EURYTHMICS - STEWART TURNS TALENT SPOTTER

EURYTHMICS legend DAVE STEWART is following in the footsteps of music mogul SIMON COWELL by fronting a competition to find a new pop star. The British musician is looking for an undiscovered talent to perform one of the Eurythmics' biggest hits, There Must Be An Angel, with him at a special London gig later this month (14Jul07) before recording it together in Los Angeles. However, Stewart insists his methods will differ slightly from the acid-tongued American Idol judge and there'll be no public shaming of losers. He says of the internet contest, "I decided to put the song's backing track on my website, so people could sing along to it and post their videos on my site. Visitors can vote on the ones they like and whittle it down. "Then I can choose someone to sing it with me at the closing of the Tower of London Festival. After that, I'll record them and they can do what they want with it. A record label may put it out. "It's different to those talent things on TV, where they have to queue, do auditions, get shouted at and, if they win, end up with this 'career in a box'. "With this, they're in their bedroom, singing, and you can see their world. And they can just go from that to, 'Well done, you've won' - without any of the humiliation." Stewart and Annie Lennox scored a U.K. number one with There Must Be An Angel in 1985.