Schoolboy Sam Bloor was crowned winner of Stoke's Top Talent on Saturday night after an action-packed final. Reporter Adam Blakeman spoke to the 14-year-old singer to find out what it meant

"I DIDN'T think I was going to enter the competition this year," said Sam Bloor as the silver and gold victory ticker-tape continued to fall around him.

The Chesterton High School pupil was beginning to think it just wasn't meant to be after coming runner-up in 2008 and finishing third in last year's competition.

But in true Rocky Balboa style, he refused to be beaten – and came back stronger and more determined than ever this time around to win the competition.

And his song choice for the final – Journey's Don't Stop Believin' – could hardly have been more fitting.

Sam, pictured left, who lives with mum Jayne Sale, in Brittain Avenue, Chesterton, said: "When I came second to Dan Hewitt in the first competition I was really disappointed because I was so close to winning.

"It knocked my confidence a bit but I listened to what the judges said and I entered again last year, when I finished third.

"I thought after that I wouldn't enter the competition again because I didn't see the point in going all the way to the final each time only to miss out at the last hurdle. I wanted to win the whole thing.

"But as the deadline got closer my mum told me I should go for it so I decided to give it another go – and I'm really happy that I did."

Sam took the title after getting down to the final two alongside 18-year-old singer Joel Harper.

The judges said they had been blown away by Sam's performance and spoke of his transformation from boy to man since his first appearance back in 2008.

The teenager will now appear alongside competition host Jonathan Wilkes and TV star Jennifer Ellison in The Regent theatre's pantomime this winter, Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates.

And, in addition to his first professional performing contract, he also netted £1,000 and will perform at The Sentinel's Our Heroes awards later this month.

Sam said: "It's just a dream come true. I knew I had to put everything into my final performance and it was definitely the best I've ever sung in my life.

"It was like a monster came out of me, it was an amazing feeling and I was just full of energy.

"When they told me I had won I just wanted to jump off the stage and crowd surf.

"I don't think it will sink in for a while that I'm going to be in the panto alongside Jonathan Wilkes. I can't wait to start rehearsing for it.

"I've performed at charity concerts before, and in an amateur production of Oliver! at The Regent, but this is the biggest show I've ever been involved with.

"Hopefully winning this competition will open some doors for me and kick-start my career."

More than 300 acts entered this year's competition, from singers and dancers to musicians and Michael Jackson impersonators.

Entries came from all over Stoke-on-Trent, as far south as Stafford and as far north as Nantwich.

And Sam was cheered on by a packed audience, including his closest family and friends, at the grand final on Saturday night.

Mum Jayne said she was very proud of her son.

The 40-year-old added: "He's always been singing from a young age and he's had no lessons or anything like that.

"He was really disappointed when he came second and this time you could see from his face when it was announced he had won how much it meant to him.

"We thought he was brilliant on the night and deserved to win.

"All of the family will be buying tickets for the pantomime now so we can see him on stage and cheer him on."

Dad Darren Bloor, aged 37, from Audley Street, Knutton, said: "I don't know where he gets his voice from because no-one else in the family can sing like he can.

"I actually didn't think he should enter the competition again after coming second and third but he's proved me wrong. It's a fantastic opportunity for him."