TV talent show winner Joe McElderry tells Katherine MacAlister about his role in iconic musical

Anyone who witnessed Joe McElderry on X Factor will know that his voice lends itself perfectly to musical theatre, a comment the judges made at the time.

Going on to win 2009’s ITV prime time show, he has since released five albums of his own, and is finally reigning supreme on stage in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

“I think of that comment as the biggest compliment in the world because I know how hard the cast works and their training and dedication. It’s the opposite to an insult because to be in musical theatre you have to have passion, talent and a powerful voice.

“So to get the opportunity to star in Joseph is amazing, because it’s an absolutely incredible show to be in,” he beams, having lost none of that cheerful boy-next-door demeanour.

“It’s everything I could have asked for.”

Being on tour, and leading such a top notch cast in such a famous production is quite a responsibility though for Joe’s young shoulders.

“Once Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat starts it doesn’t stop. It’s like a freight train, so you have to be in the moment and don’t have time to think about anything else. Joseph is such a full-on show, with so much energy, I’m loving it.”

Did X Factor help prepare him for the role?

“One hundred per cent, because coming from a show like X Factor you have to step up to the challenge and without it I wouldn’t be here. Nothing would have been possible.

“Before then I just wanted to perform and be out on the road with my band singing, but I never imagined I would be here. I never thought I would be Joseph, to make it happen.

“You can’t pay for that sort of publicity and experience, but after that you are on your own and I’m realistic about that. It doesn’t owe me anything.”

So what does Joe make of X Factor’s falling ratings? “I don’t think people like the new format and the brutality of the six chair challenge. It used to just be a singing show.”

He also defended The Jump, the Channel 4 winter sports reality show, which Joe not only survived intact, but went on to win in 2014.

“It’s a dangerous sport, skiing. People think that because some of the contestants are Olympic athletes that they are indestructible, so it’s getting some bad press.

“Mind you, doing the skeleton run was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. My body froze when they told me to do it again so I just shut my eyes and hoped I would make it to the end. It was awful,” he remembers.

Delighted to be back in a nice, warm, safe theatre, Joe is belting out hit after hit in the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic.

“The best thing is that it works for so many different generations from five year-olds to pensioners which is wonderful so you can feel the whole family’s excitement.”

So how did he prepare for the role? “I did some research, but not too much. I didn’t want to do a copycat performance of Jason Donovan or Phillip Schofield. You have to find your own version and your own voice, to put your own stamp on things. I wanted to do it my way.”

SEE IT
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat runs at New Theatre Oxford from March 8-12. Box office on 0844 8713020 or atgtickets.com/oxford