Tulisa - The Biography

by Newkey-Burden, Chas

  Meanwhile, Tulisa had some fresh campaigning to do. As competitive and focused as ever, she was keen to drum up support for a return by her act, 2 Shoes. The phone lines for viewers to vote on which of the four acts to return opened on the Friday before the next live show, during which they would close again and a count would be taken. The favourite to return remained Lily, but Tulisa was not about to take that as read. Indeed, she campaigned cleverly for 2 Shoes. Mindful that there was a constituency that had been sad to see the fun Johnny Robinson leave, she appealed to that constituency while encouraging votes for 2 Shoes. She said: ‘Now Johnny [Robinson]’s gone the big fun factor is missing and the truth is I never wanted to get rid of my girls in the first place. I just had to make a decision and unfortunately those guys left and they never got to show us what they can really do.’ She went on: ‘I think they can bring something different to the show and I think that it needs it right now considering the mood, so they definitely can come back and spice things up.’

  As it turned out, the Saturday night show saw Amelia Lily revealed as the act voted to return by the public vote, as had been widely expected. She actually received nearly 50 per cent of votes, so she returned with a solid mandate. Her return was one of two big talking points for the show – the other being a 16-minute delay in the start of the show after a power surge at BT Tower interrupted the broadcast just as it was due to begin. Archived first-round auditions were shown to baffled viewers, as pandemonium broke out around Tulisa and her fellow judges, with producers desperately trying to get the show back on track as soon as possible. Once the show began, Tulisa looked forward to introducing Little Mix. When she did so, she described them as ‘my little muffins – Little Mix’. After their performance of the Lady Gaga song ‘Telephone’, they received essentially positive feedback from Walsh and Rowland, despite the latter saying they needed to ‘tighten up their harmonies’. It was Barlow who really turned on them. ‘Girls, I feel a little bit disappointed in you tonight,’ he began prompting boos and jeers from the audience. Barlow said it was not their performance that made him feel let down, but he felt they had become ‘predictable’. Turning to Tulisa, he said: ‘It feels like you’re running out of ideas for these girls.’

  Tulisa naturally leapt to their – and indeed her own – defence. However, Barlow had not finished turning the screw. He interrupted Tulisa’s defence, and turned to Little Mix to ask: ‘Do you want to do something different?’ As the band members responded by shuffling and looking anxiously at one another, he said: ‘I think you do.’ Tulisa explained that ‘whatever anyone on this panel says’ she was proud of the girls and felt they deserved credit. She then appealed directly to the residents of the regions the girls came from to shore up the vote. ‘I want Newcastle to pick up the phone, I want High Wycombe to pick up the phone, I want Essex to pick up the phone,’ she said, and, beating the table to emphasise her point, she added: ‘and I want them to vote for Little Mix!’ After the results show, Tulisa let her hair down with another Sunday evening out. She joined her former act The Risk and the comedic Johnny Robinson at the G.A.Y. nightclub. Wearing a glamorous, sequinned white dress, she looked superb as she supported both acts. Later in the night, Aussie pop legend Gina G took to the stage to bring a thoroughly camp night to a Eurovisionesque conclusion. As for Tulisa, she continued the party at the exclusive Modiva nightclub later on.

  Controversy was never far away in this series of The X Factor, and Tulisa was almost continually right in the thick of it. Following Misha B’s second placing in the bottom two, the act herself was asked why she thought she had again polled so few votes. She referred back to the remarks that Tulisa and Walsh had made some weeks ago about her behaviour backstage, saying: ‘I think because of some of the past allegations that were made on previous shows … I think that has had an effect on the public and I just think I’m misunderstood to some sort of extent.’ It seemed that Tulisa’s public vow that she and Misha had settled their differences would not be enough to end the controversy. Nor, judging by the Tulisa-centric media reports that ran with Misha’s statement, would it ever be widely recalled that it was Walsh and not Tulisa that made the most damning accusation against Misha.

  However, the harshest words being exchanged in the aftermath of the show were between Tulisa and Barlow. The reverberations of his criticisms of Little Mix continued when he explained later: ‘They had great vocals but what I want to see is something different. Then Tulisa let it slip in the corridor that they will be doing something different next week, so OK, fair enough, now she’s listening to me.’ Tulisa was quick to shoot back at him. ‘His ego is out of control, isn’t it?’ she said. ‘Gary could have a party with his ego, he really could. We should have a birthday party just for his ego.’

