The Choir: Sing While You Work (2012) s01e03 Episode Script
Manchester Airport
One, two, three.
Gareth Malone wants to help Britain's workers find their voice.
Good morning, everyone.
I'm here to start a choir.
If you are at all interested, make yourself known to me.
In search of hidden talent, he wants to create choirs in four of Britain's busiest workplaces.
Are you a singer? - What do you do? - Dig holes for a living, mate.
Yes, he does! And for the workers, company pride will be at stake when they compete to find Gareth's best workplace choir.
- Is everybody ready? - Yes.
- Fighting spirit? Let's do it.
- Yes.
When I was learning to sing, it was through competing that I got better, and I want that for these choirs.
I want them to feel the pressure and get better.
Before the performance, I'll pray to God.
God, help us this time! - Want to win it.
- Yeah.
And we're gonna go hell for leather to win it.
Months and months of work and slog come down to that one moment when you're on stage.
That's why I love it.
Gareth has set up two of his workplace choirs - at Lewisham NHS Trust and at the Royal Mail in Bristol.
He's now on his way to set up the third, at Britain's busiest owned airport, Manchester.
I never think about the staff of an airport when I go on holiday.
I just see the person at the check-in desk, I see the security guard and that's it.
There must be thousands of people working at the airport.
They're like huge cities.
I don't know who these people are and I don't know what kind of choir that's going to make.
Manchester Airport handles over 19 million passengers a year.
Over 20,000 staff are divided across the public areas - landside and security-restricted areas - airside.
Manchester Airport really is quite a busy set-up.
We can have an aircraft departing every 60 seconds, whilst an aircraft, at the same time, landing every 90 seconds.
So when it's going it really is ticking over some up here.
The numbers that come through within the hour are phenomenal.
1,000 to 2,000 people an hour when it's really, really busy.
People think you work at the airport, you all know each other.
We don't know each other.
There are so many people that work here and we never get to mix.
But it's just the airport for you.
I'm on a travelator! There's a plane.
This is so exciting.
I know it's boyish, but I just really get a kick out of being in an airport.
It's a place of dreams.
Gareth needs the choir to be strong enough to compete against the other workplaces.
His first job? To scout the airport to make sure he finds the best singers to audition.
Hello, I'm Gareth.
I'm here to start a choir.
- Oh.
No! - No? I'm an awful singer! You wouldn't want to hear me.
- Will you put your name forward? - No.
No? Not a singer? I wouldn't even do karaoke when I've had a drink.
I'm just trying to avoid the strip search! Are you a singer? I don't know.
No.
I've heard myself in the shower and it's not very good.
I've never been touched like that in my life.
Amazing! I can die happy.
There's so many people here and they're all doing something very important.
And these are the people who you never see.
Who you just see through the window of your airplane as you land.
I want to get them in my choir.
- What do you do? - I'm the wildlife manager.
- So I look after all the wildlife on the field.
- Oh, really? - Do you sing? - If I sung out there, on the airfield, it'd clear that airfield.
Oh, well, I'll keep searching.
Knock knock.
My name's Gareth.
I'm here to start a choir.
I've got to that stage in my life now that I'm going to have a lot of funerals to go to in the next few years.
Know what I mean? So I need to project my voice.
That is a good, pragmatic reason to try the choir.
Absolutely.
I'll train you up for funerals.
There's the baggage handler.
Can you ask him if he sings? Douggie? - Yeah, mate? - How are you at singing? Very good.
Do you sing around here, into the bags? - Hopefully I can hold a tune.
- Give us a quick blast? Well, I think that's as much as I - Is that as much as you're gonna give me? - It is.
Good.
I'm glad you've put your name forward.
See you at the audition.
The following day, staff from across the airport, both airside and landside, gather for auditions.
Little bit nervous today.
I think you can smell the nerves.
It's an opportunity, a chance of a lifetime.
I'm really hoping that my voice does impress Gareth, yeah.
But I am quite nervous.
But we'll see.
This will be a tough process.
This isn't just opening the doors to any singer.
This is looking for people who are really excellent.
The pressure is on in this contest.
I think the standard is very high and I owe it to the airport, and I owe it to the staff here, to choose the best people to go up against these other very, very competitive choirs.
- Hello.
- Hello! - Are you ready? - Yes! Come on up! - So what do you all do? - I work in valet parking.
Valet parking.
Very useful person.
- Air traffic? - Customer services.
- Customer services.
- Fire.
- Hello.
- How are you doing? - We're covered for emergencies, I take it.
- Yeah.
We'll use the stairs, not a ladder.
Good afternoon, everyone.
- Afternoon.
- My name's Gareth.
It's good to be here at Manchester Airport.
We are here today to create a choir, and it's going to be, I hope, the best choir that I can possibly create from everyone in the airport.
We're all going to sing the same song individually.
There is no other way to do an audition.
I can see the ripples of terror.
The song for the audition is Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines.
Here we go.
So we will start with Heather.
One, two, three.
Oh, I like that bottom, that's good.
I mean Thanks, Gareth! - Yours is all right.
- Oh, thanks very much.
The bottom of your voice, obviously.
- Much singing in your life? - Not really, no.
Bit of karaoke, you know.
A few drinks and all that.
- Great.
Here we go! - The hard part's learning the words.
Don't worry about the words.
It's not a word test.
One, two, three.
I think that's my favourite version so far, Brian! Yeah, it is a bit rough.
A little bit rough.
A little bit rough.
But there's something in there.
I could hear the diamond inside.
That's good.
One, two, three.
- It's sort of there.
You finished - It finished at the end, like I don't have that note.
Sing me that note.
- All right.
You've got a D at the bottom.
Good.
- Bit like school! - Bit like school? - D again, Daz! You got a D? In this case, D is very good.
D is good.
Yeah, yeah, D is good.
I would love to be part of the choir, to have Gareth at Manchester Airport, and for Manchester Airport to be given this opportunity, then I'd absolutely love it.
Just another karaoke to you really, wasn't it? Yeah, it was just like getting up on Saturday night after five pints and singing.
It's very early days, but I'm yet to find the person that makes me really astounded.
There have been precious few people that I thought, "Oh, you've sung in a choir before.
" Come on in.
Come on in.
We need one or two in there who really know what they're doing, and it makes the whole thing go a lot more smoothly.
One, two, three.
I liked that.
That had a lot of spirit.
Phh! I think the foundations of the building shook! Well done.
Thank you.
- What do you do? - Airfield security officer.
- Do you like Are you the muscle? - Oh, I don't know about that! - Should I stand a bit further back? - No.
Don't be scared of me.
I wouldn't get to frisk you.
- You're the frisker? - Yeah.
I've worked here for eight years at the airport, on airfield security.
We search vehicles, cargo.
Anything that goes onto the airfield, we have to search it and deal with it first.
We have to put our hands in places that other people wouldn't put.
You just look at that machine and think, "Please don't beep, please don't beep.
" But they do, and it's just you've got to search them.
I'm proud of the job I do at security, cos I know that I've helped to make everybody's holiday a good holiday, cos it's a safe holiday.
Indeed they do.
Good, have a seat.
Well done.
Thank you.
Richard, what do you do? - I'm an air traffic controller.
- OK.
- How long have you done that for? - 23 years.
- 23 years.
That's a lot of planes you've seen.
- It is.
You were going to say it has its ups and downs? You beat me to it, yeah! OK.
Up you get, Richard.
Let's stop procrastinating.
So that's hitting an F sharp? - F sharp, it's my key.
- Let's go up again, a tone.
One, two, three.
Christ, no more! Don't do any more! - Just one semitone.
- What, up? - Up.
- I don't know what that means.
One, two, three.
There's no need.
Well done.
Well done.
Very good.
Thank you very much.
You may go.
I've got no idea how I got on singing-wise.
I really have got no idea.
All I know is I enjoyed it, sung my heart out, and that was it.
Fingers crossed, if I get in, I will do everything.
I would love to be in the choir, to support the airport, so yeah.
I think a choir would be a good thing.
I think it's a good way of basically getting to meet each other, and all singing from the same hymn sheet.
Having auditioned over 120 staff, Gareth must now select the 30 strongest singers.
I feel that the spread of people throughout the company is really strong.
I'm getting people from airside, people from landside, management, air traffic control.
We've got some very big, bold, brash voices.
There's a lot of people who are used to singing pop, musical theatre, lots of karaoke singers.
We're only talking about six to eight in the entire choir who've got a choral sound.
And that's going to take some training and persuasion to get them to sing in the way that I need them to sing in this contest.
