The Piano At Christmas cast: Who is taking part in the Channel 4 show?

THE Piano is back for a Christmas special, which was filmed at London's King's Cross Station.

But who is taking part in the festive edition of the competition?

Who is taking part in The Piano At Christmas?

Host Claudia Winkleman returns alongside judges Mika and Lang Lang as they search for the UK's most talented pianists.

While aware they were playing to an audience, participants in the show's first series didn't realise they were also being watched by acclaimed pianist Lang Lang and musician Mika.

The judges use the show to find an amateur musician to perform at London's Royal Festival Hall.

This year everyone involved in the programme travelled to London's King's Cross Station to catch up with pianists from season one.

Each person will play their favourite Christmas songs on the public piano.

And when they're not moved to tears by the power of music audiences will be laughing — most likely at the eccentric getup worn by Lang Lang and Mika.

Chief Creative Officer at Channel 4, Ian Katz, said: “In a world full of wannabes seeking their moment in the limelight, The Piano was a breath of fresh air.

“It celebrated ordinary people doing something extraordinary for the sheer love of it.

“From 94-year-old widower George who played in Glasgow station to Lucy, the blind 13-year-old who stole the nation’s hearts.”

In The Piano At Christmas, some of your favourite pianists from series one will return to play festive numbers in front of commuters, including series one winner Lucy, plus there'll be celebrity surprises and some gift giving.

Viewers will be also blown away by special performances by multi-Grammy winning artist Gregory Porter, and a finale led by the judges themselves.

Here we look at who's taking part in The Piano At Christmas:

Angelina

In series one of the show 22-year-old music student Angela performed Dancing Queen by ABBA.

When asked how she feels about performing on her own rather than in a duo, Angela said: "Coming back on my own is quite a different experience for me, and I wanted to just enjoy it as much as possible.

"I wanted to be a bit freer with what I was doing and being on my own I am able to do what I want musically because I am only relying on myself."

Daniel

13-year-old Daniel from Manchester taught himself to play piano using YouTube during lockdown.

Speaking about how performing at the Christmas special compared with appearing in series one, Daniel said: "I feel like performing in the first series gave me a lot more confidence.

"In season one, I was really nervous before my performance, and I thought I was going to faint!

"Performing at the Christmas Special was a completely different feeling; it was so much easier to do it and it didn't feel as scary. I felt a lot more confident."

Harry & Fiona

Harry, 94, from Glasgow started playing the piano after his dad gave him an accordian.

Fiona, 61, hails from Berkshire and was awarded a scholarship to study piano and musical theory at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.

Asked how they feel about returning to perform on The Piano At Christmas, Harry said: "It feels great, I enjoyed the first series very much indeed.

"It’s a nice thing to be asked back… I must have done something right."

And Fiona agreed: "I was absolutely thrilled to receive the phone call. It’s lovely to see everybody again, to have the opportunity to play my part again and I absolutely love Christmas.

"And I’m happy to team up with Harry again, the lovely ninety-four years young gentleman."

Melissa

19-year-old Melissa is a music student from London who got into playing the piano through her love of Anime, which features a lot of piano scores.

Asked about what she enjoyed about being involved in The Piano, Melissa said: "In the first series, I got to meet so many different people from different towns, which was cool.

"It also gave me a lot of confidence as I've never done anything like that before.

"My friends and family being there was really nice because some of them, I hadn’t seen in years."

Sue

Retired music teacher Sue used to work as an advisory teacher with vulnerable young people.

Speaking about being invited back for the festive show, Sue said: "It was wonderful to catch up with Claudia, Lang Lang and Mika and the contestants that have played in previous episodes.

"It was great to catch up and see what everybody's been up to over the past a year or so since we filmed the first series."

When is The Piano At Christmas on Channel 4?

The Piano At Christmas airs on Christmas Day.

The programme starts at 8.45pm on Channel 4.

You can also catch the show on the channel's streaming service which used to be called All4, but is now also called Channel 4.