Since there's an interview with an Italian newspaper, I wonder if that means we'll soon get an announcement about one or more tour shows in Italy. 

https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/the-piano-channel-4-tv-lang-lang/

 

The Piano on Channel 4: what is the talent contest, who are the judges and when is season 2?

27 October 2023, 12:27 | Updated: 27 October 2023, 13:46

Judges Mika and Lang Lang join host Claudia Winkleman for TV talent show The Piano. Picture: Channel 4

Channel 4’s piano talent show, judged by superstar pianist Lang Lang and pop singer Mika, has been renewed for two more series and a Christmas special.

 

The Piano is a TV talent competition on Channel 4, all about the joys of playing the 88 keys.

The contest, which was ‘won’ in March 2023 by the young blind virtuoso, Lucy Illingworth, looks for the UK’s top amateur pianists, in four of the best-known modern settings for the instrument – London St Pancras, Birmingham New Street, Leeds and Glasgow Central train stations.

As the amateur piano players share their stories and music with the public, their playing is secretly adjudicated by pop star Mika, and superstar Chinese virtuoso, Lang Lang. And it all culminates in a grand concert finale at the Royal Festival Hall.

Channel 4 has now confirmed that The Piano will return for two new series and a Christmas special. It was a huge success for the TV network, becoming its best-rating new format since 2017 and boasting an average of 2.7 million viewers.

Here’s everything you need to know about the TV talent show centred around the king of instruments.

 

The Piano will culminate in a grand concert finale at London’s Royal Festival Hall. Picture: Channel 4

How can I watch The Piano?

Series one is streaming now on Channel 4, with two new series and a Christmas special to come.

Read more: Isata Kanneh-Mason and Classic FM’s Tim Lihoreau play charming duet at St Pancras station piano

Who are the judges for The Piano?

The two judges in The Piano are superstar pianist Lang Lang and pop singer Mika, who secretly adjudicate the pianists’ playing at the train station pianos.

Lang Lang told The Guardian of his delight at being involved in a high-profile TV programme centred around the piano. “TV has never really had a piano competition accessible to everyone,” he said.

“We’ve had professional contests or series for vocalists but never just piano. This instrument really is for everybody. Piano connects people, it touches hearts. This is the sort of show I’ve always wanted to do.”

Mika, previously a judge on the Italian X Factor and the French version of The Voice, told The Guardian that amateur pianists would bring “honesty” to the talent show. “They wear their heart on their sleeve in a way professionals just aren’t able to do,” the singer added.

For Lang Lang, playing in train stations rather than concert halls makes it “much more casual and spontaneous”, and brings an element of surprise among the audience. Be they a busy commuter, a stressed parent or a crying child, they all have the capacity to be immediately calmed or delighted by the sound of a piano.

The pianist also hopes it might inspire people to take up the instrument. “I’m pretty sure more people will be interested in playing piano after this show,” says Lang Lang. “It shows the sheer joy of music, no matter who you are.”

 

Claudia Winkleman to host The Piano, taking place at four of the UK's busiest train stations. Picture: Channel 4

Who is the host of The Piano?

The Piano, which comes from the makers of The Great British Bake Off, will be hosted by TV presenter Claudia Winkleman (The Traitors).

Who are the contestants in The Piano?

The Piano showcases pianistic talent from across the generations, with the ages of contestants spanning from six to 95.

As they play music across the worlds of classical, jazz, hip-hop and house, the contestants will be judged on their technical ability, as well as their charisma and passion.

In March 2023, the four finalists were 13-year-old Lucy from West Yorkshire, who was crowned as delivering the ‘winning’ performance of series one, 25-year-old Jay from the Isle of Wight, 27-year-old Sean from Edinburgh and 26-year-old Danny from Manchester.

“In a world full of wannabes seeking their moment in the limelight, The Piano was a breath of fresh air. It celebrated ordinary people doing something extraordinary for the sheer love of it,” said Channel 4’s chief creative office Ian Katz.

