Mel’s song show is pitched perfectly...
MEL Giedroyc has high hopes for her new BBC series Pitch Battle – she wants it to be as inspirational as Strictly Come Dancing.
Ahead of its launch this weekend, Mel says: “I hope it does for choirs and singing what those other shows have done for dance.” Blimey.
But following her stint hosting Let It Shine with Graham Norton, Mel doesn’t feel under any extra pressure as she takes on her first solo Saturday night presenting role.
She admits: “I just keep my head down and plough on. First and foremost, it is a non-brutal competition.
“There is a £50,000 prize for the winning group, which is amazing, but this is about the genuine love of what they are doing rather than a ‘Look at me’ kind of thing.”
So anyone expecting judges Gareth Malone and Kelis to turn into Simon Cowell overnight, can think again. Gareth (surely having a direct dig at The X Factor’s Mr Nasty) says: “I think it is mean when people who aren’t musicians start laying into people about song choices.
“I don’t want to shatter people’s dreams. I want to inspire the audience.”
And the same goes for Kelis who insists: “You can be honest without being mean. I want people to sing technically well and from the heart. That is really important to me.”
The talent show for choirs is being made by former Strictly producer Karen Smith – who impressed musical director Deke Sharon. He says: “Karen is a genius. When she flew to the States for lunch, I knew within five minutes I wanted to get involved in this show.
“My hope is Pitch Battle will start here but spread around the world. It is electric.”
Gareth says it’s a “huge coup” for the show to have landed the talents of Deke, who is also musical director on the Pitch Perfect movies.
But he’s a bit sniffy about the films themselves... “It is not just a load of people from the Pitch Perfect movie,” he says. “That would be a bit twee.”
Having pre-recorded the series, Mel is now inspired to sing herself.
She says: “I have mates who are in a rock choir and am going to investigate. You can do a lot worse in your week than spend an hour singing.
“It’s a cure for loneliness, anxiety, stress and some types of depression.”