Young Voices, Genting Arena, Birmingham - PICTURES and VIDEO

It's not often that you get to see young people showing off their musical talents at one of the top music venues in the UK.

It's even rarer to see 6,000 of them altogether, singing and dancing and having the time of their lives.

The Young Voices 2017 project gives children from all over the UK, including the Black Country, a chance to perform altogether and sing some of their favourite songs as part of their school choirs.

One such performance took place at Birmingham's Genting Arena on Tuesday night, where I was lucky enough to be able to witness such a phenomenal feat.

The show saw the youngsters, known collectively as the YV Choir, stand up and perform a total of 22 songs, which they had been rehearsing at their schools since September.

To say I was blown away by the performances of the youngsters is an understatement - they raised the roof of the arena and did all their teachers and parents immensely proud.

From the opening number, 5 Guys Named Moe, to Birdhouse In Your Soul, originally performed by American rock band They Might Be Giants - all the children excelled.

The song Stronger Together, which was first made popular by Gareth Malone and the Military Wives choir, was a particular favourite of both the children and the audience, in expressing how music had united them.

The youngsters then completely wowed us all with their rendition of African song Maliswe, in the Zulu language, accompanied by African drums and other instruments.

The variety of the show didn't stop there, with performances from dancers Urban Strides who have previously appeared on the BBC, ITV MTV and E4, and beatbox artists, The Beatbox Collective who delivered their impressive vocals, creating a variety of sounds to recreate popular songs from Craig David and Daniel Bedingfield.

Irish musician Tabby Callaghan, known for finishing third on the first series of The X Factor in 2004, also performed his rendition of Guns N' Roses classic, Sweet Child o' Mine whilst jazz artist Natalie Williams also took to the stage to perform Keane's Somewhere Only We Know and Nina Simone classic Ain't Got No - I Got Life.

Parents were involved in the show too, urged to get on their feet for the remix of Justin Timberlake numbers which saw Urban Strides and creative director Andy Instone take to the stage.

Some of the songs even took the audience on a 'musical tour through the British Isles' which ended in the children singing in Welsh.

The whole atmosphere of the performance was electric, from beginning to end, with all the children swaying with their hand-held lights marking how significant the project had been in getting them to work together as one choir, one team, and one young voice.

The project also raises money for charity through the performances, and this year is supporting music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins, and anti-hunger and food waste charity FareShare.

Further performances at the Birmingham venue will be on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, January 30 and January 31.

The nationwide tour also features venues in Sheffield, London and Manchester before the project heads off to New York.