'That was the scariest thing in the world!' The Loose Women take on Girls Aloud for Children In Need

By SARAH BULL


Stunning in sparkles: The Loose Women performed Girls Aloud's The Promise for Children In Need


By day they grace our televisions talking about the hottest topics and getting heated over the most random subjects.

But last night the Loose Women were on the small screen in a very different capacity when they donned sequinned maxi dresses to perform, for one night only, as Girls Aloud on Children In Need.

Andrea McLean, Carol McGiffin, Denise Welch, Sherrie Hewson and Zoe Tyler took on one of the group's most famous tracks, The Promise, and made the difficult decision to perform live on the programme.


The original (and the best!): Girls Aloud performing their song on The X Factor in 2008


Before taking to the stage, panel leader Andrea said: 'We're all rubbish. But we'll get there. Maybe not at the same time, or singing the same words or even moving in the same way but we'll get there.'

Luckily, the girls had vocal coach, and Loose Women panellist, Zoe Tyler to help them get the tricky harmonies right - although Carol still wasn't confident about having to perform live.

She said: 'I think the scariest thing in the world is that we are going to sing it live, which is a terrible problem for four out of five of us that can't sing.


Belting it out: The girls admitted they were terrified before taking to the stage for the performance


Giving it their all: Andrea McLean and Denise Welch did their best with the difficult song

'And just to compound the fear, it's not just singing it's dancing. And it's widely known that I'm the worst dancer in the world.'

Denise added: 'If we get anywhere near there, I feel to us it will be a success worth celebrating.'

Wearing stunning long gold dresses, the girls did their best with the song, each taking on solos when needed.


Trying their hardest: Carol McGiffin, Zoe Tyler and Sherrie Hewson gave it their all


But it was the two weakest singers - Sherrie and Carol - who received the biggest screams of the night.

As they came off stage, the girls said they were still shaking after the performance.
Carol said: 'We really enjoyed it. We were really nervous but we really enjoyed it.'



'We're just glad it's over!' The girls admitted they struggled with nerves before taking to the stage


Having a laugh: Sherrie couldn't stop laughing when 'Simon Cowell' aka Jon Culshaw came on to judge the girls


And Zoe, herself a trained singer, added: 'These girls sang it live, the non-singers, and they did such an amazing, amazing job.'

But that wasn't it for the Loose Women as Terry Wogan and Fearne Cotton then introduced someone who is no stranger to judging singers on their performances - X Factor mogul Simon Cowell.

However, it wasn't, in fact, the real Simon Cowell, but impressionist Jon Culshaw dressed as the talent show.


Getting their act together: The girls worked hard to perfect the song to the best of their ability


Eeek! Andrea and Sherrie admitted they were terrified about the thought of having to sing live


Asked what he thought of the performance, Jon/Simon said: 'Ladies, I 'm going to be honest with you, I didn't think that was very good - I thought that was fantastic.

'I thought it was great you were singing live, it was very spirited, I liked what you were wearing.

'There might have been some pitching issues but at least you're not Wagner. You've got three yeses and you're through to boot camp.

'I think we can turn the Loose Women into recording artists!'


Musical magic: Pixie Lott and Peter Andre both performed on Children In Need


But it remains to be seen whether Carol and co. will be able to beat their nerves to perform another time.

Other musical performances came from Pixie Lott, Cee Lo and Peter Andre, who performed his rendition of Michael Jackson's Man In The Mirror.

Andre made a quick dash from the BT Tower, where he had been helping on the phone lines, to the TV studios for the performance, and said he was 'honoured' to be involved with Children In Need once again.


Hit song: Cee Lo performed his hit Forget You, made famous again through Gwyneth Paltrow's performance of the song on Glee


And while the total for the evening was down on last year's £39million, a total of £18,098,199 was raised through last night's programme.

Thanking viewers for their generosity, Terry Wogan said: 'We know these are hardened times, these are tough times, but to raise this much money is fantastic.

'I would like to thank the British public for their generosity.'
To donate to Children In Need phone 03457 332233





source: dailymail