SO, what’s that Simon Cowell really like then? It’s one of the most popular questions I get on the street when folk come up to chat to me – well that and “Did I not see you drunk in a pub last week?” But, ahem, that’s just by the by.

Yes, even although Pop Idol (oh, you know me, I don’t like to mention it that often) was nearly 13 years ago and I haven’t actually seen the high-waisted, Cuban-heeled impresario himself for nearly 10 years, people are still very interested in what the man is actually like so I’ll tell you what I tell everyone else.

He’s very lovely and was very sweet to me during our brief time working together.

I did, however, learn an awful lot from Simon – so much so that even after All This Time (OK, that was probably a step too far) I still managed to channel my inner Cowell on Monday evening at the O2 Academy in Glasgow as I was one of the judges at the annual GStars event.

Once again it did not disappoint. This year’s group of GStars put on an incredible show and many congratulations to our winners Oran, who picked up the much coveted golden microphone award with their fantastic performance of the Barbra Streisand hit Don’t Rain on My Parade.

GStars is a wonderful event that brings children from all over Glasgow’s South Side together during the Easter holidays through a voluntary organisation called SWAYED which provides young people with access to free and safe activities.

SWAYED is managed by a voluntary board made up of local representatives and senior officers from their delivery partners, supported by the youth work staff of Young Glasgow at Glasgow Life.

I’ve had the pleasure of being involved many times with GStars over the years, both as a judge and as a guest performer, and I was delighted to be asked back again this year.

Thank you so much to Gary Maguire and his team for organising another five-star event and, of course, a massive congratulations to all of this year’s GStar performers. For more information just log on to www.swayed.org.uk

I WENT from one multi-talented group of performers to another on Wednesday night as I sat in the audience watching the legendary Divas Show at the East Kilbride Village Theatre.

The night was packed with much-loved talent in the form of UK drag royalty Miss Cheri Treiffel, who brought the house down with her Frozen routine as Elsa. And let’s not forget her beautiful bouncing snowballs, just hilarious.

Our Divas were Stars in Their Eyes winner Ashley McCullagh, Barbara Bryceland, star of the hit BBC show The Voice and a woman who has sold out every venue she has ever played – the Queen of Glasgow herself, May Miller.

All of our Divas were expertly backed by musical director Robert Miller and, with the audience up on their feet from the first song, it wasn’t hard to understand why this concert sells out instantly each year. These are artists who are masters of their craft and who are phenomenal live performers.

It was a brilliant night of music and comedy that has become a real highlight of the music calendar.

OH, it’s a great time to be a Glaswegian for the first citywide Glasgow Restaurant Festival is in full swing and will run until April 24.

It’s a celebration of unique dining experiences across the city, all brought to you by Glasgow’s best chefs and favourite restaurants.

The Spiegeltent on Candleriggs Square is running as a pop-up dining venue until Sunday, taking diners on an adventure with a different pop-up restaurant

every day.

You will be able to sample delights from some of Glasgow’s most popular restaurants, including Porter and Rye, Red Onion and Burger Meats Bun, as you enjoy live music and entertainment.

The last leg of the festival is all about Dining In The City which kicks off on Monday with a week of specially priced menus and events at over 60 of Glasgow’s best restaurants, so it looks like we’re all going to be in food and drink heaven over the next few weeks.

My own personal recommendation would be the new Smoke Barbecue Restaurant which opened this week in the city centre. My family and I went along at the weekend and had the most incredible meal. The food is just delicious and the service was superb so trust me, if you love BBQ this is the place for you.