DIDO

CANADIAN ALBUM CHART NEWS - 19 MAY

13.05.01 - In this week's Soundscan album chart, No Angel slipped out of the Top 10 with a two place fall to number 12.

Nelly Furtado, who guest stars in Baby, It's You, also had a two place fall, with Whoa, Nelly down to number 6.  Back to the top

US CHART NEWS - 19 MAY

12.05.01 - Thankyou and No Angel appear to have peaked in the US, with both falling in the charts published in Billboard's 19 May issue.

After three weeks at number three, Thank you is down to number six in the singles chart, with No Angel tumbling out of the Top 10 albums with a seven place fall to number 16.  Back to the top

UK CHART NEWS - 6 MAY

07.05.01 - In yesterday's album chart, No Angel climbed back up to number 2 from last week's fourth position, and remains the UK's biggest selling album of the year.

In the singles chart, Here With Me spent its 12th and probably final week on the chart, with a 16 place fall to number 72.  Back to the top

CANADIAN CHART NEWS - 13 MAY

04.05.01 - In the Canadian charts for 13 May, No Angel fell one place to number nine, while Here With Me fell six places to number 57.  Back to the top

US CHART NEWS - 12 MAY

04.05.01 - In Billboard's 12 May issue, Thankyou spends its third successive week at number three, while No Angel (if its 50th week on the album chart) was down one place to number nine.  Back to the top

UK CHART NEWS

02.05.01 - Sunday's UK charts saw No Angel fall one place to number 4 on the album chart, while Here With Me was down 13 to number 56.

No Angel is still the biggest selling album of the year in the UK, while Here With Me is the 13th biggest selling single.  Back to the top

US/CANADIAN CHART NEWS - 5 MAY

01.05.01 - In the charts published in Billboard's 5 May issue, Thank You held steady at number three, while there was also no move for No Angel at number 8.

In the Canadian charts for 5 May, No Angel was again ranked at number 9, while Here With Me was down eight places to 51.  Back to the top

UK CHART NEWS

23.04.01 - In yesterday's album chart, No Angel climbed back up one place to number three.  It also remains the biggest selling album of the year so far.

On the singles front, Here With Me was down ten places to 43.  Back to the top

CANADIAN CHART NEWS

21.04.01 - In this week's Canadian charts, No Angel drops three places to number 9, Here With Me is up three places to 43 and the Here With Me import is down 19 places to number 77.  Back to the top

UK/US CHART NEWS

20.04.01 - Sunday's UK album chart saw No Angel notch up exactly half a year in the Top 75 by holding steady at number 4.  Meanwhile, Here With Me continues its slow descent in the singles chart, falling two places to number 33.

In the charts published in Billboard's 28 April issue, No Angel, in its 48th week on the chart, climbs back up to number eight.  The album has spent more weeks on the chart than anything else in the Top 20.

Meanwhile, on the singles front, Thankyou, in its 16th week on the chart, climbs to number three - its highest position to date.  Back to the top

US/CANADIAN CHART NEWS

15.04.01 - In the Canadian charts for the week ended 14 April there's no change on the album front with No Angel remaining at number 6.  In the singles chart, Here With Me is down five places to number 46 while the import version of the single is at 58.

In the US charts published in Billboard's 21 April issue, No Angel drops five places to number nine.  There was better news from the singles chart where, after appearing to run out of steam over the last couple of weeks, Thankyou climbs two places to number 4.  Back to the top

UK CHART NEWS

10.04.01 - No Angel held steady at number 4 in Sunday's UK album chart, while Here With Me slipped down another couple of places to number 31.  Back to the top

DIDO HELPS BRITNEY/SINGLE NEWS

09.04.01 - With No Angel the UK's biggest-selling album of the year so far, and the first one to sell a million copies this year, Dido is reportedly helping out on pop muppet Britney Spears' forthcoming album.

According to MTV, Dido has co-written two tracks for the pneumatic one's album, as well as helping out on production duties.

Dido's next UK single will be Thankyou, released on May 21 and MTV has the video from today.  Back to the top

CANADIAN CHART NEWS

09.04.01 - In the Canadian charts for the week ended 7 April, No Angel was down one place to number six, while in the singles chart, Here With Me dropped another two places to number 43.  Back to the top

US CHART NEWS

06.04.01 - No Angel was up two places to number five in the Top 200 album chart published in Billboard's 14 April issue, while Thankyou holds steady at number six for the third successive week.   Back to the top

DIDO TO MARRY

05.04.01 - If I was into using smilies on the site I'd probably have a frowning one for this story - thanks to Kevin Taphouse for posting the link in last night's IRC chat.