But this is Manchester Airport.
That's my choir.
The next morning, Gareth's chosen 30 staff gather for their first ever rehearsal.
- Nice to see you.
- Are you all right? - Are you all right? - I'm fine.
I take it you're in? - No, I just thought I'd turn up on spec.
- In fancy dress! It's really exciting to hear them for the first time.
It will really excite them as well, because they won't know each other.
They won't have met in their auditions, cos they did so many sessions.
Really, it's a magical moment.
- Hiya.
- Richard.
- I'm Steve.
- Hi, Richard.
I'm Heather.
Looking forward to it.
You can feel it in here.
Everyone's buzzing.
Are you landside or airside? - Airside.
- Airside, to my left, thank you.
- Landside or airside? - Airside.
Airside's to my left, thank you.
- Landside or airside? - Airside.
- Hello.
- Airside.
- I'm landside.
- Landside's this side.
OK, this is your captain speaking.
- We are cleared for takeoff.
- Hooray! Very good to see you! Hello! A very, very, very warm welcome to our first choir rehearsal.
Many congratulations on making it into the choir.
I'm very, very excited.
Now I'm looking, at the moment, at a divided community.
There's a Berlin Wall down the middle of your organisation.
Landside, airside.
This choir is all about bringing both sides of this business together.
So we're gonna do that straightaway.
We're gonna mix you up.
We will have the sopranos here, the altos here, the tenors here, and the basses here.
Go! OK, that's looking really good.
Shh-shh-shh! So, you are now entered into a contest to find the best workplace choir.
I will put you head to head with all the other choirs that I'm starting.
But before we do all of that, I would like to talk about songs.
Because I think it's really important that you choose a song that represents you as an organisation.
Does anyone have any thoughts about a song? - Yes.
Linda? - Fly Me To The Moon.
Fly Me To The Moon.
Do you fly to Jupiter and Mars here? We're going to after this! Might be on a rocket.
Right.
Any others? - We're Going To Ibiza, yeah.
- Oh, We're Going To Ibiza.
Hey We're Going To Ibiza, I'm just going to veto! Jet by Wings.
Jet by Wings.
How does that go? Oh, it sounds really good! I can remember that one! - Any other ones? - Learn To Fly, Foo Fighters.
Learn To Fly? How does that go? I quite like this, actually.
Do you like it? With Learn To Fly we could probably do more with it, like harmonies and things like that.
With our own arrangement.
So all those in favour of Learn To Fly, put your hands up.
15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20.
I think it's good.
That's 20 good reasons to do it.
- Shall we say motion passed? - Yes.
Congratulations.
That's your song.
Round of applause.
So, I've printed off the music and words, and we are going to have a little bash at them.
Let's stand up.
Let's give that one a go.
I actually feel like we could quite quickly just do a very brief harmony.
Two, three, and Together.
Two, three, and Good.
A few lumps and bumps but we got there.
Basses, arise.
One, two, three, and Bit of rock energy.
Very good.
Thank you.
Have a seat.
Very good.
Listen, first choir rehearsals, everyone goes out and your mind is like, "Oh, my God," you know, "Aaargh! How am I ever gonna remember any of that?" Don't be spooked or panicked.
I think the experience is something that you'll have to work on, and getting the choral sound.
But, you know, you can do it.
You can do it.
Let's go.
The song choice, I think it's a fantastic choice, cos it was my idea! I've never heard a choir sing that song.
To be honest, I've not really heard a lot of choirs, in general, singing.
- Hi, nice to meet you.
- I'm Daz.
We're new to this, and we're a bit ropey in parts, all of us, but when the little bits gel, you can hear what it's gonna become later.
I really like this bunch.
I think they're great.
They're fun, they're feisty, there's a real energy and a real sound there.
Dare I say rowdy, actually? It's about creating a good quality choral sound.
I know they're capable of it, but that's not how they sing at the moment.
They've come in, completely untutored, and they're singing like they're at the karaoke.
And that's my job to move them away from that.
A few days later, Gareth is back to find out more about the work of the airport, meeting up with one of his tenors, air traffic controller, Richard.
Top to 55 Papa 23, right clear takeoff.
Boyhood dream.
This is really exciting.
Here you have Manchester Air Traffic Control.
What a great place.
- What a view! It's amazing! - Yeah, yeah.
- Plane.
- Plane taking off, yeah.
- Oh, there's another one! - Here they come.
There it is.
I don't think I've really ever thought about the people who are in the tower.
- You wouldn't do.
- You're faceless.
Very much.
We're just tucked away getting on with it.
Our main job is to make sure you get from A to B as safely as you can.
Check 2-7-0 degrees, 4-5, please.
It's very calm up here.
Even if all hell was breaking loose and it was manic outside, if it was really, really busy, it would still be calm in here.
You can see all these people who work in the airport.
Yeah.
That's what's quite bizarre about an airport, because right now there are thousands of people doing their jobs around us, and none of us meet.
What was interesting.
When we all got together, when you chose who you wanted in the choir, was when we all ended up in that room, and we all had this sort of common reason for being there.
You know.
There were no shy people.
They were, "Hello.
My name's so-and-so.
I do this," you know.
- That's interesting.
It's good.
- You didn't know any of them? No.
The firemen, like Daz and Andy, I think I've probably spoken to them.
When the firemen come out on the airfield, they have to speak to us on the radio.
But I couldn't put a face to them.
Interesting.
Well, let's hope the choir can give you a different experience of the airport.
Richard's been here for 22 years and he doesn't know any of the people who work in the rest of the airport, because there's no opportunity to meet them.
I think it's brilliant that they're getting a chance to work together for something.
Over the following weeks Gareth arranges extra rehearsals with a local choirmaster to help the choir to get to contest standard.
It was good, but it's still a bit too raw.
At his next rehearsal, Gareth is trying to refine the sound.
Let's hear your ah's.
And Whoa! There was a Boeing 747 taking off in the middle of that one.
Just make sure we're on the note.
One, two, three.
OK good.
I think the lesson for everyone here is none of you are doing a solo.
Yeah? I know it says loud, but don't feel like it's, "Ahh, oh God, it's just me!" This is the big word for me - blend - just making sure that you all sound not like individuals, but like one.
This is where it becomes teamwork.
Blend into the sound.
One, two, three.
Let's do that whole bit, everyone.
Here we go, so Two, three.
Good luck.
So focus on the sound you want to make.
And breathe.
One, two What a lovely sound - really blended, fantastic listening.
Go and have a break.
Thank you.
See you in a moment.
I'm finding the song quite quite difficult to learn, but we're getting there.
We're getting there.
The song itself is quite easy to sing, but when you put the harmonies in it becomes more difficult cos you want to sing other parts.
I didn't think there was so much into singing.
I thought as a group we'd all get up and sing a song, but all the harmonies and the ups and downs, it is a lot lot harder than what I thought.
OK, good.
Have a seat please.
As the choir regroup for the second half of their rehearsal, Gareth has a surprise.
I flew in for rehearsals today.
I flew.
I did it for you, keep you in business! I flew in from Heathrow, and it really struck me that as a passenger you just don't see the people backstage.
Let's do something really positive.
- Let's go and perform right now - No! in the arrival hall of Terminal One.
OK? Let's go! I feel we're ready to perform as a choir, after today's rehearsal especially, cos we're more tight, and just tidied up everything that we needed to tidy up now.
They're excited.
There was a really good reaction to me announcing that we're gonna do an impromptu performance.
No fear.
I think they're gonna go for it with gusto.
Reining that in is gonna be the trick.
Hopefully there's not many people in there, but We'll clear the arrivals, anyway.
Right, in here, everyone.
OK, so apparently there's a flight coming in.
We're gonna surprise them as they all come out.
Yeah? Shall we do it now? OK.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four.
Welcome home! The staff, everyone! The staff of the airport! I think you've earned your stripes.
Well done.
You are a choir at last! Thank you very much.
- I loved it.
Did you? - Beautiful.
Very nice.
I think when we first started, everybody was shouting cos it was nerves, but as we went along, I think everyone was listening to what Gareth was saying.
It sounded good in the end.
It's made us realise that we can perform in public.
- We can sing! - We can create a musical extravaganza.
Yeah! The staff choir is excellent.
And I think it's a fantastic idea.
- I thought they were pro.
- Yeah.
This is the second time I come to England, and they just instantly put a smile on my face.
It was so awesome to walk down the corridor.
I'm excited about some of those singers.
They're having to learn very fast how to blend, how to listen to each other, how to create one homogenous sound.
