01x02 - Leeds

[bunniefuu]

This week we are at
Leeds train station

where there is another
fantastic public piano

and an array of brilliant amateur
pianists who'll come here and play

for those who would like
to watch... Hello!

..those who are catching
a train or just arriving

but, of course, they're not
the only ones watching.

So, here's the thing -

we have got the world's best pianist

and one of the world's best
performers here in Leeds.

But where do you put them?

I mean, this is embarrassing

but I'm just -
this is only between you and I -

they are wedged there,
in between a book shop

and a public toilet.

Nobody knows that they're there.
It's snug.

Welcome to our new hideout!

Next to the toilets. Yeah.

Lang Lang is regarded

as one of the greatest classical
pianists of all time, who performs

in the world's most prestigious
concert halls.

# I could be brown,
I could be blue... #

Mika has sold millions of albums

and played huge stadiums
on global tours.

Together, they've planned
a special concert

at the Royal Festival Hall
in London.

And they'll be inviting unknown
pianists from railway stations

across the country to play there.

But none of them will know that
Lang Lang and Mika are watching.

Gentlemen, welcome to Leeds!

Can I apologise for this room?

Ah!

Like a small cupboard
next to a public toilet.

Yeah!

The welcome to The Piano!

On the plus side... Yes?

..we're about five metres away you.
Yeah.

You can run and see us any time
you want.

Yeah. Or you just shout.

Now, you've got Jay.

# I guess I don't know a thing about
living... #

So, do you know what you two are
after today?

Are you thinking in your head,
Royal Festival Hall -

we've gone down that route,
we need something else?

We really need... We...
..a classical player now.

I mean, after the piano rap.

Every single time I've been in Leeds

something happens that surprises you

because the people here are warm...
Yeah.

..they express themselves

and they're funny.
And we're in Yorkshire!

Yeah. Buckle up, guys. Buckle up.

TANNOY: This train will be
the 10.58 Northern service

to Blackpool North.

Our first pianist is
14-year-old Josh.

How are you Josh?
Yeah, I'm good. Thank you.

I'm Claudia. Lovely to meet you.
Yeah.

Come and have a seat.

Thank you so much for coming
to play today.

Tell me about you and the piano.

Yeah, I've been playing piano for as
long as I can remember. Yeah.

Since I was...
I think I was five and a half.

What do your school friends think?

What do your mates think

when you go, "No, I can't come out
because I'm playing piano."?

They... They think
I'm wasting my time

but I know they'll be playing games
a lot all day.

And that's not stuff that I'm
interested in, you see. Yeah.

So, his friends think that he's
wasting his time

but he says, but they just play
games all day... Right, right.

..so I think they're wasting their
time. Right, right. He's right.

JOSH PLAYS MELLOW TUNE

When he gets a tune that he really
likes,

he can be playing late into
the evening.

But it's nice to have the music

in the house

and, I think, even being outside

and I can hear him playing upstairs.

It just, um...

My heart just feels lifted

because it's Joshua being Joshua.

My neighbour's...she actually
commented to say

that the daughter, in the morning,
turns the TV off

and sits in the front room, waiting
to hear Joshua doing his practice.

That really made me...

It kind of brought tears
to my eyes to think

that, um, the effect of music has
that soothing effect

and you don't know what it does
to somebody who's listening.

During lockdown, Josh discovered
another passion.

This way! This way!

With being off school and stuff,
I've been looking for stuff to do.

So we've got seven chickens.

And this one's Nugget.

All of them are named either
after chicken shops

or a flavour of chicken
that you'd eat.

That's Fillet.

And then that's, er, Zinger -
like Zinger Chicken Burger.

We had Nando but, sadly,
she died four months ago.

Come on.

Nature's quite big to me, you see.

I do quite love the outdoors.

His love of the great outdoors
has led Josh

to look for more freedom at
the piano.

With classical you're...you're
reading sheet music

and you can't really express
how you feel through that.

