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Previous winners include Birdy!

Singing competition winners from around the UK competed at The O2 with Shak taking home the title of Open Mic UK singing competition winner. All finalists were competing to become the singing competition winner and be named Open Mic UK champion 2011. The Open Mic UK singing competition has provided feedback for the Regional Final winners in the UK competition.

Successful contestants in the singing competition played in front of a capacity Indigo2 crowd this weekend, a reward for their run in the singing competition, but there could only be one winner. The singing competition feedback on all acts can be seen below.

The judging panel included Radio 1's Annie Nightingale, BGM’s Michael King, Future Music’s Chris Grayston, Flavour magazine writer Semper Azeez-Harris, E Plus from Choice FM, Pete Cunnah from D:Ream, Mobo Award winning singer Shola Ama, and Ben Price from Future Music.

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 competition winner 2011

Karla Bernardi; Annie Nightingale; Just a really good voice. Shola Ama; A tad uneventful until the high notes. Nice dress. Pete Cunnah; You struggled a tad with the higher notes but you have a great voice. Great! Michael King; Really good voice, keep at it! E Plus; The performance was a little forced in my opinion. Semper Azeez Harris; Good voice. Ben Price; One or two timing issues at the beginning maybe down to nerves. Love the way the song climaxes. Goosebumps towards the end, great vocals. Best wildcard in the final for me.

Sheena McHugh; Annie Nightingale; A seriously good singing style but she needs to sing with her whole body and soul. Shola Ama; Brilliant. Class. Loved it. Beautiful vocals. Pete Cunnah; I’d re-voice those top two notes. A diva in the making. Awesome! Michael King; On Point. Chris Grayston; Passion filled performance, real intensity and a quality vocal. E Plus; Vocals were on point, although the wrong song in my opinion. Love the vocal range. Ben Price; Not sure this was the best song choice. Lacked high points and the chance to show off that great voice until the very end. Lovely image.

Yannik; Annie Nightingale; Sounds good to me. Shola Ama; Wasn’t sure about the American accent? Unnecessary. Pete Cunnah; Not my scene but thought it was bang on, really enjoyed it. Michael King; On point. Chris Grayston; Needed more showmanship, dancers and performance. E Plus; Didn’t like that American accent. Ben Price; Nicely timed rap, would have liked to see dancers improve the act visually. Brilliant beats, a really enjoyable performance.

K.O.G; Annie Nightingale; Not a very well thought out act. Shola Ama; Good energy and vibe, but a bit messy with the song mash up. Pete Cunnah; Shaggytastik! Great presence but a bit messy. Star performance. The drums and the guitar weren’t glued together though. Chris Grayston; Engaging performance although a bit bemused by the little one coming on the stage to dance. E Plus; Energy was on point. Ben Price; Love this guy, more layers than an onion. Not sure the dancer worked. Good original material.

Hannah Faulkner; Annie Nightingale; She’s really into her song but not bothered about putting in a performance. Shola Ama; Good vocals and guitar but something was missing. Pete Cunnah; I’d go more Florence and the Machine here. 2nd guitar was messy. Could hear you more in the 2^nd song. Loved it! Michael King; Very good. Chris Grayston; Good beat to the original, I like that. E Plus; She didn’t sell any of the two songs to me. Ben Price; Nice original song and a good cover choice.  Nice use of stage and glad Hannah showed her potential as a vocalist and an acoustic performer.

Alexia McIntosh; Annie Nightingale; Yes she has impact. Nina Simon-ish. Really made an effort. Shola Ama; Saw a little too much of her dancer for my liking. Pete Cunnah; Get control of the vibrato and don’t overcook the melody. Great vibe. Michael King; Dancer is too much. Chris Grayston; Some great creative ideas with image and routine. E Plus; She really felt the story of the first song well. Vocals were not on point, good performance though. Semper Azeez Harris; Vocal was not on point. Ben Price; Ropey start - off key in places. Nice surprise element but it took too much time and it just wasn’t right in my opinion. Others really enjoyed it though.

