Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke (born 25 August
1988) is a British R&B and pop recording artist who rose to
fame after winning the fifth series of British television series
The X Factor in 2008. Burke is currently signed to Epic Records,
Syco Records and RCA Records. Burke is only one of two female The
X Factor winners in the UK, the other being Leona Lewis.
As the winner of The X Factor, Burke released her debut single, "Hallelujah",
originally a Leonard Cohen song, that became the current European
record holder for single sales over a period of 24 hours, selling
105,000 copies in one day. It was also the top-selling song of
the year in the UK, and became the 2008 UK Christmas number one single.
By January 2009, UK sales of Burke's version of "Hallelujah" had
passed one million copies, a first for a British female soloist.
Her debut album, Overcome, was released in October 2009 and entered
the UK Albums Chart at number one. The album's lead single "Bad
Boys" was released a week ahead of the album and debuted at
number one, selling over 780,000 in the UK and becoming her second
consecutive number-one single and first Brit-nominated single.[4]
She has since followed "Bad Boys" with singles that have
consecutively reached the top ten in the UK Singles Chart. Her most
recent single, "Start Without You", became her third solo
UK number one hit (in addition to two number one singles as a featured
artist in charity singles, "Hero" and "Everybody Hurts").
To date, Burke has achieved four Number ones in Ireland: "Hallelujah", "Bad
Boys", "All Night Long" and "Start Without You".
Burke has been nominated three times for a Brit Award for Best British
Single as a solo artist, with "Hallelujah" in 2009, "Bad
Boys" in 2010, and "All Night Long" in 2011.[4] As
of December 2010, Burke has sold over 4 million records in the UK
with combined sales of her singles and her album Overcome.
After the All Night Long Tour, Burke became the first X Factor contestant
to have a judging panel role when she became a judge during the auditions
of So You Think You Can Dance. She has just finished recording her
second studio album, which is due to be released in early 2012.
Burke started singing when she was five, and at nine years old she
sang on stage in Bahrain with her mother. Burke is of Jamaican, African,
Irish and Dougla descent. At the age of twelve, Burke entered the
television talent show Star for a Night where she was the youngest
person in the competition. She was beaten to the number-one spot
by Joss Stone. At age twelve, she sang down the phone to Stevie Wonder.
When Burke's mother asked her to sing to Jean Carne, Carne was so
impressed that she asked her to perform at her show the next night.
Burke attended Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School in Islington, Angel
and after her GCSEs she left school to pursue a career in music.
Before her X Factor success, she had been working as a singer, gigging
at weekends in clubs.[1] She also went on tour with "Young Voices",
a charity that raises money for children with leukemia, where she
performed at large venues such as the Royal Albert Hall.
[edit] Career history
[edit] 2005–09:The X Factor
Burke auditioned for the second series of The X Factor in 2005 (which
was eventually won by Shayne Ward). She made it through to the final
seven in Louis Walsh's 16–24 category, effectively the top
21 of the competition; however, Walsh did not choose her for his
final four as he felt that she was too young for the competition.
Burke however did not give up and went on to seek professional singing
lessons over the next three years, proving her dedication and commitment
to becoming a popstar.
Burke's second bid to win The X Factor came in 2008. Falling into
the "Girls" category, she was mentored by Girls Aloud's
Cheryl Cole who selected her for the finals—a series of ten
weekly live shows in which contestants are progressively eliminated
by public vote. On the first live show, Burke performed Whitney Houston's
classic "I Wanna Dance with Somebody". For the second live
show she covered "I'll Be There" by The Jackson 5. In week
three, big band week, Burke performed Christina Aguilera's "Candyman" and
received her first standing ovation. For the disco-themed fourth
live show, Burke performed Donna Summer's "On the Radio".
During Mariah Carey week on 8 November, Burke and the other finalists
met Carey for individual masterclasses, with Carey complimenting
Burke on her voice. Burke performed "Without You" and received
a standing ovation from the judges who all gave her positive comments.
