Lucy Kay

December 2014

Since coming second on Britain’s Got Talent, Nottinghamshire raised classical singer Lucy Kay has had a Top 20 album, performed for royalty, hobnobbed at celebrity parties, returned to Hong Kong where she performed with Cantamus and reunited with her dad. But what the 25-year-old heavy metal fan wants to do is rock out at the Download Festival, she tells Simon Wilson

SINGING in front of millions of people on TV every Saturday night can prepare you for most things but Lucy Kay admits the nerves were active when she was faced by a table of royalty and celebrities watching her perform at Windsor Castle.
It was a charity event to mark the Duchess of York’s 55th birthday and Lucy, who grew in Nottinghamshire, was a guest singer.
“Kate Moss, Elton John, Naomi Campbell and the Duke and Duchess were on the head table watching me,” says the 25-year-old.
“It was insane. I’d been to the champagne reception and sat down for dinner but I couldn’t eat. It was nerves; I was worried a out my voice. I was so paranoid that I wouldn’t be able to sing. My voice in the soundcheck was hardly there so all I did all day was have honey and hot water, because that’s really good for the throat.
“I sat down for the dinner but I had to excuse myself because I knew that if I talked I wouldn’t be able to sing. And it was quite hot and stuffy in the room. So I went back to the dressing room.
“I was gutted because I love my food. I did get to look around the Castle and saw the Queen’s throne in this grand meeting room. Everything’s gold.”
Come show time she delivered Nessun Dorma.
“The Duchess knew I was ill and she was shouting ‘come on Lucy!’. And I got a standing ovation, which was amazing.”
The opera classic from Puccini's Turandot was one of the songs Lucy performed on Britain’s Got Talent earlier this year, where she came runner up to Collabro.
She will be their special guest on a tour that comes to Nottingham in January - a homecoming for the soprano who grew up in Kirby-in-Ashfield and Sutton-in-Ashfield.
“I was back there recently for my mum’s 60th birthday party and stayed for a few days, which was nice,” says Lucy, moved to Glasgow aged 18 to study music.
“Although I was ill for the entire time,” she laughs.
And you passed on your germs to the rest of your family?
“Well, I love to share.”
Lucy was born in Leicestershire but moved to Nottinghamshire with her mum and older sister when her parents split up. He eldest sister and brother stayed in Leicestershire as did her dad.
She would see her dad once a year at Christmas but they are in touch more now - but not because of her success, she insists.
“He always came to the Christmas Cantamus concert,” she says of the Mansfield based girls choir that she joined while at school.
It was her escape from the bullying she endured at school, something she spoke about on Britain’s Got Talent.
“It was at my grandad’s funeral two years ago, before the show, that we re-connected,” she says.
“He loved his dad a lot and his passing made him realise how important family is. It wasn’t a case of him coming out of the blue because of Britain’s Got Talent.
“ We speak a lot now. We’ve been making up for lost time. At a time that I really needed him, he wasn’t there; that was the hardest thing but he knows that.”
After Britain’s Got Talent, her debut album Fantasia reached No. 18 and topped the classical chart.
“I beat Maria Callas to No.1,” she says of the opera legend.
“Her music is timeless; she’ll be around forever. And I never imagined that I’d be above her on the chart. Sorry Maria.
“And to reach the Top 20 on the main chart, beating people like Paloma Faith... is weird. I never thought in a million years I’d do that.”
She’s also performed at a charity event for Hollywood actor Samuel L Jackson, appeared on everything from Sky News to QVC, and met Keith Lemon. She fancies Keith Lemon.
“How can you not?,” she laughs.
“Seriously, I really like funny guys. I think he’s hilarious on Celebrity Juice.”
So they might have a face like a bag of spanners, but as long as they are funny...?
“Yes. My boyfriend has said to me ‘you like really fancy weird looking guys and you’re going out with me...’” I’ve assured him that he’s got both looks and personality.”
Her chief ambition now is to play the Download Festival, the annual rock weekender at Donington Park.
“I got into heavy metal when I was 16. I saw Fightstar at Rock City because my friend was really into them. Then I was introduced to Pantera, Metallica, Deftones and Killswitch Engage.”
Lucy, who recently returned from Hong Kong and Dubai, knows that metal giants Slipknot are due to play the Capital FM Arena in January but she can’t go because she’s on her own tour.
“All of my friends are going. That’s a downside to this job, you have to be prepared to miss things.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Download but I never could because of Cantamus. And now I can’t because I don’t know what my schedule will be like.”
Maybe you could play it?
She laughs: “I could! I’d do opera interpretations of rock songs. And call it rockera.”

