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Previous winners include Birdy!

Music contests in Birmingham, such as Open Mic UK, have been on the search for talent in Birmingham as singers took to the stage last weekend. The music competition has provided industry feedback for the best unsigned musicians in the region.

Successful auditionees in Birmingham performed at The NEC 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.

Judging the music contests in Birmingham were Ben Sidwell from BBC Birmingham, Dutch Van Spall from Big Help Management, journalist Juanita Fountain, vocalist Cathy Compton, choreographer Tanya Anderson, Tony White from Born in a Born Studio and Head of A&R at Future Music Ben Price.

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.

Music contests Birmingham feedback – 16 and under category

Elle– Not sure the backing helped. Maybe a backing track would have worked better but I see what you were trying to do with the rock edge. Rocky vocals. Great confidence. Your ending and bridge was the best bit.

Ricardo Morgan– Image vastly improved since auditions. Beat boxing didn’t quite work but credit for making the song your own. Nice moves. Work on the sung vocals and develop the identity of your act.

Jennifer Carter– Felt like Jennifer could give more it felt like she was holding back a little. Needs more power in the vocal to bring more to the performance. You have a lovely voice and overall a good pitch.

Jadene Ryder– Glamorous look. Needs to feel the emotion of the song more. Not sure the song was the right one to show of the qualities of you voice. The song was limited in range.

Ryan Crowley– Nice original song. Good playing and a soulful voice. No cover? A nice chilled performance and good use of the guitar. A confident performance Ryan has great potential.

Ruby Jade– Nice classy look, good coherence with song choice. Great voice and performance, well done. A little work required on mic technique. Struggled with some notes but has good potential.

Alisha Kadir– Work the stage more to bring across the emotion of the song. Good accompaniment. Voice needs more power. A lot of the song sounded like it was in the same key.

Alice Louise– Watch the American accent creeping in, and remember to be original. Be who you are. Need to work on the dynamics of the performance to add variety to the tone. Original song was far better than your cover and told us more about you.

Jamie Felton– Good guitar playing on up-tempo part. Pushed the time limit a little. Grew in confidence throughout performance and began to shine towards the end. Good stage presence.

April Lancaster– Fantastic image and stage performance. Watch the mid-Atlantic accent in places. Overall excellent. First act to engage with the audience and looked like she belonged on stage.

Hayley Hubbell– Watch top end notes but good performance. A big song to take on it has to be note perfect to be successful. Work on your breathing technique. Great classy look.

Elena-Marie– Needs a little tuition on scale and could be very good. Felt the emotion of the song which is important. Well done. Strong voice but shouty in places. The song seemed too low for your voice.

Sophie Hawes– Nice cover choice. Good image. Recovered well from a small error to keep a strong performance.

Music Contests Birmingham – Further feedback

Gemma Thorne– Nerves won the day. Work on composure. Loved the emotion of the song but work on your vocals with a good teacher as you have potential. A nice sounding ring to her voice.

Georgia Burgess– Huge voice for someone so small. She has the cute factor and an abundance of confidence. Showed edge with the cover too. Watch your head rolls I think you’ve been watching too many divas!

Gina Gardner– Felt like Gina was just singing the song rather than feeling it as well. Think about putting more passion into it. Loved the look, you’ve got a good voice too.  Just believe in yourself more.

Hannah Jones– Loved the lazy look. Great vocals, absolutely smashed it. Looked so comfortable and confident on stage. I had shivers throughout your performance. Just watch your breathing technique though.

Hannah Scott-Davies– Well acted out. Awesome image, great performance and vocally perfect. Great confidence that really suits the stage. Technically superb. Well done!

Tori Lamb– Great confidence and an assurance beyond her years. Very marketable, she could have a good future keep writing and be patient! Nerves a little evident but a nice, pure voice.

Bethany McDonald– Go for a more edgy/pop look. Classy is great but unless your act is classical it won’t be coherent. Good performance and good vocals but there was a certain spark missing.

Not Completely Blonde– Desperately needed beats. Unless your voices have some base accapella it wasn’t going to work. Needed to get the audience clapping earlier. They all have good voices they just need to polish the performance.

Holly Wright– More control needed on top notes perhaps this wasn’t the right song choice. Nice angelic look. Work on your vocals and develop your breathing technique.

Rosanna O’Brien– Great originality. Good original song. Well performed to the crowd. A very engaging performance. Loved that she showed two sides to her but not sure about the choice of cover.

Jasmine Ward– Nice cover choice she put her own spin on it. Chorus great but verses were flat at times. Voice needs more dynamics. Don’t force your voice in the lower registers.

Michael Wagstaff- Good idea to have drum box. Good cover but the original song showed off your vocal more so perhaps Biffy was wrong? Nice look and sound but could have been tighter. 

Bryony Gibbs– More passion needed in verses. Make the song as believable as possible. Great voice but felt there was even more she could give. Overall well-executed.

Giles– Brilliant clash of genres. Excellently performed, think he took everyone by surprise.  A real cheeky confidence about him the crowd loved it and so did I. Make sure the dancers are as well rehearsed as you are.

Reece McConnell aka Danny Mac– Nervous start, struggled with the big notes. Nice song but work on your ‘head voice’ in the opening. Good passionate performance. Chose a very difficult song

Josh Cotterill– Nice original song, but not the most engaging. Good cover choice brought out the best in your voice. You look like a star and have a lovely tone. You sing like you mean it and there’s a likability factor about you.

The guest act for the day was Hatty Keane, who treated the crowds to brilliant performances. 

Music Contest Birmingham, Enter Now!

All successful acts at the Birmingham Regional Finals will now be performing in the live Area Final Showcase on 27^th November at The Corn Exchange in Bedford. Come along to see the best unsigned talent!

All acts are competing to make it to the Grand Final on January 21^st at The O2!

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