I just read 'Heat' the posts made me curious. The pic is not nice but it shows that Darius does not take himself too seriously. Most of the answers I found amusing. I like things that make me laugh. I have a feeling it'd do him no harm.

I'll bet he's not quiet. At this stage the mike is for so all the singers, including the professionals have one. He will not have the stamina for long pieces because that is acquired in time, which he hasn't had.

 

It isn't any longer than you see on the youtube videos - that is the full aria. It's a fun interlude.

 

The instructions from Mozart read "as fast as possible" and mid way through the piece, he has added "faster" !

Rolando said to Darius after he had sung Granada "Thank you for the (twiddle) you felt the piece and came up with that beautiful" (I couldn't hear his last word).

In any case Darius didn't say he hadn't done the (twiddle) before, he said he didn't know he was going to do it, that it just came out.

It could be he had done it in rehearsal and Rolando decided not to keep it in. Maybe he didn't like that Darius had put it in anyway and that maybe Darius isn't playing his game lol

 

I got the impression the twiddle was last minute, from both rolando and katherines comments, and the what Darius said, he obviously didnt plan it. I just took the raspberry clip to mean they had planned how Darius ws to sing the song 3 days ago..and he thought Darius was playing the competition by adding to their rehearsed piece. I know I tutted at the time, as one minute he was saying feel the music and let it take you over, the next he seemed to be saying stick to the rehearsed way of singing it.

I think D sponteaneously performed the twiddle, which probably wasn't going to feature but that he had rehearsed previously. If he had mentioned the previous rehearsal he wouldn't have been open to Rolando's comments, oh well!

I think D sponteaneously performed the twiddle, which probably wasn't going to feature but that he had rehearsed previously. If he had mentioned the previous rehearsal he wouldn't have been open to Rolando's comments, oh well!

 

I think you're right Paul, Ronaldo said "we prepared it three days ago" and that's why he felt Darius was playing the game. If that was the case then why did Ronaldo say in his critique that Darius had felt the song and come up with it, doesn't make much sense to me :wacko:

 

 

I thought Ronaldo said ' He (meaning Darius) prepared it three days ago.'

 

I wonder if Rachel might manage to get some photos of Darius seeing she's with Avril? Sue

The Daily Mail piece.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v614/megham/2010/DariusandNigel.jpg

 

The odd couple who are the best of friends: The original Mr Nasty Nigel Lythgoe on his old adversary Darius Campbell

By RICHARD BARBER

Last updated at 8:58 PM on 11th February 2010

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Who can forget such iconic TV moments as Susan Boyle silencing the sniggering judges with her skin-tingling rendition of I Dreamed A Dream?

Or the sight of The Bill's Todd Carty unintentionally skating into the wings during his Dancing On Ice routine?

Indeed, for connoisseurs of the genre, Darius Danesh's falsetto treatment of Britney Spears's Hit Me Baby One More Time, on the Popstars reality show back in 2000, might well carry off first prize. Embarrassing - or what? In homes up and down the land, you could almost sense the milk curdling in millions of bottles.

 

Idol gossip: Nigel Lythgoe seemed nasty to Darius Campbell on Popstars, but proved to be a good mentor

But Darius went on to make the final ten in the contest, only to be dismissed by judge Nigel Lythgoe after weeks of withering comments. He didn't earn that 'Nasty Nigel' nickname for nothing.

Nigel was merely a foretaste of things to come - as a reality show judge, Simon Cowell would prove even more brutal. Darius left with a pointed parting shot - that he'd have a number one single and a platinum album by the time he was 25. And he was right, achieving his ambitions within a year.

 

Darius shot to fame after performing a cover of Britney Spears' Hit Me Baby...One More Time on Pop Idol

Popstars was nearly 10 years ago and much has changed since then. Darius is now known as Darius Campbell (his mother's maiden name). Gone, too, are the ponytail, goatee and insufferable smugness.

In their place has emerged a courteous young man of 29. There have been hit records along the way, stage musical performances and now the real prospect of emerging victorious in ITV1's Popstar To Operastar.

Then there's Nigel, now 60. He made his name at the end of the Sixties with the Young Generation dance troupe and went on to become Head of Light Entertainment at London Weekend Television.

He was producer of American Idol and is now the mastermind of So You Think You Can Dance.

When Nigel imported the Popstars formula from Australasia, he started the current rash of reality shows. Have we really endured them for a decade now? As a form of punishment, we thought we'd reunite him with old adversary Darius and see how the pair have fared.

Would they cut each other dead? Would they freely swap insults? The encounter could not have been more surprising. When they meet, it's with bear hugs and laughter. It turns out the two men have happily crisscrossed each other's lives over the years.

On reflection, does Darius regret that falsetto Britney cover? 'I wasn't really sure what was going on,' he admits. 'I'd won a radio competition for free entry to Popstars and wasn't taking any of it seriously.

'It's one of those things you look back on and laugh at. We all have bad hair days. My equivalent was a bad song day that happened to be seen by millions of people on TV.'

