NotaPushyMum.Com

Hi
Has anyone got any experience of a singng comp. 'Face The Mic'. Don't know a huge amount about it other than they appear to do heats around the country, then regional finals then a national final. Apparently there are two winners, one under and one over 16 - meant to be offered some sort of recording contract and 20 venue tour. DD has applied for the North West heat in June. She's a very keen singer and really wants to do this for the opportnity to sing and compete before an audience. It cost £10 to enter which I'm fine with but I'm just interested to find out if anyone knows /has experience of this comp... since clearly I don't want her getting involved with anything that's going to prove to be 'a scam' of some sort. No great desires for her to win, you understand, would just like her to have a positive experience. Thanks. x

A friend of ds did open mic which sounds very similar. She got to the final having gone through a fair few regional rounds etc and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. There seem to have been a complete mix of ages etc and was well run. Good luck to your dd.

Thanks for that - always a worry when it's something you haven't done before. Is anyone else aware of this one or even entering - would be lovely to put faces to a few names on here if we do go. x

Is it run by someone called Tony? (gigtime media?)
If so, I think it's OK as he ran one last year on a smaller scale which was free, my dd got to final online but couldn't attend as the date clashed with Fame show she was in. All seemed very nice and friendly and they treated contestants well. The name rings a bell as we were emailed about it but not entering this time as I don't want to part with a tenner and then find that the final is on a day we can't make again.

Yes, thanks for that, it is Tony. Sounds good then - DD really looking forward to it - fun day out if nothing else

Face the Mic was the second of a series of talent contests aimed at under 16 contestants .
The first one was Music All Youth with the finals to be held in a small social club function room in Wisbech Cambridge . The winner was Clara Byrne ,the parents were not happy with the contract and company GMI ENTERTAINMENTS run by Tony Lewis so they reneged on the first place win and Tiffany Ferrary from Gibraltar won by default as second place winner .

Face the Mic was primaraly aimed at under 16's with the addition of an adult section ,with regional heats in England .
The entrance fee was nonreturnable £10.00 ,with tickets at £14 if i remember correctly .The heats were to be held in Hotel function rooms with the final in the Elm hall Hotel Wisbech Canbridge ,with proceeds to go to Help for Heros charity . most of the heats were cancelled , a couple of people including myself did not get a ticket refund for the cancelled heats .
Face the Mic was won by Giles Potter , a few people were unhappy one of the finalists was the stepson of the organiser , I am still in contact with a lot of the performers and contestants that attended , some traveling and accomodation expences promised to guest performers were not reimbursed along with revenue from album/itunes sales .
As with the original talent contest the prize was a recording contract , but this proved to just be a scam as most of the finalists were offered the contract . Not long after Face the Mic , GMI ENTERTAINMENT ceased trading leaving a lot of debt in unpaid bills and artist revenue .

BUT IT DID NOT END THERE .

The third venture was a scam called THE VOICE UK . Tony was charging an entrance fee of £7.50 per person , when the official BBC VOICE UK got to hear of this they were closed down .

The fourth venture was Phoenix UK Entertainment .
( a very suitable ironic name considering this company had rised from the ashes of the previous three that had been closed down ). this was a scam charity operating as a non profit organisation raising funds through music and talent events in the wake of the London riots , this company has also been closed down .

The current venture is still active by the name Cam's Variety . advertising a talent contest in Cambridge with a grand variety performance claiming all proceeds to GT Ormond st Childrens Hospital . . Legaly it is not up to me to say if this is a scam or not but based on this presons past track record where i can legaly confirm they were scams . i would reccomend you avoid any talent contest that is based in cambridge .

ps if the organiser of any of the above events is reading this and takes offence feel free to contact Cambridge constabulary where i am more than willing to discus this further .

Also had very bad experience with Tony Lewis - just kept telling me a pack of lies and got threatened with legal action if we pulled out of the "contract" by a chap called Nick Pamment who I believe us also doing talent contests for kids. I think they have just found a way to make money by running these competitions knowing parents will also have to buy tickets to the "gala performances" - I'm embarrassed ever to have been part of it

Crumbs! looks like we had a lucky escape! Isn't it awful how these people can get away with this sort of scamming?

Mind you, festival$stars is dodgy as well - if you reach the final you are expected to attend a gala dinner at £20 a head and its in Glasgow, so that's a few hundred quid for travel and hotels - none of this is made clear at the start of the competition. I was quite relieved dd didn't win the Regional final!