I was delighted to have been asked to sing at a local Christmas festival at the beginning of December. The idea was to have entertainment up on the stage as the shoppers browsed the stall, I thought that was a great idea, as it was something really different. I was really excited for it.
I decided to sing only Christmas songs, and I began working on a set list of my favourite Christmas carols and songs. Christmas, along with Halloween, is my favourite time of the year, and so I was really looking forward, especially as this is the only time of the year where everyone gets along, and is nice to one another.
As the performers had fifteen minute slots, and I had two of those slots, I decided that I really wanted to do a dress change in the interval. I had never done that before, and so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity.
I chose two dresses; one was a new pale blue one that I love, and the second was my red and white one that is a staple for this time of year. I also wore it last year for the Mad Hatter Charity Tea Party.
We decided on four songs for each set, and as they were an hour apart, that would give me plenty of time to change in between.
When the day arrived, I packed my dresses, did my makeup, and we had curled my hair the night before, so I had lovely ringlets, and my Dad and I off in the car, blaring out Christmas tunes, naturally, and made our to The Pallant Centre in Havant. After getting a tiny bit lost, we made our way inside, and I headed backstage. One young girl, Isobel, was already up there singing, and so I waited backstage for my turn, checking the order of the songs on my phone, making sure they were right.
When Isobel had finished, it was my turn, I stepped up to the microphone, introduced myself, and began my first song, which was “O Holy Night,” which is one of my favourite carols, both to sing and to listen to. It's so beautiful. The audience seemed to like it; I could see people turning around to look at me.
My next song was “What Child Is This?” which I think is underrated, as not many people I know know about this song, but I really like it, and so did the audience. I really love singing all these beautiful old carols; it really gets me into the spirit, and I hope it gets the audience into the festive mood, as well. My final two songs for my first set were “The First Noel,” and “Away in a Manger,” and I got a big round of applause when I had finished, and so I thanked them for listening (I always like to thank the audience for listening, because they didn't have to, and it's nice to acknowledge them) and then I met up with my Dad in the audience, and we wandered around the stalls, looking at everything. There were glittery pictures, snacks and candies, ornaments, among others. My Dad bought some light up glasses, which are really cool.
I got a lot of compliments from the shoppers and the people who owned the stalls, which made me really happy. I always hope that people enjoy what I do, and hearing such lovely words just makes my day.
As the performers had fifteen minute slots, and I had two of those slots, I decided that I really wanted to do a dress change in the interval. I had never done that before, and so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity.
I chose two dresses; one was a new pale blue one that I love, and the second was my red and white one that is a staple for this time of year. I also wore it last year for the Mad Hatter Charity Tea Party.
We decided on four songs for each set, and as they were an hour apart, that would give me plenty of time to change in between.
When the day arrived, I packed my dresses, did my makeup, and we had curled my hair the night before, so I had lovely ringlets, and my Dad and I off in the car, blaring out Christmas tunes, naturally, and made our to The Pallant Centre in Havant. After getting a tiny bit lost, we made our way inside, and I headed backstage. One young girl, Isobel, was already up there singing, and so I waited backstage for my turn, checking the order of the songs on my phone, making sure they were right.
When Isobel had finished, it was my turn, I stepped up to the microphone, introduced myself, and began my first song, which was “O Holy Night,” which is one of my favourite carols, both to sing and to listen to. It's so beautiful. The audience seemed to like it; I could see people turning around to look at me.
My next song was “What Child Is This?” which I think is underrated, as not many people I know know about this song, but I really like it, and so did the audience. I really love singing all these beautiful old carols; it really gets me into the spirit, and I hope it gets the audience into the festive mood, as well. My final two songs for my first set were “The First Noel,” and “Away in a Manger,” and I got a big round of applause when I had finished, and so I thanked them for listening (I always like to thank the audience for listening, because they didn't have to, and it's nice to acknowledge them) and then I met up with my Dad in the audience, and we wandered around the stalls, looking at everything. There were glittery pictures, snacks and candies, ornaments, among others. My Dad bought some light up glasses, which are really cool.
