TWO teenagers will open the Homelands festival alongside top names in the music industry.

Shane Mursell (aka DJ Slayer), 16, from Newport, Isle of Wight, and Vince Frank (aka Mr Mouth), 18, from Portsmouth entered a Hampshire-wide competition set up by the charity Youth Music to win the coveted prize.

The pair will showcase their talent at the dance music festival, held at the Matterley Bowl just outside Winchester on Saturday, May 29, in front of 35,000 revellers.

Vince has been making music since he was four, playing the piano and then the saxophone.

Taking his inspiration from hip-hop music, Vince found the idea of creating his own beats fascinating and instead of buying a car, he bought equipment to create his own studio to hone his style as a beat boxer.

"I am really excited to have won and I can't wait to perform alongside artists I've always looked up to," he said.

Shane is a pupil at Medina High School in Newport. He has been DJ-ing from the age of 13 and became interested in house music after listening to some of his brother's CDs.

"I was encouraged to enter the competition by my music teacher. Winning is such an exciting opportunity for me as I cannot get into nightclubs yet. It has always been a dream of mine to play alongside the best.''

Youth Music organised the competition in conjunction with the organisers of Homelands, Mead Fiddler, and received thousands of entries.

For more information on Youth Music see www.youthmusic.org