Cowell commented that "by any standard, that was just outstanding".
Following the show Burke's performance was also praised by Carey
who called her rendition of the song "absolutely amazing".
In weeks 6 and 7, Burke received positive comments from the judging
panel for her performances of "You are so Beautiful" and
Dan Hartman's "Relight My Fire" (the popularity of which
in the UK is mostly a result of Take That's 1993 revival thereof).
Week 8 saw her replace Diana Vickers as the bookies' favourite after
performing Britney Spears' "Toxic" and Beyoncé Knowles' "Listen",
for which she received yet another standing ovation. In week 9, Burke
performed Rihanna's hit song "Don't Stop the Music" and
again received positive comments, with Louis calling her "the
British Beyoncé" and Simon commenting "...We may
be seeing the birth of a star here [...] you've got it all, that
was a terrific performance".
Burke was joined in the grand final by Irish teenager Eoghan Quigg
and boyband JLS. The three finalists were required to sing three
songs – a Christmas song, a duet with an established music
artist, and the song from their favourite performance of the series.
Her Christmas song was an adaptaition of "Silent Night".
She then sang "Listen" as a duet with Beyoncé (who
later performed her UK number-one single "If I Were a Boy"),
and after performing with the American singer she proclaimed: "I
have achieved a dream". Her final song before the first-round
voting result was "You Are So Beautiful".
After the elimination of Quigg she sang what was to become her debut
single, a 1984 song by Leonard Cohen, Hallelujah, for the first time.
Finally, with over eight million votes cast in total, Burke was revealed
as the winner with 58% of the final vote.[6] The single went on to
become the Christmas number one of 2008, holding the top spot for
three weeks and selling one million copies. There was also a campaign
to take Jeff Buckley's cover of Hallelujah to the top of the Christmas
chart to deny Burke the top spot.[7][8] The campaign was fuelled
by Jeff Buckley fans' dislike of The X Factor's commercialism and
the song's arrangement,[9][10] as well as a desire by this contingent
to introduce younger music fans to Buckley's version.[11] Burke herself
was not enamoured of the choice of song, and dismissed the original
by remarking "It just didn’t do anything for me".[10]
As winner, Burke received a recording contract with record label,
Syco, which is co-owned by Sony Music Entertainment. The contract
had a stated value of £1 million, of which £150,000 was
a cash advance and the remainder allocated to recording and marketing
costs.[12]
[edit] 2009–11: Overcome
Main article: Overcome (Alexandra Burke album)
On 13 February 2009 it was reported that Burke signed a £3.5
million, five-album US record deal with Epic Records.[13] Burke's
first album was originally scheduled for March 2009, however, Simon
Cowell confirmed that her album was scheduled for release later in
the year to allow Burke to polish her skills and find the right songs
for the album, so that it would not be rushed. The album was released
on 19 October 2009 in the UK, titled Overcome.[14]
Burke's first commercial single from her debut album is titled "Bad
Boys", which features Flo Rida. The single premiered in the
UK on The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 on 25 August 2009.[15]
On 18 October 2009, Bad Boys topped the UK Singles Chart.[16] After
visiting Burke in the studio, Beyoncé spoke of possibly recording
a duet with her[17] and also asked for Burke to join her for Beyonce's
second European leg of her I Am… Tour.[18] Bad Boys was certified
Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry on 7 January 2010.
