Kitty Brucknell | |
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 Kimberley in 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kimberley Dayle Edwards |
| Born | 15 November 1984 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Labels |
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| Website | kittybrucknell |
Kimberley Dayle Edwards (born 15 November 1984), formerly known professionally as Kitty Brucknell, is an English pop singer. She rose to fame as a finalist on the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011, where she finished in seventh place.
Kimberley Dayle Edwards was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, [1] on 15 November 1984. She started singing at an early age, as well as playing the violin and the piano. Throughout her childhood, she took part in a number of charity concerts and musical theatre performances, and was a prolific award winner in the Cheltenham Competitive Festival. [2] At the age of 11, she won a place in the National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain and continued touring with them annually. She was awarded music scholarships to Dean Close School, St. Edward's School and Clifton College in Bristol. She began touring internationally at the age of 16.
In 2003, Edwards began writing and directing Interference, a science-fiction film. [3] The film was accepted for the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. [4] Following this, it was shown at the Portobello Film Festival and Palm Springs.
Before The X Factor , Kimberley worked as a Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Lady Gaga tribute act. [5] [6] [7] In June 2009, she appeared on Britney Spears Saved My Life, a documentary which aired on BBC Three. [8] She appeared in series 1 of ITV's Dinner Date in 2010.
In 2010, she contracted Guillain–Barré syndrome, a life-threatening muscle disorder, whilst singing in Corfu, which left her paralysed for four months. [9]
In 2011, Kimberley (then known as Kitty Brucknell) auditioned for the eighth series of The X Factor in front of judges Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland and Tulisa. In her audition, she sang "The Edge of Glory" and all four judges voted to send her through to the "bootcamp" stage. She performed "You Got the Love" and "Feeling Good" at bootcamp, and made it through to judges' houses. After performing "Beautiful Disaster", Walsh put her through to the live shows in his Over 25s category alongside Johnny Robinson, Sami Brookes and Jonjo Kerr.
Brucknell was in the final showdown three times during the show: in weeks 3 (with Sami Brookes), 5 (with Johnny Robinson) and 6 (with Misha B). In week 3, she was saved by a majority vote from the judges. Voting statistics revealed that Brookes received more votes than Brucknell meaning if the result went to deadlock, Brookes would have been saved and Brucknell would've been sent home. In week 5, she fell in the bottom three and was saved by a majority vote from the judges. However, Robinson received more votes than Brucknell which meant that if the result went to deadlock, Robinson would have been saved and Brucknell would've been sent home. Brucknell was finally sent home in week 6 only after Walsh voted to save her. However, voting statistics revealed that Brucknell received more votes than Misha B meaning if the result went to deadlock, Brucknell would have been saved and sent through to week 7, while Misha B would've been sent home. [10]
| Stage | Show | Song | Theme | Result | Final showdown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song | Result | |||||
| Semi-finals | Auditions | "The Edge of Glory" | Free choice | Advanced | None | |
| Bootcamp 1 | "You Got the Love" | Bootcamp challenge | Advanced | |||
| Bootcamp 2 | "Feeling Good" | Bootcamp songs | Advanced | |||
| Judges' houses | "Beautiful Disaster" | Free choice | Advanced | |||
| Finals | Live show 1 | "Who Wants to Live Forever" | Britain vs. America | Saved by Walsh | ||
| Live show 2 | "It's Oh So Quiet" | Love and heartbreak | Safe (10th) | None | ||
| Live show 3 | "Live and Let Die" | Rock | Bottom two (11th) | "The Edge of Glory" | Saved (Minority) | |
| Live show 4 | "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" | Halloween | Safe (4th) | None | ||
| Live show 5 | "Like a Prayer" | Club classics | Bottom three (8th) | "Beautiful Disaster" | Saved (Minority) | |
| Live show 6 | "Don't Stop Me Now" | Lady Gaga vs. Queen | Bottom two (6th) | "Over the Rainbow" | Eliminated (Majority) | |
Following the X Factor Live Tour 2012, Edwards began teasing the release of her track "Red Shoes". [11] [12] Brucknell returned to The X Factor in 2013 when she performed alongside other former contestants such as Rylan Clark, Jedward, Wagner, 2 Shoes, Diva Fever and Johnny Robinson at the final in Wembley Arena. In January 2013, she went on her first tour which was dubbed the "Glamour and Damage" Tour. She performed "The Damage is Done" from her then forthcoming album Glamour and Damage. [13] She featured on a single which was released in Germany entitled "No Tomorrow". [14]
In August, she shared one of her original tracks "Chains", which garnered a lot of interest from major online blogs, even with a mention from Brian May of Queen. [15] On 4 May, Kitty announced that her debut single "Glitter in the Sky" would be released on 19 October 2014. Her debut album Glamour and Damage was launched on Pledge Music where it is available to pre-order along with many other exclusives. Within the two weeks of its launch, she had successfully reached over 25% of her goal. [16] On 2 August, she successfully reached 100% of her goal. Her debut album, Glamour and Damage was released on 1 November 2014 through Pledge Music.
