Kitty Brucknell

Kimberley Dayle Edwards (born 15 November 1984), known professionally as Kitty Brucknell, is an English singer. She rose to fame as a finalist on the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011, where she placed seventh.

Kitty Brucknell
Brucknell in 2014
Background information
Birth nameKimberley Dayle Edwards
Born (1984-11-15) 15 November 1984
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England
GenresPop
Occupation(s)Singer
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • piano
  • violin
Years active2011–present
Labels
  • Whiskey Records
  • Absolute
Websitekittybrucknell.com

Early life

Brucknell was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire,[1] on 15 November 1984. She started singing at an early age, as well as playing the violin and the piano. Throughout her childhood, she took part in a number of charity concerts and musical theatre performances, and was a prolific award winner in the Cheltenham Competitive Festival.[2] At the age of 11, she won a place in the National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain and continued touring with them annually. She was awarded music scholarships to Dean Close School, St. Edward's School and Clifton College in Bristol. She began touring internationally at the age of 16.

In 2003, Brucknell began writing and directing Interference, a science-fiction film.[3] The film was accepted for the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.[4] Following this, it was shown at the Portobello Film Festival in Palm Springs.

Career

2007–11: Early career

Before The X Factor, Brucknell worked as a Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Lady Gaga tribute act.[5][6][7] In June 2009, she appeared on Britney Spears Saved My Life, a documentary which aired on BBC Three.[8]

In 2010, Brucknell contracted Guillain–Barré syndrome, a life-threatening muscle disorder, whilst singing in Corfu, which left her paralysed for four months.[9]

2011: The X Factor

In 2011, Brucknell auditioned for the eighth series of The X Factor in front of judges Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland, Tulisa and Louis Walsh. She sang "The Edge of Glory" for her first audition; all four judges voted to send her through to the "boot camp" stage of the competition. She performed "You Got the Love" and "Feeling Good" at boot camp, and made it through to judges' houses. Brucknell, who was 26 years old at the time, was put into the Over 25s category, which was mentored by Walsh. After performing "Beautiful Disaster", Walsh put her through to the live shows.

Brucknell was in the final showdown three times during the competition: in weeks 3 (with Sami Brookes), 5 (with Johnny Robinson) and 6 (with Misha B). In week 3, she was saved by a majority vote from the judges. Voting statistics revealed that Brookes received more votes than Brucknell meaning if the result went to deadlock, Brookes would have been saved. In week 5, she was also saved by a majority vote from the judges. However, Robinson received more votes from the public than Brucknell which meant that if the result went to deadlock, Robinson would have been saved. Brucknell was sent home in week 6 after only Walsh voted to save Brucknell. However, voting statistics revealed that Brucknell received more votes than Misha B meaning if the result went to deadlock, Brucknell would have been saved.[10]

Performances
Stage Show Song Theme Result Final showdown
Song Result
Semi-finals Auditions "The Edge of Glory" Free choice Through to Bootcamp None
Bootcamp 1 "You Got the Love" Group challenge Through to Bootcamp 2
Bootcamp 2 "Feeling Good" Free choice Through to Judges' houses
Judges' houses "Beautiful Disaster" Free choice Through to live shows
Finals Live show 1 "Who Wants to Live Forever" Britain vs. America Saved
Live show 2 "It's Oh So Quiet" Love and heartbreak Safe None
Live show 3 "Live and Let Die" Rock Bottom two "The Edge of Glory" Saved (Minority)
Live show 4 "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" Halloween Safe None
Live show 5 "Like a Prayer" Club classics Bottom three "Beautiful Disaster" Saved (Minority)
Live show 6 "Don't Stop Me Now" Lady Gaga vs. Queen Bottom two "Over the Rainbow" Eliminated (Majority)

2012–present: Glamour and Damage
Brucknell in 2012.

Following the X Factor, Brucknell began teasing the release of her track "Red Shoes".[11][12] Brucknell returned to The X Factor in 2013 when she performed alongside other former contestants such as Rylan Clark, Jedward, Wagner, 2 Shoes, Diva Fever and Johnny Robinson at the final in Wembley Arena. In January 2013, she went on her first tour which was dubbed the "Glamour and Damage" Tour. She performed "The Damage is Done" from her then forthcoming album Glamour and Damage.[13] She featured on a single which was released in Germany entitled "No Tomorrow".[14]

In August, she shared one of her original tracks "Chains", which garnered a lot of interest from major online blogs, even with a mention from Brian May of Queen.[15] On 4 May, Brucknell announced that her debut single "Glitter in the Sky" would be released on 19 October 2014. Her debut album Glamour and Damage was launched on Pledge Music where it is available to pre-order along with many other exclusives. Within the two weeks of its launch, she had successfully reached over 25% of her goal.[16] On 2 August, she successfully reached 100% of her goal. Her debut album, Glamour and Damage was released on 1 November 2014 through Pledge Music.

She attempted to represent Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Yearning". The song was written by Brucknell with Dai Smith and Allyson Summerhayes (also known as 'The Elements'). Brucknell's Eurovision attempt was on behalf of escnews.org who were reportedly acting as her management team during the Eurovision season 2015.[17] On 25 November 2014, it was revealed that Brucknell was not one of the nine acts selected by SRF that moved on to the live auditions held in Zürich and was eliminated.[18] She was later shortlisted for the Moldovan national final with her songs "Yearning" and "Remix". On 17 January 2015, it was announced that "Remix" had advanced to the semi-final stage held in February.[19] She was eliminated from the competition during the first semi-final on 24 February 2015.[20]

She revealed in an interview that the reason why she is not attempting to represent the UK is because the BBC felt it was a conflict of interest for a former X Factor contestant to be promoted by them given their involvement with the Eurovision and the fact that they already have their own singing contest, The Voice UK,[21] although former X Factor contestant Andy Abraham represented the UK in 2008. In March 2015, Brucknell announced that she would release a Broadway album later in the year which would be recorded at Abbey Road Studios.

