Derry’s Niamh shines at Open Mic UK competition

Niamh Doherty is competing in Open Mic UK, described as the biggest search for unsigned talent.

Each year, more than 10,000 people enter the competition, which also gives artists the opportunity to perform in front of top music industry professionals and huge audiences.

Last year’s competition included judges that work for the three major record labels Universal, Warner and Sony.

Musician Niamh, who has been playing guitar and songwriting from a young age, was eager to take part and chose Manchester as her audition location. She impressed the judges and sailed through and will now perform in front of judges and an audience at the live show this weekend.

Niamh has chosen to perform her own original material and described her audition as an ‘amazing experience’. She is ‘delighted’ to be progressing in such a prestigious competition and is looking forward to the show this weekend. It will be the first time Niamh has performed to an audience of that size, but she’s not fazed and is most excited about performing in the competition, described as one of the toughest.

Niamh is a youth support worker and is taking a year out from studying at North West Regional College to pursue her music career. She told the ‘Journal’ how her music ‘doesn’t fit into any particular genre’.

“It’s more storytelling - I like to tell stories through my music.”

Open Mic UK, run by Future Music, culminates in a UK-wide final, with a recording contract and investment awarded to the final winner. If you’d like to find out more about Open Mic UK, visit www.openmic.co.uk