Feature: Chinese song competition in Manchester draws UK vocal talent

A Chinese song competition, which drew over 40 contestants and 600 audience members from across Britain, gathered here Thursday night to watch 10 finalists perform for a first place finish.

The singing competition was the second edition of Chinese Song UK and was held at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM). The five judges evaluating the contestants were from RNCM, the Chinese Consulate-General in Manchester, Xinhua Chinese Association, and the council of Stockport, a large town in Greater Manchester.

The first prize winner of the competition was Dawn Ceturlo, her husband Alex, and their three children.

Ceturlo said she thought it would be very interesting to enter a song competition. However, when she found out it was in Chinese, she thought it would be too difficult. But after talking to her family, they said they, too, would like to take part in the contest.

They practiced the songs for four weeks, rehearsing with her son in London via FaceTime and Skype every night.

"We listened to a lot of Chinese music to pick the songs we liked and found Chinese songs were very different from the western songs, I hope more people can listen to Chinese songs and understand how beautiful they are, even people who speak different languages, because music unites everyone," she added.

Second place was awarded to the University of Hull chorus and third prize went to 16-year-old Eve O'Gara.

Among the songs performed were the very famous Chinese folk song Chun Tian De Ba Lei, or Spring Ballet; Wo Ai Ni Zhong Guo, or I love you, China, and the folk song Qing Zang Gao Yuan, or Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Li Yongsheng, Consul General of the Chinese Consulate-General in Manchester, said that because the first competition last year had been a great success and made a good impact, he hoped the competition would become a platform for people in Britain who love Chinese songs and culture to showcase their talent.

Audience goer Li Yannong agreed: "Contestants this year performed much better than those last year, both in their Chinese language skills and their singing skills. I wish more Britons who are interested in Chinese culture will join the event and see more British audience come to the competition in the future."

The competition was organized by the United Kingdom Young Chinese Entrepreneur Association and the Confucius Institute of Manchester. The first place winner received 2,000 British pounds (2,925 U.S. dollars), second prize was 1,000 pounds and third, 500 pounds. (1 British pound=1.46 U.S. dollar) Endit