Okay, time for a word or two about Gareth Malone.
But first a word or two about myself. I love singing. I think singing is great fun, it makes you feel good, and it’s one of the best ways to convey emotion and tell a story. Everyone should be singing all the time.
Having said all that, I am the worst singer in the universe, and I’m not making this up. I’m one of those people on X-Factor or American Idol who don’t have friends to tell them how bad they are and then they go on TV and make utter fools of themselves. Except I do have friends, but they have never heard me sing, and I know how atricous a singer I am so I would never ever sing in public unless I’m very, very drunk.
Back in junior high school we had music as a mandatory subject, and of course our teacher made us sing on a regular basis. Now for someone like me singing in a group of 20 or 30 isn’t much of a problem. You just have to lip-sync and let the good singers do all the singing, and no one will ever notice. However, one day our teacher made me sing a solo. I said I didn’t want to so, but he said: “Yes, you do.”
It was possibly the single most embarassing moment of my life.
But what I really hated about it is that my teacher never even tried to improve our singing, neither mine nor that of anyone else in my class. It was as if he didn’t even care.
Meet Gareth Malone (35), choirmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra’s Community and Youth Choirs. And as such he is obviously very passionate about singing. Back in 2006 he starred in a reality TV program called The Choir in which he picked 25 students from a school that didn’t have much of a singing tradition, formed a choir and took it to the World Choir Games in China. Last year the show was back for a 2nd season (The Choir: Boys Don’t Sing). Both programs were awarded a BAFTA for Best Feature. Series 3, The Choir: Unsung Town, started airing last week on BBC Two.
Gareth Malone has a great passion for music, for singing, and for choirs. But what I like most about him is that he is one of the cutest and sexiest people I have ever not met. And boy, do I love his voice. I could flail about this guy all day every day, and I consider it a great loss that he got married last year. To a woman! D:
Season 1 of The Choir is released on DVD this Monday, September 7th 2009, and it’s available from Amazon.co.uk
That man is sex on a stick. Like seriously.
In other news, I guess Shonen Club won’t be available until tomorrow (if at all!), but I have a very busy day tomorrow, so I don’t know if and when I’ll be able to watch and write about it. Damn it! I WANT MY NAKAKEN! NOW!!! *cries*
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