2012 British music concert commemorating Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee
The Diamond Jubilee Concert
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Logo
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Venue
| The Mall
, London, England
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Date(s)
| 4 June 2012
(
2012-06-04
)
|
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The
Diamond Jubilee Concert
was a British music concert and celebration held outside
Buckingham Palace
on
The Mall
in London on 4 June 2012. The concert was organised by
Take That
singer-songwriter
Gary Barlow
and was part of
Queen Elizabeth II's
Diamond Jubilee
celebrations.
[1]
[2]
[3]
The Diamond Jubilee Concert followed two concerts held at the palace for the Queen's
Golden Jubilee
a decade earlier ? the classical themed
Prom at the Palace
and the pop/rock themed
Party at the Palace
, followed by the
Platinum Party at the Palace
for the Queen's
Platinum Jubilee
in 2022.
The concert was partially attended by the Queen, who arrived at 9 pm, but not by
Prince Philip
who had been taken to hospital with a
bladder infection
earlier in the day.
[4]
Prince Charles
and other members of the royal family attended the whole concert.
Ticketing
[
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]
Ten thousand free tickets were made available to the public, with applications possible, by post or online, between 7 February and 2 March 2012. After the application period closed, successful applicants were then drawn by random ballot.
[5]
A total of 1.2 million applications were eventually received, 240 for every available pair.
[6]
Non-ticketed attendees could watch the concert on giant TV screens in the Mall and local Parks. Estimates of these free attendees range from 250,000
[7]
to 500,000
[8]
people.
Date, venue and stage
[
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]
The concert took place on
bank holiday
Monday 4 June as part of the extended weekend celebrations for the Diamond Jubilee, which ran from 2 to 5 June.
[5]
The acts performed on a specially constructed stage, with a canopy, around the
Queen Victoria Memorial
,
[9]
in front of the palace.
[6]
The stage was designed by
Mark Fisher
.
House band
[
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]
The
house band
, led by
Mike Stevens
, who was also the
Musical Director
of the concert, consisted largely of the
Take That
/
Gary Barlow
band, a few additional musicians and the
BBC Concert Orchestra
. The house band performed with many of the guest artists that were featured, however
Tom Jones
,
Elton John
,
Stevie Wonder
and
Paul McCartney
[5]
brought their own bands to the concert.
Diamond Jubilee song
[
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]
Gary Barlow
and
Andrew Lloyd Webber
wrote a song for the jubilee entitled "
Sing
" which was performed for the first time at the concert by a choir from many
Commonwealth
countries. The song draws inspiration from the music and people of the Commonwealth. Its creation was the subject of a one-hour BBC documentary broadcast on 3 June 2012 by
BBC One
.
[10]
Jubilee picnic
[
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]
Concert ticket holders were given access to the palace gardens for an afternoon picnic before the main event. They were served cold hampers with a British themed menu specially designed by
Heston Blumenthal
and the royal chef Mark Flanagan.
[11]
Performances
[
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]
The running order was:
- Robbie Williams
with drummers and trumpeters from the second battalion of the
Coldstream Guards
[12]
[13]
? "
Let Me Entertain You
"
[14]
- Introduction ?
Rob Brydon
- will.i.am
and
Jessie J
? "
I Gotta Feeling
" / "
This Is Love
"
- Jessie J
? "
Domino
"
[15]
- JLS
? "
Everybody in Love
" / "
She Makes Me Wanna
"
- Interlude ?
Miranda Hart
- Gary Barlow
and
Cheryl
(from
Girls Aloud
) ? "
Need You Now
" (cover of
Lady A
song)
- Interlude ?
Lee Mack
- Cliff Richard
? Medley: "Dynamite", "
The Young Ones
", "
Devil Woman
", "
We Don't Talk Anymore
", "
Wired for Sound
" and "
The Millennium Prayer
" (followed by "
Congratulations
")
- Interlude ?
Jimmy Carr
- Lang Lang
? "
Hungarian Rhapsody
" / "
Rhapsody in Blue
"
- Interlude ?
Miranda Hart
- Alfie Boe
? "
O Sole Mio
" / "
It's Now or Never
"
- Interlude ?
Lenny Henry
- Jools Holland
and
Ruby Turner
? "
You Are So Beautiful
"
- Interlude ?
Jimmy Carr
- Grace Jones
? "
Slave to the Rhythm
"
- Interlude ?
Lee Mack
and
Miranda Hart
- Ed Sheeran
? "
The A Team
"
- Annie Lennox
and
Joanne Shaw Taylor
? "
There Must Be An Angel
"
- Interlude ?
Rolf Harris
- Renee Fleming
? "
Un Bel Di Vedremo
"
- Interlude ?
Rob Brydon
- Tom Jones
? "
Mama Told Me (Not to Come)
" and "
Delilah
"
- Interlude ?
Lenny Henry
. During the interlude, the Queen arrived.
- Robbie Williams
? "
Mack the Knife
"
- Interlude ?
