THERE were many Saddleworthians shouting at the television when ‘whistling’ David Morris appeared on a new Saturday night game show.
Hosted by Lancastrian Vernon Kay, Game of Talents on ITV sees two contestants battling it out to win potentially life-altering amounts of cash.
Helped by a celebrity they have to guess, with a couple of clues, the hidden talent of the person in front of them.
Now, Dobcross based David is legendary in these parts; indeed his whistling dexterity has earned him plenty of fame well beyond the parish boundaries.
But would TV presenters Emma Willis or Stephen Mulhern be able to identity world champion whistler David’s skills?
As it transpired Emma – host of The Voice and Delivering Babies – whooped with joy after successfully guessing the right answer from a list including foot juggler, cossack dancer and bed of nails daredevil.
Despite Media City in Salford being a major television hub for BBC and ITV, Game of Talents is actually recorded in Kent. So David was asked to travel to Maidstone to do his bit.
“The production company, who make the programme, initially contacted me and asked if I would be interested in going on the show,” he told the Independent.
“We had a good chat and I asked about the format. I thought it was right for me to be on it.
“I had a really enjoyable day and it was fantastic to see how they put a TV show together,” explained David, whose rendition of Post Horn Gallop last year featured on an advertising campaign for Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro.
“It took about five hours to record a one-hour show. It was a long day and there was plenty of hanging around. But it was great fun and a fantastic set.
“I am delighted to say all the production staff were really pleased with the performance. And there has been excellent feedback on social media.
Such though are the constraints of airtime that after his ‘reveal’, David’s abridged solo performance of his chosen piece, Nessun Dorma, was trimmed from one minute 20 seconds to just 35 seconds.
“They do edit a lot,” he explained. “My stipulation for going on the show was that the reveal performance needed to be a hit with the viewers and secondly it showed off what I am all about to the best effect.
“I didn’t want to do a pop song I might not have been familiar with. I wanted to do Nessun Dorma and they agreed.”
For more information on David visit https://davidmorris-whistler.com
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