First prize winner Shen Yang

The Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, held every two years, is an opera competition founded in 1983 by BBC Wales to celebrate the opening of St David's Hall in Cardiff, Wales, home of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

The competition is judged by a panel of singers, musicians and music professionals. Auditions are held throughout the world in the autumn before the competition, with 25 singers being selected to take part in Cardiff the following June. Each singer represents their own country, and in 2003 a rule was introduced allowing two singers to take part from countries with very high populations. The competition is televised by BBC Two and BBC Four in the UK and is followed globally.

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2007

The BBC Cardiff Singer of the World preliminary concerts took place at St David's Hall, Cardiff from June 10 to June 14 with the final on June 17.

The final 25 singers have been selected from more than 1,000 who applied to take part. A record 677 singers from 64 counties took part in auditions held in 44 locations. In this year's contest, a 23-year-old bass baritone Shen Yang, from China, was crowned BBC Cardiff Singer of the World.

Shen Yang-A Voice from China

Born in Tianjin, Shen Yang is currently a student at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and at Zhou Xiaoyan Opera Center in China, under the guidance of Professor Ping Gu. He has taken part in many concerts, including the Modern Chamber Music Concert at the Eastern-Asia Music Festival in Korea and the Modern Chamber Music Concert at the Beijing Music Festival. Shen also has won several prizes including first place as Masetto Don Giovanni at the International Opera Competition in Verona, first place at the 5th Shanghai international opera master class in China in 2005, first prize Rheinsberg opera competition 2007, and first prize Verona L'Orfeo singing competition 2007.