Original subtitles

The 11:00 LNER Azuma service to Edinburgh...

Merry Christmas from King's Cross station.

We really hope you're in the mood for some beautiful Christmas music.

I just have to find one thing.

You know what it is - the piano.

Earlier this year, we invited amateur pianists

to come and play on street pianos

in train stations up and down the country.

I've spotted the first kilt. Rrr!

APPLAUSE

Thank you very much!

Hidden away from the performers...

Welcome to our hideout. Next to the toilets, yeah.

...pop superstar Mika...

I'm just gonna run out into the station and sing with him.

...and world-famous pianist Lang Lang...

Yeah, give me some magic.

Yeah, you can do it.

...selected their favourite performances

for a celebratory concert

at the Royal Festival Hall...

...where the incredible Lucy...

...was awarded the performance of the night.

That was fabulous.

Mika and Lang Lang are now on their way to join us

for a special festive celebration at King's Cross.

We've asked some friends we met earlier this year

to come and play for us,

so it'll be like a giant Christmas sing-along.

We'll also have a few famous faces,

plus the multi-award winning Gregory Porter

will be stopping by.

This is...

Ahh! Oh, my God. Brother!

How are you? Ahh!

I missed you! I missed you so much.

Oh, my God. How are you? Good.

You look...so cute! It's for Christmas.

LANG LANG LAUGHS It's for you.

Ho, ho, ho!

Hi! Oh, wow. Boys!

Christmas lady!

I've gone quite Christmassy.

I'm sorry. You have glasses here.

Thank you very much. You're very welcome.

The piano is just there! Right there. So you can see.

Right there, yeah. You can look out the window!

We don't have to hide as much any more. You don't have to hide,

and, by the way, we can take these off. Thank you very much.

Ooh, it was beginning to itch.

Are you ready for Christmas? I love Christmas, yeah.

Tell me about Christmas where you are.

I always eat a lot.

And also just gathering with friends. Yeah, yeah.

And every Christmas I always play a Christmas concert somehow.

When you're with your friends, family at Christmas,

are they like, "Mika, please play a song?"

Yeah, they do. There's this thing that we used to do with my mother

and we had a piano in the living room,

and it was pretty much all our friends

who didn't have family round that year,

they would all come over and try to play all the carols... Oh!

...at the piano all together, and that would last about three hours.

It was always the music.

How excited are you to see some pianists you've seen before?

I'm going to bring back some people, you don't know who.

So you're going to be picking your favourite festive performance.

Lang Lang, what will you be looking for?

I'm actually looking for some really cool arrangement,

maybe a medley,

with some kind of classical music,

but I also want to hear some delicate technique.

Yeah. Yeah.

Not to be boring, but it's not that easy to play Christmas songs.

Tell me. Well, because everyone knows them.

You just want to take one of these songs... Yeah.

...and you want to give it personality.

You want to be blown away.

Or just made to cry a little bit.

Oh! You know, want to cuddle up and eat chestnuts

or want to drink a bottle of whisky.

Something. OK.

Can I ask an obvious question?

What's that? It's a present. For who?

You two are going to open this when I'm downstairs.

It's for you two. Oh.

It's a kitten!

I'll see you later. MIKA CHUCKLES

The next train to depart from platform five

will be the LNER Azuma service to...

All right, Lang Lang.

We're back in.

Ready for the Christmas. Here we go.

We last saw our first returning pianist

at Leeds city station

and he's hoping to deliver

the judges' favourite festive performance.

Oh! Hey!

Daniel from Leeds.

So excellent.

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

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

So lovely to see you again!

Darling, have a seat.

Thank you. Really lovely to see you.

Nice to see you. Thank you for coming. No problem.

Mika and Lang Lang loved you so much.

You played Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. Yeah.

How did you find it?

They actually contacted me... What?!

...to go and play with them on a stage. No!

Unreal. Oh, my.

Which was crazy.

Stop it!

No way, man!

A few days after the show went out,

their manager messaged me

and said, "Do you want to come and sound check with them?"

And I was like, "Yeah, that'd be really cool!"

All right, Daniel. This is John and this is Robby. Hi, John.

Daniel, great to meet you. How are you?

Nice to meet you too. I'm good, thanks.

We saw you playing Iris on The Piano.

I thought it was great.

How long have you been playing the piano? Since lockdown.

Since when? Lockdown.

