Totally Tina

Tonight Matthew, I’m going to be….. Those immortal, iconic six words, would accompany someone who’d return, on-stage, moments later, as musical icon – the host was Matthew Kelly, and the show, that would be that classic, Saturday night television programme, Stars In Their Eyes. Some twenty years ago now, this very month in fact, Justine Riddoch was one of the grand finalists of the show, she appearing as Anastacia (performing the track, I’m Outta Love, in the final), these days though, she’s better known as….. The world famous, Tina Turner! “She’s a legend, and there’ll only ever be one Tina,” began Justine. “I just bring a flavour of her, whilst also talking about her when I’m on stage, most tribute acts won’t do that.” She’s done a pretty good job of it as well has Justine, portraying the iconic musician, in her own, imitable style, and taking it to new, different levels; for a dozen years now she’s been doing it, and she (Justine) is showing no signs of stopping, not yet anyway. It has been a run that has perhaps caught Justine, and her fellow bandmates, off-guard, they far from expecting the longevity of what they’re doing; but, before Tina, and even the spell she had as Anastacia, Justine had been treading the boards for a good few years. “For some fifteen years I’d travelled around the entertainment circuit and had never really got anywhere,” continued Justine, ahead of her upcoming tour dates. “Because of that, I thought I would give the show, Stars In Their Eyes, a shot, and would end up going on there as Anastacia. “That in itself was hard work but, with the band, we’d end up performing at a festival in Yorkshire. “My vocals though, they tend to lend themselves more towards rock music, and, when we did

Diva Fest, Tina Turner was one of the three options and I would soon found myself in an era of hers that I looked like, and it would take off. “When on the stage though, I forget who I am as there’s multiple routines, changes, in which to g through. “When I started with Tina though, nobody else was doing anything like this on a regular basis, and theatre’s themselves weren’t showing tribute acts either. “That was when we started looking at putting on a full spectacle.” Now, after a dozen plus years as Tina Turner, Justine Riddoch and her band are ready to go again this year, another year out on the road. Among those tour dates throughout 2022, are several in the northeast, beginning with the Phoenix Theatre, Blyth, on 22 April (they’ll also be appearing later in the year in Whitley Bay, Yarm, Northallerton, and Middlesbrough). The north-east though, for Justine, is a place that, although she’s from the north-west, Merseyside to be precise, knows, and loves, quite a lot. “When we first started touring, we never dreamed that last a couple of years, let alone this long,” giggled Justine. “So I’d like to think we were the catalyst for it all, and us making a big production, it has really helped; we’ve made some great friends along the way, some of whom do similar to ourselves, and it’s a scene that we’re really proud to be a part of. “As for heading back to the northeast, I actually started out there, when I was working at a holiday park in Whitley Bay, when I was in my late teens. “I got an idea of the music, the entertainment scene, whilst there, early in my career, and I’ve always performed a lot of dates there. “The audience though, it’s just like we have on Merseyside, they love their music, crazy about it, and it shows.” Justine Riddoch, as ‘Totally Tina,’ will appear at the Phoenix Theatre, Blyth, on 22 April, tickets for which are available from https:// www.thephoenixtheatre.org.uk/ whats-on/music/totally-tina/ Keep up-to-date with everything Totally Tina via Facebook https:// www.facebook.com/TotallyTinaUK/ and Twitter https://twitter. com/TotallyTINAUK whilst you can also visit the website at https:// www.totallytina.co.uk/