Zoe Birkett

Last updated

Zoe Birkett
Born (1985-06-16) 16 June 1985 (age 38)
Consett, County Durham, England
Genres Pop
Occupation(s)Singer, actress, presenter
Instrument(s)Vocals

Zoe Birkett (born 16 June 1985) is an English singer and musical theatre performer.

Contents

Birkett was the highest placing female contestant on Pop Idol in 2001 and later appeared on Big Brother. Her first single, Treat Me Like A Lady, was released in 2003 and charted in the UK Top 40.

Since 2009, Birkett has performed in West End theatre. She has performed in Thriller Live , Moulin Rouge! The Musical, The Bodyguard , Priscilla Queen of the Desert and other notable productions.

Career

Early career and Pop Idol

Birkett was born in Consett, a town in County Durham, and began attending stage school from the age of three. [1] She had had hopes of being a performer, [2] and trained at the Amanda McGlynn Academy in Middlesbrough and the Lorraine Murray Dance School. [3]

In 2002, Birkett finished fourth on the first series of Pop Idol , behind Will Young, Gareth Gates and Darius Danesh. She was the highest placed female in the contest. During the competition, she performed such songs as Whitney Houston's "One Moment in Time", "I Will Always Love You" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"; Aretha Franklin's "I Say a Little Prayer"; ABBA's "Thank You For the Music" and Judy Garland's "Get Happy". She later performed as the warm-up act on Pop Idol winners Will Young's and Gareth Gates' tour where she performed to over 250,000 people. She also recorded three songs for the triple platinum Pop Idol: The Big Band Album , which charted at number 1 in the UK Albums Chart.

Recording artist

In 2003, Birkett signed a recording contract with 19 Recordings [4] and released one single, "Treat Me Like a Lady", in January 2003. The track was co-written by fellow Pop Idol contestant Sarah Whatmore and peaked at number 12 in the UK Singles Chart. [5] Birkett later departed from her record label and pursued an alternative career in musical theatre . [6]

Big Brother

On 14 July 2014, Birkett entered the Big Brother house as one of three new housemates. [7] [8] Upon their arrival, the new housemates were unaware that the public would be voting to decide who would be allowed to stay in the competition. On 18 July, Birkett was saved from eviction and received the highest number of votes from the public. However she later left the competition on Day 58 after being unsuccessful in another public vote. [9]

Theatre career

Birkett's first roles were in pantomime and touring productions such as In Town Tonight, What A Feeling, West End Rocks and Cover Girls. [10]

Since 2009, Birkett has performed in West End theatre and was initially cast in Priscilla Queen of the Desert until 2011. She then performed as a lead singer in Garrick Theatre's 2011 production of Respect La Diva, [11] [12] .

In 2012, Birkett became the leading lady of Thriller Live . She was also later cast as an understudy for The Bodyguard's leading lady Alexandra Burke. In this role, she was responsible for matinée performances.[ citation needed ].

In 2021, Birkett performed as Arabia in Moulin Rouge! The Musical at Piccadilly Theatre. [13] She later performed in the main female lead role of Satine and made her debut on May 10, 2022. She was featured in the Dave Malloy musical The Witches in 2023.[ citation needed ].

Related Research Articles

<i>Moulin Rouge!</i> 2001 film by Baz Luhrmann

Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It follows an English poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and courtesan, Satine. The film uses the musical setting of the Montmartre Quarter of Paris and is the final part of Luhrmann's "Red Curtain Trilogy", following Strictly Ballroom (1992) and Romeo + Juliet (1996). A co-production of Australia and the United States, it features an ensemble cast starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, with Jim Broadbent, Richard Roxburgh, John Leguizamo, Jacek Koman, and Caroline O'Connor in supporting roles.

<i>Pop Idol</i> British music competition television series

Pop Idol is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer in the UK based on viewer voting and participation. Two series were broadcast, one in 2001–2002 and a second in 2003. An immense success when it launched in 2001, Maggie Brown in The Guardian wrote, "the show became a seminal reality/entertainment format once on air that autumn". Series judge Simon Cowell became a major public figure in entertainment, and the show produced instant No. 1 chart hits, including for the first series winner Will Young, whose single "Evergreen" was the fastest-selling debut in UK chart history and the best-selling song of 2002. Pop Idol was subsequently put on an indefinite hiatus after Simon Cowell announced the launch of The X Factor in the UK in April 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paulini</span> Fijian-Australian singer and songwriter (born 1982)

Pauline Curuenavuli, known professionally as Paulini, is a Fijian-Australian singer, songwriter and musical theatre actress. Born in Suva, Paulini moved to Sydney with her family at the age of four. She rose to fame in 2003 as a contestant on the first season of Australian Idol and placed fourth in the competition. After Idol, Paulini signed a recording contract with Sony BMG Australia and released her debut studio album One Determined Heart (2004), which debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified platinum. The album included the platinum single "Angel Eyes", which spent three consecutive weeks at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart. Paulini received two ARIA No. 1 Chart Awards for both the album and single.

