Last Choir Standing

Host

Co-hosts

Judges: Suzi Digby, Sharon D. Clarke and Russell Watson

Broadcast

BBC Vision Studios for BBC One, 5 July to 30 August 2008 (9 episodes in 1 series)

Synopsis

Nick Knowles and Myleene Klass oversee a competition to find the UK's best choir. Open to choirs from as few as ten, to as many of 50 members, the process starts with choirs from up and down the country sending in application videos. Of the thousand or so applications received, 60 choirs receive callbacks to sing in front of the judges in London. As a result of callbacks, the field is narrowed to 27 choirs. A further round of callbacks sees this number cut by 12, leaving 15 choirs to battle it out in the live shows.

The live shows begin with three heats, each of which sees five of the remaining choirs take part. Each heat opens with an expected, but somewhat pointless rendition of a well-known song performed by all the choirs together. Following this, each choir then gets a chance to perform two songs, before the judges decide which choir they will send straight through to the knock-out rounds, and which choir they will eliminate. Once this had been decided, the three remaining choirs in each heat perform again, before the judges deliberate once more in order to decide which of them should progress to the knock-out stages. The two choirs not chosen by the judges leave the competition at this point.

After three weeks of heats have narrowed the field from 15 to six, we move on to the knock-out stages. In each knock-out programme, we are again treated (cough...cough) to a song (two songs in the first knock-out round for no apparent reason) performed by all the remaining choirs, before each choir has the chance to perform one song. Following this, the phone lines are opened, and the Great British Public has a chance to vote for which choirs is their favourite. After the phone lines are closed, and the votes are tallied, based on the viewers votes, the two choirs with the fewest votes must perform again in the 'Clash of the Choirs'. Based on these performances, the judges vote on which choir they would like to save. The choir with the fewest votes from the judges then leaves the competition.

Three weeks of knock-out rounds brings us to the final, with three choirs still in contention. In the final, after ~~enjoying~~ enduring two group numbers, each choir performs two songs. The first is of their own choice, like all songs so far in the competition. However the second song they perform is chosen by the judges, and is a repeat performance from earlier in the series, which the judges believe to be each choir's 'song of the series'. After the performances the phone lines are opened, and after a period of voting the phone lines are frozen with the choir who has received the fewest public votes being eliminated. The last two choirs then perform again, before the public votes for the final time. Whichever choir receives the fewest public votes is then eliminated, leaving the other choir the Last Choir Standing, and therefore the winners.

Champions

Only Men Aloud!, Cardiff

Trivia

Originally the programme was to be called Choir Wars.

The final three choirs performed together at the 2012 London Olympics handover party in August 2008.

Theme music

Dobs Vye

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