Second student evicted from Fame academy

IT worker Chris Manning was today beginning life away from BBC1’s Fame Academy after becoming the second student to be kicked out.

The 24-year-old failed to win enough support from the public or his fellow contestants with his performance of Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl on the live show.

Fellow students Pippa Fulton and Katie Lewis, who along with Chris were nominated by the academy’s tutors to be on probation this week, were also singing for survival in tonight’s talent showdown.

Pippa, from Hull, who was also on probation last week, was saved by the public with 48% of the phone vote after her performance of Eternal Flame.

Katie, from Bristol, was chosen over Chris, from Poole, Dorset, by the other students with a majority of five votes to four after she sang Can’t Fight The Moonlight.

With the vote tied it was down to Pippa to decide who would leave the academy this week, but Chris’plea to the others to “follow your hearts” when voting failed to save him.

Each week teachers at the academy choose a trio of students judged to be doing less well than the others to go on probation.

The contestants are being groomed for stardom with the chance of a lucrative £1 million recording deal and the chance to live a celebrity lifestyle for a year.

Numbers in the school have also been reduced after Naomi Roper dropped out of the series last weekend due to persistent throat problems.

New student David Sneddon, one of two disappointed hopefuls who failed to make it in during a public vote, will replace Naomi today.

The 24-year-old unemployed singer-songwriter is from Glasgow and currently plays in a band called The Martians.