I think it may be your birthday to-day TT. :cheer:

 

So a Very Happy Birthday to you. :birthday:

Love Maggie

Edited June 14, 201213 yr by chrysalis

I think it may be your birthday to-day TT. :cheer:

 

So a Very Happy Birthday to you. :birthday:

Love Maggie

 

It's tomorrow chrysalis but thanks for your kind wishes. When is it your birthday?

Oops :hithead: :lol: Have a great day tomorrow then TT. :cheer: I did try and post a piccy, but I wasn't very good and it kept going wrong. :wacko:

 

Mine was last Sunday, the 10th, but my age I'm keeping a closely guarded secret From Now On. :lol:

 

To-day the Torch is stopping overnight in town. Great jollification, with the Dukey and Duchess joining in, fun fairs, and the whole of the inner town closed, plus fireworks (I think) at the Pastures. Think they've got Jessie J coming there next month. :rolleyes: I'm not going to either - it will be mayhem. Does the Torch comes to Sunderland?

Edited June 14, 201213 yr by chrysalis

Sorry I missed your birthday chrysalis. Belated best wishes.

 

I think the torch is here on Saturday. Will probably miss it as I'll be travelling back from the gig.

Will Young: 'Where I am now is where I've always wanted to be'

 

Nothing surprises the singer – not even landing a starring role in a West End production of Cabaret. Here, 10 years after winning the first Pop Idol, he talks about longevity

 

The Observer, Sunday 17 June 2012

 

Will Young at Soho House, London, June 2012. 'Being famous is the best'. Photograph: Alex Sturrock for the Observer

In April, Will Young ran the London Marathon for the second time. He hadn't done as much training as the year before, but he'd given up smoking, so he thought the two would balance out. It didn't quite work out that way. The first half of the race was relatively pleasant but after 17 miles he had a dramatic collision with the famous "wall". "I sat down in a tunnel next to someone's piss and thought, 'I could just rest my head, but if I do that, I don't think I'll ever wake up,'" he recalls. "So I had to get up again. It was absolute hell. It goes from being a lovely jog to Armageddon."

 

That roadside spectators recognised the 33-year-old singer didn't exactly help. Neither did the fact that he was raising money for the Catch22 youth charity. "Someone shouted out, 'Do it for the young people!'" says Young. "I was thinking, 'f*** the young people! I don't give a shit.' People kept saying, 'Keep going!' f*** off, you're not in my shoes. No more Mr Nice Guy."

 

Eventually, he reached the Mall after four and a half hours on his feet and a strange thing happened. He saw a television camera, one that followed runners in a tracking shot along the finishing straight. After hobbling along for miles, suddenly Young found fresh reserves of energy. "I clicked into Linford Christie mode. I did this immense sprint to the finish line purely because the camera was on me. I could still turn it on after 20-however-many miles and I did."

 

It's true. Young has always exuded a preternatural confidence on screen – often when experienced observers have suggested he has little right to. He was launched to fame after becoming the inaugural Pop Idol winner in 2002, a competition that he never looked like winning until he did. Ten years on, sitting in a private room at the Soho House members club in central London, he reveals that this victory was built on an unswerving belief that it was his destiny.

 

From the age of four, Young insists, he had imagined becoming a famous singer. While other kids would kick a football around, Young and his friend Adam Campbell, who's now an actor, would take turns interviewing each other in the style of Michael Parkinson.

 

This attitude also explains why, as countless talent-show stars have had their quarter-hour of fame and disappeared, Young is still with us a decade later. He is not just hanging on either; he's officially part of the pop firmament now. He has sold more than 9 million records and his latest album, Echoes, released last August, went straight in at No 1. Its fourth single, I Just Want a Lover, comes out next month. A national tour started on Friday and continues until 12 July, but good luck getting a ticket. He has appeared in films, TV and theatre and in September he makes his debut in musical theatre, a much-awaited turn as the MC in Rufus Norris's production of Cabaret.

 

Surely not even Young would have dreamed of such longevity? "I did!" he exclaims. "Where I'm at now is where I've always wanted to be. I knew when I won Pop Idol, I definitely had five years: that I wanted to do better music; I wanted to act as well; I wanted to do stuff that I really believed in. And Simon Fuller [the creator of the Idol franchise and still Young's manager]got it and always did really. He always thought long term and I always thought long term. I've never done ambulance chasing. I still make decisions based on wanting to be around for the next 10 years."

