And the winner is... World Choir Games awards results, including local winners

CINCINNATI - Emotions ran high as the first group of choirs took to U.S. Bank Arena Saturday night to hear what they had been preparing for -- the winners of the 2012 World Choir Games.

The Guangdong Experimental Middle School Choir of China, Stellenbosch University Choir of South Africa, Shanghai Conservatory of Music Girls Choir of China, Dekoor Close Harmony of the Netherlands and Niños Cantores de la Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil y Camerata Larense of Venezuela were all crowned as champions in their respective categories. 

Saturday's win for the Guangdong Experimental Middle School Choir put them in the record books, adding 10 gold medals to their name. They will perform Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at the Energy of Youth Celebration Concert at the Aronoff. Tickets are still available at www.2012worldchoirgames.com .

Another awards ceremony kicked off Sunday morning for the following categories: male choirs, mixed boys' choirs, mixed youth choirs, Musica Sacra, popular choral music and young male choirs. Five more champions were named Sunday morning, two of those choirs also made history.

 It was a first win ever for Mannerstimmen Basel out of Switzerland, while South Africa's Stellenbosch University Choir was crowned champion with a record winning score of 96.88 out of 100.  

Diocesan Boys' School Choir of China, The "8 Seconds" Mixed Chorus of Hangzhou Normal University, also of China and Dekoor Close Harmony, of the Netherland were also crowned champions in their respective categories.

Several local choirs also won big this weekend.

In the "Champions Competition" in the "Youth Choirs of Equal Voice" category, the Cincinnati Children's Choir won gold and the Cincinnati Boychoir Tour Choir won silver.  In the "Female Choir" category, MUSE Cincinnati Women's Choir won gold.  In the "Mixed Choirs" category, the Cincinnati Boychoir Men & Boys won silver.

In the "Open Competition" in the "Mixed Youth Choirs" category, the School for Creative and Performing Arts Chorale won gold, the Lakota West Chamber Choir won gold, the Sycamore High School United Singers of the Aves won silver and The Sounds of Sycamore won silver. Also from the SCPA, Meridian 8 won their Open Competition in the "Jazz" category with a top score of 20.54 points to win the Gold Diploma. Winners of the Open Competition can compete in the Champions Competitions when the World Choir Games go to Latvia in 2014. In the "Musica Sacra" category, the Mt. Adams Chorus won silver and the Christ Church Glendale Choir won bronze.  In the "Popular Choral Music" category, the Voices of Warren County won silver and The Nine won silver.  In the "Youth Choirs of Equal Voices" category, McAuley High School Voice Ensemble won silver and LaSalle High School Vocal Ensemble won silver.

There are multiple winners of diplomas and medals in each category.

Gold medal winners with the highest score in each category in the Champions Competition are ultimately named Champion of the World Choir Games.

For a complete list of all of the winners go to: http://www.interkultur.com/competitions-festivals/world-choir-games/cincinnati-2012/results/