A NEW crop of tribute acts took the roof off at Churt Village Hall in July, as Churt Amateur Dramatic Society celebrated the 1990s with a seventh annual evening of musical entertainment.

Groups such as Blur, Pulp and Oasis vied with solo acts including LeAnn Rimes and Seal for the coveted Best Act award, voted for by a high-spirited sing-along audience.

The evening was introduced and compered by an uncomfortably accurate Lily Savage (Richard Amero) who relished the opportunity to banter, employing his best Scouse accent, with the audience between acts.

The 18 performances, split into two groups to accommodate a three-course meal, involved a certain amount of scurrying around backstage. Gerry Francke fronted both Blur and The Rembrandts while Chris Deacon joined Blur and Shania Twain before taking centre stage as Jarvis Cocker and – in a particularly surreal moment – half of Aqua, as in Barbie Girl.

As one of the few cast-members who could actually play the guitar, Howard Fullbrook was sought after as a member of Ms Twain’s backing band and The Mavericks, as well as a solo artiste (Tom Petty, complete with dodgy wig).

The female acts stood out because of their ability, generally, to hold a tune. Marlaine Dams gave a stunning performance as Celine Dion, Debbie Lawson nailed a Whitney Houston hit and Beth Lloyd-Perks dispensed with the vocoder to make a better fist of Believe than Cher ever did. And Angela Traill shone as the other 50 per cent of Aqua.

The runner-up for the Best Act award was Shania Twain, with Averil Gherhart outstanding in the lead with support from Fullbrook and Deacon, together with Nigel Dams and David Forster.

The title however went to Oasis and their rendition of Don’t Look Back in Anger. Francke and Forster played the Gallagher brothers with Fullbrook, Deacon and Oscar Traynor in the backing band.

As with the six previous outings, CADS does the 90s was produced and directed by Cerys Traynor. She was supported by Mark Lawson (sound), Peter Christopherson with Gareth Garner (lighting), and Ness Evans with Liz Finneran who managed the catering team.