Never let it be said that News Shopper isn’t first with the news: we were letting the world know about singing sensation Sam Bailey nearly two decades ago.

Delving through the archives as we prepare lots of cool stuff for our 50th anniversary, we came across this little gem from way back in November 1998.

A full 15 years before the singing prison officer ‘shot’ to fame by winning the X Factor, bagging a Christmas number one and a number one album, Bexley-born Sam was making a wave in the pages of News Shopper.

News Shopper:

Then: Sam Bailey with a member of the boyband Foxx (us neither) in 1998

“A young singer landed a big-time gig and a shot at Eurovision stardom when her voice mesmerised a hypnotist at a holiday camp.”

The then-21-year-old had been singing nightly at Pontins when she was spotted a hypnotist who was so impressed by her version of Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On that he secured her a West End audition.

Sam obviously smashed it as she opened a show at The Palladium singing Fame.

From there, she was heard in rehearsals by a songwriter who wanted a tilt at Eurovision success.

Clearly that never came to pass but there’s no doubting Sam’s gone on to bigger things, most recently supporting Beyonce on tour.

News Shopper: Sam Bailey performs in the first week of the live shows (Photos by Rex/Tom Dymond/Thames)

A STAR AT LAST: Sam Bailey on the X Factor in 2013

But even then, it had been quite the journey for Sam who told us at the time: “I used to sing for my friends in the toilets of the youth club with the lights off.

“I wouldn’t do it with anyone watching because I was embarrassed.”

She added: “I have always wanted to get somewhere and be noticed – and to make money.”

It may have taken her a little longer than planned, but she’s nailed it now.