It’s safe to say that Louise Gabrielle Bobb made quite an impression when she debuted at the tender age of 23. Her debut single “Dreams” hurtled into the charts at number two, which was already the highest chart entry for a debut single in the history of the U.K singles charts. She went one better the week afterwards though, when the single topped the charts and stayed at the top for the following three weeks. With one single, Gabrielle had established herself as a talent to be reckoned with, and followed it up with another top ten single in the form of “Going Nowhere”. Her debut album “Find Your Way” was released soon after that, and signalled the peak of a commercial purple patch for the young artist along with her award for British Breakthrough Act at the 1994 BRIT Awards.
After touring the world for the remainder of 1994, Gabrielle released her second studio album in 1996. The self-titled effort was another huge hit for her, as was its lead single “Give Me A Little More Time”, but as the campaign went on her singles started slipping further and further down the upper echelons of the charts, save for a duet with “Stay Another Day” hitmakers East 17 in the form of “If You Ever”, which was a number two hit and sold over half a million copies. However, people were beginning to doubt the commercial potential of Gabrielle on the whole. Almost as a response, 1999 would see her go through one of the most spectacular career rejuvenations of the 1990’s. Her third album “Rise” spent three weeks at number one and was certified four times platinum, with its eponymous lead single enjoying similar success in January 2000.
Ever since then, Gabrielle has enjoyed a stellar career as one of the premier British soul artists of today, arguably paving the way for the likes of Adele and Amy Winehouse to have similar levels of success all over the world. With a sixth album currently in the works, Gabrielle comes highly recommended.
With 10 million albums sold, a reputation for shirtlessness, and countless arenas booked solid, how could JLS go wrong? The answer is they can't. The foursome whizzed their way through their string of hits at the O2 in London, beaming and bouncing all the way.
The set included their biggest singles, "Everybody in Love" and "Beat Again," although it was sometimes hard to hear them over the screaming girls. The arena is massive but they've got the personality and showmanship to fill the place up. Aston kept the crowd excited with his backflips, but Oritsé, JB, and Marvin got their turns in the spotlight, too. They really made an effort to get the audience involved.
There was lots of chatting and banter between the boys, and at one point, they whipped out the stools and got some girls from the crowd up on stage with them. The show was a whirlwind of lights, costume changes, and theatrics, but the guys have genuine talent to back up the spectacle. The story has a bittersweet ending since JLS won't be back for more, but they certainly give a new meaning to going out with a bang. If they were to reunite, you can bet there'd be plenty of people, including me, who'd go running back for more.
I LOVE GABRIELLE
However on this occasion the concert should have been cancelled and rescheduled, Garbrielle was far to ill to perform despite her best efforts. She was hoarse, clearly struggling to sing and very apologetic but she should have cancelled.
I would have preferred to have heard her at her best. I was so looking forward to her performance as I have never seen her live but have had great reviews and recommendations from others who had seen her previously.
So overall, very disappointed, I paid to for a great performance and got below par.
Sorry Gabrielle but you should have cancelled or offered a refund for you performance as the crowd had to sing the majority of the songs because you were so ill.
Disappointing...