Just a quick review here as I decided after the first episode that I'd seen all that "The Piano" had to offer and that I wasn't going to watch any more. Its not my sort of thing, and I only watched the first episode as the series appeared on the Guardian's best TV of 2023 list and I'm trying to give them all a chance.
Pianos have been a staple of the UK's larger train stations for years, offering a distraction and entertainment to people waiting for their journey. This series encourages volunteers, to play in front of the cameras and commuters. The twist is that they're also being judged by popular artist Mika and renowned pianist Lang Lang, and the winner of the competition will perform at a special concert at the Royal Festival Hall.
This falls into the "nice" bracket of reality TV. There are no delusional people thrown in front of the cameras for the public's amusement - everyone is a really good pianist, and each have a backstory that helps fulfil that narrative of why they should win. Claudia Winkleman presents and she's as enthusiastic and quirky as she always is. A couple of contenders play and disappear, and in the end wrap up it becomes apparent that several people have participated who we've not seen play a note - but four or five key players get the full 'camera at home', 'meet the parents' type back story video packages, as it's clear that the winner is going to come from one of those.
It's a show designed to tug on the heart strings and it's quite successful at it. I can certainly see why people enjoyed it but I felt I'd seen all it had going for it by the end of the first episode and that I could move on without watching any more.
