CAN you sing? If so, you could be the answer to the prayers of a York band already under the management of SEI Corporation in America, and in the process of signing with Australian Popstars management - depending on the quality of the new singer - to cover Europe and Australasia.

Band spokesman Andy Jackson said: "There'll be auditions in York for a new band with the most powerful company in music backing it. We'll be showcasing to Universal for a worldwide deal in three months and need this singer desperately.

"We've gone through numerous singers, but none of them have been good enough, and we've just sacked our latest one. So what we're looking for is a male or female who can handle the range that's only found on the likes of Prince or Celine Dion's records."

Auditions will be held at the Old Dairy Studios, on the York College site in Tadcaster Road, on Wednesday between noon and 6pm, in a format similar to Popstars.

"The songs that will be expected to be sung are Robbie Williams's Angels, good to show consistency in the voice; Savage Garden's Truly Madly Deeply, good to show feeling; or Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On, good to show power and intonation," said Andy.

"These are the only songs to be sung. I know it all looks a bit like Popstars, but the songs were chosen for a reason and they'll show us who's a good singer. People must turn up with image and personality."

A member of the SEI management team will be flying over to help Andy and his colleagues choose the correct vocalist for a band to be described as "Savage Garden on steroids".

"The unusual case with this band is we didn't get turned down by the record company. We've just been given a date and told to get a different singer by then," said Andy.

Updated: 12:06 Friday, July 06, 2001