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Previous winners include Birdy!

Unsigned Musicians in Brighton performed at Open Mic UK last weekend. The unsigned musician competition has provided industry feedback for the best singers in the region.

Successful auditionees in Brighton performed at The Hove Centre in front of a large crowd and the Open Mic UK industry experts. Judges included vocal coaches, music journalists and A&R managers. The singing competition feedback on selected acts can be seen below.

The judges for the Brighton unsigned musicians contest were Founder of Sussex Vocal Academy Lucinda Bristow, Radio presenter and ex Virgin Music Tino Leonard, Lois Teague from Metway Studios, Dennis McKenzie from Urban Circle Productions, and Chris Grayston head of Future Music.

Find industry feedback below. Please be aware views expressed by judges are opinions and subjective to that particular judging panel. These views in no way reflect the views of Open Mic UK, and are published with a view to being beneficial to the performing acts. Please take the feedback on board with a view to helping in the future.

Unsigned Musicians Brighton Feedback – 16 and under category

Amie Grace – Great confidence and only 13 WOW a very natural performance could have gone more with the performance even more swagger. Needs further development for that unique sound.

Holly Barber – Lovely voice but a rather static performance; use that stage and act the song portray the feeling of the song as lacked the sensitivity required.

Charlotte Gosling – Came across a little harsh with the phrasing, just learn to embrace the softer tones and notes.  Confidence was good just need to relax and let it flow more, and remember to own the stage.  Song choice could have been a little less obvious.

Alex Sharkey – Good vocal control, however straight away the image and impression was all wrong. Use the stage, Alex needed to give more, a little unconvincing. Performance was a little flat, need to draw the audience in and hold their attention.

Caitlan King – Only 11 playing and singing just marvellous. It will come, but work on giving more expression to the song, act the song and a star in the making. Few pitchy moments in the Adele cover.

Anna – Good song choice, and the best stage awareness so far. Take care with pitch that’s the area to work on, as liked the performance and expression which was strong.

Daniel Steven Walford – strong voice, but a little rooted to the spot, need to back up the vocals with a performance. Got more relaxed as the performance went on suggest perform as much as possible so becomes second nature.

Alice Bennett – Solid vocal but would have benefitted from a less obvious song choice that suited her voice range more. It’s great that she smiled throughout the performance, but need to use the stage too!

Carlie Randall-Smith – Great look and a lovely tone to her voice. Perhaps until the guitar playing improves perform accompanied, seemed to take too much of Carlie’s concentration and away from her own personal performance.

Jemma Murphy – Powerful vocal but performance needed to more than swaying. Keep practising to get more power into your performance and own the stage.  

Grace Carter – She has a unique tone to her voice. Guitars worked well to take the pressure off Grace, there was a confidence in the eyes a very mature performance.

Jess Jardim – At times awesome and rich vocal, at others off the right key. Need to consistently hit those notes.

Kirsty Fallowfield – A flawless performance and great voice control. What a good version and a well chosen song! Sometimes song choice is everything and it showed off a lovely voice that Kirsty has! This girl has come of age. Just give more eye contact to engage with the audience.

Jack Lintorn – There is potential in his voice, but the performance was a little messy. Slow down, seemed too rushed and unnecessary, which put pressure on himself.  Watch mic control as well too far from the mic at times. Keep practising!

Josie Fooks – She owned the stage with a heartfelt performance and good vocal control. A little shouty in places but no doubt a powerful voice. Ending was a bit messy.

Rachel Noel – Another lovely voice. Good performance, but looked scared on the stage. Remember to perform or give expression in the musical breakdown.

Rosie Ebsworth – Used the stage well and performed, now time to make them more pronounced with passion. Vocals were drowned out in places by the backing track.  Overall performance needs more development, keep rehearsing.

Unsigned Musicians Brighton, Further Feedback

Shannon – Very mature performance looked like she was really enjoying the performance too. Being picky, the performance did loop and came across a bit mechanical in that sense.

Rebecca and Jamie – An enjoyable performance which did the song real justice. Lovely expression with smiles on their faces. Rebecca made great use of the stage   and Jamie was flawless on the keyboard, what a great duet.

Shak – Used the stage well. Nice lyrics to the original, rapping was stronger than singing which would need to improve. Great energy and use of the stage. Timing was off a few times, so be careful.

Sybie – Good vocals, but performance needed bringing more to life. You need to look up and engage with the audience.

Toby Lewis – Strong distinctive voice and beautiful vocal control. Good dynamics.   

Sophie Reed – A very well thought out performance. Liked the idea behind the desks, different. Needed to be more subtle when they came in front to dance and Sophie needed to get more involved in that performance routine. Also need to work on tightening the vocals. Great to see the versatile approach with the rapping. Good potential.

Fourtune – Nerves overtook the performance. Lack of performance together meant the mic control was lacking so couldn’t get a good mix, although it ended better than it started.

Alejandro Fernandez Holt – Powerful voice with great control. Would have liked to see a more contemporary song choice to what is clearly a strong voice.

Morgan Smith - Probably a bit soon for her to perform in front of big audience, but did herself justice, but clearly nerves affected the performance. She will develop over time, keep practising as the potential is there.

Ella Scott – Lots of confidence, definitely pick something more current next time. The hat distracted the view of your eyes, the audience need to see your eyes so they can engage with you. Lovely dress.

The guest act for the day was Flow Dem, who treated the crowds to brilliant performances of their upbeat and original music.

Unsigned Musicians Brighton, Enter Now!

All successful acts at the Brighton Regional Finals will now be performing in the live Area Final Showcase on 27^th November at Highlight in Portsmouth Come along to see the best unsigned talent!

All acts are competing to make it to the Grand Final on January 21^st at Live Fest, London’s biggest indoor festival!

Don’t miss your chance to perform in front on industry professionals! You can enter Open Mic UK now!