Rebecca Ferguson

Amelia, Little Mix and Marcus should take note of the fact that Rebecca Ferguson is having plenty of success and critical acclaim, after being runner-up in last years X-Factor contest. Compare the careers of Shayne Ward, Matt Cardle and Joe McElderry with those of One Direction, Olly Murs and JLS. Winning is not good; however losing in the final is!!

Rebecca Ferguson stuck to her guns during X factor last year, steering away from all the dancing and pyrotechnic gimmicks, and instead just delivered breathtaking tracks week in, week out. This ethic has continued onto her debut album ‘Heaven’ where there are no gimmicks, definitely no auto-tune but instead a collection of heartfelt, often poignant soul and R&B tracks. Rebecca wears her heart on her sleeve both lyrically and vocally delivering both moving ballads like ‘Teach Me How To Be Loved’ as well as more up beat tracks like ‘Glitter & Gold’. The latter has elements of Adele within it and is surely a future single.

Debut single ‘Nothing’s Real But love’ is still a stunning track and elsewhere ‘Shoulder to Shoulder’ is a big hitting vocal track where Rebecca covers break-ups with passion and anger all at once.

Rebecca has co-written most tracks here, drawing from her many life experiences she has endured in her relatively short life. You really get the feeling that Rebecca’s is singing from the heart on many of these tracks, having experienced many ups and downs along the way.

This is a quality album from a genuine talent that will surely outlive Matt Cardle’s career (who mentioned Steve Brookstein). Already her debut tour is selling by the bucket load with extra dates being added. It looks like X-Factor has succeeded in finding another talent albeit not an immediate winner.