SERIES 31
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 THE
COMPETITIONby Neil Jones Jake arrives to find Tanya and Jenny in the middle of a stand-up row - Jenny's music rehearsal is interfering with Tanya's revision. Jenny complains about always being bossed around by Tanya and Karen. She tells Jake about the Liverpool '08 music competition for which she has been practising her violin - part of the prize is a trip to Liverpool - and some money which Jenny has earmarked to get herself a drum kit. Jake is hurt not to have been asked - they once took violin lessons but he wasn't any good. Megan is not impressed having Bryn walk her to Grange Hill. Bryn warns her that unless she makes more friends she won't survive at secondary school - what if Serena doesn't come to Grange Hill? Serena and Megan have to interview the head girl for the school website - Serena is delighted but Megan is lost mulling over her brother's words. Later, Serena tells Megan she may well be going to private school but that she wants to come to Grange Hill. When the pair interview Tanya, Megan is feeling sorry for herself but Tanya offers her hand of friendship. A queue of musical wannabees prepare to face Grange Hill's very own X Factor panel, Mr McDonnell, Miss Bettany and Miss Greene from the primary school. Miss Bettany slaughters the first auditionee in a way Simon Cowell would be proud of, prompting Mr McDonnell to tell her to be more encouraging. So when Bryn and Ducket present their act - playing non-existent instruments, she puts them right through to the next round! Jenny's violin playing proves a little rusty but Jake surprises her by taking to the stage with a perfect performance (he carried on learning the violin under his own steam) and they end up duetting; the judges put them through as a double act. Jenny blanks Jake for almost two days before accusing him of deliberately upstaging the one thing she wanted to do on her own. Serena and Megan show their finished article to Tanya. Serena is furious when Megan tells Tanya her friend is dyslexic and accuses Megan of being starstruck by the head girl. On her own, Serena collars Tanya and paints a picture of Megan being an attention seeker. Serena puts the charge directly to Megan who is shocked. In the semi-finals, Jake and Jenny perform separately and Jake is first with a perfect rendition of Ave Maria. Bryn and Ducket's very short musical mime wows the audience and the final performer, Jenny, is overcome by nerves. In the voting she comes last as Bryn and Ducket win by a mile; Jake insists by working together they'd have won. Bryn and Ducket are confident of further success when interviewed on The Hill. Jake and Jenny's friendship remains strained - he's angry that she didn't like him doing something on his own. Miss Bettany has to cover Year 8's science class and, with science not being one of her strong points, the class has a discussion about culture. She thinks Ducket is being insolent when he defines the everyday things people do as culture. Serena's blanking of Megan is noticed by Miss Greene, who forces Megan to admit that she was trying to make Tanya like her in case Serena isn't around next year. Miss Greene and Tanya concoct a "complaint" against the two girls to get them talking again - it works as Megan sticks up for Serena when the trumped up charges are put to them and their best of mates again. The competition final comes round and Bryn and Ducket think they'll make fools of themselves. Jenny is nervous too. First on stage is quite a good jazz quartet. Bryn and Ducket are next, and on spec they invite Jake and Jenny to perform with them. The combination of real musicians plus pretend musicians wins the top prize - Jenny now has the money for drums and is grateful to Bryn and Ducket for their helping hand. The four pose for a newspaper pic with their huge cheque. |