SORRY seemed to be the hardest word for Sir Elton John fans that entered a competition singing their own version of his songs.The karaoke competition, devoted to the pop legend, was held in Tower Ramparts shopping centre, Ipswich, on Saturday morning with a pair of tickets to see the man himself up for grabs.

SORRY seemed to be the hardest word for Sir Elton John fans that entered a competition singing their own version of his songs.

The karaoke competition, devoted to the pop legend, was held in Tower Ramparts shopping centre, Ipswich, on Saturday morning with a pair of tickets to see the man himself up for grabs.

The event kicked off with presenter Nick Pandolfi, and judges Bob Shelley and Simon Warr, singing Crocodile Rock, which Bob himself confessed was awful.

It was not long before the temptation of the small stage was too great for some of the nearby shop assistants.

First up was Alison Lock, 31, manager of Warren James.

She was joined by one of her shop assistants, Lindsey Harvey, 17, for a duet of Candle in the Wind.

Nick Pandolfi introduced the contestants on BBC Radio Suffolk to sing live to their listeners and the watching crowd with very little preparation.

After their performance Bob told them he thought they were absolutely fantastic and also looked great.

But sports presenter Simon Warr, acting as the Simon Cowell member of the panel, disagreed.

He said: "You are both nice looking but this is a singing competition and I found you uninspiring and totally lifeless."

The girls took the criticism well and told him they didn't like his tie in revenge.

Alison said: "It was good laugh but I would have preferred a stiff drink before I got up there."

Next up was 29-year-old Sam Gooding, from Henley, who was just passing by on the way to book a holiday.

The landscape gardener admitted that he had sung karaoke regularly before and gave Can You Feel the Love Tonight his best shot.

Judge Emily Fellows who had now joined the panel thought they had found the next Robbie Williams, although Simon Warr thought the performance was lacking.

He said: "Well it was infinitely better than the first performance and you had good tone but were a little bit flat. I was reasonably entertained by it."

Colin Andrews, 40, a tractor driver from Sutton, followed next with his version of Daniel.

Even Simon Warr admitted that Colin was good although he found him lacking a "Je ne sais quoi".

Colin said: "I was not as bad as they said but you have to learn to take criticism.