Nat shares this latest news from Ryde Academy. Ed
Students from across the year groups came together to showcase their talent at Ryde Academy’s X Factor performance on Tuesday 7th February.
The judges were Principal Joy Ballard, Performing Arts Teacher, Thom Goodey, Becky Savage, Teacher, and the High Sheriff, Robin Courage.
The evening was hosted by Year 12 student, Jordan Westwood, who did a fine job of it.
Diverse range of genres
One of the most striking things about the evening was the range of genres that students chose to perform including Abba, Amy Winehouse, The Kinks, and Adele to name but a few.
Some of the songs are difficult to perform and the judges were impressed with how students, some as young as 11, tackled and often mastered the song.
The audience were treated to everything from beautifully sung solos, including a tear-inducing rendition of Whitney Houston’s ‘I Have Nothing’ by 11 year old Maddy Hemper, to a unique rap performance by Jack Millward in Year 12, who did ‘Can’t Hold Us’ by Macklemore.
Holly Eldridge’s performance of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Valerie’ and Lucy Baker’s choice of Abba’s ‘Winner takes it all’ displayed soulful and mature voices, whilst boy band, Radio Silence, rocked the house.
Many solo performances
The boys were really in full force with no less than three solo performances by Ollie Brunton, Tom Brunton (who are brothers and show that talent clearly runs in the family), as well as Danny Delap from Year 7.
The support from their peers was another feature of the evening and some of the performers had already amassed a following!
The top five chosen by the judges, Radio Silence, Tom Brunton, Jack Millward, Lucy Baker and Hayley Andrews went into the final and the overall winner was chosen by the audience.
The winner was…………Radio Silence!
Thom Goodey said,
“Once again, it has been brilliant to see our students showcasing their talents to over a 150 strong audience, it is testament to how brave and confident some of our Performing Arts students are. I loved being involved as a judge for this year’s event and look forward to seeing what our talented students showcase at our forthcoming events: ‘Ryde’s Got Talent’ and ‘Do You Think You Can Dance’.
“This was another top performance by students at the Academy who already have an established reputation for talent and now the future of its performing arts is assured!”
