A Saturday morning in Landau: out of seemingly nowhere instruments start to play, choir singers appear one after another. and finally, John Miles himself appears playing his guitar and starts singing his famous hit “Music”. He runs towards a fire truckgrand piano ontop of the vehicle for the dramatic ending of the song. Watch the full video now.
The Video
How John Miles was convinced of doing a flashmob
An ordinary flashmob is no longer enough for the SWR1 team led by project manager Tom Lügger and the head of “SWR1 hit-parade” Niels Berkefeld. This year they wanted a highlight - and what could get people more excited than the star of the song himself.
To land this act, director Tom Lügger and project manager Niels Berkefeld used their chance backstage at the "Night of the Proms" where John Miles is traditionally present. "We first brought forward our idea to the creator of the show," said Berkefeld. John Miles himself did not even think twice when the idea was brought up to him. "The challenge appeals to me," he says in an interview. The superstar found the idea of having only one attempt for the perfect show so exciting that he accepted the invitation immediately.
A Hollywood worthy show
The fact that the flashmob once again went smoothly is not a given. "More than 100 people need to be coordinated while the regular/weekly farmers market takes place," explains director Tom Lügger. "When does the pianist start? When do the singers start to appear? And when does John Miles join them? On top of all of that there are 20 cameras that record everything and need to be supervised so they don’t film each other."
The SWR1 crew and the singers of "PopCHORn" are by now a well-rehearsed team. After all, they have known each other since the first flashmob in Kaiserslautern. Due to the cooperation with the State Youth Orchestra of Rhineland Palatinate, this year's age range was between 12 and 70, which John Miles particularly liked according to Lügger.
