Angelia front with other contestants backstage

18 year old singer and songwriter Angelina was crowned the winner of Alter Ego 2019 in front of a crowd of nearly 1,000 audience members of all ages, at the iconic Hackney Empire on Friday 10 May.

Nine acts performed in the final of East London’s number one talent showcase, hosted by Nush Cope and Yomi Sontan, better known as Yoms, with music by Ice Cream LDN Founder DJ Semo. The event launched the Council’s youth arts festival, Discover Young Hackney, one of the biggest of its kind in the UK.

Angelina wowed the audience singing original music and playing guitar, she said: “I feel ecstatic about winning, I feel like my dreams are coming true, I hope more people feel inspired to perform, life is too short and you need to dream big and set out to achieve what you want in life.”

Second runner up was beat poet, Blessing, 17 who said: “I am so happy to see us all prosper and do well, I am really proud of everyone who has performed tonight, I am proud to get out there and demonstrate my message.”

In third place were Muniboyz, made up of three performers, Augustine, 17, Dennis, 16 and Jalen, 17 who drew large cheers from the audience. Augustine said: “It’s awesome to be one of the winners tonight, anyone who wants to perform needs to get involved and no matter how hard it gets, keep going, never stop chasing your dreams.”

Angelina was selected through a 50/50 combination of audience online votes and judge votes. The panel included Sudesh Patel, Programme Manager at Sky VIP; Aidan Glennon, Artist Manager; Eboni Lamine, Editor in Chief at PRDN; Ebi Sampson, Publicist at Atlantic Records and Taf Makopa, Managing Director at Wall Of Comedy.

Alongside performances by some of Hackney’s talented young people, the event featured guest appearances from top artists including Hussain Manawer, Ard Adz, Yung Fume, Belly Squad, Sona Rele and Ms Banks.

Yamin Choudury, Artistic Director at Hackney Empire said: “Alter Ego has provided an incredible platform for a whole generation of performers from East London over the past 8 years. There are no words to describe the mixture of pride and joy I experience alongside my team, when a young artist, who in many cases didn’t know us a month ago, walks off stage having just performed in front of a packed house. That’s what Alter Ego as a project can do for young people’s aspirations like nothing else in the Capital, these young people are a family now and it’s great to see it continuing to benefit even more young people, showcasing some of the best talent on offer in Hackney.”

All of the Alter Ego contestants took part in an artist development programme that included working with industry professionals and mentoring from previous Alter Ego finalists. The winners will now receive prizes that include photo and video shoots, meetings with record labels and their chance to perform in front of execs at an exclusive A&R event this summer.