It's friday: Danny O'Donoghue - The Voice judge who has scaled the U.S. charts

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By Richard Barber

PUBLISHED: 16:46 EST, 26 April 2012 | UPDATED: 02:03 EST, 27 April 2012

V for victory? The Voice judge Danny O’Donoghue

Had you ever heard of Danny O’Donoghue before he started appearing as a judge on BBC1’s The Voice? Jessie J? Tick. Will.i.am (if only for his silly name)? Tick. Sir Tom Jones? No need to answer. But Danny O’Dono...who? 

It turns out he’s the frontman of Irish band The Script (ask your children) who’ve had hit albums and singles around the world — and that includes America — and who’ve appeared as support to Sir Paul McCartney, U2, Take That and Adele.

To his credit, O’Donoghue has quickly established himself as a credible judge, his easy charm winning over contestants and viewers alike. And, as on TV, so in life. 

Danny is not a man you could ever describe as tongue-tied. At 31, with his plume of thick dark hair, his skinny frame and his casual appearance — T-shirt, jeans, Converse trainers — he could be any young man sitting opposite you on the bus. 

‘People might have heard of The Script,’ he is explaining, in his soft Dublin brogue. ‘But we don’t put our pictures all over our album covers. We didn’t want to become famous for being famous, falling out of nightclubs. We wanted to be known for the music.’

It makes you wonder what his two fellow band members, Mark Sheehan and Glen Power, feel about Danny’s sudden elevation into the nation’s sitting rooms? ‘They love it,’ he says firmly.

‘Mark was urging me to go for it in the first place. It pulls The Script up to a level we’ve never known before. All the videos and albums are now back in the charts.’

Danny was alerted to the possibility of being considered as a judge when he took a call from his manager. ‘I thought he was kidding because I knew The Voice from America and, more recently, in Ireland. I knew it was a great format, the talk of the town. And I knew there were other people in the running: John Legend and Mary J Blige, for instance, and Will Young.’

It all got a bit embarrassing. Everyone — and that included Will Young himself — thought he had bagged the fourth judge’s chair, only for it to be whisked away from him at the eleventh hour. One story even had it that the contract sent to Danny by the BBC still had Will’s name on it.

It’s fair to say Young was distinctly underwhelmed by the experience — as he was not slow to share with his many Twitter followers. ‘The Voice came. The Voice went,’ he wrote. ‘They wanted to go more rock?…?Should have dusted off my leather jacket. Hey ho!’ 

Dark mutterings from someone close to the production hinted there may have been an additional reason why Will (who has never made a secret of the fact that he’s gay) was felt ultimately not to meet requirements.

Tough crowd: Danny with rival judges from  The Voice Jessie J, Will.i.am and Tom Jones

An insider told It’s Friday! columnist Dan Wootton: ‘There was a view that the panel needed a so-called hunk who would appeal to young female viewers. 

‘The American version of the show had Adam Levine, lead singer of Maroon 5 and a real sex symbol. It was decided that Will didn’t really fit into that category and that Danny, as a rock star, was an exciting new talent who most certainly did.’ 

Danny picks his words carefully when asked to put himself in Will Young’s shoes. ‘I can’t imagine what it would be like to be in his position,’ he says. ‘And I wouldn’t want to say anything that would make him feel uncomfortable. 

‘All I can say is that a number of people went after the same job and, for whatever reason, I was the one who got it.’ 

But why? ‘Well, I know my stuff. I’ve been writing and performing and producing for 15 years. The Script have a wealth of experience working with people like Boyz II Men, TLC, Justin Timberlake. We’ve edited vocals for Britney Spears. 

‘And I suppose I’m the indie judge in that I represent something different from the others.’
As a teenager, Danny was in a boyband called Mytown. ‘At the time, I thought it was the most R’n’B, hip hop, happening band ever. But we didn’t succeed in the way we’d hoped. 

‘It was great experience, though. I’ve tasted failure and come out the other end. I got a second chance. It’s set me up well to help the members of Team Danny on The Voice. I’ve been that person on stage. I’ve known what it’s like to have no chair turn round for me.’

Item: Danny with long-term girlfriend, model Irma Mali

The first time the four judges met was when the BBC took them out for dinner. ‘Jessie’s a real livewire,’ says Danny, ‘very witty, very quick, very intelligent, all way beyond her years. She’s still only 24. Will.i.am is an amazing character. He’s genuinely funny off-screen, too, so I’m glad his real personality is coming across on the show.  

‘And what can I say about Sir Tom? I get the honour of sitting next to him. Van Morrison, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding — he’s got stories about working with them all. He was 40 when I was born. I have so much respect for that guy.’ 

