Sykes started singing when he was six years old. In 2003, he won various competitions, including Britney Spears' Karaoke Kriminals and one of the categories at the Cheltenham Competitive Festival of Dramatic Art. In 2004, he appeared on ITV's "Ministry of Mayhem", and won the Door Youth Project's "Undiscovered Youth Talent Contest" where he performed "Mack the Knife" in Derker, and he attempted to represent United Kingdom in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004 that was held in Lillehammer. In the finals, he finished in third place with the song, "Born to Dance", behind Cory Spedding and runner-up Andrew Merry. In 2008, he performed for the music competition "Live and Unsigned".