SINGER-SONGWRITER Gordon Haskell is on his way back to Dorset this weekend for the start of a new UK tour.

It’s 16 years since he claimed a famous victory for the underdog, notching up a hit single from nowhere with How Wonderful You Are, which became Radio 2’s most-requested record of all time.

Now in his 70th year, Gordon brings his jazz/blues-influenced songbook to the Tivoli in Wimborne on Sunday, April 2.

The event is the first main theatre date of the tour and a significant venue for Gordon, since returning from eight years in sunny Greece. He played the Tivoli at the height of his success and will be performing songs from his Harry’s Bar album and a wider songbook.

Gordon will also be joined by musical collective Hannah’s Yard, described as ‘Norah Jones meets Fairground Attraction’ featuring 20 year old singer Hannah Layton Turner.

Alongside original songs from both artists, expect to hear an eclectic selection of covers from artists with some 50 years between them.

Names from a range of artists include Randy Newman, James Taylor, Sam Smith to Carole King.

Musicians from Hannah’s Yard will accompany Gordon for his headline-set described as an “intimate evening of timeless music”.

Gordon was only kept from the top spot in Christmas 2001 by Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman. But the music business proved to be too much business and not enough music for Gordon.

In 2008 he left his Dorset home for the Greek island idyll of Skopelos, (location for the film Mamma Mia) but he’s now based in Lymington.

To book tickets for his Tivoli show, visit tivoliwimborne.co.uk or call 01202 885566.