Anthony Kavanagh, or Kav as he was known in the nineties, came second in ITV’s Grease Is The Word, and hoped that his success in the show would relaunch his flagging pop career.

However, just a few months later, Kav has ended up performing in a Holiday Inn, where punters pay £26 for a three course meal and a night of entertainment provided by a failing popstar.

A little while ago, I read that Kav had been a diva to the person who maintained his unofficial fan site on MySpace. The basic gist was that he had completely blanked the person after they showed years of support to him. I can’t help thinking that gigs in the Holiday Inn are a little taste of karmic intervention for someone who’s (allegedly!) so up his own arse!

It sounds for all intents that Kav is taking on any job that comes up at this stage. Acting, singing, reality television. I think he needs to focus himself instead of being some kind of odd job man.

Former pop star and Grease Is The Word finalist, Anthony Kavanagh has revealed that he may be joining the cast of a soap opera latrer this year.

Anthony, who narrowly lost out to Danny Bayne on the role of Danny Zuko on a West End Stage, hinted: “I might be doing a soap, apparently, but I’m not allowed to say anything.”

He added that he couldn’t even let the cat out of the bag about which show.

“No, that’s the whole point, otherwise I’m about to blabber it out today and then the PR’s like ’shhhh’. So no, we’ll wait and see, we’ll wait and see,” he grinned.

From the tens of thousands of people who initially auditioned, just four contestants remain. Only two will win the coveted West End roles to become Sandy and Danny on stage in the hit musical Grease.

With just two girls and two boys left, competition is fierce and this Saturday Susan McFadden takes on Michelle Antrobus and Danny Bayne goes head to head with Anthony Kavanagh.

From the first auditions in London and Manchester, through to Bootcamp and then to the live studio shows, each of these four contestants has been on a massive personal journey.

There have been shocks and surprises along the way as the judges kept them all on their toes to gauge both talent and how they cope under pressure. From initially competing in couples, the contestants were devastated to have their couplings changed and then were further challenged when they learned they were to go head to head and compete on their own in an all boys and then all girl’s semi-final.

Living together in the Grease house in North London they have all become close friends but on Saturday night these friendships will be put aside as all are determined to win.

The two winners will be put straight to work, rehearsing for their roles with the rest of the Grease cast ready for the opening night at the Piccadilly theatre on the 8th August. Since 29th March when booking opened the box office has taken five and a half million pounds in advance sales.

Saturday 9th June 7.55pm on ITV1

The News Of The World have reported today on the close links between some of the finalists on ITV’s Grease Is The Word and BBC’s Any Dream Will Do, and top record producers.

They explain that from Grease Is The Word, Susan McFadden has close ties to Simon Cowell through her brother, Brian McFadden and Antony Kavanagh has already had a two record deal with Virgin records.

On Any Dream Will Do, Craig Chalmers has already been a finalist on Pop Idol and entered the UK top ten with a Scottish band called No Reason.

A TV insider revealed: “There are serious questions being raised about how many shows like this can be sustained.
“Popstars, Pop Idol, The X Factor and How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria drained the talent pool.

“That is the main reason why The X Factor has lowered the age of entry this year to just 14 – the producers realise they need to find people who haven’t appeared on TV before.”

What do you think? Are we running out of undiscovered talent in the UK or could there be a more sinister explanation for all these ‘coincidences’?

The first pair trying to convince you that they would make the perfect Danny and Sandy is Anthony Kavanagh and Alison Crawford.

Anthony and Alison were paired up by the Judges on the last day of Bootcamp because they felt that despite Anthony’s obvious singing talents he lacked confidence and his dancing techniques weren’t up to scratch so they hoped that by pairing him with confident scouser Alison, she whip him into shape an get him ready for the live shows.

Anthony, 29 from Manchester is probably already familiar to viewers as “Kavana”, the pop singer who had a number of Top 20 hits including ‘I Can Make You Feel Good’ and ‘MFEO’ as well as scooping the 1997 Smash Hits Best British Solo Award.

