The Ayrshire club’s raucous Hillbilly Hoedown secured them top spot on the biggest night in the West.
Members from across the region lit up the SEC stage on Saturday night, treating their audience to an unbeatable evening of entertainment.
8 teams took part in the main Talentspot competition, each of them with eyes on the coveted top prize but it was Mauchline who found Gold in those Tennessee hills, lifting the winning trophy with their scene entitled “Only Fools and Hillbillies”.
Producers Elma & Gavin Watson were delighted with their big win:
“We are overjoyed to have won the West Area Talent Spot! Our aim was to create a simple yet captivating “rags to riches” production for all ages to enjoy. We set out to deliver a high-energy performance, filled with the spirit of a good old-fashioned hillbilly hoedown. As a producer, success depends on the talent of the cast, and we cannot thank our incredible performers enough for fully embracing the theme and unleashing their wonderfully wild hillbilly characters. Their energy and dedication exceeded our expectations in every way!”
Second place was claimed by Carluke with their scene “CAN Do Attitude”. And that’s certainly what they showed with this refreshing and hilarious tour of a supermarket drinks aisle. The scene was brought to life by first-time producer team Amy Douglas and Jo-Ann Taylor, who had this to say after the result:
“We are absolutely buzzing with being announced 2nd at west and Laura Hunter getting best act. After such a hard qualifying round at Lanarkshire we couldn’t be happier with the result. For our first time ever producing it is such an achievement after the months of hard work put in by everyone involved! Every single person that took part in Carluke performance came off the stage so happy as they tried there absolute hardest. Every single person in the cast, backstage, sound and lights all had a massive part in the result we got, without their teamwork it would not have been possible. The Talent Spot competition is such a great one to get involved with, whether it be your district level or getting to perform at the Armadillo for west area, we highly recommend all clubs to have a go. Such a great way to show off the talent throughout the west.”
Third Place went to our other Lanarkshire finalists, Lesmahagow who donned their scrubs for their act entitled ““Let’s Play a Game of Operation”. Although fun, we hope the NHS don’t adopt their new game show style of surgery procedure. Producer Mia Crooks was taken aback by the quality on show throughout the evening:
“What a night! As always West Talentspot was filled with so many brilliant acts! There’s no better feeling than getting to perform on the Armadillo stage with so many people in the crowd behind you! I am beyond chuffed with the result our wee club have achieved this weekend and the amount of work every member put in over the months! Everyone truly puts their all into their acts and I think it’s a brilliant way to bring a team together! I am so proud to be part of this amazing organisation and the amount of opportunities it brings to the farming community is just immense!”
Within the main Competition, the judges were also looking out for stand out acts from each team on stage. Winning Best act this year was Laura Hunter of Carluke, who’s ‘phenomenal’ portrayal of an Irn Bru can had the audience rolling with laughter. Laura was taken aback by the recognition:
“Honestly, I still can’t fully grasp what it felt like to win Best Act at West Talent Spot. The whole evening was a blur, but watching the livestream again brought me to tears – hearing the crowd cheer and chant my name was immense. Having been with the organisation for 10 years, I’ve experienced many highs and accomplishments, but this one truly stands out above all!
A huge thank you to the producers for creating such a perfect role for me, and of course, to my phenomenal club for supporting me every step of the way. I also can’t express how touched I was by the camaraderie shown by other clubs, both at the side of the stage and later at the dance.
Anyone who knows me knows that I can’t sing, my dancing is… questionable at best, but one thing is certain: I know how to make a fool of myself and truly not care what anyone thinks.
There’s no competition quite like Talent Spot – if you’re considering taking part, I highly recommend it. The experience and the sense of achievement make it all worthwhile.”
Runner up in the best act category went to SSS young Farmers and their moving Silhouette Scene.
The final prize up for grabs on Saturday was the Front of Curtain Competition, where an act from each of the 4 West districts showed off their best skills in between the longer scenes. The standard of these acts was seriously impressive with a brilliant array of talent on display. In the end it was Daisy Gudaitis of West Renfrewshire YFC who won the audience vote with her beautiful rendition of ‘I Love You, I’m Sorry’ by Gracie Abrams. An achievement made even more impressive by the fact that she was our youngest competitor of the evening at only 14 years old. She was thankful for the support given to her on the night:
“Being on stage was a lot less scary than I expected, I felt so supported by every single person in the audience. Both winning and performing for everyone was the most unforgettable experience!”
Our judges on the night were Anna Dickinson, Sinead Scobie and Aly Young. Sinead was asked to provide the judges crit before the results were announced and she took the opportunity to praise the performances, even likening the standard and creativity on display to a West End production:
“Everybody should be incredibly proud of what they’ve put on the stage tonight, it was amazing to sit and watch so thank you for all your hard work.”
Thanks to Sinead’s own dance troop from the ‘Sarah Hendry School of Dance’ who were one of our fabulous closing acts on the night, appearing after a lively dancing medley from the boys of Lower Nithsdale YFC before the evening’s final performance, a moving version of Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything” by Biggar YFC’s Iona Kane. Thanks also to our opening act Grant Barr who got the audience warmed up with his own brand of rural comedy.
We are extremely grateful to Scotmin Nutrition for their continued support of the competition. Head of Marketing, Graeme Warnock spoke on the night before the final presentation:
“We’re really proud as Scotmin Nutrition to have supported SAYFC now for 8 consecutive years. We try our very best to give back to the local farming community and this is a really nice way for us to do it, it certainly beats a day in the office.”
Finally, we would like to thank all the amazing volunteers and staff who helped out throughout the day and made the competition such a success. Now over to West Chair and the evening’s Compere Michael Rolfe for a few final thoughts on what was a very memorable evening:
“Well, what can I say, what a success the west regional Talentspot was! With an amazingly high standard again this year the competition just gets fiercer every time! But it was another Ayrshire win with Mauchline taking the top spot and the trophy returning to the district once more. The day couldn’t have ran so smoothly from the first practice to the last performance, if it wasn’t for the back stage team and the help from everyone around, and for that I owe everyone a massive thank you.”