From the BBC Online (the part that's actually a justifiable use of the licence fee):

Singer Dido is to marry her lawyer boyfriend, her spokesman has confirmed.

The 29-year-old's album, No Angel, which has gone triple-platinum, is currently at number four in the British charts.

She accepted lawyer Bob Page's proposal last month, but her spokesman said they have not yet set a date for the ceremony.

The couple currently live together in west London.

Dido, who was brought up in north London, shot to fame in the US last summer.  Her fame spread to the UK when her voice was sampled on Eminem's hit Stan.  Back to the top

DIDO/TRAVIS SUMMER US TOUR

04.04.01 - DIDO HEADLINES SUMMER TOUR.  Special Guest Travis secure opening slot on tour.

From Dido's official website: Dido will be gracing North American stages this summer with special guest Travis in what will certainly be one of the highlights of this summer's tour season.

Dido's album, No Angel has been propelled to its current top 5 status on The Billboard Album chart by hit songs Thank You and Here With ME.  This critically acclaimed album has now sold over 6 million copies worldwide, been certified triple-platinum in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, and remains on top of the charts all over the world.

Dido co-wrote and co-produced all of the songs on No Angel.  "Her music feels just about perfect", says Interview magazine.  Time magazine describes Dido's debut as filled with "dreamy pop, electronic shadings, folk guitars and soulful vocals" while the Washington Post reports on her live show, "Dido soars like a goddess...she is headed for the top".

On June 12, Travis will release their highly anticipated third album The Invisible Band.  This new release was produced by Nigel Godrich; who recently received a Grammy nomination for his work on Travis and Radiohead.  The Invisible Band follows their critically acclaimed album The Man Who, which was voted one of the top albums of 2000 by, amongst others Rolling Stone, US Weekly, Entertainment Weekly and USA Today.  This tour brings Travis back to the States for the first time since last year's string of sold-out concert dates across the country.  "The Scottish foursome filled every song with utter conviction and emotion, and their set was flat-out stunning," says the San Francisco Examiner.

Back to the top

HOW ANGEL DIDO SEDUCED EMINEM

04.04.01 - From the Daily Mail, 2 February 2001:

Success in America has been scarce for British stars over the past year.  But while mainstream rock and pop acts, from Oasis to Robbie Williams, have floundered, there have been unlikely Stateside triumphs for child soprano Charlotte Church and alternative rockers Radiohead.

To that pitifully short list can now be added the name of Dido Armstrong.

Dido's success is all the more remarkable because the 28-year-old singer-songwriter from Islington became a star on the other side of the Atlantic while remaining virtually unknown in Britain.

"I still live in London, but I've been working in the States for much of the past two years," she says.  "The best thing about coming home used to be the chance to catch up on my sleep.

"In America, I get recognised in the street, but nobody really knows who I am in Britain.  There were times when I wondered what I was doing so many miles away from home.  It's been a bit odd, but it's worked out well."

With her profile boosted by a collaboration with hard-hitting rapper Eminem - whom she calls "charming" - Dido's debut album, No Angel, has sold two million copies in America, having been originally released there in 1999.

Contractual negotiations delayed its British release until last October.  With a new single, Here With Me, out this month and a Brit Awards nomination as best British female, Dido is now poised to break through on home soil, too.

For those whose only exposure to her music has come through her links to Eminem, No Angel will come as a surprise.  Its subtle love songs are sensitively written and sweetly sung, combining shuffling beats and strummed acoustic guitars.

Dido's capacity to surprise can be traced to her background.  Growing up in a bohemian London household, she and elder brother Rollo became interested in music at an early age.

Dido learned to play recorder when she was four and was a weekend pupil at the Guildhall School of Music at six.

"We didn't have a TV or CD player in the house, so there was no outside entertainment," she says, during a break in rehearsals for her forthcoming London shows at the Scala next Wednesday and Thursday.

"It was unusual, and I became quite an odd little kid.  I had to amuse myself, and I did that through music.  Mum and Dad were mystified because neither of them was particularly musical."

