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Katie goes deep for record
03/10/2006 13:06 - (SA)
London - Singer Katie Melua swapped the
recording studio for a North Sea gas rig in her successful bid
to set a new record for the deepest underwater concert, the
Guinness World Record organisation said on Tuesday.
Melua and her five-member band performed two concerts of one
hour each on Monday at a verified depth of 303 metres underwater
to an audience made up of staff from the Statoil Troll A
platform.
"This was definitely the most surreal gig I have ever done
... It took nine minutes to go from the main part of the gas
platform down to the bottom of the shaft in a lift," she said.
"Every camera had a fire safety officer next to it to
monitor the gas level in case the battery sparked an explosion."
The concerts at the bottom of the platform, which is 472
metres high, of which 369 metres are below the sea surface, will
be aired later this year on Norwegian television.
Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records
confirmed the "gig in a rig" - held at the bottom of one of the
four massive shafts - had set the record.
Georgian-born Melua, 22, said she had undergone tough
training before undertaking the descent.
"The planning behind the concert has been like a military
operation. The band, crew and I were put through rigorous
training to ensure our safety including escaping from a
submerging cockpit and plunging into the sea in an inflatable
life raft," she said.
Melua, who had her first UK hit single with The Closest
Thing to Crazy, has sold more than five million albums
worldwide and is Britain's biggest selling female artist.
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South Africa
