Steve Pratt talks to Fame Academy contestant Alistair Griffin about the transformation in his musical fortunes.

JUST as soap stars are tarred and feathered with their character's name for years afterwards, so BBC talent show Fame Academy will remain with Alistair Griffin. He didn't win the competition a year ago - that honour fell to Alex Parks - but that hasn't prevented him taking his songwriting and singing career up a notch.

Griffin, who comes from Castleton in North Yorkshire, released his first single in the wake of the final - a double A-side, one of which was a duet with Bee Gee Robin Gibb - and that was followed by a second single six months ago. There was an album too.

Coming up are live dates in Middlesbrough, York and Whitby as well as a European tour supporting Gibb.

Gibb was one of the Fame Academy judges and has continued to back the singer's career. Griffin admits that he was surprised the Bee Gee has done this, although he's obviously grateful. "The duet was quite a prestigious thing for me to do, given Robin's status," he says.

"He will give you a go. He's a very genuine and honest guy, and believes in me. In the music industry, you need a helping hand every now and then."

He's just returned from Germany where he supported Gibb on tour. Griffin will be recording a new album in that country, where he has a record deal now. He's never had a plan about what to do post-Fame Academy. "You're very much in the hands of other people once the programme has finished," he says.

"I recorded an album very quickly and released it, along with a couple of singles - and then I was thrown to the wolves. The album did quite well but unless you sell four million of your first release, you're out the door. So things didn't go exactly to plan. Having said that, I've kept going by playing lots of gigs and playing live with a band."

Griffin, who failed to win a place in the first Fame Academy series, says he never expected to win. "I just looked on it as an opportunity for people to hear my songs and as a springboard to something else," he says.

"I've seen those first couple of releases as a stepping stone to where I want to get to. People don't forget Fame Academy very quickly. Before, I had a publishing deal to write songs and develop me as an artist. I'd been in bands and was looking for a break. Fame Academy gave me that.

"The main thing is writing and performing my own songs. What Alex and Pop Idol do is come out with covers. What's important to me is to write my own songs and have a voice that says something." He has plenty of work on the horizon. He's writing a song for a new film These Foolish Things, starring Lauren Bacall, which is due to be released next summer. He'll also be touring Europe again with Gibb next year.

What he clearly enjoys is being on stage with a band. "The recent tour was very extensive taking in Germany, France, Russia and a couple of UK dates. It's the opportunity to get in front of thousands of people," he says.

"It's kind of old-fashioned, you go in front of people, they hear your songs and want to buy them. I had a hundred or so requests for the record every night on tour. Germany is the third biggest market in the world. You don't have to be massive in the UK - but that's still a plan."

* Alistair Griffin appears at Middlesbrough Town Hall on Sunday, Box Office: (01642) 729729 and at York Grand Opera House on Tuesday (0870 606 3595).

* NATASHA Bedingfield's visit to The Journal Tyne Theatre next year has been brought forward to Wednesday, March 2. The show was due to take place on Friday, March 4, but scheduling the whole tour has meant moving the date two days earlier.

All tickets bought so far will be valid for the new date. Tickets are £15 and are available on 0870 145 1200 (24 hour 7days).

Published: 11/11/2004