The most anticipated House competition – the House Singing Competition – returned last week in what was an incredible event with an electric atmosphere! The Competition includes Solo, Ensemble, and Whole House rounds, and Houses have been practising long and hard for the contest.
After the rules were set out, the judges were introduced – Deputy Head (Academic), Mr Jones, and Lead Adjudicator (and Director of Music at Reading Blue Coat School) Mr Woodhall. These two music experts were the ones who had the responsibility of judging each piece and, going by the quality of the performances, were certainly faced with a monumental task.
Solo Round
The first round of the competition was the Solo Round where there were brilliant individual performances from:
- Arabella May, Burr – Imagine, John Lennon
- Amelie Holden, Everett – Set Fire to the Rain, Adele
- Febe Fisher, Orchard – Hometown Glory, Adele
- Jack Dag, Skipwith - Feeling Good, Nina Simone
- Bethan Thompson, Welsh – Writing’s on the Wall, Sam Smith
The quality of the singing in the Solo Round was so hight that the judges truly struggled to separate each one. However, there could only be one winner which was Everett’s Amelie Holden. Well done to all the performers – it takes a lot of courage to take to the stage in front of the whole College and everyone performed admirably!
Ensemble Round
Next was the Ensemble Round, where small groups of pupils (maximum 15) from each House took to the stage. This round is often so hard to judge due to the quality of each group's singing (and sometimes dancing!)
- Burr – Someone You Loved, Lewis Capaldi.
- Everett - We Are Young, FUN
- Orchard – Don’t Stop Believing, Journey
- Skipwith – Fix You, Coldplay
- Welsh – Viva La Vida, Coldplay
Congratulations to Skipwith House whose moving rendition was an excellent performance and worthy of taking 1st place in this round!
Whole House Round
The final round of the competition, and perhaps the one most eagerly waited for! Each House in their entirety took to the stage to perform with each song having to come under this year’s theme of ‘weather’.
- Burr – Mr Blue Sky, ELO
- Everett – Sunny, Bobby Hebb
- Orchard – Walking on Sunshine, Katrina And The Waves
- Skipwith - Here Comes the Sun, The Beatles
- Welsh – It’s Raining Men, The Weather Girls
Every house performed with great enthusiasm, and it was difficult to choose a winner. Such was the difficulty that in the end, joint first went to Skipwith, Everett, and Burr.
Ultimately, it was the Blue Army of Burr House that was crowned House Music Champions with consistently strong performances across each of the rounds securing them the overall win!
