Chapter Sixty - "Health Stars Shining Brightly"

It's not often an event like this comes along, so I feel now is high time to update my blog. Halfway through four consecutive days of choir activities, today saw the recording of Good Morning Britain's Health Star Awards, at the Rosewood Hotel in Holburn - and I was to be involved, as part of the NHS Choir. I had spent Saturday morning rushing around town in search of a blue suit for the occasion (what the other guys called ‘blues’). I found a smart suit in Next, pretty early on that morning, and so this was the perfect time to break it in. A new experience, and a new look!

This was my first proper gig! As Caroline H later said, this was a big starting event for me, just like the other new members before me. I’d never done anything quite like this, with a television crew and celebrities all over (although for the most part they were rather ordinary people).

So I arrived at the hotel just before nine, and met Nora. We were led to our ‘green room’ on the lower ground floor where we awaited the other members of the choir, ‘intravenously supplied with bacon rolls’ (as our liaison, Nicolette, informed us). I felt confident with the two songs in our set, ‘Lean On Me’ and ‘Love Shine A Light’, as we’d rehearsed them a lot before. However, as a newbie, I was slightly nervous of singing for memory. Soon enough we filed down into the events room and were positioned on stage for our sound check. By this point I had rolled the music up and stuffed it into my suit jacket; my ‘comfort blanket’. As time progressed I realised that I actually knew the score better than I originally thought, and needed the music less. It helped to have a loud bass voice in Mike, to pitch from, and the clear direction of Phil, our musical director. Of course this was all alongside our celebrity guest, Russel Watson.

After the sound had been checked and seats allocated, we headed back to our green room. The time was now eleven. We would be starting filming in one hour. Those of us who had not disappeared at this point, to seek out the fresh air, or find a washroom, were invited to champagne and canapés. Whilst we mingled in the crowd, we kept an eye out for other famous faces – Larry and George Lamb, Pixie Lott, Peter André and Alistair Campbell, to name a few. As I remarked, this sure beat a day in the office!

When the time came, we returned for the recording, starting on stage. ‘Lean On Me’, with Russel, was our starting piece, after we were introduced by Susanna Reid and Kate Garraway. We finished to a tremendous applause (the performance was actually smoother than the rehearsal – maybe adrenaline had kicked in?) and then took our seats for the duration of the ceremony.

There is too much to go into from the awards ceremony itself, but it should be mentioned that one of our own number, Joan, had been nominated for an award in recognition of her work in dementia care. Consequently she was invited to the stage by Joe Pasquale and we cheered heartily in well-earned recognition. Grateful thanks were also bestowed on the staff from St Thomas’s Hospital, and the London Ambulance Service following their response to the recent attacks in Westminster.

The ceremony closed with our second number, ‘Love Shine A Light’, with solos from Zoë and Emmet. This was a much better choice that the originally proposed ‘Angel’ as it better reflected the mood of the occasion, with our love for one another being the resounding theme. As we moved backstage and out I felt relief that it was over, but was also glad that it had gone so well. Not bad for my debut performance.

It seemed a shame to disappear back to the house so early, as the time was only just two, so a group of us went across the road to Pizza Express. I was able to chat more with Emmet, Katie and Phil, our MD, and it was established that ‘J-Phatz’ was now well and truly part of the choir family.

(Look out for us on ITV on Tuesday, 25^th April 2017, between 6am and 8:30am!)