Hollie Steel

Hollie Steel and mum Nina today appeared on STV on “The Hour” show, presented by Stephen Jardine and Michelle McManus.

Here is a direct link to the segment that contains Hollie: click here. Hollie’s segment is in part 4. The interview is available on the STV player for the next 30 days to UK viewers only for copyright reasons. However, Pamela from STV has contacted me to let me know that STV have also made stand alone videos of Hollie’s chat and performance and there will be articles accompanying these videos. I will add a link to the videos and articles once it is available.

Michelle McManus at the start of the interview referred to Hollie as the “little girl with a big voice”. She pointed out that this year’s BGT auditions are starting this Saturday, and Hollie replied that the past year had gone by really quickly for her.

Of course, Hollie was asked about the semi-final where she forgot the words to Edelweiss, and Nina talked about how she ran down to “rescue” Hollie. Nina was asked if she thought that the age limit should be raised to 18 for contestants, and Nina pointed out, quite rightly, that children wouldn’t perform if they didn’t love it. She emphasised that Hollie got upset because she went wrong, not because she didn’t want to sing. Hollie loves singing!

Hollie was asked about how she was treated on the BGT show, and she confirmed that she was well looked after. She had a lady with her who played games and looked after her. Nina said that the competition had been a stepping stone in Hollie’s career, as she aspired to be like Kathryn Jenkins.

Hollie was then asked about the BGT tour – where she had to have a tutor – and whilst she found it fun, she did miss out on the annual holiday that her school go on. When asked about her forthcoming album, Hollie said that making it had been “really fun and really exciting” and that yes, she chose all the songs and made a song with her dad, Jason.

As a finale and finishing off The Hour, Hollie gave an amazing rendition of Nessun Dorma. When asked why she wanted to sing Nessun Dorma, Hollie replied that it’s a powerful song and she really likes it.

Nina has admitted to being “heart broken” that Hollie’s version of Where Are You, Christmas? was not played by the major radio stations and thus did not make it into the top 40 Christmas chart.

The record was played by the local stations 2BR and the Bee, but the major stations told her Hollie was ‘not established enough’.

Nina Steel said: “It’s no surprise that it hasn’t charted this week because nobody’s heard it.

“She’s not had the air play because there’s too many big artists.

“Radio stations have had the playlists with upcoming songs, including Hollie’s, for months and months.

“But they say they have no space to play hers.

“I don’t know how she’ll ever get established if they don’t give her a chance.”

Nina added that Hollie is looking forward to Christmas, saying: “She’s worked really, really hard and it feels like it was all for nothing. She has a beautiful song out there.

“Sometimes this country lets young people down and we want people to get behind Hollie and support her.

“It is heartbreaking for me and her but she’s a little girl and will bounce back.”

Hollie Steel was this morning interviewed about her debut single “Where are you Christmas?” on 2BR Radio. Nina said yesterday on Facebook:

8.15 am Hollie is being interviewed by 2BR Radio in Burnley. I’m not 100% sure but I think they are going to play the Christmas Single. Fingers crossed.
Hollie’s dead excited. Nina x

I have just check out the website and  the interview is available online. For me, it worked in Internet Explorer but not Firefox. The interviewer was Jim Coulson and you can check out the interview here. It’s really worth a listen, Hollie gives Jim Coulson a singing lesson which is adorable, then advises him he should stick with radio presenting!

It was nice to see the photo of Hollie that 2BR Radio used on their website was the one I took when I went to see Hollie and her family which I posted it on Wikipedia. It brought back memories

Hollie Steel’s single is starting to get some of the press coverage that it deserves, thanks to Nina’s excellent work in promoting her daughter. Today, there are articles in both the Lancashire Telegraph and Burnley Express.

Hollie’s single, Where Are You Christmas?, is performing well in the HMV presale charts, despite the fact it has not received any airplay yet. Hollie’s mum Nina told the Lancashire Telegraph that  after just three days of being available on pre-order, Hollie’s single was at Number 10 for the most pre-ordered single.

Nina is urging everybody to back Hollie with more orders to help her dream come true and get Hollie a top ten hit for Christmas.

Nina describes Hollie’s single  as “beautiful” and says: “Currently Hollie’s single is just behind Robbie Williams’ and ahead of singles by Nelly Furtado, Alicia Keys and Morrisey – and the single should be played across radio stations within the next week.

“It is only the pre-order charts and it is early days but she could have been on the last page and instead she is on the first so it is a good sign.

“Especially as no-one has heard the song yet!

“If we can keep her pre-order numbers high then it means that she will get more air time when the single is released.

“It’s a very, very similar idea to the song ‘Walking In The Air’ from The Snowman. It’s a beautiful Christmas song with some quite powerful high notes.

“It starts off really, really sweet but it shows two sides to Hollie’s voice. By the end she is singing in quite a strong opera voice.

“The song is from ‘The Grinch’ and before the Britain’s Got Talent thing started Hollie loved it. She’s loved it for years.”

Hollie recorded the single  in October with the VVR2 record label.

“Recording the single was really exciting for Hollie. She had lots of fun.” said Nina.

Hollie has signed a two-single record deal with VVR2 and is hoping to get a contract to release an album, which is due to be finished in the new year.

In other news, Rolf Harris disappointingly chose to record a single with Status Quo, instead of performing a song he had written about a grandfather and granddaughter with Hollie which he had previously planned to do.

On Rolf’s change of heart, Nina said: “I didn’t hear anything from his manager about the decision despite getting positive feedback in the beginning.

“It is a project idea and could still happen next year or the year after, though.

“Hollie is doing really well on her own and in some ways it would be better to see her make it into the charts on her own efforts.