Lucy Kay will join Collabro at the Royal Concert Hall on January 30. Tickets are £19.50 to £38.50, from the venue. Call 0115 989 5555 or go to trch.co.uk.

Lauren Lovejoy

October 2014

AS well as the stunning voice and distinctive beehive, it was Lauren Lovejoy’s quirky charm which helped her win over the X Factor judges.

Millions laughed along as the 25-year-old singer from Gamston compared each of them to animals. Simon Cowell was a lion, Cheryl Fernandez-Versinia a Persian cat, Mel B a panther and Louis Walsh a seal.

What wasn’t aired was the reason she sees everyone that way.

“I see people as animals is because I have Asperger syndrome,” she says. “It’s the way I see the world.”

Lauren adds: “I told them that I was here to sing, which is a huge passion of mine and the only thing I’m in control of, but I also want to show everyone watching that it’s possible to achieve what you want in life, whatever your disability.

“I wanted parents of children with autism and even older people with the condition to be inspired by that.


“Obviously they didn’t have the time to show everything so that was edited out. But I wanted people to know that I have Asperger’s and I’m not bonkers.”

Cheryl posted a photo of a seal on Instagram, that had just under three million likes, saying: “Just in case you missed last night’s episode of X Factor... we had a contestant who has the ability to see the animal spirit in people. She saw Simon as a lion, me a Persian cat, Mel a panther and I believe her full unedited sentence was ‘Louis would be a seal sitting on a rock in Skegness’.”

Says Lauren: “It was huge. I had two million hits on Twitter from that.”

After she sang Peggy Lee’s Why Don’t You Do Right all four judges gave her a “yes”. Simon said he really liked her, Mel that her voice was “very distinctive”, while Cheryl proclaimed “I wasn’t expecting that!”

She went through to the next audition at Wembley Arena.

“I was the last one on at about 20 past midnight so I was really tired but I performed really well. I did a soulful version of Radiohead’s Creep. Cheryl really liked it and asked where I’d got my dress from. Louis said I’d impressed everyone. Mel B had to jet off to New York so she wasn’t there. Simon Cowell said ‘I don’t know if I like you.’ And I said, ‘Well, at the end of the day I am who I am’ and people started clapping.”

For a second time, all four judges said “yes” and Lauren went on to the boot camp, in Cheryl’s team of girls.

For that round she sang Rihanna’s Unfaithful.

After boot camp, the unlucky contestants – Lauren among them – were sent home without any feedback.

“I wasn’t offended because some of those sent home with me were incredible singers,” she says. “I just wasn’t what they were looking for.”

The Wembley Arena and boot camp rounds weren’t aired on the show for any longer than a minute, as producers focused on the final 48 contestants battling to be chosen for the final six chairs in each category.

As a result, fans of Lauren had no idea what happened to her.

“It was a really good experience and I did loads of interviews with the Xtra Factor because they thought I was so funny,” she says. “But I want people to know that I went on The X Factor to sing and to inspire others with autism or Asperger’s. Not to be funny.”

Since her appearance, Lauren has been recognised frequently.

“I was shopping for underwear in town and someone asked me for a photo with them. The security guard came over and I thought he was going to help me but he asked for a photo as well!

“I was in a club when the DJ stopped the music to announce that I was there. And in pubs people have been taking photos of me. I don’t mind any of it because people have been really nice.”

So what happens now?

“I’m very confident about my career. I feel I do have something to offer. I’m now looking for a good music manager and for producers to write with.”





ASPERGER’S is considered to be a part of the Autistic spectrum. People diagnosed with Asperger’s have a neurological difference (a difference in brain structure and function). This gives them areas of advantage and strength but also areas of challenge compared to the rest of the population. Autistic people have a different and not defective style of communication and often a different way of viewing the world, this is incredibly valuable and the contribution Autistic people make to society in immense. Many however, can struggle in some areas of their lives, being different to the majority can bring challenge.
Findout more at autisticnottinghamand eastmidlands.wordpress.com.