Emily Williams is a New Zealand-born Australian singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in 2005 on the third season of Australian Idol and became the runner-up of the competition. After Idol, Williams signed with Sony BMG Australia and enjoyed commercial success as a member of the Australian girl group Young Divas. The group released two top-ten albums, Young Divas (2006) and New Attitude (2007), and achieved three top-fifteen singles, including the hugely successful "This Time I Know It's for Real". After the Young Divas disbanded in 2008 and Williams' contract with Sony BMG ended, she began releasing her solo music independently. Williams' debut solo single "Spellbound" was released in 2010, followed by the release of her debut solo album Uncovered in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolynne Poole</span> English singer-songwriter, actress and former model.

Carolynne Willey is a British singer-songwriter, actress and former model from Leeds, England. She is a founding member of the Carolynne Good Band, based in Leeds and London. She is best known for finishing in third place on the second series of the BBC singing competition Fame Academy in 2003. In 2011, Willey was a contestant on The X Factor and made it to the judges' houses' stage of the competition. She returned to the show the following series in 2012 and made it to the live shows, but was eliminated after the first live show following a sing-off against Rylan Clark.

<i>Celebrity Big Brother</i> (British TV series) series 2 Season of television series

Celebrity Big Brother 2002, also known as Celebrity Big Brother 2, was the second series of the British reality television series Celebrity Big Brother. It was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK, launching on 20 November 2002, and ending on 29 November 2002, lasting ten days. Proceeds from viewer voting went to four different charities: Centrepoint, National Missing Persons Helpline, Rethink and Samaritans. The series was sponsored by phone company O2. Les Dennis is commonly remembered for his depression during the series following his split from wife Amanda Holden.

<i>Pop Idol: The Big Band Album</i> 2002 compilation album by various artists

Pop Idol: The Big Band Album is a compilation album featuring big band songs recorded by the final 10 from the first UK series of Pop Idol.

<i>Priscilla, Queen of the Desert</i> (musical) 2006 musical by Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a jukebox musical with book by Australian film director-writer Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott, using well-known pop songs as its score. Adapted from Elliott's 1994 film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the musical tells the story of two drag queens and a trans woman, who contract to perform a drag show at a resort in Alice Springs, a resort town in the remote Australian desert. As they head west from Sydney aboard their lavender bus, Priscilla, the three friends come to the forefront of a comedy of errors, encountering a number of strange characters, as well as incidents of homophobia, while widening comfort zones and finding new horizons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Picasso</span> Swedish singer, host and model (born 1979)

Marie Picasso is a Swedish singer, host and model who first rose to fame as a housemate on the popular reality television show Big Brother, before going on to win the fourth series of the Swedish singing competition Idol.

The first season of Australian Idol was produced by Fremantle Media subsidiary Grundy Television in association with UK company 19TV, and was broadcast on Network Ten for 19 weeks in the latter half of 2003. The judges were Mark Holden, Marcia Hines and Ian "Dicko" Dickson.

<i>Celebrity Big Brother</i> (British TV series) series 6 Season of television series

Celebrity Big Brother 2009, also known as Celebrity Big Brother 6, was the sixth series of Celebrity Big Brother. It was broadcast on Channel 4, launching on 2 January 2009 and running for 22 days until 23 January 2009. The launch show was watched by approximately 6.4 million people. Davina McCall returned as main presenter, with George Lamb as host of Big Brother's Little Brother, and Jack Whitehall as host of Big Brother's Big Mouth. The winner of this series was Ulrika Jonsson, with Terry Christian second.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elisabeth Welch</span> American actress (1904–2003)

Elisabeth Margaret Welch was an American singer, actress, and entertainer, whose career spanned seven decades. Her best-known songs were "Stormy Weather", "Love for Sale" and "Far Away in Shanty Town". She was American-born, but was based in Britain for most of her career.

The first series of British reality television show Pop Idol was broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom during the winter months of 2001 and 2002. The show was a singing competition open to people aged between 16 and 26 years old, with the winner receiving a £1 million recording contract to release their debut album. Pop Idol received ratings of as high as 10 million viewers for shows before the live final. The footage of the programme's opening titles, as well as the live final of this series, was used in the first season of American Idol, which began over four months after the airing of the live final, in which Kelly Clarkson won the season.

