Bingo! Our Susan gets dream job

IT’S not every day you get the chance to join the panel for a new singing contest.

So when Mecca Bingo asked if I’d judge Mecca Star alongside reality babe Charlotte Dawson, Pop Idol runner-up Gareth Gates and soap legend Claire King, well, I’m not ashamed to admit I danced around my kitchen.

Claire, who started her career in the music business managing and singing in an alternative punk band, was head judge on our panel.

I was sitting next to Charlotte who proudly showed me the last picture she had taken with her comedy legend dad Les when she was just eight months old.

She said: “It’s crazy to think that my dad started out on Opportunity Knocks all those years ago, and here I am judging a singing contest.

“It’s days like this when I really think about him.” The first singer came through, and it really was like I was suddenly in an episode of The X Factor.

I found myself asking: “So, what’s your name? And where do you come from? What is it that brings you here today? Have you got what it takes to be our Mecca Star?” The contestants were all very different and came from all over the country.

And with a £2,500 prize fund up for grabs the talent on display was very high indeed.

I’ve been sworn to secrecy about the exact details of what happened but readers will be able to watch all the action during a mini-series of “webisodes”.

The talent contest was the brainchild of Mecca Bingo’s campaign planning manager Chris Ashton.

He said: “We want bingo and top entertainment to be one and the same, and what better way than to launch Mecca Star, a singing talent show exclusively for our players.”

Watch webisodes of Mecca Star at meccabingo.com.