Pop Princess

by Cathy Hopkins

  I picked up the phone. ‘Er, hello?’

  ‘Becca,’ said Martin. ‘Sorry to call so late, but we needed to get in touch with you.’

  I didn’t say anything.

  ‘So you got home OK?’ he asked.

  D’oh, obviously, I thought. ‘Yes, thank you,’ I said.

  ‘Have you been crying, Becca?’ he asked. ‘Your voice sounds a bit funny.’

  ‘Um no,’ I said. ‘Bit bunged up that’s all. Um, hayfever.’

  ‘Ah,’ said Martin. ‘Yes, hayfever. I always get hayfever in January. Anyway, I may have a cure for you. Reason I’m calling is, we’ve had a problem with one of the finalists, Fiona McPhilbin – I think you all know her as Fizz? Well, she lied about her age. Remember the entry age was up to sixteen? Well she was seventeen at the beginning of December and so we’ve had no choice but to disqualify her.’

  My head started to spin. Why was he telling me? What did it mean?

  ‘So Sarah, Paul and I put our heads together,’ he continued, ‘and decided that we’d like to ask you to come back. It was very close between you and another contestant anyway. I don’t think you knew that. So, what do you say? Give it another shot?’

  PROGRAMME FOR POP PRINCE AND POP PRINCESS FINAL

  Saturday, January 11th Starts 4.00 p.m.

  Pop Princes

  1)

  Jason Barker: ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ (Simon and Garfunkel)

  2)

  Mark Bosman: ‘Everything I Do (I Do It For You)’ (Bryan Adams)

  3)

  Ewan Hughes: ‘Candle in the Wind’ (Elton John)

  4)

  David Keenan: ‘Careless Whisper’ (George Michael)

  5)

  Scott Lewis: ‘Every Breath You Take’ (Police)

  6)

  Martin McDonnell: ‘Rock DJ’ (Robbie Williams)

  7)

  Jonathan McKeever: ‘You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling’ (Righteous Brothers)

  8)

  Paul Nash: ‘Waterloo Sunset’ (The Kinks)

  9)

  Rick Schneider: ‘I’m Not in Love’ (10 CC)

  10)

  Elliott Williams: ‘Suspicious Minds’ (Elvis Presley)

  Pop Princesses

  1)

  Kate Anderson: ‘Natural Woman’ (Carole King)

  2)

  Charlotte Bennie: ‘Like a Prayer’ (Madonna)

  3)

  Jessica Harris: ‘Baby One More Time’ (Britney Spears)

  4)

  Becca Howard: ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ (Sinead O’Connor)

  5)

  Alice Seymour Jones: ‘I Will Always Love You’ (Whitney Houston)

  6)

  Jade Macey: ‘My Heart Will Go On’ (Celine Dion)

  7)

  Heather Nicholson: ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’ (Kylie Minogue)

  8)

  Marie Oliver: ‘Eternal Flame’ (The Bangles)

  9)

  Sushila Patel: ‘Hero’ (Mariah Carey)

  10)

  Chloe Wilson: ‘I Will Survive’ (Gloria Gayner)

  The final will be televised live and tickets will be available for friends and family. Please refrain from taking photographs during the performances. Thank you for your co-operation.

  WHAT A top week. I phoned Cat, Squidge, Mac and Lia immediately and told them the latest news. They went wild, like it was happening to them. But the best bit of the week was bumping in to Jade at school and seeing her face. She looked like I’d looked after my chocfest. Classmates were fantastic. Of course news had spread that I’d been out then in again and I was amazed at the support I was given from everyone. Even people I didn’t know. Even Jonno Appleton in Year Eleven.

  Everyone came up to London for the final, as they were letting friends and family in to see the last performances. Mum and Dad stayed in a B&B around the corner from Star’s. Cat, Lia and I slept at Star’s and Squidge stayed with Mac at Mr Macey’s. I’d gone up on the Friday and had spent the Friday night and all day Saturday going over my song with a voice coach and a guy accompanying on the piano. They were totally brilliant and gave me some excellent tips. Late on Saturday afternoon, a stylist came in for a session with all the contestants, but I wasn’t that bothered with what she had to say because I had my own personal stylist back at the flat – Star Axford and her wardrobe of fantastic designer clothes. When I dashed back to the flat just before the final show, I found that Star had picked out a stunning dress for me to wear. It was royal blue – not a colour I’d normally choose, but it was low-cut, with a slit up the side and looked amazing with the pair of Jimmy Choo heels that she also lent me. She blow-dried my hair straight and loose and put the dress in a plastic carrier for me to change into when I got to the hall.

