Why Keiran Goss left the law for the guitar
Star of the County Down
' At the end of the day, it is as a songwriter that I would most like to be remembered '
A QUALIFIED solicitor who has practised law is currently one of the biggest draws on the Irish music scene.
The only case Kieran Goss has ever handled is the one which contains the tool of his chosen trade  the guitar.
For the talented Co.
Down man with the droll line in laid back stage patter is now established as a leading figure in the ever swelling ranks of Irish singer/songwriters.
He has forged a highly successful partnership with the Dublin singer Frances Black  sister of the famous Mary  and his songs are being ' covered ' by other performers as far away as Japan.
So, at the age of 31, instead of standing in court in a pinstripe making pleas in mitigation for the Saturday night disorderly drunks, he is on the road to fame, suitcase and guitar in hand.
How did it all begin?
Like his close musical friends, the Sands Family, Kieran was born in the townland of Mayobridge near Newry.
Shows
He was one of a family of 15 raised by Newry garage owner Billy Goss and his wife Bridie, and since two of his older brothers played the guitar it was not long before young Kieran was picking out those three main chords himself.
By the time he went to Abbey CBS in Newry he was already regaling school shows and family parties with the songs of 1970's singer-strummers like Ralph McTell and Tom Paxton.
In 1980 he arrived at Queen's University to study law and at the end of his first year flew out to the USA to find summer jobs as labourer.
' But I only stuck that for a couple of weeks, ' he says, ' for I was playing guitar at a party one night in Cleveland, Ohio, and he said there were easier ways of making money out there than working the building sites.
' So he got me a few gigs round the Irish pubs, and I had to learn off some traditional Irish ballads quickly for the sort of audiences you got there certainly didn't want to hear me singing songs by James Taylor or Simon and Garfunkel.
Support
' It was just a bit of crack, but curiously enough it gave me my first taste of playing in public, something I had not yet done back home. '
Returning to Queen 's, he asked for, and got, a few gigs in the students' union  ' my very first one was as support act to Blackthorn '  and soon he was working once or twice a week round the local pubs and folk clubs.
On that demanding circuit, he served his time to the troubadour's trade, learning how to handle an audience, and going home to his law books.
At the end of 1985 he qualified as a solicitor (' this was the safety net and I had written my thesis on the copyright laws, which has been very useful to me '), but he had already decided to take the plunge as a full time professional musician.
For the next four years or so he lived the nomadic life of the minstrel, heading off in his car round the well worn folk circuits of Germany, Italy and Brittany and playing everywhere from cafes to pizza parlours.
Decision
Sounds idyllic  he was young and having fun earning a living at what he liked best.
' But by 1989 I was at the crossroads, ' he says.
' Touring on my own was good crack, but I wanted security and it was time to make a serious decision about the future  whether to become a lawyer (and I had already started applying for jobs) or to take a more businesslike approach to the music. '
He opted for the latter and at the end of 1989 he launched his debut album ' Brand New Star ' which sold very well, got a lot of radio play, and, most important of all, it introduced the songs he had been composing and singing at concerts to a wider public.
Mary Black recorded two of them.
As a songwriter, he was now on his way.
His next big career break came about almost by accident.
Frances Black had been touring with the traditional band Arcady but in 1990 was asked to do a few solo gigs in the north.
She needed a backing guitarist and asked Kieran, who she had met once or twice on the road, would he help out.
Chemistry
' We hardly knew each other, but I agreed, thinking it would be a short term thing, ' he said.
' But those few gigs we did, with me playing guitar and singing harmonies, went down a bomb and we have been partners ever since.
' We have never worked out what the chemistry is, but the audiences liked it and we realised ' Hey, we've got something here ' and really set to work on it.
' Next thing we were playing support on a Mary Black tour and from doing folk club gigs for maybe 100 customers I suddenly found myself doing 20 nights in a row in front of 2,000 people or more. '
First album
The duo's first album has Irish sales of 27,000 so far, and is also to be released Japan, of all places, where Kieran's songs are so popular that two of them have been recorded by a local singer  the lyrics translated into Japanese.
He finds it hard to talk about what that sounds like without laughing.
' Our album opened doors for us all over the world, ' he says, ' and another major factor in our success was that one of the songs on it, ' Wall Of Tears', was included on the Women's Heart C.D. which has already sold over 200,000 copies in Ireland alone.
THAT was a really important break for us, and helped to push us a few more rungs up the ladder.
During July we were on the Women's Heart tour  28 gigs in 30 nights, packed houses all the way.
I really enjoyed it, but I was glad when it was over for it was very tiring. '
Kieran has now Rostrevor home to Dublin for six months where he intends, as he puts it, to ' lie low ' for a while, writing songs and preparing for his and Frances's second album.
' Like Frances, who has a family, I'd like to spend a bit more time at home, ' he said, ' for I have a lot of material on tape and you can't write songs when you're on the road.
