What do a British songstress, a comedienne and a 1960s green-eyed heartthrob have in common? Well they are all hitting the main stage tonight at the Bermuda Music Festival. Vocalist Natasha Bedingfield, actress/director/producer Kym Whitley and the one-and-only Smokey Robinson are set to bring the stage alive tonight.

Natasha Bedingfield has followed in the British female tradition of singer-songwriters, such as Annie Lennox and Dido.

Miss Bedingfield brings lyrical honesty and vocal clarity to her music, not surprisingly, record buyers throughout Europe and beyond have responded to those qualities in droves. Her album 'Unwritten', which she describes as being anthemic, is a quirky mixture of pop and soul. The album has achieved triple platinum status in the UK, has gone double platinum in Ireland and gold in Singapore and South Africa, while her infectious single 'These Words' has been a major hit in almost a dozen countries from Australia to New Zealand.

The artist, who is the sister of UK pop star Daniel Bedingfield, was nominated for four BRIT awards in the categories of British Female Solo Artist, British Breakthrough Artist, Best Single and Best Pop Act. "I'm blown away by how well my first record has done," she has said. "I think there's an honesty in what I'm writing and singing about. I'd like to think that this is what the audiences relate to."

Hosting this evening's showcase will be Emmy-nominated Kym Whitley, a multi-talented and versatile actress/comedienne of television and feature films.

Ms Whitley has worked side-by-side with some of the biggest talents in the entertainment industry.

She got her big break when she became an understudy for playwright Shelly Garrett's popular touring theatrical production of 'Beauty Shop'. After nights of watching the play as an understudy, she became anxious to perform; so, she created a character of a church lady a.k.a. Sister Rosemary, thus carving a part for herself in the play, and her future.

Mr. Garrett was so impressed with her talent and creativity, he asked her to take the helm in his next production, 'Living Room', and as the old cliché goes, the rest is history!

Since then she has played the role of Ms Pigney, on Nickelodeon's 'My Brother and Me'.

She then landed the role of the sassy Darcie Mayberry on 'Sparks', and she has made several other television appearances including on 'Married with Children', 'The Wayans Bros.', and 'Moesha'.

At BET she co-hosted a steamy gossip talk show 'Oh Drama'.

Her other television credits include 'Standoff', 'Grey's Anatomy', 'Curb Your Enthusiasm', 'That's So Raven', 'The Parkers', and the animated series 'The Boondocks'. Ms Whitely received Emmy nods for her role as a sassy hooker in 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'.

On the topic of feature films, you might remember her is such feature films as 'Fun With Dick and Jane', 'The Perfect Man', 'Along Came Polly', 'Deliver Us from Eva' and 'Next Friday'.

In May of this year, she also appeared in the film 'The Salon'.

Closing the night out will be the smooth sounds of Smokey Robinson's greatest hits.

He is the man that Bob Dylan once called one of America's greatest poets. Poems, now lyrics that he began mastering inauspiciously at Detroit's Dwyer Elementary.

None other than the king of Motown, Berry Gordy helped him honed his gift. Since then he has written countless hits, sung by a host of artists such as his group, the Miracles, the Temptations and the late great Marvin Gaye to name a few.

Between 1962 and 1966, he penned songs like 'My Girl', 'Ooh Baby Baby', 'The Way You Do The Things You Do', 'My Guy', 'It's Growing', and dozens of other soul classics.

Within this time, he had formed the Matadors, later known as the Miracles. He also became a heartthrob as the lead singer!

His smooth voice and green eyes were magnets for the young women of the world. He and the Miracles rode the charts consistently for the entire decade with hits like 'Mickey's Monkey' and 'I Second That Emotion'.

He maintained a regular release schedule through the mid-70s, with one new album arriving every year.

Last year he released 'Timeless Love', which is another timeless album, on which he sang jazz, big band and traditional pop standards from the 20s, 30s and 40s, in addition to one of his own songs.

Smokey was voted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1988 and is now one of the senior figures in popular music, a writer and producer still best remembered for his outstanding work in the 60s, but who has seldom betrayed the responsibility of his legacy.

Also performing tonight will be local acts Life Sentence, on the main stage, and Prestege, Danielle and Pulse on the Onion Stage.

Not too many events in Bermuda are complete without the gombeys and tonight will be no exception with Place's New Generation Gombey Troupe also hitting the Onion Stage.

Tickets can be purchased at www.bermudatourism.com, the Soundstage, in the Washington Mall, (292-0811) or at Fairmont Hamilton Princess, (295-3000). The doors open at 6 p.m., while the show, to be held at the National Sports Centre, begins at 7:30 p.m.

An afterparty until 3 a.m. will be held at both the Fairmont Hamilton Princess and the Fairmont Southampton.