I was looking forward to the big start, with Nigel leading off the show with the first verse of the Robbie Williams song 'Let Me Entertain You'. But.... where was Nigel.... NO NIGEL !! My first thought was 'I hope he's okay'..... I was obviously a little disappointed, but there are 11 other artists.... and I did go to the Scunthorpe gig the previous month.

After the big intro was over, Marli, Katie, Pippa and Camilla all stayed on stage for the next set. They all supported each other with dance routines. Katie was first up with the Kylie track 'Can't Get You Outta My Head'. She gave a strong performance, and sang well. Next up was Pippa with her debut single, a dance cover of Aerosmith's 'I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing'. She gave a strong vocal performance, but I have to admit I much prefer the original. Marli was next, and we were all asked to get on our feet for this one. She sang Pink's 'Get The Party Started', and put in a good performance. Not sure that it was the right song for her, but she gave it her all and got the crowd warmed up a bit! Last was Camilla, with 'Genie In A Bottle'. She sang well, but I felt she was the weakest of the four. Maybe it was having to follow Marli, who is my second favourite of the FA artists?

Next was Malachi, who was joined on stage by Sinead to sing a duet. They sang 'If Tomorrow Never Comes', and I thought it was a great performance. Malachi then stayed on stage and sang his debut single to a delighted audience.

Next up was Chris and Ashley, and Nigel should have been with them, he was due to sing the Police track 'Every Breath You Take'. They told us Nigel was poorly and wouldn't be performing that night. Chris was first with 'Dancing In The Moonlight', which he performed well. Then Ashley followed with his number, 'Have A Nice Day', which he dedicated to his unwell friend Nigel. Ashley sang well, and is a stronger performer than his short time on Fame Academy allowed him to demonstrate. Ashley stayed on stage to tell us about the songs for the acoustic session in part two, and how we could vote for the ones we wanted, and also some other suprises for later, and he also introduced the next singer, who was greeted extremely well by the audience....

It was Ainslie's turn ! The disappointment of Nigel not being there had me losing a bit of interest at this point, and I have to admit to not really getting the whole Ainslie thing. He opened his set with a duet with Marli, the 'hot' one they did on the show, 'Come Up And See Me'. He followed that with a solo track, the title I can't remember, which went down well with the audience, maybe due to the rithing about on the 'thrust'... His slot was finished with a rendition of 'Keep Me A Secret' which the audience adored, there was a lot of extra cheering when Malachi and Sinead joined him to sing the harmonies !! Sinead stayed on stage to introduce the final act of the first half. I believe there is a running joke at this point, Sinead was waiting for the next act to come on stage, and joked he must have fallen asleep, and was about to start singing one of his tracks when, flash of light and puff of smoke, and he was there....

Lemar was next ! This is another of the students that I just don't get what all the fuss is about. Maybe it's because I'm not into soul and r&b type music, and I can never hear the words when he sings. The audience responded really well to him, and enjoyed his set, which was ended with 'Lullaby'. The crowd went wild when Ainslie joined him, and even wilder when Sinead and Malachi also came on stage to do the harmonies!! The first half ended on a high.....

20 minutes later....

The second half commenced with a Sinead and David duet. I can't remember the song, but I enjoyed it and they both sang brilliantly. Sinead remained on stage and sang a couple of solos. The first was her debut single, 'I Can't Break Down', which alot of the audience joined in with. This was followed by the Avril Lavigne hit 'Complicated', which also went down extremely well with the audience. I thought Sinead sang really well and I enjoyed her set.

I think it was at this point that they played some clips from the Academy which was accompanied by a recording of Nigel's first survival song, 'In The Midnight Hour'. He may not have got to sing live at this concert, but at least he was there in spirit ?

Next up was the acoustic session, which featured all the students (except Nigel of course). The songs chosen were 'You Really Got Me', and 'Vincent'. First was Ainslie with 'You Really Got Me', and he had the whole audience stomping one foot to provide a backing beat. Next, Ainslie and Malachi starting wittering on about going into Birmingham to have a wander round and getting hungry, so they went into a butchers shop to get a pie and a sausage.....cue a rendition of 'Bad Bad Butcher' with everyone, the audience included, joining in with the chorus. The last song of the acoustic set was Malachi with 'Vincent', he dedicated it to someone who had made a request from the disabled section. All in all the whole thing went down very well with the audience. As the others exited the stage, Lemar stayed on to announce the winners of the suprises, and he also sang happy birthday to a 14 year old girl in the audience. By this time the crowd was very much in the party mood....

Last, but by no means least, it was David's turn !! He opened the set with 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me', as he rose to the stage with piano from below ! Next he sang his new single, 'Don't Let Go', which sounded better live than it sounds on the tv music channels. He followed that with his debut single 'Stop Living The Lie', and ended his set with a John Lennon classic, 'Imagine'. David was brilliant, the audience loved him, and the concert just got better and better.

Everyone gradually came back on stage, joining in 'With A Little Help From My Friends'. The show went out with a bang as it had come in. But it wasn't quite over yet. There was an en-core!! The students all gradually returned to the stage again, joining in with a medley of U2 songs. And that was it, show over.... for that night at least !

In Summary I really enjoyed the concert, despite the absence of my fave, Nigel. It was a good evening, and a great birthday present. Nigel's absense may have put a dampner on the eveing, but it didn't ruin it, I still had a good time at the very first proper concert that I have ever attended :-) Everyone sang well, there were no disappointments on performance. My favourites from the concert were Sinead and David, their performances made the whole trip worth while ! It would have been even better if Nigel had been okay, but if he's unwell, well his health has to come first. All in all a great night out. Back to FA Tour 2003 page