Sainsbury's The Choir

Two, three and... Are you going to be the best choir? Yeah! Apparently so. Come on then!

Choirmaster Gareth Malone wants to help Britain's workers find their voice.

This is Gareth Malone here.

TANNOY: I'm here to start a choir.

Are you interested in joining a choir?

Maybe, yeah.

In search of hidden talent, he's creating choirs in five

of Britain's biggest workplaces.

I would like you to be in the choir, please. Yeah!

Whoa!

Yay!

Course we can! This proves that bankers can rock!

If you were ever going to have a fire-fighting calendar,

we've got them in the choir.

As they compete to be this year's best workplace choir,

Gareth's demanding musical excellence.

Going to sing real music!

Crescendo. Diminuendo.

La-la-la.

Mmm!

# Where are you going to run to? #

If they're going to do justice to music, it's got to just pour out of them.

# Power to the Lord! #

Singing brings people together spiritually, socially.

It's vital. It's vital!

I have to tap into that part of my mind where

all those horrible things that I see at work are kept.

You've got to step it up one notch.

The choirs will face huge public audiences...

The appetite to win is now on.

Bricking it at the moment.

..and be judged by three world-class musicians.

You are never together.

Wonderful, wonderful tuning.

Judgment day is coming.

This means that I will sing for the rest of my life.

Other than getting married, it is one of the best experiences in my life.

The Workplace Choir Of The Year is...

I can't say I'm thrilled about the prospect of going to a supermarket.

It's not my favourite place to go. I mean, everyone's got to shop, we all need to live and eat

and run houses, but nobody goes there for fun, do they?

Gareth's heading to Sainsbury's to create the third workplace

choir of this year's contest.

I can't imagine what it must be like to work in a supermarket

stacking shelves or, er, dealing with irate customers.

It must be a fairly soul-destroying experience.

There it is, here we are, Sainsbury's. Can't really miss it.

Absolutely enormous.

Gareth will be based here at the Low Hall superstore in Essex.

It's one of the company's 600 supermarkets nationwide

and employs almost 400 people.

We understand it's hard, you're dealing with customers, it can be irritating at times.

But, you know, we work together and we do what we do.

To keep the shelves stocked,

the store is continually

replenished by the Waltham Point distribution centre.

Gareth has appealed to its workforce to try out for the choir.

I'm really excited.

I think it's an experience that comes up once in a lifetime

so I'm looking to... and hoping to embrace it, yeah.

12 miles away in Central London are the corporate headquarters.

Management and company executives have also been invited to join.

Absolutely terrified!

I've not been able to sleep all weekend.

I'm stupidly terrified.

I'm a 40-year-old mother, I shouldn't be like this.

Here we are, Sainsbury's.

Pharmacy, cafe, garden and home.

This is vast. This is a mega-store.

Right, let's shop!

Gareth wants his choir to represent the three different parts

of the business.

Employees from the store, depot and London HQ

gather to audition.

I have always wanted to come backstage at a Sainsbury's.

Gareth must now select up to 24

of the best singers to represent the company in the contest.

Hello! Hello!

Hooray!

All right!

Well, you seem excited!

Right, are you ready? Yes!

Is Sainsbury's going to be the best choir? Yeah!

Apparently so. Come on, then!

Blimey!

They're excited!

That's it, fill up all the spaces, please, don't be shy!

So, today is your audition for the Sainsbury's Choir.

The song that we are going to do for this audition is one that

you will all know and love and hold dear to your hearts.

It is, of course...

Food, Glorious Food.

Yes, it's Food, Glorious Food.

Yeah, it is. Well done, Rebecca.

You can have... There isn't a prize.

All right, let's hear it.

Two, three and...

# Food glorious...

# Food... Cold...

# Jelly and custard. #

Do you have a cold or...?

No.

Chris, hello.

Hi, you all right?

I am very well, thank you. How are you? I'm fine.

Chris Tesaga works on the shop floor of the superstore.

Here we go. And...

# Food, glorious food

# Cold jelly and custard... #

Good. Tell me, what's the best part of your job?

The best part of my job?

Mmm.

Um...the end of the day.

LAUGHTER

Fair enough. Same here.

No, all of it's fine, you know, every aspect of it.

When you help people and the customers say, "You're so helpful.

"We don't like the other guys across the road,"

then you know that you're doing your job well.

Chris has been at the company for six months.

He got his job via a placement scheme for people who struggle to find work.

I've done many jobs.

I was a bus conductor. I worked in a bank.

That was... These are years ago, you know. I'm older than you think.

So we've got eight aisles just down here on the right.

This job gave me the kind of direction I needed instantly.

# Food, glorious food

# Cold jelly and custard... #

Great. Thank you. You may sit down.

Well done.

Over two days, Gareth auditions over 120 staff,

from confident executives...

# Food, glorious food... #

# Cold jelly and custard... #

Hello! OK.

..to quieter store and depot staff.

# Food glorious food... Cold jelly and custard. #

Good. It's not an enormous voice but it's a sweet voice, is it not?

I could see a lot of people going...

LAUGHTER

Did you go "ah"?

It's a nice voice. Good. Well done.

OK, hello, Alex. Hi.

Alex Peal is based at head office.

I'll take my shoes off.

You can take off whatever you like!

LAUGHTER

Well, Alex, we've only just met!

Good Lord.

What do you do?

I'm a Senior Planning and Analysis Manager,

or SPAM for short.

