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			 THE ONLY WAY IS 
			LIVERPOOL…PRIDE 
			AT an exciting launch 
			event, held aboard a Mersey Ferry river cruise this evening 
			Liverpool Pride organisers announced that TOWIE star Jessica Wright, 
			Essex Girls 2 Shoes and Liverpool's own Liz McClarnon will also 
			perform on the festival's Waterfront Stage on Saturday, 4 August 
			2012. 
			 
			The acts join Marcus Collins on the bill in addition to a river 
			pageant load of other fabulous acts who will all perform when the 
			UK's biggest FREE LGBT Pride festival outside of London returns for 
			its third voyage later this summer.  
			Liz McClarnon, who attended the 
			launch celebrations, was one third of Britain's biggest girl band; 
			Atomic Kitten. Liz travelled the world with the band on sell out 
			tours, performed for the Queen at Buckingham Palace and has 
			countless awards and number 1 singles and albums under her belt, 
			sold 10 million records globally as well as bringing pop music back 
			to the masses in 2001 when the band released:- "Whole Again" 
			which spent 4 weeks at number 1 in the UK chart, 6 weeks at number 1 
			in Germany, and was number 1 in 17 other Countries. Since then, 
			she's gone on to launch a successful solo career and won Celebrity Masterchef. Now, she comes home to Liverpool Pride to perform some 
			of hers and Atomic Kitten's biggest hits. 
			
			  
			Liz said:- "I'm so excited 
			to be performing at this year's Liverpool Pride festival. The 
			festival is doing a lot to raise awareness of Homophobia and break 
			down any barriers that may exist in our city, It's such a worthwhile 
			event. I always love coming home to sing in front of a home crowd 
			and I'm sure that this time will be extra special; Bring it on!" 
			 
			Jessica Wright shot to fame as part of ITV's BAFTA winning series 
			The Only Way is Essex. Since then the aspiring pop princess has 
			landed a record deal and having written her debut album in Liverpool 
			is now ready to share her exciting new venture with the world. 
			She'll be performing her debut single 'Dance With Me All Night' at 
			Liverpool Pride. Who knows, maybe even Nanny Pat might join her…
			 
			
			  
			Totes Amaze X-Factor duo 2 Shoes 
			will also take to the stage to perform on the day. The bubbly 
			Brentwood ladies made it through to the live show stages of X-Factor 
			2011 before being sent home by mentor Tulisa. Since then one of the 
			pair; Charley, has gone on to have a baby named Beaux and they've 
			signed a record deal! 2 Shoes are now ready to tear up the UK one 
			step at a time including what is bound to be a fabulous Liverpool 
			Pride performance.  
			 
			This year's Liverpool Pride line up also includes girlbands The Bon 
			Bonz, a Yorkshire based rock-pop group and Concrete Rose; managed by 
			Lee Latchford-Evans of Steps fame. Single ladies getting in on the 
			act include Maltese teen pop sensation Sophie and beautiful 
			singer/songwriter Katrina Heenan. 
			 
			Boybands feature heavily in the line up with sets from Wigan boys On 
			The Line, who have supported multi platinum selling artists 
			including Texas, Ronan Keating, Westlife and Lemar to name only a 
			few. Rewind, who have worked with producers such as Pete Kirtley, 
			Tim Hawes, Ian Curnow and LA super writer Andrew Lane. 
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			 Retro/acoustic boyband Concept, 
			who take their influences from the Beatles, Motown, Ed Sheeran, 
			Duran Duran and Labringth and Forbidden Juice, who are based at the 
			same production house as Mcfly, Busted and George Michael. Rounding 
			off the boyband line up is Future Kicks who BBC Radio 1 described 
			the band as "the next kings of pop" after they played the 
			stations Big Weekend festival in Carlisle. 
			Also taking to the Waterfront 
			Stage is Jnay (John Adeleye), a MOBO award winner and 2010 X Factor 
			finalist, currently working on his forthcoming EP 'POLAROID', 
			drawing inspiration from Prince, Stevie Wonder, Tom Vek and Nirvana. 
			Also hailing from reality TV, Sarah Whatmore rose to fame in the 
			first series of the British television show Pop Idol. Simon Fuller 
			signed her to RCA Records including a worldwide management deal with 
			19 Entertainment. But manufactured pop is the antithesis of Sarah's 
			soulful creative expression. Now a singer/songwriter, Sarah has 
			collaborated with various artists around the world, experimenting 
			with eclectic styles and sounds, and ultimately developing a rich 
			and unique territory beyond genre.  
			 
