Yahoo Entertainment
09/10/02
LONDON - Prince Charles will be serenaded by TV "Pop Idol" finalists at a special fundraising concert in aid of his charitable foundation The Prince's Trust.
Will Young, Gareth Gates and Zoe Birkett will all perform
in front of the heir to the throne on Thursday.
The concert is part of the trio's national tour which
closes on October 28-29. Will and Gareth's cover of The Beatles' "Long and
Winding Road" is expected to be part of the repertoire.
Fans of the popsters are also likely to be treated to
Will's "Evergreen" and "Light My Fire". Many will be hoping
he will perform the duet "It Takes Two" with Zoe.
Will, who won the Pop Idol competition earlier this year,
recently released his debut album "From Now On" while Gareth's debut
album will hit music store shelves later this month.
Their tour has so far been judged a success with the
performances receiving enthusiastic responses from predominantly young
audiences. But the demise last week of Hear'Say -- the first band to be created
out of the "Popstars" television show -- and the arrival on
television screens of a new spate of reality shows such as "Fame
Academy" and "Popstars:The Rivals" could be bad news for the "Pop
Idol" singers.
There are fears the public will begin to see Will, Gareth
and Zoe as old news and will switch their allegiance to the latest crop of
wannabes.
Less than two years ago, Hear'Say was storming the charts,
racking up the fastest selling debut single ever with "Pure and
Simple" and defying critics who said the public didn't want manufactured
bands.
But their time in the spotlight has been cut short -- in
part because of the arrival of Will, Gareth and Zoe.
Hear'Say's Suzanne Shaw told the Sun newspaper last week the
band split for the simple reason that it had become unfashionable.