Adam Posted October 26, 2012 Report Share Posted October 26, 2012 Has anyone been watching "The Choir" on BBC 2 - in which the excellent Gareth Malone trained up four workplace choirs and then put them in competition with each other. This was really good "reality TV" with ordinary folk showing how, with a little bit of guidance, they can really sing well. All the songs chosen were ordinary pop songs and it was amazing how the choirs turned them into beautiful music, almost always rather better, in my humble opinion, than the original hit versions. I hope this series is brought back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted October 26, 2012 Report Share Posted October 26, 2012 Adam likes "Reality TV"?????????????????????????????????? Shock, Horror. I don't beelieeve it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted October 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 Ahhh Peter...but this IS "reality" TV. Most of the stuff that is described as "Reality TV" is just about as far removed from reality as it can be, as I am sure you are aware. I take it you didn't see "The Choir" as I am sure you would have enjoyed it if you had? Or are you too far gone now, made insensitive to real music by the cacophony that passes for it these days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 This program has been on tv previously? I recall them taking a group of people from a village and putting them together in a choir and at the begining they sounded so awful, like a choir of cats, none of them could sing a note but in the end they were singing like a heavenly choir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 Cleo, I have never been to heaven so I can't possibly comment. Adam, don't watch much TV at all these days, so I didn't watch it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 Cleo, I have never been to heaven so I can't possibly comment. Adam, don't watch much TV at all these days, so I didn't watch it. I have been to heaven actually and, having said that, a note to the knockers, say whatever you like in ridicule but I will not be biting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 I have been to heaven actually Does that come under "too much information"?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 I'd not actually watched it but after reading your post Adam I was intrigued so watched the final one on catch up TV last night. They were actually really good considering the three choirs were postal workers, utility workers and nhs staff. I wish Gareth Malone would teach me to sing as he seems like such a nice and talented bloke with a way that would make any 'hopeful' feel relaxed... he's rather cute too What I didn't quite understand was on the last show each group were told what their song was and immediately given their music sheets and yet they all seemed to be able to understand the music score (or whatever format it was in) and knew exactly what to sing or hum, and in what key and when to come in for the seperate parts. Maybe he had taught them that though as like I said I’d not seen any of the other shows. I'm Not knocking them at all by the way ! I do hope the winners aren't going to release cd's or be on various TV shows now though....... Gareth Malone's wonderful FULL Military Wives Choir ensemble should be the only ones allowed to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 Does that come under "too much information"?? I guess so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverlady54 Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 Has anyone been watching "The Choir" on BBC 2 - in which the excellent Gareth Malone trained up four workplace choirs and then put them in competition with each other. This was really good "reality TV" with ordinary folk showing how, with a little bit of guidance, they can really sing well. All the songs chosen were ordinary pop songs and it was amazing how the choirs turned them into beautiful music, almost always rather better, in my humble opinion, than the original hit versions. I hope this series is brought back. While not detracting from Gareth's abilities, can I point out that he didn't "train" the choirs? For the most part this was left to other choir leaders who put in the many hours of hard graft in between the televised rehearsals. As Dizzy pointed out, it was not possible to choose a song, have the music there ready (as it was all specially arranged) and then have them singing some of it really well, all in one rehearsal. This all takes months of hard work and though it looks good on the TV and hopefully encourages people to join a choir, the true picture of weeks and weeks of note bashing when everything sounds fairly awful was never shown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadako Posted October 28, 2012 Report Share Posted October 28, 2012 ...just sounds like the X-factor but with groups to me. How Adam can think that this programme is any more 'real' than the other shows out there is beyond me. They all work to the same format, the only difference is that they use the word "choir". There have been very similar programmes in the past. I think one of them that I recall is what Dizzy is talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted October 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 I quite agree, Dizzy. The Military Wives choir takes some beating, although I have only heard them on the radio. If you had watched the full series you would have seen a lot of the training that the choirs were put through, most of it by local choirmasters. Gareth did his bit, but I accept he was mainly just a personable young man who helped make the show more entertaining Sadako. There may have been other similar programmes, but I didn't see them. The so-called "reality" programmes I am deriding are the Big Brother and I'm a Celebrity Get Me out of here type, against which there should be a law! The difference between the X-Factor and The Choir is that in the X-Factor we have people, most of them with precious little talent, aspiring for a career in show business. In The Choir we just had people plucked from the workplace and singing for fun. And doing it rather better than the X-Factor rabble. Apparently all four workplace choirs are still singing, although I doubt if we will see them on TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 I quite agree, Dizzy. The Military Wives choir takes some beating, although I have only heard them on the radio. You should get their Albums Adam. I've got the first one and their second album 'Stronger Together' comes out on 5th November. My favourite song is this one when they sang for the Queen at the julbilee party as part of the Commonwealth Choir. All the ones dressed in black are from the Military Wives choir including the two lady lead singers. My sister is behind the lead on the left Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 You should get their Albums Adam. I've got the first one and their second album 'Stronger Together' comes out on 5th November. My favourite song is this one when they sang for the Queen at the julbilee party as part of the Commonwealth Choir. All the ones dressed in black are from the Military Wives choir including the two lady lead singers. My sister is behind the lead on the left That was nice. Thanks Dizzy. Brightened up the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadako Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 Adam, I quite agree with the big brother comment. I couldn't think of anything worse than spending an evening in watching that programme. I don't quite agree with the X-factor comment. Now, I'm not an avid fan of the show, and I would be far more entertained watching The Choir, however, I do think that there are SOME contestants who audition for the show that are talented. If those same contestants appeared on The Choir, then they would automatically be entitled to claim that they are talented and no doubt you would be singing their praises. Don't forget that there are some 'ordinary' people who audition for both shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted October 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 OK - I'll go along with that. You say SOME have talent, I say MOST have precious little. Not much difference between us there. What I would say, however, is that anyone with talent would be well advised NOT to go on X-Factor as I am sure it is not the best route into a musical career. I will not watch the programme on the off-chance of seeing someone worth watching but on the two occasions I have watched (at the behest of a misguided granddaughter) I noted that the best singer came runner-up. I am also told that X-Factor runners-up generally do rather better in their future careers than the winners. But what the hell, most of them are soon forgotten anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadako Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 Yes, I believe the runners-up do sometimes....like Jedward maybe What a joke that was I think that sometimes, some individuals haven't a clue on how to start a career as a singer. A lot of the contestants sing in clubs, bars or create their own music and upload to the internet in an attempt to get noticed. Talent shows such as the X-factor and Britain's Got Talent is one way forward and possibly the last chance for some individuals. Just because they choose that path in order to follow their dreams, doesn't mean that they haven't got any talent. Too be honest there are more contestants with average - great talent who audition, it's just that the show will broadcast the terrible acts as this is what attracts viewers and gets them the ratings. This is also (in my opinion) which gives those 'good' acts a bad name...I think that makes sense. Nothing that is broadcast on TV is real anyway. It's all simply a reconstruction of what can be perceived as 'reality'. Even the best reality/documentary programmes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted November 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2012 The late, great Noel Coward had TV summed up pretty well, I think. He is reputed to have said: "Television? My dear boy, that's for appearing on...not watching!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadako Posted November 1, 2012 Report Share Posted November 1, 2012 Ha ha, yes I have heard that before. Excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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