AN AUDIENCE of over 2,000 awaits a talented young singer who has made it through to the national finals of Open Mic UK. Tom Pearce, 18, has fought off stiff competition from thousands of other entrants to secure one of about 20 places in the finals, which

AN AUDIENCE of over 2,000 awaits a talented young singer who has made it through to the national finals of Open Mic UK.

Tom Pearce, 18, has fought off stiff competition from thousands of other entrants to secure one of about 20 places in the finals, which will take place at the end of November at the Portsmouth Guildhall.

And he is appealing to the people of St Albans to support him at the showdown as the audience will vote on which one of the final five acts they want to see win the competition.

Tom, who lives on a farm in Tower Hill Lane, Sandridge, impressed the judges at the regional finals in London with his take on Mad World by Tears for Fears.

He is now deciding what to sing when he takes to the stage on November 28 in the hope of winning the competition and getting an album recording deal worth more than �25,000.

It's therefore surprising that Tom only discovered his talent last year during a night out at a karaoke bar with his friends.

They encouraged him to enter the X Factor and five months ago he narrowly missed out on a chance to perform in front of the celebrity judges after making it through to the last 10 per cent of auditionees in the huge talent contest.

Tom was told that he needed a bit more experience and went on to record a few tracks and perform a number of gigs before entering the Open Mic UK competition.

All the finalists will also be invited to perform at 100 gigs on the Open Mic UK Tour alongside newly crowned Live and Unsigned winner Rhea.

To purchase tickets for the national finals email Tom on thomas.pearce@hotmail.co.uk or visit www.myspace.com/tompearce01, where you can also hear tracks recorded by him.

For more information about the competition visit www.openmicuk.co.uk