HARLEM LOVES » Alexandra Burke

The List: 8 Things I’m looking forward to in 2012

Harlem — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:35:43 +0000

Only 3 days in and 2012 has been pretty awesome already, I can’t even put into words. And yet there’s still so many things that I’m looking forward to…

It’s actually quite a long list and involves dreams and ambitions not just for myself but for the friends and family who surround me. That said, I’ve pulled out 8 of the fun and fabulous things I’m anticipating this year.

1: The launch of Love Harlem. I’ve been working on this with my family for a while and it’s very nearly time for its grand unveiling. Cannot wait.

2: Becoming an honorary aunt as a childhood friend and her husband have their first baby! This is the second of my close friends to have a baby and I’m so excited to meet the little one.

3: The spring wedding of another childhood friend. It’s going to be as beautiful as she is.

4: Attending more blogger meet-ups. I tend to miss these things as they’re often on Friday nights or Saturdays when I’m at church but who knows, maybe this year I’ll organise one of my own and finally get to meet some of the fab faces behind these blogs.

5: Going to Paris. I’ve still yet to go *hangs head in shame* This year it has got to happen.

6: The return of The Good Wife, Suits and Parenthood. My top 3 programmes, closely followed by Mad Men and So You Think You Can Dance.

7: Matt Damon in The Bourne Legacy. Are there any other films out next year? UPDATE: To answer my own question. Yes there is! Red Tails. FURTHER UPDATE: Matt Damon actually isn’t in this year’s Bourne Legacy!?! *flops*

8: Alexandra Burke’s new album. I can’t help it. I’m still hoping that we’re going to see some glimmer of the talent she showed on X Factor and we can just sweep her first album under the rug.

In all seriousness though, this year, with God’s blessing I plan to live a more fulfilled life. There are 366 days this year (it’s a leap year) and I have started as I mean to go on, spending every day praying, growing, loving, dreaming, achieving, blessing and being blessed.

It’s going to be awesome!

What about you though? What are you looking forward to in 2012?

The Music: Alexandra Burke – All Night Long Video

Harlem — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:22:17 +0000

So the video…hmmm. It’s finally here and Twitter seems to be loving it already. I have to say this is one of her better releases. I actually like this song but I confess, I don’t like Lady Gaga or the obvious references to her in this video (those crayola glasses look awfully familiar).

I just feel like I saw more Alexandra when she was singing other people’s songs on x factor. She showed she could dance, sing great pop music and look stunning… but seeing her releases to date I’m just left disappointed.

I really think Alexandra is an amazing talent, she knows how to work the hell out of whatever she’s given and her live performances are flawless. I just don’t think ‘they’re’ really maximising on her potential.

I’m hoping this is part of some music industry plan to build her status gradually but given the tepid response to Leona Lewis’ latest album you’ll have to forgive me for being a little concerned.

The Photograph: Alexandra Burke’s ‘All Night Long’ Sneak Peek

Harlem — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:17:23 +0000

Oooh look what I’ve stumbled across. A sneak peek at Alexandra from her ‘All Night Long’ video. What do you think? A step-up from her Bad Boys and Broken Heels videos?

The Photograph: Alexandra x Wonderland Magazine

Harlem — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 06:52:00 +0000

Following her stellar performance on X-factor over the weekend Alexandra covers the November edition of Wonderland.

Apologies for the low quality of this image, I promise to update once a new one becomes available but I had to share this little sneak peek with you. In the meantime, check out the clip below to view her performance on X Factor. What do you think? Did she do well?

Alexandra – Bad Boys

[via tfs]

The Memories: Top 10 events of 2008

Harlem — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:16:00 +0000

What a momentous year this has been! Records have been broken, remarkable achievements accomplished and history made.

So below I’ve selected my top 10 events for 2008 that have either sparked my interest or completely floored me.

January 2008
- Disney begin work on a new film to be released in 2009 featuring their first ever black princess, The Princess and The Frog.

June 2008
- Former Manchester United football player, Paul Ince becomes the first black man to be in charge of a premier league team (Yay!). Unfortunately, a series of poor match results for the already troubled Blackburn Rovers see him dismissed just six months later (Booo!).

July 2008
- Tennis player, Venus Williams wins the Women’s singles against her sister, Serena, at Wimbledon. Fortunately, all must have been forgiven by the time the doubles competition came around as they both worked fantastically well together in winning the lot.

