Steve:  Now, this afternoon we have got Michael Ball on, and I need say no more I don't think other than to tell you, for those of you that have been ringing, "When's Michael on?", just after half past two.
 

Steve:  The International singing star Michael Ball is only in the next hour of this programme here.  Swanking.
 

Michael:  Oh yes.
 

Steve:  Thank you very much to Eileen Fisher today who writes to the programme to beg a favour today, her daughter Julie is a big fan of Michael Ball who she knows will be on the show this afternoon.  Sadly she will not be hearing the programme unless she is allowed to have a radio on at work.  She works at The Little Chef.  The invitation from Eileen, although I'm not so sure that she's discussed this with Julie's boss, you know that 'Little Chef', that she wonders if once the programme has finished today, that Michael and myself might like to go on to the Little Chef to meet Julie.  Isn't that sweet.  Well, I don't think so somehow Eileen, I don't need to go into detail but I don't really think that would be logistically possible.  We have Michael Ball on the programme as you may have heard and he will be with me in less than half an hour.
 

Everybody's Talking is playing by Michael.  Michael sings along with the record towards the end.
 

Michael:  (Laughing)  You're listening to me aren't you?
 

Steve:  Harmonising with yourself
 

Michael:  It's sad isn't it?
 

Steve:  It's not sad at all - it's wonderful.  Michael Ball ladies and gentlemen.
 

Michael:  Hello (Laughing)
 

Steve:  And you're obviously in good form.
 

Michael:  Yes I am, I'm very happy today.  I just had some nice news about the video and everything so I'm cock-a-hoop as they say.
 

Steve:  Good for you.  I assume that implies that it's selling well.
 

Michael:  It's gone gold.
 

Steve:  Oh, gold!
 

Michael:  Yes - half a million
 

Steve:  Fantastic, what is that how much you'll earn?
 

Michael:  Pardon Me?
 

Steve:  Is that how much you'll earn?
 

Michael:  I wish, yes right.
 

Steve:  So was it always the intention then when you did the Royal Albert Hall gig that it would be made into an album and video and everything?
 

Michael:  The video certainly, I produced it myself, so it's one of those things, one of those golden opportunities, golden moments in your life, you know.  There are places that you always want to play and the Albert Hall is definitely one of them if you are in this business.  If you can say I played and sold out the Albert Hall you're pretty chuffed with yourself, so I wanted to prove to everyone that I'd done it by filming it.
 

Steve:  So it's all downhill now?
 

Michael:  It's all over.  Absolutely, it's all gone.  But the album itself, initially I was just going to have the Christmas album at this time of year, but then, em, I recorded the concert anyway and I listened to it and I thought "Do you know, I've not done a live album, why don't we put the two together", so as all I know about is giving ... give, give, give ... two for the price of one (laughing)
 

Steve:  What a gift to give (also laughing)
 

Michael:  (In a strange voice)  What a lovely, lovely person.
 

Steve:  You deserve the Blue Peter Badge!
 

Michael:  Do you know, you're right (laughing) No, it just seemed like a good idea, cos I was really pleased with it.
 

Steve:  Good.  But what I was going to say really, you know, when you're performing a concert, does it go through your mind at the same time, hang on, you've got the cameras to think about.  I've got the album to think about ...
 

Michael:  No, you can't do that, em, we literally did it with one take.  Quite often people who put out live shows, will film four or five different concerts, they'll then do stuff in the studio, they'll re-gig the sound and so on.  I didn't want to do that.  The other time I'd been at the Albert Hall was the tenth anniversary of Les Miserables, which was one of the most amazing evenings I've ever spent on a stage.  It was extraordinary, the atmosphere there in the place was amazing and I was worried that that wouldn't come across on the video.  When I saw the show back, it was there, you felt like part of the audience and so for my own video I wanted the same thing.  I wanted it to be one take, one show, that was the performance of that night and if it went badly then I was stuffed (laughing) but I wanted it to be as realistic as possible, so if you start thinking about camera angels, lighting and things like that, that detracts from what you're actually doing which is performing live for that audience at that time.  I just wanted it to be spontaneous.
 

Steve:  Was this a rare occasion that you would actually get to see one of your shows?
 

Michael:  Yeah, it's the only time.  Em, I have been sent a few pirate videos, because video recorders are so small, camcorders, people sneak them in and then send them to me, with no address so I can't sue, which is fascinating but I've got into the habit now of actually doing it myself, on the sound desk, putting a little camcorder just there, just filming it from the one angle, just to see how things are coming acrosss and getting ideas, but only by hearing yourself, what you're saying, as well as what you're singing, do you get a feel of how a show should be.  That's the only way you can direct yourself really.
 

Steve:  Well, you say that, you know, as an artist, that was the kind of pinnacle, but when you look at some of the things that you have done, you mentioned the Les Mis event, but also the Queen's 40th Anniversary, Royal Variety Show and all those sort of things, they're all pretty bit gigs aren't they?
 