Brucknell took the ESC News’ Track of the Year 2015 title with her Moldovan National Final entry “Yearning”, with 71% of the votes.[22][23]

Personal life

As of January 2016, Brucknell lives in Los Angeles.[24][25]

Discography

Studio albums
Album title Album details
Glamour and Damage

Live albums
Album title Album details
The Glamour and Damage 2013 Live Tour
  • Release date: 14 January 2014
  • Label: Walton Music
  • Formats: compact disc

Singles
Year Single Peak chart position Album
UK Indie Breakers
2014 "Glitter in the Sky" 9 Glamour and Damage
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Year Title Peak chart positions Album
UK
[26]		 IRE
[27]		 SCO
[28]
2011 "Wishing on a Star"
(as part of The X Factor Finalists 2011 featuring JLS and One Direction)		 111 Non-album singles
2013 "No Tomorrow"
(Davis Redfield featuring Kitty Brucknell)		 ———
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Concert tours
  • The X Factor Live Tour (2012)
  • Glamour and Damage Tour (2013)

Publications
  • Are You On the List? A Guide on How to Become a Modern Socialite (co-author with Olivia Cox and Lewis-Duncan Weedon) (2014)
gollark: The system is weird and half government-funded, though. There's a cap of £9250/year but most universities just charge right up to the limit.
gollark: Well, yes, you do pay here. In pretty much all cases you will pay anyway, just indirectly.
gollark: Anyway, I'm not completely convinced that universities actually do offer enough value that spending three/four years and ~£50000+ is worth it.
gollark: Is this some kind of weird thing where you boast by saying how horrible it would be if people knew how amazing you were?
gollark: ···

References
  1. Elks, Sonia. "The X Factor 2011 final 16: Finalists revealed as Janet Devlin, Frankie Cocozza, Kitty Brucknell make the cut". Metro. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Interference(2005) on IMDb
  4. "Interference – Short Film Goes to Cannes Directed by 20yr Old Filmmaker Kimberley Dayle Edwards".
  5. "Kimberley Dayle on Radio One". YouTube. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  6. "X Factor's Kitty Brucknell – aka Kimberley Dayle Edwards". YouTube. 21 August 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  7. "Britney Spears Impersonator ~ Kimberley Dayle". YouTube. 16 November 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  8. "Britney Spears Saved My Life: Britney super-fans talk about how their love for the singer has made their lives worth living". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  9. "Kitty Brucknell warns X Factor may kill her as she collapses at boot camp | Metro News". Metro.co.uk. 26 September 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  10. "'X Factor' 2011 voting breakdown in full". Digital Spy. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  11. Copsey, Robert. "Kitty Brucknell teases debut single 'Red Shoes'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  12. Rainsforth, Lara. "X FACTOR'S KITTY BRUCKNELL CONFIRMS DEBUT SINGLE". UKstandUp. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  13. Taylor, Sam. "Interview: X Factor's Kitty Brucknell on her Glamour and Damage tour, gay marriage and 'living the dream'". Mancurianmatters. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  14. "Kitty Brucknell – Official Website – Biography". KittyBrucknell.com. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  15. Rollins, Claire. "Kitty Brucknell – 'Chains' (Official Video)". HitTheFloor. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  17. Granger, Anthony (5 October 2014). "Exclusive: Kitty Brucknell In Eurovision Quest". Eurovoix. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  18. Granger, Anthony (25 November 2014). "Switzerland: SRF Announce Their 9 Finalists". Eurovoix. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  19. Honciuc, Bogdan (17 January 2015). "MOLDOVA: 24 SEMI-FINALISTS SELECTED AFTER LIVE AUDITIONS". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  20. Granger, Anthony (24 February 2015). "Moldova: O Melodie Pentru Europa Semi Final 1 Results". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  21. Welton, Victoria (13 November 2014). "Vote Kitty Brucknell for Eurovision". Verily Victoria Vocalises. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  22. "The ESC News Group". The ESC News Group. Retrieved 27 March 2016. This year we gave you even more choice; a selection of sixty songs, albums and performances all worthy of your vote to win the prestigious title 'Track of The Year 2015'. After tens of thousands of votes, Kitty Brucknell from the United Kingdom took the title with a stagering 71% of the votes for her song 'Yearning'.
  23. ago, Richard Taylor • 3 months. "Track Of The Year 2015 Winner". Eurovoix. Retrieved 27 March 2016. Kitty Brucknell has taken the accolade of ESC News’ Track of the Year 2015 with her Moldovan National Final entry “Yearning”.
  24. "Kitty Brucknell on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 27 March 2016. On Thursday, I move to LA, 2 a place that CELEBRATES eccentricity and diversity
  25. "Kitty Brucknell on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 27 March 2016. Just arrived in LAX....now off to enjoy the sun! First day of the rest of my life!
  26. Peak positions for the featured singles in the UK:
  27. Peak positions for the featured singles in Ireland:
  28. Peak positions for the featured singles in Scotland:
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.