Acts galore at first talent show in Ludlow

More than 80 people aged between 10 and 22 – making up 40 acts – gave their all during two days of gruelling auditions for the first ever Young Ludlow's Got Talent.

And now – in a scene reminiscent of the ITV talent show featuring judges such as Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden – all the acts are facing a nervous wait to see if they have made it to the event's final.

Officials from Ludlow Rotary Club were hoping to contact the successful 18 acts last night and early today to confirm their places in the final at Ludlow Assembly Rooms on April 20.

The auditions at Ludlow College on Saturday and Sunday featured a number of singers, musicians and dancers.

Singers performed a variety of styles, from covers of well known pop songs to original songs written by singer/songwriters.

Musicians included pianists, guitarists and a ukulele player, while some performers sang and played an instrument as part of their act. Dancers included cheerleaders, street jazz performances and contemporary dance.

The judges were Eleanor Rowlands, a dancer and singer who is currently appearing in Chess at the Severn arena in Shrewsbury, Rob Ford, an actor and theatre agent from Ludlow, Tim Wallers, an actor and writer currently appearing in New Tricks and who also appeared in the West End in Mama Mia!, and Sariena Maria Watkins, a singing coach from Telford.

Mr Wallers said: "These young people showed what a remarkable pool of young performance talent there is in the area.

"The judges had a real challenge in selecting the 18 finalists." Neil Church, programme area manager for arts and humanities at Ludlow College, said: "Members of the Rotary club were deciding yesterday who would go through and were due to contact the acts last night. Everybody should find out by today.

"Quite a few of our students have got involved."

Carly Adams, a dance teacher at Ludlow College and one of the organisers of the event, said: "We had all styles of dancing and singing and lots of musicians playing too.

"The judges assessed all the acts against strict criteria and the highest scoring acts in each category will go to the final – there will be 18 acts in total.

"We are hoping for a big crowd for the final at Ludlow Assembly Rooms and it will be an excellent night."

The Young Ludlow's Got Talent competition, the first of its kind in the town, is being organised by Ludlow Rotary Club in conjunction with students of Ludlow College as part of its Enrichment Programme.

The programme is for final year students and is designed to give them hands-on experience of business organisation in their chosen field. They are helping to promote, organise and run the competition with a team of Rotarians.

There will be one overall winner of the talent contest, a runner-up and third places and there will be other prizes for competitors who have made a special impression on the judges.

Tickets are now in demand from families and friends of the performers and the public alike. They are priced at £8 and £5 for concessions, and for more details call the box office at Ludlow Assembly Rooms on (01584) 878141 or visit www.ludlowassemblyrooms.co.uk