Young people are invited to audition for the Next Big Thing 2018, the island’s premier talent competition for 10 to 18 year-olds in aid of Junior Achievement Isle of Man.
Now in its seventh year the competition, sponsored by Paragon Recruitment, Swagelok and Energy FM, offers finalists the unique opportunity to perform live on the stage of Gaiety Theatre in the grand final on Saturday February 3, 2018 and compete for the title Next Big Thing 2018.
The winner will take home a cash prize of ?500, sponsored by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company; the runner-up ?250 cash sponsored by Manx Professional and Educational Services Ltd; and third place ?150 cash sponsored by the Platform Theatre School.
Junior Achievement chief executive Sue Cook said: ‘Over the years the Next Big Thing has acquired a tremendous following and revealed some truly inspirational young talent. For example, last year’s winner was Amy Gravestock, only 12 years old then and a gifted singer, and the year before 14-year-old Tabitha Templer took the title when she thrilled the audience with her playing of the electric violin.
‘We know from past experience there’s a huge pool of outstanding talent in the island and we’re looking for acts of all kinds - not just singers and dancers, they could be gymnasts, comedians, ventriloquists, or magicians, for example.
‘The Next Big Thing is much more than a talent competition, though. It’s a fantastic community event that plays to a packed house and, importantly, gives young artists a confidence-boosting opportunity to showcase their talent to an appreciative and very supportive audience.
‘We’ll be holding the auditions on October 21 and 22…and we can’t wait to discover what surprising talent there’ll be in store this year.’
Applications to audition are open until Wednesday October 11. To apply, visit thenextbigthing.im.
Junior Achievement Isle of Man is a member of Junior Achievement Europe which works with 31,380 schools, with the help of 116,687 teachers and 164,363 business volunteers to empower 3,454,750 million students across 39 countries.
To find out more about Junior Achievement Isle of Man, visit jaiom.im.
