PRINCIPALITY WELSH MUSICAL THEATRE YOUNG SINGER OF THE YEAR, Swansea Grand Theatre, February 26, 2011

Wales has a proud musical heritage, not least in the realm of musical theatre, with many of the West End's current and recent hit musicals filled with Welsh talent in lead roles - notably John Owen Jones (Phantom Of The Opera), Mark Evans (Wicked), Emma Williams (Love Story), Lucie Jones (Les Miserables) et al. And the depth of Welsh musical theatre talent was very much in evidence on Saturday February 26 at the Grand Theatre in Swansea, which provided the venue for the final of the 2011 Principality Building Society Welsh Musical Theatre Young Singer Of the Year contest.

Sandwiched between performances of musical theatre classics by the Dunvant Male Choir, the audience were treated to a quartet of high quality performances by the competition's four talented finalists.

The official contest proceedings opened with four contrasting and convincingly polished performances by Owain Williams (Feuilly and Marius/Enjolras understudy in the 25^th Anniversary Les Mis tour) which set the tone for the evening's incredibly high standard of performance. His programme of songs from sources as wide-ranging as Jeanine Tesori, Scott Allan and Tom Lehrer ended with a tour de force rendition of Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies anthem, "Till I Hear You Sing".

Next up was recent Royal Welsh College Of Music And Drama graduate, Christopher Richard Hughes. Once again, he delivered high quality performances drawn from a broad range of material - from Avenue Q to Into the Woods with some Wildhorn/Murphy's The Civil War in between - before completing his programme with an emotional yet highly credible vocal performance of Scott Allan's "Now".

The third contestant began his set with off-stage vocals before strolling onto the stage with "Oh What A Beautiful Morning" - just as AlfrEd Drake did back in 1943 when Oklahoma opened on Broadway, and with a similar high-class effect. Then Peter Horton (another RWCMD graduate and member of BBC's Last Choir Standing, "Only Men Aloud") continued to delight the entire auditorium with a trio of songs that showed off the rich, beautiful, resonant tone of his baritone voice ("Tell My Father", "Stars" and "Proud Lady".)

The only female finalist, RWCMD student Helena-May Harrison, completed the competitive part of the evening with yet another selection of contrasting material to show off the versatility of her vocal prowess - Wildhorn & Bricusse's "Bring On The Men", Noel Coward's vintage "If Love Were All", Sondheim's "Losing My Mind" and the jazzy Bette Middler number, "Stuff Like That There".

As if that were not enough of a treat, while the panel of judges (Ken Caswell, Claire Hammacott and Tim Richards) were deliberating their verdict, the 2010 contest winner, Michael Riseley, took to the stage. Riseley emphatically proved that he was a worthy winner of the prestigious event with a set of knock-out performances, which included the emotive "Bui Doi" (with the Dunvant Male Choir) and Dean Pitchford and Tom Snow's Footloose showstopper, "Mama Says" - when he pretty much "blew everyone away".

Then the final moment of truth arrived and Ken Caswell came forward to announce the winner - but not before pouring well deserved praise upon the contest's hard working organizers (the Dunvant Male Choir) and sponsors (the Principality Building Society) for both identifying the importance of establishing a contest such as this and delivering it in such a professional and efficient manner. Previous winners of the contest include Connie Fisher (The Sound Of Music, They're Playing Our Song), David Thaxton (Passion, Les Miserables) and Hayley Gallivan (Spelling Bee, Spring Awakening). And the 2011 winner is - Peter Horton!

There was a resounding cheer from the audience as Peter's name was announced, proving that the judges were not the only ones who felt that, despite the very high standard of all the contestants, he was a worthy winner. Then the night came to a conclusion with an encore rendition by Peter Horton of the Les Mis standard, "Stars" - which seemed a perfectly apt epilogue as the contestants were true stars for sure.