Will Young will perform in front of thousands of adoring
fans at the start of a nationwide tour on Thursday night.
He will be joined by runner-up Gareth Gates and the other
eight finalists for the first date of the Pop Idol Tour at London's Wembley
Arena.
Fans snapped up 18,000 tickets for the first two Wembley
gigs in just two-and-a-half hours.
It will be Will's first public performance since he
revealed he was gay but the revelation has failed to dent his appeal to the
record-buying public.
His single Evergreen/Anything Is Possible looks set to
hold on to the number one spot for a third week and has shifted 1.5 million
copies so far.
Gareth, who releases his debut single Unchained Melody on
Monday, will perform a duet with fellow finalist Zoe Birkett.
There were rumours of romance between them after Gareth
broke down in tears when Zoe was voted off the show, but the pair have insist
they are just good friends.
Other familiar faces performing on the tour will be
Jessica Garlick, Rosie Ribbons and Darius Danesh.
The 21-date tour will visit Sheffield, Birmingham, Manchester,
Glasgow and Newcastle before ending with a special Royal Command performance.
The Pop Idols will perform in front of the Prince of Wales
at a concert in aid of The Prince's Trust on April 6.
Ó Ananova.com