That is tough.
What they do have is a secret weapon of just flamboyance.
There's some real character in here.
But have we got time in the contest for them really to shape up to the right level? The following day Yes! Come on! You need to pull on here.
There's an aircraft on fire, Gareth, but take your time.
You know.
- Ah! Got it.
- OK? Gareth joins fire-fighters Daz and Dave on a fire training exercise.
- OK.
- Thumbs up! - Water on.
- Yeah.
One arm straight in the air and shout, "Water on!" - OK.
That I can do.
- Just practise that for us.
- Water on! - It's got to be louder than that.
- Oh, OK.
From the diaphragm.
- Like you teach us.
- Water on! - Much better! - Got it.
- We've got a call.
Visor down.
OK.
- Tell them to put the water on.
- Water on! Get underneath there, Gareth, as well.
Good work.
Good work.
- Oh, my God! - Hard work, innit? That was the most intense thing I've ever done! That was brilliant! - That was only a small fire! - I know! - Bit like conducting, innit? - Yeah, yeah, there's nothing to it! My heart was pounding.
It was exactly like when you go on stage, that you get that lurch in your stomach and you think, "OK, here we go.
" We'll feel that when we perform.
It's an experience we're not used you.
This is day-to-day stuff for us, so we're calm about that.
But it's good to have people in there that understand that element of adrenaline.
- Well done.
- Wow! Thank you.
- Well done, Gareth.
- Thanks.
That was really good.
It's given me an insight into your world.
- Yeah.
- Increased respect.
It's intense.
- You'll be easier on me and Dave today, yeah? - No.
These guys, they're amazing.
They're heroic.
They really are.
These fire-fighters being in the choir, it's just such a good thing, because they understand teamwork, because they do it every single day.
They're useful, these guys.
That evening, Gareth arranges a second, more challenging, song for the choir.
I remember this song coming out as a teenager and absolutely loving it, cos it's very sort of summery and sunshiny.
It makes me feel like it's about to be a holiday, and I think that's perfect for an airport.
It's very much them.
They're quite gutsy, and it's a bit of a belter, this one.
But I think it's more of a challenge in terms of a performance, cos it could turn into a shouting match.
And I think that there needs to be some gradation of colour, you know, some moments that are really exciting, and some moments that are soft - and they haven't really managed that yet.
There's quite a lot of that in this piece.
So it is time, ladies and gentlemen, for you to have a new song.
- Ooh! - Yes.
I really like this song, but I think it's appropriate for you.
You're a feisty bunch.
And it's a feisty song by quite a feisty band.
So the song is Movin' On Up by Primal Scream.
Brilliant! It was on the radio this morning.
- Oh, was it? - Yeah.
- So happy with that? - Yes.
There's a couple of different sections to this.
At the end of it is a big - and it's gospel on the original - a big sort of choral end piece, and that's what we're gonna look at first.
One, two.
Well done.
Just keep it small.
Save the rock for another day.
Altos, can I hear your line? One, two, three, four.
Keep it light.
two, three, four, off.
Let's all stand and let's sing that whole page.
Ready? And One, two OK, not perfect, but not bad.
Have a seat.
Good.
As far as I'm concerned, I thought that was an excellent rehearsal.
I think we're really coming on.
I just want to say it is serious, cos you're going out to compete in a contest.
Get behind it now and you'll be bloody glad you did it.
So that's it for today.
I will see you tomorrow.
Bye-bye.
- Thanks, Gareth.
- Well done.
Good one.
I think when you first came in, everyone was just so concentrated on theirselves.
Yeah.
But now we're concentrating on everybody else, which is what you've got to do, and Gareth is brilliant.
He is, cos that's what he's making us do.
We're all starting to know each other now.
We're getting to know each other better.
And when it starts sounding right in the choir, you get confidence, you know? If I'm honest, I didn't think they were gonna get as good as they've got this quickly.
I'm pleased.
They've worked hard.
And now they've got this great new song that they all love, I think the desire to do well and be good at this, and possibly even to win, is starting to creep in.
The competition is really is really in evidence.
To build momentum, and help focus the choir for their big performance in front of their work colleagues, Gareth is looking for a soloist.
It's so important to get the right kind of person for the solo.
It's not just somebody who can sing it.
It's somebody who can take charge of the performance and lead the way for everyone else.
And I'm looking for somebody to be able to really belt out a top A.
And that's hard.
That's really hard.
It's demanding.
I don't know if I'm gonna find anyone.
Can't miss you in that coat! Wow! Need sunglasses.
- Mmm.
Possibly a little on the high side.
- Could be.
Good.
OK, thank you.
- Well done.
Good job.
- Thank you.
You can go.
Well done, Pete.
I've had two tenors in a row, and they've both got it in their voice, but it's just that bit too high for them to do it safely.
It's not easy this, honestly.
- Oh, sorry.
- Why are you apologising? Because it went wuuh-uuh-uhh, wuuh-uuh-uhh.
- Did the nerves get the better of you? - They did.
- See you later! - Bye! And she ran out! - Sorry! - Bye! Bye! Bye! Try it one more time.
- Oh, I'm sorry.
I'm not usually like this.
- Don't worry.
Toughie like you? I've been practising and it sounds all right and then you come in here and you're just your stomach's like Yeah, don't worry.
- Couldn't do it.
- You did? No, I didn't.
No, I couldn't do it.
I didn't hit a real note.
It's difficult to come in here and find the right kind of connection to this song.
No-one's done it yet.
Looking forward to it.
Bit nervous.
I'm just thinking to myself I'm just going to get on with it.
If I don't try, I won't know.
I don't want somebody else to get it if I could have done it better.
So I'm just gonna go for it, see how we go.
Hi, Hayley.
Come on in.
Thank you.
My only question mark with it is, is it in the right part of your voice? - I think so.
- Come on! Let's hear it.
Back of the park.
Well done.
- Good job.
Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Very nice.
- Okey-dokey.
See you later.
There's just something about Hayley.
When she sings, I really want to listen to it.
She's got a kind of fearlessness about her.
I thought that was really good.
It's gonna take a lot to beat that.
Richard.
Enter.
You all right? Think you're gonna get the top note? We'll soon find out, won't we? That's where the ladies take over! Yeah.
You got it! - Thank you.
- You hit the top note.
- Just! - I'm pretty happy with that.
Thank you.
- Smashing.
Right, thank you! - Thanks, Richard.
It's one thing your mate saying, after some ciders, "You sang that all right, Rich.
Well done, mate.
" But when Gareth Malone, somebody of you know, in his profession, says that's good, then it's great.
I would love to do it.
I would love to do a solo bit, yeah.
Oh, I hate it when more than one person is good! Makes it much more difficult.
Let's make a start, shall we? Now, I've got a small problem.
I thought that two people did a great job, really great job, and I genuinely cannot choose between them.
Hayley.
Well, done Hayley.
Hayley, you did an absolutely cracking job.
It was really good.
You could do the whole thing.
But you have competition.
Richard.
Well done.
So I just kind of felt like it would be nice to just hear both people again.
And I'm gonna make my mind up today in this rehearsal.
Would you both come out the front, please? Give them an encouraging round of applause.
Come and stand here.
Could we try it - cos I quite I like them both - As a duet.
as a duet.
I wondered if we could do, maybe, one phrase each.
- Ready? Let's try that.
Ready? - Yeah.
It's one of those, isn't it? Have a seat.
That's it.
It's a duet.
- Love it.
Well done.
- Thank you.
- Our stars.
Our two stars of the day.
- It's gonna be great, really! Nice.
Very good.
When you sing together beautiful! They're enjoying it and they've bonded, and they're coming together as people, which is lovely, not just as singers.
I think it's gone very well.
Hayley's airside and Richard's landside.
And ne'er the twain shall meet, really in some instances, isn't it? And really, without this there's no chance of them ever meeting.
- That's true.
- Or performing together.
Yeah.
They'd never see each other or meet each other.
- We'd never see each other, and we're - No, I would never have known you.
OK, everyone! Let's get cracking.
Time and tide wait for no man, and not even for choirs.
OK.
Next thing.
And this is a biggie.
I would like to announce my intention for a big performance, right here at the airport, to the rest of the workforce.
My plan is to go and perform it in the Concorde Hangar.
Oh! It'd be amazing.
It'd be a great acoustic in there.
You'll have a Concorde behind you, so if you don't sound good, they'll be able to look at Concorde! So that'll be cool.
But you will sound good.
And I want to sort of come out, guns blazing, and I hope hear a really good sound.
