POTENTIAL stars of the future will be given a showcase at a special night in Manchester on Sunday.

Iluvlive, a not for profit organisation which is backed by the Arts Council, holds a monthly night in the city giving new artists the chance to perform live.

It also runs similar events in London, Bristol and Leeds.

On Sunday, the organisation brings its Hot List tour to the Zombie Shack featuring five of the best new artists from across the UK.

The line-up will be headlined by Geko and also feature Autumn Sharif, Jords, SNE and Matt Wills. There will also be a guest appearance from Bolton singer Laura White.

Rachael Bee is managing director of iluvlive. which next year will celebrate its 15th anniversary.

In that time, the organisation which aims to give urban-influenced artists an opportunity to break through in the music industry has had a number of major success stories. Jessie J, Professor Green, Emilie Sande, Plan B, Wretch 32 and Izzy Bizu all made some of their first live appearances at iluvlive events.

“I really love being this early in an artist’s evolution,” she said. “When we first set this up 15 years ago there weren’t any entry points for urban-influenced artists. but there were an awful lot of local pubs where rock and indie bands could go along and play. There wasn’t anything like that if you were an r’n’b singer and especially if you were an MC.”

Now iluvlive organises over 50 events around the country during the year.

“At the moment we get around 60 submissions a month from artists via our website and others come through people in the industry we know,” said Rachael.

The artists are whittled down to put together the monthly shows and the Hot List tour will showcase some of the best of them.

“The Hot List tour is really those artists who have taken the next step up,” said Rachael, who urged lovers of new music to attend any of the regular monthly nights.

“We get a very broad range of artists,” she said. “Very often it will be the first time that they have had the chance to perform with a live band. We provide a house band and artists will submit tracks, we then pass them to the band to learn and they will have a short run through before the show.

“They are brilliant nights as you will always be surprised by at least one of the acts.

“Sometimes you will have an artist there is a lot of interest in the industry about and they may disappoint but then you’ll have someone totally unknown who will blow you away.”

Rachael had words of encouragement for artists who did not get selected to perform at a monthly night.

“We always have an open mic section in the show,” she said. “Artists can sign up on the night and the first 10 to put their names down get the chance to perform for a minute. The most popular artists on the night judged by the audience then gets a slot at the next show.”

Both Jessie J and Professor Green got their first break by putting their names down for the open mic.

“Iluvlive is about creating pathways for artists,” said Rachael. “We are interested in good music and it is a great opportunity for young artists to cut their teeth and to gain experience and exposure.”

Iluvlive, the Hot List tour, Zombie Shack, Manchester, Sunday, September 17. Details from www.iluvlive.co.uk