Eager and hopeful young talent belted their hearts out on Tuesday night at the preliminary round of this year’s UK Unsigned series, which took place at the Storm Nightclub in Leicester Square, London.
The talent quest provides a platform for new talent, giving them support to promote themselves within the industry as well as the opportunity to expose their music to an audience.
Australian singer, guitar- and harmonica-player Tom, 29, said: “I came to London partly for the music scene… it’s a lot bigger here. You get more opportunities to expose your music.”
His music, as he describes it, is ‘surfy-folk-indie’: “I like to call it ‘coastal chill’,” he said.
But any type of talent is welcomed – this night’s music ranged from R&B to rock to gospel to pop to hip-hop, with some multi-genres like Tom’s creeping in.
Platform for new talent to follow in the shoes of Katie Melua and Leona Lewis
UK Unsigned has been the forum for artistes such as Katie Melua, Natalie Chua & Angelis, dance group Flawless who won the World Street Dance Championship, and X-factor winner Leona Lewis, whose smiling face adorns the promotional posters for the event.
“Leona entered Unsigned four times in a row before she ever got to X-factor — there’s a bit of inspiration for the people that came out tonight,” said the host of the event Matthew King, aka Matt Goldstar, Events and Sales Director of Talent In Your Community.
Several artistes managed by Step Up Management participated, including singer and pianist Rob Gentry, a graduate of Guildhall School of Music, who performed with a live band, and Sian Mullard, who sang five songs including a sultry rendition of “My Funny Valentine” as well as her original music.
£100,000 worth of prizes in 20 talent categories
A sum total of £100,000 worth of prizes, spread over 20 categories, and the chance for exposure to fans and talent scouts is a reasonable trade-off for the entry fee for artistes, which is £10 for solo acts and £15 for duos — which goes towards charities for media training camps and young pioneer acts.
Further preliminary rounds are to be held in various places throughout the UK including Manchester, Liverpool, and Scotland.
The finals will be held in May 2009 at Hackney Empire in London.
