‘My appearance on TV opened so many doors’
WE TALK WITH SINGER SAMANTHA ATKINSON
SAMANTHA Atkinson was born in Hull in 1984 and is super proud of growing up just off Wansford Grove, in Preston Road. Samantha said: “Some people have a lot to say about the area, but I have many great memories of the characters, the lovely people I met and the lifelong friends I made during my time living there.
“I went to Fordyke Primary school, on to Isaac Newton and Newland School for Girls and eventually to Riley College, where I meet and became good friends with Gemma Oaten, who has since gone on to be to a very successful actress.”
Samantha started showing an interest in singing when she was around five giving impromptu and very unrehearsed performances in her great-grandma’s care home.
“Although I probably didn’t sound that good, Nana always said I was going to be a singer one day, and it always kind of spurred me on to achieve something and try my best.
“None of my direct family were involved in music when I was young, but both of my two daughters, Emily and Melody, have great voices and my cousin’s daughter Kazmia is really excelling as a musical theatre student, which is something I wish I had the chance to do when I was younger, but I really am proud of all of them.”
When she was just 11 years old Samantha started entering some of the area’s talent competitions that were popular at the time and the first of many was ran by BBC Radio Humberside.
It’s where she first met her good friends Toni and Alex, the girls from the local duo Venus.
Samantha said: “They asked me to do a few guest spots with them to gain experience and they even asked me to stand-in for Toni when she was unfortunate enough to break her leg during a show.
“They not only supported, encouraged and helped me, but we became lifelong friends and I owe a great deal to both of them.
“In fact, it was Toni and Alex who encourage me to enter my next talent competition which was ran by the late Pat Poulson at the Ritz Club in Holderness Road.
“In my early days my mum Debbie came everywhere with me including to the many competitions I entered over the years, such as the Hull Daily Mail and the Wakefield Star Search.
“I have meet some lovely people, formed some great friendships and it has really helped my profile throughout my career.
“I learned an awful lot when I was accepted by a local academy which was run at the time by Hull City Council and local musician
Johnny Pat and was also given help and advice by a good friend the local singer Swoozy, who had a wealth of experience.”
Samantha was chosen to appear on the TV show Pop Stars - the Rivals and she has made it through the auditions of the X Factor three times.
She said: “The first was in a duo called Twilight with local girl Serena Williams when we were both only 16 and although Simon Cowell liked our voices, to say he was quite critical of our appearance is putting it mildly, it’s something that stuck with me for a long time.
“I eventually made it through to Judge House Bootcamp as a solo singer and was mentored by Sharon Osbourne and Robbie Williams in Hollywood.
“It was one of the most exciting and enjoyable experiences of my life and something I would do again in a heartbeat.
“I was also invited to appear on Harry Hill’s show Stars in Your Eyes doing my tribute to Adele and I have to say he was one of the nicest of people.
“My appearance on TV opened so many doors including appearing in Pantomime at The Hull City Hall and touring with the X Factor’s Sam Bailey.
“I have worked in several duos with lifelong friends including
Serena, Lisa Kelsey, Lisa Danby and Zara, who was my ‘partner in crime’ in the duo Honey Trap.
“I had some amazing times with all of them during some of the best and most memorable years of my life.”
Around the same time Samantha was lucky enough to meet with the late Dave Wilkinson, of the very successful show-group Housequake ,and she said: “Dave took me under his wing and helped me start my solo career.
“It was a privileged to work with him and to have recorded 13 original songs. Another member of the band, Chris Norfolk, who now owns Portfolio, Hull, made my first video, became my sponsor and put me in touch with contacts in the business. Again, I owe them both so much and have great memories of singing with Dave and his band The People at the Springhead Pub when it was run by Terry and Pam Kent.”
Samantha went on to manage two pubs, the first being the Royal
Charter in Saltshouse Road and then The Railway in Cottingham, and on refection she added: “I’m really proud of who I am and where I come from. My daughters have grown into lovely young ladies and proud that my youngest, Melody, won the Hull Daily Mail Junior Star Search.
“The following year my eldest daughter Emily came second in the same competition and I’m so thrilled that they both have shown an interest in singing, something I love.
“I’ve reached a new chapter in my life, I lost five stone in weight and feel really great.
“I’m working a normal job now for Jewson’s, which I love and when you consider what is going on in the world I’m trying my best to remain positive.
“I know that the people I’ve met and the places I’ve been have made me the person I am today, but, as the lyric from my favourite song says, I am what I am ... I am my own special creation.”