16 March 2008

A choir of rugby supporters from North Wales has won the top prize in S4C’s Codi Canu competition. After a thrilling sing-off in front of a capacity crowd the choir took centre stage to sing the Welsh and French national anthems before Saturday’s Grand Slam match at the Millennium Stadium.

The 80-strong choir, captained by Robin McBryde and conducted by Mari Pritchard and Geraint Roberts, beat rival choirs from the Blues, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets rugby regions to win the honour of singing the anthems.

Codi Canu judge, conductor Owain Arwel Hughes, along with WRU Group Chief Executive, Roger Lewis and Grammy award-winning soprano Rebecca Evans chose the winning choir after all five choirs performed a medley of Welsh hymns and arias as part of the pre-match entertainment.

After the performances and anthems, the five choirs – 400 choristers in total - took their seats in the stand to help sing Wales to victory.

The North Wales choir was a new addition to this second series of Codi Canu. The four other choirs had taken part in the first series, with the Dragons choir victorious in 2007.

“The series set out to help revive community singing on the rugby terraces. The atmosphere at Saturday’s game has been described as electrifying and inspirational and without a doubt the singing was a major contributing factor,” said Ronw Protheroe, Executive Producer Codi Canu.

“Congratulations to all the choirs in setting the stage before the match and for raising the roof throughout the game and singing Wales to victory.”

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Editor’s notes

- S4C is available outside Wales on Sky 134. Codi Canu can also be viewed on-line at s4c.co.uk: s4c.co.uk/codicanu and s4c.co.uk/watch.

- This is the second series of Codi Canu, which is produced for S4C by Alfresco. The Dragons choir won the first series and the honour of singing the national anthems before Wales v England in the 2007 Six Nations Championship.

- The first series of Codi Canu has been nominated for a Rose D’Or TV award.