THEY came, they saw and ultimately one band conquered in a singing competition to unearth new musical talent while also celebrating the forthcoming opening of casino Pier 9. Argus reporter Jody Doherty-Cove was on the judging panel and, after much deliberation, electric dance pop band Arion Haze emerged triumphant.

Three talented ex-BIMM students walked home with £1,000 after a competition at a new venue.

Arion Haze, an electronic dance pop band which formed at British and Irish Modern Music Institute, stunned the audience and wowed the judges at the final of Pier Nine’s singing competition in Brighton on Saturday.

Bandmates Adir Tov, 22, Osker Jones, 21 and Will Clarke, 21, won the cash prize and will be performing at the seafront venue’s opening night on February 1 after seeing off the stiff competition.

Speaking after the victory, singer Adir said: “We have never won anything before.

“We are all a bit shocked. We’ve just won a grand and people are helping us out now, it is just exciting.”

The contestants, who had put themselves forward to be picked by The Argus readers last year, performed to a panel of judges at the 24/7 seafront “entertainment hub”.

Three other acts had made it to the final.

The Roy Rad Band, founded by Roy Rad in Haywards Heath in 2015, were out to prove that the older age group should be not disregarded in the music industry.

David Hammond and Natalie Porter, called Nat ’n’ Dave, are a singing double act who perform harmonies from the 1950s and 1960s to care homes across the county.

And Geoff Graham, a member of the Choir With No Name which runs choirs for homeless and marginalised people.

Each act was given 15 minutes to impress the judges, who then whittled the contestants down to two.

Nat ’n’ Dave faced off against Arion Haze in one last sing-off before the judges decided to crown Arion Haze the winners.

Judge Bob Bowry, who is the general manager of Pier Nine, said: “Arion Haze. Wow. Just wow. What was amazing for me was seeing people stop what they are doing to listen to their original music so I think they are going to be great.

“It has been an amazing day.

“I really didn’t know what to expect when I came here this afternoon, but such a variety of acts which were all local, raw and at the beginning of their journey and that is what really impressed me about the winning group.”

Although narrowly missing out on the grand prize, the other acts had something to cheer about too. The venue now plans to invite the Choir With No Name along to perform for a fundraising night in the near future after hearing Geoff Graham’s story.

The event was hosted by Pier Nine a £5.2 million entertainment venue in the Grosvenor Casino in Grand Junction Road.

Pier Nine has been designed for “modern work, rest and play” and includes space to work and to meet friends, bars, “modern eateries”, two casinos, a variety of competitive games and a private cinema and karaoke space to hire.

The project is creating 60 jobs with a mixture of full-time and part-time roles.