Talent Archives - Aberdeen Voice

Talented Teens Set To Vie For NEX Factor Title

Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Featured No Responses »

May 292015

With thanks to Ian McLaren, Innes Associates. Pictures: JN Photography.

Amie Flett and Megan O’Brien, both 15, Bridge of Don. Credit JN Photography

Excitement is building for the north-east’s largest youth singing contest, ahead of this Saturday’s grand final.
The NEX Factor singing competition, sponsored by Apex Industrial Chemicals and RSL NDT, highlights the most promising music stars between the ages of 13 and 19 from across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray.

Twelve talented teenage acts will line up in the final at the Thainstone Exchange, Inverurie on Saturday, 30 May 2015, with all funds raised going to Aberdeen-based charity Cash for Kids.

Over 100 youngsters applied and through a series of auditions the judges whittled the field down to the final 12 acts – 11 soloists and one duo – to vie for the 2015 NEX Factor title and win a fantastic first prize.

This year’s winning act will receive £1,000 in prize money, a session at a recording studio, a personal art portrait, plus an amazing day out in London with world-renowned music artist Emeli Sandé, Aberdeenshire’s most successful pop star.

The 28-year-old multi Brit Award winning singer songwriter, who has had three number one singles in the UK, was keen to give her time to the winner of the NEX Factor after hearing about the competition’s charitable contributions. Each entrant was asked to donate £5 to Cash for Kids to help support local young people of a similar age who are ill, disabled or disadvantaged.

This year the NEX Factor also attracted interest from the X Factor production team who asked event organisers for talent recommendations for the hit Saturday night show.

Around 700 people are expected to pack into the Thainstone Exchange for Saturday’s final with the audience voting for the winner. Tickets are selling quickly, and all proceeds from the contest will go to Cash for Kids, which raises money for the welfare of local young people under the age of 18 living in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

Competition organiser, Yasmeen Ali, said:

“This year’s NEX Factor final is set to be a fantastic event. The finalists are of an extremely high standard. Regardless of who triumphs on the night, all of the finalists have done really well to get to this stage and I’m sure have very bright futures ahead of them. Those in the audience on the 30th will have a difficult job selecting the winner, but in years to come they can say they helped put these youngsters on the road to stardom.

“NEX Factor is a community event that benefits those in needs and encourages charitable giving in children. It’s for the kids, by the kids. We hope to raise a large amount to allow Cash for Kids to continue its incredible work. There is a lot of excitement amongst the finalists about the prospect of a day out in London with Emeli Sandé, and we can’t thank her enough for her involvement.”

This year, all but one of the finalists is female.

Each finalist will perform two songs chosen by themselves and they will line-up on stage in the following order: 18-year-old Courtney Murphy from Mintlaw; Tammi Whyte, 15, from Aberdeen; 17-year-old Alannah Moar from Laurencekirk; Banchory’s Anna-Louise Barton, aged 16; 14-year-old Kyle MacRitchie from Inverurie; Megan Williams, 17, from Dufftown; Rebecca Henderson, 16, from Kennethmont; Bucksburn’s Rachel Brechin, aged 18; 16-year-old Bambie from Inverurie; Talitha Brown, 17, from Aberchirder; 15-year-old duo Amie Flett from Bridge of Don and Megan O’Brien from Balmedie; and Iona Fyfe, 17, from Huntly.

Tickets for the NEX Factor final are priced at £15 per person and can be purchased via the Cash for Kids website at www.northsound1.com/charity/fundraising-appeals/nex-factor/.

Cash for Kids’ Michelle Ferguson said:

“There is a lot of talent in the NEX Factor final and I’d like to wish all the finalists the best of luck. This brilliant initiative is shaping up to be a great night out for everyone who attends and their contribution to the event will help to make a huge difference to the lives of children in the local area.”

Cash for Kids is Northsound Radio’s listeners’ charity. It makes grants to individuals, families, children’s groups, organisations and projects throughout the Northsound transmission area. All money is raised locally and spent locally to benefit local disabled and disadvantaged children and young people under 18. More information on Cash for Kids can be found at www.northsound1.com/charity, or telephone 01224 337010.

The Last Stand – A Photography Exhibition

Aberdeen City, Events, Information No Responses »

Mar 062014

Peacock Visual Arts to host a moving exhibition documenting histories, stories and memories of military conflict in Northern Europe.

Newburgh I, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. 2012 500

Terry O’Neill Award winner Marc Wilson is bringing his stunning series of photographs ‘The Last Stand’ to Peacock Visual Arts in Aberdeen. The exhibition will open to the public on Friday 28 March 2014 at 6pm.

So far 53 of the 80 images in the series have been photographed, focusing on military defence structures that remain and their place in the shifting landscape that surrounds them.

Over the years many of the wartime defence locations have disappeared from view, either subsumed or submerged by the changing sands and waters or by more human intervention. At the same time others have re-emerged from their shrouds.