After adding the violin to her musical skills, Dido toured briefly with a classical ensemble.  But when her brother became a club DJ, her interest quickly switched to the dance scene.

"Rollo is my big brother, so whatever he said was the law," Dido says.  "If he said something was cool, then it was cool."

When Rollo formed British dance collective Faithless in 1996, Dido helped out, adding vocals to a track on their first album, Reverence, and two songs to its follow-up, the excellent Sunday 8pm.  Her brother was again involved, this time as producer, when Dido made her earliest solo recordings in 1997.

But her big break came after the release of No Angel.  Eminem sampled the first verse of one of her songs, Thank You, after being sent a tape of the track by a hip-hop producer.

Putting his own spin on to her haunting vocals, he came up with Stan, a macabre but powerful track of an obsessive fan.  The track, which No 1 when released as a single in Britain in December, was notable for its controversial video, which starred Dido as the pregnant girlfriend who meets a watery end in the boot of Eminem's car.

"I'd heard a rumour that Eminem was using the song, but I thought nothing of it until I was sent his track," says Dido.  "I was blown away.

"When they called to see if I wanted to be in the video, they weren't pushy.  But I thought it would be an adventure.

"There's a shot in the video where it looks as if I'm crying.  Well, I actually was crying, because I'd bashed my head on a car jack in the boot."

For Dido, working beside Eminem was a revelation.  She defends the star's sometimes shocking subject matter and reputation as a misogynist.

"He was loving to work with," she says.  "When I met him, he was charming.  He's a very nice person to be around.  People get jumpy when an artist holds up a mirror to real life.  I don't think Eminem has written about anything that hasn't happened in the world."

Having served "a good apprenticeship" in the past two years, Dido is ready to translate her American breakthrough on to the global stage.

"It's always exciting to bring your music to a new audience, and my Mum and Dad are really proud of what I've done," she says.  "The same goes for my brother Rollo, although I think he finds it all quite funny."  Back to the top

US CHART NEWS

30.03.2001 - Disappointing news from the charts published in Billboard's 7 April issue.  Three new entries push No Angel down from last week's number four to this week's number seven, while after a six place jump last week, Thankyou can only hold steady in the singles chart.  Back to the top

UK CHART NEWS - 25.03.01

26.03.2001 - Yesterday's UK album chart saw No Angel holding steady at number three while Here With Me continued its slow descent in the singles chart with a five place fall to number 20.  Back to the top

US/CANADIAN CHART NEWS

24.03.2001 - This week's Billboard chart sees Thankyou and No Angel up to their highest places to date.

No Angel recovers the ground lost over the past two weeks and climbs two places back up to number 4 - its highest position to date.  In its 44th week on the chart, the album sold another 106,000 copied and is currently the fourth best-selling album of 2001 in the States.  The album was certified triple-platinum by the RIAA on March 5, for US sales of three million copies.

Speaking of the album, Dido said that most of the lyrics were thought up as she travelled to and from the recording studio in her car: "Things come to me, obviously, when I'm driving around, walking around, and you get ideas.  And I've got a little tape recorder that, you know, I can sing into that or write stuff down.  I did a lot of driving around London because the studio was quite a way away, so I did a lot in the car and stuff."

In the singles chart, Thankyou followed up last week's four place climb by jumping six places to number 6.  With three of the five records above it falling this week, it is well placed to move up further, although both Destiny's Child (up ten places to #7) and Eden's Crush (a new entry at #8) are hot on its heels.

North of the border, No Angel dropped two places to #8 in the Canadian album chart for the week ended 25 March, while Here With Me fell three places to number 33.

The photo above is from the April 2001 issue of Arena - click on it for a fullsize version.  Back to the top

UK CHART NEWS

19.03.2001 - After six weeks at number one, No Angel was finally displaced from the top of the album yesterday, falling two places to number 3.  Here With Me held steady at number 15.  Back to the top

US/CANADIAN CHART NEWS

17.03.2001 - This week's Billboard charts see both Thankyou and No Angel repeating last week's performances.  Thankyou is up a further four places to number 12 while No Angel slips down a place to number six.

