What a sweet-arse evening I've had! Following yesterday's baffling ginger shenanigans, I had to be up extremely early (well, half 8, but as an unemployed, that time doesn't normally EXIST to me) to catch a train. It was Grandma's birthday last week, so Auntie and I were heading over to take her to a concert. "Only Men Aloud!" to be precise. I'd never taken much notice of them on "Last Choir standing" - possibly because of the Baz Luhrman-esque exclamation mark at the end of their name.... But hey, it was a night out, and it's always fun to visit Grandma, especially since I didn't get to see her on her actual birthday. Even though I had my doubts when we entered the concert hall, and discovered I was literally the only person under 50 (excluding the bar staff).
Well. I am SO glad I went. The men were absolutely OUTSTANDING, and not, as I assumed, an all-gay choir (I must've been confused with another choir on the programme) but, I was very excited to discover, a group of 20 all-straight (presumably) Welshmen, 80% of which were incredibly attractive. And we were sat RIGHT on the front row - close enough to see their vocal chords, who'd polished their shoes, and who (as I pointed out to an amused Auntie) dressed to the left.
But hotness aside (difficult, as it was madly distracting), the choir were simply incredible. Amy Nuttall was a guest and sang several songs alone in beautiful dresses, with massive eyes and a voice like a ginger angel. Once again, it was girl-crush time - and the fact that she'd played Christine in "Phantom of the Opera" (my dream job) certainly didn't help. But back to the lads - the hairs on my neck stood up more times than I could count, I was choked to tears on several occasions (not in sadness, just at the sheer beauty of it), and to top things off, they sang "Kiss from a Rose." KISS FROM A ROSE!!! I bloody LOVE THAT SONG!!! They started singing the intro, and I literally erupted in goosebumps. And given that it's a five-part (I'm guessing) harmony even when SEAL sings it - well, when sung by a 20-member choir, it sent me into absolute transports of ecstacy. All I could find was this clip from the TV programme, which is the closest I can get to showing you this masterpiece. It's only a segment, half of them seem to be missing (mostly the good-looking ones, I noticed) and there seem to be some members there that weren't on the live tour. But still - enjoy. I did!
There was a very funny moment when the 5 most attractive men came and sat right at the front of the stage to sing a gorgeous ballad (what a stroke of genius from the leader!). And naturally, as will happen sometimes when you're on stage, their eyes occasionally wandered to the front row. The good-looking ginger one (again, GINGERS??! What IS this power they wield over me?) was sat in front of me, and just as he looked straight at me, Auntie very pointedly nudged me. I nudged back, rolling my eyes and giggling slightly, and looked up - just in time to see Ginger look away quickly, GIGGLING HIMSELF. Oh dear god, I'd inadvertantly distracted a choirboy. Still I was very glad I was wearing my see-through tights and heels, not to mention shit-loads of lipgloss (always looks nice under stage lights). I looked away, smiling, and just as I thought "Don't blush, don't blush, DON'T blush," naturally, I blushed. And he saw, and smiled again. God, it's like being a schoolgirl. But I will admit, it was nice to catch someone's eye every now and then.
And what's even more lovely is that they were clearly having a ball and loving every second. Even if the conductor hadn't told us of their joy at winning the competition, landing a record deal with Universal and doing what they loved in front of adoring audiences for 30 live dates across the UK, you could see it in every glowing Welsh face on that stage. We gave them a standing ovation at the end, and you could tell they were unbelievably touched. I left that place with a programme (featuring colour photos) and 5 great ambitions:
1) To write to the choir and tell them exactly how thrilled I was to have seen them live and how groovy they are
2) To buy their album and every one they produce from now on
3) To see them live again
4) To join a choir
5) To - somehow - get back on stage again
The last two were largely due to being inspired beyond belief. Mum's been on at me for ages to join a choir, saying it's a waste of the singing lessons I had and the years I spent in the choir at school. She's always asking me to sing for her, but I never do - I hate performing in front of really small audiences like that, it just makes me dead uncomfortable and I never know where to look. Not to mention I hate the sound of my singing voice. I suppose that's why I was always so bad at auditions. But a CHOIR'S different, the pressure's off and you're surrounded by people who you can join with and make harmonies. And if there is one thing in this world I LOVE, it's harmonies.
And as for acting again - well, I think it was due to where we were sitting. I'm going to sound really pretentious, I know, but it was seeing close-up all the little things I only used to notice when I was acting - the small cracks in the stage and the way it creaks, the pins holding the curtains together, the lights, and how you felt being under them (ie: boiling and not able to see a thing past the front row). I got hit by this massive wave of nostalgia and wanted nothing more to get up there again...... So I'm going to look into local amateur dramatics societies. I used to be in one, it'll be fun to go back. And since my degree didn't exactly catapult me into the West End, it's somewhere to start.... Or something to do whilst unemployed. And god knows, I could do with getting out the house and meeting other people.
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Current Mood: ecstatic and knackered
Current Music: "One voice" - Only Men Aloud! (Well, I had to.....)
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