Three years ago John Foley was a tree surgeon working for Easington Council.

Last night, millions of TV viewers saw the miner's son from Murton take his first step towards becoming an opera singer.

He was one of 20 hopefuls chosen to go through to the next round of Operatunity - Channel 4's operatic equivalent of Pop Idol.

After a weekend of masterclasses, six will be chosen for the final. The winner will sing a major role alongside world-class singers in an English National Opera production.

John, 34, left the North-East in 1999 to move to London to pursue his singing ambitions. He has worked as a fitness instructor and is now an usher at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. He began singing when he was 26, joining amateur operatic societies in Sunderland and South Shields.

"I am not from a musical family. None of my friends were musical," he said.

He plays down the parallels with the fictional story of Billy Elliot, the boy in the hit film about a miner's son who wants to be a ballet dancer.

"My dad is proud of me being a singer and wanting to be an opera singer," he said.

His parents, Joseph and Betty Foley, still live in Murton.

His brother, Joe, is general manager of Asda, in Hartlepool.

John's audition piece for Operatunity was an aria from Puccini's La Boheme. He told judges that his ambition was to sing the role of poet Rodolfo at Covent Garden.

He refuses to divulge how far he gets in achieving his dream in Operatunity. "You'll have to wait and see," he said. Operatunity continues on Channel 4 next Tuesday at 9pm.

* Read John Foley's story in 7Days tomorrow.