In the Canadian charts for the week ended 18 March, No Angel also drops one place to number six.  Back to the top

UK CHART NEWS

12.03.2001 - No Angel held onto the top spot in the UK album charts for a sixth week yesterday, while Here With Me dropped another five places to number 15.  Back to the top

US/CANADIAN CHART NEWS

10.03.2001 - Three new entries in the top four pushed No Angel down a place to number five in Billboard's Top 200 album this week.  There was better news in the singles chart, however, with Thank You climbing four to number 16, after appearing to run out of steam last week when it climbed just one place to number 20.

In Canada, No Angel also dropped one place to number five, while in the singles chart, Here With Me was down six to number 29.  Back to the top

STEAL THIS LOOK

06.03.2001 - Dido played the pregnant girlfriend of a crazy Eminem fan in the rapper's video for Stan, but when it came time to film a clip for her song Thank You in which she stays cool during a house demolition the British singer wanted to keep it real right down to the clothes she wore.  "They looked exactly like something I'd wear just cooler," she says of the hip street wear provided by stylist Andrea Lieberman.  Red stiletto boots lent an "added sexy edge," while makeup guru Kevyn Aucoin achieved "an approachably pretty look" with rosy hues.  The result?  A soft but seductive image that may drive a few of her own fans wild.

The technical stuff

Hair - Celebrity hair stylist Steven Ward spritzed Dido's hair with Garren New York Spray Tonic before styling it.

Make-up - Makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin brushed Naive Rose blush by Christian Dior on Dido's cheeks and painted Fresh's Cranberry Lemonade lipstick on her lips.

Clothes - Dido wore a motorcycle jacket by Daryl K and dark denim jeans by Ya Ya.  Her red leather stiletto boots are by Michel Perry.

Source: InStyle.com.  Back to the top

UK CHART NEWS

04.03.2001 - Today's UK charts see Here With Me down another three places to number 10 and No Angel holding onto the top spot in the album charts for a fifth week.  Back to the top

US CHART NEWS

03.03.2001 - The charts published in Billboard's 10 March issue see No Angel holding firm at number 4 and Thankyou inching up another place to number 20.  Back to the top

CHART ROUND-UP/BRITS NEWS

28.02.2001 - The charts published in Billboard's 3 March issue show No Angel continuing to climb the album chart, up another two places to number 4 - its highest position to date.  In the Hot 100 singles chart, Thankyou moves also moved up a couple of places, this time to number 21.

In Sunday's UK charts, No Angel held onto the number one position in the album charts for a fourth week and has now gone double platinum with sales of over 600,000.  In the singles chart, Here With Me dropped three places to number seven.

Unfortunately in last night's Brit Awards, Dido failed to pick the award for Best British Female, but she must already be a strong contender for next year's award.  Back to the top

TOUR DATES UPDATE

21.02.2001 - Dido will be touring in the UK and mainland Europe this spring.  Dates are:

Apr 6th - Glasgow, Barrowlands

Apr 7th - Manchester, Manchester Academy

Apr 8th - Bristol, Colston Hall

Apr 10th - Birmingham, Birmingham Academy

Apr 11th - London, Shepherd's Bush Empire

Apr 12th - London, Shepherd's Bush Empire

Apr 14th - London, Shepherd's Bush Empire

Apr 17th - Munich, Elserhalle

Apr 18th - Modena, Vox

Apr 19th - Milan, Alcatraz

Apr 21st - Koln, E-Werk

Apr 22nd - Frankfurt, Capitol

Apr 24th - Paris, La Cigale

Apr 26th - Madrid, Arena

Apr 27th - Barcelona, Bikini

Apr 29th - Tilbourg, 013

Apr 30th - Berlin, Columbia Halle

May 2nd - Stockholm, Cirkus

May 3rd - Oslo, Rockafella

May 4th - Copenhagen, Vega

May 6th - Hamburg, Grosse Freiheit

May 8th - Brussels, AB

Tickets for the dates in England can be purchased through the Gigs & Tour web site and those for the German dates through Euro-Tickets.  Otherwise, contact local ticket outlets or the venues themselves for further info.  Back to the top

US/UK CHART ROUND-UP

20.02.2001 - Disappointingly, Here With Me didn't manage to climb any higher than its midweek position of #4 in the UK singles chart released last Sunday (18 February).  However, there was better news on the album front where No Angel notched up its third week at number one, as well as being the biggest selling album across Europe.

Stateside, the album held steady at number six for a second week while Thankyou climbed another five places to number 23. Back to the top

DIDO NO. 4 IN MIDWEEK CHART

15.02.2001 - Here With Me is number 4 in the midweek singles chart, behind last week's number one Atomic Kitten's Whole Again (which would notch up three weeks at the top if it holds the position this week), American Dream by Jakatta and Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus.  BBMak's Back Here, tipped as a possible number one is currently only number five.

Thanks to Chris B for posting that to the RoswellUK list.

Here With Me was Single of the Week in the Sunday Express's Enjoy! section on 11 February, accompanied by a great photo:

What more is to be said about young Dido Armstrong?  Unusually for a woman who's never had a hit as such, she's been all over the pop press recently, with the result that this has become the most hotly-anticipated single of recent times.

Why?  Well, the 28-year-old North Londoner had an (ordinary) album track, Thankyou, sampled by Eminem for his single Stan.  And that's it really.  Since then, all the same people who spent the past five years studiously ignoring all that Dido ever recorded have spent the past two months trumpeting her as the hottest new talent out of Arsenal since Charlie George.  And the fact that she's not exactly lacking in the looks department won't have harmed the hype.

But what about the product?  She's hot, she's pretty... but can she fight?  Well, sort of.  Younger readers will be familiar with Here With Me, as it's the theme song for alien 'n' angst TV series Roswell High.  And for those of us who work for a living, the song also serves as a pretty good introduction to Ms Armstrong's style, in that it's all lost, winsome and beautifully lonely - without ever making that crucial leap into classic.

Just as Thankyou turns out to be a letdown once you get past the part Eminem sampled, so this goes nowhere for quite a while before bursting into life.  The chorus is undeniably lovely - "I won't sleep, I can't breathe, until you're resting here with me..." - but the verses meander about and can feel like a necessary evil before the good bit kicks in again.  Which in itself may be as elegant a metaphor for Dido's career as you're ever going to get.  Back to the top

LIVE AT THE SCALA, LONDON, 7 FEBRUARY 2001

11.02.2001 - Dido has been hitting it big in the States off the back of her collaboration with Eminem and has come home to do the same thing here.  This is her first ever London gig and she doesn't mind admitting she's been "shitting it all day."  But with her New York based band, with whom she's been touring for two years, there's no need for bicycle clips.

The Scala is sold out.  Many of the people in the crowd seem to live in Islington and own at least one Morcheeba CD.  Dido is right up Yuppie street alright and a couple of her tracks could easily be used to flog cars on TV.  Her music is slow, mellow, melodic and well done.  From soft love songs to more obsessive sounds, Dido's set is punctuated by some really cool touches.  Her voice lilts to give it an almost folksy sound, similar in fact to Andrea from The Corrs.

Effects and scratching from live decks, melodic acoustic guitar riffs, smooth bass, spooky keyboards and a big bass drum sound play off each other and combine to deep and funky crescendos or fade to the creepy, edgy vibe you might associate with Portishead.

But the real wicked thing about tonight's gig is the percussion department.  Drums, decks, bongos and more bongos bat away intricate rhythms that stamp Dido's tracks out.  From trancey slow intros to banging Samba-style choruses the beats, scratches and occasional glockenspiel build to a funky edge into what otherwise might be considered pretty plain material.

"I wrote this as a simple love song, but people say it's a bit dark and obsessive so I think I've got problems!" she tells the crowd before current single Here With Me.  Her lyrics are about heartache and happiness, love and loss.  The songs undulate between euphoric peaks a la Moloko and contemplative ballads, hushed vocals and slow beats.

Thankyou - the track which has made Dido via Eminem, is a soft, sweet love song in her hands.  It's weird listening to it without the rapping as every radio station has been playing it four times an hour for the past two months.  The crowd love it.  She finishes the set with a blast of those bongo beats, Spanish guitar and English Rose vocals with Hunter and a one song encore of Don't Think Of Me.  Welcome home.

Source: dotmusic.com - check out their pics from the gig here.  Back to the top

SECOND WEEK AT NO. 1 FOR NO ANGEL/HERE WITH ME NEWS

11.02.2001 - No Angel held onto the number one position in the UK album chart this week, holding off Anastacia's Not That Kind which climbed one place to number two.

Here With Me is released as a CD-only single tomorrow (price £3.99), and includes remixes from Parks & Wilson and Lukas Burton.  The single's biggest rival for the number one is probably BBMak's Back Here, which contains an exclusive track and a CD-ROM video, as well as costing £1 less.