Obviously, there won't be any guns because we've got airport security.
I strongly urge you to practise as hard as you possibly can.
Can I suggest that you get together in your sections and do sectional rehearsals? Informally, formally, whatever you can do, that will make a real difference.
You're starting to make an impressive sound.
With the work you do over the next couple of weeks, you'll get there, and we're gonna go and knock their socks off.
Yeah! Thank you very much.
Well done, everyone.
I've got a flight to get! Hi, Heather.
Choir practice.
Oh, yeah! - Come on.
- You've made me start laughing! This is the time for a little practice.
With the workplace performance approaching, the choir take every opportunity to practise.
Early.
Late.
One I think we finally sound choral.
It took a long time, because we were all individual voices, but now we sound like one.
We're got to go a bit more opera on this.
Energy right the way through.
- It is getting there.
- It's getting there.
I'm so excited! Before it was just 30 people that worked across the airport.
And now it's a tight-knit, friendly group.
There is a difference in us.
Good.
It's less than 24 hours till the workplace performance.
- Morning.
How are you? - Very good.
And you? - Good, thanks.
- Come in.
- I've brought my keyboard.
- Oh, good.
Gareth is visiting soloist Hayley for some last-minute practice.
Good.
- Are you in discomfort? - No.
No? You look tense.
I think I'm always tense when I sing.
I just like to get it right, I think.
Hmm.
You don't want tension.
So, I don't know.
I'm almost temped to get you to do the washing up whilst you sing.
You know? Just something It needs to be looser.
So the sound can just be released.
Longer here.
Ahh.
Breathe here.
Yeah.
- I think posture's your big thing.
- It is.
- Do you have a lot of postural problems? - I think so.
- Do you? - I slouch a lot.
- A lot.
- Yeah.
Do you get back pain? - Yeah.
- Have you been to see anyone about it? No.
I had a bit of an accident a while ago, so my back - Oh, really? has never been the same.
- Oh, what happened? - I was in a car accident.
- I broke a lot of bones and - In your back? Yeah.
Dislocated my hip.
Smashed my pelvis apart.
- Oh, my God! - I had internal problems as well.
I had a lacerated liver, damaged kidneys.
I had to have a tracheostomy cos of my lungs.
I saw a scar.
You had a tracheostomy? - Couldn't breathe for myself.
- Gosh.
You must have had some dark days.
Very dark days, yeah.
I was off for a good year from work and then I went back, February 2010.
I've worked since, but recently I've had to come off again, cos one of my bones isn't healed properly, so I've got to have it sorted out and The job we do is a bit physical.
And it were just too much.
So you're waiting for your shoulders to be all right.
- This is why the choir's been brilliant.
- It's got you back in.
This is helping me feel good about myself again, given me something to do.
Well, I think I think you're excelling, you know, I really do.
And in fact, and I think the altos, actually, are the strongest section, and I think you're a big part of that.
- See you later.
Bye.
- Bye! - Well done.
Thanks.
- See you later.
Hayley is the better for being in the choir.
She's back in the work environment, back talking to her colleagues.
She is able to represent the company in a really positive way, and do something for the company through singing.
And she feels useful again.
It's a fantastic thing.
It's the day of the performance.
I think the entire workforce should be really proud of everything they've achieved.
It's a good choir and they've got real spirit, and I think they represent this airport brilliantly.
We've got people across the business and they've got an energy and pizzazz about them that I really like.
My biggest worry is that they get a bit carried away, this choir, and that's not what choirs are about.
It's about making a contained and beautiful sound.
That can be emotional, punchy, really visceral and physical, but it mustn't be a shout.
I'm excited and I'm nervous and I don't know which is overtaking which at the moment.
It's all a little bit of a battle, but a few deep breaths and do everyone proud.
I've tried not to think about it too much, cos if you think about it too much, you end up Your words won't come out properly, yeah.
I don't want to let the choir down in front of everybody, OK? So that's the bit that I am most nervous about.
The rest of it, you can rely on each other, so it's all right.
I'm a bit nervy now, I think.
Ooh-hoo-hoo! Shoo-be-do-doo! What the choir don't know is that Gareth has invited one of the judges who will decide which choir will win the contest - former head of music at Eton College, Ralph Allwood.
What I'm looking for in choirs is that beautiful, balanced, blended sound that just pings whether they really are singing exactly the right note, which combines with everybody else's exactly right note.
Teamwork is essential.
And I want to see that there is teamwork going on, and see the quality of that teamwork.
Ralph will be hidden in the audience, amongst family and work colleagues.
Right.
This is your chance to prove yourselves as a choir.
Don't get carried away.
So listen.
Your ear is your friend.
If you can't hear the other parts, you're too loud.
If you feel yourself bellowing, if you feel yourself rocking out too much, just keep it contained.
I know you can do it.
And when you make that magical sound, it's absolutely wonderful, so let's get the really good sound that I know you're totally capable of.
- Sorry, we are at Manchester Airport.
- Yes.
And we are used to certain things throughout the day, so we were wondering if you would conduct us with these.
Yeah, I'd love that! Is that right? That plane's coming towards you now! What if it comes in here? - This way! Hello! - No, no, no! I am very proud to introduce to you the Manchester Airport Choir! The fantastic choir that you see behind me represents the whole of this organisation.
People who haven't ever met each other, and yet have worked together for years, have been brought together here.
That's what we're here to celebrate.
That's what choirs are all about.
So, without further ado, we're going to sing for you Movin' On Up.
Here we go.
Movin' On Up.
Look at this! I looked at my family first, and then looked at my colleagues, and all the thumbs went up, and I was, like Right! That feeling.
I don't think I'll forget that feeling.
- That's great.
- Really won't.
Seeing Dad in the choir was awesome.
Perfect, son! Seeing these guys in the front row helped as well.
And seeing a lot of the people who I work with as well at the back and everywhere.
And yeah, really, really proud of myself.
Feel really good.
I was thinking, "I can't believe she's there now.
She's stood there after all she's been through.
" Wonderful.
I'm very proud of her.
Very proud.
Oh, well done.
It was lovely! Well done.
You did it! I could see how much you gave and I appreciate that.
There was a lot of effort going on there.
It sounded great, it had real energy, had a real spark about it.
What you didn't know was that there was somebody in the audience watching your performance, and that person was one of the judges from the contest.
Oh, no! The guy's name is Ralph Allwood and he used to be the head of music at Eton School, and he's one of the most highly-regarded choir trainers in this country.
He's going to come and give you some feedback right now.
- Oh, right.
- Hi, everyone! I'm delighted to introduce you to Ralph Allwood.
Ralph, they're all yours.
That was fantastic.
Well done.
And you were doing everything together.
Everybody was part of the team.
It wasn't just a few individuals sort of going for it and others sort of tagging along.
Solos, well done.
Really confident and exciting.
Now I can see you all want the criticisms as well, don't you? - I can see in your eyes, right? - I've given them a taste for it! Right, now, first of all, every now and then the impact of individual phrases needed a little bit more.
My light shines on.
You just close your lips before.
It may seem silly, but it really does make a difference if you do that.
The next thing concerns Gareth, actually.
You've depended on him such a lot up till now, of course, because he's taught you everything.
But I suggest now you wean yourself from the conductor and you look at the audience, and go for it.
You will still see Gareth there, and if something goes slightly wrong, he'll still be able to do the fire-fighting and put it right, but you are looking right out to the audience.
So next time I hear you, I will hear complete connection with the audience, and I'll hear nice punch at the beginning of all your phrases.
- OK? - Thank you very much.
I'll leave you to your very able conductor, then.
Thank you.
How did you find the feedback? - Really helpful.
- Wonderful.
I thought it was all entirely fair.
He clearly enjoyed it.
It was a really convincing performance.
The next time that we gather, it's going to be for the contest.
I think you all know now, you've been in the choir long enough to get the idea, it's all about hard work.
I look forward to seeing you when it gets serious.
And thank you very much for a fantastic performance.
Thank you.
- I'm feeling quite competitive.
- Yeah, very competitive.
Cos with that feedback, I feel really positive about us now.
- Not getting to the final is not an option.
- No.
It's not an option.
We've got to get to the final now.
I think we can win it.
I think we can nail it.
- Fighting talk.
- We're gonna win it! Fighting talk from Manchester Airport.
It's ended up more refined than I ever thought they'd get.
No, they've done very well.
They've worked very hard.
The ensemble was so much more together than I ever thought it would be.
So, yeah, hats off to them for that.
That was a lot of grit that they showed.
The contest is on now, cos they want to win.
