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Title:
Heroes for the Planet featuring Charlottte Church'
Date of transmission: Saturday
20 May 2000
Channel: A&E
Host: Haley Joel Osment
Charlotte's role in programme:
Star of the Show! Every time
I start watching another Charlotte television special I
always wonder "Will this one top the rest?" Well
I'm pleased to say that "Heroes for the Planet -
Featuring Charlotte Church" not only topped the rest
but it firmly establishes itself as the best Charlotte
special I have ever seen right next to the "Voice of an
Angel in Concert" that we all witnessed last
year. Don't
be fooled by the name "Heroes for the Planet".
Although the name implies this was a save the earth type of
concert if you had tuned in during the middle of the show
you would have probably thought this was the sequel to VOA
Concert. Simply put this show focused about 95% of its
time on Charlotte and 5% on the environment and for
Charlotte fans that makes this show a winner.
Weller/Grossman productions did an uncanny job of recreating
the atmosphere of the VOA Concert by masterfully blending in
the concert performance with additional bits of Charlotte's
biography. The
concert was hosted by Haley Joel Osment, the child star of
"Sixth Sense". I can't say they could of
picked a better host. His chemistry with Charlotte is
brilliant and he keeps the overall theme of the concert
youthful as it should be. Haley basically announced each
segment and song by injecting the humour and charisma that
we have come to expect from this talented young actor. Some
might of expected Haley to have a larger part of the show
but as always Charlotte overshadows everyone else.
   
    The
concert opens with Charlotte and Haley in the green room
getting ready for the show. Haley makes a couple of
compliments about Charlotte's amazing talent and Char
returns the favour. Once again the chemistry between the two
is amazing, and my crystal ball says this isn't that last
time these two will appear on the screen together.
  After
the brief green room scene the focus shifts to 100%
Charlotte as she takes the stage and performs "La
Pastorella". Although Charlotte sings as brilliantly as
always you can hear some sluggishness in the orchestra. This
seems to be corrected when Charlotte performs "She
Moved Through the Fair", my personal favourite.
This was the best rendition of the song I have ever heard
from Charlotte. Next up came "Tylluanod (Owls)",
the welsh bird song. I haven't heard this performed
much in concert so it was a real treat. Charlotte
continues by performing "Guide me Oh Thy Great
Redeemer" which Haley introduces as being sung during
Princess Diana's funeral. After this song is sung a brief commercial
break is taken and then the true jewel of the show is
revealed.
   
This
concert differed from others in that it has been the first
in a while that actually brings us back to the Church
residence in Llandaff, Cardiff. This little bio
segement is really the best part of the show and as we know
the only thing that can overshadow Charlotte's singing is
her personality. The segment begins with a shot of
Charlotte's home in Llandaff and quickly we are brought
inside to see the Churches enjoying breakfast together.
Charlotte then tells us that she is a good kid but like
every other teenager she has her moments. Charlotte
takes this a little further by giving us three words to
describe herself, she chooses "Moody, Bubbly,
Predictable" as she breaks a nail and bites if off.
I'll let her insert the moody bit but I couldn't agree with
her more about the last two. Next Charlotte tells us why she
has stayed normal, and then we see her making her bed and
fixing dinner with her mum. She also discusses her £50 a
month allowance and what she likes to buy with it.
    Next
we see Charlotte being dropped off for school in a car we
call the Ford Focus here in the states. To tell you the
truth I was expecting to see a Jaguar XK Convertible
:) but its cool to see Charlotte's parents have an
ordinary car. Charlotte then tells us that she would
like to go to university, she states that her favourite
subjects are English and Writing but she hates math.
Charlotte also tells us about her passion for Egyptian
History as well.
    Next
we are shown Charlotte hanging out with her friends. Astute
readers might recognize the two girls she is seen with as
Charlotte often takes them on tour with her. Charlotte then
is shown in her room with her friends and she tells us that
she doesn't expect other kids her age to listen to her music
because she doesn't listen to it herself.
  In
the final part of the Bio Segment Charlotte gets a little
more personal retrospective and tells us that she is a deep
thinker. She says that her personal motto would be to
"Think about things while you are doing them instead of
doing things and then thinking about them
afterwards". Charlotte also tells us that despite
the teddy bear/angel image of her she tries her hardest to
let others know she is a teenager now by "Mentioning my
age and.. talking sophisticatedly". Finally
Charlotte says that in the end she's just a normal girl who
just happens to be in Magazines and Sells a
"couple" of records. After
the bio segement we are brought back to the concert although
I must admit I could of watched more about Charlotte and
Llandaff for another hour or two. Charlotte's next
song is "The Last Rose of Summer" which is played
while large screens in the background flash images of serene
landscapes implying that we must save the planet or there
really will be no more roses in the summer or something like
that :). After "The Last Rose of Summer" we get to
hear Charlotte's signature "Pie Jesu" which Haley
comments he could listen to forever especially sung by
Charlotte. After a short commercial break Charlotte
returns to sing "Songs my Mother Taught Me". This
is also one of my favourites as well and I found the
performance to be flawless. Next a special segment was
devoted to the parade that Charlotte and the other
"Heroes of the planet" were involved in. Charlotte
was seen riding in Ford's new Think electric car and
then she joined the group to present a check to the mayor of
San Francisco as 4 Cherry Trees were airlifted in. After
this brief segment was over Haley joins Charlotte on stage
to try his hand at conducting the orchestra. This is a
humourous presentation as Haley "gets caught" by
the real conductor when he tries to use the baton and noting
happens. The real conductor tells Haley he must turn the
baton on then it will work. Sure enough once he turns it on
he's able to conduct the orchestra. "Danny
Boy" came next and it also sounded especially
good. Charlotte added a little humour by commenting that
every American is a little Irish or wants to be anyways. The
final part of the concert was dedicated to "Just Wave
Hello". Members from local choirs came on stage to
serve as the background chorus as the music video was played
in the background. "Just Wave Hello" always seems
to be the song chosen to end her concerts and it does it
quite nicely. In
short this was truly a one of a kind performance.
Congratulations to Weller/Grossman productions for pulling
this one off. Many expected it to be quite a letdown but it
ended up being one of the best if not the best television
special featuring Charlotte ever. It was as if this was
ready made for Charlotte Fans as the environmental message
was extremely subtle at best. If we rated performances this
would be a 10 in my book, some may want to get technical and
critique every aspect of her singing but if you leave
technical issues aside this special was wholesome and
complete. I don't think anyone who watched it was left
wanting. This was Charlotte at her best, and I would venture
to say that even if you took the concert segment out and
instead just watched the Bio part this would still be a
10. Let's hope that other production companies take
notes so that they are able to produce great concerts like
this in the future. Bottom line: So far, this is the
must see Charlotte event of the year. - Mark |
