Have you ever wondered what Soapstar Superstar winner, Richard Fleeshman has been up to since leaving Coronation Street? Well have a gander at this clip of Richard on This Morning filling us in on his new single Hold Me Close, album Neon and tour! Read more & comment »

ITV talent show, Soapstar Superstar, proved very popular with the bviewing public and managed to pull in a whopping seven million viewers for its final. But despite this success, ITV bosses have decided to axe the show, claiming it is too similar to some of its other shows.

An insider explained to The Sun Read more & comment »

Coronation Street actor and winner of this years Soapstar Superstar, Antony Cotton, is upset that he didn’t get offered any record deals since leaving the show.

But he said: “I did think maybe I’ll get one that I can turn down. But nothing. Not one. I’m gutted.”

Are you really surprised Antony? You aren’t exactly Shayne Ward!

Tony Audenshaw AKA Emmerdales Bob Hope, has vowed that he will steal the Soapstar Superstar crown from Antony Cotton in next years series.

The actor told The Sun: “I was approached to be in the last series but I had booked a holiday with my family in Tenerife.

“I sing in a band and I’ve been in Celebrity Stars In Their Eyes as Kenny Rogers and Roy Wood, so I’d be quite keen to take part in the next lot of shows.�

Gemma Atkinson and Mark Furze may have flirted the whole way through the recent series of Soapstar Supersta but sources have revealed that they took their ‘friendship’ one step further at the shows after party.

A source told The People:

“Things got hotter with every drink.”

“It was known that Gemma fancied Mark from the start of the show.

“They were very flirty while the show was on and by the time the show ended things had really hotted up.”

The source added: “The more they drank the closer they got. Gemma had her hands all over Mark while Ronaldo was nowhere to be seen.

“Mark looked a bit worried at first but by the end of the night they didn’t care. She dragged him out of the club with her hand on his bum and they headed back to the hotel where they were staying.”

I think they make a nice couple….I wonder if they regretted it the next morning?

Soapstar Superstar winner and Coronation street actor, Antony Cotton has spoken out against rival TV show Big Brother. Antony has revealed that he thinks his ITV show wiped the floor with Celebrity Big Brother because Big Brother “insults” its viewers.

He said: “I’m a massive Big Brother fan, but they’ve not treated their audience with any respect, and you can’t insult your audience like that.

“Soapstar Superstar was a success because every person in there could sing, it wasn’t just a show about us being famous.”

And Antony reckons with the death of reality show will come the return of good old-fashioned light entertainment.

“I think now is the time for things to come full circle, that’s why light entertainment shows are becoming such a success.”

Antony Cotton has won Soapstar Superstar 2007, but what will that mean for him and his career. people expected great things from last years winner Richard Fleeshman, but most of his musical plans have fallen through, leaving Richard considering a return to Coronation Street.

Today METRO has a great article on the contestants from last years Soapstar Superstar series. It details what the celebrities are doing now, and whether or not the show made a difference to their careers.

The one success story seems to be Lee Otway, according to his website, Soapstar judge Billy Sammeth gave Lee a record contract and he is apparently releasing a track called Don’t It Mean A Thing imminently.

 

There was so much excitement in the air as we reached our final night with both Antony Cotton and Hayley Tamaddon giving their best as they battled it out for the winning of the Soapstar Superstar competition and the cheque for at least fifty thousand pounds for their favourite charity.
 

 

With Zoë Ball hosting the show and the four judges, Billy Sammeth, Martine McCutcheon, Chris Cowey and Michael Ball waiting for the battle to begin, Hayley opened the show with the best of her songs to date, ‘Jump,’ dressed in a stunning short skirted shimmering black and silver dress. She really does give chills and goose bumps as her pure voice fills the room.  She radiated as she thrilled the audience with her perfect version of ‘Jump’ bringing compliments from the judges such as Michael’s ‘I have watched you blossom and am so proud of you’ and Chris ‘Your talent and joy is infectious.’  Billy and Martine thought she was fantastic saying ‘great things come in small packages and your performance was perfect.’  Martine said ‘you have so much passion and energy.’
 

