SOAPSTAR SUPERSTAR
04 January, 2007 by The_Boss
Starts on ITV1 Friday 5th January 9:00pm to 10:30pm
Richard Fleeshman was your Soapstar Superstar for 2006 – who will win the viewers vote and take the accolade in the new series of the hit event?
Zoe Ball hosts the new series of Soapstar Superstar that will see some of the UK’s favourite soap stars take to the stage and go head-to-head to become a singing superstar.
Facing the ultimate sing-off are: Gemma Atkinson (Lisa Hunter, Hollyoaks In The City); Antony Cotton (Sean Tully, Coronation Street); Jane Danson (Leanne Battersby, Coronation Street); Tupele Dorgu (Kelly Crabtree, Coronation Street); Alan Fletcher (Dr. Karl Kennedy, Neighbours); Mark Furze (Eric ‘Ric’ Dalby, Home and Away); Elaine Lordan (Lynne Hobbs, Eastenders); Verity Rushworth (Donna Windsor-Dingle, Emmerdale); Hayley Tamaddon (Delilah Dingle, Emmerdale); Matthew Wolfenden (David Metcalfe, Emmerdale)
Singing live in the studio nightly, familiar faces from some of the most watched TV programmes in the world, will battle against each other and in some cases co-stars, to win a place through to the next night.
And the plot thickens as it will be the viewers who have the ultimate control – not only do they vote to save their favourite soap star they also get to choose the songs they will be singing.
With commentary from our panel of expert judges and a rehearsal schedule that sees each artist learning their selected song in just 24 hours, the drama won’t just be confined to the stage.
Presenter Zoe Ball said: “As a huge soap fan – I have watched Coronation Street since I was a little girl and I watched it with my Nan – I was a huge fan of Soapstar Superstar last year.
“I nearly wet my pants when I was asked to host it this time. I can’t wait to get all the inside gossip at the show and see who’s the prima donna, who’s the saucy one, who’s the trouble- causer.
“Of course I won’t be showing any bias, although as I’ve already mentioned I am a huge Coronation Street fan!
“I am very excited about the show – the only thing you won’t catch me doing is singing – because I have the worst singing voice ever!”
Executive Producer Rachel Ashdown said: “This year we have some singers in the competition who have never sung on television before so there are sure to be some great surprises.
“You might think you know the soap stars from what you see in your favourite soaps but you will be blown away by just how talented this bunch is.
“This is the show were the viewers really are in control and ultimately they will pick their winner.
“I think the soap stars are really excited, but with the show going live on January 5th they better not be doing too much shouting at New Year's Eve!
“There aren't many shows as ambitious as this on television but we had a brilliant team who made it last year and have come back for more this time.”
Cast & Characters
SOAPSTAR INTERVIEWS
Elaine Lordan (Lynne Hobbs, Eastenders)
What are your top 3 artists and albums?
Oh I’m so eclectic to be quite honest with you, I couldn’t name just three, it really is eclectic honestly, it goes from country and western, Robbie Williams, Oasis, The Jam - I love The Jam - Paul Weller, Madness.
What was the last DVD you bought?
I can’t remember – terrible isn’t it?
What’s your favourite musical style? Or that you like singing?
Very very deep voices because I’ve got a very deep voice is the best answer I can give you. Baratone, more or less, it’s deeper than Rod Stewart’s apparently.
Have you started doing lessons?
No, not yet, cos I’ve got wisdom tooth coming through now, impacted, so I’ve got to go and get them taken out – I know pain!
How did you find that out?
Just the pain.
What’s your earliest singing memory?
My earliest singing memory, probably singing to my mum and dad in the kitchen, ‘Seven Lonely Nights Make Seven Lonely Days’.
I don’t remember who it’s by but it was a song my mum used to play and I used to sing it to them in the kitchen. Guess it was like ‘It Never Pays to Make Your Lover Blue’, sort of a country and western style song.
I was about five, six, you know, little precocious child, ‘look at me, look at me!’.
