James D Clarke

To say I dislike reality TV would be an understatement. To say I dislike the musical variety of reality TV, things such as X-Factor would be a massive understatement.  However recently I stumbled upon Orange unsignedAct on T4, and my god it’s good!

The show pits unsigned bands against each other in a ‘battle of the bands’ style show where celebrity musicians judge their performances and decide who goes through to the next round. The difference with this show is that the bands are real - they sing live, they play their own instruments, write their own songs, and have even played gigs before being on the telly (who’d have thought it)! It’s been pretty inspiring watching it - I’ve felt genuinely excited watching the show - something I can’t say about any other ‘reality TV’ I’ve ever had the misfortune of watching.

Tommy Reilly is 19 years old and from Glasgow., Scotland He looks like he could be the bastard child of Elvis Costello and The Proclaimers, minus the glasses. He looks completely unremarkable, but when he popped up on the show during the auditions and started playing I jumped up out of bed with a start. After his initial performance with just his acoustic guitar, audition judge Jo ‘Radio One’ Whiley told him she didn’t think he was ready for the competition and to try again next year. Tommy said “ok thanks” and toddled off - no tears or strops a la X-Factor , afterall he’s a musician doing what he does, not some little wannabe who’s determined to be the next Kerry Katona. Within seconds of the door closing Jo Whiley and the other judge began whispering on the sofa, and before long realised their mistake. To their credit, they called Tommy back in and told him they thought they’d made a mistake, and were putting him through into the next round.

The judges for the next round were Alex James (the bass player from Blur), Lauren Laverne (ex-Kenickiea nd all-round good egg muso presenter), Simon Gavin (the usual industry type), and rapper Leathal Bizzle. After watching Tommy’s performance (click on the image above to watch the video) all four judges gave him their vote - making him the only person on the show to get all four votes.

I listened to Tommy’s demos on his Orange unsignedAct profile and they’re okay, but they nothing compared to hi no-nonsense live performance of ‘Give Me A Call’ - they don’t do his songs justice - watch the video and decide for yourself.

I hope Tommy wins the competition so that someone talented and real can come out on top of one of these competitions, however part of me fears for him, as winners of this type of competition usually get chewed up and spat out by the industry within 12 months. Maybe he’s be better off coming second, signing to an indie label, and releasing a couple of records before a major snaps him up - it would be a real shame to see the raw nervous energy he has ‘polished’ by an A&R man and producer.

Only time will tell how Tommy gets on - but right now he’s definitely one for the future, good luck son!