No Rock And Roll Fun

A SONGWRITER'S WAY WITH WORDS: Darius is just starting to comeback - although, really, it's more shifting to different form of semi-obscurity - following his Dad's remission from cancer, and as part of the process, he's done a chinwag with Sky News. In the course of it, he describes Seal as "a total legend of mine", which seems to imply that he thinks he made him up.

Asked if Pop Idol meant he had a stinky, smelly stigma attached to him, Darius is thoughtful:

Maybe it has been harder in some ways. But then, I supported Shakira once in Paris in front of 40,000 people, which was a dream. None of them knew me at the beginning, but by the end 40,000 people were cheering along to my music.

Perhaps, Darius. Or perhaps they were just cheering because you'd come to the end of your set?

In places like India it's the same. They have no pre-conceived ideas of me on a telly show because they didn't get Pop Idol over there. When they like my music that's enormously gratifying.

And yet, despite these success the world over, Darius isn't going to be setting his cap at US success:

Europe yes, America no. I am going to really go for it in Europe, but if Robbie (Williams) can't do it in America then I'm not going to try. It just seems too much.

This is more than a little sad - the belief that somehow Robbie's rebuff from the States is an indication that the country is somehow impenetrable is just crazy. Actually, Darius - who is quite happy to do small gigs, sing live, go all over the place, even do horrible jobs like holding Geri Halliwell's hand on a kind of date - probably had much more chance of finding success in the US than Robbie 'After you've fetched me the world on a plate, I'll have the moon on a stick' Williams ever could. Plus, wouldn't you love to see Robbie watching Darius have a Billboard Number One? Wouldn't you just?