Katie Melua

How would you like to be remembered in the future, apart from for your music career? Bianca Summons, Maidenhead, Berkshire



One of my lifetime ambitions is to travel to the North Pole by the time I’m 25, so it would be cool to be rememberd as the the mental musician who went to the North Pole.

What is the closest thing to crazy you have ever been? Paul Woodcock, Merton, London

I walked on hot burning coals for a charity my school organised when I was 17.

Speaking of crazy people, did you see any Celebrity Big Brother? Would you appear in it if asked? Janet McBain, Edinburgh

I did watch some of it but I got a bit bored at the end. I don’t think I would ever go on it, because I like my privacy and at the moment I can still go shopping, go to the cinema, get the bus ..and not get recognised. If I didn’t have that I think I’d lose my mind.

Do you ever worry that your music is not considered very cool and people have called you one of the new breed of “young fogies”? Jamie Smith, Carshalton, Surrey

Not really, I never set out to make cool music. I wanted to make the kind of music that inspired me and felt most honest. For some reason the sort of music that influenced me on an emotional level happened to be artists like : Eva Cassidy, Ella Fitzerald, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Leonard Cohen. All my friends used to think I was a dork because I listened to music from my parents’ generation but I couldn’t help the fact that melody and lyric-based music was more insipiring to me than rhythm- based music.

What trait do you most admire/hate in people? Susan Kelly, London

A good sense of humour and the ability to accept that you can be wrong are qualities I admire in people. I hate people who are obsessed with following others without their own identity or self.

Who would you most like to do a duet with? Joan Oliver, Manchester

Joni Mitchell, I’ve been a huge fan for ages, although I don’t think she’s done many duets.

Did you always know that you wanted to pursue a career in music, or were there other routes that you could have taken? Tim Lai, Bromley

I was quite realisitic and was planning to go to university to study music arrangement, music business and/or music production. So ever since I was fifteen I wanted a career in music but I didn’t dare dream that I would be a succesful artist one day.

You’ve got an interesting background, where do you feel most at home? Karen Bedrossian, London

England is my home now, but I still consider Georgia my first home and I’d like to be buried there when I die.

What was it like working with Mike Batt, with the man who penned the songs for The Wombles? John Clifton, Brighton, East Sussex

Mike is great to work with. He is a perfectionist and will never accept second best. I am like that too so we’re good for each other in that we expect great things from one another.

How did you feel when a Radio 2 listener donated £30,000 to charity in return for a private gig from you last year? What was it like performing the gig? Were they a bit weird? Carl Bartholomew, Uxbridge, Middlesex

They were really nice. When I first heard the amount of money they donated I did feel a bit weird and was expecting the worst. But they were fairly well off and they said companies could end up paying a lot more when they get famous artists to perform privately at functions. So they thought they’d got a bargain, and once I looked at it that way it wasn’t that bad. The best thing was that it was for charity so they were being incredibly generous as well.

Did you make any new year’s resolutions? Have you kept them? Penny Ormond, Southwold, Suffolk

I wanted to learn French and so far I’m keeping at it, though I don’t know how long for. Normally I’m really bad with New Year’s resolutions.