TeenStar

TeenStar
Genre music competition
Begins January
Ends July
Frequency Annually
Location(s) IndigO2, London, United Kingdom; National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Years active 4
Inaugurated 2013
Most recent ongoing
Participants 9,000 annually[1]
Patron(s) Open Mic UK
Website
www.teenstarcompetition.co.uk

TeenStar is a singing competition in the UK, it is run by Future Music. The competition is open for singers, vocalists and solo artists to enter either in their Teenage or pre teen years. Acts compete at regional auditions to get the chance to perform live at live music showcases to reach an annual national final, which for its first the first Grand Final in 2013 was held at the IndigO2 in London, and more recently at The NEC in Birmingham.[2]

Overview

The singing competition was originally devised by Chris Grayston in his capacity as CEO for Future Music.[3] The first year saw over 9,000 applications.[4] Entrants compete in a series of local and regional heats for a chance to perform at the National Grand Final at the IndigO2 within The O2 in London.[5]

Categories

Singers, rappers, groups, and acoustic singer/songwriters of all genres are accepted as competitors. The competition is divided into three age categories; pre-teens (12 years and below), mid-teens (13–15 years of age) and late teens (16 years old and over).[2]

Judging

Acts can perform either covers or their own original material live, and demos and recorded material are not accepted. Judges from the music industry, celebrities and record labels score all performances on the basis of vocal/musical talent, stage performance, star quality, and individuality, and the winning acts in the age categories must earn the most points from judges.[2] There is also a point where the audience can vote in order to aid those in the judges' top scores to make it to the next round of the competition.[6]

The judging panel that crowned Luke Friend 2013's winner included; former BBC Radio 1 DJ and Choice FM presenter Ras Kwame;[7] four time Ivor Novello Awards winner and one half of the successful garage duo Artful Dodger (UK band) - Mark Hill (musician);[8] Choice FM presenter E Plus; The X Factor's Jake Quickenden; Capital FM producer and celebrity journalist Jon Hornbuckle;[9] editor of TeenStar partner Shout (magazine) Ali Henderson;[10] Head of Baby Girl Music Michael King[11] and Head of Future Music Chris Grayston.[3]

Prizes

In 2013, there was an overall prize pool of £20,000 throughout the competition including prizes at each regional stage of music lessons and recording studio time.[12][13]

The main prize for 2013 was a cash prize of £5,000 for the winner to spend on advancing their music,[14] plus a promotional package reportedly worth an additional £10,000[12] and an extensive consultation package provided by Future Music.

Annual competitions

2013

The first TeenStar singing competition took place in 2013. After a series of localised and regional finals which took place around the UK including NEC, Sheffield City Hall and the Tyne Theatre in Newcastle, the National Grand Final took place at within The O2 in the IndigO2 in London.[5]

Among the performers at the National Grand Final were Saffron Silva from Surrey and Michael Rice from Hartlepool who both got signed to BGM/Future Music. Other winners included overall competition runner-up SweetCheeks from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. The pre-teen age category winner was Chloe Wealleans from Northumberland, the runner-up was Harlee from Warrington, Cheshire and third place was Musty from Enfield, London. The mid-teen age category winner was SweetChix, with the runner-up being Michael Rice and third place going to Emily Middlemas from Glasgow. The late-teen age category runner-up was Bud from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.[15] Michael Rice was later to feature on The X Factor (UK TV series) [16] and SweetChix got to the final of the ITV's Britain's Got Talent (series 8).[17]

The 17-year-old singer/songwriter Luke Friend won both the late teens and the overall competition.[18] He performed his own song at the competition called "Fame of the unfortunate girl" in front of a sellout 2,500 people,[19] both singing and playing guitar. He won a cash prize of £5,000, which he used to purchase studio time to record his album in River Studios in Southampton[20] where Birdy also first recorded her album before getting signed to Warner.

Since winning TeenStar, Luke friend has gone on to enjoy further fame through The X Factor (UK TV series)[21] eventually coming third to overall winner Sam Bailey.[22]

2014

The 2014 National Grand Final took place at The NEC in Birmingham [23] and after coming third in the previous year Emily Middlemas took the title.[24] Emily has been entering Future Music singing competitions since the age of 8 and has progressed to more National Grand Finals than any other act in Future Music history. Emily has appeared in National Grand Finals including Open Mic UK, Live and Unsigned and TeenStar on no less than 5 occasions.[25]

In a similar journey to Luke Friend in the previous year, Emily then starred in The X Factor (UK TV series) and made it to the judges' houses.[26]

Other winners included pre-teens winner Jake McKechnie from Wigan [27] and late teens winner Victoria Bass from Folkestone; but it was mid teens winner Emily Middlemas singing her original song "Goodnight kiss" who won the overall title.[24] Many of the placed acts were picked up by Syco and featured on the X Factor.[24]

2015

The 2015 National Grand Final again took place at The NEC in Birmingham on 25 July and the overall winner was Rachel Ann Stroud from the mid-teens category with a striking version of "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak. Rachel, hailing from Bournemouth, won with 115 marks. Second in the mid teens category was Tasha Jerawan from Cannock and Talis Eros from South Wales came third.

