Covent Garden - 9th December 2006

[admin]

I was advised of this event a few minutes ago by Kathryn at Bedlam Management. I am reproducing the salient part of her message and the attachment exactly as I received them:

Hi Roger

Tomorrow the girls are singing:


1) Steal Away (a cappella)?
2) Flower Duet
3) Angels
4) Silent Night


They're arriving at 12pm to do a performance of the above live.

26th Great Christmas Pudding Race
Saturday 9th December 2006
Covent Garden West Piazza

The Great Christmas Pudding Race is an annual and renowned event which takes place in Covent Garden each year. It is one of Cancer Research UK’s most unique events. It is hilarious to watch and even better to actually take part in.

The event is organised by a voluntary committee – Cancer Research Aid Committee, (CRAC), who have been organising fundraising events for Cancer Research UK for 31 years. They have organised the Pudding Race with unending commitment for the last 25 years. During this period they have raised in excess of £860,000 for Cancer Research UK.

Teams of six must run round the pudding race obstacle course whilst carrying a Christmas Pudding on a paper plate. Teams dressed in either fancy dress or corporate branding must navigate a series of inflatables and challenges, ensuring that their Christmas puddings remain in tact throughout!

Brief Programme of Events for the day:

11:15 Countdown to race
11:30 Team Introductions
11:55 Race ‘Talk Through’
12:00 Aerobic warm up
12:10 Corporate Race
12:20 Entertainment – All Angels
12:30 University Race
12:40 Entertainment
12:50 Cancer Research UK Speaker
12:55 Youth Race
1:05 Presentation of Prizes

(Timings are subject to change but will be confirmed nearer the day)

The race always attracts a great deal of attention. It is such an unusual event and is very popular amongst Christmas shoppers and tourists around Covent Garden. We anticipate having around 1000 spectators for the event, plus people are always drawn by entertainment such as carol singing.

Despite the short notice, I will try to be there.

Roger

[richnorri]

Hello Roger!

I'll be heading for Covent Garden shortly! ;D

3 hours to go!

Must fly...

Richard

[richnorri]

Hello again folks!

I've just returned to the Internet Café from Covent Garden, where All Angels provided the entertainment during the 26th Great Christmas Pudding Race, in aid of Cancer Research UK.

I met up with Roger, and we were able to say a quick hello to the girls before the racing started, at which point the girls had to get ready for their performance. I won't say much about the Great Christmas Pudding Race, because we were there to support All Angels, but there were three races which were run over an obstacle course, and the teams were all in fancy dress.

All Angels sang four songs in two sets between the races. The announcer got off to a bad start when he introduced the girls as prodigies of Simon Cowell! Undeterred, the girls appeared wearing coats over their white dresses, because it was freezing cold in Covent Garden. They opened the first set with a wonderful a cappella version of 'Steal Away' that went down very well with the large crowd. This was followed by a stunning version of the 'Flower Duet', sung to a backing track, and this song really showed off the girls' beautiful harmonies. Unfortunately there is a long pause in the middle of the piece and the crowd started applauding too soon, but the girls were not put off and carried on regardless.

The second set began with All Angels' forthcoming Christmas single 'Angels'. This was followed by 'Silent Night', but immediately Daisy said she couldn't hear the backing track properly. It then became apparent that the backing was for the wrong song, so the girls immediately decided to sing just the first verse a cappella. It was a team decision, and it showed the girls are very professional. Roger took some photographs, although it was difficult to get a good viewpoint in the crowd, and hopefully he will post a few on the forum in due course.

We didn't stop to watch the last race. Instead we met up with Steve Abbott, Kathryn Nash and the girls for a quick chat before they all had to dash off. I must say the conditions in Covent Garden were far from ideal, but All Angels gave a polished performance, and they worked extremely well together as a team.

Well done Charlotte, Daisy, Laura and Melanie!

Good luck with the Christmas single!

Best wishes from the Internet Café in Tottenham Court Road, which is near Covent Garden but much warmer! ;D

Richard

[admin]

Yes, well done indeed girls for a splendid performance in conditions that were far from ideal, and thank you, Richard, for you swift report.

It was great to see All Angels again and the fact that we knew nothing about this event until last night somehow made it even more special.

When we met Daisy after the performance, she commented that it had been a bit of a disaster. No, it was far from that. What did go wrong was certainly not their fault and they coped with the situation admirably which is an early indication of their professionalism. I am thankful that we had the opportunity to tell them so.

As Richard mentioned, obtaining even a semi-decent photograph was not easy, especially when I only have a fairly basic Olympus C-350 Zoom (and that's about as technical as I get!). For what they are worth, here are a couple...

The people in the foreground were competitors in the races who therefore had the advantage of being in front of the railings. Richard and I didn't feel sufficiently energetic and so we were stuck behind them.

The guy in the green beret may look like a member of the public but was actually one of the organisers.

We were told that the BBC were there to cover the event although I saw little evidence of them. So were television crews from Germany, Greece and Korea although I can't help but wonder why! But, provided they give some coverage to All Angels, they were very welcome!

My thanks to Steve and Kathryn for enabling us to spend a few minutes with the girls. Amid the confusion, I ended up holding Kathryn's gloves for a few minutes but they were safely returned to her eventually!

And so to Melanie, Laura, Daisy and Charlotte (deliberately named in the reverse order that Richard named them!). All four songs sounded just perfect and it was great to see you.

Roger

[jeffrey]

Thanks for posting up those great pics Roger!!!

Although they do look rather cold, The Angels do look rather stunning!!! ;D Many congratulations to them on an amzing performance!!! ;D Even if everything didn't go exactly to plan! But the mark of true talent is carrying on despite hitches!!

Well Done to Roger and Richard for also meeting up with them!!!

[richnorri]

Thank you for your kind words, Jeffrey!

I hope to meet you at an All Angels concert before too long, and I promise I'll introduce them to you, or vice versa! ;D

Best Wishes,

Richard :jester:

[jeffrey]

richnorri said:

Thank you for your kind words, Jeffrey!

I hope to meet you at an All Angels concert before too long, and I promise I'll introduce them to you, or vice versa! ;D

Best Wishes,

Richard

I'm going to hold you to that!!! Cheers mate!!



Best Wishes
~Jeffrey~

[Stuart]

Thanks Richard & Roger for the reviews of this event.

The Angels look chilly in their winter coats and I bet it was blustery in London yesterday. Well done, girls!

Great photos Roger! Many thanks. :applaud: :applaud:

Stuart

[Dave]

Yes indeed, thanks from me too, Richard and Roger - AAI was there! Great photos too Roger - that lil camera of yours did you proud! They look a bit cold, don't they!

I know it's perhaps annoying to the performers when things go slightly wrong (albeit from no fault of their own) but all credit to the girls for recovering so well and adapting their performance. Well done girls!

Cheers, Dave

[meagan]

Thank you for the photos from the event.

All Angels looked graceful as always, and I'm sure they sounded great, even with the problems!

Good work girls! ;D

[Joe]

Thanks Richard and Roger for attending this performance! It did look like a chilly day in Covent Garden.

Despite the problems, All Angels were able to very quickly adapt to whatever occured. It shows to me that they are extremely confident in their singing.

Joe

PS. Great pictures, Roger! Thanks also to the many participants and volunteers who took part in organising and competing the Christmas pudding relay race.

[richnorri]

Hello again everybody!

I've just found a few thumbnail photographs of the Great Christmas Pudding Race at Rex Features HERE.

Sadly there are none of All Angels.

Best Wishes,

Richard