Leighton Park School pupil tops the charts at Open Mic UK

Following months of successfully contested heats, Saturday 20th January 2018 saw Leighton Park School’s Giacomo (Johnny) (Year 10) at The NEC in Birmingham for The Open Mic UK Grand Final.

Having made it through local, area and regional heats with renditions of The Beatles' 'Yesterday' and 'Come Together', reggae style, with a rock version of U2's 'Where The Streets Have No Name', Johnny's performance of his own composition, 'Come Back Home', won him fourth place from an appreciative crowd. 'I'm a very proud papa,' commented dad, Richard.

'I write all the time so I thought I would perform one of my own songs in the final,' explained Johnny. 'I knew the judges were looking for originality. I wasn't expecting that much out of it as I've never entered a competition like this before but I won the song writing competition with "Never Let You Go" and I made it to the finals for my age group in the singing.'

The competition, which has been running since September 2017, aims to encourage new talent and recognises young singer-songwriters who can enter by age category. Over 3500 hopefuls entered the Under-16s group and Johnny's musical skills took him to the Grand Final as one of the best contestants in his category.

Johnny began his musical journey at the age of eight when he joined the choir at St George's, the prep school that prepares choristers for St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. From his role as Head Chorister in 2015, Johnny launched a Sussex-based three-strong rock/pop band called Paper Machete who are currently working on their first album, with plans to tour a number of London venues in the summer holidays. Influenced by musicians as diverse as Frank Sinatra and The Rolling Stones, Johnny feels that he is destined for a career in entertainment. 'The NEC was so cool; what I want to do is to perform and sing all the time. It's exhilarating standing on stage. I don't get nervous because I love it so much and it's what I want to do. I wouldn't see this as work at all, it's just having a good time on stage.'

In addition to members of the public and the judging panel, the audience included A&R representatives from famous record labels such as Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Syco. Part of Johnny's prize is a meeting with a management company with a view to boosting his exposure on the music scene. Those lucky enough to perform at this national level may well be forging their musical future lives on stage, even before they have left school.

Johnny's talents have also secured him this year's lead in the Leighton Park School’s Senior Production, Parade by Alfred Uhry. The production which is taking place 6th-9th February packs a punch, with many songs in different styles telling the story of a Jewish factory manager framed for murder. Johnny and the cast have been working hard since the autumn term in putting together a fantastic show. If you have yet to book your tickets to the show, you can do so at http://bit.ly/ParadeLP2018.