Zoe Birkett
Encyclopedia
Zoe Birkett was one of the youngest contestants on the ITV
show, Pop Idol
, being only 16 at the time.
and had previously auditioned unsuccessfully to be in S Club 7, finishing in the final 12. She did better in the first series of Pop Idol however, finishing fourth behind Will Young
, Gareth Gates
and Darius Danesh
, being the highest placed female on the show.
During the programme, she performed such songs as Whitney Houston
's "One Moment in Time
", "I Will Always Love You
" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"; Aretha Franklin
's "I Say a Little Prayer
"; ABBA
's "Thank You For the Music" and Judy Garland
's "Get Happy
".
After the show, Birkett was the warm-up act on Pop Idol winners Will Young's and Gareth Gates' tour where she performed in front of 18,000 people. She performed three song
s for Pop Idol: The Big Band Album
.
In 2003, Birkett signed a recording contract
with 19 Recordings and released one single
, "Treat Me Like a Lady", on 13 January 2003. The track was co-written by fellow Pop Idol contestant Sarah Whatmore
, but only reached number 12 in the UK Singles Chart
on 25 January. This quickly drifted down the chart and faded. Soon after, Birkett was dropped by the record label
.
Birkett appeared in Robert C. Kelly's production of In Town Tonight at the Glasgow Kings Theatre and then went on to star in pantomime
in her home town of Darlington
, along with Big Brother
star Anthony Hutton. She has more recently toured the country with What A Feeling - a tribute to musicals such as Saturday Night Fever
, Fame
, Flashdance
, Grease
and many more - with Noel Sullivan
and 1980s pop singer Sinitta. At the time, she was engaged to Pop Idol 2 runner-up Mark Rhodes
; however the pair later split up and Birkett began dating her panto co-star Anthony Hutton.
In October 2006, she and Sullivan flew to Las Vegas
to host a show called Cover Girls in the Golden Nugget Casino. She now lives in Darlington
. Birkett starred in Thriller Live from May to June 2007, playing the lead female role. During 2008, Birkett has appeared in many shows, including West End Rocks, another tribute to musicals such as Fame, Grease and Flashdance.
Towards the end of 2008, Zoe toured the UK and Europe with Thriller Live
.
Birkett landed herself a major West End role in Priscilla Queen of the Desert from March 2009. Zoe left Priscilla on March 8, 2010 along with fellow Diva, Kate Gillespie. She was succeeded by Charlotte Riby.
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
show, Pop Idol
Pop Idol
Pop Idol is a British television series which debuted on ITV on 6 October 2001. The show was a talent contest to decide the best new young pop singer in the United Kingdom, based on viewer voting and participation. Two series were broadcast - one in 2001-02 and a second in 2003...
, being only 16 at the time.
Music career
Birkett had had hopes of being a musicianMusician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and had previously auditioned unsuccessfully to be in S Club 7, finishing in the final 12. She did better in the first series of Pop Idol however, finishing fourth behind Will Young
Will Young
William Robert "Will" Young is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominenceafter winning the 2002 inaugural series of the British music contest Pop Idol, making him the first winner of the now-worldwide Idols-format franchise...
, Gareth Gates
Gareth Gates
Gareth Paul Gates , is an English singer-songwriter. He was the runner-up in the first series of the ITV talent show Pop Idol. Gates has sold over 3.5 million records in the UK alone. He is also known for having a stutter, and has talked about his speech impediment publicly...
and Darius Danesh
Darius Danesh
Darius Campbell , also known as Darius Danesh or simply Darius, is a British Iranian platinum-selling singer-songwriter, a West End stage actor, operatic baritone, Sunday Times best-selling author, and an Ambassador for The Prince's Trust.He established himself as a popular West End leading...
, being the highest placed female on the show.
During the programme, she performed such songs as Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
's "One Moment in Time
One Moment in Time
"One Moment in Time" is an Emmy Award winning song written by Albert Hammond and John Bettis, and recorded by American singer Whitney Houston for the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1988 Summer Paralympics held in Seoul, South Korea.-History:...