  Later, unnamed sources were claimed to have underscored her angry remarks by confirming she was furious with Barlow for interfering with her mentorship of Little Mix. Certainly, it had been a week of direct interventions by him. He had also savaged Janet Devlin in his assessment of her performance. It is always tricky to call which judges’ spats are genuine and which are engineered purely to add a bit of spice to the show. Indeed, for the judges themselves it is sometimes a curious combination of the two. Reports of a falling-out between Rowland and her act Janet were of more substance and consequence. It was said that Devlin was no longer speaking to her mentor, who she felt was prioritising Misha B over her. Certainly, Devlin’s increasingly moody behaviour on-screen and the death stares she sometimes gave out on-stage suggested that she was troubled by something. It was all a far cry from the sweet girl who performed ‘Your Song’ at her first audition.

  As for Tulisa and her remaining act Little Mix, their relationship was perhaps the strongest mentor/act rapport of the series. Having steered them through another week of the public vote, Tulisa had already made them the most successful girl band in X Factor history, as none had ever lasted as far into the competition as Little Mix had. Could they, people began to wonder, go all the way to the final and then win? The fact that a girl band was even being spoken of as potential winners was a huge credit to Little Mix and, of course, to Tulisa herself. Meanwhile, ‘sources’ quoted in various publications suggested various scenarios going on backstage at The X Factor, many of which reportedly involved Tulisa. One report in the Mirror claimed that Devlin was convinced that both Tulisa and Barlow ‘had it in for her’ and were ganging up to get her voted out of the competition. It was claimed that her mentor Rowland shared the concern and had told Devlin to prepare to be in the bottom two soon. Whether Devlin was suffering from any such paranoia was a moot point: more important was that any such fears would surely be misplaced. The problem Devlin faced was that her vocal style was ill suited for a competition such as The X Factor, with its fixed themes for each live show. Pre-emptively blaming Tulisa for a bottom-two placing that had yet to transpire was absurd. Another theory doing the rounds was that Tulisa was afraid that the ongoing controversy about Misha B was costing her acts votes. Still shocked at the premature departure of The Risk, Tulisa had reportedly begun to fear that her acts were being punished in the public vote due to anger over her comments to Misha B. The fact that Walsh – who had also criticised Misha – had lost all his acts since, and that she had just one act remaining might have added mathematical credence to this theory, but it seemed a speculation too far. Indeed, Little Mix were said to have reassured her that they did not believe they would suffer as a result of the Misha saga.

  There was good news for Tulisa’s partner, Fazer, when he was chosen by Simon Cowell to produce what would become the winner’s single. ‘I’ll be producing for the X Factor winner, it’s been decided,’ he told the Sun in November. ‘This isn’t just a hook-up with Tulisa, I’m going to work with whichever act wins. I’ve been talking to SyCo [Cowell’s joint venture with Sony] about working on a few different things for them.’ This development followed on the heels of Fazer writing a song for American pop star Katy Perry, which he hoped she
might record and released in 2012. He felt his growing stature as a songwriter, together with his influences, tastes and directions, made him a formidable prospect for the X Factor winner’s single. With a number of outside acts lining up to challenge the eventual X Factor winner for the Christmas No 1, Fazer realised the states were high. For him, originality was key. ‘We really want to give a new flavour to the X Factor acts,’ he said. ‘It’s going to suit me. I have rock influences, hip-hop, pop, whatever. I have produced Dappy’s new track and songs for Tulisa too. I’m hoping for the Christmas Nos 1 and 2.’

  Meanwhile, Tulisa was preparing to perform at Gary Barlow’s charity extravaganza, the Children In Need Rocks Manchester show at the MEN Arena. With thousands watching at the venue and millions more following from home via the BBC, this was a huge event. For Tulisa, as well as the charitable dimension, it was also a chance to show those who had only come to know of her as an X Factor judge that she is, first and foremost, a musical performer. Gary Barlow explained how she had become such a central figure in his Children In Need project. ‘Tulisa is on the main chorus and she sounds great,’ he said. ‘It’s great for us she’s not got a record out for Christmas. She’s going to be a massive star. My working relationship with her is brilliant, really good. When the idea of this came up, I thought, “Well, I’m on a chair next to her most of the day, so I’ll just ask her.” And she was totally up for it straight away. She’s a really instinctive girl. She knows immediately whether she likes something or not.’

