Fix My Choir: Michelle Williams and Deitrick Haddon prove the healing power of song

Seated side by side on a sofa in a Beverly Hills hotel lounge, former Destiny’s Child member Michelle Williams and Preachers of L.A. star Deitrick Haddon are radiating positive energy. The pair has just turned a room full of exhausted TV critics into a sea of smiling faces courtesy of a rousing performance with the Hermosa Beach Gospel Choir — just one example of their costars on Oxygen’s uplifting new series Fix My Choir.

Over the course of eight episodes, Haddon and Williams crisscross California — and the country — to turn a variety of struggling vocal groups into united musical forces. “A choir is really a reflection of a community; you get everybody in a choir,” says Haddon, who also executive produces the show, of its broad appeal. “And a choir is like a team — or a family. We get the chance to go in and help that family with whatever issue they’re having and help them be better. And it’s not just church choirs. It’s high-school choirs, college choirs, community choirs. It’s barbershop and a cappella choirs.”

“We had five days to work with them,” Williams adds. “We come in and say hello and then we quickly say, ‘OK, it’s time to assess.’ We would sit down and watch them sing. We would observe body language and attitudes, who came in late. From the moment we said hello, we were already assessing.”

Asked if being in the presence of superstar singers rendered some choristers speechless, Haddon says, “One little girl, she just could not sing. She was crying and she just could not believe that Michelle was there. So, yes, they had to get over the initial shock that we’re actually there and spending time with them. But we don’t come in there like superstars. We find that when we come in normal and very down-to-earth, they really let their guards down and they open up. We become like brothers and sisters, and that’s how we are able to give them some real help.”

Pressed for a specific moment when she knew she was making a lifelong impact, Williams cites a woman whose parents ordered her to stop singing, accusing her of being “too happy.”

“You want your parents to be your biggest cheerleader, and to have that cheerleader tell you you’re not good? That literally shuts you down,” she says. “So now we’re talking to this lady as an adult, and she went back into that moment. She regressed! We were able to tell her, ‘This is why you are in the choir — to be healed.’ And she ended up having an amazing voice!”

“We tell them often — you can’t conquer what you refuse to confront,” Haddon adds. So it was beautiful that they were all willing to go there to be better. And it’s amazing how, once you deal with those issues, how much more free you can be when you perform. It just flows. And you see that on the show.”

Fix My Choir airs Wednesday nights at 10/9CT on Oxygen beginning Nov. 5

Photo Credit: Oxygen Media/Greg Gayne