The Choir: Sing While You Work (2012) s01e04 Episode Script

Severn Trent Water

1 One, two, three.
NARRATOR: 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.
(Bleeping) Are you a singer? - What do you do? - Dig holes for a living, basically.
Pat puts all his postbags in his bag Yes, he does! And for the workers, company pride will be at stake when they compete to find Gareth's best workplace choir.
- Everybody ready? ALL: Yes.
- Fighting spirit? - Yes.
Let's go and do it.
When I was learning to sing, it was through competing with other people 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.
- Wanna win it.
- Yeah.
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 three of the workplace choirs that will compete in his singing contest.
He's now on his way to the Midlands to create his fourth and final choir.
I'm going to one of the biggest water companies in the country.
I'm looking forward to it.
I don't really know anything about water other than when I turn on my tap and I expect it to be there.
It's just not something you ever think about.
I don't know what kind of person works for a water company.
I do know that it's a very important service.
We can't live without water.
It's like one of the emergency services.
Severn Trent is the second biggest private water company in the UK supplying clean water to nearly four million homes and businesses across the Midlands and Wales.
If we didn't do our job right, our customers would either turn on their taps to no water supply or that supply's not gonna be fit to drink.
With over 100 sites, the company employs over 5,000 staff, from call centres Hello, control room.
Sam speaking.
to work gangs who find and fix leaks.
We're like the foot soldiers, the Severn Trent army.
We've gotta go out and find these leaks and sometimes it can take days, it can take weeks, and there can be a lot of water being wasted, and it does get stressful.
Gareth is starting his search for singers at the company's brand-new headquarters in Coventry.
- Morning.
- Hi.
Good morning.
- I'm Gareth.
I'm here to start - Welcome to Severn Trent.
Here to start a choir.
Wow.
So corporate.
There must be thousands of people in this building and there might be somebody typing away at the back of an office who's got no idea that they're going to be an absolutely key member of my choir, and that really excites me.
- Have you heard about the choir? - I have.
- Have you put your name down? - I can't sing.
Severn Trent Water.
Charlotte speaking.
You're speaking to Stuart Gareth wants to make sure everyone in the company knows he'll be holding open auditions to find the strongest 30 voices.
Severn Trent business direct.
Jo speaking.
How can I help? - Hello.
Are you busy? - Just wrapping up a job.
Go for it.
He begins with the busy call centre staff who deal with thousands of enquiries and complaints every day.
Thank you for your call.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
- Have you got a call? - Not really.
Not at the moment.
So you must have to deal with people who are really angry.
Of course I do.
When you go home, can you hear them echoing round your head? - Always.
- Really? Every time I hear a beep, it's like, "Good morning.
You're through to Severn Trent Water.
" - Hello, hi.
I'm Gareth.
- Hi.
Steve Whittas.
I'm the manager of everybody on the floor.
I wanted to make sure you were aware that we've had quite a busy morning.
- Have you? - 500 calls so far this morning.
It's imperative that we make sure we're able to answer every one.
I can see that you're quite stressed, aren't you? Are you thinking about joining this choir? You might need it.
- You're a man under pressure.
- You may well be right.
Until I came here, I didn't realise how much people in call centres are under constant pressure.
And imagine what it's like when it's freezing out there and all the pipes are breaking.
It must be hell in here.
Imagine having a whole day of people being angry with you because they haven't got water.
Right, floor seven.
Next stop: Senior management on the top floor.
Spacious.
Hello.
Hello.
I'm Gareth Malone.
I'm starting a choir in your company.
- I'm Andy Smith.
- Hello.
Have you sung before? - Only at school and rugby matches.
- Right.
But I wanted to show willing and show a bit of leadership.
I like that, leading by example.
If I put my name forward, I can expect my people to do the same.
- OK, thanks very much.
- See you later.
Great.
With the boss on board, Gareth heads over 20 miles to Leicester in search of the workmen.
Morning.
- Hi.
I'm here to talk about the choir.
- Welcome to Leicester.
- Good to be here.
- Good luck.
Oh, right.
Oh, thanks.
Before you go, could I have a very, very quick word? Is that all right? No problem.
I'm here today to invite you to be part of a choir that will, I hope, represent your company in a national contest.
For me it's really important that this choir reflects the whole company, you know, from the girls in the office to all of you.
It's about bringing everyone together.
So I hope it's something you'd like to get behind.
Has anyone put their names forward? Two.
Come on, guys.
Anyone? For the company.
I can't sing.
I've got no teeth.
No way.
Can't sing.
I'm underwhelmed.
This is kind of what I expected.
You know, not even the girls from the office was enough of an enticement.
