STEPS, A1, Blue, Atomic Kitten, Damage and S Club 7 were among the acts to
line-up for Midge Ure’s all-singing, all-dancing charity gig at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium last night (October 20).
‘Showtime at the Stadium’ brought stars of the West End stage together with
contemporary pop acts for a unique set of show songs in aid of the Red Hot AIDS Charitable Trust and the BBC’s Children In Need Appeal.
H from Steps and Top Of The Pops presenter Josie D’Arby introduced the acts,
which were backed by dancers and a 60-piece orchestra.
Atomic Kitten, dressed in black suits and trilby hats, sang ‘Macavity’ from the musical ‘Cats’, while Steps put in two songs – ‘I Know Him So Well’ from Chess and a bizarre original stage version of their hit ‘Tragedy’.
A1 sang ‘One Night In Bangkok’, Blue did ‘Something’s Coming’ and Damage performed ‘Ease On Down The Road’.
S Club 7 performed the new Children In Need single ‘Have You Ever’, before Jo and John from the group came back onstage to sing a duet of ‘Bring Him Home’ from ‘Les Miserables’.
Heather Nova, meanwhile, sang ‘Losing My Mind’ from ‘Follies’ and duetted with
former Ultravox star Midge on ‘Phantom of the Opera’.
60s star Petula Clark chimed in with ‘Tell Me It’s Not True’ and ‘Just One Look’, while 15-year-old local millionairess Charlotte Church sang ‘Somewhere’, ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’ and the grand finale, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.
Sinead O’Connor had to pull out of the show because of family illness and her programmed rendition of ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’ was sung by stage star Kim Criswell.
The whole event was broadcast live on Radio 2 and highlights will be screened on BBC2 on November 25.