So how is he finding this new challenge? ‘It’s proved you don’t have to look good to be a great singer. An image is important but it’s secondary to the voice. And, compared to some [unnamed] talent shows, everyone who comes on The Voice is a good singer.

‘There was never a chance that the audience — or the judging panel — would be wincing when someone started singing. The only cringeworthy element was when the hands of the judges were hovering over those red buttons. The singers who didn’t make the cut were just testament to the high standard of the contest.’

He seems genuinely impressed by the contestants. ‘I promise that, on some occasions, someone would open his or her mouth and I’d be thinking: “You’re better than me. How on earth am I going to be able to give you pointers?” 

‘But the mentoring process isn’t about teaching them to sing. It’s about bringing out the best version of themselves.’ 

And no, he wouldn’t dream of predicting who’s going to win. ‘But whoever it is will be on Team Danny,’ he adds, cheekily.

Danny comes from a musical household. His late father, Shay, was a songwriter who once played in a band with the bass player from Thin Lizzy. ‘Both my brothers are in bands.

My mother, Ailish, is the only woman in Ireland who can boast that all her sons were on the same edition of The Late, Late Show [Ireland’s most popular entertainment show] in three separate bands.’

Danny’s father died four years ago. In memory of the man he adored, Danny had a rose tattooed on the underside of his left arm from elbow to wrist. 

‘He always used to put a white rose in the middle of a bouquet of red roses because, for him, my mum was the one who stood out from everybody else. And she placed a single white rose on his coffin. Later, I wrote a poem saying that she mustn’t fade like the rose and lose all her colour. She had to find a way of overcoming her grief.’

Danny has a steady girlfriend Irma Mali, a 28-year-old Lithuanian model and mother to nine-year-old daughter, Nikoleta. Involvement in The Voice clearly comes at a price. ‘Irma has to be in Dublin full-time because of Nikoleta’s schooling. So we can’t be together as much as we’d like. We have a three-week rule which means we’re never apart for longer than that and we text and phone and Skype all the time. But it’s hard.’

They met when she was cast in the video of one of The Script’s singles. Danny is suddenly struggling to find the right words. And isn’t that a slight blush on his cheek?

‘I saw her and thought we’d look right together. The chemistry only works when it’s real.’ By the end of the day, Danny was  smitten. They got together a month later. That was four years ago and they’ve been inseparable ever since.

My gang: Danny, centre, with his team on The Voice,  hopes one of his singers can win the popular show

Indeed, after The Script and Cameron Diaz both appeared on an edition of the U.S. talk show, Today, Cameron gave her phone number to Danny’s management. ‘I didn’t call her, though,’ he says. ‘I’m happy with my girlfriend. I wasn’t even tempted.’

For the most part, though, Danny’s a man who keeps his nose to the grindstone. ‘I genuinely believe that, if all this can happen for me, it can happen for anyone. Yes, you have to have talent but hard work is what makes the difference.’

He’s like a sponge when it comes to soaking up the wisdom of those more experienced than him. Paul McCartney chose The Script as his support band after he’d heard their first album and before he played three concerts at the Shea Stadium in New York.

‘He came into our dressing room before the first performance. He stayed for half-an-hour, chatting and giving us advice about how to handle a huge audience. “Just because you’ll be playing to 80,000 people,” he said, “you mustn’t think you have to play 80,000 times better. And always tell a story before you start singing a particular song. Give it a context. Include the audience, involve them.” I can suffer from nerves so I found what he said really useful.’

In 2009, The Script (whose third album will be released in September) supported Adele throughout her American tour. 

‘Everywhere she sang, jaws were dropping — including ours. It’s such a huge talent and she’s such a fine role model. We gave her a Zippo cigarette lighter in New York for her 21st birthday. Since then, she’s given up smoking which is probably a good thing, especially if you have a gift like hers.’ 

Like the man’s fond of saying, in the end it all comes down to The Voice.

The Voice is on BBC1 on Saturday at 7pm.

Kelly Rowland not returning to X Factor... with Katy Perry tipped to replace her

By Sara Nathan

PUBLISHED: 18:55 EST, 26 April 2012 | UPDATED: 01:37 EST, 27 April 2012

She may not be Beyonc?.

But when Destiny’s Child star Kelly Rowland joined the X Factor, Simon Cowell hoped she would be the perfect replacement for Cheryl Cole.

But with just two weeks to go before filming starts, the 31-year-old singer is ‘unlikely’ to return to the ITV talent hit, show sources confirmed last night.

