Home welcome for Katy Setterfield

11:55am Wednesday 8th October 2008

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FRESH from Las Vegas, High Wycombe’s answer to Dusty Springfield arrives back on home turf next week with a performance at the Wycombe Swan.

Terriers resident Katy Setterfield spent three months performing as her idol at the Imperial Palace Hotel after winning the BBC talent show The One and Only in May.

"I’ve performed at the Wycombe Swan before when I was with That’ll Be The Day, but it will be very emotional coming back on my own. I just know I’m gonna bawl my eyes out on stage."

Katy Setterfield

Now the 37-year-old singer has embarked on her first solo tour around the UK and stops off in Wycombe next Thursday – something she predicts will be her “most emotional gig to date”.

She says: “It’s my home town, I’ve lived here most of my life and it’s very dear to my heart. I’ve performed at the Wycombe Swan before when I was with That’ll Be The Day, but it will be very emotional coming back on my own. I just know I’m gonna bawl my eyes out on stage.”

Katy will reprise a number of Dusty classics such as You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me, Son of a Preacher Man and I Only Want To Be With You, as well as a selection of her own material.

“I think it’s important to show the real Katy to the public,” she enthuses. “Everyone has seen my Dusty, but I want people to hear my songs as well.”

Reflecting on her three-month stint in America, the Bucks-born talent tells me she worked hard, performing six days a week and two shows a night, but her time with the world-famous Legends In Concert was “fantastic”.

She adds: “The other acts were a bit apprehensive about me at first, because they didn’t know me. But then I got up on stage and afterwards they told me they were blown away by me. That definitely helped boost my confidence.

“I always say with any tribute act that you can put on the dress and the make-up, but one thing you can’t repeat is the performance.

“That has to come from me, so I’m really proud of what I’ve been able to achieve.”

Neither, says Katy, did she ever tire of appearing night after night as Dusty.

“It was never a chore,” she tells me. “It was and is always a pleasure to perform as Dusty and her songs are timeless.”

In between performances, Katy also says she made the most of the top-billing entertainment on offer in the vast casino city.

She tells me: “I saw loads of other acts, like Elton John, Cher and Bette Midler, as well as Cirque du Soleil. And I also spent every penny I had on shopping – in fact, I came back with three suitcases full of my purchases!”

By the end of her three months, Katy was performing nightly to packed audiences of 500 people.

“My final night was so emotional,” she recalls. “I got to the end of my last song and just thanked everyone. Before I knew it, the whole audience was on its feet.

“Afterwards I was told it’s quite rare to get a full standing ovation, so that really bowled me over. I felt like I had gone to Las Vegas, I’d achieved and conquered.”

Such was the impression Katy made in just three months that the likeable singer has already been booked to appear in Las Vegas again next summer.

She adds: “They told me I’m part of the Legends family now, which is really lovely to hear.”

Now back in the UK, Katy’s career is going from strength to strength. Not only is she busy touring the country until the end of November, but she has also just released a new album of Dusty Springfield songs.

Her success is “a dream come true,” but one Katy says she still finds hard to believe.

She tells me: “I have moments where I’m terrified. I think, what am I doing up there on stage, but this is all I’ve ever wanted ever since I sang into my hairbrush at the age of five.

“Two years ago I was looking for a change of direction because I never thought it would happen, and I don’t think it would have without The One And Only. Now I’m living the dream – and I’m over 30 – isn’t that cool?”

Katy Setterfield performs at Wycombe Swan on Thursday, October 16, 7.30pm. Details: www.wycombeswan.co.uk