OK. You're a SPAM. What does that mean?

I look after our loyalty programme,

so the Nectar card and things like Brand Match.

Do you do much singing?

I used to do an enormous amount. I haven't done for the last couple of years.

Why not?

Slightly dramatic, I had an accident

and had to have emergency intubation and damaged my vocal cords, so...

Oh! Oh, gosh!

Didn't really mean to bring it up because my voice really is not what it was at all, so...

Well, I think we're all very excited, aren't we?

No, it's really, really not. Well, here she is, Alex the singer.

LAUGHTER

Three and...

SQUEAKILY: # Food... # Ooh!

There it is. Yeah, it's good.

# Food, glorious food

# Cold jelly and custard. #

It sort of reminds me of when my voice changed.

It's just like that.

OK, you can put your shoes back on now.

Jonathan.

Hello. Hello. What do you do?

I'm the Commercial Manager here. OK, Jonathan, can I hear you sing, please?

# Food, glorious food... #

Gareth needs a range of voices.

He just touched a low D?

From deep basses...

Thank you. Have a seat. Well done.

..to super-high sopranos.

# Food, glorious food

# Cold jelly and custard. #

Michelle!

Are you surprised?

LAUGHTER

Let's be honest, you didn't think she'd be any good, did you?

No!

Shirley, I think we might get one more!

Here's the note.

# Food, glorious food

# Cold jelly and custard. #

Are you standing on your toes?

Oh, I don't think so.

Well done. That's the highest note of the day. Thank you.

That's it.

Some good singing in there.

Good singing. That's great.

The number of people that auditioned at head office was just crazy,

just droves of them, and very few from the depot.

Gareth wants his choir to represent the entire Sainsbury's

workforce, wherever they're based in the company.

It's difficult, this is a difficult choir to balance,

because this business is...

It's so spread out - head office, depot and store.

And they're all different types of people

and they all have very different singing experience

and they all have very different personalities.

The depot's much more withdrawn, the store is quite outgoing and bubbly

and the head office is an office.

They're going to struggle, I think, to come together socially

as much as they'll struggle to come together vocally.

Gareth's up early to deliver the good news

to his successful candidates. First stop, London HQ.

I'm tracking you down. Are you?

I am. With good news?

Well, it's news. OK. You're in. Oh, fantastic!

Well done.

I'm just over the moon.

Absolutely, absolutely so ecstatic.

Oh, my God!

Next stop, the superstore.

I would really like you to be in the choir. Seriously?

Yes. Wow! OK. Been in a choir before? No, I haven't been...

Well, I told you in primary school, but... Primary school. Been a while.

Yeah. Er, thank you, man.

Congratulations. Yeah, man, congratulations to me.

Yeah, congratulations to you. Well done. That's really good.

Yeah, man, I'm happy, I'm happy. This is a good opportunity.

I knew I was going to get in anyway, but I can't...

But, yeah, definitely, yeah, I'm over the moon, man.

Hello. Oh.

Knock-knock-knock.

Hello! Shirley, you did get extremely high.

I know I did!

Very good and I think I could use a high voice in my choir.

Oh, my God!

Would you like to be in it? Yes!

Yeah? Fantastic. Congratulations.

Thank you! Thank you! Well done.

Ah! She's getting higher and higher and higher!

I also need low voices in the choir so...

I'd like you in the choir, as well.

I'm like so red.

I don't know whether to cry, laugh, scream, undress or whatever.

Do it all! Go for it!

Ah-h!

Gareth's last port of call is the Waltham Point depot.

It's a part of the business the public never get to see -

the engine room that powers the entire supermarket chain.

Wow! Oh, my gosh!

Oh, my goodness!

It's mind-boggling.

Look how much stock there is!

If there's a nuclear holocaust, I want to come here.

Ah, there he is! Hello! Hello.

You're a difficult man to find. How are you doing?

Ben Hodgson tried out for the tenor section.

I wanted to talk about your audition. OK, excellent.

What do you think? I don't know. I really haven't got a clue.

Got no idea? Can't remember much about it. Really?

I was so nervous, it was all a blur. Excellent experience, though,

it was so good. Yeah, I really enjoyed it.

Well, the experience is going to continue

cos I'd really like you to be in the choir. Excellent.

Congratulations. Thank you very much! Thank you!

Ben's one of 1,200 employees at the depot.

Today, he's based in the giant refrigeration hall.

Basically, we have the sorter up there where the products come from,

come down the end of the chute... Yeah.

..we pick 'em into the rollers. Simple as that, yeah?

Simple. Right. Yoghurts today.

Yoghurts today. And a lot of it.

The start of the day. Plenty of it.

We're doing about two million cases a week comes through this warehouse.

So not you and I just now? Not you and I.

We can't do it without the rest of the team. Yeah. Let's do it!

So if you want to pick that up and chuck it into

a roller. Put it at the back there?

The scale of this place is just mind-boggling.

84 stores are served by that one huge conveyor belt system,

and you're standing on this conveyor with just one store's stuff

and there's cage after cage after cage of yoghurts.

I've never seen so many yoghurts.

And then presumably in a place like this,

you know roughly what tomorrow is going to look like?

It's groundhog day. Is it?

Every day is the same.

Yeah, it's dirty work and the thing is, I think, ultimately

everyone in this warehouse, it doesn't matter what they're doing,

what role they've got, they all play a part.

It might seem monotonous chucking this in, but... Yeah.

