Alder Hey Imagine Appeal, Heather signs a Bauble.

Anastacia, Lulu and Heather Small sign a Bauble for the Liverpool Alder Hey Imagine charity.

About the appeal: 

Cavern Walks shopping centre has teamed up with a host of celebrities from across the UK to launch a Christmas campaign for Alder Hey Children's Hospital. The boutique shopping centre, located on Mathew Street, is donating a Christmas tree, complete with 12 baubles each signed with a festive message from a celebrity.

The Christmas tree and baubles will be donated to Alder Hey Children's Hospital this December and will take pride of position for staff, patients and family to see in the cafeteria. Celebrities queuing up to sign the baubles include Gok Wan, who was in Liverpool this week to film Channel 4's Gok Fashion Fix, and Spice Girl Mel C, who is currently starring in Willy Russell's Blood Brothers at the Liverpool Empire Theatre.

Derek Millar, Commercial Director at Cavern Walks, said of the charity campaign: 'Cavern Walks is very excited to team up with Alder Hey Children's Hospital for our Christmas Campaign. Celebrities have been very generous so far. Not only is the donation going to a fantastic cause, but it is also festive and fun for everyone visiting the hospital to enjoy.' Other celebrities who are generously supporting the campaign include cast members of Hollyoaks and Britain's Got Talent dance troupe Diversity, who are performing at the Liverpool Echo Arena on the 10th December. - [Alder Hey Imagine Appeal]

Echo Arena HCTG Review

Review: Here Come the Girls - ECHO Arena
Nov 26 2010 Liverpool Echo

LULU, Anastacia and M People’s Heather Small are not an obvious trio to tour together, but throw in some girly anthems and you’ve got a show.

It’s the smallest audience I’ve seen at the ECHO Arena, and the two-hour set is not flawless.

The choreography isn’t impressive, they miss cues and forgotten lines are laughed off – but nobody seems to mind.

The girls give the audience three rules: stand up if you want to, have fun and dance. The threesome’s big voices, big personalities and big hits ensure these rules are obeyed.

Most of the audience are on their feet from the off, enjoying Relight My Fire, I’m Every Woman and Signed, Sealed, Delievered I’m Yours, as well as numerous other songs that would be perfect for a Bridget Jones soundtrack.

It is THAT kind of night – a “dancing round your handbag with the girls” kind of night, although there are many smiling male faces in the crowd.

Dressed in skin-tight leather and diamonds, the ladies on stage might have something to do with that – Lulu with her age-defying blonde flicks, a dramatically slimmed down Heather and a voluptuous, tanned Anastacia.

At times, Heather seems distracted dancing around in her own little world, and she admits she doesn’t talk as much as the other two.

Her singing, however, is on top form and it’s her version of The Zutons’ Valerie that finally gets the Arena audience going into full swing.

The three keep the momentum going with M People’s One Night in Heaven and Rolling on a River.

The tracks are eclectic, to say the least, bouncing from the Bee Gees’ Night Fever to Pink’s Get the Party Started, Motown’s Dancing in the Street to the Black Eyed Peas’ I Got a Feeling.

The stand-out moments of the show included Lulu’s energetic performance of Shout, which she first performed when she was 15, and a Lady Gaga medley.

The tracks on the set list are as different from each other as the three voices singing them – but somehow the entire performance all fits into place.

We know the songs and we certainly know those voices – put them together and you’ve got yourself an unlikely but enjoyable show.

Well done, the girls 4/5
[source: Liverpool Echo]

Here Come The Girls kicks off in Edinburgh

Heather and the girls kick started the tour in stunning style last night.

Here is the set list:

I'm Every Woman (Chaka Khan)
One Day In Your Life (Anastacia)
Relight My Fire (Take That & Lulu)
Moving On Up ( M People)
Ain't Too Proud To Beg (The Temptations)
Signed Sealed Delivered (Stevie Wonder)
Can't Turn You Loose (Blues Brothers)
Dancing In The Street (Martha & The Vandellas)
Mercy (Duffy)
Valerie (Amy Winehouse)
I'm Outta Love (Anastacia)
Independence (Lulu)
One Night In Heaven (M People)
Proud Mary (Tina & Ike Turner)
I Got A Feeling (Black Eyed Peas)
Get The Party Started (Pink)
Itchycoo Park (Small Faces)
Search For The Hero (M People)
Empire State Of Mind (Alicia Keys)
Left Outside Alone (Anastacia)
To Sir With Love (Lulu)
Shout (Lulu)
Lady Gaga Medley (Lady Gaga)
Disco Inferno (The Trammps)
Night Fever (Bee Gees)
I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor)
Angels (Robbie Williams)

The tour continues tomorrow (23rd) at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow.

