Click here for more video footage

Previous winners include Birdy!

Singers wanted to impress at Open Mic Bedford, as the search for talent in the Midlands and North London as singers took to the stage. The music competition has provided industry feedback for the best unsigned musicians in the area.

Successful contestants in the Midlands and North London performed at The Corn Exchange in Bedford 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 Beford were Another Level star Dane Bowers, Darren Ashford who has played with the likes of the Black Eyed Peas, Emma Durrant from the Essence Music Agency, Dutch Van Spall from Big Help Management, vocal expert Nicky Newman, 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.

Bedford singers wanted to impress – Feedback for 16 and under category

Olivia Carter– Needs work on her scale there just isn’t enough there. Felt the emotion of the song but needed to put in more performance. The song felt too big for her. Timings need work. Good vocally and good use of stage though.

Zac Hurst– A fun performance but needs more oomph.  Nice original song but it took a bit too long to get going. Loads of passion well done. Great use of time and a really slick performance. Vocally great.

Chelsea Sianga – Super’Diva– Very strong image. You put a lot of work into the performance this was really well-rehearsed. Lost vocals very slightly in biggest part of the song. Exciting but work on dynamics.

Katie Marshall– Very elegantly dressed and the song was well acted out. You did yourself very proud. A remarkable voice for one so young. You will develop as you go hopefully this will be a springboard for you.

Clarice & Luke– Nice choice of song. You felt a little disconnected from each other. Check out the Civil Wars for perfect harmonies and chemistry. Good musicianship you are a talented duo.

April Lancaster– Didn’t get the Minnie Mouse look. Felt irrelevant. You’re very good looking cultivate your own style. Struggled vocally at times. A bit pitchy but otherwise great. Would like to see more.

Disctracted– Would have liked to have seen a different arrangement to the last round.  Harmonies good. Great medley really came to life at end but overall not the best performance I’ve seen from the girls. More to come.

Drew Rice– Not sure I liked the arrangement. Slowing down pop hits is great for faster numbers but not this one. Needed more life in the performance. Nice vocal quality. Work on bringing more expression to your face.

Emma Seamarks– Don’t think the image works. Interesting style from Emma she is very versatile. Good vocal performance. Need to strengthen your falsetto in your head voice. Consider songs that are comfortable in your chest register which sounds great.

Jemma Jane– Well done with the dancers it added a dimension. An unusual song choice bur that’s a good thing it told us about your personality. Just need to work on vocals perhaps all the movement hampered.

Josh Cotterill– Nice to see an original song. Decent look. Don’t adapt your voice to suit the cover put your own flavour to it. A distinctive individual quality and vocal tone worked perfectly.

Maddie Rowland– VERY difficult song to take on but you did well. Is it possible to perform this song better than Flo though? Keep working on strengthening your upper register as it drops/weakens slightly.

Bedford singers wanted to impress – Further feedback

Rosie Pennie– Bad song choice. Show us edgy and modern. You perform it well but the market doesn’t need just another good vocalist. Great sassy attitude and voice. Careful with the ‘shouty’ bits.

Jasmine Elcock– Cute factor. Needs to perform more perhaps take the mic off the stand earlier and engage with the crowd more. It’s a big stage, use it. Huge voice, that’s talent! One word; incredible!

Sophia Hawes– It was a big gamble and needed to be timed perfectly. Well done for getting it right but a false start inevitably brings scores down. The loop is good but the voice needs to develop. You have a lot of talent.

Paris Georgia– Rough around the edges but potential there. Image is good. Voice not as strong as in the last round. The performance ability is there. Image and performance level is there if the voice can develop to match she can be great!

Naomi– Nice original but a bit too Kate Nash. There is room for another act like this in the market but your guitar playing needs to be more expansive and creative. Work on timings. You have a witty and quirky edge with a nice voice.

Giles– Got stronger as he went on. Well done for bringing the surprise element to the show again. Vocally still needs a lot of work but the performance ability is there. Dancers really worked. Wow!

Abigail Hutt– Watch out for that American accent. Bring your own spin to the cover. Very cute but needs to improve vocals to get to the next stage. You have plenty of time to develop your craft. Lovely girl with classic looks.

Hannah Jones– Cover a little too straight we didn’t learn enough about you. Nice look, I like the bare foot look although a lot of people do it these days. Some really vocals towards the end of the performance.

Rasanna O’Brien– Nice original but lacked a chorus. Good audience engagement. Nice cover choice. Modern and put your own spin on it. Well done. Easy to watch and listen to. Good potential.

Not Completely Blonde– A bit of a rusty start harmonies took a while to click in. Nice mash-up idea but not executed too well. You were much better in the last round. Not sure the song was strong enough.

Tori Lamb– Really great image. Cover was a little unexciting and lacked impact, although it was well performed. Nice enough original but all very low-key. You have a very strong visual impact.

Georgia Burgess– Felt a little dated. Second song choice didn’t suit her voice. Worked the stage a little so well done for that. Very big voice just not for this song. It’s very clear you have great vocal ability just update the act.

Sophie Nixon– Needs to work on image it’s a bit of a mish-mash at the moment. Not the most exciting song, think about entertainment value. I love the tone of your voice just work on your stage presence.

The guest act for the day was Lucy Spraggan, who treated the crowds to her trademark entertaining performances.

Bedford singers wanted, Enter Now!

All successful acts at the Midlands and North London 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!

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