The following day, Gareth's back at head office to begin auditions.
Right, hello.
Follow me.
Come on in.
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to the audition.
I want to set up a choir in this company that can speak for the company, that represents the whole company.
I'm looking for a choir of around 30 people, out of a company of 5,000, so I'm looking for the cream.
I'm looking for the diamonds.
So the song that you are going to do now is Row, Row, Row Your Boat.
You're gonna sing it on your own.
Joanna.
And what's your second name? Bratt.
Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream Well done.
Have you done this before? Yes.
I've got a degree in music.
You've got a degree in music? I should be so much better.
- Can we do it in E major? - No.
Can I just hear E major? One, two, three and Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream - The roof nearly came off.
- It's not good.
It was good.
Well done.
Thank you very much, Joanna.
I note with some interest we have some people from the seventh floor here today.
Andy.
Here we go.
Are you ready? One, two, three and Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream Great.
Thank you.
Have you done anything like this before? Good.
Well done.
Thank you, Andy.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream Throughout the day, Gareth auditions over 80 office workers as he searches for the very best voices.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream - Um - Charlotte.
- Charlotte.
- Yes.
OK.
One, two, three and Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream Can I hear a lower one? B flat, please.
Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream - What do you do? - I work on the billing department.
- Billing? - On the phones.
Billing on the phones.
So you get money from people, basically.
- Yes, I do.
- It's an important job.
Somebody's gotta do it.
The job that I'm in at the moment, I completely I love it.
I'm the first point of contact for customers.
The job can be stressful, they can be angry and that, and you've got to learn to try and not take it personally.
But sometimes it is hard.
If the lines are busy, we don't get time to talk to each other.
We're never on the same breaks.
So it's really difficult to get to know people in the company.
I think having a choir will bring everybody together, and this is why I think the choir is a good thing.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream Good.
Thank you very much.
There were some great voices in there.
There were some really fantastic voices.
Fingers crossed.
You confident, Catherine? - Not really.
- I hope I get into the choir.
I've never really had any experience of singing alone, like with people around me.
Well done.
Thanks.
I'm actually properly excited.
That was really good.
There's some great potential here and people who really feel like they represent the company well but who also sing well.
I thought it was really good.
I was quite impressed.
Next, Gareth heads back to Leicester for the workmen.
Good turnout.
Very good.
Good afternoon.
Go and sit wherever you like.
If you can bunch up, that would be great.
- We've got the works.
- You all right? Great.
Hello.
Welcome.
And thank you very, very much for coming this afternoon.
Shall we get cracking and get singing? All right, I'm going to go to Lee all the way back over here.
- Hi, Lee.
Have you done this before? - No.
OK, let's hear it.
Two, three.
Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream Thank you, Lee.
What do you do? Dig holes for a living, basically.
GARETH: Dig holes.
Mick, hi.
Two, three and Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream - Frog in your throat? - A bit.
Yeah, it's fine.
A cold or just too many fags? - Probably too many fags.
- All right, OK, a bit of both.
Jamie, up you get.
Two, three and Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream - Done this before? - No Never? What do you do? - Find leaks, point at leaks.
- You're another leak finder.
You point at leaks? Well done.
OK, that's good.
OK, Josh.
Two, three and Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream We're gonna go up.
Two, three Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream We're gonna go up.
And Row, row, row your boat gently down Relax.
Merrily, merrily, merrily Well done.
It was bloody good.
No, stand up! It was good.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream Is that an A? That's a find.
Very good.
Well done.
That's a high tenor.
You're a rarity.
That is a high note.
That's really high.
Well done.
Thank you.
That's it.
You may go.
It surprised me.
I didn't have a clue what we were gonna be doing.
It seems like, well, everybody knows Row Your Boat.
It'll be in me head all night now, thank you very much.
Quite embarrassing standing up in front of everybody singing really high-pitched notes.
Uncomfortable with your work colleagues cos you're gonna get ripped now.
I'm gonna get absolutely hammered for having a really high-pitched voice.
Josh, the high tenor.
That was absolutely extraordinary.
Really I can't believe he's not sung before, but he's just got a naturally really high voice, the sort of voice you don't expect to find.
That was really exciting.
That was my rough diamond.
Brilliant.
Auditions over, Gareth must now decide who's in.
What I'm trying to do is get a balance of good voices, get it balanced across the company.
It's not just good voices but it's voices that are gonna go together and make up a section.
So if someone's gonna stick out too much cos they've got an enormous voice, it's not necessarily a good thing.
I want voices that are gonna blend.
He was good.
He's very good.
That is my choir.
