SLICK soul singer Stephen Bayliss has turned his back on pop competitions after being voted sixth place out of twelve competitors in a major TV talent show.

The professional artist from Sycamore Road, Ribbleton, said he knew he would not win the final of Star for a Night, on Saturday October 20, because of the way the industry works.

He said: "I will not do any more competitions because I thought they were wrong to put soul singers up against pop singers and 33-year-old men up against young girls.

Stephen felt that the pressures put on him by the production team actually hindered his chances and made the competition somewhat unfair.

He said: "If I could have chosen my song I would have chosen something more up-lifting -- friends couldn't understand why I sang that song but I had no choice."

More than 50,000 voted for the former Ribbleton High School pupil compared with the 153,914 who voted for winner Mark Kerins from Bradford who sang Lean on Me.

Stephen said: "If they had filmed the show as a fly-on-the-wall documentary then I would have won because they public would have seen the pressure I was under."

A spokesperson for star for a night said: "Everyone was given a song to sing that they wouldn't normally sing and given the opportunity to stretch their talents.

"There were lots of different talents in the final that catered to everybody's tastes -- the public are very diverse and it was down to them in the end."

But Stephen has not turned his back on competitions completely because he is to act as judge in a local talent competition at the Pines Hotel on Sunday November 4.

Stephen explained: "I am not averse to judging competitions -- I just won't be performing in them any more."

He said he hoped he could offer support to up-and-coming talent and added: "I am looking forward to it -- I can't wait to see the young talent that's around and I hope I can give them some good advice."