Who the hell is?

Daniel Powter

D-day: Who's that snapping at James Blunt's heels? The singing soldier boy has been defending his number one position in the UK singles charts against all comers, but now a Canadian singer-songwriter has captured the number two slot and is threatening to topple the Brit from his perch. Ten years ago it was Blur v Oasis; today it's Blunt v Powter, in a bloodthirsty battle of the sensitive balladeers. Stand well back - this could get impolite. Powter's debut single, Bad Day, has become a worldwide hit, dominating the airwaves in such countries as France, Germany and his native Canada. It's also the highest new entry in the UK charts. According to Daniel, the song "wrote itself", but he'll take the credit anyway - especially when that big royalty cheque is due in.

Sex and violins: Bad Day took a year to find its way from Daniel's subconscious to become the song everybody is singing this summer. It was picked up by Coca Cola for a US ad campaign last year, and soon became well known all over Europe. The song's parent album contains more catchy tunes from Powter's pen, and should comfortably bump Blunt from the top of the album charts. Produced by Mitchell Froom, the album features Powter's trademark piano balladry, honed on his mother's Joanna while growing up in the pastoral bliss of the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. His first instrument was the violin, which he began learning at the age of four. But he soon learned girls don't go for guys carrying violin cases, but bullies pay them plenty of unwelcome attention, so he abandoned the instrument and took up the piano instead. (Well, would you bully a kid carrying a Steinway?)

Burning bridges: When Powter finished high school, he moved to Vancouver and formed a few short-lived bands. When his apartment burned down, leaving him with just his car, his laptop and the clothes on his back, he headed for LA with a masterplan: get signed to Warner Music and get his debut album produced by Mitchell Froom, who had worked with Crowded House and Elvis Costello. Amazingly, the plan worked, but not before Powter spent years working on songs with his friend and collaborator Jeff Dawson. By the time he got signed at 32, Powter was ready for battle.

Crowd control: As a youngster, Powter had to overcome his dyslexia, but as a would-be pop star, the adult Powter had to battle with his own stage fright. Although he was confident that people would want to hear his songs, he still found himself quaking with fear when it was time to face the crowd. When he performed at Live 8 in Berlin, he turned his piano to face the trees, which calmed him down a bit. He's recently hit on a novel way of dealing with it - just invite the audience up on stage with him.