I think that's gonna bring out the best in them.
January 2017
Gareth Malone wants to help Britain's workers find their voice.
Good morning, everyone.
I'm here to start a choir.
If you are at all interested, make yourself known to me.
In search of hidden talent, he wants to create choirs in four of Britain's busiest workplaces.
Are you a singer? - What do you do? - Dig holes for a living, mate.
Yes, he does! And for the workers, company pride will be at stake when they compete to find Gareth's best workplace choir.
- Is everybody ready? - Yes.
- Fighting spirit? Let's do it.
- Yes.
When I was learning to sing, it was through competing that I got better, and I want that for these choirs.
I want them to feel the pressure and get better.
Before the performance, I'll pray to God.
God, help us this time! - Want to win it.
- Yeah.
And we're gonna go hell for leather to win it.
Months and months of work and slog come down to that one moment when you're on stage.
That's why I love it.
Gareth has set up two of his workplace choirs - at Lewisham NHS Trust and at the Royal Mail in Bristol.
He's now on his way to set up the third, at Britain's busiest owned airport, Manchester.
I never think about the staff of an airport when I go on holiday.
I just see the person at the check-in desk, I see the security guard and that's it.
There must be thousands of people working at the airport.
They're like huge cities.
I don't know who these people are and I don't know what kind of choir that's going to make.
Manchester Airport handles over 19 million passengers a year.
Over 20,000 staff are divided across the public areas - landside and security-restricted areas - airside.
Manchester Airport really is quite a busy set-up.
We can have an aircraft departing every 60 seconds, whilst an aircraft, at the same time, landing every 90 seconds.
So when it's going it really is ticking over some up here.
The numbers that come through within the hour are phenomenal.
1,000 to 2,000 people an hour when it's really, really busy.
People think you work at the airport, you all know each other.
We don't know each other.
There are so many people that work here and we never get to mix.
But it's just the airport for you.
I'm on a travelator! There's a plane.
This is so exciting.
I know it's boyish, but I just really get a kick out of being in an airport.
It's a place of dreams.
Gareth needs the choir to be strong enough to compete against the other workplaces.
His first job? To scout the airport to make sure he finds the best singers to audition.
Hello, I'm Gareth.
I'm here to start a choir.
- Oh.
No! - No? I'm an awful singer! You wouldn't want to hear me.
- Will you put your name forward? - No.
No? Not a singer? I wouldn't even do karaoke when I've had a drink.
I'm just trying to avoid the strip search! Are you a singer? I don't know.
No.
I've heard myself in the shower and it's not very good.
I've never been touched like that in my life.
Amazing! I can die happy.
There's so many people here and they're all doing something very important.
And these are the people who you never see.
Who you just see through the window of your airplane as you land.
I want to get them in my choir.
- What do you do? - I'm the wildlife manager.
- So I look after all the wildlife on the field.
- Oh, really? - Do you sing? - If I sung out there, on the airfield, it'd clear that airfield.
Oh, well, I'll keep searching.
Knock knock.
My name's Gareth.
I'm here to start a choir.
I've got to that stage in my life now that I'm going to have a lot of funerals to go to in the next few years.
Know what I mean? So I need to project my voice.
That is a good, pragmatic reason to try the choir.
Absolutely.
I'll train you up for funerals.
There's the baggage handler.
Can you ask him if he sings? Douggie? - Yeah, mate? - How are you at singing? Very good.
Do you sing around here, into the bags? - Hopefully I can hold a tune.
- Give us a quick blast? Well, I think that's as much as I - Is that as much as you're gonna give me? - It is.
Good.
I'm glad you've put your name forward.
See you at the audition.
The following day, staff from across the airport, both airside and landside, gather for auditions.
Little bit nervous today.
I think you can smell the nerves.
It's an opportunity, a chance of a lifetime.
I'm really hoping that my voice does impress Gareth, yeah.
But I am quite nervous.
But we'll see.
This will be a tough process.
This isn't just opening the doors to any singer.
This is looking for people who are really excellent.
The pressure is on in this contest.
I think the standard is very high and I owe it to the airport, and I owe it to the staff here, to choose the best people to go up against these other very, very competitive choirs.
- Hello.
- Hello! - Are you ready? - Yes! Come on up! - So what do you all do? - I work in valet parking.
Valet parking.
Very useful person.
- Air traffic? - Customer services.
- Customer services.
- Fire.
- Hello.
- How are you doing? - We're covered for emergencies, I take it.
- Yeah.
We'll use the stairs, not a ladder.
Good afternoon, everyone.
- Afternoon.
- My name's Gareth.
It's good to be here at Manchester Airport.
We are here today to create a choir, and it's going to be, I hope, the best choir that I can possibly create from everyone in the airport.
We're all going to sing the same song individually.
There is no other way to do an audition.
I can see the ripples of terror.
The song for the audition is Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines.
Here we go.
So we will start with Heather.
One, two, three.
Oh, I like that bottom, that's good.
I mean Thanks, Gareth! - Yours is all right.
- Oh, thanks very much.
The bottom of your voice, obviously.
- Much singing in your life? - Not really, no.
Bit of karaoke, you know.
A few drinks and all that.
- Great.
Here we go! - The hard part's learning the words.
Don't worry about the words.
It's not a word test.
One, two, three.
I think that's my favourite version so far, Brian! Yeah, it is a bit rough.
A little bit rough.
A little bit rough.
But there's something in there.
I could hear the diamond inside.
That's good.
One, two, three.
- It's sort of there.
You finished - It finished at the end, like I don't have that note.
Sing me that note.
- All right.
You've got a D at the bottom.
Good.
- Bit like school! - Bit like school? - D again, Daz! You got a D? In this case, D is very good.
D is good.
Yeah, yeah, D is good.
I would love to be part of the choir, to have Gareth at Manchester Airport, and for Manchester Airport to be given this opportunity, then I'd absolutely love it.
Just another karaoke to you really, wasn't it? Yeah, it was just like getting up on Saturday night after five pints and singing.
It's very early days, but I'm yet to find the person that makes me really astounded.
There have been precious few people that I thought, "Oh, you've sung in a choir before.
" Come on in.
Come on in.
We need one or two in there who really know what they're doing, and it makes the whole thing go a lot more smoothly.
One, two, three.
I liked that.
That had a lot of spirit.
Phh! I think the foundations of the building shook! Well done.
Thank you.
- What do you do? - Airfield security officer.
- Do you like Are you the muscle? - Oh, I don't know about that! - Should I stand a bit further back? - No.
Don't be scared of me.
I wouldn't get to frisk you.
- You're the frisker? - Yeah.
I've worked here for eight years at the airport, on airfield security.
We search vehicles, cargo.
Anything that goes onto the airfield, we have to search it and deal with it first.
We have to put our hands in places that other people wouldn't put.
You just look at that machine and think, "Please don't beep, please don't beep.
" But they do, and it's just you've got to search them.
I'm proud of the job I do at security, cos I know that I've helped to make everybody's holiday a good holiday, cos it's a safe holiday.
Indeed they do.
Good, have a seat.
Well done.
Thank you.
Richard, what do you do? - I'm an air traffic controller.
- OK.
- How long have you done that for? - 23 years.
- 23 years.
That's a lot of planes you've seen.
- It is.
You were going to say it has its ups and downs? You beat me to it, yeah! OK.
Up you get, Richard.
Let's stop procrastinating.
So that's hitting an F sharp? - F sharp, it's my key.
- Let's go up again, a tone.
One, two, three.
Christ, no more! Don't do any more! - Just one semitone.
- What, up? - Up.
- I don't know what that means.
One, two, three.
There's no need.
Well done.
Well done.
Very good.
Thank you very much.
You may go.
I've got no idea how I got on singing-wise.
I really have got no idea.
All I know is I enjoyed it, sung my heart out, and that was it.
Fingers crossed, if I get in, I will do everything.
I would love to be in the choir, to support the airport, so yeah.
I think a choir would be a good thing.
I think it's a good way of basically getting to meet each other, and all singing from the same hymn sheet.
Having auditioned over 120 staff, Gareth must now select the 30 strongest singers.
I feel that the spread of people throughout the company is really strong.
I'm getting people from airside, people from landside, management, air traffic control.
We've got some very big, bold, brash voices.
There's a lot of people who are used to singing pop, musical theatre, lots of karaoke singers.
We're only talking about six to eight in the entire choir who've got a choral sound.
And that's going to take some training and persuasion to get them to sing in the way that I need them to sing in this contest.
But this is Manchester Airport.
That's my choir.
