For once, a BGT act that struck a classy note

tHey didn’t win the final, but my favourite act on this year’s Britain’s Got talent (itV) was the Missing People Choir.

the choir is made up of a group of people who have children or other loved ones who are missing — in some cases, for many years. they performed an original song called i Miss you, written by choir member Peter Boxell, whose son Lee vanished aged 15 in 1988. Other members include rachel elias, the sister of missing Manic Street Preachers guitarist richey edwards, who disappeared in 1995, and Peter Lawrence, whose chef daughter Claudia went missing in 2009.

Kate McCann is an ambassador of the choir and all members hope it might help them find their loved ones.

their performances, as they sang through the tears each week, were the most moving ever seen on the show. the MPC didn’t need to make up an affecting, cheesy back-story to make people vote — their very existence was an emotional statement in itself.

As images of their missing relatives and partners floated across the screen, ghosts caught in the machine, i don’t know which was most moving; their pain or their optimism.

And how truly heartwarming that a 13-year-old boy has now been reunited with his parents, thanks to their appearance. One can only imagine the agony of never knowing, of the empty seat at the breakfast table, of the hole in a family’s soul that cannot be filled until closure, one way or another, is reached.

i’m so glad that the choir members find a tiny bit of succour from the simple comfort of communal singing. they were the only bit of class on the show.