I am not usually bothered about what may or may not be the top of the charts - or, as it is known now, the Christmas No 1. It is usually a fix, anyway, and the winner of the X factor tops the charts. And I am not all that partial to the X Factor, I confess.
This year, however, I will be doing my bit. I have pre-ordered the single which IS going to be the top of the UK charts. A pop star? Well, no. A group of ordinary military wives, whose partners/husbands are all active servicemen. While they were away for a 6 month tour of duty in Afghanistan this year, their wives were given the opportunity to be in a choir. None had sung in choirs before, and our wonderful Gareth Malone, now a national treasure, created a choir of such beauty that it reduced the country to tears.
Gareth Malone, an unlikely star if ever there was one, has created choirs in the most unlikely of places - deprived areas, tough schools. He believes that singing changes lives, and he could well be very right there. His series have been so amazing, and compelling viewing, and I gather he is heading to America to film a pilot for a possible series there too. Just send him straight back here, please. We need him.
So, about making the nation cry. His Military Wives choir, whose husbands returned just before the end of the series, were invited to sing at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on November 12th this year. In front of the Queen and the rest of the Royal Family. And 8-9000 people in the Hall, and oh, about 6 million watching on TV. And they sang a song specially written for them - the letters they had written to and received from their husbands provided the words for the beautiful beautiful song, and the nation cried.
If you google Military Wives, the first thing that comes up for me is a Youtube link which lasts 6mins 20. It has some irritating words over the picture, but watch it - it is what we saw (without the words). And listen right to the end of the 6 minutes, because you will get a feel of what it was like and what it meant to them.
So this year, they are going to knock the X Factor into oblivion.
And this is why.
Ordinary women. Wives. Mothers.
Magic,.
Yes indeed. I love Gareth. I love singing and think that it's such a wonderful keeper-up of spirits.
ReplyDeleteI so agree, Isabelle - singing is a life-saver at times. And Gareth is just lovely!
ReplyDeleteI know nothing of Gareth, but I'm going to find out more after that. Very moving. Thank you, Linds, for telling us about this.
ReplyDeleteOh Linds, this catapulted me back in time about 43 years; a time when I said good-by to my soldier husband as he left to go to Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteIt is absolutely beautiful. Hard to see through the tears - but beautiful.
Wow...that is amazing! Beautiful song too.
ReplyDeleteOh, thank you for bringing that to my attention, LInds! It's fabulous - so heartfelt. Serving one's country is really service by the whole family, isn't it? I thought of you and Geoff too. I'm going to post this on my Friday Five.
ReplyDeleteI am a military wife in the United States and I loved the Military Wives Choir show - I found it on YouTube, three episodes with each episode broken into four parts. I freely admit that I cried through just about the whole thing - the emotions that it stirred, the letters, the feelings of the women, it was amazing. I liked their page on Facebook as well and love seeing that they are still performing and visiting wounded soldiers in recovery centers. God bless them for their support of the military and they truly showed us the power of music.
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