What is he going to play?

I... I don't know.

JOSH PLAYS GENTLE INTRO

But with jazz, you'll learn maybe
the melody

and then the rest is just improv.

You can express yourself
more with it.

JOSH PLAYS TO BOSSA NOVA TEMPO

Oh, nice! Here we go!

# Dun da day da... #

This is the first time we're having
this type of jazz, right?

Yeah. After...

Nice chords. It's wonderful.

So, he is a, like, classical music
trained.

Yeah. Basic things. Exactly.

Yeah. You can tell by his kind of...

Yeah. ..octaves. Yeah.
He's really... Solid.

Just really good!

You know, the thing is about him,

he's not, like,
playing over-the-top.

No. He's not really over-excited.

That's it. He's... Yeah.

But he's so into...
Just right. Yeah. It's...

And see how he feels the rhythm.

Yeah. At the back of his neck. Yeah.

If you close your eyes...

..it's really pleasing.

Yeah.

Yes!

CROWD APPLAUDS
Whoo!

Well done, bud! Thank you.

Listen to the crowd.

Yeah.

Look - everyone watching you!

Thank you. Oh... You were excellent!

Say hi to the chickens from us.
Yeah!

I mean... Yeah.

Thank you.
Thank you, Claudia. Well done.

He's only 14 but seems like he knows
exactly what he want. Exactly.

And that reflect on his playing.

There was something soulful about
what he was doing. Yeah.

There was emotion... Soulful,
yeah. ..in what he was doing.

That's the difference between
background jazz and...

He draw us in. He really draw us in.

Yeah, it's emotion. If there's
emotion, there's something there.

From the first notes already.

It was amazing how many people
were there.

I just turned around
and saw these people

and I was like, where did
all these people come from?

Thank you.
That was a amazing experience.

Thank you for everyone.
Yeah. Thank you.

I would consider him.

I want to see him bring the seven
chickens... Yeah.

..to the Festival Halls.

Feel bad for Zinger, though.

Josh isn't the only pianist playing
music way before his time.

I've been playing the piano

for about, um, seven years now.

I just like how I can share my joy
for pianos with...

..with other people.

At the moment, I'm really into
those older '90s dance music.

HE PLAYS: Better Off Alone
by Alice Deejay

It's keyboard-based dance music

but if you don't know any
of these melodies

and you're hearing them for
the first time.

I've heard a little bit...
They're really strong. Yeah.

It's very, very strong.

How I got into '90s dance music -
my dad, really.

He's so cool! Well... He is!

He likes to think he is.

All he does is play it
throughout the house.

It's always in the kitchen,
when he's cleaning

or in the car.

It's just been embedded
into my mind ever since.

So I thought, why not share my joy
for it with other people?

Where are we going now, Harrison?

HE PLAYS: Sandstorm by Darude

This is really cool.

I'd like to try this type of thing.
Never tried it before.

I remember buying CDs... Oh.

..of each one of those records.

Yes!

Bravo!

Wow!

You smashed it. Didn't he?

He did do perfect. Well done.
Do you feel good? Yeah.

I would love to hear that in a pub.

I want to hear it again.

I'm just going to get on the train
and go to Ibiza after that.

And I'm 50 years old
and these hips aren't even mine.

You know what's so funny is that,

like, all these kids are
rediscovering all these... Yeah.

..tunes from the '90s.

# A scrub is guy who thinks he's fly

# And is also known as a busta

# Always talking about what he wants

# He just sits on his own,
he's broke

# So, no, I don't want your number

# No, I don't want to give you mine

# And, no, I don't
wanna meet you nowhere

# No, I don't want none of your time

# I don't want no scrub

# A scrub is a guy who can't
get no love from me... #

Piano's a bit stiff.

Seems more like a singer
than a pianist

because this track has a really good
whirly melody... Mm.

..in the original.
She's not playing it. Hmm.