  I felt so calm. It was weird, but having thought I’d lost once and then to be given a second chance, I had no expectations, and as Mum always says, Blessed is she who has no expectations, for she is never disappointed. I was lucky to be going at all, and I knew it.

  Loads of press were waiting outside the hall when we arrived and one of them called over to Lia.

  ‘Hey, you one of the finalists?’

  ‘No,’ she replied, then pointed at me. ‘But my mate Becca is.’

  Suddenly I had a crowd buzzing around me and a bunch of photographers snapping pictures.

  ‘So how’s it been? What do you think of your chances?’

  ‘What’s the atmosphere been like? Any nastiness between the contestants?’

  ‘How do you see your future?’

  ‘Just say “no comment”,’ whispered Cat.

  ‘Er, it’s been fantastic,’ I said. ‘All the contestants have been great. We’re all very supportive of each other. Um. Don’t know about my chances – everybody’s really good.’

  Then we made a dash for the hall as the press swirled around one of the boy contestants who’d just walked in.

  ‘God, this is so glamorous,’ said Cat when we got inside. ‘It’s like you’re a real star.’

  ‘I know. It’s amazing, isn’t it?’ I said. It felt like a dream come true.

  Mum and Dad were waiting in the foyer and I gave them a wave.

  ‘Just do your best, love,’ said Dad, walking towards us. ‘We’ll be out there with our fingers crossed for you.’

  Mum gave me a hug. ‘My little girl,’ she said. ‘I’m so proud of you.’

  ‘Thanks, Mum. Anyway, got to go and get ready.’

  Elliott arrived a moment later, ran over and gave me a huge hug. ‘How top is this?’ he said. ‘Both of us in the finals. You said it’s never over until it’s over and you were right.’

  I gave him a huge hug back. ‘I know. I still can hardly believe I’m here.’

  He took my hand and led me towards the performers’ door. Of course that had to be the exact moment that Mac arrived with Squidge, who was holding a kid I’d never seen before by the hand. I saw Mac’s face light up when he saw me, then shut down when he saw Elliott holding my hand. It was awful.

  Right, Mac Macey, I thought. I’m going to deal with you this instant. Being dumped from the competition made me do a lot of thinking, and a lot of it was about Mac. I’d neglected him horribly at a time when he really needed me – a time when you turn to your mates and hope they’ll be there for you. I hadn’t been there for him, because I’d been sitting on my Pop Princess cloud. But the semi-final had brought me down to earth with a thump, and boy was I glad I had my mates. Even though I hadn’t wanted to talk to them at first, I had appreciated just how supportive they’d been through all of it, even Mac. He’d sorted it out so that I could stay with his dad, Lia had sorted it so that I could stay with Star, Cat and Squidge had listened to all my rehearsals and had been encouraging every time. Cat and Squidge and Lia had been totally top and not at all critical that I’d only been thinking about myself for the last few weeks.

  I pulled Elliott over to Squidge and Mac.

  ‘This is Elliott,’ I said to the boys. �
�He’s been my best mate in the competition and I reckon he’s going to win.’

  Elliott smiled and shrugged. ‘I wish.’

  Squidge said, ‘Hi,’ and Mac sort of mumbled.

  ‘Elliott,’ I continued, ‘these are my best mates from home. Squidge and my boyfriend Mac.’

  I let go of Elliott’s hand, took Mac’s and gave him a big smacker on the cheek. ‘We’ve been going out for about . . . How long has it been, Mac?’

  Mac squeezed my hand and smiled. ‘About three months . . .’ Then he laughed. ‘And one week, three days, nine hours . . .’

  Elliott laughed. ‘You’re a lucky bloke, mate. You make sure you hang on to her.’

