School children from around the north-east have been getting into the groove at their very own version of the Eurovision song contest.
The ‘Song for Europe’ competition, held in Durham, asked nine and ten-year-olds to showcase a little joie de vivre and sing a song in a language other than English.
The competition, held in Durham County Council’s Gala Theatre, was fierce, but eventual winners Kings Priory School stole the show with their rendition of Adios Mama in Spanish.
Last year’s winners, Durham St Margaret’s CE Primary School, also landed themselves on the podium, finishing second with their German version of Hi Ho.
The purpose of the day is to promote the learning of other tongues and to showcase pupils’ abilities to master often challenging languages.
With this in mind, songs in languages such as Irish Gaelic, Welsh, Romanian and Swedish were performed.
Brian Stobie, Durham County Council’s international officer, said: “I was blown away by the ability of all who performed to master such challenging languages.
“Added to the amazing atmosphere and the camaraderie shown between all performers, this made for a very special day, and hopefully one all involved will remember for years to come.”
All in all, pupils from 30 different North East schools strutted their stuff at the event, which is run by Europe Direct North East England, and hosted by Durham County Council.
Europe Direct is supported financially by the European Commission and acts as a public information service for the region.
Brian added: “Young people in our schools need to be prepared for work, study and life in a mobile and multilingual environment.
“Many of our children will take up jobs which see them working in different linguistic and cultural settings.
“The competition helps build the confidence of our learners and shows just what they can achieve.”