IN a week's time on Friday, November 8, we will celebrating the eighth annual Pride of St Helens Awards.

In this week's paper (out now in shops for just 50p) we published a 16-page supplement profiling each of the shortlisted nominees for this year's ceremony.

Throughout this week and next ahead of the event at the Totally Wicked Stadium, we will be sharing our categories of nominees with you.

Here is the first. Here are your nominees for the Arts Award sponsored by Imperial Terrace and Bar     

Sugar House

St Helens Star:

MUSIC production duo Sugar House have enjoyed a year of success in helping bands to make it in the big time.

Ady Hall and Lee McCarthy, are based at Catalyst Studios on Charles Street in St Helens, where they make tracks for new and unsigned artists.

And after making links with London music bosses two years ago, they have been able to help more groups secure record deals.

This year, the pair have works with 15 bands that have had their songs played on national radio and a few bands that have got signed up.

Ady, 40, who praised the “brilliant” studio that they have worked at in the last 10 years, added: “The next step for us is to help break a band through properly by getting a song into the charts.

Jude Riordan

St Helens Star:

EIGHT-YEAR-OLD Jude Riordan’s star continues to soar and he is set to appear in the second series of hit TV show Brassic alongside Michelle Keegan.

Jude, from Lea Green, first appeared on TV in 2017 in The Secret Life of Five Year Old’s on Channel 4.

Since then the St John Vianney pupil went on to appear in CBBC programmes and several adverts.

And last year he landed the role as Tyler in the first season of Brassic, in which he plays the son of on-screen mum Michelle Keegan.

Jude is currently involved in the filming of the second series.

His dad Paul Riordan, 40, also won the arts award in 2014. He said: “Me and Jude’s mum Kellie are so proud.

Jude is thrilled with the nomination and we are too.

“He is really enjoying his acting – it is natural and instinctive to him now.

“Jude is also able to treat it as a hobby alongside his school studies.”

Other youngsters may get star-struck by performing with seasoned actors but not Jude.

Paul added: “He is growing and taking it all in his stride.

"The Brassic cast and crew are down to 5earth and have been really supportive.”

Sofia Wilkinson-Hill

St Helens Star:

IT has been a landmark year for 12-year-old Sofia Wilkinson-Hill after she made her debut playing the lead role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical School of Rock.

She learnt her trade at Elizabeth Hill School of Dance and Drama on Dentons Green aged four.

She got her first break in 2016 in the title role of Annie with Pilkingtons Musical Theatre Company.

Sofia went on to star in national tours of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Nativity.

She also appeared as Young Eva in Anne Dalton’s 25th anniversary production of Her Benny and is the voice of Eva on the new soundtrack of the show.

Long-standing Elizabeth Hill volunteer Davina Coogan, 55, nominated Sofia for the award.

She said: “I saw Sofia in School of Rock this year and she was amazing and really professional.

“It was as though she had been on the West End stage forever.

“She seems to have a natural talent for singing, dancing and acting.

"She tries her best at everything and enjoys it all.

“I remember when Sofia won her first competition and then went on to win lots of medals.

"She does not seem to be affected by success.”