The next day Gareth's 30 hand-picked staff gather for their first ever rehearsal at head office.
Come on in.
Welcome.
My choir.
Hello.
How are you doing? Hi.
Hi.
Hello.
Hi, Jill.
- Congratulations.
ALL: Thank you.
You're in the choir.
Very, very exciting, first day, first rehearsal.
There's a real buzz in the air.
It's brilliant.
It is a contest.
Definitely it is a contest.
Fundamentally it's about putting the company's best foot forward.
So we're looking for quality.
So, you, the choir, is going to choose its own song.
I think it's really important that you have a song that represents you, your company, your personality as a choir.
Does anybody have any immediate thoughts? Liam.
- Cry Me A River.
- That's a good one.
Come on and cry me a river Cry me a river I cried a river over you - I was toying with The Flood.
- The Flood.
Who's that by? - Take That.
- Do we all know it? Standing Can I hear it? Two, three and Standing On the edge of forever - That's a really good suggestion.
- But flooding's not a good concept.
I'm gonna be a bit of a party pooper here.
I get the lyricy bit that it's holding back the flood or whatever, but we just have to be a bit a sensitive to that.
Sadly we did flood a treatment works in 2007, and people who work in sewer flooding and so on, sometimes people's houses flood, so it's just a bit of a hostage to fortune.
It was actually about Take That and the fans missing them when they'd gone.
- That's what it was all about.
- Who is it that deals with complaints? - Great, well - Andy.
(Laughter) - Any others? Yes, Neale.
- River Deep Mountain High.
Is that Do I love you, my, oh my And it's great once you get to the chorus, but you will have to sing: When I was a little girl I had a puppy Rolling Like A River.
Rolling like a river - Who does that? - Tina Turner.
Rolling, rolling Rolling like a river Proud Mary.
It's your choice.
It's crunch time.
It's crunch time.
We've got to decide.
Is it Cry Me A River? ALL: No.
- No.
- Is it The Flood by Take That? ALL: No.
Is it Take Me To The River? Or is it Rolling In The River? - Rolling.
WOMAN: That's difficult.
- All those in favour, say aye.
ALL: Aye.
Motion passed.
Your first song is Proud Mary.
So Rolling like a river I've printed off the songs.
Does anyone know this? Let's just do the chorus.
If we just get that Rolling Rolling Sopranos, sing that for me.
Three and Rolling - A bit more energy.
Rolling Rolling on a river Altos too.
Rolling Rolling - That's it.
Rolling on a river All together.
Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling on a river And Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling on a river - Stand up.
Three and Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling on a river Good.
I think that's got great potential.
Well done, everyone.
Thank you.
Rolling On A River it is.
Let's leave it there.
Thank you very much.
Well done.
It was great.
I was amazed with the noise that we made the first time out.
I'm really pleased that there's a great mix of people.
It's really nice, if you think about it, like in a work environment, like We would have never have met each other, really, would we? I've spoken to Neale on lots of occasions during the day-to-day business at Severn Trent, and we've never met before.
GARETH: It sounded great.
That was a first rehearsal from a group who've never sung together, many of whom have never sung in harmony before.
It's great.
What's really exciting for me here is that we've got a really good strong men section and we've got lots and lots of singers who are naturally talented.
They've just got lovely voices.
There's some fantastic singing going to happen here.
A few days later Gareth heads out on a job finding leaks with one of the workmen, Josh.
So there's Josh, my star tenor.
Hi.
I'm dressed for the occasion.
- (Laughs) - How are you doing? - All right, Gareth.
How are you? - I'm good.
Good to see you.
I've come to see what you do.
Right.
- What's that? - The listening stick.
- That's what you find leaks with.
- A listening stick? We'll go down there and see if we can hear it.
What does the listening stick say? - It says I can't hear much.
- Right.
Do you need my ears? I've got a musician's ears.
That might be fantastic.
- No, no, there's no - There's no sound on there.
- So have you got kids or? - Yeah, I've got three kids, Gareth.
So are they old enough to know what's going on? - Yeah, I told them last night.
- What did they say? They laughed.
They thought it was quite funny, to be honest.
I can't sing, cos my partner, she's a singer.
She likes singing and doing things and she's really good.
- Do you sing with your kids? - No.
- No? Not at all? - No.
- So you don't ever do any singing? - No, never ever.
It's astonishing.
It's really interesting.
Cos I thought, you know, you sang You got the ear test absolutely right and you've got this really good range.
You seemed really vocally confident, actually.
Yeah, no, I don't ever - No? - Never ever.
- Football matches, nothing like that? - Nothing.
- Well, I hope you're gonna enjoy it.