Daily Mail article

Three loud and proud vocal legends turn it up to 11 as they explain how they got together for a touring celebration of sisterhood!

We hear them before we see them. The three women striding across the courtyard of BBC Television Centre in West London are exuding enough oestrogen – no, let’s call it tes-sisterone to power a small city. The turbocharged voices of Lulu (diminutive, all in white), Heather Small, late of M People (Amazonian, all in black) and Anastacia (statuesque, in black and white) are drowning out the sounds of traffic, which will be reassuring to those who’ve bought the cheapest seats for their forthcoming sisterhood soul revue Here Come the Girls, back for a second run after its sellout debut last year (when the original line-up included Chaka Khan, now replaced by Heather). Yes, these girls can P-R-O-J-E-C-T.
This time we’re louder, yells Lulu, as they clamber into the cab.
This time we’re prouder, bellows Anastacia. We’re starting at 11 and cranking it up from there.
Our cabbie, Paul from Uxbridge, shoots me a stricken look and quietly turns off his intercom.
Fittingly, the 2010 incarnation of Here Come the Girls is bigger and brasher, with a £1 million stage set, a seven-piece band, and new songs, sequences and routines. Of course, the whole extravaganza stands or falls on the interplay between its front-women – so how’s the chemistry shaping up?

We need to outdo Lady Gaga. How many costume changes does she do – nine or ten? We'll do 12!

It’s awful, says Anastacia, wrinkling her nose. Will we make it to opening night? She beams. Get out of here! I knew I’d like Heather before I even met her.
Heather attended last year’s tour as a punter. As soon as the ladies came out, they gave it their all, and the audience were with them, she enthuses. The first time I met Anastacia, she gave me a warm hug, not a showbiz hug.

The show was Lulu’s brainchild, or, as she calls it, all my fault. She adds, I did a couple of concerts with friends, and we had such fun, and I thought, why not turn this party into a tour where the audience can stand up, rock out, and come out thinking, What a great night ?
This philosophy is helped along by the kind of roof-raising anthems – I’m Every Woman, Sisters Are Doin it for Themselves – that had last year’s audiences swinging in their stilettos, aided this time out by the addition of Heather’s M People back catalogue (Search for the Hero, What Have You Done Today, etc).
With Chaka Khan deciding she wasn’t up to the rigours of a second go-round, it falls to Heather to play the stormin soul sister. She seems energised at the prospect of sharing the stage with her generously-lunged peers. I just kept knocking till they let me in,’she grins.
She’s got the cojones, declares Lulu. While there are a lot of females who want to join us, there are certain ones who wouldn’t do it. She’s one of us, she beams at Heather. She’s disciplined, with a similar drive.It’s not rivalry, it’s camaraderie, explains Heather. We all love to perform. We’ve got no product to sell – we’re singing live on-stage just for the hell of it.
No Auto-Tune for us, declares Lulu.

What about the routines – will it be all headsets and oiled-up backing dancers? Anastacia appears to be genuinely taken aback. We have to sing, honey,’she protests. We’re not Beyoncé. But I think there’ll be a few costume changes.
We need to outdo Lady Gaga, cries Lulu. How many does she do – nine or ten? We’ll do 12!
It’s easier for her, right? She’s only wearing a bra and pants to start with, points out Heather.
This seems an appropriate moment to ask if they expect any men to come to the shows. A lot came last year with their wives, asserts Anastacia. They were dragged in…
The gay guys were in their feather boas before the show even started, adds Lulu.
A relieved-looking Paul drops us off after the photo shoot. But Lulu has a parting shot: Women together are great, the best, the strongest, she pronounces. We are the power.And when you get three together? Unstoppable.

