CTV to bring back Olympic anthem ‘I Believe’ with new version by The Tenors

TORONTO – Believe it: CTV’s ubiquitous Olympic anthem is returning for a second tour of duty.

The Tenors have recorded a new version of “I Believe,” Nikki Yanofsky’s patriotic ditty that was drummed into Canadian skulls during the Vancouver Games.

The new recording of the tune will debut during the network’s opening ceremony coverage on Friday.

Composed by Alan Frew and Stephan Moccio, the swelling original topped the Canadian charts and helped the 18-year-old jazz prodigy Yanofsky mint her first gold record.

But “I Believe” so persistently accompanied commercial breaks and moments of Canadian glory during the Vancouver Games that the song eventually got more air time than an Olympic ski jumper. It became the song that Canucks either loved, or loved to hate.

However, the Victoria operatic pop group the Tenors — formerly the Canadian Tenors — insist they aren’t worried about “I Believe” burnout.

“Sometimes you’ll hear a song played on the radio that’s played 12 times a day, and that’s just part of getting it into people’s systems,” said the group’s Remigio Pereira in a telephone interview this week from Berlin.

“We love what was done before, but part of it was it was just an opportunity to bring something new, to breathe new life into the song. And hopefully people will … hear the melody and recognize it, but then they’ll be like: ‘Hey, this is something different.'”

While the members of the quartet reached by phone didn’t acknowledge the divergent opinions on the original tune — both Pereira and Victor Micallef said they loved Yanofsky’s interpretation — they did set out to make sure their take stood apart.

Like Yanofsky’s version, the Tenors’ version is intimate and restrained at the outset before blooming into what Pereira calls a “full-blown operatic event,” with the group’s harmonies swirling upward.

“We wanted to blow the roof off the stadium by the end of the song,” Pereira said.

The Tenors will be travelling throughout the summer in anticipation of their upcoming full-length, “Lead With Your Heart,” dropping on Oct. 9.

So they may be among the only Canadian sports fans who won’t become intimately familiar with their refreshed take on “I Believe.” That said, if their song rings out after a Canadian medal performance, they’re hoping one of their fans will capture the moment.

“Hopefully we’ll get a chance to hear it coming home or online — that would be fantastic,” said Micallef.

Added Pereira: “Maybe someone will tape it for us.”

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