She attempted to represent Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Yearning". The song was written by Kitty with Dai Smith and Allyson Summerhayes (also known as 'The Elements'). Kitty's Eurovision attempt was on behalf of escnews.org who were reportedly acting as her management team during the Eurovision season 2015. [17] On 25 November 2014, it was revealed that Kitty was not one of the nine acts selected by SRF that moved on to the live auditions held in Zürich and was eliminated. [18] She was later shortlisted for the Moldovan national final with her songs "Yearning" and "Remix". On 17 January 2015, it was announced that "Remix" had advanced to the semi-final stage held in February. [19] She was eliminated from the competition during the first semi-final on 24 February 2015. [20]
She revealed in an interview that the reason why she is not attempting to represent the UK is because the BBC felt it was a conflict of interest for a former X Factor contestant to be promoted by them given their involvement with the Eurovision and the fact that they already have their own singing contest, The Voice UK , [21] although former X Factor contestant Andy Abraham represented the UK in 2008. In March 2015, Edwards announced that she would release a Broadway album later in the year which would be recorded at Abbey Road Studios.
Kitty took the ESC News’ Track of the Year 2015 title with her Moldovan National Final entry "Yearning", with 71% of the votes. [22] [23]
Kitty is currently working on a musical covers album, in the style of Broadway theatre. She has been recording the album at Abbey Studios.
She also co-owns an international talent agency called Rockstars Agency, LLC, representing talent in the US, Canada and UK for online content creation and live-streaming, primarily with TikTok influencers and Bigo Live creators, [24] working with celebrities such as Perez Hilton and Sam Asghari. [25]
As of January 2016, Kimberley lives in Los Angeles. [26] [27]
She is also an avid figure skater, having taken up the sport in 2018 and competes in adult competitions in the US at Bronze level. [28] [29]
| Album title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Glamour and Damage |
|
| Album title | Album details |
|---|---|
| The Glamour and Damage 2013 Live Tour |
|
| Year | Single | Peak chart position | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Indie Breakers | |||||||||
| 2014 | "Glitter in the Sky" | 9 | Glamour and Damage | ||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [30] | IRE [31] | SCO [32] | |||||||
| 2011 | "Wishing on a Star" (as part of The X Factor Finalists 2011 featuring JLS and One Direction) | 1 | 1 | 1 | Non-album singles | ||||
| 2013 | "No Tomorrow" (Davis Redfield featuring Kitty Brucknell) | — | — | — | |||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||
Moldova has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 18 times, debuting in 2005. The country's best result is a third-place finish for SunStroke Project in 2017, with their song "Hey Mamma".
Albania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 19 times since its debut in 2004. Festivali i Këngës, a long-standing song contest that takes place every year in Albania since 1962, is used to select the country's entrant for that year's Eurovision Song Contest. Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 2004 with Anjeza Shahini placing seventh. It remained the country's highest result in the contest until 2012, when Rona Nishliu finished fifth.
