IT’S only a matter of time before Simon Cowell pops up on our TV screens again with another star-searching mission. Wantage Stage Musical Company might not have quite the same budget – their auditions were in the local church hall – but their annual fund-raising event still seeks to raise the profile of top local performers. In their case, they’re looking for The Ox Factor. Unlike ITV’s similarly-named primetime show, contestants don’t have to be singers – anyone with a remarkable talent to share was welcome to enter. Since then, the judges have narrowed the competition down to 16 acts, who will compete tomorrow at Ox Fest, a family festival at Carswell Golf and Country Club.

One Wantage-based singer/songwriter who made it through the heats is Phily Kennington, 22, pictured, whose passion for music has been with her for as long as she can remember. “I think I've been making some attempt at music ever since I could put elastic bands over tissue boxes and dried lentils in a bottle,” she quips.

Since her first gig, a “stuttering and jittering performance during a school assembly”, Phily has continued playing small shows around Oxfordshire in quaint venues like the Uffington Tea Rooms. Her appearance the Ox Factor semi-finals will be her biggest performance to date.

“I am really looking forward to playing at Ox Fest, but at the same time I’m completely terrified,” she admits. “Knowing I’m being judged makes it all the more scary. I’m just hoping I can wrap myself up in the emotion of the song and forget where I am for the four minutes I’m on stage.”