..without that we're not going to get that to the store

and that's our goal at the end of the day.

I suppose it's easy just to see this as just me

shoving stuff from here to there, but this is somebody's yoghurt...

Exactly! ..and they're going to eat that and enjoy it tonight.

Yeah! Exactly!

It's freezing. It's really, really, really cold in there.

I don't know how they do it.

It's monotonous, it's cold, it's dark.

That bloke had short sleeves on.

They are hard, these men.

They are... They are men. I feel pathetic.

I could only take it for 20 minutes.

Gareth's chosen choir members from the supermarket, depot

and head office are gathering at the store.

Hello! I'm Kimberley! Hiya. I'm Starr. Nice to meet you.

Where do you work? I work in the GM department.

I'm a lorry driver.

It's time for their first rehearsal.

It's just like, "Oh, my God!"

This is like now the start of a massive journey.

Hello!

Hi! Are you my choir? ALL: Yeah!

Very good. Hello.

Ready to do some singing?

OK, follow me, let's go!

The countdown to the choir performing to the contest's

internationally recognised judges has begun.

Most of them have never sung in public before.

Well, have I got some fun in store for you.

There are people from head office here,

so, you know, if you have any problems... Sorry?

No head office at all.

Oh, Store Support! Is it not called head office?

ALL: No.

I love it!

Well, people from Store Support,

there's people from the stores here...

for you to support.

Right, so, as a choir, you need something to sing

and I would like to choose a song that represents your business

and I'd like that decision to be made by you.

Any ideas? Yes, Chris?

Simply The Best.

# Simply the best! #

Do we all know that? Let's hear it.

# Simply the best

# Doo-doo-doo

# Better than all the rest. #

Do you think it's at all big-headed?

LAUGHTER

Cheese lady Alison?

Yeah, it's not a song that represents Sainsbury's,

but I do like Windmills Of Your Mind, but it's not really...

It's a little bit trippy. It is, yeah.

# Round like a window in a circle like a wheel within a wheel

# Never ending or beginning like a na-na-na-na-na... #

Yeah, but it could be slow.

Like you're going round the aisles forever...

Hallucinating. You've maybe had too much cheese.

A little bit...

You've been to see the wine department, yeah.

Anyone else?

What about Spice Girls Spice Up Your Life?

Spice Up Your Life is actually quite a fun suggestion!

Wicked words here.

"La-la-la-la-la-la-la.

"La-la-la-la-la." There's a lot of la's.

Shall we have a go at Spice Up Your Life?

La-la-la...

HE PLAYS "Spice Up Your Life" ON THE PIANO

One, two, three and...

# La-la-la-la-la-la-la

# La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la... #

It sounds dreadful at the moment, if I'm honest,

but I, you know, I mean it's fun!

Hands up for Spice Girls?

Good God. OK.

I think this is a really fun choice. Pass those round.

Let's try a sing-through. One, two, three and...

# When you're feeling

# Sad and low

# We will take you

# Where you gotta go

# Smiling dancing

# Everything is free

# All you need is positivity... #

Maybe bring in the sopranos here and...

# Colours of the world!

# Every boy and every girl. #

Yeah, now there is a note. Thank you Kimberley, bravely done.

Well, why...?

Why be embarrassed about the Spice Girls?

It's fine. You've got it in your record collection, obviously.

At first, I wasn't expecting it at all.

I didn't think I'd be singing Spice Girls today at choir practice.

Cos I had my reservations about Spice Girls. Yeah.

But he makes it sound amazing, even after half an hour, so brilliant.

I knew it was going to be fun,

but it was better fun than I thought it would be so, yeah.

May I encourage you to work extremely hard

and get the notes learnt for the next time I see you?

I want to refine it and that's what's going to count

when we get to the competitive stage of this contest.

I will see you next time! Good, good, good start!

All right.

There are some belters in there

and that'll be something to watch for me.

There's a balance to be struck between having a great time,

which they were today, and actually making something that's musical

and feels like a performance,

and we're quite far from that at the moment.

Can honestly say I'd never sung a Spice Girls song?

What are you doing, John?

Don't tap your hand to the Spice Girls!

With his time split across five companies in the contest,

Gareth calls in a local choirmaster to bring their singing to

competition standard.

# La-la-la-la-la-la-la

# When you're feeling, sad and low

# We will take you where you gotta go

# Smiling, dancing, everything is free... #

There's 157,000 colleagues that work for the company.

To be one of 23 in a choir, it's mind-blowing, it's amazing.

Before the next rehearsal, Gareth wants to get a sense of the

different roles the members of his choir perform for the company.

He's come to meet Chris.

So which department do you work in? General merchandising. OK.

And that's...to you that's like the home department from TVs...

Oh, great. ..to DVDs, everything, bedding. Oh, this is fun!

Yeah. The boys' toys department.

Boys' toys. I love it. So six months you've been here?

Yeah, just over six months, yeah. And what were you doing before that?

I was serving some time, yeah. Prison?

In prison, yes.

For what, may I ask?

I don't know, erm...

Yeah, well, basically possession with intent to supply, class A.

Class A. Yeah.

I wasn't no bad person

but it's just I got caught up with the wrong crowd.

Yeah. How was it inside?

It's what goes on in your mind when you're inside,

that's the main thing, because like obviously I've got a family

and stuff like that so... Yeah. Have you got children or...?

Yeah, I've got children. I've got two boys.

You look at your whole life, you look at everything about yourself

and you make your assessments, your judgments, soul-searching.

