Zoe Birkett (born 16 June 1985) is an English singer and musical theatre performer. Birkett was the highest placing female contestant on

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and par ...

in 2001 and later appeared on Big Brother. Her first single, Treat Me Like A Lady, was released in 2003 and charted in the

UK Top 40 The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Since 2009, Birkett has performed in

West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1 ...

. She is currently portraying the role of Arabia in ''

Moulin Rouge! The Musical ''Moulin Rouge! The Musical'' is a jukebox musical with a book by John Logan. The musical is based on the 2001 film ''Moulin Rouge!'' directed by Baz Luhrmann and written by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce. The musical premiered on July 10, 2018, a ...

''.

Career

Early career and ''Pop Idol''

Birkett was born in Consett, a town in County Durham, and began attending stage school when she was just three years old. She had had hopes of being a performer, and trained at the Amanda McGlynn Academy in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

and the Lorraine Murray Dance School. In 2002, Birkett finished fourth on the first series of ''

'', behind

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest '' Pop Idol'', making him the first winner of the worldwide '' Idol ...

Gareth Gates Gareth Paul Gates (born 12 July 1984) is an English singer-songwriter and actor. He was the runner-up in the first series of the ITV talent show ''Pop Idol'' in 2002. As of 2008, Gates had sold over 3.5 million records in the UK. He is ...

and

Darius Danesh Darius may refer to: Persian royalty ;Kings of the Achaemenid Empire * Darius I (the Great, 550 to 487 BC) * Darius II (423 to 404 BC) * Darius III (Codomannus, 380 to 330 BC) ;Crown princes * Darius (son of Xerxes I), crown prince of Persia ...

, and being the highest placed female on the show. During the programme, she performed such songs as

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed " The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston i ...

's "

One Moment in Time "One Moment in Time" is a sentimental ballad by American singer Whitney Houston and written by Albert Hammond and John Bettis, produced by Narada Michael Walden for the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea. It was released by Arista ...

", " I Will Always Love You" and " I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"; Aretha Franklin's "

I Say a Little Prayer "I Say a Little Prayer" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick, originally peaking at number four on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 pop singles chart in December 1967. On the R&B Singles chart it peaked at numbe ...

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group ...

's "Thank You For the Music" and

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

's " Get Happy". After the show, Birkett was the warm-up act on ''Pop Idol'' winners Will Young's and Gareth Gates' tour where she performed to over 250,000 people. She performed three songs for the triple platinum '' Pop Idol: The Big Band Album'', which charted at number 1 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

Record deal and theatre career

In 2003, Birkett signed a recording contract with 19 Recordings and released one single, "Treat Me Like a Lady", in January 2003. The track was co-written by fellow ''Pop Idol'' contestant

Sarah Whatmore Sarah Louise Whatmore (born 21 September 1981) is an English singer-songwriter, best known for appearing in the first series of the British TV series ''Pop Idol''. Whatmore later went on to launch her own solo career. Early life Whatmore was ...

and peaked at number 12 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Birkett later departed from her

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

and pursued an alternative career in musical theatre . Her first roles were in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

and touring productions such as ''In Town Tonight'', ''What A Feeling'', ''West End Rocks'' and ''Cover Girls''. In 2009, Birkett was cast in

and performed in

Priscilla Queen of the Desert ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' is a 1994 Australian road comedy film written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The plot follows two drag queens, played by Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce, and a transgender woman, played by Tere ...

until 2011. Birkett was later cast as lead singer in

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play, ' ...

's 2011 production of ''Respect La Diva'', and became the

leading lady A leading actor, leading actress, or simply lead (), plays the role of the protagonist of a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person who typica ...

of '' Thriller Live'' in 2012. Other castings include being the

understudy In theater, an understudy, referred to in opera as cover or covering, is a performer who learns the lines and blocking or choreography of a regular actor, actress, or other performer in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to a ...

for The Bodyguard's leading lady Alexandra Burke where she was responsible for matinée performances.. Since 2021, Birkett has performed as Arabia in

Piccadilly Theatre The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, London, England. Early years Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A. Stone ...

. She is the main female lead role of Satine, which she debuted on May 10, 2022.

''Big Brother''

On 14 July 2014, Birkett entered the Big Brother house as one of three new housemates alongside Biannca Lake and Pavandeep "Pav" Paul. Upon their arrival, the three new housemates were informed that they would have the power to evict one of the existing housemates, but were unaware that the public would also be deciding which of them would be allowed to stay in the house. On 18 July, Birkett was saved from eviction, having received the most votes from the public. She and Pav then voted to evict Danielle McMahon from the house. On Day 58, she was evicted from the Big Brother House.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkett, Zoe 1985 births Living people English stage actresses Pop Idol contestants 19 Recordings artists Big Brother (British TV series) contestants People from Consett English people of Maltese descent 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers