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I DO love rugby, and with the Six Nations in full swing, it was the perfect opportunity for me make my first visit to Murrayfield.
My adventure started within minutes of jumping on the train to Edinburgh. I cheekily settled myself into business class, economy ticket in hand - well, it was a Sunday, after all!
I had the Scottish mascot, sweet little Christian Gow, to entertain me on my journey, and he was as excited as me when singer Darius squeezed aboard with his girlfriend Jacqui Ainsley.
As charming as ever, the Bearsden boy, who was up to sing the anthem ahead of the kick off , rehearsed Flower Of Scotland with help from the seven-year-old mascot.
So when are we going to hear more from the Colourblind star?
"The second album is finished and I'm really happy about it, I'm looking at a summer release," he said.
Watch this space, girls.
PS It wasn't hard for Darius to be my highlight at Murrayfield ... unfortunately France were the better team on the day.
With Beverley Lyons And Lee-Ann Fullerton
DARIUS spruced himself up for his singing date at the Six Nations rugby championships with a family trip to the hairdresser.
He and his wee bro Syrus both had a trim at Taylor Ferguson's in Glasgow before heading off to see the new Starsky and Hutch film at the weekend.
And Darius told the Razz he couldn't wait to sing Flower Of Scotland at Murrayfield.
'I used to play rugby when I was at Glasgow Academy and I never thought I'd be asked to sing for the national team,' he said. 'It's a great honour.'
Exclusive Marriage blow for Darius model girl Jacqui
By John Dingwall
DARIUS DANESH has dashed any hopes his model girlfriend Jacqui Ainsley held of walking him down the aisle anytime soon.
The Scots hunk says he won't wed for another decade because he is far to young at just 22.
Darius has been dating Jacqui for the past two years and the couple seem inseparable, but he says he is not taking the relationship seriously and will only think about marriage in 10 years or so.
He said: 'I love her, but I'm 22. It'll be10years before I get married. She is working on her career and Ihave a lot to do and a lot more mischief to get up to before I settle down. I'm just too young.'
No doubt, this is something Jacqui will be quizzing Darius about when he returns to the London flat they share together.
But Darius says he is far more nervous about his next public performance at Murrayfield stadium tomorrow.
The rugby daft singer is preparing to fulfil a long held ambition of playing at the home of Scottish rugby.
He has been chosen to sing Flower Of Scotland prior to Scotland's Six Nations game against France.
Darius said: 'The only thing I'm taking seriously at the moment is my choice of kilt for Sunday.
'It is a huge honour to be asked to sing Flower Of Scotland at Murrayfield.
'I played rugby at school and whenever there was a hard tackle or I scored a try, I used to think it would be amazing if one day I got to play rugby at Murrayfield, in a charity match. I was never invited.
'I'll be on the pitch tomorrow,but not playing rugby.
'The last time my parents were in the crowd at a stadium gig I did, I forgot the words to my song Colourblind and they'll be there again this time.
'I just hope I don't forget the words to Flower Of Scotland because I'll get a kicking from my rugby mates. It is such a great song.'
Darius insists no-one should expect any miracles from the team, who are destined for this year's wooden spoon, following his rendition of the rousing anthem.
'I take no responsibility for what happens afterwards,' he laughed.
'I just hope I don't hit any bum notes and put the team off.
'If they are not looking forward to the match they could blame me for singing off-key.'
There was a rapturous welcome for Bearsdens very own pop idol wen Darius Danesh made a return visit to launch a charity event.
Hundreds of fans turned out to greet the 24 year old singer as he lent his support to Cancer research's nationwide fundraising Big breakfast.
The venue was the Kirkintilloch HQ of East Dunbartonshire Council last friday, and a delighted Darius told The Extra "Coming home is always a great time for me.The facr that I can combine it with helping support such a good cause is a real bonus."
More than 200 schoolchildren flocked to meet the hearthrob who told them the serious meaning behind the fun. Fans listened closely as Darius revealed "I lost my grandmother to lung cancer, so I'm totally supportive of the charities and doctors working to beat this disease. Cancer is one of this country's biggest killers, but there are ways that we can help ourselves - eating well may help prevent cancer and a healthy breakfast is the best possible start to the day."
As he signed autographs and chatted with fans, he also took to scotch rumors that he has proposed to girlfriend Jacqui.
He insisted "According to some magazines, I've got engaged about 8 times over the past few months - including at one point to a canadian girl who I've never even met!!"
He laughed: "If even half of these were true, my mum would really have something to say about it!!!"
One of the breakfast organisers, the MP for Bearsden and Strathkelvin John Lyons, was overwhelmed by the response.
He told The extra: "this has been a marvellous success- we've raised lots of money for the charity and helped encourage awareness of the importance of a good diet. But we couldn't have done it without Darius' help and support."
Mr Lyons joked: "We're hoping he'll be back next year - but we'll probably have to hire the SECC to pack in all his fans!!"
Darius won fame after the TV Popstars competition
Pop Idol's Darius Danesh will lead the singing of "Flower of Scotland" at the Six Nations meeting with France.
He is the latest star name to be involved in pre-match entertainment organised by the Scottish Rugby Union.
The firework display and razzmatazz upset England coach Clive Woodward on his side's visit to Murrayfield.
But an unrepentant SRU has promised it will be "as rousing as ever", including choirs, massed pipes and drums, plus an RAF Tornado fly-past, on 21 March.