“From the 94-year-old widower who played in Glasgow station to find company, to Lucy, the remarkable 13-year-old who stole the ‘nation’s hearts’. It took viewers on a remarkable emotional roller coaster and I’m delighted that it will be coming back from more British stations, next year.”

 

Lang Lang, Claudia Winkleman and Mika star in talent show 'The Piano'. Picture: Channel 4

When is season 2 of The Piano out?

Shortly after its hugely successful first season, The Piano was confirmed for a second and third season, as well as a Christmas special.

Claudia Winkleman is set to return for season two, alongside judges Lang Lang and Mika. A specific date hasn’t been announced for the series, but it’s anticipated to arrive in 2024 and consist of seven episodes.

Applications to appear on the show are open until 31 October, with competition expected to be particularly high following the success of blind 13-year-old Lucy in season one.

The Christmas special has already been filmed in London’s King’s Cross railway station, and the second series was recently spotted filming in Manchester Piccadilly train station, for an episode that will show on Channel 4 in the New Year.

Ho trovato questo annuncio relativo alla finale di rugby dove canta Mika con i ragazzi

 

 

Asking Italian fans, Sky Sport Arena will broadcast the rugby final, right?

 

I found confirmation of the above on FB. See the Itslian thread for other channels

@Anna Ko Kolkowska and @Kumazzz, you're right! I'd forgotten about Mika's saying that the performance will be 4 minutes 30 seconds long.  Having seen the latest video with the kids' choir, I had assumed it would just be "C'est la vie."

1 hour ago, Kumazzz said:

Rugby World Cup France 2023 is honored to announce that internationally renowned singer Mika will be part of this celebration, with a unique 5-minute performance during pre-match entertainment.

 

Mika will be joined on stage by the choir of the Maîtrise Populaire de l’Opéra-Comique. Together, they will perform a colorful mix of Mika's best-known songs, rearranged for the occasion, in order to share a musical journey with the spectators.

 

 

 

However, it's no longer a mix of Mika's songs.  I guess he changed his mind after he and others wrote "C'est la vie." I remember him saying that it was the last song (or one of the last) written for the French album.

1 hour ago, giraffeandy said:

I don't speak French but it's the same in Spanish. So it's probably common for all Romance languages. Actually, now when I'm thinking about it, even in Czech you would say "give me your hand" without "your" (sounds very strange with it, you usually only have your own hands anyway, it's also a common mistake in translations from English/German) so maybe it's rather something typical for Germanic languages. (Sorry, I studied linguistic and translation so I always think too much about these things... )

Languages are fascinating!  

2 minutes ago, Hero said:

Quick question for French speakers - when he sings "donne-moi la main", why is it la and not ta?  

If French is like Italian, you don't put possessive adjectives before parts of the body. So even in Italian you would say, "Dammi la mano"  ( literally, give me the hand).

1 hour ago, Hero said:

Oh, sorry I thought you meant the guy in the corner, across the aisle over Lang Lang's shoulder. Err... no, no idea who he is, sorry! 

No, you understood correctly the first time. 😊   The man next to Mika is a second person I'm commenting about.

Ten minutes ago I was watching Mika's Eurovision performance for the umpteenth time and I noticed this below:

 

8 minutes ago, Hero said:

It might not be anyone we know as connected to Mika, they could be a member of the production team, or one of Claudia's or Lang's crew. 

We've seen before the man sitting next to Mika. He was in one of The Piano videos with Mika and LangLang.

1 hour ago, mellody said:

 

 

Hahaha, "if you're on the train, come say Hi. There's about a hundred kids dressed as ghouls and monsters, they don't have to come say Hi"

and also...

Mika last week: "I don't like chocolate"
Mika today: "we've been eating crisps and chocolates and caramel bites for 2 days".  He's full of contradictions, as always.

 

Is that Adam Goodall in the corner?

