The final of Island’s Got Talent was held at Eastern Gardens on Sunday and the acts were amazing with many from Ryde who successfully got through the heats.
“I was honoured to be a judge and over the moon to see so many on Eastern Gardens enjoying and witnessing fantastic talent on the Island. It was inspirational and a real showcase of how our local schools like Ryde Academy are nurturing our future generation. There were amazing dancers, a trumpeter and songwriters. Building local culture in the arts and performance for me is the bedrock of rebuilding our local economy and Derek Sandy and Ryde Aspire showed that not only Isle of Wight has talent, it has the skills to develop this talent and showcase it. It was a sheer joy of hope at a time of the cost-of-living crisis. Several of the singers wrote their own songs and reflected tough times and sadness but tinged with real guts and fight back.“
The winner was Ameilia from Binstead who blew the tiles off Ryde with a Jackson 5 number and won the £1000. She was in the last 5, including 3 young women aged 13 and under who are real stars of the future. The Island has Talent but locally Ryde has a fantastic stable of star quality.