The SRU announced previously that they would give fans the chance to choose between "Highland Cathedral" and "Flower of Scotland" as their national anthem.
Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama choir will take the field to lead the crowd in Murrayfield's first vocal rendition of "Highland Cathedral" using lyrics by Ben Kelly, a tenor and composer from Inverness.
Lyrics will be published in the match programme so supporters can join in and sing along with the choir.
The tune, which is usually played by the pipe bands to lead the Scotland team out of the tunnel, will be replaced on the run-out by piping favourites "The Black Bear" and "Scotland The Brave".
Leading Scottish soprano Ann Archibald will sing France's anthem, "La Marseillaise", before Scottish pop idol Darius Danesh leads the Scots' supporters in Flower of Scotland.
During "Flower of Scotland", supporters in the East stand are being urged to hold up a coloured card, which will be placed on their seats, to form a giant St Andrew's Saltire behind the team.
Members of the 1984 Grand Slam-winning Scotland team will be introduced to the crowd at half-time as they celebrate the 20th anniversary of their famous victory.
DARIUS, Girls Aloud, Jamelia and Speedway are set to perform at Hampden Stadium. The pop acts will all take their turn at pre-game and half-time entertainment as the Scottish Claymores turn out for their 2004 NFL Europe League campaign matches.
Girls Aloud kick off the opener against American Admirals on April 18. Singer Jamelia will appear on May 2 as the Claymores take on Rhein Fire and on May 29, Speedway perform at the game against Berlin Thunder. Darius will play Scotland's national stadium on June 5, as the Claymores take on Cologne Centurions
THE father of pop idol Darius Danesh is to fight a complaint of race discrimination before an employment tribunal.
Booth Danesh of Bearsden, Glasgow, who was born in Iran, has lodged a complaint against the North Glasgow Hospitals NHS Trust alleging he was a victim of race discrimination. He also said he was constructively and unfairly dismissed.
Dr Danesh, 55, a former consultant gastroenterologist at Stobhill Hospital, took early retirement last year. The case is scheduled to begin on March 24
Edited by Edward Black
JK ROWLING made a rare public foray to join pop star Darius Danesh in supporting a fundraising ball for the Leap For Meningitis campaign on Saturday night.
The event, at Edinburgh’s International Conference Centre, was aiming to make more than £100,000 to aid the battle against meningitis. It was the brainchild of Edinburgh lawyer Olivia Giles, who had her hands and feet amputated after she fell victim to a severe form of the disease.
The author, looking tanned and radiant in a black and white zigzag dress, caused a flurry of excitement when she arrived with husband Neil Murray in tow.
As it appeared that Rowling was not overly keen on chatting about the progress of her latest Harry Potter book, it was left to her dutiful hubby to do the talking.
"We’re both simply here to support Olivia’s campaign and charity," explained Neil. "Her courage in the face of the disease is very admirable."
The pair also admired a 12-hour Strip the Willow which was kept going for so long by a relay team of devoted and fit jiggers.
Darius narrowly avoided turning up sans kilt after discovering when he reached Scotland that he had left his behind in London. Fortunately, the strikingly tall singer was rescued by MacKenzies kilt hire of Glasgow, who biked over an emergency kilt complete with Saltire on the back in the nick of time.
Darius The affable Darius, who is preparing to jet off to Miami to put the finishing touches to his latest album, was full of praise for Ms Giles.
"I’ve heard Olivia speak to a room of 1,000 people where every single one of them were moved by her story," the popular singer said.
He said the ordeal she went through must have been horrible, "yet she is still capable of displaying incredible grace and not allowing her handicap to be a handicap".
Turning to work, Darius said: "I am putting together a new album with producer Steve Morales, who has worked with Enrique Iglesias in the past.
"In terms of what the fans can expect, all I am prepared to say is that it will be a surprise," he added mysteriously.
Darius’ model girlfriend, Jacqui Ainsley, certainly proved the belle of the ball. She added: "I love coming up to Scotland and where Darius is from, and it is great to get out of London for a short while."
Meanwhile, the political cavalry was led by the Scottish Tory leader, David McLetchie, as well as the Liberal Democrats’ highly respected deputy leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, who opined that Ms Giles’s plight reminded him of a Chinese proverb about using adversity as an opportunity.
Having scooted round his Fife North-East constituents, Sir Menzies joined the table of vivacious broadcaster Kirsty Wark. Hamish Clark, star of Monarch of the Glen, also joined the throng as did the comedian Fred MacAulay, who was forced to remain sober for the evening as he was on duty as a speaker, though he joked getting drunk took him, "about 40 minutes".
After polishing off a top-notch dinner and listening to a moving speech by Ms Giles, guests then took to the dancefloor for music by Darius, who remembered to pack his guitar, if not his kilt. There was also a recorded link-up to GMTV presenter Lorraine Kelly who did a reel for the benefit of the evening, though my man calling the moves tells me her technique looked a bit rusty.
But the undoubted highlight of the evening turned out to be a barnstorming performance by the Proclaimers, who ran through their hits and had all guests dancing the night away. They even dedicated their classic Easter Road anthem Sunshine On Leith to none other than über-diarist and Hibees man Simon Pia, who was more than touched by such a namecheck.
All of which left Ms Giles very pleased with proceedings. She said: "I was quite nervous about the whole thing during the week, but I am thrilled with how well it has gone and how hard everyone has worked." Bravo.