He still can't believe his luck: Olly Murs is allowed to sing in front of King Charles III and his wife Camilla this Sunday evening. "This will be the performance of my life," the 38-year-old Briton is convinced. Of course, it is also a special honor for Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Take That to be present at the coronation concert. But pop singer Murs ("Marry Me"), who used to work in a call center before he came second in the casting show "The X-Facror" in 2009, is not one of the "line-up" of world stars that the organizers of the concert and presumably also the king and queen wanted for the big end of their weekend at Windsor Castle, at least initially.
Peter-Philipp Schmitt
Editor in the "Germany and the World" department.
- Follow I follow
Murs is only too happy to interrupt his current tour of the kingdom to make a stop in Windsor. Others, on the other hand, have canceled precisely for this reason. In general, for weeks it was mainly about those who supposedly cancelled, and hardly about those who agreed. Who is not coming was already clear at the beginning of the year: namely Harry Styles, Adele, Ed Sheeran, Sir Elton John, the Spice Girls, Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue. It is not at all certain whether they were all asked at all, much of it is pure speculation. Some, however, have actually waved it off or let it be waved off.
Sir Elton John, Ed Sheeran and Harry Styles are on tour
Harry Styles is currently on tour, as is Sir Elton John, who will perform in Berlin on Monday and Wednesday. He, of all people, who is known to be a close friend of the royal family, is missing, but excused. A trip to Windsor during his big farewell tour of Europe was just too much for him. Ed Sheeran has also cancelled because of this, he is currently touring the United States. Adele, on the other hand, who Charles allegedly wanted for the evening, lives in Los Angeles and counts Charles' renegade son Prince Harry and his wife Meghan among her friends. She really didn't want to come to the coronation concert.
Robbie Williams is also on tour, but could well have agreed. However, his enthusiasm to perform with his old bandmates from Take That is limited. Kylie Minogue, on the other hand, as an Australian, allegedly wanted to take into account the feelings of her compatriots, who are currently at odds with their monarch Charles III and would prefer to have a majority republic after the death of Elizabeth II.
Some things could be pretextual. Lionel Richie and Katy Perry, for example, are judges on "American Idol", also tonight, but have nevertheless traveled to the United Kingdom for the coronation. They are replaced by Ed Sheeran and Alanis Morissette as guest judges. However, Perry and Richie were also bad at saying no, after all, both are ambassadors for two charities founded by Charles, the British Asian Trust's Children's Protection Fund and the Prince's Trust, both of which are dedicated to the well-being of children and young people. That's why they had already been invited to Westminster Abbey on Saturday.
As is so often the case, the royal family has made a virtue out of necessity. There will not be almost pure rock and pop concerts, as in the case of the great jubilees of the queen's throne, for which, by the way, there was time to prepare them for years, but an evening of the arts. With classical music, readings and a choir that has never been on stage like this before, because it is made up of a large number of choirs from all over the kingdom and its four parts of the country. Of course, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal College of Art, the Royal College of Music and the Royal Opera Chorus are not missing. Its members will sing songs from "West Side Story".
Take That, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie are expected, as well as tenor Andrea Bocelli and baritone Sir Bryn Terfel, who sang a song in Welsh for the first time at the coronation in Westminster Abbey. In addition, Paloma Faith, Olly Murs, rock guitarist Steve Winwood, Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls and the Chinese pianist Lang Lang Lang as well as Sir Tom Jones, Tiwa Savage, DJ Pete Tong and the only 13-year-old winner of a piano talent show on television, the blind Lucy.
It remains to be seen what exactly American actor Tom Cruise and "Denver" actress Dame Joan Collins, children's book character Pooh the Bear, British documentary filmmaker Bear Grylls and South African dancer Oti Mabuse will perform. Bollywood superstar Sonam Kapoor is reportedly reading from Shakespeare's works. The evening will be hosted by British actor Hugh Bonneville, known as Earl of Grantham from "Downton Abbey" and the "Paddington" films.
A very special project is the Coronation Choir, which has been put together by choirmaster Gareth Malone and the BBC (which broadcasts the Coronation Concert live) over the past few months. It is a unique choir for this event, consisting of many individual small singing groups, such as a choir of gay men (The Actually Gay Men's Chorus from Brighton), a choir of lonely farmers (Farmer's Choir from Northern Ireland), a choir of health workers (Hull NHS Choir from Yorkshire), a choir of London taxi drivers (London Cabbie Choir) and a choir of London firefighters (London Fire Brigade Choir). a choir of refugees to the kingdom (Oasis One World Choir) and even a choir of deaf people (Unify Choir) singing with their hands. The project, it is said, is particularly close to Charles and Camilla's hearts. Who needs world stars like Adele or Sir Elton John?