# Hanging out the passenger side

# Of his best friend's ride

# Trying to holler at me... #

Her voice is... Some moments are
very, very good.

# Ooh... #

She's trying to do something.
Change a little bit.

# You, yes, you... #

Considering the amount of talent she
naturally has,

she could be doing so much more.
Right. That's true.

And she's talented, right?

Yeah. Yeah.

TANNOY: The next train to depart
from platform 17A will be

the 0932 Northern service
to Sheffield via Castleford.

Next to arrive at our piano
will be 71-year-old Liam.

Hello, there. Hello, Liam.
Hello. I'm Claudia. Hello.

Lovely to meet you.
How nice to see you, Claudia.

Come and have a seat. Thank you.

Do you mind if we have a little
chat before... No. ..you play?

No. You're most welcome.

You've brought your book.
Chopin is with us. Yeah.

Chopin! Chopin.

Is it true that you have built
a piano, a sort of moving piano?

Can you tell me more?
A piano in a hut on wheels, yeah.

I've always been a maker. I've made
loads of things in my life.

During lockdown, I thought it's
quite good to do some music outside.

Stop.

Stay.

I picked the trailer up -
which I bought on eBay.

Whoa!

And it was difficult
to do it during lockdown.

Hmm.

Because you couldn't just go round
the builders' works

and the wood yard and buy your
screws and buy your stuff.

Sorry. This is going quite smoothly.

So I had to look at what
I already had in.

Oh!

Building a shed on wheels
that goes on the road.

That's it.

And I thought this is like
making a spacecraft.

IGNITION COUGHS

A piano's normally in a house
or a concert hall

or a school. And, all of a sudden,

it can be anywhere
in time and space.

Kept sort of thinking this is going
to be quite an exciting thing

to do - taking a piano to places
and surprising people.

Well, this is what we call
the piano hut.

It's a hut with a piano in it.

And I think it's to do with getting
older.

You're trying to get
everything done, you know...

Oh, hello!

..as if there's some, like,
deadline going on, you know.

Or dead... Literally, deadline.

All seems to be working!

What have you chosen to play today?

Chopin's first nocturne.

The thing about the nocturne
is it's about the night. Yeah.

And it's not peaceful, necessarily.

OK. Because dark things happen
at night. Oh, my goodness.

I have a good feeling about his
Chopin, somehow. I don't know why.

This guy has something.

Look at that crowd.

Wow! He's getting it.

The biggest crowd of the day.

A huge amount of musicality.

This is very free, you know.
He's like the old style.

This is old-fashioned.
What... What does that mean?

Uh, it's very free.

His left hand is...

And then, somehow, you know,

the...the right hand plays freely.

It's really beautiful.

He's a romantic.

It's like a poem.

He plays like a poem.

Is he crying?

What do you think about
when you play the piano?

There's a word in Polish - zal...

..and it means sorrow,
remorse, sadness.

And, er, Chopin
expressed that so well.

I had a period of sadness
not that long ago.

Someone I was very close to died.

And, er...

..I found it easier
to play pop songs

than Chopin. Chopin didn't do it.

It just wanted to make me cry.

And only when you can face it again,

you can face the...the zal
of Chopin -

the composer that gets to
the very heart of what sorrow is.

The piano's a great friend.

Not always an easy friend,
but a great friend.

He... He has something to say.
It's loaded. Yeah.

Is that... Is that a good way
of saying it? Yeah. It's loaded.

Yes!

Listen! Listen to that!

Well done. Yeah, yeah, it's fine.

Beautiful. And everybody stopped.
Wasn't it amazing? Thank you.

It was amazing. How nice. Thank you.

Nice to meet you.

Thank you.

That was really surprising.

Finally, there's some
classical music with heart.

When there's that much emotion
in a classical piece,

it transcends. And even if
someone doesn't know Chopin,

and it's played with
that much heart.

These are young people.

You see?

They get it.