And in a mad dash to replace her, Cowell, 52, and ITV chiefs have been in talks with pop princess Katy Perry and a string of other stars.

In with the new, out with the old: Kelly Rowland in unlikely to return to the new series of X Factor, with Katy Perry - who was a guest judge in 2010 (right) - tipped to replace her

Miss Perry, who has had a string of worldwide hits, is a firm favourite of Cowell’s – but is unable to take a full-time judging role on the X Factor due to work commitments.

However, she is expected to take a role on the show - and may be a guest judge at auditions.

Last night, a source told the Mail that Miss Rowland was '95 per cent' unlikely to return to the X Factor, saying: 'Kelly was great in the auditions, but when she joined the live shows it just seemed that she didn’t really relax and enjoy herself.

'And to be honest, she wasn’t that popular with viewers.

Mixed reviews: Kelly impressed producers in the initial auditions with (L-R) Louis Walsh,Tulisa Contostavlos and Gary Barlow

'Hopefully, Katy Perry will have some kind of role on the series.’

Miss Perry, 27, who recently divorced British comedian Russell Brand, has often performed on the X Factor, and in 2010 she filled in for Dannii Minogue at auditions when the star was on maternity leave with her son Ethan.

Miss Rowland was one of three new judges to join the X Factor last year, alongside Gary Barlow and Tulisa Contostavlos.

They stepped in after Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole quit – and Cowell left to concentrate on launching the X Factor USA.

But her appearance was not without controversy.

Who's coming back to England? Kelly in Sydney on Tuesday (left) and Katy at the Coachella Festival last weekend

She threw the series into chaos missing two live shows following a row with co-star Tulisa.

The singer had flown to Los Angeles for work after the fallout – but then said she was unable to fly back to the UK after contracting a ‘rare’ viral throat infection that had left her unable to speak.

She was left furious after feisty Miss Contostavlos accused one of her hopefuls, Misha Bryan, of being mean to her own wannabes behind the scenes.

Fellow judge Louis Walsh then waded into the row by calling Misha a 'bully' – but was later forced to apologise to viewers.

Last week, it was reported that Miss Rowland had demanded ?1.5million to return to the show after show bosses re-signed Mr Barlow on a ?2million deal.

Prior experience: Katy stepped in for Dannii Minogue alongside Louis and former judges Cheryl Cole and Simon Cowell at the Dublin auditions in June 2010

ITV were quick to sign the Take That star after it was revealed that Cowell had wanted to axe him because he was ‘too scripted’ during last year’s series.

Miss Rowland was on a reputed ?500,000 deal last year – and had wanted to treble her salary.

However, producers Thames TV and Syco insisted they would not be ‘bounced’ into offering her a ‘truckload of money’.

One source said:  ‘We never negotiate a deal based on what another member of the show is getting as that would be ludicrous,’ adding: ‘We left things to the last minute last time and there’s no reason why we couldn’t do it again.’

Although Mr Barlow is the only X Factor judge to have officially signed his deal, Miss Contostavlos and Mr Walsh are ‘days away’ from signing their contracts.

Auditions start in Cardiff on May 15 and a source said: ‘Kelly is 95 per cent not coming back.’

Last night, a show spokesman said: ‘The panel has not been finalised yet.'

Heartbreak for Alexandra Burke as Geordie model Laura Brown claims to have 'enjoyed hotel romp with Jermain Defoe'

By Holly Thomas

PUBLISHED: 19:47 EST, 26 April 2012 | UPDATED: 03:40 EST, 27 April 2012

X Factor star Alexandra Burke faces heartbreak following revelations that her boyfriend, England footballer Jermain Defoe, enjoyed a hotel fling with Geordie model Laura Brown, 23.

Miss Brown claims to have had sex with the Spurs striker in Newcastle, having met him in person only twice previously.

The model now reportedly says that she regrets the incident and feels sorry for singer Alexandra.

Will come as a blow: Jermain Defoe, pictured earlier this week with girlfriend Alexandra Burke, is said to have enjoyed a fling with a model named Laura Brown

According to The Sun, Laura said that she had become friendly with Defoe, 29, via Facebook, admitted: 'I’m not going to lie — we did have sex.'

She reportedly added: 'I never planned on sleeping with him, it just happened.'

'You can see girls in Newcastle clubs week after week with different footballers and I think, ‘You are so stupid’. Now I’m the stupid one.'

A friend has apparently said that Laura revealed she and Defoe chatted for a long time before the footballer said he needed to rest, and invited her to stay the night.