Antony Cotton stated that last night was the most nerve wracking experience of his life and he felt tired and delusional. Yet the judges stated that it was a show stopper. He was shocked and thrilled when he made it through to the finals. Tonight he sang his best song of the competition ‘Mad World’, effortlessly with complete control and every word clear in perfect timing, thrilling us all.  The judges said he came over as sincere and gave a perfect performance and it was as beautiful tonight as it was before.  Martine said ‘you were great, great, great’ and Chris, ‘a classy act, very well done it was brilliant.’  Great charisma and you two are not making it easy for us, were other comments.
 

We were then entertained by the six girl contestants making up a Soapstar Superstar girl band as they sang the Atomic Kittens’ ‘You can’t make me whole again’ and they were fantastic. They could give Girls Aloud some competition.
 

A Soapstar Superstar band was made up of the five male contestants singing Boyzone’s ‘Love me for a reason.’   Both bands were brilliant.  Westlife beware.
 

Zoë continuously called for votes saying that it was a very, very close competition.
 

Many celebs came forward to encourage the finalists from the soapies and TV
 

Hayley and Antony continued to sing the songs ‘that got away’ but the second choice was their own
 

Hayley sang ‘It feels like I’m in love’ bringing very positive remarks from the judges. Michael said he loved it all but hated the fact that he would not be hearing Hayley sing every night.  Martine said she was an amazing little star and Billy stated that she was his superstar. Chris said ‘you nailed it, another five star performance.’
Richard Fleischmann, last year’s winner, entertained us playing the grand piano and singing.  He was marvellous.  Last year he received a cheque for two hundred thousand pounds for the Kirsty Appeal, his choice of charity.
 

Antony’s third song, his favourite of the series, ‘Copacabana,’ was excellent and as entertaining as ever.
 

Hayley chose ‘It must have been Love’ wearing a stunning long white dress and sang beautifully with her warm, vibrant voice.
 

These were their last songs as finalists but the winner would sing a final song.
 

After the two finalists were brought back onto the stage, a stunned Antony was crowned the Soapstar Superstar 2007 winner and ended the evening by singing ‘Daniel’ and receiving a cheque for two hundred thousand pounds for his favourite charity. We are sure our lovely Hayley has a wonderful future in the music world.  She had been tipped to win.
 

This has been a life changing experience for many of the contestants and wonderful entertainment for the viewers.
 

Evelyn Lewis
 

Hollyoaks In The City actor, Leon Lopez was a late entry to this years Soapstar Superstar competition.

The actor stepped in after Emmerdale’s Ben freeman (AKA Scott Windsor) was arrested on rape charges on a recent holiday and had to drop out of the show.

However despite a successful time on the show and Leon’s obvious talent he has not recorded a track for the Soapstar Superstar CD that accompanies the series..

Instead you will find a track that must have been recorded by Ben Freeman before the show launched…a sad tale for all you Leon fans out there!

You can now buy the album by following the soapstar link below

Soapstar Superstar 2007

For any Hayley and Antony (or even Tupele) fans out there,you might want to get a copy of the Soapstar Superstar 2007 cd from this years Soapstar Superstar.

Tracks include

1. Fields of Gold – Gemma Atkinson ,Hollyoaks
2. Son of a Preacher Man – Hayley Tammadon ,Coronation St
3. Hot Stuff – Jane Danson ,Coronation St.
4. Get Here – Tupele Dorgu ,Coronation St.
5. Bad Day – Matthew Wolfenden, Emmerdale
6. It’s a Heartache – Elaine Lourdon, Eastenders
7. Rise – Verity Rushworth , Emmerdale
8. Tears in Heaven – Alan Fletcher, Neighbours
9. Mrs. Robinson – Ben Freeman , Emmerdale
10. When You Say Nothing At All – Antony Cotton , Coronation St.
11. Can’t Take My Eyes Off You – Mark Furze, Home & Away
12. Moondance – Richard Fleeshman , Winner 2006
13. Whole Again – The Girls
14. Love Me For A Reason – The Boys

Follow the link below

Soapstar Superstar 2007

Soapstar Superstar winner Antony Cotton has impressed all the right people at ITV this week.

