Last Choir Standing
Presented byMyleene Klass
Nick Knowles
JudgesRussell Watson
Sharon D. Clarke
Suzi Digby
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series1
No. of episodes16
Production
Running time30–90mins
Production companyBBC
Original release
NetworkBBC One, BBC HD
Release5 July (2008-07-05) –
30 August 2008 (2008-08-30)

Last Choir Standing is a 2008 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom. Broadcast on BBC One in July and August 2008, the series saw amateur choirs competing each week to be the 'last choir standing'.

The series was presented by Myleene Klass and Nick Knowles, with judges Russell Watson, Sharon D. Clarke and Suzi Digby. In the final, following a public telephone vote, the winners were announced as Welsh male voice choir Only Men Aloud!.

A collection of songs from the series was released as an album in November 2008.

Format

The programme, initially to be called Choir Wars, looked to find 'the nation's favourite choir'. Presented by Myleene Klass and Nick Knowles, the programme aired on Saturday nights, with some of the results shows shown on Sundays, in the same timeslot as other BBC entertainment programs such as Strictly Come Dancing and I'd Do Anything.

Applications on tape were accepted from amateur choirs of 10–50 people, aged 13 years or older, and around 1,000 choirs entered the competition. 60 choirs were then invited to audition in front of the three judges in May at Cadogan Hall in London, where the choirs required a 'yes' from two of the judges to proceed to the callbacks. The callbacks saw 27 choirs perform again in front of the judges, as well as other choirs and a studio audience at BBC Television Centre. 15 choirs were then chosen to perform in three rounds of studio heats, with two from each heat proceeding to the live shows. The final six choirs then sang for viewer votes over four weeks, with the choirs being eliminated one-by-one to find the last choir standing.[1][2][3]

The format is very similar to Welsh show Côr Cymru (Choir of Wales). Both shows have even featured many of the same Welsh choirs in competition with each other.[citation needed]

Judges

The judges for the competition were:[1]

Choirs

27 choirs made it through to the callbacks. The following were eliminated before the studio heats:[4]

Following the callbacks, 15 choirs made it through to the studio heats:[5]

Choir Members From Status
The Alleycats 10 St Andrews Eliminated in the heats
City of Brighton Gay Men's Chorus 37 Brighton Eliminated in the heats
Common Room Choir 15 Shropshire Eliminated in the heats
Dreemz 10 Birmingham Eliminated in the heats
A Handbag of Harmonies 50 Chester Eliminated in the heats
Hear Me Now! 13 London Eliminated in the heats
Hereford Police Male Choir 50 Hereford Eliminated in the heats
Last Minute 13 Oxford and London Eliminated in the heats
Open Arts Community Choir 25 Belfast Eliminated in the heats
Sense of Sound 40 Liverpool Eliminated, sixth place
City of Bath Male Choir 50 Bath Eliminated, fifth place
ACM Gospel Choir 35 Guildford Eliminated, fourth place
Revelation 15 East London Third place
Ysgol Glanaethwy 50 Bangor Second place
Only Men Aloud! 18 Cardiff Winner

Studio shows

Heat 1

The first heat saw five of the remaining 15 choirs sing for their place in the live knockout shows. The judges put through Sense of Sound and Ysgol Glanaethwy. The show performances were:[6]

Heat 2

The second heat saw five more of the final 15 choirs sing for their place in the live knockout shows. The judges put through Revelation and Only Men Aloud!. The show performances were:[7]

Heat 3

The last five of the final 15 choirs sang for their place in the live knockout shows in the third heat. The judges put through ACM Gospel Choir and City of Bath Male Choir. The show performances were:[8]

Knockout 1

The first of the live shows allowed viewers to vote for their favourite choir, and resulted in Sense of Sound leaving the competition. The show performances were:[9]

Knockout 2

The second knockout round resulted in Bath Male Choir being eliminated from the competition. The show performances were:[10]

Semi-final

ACM Gospel Choir left the competition in the third knockout round after losing out in the Clash of the Choirs. The show performances were:[11]