You must be very grateful to have a job?

Course I'm grateful to have a job.

They've gave me a second chance, so, you know.

That's got to buy some loyalty, right? Of course! Yeah.

Definitely. I buy my shopping here, that's the loyalty.

I bet you do. Yeah.

I really appreciate that Sainsbury's have given somebody like Chris

a chance and it's like socially responsible.

And he was caught for something that is serious but,

in the grand scheme of things, you know, a young man like him,

he could turn it round.

Of the 23 members of the choir, more than half work in head office.

But company executives are encouraged

to get away from their desks.

Kimberly Davenport is visiting a local supplier.

I feel like we're in France. I know.

Bonjour. Bonjour, bonjour! Ca va?

Oui. Oui.

Kimberley's been with the company for nearly 20 years.

It's not a mundane job by any stretch.

I have so much to do, so much to try and fit into my day,

and nice things as well like wine tasting and creative writing,

so it's great to be able to do something that is so varied.

If I buy a bottle of wine from Sainsbury's... Yes.

..it's probably you that's written what's on the back?

It's definitely me that's written what's... Every time.

That's exciting. Yes.

What does it taste like?

Want to come and taste some? Well, if we must, yeah. Let's go.

Yeah, I'll twist your arm. OK.

There's just so many different jobs in Sainsbury's,

it's such a diverse company.

And to be there, having been in the cooler in the depot,

it's just an... It's another universe, it really is.

Ah, what is that? Tell me.

Let me lead you to a French bakery.

People from the depot, people from the stores,

people from head office coming out and being round vineyards, it's...

Everyone seems to have their role within Sainsbury's,

but I wonder how much they're aware of each other's roles.

It's been five days since the choir first met.

We've only been together a few days. Yeah.

This don't sound too bad at all so...

No. We sounded like a choir, I thought.

I'm nervous today because... Cos it's...

Of what he's, you know, expecting from us? Yeah. Yeah.

You find yourself singing it constantly throughout the day,

so at my desk I've been singing it and humming it, yeah,

getting some strange looks off of my colleagues.

I'm looking forward to seeing them because they are fun.

I like them a lot.

I can't wait to hear what they sound like.

Hi, Josh, how are you? Yeah, good.

Have you decided who's who from the Spice Girls?

Have you got a...?

Ginger Spice.

Yeah. I can be Old Spice.

Yeah, Old Spice.

Hey!

Hey! Every one a winner!

Good, OK, so sheets down, let's get ready to sing.

One, two, three, four.

# Aaah

# Ba-rum ba-ba

# Aaah

# Ba-rum ba-ba

# La-la-la-la-la-la-la

# La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la

# When you're feeling sad and low

# We will take you where you gotta go

# Colours of the world Spice up your life

# Every boy and every girl Spice up your life

# People of the world Spice up your life

# Hai, si, ja, hold tight. #

Well, it's loud!

Well done! OK, good.

Have a seat and I'll give you some feedback.

What's that bit, colours of the world, SPICE UP YOUR LIFE!

SPICE UP YOUR LIFE!

It's like, "I'm so," you know, "I'm sorry!

"Am I not spicy enough for you?"

Generally, we've gone into lots and lots of solos,

because you've probably been practising on your own

and you get your own part. It's a choir not a karaoke.

Let's have those notes again. So bass,

# Ah-ah-dah-dah. #

One, two, three.

# Aaaah. #

I didn't feel the excitement in your breath. One.

It's before you're even singing.

I want to see excited eyebrows, I want to hear, you know...

You're the Spice Girls and you're performing to Wembley Stadium.

One, two...

# Slam it to the left. #

Yeah, that's too long and it's not in tune,

apart from that it's wonderful.

One, two, three and...

# Slam it to the left. #

With the song coming together,

Gareth wants to step up the pressure.

Good. Right, well, now you've got your heads round the song,

I think it's time to put it to the test.

I think it's time you performed it.

We're going to go and perform this song, where better, than in store...

..welcoming customers into Sainsbury's?

OK? I'm excited!

You're excited? Just look around.

LAUGHTER

Are you ready? Follow me.

I thought that Gareth was an all-right bloke

when I first met him, but I'm doubting it now.

It's very daunting, actually, just singing in front of actually

an audience, but they're just strangers walking in and out.

But we'll see.

It's very hard to pull this song off.

I don't think it's going to be chorally beautiful,

I think it's going to be a bit shouty.

But I would like it to be of a good musical level.

I don't know if I can expect that today.

OK, roll up, roll up, come and have a listen! I have one thing to do.

No!

Hello. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

The Sainsbury's choir will be performing

at the front of the store in approximately 30 seconds.

Please come and enjoy the performance. Thank you!

Let's have an audience! Come and be an audience!

Come and listen!

Lots of staff.

Customers not so interested.

If you're over there, do come and be an audience over here.

Thank you.

# Aaah! Ba-rum ba-ba

# Aaah! Ba-rum ba-ba Aaah! Ba-rum ba-ba

# Aaah! Ba-rum ba-ba

# # La-la-la-la-la-la-la

# La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la

# When you're feeling sad and low

# We will take you where you gotta go

# Smiling dancing

# Everything is free

# All you need is positivity

# Colours of the world Spice up your life

# Every boy and girl Spice up your life

# People of the world Spice up your life

# Aaaaah

# Slam it to the left If you're having a good time

# Shake it to the right If you know that you feel fine

# Chicas to the front! Uh! Uh!

# Go round

# Slam it to the left If you're having a good time

# Shake it to the right If you know that you feel fine

# Chicas to the front! Uh! Uh!

# Hai, si, ja, hold tight. #

The Sainsbury choir's got groupies!