- I do as well, yeah.
- You've gotta be a graffiti artist.
- That's brilliant.
- You get to be a graffiti artist.
- Have to have a sandwich now.
Well done.
You deserve a break.
What a nice guy, and how amazing that he's never sung before.
But he has just got a naturally high voice.
I think he's gonna be a secret weapon for this choir.
Over the following weeks, Gareth arranges for the choir to have additional rehearsal sessions with a local choir mistress.
(Rehearse Proud Mary) Brilliant.
Really well done.
But on his next visit, as staff gather at the Leicester Water Centre, Gareth discovers all is not well with the choir.
- Hello, everyone.
ALL: Hello.
Hello.
Good to see you.
Been working hard? ALL; Yes.
- Got a couple of absentee-ists.
- Am I missing Josh in the middle there? - Yeah.
Any ideas? He's struggling, struggling to find the time, I believe.
You're kidding? I think he has Has he actually officially He's handed in his notice on the choir.
- Yes.
- My super high tenor.
- Yes.
- Oh, no.
- So we're a man down on the tenor team? - Yes.
Um Oh, that's disappointing.
I think it's just timing.
He just can't find the time.
Damn.
OK.
Let's move on.
We still have a lot of people in the choir.
Let's just do it part by part.
Let's start at the bottom and work our way up.
Can I actually just hear the tenor line from the beginning? Tenors all together all the way through.
Big wheels keep on turning - Smooth here.
Proud Mary keep on burning - Energy.
Rolling - Sound.
Rolling - There it is.
Rolling on a river Don't hang on "er" too much.
Rolling, rolling - Short "er".
Rolling on a river OK, we're gonna do the alto lines, Here we go.
One, two, three and one.
Doo doo doo, doo doo Doo doo doo, doo doo It's like the confidence arrives ten minutes later It's gotta be Doo doo doo, doo doo That's the sound I want.
Two, three and Doo doo doo, doo doo Doo doo doo, doo doo But now all the energy's gone out of it.
We can either have Doo doo doo Or we can have Doo doo doo Doo doo doo, doo doo Two, three.
Yeah, please, let's stand up.
Let's try that again.
Two, three Doo doo doo, doo doo - Now down.
Left a good job in the city Working for the man every night and day And I never lost one minute of sleeping Worried 'bout the way things might have been Big wheels keep on turning Proud Mary Keep on burning Sit down.
Thank you very much.
OK.
We are getting there, no question.
Let's take a break there.
Thank you very much.
It's disappointing that the first person has potentially left the choir.
- Yeah, that's sad.
- That was quite flattening, wasn't it? I think it'll be all right.
I'm going nowhere.
- I'm going nowhere either.
- No reserve's having my place.
- These chances don't come round.
- Exactly.
I think we're struggling to carry it a bit.
I'm finding it quite difficult at the top end of the register.
There are some quite high notes in there.
I'm gutted about Josh pulling out.
That is really bad news, bad news for them as a section, cos he brought a kind of ring, a brightness, that high voice that no one else has got.
It really felt like those tenors are struggling.
Right, so, I wanted you to come here today because I think what you need is to do your first performance of this right now.
Bring it on.
Right now downstairs are the whole workforce who work here.
They're all gathering and they've come to see you perform.
I'm not joking, no.
I'm serious.
I am serious.
- Who's up for a challenge? ALL: Yes.
This is about getting out there and performing.
And however this goes, let's learn the lessons.
Give it 100%, everything you've got, and enjoy it.
Let's go and do this.
Come on.
The guys downstairs are sort of like, "Ugh!" Like, "We go out and dig holes.
" They're quite intimidating.
It's like, "I'm a real man.
" If you go down and sing in front of them, in a choir, it's a little bit daunting.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
Mostly gentlemen, actually.
Good to see you.
This is your choir.
This is most of your workforce represented here.
There's guys from head office, guys from all over the place.
And this is their first performance and I told them that they were going to perform for you about five minutes ago.
So there's some degree of nerves and tension, but we're gonna man up and we're gonna get on with it.
Here we go.
(Tenors sing rhythm) (Altos join in) (Sopranos join in) Left a good job in the city Working for the man every night and day And I never lost one minute of sleep Worrying 'bout the way things might have been Big wheel keep on turning Proud Marry Keep on burning Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling on a river Said we're rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling on a river Cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis Pumped a lot of 'tane down in New Orleans But I never saw the good side of the city Until I hitched a ride on the river boat queen Big wheel keeping on turning Proud Mary Keep on burning Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling on a river Said we're rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling on a river What do you think? Pretty good song.
