Welsh soul singer Duffy (23), aka Aimee Ann Duffy, has a sound that is like a cross between early Motown and the 1960s soul singers Dusty Springfield and Petula Clark. Duffy looks poised to take the crown from drug addict and train wreck Amy Winehouse. The video above is for her single Mercy. It’s fantastic.

Duffy says she has a plans to avoid the temptations that have crushed other celebrities:

"I just don’t become excessive. It’s easy to become excessive when you’ve got it all at your fingertips. You can drink as much as you want, have anything you want, go anywhere you want, be with anyone you want. So I just try to put the breaks on."

Duffy lives in London. Hopefully she will avoid hanging out with Amy and Pete Doherty.