Pardon? We just can’t follow that Malvern accent (From Malvern Gazette)

Pardon? We just can’t follow that Malvern accent

7:57am Friday 5th October 2012 in News

NO AIR TIME: Pop singer Cher Lloyd.

CHER Lloyd has been snubbed by US TV bosses over fears the Americans won’t understand her Malvern accent – angering town leaders.

The singing sensation made an appearance on Dancing With The Stars, but unlike previous guests was given no air time with co-host Tom Bergeron about her new record Want U Back.

Although network chiefs have not revealed why Cher wasn’t given the opportunity to speak, the move has raised suspicions she will be treated the same way as Geordie Cheryl Cole, who was given the cold shoulder stateside due to claims she was confusing Americans.

Now people in Malvern are sticking up for the former Dyson Perrins pupil, who shot to fame in X Factor.

Stuart Sewell, headteacher of Somers Park Primary School, which Cher attended, said: “Cher has a Worcestershire accent that she can be very proud of – I've got one myself.

“Many of the children here know about Cher and track her progress with great interest, we're really pleased for her.”

Councillor Ian Hopwood, the Mayor of Malvern, said he was bemused as to why people would struggle to understand her.

He said: “It’s a neutral sort of accent which I would have thought those in the Englishspeaking world should be able to understand – it isn’t a Black Country accent or anything like that.

“I have a nephew from Gloucester and I have more problems trying to understand him than the children next door.”

Despite possibly being lost in translation the pop star appears to be going down a storm in the US, and the acid test will be to see how album Sticks and Stones fares following its release on Tuesday.

Across its 11 tracks it features her British number one debut single Swagger Jagger, With Ur Love and the platinum disc Want U Back, which sold more than a million copies upon its American release in May.

On this side of the Atlantic the former X Factor finalist’s debut offering peaked at number four in the UK album charts.

The release comes at the peak of an intensive promotion campaign, with the teenager attracting huge amounts of interest under the management of former Bros singer Craig Logan, who also manages Pink.

Hundreds of fans waited to see her perform live on Good Morning America in New York and the high-profile TV appearances have continued with an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show on Monday to sing Want U Back. Cher also visited the On Air with Ryan Seacrest studio to perform her US single Oath for the American presenter.