' At the end of the day, it is as a songwriter that I would most like to be remembered.
If I had to choose between the two, I could live without performing but not without song writing.
It's what I enjoy most. '
Safety net
And as for the law?
It now looks as if that safety net is never going to be needed.
Who was it said ' Let other men write my country's laws, but let me write its songs'?
Whoever it was, he and Kieran Goss would have been kindred souls.
Pianist's fingers spared
THE conductor Alan Tongue tells me this heart-warming little story with a touch of the Scarlet Pimpernels about it.
Alan was in London talking business with his agent, Audrey Ellison, when she just happened to mention a letter she had received from a friend in Budapest about a young pianist who was about to be hauled into the Hungarian army to do his national service.
The only thing that would save him would be work abroad.
' You can imagine what a spell in the Army would have meant for someone who values his fingers as a pianist, so when I came back home I got in touch with some people and now he has been booked for a number of festivals, ' Alan tells me.
The pianist, Attila Pertis, who is just 27, will now appear at Armagh and Ballymena festivals next month and will also attend master classes.
Not only that, but Alan and his friends have also managed to get him a recital in the Barbican in London.
Alan himself is off on his travels again later this month, when he will work with three orchestras in Romania.
He will be, as he says, ' getting his teeth into ' Holst's Planets with the Transylvanian Philharmonic  a first for it  and will also conduct the Philharmonic of Tirgu-Mures and the Oradea Philharmonic.
Sunny future for BBC voice
DAVID Capper, the BBC Radio Ulster reporter with one of the best-known voices on the air, has just clinched himself a fantastic new job.
He and his wife Alexandra are heading off to the sun and fun of Mauritius where he will head up English television and radio news for the local broadcasting corporation.
Wasn't Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, I asked.
' Yes, ' said David, ' to find it turn right at the Seychelles'.
Languages
One of the problems he will face is the variety of languages spoken on the island.
' Although English is the official language, people speak French, Creole, Urdu, and Chinese.
All these will have to be translated into English for the broadcasts, ' he says.
Capper covered the Northern Ireland scene for the BBC here for many years, and went freelance four-and-a-half years ago.
Since then he has spent his time equally divided between Belfast and a home he has in the south of France.
London set for Highland fling
THE sounds of the Scottish Highlands will ring through Hyde Park today as thousands of pipers and drummers flood the Capital.
For the first time, the British Pipe Band Championships are to be held in London and will attract more than 1,600 pipers and drummers from 85 bands.
Also displaying their skills will be 50 highland dancers, aged from just four to 50, along with entrants in the adult and junior drum major competitions.
Children's TV presenter, John Leslie, will be the Championship's honourary Chieftain and the Edinburgh-born celebrity will also present the prizes.
In keeping with a celebration of Scottish culture, crafts and produce on show will include honey and jams, tartan weaving bagpipe making and salmon smokers.
The event is expected to attract more than 50,000 people.
Soap song
EASTENDERS star Tom Eytle sang to the Duchess of York as she attended a charity tea party.
Mr Eytle, grandfather Jules Tavernier in the hit BBC1 soap, played the guitar and sang Summertime to the Duchess at her request.
' I'd love to hear Summertime.
It seems appropriate for such a nice day, ' she had told him.
Then she sat beside Mr Tavernier and listened.
As the song finished she applauded and said: ' Thank you very much.
I haven't heard that song since I was at school and I really love it. '
The request came as the actor entertained sufferers of the muscle-wasting motor neurone disease at the party in Purley, Surrey.
Ulrika ' problems'
GLADIATORS TV presenter Ulrika Jonson has confessed to ' marital problems' after being pictured with another man.
Ulrika, who once dated Prince Edward, was caught on camera walking in the arms of the mystery man.
Her agent said that she and husband cameraman John Turbull had been having ' some marital problems' but were ' trying to sort things out '.
The mystery man was' a good friend '.
Birthdays Dinsdale Landen, actor, 61; Tom Watson, golfer, 44; Dawn Fraser, swimmer, 56; Bill Kenwright, theatrical impresario, 48; Joan Aiken, children's author and playwright, 69.
BELFAST
Art show
WORKS by two of Ireland's celebrated artists, Louis le Brocquy and Tony O'Malley will be on show at the Confex Centre, Stormont Hotel, Belfast this evening 6-9pm and tomorrow 11.30-8.30.
Curtain rises on Lyric's silver jubilee
TONIGHT, the curtain rises on the Lyric Theatre's 25th anniversary celebrations, as the theatre opens its new season with the stage premiere of Jennifer Johnston's How Many Miles to Babylon?.
Launching the anniversary season, theatre secretary Ciaran McKeown spoke of his hope that, 25 years from now, the Lyric would be at leading the way towards making Belfast an internationally recognised centre of continuously creative theatre.
