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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThree unsigned music acts will play to tens of thousands of people this summer \u2013 after judges in a major Liverpool talent search were left overwhelmed at the competition\u2019s final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two bands\/singers were due to be crowned winner and runner-up at the Michael Causer Foundation\u2019s Out On Stage Grand Final 2014 at Camp and Furnace last night (Thursday, May 8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But judges \u2013 including some of the city\u2019s leading music industry figures \u2013 were so impressed that they picked three acts to perform between this summer\u2019s Liverpool Pride and Liverpool International Music Festival (LIMF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Expansive rock outfit Edge of Eden were named overall winners and will play both events, while psychedelic rock act Watchtower UK will perform at Pride and contemporary R&B performers Shell Deliah will play LIMF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe talent that was found through Out On Stage 2014 was overwhelming and totally surpassed all expectations. We had to make a decision to put through three acts because, against industry standards, they are phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The result was an amazing double for Michelle Harris, aged 21, from Maghull, and Alex Dopierala, 20, from Nantwich, who perform with both Edge of Eden and Shell Deliah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vocalist Michelle, whose co-performers in Edge of Eden are all students at LIPA, said today: \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s sunk in yet. I was completely speechless last night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese will be the biggest crowds we\u2019ve ever played to and it means the world to us \u2013 we\u2019re fulfilling a dream here. I can\u2019t wait to perform in my home town at two incredible events. It\u2019s just overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last night\u2019s judging panel included commercial music experts Jen Corrigan and Karl Connor, from Liverpool-based Fierce Management; LIMF curator Yaw Owusu; Ellie Phillips, founder and director of Liverpool Music Awards; and Sean Weaver, from Liverpool Pride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karl said: \u201cThe talent that was found through Out On Stage 2014 was overwhelming and totally surpassed all expectations. We had to make a decision to put through three acts because, against industry standards, they are phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Michael Causer Foundation runs Out On Stage to showcase unsigned talent in support of its aim to motivate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) young people on Merseyside. It is a partnership with Liverpool Pride, LIPA and, for the first time this year, with LIMF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The charity was launched in memory of gay teenager Michael Causer, aged 18, from Whiston, who was brutally attacked at a house party in 2008 and never recovered from his injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Money raised at last night\u2019s final will go to the Lord Mayor of Liverpool Councillor Gary Millar\u2019s charity appeal, which is benefiting charities including the Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lynn Pates, interim chair of trustees, said: \u201cIt was overwhelming to see so much talent perform last night and everybody was blown away by the quality of all the acts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe competition has been a huge success and we had a great turnout at the final. There is so much support for the Foundation and we\u2019re incredibly grateful to everybody who has backed Out On Stage 2014.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 70 acts entered the competition and 18 were chosen to play at heats in March and April. The other finalists who performed last night were Audio Zero, Samantha Cottrell, and Pieces of a Man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year\u2019s competition was organised by LIPA students Jenna Dooling, aged 22, from Crosby, and Lauren Hannaway, aged 26, from Woolton, on behalf of the Michael Causer Foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Three unsigned music acts will play to tens of thousands of people this summer \u2013 after judges in a major Liverpool talent search were left overwhelmed at the competition\u2019s final. Three unsigned music acts will play to tens of thousands of people this summer \u2013 after judges in a major Liverpool talent search were left … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/michaelcauser.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/EventDetail_shell.jpg.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelcauser.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelcauser.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelcauser.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelcauser.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelcauser.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=347"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/michaelcauser.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":349,"href":"https:\/\/michaelcauser.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347\/revisions\/349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelcauser.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelcauser.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelcauser.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelcauser.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}