29 November 2012
Let’s start with the happy ending and the most important thing here. Lily-Mae Morrison, the four-year-old beneficiary of this charity single, made a full recovery from the aggressive neuroblastoma cancer that required her to travel to America for the expensive trial treatment that necessitated this fundraising drive.
Elton John’s ‘Tiny Dancer’ had found its niche as a ready-made TV talent show showstopper, edging out ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ by not having awkward chorus lyrics about horny back toads, so pressing it into service as an inspirational anthem was the work of an instant. Also a thing: community choirs such as included here. The featured singers with hands on headphones and scrunched-up faces include mild indie-folk troubadours Paddy Casey and Declan O’Rourke, who may actually be the same person, and Mary Black channelling the spirit of Lisa Stansfield’s bizarre tremulous Band Aid II performance. Anyway, the whole thing avoids the overemoting excesses of this genre, remains focused and solid throughout, and gets the job done.
