Festival Place went music crazy on Saturday as eight musical talents from Basingstoke competed in the final of the 2011 Festival Factor.
Soul singer Fil Straughan hosted the two-hour event, introducing the eight finalists and treating the audience to a few tunes himself. The eight contenders were split into three categories, the under 16s, 16 to 24s and over 25s. This year’s judges, Tanya Schipelbaum, creative director of Basingstoke Academy of Dancing, Claire Holmes, of Clive’s Music Schools, and professional musician Rob Oram, had the tough job of deciding the winners from each age category.
Performing first were the over 25 contestants Guy Morgan and Richard Avery, who both impressed the judges with their acoustic guitar renditions. But it was 33-year-old Richard Avery who was picked for the final vote. After the announcement Richard said “I am really pleased to have won today. Guy performed great and I thought he had beaten me. I just went out there and gave the best performance I could so I am happy. I have always been musical and been told that I had talent and winning today proves that.”
Next was the under 16s, with all three contestants giving strong performances singing Adele hits. First was Harry McIlroy, 10, who sang Rolling in the Deep, while 15-year-old Kimberley Leyendeckers performed Turning Tables and Maria Christina Ricafort gave a rendition of Someone Like You. The overall winner was 12-year-old Maria Christina, who stunned the judges with her huge voice and outstanding performance.
Last to perform were the 16 to 24s, who had already witnessed the level of talent on show. Firstly Kayleigh Burton treated the crowd to her soulful rendition of U2’s With Or Without You. Next was 23-year-old Kirsty Bennett singing KT Tunstall’s Other Side Of The World. Last to perform was 18-year-old Zoe Palmer who stunned the crowd with her outstanding operatic performance.
The overall winner, however, was Kirsty Bennett who said: “I am very shocked to have won, I wasn’t expecting this result. Both Kayleigh and Zoe gave great performances, but I am very pleased to be going to the final as I love to perform.”
The three category winners will now face a public vote to decide the overall winner. Voting lines have now opened, and the public can cast their vote for their favourite by texting FACTOR followed by your favourite A, B or C to 80360. To vote for Maria text A, to vote for Kirsty text B and for Richard text C.
Head judge Claire Holmes said: ”It’s been a fantastic day watching all of the finalists perform at Festival Place. It was difficult to whittle the eight singers down to a final three but we are confident that we have selected the right performers. It’s now down to the public to cast their vote, our work is done.”
Theresa Chapman, events manager at Festival Place, said: “We know that we have incredible musical and singing talent in Basingstoke and Festival Factor is a way for those people to showcase their talent. This is the third year we have run this competition; it’s definitely getting better and better each year. Once again the crowd this weekend at Festival Place has been really supportive. We’re looking forward to announcing the winner in two weeks.”
