Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Night of the Stars was a real winner
Fundraiser for the Moira Anderson Foundation
When rocking up to Airdrie town hall for the fifth Night of Stars spectacular, I didn’t really know what to expect.
I never know what to make of these kinds of variety shows; I set out wanting to love everyone for their efforts for such a good cause, but fear I will loathe them all.
With this in mind, I went along out of a sense of duty rather than a desire to get away from the wallto-wall European football being shown on TV that night.
It is however with great joy that I have to confess that this was a really good night out.
Before telling you about the variety of talent on display I should really explain why we were all gathered and the wonderful cause which we were supporting.
The Airdrie-based Moira Anderson Foundation was set up to help victims of childhood sexual abuse and do invaluable work in this important field.
Night of Stars 5 was held to raise funds for the foundation and opened with an act called the Three Amigos; so it was a surprise that, rather than three mustachioed banditos, we were greeted by an excellent Scottish folk trio.
Over the course of the evening we were treated to four excellent female vocalists, varying in style from the classical Puccini given to us by Chriss Mill,s to the modern self-penned tunes of Beth Swann.
My personal favourite however, was Liz Sloan who has a very rare talent; not only a wonderful, silky voice, but makes it all sound so easy.
Men were well represented too, in the form of Tony Andrews and Gee-Jay Andrews. Both performed very well, entertaining the crowd with their consummate professionalism.
The biggest surprise of the night was debut performers the Summerlee Singers.
This local choir have been hiding their very bright light under a bushel for far too long.
A council initiative, this mostly female group – there is one gent – sang a wonderful acapella selection.
Their tunes were sweet and their harmonies spot on.
Local studio The Dance Stars provided two sets of contemporary dance featuring a range of age groups.
With great choreography and perfect timing, both sets were justifiably well received by the audience and provided a great alternative to the singing.
It is difficult to decide whether the Tora Black Belt Academy should be described as a dance performance.
What it was, though, was a choreographed demonstration of their mixed martial arts skills, set to music.
I wasn’t expecting to enjoy such an act so it was with great joy I have to admit how wrong I was; this was a definitely a different performance – and all the better for it.
Again, my preconceptions got the better of me with the inclusion of two female impersonators.
Was Airdrie ready for this? Definitely yes, as the pair of completely different acts went down a storm.
Dolores McGuffey was less Danny la Rue and more Stanley Baxter; He was a good oldfashioned pantomime dame who put us all in the mood for the up-coming panto season.
Sally Starshine was a plenty of thrills drag act; an excellent singer and performer, he was definitely more of a La Rue-style performer.
This year’s Night of Stars’ headline act was former Britain’s Got Talent and X Factor performer Jaimie Lee Harrison.
He is a fine vocalist who fully deserves his recent record deal; performing four contemporary songs, including his new single, was a fabulous way to end a fantastic evening.
I cannot wrap things up without a special mention for Mitchell Gibb, the funny, entertaining and incredibly loud-shirted compare for the evening.
Mitchell was an excellent host and pulled the show and all of its many acts together with consummate ease.
This was a phenomenal evening and a shining example of the best of entertainment and people’s kind-hearted generosity.
Congratulations and thank you to all involved; not only the performers, but all of the Moira Anderson Foundation’s dedicated volunteers.