-
Demo Factor 2018 – Live Blog
Relive Demo Factor 2018 as it happened with our live blog.
23:30 – That’s all from us here at Demo Factor 2018. Congratulations if you had your demo played but fear not if you didn’t, the judges have said they will listen to all of the demos and give feedback.
Here’s tonight’s winner with some of the team:
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981668699491983363
23:25 – After long deliberation and lots of filling by our host Ben Burrell, the judges have decided who has won Demo Factor 2018… IT’S TOM HINCKLEY FROM SHOCK RADIO!
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981660464634621952
23:21 – The judges are now deliberating! Who is your Demo Factor winner 2018?
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981658699952476164
23:16 – The final demo of the night is Jake from CSR. Could he win? Jordan said he’s so relatable and made a smile on his face and he golden buzzer-ed him!
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981657284400082944
23:11 – Becky from Xpression FM lasted the full minute because Jordan didn’t buzz. Paul said she needed to be more authentic and get across more personality! “That was boring but you’re not boring”.
23:08 – Jocelin from BBC Radio 1 just golden buzzer-ed Stephen from Smoke Radio!! She felt he was so relatable and had a great voice. Let’s work on content and then we could do something amazing. Jordan said he loved him!!
22:05 – Jocelin thought Leanne’s from DemonFM demo was a bit too specific to Leicester so she felt alienated. However, she did say that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Paul and Chris thought she needed more personality!
23:04 – There are only ten minutes left of demos!!
23:01 – Pandora thought Megan from NSR is so relatable and thinks if she had her best stuff at the start of her demo, she would have had a golden buzzer!
22:55 – Harry Benjamin from Livewire, Chris North is proud of you! Well done for nailing the SRA Chart in return here’s a golden buzzer!!
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981652383984967680
22:53 – Finally it’s working! Chris said he wasn’t getting anything from Meg from Xpress Radio’s demo. Jordan said if she has another year in student radio she could be incredible!!
22:51 – Before we start the next demo, head judge Chris North is not happy with how Xpress Radio is uploading their demos. This is the third time one of their demos hasn’t played!!
22:48 – Oh no she didn’t!! (she actually did) Kaylee Golding from Shock Radio just got a golden buzzer from Paul!! Paul said you are never going to work on my radio station but you are brilliant!! I think you are the future of BBC Radio 1. Aled thinks with a good producer you could pilot with 1Xtra!!!
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981650662546079744
22:34 – Linda Riin was sooooo close to a golden buzzer from Aled
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981648883410403328
22:12 – Edmund from Spark Sunderland managed to survive the minute. Jordan said he has brilliant energy and his use of different pieces of audio made the listener feel part of the link. Then he dabbed and began unpopular amongst the audience… Rookie error Edmund.
22:07 – Tom Hinckley from Shock Radio is the second GOLDEN BUZZER of the night! He had 2 golden buzzers from Chris & Pandora and THEN A STANDING OVATION from all of the judges!! Pandora said ‘babe you’ve got a job in radio’. Chris North said he is SO gutted that Pandora hit the golden buzzer before him! Jordan North said he’s the best demo of the night by far.
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981640572887863296
22:01 – Jocelin ‘absolutely loves’ Sarah from Boom Radio’s voice and was so gutted that it had to stop at one minute.
21:58 – we’ve had a brief shot break…
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981638389005942784
21:57 – This year’s guest judge is Jordan North!
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981638358156931072
21:56 – The judges are back on stage for the second part of Demo Factor. So far it’s between Gregor and Kerrie.
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981637170237771777
21:37 – Can you believe it? We’re halfway through already. Demo Factor will return in 15 minutes…
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981632429998968834
21:33 – Jocelin listened to the whole minute of Michael from Xpress Radio’s demo but she didn’t like his David Attenborough impression/ she didn’t know who the hell it was supposed to be. Paul was very intrigued… ‘It was like Homeland, I wasn’t enjoying it but I was compelled to listen to it’.
21:30 – Jocelin from BBC Radio 1 is just very confused with Tristan’s demo from Surge. Pandora didn’t put it as nicely as that and described it as boring, but she thinks he has potential. Good try Tristan.