The Here Come the Girls UK tour will start on 22 November in Edinburgh : for full details visit gigsandtours.com

Steve Wright BBC Interview catch up.

Catch up on the Radio 2 interview with Heather, Lulu and Anastacia here. 

Birmingham Mail Interview

Music: Strictly no dancing for Heather Small


Sep 17 2010 by Andrew Coleman, Birmingham Mail

THERE will be strictly NO ballroom dancing when singer Heather Small joins Lulu and Anastacia in Here Come The Girls.

The M People vocalist insists the skills she learned with professional partner Brian Fortuna on Strictly Come Dancing in 2008 won’t be on display when the show plays Birmingham’s NIA Academy on November 26.

‘‘There is a time and there is a place,’’ she laughs. ‘‘I still do a bit of dancing but nothing for public consumption at this moment in time!

‘‘When you’re on Strictly you enter a different kind of sphere and now that I’m safely out I shall leave it alone.’’

Not that the Strictly experience was a bad one for Heather.
‘‘It was great, absolutely fantastic. I was fit as a fiddle, I met Brian – we’ll be friends for life – but you are in a definite Strictly bubble and when you come to the real world, and you put on your civvies, it’s quite surreal. You think to yourself, did I really do that?’’

Heather says she got a great response from the public, even after losing to Rachel Stevens after six dances. ‘Strictly has a phenomenal number of fans, I didn’t realise how many,’’ says 45-year-old Heather. ‘‘People know me from singing but they do say to me that they enjoyed my stint on Strictly. I’ve had nothing but positives from the public; very, very warm because it’s a lovely show. When people see faces they are familiar with doing something quite different, out of their comfort zone, they are very kind and warm to that. It’s the judges you have to contend with!’’

She has no intention of entering other ‘reality’ shows.
‘‘People have offered me the chance of going into the jungle and that’s a definite ‘no’. I’m vegetarian and what they do with rats and little creatures is not my idea of fun at all.’’

Heather now has a new challenge – being on stage with Lulu and Anastacia.

Here Come The Girls first toured last year with Chaka Khan as the third vocalist but Heather doesn’t see herself as Chaka’s replacement.


‘‘There’s only one Chaka Khan, I don’t see that I’m filling her shoes, that’s quite impossible. It isn’t even something that would come into my head.
‘‘I just bring what I bring to the party. I think it’s wonderful that they’ve started off the whole ball game and have now invited me. ‘I don’t see me as a replacement, I see me as an alternative. You can’t replace Chaka. I’m just a baby diva compared to her!’’

Heather saw the glamorous show last year and jumped at the chance to join the sisterhood.
‘‘It looked like such fun on stage, lots of songs you know and can sing along to. An evening of pure entertainment and enjoyment and the audience really, really loved it.

‘‘I’ll be alongside two very distinct voices, two very strong female characters, so I know it will be fun.’’
It will be the first time Heather has worked with Lulu and Anastacia.

‘‘I met Lulu to talk about the whole project and she’s very warm, very professional.’’
The show itself, which features the three singers showcasing their hits and cover versions, promises to be more spectacular than the last tour which visited Symphony Hall.

There’s a new £1 million stage set, new songs and routines and a new seven piece band.

* HERE COME THE GIRLS
Nov 26: NIA Academy
Tickets: 0844 338 8000.

Liverpool Daily Post article

M People frontwoman Heather Small joins Here Come The Girls tour at the Liverpool Echo Arena


Sep 17 2010 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

Who is she? Soul singer, best known as lead singer of Manchester-based M People.
What is she famous for? As the frontwoman of M People, she was a chart regular throughout the 90s, winning a Brit Award two years running for Best Dance Act in 1994 and 95.

Distinguishing features? Distinctive booming vocals and big hair.

Career high? M People had a string of huge hits including Search For The Hero, Sight For Sore Eyes and Moving On Up. A Best Of album, released in 1998, sold 1.75m copies and was certified triple platinum. In 2000, Heather released her solo album, Proud, and a single of the same name, which became the soundtrack to the successful London 2012 Olympic bid.
Career low? Two years ago, Heather was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, partnering Brian Fortuna. She was placed 9th overall in the series but was in the bottom two on four occasions.

