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Previous winners include Birdy!

Unsigned Musicians in the Midlands have been discovered by Open Mic UK as singers took to the stage last weekend. The singing contest has provided industry feedback for the best unsigned singers 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 unsigned musicians in the Midlands 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.

Unsigned musicians Midlands feedback for the 17-22 age category

Jacob Banks– Great stripped down cover. Nice soulful voice. Work on bringing your guitar up to the same standard. Interesting arrangement of the song. Enjoyed it very much!

Amy Southall– Great classy look coherent with song choice. Needed to use more of the stage. You have a beautiful and great smile. You showcased your ability brilliantly don’t be so nervous.

Clarissa McDonald– Needs more stage presence. Image could have been sharper. Voice wavered make sure you warm up properly. A really confident performance, but perhaps wrong song choice.

Dante Efemey– American accent? Why? Clichéd song choice. Standing up would have brought more performance. Remember in a competition like this the first few seconds can be vital so needed a stronger start.

Sliman Naciri– Voice needs more texture. Great image but the vocal didn’t live up to it. The second song in particular was a real struggle. Try to play the guitar with a little more rhythm.

Essence –Great image. Harmonies generally good. Accompaniment spot on, well done for going tasteful. Classy and sexy. Good potential just keep on developing the act. Good interpretation of the song.

Leah Walker- Cute image. Song well acted out but use more of the stage to really engage the audience. Great talent but very one-faceted. Vary it up a bit. Very easy to watch this performance.

Matt Nutt– Make sure your cover isn’t a complete replica, put your own personality into it. Second song was better, we got to know you more. Visual impression is important too not sure about the image.

Nat Rose– Voice needs more power and projection. Nice song. Needs to use the stage more it’s a bit bland during instrumentals. With more experience Nat will come on, she seems a little nervous.

Sabrina Hussain– Good vocal performance but work the stage and the audience more. Perfect song choice to show of vocal. Nerves crept in. You kept going to the back of the stage which seemed odd.

Siobhan Mazzei– Nice originality but a couple of bum notes early on. Good edgy image. Lots emotion in the performance you reminded me of The Cranberries or Sinead O’Connor.

Ben Frost– Good cover choice. Backing track was tasteful and worked. Good look and a really good song choice. Vocals need a little work. Lacked dynamic in some of the stronger passages.

Unsigned musicians Midlands – Further feedback

Emily Ruth– Felt Emily picked a cover that suited her voice rather than put her own stamp on a song. Nerves evident but a confident performance. A bit static, you need to use more of the stage.

Helen Louise– Looks great but wrong song choice. A very hard song to take on. Good stage performance. Great moves but the vocals need some development. Work on your inflection so words are clearer.

Harri Georgio– Great original song. Liked the cover choice. Timings so important with rapping but Harri was bang on the money. Real energy to the performance. Very different and very enjoyable.

Holly Evans – Good strong vocals but didn’t think the song choice was the right one for you as it pushed your vocal range a little. Intonation slipped in places. The outfit was very pretty.

DE’votion – Nice to see two sides to the group. A well-rehearsed routine. You girls are very talented and you didn’t disappoint after impressing in auditions. Really tight vocals and harmonies.

Kerry Harris– Tuning issues. Song was way too big for her voice. Nice edgy image. Good connection with the audience and nice soulful vocals but watch the pitch in places.

Leon Zaigirdar– The cover played him rather than the other way. More originality needed but a very good performance. Your image needs to be sharper to make you stand out from a crowd.

Righteous– Careful not to be too Jackson-esque. Good moves but work on the vocals. A committed performance but not a stand-out one. Your rapping (demonstrated in auditions) is stronger than your vocals.

Tayla-Blue– Voice got better as it warmed up. Decent original song. Vocal feels a little forced. Not always on key but a good performance for your second song. Recovered well from a rocky start.

Truly– Amazing voice but this is a Florence & the Machine impersonation. Think about bringing your own personality to the table. A sultry, sexy, folky delivery. Great performance.

Tyler Markovic– Great originality. Guitar technique brilliant but be careful not to growl. Accapella killed it. Such a good guitar player why did he choose to do this? Very passionate.

Vital – Total respect for spoken word but killed the momentum, we didn’t need your life story! Cover better, and some good rapping with nice flow. Good lyrical content and delivery.

Jess Dixon –Use the stage more to bring a more engaging performance. Good vocal but the whole performance needed something more to stand out. Work on your technique and your chest register.

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

Unsigned Musicians Midlands, 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!