I’m not a great fan of sound-alike acts but I was intrigued by former X-Factor hopeful Katy Markham’s clever ploy of using her remarkable mimicking skills as a front for letting music-lovers hear her own sweet voice.
And, yes, this lady can really sing … but more of that later. Upstairs Downstairs is one of those rare venues on the island where you can enjoy fine cuisine and listen to performers in an intimate atmosphere, yet it allows the diners to add to the dynamism of the night. I’m not sure whether the high spirits of last Wednesday evening was down to the two groups celebrating birthdays, but the party really took off when Katy, first in character as chart-topper Adele, and later as herself, commandeered the stage, or what was left of it once the dancers took over! In a conversation last week in the office one wag wondered whether Adele and fellow songstress Taylor Swift would have had such staggering hit albums had they not been dumped and left heartbroken before penning their songs. They may well have struggled too, had they been eating the crab cake appetiser (BD4.200) at Up n Down, for it’s impossible to feel sad when you bite through the crispy shell and savour the melt-in-your-mouth fresh crab meat filling which makes you feel warm from the inside out. No room for heartache, or heartburn for that matter. I’ve been told numerous times that making crab cakes is one of the hardest challenges in the kitchen as they are so easy to burn. But I’ve never known executive chef S.P. Ashokan or his team ever fail to deliver anything but perfection. Katy’s imitation of Adele is pretty much perfect too, even down to the singer’s mannerisms and smile. You’ve got to hand it to the girl from the UK northern dockland town of Scunthorpe, she has studied her singer and pays the performer the perfect tribute. Bravely, she opened the set with Skyfall, the high octane theme song from the last James Bond movie, and skilfully delivered hit after hit such as Rumour Has It to the angst-riddled Rolling in the Deep. You know it’s good when the waiters and waitresses line up and applaud the singer off stage at the end of her set, of course, not before delivering our main courses, with three out of four of our party choosing the Baked Hammour, at BD9.500, one of the house specialities. This is an immensely rich dish, an oven-cooked fillet with tomato cream sauce and smothered with melted Cheddar Cheese, served with herbed new potato and a selection of vegetables. It’s a unique combination, which in my opinion shouldn’t really work, but truly does. It may have been the first time to have cheese dished up with fish but it will not be the last. Katy returned to the stage wearing a glittery top and having ditched her Adele-style wig she had her blonde hair in a ponytail. It was time to party and the audience were up to get down and boogie, with no age limitations when it came to strutting one’s stuff. Katy, known on the northern club circuit and competition scene by her stage name KT Star, knows how to work a stage, interact with an audience and win over hearts. Back in the early 1990s I helped launch a talent competition, which still runs to this day, with the grand final held at the Hull New Theatre. Moments before leaving for my dinner date compere and co-organiser Dave Norman sent a Facebook message informing me that Katy had recently won the contest. Ironically, my niece Hannah, on a short-break visit to the kingdom, could have seen her act a 10-minute drive away from her home instead of travelling 3,000 miles to Bahrain for the privilege. But it was in fact a privilege, because Katy’s show was outstanding, rockin’ out clubland favourites such as Dancing in the Street, Valerie, Mercy and Tina Turner’s floor-filling standard Simply the Best. The following night she appeared at the Dilmun Club and regulars tell me she went down a storm there as well. No wonder X-Factor executives are keen to get her back on the TV reality show, despite her not having a tragic life story the producers so like to use to attract the sympathy vote and increase viewing figures. This lady can sing and at the end of the night as I got stuck into my Sticky Toffee Pudding with Toffee Sauce (BD4.500) she ended the night with a couple of songs from the West End musicals. Forget simply the best, Katy was simply superb. Another great night at Up n Down; fabulous food and first-rate entertainment.