  Tulisa wore a black waistcoat top and black leggings with a sparkling design down the sides of each leg as she took to the stage to deliver the chorus of a song called ‘Teardrop’, performed by an ensemble of mostly urban acts dubbed The Collective. The gathering included Dot Rotten, Tinchy Stryder, Rizzle Kicks, Ms Dynamite, Mz Bratt, Labrinth, Wretch 32 and Ed Sheeran. . It was a fine start to an exciting evening. Tulisa sang her parts well enough, but seemed nervous and almost overly serious. Later in the show, Tulisa’s N-Dubz band-mates appeared and sang ‘No Regrets’. At one point, Dappy jumped down in the trench between the stage and the front row of the audience. He was quickly bundled back to the stage – this was a charity event being broadcast on none other than the BBC, after all!

  By the end of the night Tulisa and the rest of the stellar bill – which included queen of pop Lady Gaga – had put on a fine show and raised plenty of money for charity. It had been an enjoyable night and an important one. Those involved in The X Factor can lose sight of the world beyond that talent show. As Barlow said: ‘It’s been nice to concentrate on something other than X Factor. We’re in a bubble down there. It’s been good to leave London. We get tied up with our own importance.’ His words will have rung true for Tulisa, surely. Tulisa then had less than 48 hours until the next live show. It had been an eventful week, including a trip to the premiere of the much-anticipated Breaking Dawn movie, which is the fifth instalment of the popular Twilight series. She confirmed which of the two lead males of the film she is most fond of, when asked that perennial Twilight question: are you Team Edward or Team Jacob? ‘Team Jacob all the way,’ she said. ‘He’s just got that mysterious vibe going on in the film, like a dark horse. I like dark characters.’

  Little Mix’s performance of En Vogue’s ‘Don’t Let Go’ was superb. The song, taken from the soundtrack of the film Set It Off, really suited them. All four judges were full of praise. Tulisa said, ‘Girls, can I just take the time to express to the nation how proud I am. You really went for it tonight.’

  Her pride was quite understandable. Rowland had told them: ‘You could be the best girl group to come out of the UK’ and Barlow added, ‘That was your best performance to date – brilliant!’ It was enough to get them through to the final five – the first time a girl band had managed such a feat in the history of The X Factor. Reaching the eighth week of the series meant they had surpassed the previous record, held by the Conway Sisters who reached week seven back in 2005. Their own charm and musical talent, together with Tulisa’s willingness to push the ‘girl power’ button when she spoke about them, had combined to put them among the favourites to win. ‘Tulisa is a brilliant mentor,’ said Jesy Nelson afterwards. ‘She is so full on and she does everything for us. She is not only our mentor, she is our friend.’ With her beloved act through to the quarter-final and no major rows or disagreements taking place during the weekend, it had been a satisfying round of live shows for her and her act.

  Even though Tulisa had been essentially out of the key dramas of the weekend’s show, she was thrust straight back into the limelight within days of Craig Colton’s exit. The arm gesture with which she opened many shows came under the spotlight of a media regulator following complaints from viewers. During each episode, provided she was wearing short sleeves, Tulisa would lift her right arm and wink as she was introduced by host Dermot O’Leary. Tattooed across her arm is ‘The Female Boss’ – also the name of her perfume. The broadcasting regulator Ofcom reportedly opened an investigation into whether she was breaking television rules. Following suggestions she had been fishing for freebies when she had plugged products during interviews a few months back, this was a story Tulisa could do without.

  There were precedents of Ofcom coming down hard on X Factor figures. In January 2011, Ofcom had found The X Factor in breach of product placement rules after presenter Dermot O’Leary appeared to encourage viewers to download songs by guest acts Diana Vickers and Michael Bublé. In 2010, Ofcom had received almost 3,000 complaints about sexualised dance routines by Rihanna and Christina Aguilera during last year’s X Factor finals. Ofcom warned the show it was skating on thin ice with such raunchy routines. These are just two of the Ofcom investigations that have taken place into X Factor matters. As one wag commented: ‘The X Factor must keep Ofcom in their jobs.’ So Tulisa could expect that censure was possible. However, in public she came out defiant and fighting. ‘I was showing off my tattoo long before The X Factor,’ she told the Mirror. ‘It’s always been my trademark and it’s always been my nickname. The perfume’s not actually called The Female Boss – it’s just TFB. So someone wouldn’t go into a shop and buy my perfume just because they’d seen my tattoo. The show told me it’s OK, I can carry on doing it – and I will.’ She was good to her word, continuing to perform the arm salute whenever she was wearing short-sleeved outfits that revealed her forearms.