Lang Lang,
we're going to be taking two

to the Royal Festival Hall.

Hidden away in Leeds station,
just a few metres away

from the street piano,
are Lang Lang and Mika.

We are the men behind the curtain.

The two rats, yeah.

The two rats behind the curtain.

And in their search for
undiscovered pianists

talented enough to perform
at the Royal Festival Hall...

Which one will it be from the crowd?

..they're about to witness something
they haven't seen so far.

Is it the lady in yellow?
The man in blue?

I like this part.
Really. It's like guessing.

Me too. I...I love it.
It's like Where's Waldo?

Luca and I play the street pianos

because it's really great fun

and we can share our music together.

Oh.

It's a duo. Yeah. Duo.

HE PLAYS INTRODUCTORY FLOURISH

I'm a student at the University
of Oxford studying Music.

SHE PLAYS INTRODUCTORY FLOURISH

I'm a student at the Royal
College of Music in London,

er, as a classical singer.

Playing piano together
means a lot to us

and one of the first times
we ever spent time together,

we played a duet on the piano.

We're only together
because of the piano.

Right.

# Friday night and the lights
are low... #

Dancing Queen!

# Looking out for a place to go

# Where they play the right music

# Getting in the swing

# You come to look for a king... #

Lang Lang. Yeah.

I promise - and on this you're just
going to have to trust me. Mm.

This is not what ABBA's supposed
to sound like. Right.

# ..high

# With the beat of mood music

# Everything... #
He plays so loud.

He's... He's not
playing for her. No.

# And when you get the chance

# You are the dancing queen

# Young and sweet,
only 17, mm-mm... #

She's a good singer. Yeah.

She's got the sound. Yeah.

Forget him. Yeah.
Really. Yeah. Yeah.

I'm not being mean
because she has an amazing voice.

Yeah. Sounds like she could be
in The Mamas & The Papas. Yeah.

# You can dance

# You can jive

# Having the time of your life... #

The bass line's too heavy for me.

It covers the voice.
He didn't give her enough space.

Yeah. Bang time.
You know what I mean?

It was like, er,
they're just too heavy.

# ..queen. #

It must be weird to be in
a relationship with someone

and be singing
and playing with them.

No, it's OK.

I might with my wife. We play
some... Is she? ..sometimes.

Is she a pianist? Yeah, yeah.

And you play together? Yeah.

Do you do concerts together? Yeah.

AUDIENCE CHEERS

How do you get through that?

It's great. It's pleasure.

Oh, my gosh! If I had to do
a concert with my partner,

I swear to God, we'd never
speak to each other again.

STATION GUARD'S WHISTLE BLOWS

I'm Arron Freeman.

Er, I'm a bricklayer
from Manchester.

I used to be a drummer
when I was younger.

Never had piano lessons

and I've never been taught
how to play a piano

so everything I play on piano is

what I've wrote or
what I've made up.

ARRON PLAYS SWIRLING, ROMANTIC MUSIC

Untitled by Arron.

It was composed by himself.

I sort of write
with stage scenes in my head

so it's almost like film music
conveys different emotions

and pictures in my head that
I manage to, like, try and portray

the best I can onto the ivories.

You can depict any kind of emotion
you really want through

a piano - happy, sadness,
grief, whatever.

Does a lot to the soul
to be able to ignore everything.

Nothing in your life,
nothing in the room, matters.

You're just looking at your hands

and getting lost in
what you're playing

and it does a lot for me - piano -

for getting them kind
of emotions out.

Would you ever guess, if you were
walking by in the train station,

this is a bricklayer playing
this kind of atmospheric... Yeah.

Yeah. ..movie music?

It's, er, not real melody

but it's more like waves
or like, er, sound bites.

This is like just pure, come from
his heart, without any polish.

Yeah. There is no polish - exactly.

It's beautiful, actually. Yeah.

You give a guy like this lessons -
you know, harmony lessons

and composition lessons -
and in, like, three months...

