This year’s Pope Idol took place on 5th March at Middlesbrough Theatre. Schools from across the Diocese provided entrants for the event with young people travelling from as far afield as Hull and Bridlington to take part. The afternoon rehearsals provided an opportunity for the entrants to get used to the surrounds of the theatre and gave our excellent backstage crew the chance to plan and prepare the show.

The compere for the evening was Canon Gerard Robinson who stood in at the last moment for Canon Alan Sheridan who, through illness, was unable to attend. Luckily, Canon Alan is now on the road to recovery and Canon Gerard managed to keep the audience entertained throughout the show! The entrants kept everyone on their toes and had chosen a mixture of different acts to keep everyone entertained – there were singers, dancers, gymnasts and even a jazz band! The standard of the evening was as high as ever and as such, provided the judges, Alex Hall from Radio Tees, Canon Eddie Gubbins and Hannah Coyle from Middlesbrough Youth Mission, with an unenviable task in selecting a winner. The successful act was Holly, Beth and Emma from Scarborough who sang ‘Songbird’, accompanied by the guitar. The girls were truly shocked on being named winners and were gracious in their award.

All in all, the night was a great success and money was raised to help with the WYD 2011 fund. Huge thanks go out again to all who took part and all those who worked tirelessly to ensure that the evening ran as smoothly as possible.