Marc has so far travelled over 15,000 miles to 109 locations to capture these images along the coastlines of the UK, The Channel Islands, Northern France and Belgium. He has recently spent 8 days photographing in Orkney and Shetland and is soon to visit the Western coast of France down to the Spanish border, Holland, Denmark, and Norway.

This poignant exhibition at Peacock Visual Arts follows on from shows at The Anise Gallery, London and The Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. The work has been featured on BBC online, TV and Radio and The Guardian.

The objects and zones of defence Wilson photographs serve as ‘a visual marker to the shadows of conflict’ (Wayne Ford) and are as such an important part of the fabric of our recent histories and memories.

Over the intervening years some of these ‘markers’ have been lost to the passage of time and shifting sands. Very recently on the Northern coast of France, at Wissant, the vast wartime defences were pulled apart and removed by the authorities. Marc was lucky to have photographed these defences last year but today there is nothing but the sand and tides in this place. No physical reminder of the past remains.

Yet at the same time in late 2013 some defences along the coast of the UK have re-emerged from the dunes after an extreme storm. These defences, although often submerged by waters or subsumed by sands are never really lost to us.

The exhibition at Peacock Visual Arts in Aberdeen will show a selection of 22 images from the series, including those from locations in Scotland, The Northern Isles, Northern France and England.

Exhibition Runs: 29 March – 10 May 2014.
Opening Times: Tuesday – Saturday 9:30 – 5:30pm
Exhibition Opening on Friday 28th March, 6 – 8pm.

Free entry. All welcome.

Surfing The Don: A Touring Photography Exhibition

Aberdeen City, Events, Featured, Information No Responses »

Jun 102013

By Suzanne Kelly.

The life of the River Don corridor has been unveiled in a photography exhibition launched at St Machar Cathedral on Saturday 1 June.

It is the largest visual celebration of the area in recent times, the result of a group of Aberdeen photography enthusiasts who embarked on an exciting and dynamic community-led project to capture the past, present and future of the area.

Award-winning artist Alicia Bruce supported the group in selecting, editing and presenting the touring exhibition and the publication Surfing the Don.

Following the launch it will tour city venues, the Scottish Parliament and Europe.

Alicia said,

“I’m delighted to be working with talented photography enthusiasts a few footsteps from where I grew up. The River Don gets overshadowed by its sibling the Dee. It’s time the ‘Donny’ got a share of the spotlight.

“This project caught my imagination as I lost many hours looking at photographs on the SURF Aberdeen Facebook group seeing the places I went on childhood adventures. I can’t wait to see everyone’s faces light up as they see their work printed large scale for the first time. There is so much talent within our group and I’m certain some of these photographers will go on to bigger things.”

Aberdeen-born Alicia collaborated with a project team comprising local people from all walks of life, including postman Andy Coventry, Archaeologist Abeeer Eladany, her six year daughter old Nadine Ralston and photography graduate Blazej Marczak.

The images presented were taken on everything from professional cameras to camera phones. Project activities have involved regular collaborator meetings across the city, photo workshops, exhibition visits and online discussions.

Alicia added,

“It’s an iconic project for the River Don and we wanted to ensure we had a variety of iconic venues to showcase the work. St Machar Cathedral is the ideal venue to launch the exhibition. Its proximity to the river means visitors will view the images and, we hope, feel inspired to walk along the river.”

The exhibition is a community-initiated product of the Sustainable Urban Fringes (SURF) Aberdeen Project.

SURF Aberdeen is part of the Interreg IVB North Sea Region Programme, and is jointly funded by Aberdeen City Council and the European Regional Development Fund.

SURF brought people, organisations and ideas together to initiate a renewed focus to the River Don corridor.

Many of the community members met via the project’s Facebook page, where they had been posting their photographs and celebrating their enthusiasm for the river and surrounding areas.

Sinclair Laing, SURF Aberdeen project manager, said,

“The River Don corridor cuts a beautiful swathe of blue and green through north Aberdeen. This urban fringe plays an important role by providing urban breathing space for Aberdeen’s people and wildlife. It also hosts important cultural and built heritage and helps to support opportunities for sport, recreation, employment and education

“This community-led exhibition project will help raise the profile of this valuable, yet often overlooked, part of Aberdeen. This is a stunning exhibition and I offer my congratulations and thanks to Alicia and the rest of the exhibition participants for their initiative, hard work and creativity.”

Photographer Vicky Mitchell said,

“The exhibition means the chance to show off the beauty of the river and its importance to those who live in communities nearby. It also is giving me the opportunity to show my work to the people of Aberdeen. The project has been a great experience and full of lots of highlights such as working with some great people, securing some fantastic venues and spending even more time on the Don.”

Regular project contributors have been: Abeer Eladany, Alicia Bruce, Andy Coventry, Blazej Marczak, David Davidson, Darren Wright, Gregor McAbery, Katherine MacLean, Kirsty McAbery, Lynne Digby, Nadine Ralston, Sinclair Laing and Vicky Mitchell.