Late last year plans for a new chat show hosted by Bradley Walsh were scrapped after a dire pilot episode, but it appears that ITV have now found their man!

An insider said: “Antony is a great performer, a natural showman.

“The amount of public support for him was amazing and made everyone realise just how many fans he has.”

It seems as though Martine McCutcheon has become the new Simon Cowell. Many of the contestants of Soapstar Superstar have had enough of her negative comments and patronising attitude.

A source told The People: “Martine has become a real hate figure among the contestants. She always had something negative to say whether it was about their singing or their outfits.

“After every bitchy comment the contestant would head backstage and slag her off to the others. They just couldn’t believe she was being so patronising to them.”

A spokesman confirmed: “Some contestants have mentioned Martine’s comments saying they found her patronising.”

Riding high on her success in Soapstar Superstar 2007, things are looking up for Gemma Atkinson.

After her spin off show ‘Hollyoaks In The City’ was cancelled, things looked bad for Gemma who played Lisa Hunter in the show. But gemma has revealed to The Sun that she will be returning to the main Hollyoaks show in the near future.

She stated: “I got the call this week to say I was going back to the main show.

“I haven’t got a clue what’s in store for Lisa yet as I haven’t read the scripts. I’m looking forward to it though.�

What a shock! Antony Cotton has won Soapstar Superstar 2007.

I like Antony….who wouldn’t? But compared to Hayley Tamaddon and last years winner Richard Fleeshman he doesn’t quite make the grade. He has loads of personality and he has a decent voice, but Hayley has a fabulous voice, with energy to burn. I can’t help think that the wrong person won, but then the people of Britain did vote for him, so who am I to criticise!

An incredible evening, hosted by Zoe BAll, of the most outstanding performances by the three finalists who had to sing three songs each and dance in their final appearance while singing.

Corrie’s Tupele (in the bottom two for the fifth time)and Antony Cotton, went head to head with Antony saved by public vote to join Hayley Tamaddon and Mark Furze in the semi finals.  Tomorrow night only two will be battling it out in the final to win the Soapstar Superstar competition.

The contestants have been trained by the Vocal Academy based in Manchester with judges Chris Cowey and Michael Ball helping with West end performances and the dancing.

Although all three stars were outstanding, once again Hayley stole the show, especially with Janet Jackson’s ‘Together again’.  All the contestants have been very fortunate to have the outstanding training given to them throughout the contest by Soapstar Superstar, as we have watched their growth and radical improvement day by day.  They have had to put in 13 hours of training a day, with dress rehearsals at 6pm and the live show at 9pm and still fit in interviews.

It has been said that Antony Cotton could have his own variety show as he is such a talented, versatile and entertaining person.

Mark Furze could make a profession of his music anywhere in the world.

Hayley is an absolute superstar with her beautiful, pure voice, passion and all round talent.  She is the favourite to win.

The judges have been fantastic too.  Chris Cowey, Billy Sammeth, Michael Ball and Martine Mc Cutcheon have entertained us with their witty remarks, constructive criticism and all round good humour.  The judging has been of a high standard.

The introduction of dancing with the semi-finalists third and last song, was a brilliant idea and most entertaining.  Mark Furze was not very enthused by the idea and did not give it his best, although all three were exhausted after the long day of training. Having said that, all three were brilliant.

Tomorrow night at the earlier time of 1745 and later at 21.20 for the crowning of either Hayley or Antony, we will be fortunate enough to see both these stars perform once again on UTV.

Evelyn Lewis.