Yes. The depth of field, like.
Right. He can really...

This is how deep
the painting is now.

It would be like that.
Right. Absolutely.

TANNOY: Platform 15B

for the TransPennine Express service

to Hull, calling at Selby...

Hello! Oh! How are you?

I'm nervous meeting you.

No, don't be.
I'm nervous meeting you.

I don't want you to be nervous.

We've brought you out first
before we meet your lovely daughter.

Do not shake. We're fine.

I'm shaking. No, do not shake.

Where... Where is her little girl?

Tell me all about Lucy.

Well, where would you like me to
start? Er, from birth if you want.

From birth!
Oh, well, well, when she was born

we didn't know whether she...

We were told that there was
something wrong.

Lucy was diagnosed with
cancerous tumours of the eyes.

We were in a cancer bubble
for a long time,

which was horrendous.
I'm not going to lie.

It was really bad.

And we were in and out of hospital

and I had to watch them
pin my daughter down

because she didn't want this.

And she cried and she kicked
and she screamed.

I've never seen Lucy cry
as much as she did.

You look at these nurses and doctors

and they're...they're saying to you,
you know, we know what we're doing,

and you have to trust them.
You have to trust them.

And that's the hard part
cos you're the mum.

She sang to the fish in the ocean.

Sssshhhh. Ssssshhh.

As she stands now,
she hasn't got any vision at all.

On top of that, Lucy has
a Chromosome 16 duplication.

I have it. I have it.
It can affect mental health,

it can affect autism traits.

She's globally developmentally
delayed, as well,

um, so she struggles
with communication.

She can't hold a conversation.
Not really.

And the seashells clapped.

Good girl!

And the seagulls flapped.

To hear the mermaid sing.

However, a long time ago,
when she was very little,

she had a little tiny keyboard.

And we took it into hospital with us

and she played Twinkle Twinkle
Little Star perfectly on it

and the nurse came over

and she thought that
it was pre-recorded.

And I said, no, Lucy's playing it.

And the nurse just went,
"That's spectacular!"

And that's when Daniel came in
and started working with her.

I'm Daniel Bass

and I do a lot of teaching

through Amber Trust,

which is a charity that helps
blind musicians.

Our lessons aren't like normal
piano lessons.

Because she can't see what's
happening, I started using

a method of where I would play
the piano

and she would put her hands
on top of my hands

so she could feel which
fingers were doing what.

I've never met anybody in my career

who has the same depth
of understanding of music.

Let's go. Are you ready?

Hi, Lucy!

Hi, Lucy. It's Claudia.

This is Claudia.
Hi, darling. Lovely to meet you.

Thank you for coming.

The music is the way
that she communicates

and that's how she makes
her place in the world.

Now, coming up, there's
a big step coming up to the piano.

Ready? Big step. Good girl.

Well done.

Come and sit down in the middle.
Down. Sit down.

That's right. Find the pedal.

We should say that often at the end
of a performance... Yes.

..Lucy covers her ears.

She likes the applause

but she doesn't like
the sound of the applause.

Yes. So her fingers go
in her ears for sensory reasons.

Yes. I don't have to tell people not
to? She loves applause. OK. Fine.

100%.

Ready? In a minute,
you're going to play

Nocturne in B Flat Minor by Chopin.

Shall we start playing? Say.

On we go.

It's unbelievable that
she can play this piece.

How...? How... I mean, how...?

How does she study? I mean, how?

It's incredible!

She plays so beautifully.
I mean, this is...

I've never seen anything like this.

Oh! This is...

Yes!

Oh, my God!

Oh, my God!

This is...

This is impossible!

Lucy, it was so lovely to meet you.
You were tremendous!

Yay!

Oh, she's giving you a clap.
Only one, though.

Yeah. It's more... Better than
none. It's more than I deserve.

I'm speechless, I don't know what
to say. Yeah.

