THUNDEROUS applause shook the Eden centre this afternoon, as the winner of its Christmas Choir competition was announced.

The crowds who gathered to watch this afternoon’s show firmly approved of the choice of champions - St Louis Catholic Primary School, from Aylesbury.

The choir, which delighted audiences with renditions of ‘From a Distance’ and ‘This Child’, was handed a cheque for £2,000 by centre director Daniel Tomkinson.

Eight choirs battled it out for the coveted title of Eden Christmas Choir 2008.

Proud parents and friends flocked to the centre to see the choirs perform and support the singers. They were joined by Christmas shoppers who were glad to stop for a break from present-buying to enjoy the impressive performances.

Mr Tomkinson said: “The standard was amazing. You heard the first choir singing and thought ‘wow’. Then you heard the next lot and thought ‘wow’ again. We were completely overwhelmed by the number of choirs that entered, the standard and the support that made them all what they were.”

In second place, and taking a £500 prize, was Stokenchurch Primary School Choir, another popular choice with audiences.

And coming third – the only adult choir to make the top three – was the all-ladies Amersham A Capella, who won £250 after impressing the judges with a tongue-in-cheek version of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’.

The three judges making the tricky decisions were Steve Ludlow, MIX 107 breakfast presenter, John Beaumont, chairman of Wycombe Arts Festival, and Holly Robinson, deputy editor of the Bucks Free Press.

Their scores were added to around 3,000 online votes that had been received since the finalists battled their way through the preliminary heats last month.

Mr Ludlow said the winners had left everyone impressed. He said: “It was very, very tough, although actually we were all together on who was first. They were absolutely outstanding. Despite being little, they were head and shoulders above everyone else.”

He added the radio station would be playing tracks by the first and second place choirs on Christmas Eve.

Mr Beaumont agreed the decision-making had been difficult. He said: “The standards were so high – how do you choose between brilliant and brilliant?”

The other finalists included Borlase's Gospel Choir, Seer Green CE School Choir, Vocal Performance Academy from Gerrards Cross, Choir, Knights of Harmony from Chesham and St Augustine's Church Choir from Wycombe.

Miss Robinson added: “It was really hard, but it was good to see a whole range of people taking part, like church choirs and school choirs. There were all really impressive.”

Also keeping the crowds entertained during breaks in the choir performance was The Jack Frost Band, who got onlookers singing and dancing with their lively version of ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’.

Mr Tomkinson said: “The crowd was great today. It really feels like Christmas has started.”

Betty Bunney, of New Road, High Wycombe, was in the audience to watch her granddaughter perform with the Stokenchurch Primary School Choir.

She said: “It was wonderful – they were all so good. I think it’s really good this should happen. It’s a big town, we should have this sort of thing going on more often.”