Andy Bell booted off 'Popstar To Operastar'

Andy Bell has missed out on a place in the Popstar to Operastar semi-final after becoming the latest celebrity to be voted off the show. The Erasure frontman lost out after finding himself in the sing-off for the first time alongside Toploader's Joseph Washbourn - who was singing for survival for the third consecutive week. However disaster struck for Andy when he forgot the words to his song Largo al Factotum from The Barber of Seville midway through his reprise. And although he made it to the end with some encouragement from the audience, the judges unanimously voted to save Joseph yet again. "When I found out Andy was singing that song I was so excited and so nervous but I think nerves got the better of him," Vanessa Mae said, "but it wouldn't be fair to save him so I save Joseph." And after Katherine Jenkins and Simon Callow also voted for Joseph, Rolando Villazon revealed that he too would have saved the Toploader singer. "I think it's quite obvious to the panel we all agree but I have to say Andy it's very hard, you should be very proud of what you did," he said. Afterwards Andy admitted, "I just had a complete blank when the song started. "I'd like to have a go at doing opera again," he added, "but I'd like more time to learn it. But I've really loved it, it's been fantastic." Andy's departure means that Joseph will now compete in next Sunday's semi-final along with Cheryl Baker, Claire Richards and Joe McElderry, all of whom made it through on the public vote. And he is the second star to come a cropper singing Largo al Factotum, after Blur star Alex James performed it on the first series of the show and suffered the same fate.

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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.