Stanwell pupil Lewis through to this weekend's Open Mic regional final (From Penarth Times)

Stanwell pupil Lewis through to this weekend's Open Mic regional final

4:00pm Friday 19th October 2012 in News By Robert James Owen

A STANWELL school pupil has blitzed national opposition to join one of his classmates in the final of a UK singing competition.

Lewis Campbell from Penarth is in the regional finals of Open Mic UK 2012, alongides fellow student Ebony-Rio Rees.

Lewis will perform at the live finals in Cardiff on Saturday (October 20) - and if successful, he will head to national final at the 02 Arena in London.

The 13-year-old, who writes and plays his own songs using piano or keyboard, has a history of performing, most recently starring as Troy in the school production of High School Musical.

And he is following in family foosteps - his sister played Sandy in Stanwell's 2010 production of Grease, his father sang at the New Theatre, his grandmother was a professional viola player and his great-grandfather was also a seasoned entertainer.

But Lewis said he was determined to be original.

"I just want to do my own thing," he said.

"I performed an original song at my sister's wedding in May, which helped build my confidence in front of a live audience. I can't wait to wow the audience again with more new and original stuff."

Previous winners of the competition include Birdy, who has had hits all over Europe in the past 12 months.

His mum, Stephanie, said: "Good luck Lewis!"

For more information on the competition go to www.openmic.co.uk

Tickets for the final in Cardiff are also available from the website. Lewis also has tickets - contact him through his Facebook page or email him at lew.campbell1@gmail.com