What do you think the audience can expect from you?
A deep voice. Hitting the low notes.
What do you think your soap character would say about you taking part in the show?
She’d laugh, she’d think, ‘are you mad?’.
Did you watch last year’s?
I watched some of it not all of it, I have to be honest.
I thought it was good, yeah, entertaining aren’t they, you know? Watching people get all scared.
Are you going to be nervous?
I’d imagine so yeah.
What do you think friends and family will think of you doing the show?
I think they’ll be pleased actually yeah, they’ll find it funny. They’ll make some banners I’m sure and do some clapping in the audience for me.
They’re not going to boo are they?
What my friends! No they won’t. The audience might, the general audience probably will boo but not my friends.
Mark Furze (Eric ‘Ric’ Dalby, Home and Away)
What are your top three favourite artists and favourite album?
Megadeth, Winger, AC/DC. Fav Album is "1987" - Whitesnake
What is your favourite music style?
Classic Heavy Metal
Who would you compare yourself with musically?
Well vocally i really respect Jamie Cullum.
What can audiences expect from your performance?
I might be a metal guy but I'll try and throw in a bit of everything. As long as people are mused, I'll be happy. Nothing too serious, I'm there for a good time.
What would your character Ric think about doing the show?
Probably not much because he's not a real person.
How have friends and family reacted to news of you doing the show?
My family is stoked, they can't wait to see it. My mates also can't wait to see it but they're looking for any excuse to have a laugh! Everyone's really excited.
Did you or any of your friends watch last year?
Unfortunately it wasn’t aired in Australia but I hear it was pretty big!
What is your date of birth?
7/May/86
What musical experience do you have?
I play guitar and drums, music is a really big part of my life but I've had no singing training. I went in all the school musicals and try to sing along with my guitar but I'm self taught.
Who are your favourite singers and why?
I love Jamie Cullum, Jazz is great and he's created some fantastic music. I'm also a big fan of David Coverdale from Whitesnake, he's got one of the best rock voices in the world.
How do you feel about singing live on the show?
Probably going to be the most terrifying thing I've ever tried to do but at the end of the day, if I stuff up at least it'll be funny. I'm sure I'll have a great time.
The show is a competition, so how will you approach it?
I think I'll just enjoy performing with the band and the other guys, which means if I sing badly, I won't be able to do it anymore. I'll give it my best.
You are usually on television as Ric Dalby, so how will you feel about appearing on TV night after night as yourself rather than your soap character?
As an actor you're totally comfortable because it's not you up there, so it will be very daunting having nothing to hide behind.
Gemma Atkinson (Lisa Hunter, Hollyoaks In The City)
What are your top three artists and their albums?
I like the Arctic Monkeys album, I think they’re fab. I like Pink’s latest album, ‘I’m Not Dead’ because it varies in R & B and I also like Bobby Valentino, ‘Slow Down’.
What is your favourite musical style?
I like kind of, rock and R & B, I like a lot of Pink stuff, like her album, it varies from different types. I’m not really into pop unless I’m getting ready to go out; I’ll listen to a bit but only to get me in the going out mood, other than that I like rock.
What is your earliest singing memory?
It was at a competition in Grannies Heilan Hame holiday park in Scotland and I won the competition and I won a trip to Tenerife for the rest of the family, which was fab. I can’t remember what I sung, I think it was something out of the Tiger Club, a group we were in at the time, but yeah that was it.
Who would you compare yourself to in singing style?
Oh God, errr, anyone with a deep voice, I think my voice is deep, so probably Pink.
What can the audience expect from your performances?
A laugh, I think, I’m hopefully going to surprise a few people so hopefully they’ll have fun as I will.
What do you think your character would say about you doing the show?
She’d be very supportive because she’s very caring, my character, and she’d probably be on the front row every night and she’d tell all her family and that to watch out for it.
How did your friends and family react to the news that you are doing the show?