The next morning, Gareth's chosen 30 staff gather for their first ever rehearsal.
- Nice to see you.
- Are you all right? - Are you all right? - I'm fine.
I take it you're in? - No, I just thought I'd turn up on spec.
- In fancy dress! It's really exciting to hear them for the first time.
It will really excite them as well, because they won't know each other.
They won't have met in their auditions, cos they did so many sessions.
Really, it's a magical moment.
- Hiya.
- Richard.
- I'm Steve.
- Hi, Richard.
I'm Heather.
Looking forward to it.
You can feel it in here.
Everyone's buzzing.
Are you landside or airside? - Airside.
- Airside, to my left, thank you.
- Landside or airside? - Airside.
Airside's to my left, thank you.
- Landside or airside? - Airside.
- Hello.
- Airside.
- I'm landside.
- Landside's this side.
OK, this is your captain speaking.
- We are cleared for takeoff.
- Hooray! Very good to see you! Hello! A very, very, very warm welcome to our first choir rehearsal.
Many congratulations on making it into the choir.
I'm very, very excited.
Now I'm looking, at the moment, at a divided community.
There's a Berlin Wall down the middle of your organisation.
Landside, airside.
This choir is all about bringing both sides of this business together.
So we're gonna do that straightaway.
We're gonna mix you up.
We will have the sopranos here, the altos here, the tenors here, and the basses here.
Go! OK, that's looking really good.
Shh-shh-shh! So, you are now entered into a contest to find the best workplace choir.
I will put you head to head with all the other choirs that I'm starting.
But before we do all of that, I would like to talk about songs.
Because I think it's really important that you choose a song that represents you as an organisation.
Does anyone have any thoughts about a song? - Yes.
Linda? - Fly Me To The Moon.
Fly Me To The Moon.
Do you fly to Jupiter and Mars here? We're going to after this! Might be on a rocket.
Right.
Any others? - We're Going To Ibiza, yeah.
- Oh, We're Going To Ibiza.
Hey We're Going To Ibiza, I'm just going to veto! Jet by Wings.
Jet by Wings.
How does that go? Oh, it sounds really good! I can remember that one! - Any other ones? - Learn To Fly, Foo Fighters.
Learn To Fly? How does that go? I quite like this, actually.
Do you like it? With Learn To Fly we could probably do more with it, like harmonies and things like that.
With our own arrangement.
So all those in favour of Learn To Fly, put your hands up.
15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20.
I think it's good.
That's 20 good reasons to do it.
- Shall we say motion passed? - Yes.
Congratulations.
That's your song.
Round of applause.
So, I've printed off the music and words, and we are going to have a little bash at them.
Let's stand up.
Let's give that one a go.
I actually feel like we could quite quickly just do a very brief harmony.
Two, three, and Together.
Two, three, and Good.
A few lumps and bumps but we got there.
Basses, arise.
One, two, three, and Bit of rock energy.
Very good.
Thank you.
Have a seat.
Very good.
Listen, first choir rehearsals, everyone goes out and your mind is like, "Oh, my God," you know, "Aaargh! How am I ever gonna remember any of that?" Don't be spooked or panicked.
I think the experience is something that you'll have to work on, and getting the choral sound.
But, you know, you can do it.
You can do it.
Let's go.
The song choice, I think it's a fantastic choice, cos it was my idea! I've never heard a choir sing that song.
To be honest, I've not really heard a lot of choirs, in general, singing.
- Hi, nice to meet you.
- I'm Daz.
We're new to this, and we're a bit ropey in parts, all of us, but when the little bits gel, you can hear what it's gonna become later.
I really like this bunch.
I think they're great.
They're fun, they're feisty, there's a real energy and a real sound there.
Dare I say rowdy, actually? It's about creating a good quality choral sound.
I know they're capable of it, but that's not how they sing at the moment.
They've come in, completely untutored, and they're singing like they're at the karaoke.
And that's my job to move them away from that.
A few days later, Gareth is back to find out more about the work of the airport, meeting up with one of his tenors, air traffic controller, Richard.
Top to 55 Papa 23, right clear takeoff.
Boyhood dream.
This is really exciting.
Here you have Manchester Air Traffic Control.
What a great place.
- What a view! It's amazing! - Yeah, yeah.
- Plane.
- Plane taking off, yeah.
- Oh, there's another one! - Here they come.
There it is.
I don't think I've really ever thought about the people who are in the tower.
- You wouldn't do.
- You're faceless.
Very much.
We're just tucked away getting on with it.
Our main job is to make sure you get from A to B as safely as you can.
Check 2-7-0 degrees, 4-5, please.
It's very calm up here.
Even if all hell was breaking loose and it was manic outside, if it was really, really busy, it would still be calm in here.
You can see all these people who work in the airport.
Yeah.
That's what's quite bizarre about an airport, because right now there are thousands of people doing their jobs around us, and none of us meet.
What was interesting.
When we all got together, when you chose who you wanted in the choir, was when we all ended up in that room, and we all had this sort of common reason for being there.
You know.
There were no shy people.
They were, "Hello.
My name's so-and-so.
I do this," you know.
- That's interesting.
It's good.
- You didn't know any of them? No.
The firemen, like Daz and Andy, I think I've probably spoken to them.
When the firemen come out on the airfield, they have to speak to us on the radio.
But I couldn't put a face to them.
Interesting.
Well, let's hope the choir can give you a different experience of the airport.
Richard's been here for 22 years and he doesn't know any of the people who work in the rest of the airport, because there's no opportunity to meet them.
I think it's brilliant that they're getting a chance to work together for something.
Over the following weeks Gareth arranges extra rehearsals with a local choirmaster to help the choir to get to contest standard.
It was good, but it's still a bit too raw.
At his next rehearsal, Gareth is trying to refine the sound.
Let's hear your ah's.
And Whoa! There was a Boeing 747 taking off in the middle of that one.
Just make sure we're on the note.
One, two, three.
OK good.
I think the lesson for everyone here is none of you are doing a solo.
Yeah? I know it says loud, but don't feel like it's, "Ahh, oh God, it's just me!" This is the big word for me - blend - just making sure that you all sound not like individuals, but like one.
This is where it becomes teamwork.
Blend into the sound.
One, two, three.
Let's do that whole bit, everyone.
Here we go, so Two, three.
Good luck.
So focus on the sound you want to make.
And breathe.
One, two What a lovely sound - really blended, fantastic listening.
Go and have a break.
Thank you.
See you in a moment.
I'm finding the song quite quite difficult to learn, but we're getting there.
We're getting there.
The song itself is quite easy to sing, but when you put the harmonies in it becomes more difficult cos you want to sing other parts.
I didn't think there was so much into singing.
I thought as a group we'd all get up and sing a song, but all the harmonies and the ups and downs, it is a lot lot harder than what I thought.
OK, good.
Have a seat please.
As the choir regroup for the second half of their rehearsal, Gareth has a surprise.
I flew in for rehearsals today.
I flew.
I did it for you, keep you in business! I flew in from Heathrow, and it really struck me that as a passenger you just don't see the people backstage.
Let's do something really positive.
- Let's go and perform right now - No! in the arrival hall of Terminal One.
OK? Let's go! I feel we're ready to perform as a choir, after today's rehearsal especially, cos we're more tight, and just tidied up everything that we needed to tidy up now.
They're excited.
There was a really good reaction to me announcing that we're gonna do an impromptu performance.
No fear.
I think they're gonna go for it with gusto.
Reining that in is gonna be the trick.
Hopefully there's not many people in there, but We'll clear the arrivals, anyway.
Right, in here, everyone.
OK, so apparently there's a flight coming in.
We're gonna surprise them as they all come out.
Yeah? Shall we do it now? OK.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four.
Welcome home! The staff, everyone! The staff of the airport! I think you've earned your stripes.
Well done.
You are a choir at last! Thank you very much.
- I loved it.
Did you? - Beautiful.
Very nice.
I think when we first started, everybody was shouting cos it was nerves, but as we went along, I think everyone was listening to what Gareth was saying.
It sounded good in the end.
It's made us realise that we can perform in public.
- We can sing! - We can create a musical extravaganza.
Yeah! The staff choir is excellent.
And I think it's a fantastic idea.
- I thought they were pro.
- Yeah.
This is the second time I come to England, and they just instantly put a smile on my face.
It was so awesome to walk down the corridor.
I'm excited about some of those singers.
They're having to learn very fast how to blend, how to listen to each other, how to create one homogenous sound.
That is tough.
What they do have is a secret weapon of just flamboyance.