Don't know why Carolina Stamerra Grassi was in Yorkshire ( rehearsals for Mika's upcoming  tour?) but note the hashtag for the Rugby World Cup. Has she been helping Mika with the Oct 28 performance? She was in France recently. 

 

Mika's voice sounds a bit different to me when he sings the melody (not referring to the whispering) - I wonder what the song will sound like when he sings it live.

I find it soothing and it does seem dreamlike. It seems to reflect in music the muted colors and softness of the billowy clouds on the album cover. "Il suono è ovattato" I would say in Italian. 

The song has a catchy tune and I found myself swaying to the music almost immediately. Don't know what the words say (except for the chorus). 

I like it  

2 hours ago, Mikasister said:

Mika TikTok

Is there a thread . . . "Mika in salmon pink"? 

On 10/17/2023 at 12:25 AM, mellody said:

The Piano has been sold to TV Stations in Denmark and The Netherlands: https://www.c21media.net/news/fremantle-tunes-up-first-deals-for-heartfelt-reality-format-the-piano-in-europe/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter 

 

Also, it won an award:

 

And Mika apparently was filming for the UK version of the show today in London:

 

 

They're working on The Piano Christmas special!

4 hours ago, mellody said:

 

I checked again because of the "software", and the only paragraph where I can find it refers to software like viruses and bots, I think. At least that's how I understand it. Probably also AI, so if you  make your voice sound like Freddie Mercury's, you might get disqualified.  Anyway, I don't think it's an issue to cut videos or audio.

 

I've filmed LOTS of takes today (as I had the house to myself for the only time in the next 2 weeks) and decided that I'll do an actual video - I just need to cut it together from different takes, impossible for me to get it all right in just one take. And it'd be a bit boring to watch too, I guess, if nothing's happening except just me standing there and singing. I've also filmed a few takes in front of a green screen, so maybe I'll try some advanced video editing and add a background to some parts of the video. 

I guess after today I know the lyrics. 😅 Tho I still have to concentrate hard on remembering them fast enough.

Since they will probably use only a few seconds of the song from each fan, do you think it might be ok to submit even just a one- minute video? I imagine that they've requested the whole song so they can edit whatever they need.

There's no way I'd be able to do what you described above 

6 minutes ago, Prisca said:

That's indeed a strange list! Why wouldn't they include Italy? 

But you can give an Italian phone number! 

 

I guess they'll eventually correct it. Maybe @dcdeb could let Mika's team know about the missing countries?

An hour ago I didn't see Italy in the list of countries

I wonder if I can get away with just singing this . . .  

 

Parce que c’est ça la vie

Parce que c’est ça

 

C’est la vie

 

 

@Prisca wrote

"He gets piano lessons and spends a lot of time in a park"

 

In Le Divan Mika says the park was Kensington Gardens.

1 hour ago, Sara penny said:

Solitamente Carolina Stamerra lo aiuta per spettacoli in Italia credo!

Yes, like Sanremo or Eurovision. 

1 hour ago, crazyaboutmika said:

 

 

Me too https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KY7sz43Cltq0mfbfTCBIMi9HvFTle_t9/view?usp=drivesdk

When the presenter mentions England, is she teasing Mika about which team he is rooting for  ?

On 10/7/2023 at 1:22 PM, Kumazzz said:

Trailer

 

Bande-annonce Tous avec les Bleus le concert événement TF1

 

 

Carolina Stamerra Grassi was in Paris the other day. Was she helping Mika with this  show or with the performance for the October 28 final? Who knows? 

When it was mentioned that Mika seems to mix up dates at times, I was reminded of an exchange in this 2013 interview on Italian TV where he had trouble identifying the month when he started learning Italian. He laughed it off saying he was dyslexic (from 7.35).

 

 

 

 

I watched the Le Divan video for the first time yesterday and realized that the interviewer was attributing Mika's sleepwalking as a child to the bullying he experienced. Was Mika  bullied in France too or was the man unaware that Lycèe Charles de Gaulle is actually in London?