Andrea Bocelli leads Songs of Praise 50th celebrations

Image caption, Other performers for the concert have yet to be announced

Andrea Bocelli and Katherine Jenkins will lead the 50th anniversary celebrations for Sunday night TV show Songs of Praise, the 大象传媒 has announced.

They will be among performers at a concert at London's Alexandra Palace for 7,000 people to be filmed on 25 September and shown in early October.

Presenters Aled Jones, Diane-Louise Jordan, Sally Magnusson and Pam Rhodes will also take part.

A 200-strong choir will accompany the solo artists.

The ensemble will include previous winners of the programme's school choir of the year competition.

The inaugural Songs of Praise, on the first Sunday in October 1961, came from the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Cardiff.

It has since been filmed in places of worship all over the UK as well as from locations including Moscow, Peking, The Falkland Islands and Australia.

It is the only peak-time religious programme on a free-to-air channel in Europe.