I thought it was awful. Sorry. I didn't watch it through because it was too awful. None of the choirs were in tune all the way through and... well I just got so irritated that I switched it off. I know such a good choir and I wish they had entered. It certainly didn't find Britains best choir. And if it did then I'm sorry that I live here!

I really enjoyed the 3 heats and this week's first 'proper' competition. The right group went out.

I disagree with how badly the choruses sang. If you didn't see it all the way through, you wouldn't have seen Only Men Aloud, who were definitely the best choir on the night, although I did see the judge's point that their song was a show song rather than a choir song.

I disagreed with the judges on the Bath Chorus, but obviously so did the audience, as they'd have put Bath in the bottom two, rather than Relevation.

With regard to singing in or out of tune, yes it is a problem but I think the comment from the Bath Chorus MD was spot on - these choruses are having to learn 3 new songs a week - that's amazing, especially those doing simple (or not so simple) moves (for example the intro song). A friend's brother was in the Hereford Police choir, and they felt in advance that they could do songs from their current repertoire (not exactly coasting, but not having to start from scratch), but when they reached the heats, they realised that that wasn't going to work. Yes people can learn a whole song from scratch in a week, with movement, but to do that with a whole chorus is going some, especially as many of them can only practice in the evenings.

I haven't seen the show, but I did want to counter a point made about choreography...

As far as I am concerned, choreography can simply mean that a choir stands still. It's still an instruction on how to use the body of the performer. Choreography also includes whether a soloist might step forwards to sing, which I don't imagine is uncommon even in classical concerts. Yes, it seems unimportant to comment on "choreography" over musical techinique and style, but equally, it is relevant to the overall experience for the audience.

Having conducted a choir in my school's Inter-House Music Competition, clothes and choreography definitely count more than one might imagine towards creating an excellent performance.

I tend to avoid all singing TV shows because my training makes me horribly aware of all the faults in the performer, even if they might sound better than I do!

Anyone watch the King's Singers on the BBC Proms the other night? They were FANTASTIC!!! Superb repertoire (with fun pieces including some "choreography" too) - but all very classy with perfect intonation and all done "in the best possible taste" - LOL they're my "last choir standing" any day!!

Yes, they really were great. I have seen them sing some of some of those songs many times over the years, with some different members of course, but they never lose their sparkle.

I am so glad that the Bath Male Choir have gone. I thought that they should have been voted out ages ago but perhaps I am missing something.

I was surprised by LCS - I actually really enjoyed it, though ACM gospel choir just romped home, in my humble.

Seems to me that this is the wrong place to look for choral excellence - so why cpmplain if you don't find it there? - but the right place to find a fun show that makes singing accessiblr to many, and worlds ahead of any of the reality pop shows. All the better for that. Sensible and spot on judges commetns as well, I thought.

The most moving choral performances I've heard in the past 12 mths have been from Young at Heart Chorus - and nobody would claim that they were the greatest choir in the US!

nick

I've really enjoyed "Only Men Aloud" and "Ysgol Glanethwy" (hmm, not so good at Welsh spelling!) . I though YG were judged pretty harshly last week for the Queen arrangement. I thought that "Bath Male Choir" did themselves a disservice with the material they chose - I reckon you give yourself a glass ceiling if you choose material like that - "I Believe" - Yuck! Not profound (I'll put Rudyard Kipling's "If" in that category too ), there's a limit as to what interpretation you can make of such terrible lyrics and what colouring you can put in. All the song choices seemed along similar lines . Also, they were out of tune fairly consistently. I thought YG's performance this week was very impressive , although the tone sounded a little harsh on some of the higher notes - what an achievement though!
I like hearing what the blond haired judge has to say because she seems to have an incredibly trained ear.... I find myself either agreeing or thinking "really?..." and then reflecting on the performance and thinking "oh yeah!".

I may be wrong, but I've had the impression that in the later stages they are given a song to learn - in a week - and I'm not sure how much input, if any, they've had as to the choice. They certainly aren't allowed to repeat anything they've done in previous rounds , which is quite tough if they have limited rehearsal time.

Also, they are now singing to pre-recorded backing tracks, which cuts down on any individuality or spontanaeity. Not altogether surprising that they all sound a bit the same now. But hey - the organisers made it clear that it's not supposed to be a singing competition, but more of a popularity contest.

I can't stand the idea of this programme, but when I watch it, I like listening to the choirs. I just hate the format.

So everyone agree with the choices tonight? My 3 favourite are in the final to be honest. I thought Revelation were back on form, Only Men Aloud's vocals and harmonies were gorgeous and Ysgol Glanaethwy just pulled it out of the bag and their "circle of life" was just outstanding, gave me goosebumps and chills!

Anyone else?

I only caught the 'sing-off' at the end, and when Ysgol Glanaethwy said they were going to sing Circle of Life I thought 'oh no, overdone crowd pleaser...' but I agree, there was at least one point where I had goosebumps - it was beautifully done.

[quote name='HelenVJ' date='Aug 19 2008, 12:14 PM' post='734751']
I may be wrong, but I've had the impression that in the later stages they are given a song to learn - in a week - and I'm not sure how much input, if any, they've had as to the choice.


Really? I didn't think so - there have been comments to the effect of 'that was a good choice of arrangement"... " I'd like to hear you do something more 'choral'" etc. Anyone shed any light?


I didn't agree entirely with the votes this week... i'm not a big fan of "Revelation"... they have been asked to use more complex harmonies pretty much every week for ages now and I don't think they have delivered at all. They consistently use simpler harmonies and they are not as accurate in executing them, even given this, as the other choirs that are left. "Only men aloud" and "YG" are streaks ahead in my book.... and i'd have put "ACM" a fair bit ahead of "Revelation" based on their performance over the past weeks and especially given last weeks performance which showed flair (the 'head-to-head' performance gave a little glimpse of that again this week).
I reckon "Only Men Aloud" will win (not sure they're my absolute favourite... I like YG nearly as much)... they seem to be singing a repetoire of songs geared towards an album release (or am I being cynical? ).

I thought this weekend's was funny, with Watson going to the men only lot: Your tenors aren't as good as me, nyer nyer nyer nyer.

I have only caught bits of this but I have to say, ACM aren't what I would call a decent gospel choir. They sounded, from what I heard, like a load of people who'd watched Sister Act 2 and thought they knew about 'gospel singing' because I've sung Gospel and it's a heck of a lot more disciplined than what they were doing! And I've sung that song as well, in our non-audition jazz and gospel choir at uni and it was STILL better than the ACM's version! Although they did get one gospel 'push' in there which I gave them kudos for because that's the hardest thing to get people to understand, how to feel that 'push', but I still thought YG were muuuch better. And sounded like a choir and not lots of soloists all together.

ACM were disappointing this week - they've been much better in earlier rounds. I suspect that there's been a clash between ACM's apparent policy of sharing round the solos, and the competitive nature of the format where, as two of the judges noted, you must put forward your best soloists. The judges said it in the gentlest way they could, but they were basically saying the soloists weren't good enough. And, to my ears, ACM as a whole sounded jaded. Not surprising, given the intense work that the weekly workload must demand. Quite frankly, I'm stunned at what all these amateur choirs are achieving week after week, and live.

I was a huge fan of Revalation, they really were the masters of emotion.

Well done to Only men aloud....no doubt the huge following of women voted them to victory!

I liked revelations rule the world and whatever song they sang before as well. Personally I thought they had a better vocal range and created more complicated harmonies than only men aloud.

Revelation whould have at least made the final sing off....

belated reply to this! I thought so too - they were dull, uninspired and lifeless, and I was amazed they got through the (only one admittedly) round that I heard.

Had Watson been competing, I wouldn't have put him through, whatever it was he sung struck me as fairly bland, and as he said about some others, 'forgettable.'

I too loved Revelation's version of Rule the world; in my opinion it was much better than the Take That (?) version.

However, I do think the best choir won in the end. As the judges said many a time, each one of the members in Only Men Alound would probably have been a good soloist, and together they were amazing!

Having been the person who started this thread, I've been interested to read the varying views of posters.

I did see the first three instalments but then I missed two because I was out and didn't have the motivation to watch the rest, I'm afraid.

I can see the point that it is making people aware of choral singing and hopefully enthusing viewers enough to want to go out and find a choir to join, but I'm afraid the whole thing makes me, personally, sad rather than uplifted.

Sad because it IS part of the 'dumbing down' culture and the current obsession with 'reality TV'. I'm aware of how much things can be manipulated and how careful editing can produce the 'best' response from viewers.

I was fairly horrified at the amount of horrible, out-of-tune, shouty singing that was praised by the judges because the choir had 'energy' or 'good choreography', and I thought some of the judges' comments were way out of order and, on occasion, verging on personal insults .

Sorry if this makes me sound like a Miserable Old Bag - but BRING BACK THE SAINSBURY'S CHOIR OF THE YEAR, I say!!!

Chacun a son goût, as they say in Barnsley. I enjoyed it. Mostly.

Horses for courses. The most cringeworthy moment for me was Katherine Jenkins singing You'll Never Walk Alone. She has a tremendous 'instrument', I'm sure - wonderful for the right repertoire. But this was the wrong repertoire. That type of big operatic voice is so far removed from the way ordinary people sing that it alienates many listeners. I played for an amateur operatic version of Carousel a few years ago, and the singer of You'll Never Walk Alone sang it so simply, without any artifice, that I didn't dare look at her while she sang, as I knew I'd blub. She sounded all too human.

I disagree about the judges' comments being out of order. As an example, it's worth considering the comments about LCM when they were eliminated. LCM clearly had a (commendable) policy of drawing soloists from right round the choir, but on their last night their soloists weren't as strong as some of the ones had been in the earlier rounds. The judges couldn't not mention this, but they did it as gently as they could - and you could tell that they didn't want to upset the soloists they were indirectly criticising. The music world is cruel at the top - only the best and the strongest will succeed. Ultimately, those that are going to get it right night after night must both be technically flawless and have nerves of steel.

As I only saw the first three instalments, I didn't see the occasion you describe.

I just remember a few quite unkind 'sniggering behind the hands' moments and one incredibly personal attack on what one choir were wearing - they looked utterly devastated at the comment.

I'm glad I didn't see that episode. Kathryn has a lovely voice, but it really needs bringing into line now and she desperately needs to work on her technique. She has a developed a dreadful wobble which will only get worse without training.

I decided not to continue watching this as it absoutely made me cringe. I agree with Cyrilla's commnets about dumbing down. Of course it is good that people can enjoy singing but felt that some of the more traditional choral groups would not have stood a chance in this competetion as they would almost have been the wrong genre.