Oh, are you kidding?

Oh, amazing, man. That's pretty impressive.

Do you want to... Play? ..wow us? Yeah.

Come and play. Check it out.

It's just us and a camera.

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

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

And then John, he just started singing with me,

and that was, like, really, really crazy,

him singing his song with me.

# When everything's made to be broken

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

Hold on. Oh, yeah!

You just taught me something new.

Thank you very much. I appreciate that.

Oh, that's so great, man.

That's great. Are you sticking around for the show?

Yeah. Awesome, man. Yeah, please stay around, man.

Great. Will do. It was really great to meet you. We'll see you tonight.

We'll see you tonight. And a merry Christmas.

That was really fun. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.

When the show started,

somebody asked me to come over to the backstage,

something that I was so happy to be able to see.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I want you guys to meet somebody, all right?

All right, come here, man.

Come here. Where are you? Come here!

All right, everybody.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE This is Daniel.

And apparently they all know you.

So, we saw a video of Daniel playing this song

on a show called The Piano.

I just thought we would bring him out to finish this with us.

What do you say, brother?

I was forced to start singing for them,

which was like, I didn't expect any of that.

# And ...

# Don't want the world to see me... # Yeah!

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

It was absolutely an adrenaline rush, absolutely.

# I just want you to know who I am... # Come on!

In three years, he's gone from a little boy

who couldn't play piano

to being on a stage with the Goo Goo Dolls.

# And I don't want the world... #

I think the show helped Daniel with his confidence

to perform in front of an audience

and not to be so worried about what's in front of him.

Absolutely unbelievable.

Really proud. Really proud dad.

Let's hear it for Daniel!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Incredible.

Wow,

We are so grateful you've come back.

Tell me, what are you going to play for us?

I'm going to be playing Drops Of Jupiter by Train.

That is a very good song.

It's not typically Christmas. Why did you choose it?

I feel like it's an anthem. Yes.

And I think that's what you play when you're with your family

at Christmas, that's what brings the family together.

And I think that's just the biggest part of Christmas, having the family. Yeah. Yeah.

# Now that she's back in the atmosphere

# With drops of Jupiter in her hair... #

I love this kid.

# She acts like summer and walks like rain

# Reminds me that there's a time to change, hey

# Hey

# But tell me, did you sail across the sun?

# Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded

# And that Heaven is overrated?

# Tell me, did you fall from a shooting star?

# One without a permanent scar, and did you miss me

# While you were looking for yourself out there? #

More confidence, you know?

I felt it's more like a mature artist this time.

The kid's grown up.

# Can you imagine no first dance, freeze-dried romance

# Five-hour phone conversation

# The best soy latte that you've ever had, and me?

# But tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet?

# And did you finally get the chance

# To dance along to the light of day... #

He has grown up. Yeah.

But what's interesting is that you hear it in his voice,

but also in his piano playing. Mm-hm.

Yeah, his piano is really, really spectacular.

Yeah, it has more bite. Yeah.

He's holding onto the rhythms. Yeah. Bah, ah.

# Na-na, na-na, na-na-na

# And are you lonely looking for yourself out there? #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Lovely. Really great. Amazing.

Thank you. Did you enjoy it? Yeah. You were brilliant.

Ladies and gentlemen, Daniel!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Well done.

We'll see you later.

Thank you.

You know, what I loved about that...

Great. ..is that the story is evolving.

He's not the same pianist or the same singer

that we heard... Yeah. ..you know, a year ago.

He's like, "I'm back. Let me show you guys what I'm capable.”

It's certainly much more powerful than last time.

Let's see what it is. Yeah.

From Claudia. Oh, yeah!

Now, what do you know? LANG LANG LAUGHS

What do you...? What is it?

Oh.

Oh!

Oh, my God. Wow!

But how...?

MIKA CHUCKLES Oh, my!

Aha!

I think... You do the one side, I do...

I think you do this side.

I do this side. OK, got it.

MIKA LAUGHS

Let me have a look at you. Do you like it?

Love it. Yeah.

Happy?

Yes. Look at my heart. It's his beating heart. Look.

I didn't think you guys, I'lLl be honest,

would take to it quite this much.

It's alarming. I'll see you later.

It's cold. More heart, please. CLAUDIA LAUGHS

We're celebrating Christmas at London's King's Cross station.

Who is coming up next?