Kayleigh Sanders; Annie Nightingale; Good voice but her soul and personality didn’t come through, and was too dependent on the lyrics. Shola Ama; Didn’t real feel this. Pete Cunnah; Find the centre stage, you’re the star! A little pitchy and you need to develop your mic technique, but great stuff! Chris Grayston; Voice cracked a little bit at the higher end, but a lovely tone. E Plus; She sang well but it didn’t capture me. Semper Azeez Harris; Has to work on performing and capturing the audience. Ben Price; Looks the part, very classy. Cover song was a funny one as few people knew it. It lacked impact or that moment of climax. Come to the front of the stage to engage the audience.

Strappa; Annie Nightingale; Dependent on the words. Not putting his body into it. Shola Ama; Cute. Had a vibe, not sure what though. Seemed a bit nervous. Pete Cunnah; Great rapping. Move more around the stage. Ace! E Plus; A very nice flow. Would have liked to have him at the front of the stage though. Ben Price; Nice change of tempo into the second song. Work the stage more – you were too far back. Dancers may have brought another dimension.

Eli Cripps;  Annie Nightingale; She has some presence, created some atmosphere and hot I guess. At least she was different. Shola Ama; Wasn’t sure about the wardrobe. It distracted from your beautiful voice. Pete Cunnah; Great outfit. You’ve got rhythm and great stage presence (never mention boyfriends in a pop song though!). Michael King; Disappointing as I know she’s better than that. Chris Grayston; Overplayed that great body. Made the cover completely her own! E Plus; She worked much better than she sounded, and she looked good! Ben Price; Personal hellos at the start alienated the rest of the audience. Vocals not as good as they’d been in previous rounds. Should have done the original she did at the Manchester Regional Final, which was awesome.

Bella; Annie Nightingale; Perfectly adequate, just not exciting. Shola Ama; Nice tone, nice voice, but could have seen more life in the performance. Pete Cunnah; Diva voice. Your voice seemed a little pushed here and there, but a cracking performance! Michael King; Proper singer. Chris Grayston; Wonderful voice but you need a modern twist. E Plus; Sang well but had no dynamics for me. Ben Price; Struggled on some of the notes it felt like the song was too big in places. Well done though you performed great to the audience.

Chris Moon; Annie Nightingale; Dylanesque. Shola Ama; A bit stiff. Pete Cunnah; I think you need a band, not sure the Stripes cover works without a riff. Michael King; OK. Chris Grayston; Not sure if you purposefully had the mic stand too low which caused you to stoop. Original was great. Ben Price; Love the cover song choice, nice original and like his guitar style. How someone made this song work acoustically is beyond me, great testament.

George Michael Abbott; Shola Ama; A bit too sound-aliky. Tuning issues. Pete Cunnah; Sheeran wasn’t a patch on the Stevie Wonder cover. Voice shone. Work that stage more. Excellent! Michael King; Cool. Chris Grayston; Very different but it worked, although it needed more performance. E Plus; Wasn’t the best vocalist, but the overall swag and performance was top notch. Ben Price; A bit of a dated cover by Stevie Wonder but it worked better than the Ed Sheeran song. You’re a good impact performer.

Singing competition winner 2011 – further feedback

Lynn Harkness; Annie Nightingale; Good voice but there were clichéd movements. Shola Ama; Feels like the vocal sound was forced. Good energy though. Pete Cunnah; Great timing and timbre in her voice. Really got a great vibe from you. Michael King; Very good!! E Plus; She sounded very nasal. Her movements didn’t go with the lyrics. Semper Azeez Harris; She can definitely sing but needs more work on her slight nasal sound. Ben Price; Love your vocal style. Well performed Lynn, vocally you were on point.

Quackhouse; Annie Nightingale; Reminded me a bit of Van Morrison. Well-coordinated but don’t quite see where they would appear. Sort of a classic act with soul. Shola Ama; Like the collective vibe. Pete Cunnah; Quite unusual format for a street/soul act. First lead vocal could have been louder. Tight harmonies. Quackers! Wicked! Michael King; Good stuff. E Plus; The lead singer has his eyes closed all the time. Love the energy and vibe. Ben Price; Great harmonies. A dated cover but you made it your own. Awesome vibe - so engaging. Rapping was a surprise but good.

Christine Davies;  Annie Nightingale; Nice set-up with two girls. Presentation over substance though. Shola Ama; Dancers were a distraction and not very good. Pete Cunnah; Problem with choosing an Adele track means we have to compare you to her. Not sure it suits your voice but good stuff! Michael King; Star quality. Chris Grayston; Polished. E Plus; I didn’t see any stage presence. Ben Price; A funny choice of cover but you made it work. Could have worked the stage but then the dancers brought that effect so well done for thinking it through.

