Flashmobbing Pinkie-style

It is now under a week to the big concert. The choreography is being polished, the final flourishes on the words are being put together, all we need now are bums on seats. That's where you come in! Do make sure you get your ticket for Saturday's performance at Cadogan Hall. And bring a friend or three while you're at it!

We've been doing our own bit to spread the word, and led by the intrepid Jerome some of the Pinkies decided to brave the stares and mobile phone cameras and walk down Old Compton Street singing songs and handing out flyers. Not being that much of a diva I am always slightly self-conscious when it comes to drawing any kind of attention to myself, but once we started doing "our thing" it was clear that the whole event was going to be amazingly fun. Crowds started gathering and we had applause and cheers after every song, and even the odd smile from the scene queens in Rupert Street!

Des Voix Contre Le Sida 2009

In Paris this April? Well, the Pink Singers will be too! We've are very honoured to have been invited to join our great friends from the city of lights: Les Caramels fous, Equivox, Mélo'Men and Podium Paris in a joint concert to raise awareness and funds for all those touched by AIDS. The event is called Des Voix Contre Le Sida, and while the website still shows last year's event, I can tell you that it is all happening on Thursday 9 April 2009 at the Trianon theatre. Previous events started at 2030h and a ticket costs just 20€ for a chance to hear all five choirs, and of course it is all for a good cause too. This is the first year a non-French choir has been invited, so we are really thrilled to have been chosen. More details when the Pink Insider gets them!

A Busy Weekend - Saturday

Damn! I just typed out a whole blog post using this new Live Writer tool from Microsoft, and just as I was about to upload it, the whole thing got deleted! What follows is my frustrated abbreviated version, and please don't say that this should happen more often!

This weekend was the start of a lot of things, and I am now more tired coming out this end than I was going in. Saturday morning saw the Various Voices volunteer rally, basically a way for members of the choirs to get involved. I was doing a promotional spiel for the Frontrunners, so had to go there at 10am, give my talk, then rush back for the actual presentation at the Southbank Centre at 11am.

As I was a floater (a.k.a. odd job labourer) I started out with Roger (from Diversity) and Regis (from LGMC) at the welcome desk, before taking on my now-traditional role as photographer. I'll leave the actual description of the event to Hsien (what a great writer!) on the Team London blog, but will add that we had about 40 members show up, pretty good for a Saturday morning, and a good start.

There was hardly any time to breathe after that as the next event was at the Royal Albert Hall. Under the auspices of Sing London and with a chance to promote Various Voices we were going due to be part of a flash mob. Yes, I was thinking the same thing, what? The idea was that we were to infiltrate the queues at the last night of the Proms, start singing spontaneously, and get people to sing along as well.  As it turns out, the Union Jack clad members of the public were highly territorial and we decided it best not to risk assault by jumping the queue, even in pretence, and got together by the statue on the south side of the Hall.

The rehearsal prior to this was held at the Royal College of Music and led by the MDs of Diversity (singing) and LGMC (on the piano), and when we finally emerged into the sunlight we were raring to go. I've never seen so many weirdos (in the kindest possible sense) and I think they probably thought the same of us when we started with Take A Chance On Me. But the people around us gamely joined in, and by the time we got to Jerusalem the crowd was singing along with gusto, tongue firmly planted in cheek or not.

All too soon it was over. The audience wanted more, and we certainly could have sung a few more songs, but the time we were allocated was limited. There was, however, ample opportunity for the Pink Singers to be interviewed on camera by a member of Sing London, so keep an eye out for it on their website. Hooray for our fifteen seconds of internet fame.

After that it was off to the Poland club where Diversity bought us all a round of drinks. Thanks a bunch guys and gals! people often make out that there is competition between our three choirs, but the reality is that we all get along very well, and have such different niches that we really don't overlap much at all. It takes events like this to foster a closer relationship between us though, and I'm glad we were part of it.

Flash Singing

I must say that as a choir we seem to be doing more and more, and occa- sionally it is hard to tell when one season finishes and one season begins. Yes, we start officially again on Sunday, but we also gave a concert just last week. To top it off, this Saturday, several of the Pinkies will be participating in an event courtesy of Sing London.

In fact, we are organizing the event, in collaboration with the London Gay Mens' Chorus and Diversity, as part of the promotional run-up to Various Voices 2009. This time, we will be wowing the crowds in front of the Royal Albert Hall as they queue up for the last night of the proms. This Pink Insider did not participate in last year's event at the Naitonal Portrait Gallery, but having seen Lynne and Maia lead the befuddled gallery visitors in an impromptou rendition of Hey Big Spender, I think it will prove to be quite an experience.

Of course we will be flash mobbing, not just flashing...

Taekwondo, Opera and the Pink Singers

Three things which you aren't likely to put together, but you would be surprised. At yesterday's rehearsal we had a surprise visit from an ex-national taekwondo champion, a chap called Gari Glaysher. The link is that he is also an up and coming operatic tenor and the Pinkies have been asked to perform as the backing chorus for him at his launch concert.

