Young Chorister of the Year - 2021

[bachmahlerfan]

I'll admit that I didn't watch this, but I heard that they mixed the boys and girls together this year instead of having them compete separately. I read that the winner was a 16-year old girl and the runner-up was a 14-year old girl. First of all, why did they decide to combine boys and girls into one competition? Secondly, wouldn't a 16-year old girl have an unfair advantage over boys who's voices generally break at a younger age? She would have more years to develop her voice than any boy chorister would.

[Celt]

Yes, this changed when it went televised in 2020. Last year when I heard they had changed their format I feared something like this would happen, e.g. dominance by girls with 2+ years extra experience, training and development. As it happens, last year's winner Alexander Olleson was himself 14 and still a treble and was therefore able to compete on a more level playing field with the 15yo girls. But to be still singing as a treble at that age is not that common. I had heard him sing live a few times, including some solos, as part of Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Oxford, and he had a fantastic voice. But by the time he was on YCOTY he had left that choir due to being too old! He has now become part of the new chorister group set up by Aled Jones.

Last year also included Sebastian Carrington (who I heard sing live once as a treble, he was fantastic!) he sang as a Counter-tenor, the first time they have had one on the show, I believe. So, all in all there was enough balance to put the boys on a more level playing field against the girls.

This year however, Sebastian fell at the Semi-final stage (he had a cold on the day, so wasn't singing his best) leaving boys with lovely tonal quality but lacking in power and experience, up against two 16yo girls. Without taking anything away from their singing, and the winner especially sang exceptionally well, it really wasn't a fair fight. One of the boys this year was Cormac Thompson, who hit the headlines last year after getting a one album record deal from Decca, becoming the youngest to do so. I coincidentally heard him sing in a small concert in London last week, and his voice was phenomenal! However, he is very small and just doesn't have the physicality to be able to compete with girls 4 years older than him in terms of breathing and breath control, let alone the extra years of experience and training.

There should either be two winners like there were when it was on radio, or the age range for the entries should be restricted to 14. Otherwise I can just see it becoming a procession of older girl winners.

[Lux Aeterna]

At 16 girls are not children and should not compete against them. At that age a female voice is matured enough to be considered an adult but they sing in children's choir because younger girls can't sing high notes ( that's a boy thing ). This is really unfair.

[Luckdragon]

While I agree that there should be boy AND girl winners or a limit to 14U, I also think this year's boy finalists chose pieces that were too advanced. They made mistakes and would have been better served by selecting less challenging songs and singing them better.

Cormac may be 12 but he has the voice and body of a younger boy. He has time. He'll be back.

[Celt]

Last years result worked out quite well in the end. The winner Alexander appeared in lots of things, many on TV. This year Cormac has the talent and recognition to get his own concerts, and apart from the one in London last week he also had one at Ripon Cathedral on Monday. I hope he will have more close to me!

In 2018 there was the old joint girl and boy winner and they released a CD together through BBC music magazine. It has a lovely sound, albeit skewed a bit towards pieces with solos for the girl Emilia Jaques. The boy, Cassian Pichler-Rocha released a couple of singles for Xmas that year.

Last year's semi-finalist Archie White went on to crowd fund his own CD and has in the interim released two charity CD of treble duets which are fantastic. But my fear is, if the girls dominate, will those boys voices get forgotten...

[j8000]

Regarding the boys having difficult repertoire this time - this is something the producers would have been well aware of when choosing the semi-finalists, they also have the power to ask them to sing something different.

I dislike how this has been made into more like an X-factor style show since moving to TV. I suspect the producers know who they want the winners to be from quite an early stage. Still, it's interesting to watch - I would have liked to hear Jake from Edinburgh sing alto.

[Luckdragon]

Regarding the boys having difficult repertoire...

It's a risky move in a competition, but there's nothing better than hearing a boy attempt a difficult song and absolutely nailing it. I certainly don't blame them for trying, or the judges for allowing them to.

My all-time favorite example is Liam O'kane with The Lark in the Clear Air.

Recently moving into my #2 spot was Dominik Clarke with Cum Dederit.

Hmm... Actually, as I listen to Cum Dederit again now, I think it should really be #1. Sorry, Liam.