The Piano -Episode 2, Leeds (Channel 4)

We’re back with another episode of The Piano, and this one is close to home for me. I lived in Leeds for about 7 years before I moved to York and I’ve lived in Yorkshire my whole life. So naturally, I was excited to see what talent the people of Leeds would bring to the show.

If you missed episode 1 of The Piano – check out my recap here.

Josh

First up, Josh. He’s 14 and has been playing the piano since he was five and a half. He is very dedicated and often plays late into the night. His mum loves listening to him play – she says it lifts her heart.

Josh’s friends think he’s wasting his time, but they just spend their time playing games and Josh thinks they are the ones wasting time. Smart kid.

He has chickens named after chicken food. There’s Nugget, Zinger, Fillet and 4 others.

Josh played Blue Bossa and he did a great job. It’s a lovely style of music and the judges were impressed with it – it’s not easy to play!

Harrison 

Harrison was another teenager who has been playing for 7 years. Inspired by his Dad’s love for the ’90s, he played a mash-up of 90’s music, including ‘Better off alone’.

It was really good but I don’t think it was good enough.

Olivia

Olivia played and sang ‘No Scrubs’. She had a beautiful voice but it felt like it was more voice than piano skill. The judges thought she had lots of natural talent but could do more.

Liam

Liam is 71. During lockdown, he built a hut on wheels and put a piano in it so he could travel and play outside.

He played Chopin’s Nocturne in B flat minor (Op 9, No 01) and it was absolutely beautiful. He played with such heart, he even cried. The judges were impressed with his spectacular rendition of this stunning nocturne.

The crowd loved it. He cried. It was very moving.

He spoke of the polish word: żal which means regret, grief, sorrow, remorse, grudge, and contrition. He said how Chopin captures żal in his music. Which is absolutely perfect.

Luca and Angelina 

This music student couple played and sang ABBA’s Dancing Queen. Angelina had a stunning voice, but I got the impression the judges thought Luca’s playing was mediocre. He was playing too loud and they said she should get rid of him!

Arron 

Arron is a bricklayer from manchester and played his own song: Untitled. It was like atmospheric movie music from a movie soundtrack.

It was beautiful but not the best we had seen.

Lucy

Lucy is 13 years old, she is blind, globally mentally delayed and has a chromosome 16 duplication. Lucy had a toy keyboard when she was young and played twinkle twinkle little star on it. Now, her teacher Daniel, a teacher for blind students, has helped her to bring out her talents.

She learns by putting her hand over Daniel’s as he plays so she knows which fingers are playing what notes, and how to move up and down the keyboard.

She also played Chopin’s Nocturne in B flat minor (Op 9, No 01) and I cried my eyes out. That song is hard and it’s amazing she can play it despite all her health problems. Amazing.

Pub man 

Oops, I didn’t catch is the name but he was playing pub-style music. Lang Lang and Mika sent Claudia to tell him to stop singing and just play. Then his playing improved instantly.

Daniel

Danie is a 12-year-old boy born in Spain. He started playing in lockdown after watching Bohemian Rhapsody and wanted to be just like Freddie Mercury.

He played the piano for his grandparents over Skype during lockdown.

He played and sang Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls. I LOVE that song. He did a great job and they were so impressed.

How did it end?

This episode of The Piano seemed to have much better people in than last week! There were three people I wanted to win – Lucy, Liam or Daniel.

In the end, Lucy won and it was deserved. It was the performance that had me crying and feeling the most overwhelmed. What an amazing young woman!

Can’t wait for The Piano next week.

It’s shown on Wednesday at 9 pm on Channel 4!

Check out my own piano journey with my one year piano progress update: