Singer Jenny Hill has become the 2015 Next Big Thing, Manx charity Junior Achievement’s annual talent contest for 10 to 17-year-olds.
Performing Wishing You Were Somehow Here from Phantom of the Opera the 13-year-old was voted by the judging panel - Renee Caley, (Isle of Man Steam Packet Company), Dean Helm, (Paragon Recruitment) and guest judge Coronation Street star Kym Marsh - the top act out of the 15 finalists competing for the title.
The finale was held at a packed Gaiety Theatre on Saturday February 28th and Jenny took away the first prize of ?500 sponsored by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.
Second prize, ?250 sponsored by Manx Professional and Educational Services Limited, went to beat box duo Hez and Ashe (Hezekiah Tacardon, 16 and Ashenafi Ashenafi,17) and third prize, ?150 sponsored by Hartford Homes, to 16-year-old singer and guitarist Hamish Faragher.
New for 2015 was the People’s Choice award in memory of youth worker Paul Cooper, who died in 2014.
The leader of the Soundcheck project, had been an influential figure in the Next Big Thing since it first began. Members of the audience were invited to fill in their choice on a voting slip inside the Next Big Thing programme.
The first award went to dance troupe Intensity Blue. Runner-up was singer Christian Cooper, a Next Big Thing finalist in 2014.
To find out more about Junior Achievement’s work and forthcoming events, visit jaiom.im or follow Junior Achievement Isle of Man on Facebook.