UTV Media and NUA Entertainment award £100,000 recording contract

13 August 2014 - Press release

UTV Media (GB) and NUA Entertainment last night crowned the winner of The Next Big Thing – Pete Gardiner from Belfast beat hundreds of entrants in the singing competition and was awarded a £100,000 recording contract.

The final was held at the Cavern Club in Liverpool and was hosted by legendary UTV presenter Pat Sharp and Juice FM Breakfast host Adam Weighell. Thirteen of the final acts performed for a specially-invited audience, before a judging panel of industry experts concluded that Pete was the Next Big Thing.

Pete Gardiner said: “I'd just like to say thank you to everyone involved for such a great opportunity, I still can't believe I've won. It was a fantastic experience and I'm glad I made the trip from Belfast!”

Terry Underhill, UTV Media Group Programming Director for local stations, said: “We knew we would find an incredible talent during this competition as UTV Media have stations right across the country so are perfectly placed to search far and wide for talent. Pete has all of the star quality we’re looking for and we know he’s going to do really well.”

NUA Entertainment chairman Paul Hardcastle says: “This guy had the whole of the cavern club in his pocket from the moment he took to the stage Pete was a worthy winner of The Next Big Thing.”