Tinsel Magazine Reports Jolene Burns' Second UK Title and Top-Five World Finish at Music on Stage

Jolene Burns. Photo courtesy of Moxie Media Marketing. Cover design: Tinsel Magazine

Feature Reports the Belfast Singer-Songwriter Won the UK for a Second Year and Finished Fifth in the World at the September 18 Global Final

LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, October 2, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Tinsel Magazine has published "Back-to-Back: Jolene Burns Wins the UK at TikTok's Music on Stage for the Second Year Running," reporting that the Belfast singer-songwriter has taken the United Kingdom at TikTok LIVE's Music on Stage for a second consecutive year and finished fifth in the world at the Global Final on September 18.

According to the publication, TikTok announced the 2026 edition of Music on Stage on August 13. The competition drew music creators from more than 20 regions, and the British singer-songwriter Cat Burns hosted the EMEA and Americas Global Final on September 18. Tinsel Magazine reports that winners receive recording, distribution and promotional support through SoundOn, TikTok's music distribution and artist-services platform, along with performance slots at TikTok LIVE Fest, the All Things Go festival in New York and the Breakaway Carolina festival.

The article cites TikTok's published figures for the competition's first year in 2025: more than 8.2 billion impressions, more than 230,000 posts under the #MusicOnStage hashtag, and more than 1.4 million viewers to the Global Finals, by the company's count.

According to the publication, Burns won the United Kingdom in the competition's inaugural year and finished third in the world. This year she won the United Kingdom again and finished fifth in the world at the September 18 Global Final, according to final standings posted by Burns and by Moxie Media Marketing, the Texas company that represents her.

Tinsel Magazine reports that Burns grew up in the New Lodge in north Belfast, the subject of The Flats, a documentary by the Italian filmmaker Alessandra Celesia. According to the article, Burns appears in the film and wrote original songs for it. The publication reports that the film premiered at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen in 2024, where it won the festival's top award, and received the George Morrison Feature Documentary Award from the Irish Film and Television Academy in 2025, according to its distributor, Icarus Films. The article notes that the Sunday World profiled Burns in June 2025 as a Belfast songwriter who had written for the documentary and was pursuing a career as a singer-songwriter.

The article reports a long preceding run on televised singing competitions. According to the publication, Burns reached the bootcamp stage of The X Factor in 2011, and in 2015 sang at the blind auditions of The Voice of Ireland, turning the coach Niall Breslin's chair and joining his team. Tinsel Magazine reports that the Belfast press also lists Britain's Got Talent among her appearances.

Burns described the change when she began broadcasting from home. "I'd stood on every stage that has a red buzzer attached to it," she said. "Then I put a phone on a stand in my living room and sang to 40 people, and it was the first gig that ever felt like mine. Nobody was deciding whether I got through. People were just staying, and then they came back the next night and brought somebody with them. You can hear a room breathing on a live, even when the room is spread right across half the world and it's two in the morning somewhere."

According to the article, the broadcasts produced competitive results. Tinsel Magazine cites Star magazine's March 2026 report that Burns finished first in her region and 12th in the world at TikTok LIVE Fest in 2025, in a field the magazine put at roughly six million creators from more than 45 countries. Star described the broadcasts as nightly digital concerts performed from locations ranging from the Caribbean to the United States.

Burns described the audience in terms of geography. "You're not just performing for views. You're building real relationships with people in Brazil, Germany, Japan, South Africa, places I've never even been yet. And they're showing up every night for you," she told the magazine. Of the run itself: "It felt like a world tour happening inside my phone. Every night was a different country. A different crowd. A different energy."

The article reports that in the first Music on Stage, in autumn 2025, Burns took the United Kingdom and finished third in the world at a Global Final staged in London on September 27 with Sam Ryder as host.

