Alexandra Burke

Alexandra Burke
Alexandra Burke October 2011
Background information
Birth name	Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke
Born	25 August 1988 (1988-08-25) Islington, London, England, UK
Genres	R&B, soul, pop, electro
Occupations	Singer, dancer, model
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Epic, Syco, RCA
Associated acts	Pitbull, Ne-Yo, Flo Rida, Cobra Starship
Website	alexandraburkeofficial.com

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.

As the winner of The X Factor, Burke released her debut single, "Hallelujah", 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 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. The album also saw the release of singles "Broken Heels", "All Night Long" and "The Silence" - the former two of which consecutively reached the top ten in the UK. In 2010, Burke released "Start Without You" as the lead single for Overcome: Deluxe Edition. The track became Burke's third number-one single as a solo artist, fifth including appearances on charity singles "Hero" and "Everybody Hurts".

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. As of December 2011, 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 made history after she was the first ever 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 later went on to make further history as she became the first and only X Factor contestant to return to The X Factor as a guest judge.

Biography

Early life and Career Beginnings

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. 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.

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. 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. The campaign was fuelled by Jeff Buckley fans' dislike of The X Factor's commercialism and the song's arrangement, as well as a desire by this contingent to introduce younger music fans to Buckley's version. Burke herself was not enamoured of the choice of song, and dismissed the original by remarking "It just didn’t do anything for me". 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.

2009–11: Overcome and All Night Long tour

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. 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. 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. On 18 October 2009, Bad Boys topped the UK Singles Chart. After visiting Burke in the studio, Beyoncé spoke of possibly recording a duet with her and also asked for Burke to join her for Beyonce's second European leg of her I Am… Tour. Bad Boys was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry on 7 January 2010.

Alexandra Burke during the All Night Long Tour in 2011.

A lot of people were comparing and still do compare Burke to the boy band JLS who finished second behind her in The X Factor. Statistically, Burke is more successful than they are, but JLS are more popular with younger generation girls whilst Burke's fan base ranges from young to old. 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. 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.

It was confirmed by Burke on 17 November 2009, that "Broken Heels" would be the second commercial single, (third overall), from Overcome. She also confirmed via her Official Twitter page that the video was shot in Los Angeles on 22 and 23 November 2009. On 18 January 2010, Burke began her European Promo Tour in Brussels, Belgium. 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. 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. 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. The video for "Start Without You" debuted on August 19 through VEVO on later premiered on The BOX. 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. 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. 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 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. The official music video for The Silence was released on 27 October 2010, via MSN Videos UK. It was confirmed that there would be no further singles from the album after "The Silence".

2012–present: TBA

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."

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. 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. Burke became a guest judge during the auditions of English version of So You Think You Can Dance. This made Burke the first ever The X Factor contestant to have a judging role. 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". It was confirmed that Burke had featured on Swizz Beatz new album, on track "Show Off". 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. Her new single "Elephant" had its radio premier in the second week of January 2012.

Since April 2011, Alexandra has supported T4's Battlefront show, helping young campaigners Hope and Abby raise awareness about the organ donor register for their Sign Up, Speak Up, Save Lives project. In Week 4 of the eighth series of the X Factor, it was reported that judge Kelly Rowland was unable to appear on the judging panel due to a viral throat infection. On October 29th and 30th Alexandra stood in as a judge for Kelly Rowland while she recovered. It was announced that Burke's lead single from Domination would be titled "Elephant" which is produced by Erick Morillo.

To coincide with the launch of her latest single 'Elephant'- which will be released on March 11th 2012 - Alexandra will feature in her very own edition of TheirMag, a newly formed sister publication to Rio Ferdinand's #5 magazine. The magazine is set to be released a week before the single. The magazine is available in digital and physical format from the TheirMag website. A remix of "Elephant" was first aired on Pete Tong's Radio 1 show on January 6th 2012. Alex revealed via her Twiiter account that she will perform the single live for the very first time during her set for Asda's Tickled Pink charity concert on Thursday 12th January 2012. The following day the official single made its debut on The Hits Radio. The video for "Elephant" was serviced to all stations on the 31st January 2012 and premiered the following week.

Other Ventures

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." It was revealed that the Underwear Collection would launch in March 2011, and their Clothing Collection would be released in April 2011. The fashion range will be available to buy in USC stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland. 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. They 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.

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. The company was founded in 2010 and is based in London, UK.

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."

Discography

Main article: Alexandra Burke discography

• Overcome (2009)
• TBA (2012)

Tours

• 2009: The X Factor Live
• 2011: All Night Long Tour

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Award	Result
2009	"Hallelujah"	BRIT Award for Best British Single	Won
	Alexandra Burke	MOBO Award for Best UK Newcomer	Second
2010	"Bad Boys"	BRIT Award for Best British Single	Nominated
	Alexandra Burke	Glamour Women of the Year Awards for Best Newcomer	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	Nominated
2011	All Night Long	BRIT Award for Best British Single	Nominated
	Alexandra Burke	Glamour Women of the Year Awards for Best UK Musician/Solo Artist	Won

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. 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.

Burke was confirmed to join various female celebrities to join the Peru Inca Trail Hike for Breast Cancer Care, along with Fearne Cotton, Denise Van Outen, and Holly Willoughby.

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.

External links

• Official website
• Battlefront project - Sign Up, Speak Up, Save Lives

Preceded by Leon Jackson

Winner of The X Factor 2008

Succeeded by Joe McElderry