Significant others? Heather has an 11-year-old son, James, with rugby player Shaun Edwards, although the couple split not long after his birth.

Not to be confused with? Little and Large.
She says? “Proud has taken me to so many different places, from schools to sports grounds to churches, so it symbolises music as a unifying force.”

Interesting fact? When Oprah Winfrey was looking for a song to sum up her 20-year career, she got in touch with Heather and Proud became the theme song to The Oprah Winfrey Show. In 2005, Heather made her American TV debut on the show.

HEATHER SMALL joins Anastacia and Lulu on the Here Come The Girls Tour, at the Liverpool Echo Arena, on November 25.

New HCTG photoshoot.

Heather, Anastacia and Lulu got together for a new "Here Come The Girls" photoshoot. Here are the photos:

Sky news appearance

All three performers, Heather Small, Anastacia and Lulu  appeared on Sky news this morning to promote the "Here Come The Girls" tour.

Video

Spotted: Heather, Lulu and Anastacia.

Heather, Lulu and Anastacia were spotted outside the BBC studio's in London today.
Source: anastacia-elegance.com

Exclusive "Here Come The Girls" 48 hour pre-sale offer

Heather Small fans get the exclusive opportunity to get tickets 48 hours before they come onto general sale. Click here to buy and read more.

Interview: Gordon Barr chats to Heather Small

Originally posted on: Sep 7 2010 by Gordon Barr, Evening Chronicle

THREE divas, three big voices – and an show packed from beginning to end with hits.

The Girls are back in Toon, with Here Come The Girls, and this year they have taken on board former M People star Heather Small.

She will join Lulu and Anastacia on stage at the Metro Radio Arena on December 7. Tickets for the divas show go on sale on Friday, following on from a highly successful outing last year.

“I went to see the show last year. I saw them on stage, with those wonderful songs, and it was such fun. When I was asked to get on board I did jump at the chance. It really is fun,” Heather tells me.

“They’re feisty, distinctive ladies and voices so I thought it would be an environment which I would love to be part of. The songs are familiar and to see people enjoying themselves and everyone on stage giving their all is moving and inspiring.

“The songs are ones everyone knows and to get up there and sing with other lead singers is quite different to doing a solo show, being up front and being the only singer.
“You’re still an individual but you have to make a real beautiful whole. That’s a challenge in itself. Lulu is very warm, professional and a perfectionist and that really works for me.

“Even though we are individual singers, sometimes when you go to see a show and people do a collaboration, it can feel like it is two or three separate events, whereas with this you are on stage with everybody, you do back-up for each other, that’s really what people want to see.

“We are all women who are known for their voice and style. People want to see how that meshes together and how effective it all is.
“Petite and feisty women, with attitude – that always works with me!”
The show will include a £1m stage set, new songs, sequences and routines. The brainchild of Lulu, the show is favour-ite with fans young and old. The music extravaganza mixes high-octane, high-camp, get-up-and-dance, feet-just-can't-keep-still songs against a backdrop of breathtaking glamour and fun, fun, fun – celebrating all that it means to be a woman, the show defies anyone not to dance. Such has the success been for Here Come The Girls that the producers are in talks with European and North American pro-moters to take the show oversees in 2011.

BBC News appearance

Heather appeared on BBC news today along with Anastacia and Lulu to promote the upcoming "Here Come The Girls" tour.

Extract:

On replacing Chaka Khan in the tour line-up, she said she wanted to join the tour after seeing last year's show.
On finding her place in the trio, she said she "realised I needed big elbows so I can get a word in edgeways" - and that "the mix of the three of us... is exciting for people".

