Welsh choir's excitement at TV finals

Sep 2 2008 By Mari Jones

YSGOL Glanaethwy from Bangor may not have won BBC1’s Last Choir Standing at the weekend, but they certainly did North Wales proud.

The choir made up of teenagers from all over the area has kept the nation transfixed on Saturday nights throughout the summer. They came second on Saturday night, beaten only by Welsh male singers Only Men Aloud. Sixty choirs overall took part in the competition.

Cefin and Rhian Roberts established Ysgol Glanaethwy 18 years ago when they saw a lack of opportunity for young people in Gwynedd to sing and act, particularly in Welsh.

To take part in the BBC competition was a very big commitment as some of the choir members were doing their GCSEs and A-levels during the heats and they’ve had to give over most of their summer to the live shows.

It also took a lot of organising. Not just the learning of the songs, but also arranging hotels, coaches and outfits. During the finals, each choir had to wear their own colour and stick to it to make it easier for people at home to identify who was who. Ysgol Glanaethwy were in yellow.

Ysgol-y-Creuddyn pupil Rhys Ruggiero was one of the star performers of the choir. The Welsh/ Italian 17-year-old has been a member of Ysgol Glanaethwy for the last seven years.

He said: “Everybody is still recovering as the whole experience has been a rollercoaster ride. We’ve all had a fantastic time and in the end the result just didn’t matter as we were just glad to be in the final. We never expected to get so far, and although I’m totally exhausted I feel really happy because we did so well.”

The choir met quite a few celebs on the way to the final. “Meeting Jonathan Ross was pretty cool, he came over to speak to us,” said Rhys. “We also met the presenters and the other bands at the Olympic celebration party in London. Katherine Jenkins, who also performed, came over to speak to us backstage.”

The next big project for the choir will be a concert at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff to celebrate the 18 years since Ysgol Glanaethwy was established.