X Factor viewers may notice a familiar group competing in the ITV competition this year: The LMA Choir.
That's because the singing student group from Liverpool have already appeared in the BBC’s (now cancelled) Pitch Battle, where they finished as runners-up in the show's first episode.
The choir, aged 19-40, impressed judges Will Young, Kelis and Gareth Malone with their covers of Just the Way You Are and Purple Rain. But, in the final battle of the episode, LMA lost out to Leeds Contemporary Singers when both groups covered Young’s Evergreen.
You might also recognise the group from elsewhere. The LMA Choir shot to internet fame in 2016 when one of their heart-warming flashmobs was uploaded to YouTube. The group performed Bruno Mars’ Just the Way You Are as a declaration of love and admiration from local man Carl Gilbertson to his wife, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis.
Just a warning: there’s definitely something wrong with you if this doesn’t bring a tear to your eye.
Taking to the X Factor stage to impress judges Simon Cowell, Ayda Field, Robbie Williams and Louis Tomlinson in their first audition, the group delivered a pitch-perfect cover of Keala Settle’s This is Me, a hit from The Greatest Showman soundtrack. With four yeses, they sailed into the Six Chair Challenge round.
LMA Choir: key facts
From: Liverpool
Ages: 19-40
Instagram: @thelmachoirofficial
Twitter: @LMACHOIR