Mr McKeown also urged the Arts Council to provide funding for an extension to the theatre, comprising a rehearsal room, set construction workshop and studio theatre with flexible seating for between 50 and 150 people.
The theatre has still to fill the post of artistic director  indeed interviews have not yet begun  and Mr McKeown suggested the position might this time be taken by more than one person, and remain filled for some four or five years.
But back to the business in hand, and the theatre has gathered a strong cast, headed by Eleanor Methven, Stuart Graham and Peter O Meara for its first production, which will be directed by Caroline Fitzgerald.
Separated
The play tells the story of two young men who were separated by class and culture as children, who for different reasons end up serving together in the First World War.
It runs at Ridgeway Street until October 2.
Onwards and upwards.
September is just upon us. but in Derry they're already working hard towards this year's Octoberfest.
The North West's month-long package of international culture and entertainment this year addresses a number of themes, including arts and disability; a cultural twinning with Galway; the 100th anniversary of the Gaelic League; a look at Romanian culture, and the European Year of Older People.
Each of these themes will be represented in the festival's artistic output.
Some of the shows on offer will attract audiences from all over the north, not least Galway's Macnas with its epic retelling of The Tain.
Macnas will also be closing the festival during Halloween weekend with the outdoor Noah's Ark parade.
Challenging
Other companies visiting Octoberfest will be the Candoco Dance Company from England, challenging the fundamental aesthetics of dance.
Three of the company of eight are in wheelchairs  but the focus is always on dance, not disability.
IOU is a visual theatre company from Bradford, working with stunning set changes and enormous imagination.
The Mexican Hound is one of Holland's most highly regarded companies, which will be presenting a music-theatre piece of contemporary setting in English.
There will be contemporary dance from Israeli company Batsheva; the absurd drama The Bald Primadonna from Romania's Hungarian National Theatre of Cluj; comedy mime from America, and Galway's Druid Theatre Company's hilarious telling of The Midnight Court.
Gerry Stembridge will be co-producing a drama with actors from Ireland and Roumania, while Tara Arts from England will be staging Troilus and Cressida.
This is but a tip of the formidable Octoberfest iceberg.
I 'll be covering events in more depth during September, so watch this space.
Take a look at this singing duo
COVERDALE Page, who want to play Belfast next spring, have just released a new EMI single called Take a Look at Yourself.
David Coverdale and Jimmy Page are a pair Belfast fans have wanted to take a look at in the flesh for a while.
The single is from their debut album and they wrote and produced it themselves.
Coverdale Page are about to embark on a US tour and UK dates will be announced after that and could include Belfast.
All grown up!
LITTLE House on the Prairie goes on and on.
Its endless repeats still attract millions of television viewers.
And that means Melissa Gilbert who plays Laura Ingles of the freckles, pig tails and toothy grin stays forever young.
If there is a television heaven Melissa is bound to be there one day.
But in real life she has had to make the difficult transition from child to adult star.
Her fans can see how she has managed it in Braveworld's September 28 rental video release Family of Strangers.
Melissa plays Julie Lawson, a young mother and career woman in a dramatic and compelling family drama far removed from Little House on the Prairie.
Starring alongside Melissa is another household name in an unfamiliar guise  William Shatner.
He's better known as Captain Kirk and after that as T.J. Hooker.
In the new movie he is Melissa's adoring father.
Their normally strong relationship is threatened when he has to reveal a family secret.
Julie is devastated to discover she is adopted and she sets out to find her natural parents.
Past pleasures NOSTALGIA time is nearly here again as the British Glen Miller Orchestra prepare for a return visit to the province.
They are due at the Ulster Hall on September 28 and at the Rialto in Londonderry on September 30 and Little Brown Jug, In the Mood and Moonlight Serenade will be ringing out once more.
Six of the best
NAME six of the best films ever made.
Yes, it's a hard task, but Odyssey Video have tackled it and the result will be released next week.
The half-dozen?
The Seventh Veil (starring James Mason), The Stars Look Down (Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood), The Third Man (Orson Welles), While the City Sleeps (Dana Andrews), Beyond Reasonable Doubt (Dana Andrews again), Repulsion (Catherine Deneuve) and Cul-de-Sac ((Donald Pleasence).
I'd agree with four out of six, but Repulsion and Cul-de-Sac don't stick in my memory.
On top form...
ROB and Ali Campbell of UB40, the band who call themselves after an unemployment relief form, are delighted to be on their way back to Belfast.
They've played here so often in the past they feel they know the place intimately.
This time they are coming in the New Year  on January 29 to be precise, at the King's Hall.
In the eight years since UB40 made their debut at the Ulster Hall the Campbell brothers and the rest of them have grown in stature.
In fact on the day they signed the contracts with Wonderland for the King's Hall they had just gone to No 1 in the charts with their new album.
Squeezing out the favourites
THERE'S something about the accordion that tugs at the heart strings.
