.

And I spent a lot of hours at work

and Fridays with these guys makes me so happy.

THEY VOCALISE

So it's a great beginning of the weekend.

We call them Friday night fever.

THEY LAUGH

We just want to show that jazz can be full of fun and can be modern.

We are so excited, we are super prepared

and we hope that we're going to win this.

APPLAUSE

Up first with their Showstopper, Worth It,

it's our university a cappella group, All The King's Men.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# Give it to me I'm

# Worth it

# Baby, I'm

# Worth it

# Whoa, oh

# Worth it

# Gimme, I'm

# Baby I'm worth it

# Just give me you, just give me you

# Just gimme me you, that's all I wanna do

-# And if what they say is true

-If it's true

# I might give me to you

# I may talk a lot of stuff

# Guaranteed, I can back it up

# I think I'mma call you bluff

# Hurry up, I'm waiting out front

# Uh-huh, see me in the spotlight

# Ooh, I'm loving your style

# I love your style

# Uh-huh, show me what you got cos I don't wanna waste my time

# I don't wanna waste my time

# Uh-huh, see me in the spotlight

# Ooh, I love your style

# Uh-huh, see me in the spot

# Come and make it worth my while

-# Give it to me I'm

-Worth it

# Do-do-do-ba-doo

-# Baby, I'm

-Worth it

# Do-do-ba-dee-dee-dee

# Worth it

# Gimme, I'm

# Worth it, worth it

# Give it to me, I'm worth it

# Worth it

# Worth it

# Give it to me, baby, I'm

# Give it to me, I'm

# Worth it

# Doo! #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# Whoa

# Give it, give it

# Give it to me, I'm

# Worth it. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Before we hear from our judges, let's check out the competition.

Singing their Showstopper, Fly Me to the Moon, it's our jazz group,

the Alle Choir.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# Ba ba ba ba-doo-wa

# Va-va-voo, va-va-voo, va-va-voo, va

# Ba

# Fly me to the moon

# And let me play among the stars

# Let me see what spring is like

# On Jupiter and Mars

# In other words

# Please be true

# In other words, I love you

# Da-diddle-do-dee-da-doo-dop, yeah

# Fill his heart with song and he will sing and sing

# He will sing, he will sing for ever and ever more

# Oh, you

# You are all he longs for

# All he worships and adores

# In other words

# Please be true

# Oh, baby, please be true

# In other words

# Say some other words

# In other words

# In other words

# In other words

# So look what you tell her in other words

# I love you

# Oh, sweet, so sweet, so sweet

# He loves you. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Lovely stuff.

Now, King's Men, somebody had an exam today, didn't they?

Freddie. Freddie had an exam today.

APPLAUSE

Freddie, how did it go?

It went really well, yeah. I was happy about it.

And what was your exam today?

-It was on economics.

-Oh, and did you do lots of good economics?

-I did lots of great economics.

-Well done, Freddie. Good, good exam.

Alle Choir. Smooth, gorgeous, velvety.

Jagoda, were you pleased with how that went?

Yeah, and we are so happy to be here

and we have a really good group who's supporting us.

-Even my mum came from Poland...

-From Poland! Where's Mum?

CHEERING

Oh! Hello, Jagoda's mum!

-And my sister too. I forgot my sister.

-Oh, there she is.

How was the flight, guys, was it OK? Nice snacks on board? Good.

Now, Kelis, did the Alle Choir get you flying moonwards

and were All The King's Men worth it for you?

Well, I have to say, what a great start we've got tonight.

I'm excited. Alle Choir, I want to say to you guys, dziekuje,

so thank you for being here.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I love Poland. You guys looked gorgeous.

Obviously I'm partial so I think I belong in the group tonight.

Amazing harmonies.

The way that you guys kind of break in from unison into your harmonies

and your parts, the blend is beautiful,

it's really smooth, I love that.

My one note would be, especially with jazz,

I think we were lacking just a little bit of swing,

so I think for the next riff battle if you guys could just really

kind of get into it and let us feel the rhythm and the vibe of the song.

For All The King's Men, I think it's important to be able to lock eyes

and kind of draw your audience in

and I definitely felt that with you guys.

It was really, really good, I love that.

Gareth, a lot of work has gone into both of these Showstoppers.

What were your thoughts, Gareth?

Well, I commend any student who's able to do all of that work

on top of their degree. I was in the bar the whole time...

-so very well done for that.

-LAUGHTER

I'm a huge enthusiast about a cappella, and I thought

that beginning was really brave,

became you came out here and gave us silence

and that's really bold

and using silence well in music is so, so important,

so a really, really strong start.

I can hear a choral background,

I can hear vowels that are quite choral and rich

and that's very good but this is a pop proposition.

What I'm looking to see is

can you give me that really kind of edgy pop sound?

Turning to Alle Choir,

I would agree with Kelis about the incisiveness of the rhythm.

