JOE McELDERRY has come home this Christmas this year.

The 2009 winner of the X Factor has donned his multi-coloured tails for a celebrated and critically acclaimed role in the family musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat.

The musical opened at Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena on Tuesday for a strictly limited Christmas season which has its finale on New Year's Eve.

This Christmas homecoming completes a hugely successful year for McElderry touring the UK playing the title-role - his first major theatrical appearance which has been met with Five Star reviews and standing ovations up and down the country.

It also follows the release of his new recording of the Joseph soundtrack which reached the top of the Amazon Musical Soundtrack Charts; his top 5 entry in the official charts with his new hit single Gloria, released last month; as well as the announcement of his highly anticipated fifth album Saturday Night at the Movies and supporting concert The Gloria Tour this summer.

Joe said: “I am so excited to be bringing this wonderful show back home for Christmas! I have had an amazing year touring with Joseph so far and we have had fantastic audiences, so to bring it back to the North-East in Newcastle over Christmas is very special and is really the icing on the cake to an already fantastic year! I cannot wait to see everyone at the shows over the festive period.”

Having garnered sensational reviews and standing ovations at every performance since its inception over 36 years ago, Bill Kenwright’s "amazing", "superb", "wonderful" and "brilliant" production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s family musical has now sold an estimated 20 million tickets.

This vibrant and exciting retelling of the biblical story about Joseph, his 11 brothers and the coat of many colours sings out to young and old alike with a score which is crammed wall to wall with hits, including Jacob and Sons, Close Every Door and Any Dream Will Do.

Earlier this year, McElderry - now a platinum-selling artist - delighted his army of fans by confirming that he had been back in the studio recording his eagerly anticipated fifth studio album Saturday Night at the Movies. The album includes iconic hits from film and theatre such as I’m into Something Good, Love is All Around, Daydream Believer as well as the hit single Gloria and will be released later this year.

Joe, who hails from South Shields, Tyne and Wear, was just 18 when he won the sixth series of the X Factor, having been mentored by Girls Aloud star Cheryl Cole. He soared to number one on the UK Singles Charts with his rendition of Miley Cyrus’s The Climb and his debut album Wide Awake went straight in at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart. He has since gone on to have two more Top 10 albums.

  • Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle. Until December 31. Tickets at 0844 493 6666 or metroradioarena.co.uk