Cliff Richard

I think its a brilliant idea. I've done a lot of duets, I'm not sure if its enough to fill an album. My only problem is that it has been done a lot. I would hate that anyone thought I'd stolen Tom Jones's idea. My favourite duet was with Olivia (Newton John). She's my favourite singer. She's got a perfect voice and she loves harmonies. My most successful song with her was 'Suddenly'. When I go on tour, I tend to keep it to myself. It sounds selfish but I've not been on tour for 10 years and I'm going to have to do a lot of tracks from my 'Wanted' album, and a lot of the songs that people know me for. I've never thrown out the hits. A lot of bands make that mistake.

I don't know if I could choose just one of my songs. Let me choose three or four...

Do you feel, after so many records, that you still have a lot to say musically? What's your motivation for not chucking it all and moving to Barbados?

In the case of 'Millennium Prayer', the media presented a story about my charity record being banned and the public heard about it without listening to it on the radio. Of course, they bought it and it was the biggest selling song of 1999. I can't find a story for the press with every single. As long as my albums can go gold every time, I'll be happy. If not, what's the point in making albums that no one listens to. 200,000 sales is good. I've met Gareth Gates and Daniel Bedingfield recently and when I told Dan that I'd had 14 No.1s in my career, he said "is that all?" It's not the No.1s that count, it's the 30+ Top 10s. The 129 releases are what's important but the world has changed so much. Dan said that his last song was No.1 and yet he thought it wasn't that good. If it's in the Top 10, it's not a flop.

My current single, 'Let Me Be The One', is an in-depth love song. It's got a Christian connotation. It was written by the guy that wrote 'Saviour's Day'. He writes about the feelings he has for God. I believe that he's talking about God's love when he talks about love. It translates perfectly. I don't know if it will make the Top 10. That's what counts - as long as I know I've made a great record. All my fans love 'Miss You Nights', I always perform it in Australia because it's the fans favourite song out there, even though it didn't chart. I still have a lot to offer, if not a No.1 record.

I must be the only person in England that didn't see any of them. I just saw the winning shot when the two of them were stood there. I thought that they both could sing. I also thought that Rik sang well too. To get to the Top 10 of 1000 people, you have to be good. I have a soft-spot for 'Unchained Melody'. It's great that he's got hold of a great song. Gareth's next record will probably go to No.1 but I say be prepared for a lesser hit.

I've already mentioned Will and Daniel Bedingfield. My favourites still go back. The new singers haven't proved anything to me yet. Pop-rock is not like Opera, which has to be sung in a specific way. We change the key and phrasing all the time in pop-rock. Gareth changes 'Unchained Melody' a fair bit. If I was at home and wanted some good pop, it would be Michael Jackson first. Plus Bonnie Raitt. I'm surprised that many people have never heard of these artists. Change the record stations' opinions! Bonnie is probably the best slide guitarist on the planet and he's got great blues vocals. I like them very much and they've done it over and over again.

I think that's inevitable but you have to face it that the Internet's not as big as they thought it would be. The Internet sales for 'Millennium Prayer' were low compared to shops. It's the future, but it's still uncharted territory. There was talk about problems at source, but I think that's been a little bit blown out. If a record doesn't sell, then it doesn't sell. I'm a big boy now, I can take it. The internet is undoubtedly the future. They're going to have to sort out how they pay people, though. Downloading songs is a major problem.

I like being asked by the Royals to do things. People keep making me angry when they're anti-monarchist. I love it when they invite a load of people, And I'm looking forward to the concert in the back garden. They've got some kind of concept for it. The Queen saw Elvis and rock 'n' roll come in. So there's talk about me doing an Elvis song, then one of my songs, then singing with S Club 7 or something. To sing behind the Palace will be fantastic! There's magic involved in it. All our history is based on Kings and Queens and we're lucky to actually have a monarchy still alive and still using the palaces. Why get rid of it? I think that it's a policy of envy. Forget it and just enjoy it. I hope it will always stay.

There's a couple of people on the religious side, like Mother Theresa. Not just because she did good things but she gave her life to it. She lived in Calcutta and gave up her life. When I met her, it was just phenomenal. The other person was Billy Graham. I find it inspiring when people remain true to what they believe. Dr Graham I have a bias to, of course, as he has a faith similar to mine. His integrity is still good.