Song in the ring

Hundreds of tiny fists punctuated the air in the gym at Holy Family School in Mill Woods yesterday as teacher Colin Oberst unveiled his entry for the Hockey Night in Canada Anthem Challenge.

As the synth-driven song swelled, the elementary and junior high students also contributed high-pitched "bah-da-bah-bah" singalongs and triumphant "heys!" at the high points.

Oberst, who teaches a variety of subjects, including art and music, to Grades 5 and 6 at the school, was recently crowned one of five semifinalists in the competition that seeks to replace the long-standing Hockey Night in Canada theme song.

CBC lost the rights to the theme after last season, prompting emotional responses from fans across the country. TSN has since acquired the rights to the tune.

Shortly after, CBC decided to run a contest to find a made-in-Canada replacement for the song. From June 19 until Aug. 31, it collected around 15,000 entries.

The semi- finalists travelled to Toronto yesterday to perform their songs on television and attempt to elicit votes from viewers, which won't necessarily guarantee them a win, but could sway judges. From there, two finalists will be picked. The winner will be awarded $100,000 Oct. 11.

"I'm just completely ecstatic," Oberst, who lives in Beaumont, said after his school performance of Canadian Gold.

He had to keep his accomplishment quiet until The Hour, a youth-oriented current affairs and entertainment show on CBC, aired a segment on his entry Monday.

With the help of David Andrews, the school's principal, he debuted the song over the school's intercom system after that.

Yesterday's performance, however, was the first time students saw Oberst perform the song.

The singalongs, he claims, were completely impromptu.

"To me, a Hockey Night in Canada theme song should be a song people can sing together," he said.

"A lot of (the kids) were feeling that and then it's contagious and they're joining in. It's quite magical."

Over in his classroom, which features a mini-Oilers shrine, Oberst's students said they were proud of their teacher.

"I got really excited," said Daniel Langlios, one of Oberst's Grade 6 students, recalling the day his teacher revealed the news.

"Our whole class got really excited."

Sophia Mora, another Grade 6 student, says she plans to vote for her teacher, "like, 400 times."

"I'm going to be watching the whole time from beginning to end," she said. "It's pretty cool."