The first band are youngsters Anubis who won their audition to go through to the under 18 live stage of the competition, which will be held in Brighton on March 30 along with 15 other hopefuls.

Matthew McConnon, 13, (lead guitar), Andy Sharps, 13 (Vocals and base) and Hugh McConnon (drums), 11, all attend Oriel High School in Maidenbower and will be battling it out for a place in the regional final.

Mathew and Hugh's proud mum, Sian, said: "I am so proud of them, I think it is great for them to just get to this stage and it doesn't matter what happens after that.

"Matt met Andy at junior school and they started playing music together.

"They write their own songs and they have been gigging at the school. They're also in the Crawley Battle of the Bands competition on March 1."

Acts are also competing for £250 worth of prize money for getting the most publicity in the newspapers.

THE OTHER band to progress in the competition are All Hero, formerly known at Saving Amy.

They reached the semi-final of the over-18s section after winning their audition and are now hoping that they are on the road to success in 2008.

Over 10,000 bands entered the competition nationwide and All Hero had to beat off competition from 200 bands in their region to make it to the semis.

They also join 15 other hopefuls on March 30 at the Hove Centre. The band are Gareth Bailey (drums), Kieron Howells (bass), Robert Bright (lead guitar), Steven Bright (electric guitar) and Jacqueline Wong (lead vocals).

Guitarist Kieron Howells said: "We all couldn't believe that we made it through, it's fantastic.

"It's great for a Crawley band to get through and represent the town at this event.

"It's an opportunity for us to meet people in the industry as well and a good way to market ourselves.

"We changed our name to All Hero, but we are still the same band playing the same music as we did before."

After the success of getting so far in the competition, All Hero are hoping for a top year. Kieron added: "We've got a lot of London gigs coming up so we will hopefully try and branch ourselves out a bit.

"Our next Crawley gig is at the Rose and Crown on March 8. We are also trying to get ourselves on the radio. I know Eagle FM and Southern Counties like to play unsigned bands."

To find out more about All Hero visit their My Space.

For more about Live and Unsigned click here.

For all the local leisure news see the Crawley Observer every Wednesday.