Five finalists play for New Urban Music Award
Unsigned acts to perform in front of record industry judges and
invited audience
Following
a huge response to the 大象传媒's New Urban Music Award 2002, five unsigned
acts have been chosen to perform at the final on Wednesday 4 September
at Sound in London's Leicester Square.
Spearheaded
by Trevor Nelson, and in conjunction with 大象传媒 Talent, the nationwide
search for the best new urban music talent began in March.
Trevor
and his team scoured clubs, bars, studios and colleges countrywide
to unearth the best unsigned musicians and vocalists in RnB, hip
hop, gospel, garage and soul.
Trevor
and his panel of music industry experts will choose the overall
winner at the finals party, which will be transmitted on 大象传媒 Choice
on Monday 23 September at 9.30pm.
As
well as a cheque for 拢2,000 the winner will be awarded a place
on Fast Track.
This
scheme, run by London Arts and Overtones, will provide the fledgling
artist with a tailormade development package that might include
studio time, professional producers and expert advice on all aspects
of performance.
The judging panel, headed by Trevor Nelson, is made up of top record
industry people including: this year's hottest urban talent Ms Dynamite,
producer and hip hop supremo Adam F, urban 'it' girl and broadcaster
Jasmine Dotiwala and Columbia Records A+R man Matt Ross.
Twenty
semi-finalists were selected, and this number was whittled down
to a final five with the help of a public web vote.
The
five finalists are:
Angelina
- an 18 year old of Puerto Rican and Russian descent, who moved
to London at age 10.
She
is a fan of Cuban music and until last year was part of a girl group
X-Cel, before she decided to pursue a solo career.
Her
claim to fame is that she has performed for Whitney Houston - she
burst into song when Whitney was being interviewed for a magazine.
Angelina
cites Whitney Houston, Maxwell and Gloria Estefan as her musical
influences.
Sherrisa
- aged 20 and from London, her voice has been likened to Teena
Marie.
She
regularly performs across London and entered the award last year
making it to the semis.
This
could be her breakthrough year - she's obviously been working really
hard because the team were very impressed by how much she'd developed.
Cloud
6 - a five piece band with members aged between 19 and 22, and
all hailing from Essex.
The
band believe that Gospel influenced Garage music could be the way
forward and they describe their music as "food for soul and
spirit" and want their audience not only to be entertained,
but to "feel the music on an emotional and spiritual level."
Cloud
6 have "ministered" at venues including the London Gospel
Venue, Stomp, Telford National Arena, Stratford Rex and Brixton
Fridge.
Gert
Biggun - a Hip Hop duo from Cornwall made up of MC Vegas and
DJ Scratch.
Their
name Gert Biggun comes from a Cornish song, Blackbird, and is the
Cornish pronunciation of "great big one"!
Pariz
1 - a.k.a Carmella Minto, a 22 year old from Nottingham.
She
was discovered at the age of 14, rapping over a Mobb Deep track.
Pariz
1 was really excited when she heard producer Adam F was one of the
judges as one of her favourite hip-hop tracks of all time is Adam's
club anthem featuring Redman, Smash Sumthin.
Zara
McFadden, the producer of the New Urban Music Award 2002, said:
"We were really impressed by the number of people that applied
this year - and by their quality.
"It
was a really hard decision choosing the last five - and I'm glad
we had input from the public via the internet. I think it should
be a great final."
Notes
to Editors
The
大象传媒 New Urban Music Award is part of 大象传媒 Talent, the 大象传媒's campaign
to find and develop the nation's new talent.
This
year's 大象传媒 Talent campaign launched in March and is now in its third
successful year.
The
finalists performances can be viewed on the 大象传媒 Talent website:
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