“She would love to be in the top ten and I really hope everyone will support her.”

“Where Are You Christmas”  will be played for the first time on radio stations nationwide over the next week and will be released on December 7th.

Hollie Steel and Nina were interviewed at the Preston switch on by ARRY ARRY BOY TV and there is also a short clip of Hollie singing “Where are you Christmas?”. Check it out here:

Here is Hollie being interviewed in Hong Kong:

And now we also have an actual scanned in copy of the article about Hollie that appeared in the Hong Kong Standard Newspaper, emailed to me by Olivia. Thanks Olivia!
Click here to view it.

For further videos and translations of Hollie in Hong Kong, see the Hong Kong Gallery for some great videos sent to me by Vicky.

Here is a message from Nina Steel, Hollie’s mum:

Dear Fans,

Hollie would like to ask you all a huge favour.  She needs 6,000 UK pre orders. I did a few calculations, if just 60 fans asked 100 of their friends or family to buy the single, then we’ve done it! If overseas fans ask UK friends or family to order for you, these figures will also be counted in the charts. The press have very high expectations of Hollie, expecting her to try for a Christmas Number One. The track certainly is good enough to achieve this, but we haven’t got thousands of pounds for promotion. We need all your help to make this happen.

Unfortunately, having a beautiful voice isn’t enough to get Hollie into the charts. We, Hollie’s family, are trying everything we can think of to ensure Hollie doesn’t feel she’s failed in this exciting venture. Thankyou for listening.

Nina x

Nina has asked me to help by uploading this promotional leaflet. We are asking you to help promote Hollie’s single by printing the leaflet out and giving copies of it to your friends and family.

You can also put it on noticeboards at work or at clubs you attend – you could even stick it in the back corner of your car window. Together, we can help Hollie to get the Christmas Number One!

Get the leaflet now – click here (it is in Microsoft Word format – if you can’t view it correctly, let me know and I will covert it to PDF for you.)

Thank you.

PS. Georgi has also suggested that all the fans who have their own YouTube videos of Hollie  put the pre-order link in the video description.

Some details of Hollie Steel’s debut album that we know she has been recording have appeared today in the Lancashire Telegraph.

The article details how Hollie has spent the last two weeks in the recording studio, recording songs from “musicals and operas”.

Hollie is hoping to have her single released in time for Christmas. Yay!!

Nina, Hollie’s mum, has said that Hollie stands a great chance of reaching the Top 40 as the sounds coming out of the studio are “really good”. So far, Hollie has recorded seven tracks, some choices may be “surprising” to Hollie’s fans.

(My prediction here – a Christmas single from Hollie will reach the Top 10.)

Backing vocals on some of the classical tracks were provided by  Pendle’s Arden Youth Choir.

Nina told the Lancashire Telegraph: “We want to do it right and to a commercial standard because we want to release it as a proper album.

“Hollie’s having a really good time doing what she’s doing and the songs sound really good.

“She’s enjoyed picking some of the songs herself. We’re trying to make it fun for her because she’s only a little girl.

“We would like to get into the charts. That’s the ultimate aim. No one is expecting a number one, but we hope it makes it into the charts.

“Fans from Hong Kong and America keep asking us when there will be an album – that’s one of the reasons why we are making it.”

Hollie has been recording her album at the new Ace Centre, in Cross Street, Nelson.

Nina Steel is impressed with the facilities there, describing them as “brillant”. She said that she was amazed to find facilities of such a high standard so close to home.

Ace Centre manager Kirsty Rose said: “We are thrilled that Hollie has chosen the ACE Centre to record her debut album.

“It is a brand new, state-of-the-art facility with a professional studio and therefore Hollie’s album will get a professional release.

“We wish her every success for the future and we are delighted that we have played some part in helping her on her road to stardom.”

Thanks to Léopold for bringing this article to my attention.

Hollie Steel on BBC Radio

Download the Hollie and Nina Steel interview with Stephen Nolan on BBC Radio 5, that took place on August 15th, 2009, by clicking the above link.

In the interview, Hollie and Nina talk about their experiences in the Britain’s Got Talent competition and how Hollie balances performing with her school work. Hollie also talks about the lead up to her breaking down in the semi-final, and how she managed to recover to successfully obtain a coveted place in the final of the competition.

Thanks especially go to Robert Owen and Mick for finding the interview, to Jacke for decoding the interview and uploading it to Mediafire and of course to the BBC for publishing the interview online.

You can also download the interview here.

Hollie Steel’s parents only entered her into the “Britain’s Got Talent” competition so that she didn’t feel left out after her older brother Joseph auditioned.

Now along with Susan Boyle and Shaheen Jafargholi, she is a favourite to win the competition.

Hollie Steel’s parents, Nina and Jason Steel, have admitted that they only entered Hollie into the competition as an after thought.

‘We were taking Josh because we thought it would be more appropriate for him to get on and progress his career as a 15-year-old lad than a 10-year-old girl,’ said mum to the Daily Mail.

‘We weren’t really thinking about a career for Hollie at 10, but when she auditioned I could see the judges were a bit taken aback.’

Nina Steel said Joshua, 15, had requested trying out for Britain’s Got Talent, so she felt that it was only fair to ask Hollie if she wanted to have a go too. Brother and sister went to the auditions in Manchester in November 2008, and performed one after the other.

Sadly for Joshua, the judges were not impressed with his tap dancing, nor his singing of “Fly Me to the Moon”. However, they offered little Hollie the chance to come back and sing in front of Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Piers Morgan and Kelly Brook. The audition was recorded in February.

‘Josh took it really well,’ Mrs Steel said. ‘He doesn’t mind. He’s pleased for Hollie.’