I got a lot of compliments from the shoppers and the people who owned the stalls, which made me really happy. I always hope that people enjoy what I do, and hearing such lovely words just makes my day.
After a while, I again headed backstage to change into my second dress, and then I met up with Seb, who was also going to sing. A few nights previous, he had asked me if I wanted to sing “All I Ask Of You,” with him to which I said yes. We hadn't had a chance to rehearse it, but we've performed it before, so I wasn't too worried.
Before I headed back onstage for my second set, I managed to set up my camera on the side of the stage; we weren't able to set it up on the floor as there were people wandering around, and it wouldn't be practical. My Dad managed to snap a few photos on his camera, and get a few seconds of video, but no full song, unfortunately.
So, after getting the camera ready, I stepped back out, and launched into “White Christmas,” I adore this song; living in the South of the UK, we hardly ever get snow; and I have never seen a white Christmas, and it's one of the things I want more than anything. Maybe I need to move overseas! (Or at least up North!)
My next song was “Do You Hear What I Hear?” which I think is another unappreciated song.
After that, I sang “O Come All Ye Faithful,” and I sang the first verse in Latin, which I think the audience weren't prepared for, because up until then all of my songs had been in English (I couldn't get through a set without singing something in a foreign language, haha!)
And then I ended with the beautiful “Silent Night,” which is another one of my favourite carols to sing. I got a nice round of applause, before Seb stepped out, and we launched into “All I Ask Of You.”
I had been practising it ever since we decided to sing it, so I wasn't too rusty. As we hadn't had time to rehearse it, we improvised; we looked into each others' eyes, and turned to the audience. At the end of the song, during the instrumental, we walked towards each other, and sang the last part with our arms around each other. I thought that was a nice touch, and once again, the audience applauded us, and then I left the stage, and Seb continued with his set.
I would have loved to stay and watch, but unfortunately I had to get to work, as it was a Saturday, and the cafe is always busy on weekends. So I turned up in the cafe with a full face of makeup, my hair curled and diamonds at my neck! I'm sure the customers must have thought I was putting in way too much effort!
As always, we have put photos in the gallery, which you can view here on the website.
Thank you again for reading my blog; I hope you enjoyed it.
Until next time
Lauren xx
Before I headed back onstage for my second set, I managed to set up my camera on the side of the stage; we weren't able to set it up on the floor as there were people wandering around, and it wouldn't be practical. My Dad managed to snap a few photos on his camera, and get a few seconds of video, but no full song, unfortunately.
So, after getting the camera ready, I stepped back out, and launched into “White Christmas,” I adore this song; living in the South of the UK, we hardly ever get snow; and I have never seen a white Christmas, and it's one of the things I want more than anything. Maybe I need to move overseas! (Or at least up North!)
My next song was “Do You Hear What I Hear?” which I think is another unappreciated song.
After that, I sang “O Come All Ye Faithful,” and I sang the first verse in Latin, which I think the audience weren't prepared for, because up until then all of my songs had been in English (I couldn't get through a set without singing something in a foreign language, haha!)
And then I ended with the beautiful “Silent Night,” which is another one of my favourite carols to sing. I got a nice round of applause, before Seb stepped out, and we launched into “All I Ask Of You.”
I had been practising it ever since we decided to sing it, so I wasn't too rusty. As we hadn't had time to rehearse it, we improvised; we looked into each others' eyes, and turned to the audience. At the end of the song, during the instrumental, we walked towards each other, and sang the last part with our arms around each other. I thought that was a nice touch, and once again, the audience applauded us, and then I left the stage, and Seb continued with his set.
I would have loved to stay and watch, but unfortunately I had to get to work, as it was a Saturday, and the cafe is always busy on weekends. So I turned up in the cafe with a full face of makeup, my hair curled and diamonds at my neck! I'm sure the customers must have thought I was putting in way too much effort!
As always, we have put photos in the gallery, which you can view here on the website.
Thank you again for reading my blog; I hope you enjoyed it.
Until next time
Lauren xx