To tell this story, I will start from the beginning and work through how the great moment came about. To give credit where it's due I must thank one of my closest friends Ricki Keeley. I received a phone call from him telling me that there was a competition on 2-Ten FM (our local radio station) to meet that "guy you like off Pop Idol". Of course, he was referring to William Young whom I had indeed admired on the show for some time. I had watched the programme right from the start, but as it went on I became one of the millions of people hooked on Pop Idol, and at this stage of the competition - we were down to the final 7 by this point - I was calling myself a 'Will' fan. I was intrigued by the competition and listened to 2-Ten FM for the details while doing my homework. Once I had all the information, I phoned up the competition line and was required to leave a 2 minute message on an answer phone stating why I thought that I should meet Will along with personal contact details. I penned a quick plan to clarify why I wanted to meet Will - fantastic voice with a unique quality, gorgeous smile, a twinkle in his eye, a star quality, the fact that I already liked him so much that I would fall over myself to buy his records and concert tickets let alone meet him. Of course all these factors have now been commented upon by every newspaper in this country, but at this early stage, I could never have predicted how rapidly he would find this success and recognition. I left my message, which exceeded my prepared notes as I spontaneously jabbered in excitement, and got on with my life. I must confess that it did keep cropping up in my head because I very rarely enter competitions, so I kept day dreaming about how amazing it would be if I actually met him. In a small way I was dreading finding out who won because it would end that nice little fantasy, that hope you have when everything is still possible.
Well, I needn't have worried about the fantasy bubble bursting, because it had only just begun. When in the kitchen one day, the advert about the competition came on the radio and in it's trademark style called all Will fans and played some of the comments so far. I was on it. They used my opening line "I am totally in love with Will Young" and my closing line, "Oh please let me smile in the face of the gorgeous Will Young". I cringed hearing it played back, while inwardly dancing with joy. They hadn't named me after all. On tuesday the 18th of January, I recieved a phone call from 2-Ten FM telling me that I had been chosen as a finalist to meet Will Young. I couldn't believe it, my stomach was already turning, and I had to give details of where I would be at 1pm the following day. That turned out to be my sixth form assembly but at the time I was unsure as to whether I would have a lesson or not. I managed my best to contain myself on the phone and the lady wished me luck. I knew I had to keep the news low profile because it wasn't definately me that had won and I didn't want to cause hysteria at school. I am a chronic worrier at the best of times and the thought of me being responsible for Will being mobbed at my school my hormonal, zealous adolescents was rather terrifying.
I kept my news within a highly trusted circle of friends and tried to get some sleep that night, while my brain ticked over every possible eventuality or disaster that could happen the following day.
