Talented young Fylde coast singers wow the crowds

Verity Kinnon, 17, from Cleveleys and Rhys Watkins, 17, from Bispham won the Under 16s category of the Open Mic UK competition at the O2 Arena in London, beating thousands of other contestants.

The pair, who are both former Montgomery High School pupils, entered the competition in August and the final was held on Sunday, when they saw off the 28 other finalists with their song ‘One More Month’, written by Rhys.

Verity, who is in her second year studying music, law and drama at Blackpool Sixth Form, said the competition is the biggest thing she has done to date.

That’s despite her performing on the smash-hit ITV reality TV contest The X Factor two years ago, where she made it through to the six chair challenge.

Verity said Rhys told her about the original audition in Manchester, and said they went along despite never singing together before.

She said: “It was amazing, and it’s pretty crazy to go through four rounds of auditions and come out as winners.”

Rhys, who is studying his first year of vocals at Access Creative College Manchester, said it was a “mad weekend”, and added: “There are no words to describe the talent of everyone and the experience we all had. We really feel like we’ve grown a lot as artists.”

The pair now hope to be successful when they audition for the new series of The X Factor as a duo, and hope to continue their success.