Meet Glenda, she's the make-up queen

It's the eleventh year of the hugely popular "soundalike" show which plucks ordinary people from obscurity and transforms them into all-singing, all-dancing performers.

More than 510 people have so far walked through the screen doors and announced those legendary words: "Tonight Matthew, I'm going to be . . ."

But none of it would be possible without hair and make-up designer Glenda Wood -- the real star of the show.

She has worked on 10 out of the 11 series, supervising all aspects of hair and make-up procedure.

Glenda also works on Stars' spin-offs such as last year's Champion of Champions special and the Celebrity Special -- "arranging" famous faces ranging from David Ginola to Carol Vorderman.

Arranging

With 32 years of experience at Granada, on productions such as Coronation Street and Sherlock Holmes, Saturday's wannabe stars are sure to be in safe hands.

We caught up with the 57-year-old queen of make-up after she'd spent a day shopping for toiletries and hair products for the final.

"It's horrible, the most boring bit of the job," Glenda sighed.

Rehearsals for the "big night" are now well under-way, which also involves a "bit of practice" for Glenda, such as arranging hairdos for those who "have their own hair" and not a wig.

Asked who has been one of her favourite stars, she quickly replied "Chris de Burgh", alias Ian Moor, the winner of the last series.

"He was lovely, nice and ordinary with his feet on the ground," Glenda remembered.

Every star-to-be sits in Glenda's chair for 40 minutes before their TV performance-of-a-lifetime -- and their enthusiasm always rubs off, even on a seasoned professional like her.

They may be "cynical old dogs" who work on the show, she said, but when someone sits in her chair and gets all excited before she even gets the powder brush out, "it's great".

"I'll say: 'I haven't even touched you yet', but their excitement is infectious," said Glenda. "They love it. It's a big, big thing in their life."

Before she transforms people, Glenda studies videos and pictures, then she starts with base make-up, followed by applying highlights or shading, shaping nostrils or eyebrows or even sticking on beards.

For the women, there's always the final touch of "glamour" before they leave the make-up room.

Enjoying

Glenda is "supposed to be retired, really", but as long as the show will "have her", she will carry on -- and carry on enjoying her job.

"They are strangers, really, but you are touching them and you're able to do something for them," said Glenda. "It's a bit special."

Part of her job is also to be present at the second round of auditions.

But Glenda refuses to turn anybody down on the basis of their lookalike-potential, even if she knows better "in her heart of hearts".

"I never make comments on whether it would work.

"We do our best to make them look like the singer -- but it isn't up to me to take decisions like that.

"I'm just here to paint faces, that's all!"

This doesn't mean she doesn't realise the importance of the lookalike-factor.

Said Glenda, who hails from Macclesfield: "They say it's not important, that the soundalike part is more important. "But the viewers, the audience and the contestants love the transformation."

Bafta winner Glenda is extremely involved with all the candidates, and likes meeting them again in the final.

But she'll remember the contestants for personal details -- such as how many children they have -- rather than the star they impersonate.

And none of the performers receive anything less than the best "star treatment", which starts as soon as they arrive at the studio.

"They actually get more than a star would get," said Glenda.

"They have their own researcher, a star on the door of the dressing room, flowers, a costume person, us to look after their face and hair, they are wheeled in and out, a choreographer shows them how to walk and smile. "They are helped every step of the way."

Host Matthew Kelly, too, is right behind the contestants, according to Glenda.

"He's a dream," she said. "What you see on telly is what you get in real life.

"I've never heard him say a bad word about anyone."

So can she tell us who she thinks will win on Saturday?

She can't, she said, although she is sure she knows who will be the winner this time -- "and I bet I'm right!" she laughed. Stars In Their Eyes -- the facts An average of 30,000 people currently send tapes in for each series -- all of which are listened to by the production team, according to Granada.

Of these, 1,000 are invited to audition and then whittled down to 200 for a second edition at Granada Television in Manchester.

The final 60, plus four reserves in case of illness, are then selected.

A staggering 2.2m votes were cast by telephone and over the Internet for the last finals. Ian Moor -- as Chris de Burgh -- polled over half a million votes for his rendition of Lady In Red.

The first winner was Bolton's Maxine Barrie as Shirley Bassey in 1990.

Leslie Crowther hosted the first three series, but after being involved in a car crash Matthew Kelly took over.

Stars is a multi-award winning show, with last year's TV Quick Award for Best Entertainment Show joining a list including RTS, BAFTA and National Television Awards.