I am so curious.

And Mika and Lang Lang are on the lookout

for their favourite festive performance.

This is the best thing that's ever happened to me.

Whoa!

Hi, darling. This is so festive. Nice to see you, you all right?

OK, do you know who these people are?

Not really.

You've got Tom Allen, who's a brilliant comedian,

and you have a national treasure,

Jo Brand.

What a lovely place to find you.

They're going to play piano here?

They're here to play for us!

A surprise. Oh, my God.

Have you watched the show or were you just passing?

What's the situation?

I'm actually on the run.

Right. And I'm going to Aberdeen on the sleeper train.

We are big fans of the show

and so it just felt like a lovely opportunity,

since you're here, that we thought we'd come down and give you

a little ditty. Thank you so much.

How did you feel about Mika and Lang Lang?

Cos they will be watching you.

Well, this is what I'm most anxious about. I'm not playing the piano,

so I don't mind at all. You're fine. Yeah, Jo, you can relax.

Tom! Jo! Look! We're watching.

Mika!

I love you. I love you.

And Lang Lang, I will love you.

I'm so excited.

Don't' be excited! Don't watch.

I'm very excited.

I think you've freaked them out.

OK, you ready? Yes, I am. Good luck. Good. Thank you.

JO SNIGGERS OK, gone badly already.

Fairytale Of New York. Fairytale. Great Christmas song.

# It was Christmas Eve, babe

# In the drunk tank... #

He's done it in my key!

Yeah, like, that's a really... Your key, yeah.

# They've got cars big as bars

# They've got rivers of gold... # Yes!

CHEERING # But the wind goes right through you

# It's no place for the old... # There you go!

# On a cold Christmas Eve

# You promised me Broadway was waiting for me

# You were handsome You were pretty

# Queen of New York City

# When the band finished playing

# They howled out for more

# You scumbag, you maggot

# You look just like...Taggart? #

LAUGHTER

# Merry Christmas your arse

# And I hope it's our last

# The boys of the NYPD choir

# Were singing Galway Bay

# And the bells were...

# Ringing out

# For Christmas Day

# The boys of the NYPD choir

# Were singing Galway Bay... #

This is like, you know,

Christmas party, you know, that kind of a...

Like... Exactly, like a pub. Yeah, exactly, yeah.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Yes!

Shall we go and see them? Let's go. Come on, let's go.

And that, that is Christmas.

Tom and Jo!

Hello!

Hey!

We've got to go down the pub. We've got to go down the pub!

- Nice to see you. - Hello. Lovely to meet you.

Thank you so much. So nerve-wracking.

Can we have a massive round of applause, please,

for Tom and Jo?

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE We're going to get drunk.

Tom and Jo!

Going to get drunk.

I enjoyed it. Did you enjoy it? I did enjoy it, actually. Yeah.

And I'm glad I got to do it with you.

One woman did walk past and went, "More piano practice,

"more piano practice."

And I... I reported her to the police.

Yes, we've had her... We've had her arrested.

So she'll be in the drunk tank.

Oh, look at the baby.

Hello!

This is Freddy. Hello, Freddy!

Hi! Hi!

Merry Christmas, Freddy.

Let's get into it. Yes.

More music.

Our next arrival was last seen at Leeds city station.

Oh, who is it?

Oh, Angelina!

She was with her boyfriend. Yes.

They were singing... Were they singing Dancing Queen?

# You are the dancing queen

# Young and sweet

# Only 17... #

I'm so happy to see you.

Thank you, and you.

You came and you sang ABBA with your boyfriend. Yeah, mm-hm.

And today you are without him. Yes.

So, shortly after the show aired,

we just went our separate ways.

OK. Yeah. OK.

So, tell me, what have you done since?

So I've just started my master's at the Royal College of Music.

Congratulations. Thank you very much.

That's a great school. Who went to that school?

Yeah. You remembered!

Yeah. Yeah, I went to the RCM.

Oh, wow.

I hope that she graduates, cos...

...I didn't.

Just saying.

What are you going to perform for us today?

Last Christmas by Wham! Oh! Yeah. Such a good choice.

# Last Christmas I gave you my heart... #

Do you not know the song?

Not really.

Lang Lang, what is wrong with you? Sorry.

All right? You all right, love? Yeah, you? Yeah.

We're going to watch this lovely girl.

That's beautiful. Mm.