  ‘Oh, I will.’ Mac grinned at me. ‘I will.’

  I looked over at the little girl who had been holding on to Squidge’s hand through all this. She looked about eight – a bit young, even for Squidge. ‘And who’s your new girlfriend, Squidge?’ I teased.

  ‘This is Tamara,’ said Mac. ‘Sonia’s daughter. She wouldn’t let us come without her, would you, T?’

  Tamara smiled up at Mac like they were oldest, bestest friends. ‘Not after I heard that Mac’s girlfriend was in the competition,’ she said, blushing.

  ‘Yes . . . And I just need to have a private moment with him,’ I said and took him aside. ‘So, how’s it going? At the flat. You know, with Sonia and her daughter and stuff?’ This was something I’d promised myself I’d do from now on – take an interest in what was happening to him, even if there was something happening to me as well.

  Mac smiled. ‘OK . . . Tamara’s cool. She’s a kid.’ Then he grinned. ‘In fact, I think she’s got a bit of a crush on Squidge. She asked if he had a girlfriend. I think she wants to marry him when she grows up.’

  ‘And what about Sonia?’

  ‘OK too. We get on all right, I guess,’ said Mac. ‘She’s OK. And Dad does seem happier. I had a chat with him and he’s not going to move in with her or anything. And he said she’s not going to be there every time I go up. So yeah, I guess it might be OK.’

  ‘It will be OK,’ I said as I took his hand. ‘And I wanted to say I’m sorry I’ve been such a pain all these weeks. You know, like totally self-obsessed.’

  Mac squeezed my hand. ‘Hey, no biggie. I’m sorry I’ve been such a pain. I could have been more supportive. I guess I got a bit jealous. I dunno, it felt like I was losing you or something.’

  ‘I think I lost myself back there for a while. But after tonight, it’s all back to normal,’ I said.

  Elliott came over and looked at his watch. ‘Show-time folks.’

  Mac put his arms around me and gave me a huge bear hug. ‘Good luck, kiddo. Now go and show them what you can do.’

  Happy, happy, happy, I thought as I headed for the dressing room. And here I go again. But this time it felt so different, in a really good way.

  After we’d got ready, the girl contestants were allowed to sit in the audience with the others to watch the boys. My dad’s eyes almost fell out of their sockets when he saw me walk in wearing Star’s dress. I thought it was a good job I was sitting in a different section as he’d probably have made me go and change into something less revealing. Too late, Dad. Chances to dress like this don’t come around very often and it wasn’t as though I was out of place in my designer frock. All the contestants had really pulled out the stops and looked amazing. I was used to seeing everyone in their jeans and trainers, but now we all looked like we’d just stepped on to the red carpet at the Oscars.

  The lights went down and Paul Parker walked on to the stage. He explained how the voting worked and what time the lines would close for each category. Then he began to introduce the male contestants. It was fantastic to sit there and watch them all. The girls hadn’t had a chance to see what the boys had been up to because we’d always been in a separate hall. As each of them sang, I thought they were all really good, but of course, I was rooting for Elliott. I couldn’t wait to hear him perform.

  The audience cheered like mad after every performance. It was really obvious where the friends and family of each contestant were sitting as they went wild when their boy was up. Elliott was on last and when Paul announced his name and he walked out to centre stage I felt my stomach tighten with nerves on his behalf. He looked every inch a Pop Prince in black leather trousers, a black T-shirt and with spiked hair. It was clear he worked out as well, as he had great muscle tone. He’d even put some temporary tattoos on his arm to give him that ‘Robbie Williams’ look. The music struck up and he sang ‘Suspicious Minds’ by Elvis Presley. I thought, I might be biased, but he was easily the best. Confident, cheeky, and he had a great voice. I felt so chuffed for him at the end when the audience cheered madly, and I turned to see my mates, including Mac, standing and whistling with the others.

  Before I knew it, Tanya was beckoning for the girls to go backstage. Shame, as I’d have loved to stay where I was and watch the other girls.

  ‘You can wait here,’ said Tanya as she led us behind the curtains. ‘You won’t be able to see, but you will be able to hear. OK, Kate, you’re on first, so stand over there. And good luck to all of you. You all look fabulous.’