American rapper 50 Cent has expressed an interest in Burke, correctly
predicting that she would win The X Factor and invited her to appear
in an upcoming music video of his, most likely for a song from his
upcoming album Before I Self Destruct.[19] On 19 July 2009, Burke
confirmed that she had signed a six figure contract with Italian
fashion designers Dolce & Gabbana, to become the face of a new
fashion line. She will also model their clothes and accessories in
her music videos. Burke performed on the Royal Variety Show on 7
December 2009.[20]
It was confirmed by Burke on 17 November 2009, that "Broken
Heels" would be the second commercial single, (third overall),
from Overcome.[21] She also confirmed via her Official Twitter page
that the video was shot in Los Angeles on 22 and 23 November 2009.[22]
On 18 January 2010, Burke began her European Promo Tour in Brussels,
Belgium.[23] On 12 March 2010, Burke confirmed on Twitter that "All
Night Long" will be her new single, featuring Pitbull. She appeared
on Dancing on Ice during the semi-final to perform All Night Long.[24]
On 29 April 2010, Burke entered FHM's poll for the world's top 100
sexiest women 2010 at number 75. This is her first appearance on
the poll since she rose to fame in 2008.[25] It has been since confirmed
that Burke's next single will be a completely new song, "Start
Without You", which is set to be released on 5 September 2010.[26]
The video for "Start Without You" debuted on August 19
through VEVO on later premiered on The BOX.[27] The song was performed
at T4 On The Beach on 4 July 2010. Additionally, Burke was announced
as the first ever brand ambassador for Sure Women, for which she
starred in a television advert.[28] Burke gained her fifth consecutive
top ten hit, and her third number one single, after "Start Without
You" stormed to the top of the charts, beating Katy Perry to
the top spot.
The re-packaged edition of Overcome is to be released of November
29, 2010.[29] Music Week reports that the deluxe makeover includes
three brand new tracks; "Perfect", "Before the Rain" and "What
Happens On the Dancefloor" featuring Cobra Starship; as well
as three number one and two Top 10 singles (including "Start
Without You"). A DVD accompanies the release featuring seven
videos, including an exclusive promo for the track 'The Silence'.
The magazine also confirmed that Burke will promote the record with
a performance on The X Factor. A new track on the album was recently[when?]
stated to be a duet with "an amazing group". On October
25, Burke announced via her Twitter that a new version of "The
Silence" will be the album's fifth commercial single being released
in early December.[30] The official music video for The Silence was
released on 27 October 2010, via MSN Videos UK.[31] It was confirmed
that there would be no further singles from the album after "The
Silence".[32]
[edit] 2011–present: All Night Long tour and second studio
album
Burke stated that her next album will get "down and dirty",
promising the record that will take risks.
"It’s got to be sexy. So I’m going to get a lot
fiercer and sexier. We’re just getting down and dirty with
the next album. I’m going to take a lot more risks and it’s
going to be insane." She also hinted at any collaborations on
the LP, "I can’t say too much because my management will
kill me if I let loose. But I have a special duet planned. I have
the ideas, the collaborations in my mind - it’s all locked
up in my head."[32]
Burke took a break from recording so that she could embark on her
first headline concert tour, the All Night Long Tour and said she
would continue recording two days after the tour ends.[32] She is
working with RedOne for a lot of the album, but will also reunite
with Bruno Mars, StarGate, Rico Love, Autumn Rowe and Ne-Yo, among
others.[32] Burke became a guest judge during the auditions of English
version of So You Think You Can Dance.[33] This made Burke the first
ever The X Factor contestant to have a judging role.[34] Burke stated
that she had recorded a duet, with an "amazing" artist.
She said, she was working in the studio with songwriter, Autumn Rowe,
and met him through him and the duet just sort of "happened".[35]
It was confirmed that Burke had featured on Swizz Beatz new album,
on track "Show Off".[36] In June it was reported that Alexandra
has signed a record deal with RCA Records and her next album will
be jointly handled by the Syco and RCA Records.[37] Her new single
is expected to premier in all UK radio stations by the end of September
2011.
