Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Auditions for Moray singers to show they have the X-Factor

Front of St Giles Centre in Elgin.
Their is uncertainty over the future of the St Giles shopping centre in Elgin as Moray Council takes legal action to claim £750,000 in unpaid non-domestic rates. Image: DC Thomson

Budding Moray pop stars will gain the opportunity to wow the judges when they audition for one of the UK’s top talent shows today.

Scouts from Simon Cowell’s The X Factor will be in Elgin’s St Giles Centre between 10am and 5pm, as part of their search for the nation’s new singing sensations.

They confirmed that an open event in Inverness yesterday attracted some strong contenders, and encouraged Moray residents to continue that momentum.

Production assistant, Darren Hill, was advised to visit Elgin by a friend in London who suggested the region was a hotbed of talented young performers.

Mr Hill added: “We had a really successful day in Inverness, and saw some singers we were really impressed by.

“We hope that continues when we visit Elgin, because I’ve been given a tip to expect some good singers there.

“The show always wants to make it fair game for people from all across the country, so they don’t have to travel too far for an audition.

“Every success story we have had has started the same way, at these local try-outs.

“We are on the lookout for the next star, and it would be great if that person is from Scotland.”

Television cameras will be on hand to record the sessions, and the footage will be beamed back to the ITV show’s management.

Producers will decide on who makes it to the next stage of auditions, and any successful participants could potentially end up showcasing their singing skills before a nationwide audience.

Scouts from The X-Factor’s ITV stablemate, Britain’s Got Talent, descended on Elgin in October for a similar round of auditions.

Sandend 11-year-old, Star McGrath, was among the most impressive performers and dazzled spectators with her vocal performance.

But applicants today must be older than 16, and those younger than 18 should be accompanied by an adult.

The X Factor was launched in 2004, and has catapulted dozens of unknown UK residents to stardom, including One Direction, JLS, Little Mix, Leona Lewis and Olly Murs.

Auditions continue in Aberdeen tomorrow.