			Liverpool's own LGBT Choir will take to the stage to perform a 
			wealth of songs both old and new before Dance Dynamix, who famously 
			made it to the finals of Sky One's Got To Dance in 2011 tear up the 
			stage with their electrifying routines.  
			 
			Other performances come from Neighbours heartthrob Sam Clark, whose 
			debut single 'Devastated' went in at No1 in 6 countries, Thomas Teago who signed a major deal with Fierce Management at the end of 
			2011 and is currently working on his debut album. They're joined by 
			Liverpool ʻbad boyʼ turned ʻgoodʼ
			Bradley Johnson who gave the 
			judges quite a shock at his first X Factor audition with his 
			performance of 'A Team' by Ed Sheeran and Armstrong who has worked 
			with many artists and producers over the years, from the likes of 
			The Honeyz, JLS, Babyface, Soulshock & many more.  
			 
			Rounding off the line up is Click 22 An urban duo with a shared 
			passion for music and an incredible talent for song writing and 
			performing. They'll be taking to the stage to perform alongside club 
			diva Nikki Belle.  There will also be DJ sets from Desperate 
			Scousewives' Danny Latimer and Ste Cocky. The Stanley Street stage 
			line 
			 
			Jen Corrigan and Karl Connor of Fierce Management who programmed the 
			line up said:- "This is our first year programming Liverpool 
			Pride and we're really excited about the line up! There's something 
			for everyone and we hope everyone will enjoy the party! We've worked 
			on some big events across the country but nothing beats working on 
			something so important in your home city. We're so happy and proud 
			to be part of Pride and working on such an amazing event. We've 
			worked hard to give Liverpool the biggest line up it's had to date 
			and we're looking forward to seeing the festival grow and be even 
			bigger next year!" 
			 
			Zoran Blackie, Chair at Liverpool Pride said:- ''We set the 
			programming team with a challenge to bring some of the best of 
			Liverpool talent and up and coming acts to appeal to our broad range 
			of tastes for our incredibly diverse audience. I am made up with 
			what we've got - 3 stages of entertainment, all for free, allowing 
			the gay community and the rest of Liverpool to have a brilliant day 
			together… let's hope we can book the sunshine too''  
			 
			Liverpool Pride is the UK's biggest FREE Gay Pride festival outside 
			of London. In just two years, Liverpool Pride has established itself 
			as one of the major highlights in the city and the wider LGB&T 
			community's summer calendar. Bursting onto the scene in 2010, the 
			inaugural Liverpool Pride festival attracted over 20,000people, 
			which was doubled to over 44,000 in 2011. 
			 
			For 2012 Festival organisers are promising the best event yet, a 
			festival whichLiverpool's LGB&T community is proud of, attracting 
			people from across the country to experience the diverse culture of 
			one of Europe's most exciting cities.  
			 
			The festival came about following the launch of the LGB&T Network, 
			at which the public voted for a Pride festival to engage, empower 
			and involve the LGB&T communities within the city. This was fully 
			endorsed by Liverpool City Council in January 2009. Following a 
			number of high profile attacks in the city, the event was 
			established in 2010 and now takes place each year to coincide with 
			the anniversary of murdered gay teenager Michael Causer. 
			 
			Liverpool Pride 2012 will take place at Liverpool's iconic pier-head 
			and throughout the Stanley Street Gay 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. The 
			festival's 'Nautical but Nice' theme, chosen in a ballot by 700 
			members of the local LGBT community, gives a nod to the city's 
			commemoration of the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the 
			Titanic, whilst at the same time, celebrating the city's rich 
			maritime history and taking advantage of the main festival site, 
			which sits on the banks of the River Mersey. 
			 
			Applications are still open for the Liverpool Pride March 2012. 
			Individuals, groups and organisations are invited to take part by 
			registering 
			
			online 
			before 31 July 2012.  Make sure you check out 
			@LiverpoolPride on Twitter and search Liverpool Pride on Facebook to 
			have your say and for all of the latest pride news.  |