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  • I'd love to give her a big hug!

  • I listen........and I like what I hear. Dame Judi Dence sings the song really good!

  • I was told to listen to this so I knew how to sing it... because you don't sing it... you hold a tune and pour your heart into it! It's written for someone who isn't a brilliant singer!

  • its M

  • DON'T BOTHER YAA!!!!! They're here lalala...

  • Dame Judi, You are singing my life.

  • ... gives me the shivers, in a good, moving way

  • Wow, what a beautiful rendition, god bless you Judi Dench xx

  • Well, the harp needs tuned. :-P

  • If Elizabeth Taylor did it why not Judi. I guess it's more acting than singing, they weren't bad.

  • Heard this song so many (maybe a little too many) times before. But I never really got the meaning of it until I heard Judi Dench's version. No one puts the feeling into it like she does. Simply perfection.

  • Goosebumps.

  • I Adore Her !! always have I hope she read this ..she is the best !!

    No matter how low I feel I can just watch as time goes by and I am just so happy she is just wonderful ((hug))) Judi you should come play Runescape :)

  • I cant get enough of her singing this...It's just so good

  • 4:11 - that final expression she gives ... that got me, wow!

  • this performance is truly one of the finest versions I have heard, Dame judi, is a master at her craft

  • Dame Judi's all that and then some for me, I had to cull this show from my digibox in the Christmas frenzy of recording - and prayed this performance would be here! It's true, that this is a song that is more acted than sung - but I think the Dame pulls both together in a very truthful portrayal of a dejected woman finding her irony and hope - just sterling............

  • The song was originally written for a lady who couldn't sing, I don't know the lady's name, but that's just a fact I know... random piece of trivia

  • @retroboydeccles Glynis Johns

  • She is obviously not a singer, but this song has so many nuances and tones in it that it can best be done by an accomplished actor, which she certainly is. The part in the Sondheim play is written for an older woman, not a young pop-style singer, and in my view requires a degree of world-weary sophistication that only maturity can provide.

  • I think i just held my breath for five minutes

  • i adore this, but this is my favourite version of Judi singing this =yE3dLzIYKs8

  • There are definitely versions of this song sung by better singers but this is the best. So much emotion, its not even like she's acting.

  • brilliant, just brilliant! Is there anything that Judi Dench can't do?!!

  • Such a class act.

  • I didn't realize she's the one playing 'M', James Bond's boss, in Casino Royale.

  • @SirArghPirate i heard on wikipedia that she might be one the bond villains in the upcoming bond movie, that would be awesome!

  • @chercherchercher Yes indeed! I'm curious to what the reason will be. :)

  • Pure perfection. Takes it to a totally new level. BLISS. How sad so few people know of Sondeim and Judy = poor sods.

  • breathtaking glad i watched it

  • That woman never fails to excite me.

  • austinthebookworm5 ......lol nearly pissed myself.....always think of crusty when i hear this...dont get me wrong its an amazing song and extremely moving but cant help thinking of crusty and that comment made me piss myself laughing!!

  • Boy, can she act. Brilliant!

  • Judi was never a great singer but a very good one and she started way back when she was young most people only know her for ATGB.

  • where's Sideshow Mel?

  • cant find the dvd on amazon.com

  • Love the fact they've given her an office, spinney chair to sit on. Incredible though <3

  • She's a national treasure! 

  • Extraordinary! Cheers!

  • oh ....... my..... i just stumbled onthis.... my god. this has to be the definitive version of this song my god ..brilliant.

  • She's a wonderful actress and a wonderful singer. Stunning performance. Indeed, she IS the song. Chapeau!!

  • i love the arguments this song causes when mr sondheim wrote it in a short time for the original deserie glynis johns, as she needed a number! for a last minute thought this sure has caused some discussion, and really is written for an actress to voacalise and not really to sing, personaly i find this sung by anyone with a good voice ruins it, but that is just me, long live this ballad, i love it and its numerous interpreations xxx long may it cause discussion xx

  • My favorite rendition. And the orchestra sounds amazing. This is true, genuine, talent

  • Her last facial expression. Mesmirising.

