The Silver Bullet/Pavilion Acoustics Competition - 2008 (archive page)

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A competition for solo artists and singers including singing groups and small acoustics bands started on Wednesday 25th June at the Pavilion Venue, Leicester.

Sponsors

The competition is sponsored by Connexions Leicester, Leicester Vocal Tech, The Convolution Rooms, Sheehans Music Services, Silver Bullet Promotions, the Pavilion Venue and Arts in Leicestershire.

First Round Heats

Wednesday 25th June 2008 - First Round - Heat 1

The winnners of the first round heat (by audience voting) were

1. Steve Faulkner

Steve Faulkner put on a storming performance; his versions of Elenor Rigby by the Beatles and Billy Jean by Michael Jackson were outstanding in their originality and interpretation. Powerful vocals, accompanied by very skillful guitar work, made him a clear hit with the audience.

2. Lisa d'Ville

Lisa sang and accompanied herself on guitar with additional instrumentals by Jack on the electric Cello, she delivered haunting and evocative songs in a crystal clear voice. Beautiful singing and masterful evocation of mood, her set was laden with artistry.

3. Chris Swirls

Chris delivered a set of indie songs with gusto and vitality, good articulation and voice projection. He showed that he enjoyed what he was doing and this engaged the audience.

Thanks to the other contestants: Bryn Jones and Paul Carden and to the special guest appearance made by Bob Dilling, singer/songwriter, folk, country and pop.

Not in order of play:

Wednesday 2nd July - First Round Heat 2

The winners of the second heat were

Paula Driver

Paula's songs were tuneful and delivered with well rounded and clear vocals. A pleasure to listen to, she engaged her audience and captured their attention and affection well. A solid performance from a skilled artist.

Dan White

Dean Sharman

all of whom will go through to one of the semi-final events and

Jason Westall (The Utopians) goes through to the playoff event.

Jason Westall's set of indie songs, some of which he had written himself and a couple fo covers added for good measure, were lively and stylish. Catchy riffs and edgy lyrics gave a good impression. An engaging set that clearly struck a chord with the audience.

Our thanks to the other contestants: Nick Thornton from the Eaves

Wednesday 9th July - First Round Heat 3

1. Chris Armson (Jack of Hearts Band)

3. Dan McColgan

4.Chloe Vaughan

5. Duke Lynton (Acoustic Set)

Three acts will go forward to the semi finals:

Duke Lynton

Dan McColgan

Chris Armson

and Chloe Vaughan as the Judges choice.

Wednesday 16th July - First Round Heat 4

1. Chris Bell-Young

2. James Spoon

3. The Locks

4.The Truth (Acoustic set)

5. Nathan Lord (Razmataz)

6. Barricades Rise

These acts will go forward to the semi-finals:

James Spoon

The Truth (Acoustic set)

Barricades Rise

Chris Bell Young

Nathan Lord (Razmataz)

The Locks

Semi-finals

Wednesday 23rd July - Semi-finals Heat 1

Artists who performed in order of play

Paula Driver

Dan McColgan

James Spoon

Steve Faulkner

Bryn Jones

The Truth (Acoustic set)

Barricades Rise

Dan White

The results of the audience vote

1. The Truth

2. Bryn Jones

3. Paula driver

4. Dan White

5. Barricades Rise

6. Steve Faulkner

7. James Spoon

8. Dan McColgan

based on first and second choices on voting slips handed in

Winners 1 to 6 will go through to the Finals

The judges also decided that James Spoon would go through to the young artists section of the finals.

Wednesday 30th July - Semi-final - Heat 2

Voting in order of total votes cast by the audience:

Lisa de'Ville (31 votes)

Chris Swirls (27 votes)

The Locks (23 votes)

Chris Armson (22 votes)

Dean Sharman - D.JsBlues Bar (20 votes)

Jason Westall (The Utopians ) (20 votes)

Boll Weevils (14 votes)

Nathan Lord (Razmataz) (13 votes)

Wednesday 6th August

The playoffs round has been cancelled as the venue is no longer available on that night.

These dates are repeated on our events page

GRAND FINAL

Details of the grand final and winners

Venue

The venue for all events including the Grand Final will be The Pavilion Venue on Victoria Park.

Voting

For the first round heats and the semi-finals, members of the audience will be able to vote in person on the night. Each member of the audience will be given a voting slip and will be allowed to vote for two acts. Each vote will carry the same weight and the results will be based on adding together first and second votes.

A panel of judges will also vote for each act and each judge will be able to award 10 votes to any act. The voting slips will be collected after all acts have completed their sets. The results will be announced once the votes have been counted.

Selection for the semi-final heats will be on a night-by-night basis. The judges may also play wild cards and invite an artist to the 6th August playoff heat whether or not they got through a first round heat. This might help younger artists who sometimes suffer from nerves but who show exceptional promise.

Judging at the Grand Final will be by qualified judges only but the voting from previous rounds might be taken into consideration if there is a very close tie between acts.

All winners will be published on this web page.

Prize Categories

There will be a special category prize for "Best Young Act (16 - 18)", donated by Leicester Connexions.

A secial category prize, "Best New Act", will be awarded to the most promising new artist, donated by Leicester Vocal Tech, and is a course of vocal coaching provided by Leicester's Academy of Voice Training and Stage Performance - Vocal Tech

"Best Combo Act", is a prize for acts with more than one artist, and is a recording session is also offered as special category prize, by The Convolution Rooms of Leicester. They have worked with Kasabian, Oasis, The Enemy, Jersey Budd, The Arctic Monkeys and many more top acts.

Sheehans Music Services have offered six sets of acoustic strings as a special category prize: "Best Instrumentals".

Arts in Leicestershire will also be offering, as a prize, an online promotional page on our web site and a publicity package, for the class "Best Stage Performance".

Sponsors

Sponsors of the competition include Connexions, Leicester Vocal Tech, The Convolution Rooms, Arts in Leicestershire and Silver Bullet Promotions.

The Shed Acoustics Competition, 2008

Photography

Our thanks to Trevor Sewell for photographing the contestants - photos are available from Trevor's Flickrsite. Please credit "Sewell Photography" if using them.

Page updated on: Monday, April 18, 2011 10:59 AM