WHEN producer/director Anita Notaro and associate Caroline Henry wanted to add a bit of spice to next Friday's IRMA Awards, they chose Syren singer Liz Bonnin to present the music industry's annual bash. As one fifth of Ireland's leading girl group (who have yet to settle on a permanent name), Liz has been preparing for a career in the music business, but in the meantime she's more than willing to follow in the footsteps of former presenters such as Dave Fanning and Ray D'Arcy.
Liz is a graduate of Trinity College, where she studied bio chemistry; her father is French and her mother is from Trinidad, and Liz spent the first 10 years of her life in France, picking up fluent French and German along the way, which could come in handy should she be invited to present the Eurovision Song Contest.
Guests will include Boyzone, new kids O.T.T. - who are hotly tipped to win Best Newcomer award after bursting into the British UK Top 20 with Let Me In - and a certain Caledonian combo who are a big hit at weddings. The hottest stars of the night, however, will be The Spice Girls, who have just reached No 1 in the US charts with Wannabe.
So, will there be a sour note in Liz's voice when she introduces her spicy rivals? "Not at all!" says Liz. "I absolutely love The Spice Girls. When we heard they went to No 1 in the States, we were ringing each other up and going, isn't it great? They've opened the doors for girl groups like us, although they've given us a lot to live up to. I'm dying to meet them on the night - they look like fun." Meanwhile, our own Spice Colleens have been in Frank McNamara's Westmeath Studios, preparing demos for their record company, Polydor. Next week they fly to London to film an MTV Video Diary, and they're hoping to have their debut single in the shops by next summer. "The sooner the better," says Liz. "We're dying to show our stuff.
"It's been two years since the first auditions, and there have been a lot of ups and downs since then. We've been working hard on our singing and dancing, keeping fit and perfecting our act. We love what we're doing but we can't wait to get out there and put it all into practice."
