"The Last Clap..."

The final day, and we had a lovely set of classes - everything felt perhaps a little more relaxed today - whether that was the classes we saw, or just that everyone was naturally winding down, I'm not sure, but none-the-less, the music was still excellent as always!

We started the afternoon with the Folk Song Under 12, with just two competitors; Ruby-Jane Gill and Eliza Webster, both of whom performed lovely performances of upbeat folk songs. Steven said of these performers that it was clear that they both really enjoy performing, and that they could tell the story through the song. A close race this one, as both received Highly Commended, but this time Eliza Webster won the class. Well done girls. Next up, we had Four classes of Jazz piano, run together to make one super-class; Piano Jazz Under 12, Under 14, Under 16, and Under 18. I always say of Jazz, when it's done well it sounds like it's completely free and improvised, but really there is an immense amount of precision and knowledge being presented. One performer who seems to be showing this well is Sam Cole, who won the Under 12 with a Distinction for his piece 'Taking it Easy' by Martha Mier. In the next two classes, there was one competitor per class, but they were actually competing for the same trophy, as The Birch Trophy is shared by the Under 14 and Under 16 (hint; if anyone's looking to donate a trophy, it would be really great to have all of these classes having their own trophy!). Both Benjamin Childs (under 14) and Henry Partington (Under 16) performed well, receiving Highly Commended, but on this occasion it was Henry who won the trophy. The winner of the Under 18 was Annabelle Pizzey performing 'Ray's Blues' by Dave Erusin, winning The Julie Long Trophy with a Highly Commended.

2nd place performers Ruby-Jane & Erin Bailey, with 1st place winners
Emmelie Wright & Rachel Dawson (Under 15 Pop Duos/Trios/Quartets)

After the interval we had the Pop Song duos/trios/quartets Under 15, fielding four competitors (3 duos, and a quartet). Some great performances and song choices in this class, that's for sure. First up with had Eliza Wesbster, Lea Phillips, Clara Hamilton & Martha Mitchell, performing 'Black Magic'. A fun group of singers this, and they handled the use of part singing, harmony and choreography extremely well, and dubbed the group 'Pick'n'Mix' (a play on the band 'Little Mix' if you're unaware), which is honestly a great band name and I think the girls should keep it for future performances (of which I hope there will be many). One thing I noticed with this group was that everyone looked a little bit serious (perhaps concentrating on the choreography), but it was actually when the movement got out of sync and everyone started to smile (or even giggle), that I thought the performance came alive. Moving forward girls, I think just continue to find the fun and don't worry about everything being 'perfect' so much, because when you all relaxed it was awesome! Next in the class, we had three duos; Ruby-Jane Gill & Erin Bailey performing 'A Thousand Years', Rachel Dawson & Emmelie Wright performing 'Cartwheels', and Erin Vaudin & Freya Le Noury performing 'Skinny Love'. Lovely partnerships on show here. In particular I thought Ruby-Jane & Erin had an amazing ability to sing in unison, where it really sounded like one voice, and big congratulations to Erin Bailey on her first ever Eisteddfod performance. Rachel & Emmelie delivered a thoughtful and heartfelt performance, again with great balance between the two of them, and Erin Vaudin & Freya also have very well-matched voices. High standards in this class, with three Highly Commended performances and a Distinction, which went to Rachel & Emmelie. Sadly, no trophy again for this class, but I think Rachel & Emmelie are looking to donate a trophy to this class, as this was the last year they were eligible for it (they're moving to the Under 18s next year). What a lovely way to leave a legacy I thought! Well done girls, and everyone involved in this super class.

Winner of the pop song Under 15, Emmelie Wright

Following the pop songs, another contemporary class - the Electric Guitar Open, featuring Sam Cole. An unusual start to this class, in that adjudicator Steven Roberts stopped the class from beginning before Sam could start playing, because he didn't feel the audience gave him the ovation a rock star deserves when the curtains opened. The curtains closed, and when they opened again, Steven lead the audience in going wild with applause. A truly awesome performance by Sam of the ever epic 'Wake Up' by Rage Against the Machine (a personal favourite of mine!), which earned him a Highly Commended and 'The Rock God Award'. Closing out the afternoon we had yet another fabulous contemporary class - the Pop Song Under 15. Hugely popular for both competitors and audience alike, we had (as Steven said) a great variety of song choices for these young singers. Personal highlights from this class include Lily Becker's delightful rendition of 'Budapest' by George Ezra (complete with body percussion), Rebecca Philp's vocal tone in her performance of True Colours (honestly, it was like some gorgeous mix of Cher and Annie Lennox, which I thought was fabulous), and Emmelie Wright's heartfelt and stripped back version of 'This is Gospel' by Panic at the Disco. I also thought Erin Vaudin showed real command of her riffs and runs in her song as well. A wonderful class, for which everyone received a Highly Commended, expect the class winner Emmelie Wright who gained a Distinction. I thought Emmelie made a bold desicion to choose a song that she really loved, and then completely rework it to suit her, which clearly paid off for her - it's something I encourage all singers to do more: do it your way, and don't feel like you have to be like the original! 2nd and 3rd places in this class went to Erin Vaudin and Rachel Dawson respectively.

The final evening of the Eisteddfod 2019 started in fine fashion, with the amazing sounds of the Guernsey Welsh Male Voice Choir in the Male Voice Choirs class for Over 18s. There really is something about a Male Voice Choir; the 'wall of sound' that they can create is truly amazing, and it seems to just resonate through you. This was very apparent in their first piece, the Welsh 'call to battle' piece 'Rachie'. They went on to showcase beautiful dynamic control in 'You are so Beautiful to Me', followed by a delightfully funny 'The Noble Duke of York', complete with choreography (shock horror, these old boys can dance!) and lots of Welsh pride. Suitably impressed, Steven awarded the Guernsey Welsh Male Voice Choir (affectionately known as 'The Welsh Boys') a Distinction mark of 87, and the Elizabeth Higgs Cup. Da iawn fach!