Final

In the last week of competition, the final three choirs performed "Shine" by Take That at the handover party for the 2012 Summer Olympics outside Buckingham Palace.[12]

During the final, the choirs performed two songs before Revelation were eliminated after receiving the fewest viewer votes. Only Men Aloud! and Ysgol Glanaethwy performed again, and Only Men Aloud! were announced as the winners. The final also saw the return of ACM Gospel choir who accompanied Russell singing "Heaven help us all" by Stevie Wonder. The show performances were:[12]

Ratings

Show Date Official rating
(millions) 		BBC1 weekly ranking Share
Heat 1 5 July 2008 4.75 20 22.8%[14]
Heat 2 12 July 2008 4.40 17 24.6%[15]
Heat 3 19 July 2008 3.60 — 22.4%[16]
Results 4.09 20 19.6%[16]
Knockouts 1 26 July 2008 3.55 24 23.7%[17]
Results 27 July 2008 2.80 — 19.0%[18]
Knockouts 2 2 August 2008 4.09 18 25.1%[19]
Results 3 August 2008 3.30 — 14.0%[20]
Knockout 3 9 August 2008 5.04 12 26.5%[21]
Results 10 August 2008 4.06 26 24.6%[22]
Knockout 4 16 August 2008 5.08 13 27.5%[23]
Results 4.92 14 23.9%[23]
semi-final 23 August 2008 4.61 27 25.0%[24]
Results 4.84 21 21.6%[24]
Final 30 August 2008 4.54 20 28.7%[25]
Results 5.56 8 24.9%[25]
Average 4.33 — 22.1%

References

  1. ^ a b "About the show". BBC. 2008. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
  2. ^ "Choirs battle it out to be crowned nation's best in BBC One's new Saturday night extravaganza". BBC Press Office. 12 November 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  3. ^ Henwood, Jo (16 May 2008). "We're still standing". Chester Chronicle. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
  4. ^ "BBC – Last Choir Standing – News – Show 1 Review". www.bbc.co.uk.
  5. ^ "The Final 15 Choirs". BBC. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  6. ^ "Show 3 Review: Two left standing in the first heat!". BBC. 19 July 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  7. ^ "Show 4 Review: Two left standing in the second heat!". BBC. 26 July 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  8. ^ "Heat 3 Update: ACM Gospel Choir and City of Bath through to the finals". BBC. 3 August 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  9. ^ "First Live Knockout: Sense of Sound are out of the competition". BBC. 10 August 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  10. ^ "Second Live Knockout: Bath Male Choir are voted out of the competition". BBC. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  11. ^ "ACM Gospel Choir are knocked out at semi-final stage". BBC. 23 August 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  12. ^ a b "Only Men Aloud! are the Last Choir Standing". BBC. 30 August 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  13. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (31 August 2008). "Only Men Aloud win 'Last Choir Standing'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  14. ^ "Ratings Thread (Part 2) – Page 165". Digital Spy.
  15. ^ "Ratings Thread (Part 2) – Page 192". Digital Spy.
  16. ^ a b "Ratings Thread (Part 2) – p. 210". Digital Spy.
  17. ^ "Ratings Thread (Part 2) – p. 230". Digital Spy.
  18. ^ "Ratings Thread (Part 2) – p. 233". Digital Spy.
  19. ^ "Ratings Thread (Part 2) – p. 243". Digital Spy.
  20. ^ "Ratings Thread (Part 2) – p. 244". Digital Spy.
  21. ^ "Ratings Thread (Part 2) – p. 258". Digital Spy.
  22. ^ "Ratings Thread (Part 2) – p. 261". Digital Spy.
  23. ^ a b Wilkes, Neil (18 August 2008). "Record audience for 'X Factor' premiere". Digital Spy.
  24. ^ a b Wilkes, Neil (25 August 2008). "'X Factor' keeps up ratings pace". Digital Spy.
  25. ^ a b Wilkes, Neil (31 August 2008). "'X Factor' loses 1m to summer heat". Digital Spy.

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