A TALENTED teenager from Harpenden has wowed his fellow schoolmates with his success at the UK Songwriting Contest. Sixteen-year-old Azeem Alam, of Hammondswick, a pupil at St Albans School, reached the semi-finals in the pop category of this year s UK S

A TALENTED teenager from Harpenden has wowed his fellow schoolmates with his success at the UK Songwriting Contest.

Sixteen-year-old Azeem Alam, of Hammondswick, a pupil at St Albans School, reached the semi-finals in the pop category of this year's UK Songwriting Contest after entering his debut song, Hold On, into the competition.

Azeem, who has been composing music for two years, said that he was overwhelmed by his success: "It's the first competition I've ever entered and I think I've done my song proud, despite the fact that I didn't get through to the final. To know that the professionals liked my music is great and all my friends at school are so impressed."

He added: "I wrote my song for the local church, which ran a competition for musicians who wanted to write music which portrayed youths in a positive light. Hold On is all about staying strong when times are tough and I hope it's inspirational for those who listen to it."

Azeem, who also plays both the electric and acoustic guitar, said that song writing had only been a hobby up until now: "I'm not looking for a career in music or anything, but my songwriting contest success has encouraged me to get started on some new material. I'm quite a creative person so I love coming up with tunes.