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Eurovicta 2024
Mrs Puerto-Garcia sent this report:
Last week, as part of our Power Day focus on Social and Global Awareness, Year 7 were given the opportunity to broaden their horizons through music! After spending a session exploring artists from all over the French and Spanish speaking world, our Year 7 students took part in our annual Eurovicta competition, after many weeks of rehearsals!
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the competition and our Year 7 rose to the challenge once again by putting on a magnificent show for us all to enjoy! I can honestly say that this year’s performances were ones of the best we have had since the start of this competition. To all parents of Year 7 students, I just want to say that you can all feel very proud of your daughters for the effort and hard work that went in to their preparation. We know it is not an easy task to memorise a song in a foreign language and perform it in front of their peers, but Year 7 handled it exceptionally well. In our eyes, every student won, but it was a competition, so we had to have a winner!
Congratulations to 7V for winning the competition this year, they truly deserved their first place.
I would like to thank all the Year 7 form tutors, the MFL Staff, Mrs Rook and Mr Perry from the DT department for designing our new Eurovicta cup, and last by not least, Miss Worrall for all her work on the technical side of things, which we can appreciate from the pictures. We had amazing backgrounds and lighting effects! Now, please find what Eurovicta is all about from the students’ perspectives.
Grace, Imani and Lizandra from 7V had this to say about the event:
On Thursday, 1 February, all Year 7 students competed in a friendly singing and dancing competition organised by the MFL office. Inspired by the global sensation Eurovision, ‘Eurovicta’ 2024 marked 10 years of an exciting tradition at Invicta.
With only a month to prepare, each form contributed ideas for props and choreography to ensure their act was one for the judges to remember. All classes participated in rehearsals in a collaborative effort to perfect their performance for the big day.
It was challenging to learn a song in a foreign language and choreograph a dance suitable for everyone and our song. Pressure to deliver a high-quality show to the judges and audience was the only thing on everyone’s mind.
Finally, after many rehearsals' during lunchtimes, the time had come. Anxious yet itching to perform, it was now our turn to shine. The preparation for this day was over, but had we done enough? Had we used our rehearsal times efficiently? We were about to find out. United strongly by our wish to succeed, we stepped onto the stage. Once in position, the lights shone. The beat to our music dropped, and everything else was silent. It was just us as a team ready to showcase weeks worth of practice and dedication.
The performance felt like a blur and just as quickly as we had started, we had finished. Everyone seamlessly settled into their ending positions grinning ear to ear at the greeting of a huge round of applause. Tired but thrilled, we left the stage, proud of each and every one’s effort and resilience. Our performance was over, and all the preparation had paid off- whether we would win or not. Those three minutes of dancing, singing, lights and umbrellas will forever be etched in our memories and won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
One by one, all of the forms showcased their acts. Each were individually unique and carefully planned. That day, every class clearly exuded confidence, enthusiasm, incredible teamwork and coordination, resulting in exemplary performances from all. As the last form finished their performance, it was the moment everyone had been waiting for- the results.
After what felt like a lifetime, the judges came to a conclusion. We all linked arms with our fingers crossed. Seeing our hard work reap a reward would be brilliant, but every form also had their eyes on the prize - a custom trophy and 50 house points.
3rd place was announced but it wasn’t us. 2nd place was declared, but it wasn’t us. Holding hands, we all hoped for the best, whether we had won or lost meant that we would always do it together.
1st place was announced, and the winners were… 7V! We had won. It brought that true feeling of togetherness; we had worked tirelessly to achieve the same goal and it had paid off.
Eurovicta was infinitely more valuable than just the final performance. The lessons we have all learnt and bonds that have been developed are certain to last a lifetime. The people we rehearsed with every day are the same ones that we know will support us in the future. Eurovicta gave us all the courage to step out of our comfort zone and has undoubtedly made us all more confident people.
We would like to thank our language teachers and Mrs Puerto Garcia for organising such an unforgettable experience and supporting us all tremendously; our thanks extend to the prefect team and Sixth Form judging panel for presenting each act and supporting us throughout.
This year, for the first time, our MFL prefects were invited to lead the presentation of the competition and they did a fantastic job, allowing Mrs Puerto Garcia to step back and enjoy the show even more! Here is Kimaya's (10N) experience:
As MFL prefects, the team and I were given the great privilege to introduce the fantastic participants of each Year 7 form. We presented the song being performed, the artist and interesting information about the artists to the audience.
From the moment the first form stepped onto the stage, the atmosphere was filled with excitement. Each student brought their unique talent and passion, which wowed the audience. The songs were sung with great enthusiasm, and the dances impressed us all. From umbrellas, to flags and balloons, and even to an inflatable dinosaur, there were many surprises for the audience to see. Throughout the entire show, the energy on stage continued to be phenomenal, and applause filled the air after each act. The judges definitely had a difficult decision to make when choosing the winner!
Every form worked incredibly hard over the past few months to create an unforgettable performance for the audience and judges, and I'm sure that they also made wonderful memories for themselves. Eurovicta not only gave Year 7 a great opportunity to showcase their performances, but it also helped with broadening their learning about the cultures of each language that they are studying in class. A massive well done to everyone in Year 7, and congratulations to 7V for winning the competition!
Finally, this would not be possible without our Sixth Form students. We always like our MFL A Level students to judge to have an impartial and fair result. Here is what Lorcan in Nightingale 2, one of our judges, has to say about his experience:
Last Thursday, I had the immense privilege of judging the annual Eurovicta Song Contest. This being my first year at Invicta, I had been told about both the spectacle of the event, and how seriously it was taken by many. However, throughout I was still blown away by the passion and enthusiasm shown by all involved, and my job of judging the best singing was certainly a difficult one! Huge congratulations to Miss Hollett’s form for winning with their fantastically catchy rendition of ‘Bim, Bam, toi’ (even if they did let the influence of Madame Baudean slip in their acceptance speech!), as well as all other performers for making it such a wonderfully fun and uplifting event. Thank you as ever to Madame Puerto Garcia, the languages department as a whole and the teams of tutors and student helpers for organising such a spectacular event, which I will certainly not forget in a hurry!
