Thursday, 25 February 2010
| Hymn | Praise my soul, the King of heaven |
| Reading (Anne Kirkbride) | Wisdom 3:1-9 |
| Poem (Malcolm Hebden) | When I have fears (Noël Coward) |
| Jon Christos & Jenny Williams | Panis Angelicus (César Franck) |
| Tribute (Tony Singleton) | |
| Poem (Sue Nicholls) | If I should go before you (Joyce Grenfell) |
| Caroline Fields | I’m going to see you today (Joyce Grenfell) |
| Tribute (William Roache) | |
| Hymn | I vow to thee, my country |
| Poem (Anthony Cotton) | I’m free (Linda Jo Jackson) |
| Jenny Williams | Tears in Heaven (Eric Clapton) |
| Jon Christos & Jenny Williams | Ave Maria (Franz Schubert) |
| Hymn | Faith of our Fathers |
| Jon Christos & Jenny Williams | You raise me up (Rolf Løvland and Brendan Graham) |
| Leos Quartet | Sheep may safely graze (J.S. Bach) |
The cast 
and crew of Coronation Street, and two hundred-odd fans of the programme, came to pay tribute to the life of Maggie Jones who played the inimitable Blanche Hunt. I’m afraid I’m not enough of a Corrie watcher to have recognised all the famous names who were there. (But I did once explain acoustic spectrograms to Anne Kirkbride on Songs of Praise.)
There was a rich and varied programme of hymns, songs, poems and reminiscences. The pick of the crop was William Roache’s tour d’horizon of Blanche’s best put-downs over the years, part of a heartfelt tribute to a character (Maggie, I mean, rather than Blanche) it’s clear they miss.
There were prayers and a blessing too, led by Fr Tony. The choir had a limited role to play, in leading the hymns and (I suspect our chief purpose) giving the celebrant someone to process in and out with. 
Our ample reward was to rub shoulders with the stars over refreshments afterwards.
I was there - such a shame about Jon Christos, and his wretched karaoke machine. What does he think he's doing, and why was there so much of him?
ReplyDeleteHe was obviously asked to perform that number of songs by the organisers of the Memorial what did you want a full orchestra crammed in the Cathedral??How else do you expect music to be relayed??It was a lovely service and the congregation looked as though they enjoyed Jon Christos and everyone who was performing that day
ReplyDeleteChristos isn't much. Sounds like a woman with a low tone. Would have been best to play a live instrument or do a decent acappella. But he's just the same karaoke he drags everywhere he turns up.
ReplyDelete