The sort of classical crossover.

# Last Christmas I gave you my heart

# But the very next day you gave it away

# This year, to save me from tears

# I'll give it to someone special... #

Of course, it's a break-up song.

# Last Christmas I gave you my heart... #

So sad.

It's really sad. That's so sad somehow.

Beautiful, but it's sad. Yeah, yeah.

# This year, to save me... #

Beautiful melody. Oh, my God. This is a beautiful song.

It's a really good piece of songwriting.

# Once bitten and twice shy

# I keep my distance, but you still catch my eye

# Tell me, baby, do you recognise me?

# Well, it's been a year, it doesn't surprise me... #

When you're a classical singer,

and trying to sing pop, it's not that easy.

When she goes up, it's good.

# You gave it away... #

Her playing is also good.

It's like the piano is really at the service of the voice. Yeah.

This is basically a real kind of a river floating thing.

# Mm-mm

# Last Christmas I gave you my heart

# But the very next day you gave it away

# To save me from tears

# I'll give it to someone special

# Mm-mm. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Amazing!

You are amazing.

Merry Christmas, Angelina.

Thank you.

WWhoo!

Oh, that was amazing.

For the first time so far today,

I forgot about the station. Yes.

We got that moment.

Yeah. Yeah, we got that moment.

So, we've seen already three. Who's your favourite so far?

I think Angelina.

I like Daniel. Daniel somehow was very powerful.

Yeah. It's not very Christmas.

Am I just being seduced by the fact that Angelina sung a Christmas song?

Yeah. And I'm a sucker?

No, she did a great job.

I mean, it's great that we have a different opinion.

As usual. Yeah.

So, this is actually a perfect time for me to give you

the gift that I got you. Me too, actually.

We have a tradition of giving silly gifts.

It's meant to be a secret Santa, but, you know, it's obvious.

I have it, for you.

Did you? Yeah.

Xiexie. Xiexie.

Thank you. LANG LANG CHUCKLES

Oh.

"English Humour For Beginners."

HE LAUGHS

OK, let me see.

"How To Be British."

Yeah.

You know what, I gave you... LANG LANG LAUGHS

I mean, I gave you a bit of Britain to take with you. Yeah.

You've just given me your face.

Maybe Mika was thinking maybe this side is me and this side is Mika,

but... I was actually...

How did you know that was...?

That was exactly what...

That's exactly what I was wondering!

But no, no, it's just... It's just your face. Yeah.

Both... I'm sorry, it's both sides.

Both sides. You can't get rid of me!

But Lang Lang is about to give another Christmas gift.

Lang Lang!

That's one way of doing it.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

It's amazing. God.

He's going to play for the passengers at King's Cross station.

Hey!

Wow, there's loads of people.

Of all the times to be in this station,

just now, to watch the world's greatest pianist.

We love you!

Sorry.

I think these people can't believe their luck.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Ladies and gentlemen, Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!

Ladies and gentlemen, Lang Lang!

Thank you.

HE HEAVES

Lang Lang!

Oh!

Hey, brother!

Where is he? There he is!

It was not bad. Yeah. LAUGHTER

I've seen better. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Merry Christmas. Bye-bye.

The last time we saw our next Christmas comeback...

Lang Lang, look!

It's... Boogie Woogie Sue.

...Sue, a retired music teacher,

was rocking Glasgow Central Station.

That's how you do it.

You're such a good dancer. MIKA LAUGHS

Jingle Bells

It's absolutely wonderful to be back.

What I'm playing today is called Christmas Boogie Woogie Medley.

And I've arranged Christmas songs, because we're celebrating Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Thank you!

Wow.

Oh, this is brilliant. That's great!

So happy to see Christmas Sue.

She has this amazing groove in what she does.

It's all about the left hand.

We're on her boogie-woogie train,

you know, that kind of boogie-woogie bass. Yeah.

Just kind of ploughs on.

This is great!

Now we're way more sultry.

Totally rhythm and blues.

And back to the boogie-woogie. Mm.

What's going on here?

Whoa! Who's that?

Jared.

The mechanic. Jared! Oh, my God.

The two best boogie-woogie players from the last season together.

It works so well.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Yes!

WWhoo!

Incredible.

Sue, you absolute goddess. Well done. Thank you.

Jared, come here.

I can't believe it!

The truck mechanic!

And brilliant pianist.