They were all really chuffed. I’ve told my Mum, my Mum knew, she was very chuffed, my Mum. It was a bit embarrassing because everyone was saying, ‘Oh what are you doing now, now that Hollyoaks has finished?’ and I’ve had to say, ‘Oh nothing, nothings come along when obviously this has been along for ages’. But yeah my Mum was really pleased and she said, ‘Finally’.
Alan Fletcher (Dr Karl Kennedy, Neighbours)
Top three artists and their albums?
Kaiser Chiefs ‘Employment’, Elvis Costello’s first album ‘My Aim is True’ and, I think probably, the third favourite album would be… ‘John Lennon Greatest Hits’.
Your favourite musical style?
At the moment, Indie rock would be the best way to describe it, maybe influenced by punk: Greenday, Kaisers.
Do you think you’ll be performing anything on the show?
I hope so. Very popular in the UK, particularly at the moment, is a lot of Kooks, The Feeling, I love the Killers, Franz Ferdinand. It’s actually kind of like slightly quirky Indie rock with punk and quite poppy with McFly at the moment. Very big. Some of the McFly songs I listen to, I could hear Cliff Richard singing them to be honest, and that’s not putting them down at all.
You’re actually in a band, aren’t you? What sort of music do you perform?
We play half of our own stuff and half covers, so the covers go into Foo Fighters, Kaisers, Franz Ferdinand, we do a bit of Queen, we do a bit of Oasis, we do a bit of Robert Palmer for a laugh.
So how would you describe your own music?
Our stuff’s really quite eclectic, I’ve written quite a few ballads, some moody stuff…well not so much moody. I mean, any ballads we do, we tend to rock them out anyway, so rock ballads would be the best description. But most of the songs we perform in gigs are kind of slightly quirky fun songs about student life, about partying too hard, that sort of thing.
Would you say you’re an actor or a singer?
I’d say that they go hand in hand, I’m a performer, I’m an entertainer. That’s my business: entertaining people. Singing and acting are both just about interpreting a story and selling a story, explaining a message to people, it’s just one of them uses music and one of them uses the spoken word. Most actors are trained to be singers; it’s a tool of the trade.
Do you know any of the actors in Soapstar?
No, I don’t know anyone really well, obviously quite a few people I’ve seen around the place or whatever, I mean, I’m not really exposed to English shows because they’re not widely distributed in Australia, plus I hardly watch any telly. I watch my own show to see what’s going on so I can ring my mates up and say you did a good job, but I see very little telly.
How long have you been in Neighbours?
12 years.
What is your earliest singing memory?
I was in a production of a musical called ‘Little Gipsy Gay’ when I was 12 years old and I played the lead and I was the gipsy king. And half way through the rehearsals, the director said there’s something wrong and he worked out it was me, so he asked me not to sing. It was just funny because it just didn’t work.
Who would you compare yourself to in singing style?
That’s the difficult thing, because I’m a live performer and I’m doing a wide range of material I don’t really compare myself to anyone or see myself in any sort of slot. I suppose, really, that at my core a lot of the work I do is in the swing area. I’m going back to Australia to do a series of concerts with the Australian Pops Orchestra where I’ll be doing songs like ‘Well Did
You Ever’ from High Society, ‘Swinging on a Star’ and songs like that, but I’ll also be doing ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, so you mix it up. I think it is a bit of a trap actually to identify yourself with somebody because then you’re saying that’s kind of all I do, I just like the idea of saying well, I’m open to be whatever.
What can the audience expect from you?
I’m hoping that they’ll find me fun. I hope they’ll enjoy my process of going through this challenge, because it’s what it is - it’s a big challenge. I want them to be entertained by me. And I want them to sympathise with me too, if they can. I hope that they’ll sit at home and sort of go wow, imagine if I had to do that. That’s the highlight of the show for me, I think. When I watched the first series, I thought, from reviewer, you really feel for the people on the show; you feel for the pressure they’re under.
What if the judging panel are nasty to you?
I’ve been an actor for 30 years, I’ve got plenty of bad reviews.
