London – Best New Bands’ Tony Hardy was one of 40 U.K. based music writers invited by Glastonbury Festival to select a long list of 120 artists from thousands of entries to the 2015 Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition. A panel including festival hosts Michael & Emily Eavis then had the similarly daunting task of choosing just eight acts to go through to next month’s live finals.

This year’s final shortlist is suitably eclectic. The eight acts that have made it through to the live final of the 2015 Emerging Talent Competition are: Declan McKenna, MoD, Princess Slayer, Lucy Kitchen, Isaac Lee-Kronick, Shields, Jakl and K.O.G. & the Zongo Brigade.

Best New Bands is delighted to announce that one of our three choices, Lucy Kitchen, has made the final cut. (Ed., here’s what we wrote about her when we announced our choices for Round 1, “A simply beautiful, haunting song, sensitively arranged. Lucy’s vocal tone has hints of the late Sandy Denny in it – a rare and precious thing indeed – and conveys a level of intimacy that would command a big stage as much as a small room. A real gem of both song and singer.”)

Sadly Sankofa and The Courtesans did not join Lucy but we hope to feature both of these great bands on the site soon. Meanwhile here is a reminder of Lucy Kitchen’s song that equally wowed the judges:

Glastonbury Co-Host Emily Eavis commented: “We’ve been blown away by the interest in the competition this year. To have more than 6,000 acts from the U.K. and Ireland enter is just incredible. Our team of judges did a fantastic job of whittling all those entries down to 120 acts, and it certainly wasn’t easy for us to choose eight finalists from the long list. But I’m really excited about the quality and variety of the eight acts we’ve ended up with. I’m really looking forward to seeing them play at the live finals.”

This year’s invite-only final will take place at Pilton Working Men’s Club on Saturday 11 April. The winning act will be given a slot on one of the main stages at this year’s Festival. The winners will also be awarded a £5,000 PRS for Music Foundation Talent Development prize, to help take their songwriting and performing to the next level. Two runners-up will also each be awarded a £2,500 PRS for Music Foundation Talent Development prize.

You can check out a playlist of all eight finalists on the Glastonbury site now.

Related posts:

Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition 2015: Round 1 Any New Bands Fancy Playing Glastonbury 2015? Sasquatch! Launch Party Features Local Bands, Reveals 2015 Lineup