Rolf Harris
- Gary Barlow
,
Andrew Lloyd Webber
,
The Commonwealth Band
,
Gareth Malone
and the
Military Wives
? "
Sing
"
- Interlude ?
Rob Brydon
organised a forward-moving
Mexican wave
in the Mall
- Shirley Bassey
? "Diamonds Are Forever"
- Kylie Minogue
? Medley: "
Spinning Around
", "
Can't Get You Out of My Head
", "
Step Back in Time
" and "
All the Lovers
". Dance troupe
Flawless
performed during the second half of the number.
- Interlude ?
Jimmy Carr
- Alfie Boe
and
Renee Fleming
? "
Somewhere
"
- Interlude ?
Rob Brydon
- Elton John
? "
I'm Still Standing
", "
Your Song
" and "
Crocodile Rock
"
- Interlude ?
Rolf Harris
- A film about the Queen's reign was played, which included her coronation, past jubilees, The Royal Wedding and other events. The film was accompanied by the
BBC Concert Orchestra
, performing an instrumental arrangement of "
Beautiful Day
".
- Interlude ?
Lenny Henry
(
Rolf Harris
sang, unaccompanied, a portion of "
Two Little Boys
" during the interlude.)
- Stevie Wonder
? "
Sir Duke
", "
Isn't She Lovely?
" (the lyrics were amended to refer to the Queen), "
Happy Birthday
" (with
will.i.am
) and "
Superstition
"
- Interlude ?
Lee Mack
- Madness
? "
Our House
" and "
It Must Be Love
".
- Interlude ?
Peter Kay
- Paul McCartney
? "
Magical Mystery Tour
", "
All My Loving
", "
Let It Be
", "
Live and Let Die
" and "
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
"
- Finish ?
Prince Charles
made a speech
- "
God Save the Queen
" (National Anthem)
- Grand Finale ? The Queen lit the last National Beacon, after which there was a firework display, during which the melodies of several patriotic songs and hymns were played: "
Zadok the Priest
" (
Georg Friedrich Handel
), "
I Vow to Thee My Country
" (
Gustav Holst
), "
Land of Hope and Glory
" (
Edward Elgar
) and
"Ode to Joy" / Anthem of Europe
(
Ludwig van Beethoven
).
Broadcasting
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]
The concert was broadcast live on
BBC One
, BBC One HD and
BBC Radio 2
. American broadcaster
ABC
showed highlights the following day after as
Concert for the Queen: A Diamond Jubilee Celebration With Katie Couric
as well as an encore airing on 9 June.
[5]
Broadcasting unions announced in April 2012 that they would ballot their members over taking
strike action
due to an ongoing pay dispute with the BBC, leading to media speculation that the BBC coverage of the concert could be affected.
[16]
It was later confirmed that the BBC's coverage wouldn't be affected by any strikes.
[
citation needed
]
It aired on 5 June on
CBC
television in Canada.
BBC Entertainment
showed the concert on 8 June in Latin America.
The concert aired from 19:30 until approximately 23:00 UK time. In the UK the programme was seen by an average of 15.32 million viewers on BBC One,
[17]
making it the 6th highest UK TV audience of 2012, but peaking near 17 million.
[18]
For the ABC broadcast the following aired:
- will.i.am and Jessie J ? "I Gotta Feeling" / "This Is Love"
- Jessie J ? "Domino"
- Tom Jones ? "Mama Told Me (Not To Come)" and "Delilah"
- Kylie Minogue ? medley "Spinning Around", "Can't Get You Out Of My Head", "Step Back In Time" and "All The Lovers"
- Elton John ? "I'm Still Standing", "Your Song" and "Crocodile Rock"
- Stevie Wonder ? "Sir Duke", "Isn't She Lovely", "Happy Birthday" (with will.i.am) and "Superstition"
- Madness ? "Our House" and "It Must Be Love"
- Paul McCartney ? "All My Loving", "Let It Be", "Live and Let Die" and "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"
- Finish ? Prince Charles made a speech at the end of the concert
- The National Anthem was played, which majority sang.
- Grand Finale ? The Queen lit the National Beacon followed by a display of fireworks, during which the melodies of several national hymns were played.
- Annie Lennox's participation was listed in the program description yet her appearance did not air.
The show of 5 June on ABC opened to 6.4 million (4.1/6) before rising in the second hour to 7.2 million (4.7/8) for an average of 6.8 million viewers for the evening.
[19]
The broadcast was aired on Channel 9 in Australia on 5 June ? and was broadcast in its entirety apart from:
- Interlude ? Jimmy Carr
- Lang Lang ? "Hungarian Rhapsody" / "Rhapsody In Blue"
- Interlude ? Miranda Hart
- Interlude ? Lenny Henry
- Jools Holland and Ruby Turner ? "You Are So Beautiful"
- Interlude ? Jimmy Carr
[20]
See also
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References
[
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External links
[
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Studio albums
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Singles
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Concert tours
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Other releases
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Musical theatre
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Related articles
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