Thanks to Ross for posting the single format news to the RoswellUK list.  Back to the top

CEEFAX REVIEW OF HERE WITH ME

11.02.2001 - Dido - Here With Me (Arista)

The success of the Eminem collaboration has finally given Dido the recognition she so richly deserves.

And judging by the hype surrounding Stan, and this, her first solo UK release, she's about to be propelled into superstardom.

No Angel has already topped the album chart.

And this hauntingly wistful track (the theme tune to teen alien drama Roswell High) could well repeat the feat in the singles chart.  Back to the top

DIDO WOWS LONDON AT EMINEM GIG

11.02.2001 - Dido was a surprise guest at Friday night's Eminem show at London Arena.

Introduced as "the woman who helped me take this song to number one," Eminem looked on as Dido enjoyed rapturous applause from the crowd, before the pair performed his number one hit Stan, which features a sample from Dido's Thankyou.  Back to the top

US CHART NEWS

05.02.2001 - There's good news on both the singles and albums front in this week's Billboard charts.

In the Hot 100 singles chart, Thank You climbs another four places to number 28, while in the album chart, No Angel is up three places to number 6, its highest place to date.  Back to the top

NO ANGEL TOPS UK CHART/OTHER NEWS

05.02.2001 - After last week's slight drop, the re-released No Angel has jumped to the top of the UK album chart, displacing last week's number one, Limp Bizkit.

Having already notched up sales in excess of 300,000, No Angel is now the biggest selling album in the UK so far this year.  Last week's sales saw it vault from twelfth place to the very top of the sales charts for the year to date, replacing the Beatles' 1.

The album should get another boost next week when Here With Me is finally released as a single in the UK - don't be surprised if this also makes it to the top of the charts as well.  It's just a shame that the BBC's apparent pulling of Destiny will deprive the single of even further promotion in the week of its release.

Other Dido news:

Viewers in the Carlton Central region can see her appearing on Eye TV next Saturday at 12.30pm, and she will be appearing on The Tonight Show on 19 February (no news yet on whether CNBC Europe will be picking up this episode) and Rosie O'Donnell on 23 February.

Dido will also be touring the UK this year:

Wed 7 Feb - London: The Scala, Kings Cross

Thu 8 Feb - London: The Scala, Kings Cross

Fri 6 Apr - Glasgow: Barrowlands

Sat 7 Apr - Manchester: Manchester University

Sun 8 Apr - Bristol: Colston Hall

Tue 10 Apr - Birmingham, Academy

Wed 11 Apr - London, Shepherds Bush Empire

Thu 12 Apr - London, Shepherds Bush Empire

Sat 14 Apr - London, Shepherds Bush Empire

Accompanied by a nice, if familiar, two-page photo (the pink leather one which forms the middle part of the banner on this page), Dido was featured in the February 2001 issue of loaded (the one with Buffy's Emma Caulfield on the cover).  Nothing particularly revealing, but here it is anyway:

dido do, don't dido?

That's Dido, the British songstress sampled by Eminem

Once upon a time, there was a great Trojan warrior called Aeneas.  After the fall of Troy he fled to Italy, but stopped off for a few beers on the way to Carthage.  He got chatting to an African queen called Dido, one thing lead to another, and they ended up lovers.  But duty called, and Aeneas left Dido in order to fulfil his historical destiny and found the city of Rome.  Dido, understandably, was devastated.  She cursed him and all his descendants, then killed herself on a burning pyre.

But she can perhaps take posthumous comfort from the fact that her name has been kept alive by a successful singer/songwriter and Eminem guest vocalist from London.  That's more than you can say for Aeneas, the treacherous Empire-founding bastard.

"The worst thing about it," says Dido (the new one), "was that in those days, if you killed yourself, all your servants had to be killed as well.  What a bummer!  You'd have to persuade her: 'No, it's not that bad, there's more fish in the sea!'

You'll have heard Dido Armstrong's angelic tones adding a chink of light to Eminem's shady tale of obsessive fan worship, Stan.  It's actually a sample from Dido's song Thankyou, which was released in the US over a year ago.

Not that she minded him nicking half her gently heartwarming ballad and turning it into one of the most disturbing records of last year.  She liked it so much, in fact, she even let Eminem lock her in the boot of his car and drive her off a bridge.  In a video, you understand.  It's not real.  Well, not all of it...

"I played the girlfriend in the video, and at one point you see me crying.  Well, I was actually crying to real, because I hit my head on the trunk.  And they carried on recording!"

Oh dear.  Didn't anybody warn her about that nasty Eminem and his friends?

"No, he's actually an incredibly nice guy.  Really funny and intelligent.  Obviously his stuff can be shocking, but after spending time with him I believe about five percent of what he says in his songs.  It's not like the things in the songs don't actually happen, but he's a good storyteller."

I hear he calls everyone 'dawg'...

"He didn't call me 'dog', I'd have battered him if he had."

What about 'bitch'?

"No, God no!  He was charming."

Dido's debut album No Angel initially seems about as far removed from Slim Shady's misanthropic rantings as Sarah Brightman is from Godflesh.  Only after a few listens does the understated beauty of the tunes grab your heartstrings and play them like a grand piano.  Thankyou turns into a humble tribute to the mystery individual who saved our girl from the misery of a bad hair day; but most touching of all are Isobel and My Lover's Gone, letters of resignation to the dear and departed that are mournful and uplifting in equal parts.

Many of the lyrics were co-written with brother Rollo, of Faithless fame - who hadn't been so keen back when Dido was working as a literary agent and studying law.

"He really tried to stop me," she says.  "He didn't want me to chuck in my job to chase a music career, in case it all fell flat."

That's what brothers are for.  She ignored him, of course, as sisters do, but while touring the US last year, Dido did have cause to wonder what on earth she was doing with her life...

"We had to do so many demeaning things to get played on the radio.  One time we had to play in this cafe, in the lobby of an office building, and there were people pushing past me, treading on my toes to try and get their cheese sandwiches, while I was singing.  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry."

She's made of stern stuff, though, this lass.  You have to be when your parents call you Dido.

"Yeah, I used to wish I had a normal name when I was a kid.  But then I found out I had a lucky escape.  My parents are into the book Beowulf, and the other names they were considering were Sexburger and Sexwulf.  I mean, can you imagine?"

No Angel is out now and the new single Here With Me is out 12 Feb, both on Arista.  Back to the top

NO ANGEL DOWN/THANK YOU UP IN US CHARTS

02.02.2001 - Three new entries in the top 6 of Billboard's album chart have pushed No Angel down one place to number nine this week.  However, there was better news in the Hot 100 singles chart, with Thank You rising 12 places to number 32.  Back to the top

NO ANGEL DOWN IN UK CHARTS

29.01.2001 - It's probably too early to say whether the album has peaked in the UK, but No Angel's charge up the Top 75 album chart came to an abrupt end this week with a four place fall to number nine.

It's quite possible that the drop is due - at least in part - to the album's re-launch this week, with stocks of the existing release running down and punters holding back from buying it.  In any case, the album should get another boost next month with the single release of Roswell theme Here With Me.  Back to the top

DIDO NOMINATED IN BLOCKBUSTER ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS

27.01.2001 - Blockbuster has announced the nominees for the Seventh Annual Blockbuster Entertainment Awards presented by Blockbuster and Entertainment Weekly magazine, which will be shown on 11 April on Fox.

The event honours the lead and supporting actors and actresses in the top performing movies of 2000, as well as music artists based on the top-selling albums for 2000.

Dido has picked up a nomination in the Favourite Female - New Artist category, alongside Macy Gray, Mandy Moore, Pink and Jessica Simpson.  Back to the top

NO ANGEL BOUNCES BACK STATESIDE

26.01.2001 - No Angel recovered from its one place drop last week by climbing to number 8 in the album chart published in the 3 February issue of Billboard, its highest placing to date.  Back to the top

NO ANGEL MAKES UK TOP 5

22.01.2001 - No Angel continues its climb up the UK album chart this week.  In the Top 75 published yesterday, the album - due to re-released here on 29 January - jumps six place to number five.

The re-release will feature new artwork, the full length videos to Thankyou and Here With Me plus a gallery featuring photos from a shoot which took place at the turn of the year.  Back to the top

NO ANGEL FALLS IN US CHART

21.01.2001 - With a slip in its sales for the week from 89,000 to 80,211, No Angel dropped one place in the US album chart this week, landing in the number 10 spot.  UK album news later today hopefully.

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