13 July 2010 (gig)
14 July 2010
Is there a better way to end the school year than to have a huge party? Evidently not, according to the 12,000 strong audience of students, who were lucky enough to attend the first birthday celebrations of The Transformation Trust. This free concert was offered to schools around the country to commemorate the fantastic work that The Transformation Trust has achieved this year. For those of you who don’t know, The Transformation Trust provides funds for schools to take part in amazing projects and gives children great opportunities to excel in what they enjoy. The event was held at the O2 arena in London and was supported by British gas.
The concert was hosted by kiss 100’s Rickie, Melvin and Charlie. Headlining the event was girl band The Saturdays. They started the party by singing a medley of their “greatest hits” as well as performing their new singles. The crowd just couldn’t get enough of the girls, they had students and teachers alike, up and dancing in the aisles!
Another famous face was last year’s X factor star Stacey Solomon. The scatty singer from Essex sung happy birthday along with her rendition of Florence and the machine’s “you got the love”.
Sir Steve Redgrave attended and presented the Young Designer and the Young Filmmaker awards to students. Students were challenged to create a new logo for the Trust and make short films about the Trust’s work. Another award up for grabs was to be named winner of the Blastbeat Education’s battle of the bands. The battle began with 400 bands and ended with 6 in the final, all of which performed two of their original songs. Last year’s winners “Hydro” graced the stage and gave a less than impressive performance.
When the concert resumed upcoming boy band Twenty Twenty came to the stage singing their latest single. The WANTED were up next, (and with the amount of screaming there was it was clear to all that the boys were all wanted very much!) however compared to Twenty Twenty you couldn’t really call them a boy band, a man band maybe?
There were more performances from the likes of Eliza Doolittle and DJ Ironik, both acts were greatly enjoyed by everyone. As well as the singers there were two electrifying dance performances from street dance troupes Unity and Status- who are actually UK street dance champions. Both acts wowed the crowd with impressive flips and tricks.
Closing the show was perhaps the most anticipated of all the acts, Tinchy Stryder. He performed a bass thumping set of all his hits and even thrilled the crowd by offering the fans a chance to meet him backstage! He had the whole place jumping and singing (or rapping) along with him. It was the perfect end to a great celebration, and an absolute triumph for The Transformation Trust.
