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Previous winners include Birdy!

The UK's largest talent competition for singers and songwriters travelled to Bedford this week to see the best acts in the area battle it out for a chance to play at the grand final at the O2 in January.

Thanks to everyone who braved the cold to join us at the Bedford Corn Exchange on Sunday 28^th November and put on such an amazing show – we were really blown away by the high standard of performances.

Here the judges give us some feedback from the event, but remember it could all change at the grand final.

Please note: views expressed by Judges are opinions and in no way reflect the views of Open Mic UK. 

The judges were: Judges Radio 1’s Ras Kwame; singer from Vocal Tutor Jules Pretorius, City of Bath college music Coordinator Max Weedon; from Big Help Management Dutch Van Spall, Paul Stanborough, engineer and in-house producer with Guy Chambers,  and Future Music’s Chris Grayston.

Louise Collins;

Great look and a nice cover- you had real passion for that song and it showed, good stage presence to, but the judges weren’t sold on the vocal loop pedal.

Red Capper;

Loved your Kate Bush meets Tori Amos style vocal, very captivating! Good passionate delivery, but take care with your diction.

Fixater;

Very unusual performance got a good theatrical feeling to him, powerful voice, but not a commercial artist. Will do well in west end, good acting!

Kelly Bourne;

Confident performer, a touch of Karen Carpenter about you, lovely voice – you had the audience in the palm of your hand.

Harold King;

An ambitious song, and much improved performance from the regionals!

Bash;

Interesting guy and a unique performer, had a definite presence about him, loved the original, but thought it would be better with a band behind it.

Jane Ward;

Confident, great performance, sassy, sexy and had a fabulous band with her. The judges loved your cover and clearly, so did the crowd.  Nicely done – but would have preferred to see you do a different song from your previous round.

Bradley White-Dale;

Vocally really strong, good stage presence, looks great and has good vocals. The audience interaction was perfectly, good all-round show.

D.A.R;

Great energy and performance, loved your originality, but you also need to do an original to show you’re not a one trick pony, otherwise it gets too repetitive!

Wesley Hughes;

Really talented, full of belief and had the goods to back it up, really hard to find anything in need of tweaking about your performance, maybe act out the song a bit more?

Shawn Hutton; Good voice, but needs to work on stage presence, you had a sharp song, but a soft image- maybe try to get them in sync next time? Overall though, a solid performance, that just needs a bit of polishing.

Ian Berry;

Lovely voice, a really bluesy growl to it, felt like you believed what you were singing, not sure song choice was right though, also don’t forget about your audience – you need to engage them.

 Iris Green;

Very softly spoken vocal with a nice tone, great cover choice and delivery, you have a fragility which suited your image and voice down to the ground.

Crazy James;

Nice performance, very well thought out and executed, loved your original, but it needed a catchy hook.

Killa Zorro;

Good diction and stage presence, watch the mic control. Very good audience interaction and nice command of the stage, a confident performer.

Andrew Collier;

Good lyrics and a well-crafted song, with more performing, you will be very, very good, but please engage with your audience more.

Ryan Costello;  you looked very cool, interesting voice with some god tones in it, judges loved how you made the Prince cover your own – well done.

Deja Crew;

Well thought through act, Judges preferred your original, but need to keep practicing, notes were a bit flat in the chorus.