21:24 -WOW OUR FIRST GOLDEN BUZZER!! The rest of the judges buzzed early but Aled from BBC Radio 1 pressed his golden buzzer for Kerrie Coshan from Fly FM! Aled said she could be Charlie Sloth’s co-host.
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981629678933901315
21:19 – Adam Wood from Spark Sunderland is a popular man amongst the judges. Paul “Who doesn’t want to hear about sausage at lunchtime”. He said he was very close to golden buzzer-ing (if that’s a word) but just need alittle more from Adam.
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981628595968921602
21:15 – Megan Hornsby from Shock Radio is up next. Paul thought she was good and had potential but her demo was well… we can’t type the word he said. Megan was very proud of lasting as long as she did.
https://twitter.com/SRA/status/981627614715621376
21:11 – Gregor Davidson from City Radio Glasgow was the first entrant who survived the whole minute! Pandora absolutely loved Greg’s demo and said she wanted to hear more but she didn’t press the golden buzzer.
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981626130758295556
21:09 – Up first we have Solmaz Aslan from URF in the South East. The judge’s response wasn’t great… they didn’t realise she was playing a character so they buzzed early. Aled said now he knows it was a comedy demo, he quite liked it but would slightly tweak it before sending it out to Programme Controllers.
21:05 – The judges have arrived in only the way they could…
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981624823939059712
21:02 – Here comes the host with the most, Ben Burrell
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981623905411624962
21:00 – We’re about to start…
-
Here we go… Demo Factor 2018
The tension is building… The BIG GOLD LETTERS are warming up…
And the judges are about to take to their seats
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/981619580190773248
Demo Factor will soon be kicking off here in Norwich, and we will be keeping you up to date with all the gossip, stand out demos, and pantomime moments right through to the end of the night.
There’s an Absolute 90s show up for grabs… who will claim it?
There’s only one way to find out…
Demo Factor is about to begin, at #SRACON held at The University of East Anglia.
-
Should you enter? Of course you should!
I still remember being sat in that room in Bath, the faint smell of snakebite wafting from the bar and a sticky floor beneath my feet, I prayed they wouldn’t play my demo because at that stage I was sure it was the worst thing ever confined to a CD (yes a CD – it was ages ago).
Then the closing bars to a Sugerbabes song rang round the room (a current hit at the time – like I said…ages ago) I knew I was about to hear myself doing a link…..What I didn’t know was that single moment would be the basis for my career, I’d meet my agent, we’d talk about my dream to work at Absolute Radio, he’d introduce me to the boss of that station blah blah blah.
I could go on but it’s about 8 years in all so I’ll stop banging on about myself. Point being I can’t think of another forum where you can gain face to face access with industry leaders who give you direct feedback on what you’re doing. Also you’re literally in a bar with them afterwards so you can have a more friendly informal chat, it’s perfect if you’re thinking radio is the next step after uni.
Go for it you won’t regret it!
Ben Burrell, Demo Factor Host 2018
-
Leicester to Norwich – it continues!
Is it that time of the year again – where has the time gone since we were in the good hands of DemonFM and De Montfort University at DemoFactor 2017?
Well, it’s been a year! But it was a night to remember. Possibly the most brilliantly OTT production of the by then 9 shows, and even though SRACon has been to Leicester twice in Demo Factor’s history it was the first time it had an outing there (we took a gap year the first time).
It was a year of change though, with a new line up of judges, Paul Sylvester (Absolute Radio), Pandora (Kiss), Jordan North (Radio 1), Lucy Winter (Radio 1 Specialist) and longstanding ‘Head Judge’, Chris North (North Media Talent) we also welcomed DF’s first winner, Ben Burrell (Absolute Radio) as host, with two days notice due to our good friend and previous Judge and Host Vicki Blight (Radio Wales) being unwell. Oh and we had a surprise appearance of Guest Judge Greg James (you know who he is). We also added a twist. The Golden Buzzer.
(To speed things up each demo now has ‘a minute to win it’ – which basically means if no judge buzzes it will stop after a minute. If a judge likes it they have one chance to golden buzz to keep it playing. Which is quite a big deal!)