Jazz has its own particular rhythmic character, there's ba-da, ba-da,

just really making them sharp and exciting

and so I'd like to see that when you go into this Riff-Off

but it's a great ensemble, really very, very together.

-This is going to be interesting, I think.

-It's exciting, isn't it?

Bebe, what are you looking for

as the groups go forward towards the old Riff-Off?

I loved both of them. I think it's going to be so hard tonight.

I love you guys because I feel like you're so young and fresh

and I was excited, I was like, "Wow, I want to dance",

and then with Alle Choir,

I felt like I was thrown into The Great Gatsby, you know.

I know, it's lovely.

Yeah, I think I'm just looking for blending and good dynamics

and kind of working as a group and yeah, just having fun.

Only one group will go through to the Solo Battles tonight.

The other is about to be knocked out.

Deciding their fate is the themed Riff-Off.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

It's time to reveal the theme.

CHEERING

Ooh, lads!

One group very shortly will be heroes, the other zeroed

and kapowed right out of the competition.

The very best of luck to all of you.

APPLAUSE

MUSIC: Holding Out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler

# A-a-a-ah

# A-a-a-ah

# A-a-a-ah

# Aa-ah

# I need a hero

# I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night

# He's gotta be strong And he's gotta be fast

# And he's gotta be fresh from the fight

# I need a hero! #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

That was sick!

# Everyday people do everyday things

# But I can't be one of them

-# Cos we could be

-Heroes

# Heroes

# Heroes, oh

# We could be heroes

# Me and you

# We could be heroes! #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-WHISPERS:

-Let me be your hero.

# I can be your hero, baby

# Your hero

# I can kiss away the pain

# Kiss you, baby

# I will stand by you forever

# Ooh

# You can take my breath away

# I can be your hero. #

APPLAUSE

# There's a hero comes along

# With the strength to carry on

# When you cast your fears aside

# And you know you can survive

# So when you feel like hope is gone

# Look inside you and be strong

# And you'll finally see the truth

# That a hero lies in you. #

APPLAUSE

-# Flash!

-Pssh!

# A-ah!

# Saviour of the universe

# He's for every one of us

# Stands for every one of us

# He'll save with a mighty hand

# Every man, every woman, every child, with a mighty flash

# Oo-wee oo-wee oo-wee

-# Flash!

-Pssh!

# Whoa-oh!

# He'll save every one of us

# He'll save every one, he's Flash! #

APPLAUSE

# Spider-Man, Spider-Man

-# Does whatever a spider can... #

-Oh, I love it! I love it!

# Spins a web any size

# Catches thieves just like flies

# Look out, here comes the Spider-Man

# Here comes the Spider-Man

-# Here comes the Spider-Man

-Look out

# Look out

# Here comes the Spider-Man

# Oh, it's Spider-Man! #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

A fantastic Heroes Riff-Off.

All The King's Men are almost like the X-Men.

They've got high notes, they've got low notes,

they've got instrumental sounds,

beatbox, they are basically an unstoppable force

with lots of different weapons. However, on the other side,

the Alle Choir are like the classic superheroes,

Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman - all strong on their own

but when they join forces together through jazz harmonies,

it's an impenetrable wall of sound, so what's it going to be?

Thank you so much, Deke Sharon. Lovely stuff.

APPLAUSE

Now, Rob...

WOLF WHISTLE

How was that for you?

Um, a bit stressful.

LAUGHTER

Well, I'm happy that I didn't break my neck in that roll.

You did a full flying forward roll.

Well, we've had some amazing choreography work,

so yeah, it's just been... I think we really pulled it off.

-I'm really happy.

-Quite a lot of sweat built up in that gilet.

Well done, Rob. Well done, all of you.

You guys are so smooth.

Krystian, you've actually appeared in a superhero movie, is that right?

That's true.

LAUGHTER

What did you have to do?

Did you have a superpower yourself? Are you Velvet Man? What's your...?

Velour Man or Beard Man? What's your power?

Tell me, what's your power?

I used to be a Groot in Guardians Of The Galaxy.

I'd be much taller, so yeah, you probably wouldn't recognise me.

-Guardians Of The Galaxy! Now, Gareth...

-Yes.

Tell us what you thought of that Riff-Off.

Coming to All The King's Men first, I like the way you did that chorus

and you embraced that at the beginning, this big larynx sound

and then we got the real energised vocal stuff later

and I thought the sense of fun was there.

You asked for tightness, Gareth. Did you get tightness?

-I thought it was pretty tight. Did we think it was tight?

-Yes.

CHEERING

Jazz leggings are certainly quite tight, so...

I mean, I have no doubt that helps in ways that we won't go into now...

But very impressive.

Coming to Alle Choir, I think you had a hard job there

because your sense of style in your first Showstopper was

so clear, the jazz choir, I think that came off less well

and perhaps less suited to the Riff-Off.

Some of the polyphonic moments where you had different parts intertwining

got a little bit lost at times, but I loved Spider-Man.