  Then Closer magazine claimed to lift the lid on behind-the-scenes stresses and traumas being suffered by Tulisa. All the claims in the magazine were attributed only to unnamed ‘insiders’ and ‘pals’. The story claimed that Tulisa considered her decision to join The X Factor one of the ‘biggest mistakes’ of her life. The row with Rowland was still very much an ongoing concern, said the story, which also claimed the American had called Tulisa a ‘nobody’ backstage and that the two judges now left the studio half an hour apart. Another claim was that Tulisa had blown her top after discovering Gary Barlow had been having secret meetings with Cheryl Cole in a bid to lure her back to the judging panel. The reported effect on Tulisa was profound: she was said to be having sleepless nights, surviving on coffee and even having a panic attack backstage immediately prior to a live show. ‘She doesn’t know how much longer she can cope,’ said Closer’s ‘source’.

  However, anyone who had seen Tulisa’s confident, smiley and shining entrances to each live show would be hard pushed to believe that she had recently been suffering from any sort of serious discomfort. It was best to take these claims with a pinch of salt, though it is certainly true that the stresses and pressures of being an X Factor judge and mentor have often knocked the confidence of those in the famous chairs. Sharon Osbourne, Dannii Minogue, Louis Walsh and Cheryl Cole had all spoken at some point in the past about how tough and stressful they found the task. Only Simon Cowell had never complained about life on the show – but then it is his party. The previous week, Tulisa had told Heat magazine that she was ‘finding it stressful’ and admitted that there were ‘times when
it does get a bit too much’. However, these admissions fell short of the apocalyptic suggestions in Closer’s article.

  As the Closer report was published Tulisa had half her professional imagination on a non-X Factor related front. ‘We’re putting out a greatest hits record on 28th November which I hope the fans – new and old – will love,’ she said when she announced the release in an earlier interview. Included among the 18 tracks were obvious choices such as ‘I Need You’, ‘We Dance On’ and ‘Best Behaviour’. The album also features covers of the Sugababes’ ‘About You Now’ and The Script’s ‘The Man Who Can’t Be Moved’, in addition to an ‘N-Dubz version’ of Dappy’s solo single ‘No Regrets’. Tulisa’s mention of ‘new’ N-Dubz fans showed how hopeful the band was that her X Factor fame would lead to extra sales for them, as millions of people previously unaware or only distantly familiar with the band noticed them for the first time. Such were the extra benefits of the mass exposure N-Dubz were given thanks to her place in The X Factor.

  As the next Saturday evening show opened there was intensified interest in Tulisa’s entrance, as viewers wondered if she would repeat her arm salute following the complaints to Ofcom. Sure enough, she did repeat the gesture. This time, she had cheekily added – in pen – a message on her left arm too. It read ‘Vote Little Mix!’

  Little Mix opened the show with a mash-up of ‘Baby’ by Justin Bieber and ‘Chain Reaction’ by Diana Ross. They received mixed comments from the judges but their second performance was showered with praise. They sang ‘Beautiful’ by Christina Aguilera. The performance had added intensity as Jesy in particular had been targeted online about her appearance. She said: ‘When I sing this song, I get quite emotional as it reminds me of the insecurities I went through when I was younger.’ They sang the song, well, beautifully, as their individual vocal talent shone through. By the end of the performance a few of the band were in tears and so was Kelly Rowland. No doubt plenty of viewers were, also. ‘Girls, you pulled it out of the bag for your second song,’ said Walsh. ‘It’s amazing to see a girl band with four lead vocals. Tulisa, I would love to see these girls in the final.’ After the tearful Rowland and the impressed Barlow also delivered their verdict it was time for proud Tulisa to praise her ‘little muffins’. ‘To me that was your best performance of the series,’ she said, adding her boisterous encouragement to viewers to vote for Little Mix. Certainly, the band could not conceivably have given greater incentive for viewers to do so than they did with their second song.