The annual House Singing Competition took place on Friday 10 February. It is a hotly anticipated event in the calendar; every single member of each house takes part in the competition, which takes place throughout the day, starting with the Solo round and finishing with the Whole House round.
Each house put forward a solo singer for the first round. In a packed Lecture Theatre, soloists took to the spotlight to sing their hearts out for their respective houses. For Burr, Robbie Rayne performed. Maddie Chapples performed for Orchard; Ben Atkin performed for Welsh, Patrick Kenny took to the stage for Everett, and Lucas Brooks performed for Skipwith. It was an incredibly close competition from 2nd to 5th place, but Robbie Rayne stole the win for Burr in the Solo round, drawing ahead with a massive five-point difference.
Following this was the Ensemble round. A group of pupils from each house took to the stage in front of the whole school in the Sports Hall, to perform a song chosen and rehearsed in-house. Burr were first up, singing James Bay’s top 10 hit Let It Go. Everett then took to the stage, performing a mash-up of Hello and a contemporary Drake song. Orchard followed, with a dramatic rendition of the Bond theme Skyfall. Skipwith was next to the stage, singing the noughties cult classic Stacey’s Mom. Welsh were last to perform in the Ensemble round, singing Take That’s classic Back for Good. Despite being last onstage, the Welsh House ensemble managed to steal the win, drawing six points ahead of their closest rival, Orchard.
It was then time for the Whole House round. Every member of each house performed in this round. Director of Music Mr Richard Curran had, after much consideration within the Music Department, chosen a George Michael theme for this element of the competition. Burr were first up, singing George Michael’s Careless Whisper. This turned out to be the most popular choice amongst the houses – both Welsh and Orchard had chosen to sing the hit, meaning that the competition was really stiff! Welsh had an edge, with a group of boys miming the famous saxophone solo with multi-coloured inflatable saxophones! Skipwith had a real crowd pleaser on their hands with their upbeat rendition of Freedom, complete with Choose Life t-shirts. Everett also bucked the Careless Whisper trend, singing the Wham! favourite, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go. It was a tough competition, and Mrs Louise Rapple Moore, Reverend Stephen Cousins and Headmaster Mr Gregg Davies had the unenviable job of judging the performances. However, after extensive deliberation, Skipwith were announced winners of the Whole House round. This meant that, after the totals had been added up, Skipwith were also the overall winners! The house won by a single point, making this the closest House Singing result in years. Welsh were second, with Orchard just one point behind them in third place. Skipwith are now the defending champions for two years running. Housemaster Mr Alex Duncan commented: ‘I am so proud of all the pupils in Skipwith for getting involved and performing with the utmost enthusiasm! We have managed to bring the trophy home for a second year running and I look forward to next year’s competition – see if we can make it a hat-trick!’
There is still a chance to catch the talents of the Music Department in action – the Spring Concert is taking place on Thursday 16 March, and all are welcome to attend!