Grangemouth school choir full of Glee after winning national competition

Moray Primary’s Glee choir put in a stunning performance at Dundee’s Caird Hall on Sunday to claim the national crown in the Scottish Primary Schools Glee Challenge.

They wowed an audience of 1100 people and five judges at the finals of the competition.

The choir belied their young years with what one of the judges described as being “so good that it felt like being at a professional concert”.

Ten schools competed in the live final of the competition at the venue on Sunday afternoon.

Moray Primary qualified as one of the next best six choirs behind the four group winners in the contest's heats.

Fellow Falkirk district school, Comely Park Primary, also competed in the final after automatically qualifying top in their group.

Linda Breckenridge, co-founder of The Frisson Foundation, the charity behind the challenge, said: “It was just fantastic.

"From the minute the show started the crowd cheered and supported every child and choir on the stage.

"It was also great to see how the choirs supported and encouraged each other.”

The Moray Primary School Glee Club with only 13 members was one of the smallest of the 63 choirs that had entered the challenge earlier this year.

Linda added: “Despite being one of the smallest on the Caird Hall’s huge stage they managed to fill it with sound and movement.”

The choirs taking part this year had to learn two songs – a set track ‘We don’t need permission to dance’ and a second of their own choice within the event’s theme of ‘togetherness’.

They chose ‘Break this Down’ from Descendants 3 because “they are all Disney fans”.

Gillian Brodie, choir leader at Moray Primary, said: “Not only did we have fun learning our two songs, choreography and performance techniques, it also helped our young ones to develop resilience, confidence and to form new friendships.

"To top it all off we won. Wow, wow, wow! We did not expect that at all.”

Runners up on the day were Broomhill Primary from Aberdeen and Dales Park Primary in Peterhead.

Linda added: “This was our first live event in two years and we couldn’t have asked for any more.

"All ten choirs were truly fantastic.

"The decision for the judges was a hard one.

"Moray PS are such deserving winners.

"The judges felt they had ‘brilliant sound, fantastic energy and cool choreography’ which shows that it doesn’t always have to be a large choir that wins.”

This year was the first time the Glee Challenge has been able to take place since it was stopped in its tracks in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Previously schools from across the country would have taken part in a series of live events throughout the challenge, but with group singing just beginning to return organisers decided this year to invite schools to submit videos for the first phase with those shortlisted progressing to the live final.