Sutton Coldfield Festival of Arts

Natalie Powers barely hesitates in describing her Eurovision experience, performing to a TV audience of 200 million, as the highlight of her career.

But the accomplished vocalist, who has hardly been off stage since she was seven, is relishing the prospect of one of her most unusual engagements - singing some classic songs in an intimate setting, backed by a superb jazz band led by Sutton drummer Ian Palmer.

The pair, who attended Arthur Terry School together, are calling their exclusive July 9 Sutton Festival Of Arts show High School Reunion.

Natalie, who celebrates her 34th birthday that month, said the concert - her first ever at Sutton Coldfield Town Hall - would allow her to show a different side of her musical personality.

She and Ian are promising more of an “MTV Unplugged”-style atmosphere, as they perform in a cabaret setting - the polar opposite of - in her own words - the “cheesy pop” personal appearances that Natalie has taken part in as lead singer with top-five hitmakers Scooch.

“I’m always trying this and that - I like doing something new,” said Natalie from her home in Princes Risborough near Thame.

“I know which songs we are doing and the vibe we’re trying to achieve. Ian and I have agreed we would try to appeal to a wide age range and we’ll try to do something that will suit everybody - some very modern songs, some classics and older songs.
“I’ve worked with a live band, playing covers at functions, but these have been done more or less like the originals. This will be slightly different.”

Natalie said she was particularly looking forward to tackling Son Of A Preacher Man and, Roberta Flack-style, Killing Me Softly, as well as delving into the songbooks of Chaka Khan and Nelly Furtado.

The group, containing jazz musicians such as trumpeter Bryan Corbett and bassist Roger Inniss, will put a unique, sophisticated spin on the material, and add plenty of bite where needed. Ian, who last performed at the Town Hall when he was 12, 20 years ago, with the Midland Youth Jazz Orchestra, will introduce the material on the night.

It’s ironic that Ian and Natalie have teamed up in the wake of Scooch’s Eurovision entry Flying The Flag (For You), a risqué song about getting up to naughty things in aeroplanes.

Ian works as a commercial pilot in between playing drums for the likes of Georgie Fame and Alan Skidmore, but won’t be expecting Natalie to sport the saucy-postcard style air hostess look for the gig!

Scooch made the Top 5 with Flying The Flag, their comeback single, but did not see this wave of UK support matched in the Eurovision vote. The song ended up achieving just 19 points, and came last but one in the final rankings at Helsinki.

Natalie and her fellow bandmates have capitalised on the notoriety their contest appearance brought them, some commentators alleging that they weren’t performing live.

“Eurovision has definitely been my highlight so far,” said Natalie, who took the role of the youngest orphan Molly at Birmingham Hippodrome in the first UK tour of Annie, when she was just seven.

“I wouldn’t have thought in a million years I would have done anything so big, especially at the point it happened [six years after Scooch had first split up, due to Natalie's pregnancy with Michael, her first child].

“I had become quite cynical about the business, but since Eurovision I’ve been thinking that just about anything can happen. It’s quite an achievement to think that there were 200 million viewers, and that we were in a group of just 52 acts that have represented the UK.

“It was all good publicity for us. Anybody who knows anything about Eurovision knows you can’t mime. The BBC aren’t going to be that stupid. We were just absolutely thrilled to have that level of attention.

“As for the low UK vote, the same thing has been happening for a few years - it’s pretty obvious what’s going on.”

The group has a dedicated gay audience, and has lined up a succession of appearances at Pride events this summer.
“Gay people love their cheesy pop - their S Club, their Atomic Kitten and their Steps, as well as us!” she said.

Natalie is expecting her second child early next year and will be sporting quite a bump by the time she arrives in Sutton, which is still home to her parents Gloria and Peter and to her two brothers.

Her main source of income these days is provided by her work as a vocal tutor, coaching those making a start in musical theatre.

As a youngster, Natalie toured around the country, and between the ages of seven and 14, she starred in many musicals and pantomimes, working with popular entertainers such as Michael Barrymore and Les Dawson among others.

Natalie left school at 16 with heaps of theatre and television credits under her belt and moved to London to the legendary Arts Educational School of Performing Arts in Chiswick, which the likes of Will Young attended.
Upon leaving college, Natalie moved into the West End to take a principal role in the all-singing, all roller-skating extravaganza Starlight Express at the Apollo Theatre. She later starred alongside Kim Wilde in Tommy at the Shaftesbury Theatre before returning to Starlight to play an even bigger role.

Although she and Ian have taken quite different paths in the world of music, their links go back a long way.
Natalie said: “We weren’t in the same year [Ian is a year younger] but were always in the school shows together - I was on stage and he played the drums. I especially remember us doing Grease and West Side Story together.

“We met up again today [Wednesday] and got on famously - we had a lot of catching up to do. I’m really looking forward to our reunion at the Town Hall.”

Tickets for the show, strictly limited to 250, are available from Sutton Coldfield Town Hall on 0121 464 8990 or via www.suttoncoldfieldtownhall.co.uk

Central TV weather forecaster Charlie Neil, patron of Sutton Festival Of Arts, will introduce the 8pm concert.
Visit www.myspace.com/planetpowers