the well | music |
x RATED
he year is 2008 and Alexandra Burke has appeared in the series-five finale of The X Factor, with her mentor Cheryl Cole and alongside her main rival, the boy band JLS. After a pause pregnant with suspense, host Dermot O’Leary announces the winner – and it’s Alexandra. Her eyes widen, she screams and then drops to the floor. She starts crying and she’s hyperventilating. She can barely breathe, let alone speak. That’s the moment she knows her life has changed. “I literally went dizzy,” she remembers. “Throughout the whole show, I thought, ‘I’m not going to win – I’m just here hoping that someone will sign me.’ I won and it was incredible, and I’m getting dizzy now just talking about it. It was an amazing experience.” Fast forward two years, and 22-year-old Burke is sitting comfortably in the VIP alcove of Shaw Studios before the Hennessy Artistry concert. Fiercely polished, from her ironed-straight hair to her navy mini-dress right down to her grey Louboutins, she looks as if she was born to be on stage. Her presence commands attention, and people seem naturally to gravitate towards her (our interview was interrupted several times by passers-by). If you can’t see her, you can probably hear her – Burke is so energetic that she somehow manages to throw her weight into everything she says. It’s with the same conviction and confidence that Burke says she wanted to sing since she was five, but didn’t take it
218 – Prestige – january 2011
seriously until a few years later. “My mum [a former Soul II Soul member] used to tour a lot, so we had to fly to Bahrain and live there in the Middle East. And when I was there, it was my first time performing with a live band on stage at nine years old,” she says. “As soon as I was finished with the song, I said, ‘Mum, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.’ And I’ve never looked back.” Since then, Burke had done everything she could to break into the circuit, leaving school and home at 16 to find gigs and vowing to never find a “normal” job apart from singing. When she was told she was too inexperienced after making it to the final seven of Louis Walsh’s group on The X Factor in 2005 at 16, she soldiered on, took professional singing lessons for three years and returned to the show in 2008. “It was scary the second time for the simple reason that I didn’t think I deserved to go back because I’d been there,” she says. “I thought to myself, ‘I’ve been there already. There are other people who are talented in this world and they need the opportunity.’ I cried my whole way through it. I was so emotional. It was hard, but it’s been an incredible journey so far, and I pray to God that it continues.” From her 2009 debut album Overcome, Burke has released five singles, which she says is unheard of these days. From the upbeat, let’s-dance-all-night pop songs “Bad Boys” (with Flo Rida), “Broken Heels,” “All Night Long” (with Pitbull) and “Start Without You” (with Laza Morgan) to the
PIC CREDIT XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
T
Ian Gavan/Getty Images
From childhood, singer Alexandra Burke knew she was destined for the stage. She talks to andrea cheng about being positive and loving every minute of what she does
soulful, mellifluous “The Silence,” Burke has firmly established her musical competence. In her own words, she describes her singing style as “classy, sexy, sassy, fun, bold, inyour-face, and quite beastly.” Beastly? “I call myself the beast on stage,” she laughs. “I turn into this different kind of thing on stage, and I feel like there are no limits.” With Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey as her inspirations, and soul, R&B and Motown as her musical influences, Burke says she complements her soulful voice with pop to elicit a musical blend. And if there were one person she could collaborate with it’s “Gaga all the way.” You can’t help feeling her ambition and vigour. I tell her, “You’re so passionate about…” I pause, searching for the right word. Then we both say, “Life.” And her secret to staying focused, committed? “Always to be positive, because it goes a long way,” she says. “I will never change. I’m still the goofy Alex from North London who loves life, stays positive and never takes anything for granted. I say blonde things at times and sometimes I’m a bit delusional, but it’s fun. I love life, and I like to throw that energy on other people.” Then, she adds,“I won the show, and what I’ve learned over the past two years is that you cannot be everyone’s cup of tea. And the moment you think you are, you’ve lost. I just do what I do. I sing and am myself and that’s it.” It’s really hard not to get swept up with her vibe and values. I find myself nodding along with everything she says. And her drive applies to having complete control in all aspects of her career: tours, creative concepts, promotion, broadcast. “It’s a lot of hard work, but I’m willing to do it because I want it to all come from me.” That confidence also applies to how she looks. “I just think it’s wrong when people think that being a size zero is the way forward. It’s really, really not. I am a black girl with big hips and curves,” she says proudly, which hasn’t stopped her from signing with a modelling agency. Burke has also been involved in fashion designing (her womenswear collection is set to hit stores in the United Kingdom this month), and is ready to pursue acting. She wants to win awards (a Grammy, a VMA and a Brit are on her list) but, above all, she wants to continue to make great music and is currently writing all the lyrics for her second album. “I want people to know that I’m a singer first. I always say a prayer before I go on stage, because I get to wake up every day knowing that I’m about to do something that I love to do.” january 2011 – Prestige – 219