Went behind her back: Jermain was apparently in contact with Miss Brown on Facebook for some months before eventually meeting up three times

After about three quarters of an hour, Laura's friend claims she said she gave in and slept with Jermain.

Laura, who works as a nursing assistant but models at promotional events, has said that she and Defoe struck up a friendship on Facebook, before eventually meeting in Newcastle.

A friend claims that Laura said the pair spent several hours in his hotel room kissing and cuddling the evening prior to Spurs’ Premier League game against the Magpies.

They apparently did not sleep together on that occasion, and Laura says she left to go home at about 1:30am.

No response: Alexandra has remained quiet about the reports, and posted a snap of herself enjoying a cocktail on Twitter this evening

After Defoe scored during the match, he reportedly texted Laura to say that she was his 'lucky charm'.

Defoe also invited Laura to spend a few hours with him in his Hertfordshire home before arranging a car to take her to a London party.

Laura asserts that she was unaware that Defoe and Alexandra Burke were a serious couple, and apparently Jermain gave her the impression that he and the singer were only in the early stages of their relationship.

But Laura was apparently horrified when she saw pictures of Alexandra and Jermain looking loved-up earlier this week.

Potted history: Chantelle Houghton, who dated Defoe between 2008 and 2009, has said he claims he cheated on her because she was 'too nice'

Alexandra also wore a Defoe shirt while taking part in a volleyball game in the Caribbean a few weeks ago.

The singer has given no hint of a response to the revelations on her Twitter page, and her last tweet read 'Wine who? #ChangingItUp #StrawberryCaipirinha', and features a smiley picture of herself sipping a tall cocktail.

Defoe has a potted relationship history with glamour models and reality TV stars, including a broken engagement to retail manager Charlotte Mears in 2007.

He left Mears heartbroken when he dumped her for her friend Danielle Lloyd.

Lloyd's romance with Defoe fizzled out after just two months and she went on to date his team-mate Jamie O'Hara - her now-fiance, who currently plays for the Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Player: Jermain broke off his engagement to retail manager Charlotte Mears in 2007 for Danielle Lloyd. He dated model Imogen Thomas in 2009

Defoe then dated Celebrity Big Brother winner Chantelle Houghton for five months in 2009, and later that same year dated Welsh model Imogen Thomas for six months.

Chantelle revealed in a 2010 interview: 'He's a nasty person - cheats on everyone. He told me it was because I was too nice.'

'I thought, what should I do, turn into a really horrible person? There are some right weird people out there.'

When contacted by the Mail Online, Jermain's representation said: 'We do not wish to comment on these claims in today's Sun newspaper.'

Alexandra Burke's Hits on MUZU.TV.

Eliza Doolittle swaps trainers for heels... but reveals a bit too much in shredded dress

By Alanah Eriksen

PUBLISHED: 02:44 EST, 27 April 2012 | UPDATED: 03:41 EST, 27 April 2012

She was trying a new look, ditching the usual trainers for designer heels.

But Eliza Doolottle was let down by her dress which looked as though it had been through a paper shredder.

The singer was caught out by a gust of wind after attending the launch of pop-up restaurant The Lion at the Brompton Club in South Kensington, London.

Risque: Eliza Doolittle revealed a bit more than she bargained for when a guest of wind blew her shredded dress as she attended the launch of The Lion pop-up restaurant at The Brompton Club in London

The black number, which featured spaghetti straps and cut out panels at the front, blew open to reveal her slender legs. And the star looked a little worse-for-wear as she headed home in the back of a taxi.

The 24-year-old paired the dress with white and silver Christian Louboutin heels, gold earrings and a black fringe bag adorned with colourful beads.

Home bound: The singer looked a little worse for wear as she left in the back of a taxi

Where's your beau? There was no sign of the star's boyfriend, American rocker Benji Madden

There was no sign of Eliza's boyfriend, Good Charlotte rocker Benji Madden, who was thought to be back in Los Angeles, but she still managed to speak to him via Skype when she arrived home.

The brunette tweeted a photo of the 33-year-old lazed in front of his computer chatting to her. Her own photo can be seen in front of the screen. She wrote simply 'Cyber love'.

Joining Eliza last night was popstar Pixie Lott who opted for a black, button-up dress with a white collar and black wedges.

Long distance: Eliza managed to talk to her boyfriend via Skype when she got home, and tweeted this picture, sating 'cyber love'

She accessorized with a yellow bag and a cross necklace.

Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts was also there, dressing down slightly in a white printed T-shirt and long black skirt.

The Saturdays singer Mollie King's ex-boyfriend David Gandy was also there, attending his first public event since he gave an interview on their break-up for the first time.