The Emerald Accordion Band directed by George Bradley, is about to burst onto the Ulster music scene.
For their debut album ' Ireland's Dancing Days' is released today and will keep up the harmonious accordion tradition  on the Emerald label.
' George Bradley came up with this great idea of putting an accordion band together for a record and we couldn't think of a name, ' said Emerald chief George Doherty.
' Just when we were giving up he suggested Emerald and it that makes sense  the Emerald band on the Emerald label.
And now in early autumn the Emerald band is making mellow music.
' Accordion music travels well, ' says Doherty.
' I was in Florida a few weeks ago and heard an album cut at my studios a few years ago by the Diamond Accordion Band being played on a pub juke box.
' The Yanks were loving it. '
The Diamond band is still around and is also producing more records with Emerald.
In the meantime it's Emerald and Bradley who are the flavour of the autumn.
Bradley who has travelled the world with his accordion sets the pace in more than 36 Irish tunes including Village Where I Went to School and The Galway Shawl.
Real roles in[life of
TV's evergreen[heart-throb VINTAGE romeo Ian McShane was lost for words on his daughter's wedding day.
For once the Lovejoy actor's old-fashioned charm deserted him as he plucked up courage to pass on some advice on her marriage lines.
The evergreen heart-throb thought he should be an expert on the subject having been wed three times.
After all, as a reformed boozer and hellraiser, the antiques rogue-show star has experienced more than his share of knock-downs in the auction room of life.
There were lots of little gems of advice that he wanted to offer his daughter, but Ian could only look blankly at her as he steeled himself to give her away.
Ian, 50, recalls the beautiful morning last spring when Kate, 22, got married.
Replay
' I picked up Kate in this nice old Rover.
We were early for the service at Chelsea Register Office, so we were riding along the Embankment.
' She was sitting in the back of this car, all dressed up, and I remember saying to her, ' You don't have to do this, you know '.
' That's what you're supposed to say.
But I felt bad because I like her husband, Cathal, very much.
I like him a lot.
' I said to Kate, ' This is nothing against Cathal, but you don't have to do this if you don't want to  just remember that '. '
Now happily married to actress Gwen Humble, 38, Ian found himself studying an action replay of his early days as a hell-raising Hollywood star as it ran through his mind  and he winced at what he saw.
Divorced
He credits Gwen and the Lovejoy series for rescuing him from a wasted life of bed-hopping, booze and drugs.
He was already off-the-rails when his marriage to Kate's mother, model Ruth Post, collapsed.
' I think I had already been married and divorced at Kate's age.
I didn't really think I should advise, except to say, ' I got it right last time I did it  I hope you get it right the first time you do it '.
' But she just said, ' I want to, Dad '.
And I just said to her, ' Fine  because don't forget who paid for the reception '. '
Ian said he spent the whole day walking around with a daft grin on his face.
' They did it well.
Kate organised the honeymoon in Bali, with a bit of help from Gwen, and it was great. '
Party
And now Ian is looking forward to the inevitable.
' I think it would be kind of nice to be a grandfather.
But Kate hasn't told me anything yet.
' I can't talk seriously with her about me being perceived as a ' heart-throb '  she doesn't even watch Lovejoy all the time.
' I think if I was to get up to dance at a party, Kate would say, ' Oh, don't dance, Dad  you're a parent, you're not supposed to do that sort of thing. '
Ian says that being a parent and devoted husband are now his main roles in life.
He has helped and supported Gwen, his third wife, through her battle against breast cancer over the last year.
America
Ian claims their 12-year marriage is now stronger than ever.
Gwen is on the road to recovery, and they plan a West Indies holiday together  after a year of painful radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
' She's just had her latest check-up in America and she's clear so far and is doing OK.
It 'll take a good year before she 'll get back in the swing of everything.
' That kind of thing either brings you closer together or it separates you.
But we're pretty tight anyway, so it's just made us closer. '
' I am happier with Gwen than I have ever been in my life  I love her very deeply and I miss her when I 'm not there. '
And the actor says he feels that life is just beginning at 50.
' I 'm in a successful show, I go out to work every day and I enjoy what I do.
I don't think I could have done that if I had still been drinking or doing the things I was doing about ten years ago.
Beautiful
' I 'm teetotal now.
I stopped smoking two years ago and I stopped doing all the silly drugs and drink nearly six years ago, so you naturally gravitate towards quite a healthy diet.
' Lovejoy is fun and I have a great time doing it. '
Ian also enjoys working with the new lady in his screen life  the top-drawer blonde, Caroline Langrishe.
Caroline takes over as Lovejoy's love interest from actress Phyllis Logan, who played Lady Jane.
' We invented this miraculously beautiful, intelligent creature, Charlotte, which Caroline fulfils very well.
