A schoolboy from South Tyneside has combined his love of Star Wars and playing the violin to scoop top prize in a competition.
Tuesday 02 February 2016: Mortimer Community College pupil Harsev Singh won social media contest Vivo’s Got Talent with his rendition of romantic theme Across The Stars from the popular movie franchise.
The 15-year-old, from Chichester, South Shields, has been playing the violin for the last six years and used his talents to win a pair of Beats headphones after securing 55.71% of the total votes.
The Year 11 pupil said: “When I was in Year 5 I thought it would be cool to start learning the violin, and I’m really happy that I’ve been able to continue it.
“It was really cool to win the contest. I love playing the violin. I perform regularly at the Sikh Temple and at school and I like bringing an Indian sound to it.
“I’m a massive fan of Star Wars too, I’ve always been into it, so I was drawn to this piece of music.
“I was so happy to win the competition and to get so much support from my friends and family.”
Vivo is an award-winning technology that drives positive behaviour and is a key part of the reward scheme at Mortimer Community College.
Students are awarded points by school staff as a reward for excellent attendance, punctuality, effort and contribution to school life. They can use the Vivo website to keep a track of their points and then spend them in a variety of ways.
The competition which saw Harsev triumph was a national contest throughout all schools that use Vivo.
A spokesman for the school said: “At Mortimer we recognise success and know many of our students are extremely talented. A selection of past students who have gone on to have great success are rugby player Katy McLean, swimmer Chris Cook, comedian Sarah Millican and, more recently, Perrie Edwards from Little Mix.
“We are extremely proud of the high standard of Harsev’s talent and have had the pleasure to hear him play as part of our school band. This is an outstanding achievement and we are all so very proud of Harsev.”
