GEORDIE Joe McElderry keeps switching coats in his York appearances.

After his Evolution solo show last October at York Barbican, he returns to the city from Tuesday, leading the cast in the latest Bill Kenwright tour of Joseph And The Technicolor Dreamcoat in ten performances in only five days at the Grand Opera House.

Already, the 2009 winner of The X Factor has played Leeds Grand Theatre in March in the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical and he always enjoys performing to Yorkshire audiences.

"Do you know what, Leeds was one of the best audiences we've had," he says. "We've had incredible audiences everywhere we've been, but for some reason in Leeds there was an even bigger buzz around the show. It was like a rock concert each night.

"For me, that makes me feel a little more at home, so I can interact more with the audiences, and that's how it was on my last time in York on my solo tour last October."

The Evolution tour found Joe reinterpreting his hits and favourite songs in new arrangements, again displaying his diverse singing talent, as shown by his victory in ITV's Popstar To Operastar talent show and in playing Tommy, that "deaf,dumb and blind kid", in The Who's Tommy at Blackpool Opera House last summer.

"I think it's important to give a different taste of where you are musically at that time, but not stray too far away from what you did before, while making it feel refreshed," he says of the Evolution show.

Now 24, Joe is playing Joseph for the first time, following in the sandal steps of the likes of Jason Donovan, Donny Osmond, David Cassidy, Phillip Schofield, Boyzone's Stephen Gately, Lee Mead, Gareth Gates and Steps' Ian "H" Watkins.

"I'd been asked a few times before by Bill Kenwright, but I didn't see it as an obvious role for me so much as everyone else did apparently, and it was only when I got this tour that everyone said, 'Oh, I can really see you in that part'!" says Joe. "Maybe I was a little daunted by the role, but then I thought, 'no, don't be silly, do it', and it's been amazing. I've had an absolute blast."

York Press:

Joe McElderry as Joseph: "always worked better under intense pressure"

How has the reality of playing Joseph turned out? "When you take something on, when I do my thing, in terms of my concerts, my albums, there's nothing for me to compare it with, whereas with this show I'm stepping into an arena where so many people have done it so well and I certainly didn't want to be the weak one, so I definitely felt the pressure," says Joe. "But I've used that pressure in a good way as I've always worked better under intense pressure, when I've always just got on with it.

"It's been very full-on, but in experiencing a new way of performing, and as a challenge, it has really paid off. What I've really enjoyed is working with such a talented cast and working on my acting skills. He's definitely not a Geordie Joseph; he must have lost his accent on the way to Egypt."

After Joe takes off his Technicolor coat for the last time in July, he will prepare for hisNorthern Light Tour, an acoustic concert itinerary planned for October and November, when The Forum in Northallerton on October 7 will be the closest show to York.

"It'll be a brand new show," he says."I'm calling it the Northern Light Tour because I'm from the north and my shows are all about spreading light and positivity and happiness, so I thought it was a positive name.

"I've already recorded some new material over the past year and a half and I'll be going back into the studio after the Joseph tour, in the North East and London, but the album won't necessarily be called Northern Light, because it's not connected with my autumn tour. The tour will stand on its own.

"Being an acoustic tour, it will be a little more chilled and relaxed, with me taking you through the songs, and there'll be less glitz and lights."

In the meantime, it's ready, steady, go, go, go Joseph for Geordie Joe in York from Tuesday.

Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Grand Opera House, York, Tuesday, 7.30pm; Wednesday and Thursday, 2.30pm, 7.30pm; Friday, 5pm, 8pm; Saturday, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm. Box office, 0844 871 3024 or atgtickets.com/york. Joe's Northern Light Tour visits The Forum, Northallerton, October 7; 01609 776230.