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ROCK legends Bon Jovi and soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa will headline this year’s Royal Variety Performance in Liverpool.

ITV has announced the line-up for the event which will take place in Liverpool with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in the audience.

Britain’s Got Talent winner Paul Potts will take to the stage along with James Blunt and Enrique Iglesias.

And mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins and ballet dancer Darcey Bussell will also perform by royal command.

London’s West End will be represented this year by the cast of the musical Hairspray.

Co-presenter Phillip Schofield, 45, said: "There is no other show that boasts such a diverse mix of acts and this year will be no exception."

Former X Factor host Kate Thornton, 34, who will also present the show, added: "It’s a British institution that unites some of the biggest acts in the world for one night only and I am honoured to be presenting one of Britain’s biggest shows."

The decision to host the show at Liverpool’s Empire Theatre continues ITV’s recently-established tradition of staging it outside London.

Previous host cities include Cardiff, Edinburgh and Birmingham.

Mark Wells, ITV Production’s controller of entertainment, said: "It’s great to be going to Liverpool in 2007.

"Entertainment, like football, is in the city’s blood and I know the Liverpool audience will make us feel very welcome for what is still the greatest night of entertainment in the year."

The Royal Variety Performance is staged in aid of the Entertainment Artistes’ Benevolent Fund (EABF), whose patron is the Queen.

The money will help to maintain Brinsworth House in Twickenham, Middlesex - the actors’ retirement and nursing home which is run by the EABF.

Laurie Mansfield, life president of the EABF and one of the West End’s leading theatre producers, said: "I am thrilled that ITV will be continuing the tradition of taking the Royal Variety Performance out of London and to major cities around the UK and I’m particularly delighted that this year it will be Liverpool.

"The show continues to feature top class international acts alongside television newcomers and is undoubtedly the highlight in the showbusiness calendar."

The show will take place in December and will be screened on ITV1 later that month.

Tickets are available from the EABF on 0208 898 8164.