TWO North Yorkshire singers are one step closer to super-stardom after battling through to the final stages of TV's Pop Idol.

Hayley Banford, 20, of White Cross Road, York, and Chris Tame, from Thirsk, are among the last 50 contestants whittled down from more than 10,000 hopefuls during a series of gruelling auditions.

Millions of viewers watched a four-strong panel consisting of music guru Pete Waterman, DJ Dr Fox, top pop manager Nikki Chapman and producer Simon Cowell, sort out the pop wheat from the chaff in the first two rounds.

Now the programme, hosted by Ant and Dec, will be aired every Saturday night with viewers using a telephone vote to pick which two Pop Idols they prefer out of ten hopefuls who will perform a chosen song.

A final show in December will decide the ultimate winner.

Christopher, 18, who has also appeared on This Is My Moment, is appearing this Saturday following a week of intense rehearsals.

Meanwhile, Hayley, who is a former Huntington School pupil, will hit TV screens on December 1, in the last group of ten, singing her version of Leanne Rimes' favourite, How Do I Live Without You. Hayley, who recently won a college Battle of the Bands competition at York Barbican Centre with her former group Thrust, said Pop Idol was her "big chance".

"The early auditions were really nerve-racking," she told the Evening Press.

"The panel were really tough.

"This is the best chance at pop stardom I'll ever get."

Hayley, who is doing a musical theatre and arts course in Blackpool, has even been for a night out with the legendary Darius Danesh, who shot to fame in the original Popstars series, but is now back in Pop Idol.

"He is a bit cheesy but very friendly," Hayley added.

Hayley's mum, Debbie, said she was "desperately proud".

She told the Evening Press: "Our world has been turned upside down - Hayley has been brilliant.

"We're glued to the box."

* Take a peek at Hayley and Chris in action on the Pop Idol website at www.itv.com/popidol

Updated: 11:37 Thursday, November 01, 2001