My guess is that his dropping by yesterday was a chance to scope us out in advance of the gig. He sat at the back of the room listening while we basically murdered Italian Salad and tripped over Come What May, so it doesn't surprise me that when it came to the end and he introduced himself, he didn't actually say very much. Instead his (I assume) manager managed to eke out words to the effect of "you are one of the best choirs I have heard in a long time." I know we are quite good, but methinks the man does not hear choirs much!

Anyway, although very few words actually came from Mr. Glaysher, I had already heard his voice by visiting his website and his MySpace page. He is a powerful tenor with a warm timbre which, in my view, leans more toward a Luciano rather than a Placido. And his version of Volare even has elements of Tom Jones - which just goes to show how versatile he is. One thing which I find somehat infuriating is that the song samples are all neapolitain songs or pop-ified pieces - I just think the operatic voice makes the delivery of the songs a little bit too melodramatic. Anyway, I strongly suggest you wander over there and take a listen to Mr. Glaysher, because he really is very good.

The MySpace page also has the obligatory headshot pictures (I've included one here) with him gazing into middle distance, pictures of him in Italy and with his dog. In real life, and possibly because of the great weather we have been having, he is significantly more tanned and has a few tattoos too! Not quite what you expect from an opera singer, but I guess that is the taekwondo speaking!

So, if you are interested in hearing the Pink Singers perform, both as a choir singing Dies Irae from Karl Jenkins' Requiem, and as a chorus backing up Mr. Glaysher, then now is your once chance in a lifetime to hear that one voice in a million.

Gari Glaysher (and the Pink Singers!)
Friday 20th June 2008 / doors open at 19:00 / £10.00 - 20.00

Please note, all indigO2 shows are aged 18+ (unless otherwise stated).
Under 18's must be accompanied by an adult. Photographic ID will be required.
Valid forms of ID: Passport, Driving License or ISIC Card

Kings Row: Please note, no under 18s permitted in Kings Row.
Ticketmaster 0844 844 0002
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Ticketline 0870 444 5556
More information.

World AIDS Day

As you are no doubt aware, World AIDS Day this year is on the 1st of December. As is now traditional for us, we will be helping to support Positive Rainbow and the good work they do in North London by giving a little performance at their annual party tomorrow. If you are interested in coming along, the good news is that it is free, and we will be singing two or three numbers from this season's repertoire, at the moment they are ABBA Pink and You'll Never Walk Alone, although if pressed we can pull Come What May out of the bag. The even better news is that the "small" group is much larger than in previous years, and we actually have basses this time, so Johnathon won't have to do double duty. Anyway, here are the details:

7.30 pm
28 November 2007
Positive Rainbow
White Hart pub
51 The Hale
Tottenham Hale
London, N17 9JZ

See you there!

Singing In The Rain

Well done Pinkies - another splendid Pride performance on the main stage!

Despite the rain, the Pinkies continued as normal:

Lynne was everywhere at once, organising us all with her customary efficiency and remaining patient throughout. Surely for our 25th anniversary next year we should consider presenting her with an inscribed silver clipboard?

While Lynne toiled over a soggy clipboard, some of the choir were able to help out by doing a little networking . . .


Mladen excelled himself by conducting our entire performance using his umbrella. This made him much more visible for the tenors, middles and basses at the back. Thanks Mladen!

And as for the singing . . . we were fabulous of course! See you all on the main stage for Pride 2008!

Don't Forget Tomorrow!

We Came, We Sang, We Were Deafened!

This is my first late night post, but I thought I'd strike while the iron is still hot! I have just got back from Camden where the Pinkies were performing choral backup to Anthony's song Look Up At The Stars. The song itself is very touching and the choral arrangement, by Zara Nunn, really is beautiful. We have been rehearsing it for the last few weeks, but it is quite different when there is a band involved. First of all, I doubt any of us were aware of just how loudly Paleday were going to be amped. I could barely hear myself sing, and to be honest, if we missed a cue here and there no one could have noticed. That said, we weren't centre stage this time; singing backup, and a pop backup at that, was a challenging experience for me at least.

We were supposed to be playing incognito, then spin around at the last minute to surprise the audience. I was slightly worried about how we were to make our way to the stage, but to be honest, we had already staked our places at the front and were boogie-ing away like crazy.

I don't think anyone was surprised when we came in, but I totally enjoyed it, and so too did the audience. At the end when we raised our right arm on the last word "Shine!" I swear one of the guys who was dancing quite vigorously in front of us very nearly hugged Mel. Moving stuff.

I asked Debs along to the show, and she really loved the song, although I think she actually preferred all the disco stuff a lot more - this coming from a woman who lives and breathes U2. We snuck off after the performance for a bit of sushi back near Leicester Square, but in the end had Thai instead.

The Pink Singers At Dingwalls

Okay, the details are up on the website. We're backing Paleday at the Feed Me Music gig at Dingwalls. More information is on the Pink Singers Next Event page, at least until the event after that! It really is a different tack from what we are normally used to doing, but the Pinkies have backed the Communards before, and sung on the television show Gimme Gimme Gimme, so we are really up to any challenge. We are also about supporting our members in different ways - this should be a doddle!

Anyway, the details for your diary are:

Dingwalls
Middle Yard
Camden Lock
London NW1 8AB

Wednesday, 28th March 2007
Doors open at 7.30pm
Tickets £6 in advance, £8 on the door

See you there!