I've not had many people waving their Nectar cards at me before!

I think we did a really good performance!

You know, for a choir that was put together a week ago,

I think we're not bad at all.

And I loved seeing John dancing away to the Spice Girls.

I know! It was hilarious. With his hands in his pockets going...

So, well done! You've done your first performance.

How did it feel?

Did you love it or was it...?

Yeah? Love it. Want to do it again and again and again.

You want to do it again and again?

Good, I'm glad. We will be doing a lot more.

So I thought that it almost felt like a choir.

You know, there were moments where it absolutely came together

and then, ooh, just sort of kind of slightly, slightly came apart.

You're going to have to make sure that all your future performances

are a notch up from that, a notch more together,

because this is your last free pass, this is your last dress rehearsal.

Everything you now do is going to be assessed and judged by the judges.

I actually feel quite scared now...

Mmm. ..because Gareth made it sound like we were good,

but not really good. Not good enough.

It's just a reality check that...

a reminder that we're in a competition

and that there are other choirs who might be working harder than us

and giving more than we might be.

One or two of them looked a little bit sheepish.

I'd say Chris on the front row looked utterly embarrassed,

which is not great, but some of them were really getting into the vibe.

And it's the sort of song where it really lives or dies by how much

you believe in it, and I think some of them really got that

and some didn't.

A day later, the choir gather for their next rehearsal.

From now on, everything they do will be focused on the contest.

Hello, everyone!

Right, come along, let's get on with it!

There's singing to be done!

In less than two months, they'll be performing to an invited audience

and the contest judges.

So you've done a really upbeat, jolly, out there song.

I wanted to do a song that was emotionally very,

very different from the one that you've just done.

How would you feel about something by Dolly Parton?

I don't know if you'll know it, it's not as famous as some of her others.

The song that we're going to do is called Bargain Store.

So next time you sing, there will be judges present,

so it needs to be really, really good.

Shall we have a go at it?

# My life is like unto a bargain store... #

Two, three, four.

# My life is like unto a bargain store... #

Three, four.

# And I may have just what you're looking for... #

We've got to get a little bit of style into there.

We're not hitting the note, we're going "nnn-ever."

So I need na-na-na.

# Never

# Never. #

No, you're on the wrong note.

Something's happened to them. The spirit's gone out of them.

I don't know what's going on.

There's just a sort of lack of oomph in them.

I don't know if I've crushed them or whether they've crushed themselves.

# Never

# Never. #

Not together, is it?

I get one thing and then we lose the other thing and then I get this

and then we lose that, so really what I'm trying to do is build.

Just sing me...

# Ah-ah. #

Together, three and...

# Ah-ah. #

A lot of them are very inhibited, and some of the depot staff

are just sitting there like mice and not really going for it,

not making much of a contribution and I think that's a real shame.

It's not really what it's about.

It's not the head office choir with a couple of token support men,

support staff members.

That's not the idea.

Despite the slump in confidence,

Gareth must push ahead with the contest schedule.

Importantly, when I next see you, I'm going to come back

and I'm going to audition for a solo.

So who thinks they should be doing a solo?

I think Laura should do a solo.

Do you, Nav? Anyone else?

Is it really just literally just you, Laura?

That's going to be a very short audition.

Look, have a think about it, put your name forward

and I will see as many of you as would like, you know,

would seriously like to be the soloist.

It's clear there's a really big divide in this choir

between the head office people and the people from stores and depots.

It's just plain as the nose on your face.

It's my responsibility to build them up.

I've got to get them out of this

and I've got to make the team start to work.

Lorry driver John Eustace

has been working out of the Waltham Point depot for 27 years.

That's mine, that one there. That's yours?

That one is mine.

Gareth wants to get his take on the choir's confidence levels.

So how's the choir going? Really good. Yeah?

So is that making you think you might like to go for the solo?

If I'm honest, it's not on my mind.

You don't see yourself as a Dolly Parton?

A Dolly Parton. No, I don't see myself as a Dolly Parton, no.

Are any of the other guys from the depot going for the solo,

do you think? The depot colleagues seem to be under the impression that

it's sort of...there are stronger, more confident people

that sort of... That want that role

and take it forward and it's sort of... Yeah.

Well, it's not a case of... Office types.

Yeah. Yeah. Basically, yeah.

We've always seen them as being sort of, erm...

I don't mean it disrespectfully,

but they're sort of stuck away in their ivory tower.

I love that it's called the Store Support Centre

instead of head office.

Unfortunately, I've always known it as head office so... Yeah.

I've only started calling it that recently because I was...

Because of these guys. ..cos I've been corrected.

It's interesting that John doesn't feel comfortable in the choir yet.

He's definitely feeling like he's on the back foot.

Head office rule the roost in any business and this is no exception.

Despite all their efforts to be colleagues and not bosses,

I think there is a difference between the people that run the thing

and the people that do the work.

The next rehearsal is at company headquarters.

Gareth needs his choir to overcome their inhibitions

and sing with one voice.

I don't think it's anything that the head office staff are doing,

it's that the workers from the depot and the store perceive

the head office as being more confident, more experienced,

go-getters, more competitive, and therefore they're shrinking!

