Alberta entry is golden in Hockey Night anthem challenge
School teacher Colin Oberst takes home $100,000 and half of lifetime royalties
Last Updated: Saturday, October 11, 2008 | 8:42 PM ET
CBC Sports
Colin Oberst, second from left, penned Canadian Gold, the new Hockey Night in Canada anthem. Canadian Gold is the new Hockey Night in Canada anthem.
After 14,871 entries flooded in and thousands of voters cast their ballots for each of the two finalists, a Celtic-themed piece by Beaumont, Alta.'s Colin Oberst was chosen to introduce Canada's longest-running television program
His victory was announced on Saturday's Hockey Night broadcast featuring Toronto hosting Montreal and Vancouver in Calgary.
Toronto teenager Robert Fraser Burke's Sticks to the Ice finished second.
"I'm thrilled that it's an ordinary Canadian whose passion for hockey will be forever associated with the show," said Scott Moore, executive director of CBC Sports. "The process has shown the passion that Canadians have for hockey, Hockey Night in Canada and for music.
"I think it's so appropriate that such a passionate hockey fan is the final winner."
Oberst is an elementary school teacher who also doubles as an avid music writer and member of an Edmonton band.
He takes home the $100,000 top prize and half of the lifetime royalties, with the other 50 per cent invested by the CBC in minor hockey across the country.
Burke, the 13-year-old son of a music teacher, is a pianist who sings in a choir and performs in the school band.
The contest to find new theme music for Hockey Night in Canada was launched June 19 by CBC Sports after it didn't renew the rights to The Hockey Theme, which were subsequently purchased by CTV Inc.
Each of the five semifinalists in the anthem challenge were profiled on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos and later on the Hockey Night In Canada Anthem Challenge special, when the original compositions — produced by Bob Rock, a multiple Juno Award winner — were played in their entirety.
"You just get this overwhelming sense of pride," Oberst said while working with Rock at the taping of the theme in Toronto. "Everything just jelled into this amazing song that went way over my expectations."