There's some real character in here.
But have we got time in the contest for them really to shape up to the right level? The following day Yes! Come on! You need to pull on here.
There's an aircraft on fire, Gareth, but take your time.
You know.
- Ah! Got it.
- OK? Gareth joins fire-fighters Daz and Dave on a fire training exercise.
- OK.
- Thumbs up! - Water on.
- Yeah.
One arm straight in the air and shout, "Water on!" - OK.
That I can do.
- Just practise that for us.
- Water on! - It's got to be louder than that.
- Oh, OK.
From the diaphragm.
- Like you teach us.
- Water on! - Much better! - Got it.
- We've got a call.
Visor down.
OK.
- Tell them to put the water on.
- Water on! Get underneath there, Gareth, as well.
Good work.
Good work.
- Oh, my God! - Hard work, innit? That was the most intense thing I've ever done! That was brilliant! - That was only a small fire! - I know! - Bit like conducting, innit? - Yeah, yeah, there's nothing to it! My heart was pounding.
It was exactly like when you go on stage, that you get that lurch in your stomach and you think, "OK, here we go.
" We'll feel that when we perform.
It's an experience we're not used you.
This is day-to-day stuff for us, so we're calm about that.
But it's good to have people in there that understand that element of adrenaline.
- Well done.
- Wow! Thank you.
- Well done, Gareth.
- Thanks.
That was really good.
It's given me an insight into your world.
- Yeah.
- Increased respect.
It's intense.
- You'll be easier on me and Dave today, yeah? - No.
These guys, they're amazing.
They're heroic.
They really are.
These fire-fighters being in the choir, it's just such a good thing, because they understand teamwork, because they do it every single day.
They're useful, these guys.
That evening, Gareth arranges a second, more challenging, song for the choir.
I remember this song coming out as a teenager and absolutely loving it, cos it's very sort of summery and sunshiny.
It makes me feel like it's about to be a holiday, and I think that's perfect for an airport.
It's very much them.
They're quite gutsy, and it's a bit of a belter, this one.
But I think it's more of a challenge in terms of a performance, cos it could turn into a shouting match.
And I think that there needs to be some gradation of colour, you know, some moments that are really exciting, and some moments that are soft - and they haven't really managed that yet.
There's quite a lot of that in this piece.
So it is time, ladies and gentlemen, for you to have a new song.
- Ooh! - Yes.
I really like this song, but I think it's appropriate for you.
You're a feisty bunch.
And it's a feisty song by quite a feisty band.
So the song is Movin' On Up by Primal Scream.
Brilliant! It was on the radio this morning.
- Oh, was it? - Yeah.
- So happy with that? - Yes.
There's a couple of different sections to this.
At the end of it is a big - and it's gospel on the original - a big sort of choral end piece, and that's what we're gonna look at first.
One, two.
Well done.
Just keep it small.
Save the rock for another day.
Altos, can I hear your line? One, two, three, four.
Keep it light.
two, three, four, off.
Let's all stand and let's sing that whole page.
Ready? And One, two OK, not perfect, but not bad.
Have a seat.
Good.
As far as I'm concerned, I thought that was an excellent rehearsal.
I think we're really coming on.
I just want to say it is serious, cos you're going out to compete in a contest.
Get behind it now and you'll be bloody glad you did it.
So that's it for today.
I will see you tomorrow.
Bye-bye.
- Thanks, Gareth.
- Well done.
Good one.
I think when you first came in, everyone was just so concentrated on theirselves.
Yeah.
But now we're concentrating on everybody else, which is what you've got to do, and Gareth is brilliant.
He is, cos that's what he's making us do.
We're all starting to know each other now.
We're getting to know each other better.
And when it starts sounding right in the choir, you get confidence, you know? If I'm honest, I didn't think they were gonna get as good as they've got this quickly.
I'm pleased.
They've worked hard.
And now they've got this great new song that they all love, I think the desire to do well and be good at this, and possibly even to win, is starting to creep in.
The competition is really is really in evidence.
To build momentum, and help focus the choir for their big performance in front of their work colleagues, Gareth is looking for a soloist.
It's so important to get the right kind of person for the solo.
It's not just somebody who can sing it.
It's somebody who can take charge of the performance and lead the way for everyone else.
And I'm looking for somebody to be able to really belt out a top A.
And that's hard.
That's really hard.
It's demanding.
I don't know if I'm gonna find anyone.
Can't miss you in that coat! Wow! Need sunglasses.
- Mmm.
Possibly a little on the high side.
- Could be.
Good.
OK, thank you.
- Well done.
Good job.
- Thank you.
You can go.
Well done, Pete.
I've had two tenors in a row, and they've both got it in their voice, but it's just that bit too high for them to do it safely.
It's not easy this, honestly.
- Oh, sorry.
- Why are you apologising? Because it went wuuh-uuh-uhh, wuuh-uuh-uhh.
- Did the nerves get the better of you? - They did.
- See you later! - Bye! And she ran out! - Sorry! - Bye! Bye! Bye! Try it one more time.
- Oh, I'm sorry.
I'm not usually like this.
- Don't worry.
Toughie like you? I've been practising and it sounds all right and then you come in here and you're just your stomach's like Yeah, don't worry.
- Couldn't do it.
- You did? No, I didn't.
No, I couldn't do it.
I didn't hit a real note.
It's difficult to come in here and find the right kind of connection to this song.
No-one's done it yet.
Looking forward to it.
Bit nervous.
I'm just thinking to myself I'm just going to get on with it.
If I don't try, I won't know.
I don't want somebody else to get it if I could have done it better.
So I'm just gonna go for it, see how we go.
Hi, Hayley.
Come on in.
Thank you.
My only question mark with it is, is it in the right part of your voice? - I think so.
- Come on! Let's hear it.
Back of the park.
Well done.
- Good job.
Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Very nice.
- Okey-dokey.
See you later.
There's just something about Hayley.
When she sings, I really want to listen to it.
She's got a kind of fearlessness about her.
I thought that was really good.
It's gonna take a lot to beat that.
Richard.
Enter.
You all right? Think you're gonna get the top note? We'll soon find out, won't we? That's where the ladies take over! Yeah.
You got it! - Thank you.
- You hit the top note.
- Just! - I'm pretty happy with that.
Thank you.
- Smashing.
Right, thank you! - Thanks, Richard.
It's one thing your mate saying, after some ciders, "You sang that all right, Rich.
Well done, mate.
" But when Gareth Malone, somebody of you know, in his profession, says that's good, then it's great.
I would love to do it.
I would love to do a solo bit, yeah.
Oh, I hate it when more than one person is good! Makes it much more difficult.
Let's make a start, shall we? Now, I've got a small problem.
I thought that two people did a great job, really great job, and I genuinely cannot choose between them.
Hayley.
Well, done Hayley.
Hayley, you did an absolutely cracking job.
It was really good.
You could do the whole thing.
But you have competition.
Richard.
Well done.
So I just kind of felt like it would be nice to just hear both people again.
And I'm gonna make my mind up today in this rehearsal.
Would you both come out the front, please? Give them an encouraging round of applause.
Come and stand here.
Could we try it - cos I quite I like them both - As a duet.
as a duet.
I wondered if we could do, maybe, one phrase each.
- Ready? Let's try that.
Ready? - Yeah.
It's one of those, isn't it? Have a seat.
That's it.
It's a duet.
- Love it.
Well done.
- Thank you.
- Our stars.
Our two stars of the day.
- It's gonna be great, really! Nice.
Very good.
When you sing together beautiful! They're enjoying it and they've bonded, and they're coming together as people, which is lovely, not just as singers.
I think it's gone very well.
Hayley's airside and Richard's landside.
And ne'er the twain shall meet, really in some instances, isn't it? And really, without this there's no chance of them ever meeting.
- That's true.
- Or performing together.
Yeah.
They'd never see each other or meet each other.
- We'd never see each other, and we're - No, I would never have known you.
OK, everyone! Let's get cracking.
Time and tide wait for no man, and not even for choirs.
OK.
Next thing.
And this is a biggie.
I would like to announce my intention for a big performance, right here at the airport, to the rest of the workforce.
My plan is to go and perform it in the Concorde Hangar.
Oh! It'd be amazing.
It'd be a great acoustic in there.
You'll have a Concorde behind you, so if you don't sound good, they'll be able to look at Concorde! So that'll be cool.
But you will sound good.
And I want to sort of come out, guns blazing, and I hope hear a really good sound.
Obviously, there won't be any guns because we've got airport security.
