Gareth Gates

From his beginnings as a nervous young man on Pop Idol way back on the first series, Gareth Gates has come an incredibly long way since then, and has now sold over 3.5 million records in the UK alone. From his early exposure in the music industry, it was well known that he had a stutter, but after seeing him perform live recently, it was incredible to see how he has managed to keep it under control since. He opened the show with the title song from the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, which he starred in from 2009-12, and got everyone singing along with his straight away. It was a great way to start the show with a track that everyone was familiar with, and he won the audience over with ease.

Throughout the show he played a great selection of songs, from his debut album What My Heart Wants You To Say, up to his album Pictures of the Other Side. It’s a shame that he’s not released any original material in some years, but he kept the energy of the show up by playing tracks from musicals he’s starred in, as well as a couple of incredible covers. Gareth was great at interacting with the crowd, and was calling out to everyone to sing and dance along, and he also cracked some jokes throughout the show, making the atmosphere fun and comfortable.