ON THE strength of gigging and audience reaction, Amy MacDonald finally hit the big time with her debut album This Is The Life.

Although it sold reasonably well in the UK, This Is The Life became a massive hit all over Europe.

Such support secured a standard edition follow-up, plus a rather swanky Deluxe Edition for diehard fans.

For the converted, MacDonald delivers old-school rock in a similar vein to Tanita Tikaram and Sharleen Spiteri, with pleasant hooks and kooky narratives. Slow It Down and Pride are already radio hits.

Amy is rather one-dimensional, but one suspects she would have earned a few more points than Engelbert a few weeks back.