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Who is saying What, Why, When and Where

Headline:

From now on

Synopsis:

Since winning Pop Idol in 2002, Will Young has had huge commercial success, yet depression and self-doubt have dogged his achievements. Now with his critically acclaimed new album he is tackling life with vigour.



It is a couple of hours before he is due to address the Oxford Union, and Will Young is nervous. Actually, he is more than nervous. 'I'm s****ing myself!' he whispers just after he arrives at the drinks reception arranged in his honour. But he hides it well, chatting comfortably to the students invited for this reception, and to the even more select group over dinner afterwards. Charming, funny and bright, they are all decked out in skimpy dresses and smart suits and swanning around a building that has seen generations of gilded youths like them come and go. It's like Brideshead Revisited, one of them jokes, only dressed by Primark.

Burt Bacharach was talking at the union the previous week (he passed on his regards to Young - they performed two London concerts together in 2002). Later in the term everyone from Gok Wan to Lord Patten will be speaking here, but there is still a genuine frisson of excitement when Young walks into the room, and quite a bit of polite jostling to bask in his celebrity glow. One girl has joined the union that day at a cost of £198 just to see him. 'I voted for him every week on Pop Idol, when I was 12,' another declares proprietorially.

Publish date:

29 November 2008

Author:

Sheryl Garratt

Source:

Daily Telegraph

Media:

Access Interview