Rochdale Borough Youth Band conducted by Eric Landon have been crowned the 2011 Action Medical Research Youth Entertainment Champions of Great Britain in what was the closest contest in many a year.

Places not points

The decision by the organisers to award bands places in order of merit for both the music and entertainment categories resulted in a tie for Rochdale Borough Youth, Youth Brass 2000 and Elland Silver Youth with the musical placing taking precedence over the entertainment place.

Birds and bees

The Lancastrian's were drawn last to play of the ten band's and Eric Landon's inspired 'Birds and the Bees' programme that included 'Birdland', 'The Ugly Duckling' (awarded the Most Entertaining Item), a comical 'Blight of the Fumble Bee' and 'Bye, Bye, Blackbird' saw them finish first in the music category and third when it came to entertainment, giving them four points.

Brass in Concert invite

Victory at the event means that Rochdale Borough Youth not only took home prize money of £850 but in addition to the title they last won in 2008, they now have the prestigious invite to perform at the Brass in Concert weekend in November.

Tough

Whilst there was joyeous scenes on stage for Rochdale, it very quickly became apparant that Youth Brass 2000 had been penalised one place by virtue of the fact that they were just over the time limit allocated to the performers. Youth Brass 2000's programme entitled 'Around the World' was performed with the band's usual musical precision, so much so, they took home five of the eight individual awards on offer including cornet star, James Fountain, whose performance of 'Napoli' was nothing short of breathtaking — earning him an extra round of applause.

So close for Defending Champion

The Defending Champion, Elland Silver Youth, delivered a fabulous programme that showcased Saint-Saen's 'Carnival of the Animals' and despite winning the entertainment category it was their third place musically that proved their undoing.

Witches inspire Enderby

East Midlanders, Enderby opted for a choreographed programme inspired by the magical mysterious world which brought the house down but they had to settle for fourth place overall.

Oh my word. What the youngesters have done today has completely embarrassed what any of us do in senior bandsCaptain Dave Barringer, entertainment judge

Honest judges

The two judges for the contest were Jim Davies (Music) and Captain Dave Barringer (Entertainment). In his summing up, Dave Barringer reinforced the point to conductor's about the importance of making sure they engage connect with the audience. When it came to what he was looking for, Dave admitted that he enjoyed both the production show style and the traditional, brass band entertainment.

Eyebrows

However, the Yorkshireman raised a few eyebrows in the auditorium when talking about both elements and how the bands had presented themselves when he admitted 'both were extremely good in some cases and extremely bad in others'.

Praise

Whilst talking openly to those awaiting the results, Dave offered plenty of compliments including 'Oh my word. What the youngesters have done today is completely embarrassed what any of us do in senior bands'.

Moved

Music adjudicator, Jim Davies declared his delight at what he'd been listening too from within the box admitting he had to remember that he was at a Youth Contest. The former Cory cornetist admitted that the soloist's were superb with two in particular moving him to tears when he sat in the box.

Parkes tribute

The day started with a minute's silence being observed in memory of Major Peter Parkes with Dr Roy Newsome sharing some memories at the awards ceremony later in the day.

2012

The provisional date for next year's contest is Sunday 12th February.

4BR will look back at the contest in the next few days.

Full Results:

1. Rochdale Borough Youth, (Eric Landon) 1/3 = 4
2. Youth Brass 2000, (Chris Jeans) 2/2 = 4**
3. Elland Silver Youth, (Samantha Harrison) 3/1 = 4
4. Enderby Youth Band, (Trevor Hounsome) 4/4 = 8
5. Wardle High School Band, (Lee Rigg) 5/6 = 11
6. Houghton Area Youth Band, (Brian Adams) 6/5 = 11
7. Macclesfield Youth (Louise Renshaw) 8/7 = 15
8. Bolton Youth, (Martin Kay) 7/9 = 16
9. Sellers International Youth Band, (Simon Kerwin) 9/8 = 17
10. Poynton Youth Brass Band, (Andy Hirst) 10/10 = 20**

*Music placings first followed by entertainment and total.

In the case of a tie, it is the music placing that takes precedent in deciding overall placings.

**denotes time penalty imposed of one place

Outstanding Soloist: James Fountain, Cornet, Youth Brass 2000
Most Entertaining Item: Ugly Duckling, Rochdale Borough Youth
Best March: Capital Square, Youth Brass 2000
Best Soprano: Youth Brass 2000
Best Basses: Rochdale Borough Youth
Best Horn: Youth Brass 2000
Best Stage Deportment: Youth Brass 2000
Band with Most Potential: Poynton Youth
Winning Conductor: Eric Landon