gothams3rdrobin | C'mon and take me to the Mardis Gras.....

Well I did it! I finally got to sing at the Mardis Gras - and with a solo, no less! Well, sorta.

It's been a really long day, as we started off in a rehearsal in work at noon, so we could polish off this and that. It was also the only chance I had to practise the solo with Hayley from the Swansea office (I told you it was a 'sorta-solo'). She and Laura used to come out to Cardiff for the rehearsals, 'cause the Swansea choir didn't take off on the first attempt, but the second one has been successful - thanks in part to our fantastic efforts on that 3-SGMs-in-one-day back in April.

We practised for an hour, by which time we were boiling hot (air-conditioning in the meeting rooms? What is this of which you speak?) and I'd already been in my tidy shoes for two hours so my feet were starting to hurt. I really should start carrying them with me to put on when we get there...

We then traipsed over to the Mardis Gras itself, which was on Coopers Field, behind Cardiff Castle. Only a ten minute walk from the office, but in my shoes.... *winces* We all got kinda lost at first; most of us followed George and Andrea down one part of the fairground, but then had to quickly high-tail it in another direction when they realised they'd taken a wrong turn! *laughs* We made it to the Cabaret stage just on time.

The stage itself was one of those jerry-rigged pagodas, and it had a very unfortunate support pole right up the centre which made it a little tricky for those in the back rows. Also, the flooring was a bunch of triangles secured together with what looked like plastic tape - whenever we did any moves the damn thing bounced! I felt so sorry for the guys and the sopranos, who were almost permanently on the sides of the stage, 'cause the one time we swapped places with the guys it was like dancing on a trampoline!

There were major technical hitches right at the beginning, as the first track on the CD wouldn't play properly. They'd chosen for us to start with the 'Born Free' medley we did at the Albert Hall, which requires Jo and Tony to lead off with the 'Eee-oooh-eee-ooooh' section from 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight', but the CD player kept starting the track a few seconds in, so we would still be singing that song when we should have started singing Sting's 'Set Them Free' *facepalm* After a couple of tries, Andrea decided to jump ahead in the programme to 'Valerie', based on the arrangement by Amy Winehouse. This is the one Hayley and I do a solo in, doing the Amy Winehouse trills right at the end, and it seemed to go pretty well. I had to somehow get myself over to the mike with 'confidence' *raspberries* George suggested during rehearsal that I pretend to be Freddie! *laughs* I think I'll leave that to Costas though, for his solos in 'Somebody To Love'!

After that we did Rhianna's 'Umbrella', but our arrangement was based on the version by 'The Baseballs' (If you haven't heard it, go look it up! It's wicked!). This is a hell of a lot of fun, and I don't know how we managed to dance with the stage bouncing the way it was!

We should have wrapped it up with 'Somebody To Love' - one of the first songs we learnt when this started two years ago, and much as I love Queen I am so tired of singing that damn song! - but we decided to give 'Born Free' one more try once we'd finished. Andrea said to start in with the 'Whimbaway' section, but what do you know! The CD player decided it wanted to play the track properly this time! So Jo and Tony had to rush forward to the mikes so they could sing their solos! Andrea turned to the audience and gave a "Well, how about that!" gesture, and everyone was very amused. The crowd had been so patient during the initial technical glitch. Personally I think there was some fate involved, as 'Born Free' is what we usually finish with due to the amazing arrangement of 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight' at the end of the medley.

The audience seemed to like us :-)

I would have liked to have stuck around and explored the Mardis Gras with Rowan, but neither of us had eaten in hours and my feet were absolutely throbbing by this point, so I hobbled him down to the main shopping streets via the cashpoint (We could have eaten at the fair but I hadn't enough cash on me. Plus Rowan would have been begging me to let him go on the rides too....) We had lunch in Burger King - and I really need to avoid that place for the rest of the year! - before hobbling home. I'm really, really glad that I threw a stew in the slowcooker this morning, as I am so knackered I don't think I could contemplate having to cook something!

Next gig is in the Millennium Stadium itself! \O/ We're going to be on stage with Only Men Aloud, Catherine Zeta Jones, Katherine Jenkins.... gonna be awesome. I think we're only singing the national anthem, but what a rush that's going to be!