Michael:  I did one of the biggest gigs two weeks ago, the opening and closing ceremonies of the Rugby World Cup ...
 

Steve:  Of course you did ...
 

Michael:  ... which was brilliant, absolutely wonderful, this great new stadium em, a fantastic atmosphere ... but these kinds of thing, it's interesting, it's not like your own shows, the nerves involved when you're doing my own show at the Albert Hall, that's about me wanting to get my performance right, do the right show for the people who are coming to it.  But those big events, you're just one small part in a whole big evening, you know, a great big painting, you're just one brush stroke, so you don't want to let yourself down because you want the whole picture to be great.  You're as nervous for everybody else.  It's a different kind of nervousness, hard to explain really, you want people to be proud of themselves and what they've done, 'cos it's a joint effort.
 

Steve:  Sure.  But you know, a big performance, 'cos thats what it is isn't it, the big performances that you do, em, this is a bit of a loaded question, I'll explain why it's loaded in a minute if you wish me to, but I mean, do you, do you ever not feel the urge to do it on such a large scale?
 

Michael:  Yeah, and I do, there are times I'll do very ... I don't care if there are 20 people in an audience, or 20,000, I give the same commitment - I would change the show that I do but I would give the same emphasis to those few in the audience as you would for several thousand.  And you get an opportunity to use those more delicate muscles if you like, to be more subtle when you are in a recording studio.  So on stage it's about projection, it' about grabbing an audiences attention, when you're in the studio, the microphone is somebody's ear so you ... on the Christmas album for example, there's a song called River which was written by Joni Mitchell, which was a great opportunity for just me and a piano not to sing out the big notes, not to show off if you like, but to just be really intimate and talk to people through song.
 

Steve:  So what do you say we play it?
 

Michael:  Oh, would you?
 

Steve:  Yeah
 

Michael:  Oh, brilliant!
 

Steve:  As you get two for the price of one, it would be silly wouldn't it ....
 

Michael:  Well, I think it would be churlish (laughing)
 

Steve:  (laughing)
 

RIVER IS PLAYED ON THE RADIO
 

Steve:  Joni Mitchell's song River and Michael Ball's performance from the album, Christmas album which includes Christmas songs such as 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas', 'When A Child is Born' but also more contemporary songs such as the wonderful 'Driving Home For Christmas'.  Michael's with us this afternoon.
 

Michael:  Still here, yes.
 

Steve:  Good man.  Yeah, what about choosing tracks for a Christmas album because you know there's no  getting away from it, everybodys been there haven't they?
 

Michael:  Yeah.  I put it off for ages and it was what fans had said, you know, we'd like it, we'd like a Christmas album.  So I said, OK, I'll do it but I'm not choosing the songs.  So I got fans, friends and family all to say which songs they would like for me to sing on it, can they hear me singing on it, and would make a good album, so there are probably three songs that are specifically my choice.  The one you've just heard, 'River', and a song I wrote, em, called 'Light A Candle' and also I wanted to sing with Brian Kennedy, so we sang Silent Night but the others are literally from a poll almost of the most popular choices from friends and family and fans as I say, and it was nice to see how diverse they were.  It was nice that people thought, oh, we'd like to hear Michael sing 'Ave Maria' which is a very, very legitimate Opera Aria right down to 'Driving Home For Christmas', as you say, something more contemporary.  So it was a fun album to make.
 

Steve:  Do you feel spoilt for choice with the songs that you can sing, or that you're offered or that you would like to sing?
 

Michael:  Yeah, somebody said the other day that I was a musical tart!  (Laughing)
 

Steve:  Did they?
 

Michael:  Yes
 

Steve:  Did you slap them with your elbow?
 

Michael:  I did, I was, I got the right em ... but it's true in a way, I do, I like so many different kinds of music, so many different generies and I sing in, it's hard to put me into one sort of style category, which I suppose can be to my detriment because people think, Oh, he's a jack of all trades.  But good music is good music and if I can sort of hit the notes and carry off the performance I think you should be able to go for every generie.  My own taste in music isn't actually Musical Theatre but because of my training as an actor and the kind of songs they are and the kind of subjects that they broach, they suit me, but I love Country Music for example, there's the New Country Wave and I like a lot of Classical Music, so if I can get away with it I'll sing it.
 

Steve:  Good.  Well, it's not just singing of course, acting and DJ-ing I think as well.
 

Michael:  Yes.
 

Steve:  It's a decent job.
 

Michael:  Well, somebody's got to do it (laughing) Money for old rope to sit and hear people like you waffle on.
 

Steve:  I know, selling the albums.
 

Michael:  YOu don't realise how difficult it is until you do it.  It's a nightmare.  Do you drive your own disc?
 

Steve:  Yes, I'm what they call in the game, bringing you up Michael.
 

Michael:  A professional (both laughing) I couldn't do that.  I stood in on Radio 2 for David Jacobs for a week.  I was rubbish.  Absolutely rubbish.  The choice of songs were just so stupid and then trying to talk and put on a machine at the same time was just hopeless, absolutely hopeless.  So what I've done recently, I've done a couple of series for Radio which is me just speaking, and then someone else playing the tunes, based on ... you know, taking s specific subject.  And I can do that, but I can't do your job, you're safe.  As long as you can't sing.
 