With Lovejoy and Charlotte, it's not a case of ' Will they, won't they? '  it's ' When will they? '
SPAIN
Film workers end
SPANISH film dubbers called off a three-month strike after reaching a preliminary deal with their employers, Europa Press news agency reported.
The strike  a protest against alleged falling standards because of increasing time pressures  has delayed the opening in Spain of Jurassic Park and The Last Action Hero.
Arthur's lover Christine set to leave EastEnders
THE other woman in ' EastEnders', Christine Hewitt, is set to leave the series in a showdown with her lover Arthur Fowler.
Arthur's fling with Mrs Hewitt, played by Michael Aspel's wife, Lizzie Power, has turned into a serious affair and the unlikely Lothario is trying to pluck up the courage to leave his wife, Pauline.
But viewers will see Mrs Hewitt return to her estranged husband and leave the Square as Arthur (Bill Treacher) continues to dither between the two women.
Lizzie (45), who is filming her final scenes at ' EastEnders' ' Elstree studios, was supposed to stay with the BBC1 series for only five episodes when she joined the cast in January last year.
But her character became embroiled in one of the show's least likely relationships  which kept viewers hooked and earned her an extended contract.
Lizzie has two sons, Patrick (12) and Daniel (8), and lives with TV presenter Mr Aspel in Claygate, Surrey.
She is now considering other TV offers.
A BBC spokesman confirmed her departure, but the way may be left clear for Mrs Hewitt to return to Walford and put a spring back in henpecked Arthur's step.
Choir invitations
THE South Down Choral Society is inviting other choirs, choral societies and schools in Newry and Mourne to take part when it hosts' Voices for Hospice ' at Newry Sports Centre on October 23.
On that day Handel's Messiah will be performed in Belfast, Derry and Newry simultaneously.
Expert eye cast by Paul Good works:
UTV presenter Paul Clarke casts an expert eye along the row of ' oscar's ', which will be presented to companies and their employees who have helped to support charity or community projects in the province.
The Links Awards scheme organised by the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action was launched by Paul in Belfast.
Grunge tops at MTV awards
THE grunge sound of Pearl Jam and stylish En Vogue won big honours at the 10th annual MTV Video Music Awards.
Madonna set the tone with a lascivious opening number.
' Jeremy, ' Pearl Jam's lament for a teen suicide, earned the band best group video and top metal-hard rock video.
En Vogue's ' Free Your Mind ' won the rhythm and blues trophy, best dance video and choreography.
The quartet, which entered the competition with a leading seven nominations, accepted via videotape from Minneapolis.
Grunge produced other awards: Nirvana's ' In Bloom ' won the alternative video trophy, and Stone Temple Pilots' ' Plush ' won as top new artist honour.
The best rap video was' People Everyday ' by the hip hop group Arrested Development.
A tuxedo-clad Madonna opened the show with a gender-bending song-and-dance number with three scantily clad women in a brothel-style atmosphere.
Wearing a Marlene Dietrich-style tux and top hat, Madonna caressed the thigh and slapped the buttocks of a lingerie-clad female dancer.
' Get the picture? '
Madonna teased the audience at the end.
' If you're looking for trouble you've definitely come to the right place, ' said actor Christian Slater, host of the three-hour awards show telecast on the cable network from Universal Amphitheatre.
Pearl Jam's lead singer, Eddie Vedder, was scarcely impressed with the group video trophy.
' We're a group and I guess it was a video.
I don't know how you could say it was the best.
It's just a little piece of art.
You can't really put art into a competition, ' Vedder mumbled.
As Nirvana accepted its award, singer Kurt Cobain opened his trousers zipper, causing the camera to abruptly pan away from him.
Peter Gabriel's ' Steam ' won twice for special effects and editing.
Madonna's ' Rain ' video also was a double winner, for cinematography and art direction.
Les's love testament
A touching testament of comic Les Dawson's love for his second wife Tracey is being broadcast on Sunday.
The Blankety Blank star, who married the ex-barmaid 17 years his junior after his first wife Meg died from cancer, recorded the interview for Radio 4's In The Psychiatrist's Chair just a week before he died of a heart attack in June.
New attacks as Jackson moves on
POP superstar Michael Jackson flew out of Singapore today bound for Taipei, airport officials said, as new attacks against him over alleged child abuse were made in the United States.
Jackson had been in Singapore since Saturday, giving two concerts and enjoying a final day of relaxation that included a visit to the zoo and a meeting in his hotel with six orang-utans.
But controversy over the allegations of child abuse continued.
In the United States a lawyer for the child making the allegations levelled fresh attacks.
Trust
' Our client loved him and trusted him as well.
That trust has been destroyed, ' said attorney Gloria Allred.
Allred said she had been retained by the divorced parents of the boy to represent his interests.
She told a news conference in Beverly Hills that the 13-year-old boy who alleges he had a sexual relationship with Jackson was devastated by what happened.