-I thought that was just absolutely great.

-Yes!

-Both fantastic groups.

Bebe, tell me what you thought of the Riff-Off.

I loved All The King's Men.

I want to, like, hang out with you guys. You guys seem so cool.

-Choirs CAN be cool.

-Yeah, you guys are cool.

-Choirs are cool.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I want to know who does the choreography.

-George does a lot of it.

-Awesome job, awesome job.

Your harmonies were on point, you were jumping, doing these twirls.

I mean, if I do that on stage, I will be off pitch in 2.5 seconds,

so I loved it and I want to watch you more,

like, I want to come to your show or something, you know?

Stalker!

LAUGHTER

Stalker!

Alle Choir, I love when you guys do jazz. Your dynamics are so good.

You get really quiet and then you're able to get really loud

and you listen to each other. It was beautiful.

And then, Karolina, I love your voice, by the way,

and I think you're a star, you're amazing.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Well done, Karolina.

-Thank you very much.

-Some great comments.

Now, Kelis, who knocked it out of the park for you?

I think with All The King's Men, you guys are exciting,

kind of just how you incorporate the playfulness I love.

-The beatboxing, for me, on the end is so good.

-Yes! Freddie!

Yeah, fantastic, I loved it.

He's an economist AND a beatboxer!

I mean - who knew, right?

My one thing... I don't agree, actually, with Gareth.

I do think there were some blending issues,

but all in all I really enjoyed watching you guys.

And then, Alle Choir, I agree with Bebe, you have really good dynamics

and you had these really special moments.

There were some moments when you guys kind of lost me,

the harmonies kind of get muddled a little bit

but all in all I think it was a really good performance.

Thank you, judges. Well, only one group can go through

to tonight's Solo Battles.

Bebe, which group do you want to send through to the Solo Battles?

Um... It was hard because they were both so awesome

but All The King's Men, I pick you.

APPLAUSE

Kelis, who do you think deserves a place into tonight's Solo Battles?

It was really hard and you guys are so different,

so making a decision has been difficult.

I...

I decided to go with Alle Choir.

APPLAUSE

Well, well.

One apiece. Gareth, you've got the deciding vote.

Who would you like to see going through to tonight's Solo Battle?

Thank you. Disagreement on the panel over this. It's a difficult one,

and I thought both groups were great but the group that I would like to

see go through to the solo round, to see what you've got, is...

..All The King's Men.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

We've had to say goodbye to our lovely Alle Choir.

We've absolutely loved having you here.

Thank you so much for bringing us your joy and your beautiful voices.

Going through, however, it's All The King's Men. Congratulations.

We will see you later on in the Solo Battles.

But the big question is, who will be joining you?

Let's meet our next two groups, ready for choral combat.

It's the London International Gospel Choir...

APPLAUSE

..versus Songbird Sessions.

APPLAUSE

We are the London International Gospel Choir.

We're an unauditioned, open choir. Everybody welcome, everybody sings.

Wherever we are, they always have to sing. You just can't stop him.

He will just sing in front of anyone.

# It's true! #

# Ain't no mountain high enough... #

I'm personally from Germany.

We have singers from India, Brazil, and South Africa.

I found this choir and I knew that this is the right place for me

and this was going to be my family.

Until about ten years ago I wouldn't even sing in public.

I kind of found my voice in this choir.

Food's up, everyone!

When you're going head-to-head with other choirs who are auditioned,

chorally trained, it doesn't matter because we sing because we love it.

# Let's get together and feel all right! #

Here's to Pitch Battle. Let's go and do this.

ALL CHEER

We're Songbird Sessions, and we are all about soul

and real heartfelt lyrical music.

The one thing that bonds us is this music college.

Myself and Kelly met here years ago.

Gem's gone off to do so much stuff in the West End.

I went into vocal coaching.

I get to work with three of our members of Songbird Sessions,

which is great.

# Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah! #

Kelly's very much, like, on our level,

it's not very teacher-y as such.

That was so good!

I think we all know that there's going to be some larger choirs

but we have a lot of powerhouses in our ensemble.

On the volume front, I don't think we'll struggle.

Performing their Showstopper, a Jackson 5 medley,

it's the London International Gospel Choir.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# ABC

# I want you back

# One, two, three

# I want you back

# ABC

# I want you back

# One, two, three, you and me

# When I had you to myself

# I didn't want you around

# Those pretty faces always made you

# Stand out in a crowd

# But someone picked you from the bunch

# One glance was all it took

# Now it's much too late for me

# To take a second look

-GARETH:

-Wow, he's great!

