A SINGER-SONGWRITER was handpicked by pop star James Blunt to open his show.

Jacko Hooper, from Brighton, supported the soft-spoken soldier turned singer’s Brighton Centre concert.

The 22-year-old former Varndean College student was chosen over scores of other musicians by the You’re Beautiful star following a competition run by The Argus to find a local support act.

Mr Hooper said it was the biggest crowd he had ever played to and described it as “bucket list stuff”.

He said: “I was not that nervous as when you walk on it is just business as usual but in a much larger venue.

“It was strange when I did the sound check when the lights are all up and it is a big empty room, but when you go on it is in darkness and it is very visually surreal.

“It seemed to go down well and at the end of my set everyone seemed really into it.

“It is quite mad to have several thousand people clapping along to your tune.”

The young singer has been working on his current project for three years and has been performing since he was 12.

Mr Hooper said he met the star before the gig and “nearly spat salad all over him”.

He said: “He came over to me while I was eating a salad and said ‘hi’ and then said ‘sorry to have caught you at a bad time’.

“He was a really cool guy and it was one of the reasons the whole vibe was quite calming.

“He was exactly what I thought – I spoke to him after my set and he said: ‘It was a real pleasure to have you’. I gave him one of my CDs.”

Mr Hooper’s music is available from jackohooper.bandcamp.com and he runs a monthly folk night at the White Rabbit pub in Kensington Gardens.

The next folk night is on December 16.