It's all about the sequins (From This Is Wiltshire)

It's all about the sequins

10:57am Thursday 26th November 2009

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WHEN Lulu gets excited, her Glaswegian accent takes on a slightly transatlantic tone. And Lulu is very excited by my question about the costumes for her forthcoming tour with fellow divas Chaka Khan and Anastacia.

“Will there be sequins?” I ask, and she’s off...

“Sequins?! Listen honey, whaddya think?! Oh yeah, there will be sequins. We’re going for full-on sparkle here. We’ve got a fantastic girl looking after our clothes - she’s worked for Russian Vogue, y’know - and it’s gonna be glam, glam, glam.

“And the shoes . . . oh my God, the shoes! Do you know, we are all the same height - about 5ft nothing - and we’re all the same shoe size, so we can swap if we want to. Trust me honey, if there’s gonna be a fight between us, it’ll be about the shoes!”

Phew! The Here Come The Girls show, featuring three of the biggest voices in the business, is billed as a high-octane, highly camp extravaganza, and I can well believe it will be.

If the other two divas are half as enthusiastic as Lulu - and they don’t strike me as shy and retiring types - it’ll be a night to remember when they drop into Swindon’s Oasis Leisure Centre on November 27 as part of their 20-date tour. These three women certainly know how to work a crowd, with more than 80 years of hits between them.

Lulu herself has been in the music industry since she was 15 (she’s 61 now. . . sorry Lulu), when Shout carved out its place as one of the UK’s most widely-known and memorable hits. She most recently performed in Swindon as Sir Elton John’s support act when he played the County Ground in 2005.

Never one to rest on her laurels, Lulu was the one who came up with the idea of bringing together three female performers for this new celebration of womanhood and good old glamorous fun.

“I’m always looking to shake things up a bit, to stop myself getting stuck in a rut,” she said. “About two years ago, I decided to invite some friends to do some gigs with me and I got the likes of Kiki Dee, John Miles and my old friend Jimmy Smith involved.

“It was so much fun and the audience loved the interaction between us up there on stage.

“I decided I wanted to put together the kind of show I would want to go and see myself, and these two women were at the top of my wish list.

“We have a fantastic rapport. We are just out there having a laugh. Talk about woman power!”

Chaka Khan, of course, is the soulful voice behind some powerful anthems like I’m Every Woman and I Feel For You, while Anastacia has had several belting chart hits this decade with the likes of I’m Outta Love and Left Outside Alone. One thing this gig won’t be is quiet.

Lulu is reluctant to give away too much about the track list for the tour, but suffice to say: “There are certain numbers we just have to do, aren’t there? Did you know Chaka once did a cover of To Sir With Love? We’ll be on stage together the whole time, but sometimes we’re singing together and sometimes we’re sitting and watching. All I’ll say is the songs will be the soundtrack of the audience’s life.”

You may well expect that audience to be filled with women - the clue is in the title, after all - but Lulu reckons men will find just as much to enjoy.

She said: “Sure, my sister who is 50 will be bring her mates along, and my niece who is 19 is planning to bring her girlfriends. But I also mentioned it to my nephews, who are aged from 16 to 22, and they are taking their mates too - I think that must be Anastacia’s influence!”

And are the audience encouraged to dress up in sequins too?

“Hey honey, the audience can wear whaddever they want to . . . they are the number one divas here, not us.”

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