THE Civic Hall in Trowbridge was transformed into the set of a Hollywood horror film as a monster ball provided the setting for this year's Starry Eyes talent show.

Ten junior and 10 senior finalists, picked from two heats held at Chicago Rock Caf, battled it out for the judges and audience vote at the spine-chilling event, held on Friday night.

With an audience of nearly 300 people, organisers have hailed the contest one of the best talent shows ever to be held in Wiltshire's county town.

Mayor Grace Hill was among the host of invited guests, with comperes including Popeye and Tony Dee, a former Casualty star.

Dancers from the Starry Eyes workshop opened the show with scenes from sci-fi epic War Of The Worlds, featuring singer Marc Lanfear.

Junior finalist Milly Williamson, 12, from Chippenham proved her talent, scooping the judges' vote for her rendition of Anastacia's hit song I'm Outta Love.

But the audience vote went to 14-year-old Amy Griggs, from Trowbridge, who got the crowd jiving to feel-good hit Get Happy.

Speaking about her crowd-pleasing performance, Amy said: "I have always wanted to be a singer. When I was a toddler I was singing nursery rhymes and carols.

"Music has always fascinated me and it is my passion my life ambition to be a professional singer and entertainer and I guess this is another step on that road."

In the senior section Kayleigh Varnum, from Trowbridge, who was handed the chance to sing on stage with the Cheeky Girls and Lemar at this year's Crimestoppers festival, secured both the crowd and judges' vote for her rendition of You Might Need Somebody.

But the entertainment did not stop there, with Ian Jones haunting the audience with a song from hit musical Phantom Of The Opera, and the Starry Eyes dancers performing a spooky version of Michael Jackson's Thriller.

All three winners will spend a day in a recording studio near Devizes to record their tracks, with the day captured

on film.

Starry Eyes founder and co-director Sally Boyle said: "We have had lots of messages on our website saying how good the event was.

"One message was from Kayleigh who said without Starry Eyes she would not be performing at all. It was so nice she won the vote as she has been with us from the start."