Well done, everyone.
That's it.
We did it.
- You are a choir.
- (Cheering) That was well slick.
I was impressed.
That sounded professional.
The performance was really good.
They seemed really confident singing.
I thought it'd be crap.
It surprised me.
They are quite good.
- I think we sounded better.
- Better than we did all day.
- I really enjoyed myself in there.
- Yeah, it was all right, wasn't it? Yeah.
We're starting to sound like a choir.
It was much better in performance than rehearsal, but it wasn't it wasn't the finished product at all.
The real bitter taste in my mouth is we seem to have lost Josh from the choir, and without him, actually, they suffered a little bit, so I'm a bit gutted.
Later that evening Josh should be somewhere around here.
Gareth goes in search of tenor Josh.
Wonder whether I can persuade him back in.
There he is.
- Hello, Josh.
- Gareth, you all right? - You're a difficult man to find.
- I know, yeah.
- You been busy? - Oh, yeah, very busy.
We're busy tonight as well.
Really busy.
I'm just, you know, I'm sorry I can't make the choir no more.
- I'm a bit gutted.
- I know, I am as well, to be honest.
Aw, no.
What's your reason? My partner was ill for quite a while with my daughter.
- She's been ill? - She was in hospital for two months.
- Is this following the birth? - This was just before it.
She was basically paralysed from the bottom.
She was in a wheelchair and all that, but the baby was pushing on her pelvis which then trapped some kind of nerves or something which stopped her from moving.
- Oh, my goodness.
- So we've had a bit of a mad 'un.
So just trying to sort all that out to be honest.
I completely understand that.
Fair enough.
I think it's one of the difficulties of trying to create a choir in a workplace is that people have got lives.
Well, look, stick at it, do keep singing, cos I think you should, I really do.
And I hope your wife's all right and good luck with the baby.
She'll be all right, yeah.
Thank you very much, Gareth.
Take care.
- See you.
- See you.
I'm really gutted, I'm really gutted, cos he's such a lovely bloke, a really, really nice guy, and has this really interesting voice.
But the show must go on.
A few days later, Gareth gets a chance to see a different side of the water industry.
What is in there? At one of the company's sewage treatment works he catches up with choir member Neale.
Morning.
Gareth, how are you doing? You all right? - Yes.
Good to see you.
- Yes, yeah.
- So how's the choir? - It's great.
I'm still in shock and awe about how good it sounds, I really am.
Apart from the camaraderie and getting out to meet people that I've spoke to but never met, and the feeling that we're actually knitting Severn Trent together, cos we're a vast organisation.
- Humanises the company.
- Yeah.
- Show me around.
- Yeah, course, yeah.
GARETH: I'm slightly trepidatious.
Do you get used to this smell? You do all week and then you have the weekend off and then you come back in and go, "What a terrible smell.
" Really? NEALE: I mean, we're looking at now quite a high flow.
Everybody's just had a shower, been to the toilet in the morning first thing.
GARETH: Just looks like a river and then you just notice the bits floating in it.
- Those are the bits we want to keep.
- That's the good stuff.
Yeah, that's the good stuff, that's the organics.
- Bits of people's food.
- Yeah, yeah.
Digested or otherwise.
Oh, there's a pea.
(Laughter) There's a bit of bread there.
What's that? Bits of rag, cotton buds, things like that.
The sieves drop it into there, they're called screens, into a conveyor and drop it into the skips below.
- And what happens to that? - That will go to landfill.
What's the worst thing that's come through? The worst thing that comes through is pets.
- No.
- Pets, yeah.
Oh, no.
Little hamsters, things like that, come through.
- You're kidding? Oh, no.
- It's horrible, dealing with those.
We had a man's willy come through once.
- You're joking me? - No.
GARETH: It's a fascinating process.
I'd never really thought about it.
Thank goodness we've got it.
Thank goodness for people like Neale.
I tell you what, I'm going to be very careful what I put down my sink and even more careful about what I put down my toilet.
Later that day Gareth decides to sort out his own messy problem: The missing tenor.
He hopes one of the workmen from his reserve list might get him out of a hole.
- Jamie.
- Hello.
- Hello.
- How are you doing? - I'm all right.
Have you got a moment? - Yes.
You've probably heard I'm one man down.
- One man down.
- I'm a tenor down.
And you did a great audition.
I'm wondering if you're interested.
- Yeah, cool.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
- You're excited about it? - Yeah.
- Yeah? Good.
Beautiful.
When do I start? - This afternoon.
- Cheers, mate.
- Yeah? (Cheering) - Brilliant.
- Well done, Jamie.