With additional exhibition contributors: Anita Welsh, Carrie-ann Holland, Craig Douglas, David Brazendale, Glenn Cooper, George Crighton, Ian Cairns, John Rutherford, Ken Dobbie, Mike Stephen, Nicola Youngson, Ruth Bone, Countryside Ranger Service, Susan Thoms, Stephen Bly and Hugh Mullady.

Tour dates

2 June – 6 July St Machar Cathedral – The iconic launch venue in the River Don Corridor.

7 July – 4 Aug Seventeen, Belmont Street – Supporting Aberdeen’s bid as UK City of Culture.

13 – 28 July Sir Duncan Rice Library, University of Aberdeen – Drawing parallels with Victorian wet-plate images by George Washington Wilson.

21 – 29 September Natural History Centre, University of Aberdeen – A touch and feel exhibition incorporating taxidermied examples of local wildlife.

September 2013 Regensburg, Germany – A cultural exchange made possible by Aberdeen Twinning.

Other venues to be confirmed include The Scottish Parliament and venues along the River Don corridor itself

Alicia Bruce is an award-winning Scottish photographer and educator. She studied photography at Aberdeen College and Edinburgh Napier University. Her work is a collaborative process with the communities she photographs, addressing social and political themes and issues. Alicia’s photographs are held in various private and public collections, including National Galleries of Scotland.

Her education work is rooted in participatory practice. She regularly teaches in communities, schools and further education settings teaching courses for Street Level Photoworks, City of Glasgow College, Stevenson College, eca, The Fruitmarket Gallery and The National Galleries of Scotland. She is Freelance Specialist Interest Rep on Engage Council.

Alicia is an experienced and established arts educator, lecturer, and community worker. Her recent Valleys Project about an ex-mining town in Wales is currently being exhibited at Diffusion, Cardiff International Photography Festival alongside the work of David Bailey, Philip Jones Griffiths and Jeremy Deller. Alicia’s photographs were recently celebrated by The Scottish Parliament in a Parliamentary Motion.

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What’s NEX? A NEX Factor Update

Articles, Community, Information No Responses »

Aug 072011

Malaika Africa’s charity event of X-traordinary proportions, the NEX Factor, has completed its round of auditions and selected ten hopeful contestants, each hoping to be voted as the audience’s favourite at the grand final. Aberdeen Voice weighs up the talent in advance of Saturday’s AECC final.

The contest calls upon teenagers to put their vocal and musical skills to the test to help raise funds to build a school for children in Tanzania.
The NEX Factor has proven immensely popular, with judges finding it incredibly difficult to select their final candidates ahead of the live showdown this Saturday at the AECC.

Speaking after the auditions, Yasmeen Ali of Malaika Africa said:

‘The auditions went fantastically well and we cannot believe that there is so much young talent in Aberdeen….they are all mind-blowingly amazing!’

The ten lucky finalists are:

Rowan Ah-See, Hannah Mcbeth and Cara Mitchell from Aberdeen;
Lauri Green and Jaimie Sheridan from Dundee;
Elise Imison from Fraserburgh,
Amber Hughes from Inverurie;
Stephanie Buchan from Cairnbulg;
Bad Girl Reaction from Peterhead;
and Image In Me from Lossiemouth.

These ten acts will go head-to-head in a live final in an attempt to wow the judging panel, and ultimately the audience who have final say in who wins.

There are a few tickets still available for the show, which promises to showcase the very best in young talent from the region.

For further information, check out www.malaika-africa.co.uk

The NEX Factor – Educational Support For Tanzania

Articles, Charity, Community, Events, Gigs and Concerts, Information No Responses »

May 062011

By Stephen Davy-Osborne.

Malaika Africa have launched a charity event of X-traordinary proportions, calling upon teenagers to put their vocal and musical skills to the test to help raise funds to build a school for children in Tanzania.

The NEX Factor (North East X Factor) will take place in June, following the format familiar to many, with auditions taking place in Elgin, Aberdeen and Dundee, from which three finalists from each set of auditions will go head to head at the AECC in August. Of these nine finalists, three will be chosen by the judging panel, with the final vote going to the audience on the night.

The lucky winner will walk away with an amazing prize of recording studio time, courtesy of Musical Vision, a professional photo shoot, courtesy of Paul Mackie photography and £1000 cash.

On the judging panel is Ross Milne from Forfar band The Trade, who will also be performing on the finals night. The Trade have very kindly given the charity a song to be used in a video that is being made out in Africa this summer before the event, which will be unveiled on the final night.

Yasmeen Ali of Malaika Africa is keen for as many local teens to get involved as possible:

“The idea behind this is that as we are building a school for the children in Africa, I would like the children of the North East to be involved in this build hence the above idea: children of the North East helping the children of Africa.”

All teens between the age of 13 and 19 are invited to apply for the auditions taking place in June, with the final taking place on August 13th at the Gordon Suite at the AECC in Aberdeen.

Application forms can be downloaded from the website, and for those not wishing to brave the spotlight, an online donation service is also available.

See: www.malaika-africa.co.uk