The Netherlands has participated in every edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest since its inception in 2003. The country has won the competition on one occasion; in 2009, with the song "Click Clack" by Ralf Mackenbach. Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS has been responsible for the participation, selecting the nation's entrant through the national final Junior Songfestival. The Netherlands is the only country to have taken part in every edition of the contest.
Armenia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 15 times since making its debut in 2006, when André became the first participant representing Armenia and was the first singer from the Caucasus region to compete at Eurovision. Armenia has reached the top 10 on seven occasions, with the country's best result in the contest being two fourth-place finishes, achieved by Sirusho with the song "Qélé, Qélé" (2008), and Aram Mp3 with "Not Alone" (2014). 2011 was the first year that Armenia failed to advance from the semi-final round. This was followed by the country withdrawing from the 2012 contest due to security concerns in the host city, Baku. In 2018 and 2019, Armenia consecutively failed to qualify from the semi-finals for the second and third time respectively.
The participation of Portugal in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest first began at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2006 which took place in Bucharest, Romania. Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP), a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), were responsible for the selection process of their participation. Portugal used a national selection format, broadcasting a show entitled "Festival da Canção Junior", for their participation at the contests. This was a junior version of Festival da Canção, the national music competition organised by broadcaster RTP to choose the Portuguese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The first representative to participate for the nation at the 2006 contest was Pedro Madeira with the song "Deixa-me sentir", which finished in second-last place out of fifteen participating entries, achieving a score of twenty-two points. Their worst result to date has been achieved by Rita Laranjeira with her song "Gosto de tudo " in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 where she placed 18th. Portugal withdrew from competing in 2008, and returned in 2017. They withdrew again in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Portugal returned in 2021, where they achieved 11th place, their best result up to that point. In 2022 the country surpassed this record and reached 8th place.
Natalia Barbu is a Moldovan singer and songwriter. She is best known for representing Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song "Fight". She will again represent the country in 2024 with the song "In the Middle".
Armenia has participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest since 2007. Armenian Public Television (ARMTV), a member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), have been responsible for the selection process of their participants since their debut.
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 12th edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and took place, for the first time, in Malta. This was the third time that the contest was hosted by the previous year's winning country. Maltese national broadcaster PBS was the host broadcaster for the event. The final took place on 15 November 2014 and was in the Malta Shipbuilding in Marsa, near Valletta. Moira Delia, a Maltese television personality, hosted the show, marking the first time in Junior Eurovision history that there was only one presenter of the show.
Glamour and Damage is the debut solo album by British singer-songwriter Kitty Brucknell. It was released by Whisky Records via the direct fan-to-artist platform, Pledge Music on 1 November 2014.
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the fifteenth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, organised by the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It took place on 26 November 2017 at the Olympic Palace, in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. This was the fifth time that the contest was hosted by the previous year's winning country. The visual design and contest slogan, "Shine Bright", were revealed in May 2017.
Moldova participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Hey Mamma" written by Anton Ragoza, Sergei Ialovitski, Sergey Stepanov, Mihail Cebotarenco and Alina Galetskaya. The song was performed by the group SunStroke Project. The Moldovan broadcaster TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM) organised the national final O melodie pentru Europa 2017 in order to select the Moldovan entry for the 2016 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. 40 entries competed to represent Moldova in Kyiv, with 14 being shortlisted to participate in the televised national final after auditioning in front of a jury panel. After a semi-final and final which took place on 24 and 25 February 2017, "Hey Mamma" performed by SunStroke Project emerged as the winner after gaining the most points following the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public televote.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the 2017 contest with the song "Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP), the contest was held at the Lisbon Arena, and consisted of two semi-finals on 8 and 10 May, and a final on 12 May 2018. The three live shows were presented by Portuguese television presenters Filomena Cautela, Sílvia Alberto and Catarina Furtado, and Portuguese-American actress Daniela Ruah, marking the first time that the contest was presented by four hosts.
