LATEST NEWS | FINALISTS' ANNOUNCED
After two high-quality semi-finals in Manchester and London Funny Women are proud to announce the 10 female acts who have made it through to the charity final of the 2008 NIVEA Funny Women Awards:
- Sarah Campbell
- Pippa Evans as Loretta Maine
- Rachel Fairburn
- Girl & Dean (Jess Ransom & Sarah Dean)
- Rowena Haley
- Grainne Maguire
- Elaine Malcolmson
- Sara Pascoe
- Katherine Ryan
- Rachel Stubbings
The NIVEA Funny Women Awards received a record number of entries this year, and the producers increased the number places in the semi-finals by 25% to ensure that this level of enthusiasm and talent for live comedy was properly represented.
The competition for a place in the final was fiercer than ever, and the ten finalists had be truly impressive to get through. All of the 25 acts in the semi-finals were exceptional and narrowing the list down to 10 proved very difficult for the judges.
"The level of ability and talent this year has just been so high," says Funny Women's producer Lynne Parker, "Judging has been very difficult – so many strong acts and this means that the ten acts going through to this year's final really are the creme de la creme of new female comedy."
"We are very excited about this year's final," adds Lynne. "We are also showcasing past winners with Zoe Lyons (2004) as our compere for the evening and last year's winner Andi Osho (2007) performing a guest spot. It promises to be a brilliant night!"