Niall’s dream comes true

MAGHERAFELT man Niall Sexton had the experience of a lifetime when he won a competition to support RnB superstar Ne-Yo on his tour in Liverpool.

Niall won the competition which was organised by Liverpool radio station Radio City all in aid of children’s charity ‘Cash for Kids.’

The 18 year-old raised the most money for the charity through the public voting system and won his chance to perform live on stage at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, before Grammy award winner Ne-Yo and X Factor judge Tulisa.

Niall told the MAIL that the experience of performing on stage to over 10,000 people and meeting Ne-Yo and Tulisa backstage was ‘just indescribable.’

He said: “When everyone asks me how was it, or what did it feel like, I honestly can’t even express how amazing it was, it’s just indescribable.”

Speaking about meeting Ne-Yo Niall said: “He approached me backstage and shook my hand and told me it was a pleasure to have me on the tour for the night, it was completely surreal. He was really calm and chilled out, really cool and laid back just like you would expect him to be. He said he was in a rush and that he would catch me later, which he did.

“After the show I was chatting to him again backstage and I got to sing a few lines of his song ‘Let me love you’ to him, it was so surreal.”

Niall also met NDubz singer and X Factor Judge Tulisa who was also supporting Ne-Yo on tour. “Tulisa was lovely as well. I met her on stage during the sound check. She was coming off as I was going on. I mentioned to her that I had auditioned for X Factor in front of her in Manchester in 2011, and she told me I definitely rang a bell, which was a great feeling because after all the auditions she would have seen she still remembered me,” added Niall.

The first year Broadcast Media student told the MAIL that getting to perform to such a huge crowd really confirmed to him that music is something which he really wants to pursue.

“I definitely want to do something in the music industry. The whole experience just confirmed to me 100 per cent that music is my passion and I definitely want to pursue that.”

The talented singer wanted to pay tribute to all the people who supported him and everyone who took the time to vote for him in the competition. He said: “I want to thank everyone for their votes, I really appreciated each and every one of them.”

Niall also gave his very supportive mum Lee a Mother’s Day present she will never forget when she got to meet Ne-Yo backstage as well.

“No-one was meant to get back stage to meet him but with it being Mother’s Day that Sunday I asked could I take one person backstage so I chose my mum because she is a massive Ne-Yo fan. She couldn’t believe it, she got to meet him and get a few pictures with him too.”

Something tells me this isn’t the last we’ve heard of this very talented young man. If you would like to keep up to date on how Niall’s career progresses you can follow him on Twitter @NiallSexton or via Facebook just search for NiallSextonNI or watch his YouTube clips by searching ‘NiallSextonNI’.