The Porthcawl Charity Bonfire Night
Porthcawl charity bonfire night 2018
The Welsh Factor Talent Competitions has put on a great many events over the years as an ongoing promotion to the acts featured in their talent competitions and broadcasts aired. One such event was held on Saturday 3/11/18 at The Cony Beach Resort in Porthcawl, South Wales, here in the UK, featuring performers from this year’s competition to give them the best chance possible to promote themselves and gain the experiences involved in live performance.
The position of this event couldn’t have been better, something Anna Marie Thomas discovered whilst organizing the previous two years events at this location. The two stages used were an easier option this year due to the bad weather and a much safer option with two Articulated Lorries set firmly in place to take the brunt of the elements.
The first stage was to grace us with the truly wonderful talent of The Welsh Factor and the second to amaze us with the incredible laser show and keyboard wizardry of The Circuit Symphony and Luminent Creative. This prime location was situated in the Salt Lake car park occupying the playing field attached giving everyone there present the best vantage point to all that was going on with the fanfare and numerous other eating establishments turning out hot dogs and burgers like they were going out of fashion.
Porthcawl charity bonfire night 2018
You always know you are in for a good night if any event is hosted by the amazing Kev John from Swansea Sound. Kev has hosted a great many events for The Welsh Factor over the years including every heat of the competition and of course the final itself. So its very heart-warming to know when Kev steps on to the stage ready to not only lead us through the evenings proceedings but to keep us entertained with his quick wit and endless attention to detail, leaving this year’s bonfire night not only in good hands but in good spirit also.
Serenar
Porthcawl charity bonfire night 2018
Fresh from serving a short time in the military, we have Chloe, who was forced to cut her tour with the army short due to medical reasons. A few months ago Chloe decided to step up and show us a totally different weapon she had been concealing from us all. I feel that no amount of intensive training can quite prepare anyone for the wind chill that set upon us here at Porthcawl, something that didn’t faze Chloe in the slightest.
Singing Arms of An Angel, Chloe most certainly made herself heard and broke through the barricades and made her presence known to the arena. This song has many emotional ties to many of us, but as Chloe stepped off the stage, I feel it was her that we should have been saluting that night, for not only what she had been through but what she achieved on that stage tonight. Truly a breath-taking performance.
Rob
Porthcawl charity bonfire night 2018
Next up was Rob who only until recently had put his singing career on hold for a fair few years, but after seeing the incredible talent coming through The Welsh Factor of late decided to pick up that microphone again and show us what he’s got. Taking to the stage like it was just yesterday Rob greeted us with a lively and upbeat entrance as he greeted us all. Singing Till, Johnny Be Goode, This Is My Moment and Delilah Rob breezed his may through his performance with ease. Rob has shown some incredible strength through this competition so far with a stage presence and charisma that will take him a long way, and although the more classical is more Rob’s forte, his mixed bag of tracks as well as genres most certainly went down well with the audience on Saturday night.
The Circuit Symphony
Porthcawl charity bonfire night 2018
Ready on stage two, primed and ready to go was The Circuit Symphony Lead by Oliver Davis. This Retro-Nostalgic Synthesizer Band complete with full laser show wowed every last man standing with a broad range of displays and effects reaching out not only over the whole arena but almost infinity.
Inspired by Jean Michel Jarre Vince Clarke (Erasure /Depeche mode/Assembly, The Orb Vangelis Mike Oldfield, The Smiths and Morrissey, Oliver equipped with synthesized technology from the past and present painted a picture in sound alone of this very colorful era and genre. Over the years, Oliver has been lucky enough to have performed with Nick Beggs from Kajagoogoo, Steve Wilson who played bass on his New Romantic single and Bernie Marsden from Whitesnake fame who played lead guitar on his Christmas 1974 single. Along the way Oliver has remixed OMDs single Dresden, Programmed sounds for Eddie Grant, Howard Jones and being the technical midi services for Take That’s “Progress” Tour and many more. What we witnessed on Saturday night was a master class of technical wizardry, complete with a laser harp that completely stole the show.