Jackson has denied the allegations and his spokesmen have said they are part of an elaborate 17m extortion plot by the boy's father.
The allegations surfaced last week as Jackson began an Asian concert tour in Bangkok.
Scores of journalists flew to Asia but the elusive star has been avoiding reporters.
He postponed concerts twice in Bangkok and once in Singapore for health reasons.
His doctor cited dehydration for the Bangkok postponements and migraine for Singapore 's, denying there was any link to stress from the sex allegations.
Jackson is due to perform in Taipei tomorrow and Monday.
Aside from his concert appearances in Singapore, Jackson spent most of his time in his hotel.
But yesterday he visited the zoo while the Press was kept at arm's length.
Jackson met orang-utan Ah Meng at the hotel before touring the zoo, the ape's home, with actress friend Elizabeth Taylor.
Zoo executive director Bernard Harrison told reporters that Ah Meng and five other orang-utans sat at a poolside table drinking Coca-Cola at the Raffles hotel before a photo session.
Big break halts singer
BOY soprano David Brennan was all set to give the performance of a lifetime  when his voice broke.
The 13-year-old singer was about to audition for the joint BBC-RTE television talent show Go For It when his larynx let him down.
He had been selected from hundreds of applicants with stars in their eyes by producer Harry Adair, and was due to appear at the Broadcasting House auditions on Saturday.
Instead David, a pupil at Larne Grammar School, will be resting his voice as opportunity doesn't knock after all.
' He's talking a bit squeaky, ' said his mum Valerie at home in Hanna's Road, Larne today.
' The one consolation is that my husband Samuel and David and I have been invited to be in the audience when Go For It is filmed.
Trained
' My son loves singing and has had his voice trained in Larne by Margaret Crawford. '
Go for It, to go on screen in the New Year, was won last year by Peter Cory of Belfast, who is currently starring in Cosi Fan Tutti in Hamburg after turning professional.
Auditions
A would-be star will be auditioned every 10 minutes from dawn to dusk on Saturday, Sunday and Monday as Adair seeks out the candidates for the new series.
Auditions have already taken place in Londonderry.
' There is a wealth of talent out there in Northern Ireland, ' said Harry, whose Go For It won a Belfast Telegraph EMA award this year.
SING-SONG TIME
LOCHSONG can continue her fairytale rags-to-riches story by landing the 100,000-added Hazlewood Foods Sprint Cup at Haydock Park tomorrow.
Ian Balding's mare, a mere handicapper less than 12 months ago, is now a fully-fledged, blisteringly-fast Group One performer.
Rocketing out of the stalls in York's Keeneland Nunthorpe Stakes last month, Lochsong maintained a ferocious pace to beat her Goodwood victim Paris House a length-and-a-half, with College Chapel third.
Many punters will convince themselves that College Chapel will reverse the form over Haydock's extra furlong, but Vincent O'Brien's Royal Ascot winner has shown his best form on a soft surface and, barring an unexpected downpour, will not encounter those conditions here.
Frankie Dettori, smitten with his five-year-old mare, is expected to get the better of a battle for early supremacy with Willie Carson aboard inconsistent but occasionally very useful July Cup winner Hamas.
The Milan-born rider and his mount can then hold College Chapel's expected late challenge.
Punters are advised to double-up Lochsong with Relatively Special in Kempton's opening EBF Arion Maiden Fillies Stakes.
This half-sister to Dante winner Alnasr Alwasheek showed plenty of promise behind Areciba in a warmly-contested Newbury maiden race last month.
Merely pushed along throughout the final quarter-mile by Ray Cochrane, the Luca Cumani-trained two-year-old kept on well to finish fourth, beaten only four lengths.
With her stable in tip-top form, and plenty of improvement sure to surface, Relatively Special looks a cracking bet on what is traditionally a tough card for punters.
Majestic Eagle laid claim to easiest winner of the season when cruising six lengths clear of Bahrain Star in a Salisbury minor event last month.
Merely confirming the enormous promise of his second to Grand Lodge at Ascot in July, John Hills's colt looks booked for Group success before the season is out.
Make a careful note of him in the Listed Bonusprint Sirenia Stakes over six furlongs.
SELECTIONS
The last whodunnits?
ON FRIDAY, November 22, 1963, I was tucking into a steak in the Bellevue Arms at Whitewell outside Belfast when the news that shocked the world came on the radio.
Everybody remembers where they were when JFK was shot and now a new round of ' Who Really Killed the President ' books are coming out soon to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the assassination.
New evidence is promised as well as definitive answers  which is what publishers promise with every new JFK book.
If there truly was unarguable proof of conspiracy or lack of it there wouldn't be a marketplace for the publications.
Recently, a new Clint Eastwood film, Line of Fire, reawakened interest in the Kennedy affair.
Evidence
Eastwood played a Secret Service agent, Frank Horrigan, who froze when the first shot was fired that day in Texas and blamed himself for JFK's death.
