Katie Melua sets underwater concert record

LONDON - Singer Katie Melua swapped the recording studio for a North Sea gas rig in her successful bid to set a first-time record for the deepest underwater concert, the Guinness World Record organisation said today.

Melua and her five-member band performed two concerts of one hour each yesterday at a verified depth of 303 metres underwater to an audience made up of staff from the Statoil Troll A platform.

"This was definitely the most surreal gig I have ever done ... It took nine minutes to go from the main part of the gas platform down to the bottom of the shaft in a lift," she said.

"Every camera had a fire safety officer next to it to monitor the gas level in case the battery sparked an explosion."

The concerts at the bottom of the platform, which is 472 metres high, of which 369 metres are below the sea surface, will be aired later this year on Norwegian television.

Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records confirmed the "gig in a rig" -- held at the bottom of one of the four massive shafts -- had set the record.

Georgian-born Melua, 22, said she had undergone tough training before undertaking the descent.

"The planning behind the concert has been like a military operation. The band, crew and I were put through rigorous training to ensure our safety including escaping from a submerging cockpit and plunging into the sea in an inflatable life raft," she said in a statement.

Melua, who had her first hit single with The Closest Thing to Crazy, has sold more than five million albums worldwide and is the country's biggest selling female artist.

- REUTERS