Leeds has one of the largest student populations in the country, with over 250,000 students in total. It is fair to say that with all the different courses on offer in the various universities and colleges, the city is thriving with talented and diverse individuals. Looking back, there are a wide range of successful singers, songwriters, bands and DJ’s who attended one of the colleges or universities in Leeds, such as Rusko, Badly Drawn Boy, Corrine Bailey Rae, Little Boots, Katie White of The Ting Tings and Simon Rix, the bassist of the Kaiser Chiefs. There are plenty of student karaoke and open mic nights, as well as various ‘Battle of the Bands’ events in Leeds; however, there is a serious lack of any real opportunities for students. There are professional talent shows that have nothing to offer other than the usual prizes for student competitions, which usually consist of a free round of shots, or a wad of cash- a small wad that is- nothing more than £50 (which, I’m not going to lie, can actually go a long way on a student budget!) This seems pretty pathetic in a city that has the largest student population in the country, there has to be tens if not hundreds of talented students who could potentially become the next big thing, most of which are potentially going completely unnoticed, completely… Undiscovered. Correct!
In fact, there is a new, student based talent search in Leeds that has answered the cries of many talented students who have been looking for a promising opportunity to showcase their talent whilst still studying. In fact, this talent search has taken it one step further and the prize for winning the competition is a record deal! Slightly more of an incentive to get involved than the usual student competition then, as they are offering the lucky winner a kick start to their journey of becoming a successful recording artist. Oh and did I mention there was a cash prize as well? What would a student competition be without a little bit of cash!
The auditions took place in January, where the judges saw a huge range of talented students, and after much deliberation, eight extremely talented finalists were chosen to perform in the final of Undiscovered: Leeds on the 10th of March 2012. Among these finalists, there is a huge range of musical talent varying from an eleven piece Jazz band with an RnB vocalist and MC to a simple acoustic set, one guy, one guitar and his original material. Each act will perform two songs on the night in front of a panel of judges, and of course an audience, which you could be a part of.
There are various societies and companies involved in the project, HerCampus being one of them! Leeds RAG have chosen a charity in which the final show will raise money for, the Ben Manning Music Foundation, with every ticket sold contributing to the donation. To find out more about the charity, visit their website at http://www.benmanning.org.uk/. LSR FM have also been involved with the project, with members of the radio helping to judge during the audition process, and they will also be doing an outside broadcast from 3pm to 4pm on the day of the show, which will give a sneak preview of a few of the acts who will be competing in the evening with acoustic sets and interviews. Jimmy’s Iced Coffee, the amazing iced coffee that has recently appeared in Waitrose, has also sponsored the event hoping to show all us students that iced coffee is the answer to the caffeine fix so many of us rely on during our terribly busy student lifestyle. They will be at the event, promoting their epic iced coffee and showing us what they’re all about – White Russians all round! To find out more, visit their website at http://jimmysicedcoffee.com/. The show is going to be at Walkabout in Leeds, showing off the venue and what it has to offer for live music events. Most importantly, the record label who has inevitably been the catalyst for this project is Bigonroad Records, a local label looking for local talent in the North to work with them to create brilliant, organic and original music that could potentially become the next big thing. Hooray to that!
If you would like to come to the show, and quite frankly you would be silly not to, then visit the Facebook page @Undiscovered:Leeds for more details. Tickets are only £5, and with live music all night, a great after- party and the opportunity to watch and listen to various artists who may be dominating your iTunes in few years to come, I’d say it’s an absolute bargain!