The pre teens category was won by Breeze Redwine with an original song, "Here Alone", Breeze gaining 122 points in the Final. Second place went to Tazmin Barnes from Tewkesbury and third place to Evan from Shoebury.

Late teens winner Eli scored 122 marks with her original song "About You". Eli, from Bromley, was ahead of Georgia from London in second and We!Are from Hanwell in third place.

Judges included four time Ivor Novello award winner Mark Hill, James Meadows (A&R from Universal Music), Andy Baker (Music Manager from Resound Media), Rock School’s Stuart Slater, Editor in Chief of Shout Magazine Laura Brown and head of Future Music Chris Grayston. For the pre teen category Dutch Van Spall from Big Help Management replaced James Meadows.

Overall winners

Date Grand Winner Pre-Teens Mid-Teens Late-Teens
2013 Luke Friend[15] Chloe Weallans[15] Sweet Cheeks[15] Luke Friend[15]
2014 Emily Middlemas[24] Jake McKechnie [24] Emily Middlemas[24] Victoria Bass[24]
2015 Rachel Ann Stroud Breeze Redwine Rachel Ann Stroud Eli

Judging panels

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Future Music Contest acts set to rock OX-Fest". TeenStar. June 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  2. 1 2 3 "Singing Competition TeenStar". TeenStar. 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  3. 1 2 3 "Chris Grayston". TeenStar. 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  4. ↑ Carpenter, Steve (28 February 2013). "Teenage city star Cait hits the high notes". Coventry Observer. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  5. 1 2 "Teen Singing Opportunities". TeenStar. 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  6. ↑ "National Vote". TeenStar. 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  7. 1 2 "Ras Kwame". TeenStar. 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  8. 1 2 "Mark Hill". TeenStar. 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  9. 1 2 "Capital FM's Jon Hornbuckle to judge TeenStar Grand Final". TeenStar. July 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  10. 1 2 "Judges' Top Scores". TeenStar. July 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  11. 1 2 "Michael King". TeenStar. July 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  12. 1 2 "Singing Competition Prizes". TeenStar. 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  13. ↑ "Singing Competition TeenStar". Perry Beaches. 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  14. ↑ Ellis, Dawn (9 July 2013). "Teignmouth teenager Luke Friend wins". Torquay Herald Express. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 "Luke Friend Crowned Singing Competition Winner". TeenStar. July 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  16. ↑ Rees, Kate (7 September 2014). "Factor review: 16-year-old 'diva' Michael Rice proves highlight of show dominated by the ladies". The Mirror. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  17. ↑ Walker, Danny (18 May 2014). "Britain's Got Talent: Watch SweetChix get cheered after medley performance of She Said and Back to Black". The Mirror. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  18. ↑ "Teignmouth Singer Luke Friend wins contest". This Is Devon. 11 July 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  19. ↑ Linekar, James (16 July 2013). "TeenStar Final". Born In A Barn Studios. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  20. ↑ River Studios Tweets on Twitter
  21. ↑ "Luke Friend's Room Audition". X-Factor. August 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  22. ↑ "Luke Friend crashes out of The X Factor while Sam Bailey and Nicholas McDonald go through". Express. 14 December 2013. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  23. ↑ "TEENSTAR MUSIC COMPETITIONS - GRAND FINAL". TeenStar. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Emily Middlemas Crowned TeenStar 2014 Champion". Pop Scoop. 2014-07-22. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  25. ↑ "Meet the Live and Unsigned 2012 Winners". MusicRadar. 2014-08-01. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  26. ↑ "Emily Middlemas sings One Direction's Story Of My Life". The X Factor UK. 5 October 2014. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  27. ↑ "Jake's talent contest showdown". TeenStar. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  28. ↑ "Choice FM Presenter E-Plus to Judge TeenStar Grand Final". TeenStar. July 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  29. ↑ "The X-Factor's Jake Quickenden to judge TeenStar Grand Final". TeenStar. July 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  30. ↑ "Gareth Henderson". TeenStar. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  31. ↑ "Cece Sammy". TeenStar. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  32. ↑ "James Meadows". TeenStar. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
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