The film, one of many on the President's death, is just further evidence of the public's huge interest in the affair.
The twist is top of the pops again
THE enthusiastic housekeeper will no doubt be pleased to hear that the carpet retailers are going back to the twist.
At least that's the view of Harry Mulholland of Carpetworld, who maintains that housewives should put their faith in the traditional wool Axminster carpets, for sheer quality and durability.
' You can see for yourself these days, ' explains Harry, ' just how well the wool carpets, of 80 pc wool and 20 nylon, are constructed compared to the synthetics.
And you don't have to pay the earth for them either ', he said.
In fact, Carpetworld has a range of quality wool mixture twist carpets 50/ 50 from as little as 6.95 sq yard and this, according to Harry Mulholland, can be graded as a heavy domestic product.
Another big factor, of course, is providing the proper underlay which gives the carpet extra life, and this in itself is a real investment at around 3 sq yard.
Harry Mulholland also believes that a good wool carpet can be cleaned professionally to last for years and years.
This, he says, is simply because it is well constructed in the manufacturing process, and quality always pays.
Solly tribute
WHEN I read the opening words of your jazz columnist Solly Lipsitz on August 26, ' As this will be my final Thursday column ', I felt that I should express my feelings at what I see as a matter which will be of deep concern to the entire jazz fraternity in Northern Ireland.
For many years I, along with everyone else who takes an interest in jazz both here and further afield, have read and respected the forthright and honest views of a jazz critic who is without equal in our community.
Not only does he write with total integrity but also with a respect for the language which is becoming increasingly rare.
I have been a personal friend for many years, but that has never prevented him from criticising my colleagues and myself whenever he felt it necessary to do so.
And I respect him for that.
I know of no-one else who has the same depth of knowledge of the subject and who can write with such articulation.
We will all miss reading his incisive and valuable comments.
It is a pity that, at a time when there is a resurgence of interest in jazz here in the province, the most experienced writer will no longer be read on a regular weekly basis.
We all owe Solly a deep debt of gratitude for his services to the cause of jazz for so many years.
WALTER LOVE
Pipe band blows its own trumpet
An Ulster pipe band yesterday became the first band in the United Kingdom to win six major competitions in a year.
Carryduff-based Montgomery Pipe Band, whose 26 members hail from all over the province, also drummed its way into the record books when it swept the boards at Saturday's British Championships at Hyde Park in London.
And it was music to the drum major Gordon Parkes' ears when the band was awarded the prestigious 30-year-old silver Drumming Trophy and Premium Championship shield.
This is the second year the band have won the shield.
Yesterday's contest in London was the final competition faced by piped bands from all over the United Kingdom.
' This is a record, no band has ever won six competitions in grade one, ' he pointed out.
Unbeaten
' We are now the overall supreme champions, we've won everything.
Totally unbeaten. '
And the Scots have every right to feel a ' wee bit peeved ' at Montgomery Pipe Band, as this is the first time the overall championship trophy has gone outside the Highlands.
Success is also particularly appropriate this year, as the band is celebrating its golden anniversary.
The band's roll of championship honours this year includes World, European, All-Ireland, Scottish, British and Cowal titles.
' Now even bands from the other side of the world had heard of Montgomery Pipe Band, ' said Gordon.
Supreme champions  a section of the Montgomery Pipe Band
Bono's home sale U2
LEAD singer Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson, is reported to be interested in the sale of his clan's ancestral home, Castle Hewson at Askeaton, Co Limerick.
It has been put on the market after 600 years in the same family and is expected to fetch around 400,000.
HOLYWOOD heartthrob Harrison Ford arrived in Britain to promote his new film this weekend  and forgot its name.
As TV lights shone on his bemused face, he invited the crowd to come and see his new movie ' Witness'.
An embarrassed Ford apologised for the blunder and announced that The Fugitive will be premiered in Britain on September 23.
Shock for Phyllis
CORONATION Street's blue rinse pensioner Phyllis Pearce was lost for words for once when fellow stars of the TV soap sprung a This is Your Life surprise on her.
Almost the entire Street cast were at Granada's studio to film the tribute which is to be screened later this year.
Jackson:brave face Jackomania raging despite allegations
HUNDREDS of fans besieged Michael Jackson's hotel after the pop superstar arrived in Singapore for the next stage of his world tour yesterday.
Jackson, currently embroiled in a child sex scandal in the US, was said to be recovering from dehydration, suffered in the intense heat of Bangkok, his last stop.
By early evening hundreds of screaming fans had gathered outside the historic Raffles Hotel where Jackson and his entourage are staying.
Organisers said Jackson's sister Janet and long-time friend and film star Elizabeth Taylor were also expected to arrive in Singapore tomorrow to provide moral support for the singer.
Abused
A 13-year-old boy, the son of a Hollywood dentist, has alleged the 34-year-old multi-millionaire sexually abused him.