  • if you think this song needs to be sung, then for me you are so mistaken. This is the best performance of this song - the acting brings me to tears. just sensational

  • @IluffLotR sadly, streisand oversings it

  • No, perhaps she is not the best singer but she is a top-notch performer and I'd rather that than a "pretty" voice any day.

  • Just perfect...Judi is an absolute treasure...Sondheim must have had Judi in mind when writing this, Frank Sinatra's version is also beautiful...on a lighter note check out Tom Jones' version...priceless!!!

  • @julesra1 he actually wrote it for glynis johns, the original desiree (and the mum in mary poppins), as a last minute thing when he found out she could sing a bit! not bad for an afterthought, eh?

  • She is simply fabulous.

  • best version to date

  • amazing performance!

  • She acts it brilliantly. Of course she does. She's a great actress. But she can't sing it brilliantly because she can't sing. I'd prefer it sung.

  • damn onions..

  • Can't believe she's almost 80

  • Simply.... Amazing...!

  • Who are the 7 philistines who disliked this!?

  • Heartbreakingly wonderful

  • What a classy lady and what a classy performance! That would have been how Sondheim wanted the song to be sung. It was never a 'pretty' song to begin with at all and Dame Dench sang it perfectly to a tee.

  • BRAVO!!!

    so acting's not the only thing in which she is amazing <3<3<3

  • Johnny Robinson off X-Factor UK got some serious lessons to learn from Dame Judy.

  • i still would

  • Took my breath away..... phew!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • A truly powerful performance, she truly captured the mood of the song... as one comment already read, brava!

  • I love how the audience waits until the last note dies out before applauding. That's respect, yo. That's real respect.

  • @mattnumber13 Oh I see! My bad sorry mate :) But maybe the guy means woman rather than lady? I dunno :P My bad

  • Heartfelt

  • bravo!!!!!!!

  • @mattnumber13 Err, what you said makes no sense at all. You just said there were no women in James Bond ad yet you said she's M? Which one you trying to say, cos she is in James Bond. :P

  • This is the kind of the song where the vocals are 2nd place, it's all about the performance, which is amazing

  • people need to get a grip. its judi dench singsing....... so what. stop been cedrics and idiots and enjoy the video

  • Such a beautiful sad song..it almost seem inappropriate to applaud afterwards. Brava madame..

  • Wonderful, it is a pleasure to see such talent going strong!

  • Very nice, Judi!! Nice interpretation.

  • I would totally hit that. :-)

  • She is such an amazing actress, singer and everything - Judy Dench is a treasure - lovely performance. She is the Maria Callas of Broadway...

  • is this the lady from the james bond movies?

  • @bohista42 yes it is

  • SOmething magical about this song who made it .. I rmember when I was a little boy in Montreal my best friend sergio covinced me and angelo to go see the circus.

    we went to the bell centre and heard this song for the first time.

    I watched him speechless and locked frozen in time listening and watching this magical performance that even as a little tiny boy i could understand for the first time in my life the beauty of music.

    I think all British people can sing hahaha Love that accent.

  • Wonderful.

    So much more than the Judy Collins version. Collins might have a betteer singing voice, but Jidi Dench tells the song so brilliantly. The breaking in her voice adds so much to the story.

    Amazing Daame Judi. Thank you so much for this performance.

  • Fantastic. ! She is a National Treasure. Uber-Talented. There is noting like a Dame !!

    Well Done Ms. Dench.

  • Beautifully heartbreaking! Thank you for posting!

  • she sang it marvelously that it seems too vulnerable..

    it made me felt like if i breathe while she sang i'd break that magic.

    bravo Dame Judi Dench

  • @HaroldsCatsRevenge Your an IDOT

  • Who sent in the 5 clowns?

  • Dame Judi Dench! Maybe it's because Dame Judi is just about my age I can identify with her and have ever since I knew she existed. This marvelous human being is ONE OF A KIND...never could there be anyone like her. Such talent always proves to me that there is a GOD...who sends these heavenly talents to help us make it through hard times. She does everything in her acting from MRS. BROWN, QueenElizabeth2 to downright comedy on PBS. Brava Dame Judi! May you continue as long as you wish! BRAVA!

