After Dinner Speakers: Russell Watson, Bjorn Borg, Courtney Cox

Urmston-born tenor, Russell Watson became a professional opera singer in 1996 at just 23 years of age, winning both local and national acclaim for his amazing voice. Russell, a life-long Manchester United fan, thought his dreams had come true when in 1998 he was asked to sing live at Old Trafford during the half-time interval of the Munich Air Crash Memorial Match against an Eric Cantona XI. It is alledged though, that on the very last minute, Eric insisted that Mick Hucknall sing "Holding Back the Years" instead leaving devastated Russell to make the national headlines the following morning for all the wrong reasons. In 1999, Russell sang the National Anthem before the London versus Leeds Rugby League Cup Final at Wembley Stadium and also astounded the fans of Lancashire Cricket Club with an amazing performance during one of their floodlit evening matches. On the 16th May 1999, Russell finally realised his dream when he was invited back to Old Trafford to sing before United's Premiership winning match with Tottenham Hotspur. As the young tenor walked onto the pitch wearing a tuxedo, the electric atmosphere was reduced to a hush as he broke into the World Cup anthem "Nessun Dorma". Everybody in the stadium was astounded by the magic of Russell's voice and even the cynical journalists in the Press box joined both sets of supporters in a standing ovation. No sooner had the game ended with United winning their 5th Premiership trophy, before the crowd were singing for Russell again. He returned to the pitch and immediately broke into an amazing version of Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballe's magnificent "Barcelona", tearing off his tuxedo to reveal a red United shirt whilst orchestrating the crowd just like Freddie would have done. A week later and Russell must have thought he had died and gone to heaven when, in front of 95,000 supporters, he was asked to sing a full set in Barcelona's Nou Camp Stadium before Manchester United's triumphant European Cup Final against Bayern Munich. His version of "Nessun Dorma" again won a standing ovation from both sets of fans and his version of "Barcelona" was adapted to include the line "This dream was of Man U" (instead of the original "This dream was me and you".) To crown Russell's performance, he was followed by a live performance from Montserrat Caballe herself with a brilliant video link up of old Freddie Mercury footage on the huge scoreboards. Russell has since gone on to perform a series of duets with Sir Cliff Richard in London's Hyde Park. He also recorded "Swing Low '99", the official England Rugby Team song for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, which he also performed live at Twickenham before England's game with the New Zealand All Blacks in front of 74,000 fans. In what is truely one of the most interesting recordings of his career, Russell joined Shaun Ryder (Happy Mondays and Black Grape) for a truely Mancunian version of "Barcelona". Had the single been released in the May of 1999, the track would have surely topped the charts, however by the time of its release (July 2000), United were no longer European Champions and the interest outside of Manchester was not enough to lift the single higher than Number 68. Having appeared live at many more big sporting and national events (including the final ever football match at Wembley Stadium), Russell's debut album received great media attention. In October 2000, "The Voice", climbed to No.5 in the UK pop charts and topped the classical chart for over half a year! With guests including Shaun Ryder, Cleopatra and Maire Brennan, the track listing mixes opera and theatre classics with pop tunes such as Ultravox's "Vienna" and Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water". Russell is set to play the part of Sir Matt Busby alongside world-famous rock stars and actors in a new musical about Manchester United. Set for a Bridgewater Hall debut in November 2001, the show should move to the London's West End before touring the Far East and America. Whether Russell will follow it around the world will probably depend on his own touring success. "The Voice" has so far spent half a year at the top of the classical music charts and its promotional tour possibly contributed to the divorce from his wife in March 2001. Having contributed to the soundtrack of Captain Corelli's Mandolin and providing the theme tune to the latest Star Trek, Russell has now released his second album - the brilliant Encore - which includes performances from Lulu and Lionel Richie. Irrespective of your particular taste in music, check out Russell Watson, who still lives in Irlam and has a season ticket in Manchester United's South Stand - you'll be impressed by The Voice!