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| TOTP: Darius! You are looking sparkly! DARIUS: Thank you kind sir. TOTP: No more long hair. Were you worried that your Samson-like mane may have contained your musical power - was it a risk to cut it off? DARIUS: Yes! But I took that risk, just watching David Seaman in the World Cup made me realise I had made the right choice, pony tails are not clever. TOTP: Gareth had that great stutter, Will pretended to be posh, Rik Waller had the false stomach - were you tempted to come up with a good gimmick to win Pop Idol - you could have faked a limp or something? DARIUS: Ha ha, I was robbed! It is not fair!! If I developed a limp, a stutter and put on twenty stone do you think I would have got the sympathy vote? TOTP: You decided not to sign up with Simon Cowell's record label, why was that? DARIUS: The thing that sealed it for me was when I wrote 'Colourblind' [his new single] and I had a gut feeling that that would be the song to launch my career as a male solo artist, I looked towards singers I respected like George Michael and Craig David and I saw they had hard-fought careers as opposed to blind stabs at being commercial - they released their own music and lyrics and allowed the public a glimpse into them as people and also as performers. I wanted to thank the public for their support and I thought I would have been cheating them if I released a cover. Mercury records had a different vision for me than Simon Cowell. TOTP: They have signed you to a five album deal, how did that transpire? Were you impressed with their commitment towards you? DARIUS: It was incredible. Despite Popstars and Pop Idol the pinnacle of my career was not on TV - my 'Colourblind' demo ended up on the desk of new Mercury boss Steve Lillywhite (one of the world's top music producers). He has been my musical hero for years, when he heard my song he thought it was a new band and asked to meet them. By the end of that day I found myself having dinner with him. He told me he did not know anything about Pop Idol, with him it was all about the music - the were no preconceptions. He told me that night that he wanted to sign me to be a five album deal and head my project - I nearly collapsed with shock! It is a dream come true. TOTP: Have you found your selection of possible girlfriends has sky-rocketed now that you are a pop star? DARIUS: I wish! TOTP: Are you single? DARIUS: Yes, unfortunately! I have been too busy... TOTP: Maybe the chick-magnet hair needs to make a re-appearance? DARIUS: Actually the one thing I can guarantee is that I would never go out with a celebrity. TOTP: If Britney phoned you now and said: "Darius, please, I am lonely, come play", you would turn her down? DARIUS: Yes! She doesn't do it for me, I would not go out with her, I want the girl-next-door type. TOTP: Well if she moved in next door would you go for it? DARIUS: NO! I want somebody normal. TOTP: What about Holly Valance? DARIUS: No! She removed all her clothes for that first video, where do you go from there? I just want a quiet, non-pretentious, loving girl. TOTP: Moving on, do pop stars smell better than normal people? DARIUS: Hmmm, I am not sure yet, I think that could be true, I will try to find out. TOTP: You are writing your new album at the moment, do you feel a lot of pressure? DARIUS: Yeah, but it is a challenge that I am relishing, I am just incredibly excited. I want to have the album ready soon and to be in people's Christmas stockings by December. |
| Top Of The Pops Interview |
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