Singing star Amelia Lily, whose biggest hit ‘You Give Me Joy’ stormed the charts in September 2012, is to top the bill at Liverpool Pride 2013 when the festival flies back into the city on Saturday 3 August.
Since her X-Factor success, Amelia signed a major record deal with Xenomania/Sony and has since gone on to support Girls Aloud on their nation-wide farewell tour and released three top 40 hits. Her debut album will be released this summer and she will be performing a selection of the highly anticipated songs from her album at Liverpool Pride.
Amelia Lily said: ”It’s a pleasure to be asked to be part of Liverpool Pride. I have so many gay friends it makes me proud to be involved in such a good cause and this year it’s gonna be bigger and better, roll on 3rd August!”
It was also revealed at the launch that the charity Liverpool Pride had been nominated for a National Diversity Award, a great achievement considering that the festival is still only in its fourth year.
Chair of Liverpool Pride Zoran Blackie said: “We’re delighted to have been nominated for a National Diversity Award, it’s a testament to the great work that Liverpool Pride and Liverpool as a city has done to move forward with making this fantastic place more inclusive for everyone. Liverpool Pride 2013 is going to be the biggest festival to date and the organisation is proud to continue its work. All of this can’t be done without the support of the Merseyside community, who every year come together to help make Pride happen and keep it free, which is truly special.”
Speaking about the Liverpool Gay Pride Festival, Lord Mayor, Councillor Gary Millar said: “Liverpool’s Gay Pride Festival is the perfect opportunity for the city to celebrate its diversity.
“It brings the city to life with a fantastic carnival atmosphere. And more importantly it is for everyone.
“So if you want to see how Liverpool puts on a show like no other then I would encourage you to come along and take part in what is sure to be another great weekend of celebrations.”
Guests at the launch, held at Palm Sugar, Liverpool ONE on Thursday were treated to performances from Killa Sista and MiC Lowry who gave a taste of the talent that will be on stage come 3 August.
The 2013 ‘Superhero themed’ Pride line up also includes a whole host of home-grown and UK talent including British Euro pop band Black Lace who had huge 80’s party hits with ‘Agadoo’, Do The Conga’ and the aptly named ‘Superman’. Also performing are rock/pop-band My Forever, whose single ‘The World Won’t Wait’ was selected as Radio 1’s single of the week in December of last year.
My Forever said: “We are so excited to be playing Liverpool Pride! Liverpool is one of our favourite cities and the crowds are always up for a great party! We can’t wait to hit the stage and put on a great show for one of the biggest events on the Pride calendar!”
Popular performers House of Suarez, Dance Dynamix, Thomas Teago, Adam Lyons and Nikki Bell all make a welcome return to the main stage alongside a wealth of artists who have never been seen before at Pride including powerhouse female duo Killa Sista, dance act Baby D and Doremi Fly who have recorded over 2 albums worth of music and now have a catalogue with a wide variety of genres that include Pop/Pop/Rock/R&B/Soul/Dance/Dubstep and House. There will also be a performance from the cast of the 20th Anniversary Concert of RENT, which will stomp into the Liverpool Echo Arena on 30th November.
Tokyo Track, winners of Liverpool Pride and the Michael Causer Foundation’s Out On Stage unsigned act competition will take to the Pier Head Stage to play a selection of their indie/rock tunes. Tokyo Track won the hotly contested chance to perform back in May after several rounds of competition at a number of venues around the city.
Tokyo Track said: “Winning the Michael Causer Foundation’s competition gave us great pride in what we do. We can only define how we feel as honoured; to be given such an opportunity as being able to play the main stage of the Liverpool Pride Festival is a privilege; doing it in Michael’s name, alone, gives us a sense of gratitude and it also offers a big step forward for us as a band.”
Rounding up the lineup is MiC Lowry, who are harmonising their way to success. These five R’n’B boys were one of the runners up in MTV’s Brand New Unsigned, a collection of the top 20 artistes to watch out for in 2013 and won the under 19’s Rock the House Music competition 2013.
This year’s main stage hosts include Geordie Shore’s Jay Gardner and former Radio City presenter Jay Hynd, as well as Juice FM and Gaydio presenters, who will pop up throughout the day.
Meanwhile, over in the Stanley Street Quarter, Liverpool singers are out in force including performances from Paul Halewood, Rosalie Galvin, Craig Cavanagh, Emma Lousha and Pretty Girl Rock, who are currently taking the UK by storm with their debut single ‘Bring It On.’ The Stanley Street Quarter stage will be hosted by everyone’s favourite Desperate Scousewife Amanda Harrington and man about the gaybourhood Paul St German in addition to a whole host of well-known Liverpool faces.
Amanda Harrington said: ‘I’m so pleased to be involved in Liverpool Pride. 2013 will be the biggest and best Pride event so far and the programme of events of the festival is amazing! Liverpool Pride helps celebrate the positivity of LGB&T life in the city and I’m very proud to take part in this event.’
Liverpool Pride 2013 will take place on Saturday 3 August at Liverpool’s iconic pier-head and throughout the Stanley Street Quarter. In addition to this, there will be a weekend of cultural events taking place at some of Liverpool’s most influential arts and cultural establishments.
Make sure you check out liverpoolpride.co.uk, @LiverpoolPride on Twitter and facebook.com/LiverpoolPride to have your say and for all of the latest pride news.