  I stood with Sushila as Kate got ready for her name to be announced. Suddenly my new-found calm deserted me and my knees started to go. Ohmigod, I thought, it’ll be me in a moment. Live on television, in front of thousands of viewers. It’s not just three judges any more, it’s thousands. Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod. Nervous, nervous, nervous.

  Everything went into slow motion. Kate did her number, then Charlotte, then Jessica, and before I knew it, I heard Paul’s voice saying, ‘And our next performer is Becca Howard from St Antony, Cornwall. She’s going to be singing ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’.

  Sushila pushed me forward. ‘You’re on. Good luck!’

  My legs had turned from jelly to stone. ‘I can’t move,’ I moaned.

  Sushila pushed me again. ‘Yes you can, go on.’

  I took a deep breath and did a quick shake and tremble as Zac had taught me, then I walked out on to the stage and towards the microphone.

  The spotlights were blinding. It all felt so unreal. Just breathe, Becca, I told myself. It’s going to be OK. Oh God, please don’t let me fall over or dry up or forget the words – please, please, please. I’d never felt so petrified. I looked at the audience and tried to find Mum and Dad and my mates. And there they were, all looking at me with so much hope and anticipation on their faces that I felt myself start to smile.

  The music started up and I began to sing the opening lines. Suddenly I got an amazing rush. Here I was, singing in front of an audience, cameras on me, my friends and family in the audience . . . This was my moment. It was going to be all right.

  When I’d finished, the audience erupted into cheers and applause and I looked over to my support group. They were standing and clapping and whistling. It was so totally brilliant. And I swear I saw my mum put a handkerchief to her eye, like she was crying.

  After that, it was over, and the next one was on. At last, I could enjoy the rest of the performances. I’d done my bit and I could relax. From now on, it was up to the audience at home to phone in and decide on the winner.

  When everyone had finished, there was a break for the guests to go and have refreshments while the contestants were led into a green room to wait for the public’s verdict. The atmosphere was bubbling, not like the other times – this was it and we all knew it. I felt on top of the world and I buzzed about, telling everyone how brilliant they’d been and how great they looked. I even tried to congratulate Jade, but she did her usual snooty look, then turned away to talk to one of the guys, so I decided not to bother. Why ruin the atmosphere with one of her snide comments, I thought. I’d done what I could with her and she was still being off with me so why waste energy? I didn’t need her to like me. Why had I been so bothered about making someone I didn’t even like, like me? I had enough real friends without her.

  About half an hour late
r we were all called back on to the stage and the guests took their seats once more.

  ‘The phone lines for Pop Prince have now closed and the votes have been counted,’ said Martin. ‘But before we announce our winners, I should say that I and the other two judges have been extremely impressed by the standard of the contestants. They’ve worked hard and taken a lot of criticism, mainly from me. But they’ve stuck it out and I’d like to stress that all the contestants here are winners tonight.’

  ‘Blah, blah,’ I said and grinned at Sushila, who grinned back.

  ‘So, without further ado, I’ll pass the microphone over to Sarah, who holds the results for our Pop Prince,’ Martin said. ‘Let’s see how the public voted. Over to you, Sarah.’

  Sarah took the microphone. ‘In third place,’ she announced, ‘with eighteen per cent of the vote, we have . . . Martin McDonnell.’

  The audience cheered madly as Martin stepped forward and stood beside her.

  ‘In second place, with twenty-two per cent of the vote . . . Ewan Hughes.’

  More cheering and I glanced over at Elliott. He smiled at me and gulped, so I held up my hands to show that my fingers were crossed for him.

  ‘And finally, this year’s Pop Prince, with thirty-eight per cent of the votes . . .

  Dead silence.

  ‘. . . Elliott Williams.’

  Elliott gasped, went bright red, then stepped forward to shake Sarah’s hand. The audience went wild. I glanced back at the seven boys who hadn’t been chosen. I really felt for them as they must have been terribly disappointed, but they were all doing their best to keep smiling and look happy for Elliott.

  Once the awards had been given and photos taken of the three boys, Sarah took the microphone again. ‘And now, we finally get to our Pop Princesses. Tanya can you bring out the results please?’