NHS Choirs Take On The Superstars In Battle For Christmas No 1 Spot

The Christmas No 1 is one of the most coveted slots in the musical calendar, but this year pop’s biggest names are locked in a battle with unexpected rivals: not one but two NHS choirs and their Covid-inspired songs.

One of the choirs is the ICU Liberty Singers, a 115-strong group of intensive care staff from across the country, who hope their reworked version of the Police classic Every Breath You Take will take top spot.

The other is the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir, who appear on a remix of Justin Bieber’s song Holy.

The ICU choir originally came together simply as a way for NHS personnel to relax and get away from the intense strain of looking after the many thousands of patients who have received life-or-death care in the pandemic. But they metamorphosed into the Liberty Singers, decided to release a single, and even got music label Sony’s permission to record the song. As befits the rest of the year, they all recorded their parts separately, due to social distancing requirements.

Their competitors, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir, have two advantages: their track is a collaboration with a superstar singer and they have already had the Christmas No 1, in 2015, with their song A Bridge Over You.

And both choirs – each of which is raising money for charities – are now vying with Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You, already top of the charts, as well as releases by Robbie Williams, Liam Gallagher and YouTuber LadBaby.

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The ICU Liberty Singers came about when Kari Olsen-Porthouse, a veteran choir director who runs several community-based singing ensembles, suggested the idea to Dr Alison Pittard, the dean of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine, which represents ICU doctors.

“I saw first hand the work ICU staff do when my mum was ill last year. It stayed with me. I know morale was low and staff were worn out from the first wave [of Covid], so when the second wave came I wanted to help and provide a small pocket of joy for them to experience together,” said Olsen-Porthouse.

They settled on Every Breath You Take, which is one of the most downloaded songs of all time and has featured in a clutch of Hollywood films. Jackie Shears, a friend of Olsen-Porthouse who works for the health service’s statistics agency NHS Digital, rewrote Sting’s original lyrics – inspired by the painful break-up of his first marriage – to reflect the work ICU staff have done this year to minimise Covid’s death toll.

The song now features lines including “Oh don’t you fear, ICU is here, / When your poor heart aches / And your life’s at stake” and also “Since this bug we’ve been here without a fail, / Finding treatments and care to save the day”.

Shears explained: “While the public have endured varying degrees of restriction this year, ICU staff have faced a relentless tsunami of patients suffering a distressing and entirely novel disease. I wanted to pay tribute to the continued professionalism and commitment they have shown throughout, despite huge personal impact.

“The levels of weariness, stress, overwhelm and even PTSD are huge. When Kari mentioned the free pop-up choir, I took the opportunity to create something for them to sing that might give them pride in what they have achieved this year on our behalf.”

ICU staff have found their involvement therapeutic. “Perfect stress relief,” said one.

“The choir has given me a very positive outlet after what has been a stressful, exhausting and emotional year,” said Dr Chris Gough, a consultant in intensive care and anaesthetics.

“The ICU Liberty Singers was the right medicine at the right time,” said Heather Baird, an intensive care pathways leader in Brighton.

Dr Faiuna Haseeb, a trainee intensive care doctor in Manchester, went off work in October when she slipped a disc while turning ventilated patients on to their stomachs and backs. “I was in a lot of pain and couldn’t use my right hand as normal. I really needed some cheering up when I saw Alison’s tweet about joining the choir,” she said.

“Singing with the group and having fun has made me feel much more positive about returning to the frontline.”