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Previous winners include Birdy!

This weekend the judges were in Basildon, for the first live show of 2010! Thousands of acts entered Open Mic UK this year and some of the best unsigned acts in the country took to the stage at the Towngate Theatre in Basildon on 18.9.10. Here the judges give us some feedback from the event, but remember, it could all change at the Area Finals!

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

Judges at Basildon included; Big Brother winner Brian Belo, ICMP’s Jonathan Whiskerd, Vocalist Jules Pretorius and Future Music’s Chris Grayston

18 – 25 Feedback;

Hazard City; Chris; looked the part, good mix up of original and cover even making the cover his own. Jules; very good phrasing & good movement. Jonathan; just need to watch dictation as couldn’t always understand what was being said.

Jo Wood; Chris; really improved performance on keys solid original going to be a tough final to get through. Jonathan; very engaging. Brian; tremendous.

Adam Clarke; Chris; Original was a bit weak needs a bit of an edge to his music. Jules; a very passionate performer and musician. Jonathan; needs to establish an image.

Amy Westney; Chris; Original song was great, best original of the day. Jules; great vocalist, lovely tone. Jonathan; engaging performer.

Adam Duffill; Chris; Just needs a bit more passion and intensity. Jules; powerful vocal. Brian; brilliant performance.

Chris Lynch; Chris; good voice but maybe needs to start writing his own stuff and find his own style. Jules; unusual song choice but it worked. Jonathan; amazing singer but not sure image is right.

Maicon Da Rosa; Chris; Nice deep voice, didn’t feel the passion that the original was trying to portray. Jules; mesmorising. Brian; didn’t expect you to have a voice like that!

Jimmy Sharp; Chris; great choice of cover delivered with passion. Check tuning before come on stage. Need to keep to rules on time…Jonathan; strong songwriter and great vocal.

Marchy; Chris; Engage the audience directly. Needs to be more punchy with the lyrics. Use audience participation with due care..Jonathan; engaging performance.

Renee Mare;  Jules; great first track nice tone and smooth. Chris; Good to see mixing playing with the keys and coming out of the seat to perform on stage. Original is a good song but needs to give the performance more conviction and watch pitching.

NDP; Brian; good lyrics and a good effort, has the potential to go far. Chris; Need a hook ended up being a bit of a ramble.

New society; Chris; worked the stage well. Worked well vocally.

Relley.C; Chris; Good original song performed but vocals below par need to work on them.

Sophie Elton; Chris; original song wasn’t as catchy as it needs to be as your flagship track needs a hook or something to grab you.

Sixtyz; Chris; Need to back up the song with a performance bit routed to the spot.Jonathan; very cool image well suited to the music.

Joshua Smith; Brian; lots of potential and lots of effort. Jules; worked the stage! Chris; needs to watch tuning but when he hits the notes he has a great tone.

Sarah Charlton; Jonathan; great singer Chris; Went down really well with the crowd and had a really polished performance of an Etta James classic.

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