 

Such self-belief could make Young sound slightly monstrous, but it has always been paired with an appealing vulnerability. Shortly after winning Pop Idol, he came out in public (he had been openly gay since he was at university). There was more scrutiny when it emerged his twin, Rupert, had attempted suicide when they were 20 and both brothers had undergone treatment for depression. Even today, Young seems assured when talking about his career, but hesitant when discussing extracurricular matters.

 

"That's why Pop Idol was so mental," says Young. "I was 22. I don't even think I was comfortable with my sexuality at that stage, yet I could pick up a microphone for the first time and tell the judges what I thought. Ten years ago, I couldn't even go to a nightclub, I was such a shy person. I've always had quite low self-esteem and I think that's why singing and songwriting and performing have been such outlets because I could always express who I really wanted to be."

 

There is an idea that success has come easily to Young and he doesn't disagree. His prep school was a feeder school for Eton and Winchester, but he ended up going to Wellington College, near the family home in Berkshire. He disliked boarding school and says now that he would never send his children to one. "But it's not like, 'Poor me, I got sent to boarding school. I got given a Golf when I was 17. My life's been so awful.' It hasn't. My life's been brilliant."

 

Young studied politics at Exeter University and has little idea how he would have fulfilled his destiny if Pop Idol had not come along. "I didn't play an instrument, I didn't write songs," he says. "And 'middle class', 'politics' and 'gay' weren't exactly buzzwords for a pop star." After university, a term studying musical theatre at the Arts Educational school in Chiswick, west London, gave him the confidence to apply for the new show; it was a three-year course but he would never need to go back.

 

"I knew that I needed to get in front of people, not judges or music executives," says Young. "I just thought I'd be in with a chance if I could bypass that whole system. And that's what is great about music now – it's not about radio play or who gets on TV. People can bypass all that crap and see singers straight on YouTube."

 

After two No 1 albums (From Now On and Friday's Child), Young's popularity looked like it was starting to wane. A low point came in 2009 when Let it Go, the title track of his fourth album, entered the singles chart at 58. His career seemed destined to follow those of other Pop Idol alumni, Gareth Gates and Darius Danesh.

 

 

Will Young with fellow ITV Pop Idol finalist Gareth Gates in 2002. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

"I had a real dip and I became a bit disillusioned. I started to think, 'What's the point?'" he admits. "I was being confronted by the business side of things – Is it going to work? Is it going to hit the market? – and that can really take away your passion."

 

Around this time, he also started therapy. You might imagine that Young was struggling to adjust to his overnight fame or failing to accept the ephemeral nature of pop stardom. In fact, he was entirely comfortable with these aspects of his life, it was just everything else that was unravelling.

 

"I sorted out shit from work very quickly," he says. "People who go on, 'It's just so hard being famous…' Give it a rest! Being famous is the best. You get free things and a really good wage and people quite often say quite nice things to me and that's really nice. No one likes a whingeing famous person.

 

"I've had loads of therapy: I've done residential, I've done courses. It's been amazing," he continues. "Along with my job, it's changed my life. How many times do you say, 'I'm fine' when you're thinking, 'I'm actually not fine, I'm actually feeling really f***ing sad today or really angry'? I think it's really important to own it and be honest about it and say, 'Sometimes I feel really shit about myself but not the whole time and this is what you can do to get better.' I'm a massive advocate of talk, talk, talk."

 

Young credits therapy with improving his music, too. "I bring no baggage into work like I used to," he says. He believes he is more assured in his opinions and more creative. For the new live shows – venues include Kew Gardens and forests around Britain – he is threatening to dress up with his band as Robin Hood and his Merry Men or a troupe of morris dancers, though his record company is less enthusiastic about those ideas.

 

One part of Young's life is still a work in progress: relationships. "Not looking, no. The shop's not open," he says. "In five years, I'll be happy to get married and have kids, but I'm not ready now. I'm quite independent. I want to be with someone because I like their company. I don't want to be with someone because I'm rattling around at home and no one wants to come to the pub. But I can see it, I can imagine it, I've got it in my head. I will bake the cakes and pick up the kids, then I might do an album."

 

Before the kids and cakes, though, there's the small matter of Cabaret. After his term studying musical theatre at Arts Ed, is this a return to his first love? "Actually, I've never really liked musicals," he admits. "I don't really like Rodgers and Hammerstein, but Cabaret's a great musical and the MC is such an amazing character: he's strong, he's dirty, he's vulnerable, he's persecuted. I won't have any restrictions to play this part and I want to bring whatever is going on that day to the stage."

 

He's sung for royalty, he's acted opposite Judi Dench, he's been on Parky for real – it's hard to think what could be left to achieve for Will Young. He thinks for a moment and smiles. "Some kind of contemporary dance? I'd be a triple threat: music, acting and dance. There I am!"

