GIRL band Atomic Kitten have been hired to rejuvenate the image of traditional sporting events and draw in younger crowds. The Liverpool group is booked to appear at Newmarket races in August, the Twenty20 cricket final at Trent Bridge, and an Austrian tennis tournament next month. Organisers willing to pay more than £10,000 for a half hour set hope the band's popularity will help attract younger spectators. Already this year the girls have played at the Champions League final and ladies night at Aintree. Gaynor Haxby, marketing manager for Newmarket, said: "We booked Atomic Kitten because of their universal appeal. We wanted a band that would attract families and younger people with songs everybody can sing along to." Mark Hodgson, of the English Cricket Board, hopes Atomic Kitten's presence at their Twenty20 competition would appeal to the 16 to 35 age group. He said: "We have invited bands like Atomic Kitten to make the event not only about what happens on the pitch but also about the entertainment off the pitch." The group performed at Aintree Racecourse ladies night for the second time in May. Aintree Spokesman Dickon White said it had been a great success. "They were a perfect choice for our target twenty something age group. "Everyone knows their songs and I think they really enjoy performing in front of a home crowd. Obviously with 12,000 people here it doesn't do their sales any harm." Phil Saxe, leader of the Arts, Music and entertainment programme at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, said being associated with high-profile events generated more interest in the band. He said: "It is quite clever marketing, as the band get seen by a lot of people and become associated with the stature of the event. "The music business has changed with the development of TV bands and mass marketing. Here we have a band not created by television but who are using mass marketing to generate interest in themselves." Mr Saxe said sport and music had always been connected but he thought the UK was becoming more like America in its need to have popular music at its large sports events. "I wouldn't be surprised if bands were soon competing to sing the national anthem." Atomic Kitten's manager, Martin O'Shea, denied the girls were using the high-profile events to establish a new fan base. He said: "The girls are northern and they love their sport. "Obviously there will be a lot of people at the events who wouldn't come just to see them, but they are booked because they are a popular band." | 
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