Baby May

It's Happening

December 2005

Coming up the drive towards Hampton Court Palace ice rink, Alyssia's jaw drops. It's such a beautiful location, "I can't believe I've never been here before."

"I filmed here once in the 90s in the gardens and it's just breathtaking," Anita is joining her daughter on set for the filming of a Coca Cola advert that will be released in the New Year to coincide with the Winter Olympic games.

The original Coca Cola advert she was meant to be a part of was scrapped, though they still sponsored her, so this is the first advert she's ever done and she's going to be front and centre for it. They want her to do her Who Wants to Live Forever routine.

They are approached by the director when they arrive on set, "Hello, you must be Alyssia, lovely to meet you," He shakes Alyssia's hand then Anita's, "And you Anita. I'm Jack, I'm the director. We have a full afternoon of filming ahead of us, the routine we will film later on when it starts to turn dusk. If you don't mind heading to hair and make-up, we'll go from there."

Alyssia is in hair and make-up for just over an hour, then she is given her first outfit, a pair of black leggings, a red t-shirt with the white Coca Cola logo on the front and a black coat as well as her skates. The look makes her look younger which she guess is the idea.

A lot of imagination is needed to make it work, the first bit of filming is her skating slowly around the rink as though she's thinking about her future as a professional skater.

They then film her taking a sip from a glass Coca Cola bottle and film it a few different ways before sending her back to hair and make-up.

This time she's wearing the same skating dress she wore for her first World Championships, hair does in a slightly more fancy bun than what she usually wears and more glam make-up. In contrast to the last look, this makes her look professional and older.

It's dark by the time they start the next bit of filming and the lights are kept low making it look like spotlights on her. She does the entire routine three times with different camera angles for each take.

They then bring the Coca Cola bottle back in, getting a close-up shot of her taking a sip then back to a wide-angle. They tell her to imagine being at the Olympics, the audience all around her and hold the bottle up to the audience in a kind of thank you gesture.

Anita had been watching the whole thing, it was complex but thinking about the special effects and the added music. She gets an idea of what the director is going for.

It took just over two weeks to get the advert together and it is released on New Years Day.

Alyssia sat in the living room watching TV at Roger when it comes on, "Oh my god, Mum! Dad!" New Years Day is always between Roger's and Brian's.

Brian rushes into the room, Anita and Roger hot on his heels. Rufus, Tigerlily and Lola are already sitting with her.

The adults join them to watch the entire ad. They got permission to use a slow version of The Show Must Go On for the music and as filmed, it starts with her skating slowly around the ice rink.

Layered over the music is the faint sound of people cheering and the commentator, clearly taken from previous Olympic events to imitate her thoughts.

It fades off and she skates to a stop next to her bag, pulls out the bottle of Coca Cola and takes a sip. The scene transitions to Alyssia in her skating dress, doing her routine. Only her and the ice are visible, the rest of the surroundings black like she's moving with spotlights.

The sound of cheering in the background again as the music ramps up a little, with the ramp of her music she does a series of twirls, jumps and spins finishing up with an upright fast spin then takes a bow. The bottle appears in her hand once more and she takes another sip before holding it up.

With all the special effects and editing, it looks seamless and perfect, "Nicely done and perfect for the Olympics. I'd call your first piece of acting a success," Roger praises her.

"I'd hardly call it acting but I enjoyed making it." She'd be interested in doing more on-screen work if the opportunity should ever come up, maybe that's her next move.

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February 2006

"Oh, the van's here!" Alyssia was waiting at the living room window for the van to arrive. She will be travelling with the Team GB skating team to the Olympics in Turin, Italy since the company pays for the flights.

Turning away from the window, she heads to the hallway where her parents are waiting and her bags are, to find Meddow sat on her suitcase and Freddie sat on her cabin bag.

Laughing, she picks the two cats up, kissing their heads, "You two can't come with me, cats aren't allowed on the plane, you've got to stay here."

She puts them down and turns to her parents, "I'll see you in a week," All the athletes are there for 16 days from the opening ceremony to the closing ceremony but Alyssia and Victoria's events aren't until days 11 and 13 as well as the exhibition gala on day 14. So those supporting Victoria and Alyssia will arrive on day 10.

They will, of course, be watching the opening ceremony from home. Those going include Jodie, Zoe, Toby, Brian, Anita, Roger, Tigerlily, Lola and Louisa. Alyssia's other siblings couldn't get the time off work/uni but they will be supporting from home with everyone else.

John and Veronica also sent Alyssia a good luck message yesterday, promising that they'll be watching her events.

"Yeah, be careful and message us when you arrive in Turin," Anita hugs her while Brian carries the bags out to the van for her.

"I will, I promise," She thanks her dad with a quick hug and climbs into the van, sitting beside Victoria. Alyssia still can't believe it's happening.

The team are escorted through the airport by security and seated in first class. Once the plane takes off, that's when it sinks in that, yeah, they are going to the Olympics.

Victoria must have been having the same thought process because their eyes meet with a grin of excitement. It's finally happening.