IT’S X-citing news for Bournemouth’s talented singers as they make it through the rounds of a national entertainment show.

Two weeks after the X Factor hosted open auditions in the town centre, three of those who made it through the first round have gone on to sail through the next test of their singing skills.

And a fourth – former Voice star Si Genaro – was so committed to getting through that he attended three open auditions across the country before being accepted on to the next stage in London.

For the Echo’s own Hayley Jones-Dowling, performing before producers again at the Emirates Stadium was nerve-wracking. But the 31-year-old media sales consultant impressed with a jazz version of Don’t Look Back In Anger by Oasis and Whitney Houston’s I Have Nothing.

She said: “It was a long day – I was there at 10am as I’d been told to arrive at 11am, but I didn’t get called in until around 2pm.

“Then there was another audition later in the afternoon.”

She said thousands attended for their shot at stardom.

“As well as the second stage of auditions, there were open auditions going on too, so it was absolutely crazy,” she said.

“At the end of the day, I was in a lift with four other people, and it turned out that we were all from Bournemouth. It was so strange.”

Among those who made it through the second round of auditions were couple Denise Johnson and Graham Seaton and 30-year-old John Smith, who has previously made it through to the Bootcamp stage of the programme.

Si, who achieved overnight fame after performing self-penned tune Chicken Train on The Voice UK, said: “It was absolutely great going to the auditions. There was this fantastic sense of camaraderie that you get with show people and performers.

“It was quite a long wait, but the atmosphere was fantastic.”

All acts accepted in the second round will now have to wait until May to see if they make it through to the next stage.