Jackson has denied any wrongdoing and his representatives contend the sex-abuse claims grew out of a botched 20 million dollars extortion plot.
The allegations broke on Tuesday as Jackson was preparing for the first of two concerts in Bangkok, the first stop in the Asian swing of his Dangerous world tour.
According to documents obtained in California on Thursday from the Department of Children's Services, the young boy involved in the allegations told a social worker he and Jackson had a four-month relationship.
The boy said it had began with affectionate cuddling but escalated into sexual acts.
The case file contains descriptions of graphic sexual contact.
Jackson's pop singing sister Latoya was quoted on Friday as saying she had warned her brother months ago to end his friendships with young boys.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles police said yesterday they are investigating allegations that the father of the boy who accused Jackson of molestation tried to blackmail the singer.
Pictures by DARREN KIDD
THEY CAME, they saw, they conquered.
The world's greatest rock n'roll band returned in triumph to their native land last week.
And thousands of Ulster fans of Bono, the Edge, Larry and Adam flocked in droves to Dublin and Cork to see their heros in the flesh once more and pay homage to their idols.
It is six year's since U2 played Belfast's Kings Hall in 1987 on their world-conquering Joshua Tree odyssey.
Since then they have become even bigger and richer, and their concerts even more popular.
Tickets for all the Irish legs of the band's dazzling Zooropa tour sold out months ago.
But Sunday Life photographer DARREN KIDD captured the unique atmosphere of last Sunday's show in Cork  a permanent souvenir of the garage band that conquered the world.
BBC's sun soap shines on
PLEASE could I thank all the people who supported the ' Save Eldorado Campaign ' in Northern Ireland and stress that we are campaigning for the re-introduction of the programme.
So we need as many people as possible to support us.
Norma B Baker.
Eldorado  the fight goes on.
Colonial comforts
MICHAEL JACKSON embroiled in allegations of a child sex scandal has as his current refuge one of the world's great hotels.
The plush Raffles Hotel, now under siege from several hundred of his fans, is a breathtaking reminder of colonial elegance.
Entering one of the 104 spacious suites is like stepping into a time warp.
In the early decades of this century, the hotel was a favoured haunt for kings, queens, movie stars, authors and other notables.
Each 280 a night room is divided into a living room with dining and TV area, bedroom and magnificent marbled dressing room and bathroom.
Original furniture, silver, china and furnishings complete the colonial atmosphere.
But this old world tranquillity of the hotel is broken by the frenetic demands of the rock star's retinue of security guards and personal cooks.
The hubbub outside comes not from the picturesque traders of the bazaar but from some 500 fans pleading for a glimpse of their idol.
Master craftsman to inspire Kilkenny DJ's just the man to rock Galway
THE brilliant and well documented hurling skills of Kilkenny's DJ Carey will go a long way towards determining the outcome of today's big match in Croke Park.
Displaying remarkable maturity for a 22-year-old he has emerged in the last 18 months as the game's outstanding personality, a player blessed with the full range of skills, someone with an unflappable temperament to match.
He has the knack of scoring crucial goals and making it all appear so easy, the real mark of a master craftsman.
Antrim will certainly vouch for that given that Carey was responsible for two goals and five points in their All Ireland semi-final defeat.
In last season's All Ireland decider he again stole the show with a goal and four points.
This season he has been equally prolific.
Inevitable
The two goals and five points he conjured up against Antrim leaves him nine points clear of Wexford's Tom Dempsey in the scoring charts, and in virtually an unassailable position.
Off the field he takes the inevitable acclaim and adulation in his stride.
He said: ' To be honest it's nice that people recognise your achievements.
' But at the end of the day you have to go out and prove yourself, or else it counts for nothing, especially in a hurling mad county like Kilkenny.
' Here you're only as good as your last game, and really that's the way it should be. '
The phrase level-headed could have been coined with Carey in mind.
He's young, supremely talented and an integral part of a successful, high profile side.
Several young emerging stars in a wide range of sports, in similar pressurised situations, have caved in under the intense media spotlight.
But there appears little prospect of this superstar falling victim to such hype.
He simply puts his head down and keeps on scoring goals  lots of them.
Just ask Antrim, Offaly and Wexford.
All have found to their cost that on his game there's simply no stopping the hurling genius.
Reflecting on the rise and rise of Kilkenny hurling he said: ' We struggled the whole way through 1991, yet reached an All Ireland final.
' Twelve months ago we came on leaps and bounds, and surprised even ourselves by winning the All Ireland.
The lads have all knitted in together extremely well, and we appear reasonably settled, apart from a few niggling injuries. '
Significantly he added: ' There is also a bit of bottle in this team.
They simply won't accept defeat, no matter how badly things might appear. '
WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU...
DJ Carey has all the skills necessary to inspire Kilkenny to glory against Galway this afternoon
