Escala (formerly known as Scala) is an electronic string quartet from London, England who rose to fame when they performed on and reached the final of the second series of Britain's Got Talent on ITV1 in May 2008.
Background
Two of the four members of Escala, Izzy Johnston and Chantal Leverton, were part of Wild, a similar five-piece classical group who were signed to EMI and released an album with the label in 2005. The four members of the group met in 2005 when they were part of the string section on an arena tour with McFly. Three of them, Victoria Lyon, Chantal Leverton and Tasya Hodges performed with Jeff Wayne on his War of the Worlds Tour in 2006.
Britain's Got Talent
In the first round of the show, Escala performed a "techno version" of Palladio by the Welsh composer Karl Jenkins, and were put through to the semi-finals by judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan. At the semi-final, they performed an instrumental version of "Live And Let Die" by Paul McCartney and Wings, receiving a positive reaction from the judges, with Piers Morgan describing it as "the best performance of the week". They won the public vote to win the semi-final and secure a place in the final with nine other acts.
In the final, they once again performed "Palladio", but did not get enough public votes to make the top three acts and the show was won by street dancer George Sampson.
Controversy
The group was alleged to have been invited to audition for Britain's Got Talent by Simon Cowell after they supposedly played the X Factor wrap party in late 2007. However, ITV refused claims that this was unfair, stating "Escala went through the same application and audition process as everyone else. Britain's Got Talent is open to any performer be it professional or amateur, with any talent."
The members of Escala denied that they played at the X Factor wrap party, but on 18 November 2009 on This Morning with Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby they admitted that they played at the wrap party that one of Escala's family members had arranged. They were told it could help their career.
Name change
The quartet changed their name from Scala to eScala during Britain's Got Talent after it was discovered that there was already a Belgian choir using the name Scala – Scala & Kolacny Brothers. They changed the name to eScala after EMI threatened to sue, despite having used the name Scala for two years. After the show they put a lower case 'e' on the beginning to eScala but have since then reverted to Escala.
After Britain's Got Talent
On 6 June 2008 Escala performed at the first night of the nationwide Britain's Got Talent tour in London and on 8 June it was revealed that they had signed a £1.5million contract deal with Sony BMG.
In July 2008 they were signed to perform as part of a new promotional campaign for Sky Sports coverage of the 2008–09 football season. The high-profile campaign began airing on 19 July with Escala performing "Palladio", was filmed at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London and featured them performing with clips from football matches. The promotion campaign was also used to promote other upcoming sports events on the channel.
Escala performed at the 2008 FA Community Shield on 11 August at Wembley Stadium, and accompanied Hayley Westenra when she sang the national anthem.
On 20 September 2008, Escala performed at the Help for Heroes rugby union challenge match at Twickenham Stadium, London in aid of wounded British servicemen and women. On 11 May 2009, Escala made their American debut on The Oprah Winfrey Show as part of her World's Got Talent show with Simon Cowell.
On 25 May 2009, Escala performed as guests, non-competitively, on the second semi-final of the third series of Britain's Got Talent. They performed Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir."
Escala performed on BBC Radio 2's Friday Night is Music Night on 12 June 2009 and followed it up with a performance at Lord's during a charity match between Middlesex and the Rajasthan Royals on 6 July 2009.
On 1 August 2009, Escala played in concert with Anastacia at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.
On 1 November 2009, Escala performed "Palladio", "Children" and "Kashmir" at the Women of Rock event in London's Royal Albert Hall in aid of the Caron Keating Foundation.
On 25 November 2009, Escala were guests on the afternoon live Alan Titchmarsh Show, on ITV. They were individually interviewed by the eponymous presenter and then performed the Karl Jenkins' composed track "Palladio", from their current CD.
On 4 December 2009, Escala performed "Palladio" at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards Ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada.