Crieff siblings line up in national talent contest

Oct 3 2008 by Lynn Duke, Strathearn Herald

A SINGER songwriter from Strathearn has made it through to the regional finals of Idol UK 2008.

Don Nicolson (31) from Crieff took part in last month’s auditions for the second largest talent competition outside the X Factor – along with his sister Cindi (26) and brother John (46).

Don and John had originally gone along to support Cindi but decided at the last moment to enter themselves as well. Don told the Herald: “We had no idea how big it was going to be. It’s a bit like Pop Idol. Cindi got through first, then me and then it was a nervous wait to see if John would make it too. John is also a singer songwriter and I’ve always used him as my benchmark so it was great when we heard that he had got through too. That means there are three of us from the same family in the line up of around 20 going through to the regional finals.” Cindi added: “We know that we will be in competition with each other but we will still cheer each other on.”

The regional finals will be held on November 2 at the Glasgow Concert Hall and only one contestant will make it through to the next round with another having the chance of a wild card.

There have been 10,000 applicants taking part in the nationwide contest for both singers and dancers. As well as a prize fund of £25,000 and the chance to perform in front of large audiences, competitors also gain valuable exposure in the music industry.

Don is a part-time bus driver but he is no stranger to the music business. Earlier this year he was just pipped to the post in the final of BBC3’s Upstaged programme.

Viewers watched the acts on the internet and had to vote to keep their favourite ones performing in giant purpose built boxes.

Don explained: “It was like a cross between Big Brother and Britain’s Got Talent. I thought that this could be my big chance but the media coverage wasn’t as good as we expected.” Nevertheless, thousands of viewers liked him and Don was kept in his bubble for 28 hours, earning him cult status on YouTube. At one point he was rated eighth in the video sharing website’s UK top ten and 88th in the world.

An established musician, Don is regularly found with his guitar performing around the pubs of Strathearn. He recently appeared with Journey South at Perth and will be appearing with Dougie Maclean at the Pitlochry Amber Festival.

Don already has one EP under his belt and his debut album, featuring 14 of his own compositions, will be available soon from Concorde Music in Perth and he is also in talks with I-Tunes and Amazon about downloads.

Idol UK’s grand final takes place in Portsmouth on November 29 and there is a good chance that one of the talented trio of siblings could make it through from the regional finals.

However, they can be seen performing together before that when they take the stage with a charity concert on November 15 at the A K Bell Theatre in Perth.