LAUREN is an ambassador for Autistic Nottingham. Chairman Nikki Stevenson says: “What people like Lauren show is that autistic people have incredible talent and warmth – she is an excellent ambassador to both Autistic Nottingham and to Strong Bones Charity. “We are immensely proud of Lauren’s accomplishments with The X Factor and in her wider public life. What Lauren beautifully demonstrates is that being different can and does work for autistic people and is a shining example to all of those autistic people out there who feel that life is difficult. Lauren’s message is that you should never give up and that we can all shine if we strive for success.” Last year she filmed a video for her song Dontcha Go at the Three Wheatsheaves pub in Derby Road, with a 60s theme including mods on scooters and vintage cars. Her vocal style has been compared to Macy Gray and Shirley Bassey. Her very first performance was aged 15 at a school concert. As a model, she reached the final of Miss Universe Great Britain and won both the Miss Congeniality and Miss Not In Vain crowns.
For more about her visit laurenlovejoy.com. 

Susan Boyle

March 2014

DESPITE amassing a rumoured £20m fortune, Susan Boyle is determined to stay in the four-bedroom former council house in Blackburn, West Lothian, where she grew up.
“As we speak it’s where I am,” says the 52-year-old, who bought the house off the local council for £65,000 five years ago.
By then both her parents had died and her eight siblings had moved out.
“It’s getting back to your roots,” she says.
“I like to keep in touch with my roots and I like to keep in touch with my memories.”
With the first wave of her earnings after her appearance on Britain’s Got Talent, she did buy a £300,000 new-build detached villa at the other end of the village but moved back to the family home after feeling unsettled by the change.
“I have no plans to move out,” she insists.

Indeed, after we speak, there are stories that she acquired the adjoining property and is knocking through to create a six-bedroom house for herself.
The council-owned property was home to a couple who had complained to West Lothian Council about the noise she made. When they moved out, she bought it.
Now she says: “I do have some brilliant neighbours.”
When I call it’s another Boyle who answers.
“That’s my PA,” she says.
Are there a lot of Boyles in Scotland.
“There’s an epidemic of them,” she giggles.
Does she mind being called Subo?
“I don’t mind. It’s an abbreviation of Susan Boyle.”
“It’s a matter of fact response but not intended that way. Susan Boyle doesn’t do sarcasm.
“I’m feeling chirpy this morning,” she admits, with another chuckle.
She laughs a lot but doesn’t say a lot. Each sentence is short and to the point. And sometimes the strong accent is hard to understand.
Since her appearance on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009, Boyle has released five albums and amassed millions of fans around the worlds.
I tell her that, after I posted on Twitter that I would be interviewing her, one fan calling himself @Mr SuboFan, said: “Make the most of it. Over 60 fans from Canada, USA, Italy, Australia, etc will be in Nottingham for concert.”
“I’m really looking forward to that, it’ll be really good. I think it’s awesome and very humbling,” is all she says by way of a response.
Does she know why she has become so popular?
“I’m not manufactured. I’m not pop. I’m more of a variety act. And I’m approachable. I am, in inverted commas, normal.”
Much has been written about her Aspberger’s, a subject that the other Boyle tells me is off-limits during the interview.

She revealed that she had the condition, a form of autism in which the sufferer struggles with their emotions and have difficulty in social situations, in December. She told The Observer that she was misdiagnosed at birth.
She said: “I was told I had brain damage. I always knew it was an unfair label. Now I have a clearer understanding of what's wrong and I feel relieved and a bit more relaxed about myself.”
It explains why it has taken her five years to embark on her first UK tour.
Last year, she toured Scotland and enjoyed the experience.
“It was really good and I was ready for it,” she explains.
And the UK tour?
“The timing was right this time.”
What does she remember about her appearance on Britain’s Got Talent?
“At being very shocked at getting through,” she laughs.
“I will always remember it.”
Her version of I Dreamed A Dream went viral, so it was inevitable that, despite coming second to dance group Diversity, Simon Cowell would sign her to his Syco Records label.
The album of the same name, released later that year, became the UK's best-selling debut album of all time.
And since then?

