''Cân i Gymru'' (English: ''A Song for Wales'', ) is a Welsh-language television talent competition that is broadcast annually on S4C. It was first introduced in 1969 when BBC Cymru wanted to enter the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

. The winner of the contest represents Wales at the annual Pan Celtic Festival held in Ireland and is also awarded a cash prize (which varies from year to year).

History

''Cân i Gymru'' was presented to Wales under the name ''Cân Disc a Dawn'', a competition based around the Welsh language pop music show ' (as seen on Victor Lewis Smith's '' TV Offal''), for the first time in 1969. At the time, Meredydd Evans, head of light entertainment at

BBC Cymru Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

, hoped that the winning song would be able to compete in the

, although the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in London decided in the end that only one song from Britain would compete. Eight programmes were broadcast in the series to select a Song for Wales with seven songs in each, performed by well-known singers of the time. The public voted by sending in letters and the song with the most votes went through to the final. The last programme was broadcast on 5 June 1969 throughout Britain on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

under the title ''Song for Wales'' and was presented by Ronnie Williams in Welsh and English. A panel then chose the winning song on the night. The programme was also part of the BBC's provision for the Investiture of Prince Charles which would take place on 1 July 1969. Following the establishment of the Pan Celtic Festival in Ireland in the early 1970s the Festival's Wales Committee started the ''Cân i Gymru'' competition once again in order to choose a song to represent Wales in the Celtavision competition. There was no competition in 1973. Initially the media in Wales did not have much interest in the competition. ''Cân i Gymru'' was not broadcast live on television, and a panel voted to choose the winners. For example, the 1980 competition was held at Bar Cefn yr Angel in

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

and was broadcast on BBC Radio Cymru. By 1982 the competition was back on television but a panel still chose the winner. In later years, the winning song was chosen by a vote where members of the public phone for their favorite song. Due to techinical issues in 2024, this vote was moved online in 2025. In 2024, the prize was £5,000 with £3,000 for second place and £2,000 for third place. The winner has the opportunity to go on to compete in Celtavision, held in Ireland as part of the Pan Celtic Festival. Unlike the majority of singing competitions in Europe, the emphasis is on the composer of the song rather than the performer. A compilation album was released in 2005 by Welsh record label Sain containing all the tracks that won the competition from its inception in 1969 to 2005. This was followed by individual compilation albums for the 2006 and 2007 competitions, both of which were released by TPF Records.

Winners by year

Hostings

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Can I Gymru 1960s Welsh television series 1969 British television series debuts 1970s Welsh television series 1980s Welsh television series 1990s Welsh television series 2000s Welsh television series 2010s Welsh television series 2020s Welsh television series Annual events in Wales British music television shows Music competitions in the United Kingdom S4C original programming Singing competitions Song contests Welsh-language music Welsh-language television shows Welsh television shows BBC Cymru Wales television shows Television shows produced by Harlech Television

History

Winners by year

Hostings

See also

References

External links