After spending time in LA, Anthony decided to come back to the UK and audition for the party of Danny.

“If you’re looking for a bit of a goofball who can entertain on the night I think I can fit the bill,” says Anthony.

His partner is Alison Crawford who wowed the judges at her first audition, seductively telling David Gest to ‘tell me about it stud!’ and Brian Friedman said he could see her as ‘The Sandy.’

Alison, 25 a waitress from Liverpool who lives with her boyfriend of three years is looking forward moving to the house in London and the experience it will bring.

“It’s amazing to be able to compete and have the chance of winning in a competition so big it could change my life forever,” says Alison.

Age: 29
Job: Singer
Location: Manchester

“It’s not been easy trying to get going again since I’ve been back in the UK. It’s giving me a chance to get back out there and show what I can do.”

The Story So Far…

* At Anthony’s first audition, David Gest thought he had charm, while Brian agreed he had talent but was concerned about his physical condition.

* During Anthony’s singing class at Bootcamp David Gest was full of praise telling Anthony he had a great voice. He also commented on his attitude saying: “Once a star always a star.”

* The judges decided to put Anthony through to the live shows, but commented that he would have to sort out his fitness.

History

* Anthony was born and raised in Manchester.

* He’s been singing for as long as he can remember although he’s never had any training. Anthony has previously a record deal with Virgin Records.

* Following on from a number of Top 20 hits including ‘I Can Make You Feel Good’ and ‘MFEO’ Anthony scooped the 1997 Smash Hits Best British Solo Male Award.

* His second Album ‘Instinct’ didn’t do as well as the record companies had hoped and he decided to leave England and move to LA.

* While he was in the States Anthony penned tracks for other artists including BB Mak and Gareth Gates.

What’s your job? What’s your best and worst job been?

“Well, after the whole pop thing I moved out to LA – I was knocking on doors and always getting down to the last few but never quite making it. When I ran out of money completely I worked in a candle shop packing candles in the back of the shop in Melrose, LA.

“I also worked in McDonalds when I left school. I got fired though because there was a clean bin (where unsold food is left), you’re not allowed to touch it, but greedy guts here got caught eating it. I had a fillet O’ Fish in my gob and got fired. I didn’t even get one star.”

What made you apply for Grease?

“Somebody told me about it and said I’d be perfect for the role. I watched the film and I think I’m a bit goofy sometimes. I had just come back from LA and the auditions were happening. All my family, mates, and my gang in America will be supporting me. I’m great friends with Suranne Jones and Lulu so I hope they’ll come to the show and support me.”

What makes you think you can be the next Sandy/Danny?

“If you’re looking for a bit of a goofball who can entertain on the night I think I can fit that bill. You might not know what’s coming next with me – I don’t even know!”

What does it mean to you to play Danny?

“It would mean a lot because it means the public can see I can pull it off which is a huge compliment. It’s not been easy trying to get going again since I’ve been back in the UK. It’s giving me a chance to get back out there and show what I can do.

How do you think you would handle fame?

“It’s definitely a Catch 22 because people could say it’s not fair he’s doing it because he’s had it before. But I think in this day and age everyone can be on TV for anything, plus it could actually be harder the second time round and the fame I had back then could be a hindrance.”

What’s your ultimate ambition?

“This has fast-tracked me to getting used to performing again and it’s got me fired up again so if, I don’t win this, I definitely won’t be going back to being a songwriter, I’ll be going back to being a performer.”

What do you think of the judges?

“I think David Gest is on another planet, but he’s fantastic and he really helped me. I think he saw me get nervous and said ‘I feel for you’. He said: “Before I did the jungle people had a perception of me, I went on the show and I changed people’s perception, you’ve got to lose that nervousness”. It spurred me on when he said that. Also when Brian said I was sloppy it spurred me on, so on the last day, I pulled it together and Brian said ‘You look like you’ve lost 8lbs in your sleep’, and I said I had, because of stress!”