“I’ve been abroad, I’ve met the Pope, I’ve met the Queen, I’ve been on tour for the first time in Scotland, I’ve made five albums... it’s been a whole big rollercoaster,” says Boyle, whose show at the Royal Concert Hall on Sunday is will be her first visit to the city.
Although she honoured most of the dates on the Britain’s Got Talent Tour in 2009, Nottingham was one of the few cities she missed out on, pulling out due to exhaustion.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” she says.
“I’ve heard such a lot about it. I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait!”
Will she get a chance to look around the city, maybe immerse herself in the Robin Hood legend?
“I’ll probably have time to look around,” she begins.
“I’ll probably get picked up by the Sheriff of Nottingham , you never know,” she laughs.
At least I think she said “picked up.” It’s easy to misunderstand her. As did the journalist who reported that she’d made serious enquiries about applying for a job in bookies recently.
It was suggested that she feared losing her fame and fortune and was making plans for a regular job.
Says Boyle: “That was just banter. There was nothing serious intended. I was sort of messing about.”

London Grammar

January 31, 2014

THE story of how London Grammar guitarist Dan Rothman hooked up with singer Hannah Reid while the pair were studying at the University of Nottingham isn’t as sinister as it might appear.

Biographies of the band frequently recall how the economics and philosophy student had spotted a photo of her on Facebook holding a guitar and sent her a message.

“It wasn’t quite as creepy as it sounds,” laughs Rothman.

“I did know her beforehand. It was only when I saw the picture of her with the guitar that I knew she did music. She wouldn’t have told me otherwise, because that’s just what she’s like; she’s quite shy.”

This was in 2009 when both Londoners were in their first year. Reid was studying English. In the year below on the same course was a Northampton drummer called Dot Major.

“None of us knew each other before we came to Nottingham,” says Rothman.

“I was introduced to Dot by my girlfriend. She said there was a guy she knew who was into music. He was actually a drummer in a really heavy rock band called Twelve Titans and they were terrible,” he laughs.

“They were touring around doing toilet gigs in Northampton until he came to university.

“I went round his house and we started playing some music together. I basically asked him to join the band.”

Rothman and Reid were playing gigs around Nottingham as a duo before Major joined.

“I remember we did one at a place behind Oceana though I can’t remember the name of it,” he says of a place known to many as Gatsby’s but then called Central and now a karaoke bar.

“They had a stage downstairs but we were told to go upstairs to this little room where there was a tiny stage and a bar. It was part of the flat owned by the woman who ran the venue so you could smoke up there. It was bizarre.

“We ended up playing to about five people in this room and one of them was the spitting image of Simon Cowell. Afterwards we found out that he actually was a professional lookalike.”

As a trio, London Grammar played Lenton student bar the Bag O’ Nails, The Bodega and Rock City’s basement.

The Rock City show was for CRS, the community recording studios in St Ann’s.

“I don’t know how it happened,” says Rothman.

“I think Hannah met someone from there and we were invited down. We met a guy called Trevior (Rose, who runs CRS) and he was an absolute legend.”

“It’s fair to say that Hannah and I felt reasonably out of place there; these two very middle class university students in quite a rough area.

“We hung out, played music and they invited us to a gig with them at Rock City.”

He adds: “Trevor was really supportive of us in those early days. He’s a wicked guy.”

During the final year at uni for Reid and Rothman, London Grammar were playing gigs in London as well as locally.

“The break came when we played a gig at The Wheelbarrow in Camden,” he says.

“We were soundchecking and a guy who was an A&R for Mercury/Universal said he thought we were amazing. After that the word spread.

“We had a video on YouTube (Hey Now) that attracted a couple of other A&R and we eventually signed a development contract with Ministry of Sound.”

Rothman and Reid graduated in 2011 and moved back to London.

“We got spotted as we were finishing our degrees but because Dot was in the year below, he was finishing his while we were recording the album. He’s incredibly smart so he was able to manage that.”

The first EP Metal & Dust, released last February, built up the hype surrounding the band, meaning the single, Wasting My Young Years, hit the Top 40 on its release in June.

As well as a summer of festival dates, including Glastonbury, Bestival and Leeds and Reading, the trio featured on Disclosure’s No. 1 album, Settle.

When their debut album, If You Wait, was released in September, it went straight in to the chart at number two.