# Oh, baby, give me one more chance

# Show you that I love you

# Won't you please let me

# Back in your heart

# Oh, darlin', I was blind

# To let you go

# To let you go, baby

# But now since I see you in his arms

# I want you back

# You went to school to learn, girl

# Things you never, never knew before

# Like I before E, except after C

# And why two plus two makes four Now, now, now

# I'm gonna teach you

# Teach you, teach you

# All about love, girl

# All about love

# Set yourself down and save a seat

# All you gotta do is A, B, C

-# One, two, three

-One, two, three now

# Lift your hands now

# Come on, come on come on, come on

-# Yay

-One, two, three

-# A, B, C, yeah

-A, B, C

# One, two, three

-# Oh

-Yeah! #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Up next, performing their Showstopper, You've Got The Love,

it's our vocal harmony group, Songbird Sessions.

CHEERING

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

# I know I can count on you

# Sometimes I feel like saying

# Lord, I just don't care

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

# Sometimes it seems the going is just too rough

Whoo!

# And things go wrong no matter what I do

# Oh

# Now and then I feel like life is just too much

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

-# When food is gone

-You are my daily meal

# Oh

# When friends are gone

# I know my saviour's love is real

# Your love is real

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

# I know I can count on you

# Sometimes I feel like saying

# Lord, I just don't care

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

# You've got the love

# You've got the love

# You've got the love

# You've got the love

# You've got the love

# You've got the love

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

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Everything is goose-bumping around my area.

LAUGHTER Everything is goose-bumping.

Kelly, often in a sort of girl/lady group,

there's maybe one that you sense maybe isn't singing that much,

or is there for the dancing.

This is like having six Adeles in a group, Kelly.

How did you find that?

Just an absolute joy.

A joy to work with such wonderful people and talented singers.

It's just, yeah, wonderful.

Now, London International Gospel Choir, that was sensational.

CHEERING

Could you sense, Josephine,

how much the audience just loved your performance?

Yes. Thank you so much, guys.

It's so amazing.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

What's it like, singing in the choir - can you sum it up?

Well, I love the inclusivity of the choir, you know, we're non-audition,

we welcome people of all sorts of levels and abilities

and I really feel like we're a family.

Bring it in, bring it in.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

That is so nice.

Listen, I hope this will translate

to the old judgingtons up on the desk.

So, Bebe, from gospel to '80s soul,

who's got your love?

London International Gospel Choir.

I love the fact that anyone can join and...Kha, where are you?

Kha's in there.

Kha, can I put you in my pocket and take you home? Can you sing to me?

I'm ready to go.

LAUGHTER

-CHEERING

-So cute.

The only thing that...

I just felt like I wanted a little bit more soul,

you know, for a gospel choir.

Like, you guys are so dope, the harmonies are great,

I love the energy - just break through!

-Break through.

-Songbird Sessions.

Each and every one of you has amazing vocals.

You guys kind of could be like a pop group.

Like, I really believe that.

-Thank you, Bebe.

-Now, Kelis.

All the glitter and the sequence, you guys are...

That's my thing, so I felt right at home.

Did it take you back to your days in a choir?

Well, first of all I think the energy's fantastic.

Feels very all-inclusive and I think it's really warm

and it really comes off, especially because you are a gospel choir.

I love that element.

The one note that I would have agreeing with Bebe

is that it's missing a little bit

of the kind of grind and grunge that I want.

That kind of like guttural sound

that we know gospel kind of lends to.

I think the gospel breakout at that end, that's like...

I was in a group in church,

so if you're going to go there, like, go there.

Do you know what I mean? Like, commit and go all the way.

But it's exciting to watch you guys, I can't wait to see what's next.

-Yes.

-And then, Songbirds, you guys are really exciting.

You do make me feel like I was in a mirror when I was,

like, 12, singing in Vogue

and all these other wonderful '90s groups,

so I love, love, love that.

You do feel like a bunch of soloists that are together,

but yet it's a really nice blend.

I love the dynamics, I love the getting quiet,

I love the eye contact.

All in all, I'm in.

I'm sitting here bursting, sitting on my hands.

-Come on, Gareth. Give it to us, Gareth.

-I loved that - both of you.

It was so exciting, it was great.

We've got community here, and I find that incredibly moving.

I just see so many different backgrounds. Absolutely loving it.

There's another gear, because in gospel you need that "nyaaaah!",

that commitment to the sound.

-Not that one.

-Not... You know.

You need that element in the vocal sound that really cuts and bites,

and I think that's what we're all missing up here.

So, in the Riff-Off, take the roof off.

And, Songbird Sessions,

I just thought it was excellent, really good.

And what I'm always interested in in a group is how,

when you're not singing, how are you supporting the whole,

and I'm watching people who are absolutely loving the other people.

There was exemplary support.

You worked with the band, our amazing band up here.

What I want to see now

is how you take that very specific sound

into a range of music in the Riff-Off,

and I think you've got a tough job,

because bigger groups, I think,

are maybe slightly better suited to the Riff-Off.

Ah, OK. One group is about to be knocked out of the competition.

The other will face All The King's Men in tonight's Solo Battles.

Deciding their fate is the ever-dramatic Riff-Off.

