HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The junior class won big Friday night at the 103rd Annual Kamehameha Schools Song Contest.
They took home the coveted Charles E. King cup, being declared the winners of the co-ed competition.
This comes after months of practice and preparation for this one-night event where students show off their talent and Hawaiian culture.
“I kind of can’t believe it’s real, it’s surreal. It feels really special because we put in a lot of work this year, and I really wanted to make sure we honored these paniolo and their stories,” said Taitea Sunaoka, the junior co-ed song director.
“I’m just so proud of my class, and the big thing is that we are sharing the songs of our kupuna, our ancestors.”
The juniors also won the women’s song competition as well as the Helen Desha Beamer award, which recognizes the song that earned the highest music score.
For many, this year also marked the start of the Kamehameha Schools Song Contest returning back to normal.
It was the first year since the pandemic that the competition allowed full capacity with family and friends filling the Blaisdell Arena.
Excitement and aloha could be felt in the air as the audience cheered and called out the names of their children.
There were also a lot of yeehaw’s as this year’s theme was “Na Mele Paniolo,” songs of the Hawaiian cowboy.
While the Kamehameha Schools Song Contest is special for all the students, it was especially a bittersweet moment for the seniors, who took the stage for the last time in their high school career.
Keahe Lopez was the senior men’s song director and was able to lead them to victory.
“It’s a huge honor to be a director for this class. I’m very glad of the legacy that our class is going to leave this year. It’ll be one for the books,” he said.
“It’s really just a dream in a lot of our minds and we’re just super excited. I’m just soaking it all in.”
Here’s a list of the full winners:
While the event is over, the pre-show and competition can be watched again by clicking here or tuning in to the following rebroadcasts:
Copyright 2023 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