Nigel recalls: 'Even then, there was no question this man had something. We were as interested in crazies who would make good TV as in good singers. As it turned out, Darius fulfilled both criteria.'

 

Nigel Lythgoe and fellow Pop Idol judge Paul Adams consider potential stars

Both men agree that Darius was ill-suited to be a member of Hear'Say, the fivemember band chosen from Popstars hopefuls. 'For a start, he's 6ft 4in,' says Nigel, 'which would have meant he'd have stuck out in a bad way. But also, we sensed his career lay as a solo performer.'

It was to Nigel that Darius turned when a year later he asked whether he should apply to Pop Idol, the successor to Popstars. Nigel had a single word of warning: NO! 'I'd felt guilty about the way we'd belittled Darius on Popstars. I should have known he was thicker-skinned than that. But I'd made it my business to create this monster called Simon Cowell whose remit was to chop off the legs of contestants from below the knee.'

Darius remembers Pop Idol well. 'I'm sure Simon Cowell was looking to get rid of the Popstars finalist - he was setting me up for a fall. But he failed.'

In the end, Darius says he didn't actually want to win - he came third behind Will Young and Gareth Gates. But his single Colourblind topped the charts six months later and his first album, Dive In, did indeed go platinum.

Says Nigel now: 'I knew that Darius had a future in the business. He was the housewives' choice, the sexy one.'

 

Darius later made it to the semi-final of Pop Idol but lost out to runner-up Gareth Gates and eventual winner Will Young

All of this might have been the end of their collaboration had Darius not fallen in love with Canadian actress Natasha Henstridge, 35. Darius moved to LA to be with her and found himself bumping into Nigel and his then wife, Bonnie, and they would socialise together.

Sadly, Nigel and Bonnie have now divorced and Darius and Natasha have just called off their engagement.

'A measure of your love for someone,' Darius intones, 'is when you're willing to put their happiness before your own needs.' This translates as: Darius's work is now in the UK, Natasha's in the U.S., so they rarely see one another.

Now Darius is in the semifinal of Popstar To Operastar alongside ex-Hear'Say member Kym Marsh, and her old bandmate Myleene Klass presents the show. Could Darius win?

'That's not up to me,' he says. 'But maybe. At 13, I was given the opportunity to be trained by Scottish Opera. I didn't want to turn my back on school. But I've always wondered, what if? Now I've been given a second chance.'

So, what do they think they'll be doing in 10 years' time? Darius doesn't hesitate. 'Nigel will be dominating the world in some way. He once gave me the best three words of advice ever: Less is more. He's been a sort of silent mentor to me from that day to this.'

And what of Darius's future? 'I think films will be on the horizon for him,' says Nigel, 'as he moves from celebrity status to being an established star.'

 

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/artic...l#ixzz0fGXLgMjS

Thanks, megham. A nice article in the Mail. Well blow me down!

 

Was it in Thursday's paper?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I may be looking at todays paper....

I think you're right Paul, Ronaldo said "we prepared it three days ago" and that's why he felt Darius was playing the game. If that was the case then why did Ronaldo say in his critique that Darius had felt the song and come up with it, doesn't make much sense to me :wacko:

 

Like ice skaters who prepare a triple and then play it safe and just do a double?

 

Darius may have taken the double option in rehearsal but with the actual performance adrenalin in front of the audience, pulled out his triple without thinking.

Those were my thoughts BT.

 

There was no need for the raspberry.

 

There was no need for what ML did either :no:

 

Well it's Friday... :o

Bet they repeat the ML bit in the VT.

Thanks megham, nice article.

Friday night is coming everyone :) Hope you all have dexterous dialing digits :funky:

what a great article in the Mail!!

 

 

 

I'm so sorry the fur didn't fly for them!

From the Daily Record:-

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/telev...86908-22037259/

 

Darius Campbell: I've taken inspiration from Rocky in bid to knock out Popstar to Operastar judges

Feb 12 2010 By John Dingwall

 

DARIUS CAMPBELL is taking training tips from movie boxer Rocky Balboa to knock out the Popstar To Operastar judges.

 

The 29-year-old Scot has been sprinting through the streets of London, pumping weights and swimming underwater to boost his strength for tonight's show.

 

And he admits he has been inspired by Sylvester Stallone's Oscar-winning 1976 film.

 

He said: "I get up every morning and run along the banks of the Thames in Rocky style.

 

"I haven't found a meat warehouse to punch the carcases of dead cows but I have a kettlebell that was given to me by a friend who is out in Afghanistan.

 

"It strengthens endurance and links in with the operatic training which is about core strength.InthepoolIdotwo25m lengths underwater. I am trying to strengthen the length of time I can hold my breath for the long notes."

 

Glasgow-born Darius, who made his name on Pop Idol in 2002 and has starred on the west end stage, will sing the Champagne Aria from Don Giovanni on the opera reality show tonight.

 

He said: "If I get through, I hope to do Scotland proud in the final next week."

 

mm, nice image, he held that long note well last week, fingers crossed he has been doing this, coz he will need it with this song.

Remember he said he used to go jogging in Hyde Park(?) after GWTW shows to keep in top nick for it.