Selwyn Captains Tom and James
How did it feel to win?
It was a marvellous feeling to win. Knowing all the hard work we put in paid off and how we proved that Selwyn shouldn’t be overlooked as a threat in House music felt awesome. Everyone in the band and the whole House was thrilled.
How did you choose your song and why do you think it worked?
James and I had looked at a lot of songs, probably around fifty and none of them clicked. I told James to have a look at Supertramp and we were listening through a couple of their songs and when we played The Logical Song we knew it was the one. It worked for us because it showed off everyone’s talents in the band. It also blended well together.
What was the vibe in the Boarding House in the lead up to the competition and after winning?
There was a vibe of anticipation and excitement as a House and a band. We knew we had everything down and we were ready to perform, we just needed to pull it off on the day and if we did that, we knew we would do pretty good. Which is what we did.
When they said “First place, Selwyn,” the whole House went crazy. The atmosphere was amazing. Everyone went mental and it wasn’t just for a couple of minutes, it went on for ages. The chanting was non-stop. I’ve never seen Selwyn in my four years of being at Kings go that ballistic for a House event. It was a huge deal for Selwyn as we hadn’t won it since 1988. Everyone was stoked even when we got back to the Boarding House and in the weeks that followed. It showed the younger boys in Selwyn and the rest of the school that Selwyn is an all-rounded house and shouldn’t be looked over when it comes to culture.
Hear from St John’s Captain Joe Fell below:
How did it feel to win?
Over the last few years St. John’s has been pretty unsuccessful in terms of House competitions so when we made it past the top 5, then top 4, then into the top 3, and then ending up winning Big House, we were all pretty shocked and just so happy to be able to do something good for the House and our Housemaster after a number of unsuccessful years.
How did you choose your song and why do you think it worked?
Since the start of the year we were pretty set on performing Price Tag based on the fact that it’s a chill, groovy and easy-to-sing song. However, Taylor house had already chosen Price Tag as their song to perform but luckily ended up changing their mind which we were very excited about, because it meant we were able to steal it back from them and follow through with our plans. We think the song Price Tag worked because it’s one of those songs that when you need to practice singing over and over again, you don’t really get bored or sick of it which we believe was a huge factor to our success as the song didn’t get too old or too boring for the boys.
What was the vibe in the Boarding House in the lead-up to the competition and after winning?
Leading up to the performance we were actually pretty low and a bit angry as our house was left behind at school! We ended up being a little late but were there in time to watch the first few performances. Right before we went on stage we had a house huddle and a few of the year 13 boys did a great job of lifting everyone’s mood by getting excited and hyping up the rest of the house. After we were announced winners, the bus ride back to school was the most happy, relieving and proud atmosphere which was seeping with the St. John’s house spirit and this carried on throughout the week to follow. There was a great sense of brotherhood within the boys in the house and such a great experience for everyone involved in the house community.