Hello!

How are we doing?

As you know, I'm going around lots of different companies,

so I'm seeing lots of different workplaces,

and I think you have a problem,

which is that you've got people from here in head office,

you've got people from the depot and you've got people in the stores.

And I know that you're all like, you know, part of the great monolith

that is the Sainsbury's family,

but you don't really know each other very well

and you're not yet, I don't think, one team.

Is this a fair comment? A fair comment, yeah.

Maybe it's...just speaking for myself, it's the fear of when

you stand up singing dud notes and looking stupid,

I think that's what it is.

It's exactly the same for me.

My confidence is, like, you need to believe.

And for me, cos I've always had this deep, husky voice,

I've never ever believed that I could do anything like this.

So for me to get up, in front of everyone with this voice,

even speaking now, I'm just like, "Everyone's hearing my voice."

I mean, look, this is the first time you've spoken in a rehearsal, Starr,

it's the first time I've heard your voice,

and this is... It's as important that you feel like your voice is

contributing just as much as anyone else's,

that's going to show in your singing,

because it'll show in your face and it'll show in the sound.

You've got to take care of everyone and you've got to take

the entire team with you, so I think you need to come together.

Shirley and Jodi, would you come out the front and do it together, please?

Would you mind?

Yeah, is that OK? No.

No? It's going to be all right.

Do you want to hold my hand? It's not. I'm shaking.

Really? No, this is... It's going to be good!

Come on, ready, three...

Three and one.

# Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh... #

Section by section, Gareth brings his singers together.

# Love is all you need to purchase all the merchandise... #

Rah! Now that I like!

# The bargain store is open

# Come inside. #

I love how the back row just ignored it and just watched them.

I meant all of you!

But for Starr, being put on the spot is unnerving.

# My life is like unto a bargain store

# And I may have just...

Now look, Starr, I know you've...

I am so nervous right now. Are you? Why?

It's all right.

She didn't join the choir to be in the limelight.

When I came to say you were in the choir, you were screaming!

Where's that Starr gone?

She's still here. She really is.

Where? Where?

You're worthy of being in this choir, you deserve your place,

you really do!

It's like believing is hard. It's so hard to believe in yourself.

You might believe in yourself but for me...

Yeah, I do. ..it's so hard.

Yeah, I know. I don't know, I don't understand why.

I've always had that problem. Yeah. I don't think you're alone.

I just don't feel like I've got there with this choir.

What I don't know is whether it was wise to bring up all the problems

that the choir clearly have...

..or whether it was actually foolish.

Gareth decides there's only one thing for it -

a good old-fashioned bonding session is in order.

We're all going to the pub and this will be the most-needed pint

in the history of choral music, and that's saying something.

Hello!

Are you drunk already?

Right, what's happening, Kimberley?

Are you talking us through some cheese and wine?

Going to do some cheese and wine matching.

Can I just interrupt proceedings just to say one thing which is this,

apart from Ben over there and Alex over here,

we do have everyone from head office over there

and everyone from the stores and the depots over here?

Can we mix everyone up, please?

Go and sit next to someone you haven't chatted to before, please.

But there's one person missing From the festivities.

Yes!

The deepest male voice in the choir has his own plan to boost his

colleagues' morale... Oh, way-woo-woo.

..and she goes by the name of Candy.

Hello, everyone! You all right?

Oh, my God!

Oh, my God!

I'm sorry, who are you?

Who am I? Your worst nightmare, Gareth.

I know. I mean, the voice is still quite deep.

It's cos they're not quite tucked away.

Well, I think we're all bonded now, aren't we?

Yeah, cracking.

Candy... Yes. ..could we have a bit of Bargain Store?

# The bargain store is open, come inside

# You can easily afford the price. #

'Unbelievable. I mean, I asked for them to bond.

'I did not expect that. That was amazing.'

I think that's perfect.

I think everyone's had a really rip-roaring night.

It was raucous, it was naughty, it was great fun.

Really good. Slightly tipsy.

It was amazing. It was a great night, yeah.

Candy, what an act. Ah! Candy. What an act.

Ah, it was so funny. It was really funny.

And such a surprise seeing Jonathan come out.

Well, is it Jonathan? We still don't know.

It is Jon. Candy.

It's good cos it just loosens everyone up and...

Yeah.

If that doesn't bring them together, then I don't know what will.

# That's the wonder

# The wonder of you. #

# My life is like unto a bargain store... #

It's just seven days until the big performance.

More than half of the choir have stepped up to audition for the solo,

including Ben from the depot and Chris from the superstore.

You saying Dolly Parton ain't soulful?

You need to listen to her and then, you know,

come back and tell me that.

I love Dolly, man, she's good.

I haven't done many songs before in a minor key.

And this is very solemn, and very moving, I think,

which is extremely different from their last song

which was the Spice Girls.

It's a beautiful song, but it requires a solo with emotion,

it requires somebody who can connect with the lyrics, which are all about

the past and moving on from disappointment and broken dreams.

First up, it's Kimberley from beers, wines and spirits.

Hello! Hello, Kimberley. Hello. How are you?

Good, thank you. Good.

Yes, not thinking about it.

Don't think about it.

No, I'm just going to look at all the lovely clothes.

# Take these old used memories from the past

# And these

# Broken dreams and plans that didn't last

# I'll trade them for a future

# I can't use them any more

# I've wasted love but I still have some more. #

You're just beaming. Ha! It's still the sunshine.