There's nothing to say. I...
I really don't know what to say.

It was...

For two pernickety, opinionated
pains-in-the-arses

to be completely flummoxed
and speechless.

Yeah. I mean...

You know, technically-speaking,
she sang those melodies.

Yeah.

You sing. When you play it's like...
Like, put her voice here.

And I always tell the people
I work with,

I say, don't play just...
# Da, dah... #

because when you sing it you, you
have to think about hmm. Hmmmm.

Right! Yeah. Yeah.

Basically, turning a percussion
instrument... Yeah.

..a tuned percussion instrument
into... A breathing voice.

A breathing, living vocal...
Vocal, yeah.

..instrument.

And it took a 13-year-old girl
to show us how to do that.

Yes. She can, she can.

She really sings so well.
And she did it. There.

I feel very, very lucky.

If you told me that I was going to
live one of my strongest musical

experiences of the past five,
ten years

sitting in a train station in Leeds,

I would've been, like, you're
completely out of your mind.

BOOGIE WOOGIE STYLE PIANO INTRO

# Oh, here we are and here we are
and here we go... #

This...

No, the piano part is fine.

# ..go

# Rocking all over the world... #

I was brought up in a pub, and all
pubs had pianos in those days.

My father always played it

and then he always used
to get me down to play.

# Rocking all over the world... #

He plays very well. Yeah.

Yeah, I like it.
OK, now we have a problem. Yeah.

# And I li-li-li like it
li-li-li like it

# Here we go... #

We just tell him to not sing.
That's it.

"Come to the Royal Festival Hall
but shut up."

# I'm gonna tell your mamma
what you're gonna do... #

Can Claudia ask him,
just make up an excuse?

What...? Just to kind of smash
it out. Without singing.

And not sing. Yeah.

# And I like it, I like it
I like it... #

Boys?

OK, can you please take away
the microphone?

Yeah. Say there's no choice.

And, then, just say to him, like,
smash it out like Little Richard.

OK. I will do whatever you say.

# And I like it, I like it

# I like it, I like it
Da da da I like it...

Go on! Stop him!

# Here we go

# Rocking all over the world... #

CLAUDIA MOUTHS

# And I like it, I like it... #

No prob.

I love her!

Smash it out!

Bang it out like Little Richard.

Yeah, good!

There. Bravo!

Now he's playing better!

Now the energy's going where
it needs to - in his fingers.

Everything here.

Much better.

He added more actives.

He's putting some of
the voices into the piano.

The tempo's gotten urgent.

Now, that's a Little Richard tempo.
Wow!

Oh, this is fantastic!

He almost got away, Lang Lang.

Yes! Thank you very much!

Whoo! There you go!

Thank you. He has no idea
what just happened.

He is completely unaware.

Thank you, folks. Whooo! Thank you.

He's a virtuoso.

TANNOY: Platform 16 for
the TransPennine Express service

to Manchester Airport.

I am Daniel. I am 12 years old

and I was born in Seville,
which is in Spain.

How are you?
I'm good, thanks. How about you?

Good. Very good top, if you don't
mind me saying.

I'm Claude. Hi. Hi, Daniel.

Have a seat.
Thank you so much for coming.

No problem. Er, Daniel, how long
have you been playing?

I've been playing since lockdown,

um, since I watched
Bohemian Rhapsody.

Is that true? Yeah. You watched
the movie and thought, yeah,

I'd like a bit of that. Yeah, I just
wanted to be like Freddie Mercury.

Do you? Yeah.
What do your friends think?

They think, like,
I'm different in a way. Yeah.

And that I don't play football,
I don't like sports.

And I just always go to the music
room instead of being outside.

Oh, that's amazing! I was him.

So, you see yourself in him?

Yeah. I just hid in
the music practise room.

He was always very shy
when he was little.

He's a different person
when he plays piano.

He's in his little...
little bubble of music.

