IT'S the contest that set Birdy, Lucy Spraggan, Union J's Jaymi Hensley and Jahmene Douglas on the road to stardom.

Open Mic UK is set to return and auditions will take place in Southampton next month.

The music competition, which searches the length and breadth of the country for the UK's best singers, singer songwriters, rappers and vocal groups, has announced auditions in 15 regions, including a date at River Studios in Totton on Friday September 23.

It's a chance for aspiring singers and musicians to perform to music industry judges at each stage from the auditions to the Grand Final, which has previously taken place at The 02 in London or Birmingham's NEC. Judges will include representatives of the three major record labels (Universal, Warner and Sony), national radio DJs, regional press and talent scouts from BBC Introducing.

Open Mic UK, which can attract 10,000 entrants each year, is the brainchild of Southampton's own Chris Grayston, the founder of Future Music, as a spin off of his other successful music contest Live and Unsigned. He has served as head judge each year since the launch in 2008.

After her Open Mic UK victory in the first year of the competition at the age of 12, Lymington singer songwriter Birdy has gone on to enjoy international success. Since bewitching the nation at the age of 14 with her cover of Bon Iver’s Skinny Love, she has released two albums, toured the world, performed at the Paralympics Opening Ceremony, been nominated for a Brit Award (for British Female Solo Artist), written songs for the hit movies The Fault in Our Stars and The Hunger Games, and sung on Mumford & Sons’ Grammy-winning song Learn Me Right, which was part of the soundtrack for the Pixar animation, Brave.

A long list of international accolades include Best International Female (Echo Awards, Germany 2013 and Principales, Spain 2014). She has accumulated over 413 million views on Youtube and sold over 10.5 millions records worldwide.

Lucy Spraggan went on to appear on The X Factor and is making a name for herself as a musician who describes her sound as 'A-Flop', a mixture of acoustic, folk and hip hop.

Soul/gospel singer Jahmene Douglas signed to Sony Music after finishing runner up to James Arthur on the ninth series of The X Factor in 2012. Union J finished fourth in the same year.

To book an audition for Open Mic UK, visit openmicuk.co.uk