Sienna
Porthcawl charity bonfire night 2018
I met Sienna only moments before her performance playing quite happily behind the safety barriers leading to the stage. But as soon as our eyes met I was bombarded by the usual high fives and high ten’s as is usually the case in previous meetings. Now for those that don’t know Sienna, when I say “Playing” behind the barriers, that’s exactly what I mean as this little superstar is only five years old, yet performs like she has been doing this 100 years. Rapping Man Not Hot, and In My Feelings Sienna took to the stage like her tour bus was waiting in the wings ready for the 02 arena.
In recent talks with her parents, they went on to tell me;
“None of this is our doing, this is all her, this is all Sienna and her dream, even right from the start, when out of the blue she had learned and started performing tracks from Big Shaq around the house and always had the determination that she wanted to perform to the public. So we started putting things in place for her to give it a try. No one could have been more shocked and proud as we are today to see our little girl in the spotlight and to the enormity of some of these audiences, all thanks to Anna Marie Thomas and her team at The Welsh Factor.”
Now with the glitz and glamour of the big stage firmly ingrained, Sienna is now set to impress and is most definitely one to look out for in future years.
Broganne
Porthcawl charity bonfire night 2018
Now here’s someone who wasn’t fazed by the weather in the slightest with an outfit displaying more gaps than the clouds, Broganne braved the weather and soon started to warm up the audience with an action packed performance still under the glow of a still blazing fire. As always, Broganne hit the stage with a style, grace and confidence that would be the envy of many as she stirred up her audience just enough to keep them on their toes and wanting more. Her attention to detail within her choreography has always been first class and here again in true Broganne style, she didn’t let us down dazzling us with everything she had as she stepped it up another notch. Singing, Friends, John Wayne, Attention and Ruin My Life, Broganne’s performance was truly first class, 100% on the money and could have quite easily be a main act for the evening.
Tia
Porthcawl charity bonfire night 2018
Every time I meet this young lady I can literally see the stars in her eyes, which becomes more apparent the closer it gets to her performances. Singing Ruin My Life, Perfect Strangers, I’m A Mess and Perfect To Me, Tia helped us drift away and soothed our souls in a way that needs to be seen live. And although her use of the stage normally is kept to a minimum, it’s her connection with her audience through her performance, her enunciation and poise in the spotlight and extreme belief in the words she sings that takes Tia into a whole different league. In the short time I have had the pleasure of knowing this young lady I have already seen a fast progression in her performances taking her higher in media rankings giving her the best chance possible to succeed.
Talisia
Porthcawl charity bonfire night 2018
Just as the bonfire was starting to fade, up steps Talisia who hit us hard right from the get go with A Man’s World, I Will Survive, and something’s Got Hold of Me. The extreme power emitted by Talisia was enough to shake every last man standing as she projected her voice to the perimeter of the arena and beyond bringing more and more people ever closer to the stage. Her connection with her audience and attitude in delivery was so passionate that she had her audience in the palm of her hand as she reached out believing every last word as they left her lips. Although she didn’t use the stage as much as most, the emotion through her vocals alone was most certainly enough.
Familia
Porthcawl charity bonfire night 2018
Closing the show, and for a very good reason, was Familia, leaving us with their well thought out routines, action packed performance with harmonies to die for. Singing, River Deep Mountain High, Dancing Queen and Impossible Dream sisters, Faith and Amelia started their performance as they meant to go on wowing us all with tight deliveries, both vocally and in dance, well-choreographed routines and a first class connection with each other resulting in yet another scintillating performance from start to finish on point to the very last detail. And even though Faith and Amelia and have their very own solo careers, something very special always happens when these two sisters get together as they electrify the audience and dazzle us all in song every single time.
Familia
Porthcawl charity bonfire night 2018
In all, a full bag of top class entertainment all round.
Now, as the last of the quarter final heats has been completed following this event, we have to wait now until January to see who has made it to the semi-finals then on to spring 2019 for the final. As a judge on the panel, it has been an absolute delight being part of the team for this year into next. The talent this year has been truly outstanding giving us a hard task with all involved narrowing down the list to the best of the best, but there will be a winner, so stay tuned on the links below from The Welsh Factor Talent Competitions, Showboat TV and of course ourselves here at Stargazer Music Magazine, as we continue to keep you posted, ready for the final in due course.
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