The Bailey Inn

The first tie and two acts, Flipside & Rachel Gittus storm through to take places 8 & 9 in the race for the Bailey £1000 

Tenacious B score first place and fill the 7th place in the race for the Bailey £1000 

James lovett Trio got it so right this week for the fifth place in the race for the Bailey £1000 

The James Lovett Trio - actually Quintet this time around showed us how to do it with there superb toe tapping, music. The crowd, jigged and swayed showing their appreciation! Max and Sue Tricky gave excellent competition but in the end the group showed through as clear winners.

Breeds "Heart go on" rendition pleased the judges gaining them the fourth place in the race for the Bailey £1000

 Breed came back to snatch the fourth place from two excellent artists, Daisy and Alex to make this another week to remember. Daisy wowed us with her violin and Alex with her superb vocals. Please come back to try again ladies - as Breed proved, you can come back stronger and more prepared!

YOURS rock the Bailey and gain the third slot in the race for the Bailey £1000

 YOURS are no strangers to the Bailey having entered the last open mic competition and our winner takes all monthly events. With £2 a pint on real ales to entice them back and the chance of winning a Bailey pizza, the fabulous trio shook the Bailey with their impressive vocals and intrumental excellence. Many thanks to Glenn and his sponge bob guitar and quirky humour adding to the finali and making this another week to remember.

Tom Browning strums his way into Semi finals!

  

Tom showed his versatility and vastly improving delivery of his original and cover songs to take the second coveted place in the Bailey Semi's to join Tanya on the quest for the £1000 top prize.  Unlucky Lee B was just pipped for the top spot but showed that he was a worthy adversary. See Tom here again on one of our semi nights at the end of november, beginning of December!

New - Slimline Tanya belts her way into Semi finals!

Tanya is back and on top form, but it wasn't a walk-over as there was stiff competition from fresh and original young band Breed, from Cinderford, the amazing Max from Coleford, and superb Lee B from nr Coleford. In the end, Cinderford rolled out winners, but only just as Tanya won by 1 point on the judges card from second placed Breed, with Max only two points behind her. Tanya, enjoying her first night out for some time, wowed the crowd with old time greats such as "Big Spender" and finished off with a spectacular "Alleluyah". The biggest cheer of the night was when landlady, Val, delivered Tanya and her friends her winning 12" Hawaiin Pizza! She'll be back to try her luck in the semi-finals.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of this years acts who entered the competition, to all of the supporters and fans. Without you all, we would not have experienced such a fantastic night of musical excellence as we did tonight, wednesday 6th May 2009. A big thank you to Antony, my son, who put a tremendous amount of energy and effort into supporting the acts throughout the competition and Lisa and Carol who were superb behind the bar, keeping customers watered and happy. Finally a big thank you to my wife Val who supports me when I come out with these strange, but fantastic ideas and who tries not to be too shocked at giving large amounts of cash away!

With the thanks over, I would just like to mention a little bit about the final night. Every act in this years final had a very realistic chance of winning and no where else will you see such a diverse arrangement of musical talent and genres. Everyone was mesmerised by the talent displayed on the night and the audience gave each act their undivided attention and support. And we weren't disapointed, each one of the finalists displaying why they had made it to the final. Wednesdays just won't be the same - until next time - hopefully! In the end, two acts shone through, The Stone Saloon just pipping Crash and Berney to the £1500 prize. I would like to personally wish all of the acts great success in the future and we will see many of them back here over the coming months. As far as I am concerned, the X-factor has got nothing on The Bailey Open Mic and, since the first competition, has never been able to fill the gap! Take care and see you all next time - Gary

 Toadstool claim winning crown and pocket £1000!

Underdogs Toadstool stole the show after a magical night of music and fun. Nearly 200 people flocked to the Bailey to experience the atmosphere and what a night it was. All acts were superb and the quality of music was beyond compare. Only 10 points seperated the top and bottom acts. The four judges Kev, Bill, Jane and Maria, between them had 5 different acts in first place, one judge showing joint first. Each act was judged on each song performance and the judges had to use the countback system to tot up all the points for each act. Toadstool, who have been second in many battle of the bands competitions had really raised the mark and came from rank outsiders before the night to worthy  and humble winners. Their journey started with failure when they lost out to The Stereotypes, but were persuaded to re-enter and won after the one and only sing-off in the competition in week 9. Their semi-final was tight and they just managed to scrape into the final, the judged hinting that they just needed to go for it if they were to stand a chance. And boy did they go for it!

A personal thank you to all the acts who have put themselves up for judgement and scutiny over the weeks, especially the finalists who have done so three times. I personally have loved the music and thought that the standard from everyone has been fantastic. Special thanks to the judges on final night, it's never easy to disappoint and judging is never an easy task. The finalist were absolutely amazing and I have been mesmerized by the quality and performance from every act. So thanks to Toadstool, Gorg & Zola, Jake & Lyndon, Hannah, Pure Evil and Marley. You have been inspirational and I wish you all well and hope to see you all soon!

Above - everybody waits - Jake, Lyndon, Gorg & Zola, Hannah, Toadstool Pure Evil

Antony announces the winner - Marley in background. We've won! Hannah cheers and we can't quite believe it!

Also, many thanks to all the supporters and spectators. The atmostphere has been wonderfully supportive and the nights have been successful because of you. Also, many thanks to John Duff who helped us out over the course of the competition and make the nights very special, supporting the acts and pleasing the crowds too.

 Behind the scenes

 What a couple of days. We started to set the room up on Tuesday with the help of Bill and Paul & James (you guys know who you are). 2 hours of testing we were just about there. Wednesday morning we moved the furniture around 3 to 4 times. All the bottles of champagne were ready and it was on to the paperwork. Posters of each act were acreated, printed and placed on the wall, 6 winners cheques were printed so we could have a photo opportunity for which-ever act won. (I'll sell the unused ones on ebay! - kidding) Judges sheets, score cards and numbers for act order were created. Balloons, bunting, stocking of beers, wines etc were finalised. And much much more... All in all a busy but very satisfying few days... - Time to rest!

Watch out for the new Competition starting in January - £1500 prize money - Book Now!