The 90 acts who are vying for the live finals of the Glastonbury Festival Emerging Talent competition and ultimately a main stage slot at the festival in June have been revealed.
Once again I was one of the long list judges to whittle down our lists of 200 or so acts to come up with three for the final judging panel.
As usual its been a tough competition to judge with so many talented acts. Almost all I looked at were either excellent singers, musicians, song writers or performers. In many cases they were all of these.
What I also looked for was something a little different that made them stand out from the crowd. By my final week of judging I had around 20 contenders who ticked all boxes. It was tough, but ultimately I’m delighted with my final selection.
Here are my final three selections.
Ellis:D
He is the second Brighton act I’ve put through in a decade of judging. Can he emulate the first, Roma Palace, who made it to the live finals when I picked them in 2019?
Intricate pop music with echoes of Talking Heads ensure that Brighton’s ELLiS:D stood out during judging through his excellent track Straightjacket Blues. There are also echoes of Radiohead in his live performance as his music’s clever twists and turns draw the listener in and demand attention.
He also really stood out with a range of styles and originality, yet with a nice nod to, I assume, his influences, in particular David Byrne.
Immi Dash
The RnB/Soul section I looked at was full of great singers and songs. But many of the vocalists sounded very similar. Immi Dash really stood out with her blend of originality and great vocals.
Her wonderful track Show Me and her confident live clip cemented my view that this competition may very well have unearthed a global star of the future in Immi.
Good Vibes Sound
Many acts try to recreate that distinct clean pop sound of the Eighties. Not all succeed but Goodvibes Sound certainly do. From the first clean guitar sweep to the subtle funky bass and sweet vocals we are transported back to that decade through Goodvibes Sound’s excellent entry Stay For One More Night. They are ready made to bring sunny pop and good vibes to a Glastonbury main stage.
The full list of acts can be found here.
They will now be whittled down t a shortlist of eight acts, who will compete in April’s live finals.
In addition to a mainstage slot the winner will win a £5,000 PRS for Music Foundation Talent Development prize. Two runners up will be awarded a £2,500 development prize.
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