音癡父親祕密苦練半年 獻唱女兒婚禮

When most fathers discover their daughter is getting married, they set to work planning a witty speech.

大多數父親在得知女兒要結婚的時候，都會精心準備一份婚禮致辭。

But when John Butcher's little girl tied the knot, he wanted to go one better than that.

但是約翰·布徹的小女兒結婚的時候，他給出的驚喜顯然要比致辭好得多。

So the 50-year-old from Allington, Kent, spent 200 hours learning to sing so that he could surprise his daughter, Natalie, by serenading her on her wedding day.

這位來自英國肯特郡的父親今年50歲，他花了200多個小時學習唱歌，爲的是在女兒娜塔莉的婚禮上爲她獻唱一首小夜曲，給她個驚喜。

John had secret singing lessons for more than six months and practised for 180 hours at home so he could be pitch perfect when he performed in front of 100 people on the big day.

約翰瞞着大家，共用了6個多月學習唱歌、180個小時在家練習，目的就是希望在女兒生日那天自己能夠在100多人的面前有個完美的表現。

The father-of-two then belted out a version of the Elvis classic 'Always On My Mind' to his shocked daughter during her wedding reception at The Orangery at Turkey Mill, Maidstone, in October.

十月份，在女兒的婚禮現場上，約翰深情演唱了埃爾維斯的經典曲目《永遠在我心中》，讓女兒驚喜不已。

Natalie, 26, who married software developer Ian Wright, 29, said her father's song was the icing on the cake of their special day.

26歲的娜塔莉嫁給了29歲的軟件工程師伊恩·懷特，她說父親的演唱給她的婚禮錦上添花。

She said: We had the most amazing day which was finished off perfectly with the surprise of my dad singing after the speech. I was in shock but touched by the choice of song and the amount of effort that had gone into the preparation. Everyone seemed to be as blown away as I was and it is something I will never forget.'

“那天真的是美妙無比的一天，婚禮進行得很順利，而爸爸在致辭後的演唱又給了我們一個大大的驚喜。爸爸選的那首歌曲，以及他這麼長時間的準備，都令我非常吃驚和感動。大家看起來也都和我一樣，這天令我終身難忘。”娜塔莉說。

John's wife, Mel, 47, was equally as shocked and touched by her husband bursting into song.

約翰的妻子47歲的梅爾，也被丈夫的突然獻唱感動了。

John said: 'My wife Mel was in tears as she knew nothing about the performance and my daughter told me afterwards that it was the closest she came to crying throughout the whole ceremony.'

約翰說：“梅爾熱淚盈眶，因爲她事先也不知道我的表演。後來女兒跟我說那個時刻是她整個婚禮中最想哭的時刻。”

The father-of-the-bride said he came up with the idea to sing at the reception in April but as he confessed he wasn't previously able to carry a tune, he signed up for lessons to help him impress the wedding guests.

約翰說他是在4月份想到要在婚禮上唱歌的主意的，但他承認在此之前他唱歌是會走調的，所以他專門報了唱歌學習班以幫助他能在婚禮上好好表現。

He said: 'I really can't sing and don't pretend to. I spoke to Darren in April about the idea and started lessons in May.

他說：“我真的不會唱歌也不想隱瞞這點。4月份的時候我告訴達倫老師我的想法，然後在5月的時候開始了學習。”

'I've had a lesson every other week and have practised the song for an hour a day since then.'

“我每隔一週去上一次課，然後每天都在家練習一個小時。”

His hard work paid off and people clapped and cheered John's performance - which was filmed in full by one of the guests and then uploaded to YouTube.

約翰的努力得到了收穫，大家都爲他的表演歡呼鼓掌，其中一位賓客還將整個過程錄了下來並上傳到了YouTube上。

John said: 'Everyone thought the DJ had mucked up, but then I got up and started singing. People were laughing and crying and standing up waving their hands.

約翰說：“當時大家都以爲是DJ搞錯了，但就在這時我起身開始演唱。大家哭着，笑着，並站起來揮舞着手臂。”

Housewife Mel, said she was proud of her husband's efforts to make their daughter's day even more memorable.

妻子梅爾說她爲自己的丈夫感到驕傲，是丈夫的這一舉動使女兒的婚禮更加具有紀念意義。

She said: ' I can't believe he managed to keep it a secret for so long.

梅爾說：“我沒想到他會瞞着我們這麼久。”

'I was laughing and crying, I had my face in a serviette, it was very emotional and I was very proud of him especially as he's not the kind of person to put himself at the centre of attention.'

“我當時高興和感動得都哭了，不停地用餐巾紙擦眼淚。這真是太感人了，我爲約翰感到驕傲，尤其是他並不是那種擅長在衆人面前表演的人。”