The Flame Tree Pop Blog

Sassy girl band Little Mix are going from strength to strength as they forge their pop career, currently taking America and Canada by storm as they join Demi Lovato on her immense 'The Neon Lights Tour'. This comes just in time for them to celebrate getting their second album Salute into the US Top Ten this week. How did they get here? Let's take a look back at their humble origins…

How It All Began

Like One Direction before them, they were put together during the X Factor, having never met each other beforehand. All four had had something in their auditions but not managed to wow the judges. Gary didn’t like Jesy’s version of ‘Bust Your Windows’, giving her a ‘No’ and telling her it was ‘generic’, while Tulisa, incredibly, told Perrie: ‘I like you, but I’m not in love with you.’

Kelly Rowland felt differently, shouting, ‘Your voice is crazy, yo!’ after Perrie’s performance of Alanis Morissette’s ‘You Oughta Know’. When Leigh-Anne auditioned with Rihanna’s ‘Only Girl (In The World)’, Kelly told her, ‘I do see you in a girl band.’ The seeds were sown and although the four girls got through to Boot Camp, their journeys as solo artists would end there.

Boot Camp Brainwave

Instead, they were placed in two different groups: Jesy and Perrie in Faux Pas, alongside two other girls, and Jade and Leigh-Anne in a band called Orion. Neither group made it to Judges’ Houses but then The X Factor bosses had a brainwave and the four girls were placed in a band together, performing under the name Rhythmix.

During the live shows, their performance became the one you tuned in for. What would they do this week? The girls mixed it up, jumping from Nicki Minaj to ballads and mash-ups. They even managed to ride out a name change; it turned out that a Brighton charity were also called Rhythmix so the girls decided to take on a new moniker: Little Mix.

Natural Born Winners

In week seven Little Mix performed En Vogue’s ‘Don’t Let Go’, which became the turning point, perhaps, and the moment when the British public decided that, actually, maybe a girl band could win this – if a girl band were this good.

As they appeared on the Marks & Spencer Christmas advert, one fan tweeted after their victory was announced: ‘Well its obvious little mix were gonna win, they were the ones at the end of the marks and spencer advert’. They weren’t alone in that theory, especially considering the prominent vocals that the girls – in particular Perrie – were given on The X Factor charity single ‘Wishing On A Star’; it was obvious that they were positioning themselves as winners.

Nonetheless, everyone was still surprised – none more so than the girls, perhaps – when in December 2011, after performances of Florence and The Machine’s ‘You’ve Got The Love’, and a mash-up of ‘Empire State Of Mind’ and ‘If I Ain’t Got You’ with mentor Tulisa, they actually did beat Amelia Lily and Marcus Collins to become the first ever group to take The X Factor crown.

Fast forward to 2014, and they've already notched up 2 Top Ten albums, as well as 7 Top 20 singles. No doubt they'll absolutely smash their tour later this year to support their second album Salute, and their success will just keep on coming. They're bringing Girl Power to a whole new legion of fans – long may it continue!

Links

• Everything you need to know about Little Mix can be found on their website here

• Keep up to date with Demi Lovato's news, including The Neon Lights Tour here

• You can buy our glossy illustrated book in print here or the full-colour illustrated ebook version here 

• For the latest celebrity news and gossip, follow @FlameTreePop here

Oh dear James Arthur! What’s happened? It wasn’t even a year ago that you were crowned X Factor’s edgiest winner – selling over 1.3 million copies of your debut single ‘Impossible’, making it the best selling winner's single ever! But fast forward 11 months and over 11,000 people signed a petition for you not to perform on last Sunday’s X Factor. How have you fallen out of public favour so quickly – and why can we hear the alarms of an all-too-familiar celebrity meltdown ringing?

The Rap Battle 

James has always been a bit of a character – even when he rose to fame on The X Factor in 2012 he didn’t hold his tongue. Since then he has got into numerous Twitter rows with comedian Frankie Boyle, as well as 2010 X Factor winner Matt Cardle and One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson – who said that popstars should be responsible for their own promotion via Twitter anyway?

But his latest actions have caused actual consequences that have gone beyond Twitter, quickly losing his fans’ respect. Last month unknown rapper Micky Worthless mocked James Arthur and his reality X Factor roots in a rap diss. James – not one to take an insult lying down – responded not with a diss but with a homophobic slur that featured the word ‘queer’. Word travels fast on social networks with the slur provoking – and rightly so – an angry response amongst James’s Twitter followers. Comedian Matt Lucas even tweeted an angry response to the X Factor winner’s slur.

Too Little Too Late?

