ALL eyes will be on the television in an Ilkley family as a local man bids for stardom.

This Saturday Andrew McCrink is going to be Beatles legend John Lennon, on prime-time look-alike talent contest Stars in Their Eyes.

The ITV show, presented by Matthew Kelly, will see the 39-year-old former Ilkley Grammar School pupil dress up as Lennon in his early-60s era, and sing one of star's classic hits.

But he remains tight-lipped about the song he sung, and how he fared in the contest.

Mr McCrink is an avid fan of the Beatles, having first got interested in the group at the age of four.

He continued to listen to them in his teens - prompting questions from one Ilkley Grammar School teacher while other pupils were listening to Duran Duran and other 80s pop.

These days, Mr Mr Crink performs in and organises entertainment for various venues around West Yorkshire. He lives in Hebden Bridge although his mother and father, Freda and John, still live in Ilkley.

But it was far from Mr McCrink's ambition to appear on Stars in Their Eyes. The determined push came from his girlfriend, Melinda Chantler, who sent for the entry form more than once.

"She came in with the form and said she'd sent for it, and thought I should apply. I read the information and thought 'I'm not going to do that', so the form ended up in the bin," said Mr McCrink. She sent for another form, however, and eventually he was persuaded to send in an audition tape of himself singing songs in the style of Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison.

About a year later, Granada Television finally got in touch with Mr McCrink asking him to audition.

"I thought they were winding me up," he said.

He performed songs in the style of George Harrison and John Lennon before they decided he was better suited to performing as Lennon.

It was then up to the show's stylists to transform him into John Lennon - and his song was chosen for him. Mr McCrink said other contestants had wanted to sing a song of their choice, but he was impressed by the way the experts chose the song they thought best-suited to the contestant's voice.

And as he works in the entertainment industry himself, he was fascinated to see the workings of a television studio and the professionalism involved in making a major television programme.

Mr McCrink is also well-known on the region's entertainment circuit as an Elvis impersonator, but he remains a big fan of the Beatles - and in particular John Lennon.

"I always did want to meet John and I cried when I got up that morning and heard he'd been assassinated," he said.

He would also be interested in the National Trust's appeal for a live-in warden to look after John Lennon's birthplace in Liverpool, recently bought by the trust.

"I'd certainly consider that," he said.

Mr McCrink has told only a handful of friends about his television appearance on Saturday.

It will be the first time he has seen the full recorded show himself, and his relatives are all preparing to watch it. Mr McCrink said his father has bought a DVD recorder especially for recording the show, while his brother, an actor in London, will also be rooting for him on Saturday night.

l Stars in Their Eyes is broadcast on ITV at 6.25pm this Saturday