Swapping the stage for the courtroom

Singer Chris Tame is currently combining study with his singing career, which has evolved from social club gigs as a teenager to corporate events and performing at overseas hotels during the holiday season.

The 31-year-old, who is originally from Thirsk and now living in Thornaby, is in the final year of the LLB (Hons) Law at Teesside University.

He said: “I was brought up in a musical household, with everything from pop, rock, country and folk played at home. I started singing when I was ten, initially at karaoke events, then a few years later in social clubs, with my parents ferrying me around.

“It was during a karaoke set that someone suggested I could get a paid gig at a local club and at that age, it was brilliant. I never looked back.”

The student continued singing in clubs until he was around 18, when he auditioned for TV show Pop Idol, in the same year finalists Will Young and Gareth Gates battled it out for the top spot.

“It was one of the first reality shows and I was working with a record company at the time, trying to work it into a record deal, so I thought I’d give it a try,” he said.

Mr Tame made it to through to the final 50, recording a ‘live’ audition which was televised during the show and giving him his first taste of television.

As he prepares to leave the stage, he has been volunteering as an advisor with Middlesbrough Citizen Advice Bureau assisting with tribunal work, is training as a police station representative with Watson Woodhouse Solicitors and is involved in Teesside University Law Clinic, which offers legal advice and representation to the local community.