Their debut UK tour was a sell-out and included the Rescue Rooms.

“It was weird because I’d seen so many bands there when I was at university,” he says.

“And playing Rock City... I think about the bands I saw there. To think we’ve sold out both of those venues makes me realise just how far we’ve come.”

So far this year, London Grammar have played shows in Australia and the US and appeared on TV in New York. They’ve also picked up a Brit nomination for British Breakthrough Act.

“Nottingham is where I found out about music and for all of us it feels like our second home,” says Rothman, whose stepsister is studying at uni here.

“Although we live in London now we never really enjoy the London shows. There’s so much pressure on us, from the press, the label and our management all being there.

“But Nottingham is like a hometown show without the pressure.”

London Grammar play Rock City tonight supported by Dan Croll and Kyan. The show is sold out.

Il Divo

January 2009


(Sébastien Izambard, second right)


HE is the "fit" one, according to one woman in the office.
"Really? Tell them they're very nice. I need to hear that much," says Sébastien Izambard, the French one out of Il Divo.
So who gets the most attention or fan mail?
"The four of us."
You're being diplomatic.
"No I'm being true. All of us get lots of attention. They have four choices. We are very different."
The others are David Miller, Carlos Marín and Urs Buhler.
Not that Sébastien has much interest in groupies anyway – last year his wife gave birth to twins.
"I'm the happiest man in the world. I can't express how grateful I am to be a father. It gives you a reason of being here. You become much less selfish."
So after a hard day of grafting in the studio does he come home, kick off his shoes, slob out on the sofa and wait for the missus to finish with the kids and get the dinner on?
"No," he laughs.
"We try to share as much as we can. It's probably the hardest job in the world."
Does he take them on tour?
"Oh yes, definitely. There's no way I can survive without seeing my family."
The next visit to Nottingham for Il Divo is in March with a show at the Arena.
"Is that where Robin Hood is from? Is there any way we can meet Robin Hood?"
No. He's not real.
Sébastien has no real recollection of the city though he thinks it "a very nice place to come".
"I never have time to visit the city but the energy is amazing. The UK is very special to us because that's where everything started for us."
Il Divo were pieced together by Simon Cowell in 2004 as a kind of opera boy band and the appeal was instant. He had been canny to choose four nationalities (American, Swiss, Spanish and French) to broaden their appeal around the world.
"There is definitely an element to it but when they hear Il Divo they don't really know where we are from. We sing in Spanish, English and Italian. So I don't think it's the main element.
"I think it's the voices, the genre of music we bring to the world, the fact that we sing pop songs with that operatic technique."
For whatever reason, it has worked and Il Divo have shifted 22 million albums.
"I don't think any of us realised at the time that we would record five albums, have two worldwide tours, sing with Toni Braxton, Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand..."
I would imagine that your mum is a big Streisand fan?
"She's not," he says, then adds: "I'm just kidding."
Was she most impressed by your work with Streisand?
"I think but I remember my mum to be, when she saw a picture of me shaking the hand of the Queen at the Royal Variety Show that she was really shocked, thinking 'wow!'. And then I had another picture next to the Queen with Hillary and Bill Clinton. And she was like 'what!'. She was then very impressed."
Has he met any personal heroes on his travels?
"I was very impressed with Bill Clinton because he has been doing so much amazing things. He has that amazing stature. To be honest with you, the people that have impressed me are not the people, that you see on camera."
He means the charity workers.
Let's move on.
When on tour they like to have their own space, he says. They do hang out occasionally and play golf or, as they did in South Africa, go on safari...
"But it's quite important and healthy to make space for the four of us so when we see each other again it's always joy and happiness.
"When people spend 15 hours together... we're always in the same car, on the same plane, on the same TV show... what are you going to say? 'What did you do yesterday?' 'You know what I've been doing!'"
Cowell's influence is still strong as he has the final word on the songs that they record.
"The actual choice of the songs is the four of us at first. We put a list of songs (together), then we meet with Simon Cowell before we record the songs."
For their fifth album, The Promise, they recorded a version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.
"Hasn't everyone?", he laughs.
"Though it is the first time it has been recorded in Spanish."
Then he adds: "My favourite version is the Jeff Buckley one."
Quite.

An Evening With Il Divo, Arena, Wednesday March 4