You know how sometimes you think to yourself, ‘Wow, was that a year ago?’. Well this time for me I actually thought it was more like two years ago. I had to look it up on the blog. And here it is – actually from 13 months ago – the first Eisteddfod Dani took part in: (Click here→)  Eisteddfod School Choir Competition.

Well today, Dani, and quite a few of his colleagues, took part in the Sydney Eisteddfod choir competition again. It was held in the same concert hall in Chatswood, just north of Sydney – a great venue. It was even the same Master of Ceremonies introducing the event – I definitely remember him from last year and will probably never forget him after today… He told everyone (again) not to take photos and this year I obeyed.

There were only four school teams in their particular contest with prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and a ‘Highly Commended’ for fourth. No losers these days eh? But seriously; it is just a singing competition; not a battle for the last fresh water in a desert.

All four entries were excellent I must say but one choir was a bit younger and despite their best efforts I would have ranked them 4th. Personally – and clearly unbiased as I am – I thought that Dani’s school was at least 2nd best. I found it hard to split them from one of the other schools but hoped for the best.

And the winner is….

The judge came on stage to talk about choir singing and hand out the prizes. When it came to announcing the results the bloke doing the Master of Ceremonies role read out the 4th and 3rd places. The team I thought might just beat Dani’s school was 3rd. When he read out the 2nd place team it was of course obvious which team had won. He announced Dani’s school in 2nd place. That meant that the youngest team (who I would have had 4th) were the winners.

But then – after what seemed like an age but was less than a minute – the judge intervened and corrected him. He had read out the results incorrectly. Dani’s school were in fact the winners. What a fool! While they were clearly happy to have won he actually managed to cock it up and stole their moment of glory.

OK, OK. We are all grown-ups here. This is a choir contest, so there are no real winners (or losers). Right? It’s all about the taking part and enjoying it OK? Well, yes. But it’s not like that for the kids is it? They were in it to win, and you’d better believe it.

In fact, wait a moment. Did I say “What a fool!”? Strike that. And replace with “What a complete dick!” Not only had he taken away that moment of triumph from Dani’s team, but for half a minute the team of younger kids actually thought they had won. Oh noooo….And this was the same bloke telling people not to take photos. I won’t be listening to him ever again.

Something noticeable in this year’s contest was that each school chose some kind of indigenous (for want of a better word) song as part of their entry. In the case of Dani’s choir it was a song originating from the Torres Strait Islands. An interesting tactic? Perhaps…

Another school chose a South African song complete with movements that reminded me of a classic 1960s movie. I almost broke into a verse of ‘Men of Harlech’. If you know, you know… I’ll just leave it at that eh?

Anyway, Dani’s choir won a 1st prize of $500 for the school so good for them.Well done! And the latest news is that they may go to compete in the Gold Coast Eisteddfod. Now that would be a great trip…