Treat Me Like a Lady is a song produced by Ray Hedges and released as a single by Pop Idol contestant Zoe Birkett in 2003. The single peaked at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart and number 43 in Ireland.

<i>The Bodyguard</i> (musical) 2012 stage musical by Alexander Dinelaris

The Bodyguard is a 2012 stage musical with a book by Alexander Dinelaris, based on the 1992 film The Bodyguard, with the score featuring songs recorded by Whitney Houston including "One Moment in Time", "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" and her pop version of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You". The show began previews at the Adelphi Theatre in London's West End, on 6 November 2012, and officially opened on 5 December 2012.

Pauline Bennett, who also goes by the stage name of Jazzi P, is a British DJ, dance teacher and rapper from Wolverhampton. She had a No. 6 hit as a featured artist on Kylie Minogue's 1991 song "Shocked", and also participated in Big Brother: Power Trip in 2014.

<i>Celebrity Big Brother</i> (British TV series) series 16 Season of television series

Celebrity Big Brother 16, also known as Celebrity Big Brother: UK vs USA, was the sixteenth series of the British reality television series Celebrity Big Brother, hosted by Emma Willis and narrated by Marcus Bentley. The series launched on 27 August 2015 on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom and TV3 in Ireland, and ended after 29 days on 24 September 2015. It is the ninth celebrity series and the fourteenth series of Big Brother overall to air on Channel 5. It was the only celebrity series to credit Denis O'Connor as creative director.

<i>Celebrity Big Brother</i> (British TV series) series 17 Season of television series

Celebrity Big Brother 17 was the seventeenth series of the British reality television series Celebrity Big Brother, hosted by Emma Willis and narrated by Marcus Bentley. The series launched on 5 January 2016 on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom and TV3 in the Republic of Ireland, and concluded 32 days later on 5 February 2016, making it the longest celebrity series to date, along with Celebrity Big Brother 19 and Celebrity Big Brother 21. It was the tenth celebrity series and the fifteenth series of Big Brother overall to air on Channel 5. First details of the series were released on 7 December 2015 when the new eye was released, and a new "vaudeville theatre" theme also being confirmed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Li Martins</span> Brazilian musician and actress

Patricia Lissa Kashiwaba Martins is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, and actress. In 2002, she won the talent show Popstars and joined the Brazilian girl group Rouge. She remained with the group until 2005, during which time they released four studio albums, Rouge (2002), C'est La Vie (2003), Blá Blá Blá (2004), and Mil e Uma Noites (2005), collectively selling 6 million copies. This made the group one of the most successful in Brazil, and one of the twenty best-selling girl groups in the world.

<i>Moulin Rouge!</i> (musical) 2018 musical based on the 2001 film

Moulin Rouge! The Musical is a jukebox musical with a book by John Logan. The musical is based on the 2001 film Moulin Rouge! directed by Baz Luhrmann and written by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce.

References

  1. Hubbard, Michael (24 January 2003). "Zoe Birkett hopes for Idol success". BBC News. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  2. Hubbard, Michael. Zoe Birkett hopes for Idol success, BBC, 24 January 2003. Accessed on 27 May 2008
  3. "Interview with Zoe Birkett". Londontheatre1.com. 20 January 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  4. "iTunes – Music – Treat Me Like a Lady – EP by Zoe Birkett". Itunes.apple.com. 13 January 2003. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  5. Roberts, David. Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums. Guinness World Records Ltd 17th edition (2004), p. 60 ISBN   0-85112-199-3
  6. Neil, Beth. Where Are They Now?, Daily Mirror, 30 September 2006. Accessed on 27 May 2008.
  7. "Pop Idol's Zoe Birkett Joins Big Brother: Reality Stars Who Kept On Chasing The Spotlight". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  8. Welsh, Daniel (15 July 2014). "'Big Brother': Three New Housemates - Including Former 'Pop Idol' Star Zoe Birkett - Join Armageddon Week, After Marlon Is Evicted". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  9. Westbrook, Caroline (1 August 2014). "Zoe's out of the Big Brother house". Metro. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  10. Archived 16 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  11. "RESPECT La Diva". OfficialLondonTheatre.com. 12 September 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  12. Bassett, Kate (29 March 2009). "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Palace Theatre, London" . The Independent. UK. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  13. Russo, Gillian (16 September 2021). "'Moulin Rouge!' announces West End casting". London Theatre Guide. Retrieved 17 November 2021.