'Unwritten is perfect song for new music festival'

Natasha Bedingfield said being entrusted with helping launch a new music festival was "amazing" and she was looking forward to taking to the stage.

The singer-songwriter will perform on Saturday at the inaugural Halo Festival in Trinity Park, Ipswich, alongside Two Door Cinema Club and The Vaccines.

The one-day event, organised by Stowmarket-based tech firm Halo, will also feature local artists across its three stages.

Bedingfield said the event was "going to be so great" and she could not wait to kick-off a new festival playing songs people "love".

"You have to set the stage of how the whole [festival] is going to go, because we don't know what the culture is yet [because it is a new festival]," she said.

"So, I guess Unwritten is kind of the perfect song for that because we don't know what it is going to be like and it depends on who shows up.

"The crowd will say what the festival culture will be," she added.

Unwritten, which was released in 2004, peaked at number six on the UK Singles Charts and became the 44-year-old's most successful single in the United States.

The track, which was also nominated for a Grammy Award, was only Bedingfield's third single, following These Words, which was also a hit.

Since then, the musician has enjoyed a steady and successful career, performing thousands of gigs across the world.

"[The gigs are] always slightly different and I really get a lot from the audience and the kind of back and forth and a lot of times we'll do a cover that's unique," she added.

"And that's the amazing thing about doing this for 21 years, I'm a better singer now and I don't feel nervous - I feel at home in that environment.

"I'm quite introverted, but on stage I can be a lot more expressive and everything can be bigger," she said.

Bedingfield will take to the main stage at the event at 17:45 BST.

"When people go to my show, they feel like they want to release their inhibitions.

"They want an experience and they want to feel like their inner child is healed," she said.

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