<p><br /> Shock rocker Alice Cooper has held auditions in London to find a freak show act to join him onstage at Halloween.<br /> </p><p><br /> After calling for hopefuls to send in videos of themselves, Cooper selected 11 finalists to audition in front of him and a panel of judges.<br /> </p><p><br /> The singer pointed out that acts like these are nothing new: "You have to remember before TV, before radio and before movies, this was entertainment. They'd get in side shows, travel all over the country and do this kind of thing."<br /> </p><p><br /> One of the contestants was Syban, a ballet dancer who pierced herself with feathered needles to turn herself into a swan.<br /> </p><p><br /> Other acts drove nails and knives into their noses, stapled themselves in the arms.<br /> </p><p><br /> The winning acts will join Cooper for his Halloween Night of Fear live shows at the Roundhouse in London on 31 October and 1 November.<br /> </p>