Midge Ure has become the first contestant to get the boot from the new series of ITV1's Popstar to Operastar, which began on Sunday night. The Ultravox frontman was one of four singers who took part in the show, in which pop stars learn to perform operatic arias. After the public vote he found himself in the bottom two along with Pussycat Dolls singer Melody Thornton, leaving the pair to sing again before the judges decided who to save. And at first it looked as though the vote would go Midge's way with both tenor Rolando Villazon and violinist Vanessa Mae voting to save him. "This is very difficult because they both improved their performance," Rolando said, "and based on this performance the one who was more comfortable was Midge." However fellow judge Simon Callow opted to save Melody, leaving head panellist Katherine Jenkins with the casting vote. "I feel like they definitely both improved," she said, "but the biggest improvement for me, and the one who I think could do even more was Melody." Afterwards Midge joked about his defeat, saying, "I'll just have to go back to my day job! No-one wants to go out on the first round, but I think I did a reasonable job." Former X Factor champion Joe McElderry and Bucks Fizz singer Cheryl Baker, who also took part in the first show, went through on the public vote. Next Sunday will see the other four competitors - Erasure's Andy Bell, Steps star Claire Richards, soul singer Jocelyn Brown and Toploader's Joseph Washbourn - take to the stage for the first time in the series.
