Tony Perry talks to Bowienet on the eve of his appearance as David Bowie in the Grand Final of the UK TV show Stars In Their Eyes. Showtime 7.30pm, Saturday 14th July, UK ITV. Tune in and vote for Tony!

Q: How long have you been a Bowie fan and what was it that brought you to the man and his music?

A: I’ve been a DB fan since 1973. I saw the front cover of Pin Ups and was totally taken with the image. I bought the album, then Ziggy and then Diamond Dogs.............

Q: What is your favourite Bowie song to sing and why?

A: Its got to be Starman . I saw him do it at TFI, just love that version and of course the original on TOTP, a true ‘moment in history’

Q: Have you sung as DB in public before?

A: Up until STARS I had never dressed or presented myself as DB, though I had sung with LITTLE WONDER mostly in local venues (Southend) playing DB’s music. Musically and vocally we try and capture the essence of DB but a straight impersonation is not what its about for me. ‘There can be only one’ as they say.

Q: Can you tell us a little about the selection process for STARS?

A: They had 30,000 applications for the last series. Apparently they listen to them all. They audition 800 of these down to 100 and then down again to 52 (5 for each of ten shows plus 2 stand ins)

Thankfully the auditions are closed, unlike popstars where you have to sing your song in front of hundreds of other hopefuls. First audition you sing your chosen song with a backing track in front of a panel of about six people, during which time you are filmed and recorded. They take a picture of you and send you on your way. For the second audition they asked me to sing ‘Ashes’ (my first choice was ‘Lets Dance’). This was in Manchester and I thought I’d blown it. Around 12/15 people in the room and my backing track wouldn’t play. STRESSED!! Came home feeling that I could have performed better. Two weeks later I got a phone call to say I was on for the next series, Bloody Hell!!!

Q: I bet the preparations for the show were lot of fun...any funny stories?

A:The thing that sticks in my mind the most is the look on the hotel porter's face when he brought me up a sandwich to my hotel room at around 10.30. I had been walking around the room in my stillettos practising for the following day. I had on my jeans rolled up to the knee so that I could see my feet properly, a pair of pop socks AND my nice black stilletto court shoes. He didn’t wait for a tip.

Q: Why did you choose Ashes to Ashes and the Brit Awards outfit?

A: They chose the song. I had originally planned to do Starman , but felt they would have wanted me to do the Ziggy thing with the red jumpsuit on -me in a jumpsuit - not a pretty sight!!! So I auditioned with Lets Dance This song had already been covered in an earlier series so they asked me to do Ashes for my second audition. They decided Ashes was the song and then we discussed outfits. They wanted the clown image which I wasn’t at all comfy with especially as it was used in the video and this was going to be a stage performance, plus DB would look good in a string vest and baggy Y-Fronts whilst us mortals have to work at it. I suggested the Brits outfit because I remembered it very clearly and I think they liked it because its larger than life and the shoes are pretty quirky.

Q: Tell me a bit about the backing track

A: They have session musicians record the track before the contestants go into the studio. I went to a recording studio in Holland Park London -amazing place - to make sure I was comfortable with the arrangement and so that the shows musical director could ensure that the correct vocal effect was used on the night AND they let me do my own backing vocals. I really enjoyed that day.

Q: How did you feel when you won? That was a long walk through all those technicians....what was going through your mind?

A: I truly did not expect to win. Having watched the show on the occasional Saturday night I always thought that the winning performer was chosen because of the popularity of the star and the song. Whilst DB is very popular, I wouldn’t have said he was necessarily mainstream, plus the other participants were all very good. I was totally gobsmacked when I heard Matthew Kelly say ‘Tonight's winner is Tony Perry as David Bowie.’ As I walked down the corridor towards the stage I just remember feeling extremely happy and aware that I was going to sing the song again. I was so wrapped up in the moment I completely forgot I was wearing high heels and almost tumbled down the steps as I walked out to meet Matthew again.

Q: Your wife looked thrilled. What does she, and your kids, think of it all?

A: Tania , my wife , is very chuffed about the whole thing (she adds that she is very proud and wishes she walked as well in high heels as me) My two boys are very matter of fact about it all, though they do make a point of watching the show every Saturday now,

They sing DB songs ALL the time. My youngest, Stefan was asked to sing a song during circle time at school and while the other kids sang nursery rhymes and Steps songs he gave them a rendition of Scary Monsters , his current fave (bootleg version)

Q:Are you hoping to do more with your skills as a Bowie Tribute artist?

A: I am hoping to do more , especially with the band (though backing track stuff is always an option). Ideally I would love to do a theatre tour and some work on the continent.

Its been a really great experience and everyone has been very positive about my performance. The local celeb thing is good fun - I opened my wife's school fete with Ashes - and shopping at Safeways now has added interest as they recently took a photo of me in a shopping trolley being pushed by the staff for the Safeway Mag and the local paper. The only downside has been the overwhelming demand for floral peg bags. I have now run out of material and retired from the sewing machine.

I started rehearsals for the final on Wednesday the 11th at Granada in Manchester and spent Tuesday night drinking with Barry Sellers, the lovely bloke who did Eric Clapton on my show, up in Harrogate, Yorkshire.

Tomorrow morning I am due at the local radio station for an interview with the ‘Breakfast Crew’ who have a reputation for slaughtering interviewees (scary) and LWT are coming to film me and 3 other STARS candidates for broadcast on London Tonight on Friday.

So its all go here!

Thanks again for the opportunity to answer your questions.

Best Regards

Tony

Thanks so much Tony!! All the Bowienetters around the world wish you the very best of luck for Saturday! We will be rooting for you!

:))

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