On Wednesday 23 November, Elle Watson performed in the final of the Pizza Express Big Audition music talent competition.

Held in the swish surroundings of a restaurant near Kensington Olympia, the event was hosted by internationally renowned jazz performer Jamie Cullum, who opened the night, wowing the crowd with a magical three-song set. The other five finalists (selected from over 7500 original entrants) were all of an extremely high calibre, and with Elle struggling with a sore throat there were some nervous moments prior to her own ten-minute performance. Yet when she took to the stage she silenced the room of industry professionals with an incredibly powerful and emotionally charged performance, belying her relative youth.

Accompanied by two guitarists initially, she gave a confident, yet achingly fragile performance, finishing with a wonderful solo rendition of Coldplay’s ‘Fix you’. Most observers in the audience agreed she was in the top two performers of the night, and the judges almost agreed, awarding her 3rd place. A London urban act and an American band took the top two positions. But this is a superb achievement, not least because of the amount of serious industry interest in Elle afterwards. A bright future clearly beckons.