St Albans singer makes it through to regional talent finals

A TALENTED singer has made it through to the finals of the UK s largest competition to find the best unsigned live music acts in the country. Tom Pearce, 18, from Sandridge, has beaten off stiff competition in the audition stages of Live and Unsigned 2010

A TALENTED singer has made it through to the finals of the UK's largest competition to find the best unsigned live music acts in the country.

Tom Pearce, 18, from Sandridge, has beaten off stiff competition in the audition stages of Live and Unsigned 2010, and will now go up against other talented bands and artists in front of a packed audience at the regional finals.

Should he make it through to the grand final - the Live and Unsigned Festival at the O2 Arena in London - Tom will be battling it out in front of the industry's elite and a panel of celebrity judges including Radio One DJ Greg James.

It's the biggest competition of its kind in the country and has attracted over 30,000 entries in the past three years. It's open to all music genres and the �60,000 prize pool includes a record deal and a chance to design a clothing line.

Chris Grayston, events director of Live and Unsigned, said: "This competition really is worlds apart from X Factor and other TV talent contests - we're all about originality, live ability and credibility."

Last year, Tom, who lives on a farm in Tower Hill Lane, came sixth out of the 25,000 contestants who entered Open Mic UK, and he also made it down to the last 10 per cent of auditionees for the X Factor.

It is therefore surprising that Tom only discovered his talent for singing when he went for a karaoke night out with his friends, who were blown away by his voice.

To support Tom when he performs in the regional finals at 5.30pm, at the Beck Theatre in Hayes, London, you can get tickets for �7.50 by emailing him at thomas.pearce@hotmail.co.uk

And to hear his newly recorded tracks, which he wrote himself, visit his MySpace page at www.myspace.com/tompearce01