  • Wow, so much emotion in her voice. She seems to almost break at points, absolutely brilliant performance.

  • Wow

  • Judy is the only one who can really reach into this song and bring out the sadness of it. She has such timing you can watch her eyes as she is sitting there so serene and in one second she goes into her song . I have her many singrs sing this song and only Judi and Judi Collins seem to have the soul for it.

    

  • Way to go "M".

  • i also love this version, is just beautiful. reminds you this is not a love song, this is raw and bitter, how the song should be sung

    v=yE3dLzIYKs8

  • sublime

  • She was originally casted for the role of Grizabella in Cats, but ended up with an injury and was replaced with Elaine Paige.

  • CLASS ACT!

  • Judi is one of the finest and talented actress;s ever. Her singing known for her deep throaty cabaret voice is so captivating.. Send In The Clowns I always thought that song meant something special to her before I heard this rendition on this evening. It was like it was part of her soul, and the song belongs to her entirely. Thank you Judi.!

  • 4 people are clowns!

  • Wow - shivers going up and down spine....

  • What a fantastic performance. Breaks my heart.

  • Absolutely brilliant in every way. Partly so good because the voice ISN'T beautiful, at least not conventionally, but Judi Dench LIVES the song. One of the reasons I like it better than Judy Collins is because she sings it in a way that's almost TOO pretty and doesn't reach the pain and disappointment in the song.

  • Another reason to love this stunning woman!!!!!!

  • God. She's sooo. Good.

  • I never knew Judi Dench could sing........and beautifully well. I watch her every week on PBS's "As Time Goes By" and have watched most, if not all, of her movies. Actually, I'll watch anything she's in over and over. She is so talented and beautiful.

  • Is there nothing that this treasure can't do? She was truly brilliant,,and brought me to tears. The finest offering of this song since Judy Collins took the world by storm and won The Grammy for Song Of The Year ,when this song was first introduced so many years ago!

  • euskal herrian ere maite zaitugu dench anderea!!

  • I never knew M could sing so beautiful...

  • International treasure!

  • Comment removed

  • I love Royal Albert Hall. Wagner conducted there in a series of concerts in 1877. He met President Grant in London; they were staying at the same hotel.

  • singing amazingly on the casual office swivel chair. ladies and gentlemen.. this. is. talent. beyond. ages.

  • Bergman made a great movie. But the musical is perfection.

  • cudowne wykonanie cudownej Judi Dench....

  • hairs on the back of my neck are standing up.

    this is what real music is supposed to do....

  • Was there ever a more heart breaking song sung?

  • Sondheim wrote that there were two ways to sing the song. In concert, you'd sing it normally. But Judi did it the other way, how it's meant to be acted in the actual musical, with the emotion taking precidence to the singing.

    I like it better this second way.

  • Quick send in the clowns

  • 2:47 from then on breaks my heart. She is truly wonderful.

  • Sung the way it was meant to be, the way Sondheim wrote it. The man himself said it was one of his favourite renditions, beautiful!

  • So very moving, yes I started to be moved as soon as Dame Judi started singing. Then I wept. Profusely. Than I was in a half-ecstasy of joy at the beauty of her performance (before watching this "Clowns" wasn't really a favourite of mine.

    Ultimately I was left in awe of how immediate it is in these days to suspect you might like to check something up and then doing it and being overwhelmed.

    Great times? Perhaps. Certainly a superb interpretation. Plus I've gained a liking for Sondheim, somehow.

  • Beautiful!

  • absolutely so sad.... what a delivery of a sad song... captivating

  • I just watched Catherine Zeta-Jones MURDER this at last year's Tony's and thought about this performance; I know she isn't the best singer but the emotion that she infuses into this performance truly brings a tear to my eye. Beautiful.

  • Dame Judi Dench and the BBC Symphony Orchestra is a combined treasure of immeasurable value. This presentation is crushingly moving.The power is absolutely devastating.

