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Singer Thomas hoping for competition support

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SINGER Thomas Dormer is hoping Ennis music fans will come out in support of his dream of becoming a recording artist. The 19-year-old will be taking part in the final stages of the All-Ireland Music Competition next weekend in the West County Hotel.

 

With audience voting part of the process to determine the eventual winner, Thomas is looking for some home advantage.

“Because there is a public vote as well as the judges, I have to try and get as many people from Ennis to vote for me. The top six in the competition out of 16 will go through to the final so I need to get as many public votes as I can. Hopefully, the people of Ennis will come along and support me,” he said.

The competition takes place on January 4 and 5 in the West County Hotel, with Mercury Music Prize winner, Gemma Hayes and Eurovision winner Paul Harrington, judging the acts, alongside the audience.
The UL student, who lives on the Gort Road, said he is delighted to be involved in the prestigious competition.

“I saw a poster about it in a shop on the day of the auditions and I said ‘why not, I’ll give it a go’. I got off work at 6 o’clock and I had to be in the West County by twenty-past. Then I got through to the boot camp, where I had to do a duet with somebody I didn’t know and then another qualifier. It’s a bit strange now that I’ve made it this far to see my name in the paper and people are asking me about it. It’s been a really good experience so far and it would be great to get a record deal. It will be a bit nerve wracking performing in front of the judges because they are such big names and you don’t want to make a mistake. But they are only people at the end of the day.”

While he has high praise for this talent search, he’s not quite so complimentary of other singing competitions. “I was going to go on X-Factor a couple of years ago but I decided not to, it’s lost touch. This is a new competition with a good contract with Sony and Talent Management International as a prize, which is very good. Even if you don’t win, there is still an opportunity there that you could get signed to a contract.

“You have to be into music to know that this competition is going on, rather than it being shown on TV every week. It’s more about the talent and the music than a television show and the profits they are going to make off you. There is so much talent in this competition it is unreal,” he said.
Thomas’ family will all be in the West County cheering him on in the competition. “They are all excited about it. I kind of want to do it for them. They’ve been there for me all the time and it’s nice to be able to give something back.”

Thomas is a big fan of Michael Bublé, One Direction and Ed Sheeran. He is planning on singing Little Things, the One Direction song written by Ed Sheerin, in the semi-finals. If he gets through to the finals, he will be singing three songs.

“I have to get that far yet so I’m not too sure what I will be singing. But it might be Me and My Guitar by Tom Dice, The A Team by Ed Sheeran and probably something from Michael Bublé,” he said.
When asked about the possibility of winning the recording contract, he said, “It would be crazy. You don’t wake up everyday and think you’re going to win a talent show, especially with the talent that is out there. It’s a tough business and you have to take every advantage that you can get.

“This is what I want to do, I want to perform. I watch people on television and I just think it’s an amazing achievement and something to be very proud of.”

The competition, which is hosted by Talent Management International (TMI) Ireland and sponsored by Shannon Development and the Shannon Region Conference & Sports Bureau, has attracted significant interest. Hundreds of acts participated in regional heats in Limerick, Dublin, Galway and Ennis. For more details on tickets for the semi-final and final, visit www.aimc.ie.

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