POP princess Zoe Birkett wowed thousands of fans last night when she took to the stage in her biggest performance to date.

The 16-year-old, of Welbeck Avenue, Darlington, joined fellow Pop Idol contestants, including former Newcastle train driver Aaron Bayley, at the first of two concerts at Wembley Arena.

The former Carmel College student and the nine other finalists are playing at venues around the country as part of the Pop Idol tour. More than 18,000 tickets were snapped up in just two-and-a-half hours for their concert debut.

Zoe joined best friend Gareth Gates for a duet.

There were rumours of a romance between them after Gareth burst into tears when Zoe was voted off the show, but the pair insist they are just good friends.

Zoe's mother, Tracey, was unable to make it to last night's concert, but she will be cheering her daughter at the other dates on the tour.

She said: "It is so exciting. Zoe was a bit nervous, but I knew that as soon as the curtains went back she would be fine.

"It is the biggest crowd that she has performed in front of and she was very excited about it. I knew the show would be amazing.

"After the tour Zoe is going to be really busy. She has so much going on. It is brilliant."

Tickets for the North-East leg of the tour, at the Telewest Arena, Newcastle, sold out in a day. Zoe and the other finalists, including winner Will Young, will be in Newcastle on April 3 and 4.

Following Zoe's acclaimed performance of Get Happy, by Judy Garland, on the ITV show, she will perform a selection of big band songs during the tour.

The teenager has been signed by manager Simon Fuller, the man behind chart-toppers S Club Seven.

The Pop Idol series whipped the nation into a frenzy, with almost nine million people voting in the nail-biting final last month.

The Wembley Arena show was Will's first public appearance since he admitted to a national newspaper that he was gay.

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