I have absolutely no comment on this story, for which I have Maureen to thank (thanks, Maureen!):
Complaints have been made following the decision to strip Llanelli’s Ysgol Dewi Sant of the top first prize in the under-12s choir competition.
The school won the contest at Margam Park, Port Talbot, singing a translation of Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika (Lord Bless Africa) – the former Africa National Congress anthem which has now been incorporated into the national anthem of South Africa.
Most of the song was performed in Welsh, but one verse was sung in the original Xhosa.
Competition rules state that as Welsh is the offical language of the event, only Welsh can be used on stage.
Once organisers had been alerted to the “rule-breaking” performance, they decided to remove the award.
They said the performance was able to slip through the net as this particular competition did not go through the usual network of local and county eisteddfodau.
But headteacher Meirion Davies criticised the decision – saying the school had used a foreign language when they won a similar competition five years ago….
Urdd Chief Executive Jim O’Rourke said it might be possible in future years for some minority languages to be heard in eisteddfod competitions.
Earlier this year, a group Ysgol Penglais from Aberystwyth was removed from a county eisteddfod for using a verse in the Cornish language during their disco dancing.
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