So, during lockdown we managed
to get, er, a piano from my dad

and it was in his room
for some time, untouched.

After watching Bohemian Rhapsody,

about an hour later,
called us up the stairs to listen

and then he'd sort of learnt the
first part of the Bohemian Rhapsody

and we were just
absolutely blown away.

We didn't know he could play piano

and suddenly he was a pianist.

But Daniel wasn't learning piano
just for himself.

Como estas? Estoy bien. Y tu?

My parents are in Spain

and you couldn't get out in lockdown
in Spain -

they have to stay inside.

You were not allowed to go out

so he used to learn new songs
to play for his grandparents.

He could entertain them
and make it a bit nicer for them.

It makes us feel really proud
that he's making someone happy.

Campeon. Campeon!

Playing the piano has given him
so much confidence

and it's very emotional
to see him play.

What have you chosen to play?

I've chosen to play Iris by
the Goo Goo Dolls.

I love this boy. Oh, wow!

When I was younger I used to always
ask my dad to play that in the car.

That's why I chose that -

it's got so much feeling,
as well, which is what I love.

Please be good. Please be good,
please be good.

# And I'd give up forever
to touch you

# Cos I know that
you feel me somehow

# The closest to heaven
that I'll ever be

# And I don't want to
go home right now... #

He's really good.

# And all I can
taste is this moment... #

It's really nicely sung,
that phrase. Hmm.

# All I can breathe
is your life... #

He knows how to not do too much.

And get ready, though - this song
has a surprise - goes up an octave.

# I just don't want to
miss you tonight

# And I don't want
the world to see me

# Cos I don't think
that they'd understand

# When everything's
made to be broken

# I just want you
to know who I am... #

Wow!

He's playing the whole band.

So stable is the rhythm, the guts.

Yeah. And in the same time,
he's so musical.

It's not like he's like
a stubborn, controlled musician,

he's real giving everything.

Exactly! But...but here,
the roots are so solid.

That's it.

Have a look.

# And I don't want
the world to see me

# Cos I don't think
that they'd understand

# When everything's
made to be broken

# I just want you to know who I am

# I just want you to know who I am

# I just want you to know who I am

# I just want you
to know who I am. #

There is absolutely no doubt

this kid is going to do this
professionally one day.

Yeah.

You either have it or you don't.

He certainly has it.

He's got it.

Hmm. Bravo!

CROWD WHOOPS AND CHEERS

Look at that!

Well done, mate.

Suddenly, he's a child again,
you know.

He's gone from being a
musician, singer. So mature.

And now he's a kid. Yeah. So mature.

Thank you. Great stuff. Thanks.

Wow! Amazing.

Leeds just got more complicated.

Yeah. We had many good ones today.

I think we've been very spoilt.

I'm already thinking about
what we're going to do later

and, I mean, then we have to meet
them and we have to choose one.

And, quite frankly...

..it's going to be hard.
It's very tough. Very tough.

We've asked everyone who played the
street piano at Leeds city station

to gather together
so that they can meet each other

and discover who they've
really been playing for.

What grade you at now?
Um, I'm five now.

Oh, are you? Grade five, yeah.

So, Leeds has basically
given us everything. Yeah.

We've had ABBA. We had a version of.
Thank you.

We had jazz. We had jazz.
Yeah. We've had jazz.

Two jazz. Some classical repertoire.

We had a lot of life.

Yeah. So let's discuss
who is in the running

to go the Royal Festival Hall. OK.

There is Liam. Yes.

He's a romantic.

Emotionally, he gives
you a warm feeling.

Yes. Yeah. And he opens the door

for loads of people
to give Chopin a go

and that can only be a good thing.

There's also Daniel,
with the Goo Goo Dolls. Yes. Yes.

# And I don't want the world
to see me

# Cos I don't... #

Is it Lucy who made you both cry?

Lucy's challenging life
is beyond our imagination.

The perfect example of
the transformative power of music.

