Students from Coleg Gwent and Ystrad Mynach College are taking to the global stage this week as they take part in the WorldSkills London 2011 competition.
Thirty NVQ level 3 hairdressing students from Ystrad Mynach College will be taking part while Coleg Gwent are sending its Crosskeys Campus musical theatre students.
The Ystrad Mynach students were invited to take part in the event at the ExCel exhibition centre after impressing the organisers with a fund-raising show they did for teenage cancer at the college in Ystrad Mynach in April.
One of the young hairdressers taking part is 18-year-old Emma Hardcastle, from Blackwood.
Emma, a former Pontllanfraith Comprehensive School pupil who is now in her third year at the college, has only had three weeks to prepare for the show.
She said: “I was a model at the show we did in April but when someone dropped out of the London show three weeks ago, I was asked to do the actual styling.”
Emma’s style is called “tornado” and is based on the theme of climate change. It involves pinning a wig around a polystyrene cone which is then attached to the model’s head to form the body of the “tornado.”
The Crosskeys students will perform a dazzling 20-minute showcase of hit musical numbers from shows including We Will Rock You, Moulin Rouge, Boogie Nights, Shrek and Sweet Charity.
Coleg Gwent musical theatre student Jamie Rogers, 18 from Newport said: “We’re really excited to have been chosen to showcase our performance skills at WorldSkills London 2011.
“It’s great to be part of something this big and gain recognition for all the hard work we’ve put in. Our display is going to wow the audience and I can’t wait.”
The WorldSkills event is held in different countries every other year and around 150,000 visitors are expected to visit the London showcase where 1,000 competitors from more than 50 countries will be demonstrating 46 different skills from hairdressing to bricklaying over four days from October 5 to October 8.
Aidan Jones, executive director of WorldSkills London 2011, said: “The huge range of showcasing ideas that poured in from colleges across the UK is really impressive.
“With 150,000 visitors to the WorldSkills London 2011 Competition, the Showcase stages will demonstrate the widest range of skills that shape our world and be a really exciting part of the biggest, most inspirational and visual display of careers ever seen in the UK – all under one roof.”