Following the Welsh Boys, we had the Vocal Self-Accompanied Over 18, which included 3 competitors; Jo Marsh on ukulele performing 'Thursday' by Glynne & Sheeran, Becky Winterflood performing 'Good Riddance' by Green Day on guitar, and myself performing Adele's 'Someone Like You', on guitar (and not piano as many of you may have thought!) - A great little class, with three great choices of music for the singers in question. I want to say a big well done to Becky for her first time self-accompanying, and after only playing guitar for just over a year - and for getting a Highly Commended! I do hope you will be back next year Becky! In talking about myself and Jo Marsh, Steven said that it was clear that we both like to, "... do songs we like, and do them the way you want to do them!" - an accurate assessment I would say! I've always been of the school of singing (and teaching for that matter), that everyone's voice is unique, and therefore when you're singing someone else's song, you need to do it your own way. True, you can learn much by trying to emulate another singer (and many people make a career out of it), but at the end of the day, you are you, and your voice is unique to you. Embrace it, and figure out what it's great at doing and celebrate that! Both myself and Jo received Distinction marks for our songs; Jo came in 2nd with 87 marks, and I won the class with a mark of 89. On a personal note, it was rather lovely when I went to receive the trophy, Steven not only said well done, but thanked me for everything I've done this festival. That was quite a touching moment. 

Up next, two classes with only one competitor each; the Country and Western Over 18 featuring Jodie Hicks, and the Piano six hands Open featuring Hannah Bourgaize, Cara Fitzpatrick and Martin Hassall. Both competitors performed well, and received Highly Commended marks of 86 in their classes, along with winning the respective trophies. We then had the Novelty Song Over 18. Always a fun and slightly wacky class, we had 4 delightfully hilarious performances; Matt Nichols & Sam Claxton performed 'Father and Son' by Flight of the Concords, Jodie Hicks performed 'Text Message' by Gasparini, Ethan Hitchon performed 'Prejudice' by Tim Minchin, and the very wacky and loveable Lindsey Veillard performed 'Hard to Be Humble, in what can only be described as a bizarrely uncanny impression of Donald Trump (complete with security team, and a wall that she promised Jersey would pay for!) A great class for the final saturday of the music eisteddfod, which I think loosened everybody up considerably. Everyone received Distinctions for their performances, but it was Ethan Hitchon's expertly delivered piece about Prejudice that saw him take the win with an Outstanding mark of 90. A truly superb performance Ethan, and dare I say, you made history at the eisteddfod with a few interesting word choices! Bravo everyone!

The presentation of the Special Awards is always a wonderful moment on the last night of the festival, as not only do we get to celebrate those that have either shown great promise, talent or commitment to music (and the festival), we also get to hear from the adjudicator their thoughts and feelings about our eisteddfod, and what their lasting impressions will be. Steven, rather amusingly I thought, used my blog post titles (which incidentally are almost all direct quotes from him!) to reflect upon the festival, and actually, gave a nice little shout out to this blog - so if you're reading this because he told you to, thanks again Steven! I really liked Steven's approach to these awards, in that he listed people who made it onto the 'shortlist' before announcing the winner - certainly at this festival, the standard is so high, it can be hard to choose a winner sometimes, so I thought this was a nice way to celebrate even more of the local talent. I had two personal favourite winners in this awards section. Lindsey Veillard won the Peter A Malley Trophy for 'Spirit of the Festival'. I'm so pleased to see Lindsey, someone who had been a competitor for many, many years now, and always manages to do so with a sense of fun and without taking herself too seriously. She's always an amazingly supportive person to everyone else performing - a great choice for this award Steven! My other favourite award was for Joseph Stoller winning the Adjudicator's Cup. This award can be given for any reason the adjudicator chooses, and this year it went to Joseph for his incredible performance of 'Spiegel im Spiegiel' by Arvo Part. As Steven said, it was "8 minutes... of nothing but long notes...." - but, in that, something truly special came about, and the audience were treated to something magical. I was lucky enough to be there that day, and I hope Joseph is invited to perform at the gala concert - it may only be 8 minutes of long notes, but it's 8 minutes of truly impressive, beautiful and soulfully presented long notes that can literally reduce you to tears. Well done Joseph for such an amazing achievement. You can find the full list of recipients HERE
Closing out the evening, and therefore the festival, we had the Corporate Entertainment Class. Always a hugely fun class, it is a great way to finish things off, and this year we were treated to a performance entitled 'It's not easy being Green' presented by MV Taxi Services; a delightful tongue-in-cheek performance about recycling, and how, even though it might be a pain and not all that convenient to do, it's actually really worth it in the end - all this while dressed as frogs! Some very clever lyric rewrites, a performer hidden in a bin, and the ever popular Mr Lewis (year 5 teacher from Melrose) giving us a Kermit impression from the piano. Steven quite rightly awarded them the final Outstanding of the festival, and The Inspired Trophy along with it.

So that's it for another year. I hope you have all thoroughly enjoyed the festival, whether you were performing, supporting, watching, or even adjudicating! And to our adjudicator we say:

"Thank you for your positive presence; you speak with ease, you seem confident doing so, and you seem to really like what you do - you were good!" 

Enjoy your mountain of Maltesers, and your Outstanding certificate with 99 marks (because you know it can never be 100)

Thank you Guernsey Eisteddfod, see you in 2020!

The President and the Poet
(sounds like some kind of alternative band name!)