29 December 2008
In an exclusive interview for a special awards edition of S4C’s youth magazine show, Uned 5: Gwobrwyo’r Goreuon, pop sensation Duffy talks candidly about life in the public eye and of her recent American tour supporting Coldplay.
The Welsh singer, who shot to fame in early 2008 with her debut single Mercy heading straight to the top of the charts, talks openly about the pressures of fame in the programme, broadcast 30 December on S4C at 4.00pm.
“It’s hard to be your own person sometimes because there are a lot of things written about you in the press and you have to change your persona to be someone else,” she says.
Speaking of her current plans, Duffy, whose real name is Aimee Duffy, says, “I’m looking forward to disappearing for a bit and to spending some time with my family and recharging the batteries. I’ve only been home once during the last year when I played in Llandudno. We took this huge bus with us and children came from everywhere to see me. It was carnage!”
Duffy, who first came to the public’s notice in the S4C talent series WawFfactor, has enjoyed a string of number one hits in 2008, as well as a number one album, Rockferry.
“I’m so happy that I’ve made an album now, it was my dream. I spent a lot of time making sure that the songs on the album reflected my personality and showed the listeners who I am.”
This resulted in an invitation by Coldplay to support them on their current tour of America. She says, “They called me and told me that they liked what I was doing. I was in America anyway so it made a lot of sense for us to form a British invasion. It would be nice to form a Welsh invasion in the future though!”
Duffy will receive a special recognition award from Uned 5 presenter Rhydian Bowen Phillips to cap what has been a remarkable year.
Also in the programme, presenter Mari Lovgreen meets The X Factor host Dermot O’Leary, who wins the show’s Best English Presenter award. Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo is also delighted to win the Best Footballer award, as this category has been won a number of times in the past by his Welsh team mate Ryan Giggs.
Among the other winners in the annual prize giving programme are the IRB Player of the Year Shane Williams, Paralympic Gold Medalist swimmer David Roberts, Olympic Silver Medalist swimmer, David Davies, Sioe Gelf and Radio Cymru’s C2 presenter Lisa Gwilym, hit comedy series Gavin & Stacey, bubbly presenter Sarra Elgan, soap opera Eastenders and Welsh pop band Sibrydion.
Uned 5: Gwobrwyo’r Goreuon
Tuesday, 30 December, 4.00pm
Also, New Years Eve, 5.50pm
English Subtitles available
Website: s4c.co.uk/uned5
Broadband: s4c.co.uk/clic
An Antena production for S4C