That was so brilliant,

and you're in the Christmas spirit.

Yeah, of course, as you can see.

Yeah.

The thing about Jared is that he's got this amazing technical ability

and he's more precise, you know.

Yeah. And so when you put the two together, it's amazing. Yes.

For me, it's that idea of the rails.

It doesn't matter whether it's a Christmas boogie-woogie jam

or whether it's Shostakovich,

there's always the train, you know?

There's something about those repeat rhythms.

There's groove even in Beethoven, don't you think? Yeah.

Absolutely in Beethoven, absolutely.

Do you know how many songs I've written on a train?

I was with my siblings, we couldn't sleep,

and we were taking a train, I kid you not,

it was three in the morning,

and the train was going, "de-de-de-de, de-de-de-de,

"de-de-de-de, de-de-de-de,"

and so we took spoons, because we were in the canteen car,

and we went...

And I wrote a song on top of it going...

# Suckin' too hard on your lollipop

# Oh, love's gonna get you down... # Wow!

And it came from that train ride. From that train ride? Yeah.

# Sucking too hard on your lollipop

# Oh, love's gonna get you down... #

Sir, put those on just for me.

There you go.

Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas. It's a bit early.

Never mind, we're pretending it's December.

Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate...

I write down the name of someone... Yeah, yeah.

...and I stick it on your forehead.

And I'm going to guess, right? OK, there you go.

Is it a he or a she?

It's a she.

Musician?

Um, no, thank God.

My mother?

No!

No.

Oh. Good-looking?

Yeah.

Chinese?

No. OK. OK.

Then it's your mum!

No...

Did you just "your mum" me?

No, I mean... No, it's not...

I mean, there's so many... No! No, no, it's not my mum.

Oh, I know!

Who? Claudia! Oh, my God!

Thank God! Oh, my God!

Merry Christmas.

Oh, my God!

LANG LANG LAUGHS

It's time to hear from our next returning pianist.

Hey! Melissa.

And she played her own composition. Oh, yes, she played...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, right.

Hope by Melissa

During her performance at St Pancras,

I actually fell in love with baby cousin Hayden,

who's all grown up now.

Hello!

Where have I gone?

Here I am!

Where have I gone?

Here!

Oh, so cute, this one.

You're a big softy.

Yeah, a little bit. Yeah. A little bit. Not too much.

I'm Scrooge. Yeah?

I'm definitely Scrooge.

But once you have a kid,

it changes you.

I feel sorry for the kid.

Hi!

How are you? I'm good, how are you?

So lovely to see you. Lovely to see you.

I've been playing with Hayden.

Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas to you too.

Tell me all about you.

You so impressed Lang Lang and Mika

and I know that you love Lang Lang. Yeah.

What was the whole experience like for you?

Yeah, it was really cool to meet someone that I guess I looked up to

in terms of classical playing, so...

And are you happy to be back in this station again with the piano?

Yes, it feels great. Yeah? Yeah.

How much do you enjoy Christmas?

Yeah, it's just nice spending quality time with my family,

I guess, so... Yeah. Yeah.

Christmas, Christmas.

Where are the Christmas pictures?

Christmas has been a crazy part of my piano journey,

cos my dad got me a keyboard on 2017 Christmas.

In the first year of me playing,

like, before I had lessons,

I learnt off watching YouTube videos.

I used to have, like, all the game songs I loved to play

and I was like, "Imagine if I could play this on piano!"

And I feel like it started from there.

Beautiful. Look at the smile, look at the smile!

LAUGHTER

Teaching yourself, most people would be using the wrong fingers

so I took lessons and then I did, like, a year of, like,

relearning how to play piano.

Usually it takes someone ten to 12 years to get to grade eight,

but for me it took me four years.

It's just amazing how she plays.

How can you pick something up so quickly?

So it's definitely a natural gift and yeah,

we're just really proud of her. Yeah, very. Yeah.

I was quite shy and I didn't really have that much confidence

back in secondary school.

And just, like, speaking in general,

and I feel like the piano has helped me overcome that

and given me a lot of confidence.

So, I decided that I want to study a bachelor's

in arts and music performance

at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music.

I just thought I'd put an application in and see what happens

and I didn't really think I'd actually get in.

When we looked at it, you know,

we thought, like, it's like the Oxford of music. Yeah. You know.

