Kimberley Walsh to release album of show tunes

Kimberley Walsh to release album of show tunes (Image credit: PA)

Strictly Come Dancing star Kimberley Walsh has signed a solo record deal to release a collection of film and show tunes. The erstwhile Girls Aloud singer will issue debut solo album Centre Stage in February next year after agreeing a deal with Decca. She previously worked with the label to record a version of Queen's hit One Vision as the official anthem for Team GB at the Olympics, appearing alongside tenor Alfie Boe. Kimberley dazzled judges on Saturday's Strictly with a routine to Beyonce's Naughty Girl which saw her descend to the floor, seated in a circular trapeze. She began recording her album in Stockholm in the summer, performing a version of the Randy Crawford hit One Day I'll Fly Away. The singer has also worked on tracks such as Hushabye Mountain from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. "I've always loved musical theatre and doing Shrek! The Musical definitely reignited the passion in me," she said. "The melodies in so many musical songs are so brilliant I knew we could create something special by experimenting with the production and I really feel like we've come up with some interesting takes on classic songs." Kimberley - who will play 10th anniversary dates with Girls Aloud in the near future - releases her album on February 4.

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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.