Amanda and Ronan celebrate The Carpenters

Amanda and Ronan celebrate The Carpenters
Amanda and Ronan celebrate The Carpenters

Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda Holden and Boyzone star Ronan Keating talk about hosting a new musical tribute to The Carpenters So, we know Amanda's favourite Carpenters' song, what's yours, Ronan? “Close to You is beautiful and probably the one everyone would say first. Apparently, there have been over 100 different versions recorded. But I love the song I'm singing, I Won't Last A Day Without You, because it's a lovely idea. I picked it myself after listening to The Carpenters' songs again on iTunes.” So you’re both big fans of The Carpenters? Amanda: "I've been a fan since I was little. We used to divide the lounge in half and my sister and I would dance to their songs." Ronan: "Anyone who’s involved in the industry has a song or a memory of The Carpenters. Their songs are legendary, and still hold up today." So just what is it about the songs that make them so timeless? Amanda: "It's almost the same reason that I like country music in that there's a story to the songs. And – I don't want to sound like a granny! – but the words are very clear and you can hear what they're singing!" Ronan: "The melodies are incredible and some are very complex. As a singer I've never known a melody like the one in my song; there's every note in the book in it!" What acts are you most looking forward to? Ronan: "The Feeling for both us, and Dionne Warwick, who’s just a legend!" Amanda: “And I'm excited and intrigued by a duet between Jamie Cullum and Girls Aloud's Kimberley Walsh." You seem to get on well, considering you only met properly yesterday! Amanda: “Ronan's lovely and it’s been nice to get to know him. We could be the next Ant & Dec, what do you think?” Ronan: "Yeah! Already I'm always on the left and Amanda's always on the right!" Celebrating the Carpenters is on Wednesday November 18 at 7.30pm on ITV1.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.