Comic Song Competition 2009

Yet again the comic song contest provided all who could fit into the Hill Inn bar with an excellent afternoon's entertainment. The entries were limited to 15 so thanks to the people who brought two songs with them and sorry we did not get time for them all. Everyone who turned up to sing got at least one entry. The new registration process introduced last year worked well and we only lost one contestant during the afternoon!!! The standard was extremely high - all entries bar one were self -penned and hugely entertaining. The hosts Kath and Rick were joined by Jill and Steve (making up two thirds of Mooncoyn Ceilidh Band) who kicked off the event by singing a couple of songs to get everyone in the mood for singing along. We were delighted that our sponsors Stuart and Jaqueline Carmichael of Masons Products were able to attend to open the event and enjoy the afternoon with us. Stuart's comments on leaving were that they "look forward to the event each year and would not miss it for the world". The first few registrations involved some welsh words so Rick needed some help with the pronunciations, this was made more difficult by the welsh speaker giving the lessons whilst wearing a snorkel mask (yes, use of props this year saw an increase)

Entries this year were :
Alan Collinson - Walk Ya Buggar
Mike Weston - Manure Parliament
Ian Fletcher - Market Place in Grantham
Heather Sheldrick - Cheese and Onion Pie
Panikatak - "Y Swym Fawr" ( bog snorkling national anthem )
Muppet - Sit Down
Karl Senior - Yorkshire Mans Blues
Tones McCormack - Woolworths Store
Ron Davies - Clog Fighter - Monalogue
Chris Barnes - I Hate Bob Dylan ( No Show)
Terence Carey - Gypsy Wedding
Alan Collinson - All I said Was "Not Bad"
Andy Ives - Matty Groves
Mike Weston - The New Pretender
Ian Fisher - Barrowby Ale

The audience did a great job of marking each contestant. The prize winners were :

FIRST PRIZE Heather Sheldrick - with Cheese and Onion Pie, a true story based on a ramshackle snack van. Heather sent here apologies and thanks to Don Mclean from whom she borrowed the tune "American Pie". This was a very cleverly written piece with an excellent chorus that we all enjoyed singing along to. Heather is part of a duo known as Bernulf - they do not have a web site yet, but can be contacted via ingletonfolk@gmail.com

RUNNER UP Terence Carey - with Gypsy Wedding - Terence dressed the part and really lived his song. Terence was a contestant last year and had really raised his game to give Heather a good run for her money.

Stuart presented the prizes, gave some Masons Dog Oil Products to some of the contestants and the two prize winners gave us a repeat performance. The afternoon continued with a great singing session. A couple of songs were sung later on which also could have been part of the competition. One that stuck in my mind was "I hate the French". Thanks to all who took part in the session sorry we don't know all your names but we enjoyed your company and the singing. Particular thanks to Muppet, Chris Dinsdale, Dale Gatemby, Alan Collinson and the man who sung "I hate the French".

Hope to see you all next year and also some new contestants please. Start writing early for next years festival. Our special thanks to all the talented participants, the co-operative audience, Stuart and Jacqueline of Masons Products for their presence and sponsorship, the Hill Inn for accommodating the event, Chris Bonsall for all his work organising the whole weekend, Rick, Kath, Steve and Jill of Mooncoyn Ceilidh Band for supporting the event. Our apologies to all the people who turned up and could not get in. We will see if we can work some magic next year to get more people seated. Turn up early if you want a seat!

Photos by Kath Wiggans

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