Local 17 year old waiters steals TV show over Cherly Cole!

A 17 year old part time waitress and performing arts student, from the Wirral, has landed her big break singing on prime time national TV when she appeared on Michael McIntyre's BAFTA award winning Big Show on BBC 1, on Saturday, 15 December 2018, with a stunning performance that outshone pop star Cherly Cole!

Yasmin Deplidge, a 2nd year student at Liverpool's LIPA Performing Arts Academy, has been given the shock of her life after she was lured down to London, for a weekend break, along with her family. Little did she realise that all of her family were in on the big surprise and had colluded with Michael McIntyre and the TV shows producers, for months, to give her the big break.

Yasmin who works as a singing waitress at Mulholland Diner, the UK's 1st singing waiters diner, located in Liverpool. But she was soon to become the star of Michael's McIntyre's 'Unexpected Star Of The Show' that sees a member of the public literally performing to the 2000 strong audience and the 7 million people who tune into his show each week.

Yasmin had arrived with her mum Sarah Deplidge at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, where the show is filmed, in front of a live studio audience. The theatre had been transformed into a makeshift cinema.

Unbeknown to Yasmin, as she arrived in the theatre foyer, all of the people inside were actors who were in on the big surprise. To make matters even more surreal, Dani Dyer, the star of 'Love Island' came into the foyer along with her friend to make a cameo appearance, interacting with Yasmin and her mum Sarah.

Both Yasmin and her Mum were then escorted to their seats, located within a small boutique style cinema, by an usher. Mum Sarah disappeared to the toilets, then on cue leaving 17 year old Yasmin, in the front row, on her own. Seconds later the screen was ripped down and an astonished Yasmin realised she was centre stage, being looked at by a crowd of 2000 people and Michael McIntyre greeting her to his show.

Visibly stunned and shocked that she was on stage in front of such a large crowd, the 17 year old singing waitress composed herself and was then interviewed by Michael, live on stage. She was then taken back stage to have some rehearsals and was invited to come back and perform a song of her choice and close the show.

Returning to close the show and performing the Alicia Keys classic:- "Girl On Fire" in a stunning red outfit, Yasmin gave a blistering and soulful performance that was worthy of her peers. Powerful and soaring with her vocal range she had the audience spellbound with her spine tingling and mesmerising vocals which were incredible for someone of her years. Her fully live performance even managed to steal the show from former Girls Aloud star Cheryl Cole.

Yasmin, who is now a 2nd year student at Paul McCartney's LIPA School of Performing Arts, is studying Music Performance and Production, sang at a family event 2 years ago and got a huge reaction, from party guests and social media. Since the age of 15 she has been working hard to perfect her craft and master the art of song writing, doing local gigs and charity work. For a young woman it has also been an emotional journey of self criticism and awareness. Her musical influences range from modern artists to jazz icons from Etta James to Lauren Hill, Amy Winehouse and Georgia Smith.

Whilst studying at LIPA Yasmin also landed a break auditioning as 1 of 16 singing waiters for the recently opened Mulholland, singing waiters diner in Liverpool where all of the waiting staff serve the customers and sing during their service.

The singing waiters diner which was created by Liverpool Hospitality Group Signature Living is the 1st of its kind in the UK. Modelled along the same lines as the famous Ellen Stardust diner in New York, every member of the waiting team is a singer and performer.

Commenting on the performance of a lifetime Yasmin said:- "I was absolutely stunned and blown away that I had the amazing opportunity to appear on Michael McIntyre's show as the Unexpected Star Of The Show, it was completely unexpected and a surreal moment. 1 minute I was sitting in the front row about to watch a film with my mum and the next minute the screen was torn down and I was face to face with Michael McIntyre and hundreds of people in the audience. I was genuinely lost for words and overwhelmed by the initial shock and then the daunting task of actually performing in front of the studio audience. Once i got on stage I felt at home and it all came naturally. I loved performing and this has only made me more determined to work harder to achieve my ambition to be a successful singer / song writer. Everyone on the show including Michael McIntyre and all of the production staff and vocal coaches were amazing and i can't thank them enough for the opportunity."