I knew one of the lads had dropped out middle of the week or last week, but I didn't know whether I was gonna get called upon or not, but I have been, so, yeah, I'm happy.
(Hums) With his new tenor in place, Gareth focuses on giving the choir a more challenging song.
(Hums) For me, this is the perfect song for this organisation, because ever since I've arrived, all they've talked about is being under pressure.
This has a bit more lyrical music in it, so it's a bit more of a vocal challenge to sing.
That's tricky.
Change our way of It's a step on from where they've been so far.
So this has got a couple of choral challenges that's gonna them work at the level they need for the competition.
So welcome, everyone.
It's time to introduce a new song.
(Whooping) Now, I was thinking really hard about what song to do with you, and when I came here on the first day, I was walking around and there was one phrase that kept cropping up, and it was like a joke.
And the phrase is "under pressure".
In a couple of weeks' time I want you to perform for basically your entire company.
So we're gonna do Under Pressure.
Here we go.
Let's crack on.
(Hums tune) One, two, three (Basses hum tune) Watch there, basses, that the lower note is in tune.
(Hums tune) (Basses hum tune) That's it.
Altos, and Pressure, pushing down on me Pressing down on you No man ask for That's it.
No man ask for Good, OK.
Now, tenors.
Under pressure That burns a building down Splits a family in two Puts people on streets I heard somebody move on "down".
Building down - Does anyone wanna own up? - (Laughter) Can we do it with sopranos, please? Three Under pressure That burns a building down Splits a family in two Puts people on streets - Good.
- (Basses hum tune) - Two, three Under pressure Pushing down on me Pressing down on you No man ask for - Well done.
Under pressure That burns a building down Splits a family in two Puts people on streets It's gonna be good, right? It's really gonna be good.
OK, well done.
Big performance in the atrium is very nerve-wracking, actually, in front of the whole company as well.
Cos we're based here, a lot of the staff from this building will be there watching us.
- I hadn't thought of that.
- I have.
- Thanks.
Great.
That's worse now.
- Unfortunately.
So that's gonna be the difficult thing.
NEALE: The performance in the atrium will sound great in there as well, lifting up to everyone, really high up there.
Brilliant.
That's gonna go well.
I'm really, really up for that.
I'm really looking forward to it, definitely.
For the company performance, Gareth wants a lead soloist and decides to hold auditions on executive floor seven.
I think it's quite intimidating to come in here.
This is their boardroom.
Most of them won't ever have been in here, and I think that's a good thing, because if they can't come in here and stand up to this challenge, then how are they going to do it in front of the whole company and take on the responsibility of representing the company? It's very important that the soloist can do that.
I never thought I'd be on the seventh floor singing.
Probably thought I'd be up here on a disciplinary, but not singing.
- Hello, Mick.
- Morning.
- How are you? - Very well.
How are you? Very good, thanks.
Nervous? - I wasn't.
- And then you come in.
Yeah.
Pressure, pushing down on me Pressing down on you No man ask for Under pressure That splits a family in two - No.
- That burns buildings down.
Yeah, I'm gonna leave it, I think.
Pressure, pushing down on me Pressing down on you No man ask for There's a lack of connection with the words.
This is about pressure, you know, that splits a family in two.
It can't feel bland.
It can't feel, you know I was gonna say it can't feel corporate.
I haven't found anyone yet and I'm almost halfway through.
Come on, man.
What you waiting for? Still waiting to audition is office worker Charlotte.
(Sighs) And new tenor, workman Jamie.
Little bit nervous, actually, now, yeah.
I weren't on the way here.
I was thinking, yeah, easy.
But no.
Now I've seen what I've actually gotta go into, I'm cacking it a bit.
- Hi, Jamie.
How are you doing? - How are we doing? Only been in the choir for a day and you're already going for a solo, so it's very impressive.
Apart from audition pressure, what sort of pressures do you have in your life? Well, pressures at work and pressures that like to look after the people you love, you know what I mean, just Yeah.
Yeah.
- Mostly pressure now.
- Yeah, mostly pressure now.
But I think that's exactly what the song is about.
Try it.
OK.
Pressure, pushing down on me Pressing down on you No man ask for Under pressure That burns a building down Splits a family in two Puts people on streets Thank you, Jamie.
Well done.
JAMIE: Cheers, mate.
Very impressive that he came in as a reserve yesterday.
I'm seriously impressed with him as an individual and actually his voice is not bad at all, and he's got something about him, he just seems quite kind of robust.
- Hello.
- Hello, Charlotte.
How are you? - Not bad.
- How are you feeling? Nervous but all right.
Pressure that builds a Oh, no, that's the last one.
