SPARE a thought the next time you pass a busker in a subway - you could be hearing the fledgling talent of a megastar in the making

Buskers like Cerys Matthews and Badly Drawn Boy have already found fame and fortune, and now a number of unknowns have put together a new CD, Songs From The Underground: The Buskers.

My brief was to see if my 'talent' impressed the public of Newport. Armed with a repertoire of around ten songs, many of them by the Beatles, I took up my trusty guitar and screwed up my courage.

Anybody who has learnt to play guitar has sat in their bedroom, belting out their favourite songs - but singing in public is another matter. I was more than a little nervous.

Wearing a scruffy pair of jeans to try to capture the spirit of busking, I set out my first pitch in a quiet setting, behind the market, to build up my confidence.

As I opened my mouth to sing the opening lines of Strawberry Fields Forever, a familiar song to me, I caught the interest of some passers-by. The pressure told on me, and as I lost my composure and played a wrong chord, my audience lost interest and walked away.

I then approached a young man waiting for his friends on a bench, and asked him if he'd listen to me play and see what he thought.

Tom Davison, 17, from Caerleon, turned out to be a drummer and had played with bands before, so I knew he'd be a tough critic.

Steadying myself, I sang two verses and a chorus of You Can't Do That, also by The Beatles, and to my delight, he nodded in time with me all the way through.

"You're pretty good," he said, "you make a decent noise. "I think it makes a city like Newport more cultural to have people playing their songs on the streets. People like it."

My spirits soared, and following a rendition of Summertime and a more successful stab at Strawberry Fields in Commercial Street, I attracted further plaudits.

Caerleon student Catherine Pearson, 18, sized me up, and said: "I give you a seven out of ten."

Add she said she prefers someone offering a musical interlude to the others who stop you in the street. She said: "I like buskers more than charity workers, who are quite intrusive."

Fellow Caerleon student Nerys Drewson, 18, said: "I'd give you a ten out of ten. Actually, make that a nine, I don't want to look too generous. With busking it's all about targeting your audience."

And Jennifer Thomas, 18, a Newport student, said: "You were very good, to be fair to you, you get eight out of ten from me. Some buskers are obviously not good and do it for money, but if you have the talent, then why not?"

Why not indeed? So, Simon Cowell, you know where I am...