Live and Unsigned 2011 took place this weekend with Derby’s The Trinity Band winning the overall prize from an initial pool of 10,000 entries.

The Trinity Band from Derby have been named as the 2011 winners of the UK’s biggest competition for new music, Live and Unsigned, at London’s O2. More than 6,000 festival-goers were at Live Fest, which ran alongside the Grand Final.

The five-piece wowed the judges in front of a packed house at the Indigo2 on Saturday night, firstly being announced winners of the Urban/Pop/Acoustic Final before being named the best unsigned act of 2011, making it down from more than 10,000 auditionees to be crowned champions.

Judges included BBC Radio One presenter Tom Deacon, Head of BGM Music Michael King, the legendary Bez from Happy Mondays and Alex Baker from Kerrang!

The Trinity Band performed their original song Supernova and a cover of Champion by Chipmunk and Chris Brown, scoring highest with the judges and taking home the prize of a £50,000 investment and management contract.

The Trinity Band frontman and musical producer Obe Watson, AKA Rukus, still can’t believe they won it, “We’re so excited and ecstatic, it hasn’t sunk in yet. I just keep thinking, wow it’s our time to shine and it’s time to put in the work.”

Other winners on the day included Lucy Spraggan from Buxton, Derbyshire, who came second in the Urban/Pop/Acoustic final and was also selected to represent the UK in Australia at the massive Go Connect festival in Melbourne.

In the Alternative Final The Robbie Boyd Band from London came out on top winning a slot at Tour Fest in Rome in November, with Portsmouth’s Slick Minded Individuals second in the category.

In the Rock Final young band Loud N Proud from Paisley, Scotland scored highest with judges that included BBC Radio One presenter Daniel P Carter, Kids in Glass Houses singer Aled Phillips and Ryan Richards from Funeral for a Friend. Pandemick from The Forest of Dean were second in the rock category.

Filthy Habits from Essex were the winners of the Indie Final, runners up were The Dirty Tricks from Cheltenham. Judges for the Indie Final included Gary Powell from The Libertines and Adam Perry from The Bloodhound Gang.

In partnership with Supernova, Live and Unsigned is also sending The Trinity Band to perform at Sound Academy in Toronto, Canada.

The Live and Unsigned Grand Finals were held alongside, Live Fest, London’s biggest indoor festival with names like Tinchy Stryder, Zane Lowe, Roll Deep and The Hoosiers on the bill across five stages within The O2.

Tags: Live and Unsigned, Live Fest, The Trinity Band