According to the publication, Moxie Media Marketing entered around the same period. The company, run by Kenneth W. Welch Jr. from a base north of Houston, describes itself as a platform that gives independent artists production, distribution and promotion, and operates the Global Talent Billboard Directory, an artist platform it launched in October 2025. Tinsel Magazine reports that, by the company's own account, Moxie brought Burns to Aruba to record three songs and shoot three videos with island producers, and that the Belfast Telegraph has reported subsequent shoots in Antigua and Jamaica. Welch, who is engaged to Burns, told that paper: "Her magical voice is so unique. She is a true prodigy. She is self-taught and self-created."

The article reports that the Belfast Telegraph covered Burns signing a United States record deal with Moxie in August. Burns told the paper: "I've taken the record deal with Moxie Media Marketing and I'm going to stay with them."

The publication reports a reach figure of more than 270 million views for her videos across Moxie's platforms, attributing that count to the company. Tinsel Magazine notes that the competition standings are TikTok's: first in the United Kingdom twice, and a top-five world finish in each of the two years the competition has run.

According to the article, recording on the first of two albums begins within weeks, with soulful songs written for the first record and upbeat material for the second. The publication reports that the albums will be recorded in a studio Moxie built in Texas, which the company says is now complete, and that a tour is planned for next year, following a Las Vegas show in February at The Space that Moxie says was full.

Burns described the second title as the harder of the two. "People keep asking me if the second one was easier," she said. "It was harder. The first year nobody knew who I was and I had nothing to lose. This year I had a title to hold onto and half of Belfast watching, and I wanted it more. I went back to the same stage a year later and did it again, and nobody can take that off me. Where I'm from you don't get handed a second go at anything, so I wasn't going to waste mine."

The full article is available now at https://tinselmag.com/jolene-burns-second-verse-same-crown/. A companion profile of Moxie Media Marketing and its chief executive is available at https://tinselmag.com/kenneth-welch-moxie-builder-behind-the-back-to-back/.

--- Sources Cited in the Tinsel Magazine Feature ---

TikTok Newsroom, TikTok LIVE's Music on Stage returns for 2026, August 13, 2026 - https://newsroom.tiktok.com/tiktok-lives-music-on-stage-returns-for-2026-to-discover-the-next-generation-of-global-music-stars?lang=en-GB&ref=tinselmag.com

TikTok Newsroom, TikTok LIVE launches Music On Stage '25, August 19, 2025 - https://newsroom.tiktok.com/tiktok-live-music-on-stage?lang=en-GB&ref=tinselmag.com

TikTok Newsroom, TikTok crowns global champions of TikTok LIVE: Music On Stage, October 15, 2025 - https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-gb/tiktok-live-music-on-stage-winners-announced?ref=tinselmag.com

Star, on Burns at TikTok LIVE Fest, March 12, 2026 - https://starmagazine.com/jolene-burns-took-on-the-biggest-names-at-tiktok-live-fest-heres-how-she-held-her-own/?ref=tinselmag.com

Belfast Telegraph, Roisin Gorman, August 12, 2026 - https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/belfast-tiktok-star-signs-us-deal-after-internet-trolls-death-threats/a/159922394.html?ref=tinselmag.com

Icarus Films, The Flats, directed by Alessandra Celesia - https://icarusfilms.com/if-flats?ref=tinselmag.com

Full source list published with the article: https://tinselmag.com/jolene-burns-second-verse-same-crown/

--- About Moxie Media Marketing ---

Moxie Media Marketing is a media and talent company led by chief executive Kenneth W. Welch Jr., operating from a base north of Houston, Texas. The company supplies independent artists with production, distribution and promotional support, and operates the Global Talent Billboard Directory, an artist platform launched in October 2025. Learn more: https://moxiemediamarketing.inc/

--- About Tinsel Magazine ---

Tinsel Magazine is a digital culture publication covering entertainment, style, internet culture, and the people shaping contemporary life. Based in Los Angeles, Tinsel publishes original editorial with a focus on the creative figures, cultural movements, and industry shifts that define modern media. The magazine's Tinsel Exclusive series profiles creators, artists, and cultural figures whose work is redefining their respective fields. For more information, visit https://tinselmag.com/

Broc Foerster
Moxie Media Marketing, Inc.
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