  • I think everyone knows that Dame Judi Dench isn't a professional singer and doesn't have the voice for it but she is a brilliant actress who happens to like singing. and not many people are capable of giving such a performance of this song by only acting with the voice and mimic. after all, there's nothing like a Dame Judi Dench!

  • @anamorphosys85 I disagree that "she doesn't have the voice for it", actually. There's nothing worse than someone singing this song beautifully because it always detracts from the emotion in the song, no matter how good the actress. In fact, the actress that originated the role wasn't a good singer at all, and the song was written around the fact that she couldn't sing so that it could be acted rather than sung well.

  • @xXWestEndMusicalsXx yes, that's what I meant by "She doesn't have the voice for it" - that Dame Judi Dench doesn't have the voice to be a professional singer. I completely agree with you that this song was meant to be "sung" in a speaking and acting manner.

  • @xXWestEndMusicalsXx are you kidding me - human voices are just like the different tones in real instruments... I have never heard anyone deliver the essence of this sad song so well, as this performance... so unique - only adds to the classic

  • @anamorphosys85 I quite agree.... what a treasure finding this on u tube ...cheers from Canada... Dame Dench is a treasure!

  • @janab71 she delivers the real story in this song so much more than the cross-eyed beaked nose american babs.... sorry... all in the delivery....

  • @janab71 Desiree is almost always played by a non-singer. The role was developed that way. Until Zeta-Jones and, more importantly, Peters played her, the song was usually spoke-sung.

  • still the. best. at. this. song.

  • The most tresured british actoress ever, she is simply wonderful.

  • This woman is absolutely stunning! One of a kind! She is quite something!

  • I got this great DVD from ioffer.com as it doen't look as though it's going to be officially released. Great quality!!

  • Absolutely Beautiful, Sonheim... Makes me cry everytime.

  • marvellous and lovely!

  • the acting that she does! UGH! SO AMAZING!!!

  • Ladies and Gentlemen Dame Judy Dench. It does not get any better than this. I love this woman and this song. She is a Living Legend.

  • Amazing.

  • Easily the best performance of the night. Though that's not really saying much. But still great.

  • DONT BOTHA!!!

  • Bravo ! Brilliantly done with an amazing display of emotion !

  • Awesome! You cannot keep your tears. Far From M in Bond;-) When i heard it for the first time by Drench a few years ago, i couldn't believe it. The grace. Streisand was perfect singing this as usual. But not with the same tenseness. Drench is tragic. And poetic too. And so smooth. She awakes the child in us. It's an other world.

  • @tippi02 and her surname is dench not drench

  • So Proud to be English, when we have Dame Judy... Beautiful, just Beautiful

  • Thumbs up for the ASl interpreter in the back!!!!

  • Oh my God! I love her!! Great woman!

  • She is a totally beautiful woman,inside,outside and in her singing-acting...!!!

  • i love her in the bond films..but this rendition made her my obsession ..lol

  • Perfection !

  • it could not have been more perfect !

  • haven't heard anything this beautiful in years!

  • Such a huge audience, yet you could hear a pin drop.

  • Just stunning. That's the only word.

  • Just love the Clarinet at the beginning of this!!!

  • i would have never guessed M was such a wonderful singer XD bravo

  • @AgentOrange921

    Judi Dench was Sally Bowles in Cabaret in 1968! - Four years before Liza Minnelli played the part in the movie

  • you think that they'd be able to afford a better chair for Dame Judi Dench to sit on!!

  • I love this woman!

  • Beyond words. 

  • I couldn't believe it when I learned Judi Dench was originally cast as Grizabella in Cats (to sing Memory), but after watching this, I'm convinced that she is absolutely wonderful!

  • @OwnYouScum REALLY! :O she would have been amazing :)

  • Great show Judi, now get the new Bond movie sorted, you and Daniel work great together  dont let MGM's fails bring you down

  • After all these years, she's still got it!!!

  • Judith Dench is still the consummate performer to me. Gives me inspiration. I love Judy!

  • krusty did a better job !!!

  • is she from james bond MOVIES?