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Previous winners include Birdy!

Singers wanted to impress at Open Mic Portsmouth, Hampshire as the search for talent in Southern England as singers took to the stage. The music competition has provided industry feedback for the best unsigned musicians in the area.

Singing contestants in Portsmouth performed at Highlight, Gunwharf, Portsmouth, Hampshire 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 wanting singers were Head of the Rock and Pop Foundation Steve Sammut, Phil Hewitt Group arts editor for Sussex Newspapers, International singer Rosalind Fountain, Me'Sha Bryan from ICMP who has sung on tracks for Kylie Minogue, Victoria Beckham, Groove Armada, Rose Paul Editor of music website St Pauls lifestyle and 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.

Singers wanted to impress– Portsmouth 16 and under category

Ellie Earl– Need to give more impact to give greater presence on stage as you have a lovely tone to your voice and a well thought through image. Also look to connect with supporting musicians.

Kirsty Fallowfield– The most improved act vocally lovely tone with plenty of power and connection to the music making the cover her own. However Kirsty does need to perform though with more purpose. Connect and engage with the audience with your eyes.

Heather– Again a strong emotion that connected with the song was conveyed which is rare in someone so young. Good weight in your voice, work on diction and will be great!

Lauren Thalia– Well acted out performance, great confidence, vocal needs some strengthening rather than falling into the trap of shouting.

Lydia Wootton– Recovered from a nervy start to demonstrate a lovely voice, performance would have benefitted from more movement on stage. Relax and grow with every performance going forward as could hear a lot more from Lydia in the near future.

Anjeli Diack– Amazing for her age was however in the wrong key for large periods and wasn’t to the same standards she set in the Regional Final. Consistency will come in time with more performance.   

Heidi Harries –Good sultry confidence a total natural on stage. To improve watch your performance back as part of your performance with eye contact are superb others need working on, also tuning at end of phrasing in chest voice.

Jemma Murphy– Performance needed more purpose and attitude on stage, needed to be varied and more interesting. Vocal had good tone so need to get that in synch with a performance.

Siana– Could be really good, have a great image but performance could have been more refined sometimes less is more with more snap in the less

Tasha Hutt– Good song choice, well sung watch tuning in places however the main critique is it needed a little more emotion and passion. Looks fantastic just needs more performance and come to the front of the stage.

Ash Blakeley– Sweet song choices but sounded too crowded with too much going on which overpowered the vocal, it would have benefitted from being stripped down. Ash should also have come more to the front of the stage needed to show who was lead.

Singers wanted to impress– Further feedback from Portsmouth shows

Matt Maltese –Matt just connects well to music, well crafted, captivating and talented musician making the songs his own. Try to escape the indulgence of the piano and connect with the audience more this is a subtle thing to change along with 2 songs for greater continuity and will be ready for The O2. 

Sam Jones– Shaky start which grew with confidence. Guitar playing was potentially better than the vocals (although had a good range) with some great guitar playing.

Joe Emmett– Second song was so much better aka Ed Sheeran however deliver needs to be stronger. More coaching is needed as sounded nervous as song and image is there.

Megan Linford–Guitar work wasn’t up to the vocal ability, Megan has a fantastic voice with nice frequencies but more guitar work is needed or find someone to accompany you on guitar so you can concentrate on your performance.  

Crystal Cooper– A stand out vocal after a poor first note with lovely tone on the ofter notes and expression in the vocal.

Shak – Brilliant! Good energy and stage craft, interaction with the crowd was great which grabbed them from the moment he started. Work on mic technique to be just that bit sharper.

Rebecca and Jamie– Nice tone although at points song did run away from Rebecca as appeared too big to sustain the notes so work on breathing but on the whole controlled it. Immaculate keyboard playing to an overall engaging natural performance. 

Sophie Reed– Great personality, could give even more attitude to the performance and make it your own. Image was good, rapping stronger than the singing which needs work on tuning.  

Toby Lewis–Beautiful voice, phrasing was perfect and lovely tone. Look at image and more expression in the performance. A future star!

Alejandro– Great dynamics building the track nicely, with a great warmth and husk in the voice, and a great range displayed. You sang with emotion, but work on maintaining that emotion during the gaps where you aren’t singing. Your image, particularly clothes, needs to be looked at. Your performance seemed to please the ladies – a future star!

Aaron and Milo– Original song was good, although it could have benefitted from use of greater dynamics. Vocally, better harmonies would really thicken the song up. You have great musicality, but try not to look bored when performing!

Ella Scott–Good strong delivery from such a young girl, but at times when you pushed you went a little sharp. Overall it was a solid performance and you have great potential.

Mollie Scott– Vocally very strong. Appeared to be a bit nervous at times, so try and control your energy into the performance and relax. A great performance from a girl who shows great potential!

Singers wanted Open Mic Portsmouth, Hampshire Enter Now!

All successful acts at the Southern Area Final in Portsmouth, Hampshire 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!

The Open Mic UK competition is also being filmed for broadcasting on Sky TV! A two-part series will be broadcast on Sky on Sunday 8^th & 15^th January. The Making of a Star comes to Sky 201 in the New Year.

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