A Hampshire singer-songwriter is hoping it will be second-time lucky as he goes through to the regional finals of Open Mic UK.
Last year Koerie Willsdon made it to the semi-finals of the National contest to find unsigned talent but just missed out on a spot in the finals. This year he says he is hoping his original material, which he describes as a crossover between metal and country, will impress the panel of music industry professionals at the Grand Final. The Final will be held at the Indigo at The O2 next February.
The guitarist is a familiar sight busking on the streets of Eastleigh in Hampshire, where he also fronts a local metal band. However, Koeire says he wants to showcase his own songs on a national platform and hopes that an appearance at the Finals of the competition will result in massive exposure.
Open Mic Uk is a talent contest run by Future Music – who also run two other similar competitions – Live and Unsigned and Teen Star. Many previous contestants have used success in such competitions to springboard onto TV talent shows like The Voice and The X-Factor. Every year over 10,000 aspiring performers pay a £10 entry fee in the hope that they too can emulate chart topping artists like Nathan Sykes of the Wanted, Birdy and Lucy Spraggan – all of whom have been former Future Music contestants.
There are prizes for several different categories and the organisers say that the overall winner will win valuable studio time to produce an album and professional support to market it.
Speaking about the competition last year’s winner, Reuel Elijah said:
“Being at Open Mic UK was such a great journey. The stages and platforms we were given really gave us the opportunity to perform at our highest levels, which in return gave us the chance to be open to the biggest amount of exposure possible, and the fact that the grand finale was in the O2 was the cherry on top for me. I loved every second.”