As temperatures sizzled to an all year high on Saturday, record crowds turned out in Lisburn to support their ‘Young Stars’ during the Mayors Carnival Parade in Wallace Park.
For the past several weeks local radio station Citybeat has been searching for young pop stars and it was time for Lisburn’s Young talent to shine at the weekend in front of thousands of spectators who crammed into the park.
Citybeat presenter Stuart Robinson, who created the ‘Young Star Search’ hosted the Lisburn Heat and was helped by celebrity judges
Gerard McCarthy from Hollyoaks, TV / Radio presenter Robin Elliot and local singers Minty and Kerri Moore.
A record crowd baked in the June sunshine as Lisburn’s young hopefuls aged 8-16 took to the stage in an attempt to impress the judges but in the end it was (junior category) Chantelle McAteer (8) Victoria Witherton (12) Zoe Skillen (12) and (senior category) Emma McQuire (15) Heather Vient (14) & Kyra Chivers (13) who secured a place in the next round.
All six young singers now go to the public vote on Citybeat this week and its now up to the radio stations listeners to choose the overall winner from the Lisburn Heat.
Organizer Stuart Robinson was thrilled with the response received in Lisburn “We are now over half way through the ‘Young Star’ tour and this was by far the biggest turn-out we’ve received so far. The crowd went crazy for all the young singers and Gerard from Hollyoaks also proved popular with the ladies. The weather helped also and meant we got the biggest crowd possible as thousands ventured outdoors to join in the funâ€.
The winner from the Lisburn heat will get a summer shopping spree at Lisburn Square plus will compete against all the other regional winners in the Northern Ireland final being held on the 7th July at Castle Court in Belfast.
All the singers from the ‘Young Star Search’ can be heard on www.citybeat.co.uk including video clips from the Lisburn event.