The Starry Eyed songstress says she is a ‘fitness fanatic’ – something which is reflected in her style.

“I’m quite sporty, I’m quite into leotards and stuff I can move around in, at the moment I wear little shorts on stage, because they are practical.”

Her new-found fame means that stylists and designers are now hammering on her door.

“I’m trying stuff out all the time and it’s really good fun.”

And her top beauty tip?

“Drink lots of green tea and water.” Goulding advises.

It would be easy to imagine Ellie Goulding’s live show as being extravagant; an excuse for the much hyped and glorified ‘folktronica’ singer to flex her ego and essentially show off. But this is incredibly far from the truth. Whilst the majority of performers receiving the amount of attention she has (winning the Brit’s Critics Choice Award and topping the BBC’s Sound of 2010 Poll) may find themselves swimming in a sea of self-adoration, Ellie Goulding is a humble and unpretentious individual, an attitude that comes across refreshingly and allows her incredible talent to shine through.

A select few of us in the crowd at the Club Academy were privy to this knowledge pre-show, having had the opportunity to take part in Nike’s ‘Ellie Runs’ campaign earlier in the day: we met Ellie and got to join her on a run through Manchester, a ritual she upholds in every place she visits, and is letting fans join her on in 7 cities. How many other artists would be willing to do such a thing with their fans?

The set opened with a track only included on the iTunes version of her debut album Lights, a bonus track of the same name. Lights is an incredible song, and anyone who purchased a physical copy of the album (does anyone do that these days?) should download it. It was a great choice for an opening number; the song starts out quietly and cathartically, crescendoing into the pop/electro/folk sound that categorizes the album. This gave the crowd a brief glimpse of Ellie solo, before seeing what she can do with aid of her band.

And what can she do? Quite simply, blow your mind. She proceeded to play every song from her album, with tracks such as Everytime You Go, This Love (Will Be Your Downfall) and Your Biggest Mistake providing the crowd with sing-along opportunities that they wholeheartedly embraced. The crowd itself was a jumble of gender and age, with die-hard fans holding banners aloft and singing along to every song, groups of friends joined in mutual adoration of Ellie’s incredible voice (and hair as someone yelled out), and older gentlemen admiring her mastery of the acoustic guitar and drumming skills (as well as swaying to tracks such as The Writer which looked a little peculiar but was thoroughly endearing!). The diverse crowd only served to highlight Ellie’s talent, people from all age groups had braved the horrendous Manchester weather and crammed into the basement of the Academy to hear the girl from Hereford amaze us with her raspy, delicate, and yet shockingly powerful vocals.

Between songs Ellie came across as appreciative and charming, thanking fans for buying her album, explaining track meanings, and inviting us all to go jogging with her (the girl can RUN). Her comments that the room was too quiet whilst she was speaking were met by raucous yet concise cheers, not due to lack of enthusiasm but an enthralment and eagerness to know what she had to say next. I think it’s safe to say that the majority of the room were completely spellbound: those who had come with prior knowledge enjoying her brilliance; those just discovering it left astounded.

The most energetic parts of the night were found in singles Under the Sheets and Starry Eyed, stomping tracks during which Ellie grabbed her drumsticks and beat her sparkling drum as vigorously as she attacked the microphone. Vocal samples were used to recreate the layering found in the production of Lights, but it was the live vocals that shone through, showing that no matter how good the album is, it does no justice to the range and nuances displayed in live performances. Wish I Stayed gave the audience a chance to hear her vocals more stripped down as her band left and we saw Ellie alone with her guitar. Any doubts that fans may have had about over-production ruining Ellie’s sound surely had their faith restored by this number, a moving few minutes during which we saw her vulnerability and natural ability to mesmerise. Not to say that this was lost during the bigger numbers; Salt Skin was performed with the band but still proved to be moving and emotive.

Starry Eyed closed the night with a bang, leaving everyone in the room energised and thankful that they had seen Ellie Goulding in such a small and intimate venue, something that won’t be happening much longer for a girl with her immense talent. Overall, an enchanting evening, one which proved that if you take away the production of Lights, the opinions of critics, and the stacks of publicity, you are left with Ellie’s natural talent and warmth, things that make her worthy of all the success she is destined to achieve.

‘Starry Eyed’ singer Ellie said she has been prone to attacks since she started rising to fame, and one of her worst came after the Florence And The Machine singer approached her to tell her how good she was.

Ellie, 23, told New! magazine: “I was doing a show with Florence last year and it was quite a crazy night. Florence came up to me and said, ‘I love you, you’re great,’ and I was really overwhelmed. I just kind of flipped and ran out of the place and went home, still with a drink in my hand!”I woke up the next morning and my heart was pounding. I then had to get a train home to a funeral so it was the worst day ever and it started off a whole string of really serious panic attacks.”

Ellie added that though her body has largely “adjusted” now and she can better deal with the attacks, she still wears a heart monitor to keep track of herself.

She added: “I’ve kind of conquered it, but I still get a racing heart. I try to keep myself fit, but the last four years I’ve really put my heart under pressure not just emotionally, but also physically because I train quite a lot. I’ve got a heart monitor now.”

Ellie also admitted she has had to deal with lots of emotional strain on her heart during her life.

She said: “I feel like I’ve had years of emotional turmoil. I’ve put myself in so many dangerous situations with guys. By the time I was 18, I already had a book I could write about love.”

Ellie’s debut album, ‘Lights’ is available now.