A star is born

For years the likes of Chris De Burgh, Freddie Mercury and other popular artists have been impersonated to great success on the TV show Stars in Their Eyes - but in this year's live grand final a different breed of singer impressionism won the hearts of almost 500,000 people.

The viewers of the cult TV show went highbrow this month when a school cleaner from Salisbury was picked from 11 finalists to be catapulted on a fast-track to stardom.

When 48-year-old Nicola Kirsch said: "Tonight, Matthew, I'm going to be ... Maria Callas" the wannabe opera diva could not have imagined the adulation and votes her beautiful soprano tones attracted.

Since that night the plaudits have been rolling in thick and fast. She has barely been able to step outside of the detached home she shares with her ailing mother for constant telephone calls, interview requests and deliveries of flowers and other trinkets.

She exudes confidence and sophistication, very similar to the woman she mimicked, the late diva Maria Callas. Singing her rendition of the aria O Mio Babbino Caro she knocked the more populist contestants like Meatloaf and Celine Dion into insignificance.

Yet, this elegant woman portraying such a powerful character in front of a viewing audience of 14 million was once so shy and retiring she couldn't even bare to listen to her own voice.

Knockbacks and criticism had eroded Nicola's self-confidence to such an extent that she believed she would never get the chance to entertain a wider audience with the voice she had worked years to hone.

"I was too frightened to listen to my own voice. I've had so much criticism for so many years with so many people telling me what's wrong with my voice that I have no self-esteem at all," she said.

All this, though, is about to change as record stores the country over prepare for a Christmas rush for her debut album recorded after she won her heat earlier in the year.

Initially, record producers sent only 1,000 CDs to stores but since her win they anticipate the demand to be so great they have had to speedily produce another 40,000 to meet demand.

Nicola sent her demo cassette to the producers of Stars in Their Eyes after failing to get on the Italian version of the show. It was a last-ditch attempt to make a career from the voice she has so arduously trained, working at the feet of masters in both Italy and Spain.

In fact, she shares more than just an uncanny likeness to the woman she impersonated on the show, Maria Callas, for both women have shared something more intimate than music - the same man.

His name was Guiseppe di Stefano, a great lyrical tenor who made a name for himself in the 50s - the decade when Callas herself was at the peak of her career.

At that time, Nicola was fresh from the Royal Academy of Music and fell in love with Guiseppe's voice. She wrote to him asking if her would hear her sing and possibly help enhance her voice, and he agreed.

Despite being married, his lessons turned into a slow seduction of this nave woman who was to give almost 20 years of her life to the man - and end up with nothing but a broken heart.

Guiseppe was 29 years her senior but Nicola was besotted and the inevitable happened. Just like he did to Callas, he dumped Nicola leaving her shattered.

"There are many similarities between myself and Maria but, unlike me, she was abandoned by Guiseppe when she no longer had her voice.

"When he left me I still had my voice. Although it took me years to rebuild my confidence it was the one thing he couldn't take away from me," she said.

After he dumped her, Nicola wrote to Jaime Francesco Puig, Jose Carreras's singing teacher. Nicola believes it was this man's patience and talent that gave her the confidence to apply for Stars in Their Eyes and win.

"I stayed in Barcelona being taught by Jaime for five years and during that time I entered a singing competition and discovered Guiseppe was one of the judges.

As soon as I saw him I couldn't help renewing our affair. Again, he promised to help me, but he was only around until 1992 when he divorced his wife after she published a book accusing him of driving Callas to her death.

He married a German soprano. We made love for the last time in a London hotel, then he broke off all contact and I have not seen him since.

Rejected by her only true lover, Nicola auditioned for the chorus at Barcelona Opera House and was accepted only, she claims, to be forced out seen as a threat by the other singers.

Shattered and totally exhausted from her ordeals she suffered a nervous breakdown and only returned to the UK last year when she needed to care for her mother who had suffered a stroke.

She took work as a part-time school cleaner but still harboured the dream of singing to a wider audience.

Then came the turning point. Her cassette had been a success with Stars in Their Eyes producers and after winning her heat in June it looked as if her dream was finally coming true.

Today, her album, The Voice of a Star, which was released this week, looks set to be a Christmas bestseller but Nicola says she doesn't want huge fame, just an opportunity to give pleasure through her singing.

She added: "Being voted the winner was a surprise more than a shock. I was overwhelmed and my mother, too, was happy for me watching at home.

"Everything has now just exploded and I'm being pulled so many different ways. I have my mother to consider and she is scared that she has now lost me. But I want to maintain a healthy balance. She is very important to me.

"As for my personal life, I believe that if he could Guiseppe would want to regain contact - but his wife would never allow that.

"It is quite difficult for me because that was a chapter of my life I'd closed and it has been the main focus of media attention. But I suppose that is just the way things go.

"Who knows what the future holds. It's the start of a very exciting time. And, who knows, one day I might be able to realise my dream of opening animal shelters in the Mediterranean. Then life would be complete."