THE world has spent the week holding its breath to see what military action is going to be taken in the wake of the atrocities which stunned America and the world.

Singer Kevin Simm knows that, if it wasn't for his mum, he could have been among the young troops who face the grim prospect of war.

But instead of being placed on standby at some draughty drill camp at Salisbury Plain, 20-year-old Kevin is preparing to embark on the trip of a lifetime -- going from club singer to pop star.

His group Liberty release their debut single on Monday and the pundits have predicted it could go all the way to number one.

For Kevin, it was something which nearly didn't happen.

He said: "I first decided I wanted to be a singer when I was 16.

"Before that, I had been into football but I didn't have the dedication for that.

"I was drinking all the time, getting up at 6pm and not doing very much. I had decided to join the Army until my mum changed my mind.

"She told me to stick at it and something would come up.

"I'm glad my mum changed my mind. "I'd much rather be singing than in the Army."

Kevin was one the five finalists in the Popstars programme who didn't make it into Hear'say -- the group who, on the back of the popularity of the ITV programme, have enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame. But while the nation sympathised with Kevin and his fellow "flopstars" -- a term dreamed up by journalists on the Sun and the reason why he has never given a full interview until now -- the hopefuls began dusting themselves down.

An appearance on GMTV brought them back together and they began the hard slog of finding a record company to take them on.

Again, it was the support of his parents -- Stephen and Bernadette, who until recently ran the Royal Hotel in Abbey Village, where Kevin also used to live -- that spurred him on. He said: "All five of us met up before we went on GMTV and started playing a couple of tunes.

"It sounded good and we started going around to record companies.

"They wanted us to be puppets and sing the music they provided.

"We didn't want that so we didn't get far with many of them.

"My mum kept saying something would come along and eventually it did, with V2.

"It hasn't been easy and a lot has changed.

"There have been a lot of gambles.

"We chose not to talk to the press so this would be a big thing when we signed a label. But what if they forgot about us? What if a label wouldn't take us if we insisted on doing our own thing?

"But it has paid off."

Kevin's career path was determined at St Mary's High School, Leyland, in 1997.

His performance of Elton John's Daniel wowed the audience and performing live gave him a "magic feeling'."

Now appearances on SMTV, Pop World, The Box, MTV, Live and Kicking, This Morning, GMTV and Nickleodeon are matched with coverage in national newspapers, teenage magazines, pop magazines and music journals.

Kevin added: "Everything has changed. We are working non-stop now but I am really enjoying it, especially seeing as everything is coming together."

Things have changed at home too.

Since his last visit, his parents have decided to leave the pub and return to a "normal life" so they can follow their son's success more closely. One thing which has yet to change is the use of the term Flopstars -- but Kevin is working on that too.

He said: "I don't know how it will affect us.

"Obviously, it has given us publicity and I am hoping it won't go against us.

"We want people to appreciate our music as our own -- that is why we insisted on going to a label which lets us do our own music.

"We are totally different to Hear'say. We haven't seen them since we did Popstars. It isn't as if we are friends with them. We will cross paths but I don't know when.

"That is why we released copies of the single to DJs without saying who it was. People like the Dreem Team then rated us for what we were, which is what we want."

One of the DJs who has done remixes of their debut single, called Thinking It Over, is Boy George.

Even though the new single isn't out for another 48 hours, the quirks of fame are already kicking in.

"The whole being recognised in the street thing is happening now," he said.

"Whenever I have a day off, I jump on the train and get back up home to see everyone but those days off are getting rarer and rarer.

"Everyone at home has been so supportive about it all. I would love to get home more often, especially to see my girlfriend. Even if friends come down here I can't guarantee when I can see them because things change all the time.

"But this really is what I want to be doing. Next week, we shall be listening to the charts hoping to have made the Top 10."

The prospect of going in at number one is rejected by Kevin. "If it makes the Top 10 we'll be happy," he said. "That would be great. It will certainly be better than dodging bullets somewhere."