Watch the interview again | Source: bbc.co.uk

Video:

"Here Come The Girls" Tour - 2010

Tour Dates:

November 2010
22nd Playhouse, Edinburgh
23rd Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow
25th Echo Arena, Liverpool
26th NIA, Birmingham
27th Brighton Centre, Brighton
29th Hammersmith Apollo, London
30th Hammersmith Apollo, London

December 2010
2nd CIA Cardiff
3rd Guildhall, Portsmouth
4th International Centre, Bournemouth
6th City Hall, Sheffield
7th MEN Arena, Manchester
8th Arena, Newcastle
10th Arena, Nottingham
12th O2 Arena, Dublin
13th Odyssey Arena, Belfast



Press Release:

LULU AND ANASTACIA RETURN WITH SOUL STAR HEATHER SMALL (FROM M PEOPLE) FOR THE BIGGEST PARTY IN TOWN

Following a sell out and acclaimed run in December 2009 the most fabulous girls night out, Here Come The Girls, returns for a turbocharged run across the UK, just in time for Christmas 2010.

The brainchild of Lulu, this year’s show welcomes back pop diva and star of Channel 5’s Don’t Stop Believing, Anastacia, and introduces British soul singer and star of M People, Heather Small to the sisterhood.

A favourite with fans young and old, the music extravaganza mixes high-octane, high camp, get-up-and-dance, feet-just-can’t-keep-still songs, against a backdrop of breathtaking glamour and fun, fun, fun! It’s a night out never to be forgotten – the must-see show signals the beginning of the party season and the dawn of Woman Power!! With a brand new £1 million stage set, new songs and routines, a new 7 piece band, the show will be sure to get you dancing in the aisles. The show kicks off in Edinburgh on the 22nd November and tours until 13th December 2010.

Here Come The Girls is centred on the three superstar voices - Lulu, Anastacia and M-People’s Heather Small - each with their own unique sense of style, humour and musical heritage. Celebrating all that it means to be a woman we defy anyone not to dance!

Such has the success been for Here Come The Girls that the producers are in talks with European and North American promoters to take the show oversees in 2011.

Lulu says:
“I can’t wait to do another Here Come the Girls tour with my girl Anastacia and welcome Heather to the sisterhood”.

Anastacia says:
"I can't wait to get into rehearsals for Here Come The Girls. The Sisterhood is Back Part 2!!".

Heather says:
“I am so excited about being a part of this fabulous show; all the music, glitz and glamour is right up my street and to be performing with Lulu and Anastacia will be fantastic. I was sat in the audience on the last tour and had such a brilliant time with my friends that I can’t wait to be up on stage with the girls this time round.”

Tickets go onsale at 9am Friday 10th September

Via Real Ticketline: 08444 124 632

And via see tickets

Heather Small Music can exclusively offer you pre sale tickets as of Wednesday 8th September at 9am. Click here to find out more.

Anastacia's blog

Further confirmation of Heather on the "Here Come The Girls" tour came today via Anastacia's blog on her official website. It reads,

"I will be heading back to the UK to do some promo in Sept for Here Come The Girls!!!!

Yesssss, it is indeed true, the Diva's are heading back to do another round of UK dates!!!! Lulu and I are so blessed to have a new sista to work with, Heather Small who is amazing!!!!!

We will surely have a great show with us three ladies!!!" - Anastacia.com

Loose Women - Wednesday 8th September

On Wed 8th September 2010, Heather joined Lulu on Loose Women to promote the Here Come The Girls" tour. ITV1 (Granada) 12.30pm - 1.30pm.

Loose ladies Kate Thornton, Coleen Nolan, Sherrie Hewson and Denise Welch are joined by The Script frontman Danny O'Donoghue and pop divas Heather Small and Lulu.

- uk tv guide.

Video:

"Here Come The Girls" update

Shelby and Andrea met with Lulu for a chat last week and has some new information about the tour.
Lulu and Anastacia are "looking forward" to Heather joining them.
They're not doing a new photoshoot because they liked the last one too much. So they're going take some photos of Heather and then add her to some of last years photos.

The tour will run from November 22nd and will run until around December 15th.


More as we get it.

"Here Come The Girls" update

Following our report of Heather joining the "Here Come The Girls" tour in November and December, we have some more information.

Sarah from the Anastacia UK Fan Club met up with Anastacia late July and here is what she has to report:

"I can reveal that Here Come The Girls tickets will be going on sale in the first week of September, probably the 7th. They will be all round the UK again this year (she didnt mention Europe), and she said they are HOPING to take it to Australia NEXT YEAR."


August should bring the updates thick and fast.