Nicola and Eliza posed for photos with U.S. Entourage star Jeremy Piven, who is in London to shoot the Mr Selfridge movie.

Girl power: Pixie Lott also attended the bash, along with Girls Aloud star, Nicola Roberts

Where's Oliver? Pixie was joined by a friend at the party

The couple announced their split in February after 10 months together, with Gandy at the time claiming 'it wasn't the right timing'.

However, two months down the line, the Essex-native admitted his 'weirdness' can be challenging for other people to live with.

The Dolce & Gabbana pin-up tells the June issue: 'My perfectionism can make it difficult. I know my ex-girlfriend struggled.

'Things have to be perfect - everything in the house, every car I buy. That’s incredibly hard to live with if you don’t understand it.'

Moviestar: Nicola and Eliza pose with Jeremy Piven, who is in London to shoot the Mr Selfridge movie

Party people: The Saturdays singer Mollie King's ex-boyfriend, model David Gandy and TV presenter Donna Air

Although he was disappointed their romance didn't work out, Gandy admitted he is happy being single.

He explained: 'I can get on with my own life, my own ‘perfections’, without needing to explain that weirdness to someone else.

'If either a relationship or my work must suffer, then I’m afraid it has to be the relationship.

'I'm 32 and more than anything I want to find a girlfriend and have children. I want to be able to say, "I've done enough". Hopefully, one day a girl will come along and I'll think she's far superior to my work and let my priorities go.'

The WAGS: Roman Abramovich's Russian girlfriend Dasha Zhukova and Ukrainian model Sasha Volkova, girlfriend of Viscount Macmillan of Ovendeen

One mustn't carp at Salmon Fishing In The Yemen

By Chris Tookey

PUBLISHED: 18:56 EST, 19 April 2012 | UPDATED: 05:20 EST, 20 April 2012

SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN (12A)

Verdict: One mustn't carp

Rating:

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was no blockbuster, but its success has shown there is a market for well-crafted, warm films aimed at people over 35.

Salmon Fishing In The Yemen is another attempt to reach that demographic — and it deserves to do well, even if it isn’t a patch on the Paul Torday novel on which it is based.

The book was at least partly a satire on the Blair government, and the main relic here of that intent is Kristin Scott Thomas’s hilarious turn as the prime minister’s press adviser — a cleaner version of Malcolm Tucker from TV comedy The Thick Of It.

Scroll down to watch trailer

A beautiful pairing: Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor act beautifully and their tale is charming.

The main fun comes early on as she browbeats civil servants into implementing a policy that is, quite clearly to everyone but her, barking mad.

For it is she who persuades the PM to authorise the fishy proposal by an eccentric Yemeni sheik (Amr Waked) to bring salmon-stocked water to his native land.

She does so because she thinks this will endear the government to fish-fanciers in Britain and paint the UK as sympathetic to Islamic culture. Needless to say, hardly anything goes as planned.

The two people overseeing the operation — the glamorous businesswoman acting as the sheik’s British representative (Emily Blunt) and the shy scientist planner of the scheme (Ewan McGregor) — gradually fall in love, even though he’s married to a bossy, high-flying wife (Rachael Stirling) and she’s involved in an affair with a British soldier missing in action (Tom Mison).

Their unlikely relationship develops alongside the even more implausible Yemeni project, which comes to obsess them both.

Finding the balance: But too much of the dialogue is reduced to platitudes about the importance of faith in life as in fishing.

Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom is more interested in their hesitant intimacy than in the satire, and it’s hard to argue he’s wrong commercially.

Blunt and McGregor act beautifully and their tale is charming.

It helps if you haven’t read the book, which is funnier and harder hitting.

The story has been de-fanged, and too much of the dialogue is reduced to platitudes about the parallels between love and swimming upstream, and the importance of faith in life as in fishing.

The crucial question is posed early on — why should we care about a rich man’s folly? — and Simon Beaufoy’s screenplay takes an unnecessarily long time to answer that, which may stretch the patience of many.

Implausibilities abound in the final half-hour, and it’s hard for anyone with the slightest knowledge of recent Yemeni history to believe that a sheik, however eccentric, would be so naive against his adversaries.

The half-hearted ventures into British politics and Muslim extremism jar with Hallstrom’s sentimental direction.

Since he became a director for hire in Hollywood and started turning out films such as Chocolat and The Cider House Rules, he has lost the quirkiness that enlivened his first international hit, My Life As A Dog.

Yet despite its flaws, this film is entertaining and a genuine heart-warmer.

Blunt and Scott Thomas, in particular, are marvellous, and they’re the main reason the film scrapes a fourth star from me.