5 MINUTES WITH...

Paddy Mcguinness, 44, hosting this week’s musical extravaganza on the Beeb’s Even Better Than The Real Thing. Let’s get ready to boogie!

What’s the show all about?

We’ve got the world’s best tribute artists on – who we’ve flown in from America, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, as well as the UK. You get all the hits, and it’s all live. Some of these people are unbelievable, you get goose bumps watching them.

Who’ve you got on?

We’ve got people like George Michael, Whitney Houston and Amy Winehouse… It gets interesting when the act the audience vote as their favourite goes through to perform a duet with someone else. This didn’t happen on the show, but it could be as random as Lady Gaga duetting with Bing Crosby, it’s really quirky.

Do you like that sort of thing?

I remember years ago at the Brits they started doing random duets, like Robbie Williams’ one with Tom Jones (Brit Awards 1998), and Florence with Dizzee Rascal (Brits 2010). I like seeing stuff that you wouldn’t normally put together.

It sounds like a proper celebration of music, rather than a talent contest…

That’s exactly what it is – there’s no mickey-taking. I’m not going, “Cor blimey, who were that meant to be?” Because they look like them, they sound like them – and this is how they make a living. It’s all taken very seriously, although I do have little bits of fun with them in the VIP area; I’ll share a Bacardi Breezer with Liam Gallagher and Dolly Parton.

What music do you like?

When I’m in the car on my own I put on a bit of Kisstory and I roll back the years to the 90s. I love all that. Though I don’t tend to sing along as I’m always aware of how someone could whip their camera phone out when I’m getting into Michael Bublé…