But the stars of the show were the delegates and those who were brave enough to enter their demo. The night is a bit rubbish if nobody enters.
The panel was the usual constructive collective (although it rattled some cages) but on the whole, the night was widely seen as a success. Some entrants were spotted by other industry bods in the room and went on to have meetings, pilots., even work!
Notable talent spots from the panel were Abi Gibson (DemonFM) who Paul said ‘watch our for Abi, she’s going to be famous one day’, Lydia George, (also from DemonFM) was also singled out with the comment ‘the industry is waiting for you, Lydia’
Proving that not being played on the night isn’t the end of the world, following DF, Jordan North spotted Chris Ros from the Uni of Bedfordshire, who has since had interest from commercial radio.
The overall winner, however, was unanimously the brilliant Sylvie Carlos from Verve Radio, London Metropolitan University with judges observing her bright future and how excited they all were to hear someone who’s ‘natural, brilliant at capturing a moment and has a true passion for music’. Paul also did say that she was ‘the Yorkshire puddings to his Sunday roast’ but nobody knew what that meant.
Sylvie said “Being at Demo Factor was kind of intense, but the good intense! I remember being at my table thinking Paul Sylvester was savage with feedback given to someone and then the next thing I know my demo comes up! Winning DemoFactor was banging. It confirmed for me that this was only the beginning of my presenting journey”
Here’s to Norwich – We can’t wait!
-
2017 Winner – Sylvie Carlos
The Judges were unanimous about the 2017 winner. Sylvie from Verve Radio, London Metropolitan University was treated to a confetti cannon as she picked up the winner of Demo Factor at the SRACon in Leicester 2017. On winning she said, “Being at DemoFactor was kind of intense, but the good intense! I remember being at my table thinking Paul Sylvester was savage with feedback given to someone and then the next thing I know my demo comes up!
Winning DemoFactor was banging. It confirmed for me that this was only the beginning of my presenting journey.”
-
Ben Burrell
There’s some very sad news to share. Our host, Vicki Blight is missing her first Demo Factor since the very beginning. Vicki was on the original panel in at University of Bath in 2009.
https://twitter.com/DemoFactor/status/854375205950676992
However we’re excited to tell you that Absolute Radio’s Ben Burrell has very kindly stepped in.
Ben currently presents on Absolute Radio and Absolute 90’s across the UK.
Ben’s love for radio started when he joined university getting involved with student and then community radio in Portsmouth.
In his last year at uni he won the first ever Demo Factor competition leading him to present across the then Galaxy network.
After graduating he worked at his local station presenting Drive time, before quickly moving to The Breeze presenting evenings across 16 stations.
Ben went on to present for Free Radio in the Midlands where he was the Drive-time presenter on Birmingham’s Free Radio and Nottingham’s Gem 106 weekend evenings.
-
Matt Curtis
Matt hails from Fly FM in Nottingham and first popped up in Demo Factor 2015. He took all the feedback he was given by the judges on board, came back in 2016 and nailed it! The judges said they thought Matt was “radio ready”. Something they have been proved correct with as Matt is currently a freelance presenter and has been heard regularly on Capital FM having presented in Yorkshire, Manchester, North West & North Wales & East Midlands.
-
Demo Factor returns for 2017
As you heard on Thursday night at the Student Radio Awards, Demo Factor is coming back to the National Student Radio Conference in 2017.
WITH A TWIST!
Make sure you are subscribed to the Student Radio Newsletter to find out more information and be among the first to know when we start accepting submissions!
-
Thank you SRA, Thank you Cardiff!
We’ve all had a week or so back from the amazing #SRACon in Cardiff. Had a good shower – and probably a bit of a detox!
Thank you for making Demo Factor fabulous again this year!
Congratulations once again to Matt Curtis – who we notice has already changed his Twitter Bio, and living the dream taking rainbow photos from Capital East Midlands.
https://twitter.com/_MattCurtis/status/717765388092719104
Finally, the SRA have produced some cracking podcasts about Demo Factor. Take a few minutes out of your Uni work and listen to these…
