O'Neill's Undiscovered Live 2006

On 15th August 2007, the grand final of O'Neill's Undiscovered Live competition saw six bands battle it out in front of an 800 strong crowd of music fans and a panel of industry experts. Six bands performed at the grand final having progressed from the local heats held at 25 O'Neill's across the country. They then went on to compete in one of six regional finals to win a place in the grand final. The whole competition attracted hundreds of acts across the country, making it one of the largest unsigned music talent contests staged in the UK.

The standard of the six finalists was so high that the judges thought two acts deserved to be recognised as winners of 2007 for the first time ever. Rock band Hot Monocles, from Sutton Coldfield, and reggae and ska act New Town Kings, who hail from Colchester, shared the prize of 2 days recording time and a host of musical equipment. In a further twist, the judging panel thought that the two bands deserved an additional prize, and they were each awarded a gig at their local Carling Academy to showcase their talent to an even wider audience.

Host for the evening, Radio 1 DJ Colin Murray said "New Town Kings were great live, they were the best audience pleasers and are made to play live gigs, and for that reason we felt they'd benefit from the new equipment. We thought Hot Monocles would really benefit from recording a proper demo, which they didn't have."

To watch the Undiscovered Live 2007 final click here

Updates on next year's competition will be available here soon.