Niamh waves goodbye to Nancy dream

Bangor schoolgirl Niamh Perry will not play Nancy in Oliver!

On Saturday evening, Bangor girl Niamh Perry, 17, found out that she was not going to be Nancy.

She was voted off the BBC's live show I'd Do Anything, where contestants are battling it out for a starring role in a new production of Oliver!

Now all eyes are on Rachel Tucker, 26, the other hopeful from Northern Ireland who goes ahead to the semi finals.

At the weekend, Five Nancys found themselves battling for four places in the semi final and Niamh found herself singing against Rachel in a nail-biting finale to win a place.

They were asked to sing Another Suitcase in another Hall from Evita. Although she lost, Andrew Lloyd Webber was full of encouragement.

"Niamh, if I was casting Evita, I would seriously think of you for that role," he told her, adding that he wouldn't be surprised if she was up for a leading role by the time she is 20 years old.

On Monday, Niamh's father, Liam Perry, said she was "disappointed but excited about the future".

He said he was "very proud" of his daughter.

"This has been a great adventure for a 17-year-old. She has loved every minute of it ... she told me she wouldn't have changed a thing. "She is coming home tonight to take three A levels this week in Our Lady's and St Patrick's College, Knock. She is taking music, drama and sociology."

Rachel Tucker from Belfast is going forward to the semi finals

Mr Perry said that even in the middle of the rehearsals in London, Niamh still made time to study.

"We have a photograph of her sitting at the side of the stage in rehearsals with her books on her lap," he said.

Despite the disappointment, he said it was good to hear someone of the stature of Lord Webber say that if he was casting Evita, he would be seriously considering Niamh.

And he said that people from across Northern Ireland and from as far away as Australia and America had taken Niamh to their hearts, and he thanked them all.

Jessie Buckley, 18, from County Kerry in the Republic of Ireland is also among the handful of finalists left in the programme.

She has been performing since she was seven, when she starred in a school production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. She plays four instruments and is delighted to be in the final.

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