I think it's quite crazy me listening to anime

and game music and now me studying at Trinity Laban

playing the sort of music that I like.

I don't know, if I didn't get that keyboard for Christmas,

I don't if I would've been where I am now,

so thanks, Dad!

Tell me about the piece you're going to play today.

I'm going to be playing my original composition Reflections,

and it's about, like, snow, blizzards,

and, like, ice, and I feel like when I play,

you can visualise that in, like, the winter season.

That's not easy. Yes.

Now, how do you create texture out of sound?

That's always the biggest challenge. Yeah, yeah.

I hear a little bit of ice.

This is pretty good.

And if I'm trying to describe what I see,

it's not, like, a summer night,

it's definitely... Winter.

Well, yeah. It's kind of, like, life on pause. Yeah.

Nature on pause. Yeah.

You know, she's playing better than last time. Yeah.

Her rhythm is more stable. Yeah.

Oh! Interesting.

Little bit of dissonance. Yeah, yeah.

And now that just got more interesting. See? It's much better.

Yeah, now she certainly gave a new approach.

This is so much more interesting. Yeah. Listen to this.

Usually, when I'm composing,

it's about my emotions and the way I feel.

And hopefully my compositions will have an impact on people.

Yeah, that's what my main reason for composing is.

She keeps her feelings inside,

and I think Melissa's compositions

are her feelings... Expressions, yeah.

...being expressed... By her music.

...via the music. Yeah. Yeah.

I think music is a way for me to, like, communicate

when I can't sometimes, yeah.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Yes!

WWhoo!

Melissa, you are amazing. Thank you so much.

Melissa, everybody!

If you look at all the best Christmas songs

and the best pieces of Christmas music,

they always have this underpinning of happy sad.

She put a lot of thought in.

It suddenly took on more emotion, you know.

Yeah. I really enjoyed it.

Who's your favourite? The best emotion...

Yeah, that's the most touching moment.

Bye!

Bye!

Bye!

We're at King's Cross station for a festive celebration

of the piano.

No, that's a video. Oh, I'm sorry!

And for Mika and Lang Lang,

the Christmas surprises just keep on coming.

Lang Lang, it's Harry!

Harry!

Yes! Harry!

We first met Harry playing jazz at London St Pancras.

I really don't know whether I can do this at age of 92.

This image is really special.

Yeah, it's unbelievable.

Harry! Ha-ha, Claudia!

I'm so happy to see you.

You are my Christmas present.

Oh!

I'm really happy Harry came back. Amazing.

You played so beautifully.

Oh... No, it was an honour for us that you came to play.

Since then, tell me what's happened.

How's everything been?

Of course, you know I lost my wife. I'm sorry.

I can't even imagine how hard it is. Yes, yeah.

It's been gradually developing.

You know, the dementia's developed over several years.

First, it was loss of short-term memory

and it wasn't very noticeable at first,

but it just got worse and worse, and worse.

It was an incredibly difficult time, to be honest,

but also one where, if Mum was having a difficult day,

music always helped.

It always seemed to help, in one way or another.

Last Christmas was written off

because Pat died

just before Christmas.

We'd been married 49 years.

I think, if you have a

good partner that understands you and works along with you,

you have a good life.

Certainly has been with me.

Yeah.

I'm just about coping.

Dealing with the grief.

My advice to people who are going through a tough time at Christmas,

it does gradually diminish.

It will never leave you

but music is a great healer.

It can bring you peace of mind.

Happiness.

Great pleasure.

You know, that's what it does.

It's Christmas.

What are you going to perform for us?

It's The Christmas Song by Mel Torme.

Yeah.

I'm not going to perform it alone.

As accompanist to Fiona,

who I met on the show.

# There's a smile on my face for the whole human race... #

Fiona, in you come. Yay!

Woo! Yeah! We love you.

This is a great combo.

Fiona's a firecracker. Yeah.

So this is a great combination.

Together, they're perfect.

Right? Exactly.

# Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

# Jack Frost nipping at your nose

# Yuletide carols being sung by choir

# And folks dressed up like Eskimos

# Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe

# Help to make the season bright... #

LANG LANG SINGS PIANO MELODY

He's doing really, really kind of cool jazz thing... Yeah.

...in the piano where the bass is

what keeps the tempo and the harmony,

and the right hand is totally free

and is duetting with her voice.

# And every mother's child is gonna spy... #

Listen.