How will your friends and family react to the news that you are doing the show?
I hope they’ll be supportive. I mean, most of my friends in Australia will probably never see it. My family are very supportive. My son, he loves the fact that dad sings. When he goes to bed at night-time, he listens to my album to put himself off to sleep. He’s nine. And my daughter also, she’s very supportive… and they’re wonderful. Spending a lot of time away from them is really hard. It’s hard for them to get around the fact that dad’s going to be away for long periods of time just at the end of this year, but they’re great.
Will you be home for Christmas?
Home for Christmas. Unfortunately I’ll be working a little bit in that period and then straight back, yeah.
Antony Cotton (Sean Tully, Coronation Street)
What is your favourite music style?
My favourite music style is pop.
What is your earliest singing memory?
I’ve got a recording of me and my brother singing ‘Away in a Manger’ when I was about three, and I sing with a lisp. That was at home on one of them huge massive tape-to-tape kind of record combo style things. One of those things that had a big lift-up lid. And we did that on that and we’ve still got that recording of me and my brother singing ‘Away in a Manger’.
Who would you compare yourself with musically?
Apparently, I sound a bit like Neil Sedaka. In case I can’t live up to that when I’m in the show, say I sound like Benny Hill. But if I sound alright, Neil Sedaka.
What can the audience expect from you?
Well, I suppose singing is the word du jour; a bit of singing.
Will they see a good stage performance?
Well I don’t know, yeah, just singing, and hopefully not being too nervous when I come on.
What do you think your character would think of you doing the show?
I think Sean would be spitting sick with jealousy.
How do you think your family will react to the news that you’re doing the show?
Well of course, I’ve not told anybody, but my mum and dad are delighted.
Did you watch last year?
I did. I went to the studio with Jennie McAlpine, I think I was in the audience about three times.
Did you enjoy it?
I did, I loved it.
Tupele Dorgu (Kelly Crabtree, Coronation Street)
What’s your favourite music style?
Just regular pop, you know, a bit of everything really, but mainly just chart stuff.
What’s your earliest singing memory?
Probably singing ‘He’s got the Whole World in his Hands’ at school. Oh, I used to love that. And ‘Ladybird’.
Who would you compare yourself with musically?
Musically, probably, Eminem, with a bit of Elton John, Michael Jackson, a bit of Neil Diamond in there. Oh yeah, that’s me!
What can the audience expect from you?
Big hair. Hopefully really big hair. That’s kind of it really. Obviously, the general singing and performing and stuff.
Do you think you’ll have a good stage presence?
I can’t say that, can I? I have no idea, I’m not going to sell myself.
What do you think Kelly would say about you doing the show?
“Who does she think she is?” She would probably think that she could do better.
How do you think your friends and family would react?
Oh, I think they’d be excited. I think they’d be really pleased that I’m doing something like this and, you know, nervous for me. My family would be nervous, my friends would be dead excited because they love all that kind of stuff.
Did you watch last year?
I did, yes. I went to see it a couple of times. I actually had a bit of a nightmare. Me and my flatmate were supposed to go and see it, I think it was the final and I was out and I told Debbie when to be ready by and she said she sat there in her pyjamas with her soup watching it and it came on TV and she phoned me and went, ‘we’re supposed to be there’. She was really upset and we had to get ready in like ten minutes and we managed to catch the second half. So hopefully, that won’t happen this year.
What are your top three artists and albums?
Probably Beyonce, the first solo album. I like Corinne Bailey Rae at the moment. Who else do I like? Bit of Take That, got to have a bit of Take That.
Who would you compare yourself with musically?
Musically, I’ve absolutely no idea. No one that wonderful. I don’t know. I mean, I love a lot of styles, but it’s whether I could fulfil them. I mean, I love Beyonce’s style, I love Corinne Bailey Rae’s style, but I’d never for a minute think that I was anything like them. If I was an artist and I was very talented in that department, I’d like to be one of those kind of people.
