Mr. Happy - no, Songs of Praise has a real congregation made up of the regular congregation of the host church plus members of other congregations.

I played in the orchestra for a couple of programmes and the congregations were ticket only and there was a rehearsal on a previous evening. There were also guest spots recorded separately.

One of the services I played for a was a Christmas service recorded sometime in October or November I think - the place was bedecked with holly especially for the rehearsal and recording.

I couldn't tell what they were singing either.

Cheers,

Weasel