He responds with the right hand.

# ..to see if reindeer really know how to fly... #

Beautiful touch.

Really beautiful touch.

APPLAUSE RIPPLES

We were saying we want to forget the place.

We're forgetting the station.

It felt like a time traveller.

Brings me back to the time with my grandparents. Yeah.

# And so I'm offering this simple phrase

# To kids from one to 94... #

# Although it's been said many times, many ways

# Merry Christmas

# To you. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Yes!

Harry and Fiona!

That was wonderful, both of you.

I get a bit tricky with Christmas.

So I like it

but, as an adult now, sometimes I lose that magic.

It's Harry and Fiona!

It's really hard to access that feeling

where you just remember what it felt like when you were nine years old

and everything was magical around Christmas.

This is the first time...

...today, out of all the different pianists that came back to see us,

where I really felt Christmas.

Finally, my heart melted a bit.

For me also. I think that's it.

I mean, I feel that this is Christmas. Yeah.

# Merry Christmas

# To you. #

When you see everybody later,

you're going to choose your favourite festive performance.

Shall we talk about them, who you saw?

What did you think of Sue and Jared?

I think that's the most virtuosic performance of the day.

Yeah. And complex, you know.

Reinterpretation of Christmas classics.

And they became hers, and they became his.

# Tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet? #

Let's talk about Daniel.

I mean, he's fearless.

The bass he played,

it's just like, "I'm here."

No messing around.

He's grown in confidence.

Yeah. He had an attitude today.

# Last Christmas, I gave you my heart... #

Angelina. Firstly, her piano playing was instantly better,

and she had more space to shine.

She forgot about being too precise...

Yes. Mm-hm. ..and a lot more spirit came out. Yeah. Yeah.

Can we talk about Melissa?

I really get everything that she's trying to describe,

like a blizzard... Yeah. Snow. ..winter, snow.

I mean, so much more interesting, harmonically, than last time.

I thought the composition was really wonderful.

# Chestnuts roasting on an open fire... #

What was it like to see Harry again, and Fiona?

I just love that she sang so softly... Yeah.

...and she let Harry have his moment. Incredible. Yeah.

Even in the midst of the chaos of the station, he managed to...

...create a bit of a magic space and transport us.

To draw us into this timeless Christmas-time.

So, of course, you saw some brilliant players.

And then Jo and Tom.

# You were handsome

# You were pretty Queen of New York City... #

You know, it's about generosity of spirit. Yes.

And at Christmas, you can do things without thinking of the consequences

just because it feels like you just want to be a little bit

more generous in spirit.

CLICKS TONGUE That's why that felt like Christmas.

Yes. So you don't have to tell me who, but you have got to choose

your favourite festive performance.

Is it obvious to you?

Yeah. Yes.

Is it? Yeah.

Can you give me a clue? Absolutely not.

Come on, let's go and tell them.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

One, two...

ow!

Smell it, smell it, smell it.

Oh! Oh, it's the best.

Before we're treated to some more surprise Christmas music,

we've gathered all of our Christmas pianists together

to reveal who has been awarded

Mika and Lang Lang's favourite festive performance.

Hello. Merry Christmas! Hello.

Lovely to see you all together.

Thank you so much for playing in King's Cross station.

Two people are desperate to see you all again.

Please welcome Mika and Lang Lang.

Bravo!

Bravo. Merry Christmas, everyone.

Merry Christmas.

And thank you.

So nice to see you again.

Incredible playing and singing.

LANG LANG LAUGHS

Yeah. Not you, Tom.

Tom, did you practise a lot before the...?

It might surprise you that I did, actually.

THEY LAUGH

A lot. A lot.

I know that you two were so impressed

with seeing our pianist again.

Daniel, do you know how happy we were to see you again?

Your music is changing because you're growing up

with your instrument, and we got to hear a little bit of that.

Yeah. Your left hand is so powerful... Thank you.

...and your voice is such a confident voice.

And, Melissa, I hear so much

development since last time.

I mean, you're really putting so many great feelings and emotions,

and contrast, into your reflection.

THEY CHUCKLE

Yeah, it was great job.

Once again, you're evolving with your instrument

and it's a real relationship that you're having. Yeah.

And if we talk about relationships with the instrument,

I think we have to talk about Harry and Fiona.

It was really intimate.