", "I Will Always Love You
I Will Always Love You
"I Will Always Love You" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton in 1973, who first released the song as a single in 1974.-Dolly Parton version:...
" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"; Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
's "I Say a Little Prayer
I Say a Little Prayer
"I Say a Little Prayer" is a song written by songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick, originally peaking at number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in December 1967.-Background:...
"; ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
's "Thank You For the Music" and Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
's "Get Happy
Get Happy (song)
"Get Happy" is a song composed by Harold Arlen, with lyrics written by Ted Koehler.It was the first song they wrote together, and was introduced by Ruth Etting in The Nine-Fifteen Revue in 1930....
".
After the show, Birkett was the warm-up act on Pop Idol winners Will Young's and Gareth Gates' tour where she performed in front of 18,000 people. She performed three song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
s for Pop Idol: The Big Band Album
Pop Idol: The Big Band Album
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.-Track listing:#"Beyond the Sea" — featuring Will Young...
.
In 2003, Birkett signed a recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
with 19 Recordings and released one single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, "Treat Me Like a Lady", on 13 January 2003. The track was co-written by fellow Pop Idol contestant Sarah Whatmore
Sarah Whatmore
Sarah Louise Whatmore and raised in Walkden, in the City of Salford, England, is an English singer, best known from the British TV series Pop Idol.-Pop Idol:...
, but only reached number 12 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
on 25 January. This quickly drifted down the chart and faded. Soon after, Birkett was dropped by the record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
.
Birkett appeared in Robert C. Kelly's production of In Town Tonight at the Glasgow Kings Theatre and then went on to star in pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
in her home town of Darlington
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...
, along with Big Brother
Big Brother (UK)
Big Brother UK is the British version of the Dutch Big Brother television format, which takes its name from the character in George Orwell's 1948 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four...
star Anthony Hutton. She has more recently toured the country with What A Feeling - a tribute to musicals such as Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 drama film directed by John Badham and starring: John Travolta as Tony Manero, an immature young man whose weekends are spent visiting a local Brooklyn discothèque; Karen Lynn Gorney as his dance partner and eventual friend; and Donna Pescow as Tony's former dance...
, Fame
Fame (musical)
A stage musical based on the 1980 musical film Fame has been staged under two titles. The first, 'Fame – The Musical' conceived and developed by David De Silva, is a musical with a book by Jose Fernandez, music by Steve Margoshes and lyrics by Jacques Levy. The musical premiered in 1988 in Miami,...
, Flashdance
Flashdance
Another song used in the film, "Maniac", was also nominated for an Academy Award. It was written by Michael Sembello and Dennis Matkosky, and was inspired by the 1980 horror film Maniac. The lyrics about a killer on the loose were rewritten so that it could be used in Flashdance...
, Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
and many more - with Noel Sullivan
Noel Sullivan
Noel Sullivan , is a Welsh singer and actor. He was a member of the British pop group Hear'Say. Like the other members of the group, he won his part through the talent show Popstars.-Early life and career:...
and 1980s pop singer Sinitta. At the time, she was engaged to Pop Idol 2 runner-up Mark Rhodes
Mark Rhodes
Mark Thomas Rhodes is an English singer and television presenter.-Career:...
; however the pair later split up and Birkett began dating her panto co-star Anthony Hutton.
In October 2006, she and Sullivan flew to Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
to host a show called Cover Girls in the Golden Nugget Casino. She now lives in Darlington
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...
. Birkett starred in Thriller Live from May to June 2007, playing the lead female role. During 2008, Birkett has appeared in many shows, including West End Rocks, another tribute to musicals such as Fame, Grease and Flashdance.
Towards the end of 2008, Zoe toured the UK and Europe with Thriller Live
Thriller – Live
Thriller – Live is a two and a half hour concert celebrating the music of The Jackson 5 and the solo work of Michael Jackson. It had already been performed in the United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, and Scandinavia before opening at the Lyric Theatre, London on 2 January 2009...
.
Birkett landed herself a major West End role in Priscilla Queen of the Desert from March 2009. Zoe left Priscilla on March 8, 2010 along with fellow Diva, Kate Gillespie. She was succeeded by Charlotte Riby.