#powerofsupport

Hey everyone!!

This is a two part blog all about NPower’s motto of the game:

“Power of Support”

The first time I heard that this was NPower’s motto of the Games was when I got offered the most amazing opportunity, as part of Team England.

I was invited to go to the world famous Abbey Road Studios, in London, to film the music video for our national anthem, Jerusalem. Before I knew anything about it I thought it was going to be a pretty cool day. In my head, all I kept seeing was Badiel and Skinner, ‘Three Lions on a Shirt’. 🦁🦁🦁

So when I found out the anthem was being produced by Tokio Myers and sung by Jazmin Sawyers, I couldn’t quite believe it! Just another awesome opportunity basketball and being part of Team England has provided me with!

The day

I had to leave Nottingham pretty early, around 6am. But my dad is a Beatles fan, so missing out on recording at this iconic studios was not even an option. I was also brought up on ‘Jerusalem’, ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ and ‘The Last Night of the Proms’, so being part of the official anthem was an opportunity that I would have taken no matter the scheduling issues.

Before the recording

We had a few hours before the recording of the music video began. This downtime meant that we could look around the studios and get to know the other athletes that were part of the recording also.

The first thing I did was sneak a peak at the studios we would be recording in - the biggest in the UK if you were interested to know.

Behind the actual recording space were a few rooms with chairs to watch, buttons to press - SO MANY BUTTONS!

The rooms were jam packed with people. I don’t even know what they were all responsible for, but I assume different things like lighting (which was insanely creative), sound, media, producing, PR, PAs and other abbreviations.

Whatever their job, it was amazing to see the level of detail each of them went into. They were just like us athletes, only in a different field. Everything had to be just perfect.

This was they way when we watched the choir rehearsing. Their rehearsal studio was just underneath our green room so we got to see them going over and over their parts and perfecting them.

They sang live on the music video so their rehearsals before were slightly intense. The choir masters were on it - no slip ups tolerated. But the relentlessness paid off, because they sounded unbelievable! Not a note out of place!

Make up and media

The last thing we had to do before the recording was make up and media. I love getting my make up done professionally and these make up artists were no joke. Armed with the biggest make up brush pouches I’d ever seen, they pulled blusher brushes and powder brushes out of every which way, ensuring our make up was just right for the lighting. It made me feel pretty special ya know - VIP and all that!

They even stuck around for our photo shoots, just to make sure that we didn’t start shining and glistening.

The Recording

This was, by far, the most exciting part of the day.

We all piled in to Studio 3, buzzing with anticipation.

Now, in the studio were all the athletes, athletes’ families, choir, Jazmin, Tokio and all the behind the scenes staff. It was incredible to just be in the same room with all of these amazing people, never mind actually working with them on this project!

Everyone was enthusiastic and ready to do their part for the video, well at least for the first couple of hours!! Remember what I was saying about perfectionism? Well, that attention to detail didn’t stop at rehearsal. During the actual recording we had to do the same shots over and over and over again until it was perfect, or until the producers and editors got the shots they wanted.

In the end we were filming for over three hours and the mentality we have as sports people was definitely needed during filming. We worked through it and supported each other with some of the “embarrassing” things we were asked to do, like laugh on cue and mime the anthem. In the end it was three hours well spent, because it produced an amazing end product!

If you’ve not seen it yet you should catch it on YouTube! It’s awesome - plus I’m in it twice, which is so exciting (only because I’m stood next to Max Whitlock but that’s ok, I’ll take it)!

After the day

The day itself was unforgettable, but even since then Npower have made the experience super special. We have had presents in the post and social media content sent to us that has all helped to keep those memories alive.

For me, I think the best thing this day has provided, apart from being in an official music video available on iTunes 😱, is the sense of support the day gave us.

This is my first Mutisport tournament and it could have been quite overwhelming, but one of the things that has been comforting is already knowing other athletes from other sports and disciplines. I know these other athletes because I met them at Abbey Road on that day. Seeing them out here in Australia and speaking to them on social media has really made me feel part of Team England and the support we have given each other is because of the experience we shared on that day!

So, I feel like I’m saying thank you a lot recently, but there’s so much to be thankful for!

Thank you so much Jazmin, Tokio, Team England and Npower for letting me be part of this special day. Yet another memory the Commonwealth Games has given me and yet another layer of support I’ve received since being part of Commonwealth Games England!

Oh, and good luck Wednesday and Thursday Jazmin!

Balls of love,