Commenting on the big break Signature Living MD Kris Mochrie who created the Mulholland, singing waiters themed restaurant said:- "We are all incredibly proud of Yasmin and that she got her big break on Michael McIntyre's show. All of her colleagues at MULHOLLAND are incredibly proud of her and what she has achieved. Thats 1 of the exciting things about our singing waiters realising that we have so much amazing talent here in Liverpool. Yasmin will be back at MULHOLLAND this week and performing for our customers over Xmas."

Calderstones Song Goes Viral

ON 14 February 2018, Liverpool City Council's planning committee voted in favour of an application to build 51 luxury homes on part of the Calderstones / Harthill Estate. According to campaigners, the development of the 12.9 acres, would see 1 of Liverpool's most loved parks being lost. Although according to Councillor Richard Kemp, 90% of local residents are opposed to the proposals, despite a well attended protest on the day of the planning committee's visit and over 1000 letters of objection, the Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, maintains that everybody is happy with this development. Currently, just 16% of the Liverpool area is considered to be green space.

According to the campaign group, the South Liverpool rapper MC Nelson has now joined the fight, and has showed his support of the 'Save Calderstones Park Campaign' with his new music video:- 'Calderstones' on YouTube.

The song calls for Liverpool Mayor, Joe Anderson and Redrow PLC to drop plans to annexe a large section of the historic park in order to build luxury homes, as well as offering an insight into the rapper's personal relationship with the park.

The song, which has been described by the Save Calderstones committee as:- 'the theme tune for the campaign' comes with less than a month to go until a crucial judicial review into the planning decision. More than 50,000 people have now signed a petition against the decision. The proposed plans are also causing divisions in Liverpool Council's Labour group. Despite this backlash, the Council shows no sign of budging on the issue.

The visual has been made with frequent collaborators Leech Video, a south Liverpool creative collective. The video features MC Nelson roaming around a number of familiar sites in the park and includes footage of campaign protests, highlighting the wide range of Liverpool residents who have been brought together by this issue. The song has only been out for 2 months, but has amassed almost 100,000 views making it 1 of the biggest songs to emerge out of Liverpool in 2018.

A spokesperson for the Save Calderstones Park campaign group said:- "The group is made up of a very small number of people dedicated to protecting and preserving the Calderstones and Harthill Estate and resisting housing schemes. The petition's success demonstrates the widespread opposition to the housing plan and we believe it is time for the mayor, the Council and the builders Redrow, to finally listen to the loud voice of the people."

Sex in the City star Kim Cattrall, Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Holly Johnson and Gogglebox favourite June Benrnicoff, have all supported calls to halt the development.

You can sign the online Petition, posted on Change.Org, by Eric Smith, titled:- "Joe Anderson and Redrow - Stop The Sale of Calderstones Park" by clicking on here.

Students from PQA Southport enjoyed performing with ITV X-Factor at Blackpool Tower Ballroom

STUDENTS, aged 4 to 16, from Pauline Quirke Academy of Performing Arts (PQA) Southport, were invited to perform with the multi platinum selling vocal quartet G4, at Blackpool Tower Ballroom, on Tuesday, 4 December 2018, and enjoyed every minute of their special opportunity.  The ITV X-Factor stars were singing there as part of their G4: Christmas Tour which visits more than 20 beautiful cathedrals around the country, over November and December 2018. The PQA students joined G4 for festive numbers including:- O'Holy Night, Silent Night and Walking in the Air. Students also performed 2 of their own songs, Sleigh Ride and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. Sarah Barnes, Principal at PQA Southport, said:- "I'm so proud of all the students at my academy. It was such a prestigious venue and G4 are so professional, but my kids just took it all in their stride. The sound in that gorgeous Ballroom was just incredible."