Sophie DeBattista, originally from Malta and now based in South East London, has been given the big thumbs up by judges at the Open Mic UK auditions. Along with other impressive acts, the emerging 19 year old singer songwriter has made it through to the Open Mic UK 2013 Regional Finals and will now be performing in the live showcases of the competition.
Open Mic UK 2013 is the biggest music competition in the UK for singers and solo artists, searching for the UK’s best singers, singer/songwriters, rappers and vocalists of all genres who perform either covers or original material.
One contestant who has evidently caught the judge’s eye is local talent Sophie DeBattista, now in the running to compete for a place in the Grand Final within The O2 in London. Thousands of hopefuls entered nationwide and hundreds of auditionees queued patiently on the day for their turn to impress the judges. Those who made it through the audition stage will now take part in the live Regional Final showcases alongside the best talent in their area. They’ll be performing in front of hundreds of audience members and a music industry judging panel to win a place at the 2013 Grand Final.
Events Coordinator and Head of Future Music Chris Grayston said “Every year that we hold this competition the bar is raised and the quality gets higher and higher. We’re really looking forward to experiencing the raw talent from across the country. For promising singers, song-writers, rappers and vocalists, Open Mic UK provides a real opportunity to open the door to a music career by showcasing their talent to music industry professionals and audiences across the country”
The competition is divided into age categories – Under 16, 16-20 and 21 and over, and all types of singers, vocal performers, groups and acoustic singer/songwriters are invited to enter Open Mic UK. All participants are all aiming to make it to that prestigious Grand Final within The O2 where the spotlight will be on all the acts with a chance for them to be signed.
The latter stages of the competition will also provide acts with the opportunity to impress many guests from record labels, agencies and the entertainment industry, as well as judges from national radio and regional press, with judges being more prestigious in the later rounds. Past judges have included Radio 1 DJs Ras Kwame and Annie Nightingale MBE, four time Ivor Novello award winner Mark Hill and KISS FM’s Charlie Hedges.
Open Mic UK is presented by Future Music - the company behind the development of artists such as Warner Music’s Birdy, Jahmene Douglas and Lucy Spraggan, who is now signed to Colombia Records and has a debut album due for release later this year – and with past judging panels including industry specialists and the likes of Radio DJ’s Annie Nightingale and Ras Kwame, Kiss FM’s Charlie Hedges and Ivor Novello Award Winner Mark Hill, Open Mic UK has grown to become a serious contender for sourcing real talent with winners that can be developed organically over time, in the right way for the artist.
Previous finalists also include Union J’s Jaymi Hensley and R&B/Pop singer Hatty Keane.
For the last 3 months, Sophie has been working with producers Matt and Ville Leppanen (The Animal Farm) at their Bermondsey studios in South London. She has recently released a new original song titled “Lil’ Game”.
The song is available as a free download from
www.totallysophie.comAn Official Video has also been produced. You can view this here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zhX7Vq29dc