Highlight of the Week

Dyfrig victorious in House Singing

This week saw us back in the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama for our seventh inter-house singing competition.  Someone had the brainwave of selection Abba Songs as our 2016 theme, and so we were in for a glittering evening of 70s pop!

Dyfrig started off with a very music and down tempo rendition of “Take a Chance on Me”, which built up from an initial solo by Olivia C-H.  The bowed heads and changes in tempo led to a very dramatic performance, very different from the original.

Euddogwy’s energetic rendition of “SOS” with stunning crescendos, great volume and call and answer technique was much appreciated.  Some of the top end voices were very powerful indeed!

Teilo’s “Thank You for the Music” was also well choreographed, with original arpeggios and excellent harmonies.  Again, there were some excellent female harmonies here.

The a cappella songs were a real joy, and Dyfrig’s ambitious rendition of the “Train Song” coincided with a fire alarm!  As we cleared the hall parents and pupils competed to make the corniest jokes about sparks flying, the SOS call, etc.  Back on stage for a second attempt, Dyfrig’s vocal range and sound effects were truly remarkable.

Euddogwy’s choice of a cappella song, Queen’s “Somebody to Love”, was always going to be a hit with the audience.  It was a very ambitious version with great crescendos and some joyful performances.

Most ambitious of all was Teilo’s “Circle of Life”.  Here there were multiple layers of harmony, a great tenor part from Tom P and some lively singing from the girls.  They had given thought to their moves, initially starting in a circle and having a toy lion to accompany them on stage.

As Mr Aspden played background music our judges retired for a full 15 minutes to reach their verdict.  We are very grateful to Emma Nelson and Jack Parry, both of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and both very accomplished performers themselves.  In the end, they threw the points system to the wind and went with their gut feeling: the call was that close!  It was always going to be heart-breaking for the performers, since they had all worked so hard and performed so well, but someone had to win, and the results were:

1^st Dyfrig

2^nd Euddogwy

3^rd Teilo