Hi everyone, hope you all had a great summer!

Despite leaving Colchester really early in the morning, I was strangely hyper as we drove up to Manchester, excited to sing at this year’s Manchester Pride. Luckily it only took me around four hours as the traffic wasn’t too bad. J When I got there, check in wasn’t until 3pm so I went for a drink down the local, which was packed with Manchester City fans watching the football.

I then checked into the hotel, to get ready and rehearse for my performance. Once I’d got my stuff together, I was buzzing to get started, as Manchester Pride is such a successful and huge event. As I wasn’t singing until around 9pm, I went back down to the pub to grab some dinner and watch the Manchester United game. It was an awesome match and the atmosphere was immense! 8-2!

I was catching a taxi down to the city centre where the event was being held. When I told the taxi driver I wanted to go to Manchester Pride, he was asking about why I was going. I told him that I was singing down there etc which was why I was carrying the CD :D He made me sing through my songs the whole journey there! :P It was quite funny, especially as he attempted to join in with me lol!

Once I’d arrived I met the organiser, who was really nice, and she ran through with me what I needed to do. It was great to see such a big turnout. I was announced onto the stage at 9 o’clock and received a warm welcome from the audience. My first song was ‘Footloose’ which caught everyone’s attention straight away. Everyone joined in, clapping along, which was great to see. I then sang ‘Hound Dog,’ which the crowd immediately recognised and started dancing and singing along. I followed this up with The Wanted’s ‘All Time Low’ and Michael Bublé’s ‘Haven’t Met You Yet,’ which both went down really well. I then decided to slow down the mood with the ballad ‘Hero’ by Enriqué Iglesias. I was able to interact a lot more with the audience, especially during the chorus, as everyone knew it well. Next I sang my own version of Ed Sheeran’s ‘The A Team.’ I chose to sing it as I think it really emphasises my vocals. The next song was a definite favourite with the crowd. ‘The Lazy Song’ by Bruno Mars livened everyone up, and I could see a lot of people in the distance coming over to listen. It was really nice to see them being drawn in by my songs and starting to join in with the rest of the audience.

I finished off with two lively, upbeat tracks, starting with ‘Country Roads,’ which was a hit! :D There were so many people singing and clapping along, even the sound technicians joined in. I stopped singing in the chorus trying to get everyone to sing louder which sounded awesome! As I announced my last song, the crowd was disappointed and it was nice to hear their support wanting me to sing more. I chose to sing ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ as my final song as it’s catchy and I knew people would recognise it. Once again I had the audience on their feet and joining in.

I had an amazing time performing at this year’s Manchester Pride and I’d love to be given the opportunity to sing there again, but next time on the main stage. ;)

As some of you know already I have entered my official website http://www.michaelhinch.com/ into the BT Digital Awards 11, under the category of BEST OFFICIAL WEBSITE.............I really do need everyone's vote :D Would much appreciate the support :D It's really straight forward, click the 'vote now' button, fill in the confirmation details and vote! Simple as that :D

Thanks. Much love,

Michael x

Hi everyone,

I was away all last week in Plymouth as I was performing on the Heart FM stage for The British Fireworks Championships.

I drove down to Plymouth early Tuesday morning and arrived at the camp site I was staying at, where I attempted to set up the tent lol! :P I’ve never been to Plymouth before so I wanted to have a look around before performing. I went for a drink at the Barbican which is an area down by the harbour.

I then met the organiser of the event to find out when I’d be singing. He seemed really nice and took an interest in what I was getting up to over the summer. I decided to go for the smart, shirt and tie look before going off to warm up. Unfortunately they didn’t have a backstage area so I found myself warming up in a cramped, smelly porta-loo :P It wasn’t the nicest of places to rehearse especially when there were people either side of me telling me to shut up! Lol!

I was announced on stage and sang my first song, ‘Haven’t Met You Yet’ by Michael Bublé. It went down really well with the crowd, who sang along with all of my songs. I then went on to sing ‘All Time Low’ by The Wanted and my version of Ed Sheeran’s ‘The A Team.’ The crowd really seemed to favour ‘The A Team’ as they all sang and clapped along. I finished off with three classics; ‘Don’t Stop Believing,’ ‘Jailhouse Rock’ and ‘Footloose.’ These particular songs had the audience on their feet and dancing away. Throughout my set, I was being filmed to make a video which is now online at http://www.youtube.com/user/hinchofficial.

