Shopper Stands In Mall Food Court Talking On Cell Phone, Shortly Thereafter Dozens Of Voices Harmonize For Christmas Carol

Dec 14, 2021 by apost team

At Christmas time, there's joy all around. Some people are glad to finally get some time off work and spend the holidays with their families and the kids can't wait to get their presents. Meanwhile, others are excited to finally spend quality time with their friends. 

One aspect of Christmas that keeps the spirit alive is Christmas decorations and music. Wherever you go during December, the spirit of Christmas can usually be seen or heard. 

But in this video from 2010, the Christmas spirit was hiding in plain sight all along. The video began with a few shots of a shopping mall food court during the holiday season. There were some decorations around, but mostly it's just full of people enjoying their food and catching up with one another. 

But then one woman stood up and appeared to be talking very loudly on her cell phone. Usually, that is incredibly frustrating when it happens but instead of talking to someone on the other end, the woman began to loudly sing a Christmas carol to the entire food court.

People looked stunned at first but then a second person joined her and continued singing the carol himself. Then others slowly came out of the woodwork and before long, half of the food court was standing and singing in unison.

The event was a planned flash mob by Alphabet Photography Inc. and the surprised look on the audience's faces proved that it was well worth it. Thankfully, the special moment was recorded so not only did the live audience get to experience it, but through the internet, it's since gone viral and people all over the world have been able to enjoy it. 

At the start of the video, a message explained that the event took place on Nov. 13, 2010. It said, "these unsuspecting shoppers got a surprise while enjoying their lunch..." From the outset, the scene looked entirely normal, just a busy shopping day with plenty of people taking a break in the food court. A pianist played a song on the piano while nobody suspected what would come next. 

Then, without warning, a young woman stood up and began to sing loudly. Her first words were "Hallelujah, Hallelujah," as she sang the "Hallelujah Chorus" from George Frideric Handel's "Messiah." What threw a few people off was that she held her phone up to her ear as if she was singing into the telephone, but quickly others caught on. Then a man stood up on the other side of the food court and took over from her. His voice was deep and bellowing and perhaps this was the moment people realized the woman wasn't alone and that likely other people would join in next.

Within another 20 seconds, various others joined in the singing. One man was even stealthily dressed as a janitor with a "Caution Wet Floor" sign! Soon enough it became clear that half of the food court was involved in the scheme, but many were singing while still seated. 

As the song continued, everybody that was part of the choir eventually stood up and the sight was truly magnificent. Not only that, but their vocal abilities were simply wonderful. People simply looked on in awe, as they soaked up the incredible moment and savored in the Christmas spirit. 

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The video made a huge impact beyond that one day. Thanks to the camera people who recorded the entire flash mob the video of the performance has continued to warm hearts all over the world. It's been viewed nearly 55 million times since it was uploaded in 2010. People in the comments can't get enough of the holiday cheer that the surprise moment has brought to many. One person wrote:

"Ten years later and it still has the power to make other people smile. It WAS a very special gift. Thank you and Merry Christmas."

Another wrote:

"The smiling faces of the people listening is inspiring. Beautiful performance. I wish I could have been there."

People discussed how the song is not an easy one to pull off and that anyone who ever sang it in a choir surely still remembers their part. Others wrote about getting chills from this performance even 10 years later. One person said it was "quite possibly the best flash mob performance ever recorded." Another person agreed:

"For me, even 11 years later, this is still the most magnificent flash mob ever executed."

German-British composer Handel wrote "Messiah" all the way back in 1741. The scriptural text was compiled from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Bible by Charles Jennens. Although it received a mediocre reception when it was first created, the work gained popularity over the next 250+ years and is now "one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music," according to Wikipedia. 

What did you think of the performance? Did you see the surprise coming? Let us know, then pass this video on to spread the Christmas spirit to everyone you know!