It's the sunshine.

You're just so full of vitamin D, you're too happy for this song.

So full of it! Bye.

It's just not there. No, if you don't read those lyrics,

"take these old used memories from the past,

"and these broken dreams and plans that didn't last,

"and think there was a time when..."

If you can't connect with that, then, you know, it's just not there, is it?

Next!

Hello, Chris. You all right?

Very well. Really what I'm looking for is somebody that has

some life experience,

and I think you of all people have got life experience, right?

Right. Yeah.

Could you try and...open up that little compartment of your heart

and put a bit of that into the song? OK.

# Take these old used memories from the past

# And these broken dreams and plans that didn't last... #

Breathe.

# I'll trade them for a future I won't waste them any more

# I've wasted love but I still have some more... #

I kind of expected Chris to be able to relate to this song

knowing what he's been through.

He's been in prison, he's, you know, obviously had quite

an interesting life, and I got some of that when he was singing.

He just, he has that...

It's like there's a backline of experience

that he's able to push against,

so I think that's the best one so far, definitely.

The last audition of the day is Alex Peal.

In her teens, Alex was training to become an opera singer,

but her hopes were dashed at a critical stage.

Tell me about your singing.

Sang a lot till I was 18 and then lost my voice completely

and have just sort of started to get it back.

How did your voice go? I was in a house fire,

and I was very lucky not to be worse injured

but I had to jump out of a second-storey window,

but I lost my speaking voice.

Well, you seem to have dealt with what was potentially...

would, for me, be the biggest loss of my entire life!

You seem to be dealing with it very well.

Probably quite a lot of not letting myself

go down certain emotional avenues.

Shall we have a listen?

# Take these old used memories from the past

# And these broken dreams and plans that didn't last

# I'll trade them for a future I can't use them any more

# I've wasted love but I still have some more. #

Thank you. Thanks, Alex. See you later.

It's so powerful what she said.

It's so powerful for me, and I think for her...

it's almost too...

I think it's too painful for her to really describe to me.

I think that's it. You know, I think it's almost too much.

After five hours of auditions and 14 singers to choose from,

Gareth is ready to announce who will open the performance.

So, you probably want to know who's doing the solo, don't you?

Is that tense enough?

I would like the soloist to be...

..Alex.

What?

..I'd like you as the soloist.

Will you come out, please, out to the front?

Come and stand here next to me.

My God! I'm really worried everyone's going to think I'm crap.

Don't be silly!

Does everybody know what happened to Alex's voice? No.

Alex, tell the choir.

I used to do a lot of singing till I was 18.

I was in a house fire and, erm...

I'm sorry, I said I was going to cry today.

And I haven't been able to sing really since.

I had an operation three years ago

that reconstructed all my vocal cords

and now I've started being able to sing again, so...

I've tried really hard never to lose the belief that I would

sing again, erm...

but it didn't look very likely.

Oh, sorry.

So, no, it's just...

It's wonderful.

The clock is ticking towards the performance in front of the judges.

I just can't express in such a short time what a great experience

it's been. Everything just feels positive about it.

# The bargain store is open...

# Come inside. #

These people you never really get to see, you know,

we work different departments, different areas,

and that experience of working with people that you...

that are part of your company,

but a different aspect, is really good.

After weeks of preparation, the moment of truth has arrived.

And Store Support have set the stage for a spectacular show.

Wow!

What? There's my name!

The name board, man, I feel like I'm famous.

I'm on the top line, you know?

It shows that even head office and all that, they're backing us

100% and want us to go on and do well.

Really nervous. Yeah.

Really nervous. I've never sang in front of anybody...

and then this is like overwhelming seeing this!

It's amazing. It's giving me goose bumps!

Just amazing. Just I'm generally... And then I think that's just...

that's definitely put a lump in my throat so...

For those who don't work in head office, which is half of the choir,

to come here in the first place is intimidating,

never mind stand up in front of half the workforce and sing like this.

That's a big thing.

So I hope that they're going to rise to that challenge

and that their personality will come out and they don't sort of

get squashed by fear. It can easily happen.

So, this is Sainsbury's!

It is! Look at this, here are the trolleys! Whoo-hoo!

Judging the contest are three highly distinguished figures

of the musical establishment.

What do you make of this acoustic, though?

I think it could be quite good.

The first judge is Sarah Fox,

one of Britain's most successful sopranos...

I think if it's your first time performing

and it's somewhere like this, I think this is a great acoustic

for first time.

..Professor Paul Mealor,

recently voted the nation's favourite living composer...

I'm slightly worried about the middle voices,

because it's great...

Top soprano notes can come through, low notes can kind of be heard,

it's those middle voices and there's a lot of tenor in this.

They could get lost. They might struggle getting the words across.

..and finally, award-winning gospel composer, performer and conductor,

Ken Burton.

Going to have people from really different parts of the company,

so those who might feel very confident in terms of their

singing voices, those who might feel quite timid,

and just to see how that all, you know, all meshes together.

The choir's performance today will be taken into consideration

as the contest progresses to the knockout phases.

The audience of 300 colleagues, friends and family await.

Hello!

Is there a sense of excitement in the air?

Is there a sense of nerves?

Yeah? It's going to be great, I think. This is a home crowd.

Remember, they're on your side, they want you to do well.

If you have got a little bit of magic in your back pocket,

this is the time to deploy it.

Get into the feeling of the song, the heartbreak, the triumph.

If you can show a bit of that grit...

