JESSICA Steel will never be a Pop Idol but that doesn't mean to say she will never be a superstar. The 19-year-old York singer, hairdresser and sometime Debenham's assistant, failed two auditions in Manchester for the ITV1 wannabe show Pop Idol which starts tonight at 7.10pm (see page 4 of Eight Days A Week).

Jessica, lead singer with York-based band Blue Rinse, has hair that looks like an explosion in a rastafarian wig factory and more fizz than a lorry load of Alka Seltzer. She told me about her stab at stardom along with 9,000 others all striving to let the viewing public make them a star.

"I got two auditions and was so excited when I went to Manchester and sang in front of pop producer Pete Waterman and DJ Dr Fox.

"I sang Amazing Grace because I thought it would best show off my vocal range because all entrants had to sing a cappella.

"It was the wrong choice.

"On the second day in Manchester I had to stand in the middle of a huge white star and sing Amazing Grace again. You had to stick with your original choice of song, see.

"Pete Waterman said I had a good voice but should have worn something black and flowing, swayed from side to side and clapped a bit - gospel singer-style.

"I'm not a gospel singer. I just did it my way. I have always been an individualist. But there you go... I didn't make it this time," explained Jessica with no sign of a tear smudging what she calls her "spider eyes."

I was going to ask her why her eyelashes huddled together in little black clumps but thought better of it. I was just coming to terms with the multi-hued layers of gold on her eyelids.

Spiderwoman doesn't skimp on the make-up, star or not.

"Still," said the perky performer with more jobs than the job centre, "at least I still have some work to come back to.

"One 20-year-old guy gave up his job 'cos his firm wouldn't give him time off to attend the auditions and he didn't even make it through to the televised section. Now he's out of work. That must be hard."

She said defiantly: "I'll never give up because I know I can sing."

You can find out for yourself if she can sing, when Blue Rinse play York's Ainsty, Boroughbridge Road, on November 10, then again on Christmas Eve unless... she gets a call from Robbie Williams to play the Hollywood Bowl in the meantime.

- IT was the little packet of Forget Me Not seeds that turned on the tears.

Oh, and how they poured down the beautiful face of cat-lover Vivienne Lee of York just four days after she had her beloved, 15-year-old shaded silver Persian puss, pictured above, put to sleep when she could no longer use her back legs.

The spirited, elegant cat - which was about 75 in human years - had been Vivienne's constant companion and those Forget Me Not seeds from the Abbeyfields vets' practice in Clarence Street, York, which came with a note saying: "Just a thought" were a tear-jerking yet heart-warming reminder of her loss.

"I broke down but think it was sweet of the vets to remember just how much I loved and cared for Puss," says Vivienne.

So there you have it. Little things do mean a lot.

Sleep tight, Puss, you won't be forgotten.

- Prince Andrew, in North Yorkshire again this week, takes his title very personally - as this exchange, related in former Commons Speaker Betty Boothroyd's new autobiography, confirms.

"The Duke of York, whom I invited to dinner with MPs in Speaker's House, introduced himself at a state banquet at Windsor Castle with the greeting: 'Hello, I'm York.' 'Hello, I'm Westminster,' I replied. We got on famously after that."

- THE people behind the publicity for the much-awaited "food-based caf" (is there anything else?) Melton's too are in the soup over the spelling of palate in a press release trumpeting the fact that the eatery would be opening in September.

It didn't, but that doesn't excuse their spelling in the line: "York cleanses its palette in preparation for a new eating experience."

A palate is in the roof of the mouth and gives a person the ability to distinguish and appreciate different tastes and flavours.

A palette, for publicity persons at PROs Action Marketing, is a thin board on which an artist mixes his colours.

I bet restaurateurs Michael and Lucy Hjort, who own Melton's, didn't find the bloomer very palatable.

And it gets worse on the publicity front...

The press release hyping Macy Gray's latest chart-topping album, The Id, disappears up its own fundament with the following.

"The unique music and vocal talents of Macy Gracy first came to the... blah, blah, blah.'

Can't even get the lass's name right!

It drivels on: "She has sold over seven million albums and has had a string of hit singles and awards under her feather bower."

They mean 'boa', the singer's trademark fashion statement.

And stone me... guv, here is clear evidence of rivalry between uniformed and CID officers in Humberside Police.

A recent press release promoting the launch of the force's winter road safety campaign concludes: "Officers throughout the county are available to advise motorists about winter driving and will be targeting detective vehicles."

Could there be something 'defective' in the press office's keyboard skills?

- Guess who is in charge of the "green" index organised by Business In The Community in Yorkshire?

None other than Amanda Green, of course.

She says: "That's pure green without an 'e' on the end, and it is only because I married Mr Green. My maiden name was Beck, but that was when I was working for the National Rivers Authority."

Defining moment

Someone asked what keeps me awake at night. I said, 'My husband, I'm glad to say.' This man said, 'You mean snoring?' I said, 'No, I do not mean snoring.' I was a bit cross about being misunderstood - Actress Prunella Scales who is married to actor Timothy West