Hang on.
Pushing down on me Pressure.
Pressure's a big word.
Make it bigger.
Pressure That Pushing And again.
Ready? Pressure, pushing down on me Pressing down on you No man ask for Under pressure That burns a building down Splits a family in two Puts people on streets Just do it one time and get the words right from memory.
You've almost got it.
Pressure, pressing down on me Pushing down on you No man ask for Under pressure That burns a building down Splits a family in two Puts people on streets - Thank you, Charlotte.
Well done.
- Thank you.
- You may go.
- Thank you.
Charlotte has a great voice.
She's a contender.
I think she could do it, but can she remember the words? Can she get right through it? Hmm.
Yeah.
OK, come on in.
So, very big morning.
Thank you very much for turning out to do the solo audition, and you all did very, very well.
I've made my decision, and the soloist is going to be Charlotte.
Well done, Charlotte.
Charlotte, you are the soloist.
How are you feeling? (Clears throat) My heart is like nearly like it's nearly out me chest.
You did a great job and you will do a great job, I think, for the company, Very, very well done.
Let's get ready to sing.
Two, three and Under pressure That burns a building down Splits a family in two Puts people on streets - Big sound.
It's the terror of knowing what this world is about Now.
Watching some good friends screaming "Let me out" Pray tomorrow Takes me higher Pressure on people People on streets I think it's time to put the solo in.
From the beginning.
One, two, three (Basses hum tune) Pressure - Oh, sorry.
- That's it.
That's you.
That's you.
Three and (Basses hum tune) Pressure, pushing down on me Pressing down on you No man ask for GARETH: Hello! OK, we'll take a break there.
Thank you very much.
CHARLOTTE: I'm ecstatic, but my heart is just pounding.
I'm really overwhelmed.
I just can't believe it.
I just can't believe it.
Charlotte, she's slightly underconfident, I think, and I need to build her up a bit, but she's got the right sound and she's musical enough to make something of that little moment.
(Charlotte sings) That evening Charlotte practises her solo at home with her mum.
I don't think I know the other bit.
It's the first time I've ever done anything like this before.
I'm gonna be like leading the choir for a slight bit, which is gonna be pretty scary.
Pressing down on you No man ask for - You'll be all right.
- Yeah.
I suppose my confidence will be all right when I get there.
I used to get asked at school, "Oh, sing for me, sing for me," and I'd stand there and I'd do it.
I did used to get laughed at and I think it has bothered me over the years.
Puts people on streets - That's all we've got so far.
- That's wicked.
The choir makes me feel comfortable, because I've not been with Severn Trent for a long time.
I felt part of something and it's a nice feeling.
(Hums tune) Under pressure That burns a building down Splits a family in two Puts people on streets The company performance is just a week away.
That burns a building down Watching some good friends screaming "Let me out" We are all starting to bond together as a family, really.
It's nice to see, especially when we've not known each other for long.
This is our last dance Can you feel how it's beginning to be musical? I find it really energising, I go out, I've just got so much energy and highlight of my week.
Tomorrow Takes me higher The sound is suddenly much richer.
I find I get a lot less stressed, happily plodding along at work, looking forward to Wednesday's rehearsal.
I buzz off that until sort of Friday time.
This is our last dance Under pressure Excellent.
- How's work? - All right.
- What floor are we going to? - Seven.
It's less than 24 hours until the workplace performance.
- Do you ever normally come up here? - No.
No.
Gareth wants to prepare soloist Charlotte for the challenge of singing in front of hundreds of work colleagues.
Pressure, pushing down on me Pressing down on you No man ask for Notewise, it's fine.
I'd just like to see a bit more personality.
- Yeah, yeah, course.
- One, two, three and Pressure, pushing down on me Pressing down on you No man ask for Charlotte, you're such an engaging speaker and you're such an engaging personality, full of energy, and yet as soon as you sing, it's like you're in an exam setting.
You know, when you speak, you're really animated, and I want that in your singing as well.
- Can you do that? - Yeah.
Pressure, pushing down on me Pressing down on you No man ask for That's better.
You've gotta forget that you're surrounded by senior managers and there's gonna be the whole company in the audience.
You've gotta think, "I've got something to tell you that you don't know about, and it's my story, it's my version of this, of your company, and you're all going to listen.
" It's not easy.
I'm not saying it's easy.
No, it's not.
I thought it was gonna be a doddle.
- No, it's not.
- But it's really not.
- Let's go and look at the space.
- Yes.
It's quite a big space.
Mm.
Yeah.
I always think it's good to have sort of pre-match nerves, think about what you're gonna have to do and try to imagine your voice filling that space.
