- Teens queued from early in the day for Saturday’s performance.
- Under-16 event raising money for Teenage Cancer Trust.
- Are more events needed for this age group? Take part in our poll below.
BRITAIN’S Got Talent stars Bars and Melody entertained hundreds of excited young fans at the first Teenage Rocks event at the weekend.
Rapping duo Charlie Lenehan and Leondre Devries took to the stage at Mimosa on Saturday afternoon to perform a 30-minute set.
More than 300 under-16s attended the event, which saw the duo perform their UK top five hit Hopeful among other tracks.
The pair, who came third on last year’s Britain’s Got Talent, were supported by a number of local acts at the event, which was raising money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Among the local support acts were DJ Mellissa Marshall, Any Given Sunday, Monty Taft, Sara Strudwick and Charlie Norton, PJ Ruderham, Max Feighan, Jessie Byatt and Morgan Gregory.
The fundraiser was organised by the Happy Events Group, whose director, Aaron Labey, said: ‘Bars and Melody were absolutely fantastic and everyone seemed to have a really good time.
‘Some of the youngsters were queuing from 8.30 am in the morning and when the guys came to the stage, I have never seen so many screaming girls in my life!
‘Bars and Melody really loved Jersey – they were really up for it. We also had six lucky youngsters who had the bonus of meeting the boys afterwards, which was brilliant.
‘There’ s definitely a gap in the market for 16 and under events that allow youngsters to have good fun in a safe and controlled environment.
‘With Bars and Melody we wanted to get a teen act for teens and it worked really well. We really hope to put on similar events in the future.’
Speaking at the launch of the event earlier this year, Mr Labey said: ‘The charity is very close to my heart and with the popularity of Britain’s Got Talent finalists Bars and Melody, I am sure we can create a great event for local teenagers in a fun, but safe environment, as well as raising lots of money.’
- Bars and Melody are 14-year-old rapper Leondre Devries (Bars) and 16-year-old singer Charlie Lenehan (Melody),
- They took part in the eighth series of Britain’s Got Talent in 2014 and during their audition they were automatically entered into the semi-finals, after the head judge Simon Cowell pressed the ‘golden buzzer’, a new feature introduced that year.
- They eventually finished the series in third place.
- The signed to Simon Cowell’s record label, Syco Music, after the series finished and released their debut single, Hopeful, in July, which charted at number five.
- They refer to their fans as Bambinos.
- Charlie took up singing aged 11, where he had formed a band with his schoolmates
- Leondre was previously a solo rapper under the stage name ‘Little Dre’.
LAST summer, two best friends sacrificed a day of sunbathing to create a beach message for their favourite singers.
Liana Martinovic and Anita Tavares, both then aged 12, had a chance to meet entertainers Bars and Melody when they visited the Island back in July.
And keen to encourage their idols to return to Jersey soon, the pair, who were both in Year 8 at Le Rocquier School, spent a day on the beach in St Clement creating a message for the duo.
The schoolgirls spent five hours creating the beach art message, which read ‘BAM Come To Jersey, by Lia and Anita’.
Since meeting the pair in July, Liana and Anita have set up fan accounts on Twitter and Instagram which are followed by hundreds of other Bambinos.
Speaking at the time, Liana said: ‘We got to meet them after they announced on Instagram and Facebook that they were in Jersey, and they said that if fans wanted to meet them, they could go to Le Braye on that day.
‘Loads of people went along and had their photos taken with them, and the next day everyone went to the Airport to see them again.
‘I don’t know why they were in the Island. I was so excited when I got to meet them that I was nearly crying.
‘All the girls were screaming. ‘It was amazing to meet them, but when they were here they didn’t sing, so we want them to come back so we can meet them again and hear them sing, which is why we’ve created this beach message.’
The pair have then sent a photograph of the message to BAM via social media sites.
