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Syston teenager set to share stage with double-Brit winner Emeli Sandé

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She has just performed in front of thousands at the Royal Albert Hall and has opened shows for the likes of Ed Sheeran and Tom Odell. Now, 14-year-old Mahalia Burkmar is set to share a stage with double-Brit winner Emeli Sandé at three shows in London next week. The talented teenager, who lives in Syston, has been singing since she was small and started writing her own material about three years ago. She is now signed to Asylum Records - the same label as Ed - and, despite her years, is already making a name for herself in the music industry. After performing in one of the coveted support slots at last month's famous Royal Albert Hall Teenage Cancer Trust gigs, organised by Noel Gallagher, she is now getting ready to open for shows at the Hammersmith Apollo on Emeli's current UK tour. "I'm really looking forward to it, she's amazing," said Mahalia. "The slots are quite big - I've got half an hour - so it should be really good. "I'm really excited and am in the rehearsal process at the minute." Mahalia said supporting(this one is supporting and not opening) chart-toppers Rizzle Kicks and Labrinth at the Teenage Cancer Trust show was "pretty crazy". "People talk about walking out on stage and having their breath taken away and the Royal Albert Hall really was like that," she said. "You look out at the people below you and then around you, and then you look up slightly and there are people high above you and even behind you. "It was just amazing, it's hard to put into words. It was a breathtaking experience." Mahalia, who went to Roundhill Academy, in Thurmaston, is now studying for GCSEs and a BTEC at Birmingham Ormiston Academy, which specialises in creative, digital and performing arts. The teenager, who has amassed about 3,600 followers on Twitter, said she has always loved singing. "I think I wrote my first song that I really loved, and that my family loved, when I was 12 or 13," she said. "It's called 'Let The World See The Light'. "I started to do open mics and played local festivals - I did the bandstand at Summer Sundae two years ago. But it was an ambition to meet platinum-selling chart-topper and Brit winner Ed Sheeran that got her to where she is now. After her mum, Debbion, sent one of her songs to singer-songwriter Amy Wadge, who works with Ed, things started to snowball. Mahalia ended up meeting him in person in January last year - and within minutes of saying goodbye, he was Tweeting his millions of fans to tell them about her talent. She opened a show for him in October. "I had 15 minutes at the beginning and then did a duet with him as well, which was amazing," she said. "I think meeting him has been the best thing so far. I've also met Harry Styles, which was extremely exciting." Mahalia's debut EP, Head Space, is out now. "I just write about things that you think about as a teenager," she said. "I write about boys a lot." Mum-of-four Debbion says she is extremely proud of her daughter. "I was so nervous for her at the Teenage Cancer Trust gig, it was just overwhelming," she said. "The show with Ed Sheeran was amazing as well, I couldn't stop crying. "I'm really proud of her. All my kids are really creative, and I'm proud of all of them."

Syston teenager set  to share stage with double-Brit winner Emeli Sandé


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