Benjamin Loy; Shola Ama; Nice tone, but the arrangement was a bit all over the place. But good work. Pete Cunnah; Timbre is amazing, vibrato is too fast and rushing ahead of the beat. Work the stage more. Nice one! Michael King; Good ability. Chris Grayston; What a strong, clear vocal. E Plus; Would have liked to hear the bridge of the song. He sung well all the same. Ben Price; Great image. Good vocal and good choice of song. Best we’ve seen of Ben throughout the competition. Just watch that American accent creeping in.

Melly Burrell; Shola Ama; Great stage presence. Snarls a bit too much though. Pete Cunnah; Your own song worked better than the cover. A bit pitchy at the start and timings suffered but very good. Michael King; She rocks!! Chris Grayston; Needs to lose the entertainer twang and swagger in the vocal and performance. Ben Price; Good to see two sides to Melly. Well performed to the crowd. Good accompaniment it doesn’t normally work with backing track as well but it did work.

2 Deep; Annie Nightingale; Quite mellow. Shola Ama; Dodgy guitars and harmonies. Pete Cunnah; Not there yet! Maybe get a band together and tighten it up. Great stuff though! E Plus; Guitar playing nice most of the time but harmonies are off and image needs work. Ben Price; Nice chemistry. Second song brought the performance to life. Well done lads.

Daniel Mushett; Annie Nightingale; Audience liked it! Shola Ama; Too much of an impersonation. Good impressions all the same. Pete Cunnah; Great vibe, pitchy in places. Michael King; Love him, great fun. Chris Grayston; What a great Jackson tribute. E Plus; Very entertaining. MJ flavour on a Lionel Ritchie song. Loved the 2^nd track too. Ben Price; Really dated cover choice. You need to think more about being an act for the future rather than a retrospective one. Had good fun though.

Karl Palmer; Annie Nightingale; He looks like Michael Buble but let’s not hold that against him. I wouldn’t know how to judge this but he seems very good. Shola Ama; Liked the fact he brought a different vibe. Pete Cunnah; You were superb. There must be a place for you in the industry. Excellent! Michael King; Great ability. E Plus; Very good effort but would have liked more gusto. Ben Price; Brought variety to the show. Such a credit to him that this genre found its way to the final. He can have a career in that industry and commanded a standing ovation from many in the audience.

Hip Hop Disciples; Annie Nightingale; Sounded good to me. Shola Ama; Good energy but a tad unoriginal.  Pete Cunnah; Owned it. Wow! E Plus; Didn’t grab me but energy levels were high. Semper Azeez Harris; Main rapper has talent. Ben Price; Surprised me, much better than in the other shows. The original is decent - I like it.

Mister Bicester; Annie Nightingale; Can’t get excited about this. Not enough style. Shola Ama; Great vocal but a bit rushy. Should change his name to Mr. B. Pete Cunnah; Great texture in your voice. I’d slow it down a touch to help comprehension. I need time to take in the lyrics. Top! Michael King; Image lets him down. E Plus; Left handed guitar player who played well! Semper Azeez Harris; Cool, think he ran out of steam! Love his energy though. Ben Price; Love this guy. So much energy. He has star quality. Best acoustic solo performer of the day by a distance.

Becky Payne; Annie Nightingale; Liked her, a bit Adele-like. Shola Ama; Good vocals but too much of a medley going on. Pete Cunnah; Great voice and good stage presence. Your song was awesome. Loved it! Michael King; Good voice!! E Plus; Sung very well but didn’t have that certain something. Ben Price; Love Becky. First cover was a bit Americanised though. Felt the original song showed off Becky’s abilities more. Not the best we’ve seen from her in the competition.

John Adams; Annie Nightingale; I kept marking him up! Not my style but he’s good. Shola Ama; Nice song choice. Pete Cunnah; Band is bang on! This cover really suited your voice. REALLY GOOD! Michael King; An OK act. Chris Grayston; For me John is pop star waiting for the right song.  E Plus; Loved his diction and overall delivery. Ben Price; Bit of a sleepy song choice. John has a very silky voice.

Singing competition winner 2011 – enter now!

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