The fireworks display was amazing. There were three teams in total on each night who were all given 15 minutes to perform their display. As I was down in Plymouth until Friday, I went back the next day to watch the next displays. It was great to see people turn out in their thousands to support the event. Would definitely love to go back again next year and recommend you all come and watch me. ;)

For the rest of the week I was working on the video and other promotional work until driving up to Derby on Saturday, where I performed at Derby Pride.

It was a four hour drive up to Derby, so it was good to get out of the car once we arrived. I checked in at The Ramada Hotel and had a shower before getting ready for my performance. I was due to be on stage at 5:30pm and was only a walking distance away from the hotel. I met the organiser and gave my CD to the sound technician. It was a good turn out and the audience got really involved. I sang a range of songs including ‘Haven’t Met You Yet,’ ‘Hound Dog,’ ‘The Lazy Song’ and ‘Don’t Stop Believing.’ ‘The Lazy Song’ was a definite favourite with the crowd. A group of people came down to the front and started getting the rest of the audience dancing along. I got a really good response and even had people requesting extra songs! :D Once I’d finished performing I got my website across to everyone.

All in all I had a very enjoyable week. I’m now looking forward to performing on the Heart FM stage in Great Yarmouth tomorrow night. :D

Speak to you all soon. Michael x

Hey guys!

Last night was fantastic being part of the Heart FM fireworks in Great Yarmouth! It was an awesome evening and the fireworks were great too.

I arrived in Great Yarmouth early evening where I met Gary who was organising the evening. Once the sound technicians had finished setting up etc I was able to do a quick sound check. The sound system they were using sounded GREAT. As the stage was being set up on the sea front, the sound was echoing off all the shops and arcades across the road which worked very effectively.

People started to gather round the stage at around 8pm while Heart FM began to play their music and give everyone an insight into what was going to be going on throughout the evening. I performed at 8.30pm. I was announced on stage by Gary and received a warm welcome from the audience. My first song was ‘Fire With Fire’ which caught everyone’s attention straight away which was good to see. My next song was ‘All Time Low’ which sounded really cool because of the feedback I was getting from across the road lol. ‘The Lazy Song’ went down extremely well. I could see a lot of people joining in and singing along to the chorus which was great to watch.

Towards the end of my set I sang Ed Sheeran’s, ‘The A Team’ which everyone liked! By this point it was getting quite dark outside lol, so I had to move the mic stand underneath the two spot lights which were on stage :P My last song for the evening was ‘Angels.’ I managed to get the audience joining in, especially during the end of the chorus. During the instrumental section I had everyone waving their Heart FM flags in the air which looked GREAT from where I was standing! All in all it was a brilliant night!

The band, ‘Ignite’ came on straight after me and they were awesome! They sang a mixture of chart music and 80’s songs. Once they’d finished, everyone in Great Yarmouth counted in the fireworks. The fireworks went off at 10pm :D

I’m actually performing on the Heart FM stage again in Great Yarmouth on the 24th August. Really looking forward to being here again. It would be great to see more of you there!

Michael x..

Hi everyone,

Hope you all had a great weekend!

I performed at this year’s Party In The Park in Sudbury on Sunday which went extremely well. I was going to be performing at 7pm.

I was announced on stage by one of the sound technicians and received a great warm welcome from everyone in the park! My first song was ‘Human’ which was a good song choice as it caught everyone’s attention straight away. I sang ‘Fire With Fire’ which once again was a hit with the audience. Luckily the sun was out all afternoon which made the day a great success. It was nice seeing all the community coming outside and supporting the event. My next two songs were ‘Chasing Cars and ‘All Time Low.’ I managed to get quite a few people singing along to the chorus of ‘Chasing Cars’ which was nice to see. ‘Haven’t Met You Yet’ by Michael Buble went down really well, especially with the group of girls at the front of the stage :D Olly Murs’s ‘Please Don’t Let Me Go’ went down really well with everyone. I tried doing a few dance moves on stage lol, hopefully they looked okay lol.

‘The Lazy Song’ was an obvious hit with everyone and they all sang during the chorus :D Quite a few people started to stand up and dance lol! It was good to see :D My last song for the evening was Ed Sheeran’s, ‘The A Team.’ I think this is definitely becoming one of my favourites. I got a GREAT reception from the audience at the end of my set and I was thankful for the opportunity to sing at this year’s Party In The Park. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I’m really excited for tomorrow as I’m singing in Great Yarmouth on the Heart FM stage! It’s going to be an awesome evening and I can’t wait!!

Michael x..