Very delicate. And also such a classy jazz approach

where your left hand kept the time

and your right hand duetted with Fiona.

You were going to choose your favourite festive performance.

So for us, the choice is clear.

And it is...

Harry and Fiona.

APPLAUSE

Bravo!

Unbelievable.

Yes. Congratulations.

So, it's Christmas-time.

We need one final Christmas treat.

It couldn't be The Piano

without hearing from a girl

who captured all of our hearts.

So I would love it if you could follow me.

Here we go.

Earlier this year, the nation was mesmerised...

...as we heard the incredible Lucy play the piano.

Out of four finalists,

Mika and Lang Lang chose their performance of the night.

So we have chosen...

Lucy.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

After her success on The Piano,

Lucy has played an exclusive concert at the Royal Albert Hall

and was invited by the King

to perform at his Coronation Concert.

And now, for a Christmas treat,

she's playing for us at King's Cross.

Hello, Lucy!

Hello! It's Claudia, lovely to see you.

It's lovely to see you, too.

Thank you so much for coming.

It's a pleasure. Absolute pleasure.

What a year Lucy has had.

How is Lucy coping with it all?

Nothing fazes her. Nothing.

But I remember the first time I met Lucy

and I think I said to you, "Will she be OK?"

And you said, Daniel,

"She's got a piano. She's fine."

That's it. Yeah.

That's her natural place to sit, at a piano,

because that's how she communicates with the world, you know.

Lucy's about to perform with Grammy Award-winning Gregory Porter.

What does that feel like?

Speechless.

He's amazing.

Double Grammy Award-winning Gregory Porter

has captivated audiences

from around the world for the past decade,

and he's about to join Lucy

for a very special public performance.

Yeah, Lucy!

What are they going to perform, please?

They're going to perform Silent Night.

Lucy's taken Gregory's arrangement of it.

She listened to the orchestration,

and then she made her own adaptation.

So what she's playing, really, is her own arrangement

of his arrangement.

OK, I think it's time.

Daniel, would you mind letting Lucy know?

Sit nice and straight. Are you ready? We're going to do...

Now, we're going to do the performance now of Silent Night.

You ready? Applause?

And there's going to be applause at the end of it,

so we're going to start it. OK, here we go.

We're going to do Silent Night.

OK. Are you ready?

Here we go.

Yeah. Go on.

# Silent night

# Holy night

# Allie calm

# Allie bright

# Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child.

# Holy infant so tender and mild

# Sleep in heavenly peace

# Sleep in heavenly peace

# Silent night

# Holy night

# Allie calm

# Allie bright

# Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child

# Holy infant so tender and mild

# Sleep in heavenly peace

# Sleep in heavenly

# Peace. #

VOCALISES

CHEERING

Yes! Bravo!

That was so beautiful.

Ladies and gentlemen, Gregory Porter and Lucy!

CHEERING

Beautiful.

OK, so Mika and Lang Lang are about to play us out.

On behalf of both Mika and Lang Lang,

and the entire team behind The Piano,

we just want to say thank you so, so much

for watching us earlier in the year,

we're incredibly grateful.

We wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

And we will see you in 2024.

Exactly. Exactly.

Mika, please get into position. With pleasure.

I've said that before.

Woo!

Come on, Mika.

# There's nothing you can do that can't be done

# Nothing you can sing that can't be sung

# Nothing you can say

# But you can learn how to play the game

# It's easy

# Love, love, love

# Nothing you can make that can't be made

# Nothing you can save that can't be saved

# Nothing you can do

# But you can learn how to be you in time

# It's easy

# All you need is love

# All you need is love

# All you need is love, love, love

# Love is all you need

# Love, love, love

# Love, love, love

# Love, love, love

# All you need is love

# And all you is love

# All you need is love, love, love

# Love is all you need

# There's nothing you can know that isn't known

# Nothing you can see that isn't shown

# There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be

# It's easy

# All you need is love

# All you need is love

# All you need is love, love, love

# Love is all you need

# All you need is love

# Oh, all you need is love Everybody

# All you need is love, love, love

# Love is all you need

# Love is all you need

# Love is all you need Love is all you need

# Cos love is all you need Love is all you need

# Love is all you need Love is all you need

# All you need is love

# All you need is love

# Oh

# All you need is love, love... #

Lang Lang...

# Love is all you need. #

CHEERING

Subtitles by Red Bee Media