I think you need to think about your performance really just like that.
It's a big old room to fill.
- It is.
- So hopefully that'll be full tomorrow.
Yeah.
I never thought when I got this job at Severn Trent, I never that I was gonna be singing in front of near enough everybody that works for the company.
I'm not that nervous really, but it'll be different tomorrow, I think.
The day of the workplace performance has finally arrived.
A little bit nervous, a little bit flustered, but I'm petrified.
My heart's starting to beat fast now cos I'm thinking about all the people that are coming in.
People, my colleagues, are gonna be up there watching.
I just feel like it's all on me at the minute.
Make sure I hit the notes.
Cos at the end of the day, I don't wanna let the choir down, you know.
As they prepare, what the choir don't know is that Gareth has invited one of the judges who'll decide which choir will win the overall contest, renowned conductor Manvinder Rattan.
I'm hoping that we're gonna hear a really tight team.
How together are they? Are they singing as a team or are they singing as lots of individuals? In addition, I'm looking for a sense of engagement with the audience, so they're not just standing there performing to themselves, they're performing to someone else.
Manvinder will be hidden in the audience of family and work colleagues.
OK, everyone, let's gather round, please.
I can feel the nerves descending.
It's now time to go out and enjoy it and make a performance.
Performance to me is a gift, it's an act of generosity, it's reflecting the spirit of your company back to the rest of the company.
It's really important that you feel that whilst you're singing.
Really put heart and soul into this.
OK, very good.
Could we line up, please? Good afternoon, everyone.
Really good to see so many of you, even you up on the top floor there.
It gives me great pride to introduce you to the Severn Trent Choir.
(Cheering and applause) The choir you see behind me represents your company because they're going forward to a contest where they will be competing with other British workplaces, so I would encourage you to support your choir, get behind your team.
We're gonna sing for you.
(Basses hum tune) Pressure, pushing down on me Pressing down on you No man ask for Under pressure That burns a building down Splits a family in two Puts people on streets It's the terror of knowing what this world is about Watching some good friends screaming "Let me out" Pray tomorrow takes me higher Pressure on people People on streets (Hum tune) Cos love's such an old-fashioned word And love dares you to care for The people on the edge of the night And love dares you to change our way Of caring about ourselves This is our last dance This is our last dance This is ourselves Under pressure (Cheering) - Well done.
You did a fantastic job.
- Thank you.
Yes! I don't think anyone thought they would be as good as they were.
It was amazing.
I loved it so much.
It just echoed all the way through and it was fantastic.
I think this building is meant for singing.
It was a fantastic performance.
I've never done anything like that before and it was really quite a sort of tingly feeling, everybody smiling and going "Whoa!" You seemed really confident and I think you socked it out, you really did.
They will have heard that on the seventh floor.
I'm gonna cry.
Don't.
Hey, well done.
How was that? - Thanks for that.
- It was good, wasn't it? - What did you think? - OK.
- OK.
- That means a lot to me.
That OK speaks volumes.
Very, very well done.
Really, I was really happy with that.
- How did you feel? ALL: Yeah.
There is one thing that you didn't know about today's performance.
There was somebody in the audience who is a conductor of national repute, a very highly regarded conductor called Manvinder Rattan.
But more importantly he is one of the judges from the contest.
And he's going to come and give you some feedback on your performance right now.
This is Manvinder.
ALL: Hi.
Well done, everyone.
That was an astonishing performance.
I was blown away by the commitment that you all showed to that and clearly the immense work that you put into it.
I start judging a choir the moment it starts walking.
I started judging you the moment you walked past me onto that stage and I was looking at the way you were walking.
What did your body language tell me? Because part of singing is about projecting the sense of enjoyment and the story and the spirit that we want to convey to our audience.
So when I'm supposed to be singing something happy and I'm looking really miserable, there's a problem there, so thinking about that presentation bit.
So that's one thing I'd like you guys to work on.
So good luck for the next part of this process and well done.
Thank you so much.
The feedback that the judge gave us was really surprising.
Seeing him has kind of helped us to think, right, we need to up our game even more now.
He's impressed with us already, so in a few more weeks, when it comes to the actual contest, we'll have a good chance of winning it, I think.
- Wanna win it.
- Yeah.
Right from the beginning, wanna win it.
And we're gonna go hell for leather to win it.
GARETH: What a fantastic day and what a moment for this company.
Just felt like it really came together under one roof.
It was really exciting.
Really actually very moving in a corporate environment, which is just a wonderful thing to see.
It really had soul, that performance.
They have work to do, but I think now that we're at the contest stage, it's going to get competitive.
January 2017
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