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Previous winners include Birdy!

Singing contests in Wales and London like Open Mic UK have been on the search for talent as singers took to the stage last weekend. The music competition has provided industry feedback for the best unsigned musicians in Wales and London. Successful contestants in Wales, London and the south-west performed at The Beck Theatre in Hayes 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 London were Head of BGM, Michael King, Andrew Tayo from Uband, Adam Owen of Out of Bounds Records, Joe Forrester from Fame Factor, vocal expert Rob Palmer, Head of Future Music Chris Grayston 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. 

Singing contests Wales and London - Feedback for the 23+ age category 

John Green Eyes– An emotional performance. Not a bad original song. Good tempo change. Not sure about the image, you both look like you’re ready for a quick escape. Topical lyrics and a decent delivery.

 Kelly Bossano– Nice style. Beautiful voice. Try to connect more with the audience and use the stage more. Great arrangement and you look good. A good, quirky performance. Very simple and elegant styling and staging. 

Georgia Barry– Fiesty character. Good emotional performance. Great original material this girl can write. Voice is really nice and melodic. Confident and her styling is classy. Be careful of mic control and make sure you express the song well it was a bit over dramatic at times.

So Shaw– Very dated but a good fun act. Bring yourself up to date with it. An original and spirited performance but it felt a little peculiar. An odd song choice but the audience enjoyed it. You need to keep the energy and movement throughout the song and use the stage.

 Kwende – Not an original act feels like we’ve seen this all before. An over dramatic performance. Needs control. Good diction and good choice on the melody change for your cover. a confident performance. 

Sabrina Moncrieff– A dated image. Not a bad voice, put in a good performance. A couple of missed notes. A good image that matched your music. Your first song was better. A little static, would have preferred to see you move around a little.

Gloria Garcia– Needed more impact hard to stand out in a show like this with slow numbers. Liked the tempo change though. Good voice and a good performance but some of the stage movements were a bit awkward.

Mish da Fyah Sis– Second vocalist a little flat at start. MC very good. Original much better than cover song but not one that could be a hit. A slick and entertaining performance. Stage confidence is very natural.

Samantha Kate Sheppard –Nice original song. Guitar playing in cover song a little basic. Good song to take on but hard to nail as well as Florence. Styling felt all wrong. Samantha is work in progress good voice but needs performance value.

Ben and Jason –Original song a little subdued. Not sure where these guys would fit in the market at the moment but a pleasant act nonetheless. Amazing vocally. Good vocal dynamics and nice harmonies.

Layla G and Josh– The song is rock, the image is rock but the performance a little placid. Perhaps take the mic of the stand. Love the attitude from Josh. A little static and not sure on song choice guitar overpowered the vocals.

Camello –Vocally not quite there. Looks the part. Song far too big for him. Well-acted out he didn’t leave anything on the stage. Felt like he tried to dress like Adam Lambert but he needed to be himself.

Singing contests Wales and London – Further feedback

Jo Johnson– First song needed a bit more spice it was a bit bland. Pleasantly sung and performed but it needed be bigger to progress. Really liked the 2^nd song got the crowd going. Nice vocals this was a melancholy and engaging performance.

Ray Lannon– Very soulful voice. Guitar playing not up to the mark though. Quite liked his take on Melua made it sound like a Johnny Cash song. Good vocally and on the guitar but not sure where his market would be.

Lily London– Make sure you’re bringing originality to the table and that you’re not a standard lounge bar act, because you’ve got good ability that just needs to be smoother around the edges. Fantastic backing musicians and a lovely voice. Loved the groove!

Steve Ley– Good look and style but the cover was a little straight. Would have liked to have seen something a bit more imaginative.  Nice vibe from this guy and a great tone to his voice but it just needed a bit more oomph.

Daniel Mushett– Looks like Jimi Hendrix, doesn’t sound like him. Not sure the image is cohesive with the act. Decent voice but lost it in places. It felt over-performed. A very entertaining performance and good use of the stage. He ticks a lot of the boxes the industry is looking for.

Vanessa Melody– Not the strongest of the day. Song choice not the most inspiring and a very static performance.  Might need a different approach to become successful. Lovely song choice just wandered out of key too often.

John Adams– A very polished performer but not the best song choices. Could have picked up the tempo at some stage but still strong vocally. A little over dramatic at the end.  Needs more of an original twist.

Mister Bicester –Love this guy. Great songwriting, great musicianship and a great performance. Made a cover work that really shouldn’t have. Good energy, good interaction, good originality and a cool voice.

Becky Payne –Huge voice but lost a couple of notes. No signs of nerves and help emotion given the meaning of the songs. Very professionally done but honestly, not as good as in the last round. Great original song.

Cora Matthews– Pleasant voice but would have liked to have seen more performance. Good accompaniment but needed more spice and zest. Nice song and staging. Nice and absorbing a good voice. The acoustic guitar worked well.

The guest act for the day was Hatty Keane, who treated the crowds to brilliant performances just seven days before she supports Ed Sheeran and Wretch 32.

Open Mic London, Enter Now!

All successful acts at the London and south-west Area Final will now be performing in the live Grand Final at London’s O2 on 21^st January. Come along to see the best unsigned talent!

All successful acts are competing 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!