And I like the kind of unjaded
nature of Josh. Yeah.

A bossa nova's not
the easiest thing to play

but it had emotion in it,
it was beautiful.

That was perfect.

But, also, he doesn't want
to do too much. Yeah. Yeah.

Right, He's just in the flow.
Exactly. Yeah.

14. Yeah.

How do you compare
the incomparable?

Well, that's not my job -
that's...that's yours.

I know. It's a question. Help.
But it's really hard.

What are we trying to achieve
at the Royal Festival Hall?

What do we want the audience
to feel? Yeah.

That's really what we have
to ask ourselves.

I really would love
the audience to leave with

their...kind of their mouths
just like...wide open in wonder.

Hello. Hi! Hiya!

It's so lovely to see you
all together.

Uh, we just want to say thank
you so much for coming

and for playing
so beautifully for us.

Um, I'm going to say something now

which is...we haven't
told you everything.

Oh, really?

Hmm. You played for those
in Leeds station.

You also played for two others.

You played for the world's
greatest pianist

and one of the world's
greatest performers.

So, please welcome
Lang Lang and Mika.

No way! Wow!

Well, firstly, hello -
it's nice to see you in person.

We've been watching you in the most
glamorous of all locations.

We were next to that toilet.

Exactly.

So we... We were just
behind the black curtain.

You didn't know that you were
being watched.

And maybe you would've done
things differently,

but thank goodness that you didn't

because you were yourselves,
and that is so rare.

You really played so beautifully

and each of you are
so different, you know.

We are seeing, like,
a musical journey

through different style of music.

As a thank you, we're organising
this very special concert

that we are putting together
at the Royal Festival Hall. Yeah.

Um, and just as a thank you,
we'd like to invite all of you

as our VIP guests. To be there,
yeah. To attend this concert. Yeah.

I don't believe it! Which is going
to happen later on in the year.

But the truth is...
Yeah. Yeah, we have another!

Not more!

Yeah! Not more.

Yeah.

Actually, we want to invite
one of you

to perform at
the Royal Festival Hall.

So, after a real, uh, serious
discussion for a few hours...

BOTH: That person...is...

..Lucy!

What?!

Oh, my God! I can't believe it!

Thank you!

We're overwhelmed.
Don't know what else to say.

Um, honestly didn't think that
Lucy's name would be called out.

Despite the really high standard,
there was a moment

where Lang Lang and I
remembered the power of music

and the reason why we make music

and what music can do

and it just completely blew us away.

And that was thanks to Lucy, so...
Thank you.

We would love her to come.

Absolutely. Yeah. Thank you.

I see many great pianists performing

but this time it's...
it's quite different.

You can be a great pianist
but if you're always onstage,

you're always practising,

sometimes the emotion become
a little bit less genuine.

But she plays so beautifully

and that emotion, it's so sincere.

It's so direct.

And to play at the Royal Festival
Hall, I think she will do great.

She speaks through music.

She's speaking through
her piano playing.

That's what makes it different.

Because you feel like it's
important to her to communicate

and what she has to say is just
so urgent, in her own way,

that it deserves to be heard
on the most prestigious stage.

Well done, Lucy.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

And it's all done!

Yeah, finished. All done.
That's right - it has.

Next time,
The Piano pulls into Glasgow.

It took three cities
but, finally, we got Elton John.

I'm very grateful to you.

This is a much
tougher place to play.

Can you turn the other way?
She's too nervous.

We'll hear from our youngest...

Am I allowed to ask...?
No, I won't ask.

..and oldest players, so far.

94.

My goodness, sir! Are you joking me?

But for the first time...
He's a candidate for me.

No! No?

..Lang Lang and Mika find it
impossible to agree...

I didn't feel it.

..on who to bring to
the Royal Festival Hall.

I think this is one of the first
times we've really disagreed.

Quite a difficult...
Yeah. ..situation.

It's a little trickier today.

I'm actually terrified now!