August 2008
- Jamaican sprinter Usain “Lightening” Bolt thrills us with his super speed and wins the world records for the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay with his team mates.
- Christine Ohorougo wins a gold medal for the 400m at the Beijing Summer Olympics and in doing so becomes the first British female to become an Olympic champion in that race.

October 2008
- Film director, Tyler Perry opens the first black-owned production studio.
- A young woman with a crazy need to share all the things she enjoys most in her life starts a blog, Harlem Loves, and is pleasured to find others from around the world who appreciate some of her interests

November 2008
- At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton becomes the youngest driver and the first black man to win the Formula One World Championship.
- Barack Obama achieves the seemingly impossible and wins the US general election to become the country’s first black president.

December 2008
- The superbly talented Alexandra Burke beats off the competition and scores a duet with Beyonce before winning the X Factor.

PS: I feel like I’ve missed something? What do you think?

The Show: X Factor – Alexandra Won!

Harlem — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 23:41:00 +0000

Yay! Team Alexandra have proved ourselves victorious as Alexandra is most deservedly crowned the X Factor winner for 2008…

Even Simon Cowell was gobsmacked as Alexandra gave outstanding performance after outstanding performance.

The musical highlight for me was her duet with Beyonce, though up until tonight there was a huge question mark over whether or not it would have even taken place. I think we have to thank a great X Factor PR team for their ability to keep us in suspense like that.

I don’t normally vote for these things but I had to pick up a phone for Alexandra and she was more than worth every penny. If you have any doubts, you can watch the video below which I’m sure will firmly lay them to rest.

Alexandra and Beyonce – Listen

PS: Did anyone else pick up on Simon’s not too subtle fanaticism for Alexandra even when he was meant to be Eoghan’s mentor? Could it be that Simon’s more loyal to true talent than dodgy record sales? Perhaps I’d be inclined to think so if it wasn’t for the huge dollar signs in his eyes every time he looked at Alexandra.

PPS: After Alexandra won, a friend on Facebook changed his status to: “Alexandra just done a Halle Berry at the Oscars”. I had to laugh

The Show: X Factor Pre-Finals!!!

Harlem — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:23:00 +0000

So videos have emerged of Alexandra’s performance at Koko in Camden this week and our girl continues to re-pra-zent! (dodgy spelling intended)…

Watch the video below for Alexandra’s live acapella rendition of Listen by Beyonce. It seems to be confirmed that the female half of Jay-B / Bey-Z / Jayonce will be partnering up with our little home-grown diva for the finals… can’t wait!

Alexandra – Listen

TEAM ALEXANDRA TO WIN!!!

The Show: The X Factor – Week 8

Harlem — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 21:58:00 +0000

Team Alexandra still going strong!

I’ve just watched the X-Factor and our girl Alexandra did us so proud. Not only did she smash Toxic but her rendition of Beyonce’s Listen was tremendous. If she’s not in the final then I will seriously question the sanity of the British public.

Initially I was hoping for an Alexandra/Diana combo for the finals but Ruth’s powerhouse performances are starting to sway me in her direction. I definitely think the “Rock-a-rita” is making her presence known with her emotionally charged sing-offs.

My hopes for the results show are Eoghan or JLS to go. I don’t know what Louis was thinking about with JLS singing Hit me baby one more time and I’m so allergic to High School Music-urgh, Eoghan’s performance was like nails on a blackboard.

TEAM ALEXANDRA TO WIN!

Post result show update:

Nooooooooooooooooooo! How could JLS and Eoghan survive? How could Ruth go? And why was Louis looking so upset? Could the guilt of forcing such bad talent on us have overwhelmed him? Either way, I guess I’m back to my original plan… Diana and Alexandra for the final!

The Show: The X-Factor

Harlem — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:52:00 +0000

I’ve got the X Factor! And yes I paused to cross my arms X Factor stylee after I wrote that.

Can I just say I have been TEAM ALEXANDRA since her first audition (Alex to win!), I warmed up to Diana Vickers after her second but was a little worried about Laura White after her drunken Amy Winehouse impersonation at boot camp.

Fortunately my worries were firmly laid to rest in week one when I was pleasantly surprised by her Alicia Keys song and she absolutely blew me away with her jazzy number on Big Band week so how comes the bookies’ and Danni’s favourite was voted off tonight?

Seriously, can anyone tell me how she could leave before Eoghan and JLS?