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Having shown a passion for singing and songwriting since her childhood, Rebecca Ferguson made her first foray into music after appearing in 2004's series of "The X Factor," unable to impress the judges due to her shy demeanor and lack of confidence. In the preceding years, she wound up working as a legal secretary in her home town of Liverpool, England, deciding again to take her chances on "The X Factor" in 2010.
This time round, Ferguson was able to progress right through the competition, eventually losing out in the finals to Matt Cardle. Her impressive, smoky vocals grabbed the attention of the judges, recalling the tone of Amy Winehouse and Nina Simone. Despite not winning the competition, she still signed with Cowell's Sony imprint, Syco, releasing her debut album, "Heaven," in 2011. The album spawned the hit single, "Nothing's Real But Love," with the album peaking at number three in the UK album charts, as well as performing well in a number of European countries.
Following a sold-out UK headline tour, Ferguson travelled to the US in 2013, touring heavily across the country, building anticipation for her follow-up release. "Freedom" arrived later that year, again finding commercial success in a number of countries. Ferguson's third album, "Lady Sings the Blues" was announced for a release date of March 2015, as a collection of blues standards, recorded alongside musicians that had previously worked with the music legend, Frank Sinatra.
The X Factor can go one of two ways. Over the past few years of competitions there have been winners who we've heard nothing more from, but that can't be said for Rebecca Ferguson who was the runner up of the 2010 competition. From her first audition I was desperate to see her in concert, her distinctive voice is incredibly powerful live, yet sounds wonderful recorded too.
When she began touring after she was signed to Syco Music, she began co-writing her own music, encouraging me even further to see her live. When I finally got the chance, the whole evening was just fantastic. With support from Philippa Hanna who was simply fantastic, the evening started off on the right foot. As soon as the applause from Hanna's set died down and the lights dimmed, silence washed over the auditorium in anticipation of Ferguson's performance. She entered the stage in half light, and began singing her first track without any introduction. By the end of the song, the stage was fully and tastefully lit, and the audience were enthralled. She then took the time to introduce herself and thank us for supporting her, which is great to see that artists are grateful for their fans.
Amongst the tracks from her two albums, she played a couple of newer songs that very few people seemed to be familiar with. However, this didn't matter at all, as the performance she gave was so engaging and everyone was completely on board.
Her voice is even more spectacular live than on the recordings, so if you're a fan, it's definitely a gig not to miss.