Singing Competition Manchester - Feedback from Live and Unsigned Manchester Auditions!

Auditions for the singing and music competition in Manchester, Live and Unsigned, took place on Sunday 12^th February at The Palace Hotel, Manchester. More than 500 unsigned musicians turned up to audition for the singing and music competition in Manchester in front of the judging panel of music industry specialists.

Judging the unsigned musicians for the singing and music competition at The Palace Hotel, Manchester were Andy Kettle from CMP Entertainment, Helen Mason who presents on High Peak Radio, Melvin Lyons from Bling Studios, Ian Davidson from Balance Your Voice, Phillip Whittam from Liverpool Clubbing, and the Head of A&R at Future Music, Ben Price.

Well done to all those who auditioned for the band and singing competition in Manchester especially the few who made it through to the Live Regional Final showcase on Saturday 14^th April at The Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester.

Find below feedback for a selected few from the day who stood out for both the right and sometimes wrong reasons.

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 Live and Unsigned, but are published with a view to being beneficial to the performing bands and singers who auditioned. We ask you to please take the feedback onboard with a view to helping acts improve.

singing competition manchester – Audition Feedback!

Richard Harris– Express more with your body. Lovely voice. Need to start writing to take yourself to the next level.

A Little Preece & Dove– Nice harmonies but the song is a bit basic.

Alex Carrington – Nice tone and a good verse/chorus song. Not sure he’s vocally strong enough yet. Like the image.

False Alibi– Great lead singer. Strong performance from him. Timing was a mess at times and the backing vocals need some work.

Ian Bond– Very dated with a backing track and electric guitar. Not a bad song.

Peach– Nice image. Decent song but it needs to hit the chorus sooner and it needs to be a bit more catchy. Not an ideal audition song.

Brazen Goods– Great frontman. Good energy in the music but other than the singer there’s no energy in the overall performance. Great song.

Alter Ego– Has potential but needs work and more practice.

Drop Science– Would love to see a full set from you guys.

Ellis Cuddy– Good flow, basic lyrics though and becomes a bit repetitive. Nicely performed. Full of energy and it got stronger as it went along.

Manc Some Noize– Good! Worked well as a group. Dig deep for a better name that can take you places.

Rebecca Holland– Not a bad voice. Maybe try a bit of your own music. Lose the fear and relax.

Anthony Collesso– Yes! Good stuff Anthony like the look and the song. You sing well but maybe get someone else to play the piano.

Alan Lee Beal– Very dated image and act. Update it as you have a good voice. The backing vocals were a distraction.

James Henry– Great voice and a good range. Bring down your vibrato sometimes to control it. Your song needs to be more commercial.

Victoria Louise– Like your voice. Keep working on your presence and your confidence. Big potential but perhaps a bit too young for discovery just yet.

Hot Pocket Face– Keyboards out of time and it distorted the whole sound. Too much going on it doesn’t marry together. Good front man though.

Sam Lyon– Didn’t engage with the panel. Became stronger as the performance went on after a weak start.

Who Cried Wolf– You need to improve your timing. Lead singer has a great voice.

Duke– Quite a nice ‘The Strokes’ like sound but it’s missing something. Needs another element and some backing vocals. Nice song.

SINGING COMPETITION MANCHESTER – FURTHER FEEDBACK

Ashley Chadwick– Your voice has potential but you need to invest in a tutor to help access your chest voice.

Conquer Rio– Nice vocals. Good energy throughout the band and good dynamics.

Zoe Hodkinson– Looked a little nervous but didn’t perform nervously. Playing is a little basic. You need to express the song through your body more.

Hannah Gorge– Delightful. Needs to project a little more and get a little bit of steel behind that delicate performance.

Invisible Duck– Needs more energy and bounce. Nice voice but needs a rock edge to the vocal.

Jess Harwood– Song is a little basic in its structure. Nicely performed. Your playing and singing is very good. Easy to watch.

Gabby Henshaw– Like the look, marketable. Nice building verses but the chorus needed to be stronger. Need to work on your tuning.

Phil Goss– Song wasn’t the best for an audition, a little too sleepy. Too mellow it lacked energy.

Matthew Wood– Seems to be singing at the top end of his range, and in one key. Lovely guitar work

Matt Hamer- Nice concept just watch it doesn’t get too messy. It only works if it’s smooth. On the whole it was good. Fabulous to watch.

Red Star– Tight musically and vocally. Delivered a solid performance. Confident.

Jess Roberts– Wow, original style. Beautiful voice. Really breaking the mould.

Disctracted– Not the strongest start but the song got better as it went on. Great song to have written themselves. Most of the panel felt the girls needed to dress more age appropriately.

Escape Artists– Good energy. Nice and tight.

David Liversidge– Unique image which can take him places. Voice and playing to match. Good potential in the competition.

