Back in late 2008, the names 'Jedward' and Joe McElderry had never been heard of as the name on everybody's lips was Alexandra Burke. Burke was never a front runner of The X Factor to start with, however that all changed when her rendition of Beyonce's little known hit 'Listen' catapulted the already 2 year old song back into the top 10. After winning the much anticipated competition over inferior boy band JLS (if you don't believe me listen to their album) and had the Christmas number one with her cover of Hallelujah. Overcome came as her debut album in October 2009, a good 10 months after winning a 1 million pound record deal with Simon Cowell's label. The ...  Read the complete review

Overcome is the debut album release from Alexandra Burke. The standard physical release has thirteen tracks, the iTunes version has fourteen and it's the iTunes version that I'm reviewing here. I'm not a musical snob. God knows with tastes like mine, I could hardly afford to be. So I can honestly say that I have no objection to buying music from singers who have appeared on TV 'talent' shows. In the UK, they've been a bit of a mixed bag. Whilst Leona Lewis has a 'nice' voice, she has the personality of a dead shrew and leaves me a bit cold. But there's something about Alexandra Burke that I really like. I like her image - kind of sexy, but not forced. I like ...  Read the complete review

If there's one huge advantage of music streaming facilities it is that one gets the opportunity to try out new music and artists at a relatively low cost (or even no cost). Rather than "playing safe" I've recently started experimenting with my musical choices and listening to things that there's precious little chance that I'd go out to buy without having first heard more than a couple of songs from the album. Having said that, there's usually a hook that will get me to try an album rather than just idle curiosity. The hook for Alexandra Burke's album, Overcome, was her first hit "Hallelujah". Burke is probably best known as ...  Read the complete review

Released in October 2009 some 10 months after winning The X factor "Overcome" is the debut album from Alexandra Burke. Her winners single "Hallelujah" topped the Christmas 2008 chart and is the closing song on what has become one of the most played albums in our home since it was bought as a Christmas stocking filler for me from my wife. There was no doubt that this girl could sing as demonstrated during her time on the show, not an out and out forerunner from the start but her versatility and personality began to shine through during the latter end of the competition. A well deserved winner of the show and rather than take the Leona ...  Read the complete review

It's slightly odd, because last year was really the first year I hadn't followed the X Factor shambles, as it had really run out of steam for me. I didn't really know who Alexandra Burke was until I finally relented and tuned in for the final just before Christmas. Throughout the show that night, she seemed unremarkable, nice voice, nice looking girl, but nothing great. Then, she opened her mouth to sing the winning song, Hallelujah and I had goosebumps. Its not that Hallelujah was that different from the other winning songs Cowell and Co trot out on the nothingth of December every year. Its a cover version given the big piano and mid-song drumroll ...  Read the complete review