Yes, that would be really, really beneficial.

Be yourselves, enjoy it and let your personality shine.

It's going to be great. Shall we go for it?

Come on, let's go!

APPLAUSE

Hello.

Good evening!

It is wonderful to be here in this absolutely incredible room.

Babe, she's going to be great.

You're going to be fab. Thanks, babe.

EXCITED CHATTER

Calm. Calm thoughts. Calm.

Relaxed. Shake it all out.

I'm just going to go and have a shower and sing in the shower.

That's all I'm doing.

Yes. Just going to sing in the shower.

It's been quite an amazing experience for me,

going somewhere that I thought I knew everything about

and actually I didn't.

Without further ado,

it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to

the Sainsbury's Choir!

Here we are, the Sainsbury's Choir,

performing Dolly Parton's Bargain Store.

# My life is like unto a bargain store

# And I may have just what you're looking for

# You would be surprised to find how good it really is

# Take it and you never will be sorry that you did

# Take these old used memories from the past

# And these broken dreams and plans that didn't last

# I'll trade them for a future

# I can't use them any more

# I've wasted love but I still have some more

# The bargain store is open, come inside

# You can easily afford the price

# Love is all you need to purchase all the merchandise

# And I will guarantee

# You'll be completely satisfied

# The bargain store is open Come inside

# You can easily afford the price

# Love is all you need to purchase all the merchandise

# And I will guarantee you'll be completely satisfied

# Oooooh

# Oooooh. #

There they are!

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back our judges!

First of all, congratulations, we all loved it.

I think your performance was magnificent and I really mean that.

You captured the mood of the song for me brilliantly.

I was very moved by it.

The only thing that spoilt it,

and I am going to sound quite critical now because it was so good,

there were a few of you who just didn't look at Gareth all the time.

I'm looking at the technical side of your singing.

My first point is soloist. Alex, fabulous singing.

Real emotional intelligence.

I was moved by your singing,

in fact, we were all moved by your singing, it was beautiful.

My main criticism was, when the full choir comes in together

singing at the same time, you are never together.

When Gareth gives a very solid downbeat, which he does,

you don't sing on it, it goes daga-daga-daga

and we hear lots of different starts.

And that is such a basic, basic aspect of singing

and I would not like to see a choir of this calibre go out

on something as basic as that.

So besides that, I really enjoyed myself!

Your sound was really very attractive

and specifically the alto sound, for me, was extremely attractive.

It wasn't just strong and confident, but there was something about it.

Now that is going to go to their heads!

APPLAUSE

But I must say, there's something in choirs,

we're always talking about we never have enough men.

The male sound was absolutely terrific

so give it up to the males as well.

APPLAUSE

Thank you very much to the judges.

Well done, Raul. Good man. Thank you.

That was so much better than I thought it was going to be.

It was so good! It was really good!

We just want to go out and do it again!

And again and again.

It's given us a really, really big lift.

I can't ask for any more so.

We done good. Everyone, look at everyone, you know, all excited.

Yeah, man, come on, bring it on, bring on this whole competition.

We're ready, we're ready.

We were awesome. We was awesome.

We were...we were a proper choir. We were. We were awesome.

For me this is the gateway that means that I will sing

for the rest of my life and it will just be a part of my life again,

which is wonderful.

So how did she do? What did you think?

Yeah, good. Yes.

Oh, well, it was just fabulous to hear her singing again!

I thought she was amazing.

Honestly, I didn't know she could sing like that!

What did you do to her? I just...

Nothing, it was there!

Well, your husband in a choir! Fantastic!

What have you done to him, eh? I turned him into a chorister.

A new man!

I thought it was amazing and I'm really proud of Christopher!

Yeah, like I said, fruits of our labour, you know, so... Yeah.

Well done. Good job. Are you happy? Yes, definitely.

Yeah, really good.

Hello!

Ah! Well done. What did you think?

Yeah, good.

That's good. Yeah. I thought it was great.

That was really excellent feedback from the judges

and well deserved, I thought.

You have come a long way since your first Spice Girls performance.

That was a good, mature, solid sound that you made in there.

Well done, Alex.

Really good.

We talked about getting the emotional side of the performance,

I thought you really did! I thought it was beautiful.

Nothing like terror to get emotional. Yeah.

Yeah, that's an emotion too, so...

No, but it was full of everything we said

and that really applies to the whole choir.

I felt like you didn't look like a lot of separate people

and that was always my worry with this choir,

that you were going to be a little bit splintered.

You've got one in the tank now,

you've got one really successful performance.

That's going to stand you in great stead,

because that will be considered at the next stage,

which is the knockout stage.

So, good, well done everyone! Round of applause, Sainsbury's Choir!

There were some moments in the rehearsals where they felt

so divided and I wondered if we'd get over that,

and it feels very satisfying to have got to the point where

they actually looked like a unit on stage tonight.

But I think they can go further.

They've got a good, solid sound and...

..there's more work, there's more work to be done but I think

that was a very solid start for them.

Next time, Gareth feels the heat...

That's my choir! Don't look like choristers, do they?

..when he heads to Cheshire to get the fire service singing...

# Fire, fire. #

ALARM RINGS

There's a fire!

..where the fire-fighters have big voices...

# And about to give up... #

..but the support staff can't be heard.

Doesn't sound confident. They are the weak link in this choir.

And the song that unites them stirs everyone's emotions.

Yeah, I feel really quite choked up.

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