[edit] 2KX
It was announced that Burke and JLS would work together to create
a brand new fashion line, titled, 2KX. Burke and JLS stated in an
interview, "We are eagerly waiting for the first stocks of the
ultra-hyped men’s and women’s underwear range, due very
soon."[38] It was revealed that the Underwear Collection would
launch in March 2011, and their Clothing Collection would be released
in April 2011.[dated info][39] The fashion range will be available
to buy in USC stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland.[40] The
range with include both men's and women's clothes that are designed
to be worn causally in the day and dressed up at night. The underwear
will sell for £15 - £19.[41] tThey have released a charity
t-shirt in aid of Capital FM’s Help a Capital Child. The T-shirt
costs £15 and for every t-shirt sold, 2KX will donate £1.50
to Help a Capital Child. The business' target aims is to raise £10,000
for the charity by 2011.[42]
They explained what 2KX title meant, the name stands for 2010, the
year the group created the label – 2K is the abbreviation for
the year 2000 and X is the Roman numeral for 10.[43] The company
was founded in 2010 and is based in London, UK.[44]
To coincide with the launch of her first single (yet to be announced
20/09/2011) Alexandra will feature in her very own edition of TheirMag,
a newly formed sister publication to Rio Ferdinand's #5 magazine.
Due out in late September 2011 and available form [45]
[edit] Personal life
In May 2009, Burke began dating a childhood friend, Nicholas Sagar.
However, Burke confirmed that the pair were on break in early 2011,
after Burke said "At the moment we're kind of on a break because
he lives in LA and it's long distance. We're both so busy - I'm on
tour and I'm trying to build a new life right now."[46]
[edit] Discography
Main article: Alexandra Burke discography
Overcome (2009)
[edit] Tours
2009: The X Factor Live
2011: All Night Long Tour[47]
[edit] Awards and nominations
Year Nominated work Award Result
2009 "Hallelujah" BRIT Award for Best British Single[48]
Nominated
"
Hero" Third
Alexandra Burke MOBO Award for Best UK Newcomer[49] Fifth
2010 "Bad Boys" BRIT Award for Best British Single[50]
Nominated
Alexandra Burke Glamour Women of the Year Awards for Best Newcomer[51]
Won
Overcome Urban Music Award for Best Album 2010 Nominated
"
All Night Long" Urban Music Award for Best Collaboration (with
Pitbull) Nominated
Urban Music Award for Best Music Video Nominated
Alexandra Burke BT Digital Music Awards for Best Female Artist Nominated
"
Bad Boys" BT Digital Music Awards for Best Song Nominated
BT Digital Music Awards for Best Video Nominated
The 2010 Popjustice £20 Music Prize Nominated
Alexandra Burke MOBO Award for Best UK Act Nominated
Cosmopolitan for Ultimate UK Music Star Won
MTV Europe Music Award for Best Push Act Nominated
XS AWARDS for Best British Star Won
WSC Gala Awards 2010 for Best Female Artist[52] Nominated
2011 All Night Long BRIT Award for Best British Single[53] Nominated
Alexandra Burke Glamour Women of the Year Awards for Best UK Musician/Solo
Artist[54] Nominated
[edit] Philanthropy
Before her X Factor appearance and success, Burke went on tour with "Young
Voices", a charity that helps to raise money for children with
leukemia, where she performed many times at large venues such as
the Royal Albert Hall.
Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, many celebrities, including
Burke, wanted to help the suffering people of the country. She was
confirmed for the Haiti Charity single, Everybody Hurts, commenting "I
hope the single raises lots of money. It's great that we can come
together and do this. It's a very special song." Soon after,
Burke revealed she would be travelling to Haiti so she can physically
help the people out there, saying "For me, singing two lines
on a single doesn't mean I have really helped. I wanted to go out
and physically help the kids. I'm not a doctor, but I can give clothes,
food and love. At least I'll be able to make a couple of kids smile." Burke
visited and helped in the week beginning 8 February 2010, and posted
two video blogs about her visit on YouTube.[55] She later returned
six months later to check the progress of the country after being
a huge part in the Save the Children charity campaign.[56]
Burke was confirmed to join various female celebrities to join the
Peru Inka Trail Hike for Breast Cancer Care, along with Fearne Cotton,
Denise Van Outen, and Holly Willoughby.[57]
In January 2011, Burke helped to launch Save the Children UK's No
Child Born To Die campaign. The campaign aims to reduce child mortality
over the next five years.