On stage with the Iceland Mums!

CORSETS, FEATHERS, AND CANCAN DRESS....
BEFORE WE WENT ON MY NERVES WERE A MESS...
WE DANCED IN FRONT OF A REALLY BIG CROWD....
THE ICELAND TEAM SAID THEY WERE PROUD!

Hello again,

I can now tell you my latest top secret adventure with the Iceland Mums.

As I write this the time has nearly come for the first screening of the big Iceland Christmas advert. It has been kept under close wraps until now that the theme this year is “Moulin Rouge”. All those four days of filming I wrote about previously in London were to produce this advert. We all have the most amazing costumes, feathers, chokers, brightly coloured corsets and specially made cancan skirts from India. We also had to learn how to actually dance the cancan hence why I said at the time the four days were so intense and tiring. Luckily for the adverts we had Simon and Beth, the most patient and professional choreographers in the world! Obviously most choreographers deal with pop stars and professional actors and dancers who pick things up easily and quickly, but apart from star mum Lorraine, none of us had any professional dance experience.

Anyway, we had been invited to perform live on stage at Iceland’s 40th Christmas party for 500 head office staff at a large venue in Liverpool. It meant an overnight stay and this time we were staying at the Hilton hotel! I had to find a suitable outfit for the party afterwards so out of three choices I asked the boys for their advice. In all innocence Sam asked whether it was more important to look pretty or slimmer as one outfit was the prettiest, and another one was the most slimming! I went for slimming!

I was lucky to be travelling up with Babs Parker, another Iceland mum who lives near to me. It was lovely to have a travelling companion this time and she had even made us a little packed lunch each to eat on the train! Thanks Babs! We arrived at Liverpool station to shouts of “Ellie, Babs” and saw a group of the other mums and members of the Iceland production team waving at us and taking photos. For a moment we felt like celebrities as everyone in the station looked to see what was going on.

We reached the venue and had a look around. The stage was absolutely huge and with the extensive pyrotechnics I wondered if we had accidently wandered onto the X Factor set!

The tables below the stage were set with 500 beautiful place settings and glasses rimmed with gold. The theme of the party was “DecaDance” and everything looked lavish and luxurious. The acts before us were all professional performers: stilt walkers, fire eaters and painted ladies to name but a few!



Eve, Me and Alissa

It was really exciting to be together again as a group but the excitement for me was mixed with terror when we realised we were the grand finale and had just a few hours to learn a stage routine! It is very different being filmed as you have lots of chances to do it again if you kick the wrong leg, or fall over or simply forget everything you are supposed to do like me! This was different, this was one chance.

When the time came we waited back stage for our cue to come on shouting, whooping and dancing. My stomach was turning somersaults and doing a mad gymnastic routine even if my body wasn’t! I had a quick reality moment check and wondered how a normal person like me had ended up dressed as a cancan dancer waiting to run on stage and perform to a full auditorium.

I would love to tell you that I was amazing and danced just like a professional from the real Moulin Rouge and that a talent spotter in the room came and begged me to drop everything and join the ladies of Paris, but if I did that I would be a big fat liar!

As it turned out I got my legs mixed up and forgot to turn round and run to the back when I was meant to and was generally quite uncoordinated! The important part though is that it really didn’t matter. Why didn’t it matter? Because I was on stage with my Iceland mums and the whole point of using us all in the adverts is that we are real people with a sense of humour and not polished professionals. Whatever happens, we all smile and laugh and carry on. We look after each other and we are in it together!

Eve and Me

The reception we got from our audience was very enthusiastic and afterwards many people came up and said they had enjoyed our act the best which was very touching. We also had a surprise in store. When we had finished dancing we got to see the Christmas advert together as a group for the first time on the big screens behind us. The thing that came across the most when I watched it was all the colour and energy. I really hope you enjoy it as much as we all enjoyed filming it when you see it. At the party afterwards we watched Jason Donovan and his band perform on stage followed by a “guilty pleasures” disco until the early hours. Everyone at the party kept coming up to congratulate us and say hello and we all felt like stars for the night.

Nick from Iceland and Me

The next day it was time for our goodbyes and we all left hoping to get together again soon.

Babs and I shared the train as far as Birmingham with Eve, Bev, Amira and Charlene, and made the moment last a bit longer by downloading the Iceland Christmas advert ringtone onto our mobiles and singing along on the train! It is always a sad time saying goodbye but as we looked out of the train window at Amira and Charlene on the platform waving, waving their coats up in the air and pretending to do the cancan, we couldn’t help laughing.

Also this week I have a new batch of lovely Iceland Christmas food to test and review for the website. The timing has worked very well as I have invited family and friends round for a lovely lamb roast this evening, followed by nibbles whilst we watch the Christmas advert for the first time on T.V.

Please come back next week to see what they all thought of the food and of the new adverts!

Ellie

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