ELTON JOHN - ELTON MAKES GUEST APPEARANCE IN BILLY ELLIOT MUSICAL

SIR ELTON JOHN surprised the audience at a special gala performance of his West End musical BILLY ELLIOT by making a brief cameo appearance as a miner yesterday (22NOV06). The ROCKET MAN singer has garnered critical acclaim for his Victoria Palace stage adaptation of the hit movie and showed off his acting skills as a man reading a newspaper. In the scene, Billy asks the miner, "So what do you reckon Reg?" John, whose real name is REGINALD KENNETH DWIGHT, lowered the newspaper and walked off stage, delivering a line which was lost in an explosion of applause from the audience. John says, "Billy Elliot has been one of the great events of my life. Being involved in this musical has given me so much pleasure." AMERICAN IDOL judge SIMON COWELL also made a guest appearance as a judge overseeing Billy's ballet school audition.