Oxhey Village’s Got Talent 2010

Oxhey Village’s Got Talent took place on Sunday 17 October 2010 at the Watford Pump House.

The three judges of Oxhey Village’s Got Talent were faced with a really tough choice of who should be awarded the three cash prizes. They found they couldn’t split two of the singers Sarah Sharp and Grace Ellis – and so both were awarded a joint 1st prize. The runners-up were Max Guiney, who played guitar and sang a song he had written himself; and Jane Sams who sang the golden oldie ‘This Is My Song.’ Ben Lester (Benetron), Sheridan Smith, and Lauren Bayliss were specially commended on their performances.

Why did we do it? OVEG wanted to engage more of the community particularly younger people. So when our events organiser, Tina, suggested an X Factor type talent show we liked the idea very much, especially as Tina had a contact with whom she had experience of running this type of event. So we soon realised that this was an idea with legs! We decided that the facilities at the Pump House Theatre made it a good choice of venue, and we invited all the talented people in the community to come forward and take part. Initially people were slow to come forward, but as the deadline approached, we had a late rush of entries. In the end we had 13 acts with a fantastic array of talent competing for the cash prizes, and the show sold out very quickly.

Where was Mr Nasty? The actor Alex Lowe, who lives in the village, generously agreed not only to be one of the judges, but also to bring Barry from Watford along to kick-start the show. Gilli Monks, a theatre director, had already been signed up as a judge by Tina, and Mel Dakin, the Watford Observer’s arts correspondent and ex-OVEG committee member, completed the team. All of the judges found plenty of positive things to say to all of the acts after their performances, and there were no nasty comments at all. Simon Cowell, eat your heart out!

The production team put on a very professional high tech show, the acts were great, the buzz was fantastic, and the local talent was appreciated by everyone who attended on the night. At the end of the show we were sorry that not everyone could be a winner. It may be a cliché, but it really was a tough job for the judges. We’ve had lots of positive feedback – especially about the depth of talent in Oxhey Village.

The acts, in order of appearance, were:
-Benetron
-Girl Band
-Teacher Rap
-Max Guiney
-Grace Ellis
-Final Silence
-Lauren Bayliss
-Sheriden Smith
-Emily and Sadie
-Sarah Sharp
-Roy Bean
-Jane Sams
-The Jelly Bellies