Ceremony salutes the cream of the South Staffs club scene

The cream of the Midlands club scene was celebrated at a glittering awards ceremony.

More than 200 people flocked to the 48th annual South Staffs Entertainment Council awards, with six acts picking up gongs.

Click on the image on the right to see more pictures from the event.

Each club in the South Staffs circuit, which stretches from Walsall and Bloxwich through to Cannock and Rugeley, was given the chance to vote for its favourite.

All of the winning acts took to the stage to entertain the crowd at Pelsall Labour Club last night, belting out a string of hits from across the decades.

Picking up the best newcomer award was singer Brad Francis, who started performing at clubs in the South Staffs region only 12 months ago.

The 46-year-old father-of-two from Bloxwich has been singing for 28 years.

He performs hits from the 1960s onwards but admitted: "I'm a rocker at heart."

This was clear last night when he treated the crowd to a rendition of the Kings of Leon hit, Sex On Fire.

"To pick up an award like this already is really surprising and I'm really honoured and pleased," said the senior contract manager at the South Staffs Water group.

Phil Aaron added another award to his ever-growing collection, despite not having hit the circuit until the age of 55.

Now 60, the grandfather-of-one is a popular figure on the local club scene and was voted the best male vocalist.

The self-employed landscape gardener treated the crowd to a range of hits, including This Is The Moment.

"I came into it late because it was something I always wanted to do but I never had the courage," said father-of-two Mr Aaron, of Coseley. "Now I love it and I love being on stage. I'm very proud to have won this award."

Best female vocalist was mother-of-one Kia, of Wednesfield.

She sang hits including Christina Perri's Jar of Hearts and her trademark My Boy Lollipop, which saw her head into the audience to hand out lollipops.

The 40-year-old has been on the entertainment circuit on and off over the past 10 years. She got the bug for it when she tried out karaoke and was told she had a talent and eventually moved into the club scene.

"I just get such a buzz from being on stage," she said.

"I still get nervous but I enjoy it so much once I'm up there. I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it."

Best duo went to boyfriend and girlfriend pair 2 Xtreme, otherwise known as Stephen Cadman, aged 30, and 26-year-old Linzi Kesterton, of Tipton.

The pair wowed the crowd with their set, which included a mini-Michael Jackson tribute. "We do little tributes within the show," said sales manager Stephen.

"It's a great achievement to win this award and we've had a really good year."

Stephen and trainee accountant Linzi have been performing together for four years, despite both taking up singing as teenagers. Father-of-one Tony Hughes and grandfather-of-four Paul Freeman were named best comedy performers for their act The Black Country Boys.

Tony, aged 39, of Walsall, said: "We're really pleased as this is our third South Staffs award in four years.

Paul, aged 59, of Halesowen, added: "Things are going really well for us at the moment."

Friction picked up the award for best band. Made up of guitarist Peter Billingham, aged 60, of Pelsall; Gwyn Griffiths, aged 61, of Cannock; 63-year-old John Clayton, of Cannock, and Dougie Swain, 54, of Walsall; the band performs a string of hits from the 1960s and 1970s.