Military Wives Wherever You Are new Xmas No 1 favourites

The Military Wives, who featured in Gareth Malone’s latest TV venture, are on track to get this year’s Christmas number one.
They release single Wherever You Are, which was composed by Paul Mealor, on December 19th, and already Amazon has charted it at number one in its bestsellers chart.
According to William Hill, the track is the new favourite set to keep the X Factor winner off the top spot. It is placed at 8/13, compared to the X Factor winner’s 6/5.
The choir appeared in the BBC2 programme The Choir: Military Wives and since its broadcast, celebrities such as Chris Evans have come out in support of the ensemble.
Audiences first heard their rendition of the piece at this year’s Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall and they are set to perform it at the semi-finals of Strictly Come Dancing.
It comes after composer Paul Mealor’s debut album A Tender Light was released on November 14th, featuring the Tenebrae Choir and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
It went straight to number one in the classical chart and includes the choral work Ubi Caritas, which was written for the Royal Wedding and performed by the choirs of Westminster Abbey and Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace.
The composer said on reaching the top of the charts last month: “Entering the classical chart is something I would never have dreamed of when I started writing this music and it’s an opportunity to bring contemporary classical and choral music to a much broader audience.”
Indeed, his choral music has now reached even further than this thanks to Gareth Malone’s show.
Speaking to the BBC about giving people like the Military Wives the confidence to sing in public, Gareth Malone said: “If you ask members of the public to sing in a church they will be anxious, but not if you ask them to sing along at a football match.
“It’s the formal dimension that makes British people feel on edge.”