Erin Bloomer, 14, who lives in Beckley, is in the South of England finals of Open Mic UK and will be competing in the next stage, the semi-finals, in Southampton on November 20, before the final at the NEC, Birmingham in January. She is an Instagram singer and started her online account, @erinsinging_ last summer when she was just 13, gaining more than 2,000 followers in the first week. Erin has been featured on several prominent singing Instagram sites and her burgeoning following has now topped the magic 100,000. She said: “I started the account just for fun one day. I didn’t even tell my friends about it at first and I never believed that people would even be interested, so I am just so grateful to everyone.” Her followers are world-wide, with regular commenters from America, France, Germany, Spain, China, Poland and Israel. Erin’s mum, Lesley, said: “A couple of the followers have even set up fan accounts for her, which is really sweet and Erin does try to respond to the comments, but I have to point out to her sometimes that homework comes first.” Having attended Vinehall School for eight years, where she learned to play the piano, guitar and sang in many concerts and theatre productions, Erin went on to join Cranbrook School in September 2015 where she has continued her musical talents. She will be performing a duet in Cranbrook School’s forthcoming DanSing competition in two weeks’ time. Erin recently impressed the judges of Open Mic UK. Judges included Chris Grayston, music consultant who regularly works with the BBC, Sony and Syco Entertainment. On November 20 she will be singing a cover version of Jealous, by Labrinth, available to view on YouTube. The South of England finals are the last live stage before the grand finals of the competition. The winning prize is recording studio time to record an album and a video of the best single, plus extensive media promotion from a professional PR company. Erin’s mum added: “Whatever career she has in the future, she will always want singing to be part of her life, so this is great experience for her.” Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live. Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on. 1) Make our website your homepage at www.ryeandbattleobserver.co.uk/ 2) Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RyeandBattleObserver 3) Follow us on Twitter @RyeObs 4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here. And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out! The Rye and Battle Observer - always the first with your local news. Be part of it.