I strongly urge you to practise as hard as you possibly can.
Can I suggest that you get together in your sections and do sectional rehearsals? Informally, formally, whatever you can do, that will make a real difference.
You're starting to make an impressive sound.
With the work you do over the next couple of weeks, you'll get there, and we're gonna go and knock their socks off.
Yeah! Thank you very much.
Well done, everyone.
I've got a flight to get! Hi, Heather.
Choir practice.
Oh, yeah! - Come on.
- You've made me start laughing! This is the time for a little practice.
With the workplace performance approaching, the choir take every opportunity to practise.
Early.
Late.
One I think we finally sound choral.
It took a long time, because we were all individual voices, but now we sound like one.
We're got to go a bit more opera on this.
Energy right the way through.
- It is getting there.
- It's getting there.
I'm so excited! Before it was just 30 people that worked across the airport.
And now it's a tight-knit, friendly group.
There is a difference in us.
Good.
It's less than 24 hours till the workplace performance.
- Morning.
How are you? - Very good.
And you? - Good, thanks.
- Come in.
- I've brought my keyboard.
- Oh, good.
Gareth is visiting soloist Hayley for some last-minute practice.
Good.
- Are you in discomfort? - No.
No? You look tense.
I think I'm always tense when I sing.
I just like to get it right, I think.
Hmm.
You don't want tension.
So, I don't know.
I'm almost temped to get you to do the washing up whilst you sing.
You know? Just something It needs to be looser.
So the sound can just be released.
Longer here.
Ahh.
Breathe here.
Yeah.
- I think posture's your big thing.
- It is.
- Do you have a lot of postural problems? - I think so.
- Do you? - I slouch a lot.
- A lot.
- Yeah.
Do you get back pain? - Yeah.
- Have you been to see anyone about it? No.
I had a bit of an accident a while ago, so my back - Oh, really? has never been the same.
- Oh, what happened? - I was in a car accident.
- I broke a lot of bones and - In your back? Yeah.
Dislocated my hip.
Smashed my pelvis apart.
- Oh, my God! - I had internal problems as well.
I had a lacerated liver, damaged kidneys.
I had to have a tracheostomy cos of my lungs.
I saw a scar.
You had a tracheostomy? - Couldn't breathe for myself.
- Gosh.
You must have had some dark days.
Very dark days, yeah.
I was off for a good year from work and then I went back, February 2010.
I've worked since, but recently I've had to come off again, cos one of my bones isn't healed properly, so I've got to have it sorted out and The job we do is a bit physical.
And it were just too much.
So you're waiting for your shoulders to be all right.
- This is why the choir's been brilliant.
- It's got you back in.
This is helping me feel good about myself again, given me something to do.
Well, I think I think you're excelling, you know, I really do.
And in fact, and I think the altos, actually, are the strongest section, and I think you're a big part of that.
- See you later.
Bye.
- Bye! - Well done.
Thanks.
- See you later.
Hayley is the better for being in the choir.
She's back in the work environment, back talking to her colleagues.
She is able to represent the company in a really positive way, and do something for the company through singing.
And she feels useful again.
It's a fantastic thing.
It's the day of the performance.
I think the entire workforce should be really proud of everything they've achieved.
It's a good choir and they've got real spirit, and I think they represent this airport brilliantly.
We've got people across the business and they've got an energy and pizzazz about them that I really like.
My biggest worry is that they get a bit carried away, this choir, and that's not what choirs are about.
It's about making a contained and beautiful sound.
That can be emotional, punchy, really visceral and physical, but it mustn't be a shout.
I'm excited and I'm nervous and I don't know which is overtaking which at the moment.
It's all a little bit of a battle, but a few deep breaths and do everyone proud.
I've tried not to think about it too much, cos if you think about it too much, you end up Your words won't come out properly, yeah.
I don't want to let the choir down in front of everybody, OK? So that's the bit that I am most nervous about.
The rest of it, you can rely on each other, so it's all right.
I'm a bit nervy now, I think.
Ooh-hoo-hoo! Shoo-be-do-doo! What the choir don't know is that Gareth has invited one of the judges who will decide which choir will win the contest - former head of music at Eton College, Ralph Allwood.
What I'm looking for in choirs is that beautiful, balanced, blended sound that just pings whether they really are singing exactly the right note, which combines with everybody else's exactly right note.
Teamwork is essential.
And I want to see that there is teamwork going on, and see the quality of that teamwork.
Ralph will be hidden in the audience, amongst family and work colleagues.
Right.
This is your chance to prove yourselves as a choir.
Don't get carried away.
So listen.
Your ear is your friend.
If you can't hear the other parts, you're too loud.
If you feel yourself bellowing, if you feel yourself rocking out too much, just keep it contained.
I know you can do it.
And when you make that magical sound, it's absolutely wonderful, so let's get the really good sound that I know you're totally capable of.
- Sorry, we are at Manchester Airport.
- Yes.
And we are used to certain things throughout the day, so we were wondering if you would conduct us with these.
Yeah, I'd love that! Is that right? That plane's coming towards you now! What if it comes in here? - This way! Hello! - No, no, no! I am very proud to introduce to you the Manchester Airport Choir! The fantastic choir that you see behind me represents the whole of this organisation.
People who haven't ever met each other, and yet have worked together for years, have been brought together here.
That's what we're here to celebrate.
That's what choirs are all about.
So, without further ado, we're going to sing for you Movin' On Up.
Here we go.
Movin' On Up.
Look at this! I looked at my family first, and then looked at my colleagues, and all the thumbs went up, and I was, like Right! That feeling.
I don't think I'll forget that feeling.
- That's great.
- Really won't.
Seeing Dad in the choir was awesome.
Perfect, son! Seeing these guys in the front row helped as well.
And seeing a lot of the people who I work with as well at the back and everywhere.
And yeah, really, really proud of myself.
Feel really good.
I was thinking, "I can't believe she's there now.
She's stood there after all she's been through.
" Wonderful.
I'm very proud of her.
Very proud.
Oh, well done.
It was lovely! Well done.
You did it! I could see how much you gave and I appreciate that.
There was a lot of effort going on there.
It sounded great, it had real energy, had a real spark about it.
What you didn't know was that there was somebody in the audience watching your performance, and that person was one of the judges from the contest.
Oh, no! The guy's name is Ralph Allwood and he used to be the head of music at Eton School, and he's one of the most highly-regarded choir trainers in this country.
He's going to come and give you some feedback right now.
- Oh, right.
- Hi, everyone! I'm delighted to introduce you to Ralph Allwood.
Ralph, they're all yours.
That was fantastic.
Well done.
And you were doing everything together.
Everybody was part of the team.
It wasn't just a few individuals sort of going for it and others sort of tagging along.
Solos, well done.
Really confident and exciting.
Now I can see you all want the criticisms as well, don't you? - I can see in your eyes, right? - I've given them a taste for it! Right, now, first of all, every now and then the impact of individual phrases needed a little bit more.
My light shines on.
You just close your lips before.
It may seem silly, but it really does make a difference if you do that.
The next thing concerns Gareth, actually.
You've depended on him such a lot up till now, of course, because he's taught you everything.
But I suggest now you wean yourself from the conductor and you look at the audience, and go for it.
You will still see Gareth there, and if something goes slightly wrong, he'll still be able to do the fire-fighting and put it right, but you are looking right out to the audience.
So next time I hear you, I will hear complete connection with the audience, and I'll hear nice punch at the beginning of all your phrases.
- OK? - Thank you very much.
I'll leave you to your very able conductor, then.
Thank you.
How did you find the feedback? - Really helpful.
- Wonderful.
I thought it was all entirely fair.
He clearly enjoyed it.
It was a really convincing performance.
The next time that we gather, it's going to be for the contest.
I think you all know now, you've been in the choir long enough to get the idea, it's all about hard work.
I look forward to seeing you when it gets serious.
And thank you very much for a fantastic performance.
Thank you.
- I'm feeling quite competitive.
- Yeah, very competitive.
Cos with that feedback, I feel really positive about us now.
- Not getting to the final is not an option.
- No.
It's not an option.
We've got to get to the final now.
I think we can win it.
I think we can nail it.
- Fighting talk.
- We're gonna win it! Fighting talk from Manchester Airport.
It's ended up more refined than I ever thought they'd get.
No, they've done very well.
They've worked very hard.
The ensemble was so much more together than I ever thought it would be.
So, yeah, hats off to them for that.
That was a lot of grit that they showed.
The contest is on now, cos they want to win.
I think that's gonna bring out the best in them.
January 2017