Steve:  No and I can prove that I can't sing so that's alright.  (both laughing)
 

Michael:  We're gonna get on.
 

Steve:  Yes, there'll be no job swap here.
 

Michael:  Good.
 

Steve:  Have you got to a situation like that where you have to be a little careful as to what you agree to do.  You know, for future's sake, so that you're not looking back on an era and thinking I wish I hadn't done that.
 

Michael:  Apparently, because I love trying everything, and I want to have a go at everything, at least once, and you know you have people around you who sort of, with the best of intentions, advise you on what your next career move should be and so on, and it's a real drag.  I want a cookery programme.  And I get, "No, Michael, you're a singer, you don't do ..."  I could do that, but no, they won't let me.  Boring isn't it.
 

Steve:  That is disappointing.
 

Michael:  I think it's a drag.
 

Steve:  You get your coriander and the things that they have.
 

Michael:  Yes, my tarragon (laughing)
 

Steve:  All the things that normal people don't have in their kitchens and then redesign the kitchen.
 

Michael:  Absolutely.  And if we could throw in some sort of animal in there as well, and a gardening programme.  Yes, well we could grow the herbs before we cook them.  We've just come up with a winning formula for the next television programme.  Growing your own dinner.  It's foolproof, absolutely foolproof.
 

Steve:  How about Christmas time for you then, I mean what will you do, do you have a private and personal Christmas
 

Michael:  The New ... funny times Christmas, they really are, and I'll be with the family for Christmas and then we all fly out on the 27th December, I'm doing a concert for the Millenium in Kuala Lumpar.  It's a live concert from the steps of the Palace of Kuala Lumpar in Malaysia.  So I that on the Millenium,
big party ...
 

Steve:  Another nice cosy and intimate gig then ...
 

Michael:  (Laughing) Yes - just a few family and friends.  It will be the entire nation of Malaysia.  But then we are going to stay out there and have a holiday.  I haven't had a holiday on God knows how long so, two weeks on a little Malaysian Island.  Sounds about right to me.  Nice way to start a new decade, century, millenium.  It's hard to know what to do isn't it?  I do want to be working that night because, people are sort of panicking I think about knowing what they are going to do that night.
 

Steve:  We seem to be surrounded by experts that are telling us, Oh it's going to be terrible, how do they know, no-one has lived through one before.
 

Michael:  Exactly, I think you've just got to get on with the evening, it's going to come to an end, it's not going to go on forever, so just enjoy it.
 

Steve:  It's just a number actually at the end of the day, just the same as last new year and so on.  And when you do that then, you know when you say you fly off family, it all sounds rather lovely, what about the musicians and everything?
 

Michael:  Who cares (laughing)  It's the Italien Symphony Orchestra.
 

Steve:  Is that all?
 

Michael:  Yeah.  There's only 94 of them, bless their hearts (both laughing) so luckily I don't have to think about that.  It's a great gig, it's fantastic.
 

Steve:  So you've gone gold with your album, and you are, what were you last year, Variety Club's Best Recording Artist of the Year, Most Popular Musical Actor over the last twenty one years.
 

Michael:  I know, I get two in the same year, the only other thing I'd ever won before that was 25 yard Breaststroke, and I get these two awards in the same year.  I was so chuffed.
 

Steve:  You'll need a bigger side-board.
 

Michael:  I will, I've got one now.  Reinforced.  Truly though, they both came right out of the blue, especially the Recording Artist, 'cos I always imagine people are going to think of me more on the live performance side, be it as a musical theatre performer or a concert performer, whatever, so to get it for recording, it was for the Movies album, the last album I did, which was, I was really really proud about and really pleasantly surprised that I was acknowledged in that way.  Em, and then to get the Theatregoers Award as well, that was really the icing on the cake.  It's the fact that those ones, you're always a bit dubious about awards, especially if you never win them, you sort of think, oh, they're all contrived, but The Theatregoers was actually from the punters, from the people who go, who pay their money to go to the shows, so that has a special significance I think.
 

Steve:  Finally then, ambition.  I'm sorry it's a predictable question, but you've got to still have one despite these pinnacles and big shows.
 

Michael:  I want your job (laughing)
 

Steve:  Judging by what you told me about your performance I think I'm safe there.
 

Michael:  You are.  Well, if you're serious about ambition.  Ambition is always, is just to keep going, doing what I'm enjoying doing and getting the balance right.
 

Steve:  Does love really change everything?
 

Michael:  You bet it does.  Not always for the best.  Double edged sword.
 

Steve:  Well, we're going to play that song now and thank you very much indeed and congratulations on the gold of the album and the video and hope that you have a great Christmas.
 

Michael:  Cheers.  Thanks Steve.   Bye Bye.
 

Steve:  Bye Michael.