Fame hungry music hopefuls from Maidstone will have the chance to showcase their talent at this year’s X Factor auditions.

Singers and songwriters can perform chart toppers or their own ballads in a bid to win a place on the ITV show when auditions are held at Pizza Express in Earls Street next week.

Those deemed good enough will be given the opportunity to be scrutinised by the judging quartet of Louis Walsh, Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Nicole Scherzinger when further auditions are held in the summer.

The Open Auditions tour kicked off on Saturday in Gloucester and reaches its climax in Brentwood, Essex, on Friday, March 17.

Pizza Express Live, an in house music venue, will open its doors to Maidstone’s top talent at 11am and will take their final contestant at 6pm.

To be in with the chance of becoming the Christmas number one for 2017 visit application.xfactor.tv to fill out a form or send a video of yourself.

X Factor presenter Dermot O’Leary said: “2016 was a fantastic year for The X Factor and now we’re about to kick start the auditions for 2017.

“We found some incredible talent and some amazing voices last year and now it could be your turn. Just one audition could change your life so if you think you’ve got what it takes then why don’t you apply?”