WHOOPING AND CHEERING

'This show was recorded before the Grenfell Tower tragedy,

'and the theme of this Riff-Off was Fire.

'Due to some of the lyrics,

'we feel it would be insensitive to show it in full.

'Both of our lovely choirs fully support this decision.'

# When the light started up

# They don't know what they heard... #

# Satisfaction

# Ooh ooh-ooh

# Came in a chain reaction... #

# I'll be where the eagle's flying higher and higher

# Gonna be your bird in motion

# All I need is a pair of wings

# Take me where my future's lying.... #

# Ah, you gotta be strong enough to walk on through the night

# There's a new day on the other side

# Oh, you gotta have hope in your soul

-# Gotta have hope

-Just keep on working

# Keep on working, baby

# And let it shine

# Just own the night

# Like the fourth of July... #

# Knew that that was the last time

# Last time... #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Now, Caz, I spotted there some genuine Riff-Offery behaviour.

There was a bit of that going on,

there was a little bit of that.

Did you have a real sense of competition?

All in good jest, yeah. Yeah. We did, yeah.

That's the purpose of a riff battle, I think,

you've got to go for it, d'you know what I mean?

And they gave it to us as good as we gave it to them, so, happy days.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Well done, Songbirds.

Kha. CHEERING

Gareth talked about going into a different gear.

Did your "Kha" go into a different gear, Kha?

Definitely.

Together we bring the power and the passion.

CHEERING

Thus speaks Kha.

-Kelis.

-I mean, wow, you guys are so much fun to watch -

and when I say you guys, I mean London International Gospel Choir.

You guys pulled it out of the bag,

I really feel like you listen to instruction,

it was really, really exciting to watch. I love it.

And then, my Songbirds, you are technically so on point,

there's really nothing that I can pick out.

It was seamless, really good.

Wow. Well done, the Sessions.

It's going to be really hard. It's hard.

Gareth, did anybody up here on stage

really take their performance from Showstopper

into that extra gear that you were talking about?

Yes, but I am on the horns of a dilemma with this.

I thought both groups had significant merits.

I thought the solos in London International Gospel Choir

during that Riff-Off were just stellar, really, really exciting.

-Great job, guys.

-CHEERING

Well done. Well done, my love.

You know, but I've got to hand it to the Songbirds,

because you create this lovely block harmony,

and that's your sound, you kept that all the way through,

and it was very, very tight,

and you know how much I like tightness, we discussed earlier.

I'm going to find this one an extremely difficult decision.

Bebe, let's turn to you.

Did you feel that one group had it over the other?

They were both amazing but I also thought

that the London International Gospel Choir brought it.

They did.

CHEERING

OK, so now I want to take Kha and Zami home, both you guys.

-But you have to sing to me all day.

-LAUGHTER

-And dance.

-And that dancing, cos that dancing was amazing.

What about the Songbird Sessions, Bebe?

There was better solos in the London International Gospel Choir

than there was on the Songbird Sessions,

but overall their harmonies are tighter

than the London International Gospel Choir.

They were both amazing. I don't know. I don't know.

Ah!

Only one of these groups will go through to tonight's Solo Battles.

Kelis, which group would you like to see

going through to the next round, which is the Solo Battles?

I have to say that, as much as I absolutely love you guys,

I still had to go with the Songbirds,

you guys are technically what I was looking for...

-Songbird Sessions.

-..absolutely.

There's a lot of potential there, I love that.

Bebe, which group do you think

deserves a place in tonight's Solo Battles?

Erm...

I have to go with my heart,

and I choose you guys, London International Gospel Choir.

CHEERING

Ooh. Ok.

Gareth Malone, it's all down to you.

Which group would you like to send through to tonight's Solo Battles?

Very difficult decision - and thank you to both groups.

Going home with your heads held high.

But it's not all about energy for me,

it's also about vocal potential,

and the next section is the solo round,

and so I'm rewarding the excellence in harmony,

and I'm going to go with Songbird Sessions.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

London International Gospel Choir,

you have given so much joy to the room

and to the audience watching.

Thank you so, so much. We love you.

CHEERING

There's only one place left now in those Solo Battles.

Who is going to join All The King's Men and Songbird Sessions?

Battling last, from Aberystwyth,

it's Sgarmes.

CHEERING

And from London, it's The 4Tune Tellers and Kimmy.

We're Sgarmes, and we're a vocal harmony group from Aberystwyth.

Sgarmes means "rugby scrum" in Welsh,

and we're ready to go head-to-head.

-ALL:

-Yeah!

THEY SING VOCAL WARM-UPS

'We rehearse at the rugby club,

'which is at the heart of the community.'

'We do so many different styles, from classical to pop.'

There's a lot of excellent formal Welsh choirs around

but we try not to take ourselves too seriously,

just enjoy ourselves, really.

-Any excuse for a party.

-Yeah!

To come face-to-face with another choir

is going to be quite daunting for us.

