Open Mic UK: Judges feedback from the London, Wales and South West area final, 18-25's category

 

Open Mic UK music competition; Judges feedback from The London, Wales and South West area final, 18-25’s category

The UK's largest talent competition for singers and songwriters travelled to London this week to see the best acts in the area battle it out for a chance to play at the grand final at the O2 in January.

We were absolutely blown away by the high quality of all of the acts at this final, who performed at the Beck Theatre in Hayes on Saturday 20th November.

Here the judges give us some feedback from the event, but remember it could all change at the grand final.

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

The judges were:  Singer songwriter Mesha Bryan who has written for pop princesses Kylie Minogue and Victoria Beckham, Vocal tutor Rob Palmer, Kiki Militsis from the Institute of contemporary music performance and Future Music’s Chris Grayston.

 

Chloe Cooke;

A confident performer with a lovely voice, nice interaction with the audience, judges would really have loved to see an original song.

Maya Miko;

Nice cover and vocal dynamics, good audience connection but this was a safe choice of song, backing vocals needed more oomph.

Jemma Krysa;

Nice earthy feel to your voice – good to see a more folk-influenced sound, which you definitely did justice to, judges would have liked to hear something more uplifting though, loved the cello.

Sweet Ambition;

Nice vocals and a good song, but the judges thought you were a bit rooted to the spot and needed to use the stage more, don’t be afraid to move around a bit.

 Chris Hughes;

Judges loved your voice; see you as a major talent for the west end in the future, very strong performance.

Casi Wyn;

Nice voice with a unique edge to it, guitar playing needs a bit of work, but overall it was lovely, a refreshing change.

Nadia;

Disorganised, judges found your outfit distracting, which was a shame because you seemed to have great potential, felt that on another day you could have been great.

Ms Bashy;

Good performance, definite talent, but you both need to work on stage presence, judges felt you were awkward in places and your image isn’t in sync, tighten these up and you have an act with serious  commercial viability.

Michelle Cook;

Good voice, and vocal dexterity, Summertime is a classic and you oversang it a bit, which is distracting. You have talent and a nice presence on stage. Second cover was better.

Rebecca Jones;

Accomplished and confident performance, great voice, but song choice is everything and the judges wanted to see more variety, they all agreed you’d be great in the West end.

Jonny Mudd;

Lovely smooth voice, song choice was good, unfortunate that it had already been done by someone else, good communication with audience but needs work on guitar tuning and image.

Natalie-Ann Stokes;

Good connection to the lyrics, you are obviously very bubbly and it shone through your performance.

Marysa Taylor;

You have a lovely voice, but the judges thought the song was wrong for you, as you struggled vocally in some places, maybe because you were nervous, relaxing helps the vocals to flow. A great effort.

Lekesha Cammock;

Very expressive and a good connection with the song, would like to hear more vocal dynamics in future, good all round performance.

Kirsty O’brien;

A passionate and emotional performance, good strong vocal and a nice song choice, but competition was extremely tough, so need to make sure you stand out.

John Anthony Adams;

Great huskiness to your voice, and a nice transition between songs, you definitely look the part already, think the first song was more suited to you than the second, remember to connect to what you’re singing.

Tony T;

Completely committed to your performance, good original lyrics, diction could be a bit clearer at times but overall the judges loved it – nice audience connection.

Susana Figueira;

Great voice, you were totally into your song and the audience believed every word you sang, a very intense performance, which the judges loved, would also like to see you with a band.

Jimmy Deane;

Brave choice to sing acapella unfortunately this time you were slightly off key, the judges though this was a real shame as you were very promising, and did a nice original.

Veronika Vesper;

 Good darker performance, you certainly stood out from the others. You obviously put a lot of time and thought into your performance and it showed. Judges thought the backing dancers were a little distracting at times though.

James Brown;

 Good audience communication and a very strong performance, but your guitar was slightly out of tune! Other than that you were very entertaining and the judges loved you.

 

 

The UK's largest talent competition for singers and songwriters travelled to London this week to see the best acts in the area battle it out for a chance to play at the grand final at the O2 in January.

We were absolutely blown away by the high quality of all of the acts at this final, who performed at the Beck Theatre in Hayes on Saturday 20th November.

Here the judges give us some feedback from the event, but remember it could all change at the grand final.

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

The judges were:  Singer songwriter Mesha Bryan who has written for pop princesses Kylie Minogue and Victoria Beckham, Vocal tutor Rob Palmer, Kiki Militsis from the Institute of contemporary music performance and Future Music’s Chris Grayston.

 

Chloe Cooke;

A confident performer with a lovely voice, nice interaction with the audience. Judges would really have loved to see an original song.

Maya Miko;

Nice cover and vocal dynamics, good audience connection but this was a safe choice of song, backing vocals needed more oomph.

Jemma Krysa;

Nice earthy feel to your voice – good to see a more folk-influenced sound, which you definitely did justice to, judges would have liked to hear something more uplifting though, loved the cello.

Sweet Ambition;

Nice vocals and a good song, but the judges thought you were a bit rooted to the spot and needed to use the stage more, don’t be afraid to move around a bit.

 Chris Hughes;

Judges loved your voice; see you as a major talent for the west end in the future, very strong performance.

Casi Wyn;

Nice voice with a unique edge to it, guitar playing needs a bit of work, but overall it was lovely, a refreshing change.

Nadia;

Disorganised, judges found your outfit distracting, which was a shame because you seemed to have great potential, felt that on another day you could have been great.

Ms Bashy;

Good performance, definite talent, but you both need to work on stage presence. Judges felt you were awkward in places and your image isn’t in sync, tighten these up and you have an act with serious commercial viability.

Michelle Cook;

Good voice, and vocal dexterity, Summertime is a classic and you oversang it a bit, which is distracting. You have talent and a nice presence on stage. Second cover was better.

Rebecca Jones;

Accomplished and confident performance, great voice, but song choice is everything and the judges wanted to see more variety, they all agreed you’d be great in the west end.

Jonny Mudd;

Lovely smooth voice, song choice was good, unfortunate that it had already been done by someone else. Good communication with audience but needs work on guitar tuning and image.

Natalie-Ann Stokes;

Good connection to the lyrics, you are obviously very bubbly and it shone through your performance.

Marysa Taylor;

You have a lovely voice, but the judges thought the song was wrong for you, as you struggled vocally in some places, maybe because you were nervous, relaxing helps the vocals to flow. A great effort.

Lekesha Cammock;

Very expressive and a good connection with the song, would like to hear more vocal dynamics in future, good all round performance.

Kirsty O’brien;

A passionate and emotional performance, good strong vocal and a nice song choice, but competition was extremely tough, so need to make sure you stand out.

John Anthony Adams;

Great huskiness to your voice, and a nice transition between songs, you definitely look the part already. Think the first song was more suited to you than the second, remember to connect to what you’re singing.

Tony T;

Completely committed to your performance, good original lyrics, diction could be a bit clearer at times but overall the judges loved it – nice audience connection.

Susana Figueira;

Great voice, you were totally into your song and the audience believed every word you sang, a very intense performance, which the judges loved - would also like to see you with a band.

Jimmy Deane;

Brave choice to sing acapella unfortunately this time you were slightly off key, the judges though this was a real shame as you were very promising, and did a nice original.

Veronika Vesper;

 Good darker performance, you certainly stood out from the others. You obviously put a lot of time and thought into your performance and it showed. Judges thought the backing dancers were a little distracting at times though.

James Brown;

 Good audience communication and a very strong performance, but your guitar was slightly out of tune! Other than that you were very entertaining and the judges loved you.