TWENTY one-year-old James Loynes isn't your average young guy hoping to make his name in the heady world of showbusiness.
He's got the requisite spine-tingling voice and looks to melt many a teenage heart. But he's also got something much more rare -- morals. A devout Mormon, James prides himself on his clean-cut image. He doesn't smoke, drink alcohol, tea, or coffee, harbours an obsession with Disney and sees Donny Osmond as a hero.
"It's really important to me to be a good role model and someone fans can look up to," he says, dressed in jeans and a Mickey Mouse fleece. "I want parents to think 'there's somebody who I would like my children to act like'."
And he is unconcerned about those who may consider his persona uncool.
"It doesn't bother me that I may lose the odd fan because they think that it's not cool or the in thing to be moralistic or to have values," he says confidently. "I can understand that in today's society because it's not the done thing. Religion is unpopular in some ways because it's such a different way of life."
James was "discovered" when he was 13 by then BBC Radio Lancashire presenter Jim Bowen, who gushed: "This guy will blow your socks off!"
Unlike many wannabe singers, he hasn't been to stage school. In fact, he didn't start performing until his teens when he entered a church talent contest.
He comes from good musical stock. His mother Linda was, apparently, the Charlotte Church of her village in Anglesey but was too shy to pursue singing as a career.
James describes his music as a blend of classic and contemporary, which includes everything from Frank Sinatra songs to Phil Collins.
See James performing with comedian Donald Banks at Darwen Library Theatre on Saturday, October 15. Call 01254 706006. Visit www.jamesloynes.com
Caroline Dutton
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