Favourite artists?
Shirley Bassey.
Jane Danson (Leanne Battersby, Coronation Street)
What’s your favourite music style?
I don’t really have a music style, I don’t suppose. I listen to anything, my album collection ranges from slushy ballads from Celine Dion right through to Snow Patrol, so I’ve got a real mixture of music. If I like a tune, I like a tune. But if I’m in the car, I like a bit of cheesy pop.
What’s your earliest singing memory?
Earliest singing memory was with my mum, singing to ‘I Know Him So Well’, by Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson. We used to sing it to each other, how sad is that? And I was probably about seven.
Who would you compare yourself with musically?
Oh God, that’s tough. You don’t want to put yourself up there, but I am quite a big fan of the slushy ballads, so anyone who would do sort of a slow song. I don’t really know. I suppose I’m a big fan of Lucy Silvas and Tina Arena, that type of voice I quite like.
What can the audience expect?
I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m expecting myself yet. Hopefully, I’ll just kind of have fun with it and not get too upset if things go a bit pear-shaped, which I’m hoping they won’t. I’m just going to try and have fun with it and hope that they have fun with me.
What would Leanne say if she found out you were doing the show?
I think Leanne would probably be a bit jealous actually, because I think she’s probably a frustrated pop star herself. She was called a second-hand Britney Spears and a second-hand Spice Girl once, so I think she’d be quite envious. She’d probably want to get up there and do it herself. She’d probably batter me.
How will your friends and family react?
Obviously I’ve not really told many people. I’ve had to tell my mum and my sister because they’re looking after my little boy when my hubby’s not around. My mum was really pleased because she loves singing and always kind of encourages that in me. My sister was really pleased, so they’re just looking forward to coming and seeing the show and cheering me on.
Did you watch last year?
I did watch last year and I supported Richard and Andy, so it was nice to see Richard win.
Hayley Tamaddon (Delilah Dingle, Emmerdale)
What’s your favourite music style?
I love 70s disco and I like all the old soul classics.
Is that what you’re hoping to sing?
Fingers crossed. If I get a couple of them, I’ll be really chuffed.
Can you name your top three albums?
Beverley Knight, her album. Love her. There’s an album which you might not have heard of; she’s a lady called Divine Brown and my boyfriend picked up her album for me in Thailand and she’s got the most amazing diva voice. It’s all soul classics, probably songs you won’t know or have heard of. Who else do I like? Christina Aguilera. Absolute legend that girl is.
What’s your earliest singing memory?
My mum reckons that I’ve been singing since before I was born. But, if I think really far back, it’s probably when I was about six or seven, and I had to sing ‘If They Could See Me Now’ with this little dress on and a feather boa on stage in a little dance concert. It was at my dance school. And I probably sounded like Bonnie Langford did when she was a child, just this big, big, massive voice coming out of these tiny little teeth.
Who would you compare yourself with musically?
Oh, that’s difficult. I would love to say…I don’t know. See, I love Christina and if I could sing like her… I don’t think I really sound like anyone. I’d love to sound like Christina or Beverley Knight, She’s just a diva.
What should the audience expect from you?
Last year I sang Lou Lou on ‘Stars in Their Eyes’, so they kind of got a taster of how big my voice is. I’m not very good at opera, so if I get anything that’s operatic, I’ll really be scared. But hopefully, they’ll just expect a bubbly girl to come out and give them a good show. I think I’m better at that then singing.
Is Roxy going to give you any tips?
Lucy has given me so much advice, because obviously Lucy’s a fellow Dingle and we get on very well and she’s given me loads of advice on how to be calm before I go on and not to panic too much.
Are you going to be able to handle the judges’ comments?
If I get told I’ve got fat arms, I’ll cry. I think I’ll deal with it quite well. I’m quite a ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ kind of person. If they tell me something I don’t agree with, I will be inclined to, I’m not rude, but I will be inclined to say ‘well this is my opinion’.
What would your character say about you taking part?
