Lady Gaga got things off to an explosive start last night, opening the Children In Need Rocks concert at Manchester’s MEN Arena.
The singer performed in front of 14,000 fans for the special charity concert, singing hits Born This Way, Edge of Glory and new single Marry the Night, which she also performed on the X Factor last Sunday (November 13th).
Her kick-off to the show helped to achieve 4.3 million viewers watching it at home on the BBC.
Hosted by Chris Moyles, David Tennant and Fearne Cotton, the show’s stellar line-up was created by Gary Barlow, who was due to sing a duet with Cheryl Cole before she was forced to pull out.
Instead, the Take That singer and X Factor judge sang Back For Good with the audience. He was also there to introduce Coldplay, who closed the show with Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall, Paradise and Viva La Vida. Their set led to the entire crowd singing along.
Other acts performing on the night included The Collective, a band made up of N-Dubz, Tinchy Stryder, Miss Dynamite and Wretch 32 among others. They sang the Children In Need charity single, a reworking of Massive Attack song Teardrop.
Elbow returned to their home town for the gig, while Jessie J performed a duet with James Morrison.
Gary also pulled in fellow X Factor judge Kelly Rowland to perform and JLS sang their latest song Take A Chance On Me.
Providing music away from the usual pop fare was Hugh Laurie, who performed with Jamie Cullum on the Ray Charles song Hallelujah I Love Her So, and Andrea Bocelli, who sang Nessun Dorma.
The main fundraising night will be held tonight, where the music performances continue. One Direction will make an appearance at the opening of the show, as well as the cast of The Wizard of Oz.
Choirmaster Gareth Malone will also be tasked with the challenge of conducting thousands of children to sing in a live mass countrywide choir.