Holly Anderton– Strong voice but not an original one. Your own music is good and gives you some originality though.

Last Barron– Powerful. Clearly a well-polished act loads of energy.

The Fallout- Lead singer has a real presence. Good vocal range. A very watchable band. You look like you’re enjoying yourself.

Kaitain– Good energy. Nice and tight. 

The Peaks– Very loud! But a great sound.

A Little Priest & Dove– Nice harmonies. Not a captivating performance though.

Krawl– Love the bass player. Nice energetic performance but would it sound good on record?  Perhaps they need to develop the song to be more commercial. Drummer is sick!

String the Marionette– Love the passion and energy, well done guys.

One Voice– Not bad harmonies. Watch those American accents creeping in. Get writing to bring on the act. Captivating.

Arabella Ogden– Need some coaching to develop your scale. Struggling with your top end notes.

Holly McAleavy– Voice is decent but you need to introduce something original to the act.

Alistair Red– Felt like the wrong song, the intro was too long. No vocal range but you showed potential. Need a bit of work on the chest range of your voice.

Lucky Heather– Like the act but the vocals need a lot of work. Better at rapping then singing. Get some backing for the singing on the chorus. Like your stuff.

SINGING COMPETITION MANCHESTER – FURTHER FEEDBACK

Ellie McDonald– Nice playing and a great voice. Work on developing an original tone and you can be a little more unique.

Oliver Newhall– Need to project more. Guitar playing needs to be more complex to stand out. Very pleasant voice he has potential.

Nathan Heaton- Would have like to hear heard you with some beats. Timing not quite there today but still showed potential.

James Thompson– Good song. Voice needs work at the top of your chest voice.

Stacey Murphy– Well performed and a decent song. Watch the mid-Atlantic accent creeping in.

Blunt Truth– Very marketable front woman, a good performer and a great look. Like the song and the vibe.

Matt Johnson Funk Society– It’s good but not yet polished. You didn’t always look like you knew where you were going with it, but I like it. Lead needs to stay in the performance during instrumentals. Really needs more energy and more rehearsal ahead of the live show.

Declan -Practise with your flow. Bring some performance value in there as well.

Michelle Sakim– Nerves showed a little. Nice performer just learn to relax more.

Andrew Turner– Very experimental but very messy. Good riffing. It’s just not polished enough and the vocals aren’t strong enough.

Chelsea Turrell– Nice voice but you need to start writing to progress the act.

The Uptake– Love the sound coming from the lead guitar.

The Fall Out– Great energy, great song, loved them!

The Sirens– Very good! Need to perform more with your bodies and stay in the song during instrumentals. Looks a bit awkward when they’re not singing. One of my favourites of the day.

Emily Carr– Perhaps a little too early for now. Needs more passion in the performance. Very nice voice and the playing is decent. For her age she’s good and the potential is there.

Matt Torr– Have more belief in yourself, you’re good. Seemed a little nervous. Project more and be more confident. Nice song. You need to inject a little more energy, perhaps plugging in will help this.

Black Mamba– Lacking something but it was ok. Difficult to pinpoint but something was missing.

The Peaks– An old school rock ‘n’ roll feel with a modern twist. It’s good. Great vocals, brilliantly timed.

Mark Bradshaw– Must keep your eyes open when you perform. It engages the audience. 

KO– Difficult to judge without backing and without his vocalist.

Sycamore Lights  - Love the set up. Easy on the eye aesthetically and easy on the ear too. Nice to see them smiling, good vibe.

Andy Witaker & Andy Clegg– Very nice guitar work, very clean. Nice song.

Stubbie Mount– Vocals too much at times. Other times they were good. Needs more rehearsal to polish  but there’s something good there.

singing competition manchester

Performers who have made the Manchester Regional Final will be in with the opportunity to win a multitude of prizes. The winners of both the Blackstar Exposure Award, the award for the act with the largest quantity of submitted publicity material in relation to the competition, and the Extreme Exposure Award, the award for the act who performs the most high publicity stunt, will win a free day in a local recording studio worth up to £250, or if the winning act is a band, they’ll win a brand new Blackstar amp. The Live and Unsigned studio partner for Manchester and the north-west is Bling Studios. Runners up for the Blackstar Exposure Award will receive free music lessons worth up to £125, courtesy of Balance Your Voice.

In addition, acts that make it through to the Live Showcases will be within a chance to win festival slots, with festival organisers selecting acts to perform at their 2012 festival at each stage of the competition. Manchester acts will have the chance of being selected to perform a slot at a number of festivals with the Manchester Regional Final festival partner being The Lancaster Music Festival.

If you’d like to come along to see some of the bands and acts that made it through to the Manchester Regional Showcase Finals on Saturday 14^th April at The Royal Northern College of Music click here to go to the Live and Unsigned website to purchase tickets. If you want to get involved with Live and Unsigned next year then click here to enter.