WeAreTheCity are proud to announce our Rising Star Award’s Ceremony for 2020.

Given the circumstances, the team at WeAreTheCity are having to do things a little differently with our awards this year. We will be holding a virtual awards evening for all winners, sponsors and judges on the evening of 30 July 2020.

Over the course of the award’s ceremony, you will hear from inspirational speakers and entertainers, who will all be endeavouring to create a truly magically experience for you all. We cannot give you the true physical experience of one of our award ceremonies, however what we have planned will be an evening to remember!

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Agenda

Our host

Julia Streets

The evening will be hosted by Julia Streets, CEO of Streets Consulting. Julia is a champion of fintech entrepreneurship, innovation and diversity.

In 2007, Julia founded Streets Consulting, the business development, marketing and communications consultancy. She helped launch the Chi-X brand of international alternative stock exchanges, including Chi-X Australia. Since then she and her team have advised a wide range of firms in the world of capital markets, B2B and payments, and offering specialist technology including blockchain, artificial intelligence, cyber and more.

Wary that diversity and inclusion is fast becoming the latest corporate marketing jargon, last year Julia launched a podcast series, ‘DiverCity Podcast’. On each episode, industry luminaries shine a light on progress, call out areas requiring further focus and offer insights and best practice to help listeners drive change.

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Our entertainment

Throughout the evening you will not only be inspired by our amazing winners, you will also be joined by Sally Phillips, British comic actress and writer; Antigoni, singer-songwriter; and Southend Vox Choir. This is a celebration not to be missed.

Sally Phillips

Listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy (2003), she is instantly recognisable forces behind Channel 4’s award-winning comedy sketch show, Smack the Pony.  

From I’m Alan Partridge to Hippies, Green Wing, Miranda, Parents and Veep, Sally has been a near-constant comic presence on British television.  

She has also starred in three Bridget Jones films and The Decoy Bride, which she co-wrote.  

Sally has played the eponymous character Claire in Radio 4’s award-winning sitcom, Clare in the Community, since 2004.  

In 2016 she fronted a documentary A World Without Down’s Syndrome? (BBC2), exploring the ethical implications of our national screening policy. It was nominated for the Radio Times Readers Awards. 

Sally’s intelligence, talent, and razor-sharp wit make her perfect for a range of corporate events. 

Sally was born in Hong Kong. Her father, Tim Phillips, was the Chairman of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, who host The Wimbledon Championship. She graduated from New College Oxford, where she read Italian, with a First Class Honours degree.

Antigoni

It has been a long path to Antigoni’s A1 EP release but the time is now. 
 Since signing a publishing deal at 14 years old. The music business has been whispering about the striking Greek Cypriot girl from North London with the beautiful husky voice, wondering when she will emerge. 
 Her voice is incredible. Gaining plaudits from anyone who hear’s her; Mark Ronson & DJ Premier. Legendary songwriter Dianne Warren told her ‘Yours is the voice I hear in my head when I write songs’ and One Direction songwriter/producer John Ryan. 
A1 is the first chance for the world to hear her. 
 It’s been a long time in the making but her debut EP produced in South London by Shy FX’s wingman Dean Barratt began life as an acoustic EP that got fleshed out with beats and bass lines that truly reflect Antigoni’s London upbringing. 
The five songs cover the gamut of youthful emotion and expression. The sound is part soul, a whole world of contemporary pop and urban flavours. 
The EP starts with “2 Steps” a song written with Girls Aloud’s Nicola Roberts. A tale based around Lauryn Hill’s classic “Doo Wop” with beats that hark back to that golden era of soulful Hip Hop. 

Southend Vox Choir

Southend Vox is a dynamic and captivating not-for-profit community choir that loves to entertain!  Founded in 2009, the choir was established to create a modern and unique approach to choral singing in the Southend community.  Starting out with a handful of singers, the choir today consists of nearly 50 members from in and around the Southend-on-Sea area.

Vox sing an eclectic mix of pop classics, show songs, spirituals and contemporary pieces, and have performed at a number of prestigious venues including Union Chapel and most recently, The Royal Albert Hall.  Since the outbreak of Coronavirus, rehearsals have moved online and our performances have become ‘virtual’ – we’ve even won our first ‘virtual’ choir competition!

If you know anyone who loves to sing in and around the Southend area, we’d love them to try us out.  Trial rehearsals are free, there’s no pressure to join and there are no auditions.

Southend Vox are thrilled to join the WeAreTheCity Rising Stars award and hope you all enjoy the performance!

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