Lopez Blogs

No X factor round up this week, as I was out when it was on and haven't watched it on Sky Plus yet. Oddly enough I'm in no hurry to watch it (unlike the rest of the nation - the viewing figures are way up! Guess that new audition format is working. Britain's Got The X Factor indeed :/ ) Am sure I'll be fully back into it by next week - this week however, a far more interesting X Factor was taking place in Central Park, East Ham (London) of all places. Now I may have mentioned with fascination with Elouise once or twice before on these very pages - in terms of writing about unsigned artists, she's right up there in a very short space of time with my beloved Simon Curtis. I first read about her on dontstopthepop and fell quickly in love with the motown chic of the adorable Since You've Been Gone and the good time 60s girl group romp of the utterly charming Miracle Man. Since that time, Elouise has been working with pop heavyweights like Steve Anderson (Kylie) and Terry Ronald (Girls Aloud) on perfecting a sound that not only pays tribute to artists like Dusty Springfield, Shirley Bassey and Diana Ross but sounds entirely epic in today's pop landscape. So while I (im)patiently await the release of the first single and album, a number of live shows have been taking place - with last night's the best yet.

After a perfectly pleasant day out in London, Darren (chauffer for the day and a much more patient driver than I would have been) bravely drove the Ace Gang (ie, the lovely Mark!) across central London (13 miles took 2 hours due to traffic and roadworks, but then London isn't for driving is it?) to Central Park. We were greeted with a huge outdoor stage and literally thousands of people just wanting to have a good time and enjoy a bit of live music. It wasn't quite a night under the stars as the clouds covered up a gorgeous full moon, but Elouise's star shone bright enough to sparkle and glitter for the dusky heavens. Performing with a live band and performing a mixture of pop classics and original compositions, it was like watching the best X Factor auditionee ever (and yes I'm including Leona, Same Diff and Shayne Ward in that) do a Sharon Osbourne cliche ("you really owned that stage) and totally charm people the moment she sang the first note. The night started off with a warm and lovely rendering of one of my favourite pop songs of all time, Sweet Talking Guy (see youtube clip above - kindly dedicated to me by Elouise on her youtube page!) which is an incredibly hard song to sing and sounded just lovely. The covers fitted in with the motown theme of the night and ranged from ballads (a flawless reading of I'll Be There and a powerful vocal delivery infusing just the right emotion into When You Tell Me That You Love Me) to pop party numbers (You Can't Hurry Love was kitschy fun that reminds me everytime of how much S Club's Reach owes to the drum breakdown). Standouts from the covers included a real funky The Runner (done in a very different way from how it appears on the Bananarama album) which just amazed the crowd (and had them all on their feet) as it showed a powerful and controlled vocal coming from such a petite person. And of course, I can't write a review of an Elouise concert without mentioning her glorious signature tune One Night Only. Despite having obviously perfected the performance, Elouise delivers it with passion each time and is a rousing finale to a magnificent set. Not one person in the crowd remained sitting and the party atmosphere was definitely contagious. One credit to Elouise (and her posse!) is how seamlessly the original material fitted into the act, and I want to dwell on 3 numbers in particular...

• Be A Man About It ~ written by her guitar playing brother Tom, who was working his magic once again in his trademark shades (hello Christmas! :P), this song wouldn't sound out of place on the radio played back to back with Girls Aloud's Love Is The Key. That's not to say it's similar, just that it shares a similar vibe. Infused with a cheeky hook, great horns and a lovely crescendo in the middle 8 that leads to a gigantic final chorus, it's incredibly difficult not to be swept along with this anthemic track and want to boogie on down. Much more like this please :)
• Another Day ~ I've already said that if the studio version of this was in my grubby little hands, it would have been number one for an age and a half on my charts. It's such a powerful song that is both heartbreaking and hypnotic from start to finish. The lyrics draw me into the story of clinging to love and although the word 'epic' is thrown around quite a lot (mostly by me), this is thoroughly deserving of the title. Plus it's won over my new fave DJ Larry Flick and I get goosebumps everytime I hear it on his show. Last night it sounded just majestic.
• Pretender ~ First time I have heard this tune live, and first time Elouise has performed it live and it did not disappoint. Another incredible vocal delivery, gorgeous chorus of love and yearning (please note pop performers - Elouise throws her all into these performances from every nuanced hand gesture to the emotion written on her face. This is how it should be done) and that beautiful "remember what you're missing baby" hushed singing at the end of chorus one. Though the night was warm, I had goosebumps up and down my arms...

So yes, an incredibly gushing and favourable review (and not just because my new prescription of xannax has arrived :P) because it's entirely deserved. And of course, it's not just Elouise - she moves as one with her backing singers and band, never overshadowing their contribution but leading them in her command performances. Just. Astonishing.