When we get on that stage and think, "Oh, my goodness,

-"what have we let ourselves in for?"

-Definitely.

We're really privileged to be flying the flag for Wales!

ALL: Yay!

We are The 4Tune Tellers and Kimmy.

All of us lads, we've been together for about two years,

and our newest addition is Kimmy, who's a fantastic beat-boxer.

KIMMY BEAT-BOXES

I'd heard Kimmy busking and then thought it'd be a cool idea

if we could see how it would sound with the rest of us,

and it changed the whole kind of vibe of the music, really. Stop it!

Busking's opened so many doors for me.

I've managed to beatbox on Radio 1Xtra

with a grime artist.

There's a video of me that's had something like 4.5 million views.

Yeah, it's crazy.

Our Showstopper performance is something which you've

-probably not heard before.

-Our styles are completely different,

but when Kimmy puts a beat on it, it changes everything.

We hope that everyone understands the music that we're trying to make.

We're a new group, we've got a new sound,

we're going to make sure we're ready for the battle.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Up first, performing their Showstopper,

Lady Gaga's Edge Of Glory, it's our Welsh choir, Sgarmes.

# There ain't a reason you and me should be alone tonight

# Yeah, baby, tonight

# Tonight, yeah, baby

# I got a reason that you should take me home tonight

# It's time to feel the rush

# To push the dangerous

# I'm gonna run right to To the edge with you

# Where we can both fall over in love

# I'm on the edge of glory

# And I'm hanging on a moment of truth

# I'm on the edge of glory

# And I'm hanging on a moment with you

# I'm on the edge, the edge, the edge

# The edge, the edge, the edge

# I'm on the edge

# Of glory

# And I'm hanging on a moment with you

# I'm on the edge with you

# I'm on the edge of glory

# And I'm hanging on a moment with you

# I'm on the edge with you

# With you, with you, with you

# I'm on the edge with you

# With you, with you With you, with you

# I'm on the edge with you! #

CHEERING

So feeling the pressure next,

performing their Showstopper, Bang Bang,

it's our vocal harmony group The 4Tune Tellers and Kimmy!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# She got a body like an hourglass

-# I can give it to her all the time

-Ohh-ohh!

# She got a booty like a Cadillac

# Oh, I can send her into overdrive

-# You've been waiting for that

-Ohh!

# Step on up, swing your bat

# See, anybody could be good to you

# You need a good boy to blow your mind... #

SHE BEATBOXES

# ..Bang, bang, into the room I know you wanna

-# Bang-bang

-All over you

# I'll let you have it

-# Wait a minute, let me take you

-Take you there

-# Wait a minute

-Oh-oh-oh

-# Bang-bang

-There goes your heart

-# I know you wanna

-Bang, bang

-# Seat of my car

-I'll let you have it

# Wait a minute Let me take you there

-# Take you there

-Wait a minute till you're all

# B to the A to the N to the G to the bang

# B to the A to the N to the G to the bang, bang

# Anybody could be good to you

# You need a bad boy to blow your mind

# Bad boy to blow your mind... #

SHE BEATBOXES

# Bang, bang, into the room I know you wanna

-# Bang, bang

-All over you

# I'll let you have it

# Wait a minute Let me take you there

# Take you there

-# Wait a minute till you're all

-Ooh-ooh-ooh

-# Bang, bang

-There goes your heart

-# I know you want it

-Bang, bang

-# Seat of my car

-I'll let you have it... #

SHE BEATBOXES

# ..Take you there! #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Yeah!

Wowsers.

Now, 4Tune Tellers and Kimmy,

you brought rock'n'roll into the beatbox world.

Kimmy, who's your amazing beatboxer here,

she's relatively new to your outfit, isn't she?

How has it been, kind of melding in the beatbox

-with what you guys do?

-The truth is, the girl's an absolute dream,

and bringing her in has been the best thing we ever did.

She's just an absolute star.

CHEERING

You're in your tour bus. How is it, sharing the bus with four lads?

-Uh...smelly.

-What stays on the bus...

LAUGHTER

No, they're lovely.

They're such nice lads, it's so easy to work with them.

Rehearsals, it doesn't feel like rehearsals.

-It's just fun.

-We loved your performance.

Thank you so much, 4Tune Tellers and Kimmy. Amazing.

Now, Sgarmes... Harriet, welcome.

THEY SPEAK WELSH

CHEERING

I don't know what that bit was,

but I hope my bit wasn't too offensively bad.

Perfect. "Thank you very much" was what I said.

It's really lovely. Thank you so much for that amazing performance.

All the way from Aberystwyth. You've brought your supporters with you.

A legion! They've got T-shirts, dragons, scarves

and a lot of good vibes with them. Amazing.

Now, Gareth, from beatboxing to the beautiful Valleys,

very, very different groups...

This is why I got into choirs in the first place,

is people coming together to sing and have a sense of community

and friendship, and I love that about you.

I'd like you to make sure that you're not over-singing

into those microphones and losing your finesse.

