After being criticised by the judges last night for not being ladylike or raunchy enough, Gemma Atkinson turned it around tonight and wore a dress where she was spilling out in all the right places.

To top it off she delivered a fantastic performance of ‘Fields Of Gold’. I would never have guessed that Gemma would have had such a sweet and beautiful voice, i really hope she goes far in this show.

The judges were impressed with the change in Gemma tonight, Chris Crowley commented:

“You sang it like an angel, but made me feel like a devil!”

Verity Rushworth nearly missed last night’s launch show of Soapstar Superstar on ITV1 due to a excruciating toothache.

Verity, who plays Donna Dingle in Emmerdale, was rushed to a dentist and bosses feared she would be unable to perform.

An insider at the ITV1 show said: “She was in agony and couldn’t sleep.

“We thought she may have to pull out.�

Elaine Lordan last night became the first person to leave Soapstar Superstar following her rendition of Bonnie Tyler’s It’s A Heartache.

One of the judges, Michael Ball said: “She was terrified – she was clinging onto the microphone for dear life.

“And she didn’t look too disappointed to leave. Perhaps she’s been put out of her misery!”

As Elaine later told the show’s ITV2 spin-off programme, Soapstar Superstar: Bonus Tracks: “I can relax now and not wake up at four in the morning, wondering if I can remember the lyrics!”

Emmerdale heart throb Matthew Wolfenden sang his first number last night on the launch of Soapstar Superstar 2007. Not only is an army of teenage girls backing him to win, but his family are sure he will take the prize too.

Matthew’s brother David said:

“We are all going to the show equipped with banners, badges and all sorts of goodies to help support him.

“Some of the magazines have tipped him to win, which of course he will.

“We all gather round the TV to watch the soap. It’s very exciting seeing him on TV and reading about him in the papers.”

So what do you think? Two celebrity singing shows, both airing at the same time, both punting to a similar audience…which one is better.

Well for just once I wish they would air the shows separately at different times so I could watch them all in their entirety! I have taped some, watched some bits live and other bits in between the commercial breaks on another channel.

After watching the launch of this years Soapstar Superstar I think they definitely have the edge with raw talent. Half of the contestants on BBC One’s Just The Two Of Us can hardly sing (and I am not only talking about John Bardon!), for a singing show, they have a distinct lack of talent. In contrast many of the celebrities on Soapstar Superstar are actually quite good.

At this point I think that Leon Lopez or Matthew Wolfenden will win. They both look great, have a great style, and they can sing…..the teenage girls will be fighting each other to get to the phone.

Just The Two Of Us gets fantastic ratings…generally between 3 and 5 million people per night, thats a lot of the British Public. It’s quite a fun show, the chemistry between the professionals and celebrities is great and the hosts (Tess Daly and Vernon Kay) are actually doing quite a good (if cheesy) job.

However, if I had to make a choice I would watch Soapstar every time. I like to listen to people who can actually sing, if I wanted to see something funny I would wiat up to watch The Friday Night Project later this evening. I think that next year Just The Two Of Us bosses should make an effort to get some reali life, actually talented people on the show next year.

Emmerdale actor Matthew Wolfenden was the final act in tonights Soapstar Superstar show and I quite liked his version of Daniel Powter’s ‘Bad Day’.

Matthew has the looks, the style (though his bow tie was a bit much tonight) and he isn’t a bad singer….so will he win? Will the girly vote win again? I think he has a good chance!

Richard Fleeshman was the viewers’ Soapstar Superstar for 2006 - but who will win the viewers’ vote and take the accolade in the new series of the hit event?

The newest series of Soapstar Superstar launches tomorrow night on ITV1.

Zoe Ball hosts the new series that will see some of the UK’s favourite soap stars take to the stage nightly and go head-to-head to become a singing superstar.

Facing the ultimate sing-off in 2007 is:

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)
Leon Lopez (Scott Windsor - Emmerdale)
Mark Furze (Eric ‘Ric’ Dalby - Home & Away)
Elaine Lordan (Lynne Hobbs - EastEnders)
Verity Rushworth (Donna Windsor-Dingle - Emmerdale)
Hayley Tamaddon (Delilah Dingle - Emmerdale)
Matthew Wolfenden (David Metcalf - Emmerdale)

And the plot thickens as it will be the viewers who have the ultimate control; not only do they vote to save their favourite soapstar 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 be confined to the stage.

We have a lot to look forward to this year, 2007 will be a busy one for all you Reality TV fans out there.

We can look forward to 5 huge reality shows in January alone, so for all you addicts heres a calendar to keep your TV viewing on trck this year! Clcik on the shows title for all the news and gossip about the show.

JANUARY

CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER (CH4)

JUST THE TWO OF US (BBC1)

SOAPSTAR SUPERSTAR (ITV1)

DANCING ON ICE (ITV1)

FORTUNE: MILLION POUND GIVEAWAY (ITV1)

FEBRUARY

THE APPRENTICE (BBC2)

MARCH

CASTAWAY 2007 (BBC1)

BRAT CAMP (C4)

APRIL

BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT (ITV1)

MAY

BIG BROTHER (C4)

JUNE

ANY DREAM WILL DO (BBC1)

GREASE (ITV1)

AUGUST

THE X FACTOR (ITV)

OCTOBER

STRICTLY COME DANCING (BBC1)

NOVEMBER

I’M A CELEBRITY… GET ME OUT OF HERE! (ITV1)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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’.