Having belted out anthems such as Aretha Franklin’s Think and River Deep – Mountain High on live TV, it is not surprising former X Factor finalist Amelia Lily is excited about headlining a tour titled Simply the Best! Divas.

Aged just 16 when she auditioned, Amelia finished third on the X Factor in 2011 and has gone on to have a number two chart hit and latterly has transformed into a star of the stage.

In February she will tour with Simply The Best! Divas, which comes to Bromley’s Churchill Theatre on February 20, Richmond Theatre on February 21 and Fairfield Halls in Croydon on March 26.

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Amelia Lily stars as Whatsername in the Green Day musical American Idiot.

Coming from the director and producer behind Thriller Live, it promises to be an evening of massive hits made famous by the kind of women who require only one name to identify them.

Joining Amelia on stage will be another X Factor finalist turned West End star, Niki Evans, who finished fourth in 2007.

Amelia told us: “Basically it is a concert of all of your biggest female phenomenons. So you have got Cher, Whitney, Adele, Kylie. Everyone you can think of basically.

She added: “I’m so bloody excited. I can’t wait to sing these huge songs every night. I grew up listening to all of these female artists so what an incredible experience to be able to sing them every night.

“I haven’t seen Thriller but I know it is going to be up that street in terms of pop concert vibe and I think it is going to literally be like a pop concert every night and if people want to stand up and singalong, feel free.”

Amelia has come to Simply the Best off the back of a West End run of American Idiot, the Tony Award-winning Green Day musical in which she plays Whatsername, and she’ll be rejoining the show for its tour immediately after.

That show comes to the Churchill Theatre in Bromley from March 30 to April 2.

Amelia said: “That was one of the best things I have ever done. It was a total passion project and I went into it so nervous, frightened.

“I had some really intense scenes – a bed scene and lots of intense moments in the show. After doing it I feel so much more confident as an actress. I honestly can’t wait to do it again on tour and get back into my character.”

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The musical has also given her an education in the US punk band, much to the delight of her boyfriend of two and a half years, singer-songwriter Steve Rushton from Chertsey, who also appears in it.

She said: “When I went into the show I knew of Green Day and I knew all of their greatest hits and stuff but I didn’t know so many facts about them like I do now because I was so young when Green Day were at the peak point in their career.

“Now I have learnt so much about them and I have so much respect for them as a band.

“Steve, my partner, who is actually in the show is the biggest Green Day fan so I have learnt a lot from him over the last few months.”

With an impressive career under her belt already – she also played the narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat – it is hard to believe Amelia is still only 21.

Refreshingly, the former X Factor contender is not one to distance herself from the show now she’s finished with it.

She said: “I loved my journey on the X Factor and I have no regrets.

“I would happily recommend for anyone to go on the show because it is very hard for anyone to get into the industry nowadays.

“I came from Middlesbrough and I knew I was going to have to go to stage school and move away, and going on the X Factor for me was a massive platform. I can’t think of any other way how I could have got to where I am now.”

Amelia Lily is in Simply the Best! Divas, which is at Bromley’s Churchill Theatre in February 20, Richmond Theatre on February 21 and Fairfield Halls on March 26. Go to atgtickets.com/Bromley, atgtickets.com/Richmond or www.fairfieldhalls.com.

Amelia also stars in American Idiot at the Churchill Theatre from March 30 to April 2. Go to atgtickets.com/bromley