Celebrity watching has long overtaken football as the most popular spectator sport in the UK. These days the whole nation thrills guiltily to the fame game. What own goal could be as spectacular as the collapse of a Mariah or Whitney? What derby match could thrill as much as the latest clash between Liam and Noel? What gruesome relegation could match the sad meltdown of Michael Jackson?
And just as in football, improbable heroes sometimes emerge from disaster, lifted high through sheer discipline and willpower. And never has there been a disaster quite like the sight of Darius Danesh hamming his way through the first 'Pop Stars'. Forget David Brent, his rendition of 'Baby One More Time' was the ultimate in cringe TV.
And yet - one goatee lighter, and two big hits heavier - here Darius stands with his first album as a singer/songwriter, standing apart from the cover song blight of his fellow 'Pop Idols', no pawn of a marketing team. Well, to a point. Danesh still owes his fame to the marketing teams behind 'Pop Stars' and 'Pop Idol', and as a songwriter he's supported by a cast that would shame 'Pearl Harbour'.
Yet 'Dive In' is, without a doubt, one of the better pop albums released this year. Danesh's honeyed baritone and warm Scottish charm would probably be enough to win 'Dive In' a fair audience, but some genuinely delightful tunes may make him a bigger star than anyone yet guesses.
So while 'Incredible' ploughs the same dull, earnest earth as Ronan Keating, recent hit 'Rushes' has a lightness of touch that the growling one can only dream of. And if 'Girl In The Moon' is tiresome balladry-by-numbers, 'Colourblind' was a deserved Number One, with its breezy chorus and country tempo. On well crafted, earnest tunes like 'I'm Not Buying' and 'Sliding Doors', it's even possible to imagine Danesh breaking America.
The real surprise comes on the title track, which opens with a daringly rough guitar line that could be The Cult, and lifts off into a ducking, diving rock song complete with an irresistible chorus: "Take a long shot and give it all you've got/ You'll never know unless you try", Danesh sings, happily and aptly.
So, improbably, the national joke delivers a rich and rewarding debut album. It's Danesh on the half way line. He shoots, he scores!
