ITV's Pop Idol Saturday 25th Oct VOTE ROXANNE! By Mo

Mary Rye-Cooper was picking up her two youngest children Shaka aged 10 and Ry aged 7 from St Vincent's School playground when I noticed her handbag full of VOTE ROXANNE flyers. I needed no further cue to approach and find out more about it for www.thisisull.com readers. Roxanne is her oldest 16 year old daughter and she is appearing on ITV's "Pop Idol" at about 7pm on Saturday 25th October 2003. A competition that started with 24,000 contestants is now down to the last few contestants, and Roxanne is the youngest remaining. Now that is some achievement for 16 year old lass from Hull, something we can all be proud about.

Mary is full of praise and support for her offspring although she freely admits to the "Pressure of auditions, with endless waiting for phone calls that follow" . Each hurdle successfully overcome has been more of a surprise for Roxanne than Mary who beams with confidence at her daughter's undoubted talent for her singing performances.

Roxanne finished Newland Girls School this summer and is starting at the Riley Centre this November. It has always been her dream to become a recording artist, she sings mainly to backing tracks and is more of a performer than a songwriter although she has written her own lyrics to several songs. Roxanne also attends Tracey Oatman's Stage Struck above the drum shop along the Beverley Road. There she learns skills from handling a microphone to creating a stage presence. The Julie Hames School of Dance on Spring Bank is where her dancing schooling takes place.

Roxanne adds, "It's my grandmother on my dads side, who is the only singer in the family and my mother's college day's activities encouraged me to dance ballet from the age of four." Roxanne's dad is accompanying her down in London at least until Monday depending on the outcome of this Saturday's show on ITV's POP Idol. continued below..

ITV's Pop Idol Saturday 25th Oct VOTE ROXANNE! continued By Mo

Her father is thrilled although he hardly gets to see Roxanne at all, as she leaves for ITV recording studios in Teddington at 8:30 am for rehearsals talking to the press and so on. He doesn't get a peek in until her return at 7:30pm in the evening.

Its Roxannes 17th birthday on November 6th so heres an early present all of Hull can give her, the show starts at about 7pm on Saturday 25th October and voting takes place between about 8pm and 9pm, VOTE ROXANNE our girl from Hull.

Send her an Email from www.thisisull.com in Hull. Roxanne Email at Pop Idol Visit the Pop Idol website. http://www.itv.com/popidol

News - Home and Gardens?....No...This IS Hull.
	After a long time out of Hull I bumped into a friend who has lived in Edinburgh Street for twenty years. "Tell me about Little Beirut," I said. "What's it like living at the epicentre of west hull's Council-sponsored landgrab?" Read more...

News - Local LETS
	I am Jane and am setting up a LETS scheme for Ella Street and the surrounding area. LETS stands for ‘Local Exchange and Trading System’. It’s basically like going back to the old system of trade and barter rather than using money as a currency. Read more...

News - Raw Revolutionary Writing By Rich Mills
	The Masses Find Their Literary Voice A balmy summer Sunday saw me attend my first meeting of the Renegade Writers Group, a Hull based writers circle. Now there are apparently a number of writers circles in Hull, the city being such a hot-bed of literary creation and such. Read more...

Articles - Memory of Hull by Steve
	My name is Steve and I would like to add my own very brief but personal memories of your lovely town of Hull. It all started with a magical night club meeting with a very special lady who lived in Hull, but who was visiting a friend in my home town of Bolton. Read more...

Fiction - Telling Lies by Nicholas Boldock
	At half past five Harry arranged all the papers on his desk into neat piles, as he always did before going home. He shoved his pens into the blue plastic desk tidy and shut down his PC. He performed this same ritual every evening, did it automatically, even unconsciously. He felt overjoyed to be finally going home - the days seemed to be getting longer and longer and longer - even though home, to Harry, was only marginally more bearable than work. Read more...

Holidays - Simple Holiday Pleasures by Mike

	The time was 7.30 am and I was already awake. Liz stirred as I crept out of the caravan without waking Alex and Anna. From our elevated position overlooking the bay, the Med looked as calm as a millpond. The panoramic view was stunning as usual. Read more...

Exclusive Featured Serial on www.thisisUll.com Articles - Where Are All Our Mothers: - Part One Adopted in Hull, By Diane

	I was 10 years old. I was playing in the street with my friend. Just the usual hopscotch and skipping games - nothing out of the ordinary, unaware that this ordinary day was to change my life forever … Read more...

News - PRESS RELEASE, Paddy Holdsworth - Creatrix Media
	Parents invited to join in the vaccination debate. Public screening of video interviews with parents and researchers. Creatrix Media, based in Hull, are seeking parents, health workers and budding documentary makers to work on one of a series of community media projects Read more...