THEY sang their hearts out in front of an audience of millions.
And now, pupils from Hymers College Junior School have reached the finals of a prestigious school choir competition.
The youngsters appeared in the semi final of the Songs Of Praise School Choir Of The Year competition on Sunday.
Screened on BBC, the programme was filmed at the Liverpool Convention Centre and hosted by Aled Jones.
The 40-strong choir from the Hymers Avenue school in west Hull impressed judges, including Myleene Klass, with their rendition of I, The Lord Of Sea And Sky.
Tracey Redhead, head of music for the junior school, said: "It was amazing. You go into these things hoping you will get to the final but not really expecting it because of the competition from other choirs was so high.
"When they called our names out, we were over the moon.
"The children were screaming and lots of them burst into tears, we couldn't believe it."
Pupils were competing against five other choirs from around the country.
They won through to the semi- final after the school submitted an CD of the choir singing.
Judges whittled contenders down from more than 100 choirs nationwide to just six who were invited to the convention centre to compete against each other for one of three final places.
Mrs Redhead said: "The convention centre was full, there were hundreds of people there.
"It was very exciting for them.
"They had a wonderful time and it was a fantastic experience.
"They were so excited and very proud to have been selected."
After pupils sang, they had an anxious wait to find out if they had been chosen to go through to the final.
The judging panel consisted of vocal coach, producer and chart-topping singer David Grant, world-renowned conductor and choral director Suzi Digby and presenter of Pop Star To Opera Star and concert pianist Myleene Klass.
Pupil Victoria Davis, 11, said: "It was brilliant and even better because they called our names last so it built up the tension, my heart came up into my mouth when Myleene came up and said our name.
"Emotions were running high and everyone was buzzing."
Jasmin Devine Runkee, 11, said: "It was amazing.
"We were all saying at home that the television doesn't capture the atmosphere, it was just so electric.
"It was really uplifting when we walked to the stage, and we got the loudest cheer and we were really pleased about that.
"There were hundreds and hundreds of people there, it was full.
"I really enjoyed myself, it was one of the best experiences of my life. I really enjoy singing, it is one of my passions."
The choir practices every week for an hour.
Amaan Naiman, 11, said: "The judges liked it a lot and we made Mrs Redhead very proud.
"We have been working very hard towards this and we were really pleased to get through."
Simba Charingira, 11, said: "I really enjoyed it.
"The judges said our diction was really good which we were proud of.
"We sang in front of hundreds of people and it was really good, it was like on the X Factor."
The final will be aired on Sunday, April 21, where pupils from Hymers can be seen competing against two other school choirs.
They will sing Just Call My Name.