James was quick to realise what he had said and apologised via Twitter stating 'I just have to say that I’m extremely disappointed in myself … Some of the things said in this rap can be mistaken for homophobic slurs and I assure you homophobia is something I do not believe in.'

Although announcing he was quitting Twitter for good the confrontations continued. Lucy Spraggan – James Arthur’s fellow 2012 X Factor contestant – responded angrily to his slur, tweeting 'people kill themselves everyday over words like queer.'

It was from this that James sent a string of abusive text messages to Lucy, which she has since posted on Twitter. One of his texts read 'Is it coz you’re a gay rights activist you had to say something as extreme as "people kill themselves every day over words like queer" are you for real?' Lucy has since posted a blog response to the messages, highlighting that although she doesn’t believe James to be a homophobic, she feels strongly about the use of homophobic language and believes something needs to be done about it as a whole.

The Ex-Factor?

So what was made of James’s appearance on Sunday night's X Factor? The singer apologised – after a performance of his aptly named new single ‘Recovery’ – for the ‘silly mistakes’ he has made this year and for abusing ‘his position as an X Factor winner’. It’s sad that a talent so raw has been tarnished, but it's even sadder that James felt it was ever ok to use homophobic language – because it’s never OK. Ever. James has apologised but it remains to be seen whether he ‘will get what’s coming to [him]’ as he sings in his second single ‘Ain’t Nobody Till Somebody Loves You’. Or whether he will take some much needed media training that he originally turned down, and grow into somebody who produces raw music and engages his brain before he acts. Tell us what you think!

Links

• For all the latest James Arthur news check out his official website here

• Check out James’s new single ‘Recovery’ here

• For all the latest celebrity news and gossip follow @FlameTreePop here

Did you see Lady Gaga perform on The X Factor on Sunday night? The megastar took to the stage to give her first performance of second single ‘Venus’, which is taken from her highly anticipated third studio album ARTPOP. 

Venus: Goddess of Gaga

The stage is set, there's smoke rolling around the studio, the lights are dimmed to a spotlight and Lady Gaga begins her new single ‘Venus’. She's seated on a chair, not really wearing very much... She's holding a guitar (which looks like it covers her modesty) surrounded by female dancers who are dressed in nude body suits. From the moment she begins to sing it is clear why she has sold over 90 million records. Her sultry tones, coupled with her undeniable passion for music and performing, are evidence enough why Gaga is the Lady.

Comeback Queen

Since she was forced to cancel her Born This Way tour in 2012 due to undergoing hip surgery, Gaga has made a spectacular comeback in 2013. Her first single ‘Applause’ wowed audiences and critics alike, and a set-list of new songs from ARTPOP performed at this year’s iTunes festival shows that Gaga is embracing a different look.

With a side of Gaga quirkiness, she has embodied everything associated with Venus, goddess of love, and this performance is no different. Her long blonde hair flows like any goddess’ should whilst she strums out chords on her acoustic guitar.

And as she stands she reveals she is indeed wearing something – a bikini top fashioned from two shells – good job she ditched the guitar and started doing some dancing otherwise Gaga could have caught a chill!

What Does Gaga Want?

Then just when we thought Gaga couldn’t give us any more, the music to ‘Do What U Want’ (another song from ARTPOP) starts up again. This time Gaga doesn’t want to float around the stage, doing some choreographed dance moves in a blonde wig. Oh no! Gaga rips off the first wig to reveal a much shorter darker cropped hair style, before diving onto the floor writhing around in nothing more than a skin coloured bikini among scattered rose petals.

There are now lasers, making the stage look a lot harsher and grittier than her performance of ten seconds previously. Gaga’s on-stage transformation from goddess of love to a woman of strength is typical Gaga, wanting to give her fans twice as much for their money! A quick stint on the piano follows. But not content with just sitting at the piano tinkling the keys, she jumps on top of her instrument, twisting and turning, stomping her feet... 

Gaga Shares The Love

The X Factor audience are going Gaga (sorry couldn’t resist!), and the four judges are on their feet too, but the surprises don’t stop there. Gaga runs over to the judges and hugs Sharon Osbourne, who has been rumoured to have had a long running feud with the artist. Gaga declares to the world that her and Sharon no longer have any ‘beef’ – probably because it’s all on Gaga’s infamous meat dress.

Phew! If that performance with those powerful vocals and what is soon to be an iconic shell bikini wasn’t enough, a live reconciliation between two of show business' biggest stars has left me gobsmacked! I don’t know how they’ll beat that next week – do you?

Links

• Check out Lady Gaga's X Factor performance here

• Want to know all the latest Lady Gaga news? Then head to her official website here

• For all the latest celebrity news and pop gossip then follow @FlameTreePop here