I think my character would love it. But you see, she’s probably more of a karaoke queen. Definitely. She’d be well up for it.
Did you watch last year’s show?
Yes, I even came twice to see the live show. I loved it. I absolutely loved the show last year. It just keeps you gripped. How you don’t know from one day to the next day what you’re going to sing and whether you’re in or out.
How are you going to deal with it?
Alright, I think. I think if I just keep calm. When I get nervous I tend to get giggly. Rather than go inside myself, I tend to be a bit extrovert. So hopefully, I’ll get rid of my nervous energy that way. As long as my voice doesn’t go wobbly when I sing and I don’t get the shakes, I’ll be alright.
It’s quite a demanding schedule.
Oh yeah. Lucy last year was just so tired all the time, so I’ve got my vitamins. I’ve started on my vitamin C already.
What will your friends and family say?
I can’t tell them yet because they get so excited and tell the world, but I’ve told my mum and she’s already building boards with my name written all over them. My boyfriend is just completely by my side and he just can’t wait, he’s looking forward to it. Although, he says he’s not holding a billboard up that says ‘please vote Hayley’, he says, ‘I’ll hold a flag that’s got your photo on it, but I’m not holding a billboard up’. I said, ‘you will’. He said, ‘I’m not, I can leave that to your mother’. Bless him. I love him.
Matthew Wolfenden (David Metcalfe, Emmerdale)
What are your top three artists and their albums?
At the moment, probably Ben Folds, always got Ben Folds on my top album list. Either Ben Folds or Ben Folds Five, whichever one, love them all. And at the moment probably, The Feeling and Razorlight.
What is your favourite musical style?
My voice sort of lends itself quite well to rocky stuff.
What would sort of be your ideal track that you’d like to sing for the show?
I don’t know. I’ve had loads of ideas of songs and when you think about so many, you come up with all these songs that you’d love to get on stage and sing. So my answer to that is I don’t really know. Possibly like a Rod Stewart song. Something classic, Rod Stewart, rocky, something like that.
Did you see him on the X Factor the other week?
Yeah, I did. Stunning.
Would you like to sing on the X Factor
No, no I wouldn’t at all.
What is your earliest singing memory?
I was really shy when I was younger. I used to do gymnastics for a long time, from being five to about 16. And I would never sing, it wasn’t something that I would ever do. I always loved singing along to songs and stuff. And until I decided to go for a career in theatre, I didn’t really… I started getting singing lessons when I was at university. I trained as a dancer at university and got private singing lessons throughout my course because I always had it in the back of my mind that I’d like to do musical theatre. And then my first musical job was in a musical version of Romeo and Juliet and I covered Tybalt and he had a couple of solos in that. So that’s probably my earliest professional singing memory, going on stage for my understudy as Tybalt and standing on this big stage at the Piccadilly Theatre and singing this solo. It was terrifying, absolutely terrifying.
How many people does it seat?
It seats about 1,500. And I’ll never forget the day that I went on, Barbara Windsor was sitting on the front row and his song was sang on the top of this tower looking down on to the audience and I remember getting to the top of this tower and looking down and the first person I saw was Barbara Windsor on the front row. And then my music started and I had to sing this song, which is completely ridiculous. But that’s my earliest sort of professional singing memory.
What can the audience expect from Mathew’s performances? What are you strengths on stage?
I’m not sort of too happy about going on and singing stuff like Justin Timberlake and things like that. Not because I don’t like that music, but it’s just not something I would personally listen to therefore it’s not something I would want to go on and sing, because I think with doing shows like this, people are doing it because it’s a once in a lifetime thing to go on a stage and sing with an amazing band behind you to people and singing songs that you like. So, I’d like to sing some … I like Indie stuff, rocky stuff, I like old stuff like stuff from the 80s, so we’ll see. But, probably try and stay from all the Justin Timberlake, very poppy, R & B poppy stuff.
What do you think your character would say about you doing the show?