But a really, really solid start.

4Tune Tellers and Kimmy, I thought it was brave.

It's very different from everything else we've seen in this contest,

and that was really exciting.

When something new comes along, we often think it's crazy.

Dark chocolate with sea salt - I thought they were mad, but no.

Bebe, what were your thoughts?

-It's Sgarmes, right?

-Sgarmes.

In the Riff-Off, I would just like a little bit more dynamic.

I was in a choir in high school and what I learned is,

you've got to listen to the other...the altos and sopranos.

You've got to blend with them and then you can work on the dynamics.

When you say "dynamic", Bebe, is that a vocal thing?

Getting really loud, crescendo-ing and de-crescendo-ing,

-like, getting softer.

-OK.

-It's just being loud -

# I'm on the edge of... #

-It could be...

-SOFTER:

-# I'm on the edge of glory. #

Like, coming in with harmonies and stuff like that.

-I absolutely agree.

-Cos I feel like you guys did a lot of unison.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-When you came in with the harmonies, it felt really cool.

And then the 4Tune Tellers and Kimmy,

here you guys are with the guitar, Kimmy's beatboxing on the speaker,

-and you should give Kimmy a solo.

-Yeah.

-I want solo Kimmy.

-I totally agree.

I think you're like a rock star. I want a moment with Kimmy.

Thank you, judges.

Now, one group is about to be knocked out of tonight's contest.

The other will join All The King's Men and Songbird Sessions

in the Solo Battles.

The only thing standing in their way is the Riff-Off.

CHEERING

Let us now reveal what your theme is going to be.

Angry Break Ups.

Brace yourselves, judges.

Start burning the photographs and get your comfy pyjamas on,

crack out the tub of ice cream, just the one spoon.

Good luck, guys.

CHEERING

# Shot through the heart and you're to blame

# Darling, you give love a bad name

# Oh, you're a loaded gun

# Ooh-ooh, wah-wah-wah

# Oh, there's nowhere to run

# No-one can save me The damage is done

# Shot through the heart and you're to blame

# Darling, you give love a bad name

# Bad name. #

CHEERING

# We are never, ever, ever getting back together

# We are never, ever, ever getting back together

# You go talk to your friends Talk to my friends, talk to me

# But we are never, ever, ever, ever

# Getting back together

# Like ever! #

CHEERING

# You tell me you love me

# Why did you leave me all alone?

# All alone Now you tell me you need me

# When you call me on the phone

# On the phone

# Girl, I refuse

# You must have me confused with some other guy

# Other guy

# The bridges were burned Now it's your turn to cry

# Cry me a river! #

# Now you say you love me

# Well, just to prove you do

# Come on and cry me a river

# Cry me a river

# I cried a river over you. #

# Once I never could hope to win

# You've started down the road You're leaving me again

# The threats you made were meant to cut me down

# And if our love was just a circus

# You'd be a clown by now

# Ooh-ahh

# And I'm still standing better than I ever did

# Looking like a true survivor Feeling like a little kid

# And I'm still standing after all this time

# Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind

# I'm still standing! #

# Since you've been gone Since you've been gone

# I can breathe for the first time

# I'm so moving on, yeah, yeah

# Thanks to you now I get

# I get what I want

# I can breathe for the first time

# I'm so moving on, yeah, yeah

-# Thanks to you

-Thanks to you

-# Now I get

-Now I get

# You should know that I get

# I get what I want

# Since you've been gone! #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

That was a great Riff-Off, but deceptively challenging.

When you think about anger, you think about yelling,

and you can't yell in perfect harmony,

so on one side we had Kimmy and the 4Tune Tellers

driving with rock vocals, getting close to that yelling sound

but still holding on this side to lock those harmonies,

but did they lock them tight enough? On the other side,

we had our Welsh friends with rich harmonies

and all kinds of cheeky humour in there,

but did it get angry enough for the judges?

-This one could go either way, Mel.

-Now, 4Tune Tellers and Kimmy,

Kimmy, I've got to ask you, specifically,

I'm a 48-year-old perimenopausal lady from Leatherhead.

Is it too late for me

-to have a go at the art of beatboxer-y?

-Absolutely not.

-Let's do it now.

-Seriously?

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Come on. How?

KIMMY BEATBOXES

So, how do you do that?

So, we put our hand in an L-shape,

-and that crack there...

-OK.

-Give it a good suck.

LAUGHTER

SHE GASPS

SHE BEATBOXES

CHEERING

-OK?

-My first step into beatboxing.

Thank you very much, Kimmy. That was great. Well done, all of you.

Superb! Now, Sgarmes, I sensed, in that performance there,

in the Riff-Off, that you were fired up, weren't you?

Yeah. You know, we listened to all your lovely comments

and constructive criticism as well,

and we just tried to get everything in!

Now, Bebe, like a real-life break-up,

in itself, we are going to be saying goodbye to one group shortly.

