THE man behind Worcester’s Got Talent has personally urged local people to sign up.

Paul Todd, manager of Sin Bar where the city talent show will soon be staged in association with your Worcester News, is immensely proud of the annual event. He is equally enthusiastic about the team who help him run it.

“I might be the figurehead but I’m surrounded by incredibly skilled people,” he said.“A lot goes into this show from the judges to the lighting and the sound. I want people to walk in and say, ‘Wow’. I want to create something that’s worth coming out for on a wet, cold winter’s night.”

Unlike Simon Cowell, the powerhouse behind Britain’s Got Talent, Mr Todd spends quality time with all the acts which enter the Worcester contest. He is often on phone offering words of encouragement to nervous contestants.

“A lot of these people have never been on stage before,” said Mr Todd.

“If you are used to singing into the hairbrush in front of your bedroom mirror, then you find yourself up against people with stage training and real experience, you get nervous.

“But what you’ve got to remember is that it’s not training that impresses the crowd – it’s how you come across on the stage.

“You’ve just got to win the audience over.”

While the winner of this year’s competition will receive £2,500 in prize money, there is £1,000 for the runner up, £500 for third place, £500 for the best supported act and £500 for the most improved.

There will be a number of judges throughout the live heats and your Worcester News editor Kevin Ward is set to join the panel at the grand finale.

Dates for the 2010 Worcester’s Got Talent have not yet been fixed, but residents can sign up now.

To enter fill out the application form printed in the Worcester News, download it from worcesternews.co.uk or pick one up from Sin in New Street or Bushwackers in the Trinity in Worcester.

Send applications to Bushwackers, Trinity Street, Worcester, WR12PW.

For more information email toddysin@googlemail.com or call Paul Todd direct on 07919 363737.