Teenager reaches national beatboxing finals

A 16-year-old beatboxer has reached the final of the UK's national under-18 beatboxing championships after impressing judges with a video audition.

Sonny, from Devon, who is known by his stage name SonnyT, will compete against six other finalists at the championship in Bristol in October.

Beatboxing, which involves using the mouth, lips, tongue and voice to create drum beats and sound effects, has been a passion for Sonny since primary school.

"I saw a couple of videos on YouTube when I was about nine or 10 and thought it was pretty cool, I picked it up from there and ever since I've been doing it," he said.

Largely self taught, Sonny learned the basics from online tutorials before developing his own style.

He secured his place in the finals by submitting a 90-second video performance, which was judged by a panel.

The competition begins with an elimination round before progressing to the semi finals and final.

Sonny said: "Every beatboxer has a different style.

"Some are clean and precise, while others focus more on special effects."

His parents, Paul and Alison, said they were "over the moon" when he reached the finals.

They said he practised daily and had worked on his entry while studying for his GCSEs.

"To go from watching his idols perform last year to sharing the stage with them is an incredible achievement," they said.

"As a family, we could not be prouder of Sonny, whatever the outcome."

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