Lewis Capaldi Graciously Accepts Bronze Statue Of Him Sculpted By Former School
By Mikelle Leow, 23 May 2023
While Madame Tussauds got his waxwork pretty on point, Lewis Capaldi still couldn’t escape his Ronaldo bust moment. As it turns out, the second time wasn’t a charm—the Scottish singer-songwriter was greeted with a different scenario at his alma mater, where he was presented with an odd-looking bronze double. He wasn’t mad at it, however.
Capaldi, an alumnus of St Kentigern’s Academy in Blackburn, West Lothian, recently returned to his former secondary school, where he was surprised with his own statue by students to celebrate the release of his second album, Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent.
The model was crafted by students and staff, and it took six months to complete. All those involved in the project were sworn into secrecy.
To quote his hard-hitting song, Someone You Loved, Capaldi let his guard down, and then they pulled the rug. This wasn’t a photorealistic likeness of the star, but one that depicted him with bulging, wide-set eyes, an awkward grin, and spiny fingers.
Nevertheless, instead of being irked by the experience, Capaldi handled the unveiling with poise and actually seemed impressed by the sight. “You’ve really captured my essence,” he responded, to his audience’s amusement.
As it seems, the rather abstract interpretation was deliberate on the part of its sculptors. Bryan Johnston, the principal art teacher at the school, tells the Daily Record that the crew wanted to incorporate a more “unusual” style for the bronze work.
So today our Top Secret project was unveiled at SWG3 with a young musician and ex-pupil who has done quite well - Lewis Capaldi. The amazing S4 students and Art staff created a deliberately odd sculpture of Lewis as requested by his team. He loved it and laughed along! pic.twitter.com/IjI0bMbpeT
— STKENTSART (@STKARTDEPT) May 21, 2023
The “biggest challenge” for the art department, in fact, was to create a look that was “not quite right,” Johnston elaborates.
Ultimately, they conspired with Capaldi’s team to pull off something similar to James Corden’s prank statue of David Beckham.
Capaldi, who is known for his sardonic humor and previously stripped down to promote his single, Forget Me, on billboards, commented that the sculpture was “pretty weird-looking, but I like it,” though he also admitted that it would give him nightmares.
Took my clothes off and traumatised the general public all in the name of shameless self promotion. Sex sells.
— Lewis Capaldi (@LewisCapaldi) September 5, 2022
New single FORGET ME out the 9th September x pic.twitter.com/QfgADaMq3a
He did agree to take the statue home, however.