Entertainment For Lively Minds
Rebecca Ferguson - The best of the X Factor
I'm not keen on the X Factor but, having a 16 year old daughter makes it impossible to escape. I'm constantly pressed to declare which competitor I like best, even though I'm barely paying attention. I might have muttered something about Rebecca Ferguson last year. Imagine my surprise when her CD turned up in my Christmas stocking.
Two days ago, I started to play it. I did so with some trepidation but I haven't stop playing it since. It is excellent and is revealing more beauty and depth the more I play it. The songs are mature grappling with the many complexities of life, love and all things human. Her voice is quite something, full of a variety of tones and textures, enabling her to express the songs perfectly (all of which she co-wrote). The playing is superbly judged and even the strings avoid the syrup I usually associate with the X Factor. I find the whole album really soulful and moving.
If she'd been discovered on Later, I'm sure we'd all be raving about how fabulously talented she is.
Leona Lewis's first single was pretty good and I have to admit Cher Lloyd's last single is quite remarkable. Otherwise, I've remained untouched by any other X Factor acts, despite my daughter subjecting me to many hours of JLS and Alexandra Burke.
Here's Shoulder To Shoulder
Is Rebecca Ferguson the best act to emerge from The X Factor?
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Neil McCormick?
Is that you?
Sorry, that's not a dig, it's just the Telegraph's music "writer" has seen fit to bestow the superlatives upon Ms. Ferguson, calling her the best singer since Aretha Franklin.
Anyway, I must confess I don't really get it. I find her completely ok in a vaguely-soully-but-passes-me-by way, a bit like Seal, for example. I think your Jools Holland observation is interesting though, as I think she's the kind of act that would fit in well there. That all said, if Adele can sell albums by the (virtual) bucketload, then I clearly don't have a clue.
And, oh yes, despite an horrific cameo from Mike Posner (nope, me neither) and an irritating vocal inflection surrounding the pronunciation of the word, "your", Cher Lloyd's latest is a bit of a belter.
She's...
...credible, you know. *Chief Rock face*
I don't really get it either. All seems quite tasteful and fun-free, to me. Perfectly fine, but no superlatives necessary, as far as I'm concerned, but then I get very cross about the whole idea of IOKTLs (It's-OK-To-Likes). Rebecca Ferguson is a bit of an IOKTL, which isn't her fault - it's mostly that idiot McCormick's - but it does get on my nerves nonetheless.
I don't know this Neil McCormick of which you speak
I don't read the Telegraph. Clearly, it is ludicrous to claim she is the best female singer since Aretha!
She's released one album, lasting a healthy, vinyl friendly 36 minutes. It's a very good debut, one of the best released this year. I certainly think it deserves superlatives. I like Anna Calvi, for example, a completely different type of fish. I'd say both were equally deserving of superlatives, just not the same ones.
Oh, he's beyond parody
I think he's head music critic at the Telegraph. He went to school with Bono which he NEVER shuts up about and constantly writes gushing articles about U2.
Incidentally, if you criticise his writing in a well-researched and constructive way via Twitter, he does the very grown-up thing of not defending himself and simply blocking you, as more than one member of The Massive can attest.
He's a bit...
of a plonker, but he was a champion of Jackie Leven which I can forgive most things for.
The "Bono's my mate" pieces though are priceless.
Cher Lloyd
My iTunes play count tells me that the Cher Lloyd song is my most played track. I voted for it in the Festive 50 too.
Love it
Totally agree with you Tiggerlions. If you forget all the hype surrounding X Factor and just listen to Rebecca she has an amazing voice and I would love to see her appear on Later at some stage. I have a lot of respect for her as a great performer.
I saw the series of...
...X Factor that Rebecca Ferguson was on, and while she has a quite a nice voice (if not an original one), she is a TERRIBLE performer. She could lapse into a coma on stage, and it would be hard to tell the difference. The fact that Matt Cardie seems exciting next to her says it all.
I've not clicked on video, as I'm on my phone, but I hope she has spent the year learning how to perform and sing to an audience.
It's not a video
just audio.
She has a tour booked. I imagine she has had some coaching but I think an intimate venue would allow the audience to focus on her voice. I can't envisage her dancing.
DAncing
No, I wouldn't expect her to dance! On X Factor, she was incredibly unengaging, remarkably so. She's got a good voice, but we found she'd forgotten what she sung before she'd even left the stage.
I assume that is the sort of thing that the record company sort out after she is signed (as well as making them lose weight, no matter how skinny they are and moving to London, Surrey or Kent). Will be interesting to see if she has learnt any stage craft. After all, before X Factor she hadn't done any singing, so had no time to learn how to perform.
Ray Lamontagne
said this before: she sounds like a female version of Ray Lamontagne. Unfortunately, she has the same problem - very nice voice, but not so hot on the charisma front. I note she has co-writing credits on the album. If that is a real credit she may have a chance. I actually think JLS are the best thing that have come out of X-factor: they are a classic boy band set-up who have better material and work harder than the competition.
My daughter agrees with you
and judging by the thousands gathered at the MEN arena, Manchester, when I dropped her off at their concerts (twice), there are hoards of others too.
My problem with JLS is their hard-work. I want my popstars to make it look effortless. Plus, their material is getting very thin. Have you heard their last album?
I think
the album is a very solid, engaging piece of work, fully deserving it’s top 10 placing in the Christmas chart.
The song you chose to illustrate your entry with, “Shoulder To Shoulder”, is quite extraordinary though - in my top 5 tracks of last year.
Absolutely!!
It's the best track on the album and one of the best things I've heard all year.