We all danced along to our favourite Erasure hits at the school disco – but even these pop credentials can’t prepare Andy for his latest singing challenge.
As one half of synth-pop duo Erasure, Andy toured the world and became a pop icon. He’s also had a successful solo career.
Now he has to prove he can sing opera classics in front of a live TV audience. We’ll certainly have A Little Respect for him if he can!
He may have performed in front of thousands of fans, but Erasure star Andy Bell admits he’s going to be nervous when he performs live in front of a studio audience for Popstar To Operastar.
“I think the first day I’m going to be really nervous!” he admits.”I do get really nervous rehearsing in front of Katherine and Rolando; Rolando is quite bombastic! I was quite enamoured with Katherine even before I met her; she’s a lovely sweet lady, very beautiful and she’s somebody who would have been my best friend in school!”
Having sold millions of records, Andy says that learning a new style of singing has been ‘inspirational’.
He says, “I think the opera way is probably the more naturalistic way of singing so it’s making me rethink the way I sing pop songs …I’m finding it very inspirational”.
“Erasure gigs are quite physical,” he reveals. ”There’s a lot of singing involved because there’s only two of us on stage. The thing about opera singing is that you don’t have to jump around. You’re still and very centred and I like that. I’m really enjoying it, it’s a different way of singing.”
Whilst Andy is enjoying learning a new style of singing, he admits that conquering the various languages is proving tricky.
“I think for me the hardest thing is learning Italian, because I already know Spanish so I put a Spanish accent on the Italian words which is kind of a bit ‘mockney’. I think part of singing is being a parrot - you learn things and repeat them – and I think languages are the same.”
He continues, “I have seen three operas and I do love the theatricality of the whole thing, but to be honest I’ve never really got into the stories. I didn’t realise it was like Shakespeare to singing.”
With a judging panel ready to offer their critique on the contestant’s performances, Andy says that his face will give the viewers an idea of what he thinks of their comments.
He says, “Hopefully I can take it with a pinch of salt, it is quite egotistical, singing, isn’t it? I’m sure you’ll be able to see my thoughts on their comments on my face anyway.”