Duffy at the Academy, Dublin

Five years ago she was coming second in the Welsh version of Pop Idol, Wawffactor. Now, Duffy’s number one on both sides of the Irish Sea and having her name dropped in all the right American circles.
It’s no surprise then that there’s a huge sense of anticipation in The Academy as, resplendent in a slinky black cocktail number and gravity-defying heels, she arrives on stage for her headlining Dublin debut.
Opting against a slow-build approach, the 23-year-old instead goes straight for the jugular with a version of ‘Rockferry’ that’s every bit as Dusty Springfield meets Phil Spector epic live as it is on record.
We’ve drooled over new chanteuses before only to find that we’ve been the victims of Auto-Tune fraud, but tonight there’s no question of Duffy being anything other than the real vocal deal.
She’s no slouch in the charisma department either, with the “Like most of my songs it’s about not taking any shit!” intro to ‘Hanging On Too Long’ typical of the playful banter which punctuates the 13-song set.
Unfortunately, this star quality doesn’t extend to the boys in the band who, short of clocking on and off, couldn’t be any more obviously hired session hands.
There are also a couple of occasions (‘Syrup & Honey’ and ‘Delayed Devotion’) when Duffy strays too far into Middle Of The Road territory than is perhaps good for a feisty 23-year-old.
Still, any doubts about whether she’s got the songs to go as supernova as the other Amy evaporate when Duffy delivers the closing ‘Mercy’ and ‘Distant Dreamer’, as perfect a pop brace as you’ll hear this or any other year.
Which leaves me wondering: just how ace is the person who won Wawffactor 2003?