There was an all-star cast of musical talent roped in to last night’s Coronation Concert – but it was 13-year-old blind pianist Lucy Illingworth who provided the most touching moment of the show.
The young musician, who recently won Channel 4’s The Piano and won over the nation with her performance in the middle of Leeds train station, was part of the huge celebrations at the royal event at Windsor Castle.
Also on the billing was Katy Perry, Take That, and Lionel Richie, all singing in front of the newly-crowned King Charles III and Queen Camilla, plus an audience of 10.1 million watching on the BBC from home.
William, the Prince of Wales, also took to the stage to pay tribute to his father and his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
For many of us though, Lucy’s stunning piano rendition of Bach’s Prelude in C was a clear highlight of the Coronation Concert.
Someone else said we need to see more diversity like this in performances, saying: “Don’t mind admitting I’m in absolute tears. Bog off Olly Murders and Gary Barlow. I want more sign language choirs, and more Lucy, to define the Carolean Era.”
Another person echoed that, writing: “Can’t get over Lucy’s talent. Favourite part of the #coronationconcert so far plus the massed voices of the Coronation Choir and Higher Love including the virtual commonwealth choirs. Not interested in the celebrities!!”
Charity The Amber Trust wrote: “We are incredibly proud of Lucy and everything she has achieved!
“Lucy is a phenomenal musician and we are thrilled that she has had this opportunity to share her talent with the nation. Well done Lucy!”
We are incredibly proud of Lucy and everything she has achieved! You can learn more about her and how she learns a new piece by watching her story.
Lucy first shot to fame on Channel 4’s The Piano, where she delivered a spellbinding performance of Debussy’s Arabesque No.1 in the final.
Judge and pop star Mika spoke about her winning performance, “It was about just highlighting if something extraordinary was to happen. Something that no-one could forget… and that happened.”
Fellow judge and pianist Lang Lang, who was captivated by Lucy described the young pianist as a ‘real genius’.
In a heartfelt twist which further underlined how different the programme was to other reality TV shows, all contestants were gifted a piano to take home.
Single Mancs wanted to take part in next series of Married At First Sight UK
Emily Sergeant
Okay, bold question time – would you marry a complete stranger?
If you (somehow) answered yes to that, then you’ll probably be keen to hear that hit Channel 4 reality show, Married at First Sight UK, is currently on the lookout for brave contestants to take part in the next series.
And you’ll probably be even keener to hear that casting directors are urging single Mancs to stick an application in… if they fancy it.
If you haven’t seen Married at First Sight yet, well then firstly, where have you been? And secondly, it’s a dating show like no other that sees singletons marry complete strangers in a social experiment – and it’s undoubtedly binge-worthy and extremely entertaining.
Married at First Sight UK has opened its casting for the next series / Credit: Channel 4
Contestants – who will not have met or had contact with each other until the wedding day – are matched up with their supposed ‘perfect match’, determined by a group of experts who use “scientific matchmaking methods”.
Once the contestants are married off, the camera follows them for five weeks to see whether the new relationship is a success or not.
Calling on singletons to put their faith in the matchmaking service, Channel 4 wrote in the casting announcement on the ‘Take Part’ section of its website: “If you are ready to swipe left to the dating apps and say ‘I do’ at the altar, then our experts are here to help you find the one.”
Channel 4 wants singletons to put their faith in the matchmaking service / Credit: Channel 4
Casting directors say singles of all ages, backgrounds, gender identities, and sexualities are ‘welcome to apply’ for the new series.
Fancy it then?
Applications are currently open for the next series, and to apply to the show, you just need to be over 18 years of age, live in the UK, and feel ready for marriage.
BBC is looking for messy Mancs who need to ‘sort their life out’ to take part in new series
Emily Sergeant
Do you need to sort your life out?
We get that this may sound like a pretty brutal and upfront question to ask, but don’t shoot the messenger, it’s technically the BBC asking it, as producers are currently on the hunt for messy people who could do with ‘sorting their life out’ to take part in the new series of one of its hit TV shows – and they’re encouraging Greater Manchester residents to apply.
While the title of the show may, quite literally, be Sort Your Life Out, we promise it’s not as harsh as it seems, as in reality, it’s just offering you a helping hand to tidy up.
That’s right, if you would you like your home to be totally transformed by none other than Stacey Solomon and her expert team, then through a life-changing declutter, supersize spring clean, and some ingenious carpentry solutions to top things off, you could bring some job back to where you live.
The BBC is looking for messy Mancs who need to ‘sort their life out’ to take part in new series / Credit: BBC | FreerangeStock
Stacey and her expert team of organising fanatics can help you let go of the things you don’t need, and streamline what you do.
Plus they’ll also help to create space-saving storage and put systems in place to save you time and money in the future.
“Whether you have a new baby on the way, want to run a business from home, find it hard to let go of sentimental items or just want to create calm in the chaos, we’d love to hear from you,” producers said in a casting call on the BBC website.
Does this process sounds like something you could benefit from then? Producers of the hit show are looking for families or shared households to take part in a potential future series.
Daisy Jackson -
8th May 2023 