What a funny question! I think that my character’s very much like me, although I don’t think he would do this. He’s cooler than me - the first time you see David on screen, he goes over to Delilah Dingle and chats her up and asks her if he could buy her a drink, and I would never ever do that and never have done it. So, in that sense, he’s more confident, but he’s a bit sort of cooler, so I don’t know if he would do it. He’d probably just sit in the background and be cool.
Did you watch last year’s show?
Yes. I caught bits of it and I was around for the whole hoo ha about it, but I was working in theatre at the time. I was doing pantomime at the Old Vic with Sir Ian McKellen. So I was doing that, so I was stuck in the theatre for a lot of it and you miss all that period of time.
That’s quite a lot to do in a year?
It’s bizarre and it’s completely bonkers. When I got offered Emmerdale, I was offered Emmerdale four months in advance of going on to record the show and I was approached about Soapstar Superstar before I’d even started filming, within that four months of me getting the part and starting, I was asked about Soapstar. So it was just bizarre, because on one side I was going ‘oh my God, I’m going to be on this huge massive soap’ and then all of a sudden in the back of my mind, I’ve got ‘I might be doing Soapstar Superstar as well’, which goes out to a completely different audience as well. Obviously, the audiences that watch soaps are going to watch this as well, but there’s also a whole new audience that are brought into it as well. So yeah, it’s completely… it’s bonkers for me.
How did your friends and family react to the news that you are doing the show?
Oh, they’ll love it. Absolutely love it. I’ve not really told anybody about Soapstar Superstar, but the close family that I have told are very excited. They’re all getting the badges and t-shirts made, which is very embarrassing. But my sister-in-law’s a school teacher, so I’m sure she’ll be at school getting the kids to make badges and signs and stuff, which she’ll love.
Verity Rushworth (Donna Windsor-Dingle, Emmerdale)
What’s your favourite musical style?
Favourite musical style has to be blues and swing, especially big band stuff. I love it. Suits everybody to a T.
Who is your favourite artist?
The artists I like are kind of like big singers like Barbara Streisand and people from the musicals like Bernadette Peters, people like that I really like. But then I have to mention Christina Aguilera, for the R & B pop princess.
What’s your earliest singing memory?
About age five I think, in a show at drama school and I’d broken my arm and was dressed as a flower and I was popping out of a flower pot with a broken arm, so I had one arm working and I just remember singing around and skipping a lot.
Musically, who would you compare yourself to?
I’ve got no idea. I kind of go through phases. When I had my vocal session she said you need to be a bit more rockier here, a bit more poppy there, a bit more this there, she said I sound like a girl in a musical. A bit like Julie Andrews. So I need to relax a bit more and get a bit more funky.
What can the audience expect from you?
Exciting performances and lots of jigging about and giggling. I’m just going to give it my all. I’m going to try and strut. I’ve been watching Christina, because I’ve got one of her songs, so I’m going to practice strutting and just, you know, have a laugh.
What would your character say?
Donna Windsor Dingle would die. I think she’d absolutely love it, because she likes being in the attention, especially with the modelling storylines she used to do. But, as far as the singing goes, she can’t sing to save her life, so she’d be horrified, but she’d probably find it quite funny.
How do your friends and family feel about it?
My friends and family have been really supportive and positive, they can’t wait for me to do it. My friends have told me not to be a geek, because I’m known as a bit of a geek and try to be cool, calm and sophisticated and my mum said that as well, which is going to be hard, but I’ll try.
Did you watch last year?
Yes, I came to watch a few times last year and watched on the telly. I came to the part, you know, the girls from Emmerdale, Lucy, Sammy and Roxy, and put my votes in as well, so I was up dancing at the front.
What are your top three artists and albums?
Three artists would be Maroon 5 and their album ‘Songs About Jane’, I love that. Then it would have to be ‘West Side Story’ and the song ‘I Have a Love’, definitely. And then for a funky one it would have to be ‘I Want to Dance with Somebody’, Whitney, her greatest hits
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