A YOUNG musician from Penarth has made the semi-finals of a nationwide competition of which the winner will be in with a chance of a Christmas number one and a £100,000 recording contract.

Ben Dain-Smith, 17, is a solo indie/alternative singer and has been competing against fellow artists from all over the United Kingdom since April 1 for votes to progress through the Brand New Artist competition.

This Semi-finals stage of the Competition will be carrying on for the whole month of May.

He is now at the semi-final stage and as long as he stays in his current ranking of 12th he will be in the mix when the group is cut down at the end of this month

At that stage 25 artists with the most honest votes will progress to the Final of Brand New Artist, and will then have the whole month of June to get as many honest votes as possible.

Ben came across the competition while browsing music pages on facebook. Initially he did not expect too much of it but before he knew he was in with a real shout of doing something special.

He said how his first musical inspiration had been the band Oasis because they proved it doesn't matter where you come from, if you have the talent you will succeed.

Ben said: "It feels like my calling in life. This is my big break. I want to bring real music back. Something has been lost in music these days."

He is the only artist from South Wales in the semi-final stage. He is currently ranked twelfth and is quietly confident of going all the way.

He added: "I first realised I had something good in about January 2013 and since then I have tried to just keep writing and writing."

This is a huge opportunity for all involved, and will most certainly get Ben further afield.

Even if the Penarth based singer does not win, but reaches the Final 25, then he will be guaranteed to have one of his songs featured on a compilation Album that will be distributed by a Major Company this year, but his aim is to win.

Neil Garton from Midlands based Record Company Negart Records is running this Competition, and is looking for a winner in the middle of the year so that his team will have a good six months to prepare for the launch party.

Visit the competition Website www.brand-new-artist.com for more information and an artist's profile.

You can vote for Ben for free by e-Mailing the organisers admin team. E-Mail Vote 91 and send it to vote@negart-records-bna.com.