Is this going to be hard?

Yeah. I honestly don't know... Like, I don't know.

I'll start with 4Tune Tellers and Kimmy.

I think you guys are great singers but I don't love the harmonies.

The reason why I feel like I'm in love with your group

is because of Kimmy. I'm sorry, I feel like it should be

Kimmy and the 4Tune Tellers because there is something so cool

about her beatboxing and I feel like the idea of the group is so cool

-but it's not...

-Hitting.

-It's not hitting.

I think it's different and I want to really believe in that.

The solos were good. They weren't amazing. They just weren't.

Now, when I come to Sgarmes, I think the harmonies are better.

It's a little bit stronger as a group.

I think there's pitch problems. I don't think it's perfection.

But I think they were stronger in the Riff-Off round as a whole.

Kelis, was there pitch perfect in that Riff-Off?

Cry Me A River for 4Tune Tellers was a standout moment for me,

and Since You've Been Gone, here I think you guys came alive.

-Gareth, come on, give us some hard, cold, choral, British...

-Comments?

-..comments!

-You each had songs that really worked.

I did think Cry Me A River with the stops was great,

4Tune Tellers and, Kimmy, you came into your own much more.

We started to hear those fun sounds.

I thought Since You've Been Gone, that really lifted off.

I thought that was great.

There's still a couple of notes need tuning, but it was very strong.

Well, there is only one spot left in the next round.

Gareth, which group would you like to see going through

to the Solo Battles?

The group that I'm going to put through to the Solo Battles

-is Sgarmes.

-Sgarmes.

CHEERING

Kelis, which of these two

do you think really deserves to go through to the Solo Battles?

I've got to agree with my fellow judge. I'm going with Sgarmes.

Sgarmes are through.

And, Bebe, out of interest, my love,

-who would you have put through?

-Sgarmes.

-Sgarmes as well?

OK. Thank you very, very much.

Now, 4Tune Tellers,

you were absolutely brilliant. Did you enjoy it?

Yeah, we've had an amazing time. We couldn't be more thankful.

We're so grateful to have been here. It's been the best experience ever.

Aw, that's so nice.

Now, listen up, Sgarmes.

You're through to the Solo Battles. How are you feeling?

Can't even believe it.

Overwhelmed is an understatement.

It's the best feeling in the world. Thank you so much.

I promise you, you won't regret it when you hear our soloist.

-Can't wait.

-One last time, please give it up for

both the 4Tune Tellers and Kimmy, and Sgarmes.

The groups through to the Solo Battle next are Sgarmes...

That really lifted off. I thought that was great.

We're going to win this.

..Songbird Sessions...

So on point it was seamless.

That was our goal, and job done.

..and All The King's Men.

I want to hang out with you guys. You guys seem so cool.

We'd love to take her up on that.

So, only three groups are left standing.

Get ready to pop those ears

as the pressure is about to get even more intense.

It is time now, my friends,

for the Solo Battles!

Up first, it's All The King's Men,

and with so many kings and men to choose from,

who better to send into battle than a student...of war?

Our solo number is dark and rocky.

The obvious choice to sing that is Rob.

I've been singing from a really early age.

I was a boy chorister back in my home city of Cardiff

and I've always had this amazing love of music.

I was certainly a lot more angelic than I am now.

I study a really specialist degree called war studies.

I'm an absolute history nut.

This song is a make-or-break point for the group in the competition.

I really hope we've got what it takes

to get through to the final battle.

-# Bang, bang, bang

-Shoot me down, bang, bang

# Shoot me down, bang, bang Shoot me down, bang, bang

# Shoot me down, bang, bang

# Shoot me down, bang, bang Bang, bang

# Hey, shady, baby I'm hot like the prodigal son

# Hmm, dum-dum, hmm

# Pick a petal Eenie, meenie, miney, moe

# And, flower, you're the chosen one

# Do, do, do

# N-E-O, O-M-G, gee whiz

# Girl, you're the one for me... #

THEY SCAT

# ..Though your man's bigger than I am

# All my days, he disagrees

# Oh-oh-oh-oh

# Ohh

# Eeny, meeny, miny, moe Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

# Eeny, meeny, miny, moe Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

# Eeny, meeny, miny, moe Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, moe

# Eeny, meeny, miny, moe Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

# Eeny, meeny, miny, moe Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

# Eeny, meeny, miny, moe Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

# Well, your left hand's free

# And your right's in a grip

# With another left hand

# Watch his right hand slip

# Towards his gun

# Gun, gun, gun

# Towards his gun

# Ohh

-# Ohh-ooh-ohh

-Shoot me down, bang, bang

# Shoot me down, bang, bang Shoot me down

-# Shoot me down

-Shoot me down, bang, bang

# Shoot me, bang

# Shoot me down, bang, bang Bang, bang. #

CHEERING

CHEERING DROWNS SPEECH

Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!

SHE SHRIEKS

CHEERING INTENSIFIES