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/jun/1...w?newsfeed=true

Thanks Sunday.

 

Love his humour & getting more insight into the real Will.

 

Popjustice‏@Popjustice

 

And he FEEEEEEEELS happy at 33 RT @guardianmusic Will Young: 'Where I am now is where I've always wanted to be' http://gu.com/p/389ah/tw”

:lol:

Edited June 17, 201213 yr by truly talented

He's sung for royalty, he's acted opposite Judi Dench, he's been on Parky for real –it's hard to think what could be left to achieve for Will Young. He thinks for a moment and smiles. "Some kind of contemporary dance? I'd be a triple threat: music, acting and dance. There I am!"

 

 

I can think of one thing I (and I've no doubt other fans) would still like him to achieve. :rolleyes:

 

Thanks Sunday. :D I found that a really readable article.

Interesting that he see's the charting of Let It Go as a low point yet is happy now with lower charting singles. I suppose he has had Jealousy & probably looks around and see's how much better he's doing album/ticket sales wise than many better charting single artists.

Interesting that he see's the charting of Let It Go as a low point yet is happy now with lower charting singles. I suppose he has had Jealousy & probably looks around and see's how much better he's doing album/ticket sales wise than many better charting single artists.

 

Wasn't that the time though TT when he had a lot of problems with both his own relationships and his brother? Or if it wasn't, the emotional pain was still very much in his life. Emotional pain can last a very long time, unfortunately.

Busy boy.

 

Getting SUPER excited about our @will_young31 event tonight.

Little Brown (Will's book publisher)

Getting SUPER excited about our @will_young31 event tonight...

 

Gay Times Magazine‏@GayTimesMag

Will Young read the first chapter of his book at the launch tonight. We can't wait to read it all - might be called 'Funny Peculiar'...

 

Edited June 20, 201213 yr by truly talented

Loose Women

 

 

Wed 4th July 12:30pm

ITV 1

1:30pm +1

With Kelly Holmes and Will Young

 

Double gold-medallist Kelly Holmes talks to Carol Vorderman, Lisa Maxwell, Janet Street-Porter and Jane McDonald about the Olympics, and Will Young drops in for a catch-up and a performance of his new single I Just Want a Lover

Edited June 21, 201213 yr by Sunday

Loose Women

Wed 4th July 12:30pm

ITV 1

1:30pm +1

With Kelly Holmes and Will Young

 

Double gold-medallist Kelly Holmes talks to Carol Vorderman, Lisa Maxwell, Janet Street-Porter and Jane McDonald about the Olympics, and Will Young drops in for a catch-up and a performance of his new single I Just Want a Lover

 

Thanks Susan. :D Thought he would at least do some day time tv. Hope this is the first of many.

 

I'll add it to the appearances.

Thanks Sunday. :D I don't usually watch Loose Women, it's not a programme I enjoy, but I'll make an effort on the 4th July. :lol:

Thanks Sunday. :D I don't usually watch Loose Women, it's not a programme I enjoy, but I'll make an effort on the 4th July. :lol:

 

Same here! I think most of them are a pain nowadays but no doubt Will can charm them again, and if it helps his album fair enough :D

Thanks sunday. And there was me thinking he wouldn't have time - how stupid am I :lol:

Thanks Sunday, I'm another one who isn't a fan of these beer jug guzzlers, but I'll be watching for Will.

Wonder what this is about?

 

So Will Young is watching me perform tonight. no pressure

Sent 44 mins ago

From Twitter for Android

Just spoke to will young as he watched my performance #autographplease

Sent 9 mins ago

Twitter for iPhone

 

Sitting behind will young in the theatre!

Sent 8 mins ago

Twitter for iPhone

Edited June 25, 201213 yr by truly talented

Final night of the youth theatre programme at the Lyttleton theatre according to a tweet I saw TT. Wonder if he ever fancies a night in? :D

Final night of the youth theatre programme at the Lyttleton theatre according to a tweet I saw TT. Wonder if he ever fancies a night in? :D

 

Good for us he doesn't. :lol:

 

Thanks Ros.

 

 

I don't think we have a seperate thread for Will's book. Just spotted this Tweet with a lovely piccy

 

Maura Brickell ‏@Red_Books

 

Here is some nice news: we are working with Little,Brown and Will Young on his book, Funny Peculiar, out October http://ow.ly/bPr5e

 

http://riotcommunications.com/cms/data/images//Latest%20news/willyoung2012_0187-250.jpg