It was a matter of no small pride that I was one of forty bloggers picked to be a judge for the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition earlier this year.

I was sent 160 songs and had to whittle it down to three. Friends were envious of the fact that I got to do it, a free Glastonbury ticket (if I get to go it will be the first time in well over a decade) and wondered how I was going to decide.

Sometimes I had to force myself to listen to the end of tracks. Othertimes I went to find out more about the bands concerned.

The Longlist for Glastonbury can be found here. We [the bloggers] all got sent different artists. Later on this week,the 123 acts will be narrowed down to a shortlist of just 8 acts who will compete at April’s live finals for a main stage slot at this year’s Festival. They will be chosen by the final judging panel which consists of the following 10 judges: Michael Eavis (Glastonbury organiser), Emily Eavis (Glastonbury organiser), Nick Dewey (main stages programmer), Martin Elbourne (main stages programmer), Malcolm Haynes (Dance Village programmer), Steve Symons (West Holts programmer), Philippa Aylott (Radio One producer), Angus Baskerville (live agent), Paul Charles (agent/promoter/manager) and Chris Salmon (music journalist).

I have to say that I have absolutely no control over the next stage, but I wish every one of the acts concerned the very best.

The three acts I picked were Edinburgh’s Matt Norris and the Moon, Glasgow’s The Day I snapped and Cork’s Zombie Computer. And no, I don’t know any of the bands personally!

Follow the links above to find out what they sound like!