Belarus participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 which took place in Tbilisi, Georgia on 26 November 2017. The Belarusian entry for the 2017 contest in Tbilisi, Georgia was selected through a national final organised by the Belarusian broadcaster National State Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus (BTRC). A national final, which took place on 25 August 2017, saw ten competing acts participating in a televised production where the winner was determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury made up of music professionals and a public telephone vote. Helena Meraai won the national final by receiving the most votes from both the professional jury and televoters and she represented Belarus in Georgia with the song "I Am The One".
Georgia took part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2017 as the host country after their victory in 2016 with the song "Mzeo" by Mariam Mamadashvili. Their entry was decided through an internal selection. They were represented by Grigol Kipshidze and the song "Voice of The Heart".
Julia Olegovna Samoilova, sometimes credited as Yulia Samoilova or Julia Samoylova, is a Russian singer-songwriter. In early 2017, she was selected to represent Russia in the 2017 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Flame Is Burning", but was subsequently banned from the contest's host country, Ukraine, due to violating Ukrainian law by entering Crimea through Russia in 2015, shortly after the region was annexed by Russia. In response to the ban, Russia ultimately withdrew from the contest. The following year, Samoylova was instead chosen to represent her country in the 2018 edition of the contest in Portugal. Performing "I Won't Break", she placed 15th out of 18 contestants in the second semi-final, failing to qualify for the grand final. "I Won't Break" was the first Russian entry not to reach the final since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004.
Natia Todua is a Georgian-German singer. She came to prominence in Germany after winning the seventh season of The Voice of Germany. In 2018, Todua became a judge on the Georgian version of Idol.
Resciebelle "Bella" Barrios Santiago is a Filipino-Romanian singer. Santiago first received recognition in Romania in 2016, after becoming a finalist on season six of Românii au talent, Romania's version of Got Talent. She later received widespread attention after winning season eight of X Factor Romania in 2018.
Tatyana "Tanya" Mezhentseva is a Russian singer. She represented Russia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 along with Denberel Oorzhak with the song "A Time for Us", placing 13th. Mezhentseva was again selected, this time as a solo performer, to represent her country at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Mon ami", eventually placing seventh. This made her the third Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant to compete twice, after Ekaterina Ryabova for Russia in 2009 and 2011 and Lerika for Moldova in 2011 and for Russia in 2012.
Moldova participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Sugar" written by Dimitris Kontopoulos, Philipp Kirkorov, Mikhail Gutseriyev and Sharon Vaughn. The song was performed by Natalia Gordienko, who was internally selected in January 2021 by the Moldovan broadcaster TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM) to represent the nation at the 2021 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Songwriter Philipp Kirkorov represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 with the song "Kolybelnaya dlya vulkana" where he placed seventeenth, while Natalia Gordienko had previously represented Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006 together with Arsenium and Connect-R, placing twentieth with the song "Loca", and was due to compete in the 2020 contest with "Prison". The Moldovan song, "Sugar", was presented to the public on 4 March 2021.
Germany participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy with the song "Rockstars" performed by Malik Harris. The German entry for the 2022 contest was selected through the national final Germany 12 Points, organised by the German broadcaster ARD in collaboration with Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). The national final took place on 4 March 2022 and featured six competing acts with the winner being selected through online radio voting and public voting.
This year we gave you even more choice; a selection of sixty songs, albums and performances all worthy of your vote to win the prestigious title 'Track of The Year 2015'. After tens of thousands of votes, Kitty Brucknell from the United Kingdom took the title with a stagering 71% of the votes for her song 'Yearning'.
Kitty Brucknell has taken the accolade of ESC News' Track of the Year 2015 with her Moldovan National Final entry "Yearning".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)You might know me as Kitty, I've been a live-streamer and entertainer for over 3 years. I started streaming so I could connect with my fans at home and I've never looked back! I have over 100k fans on Bigo Live, over 6 million gifts and over 100k followers on social media. I'm the co-founder of Rockstars Agency and I'm so grateful to be able to work with so many amazing people.
wearerockstarsagency @theperezhilton @perezhilton starts today at 4pm!!!! SO EXCITED!
On Thursday, I move to LA, 2 a place that CELEBRATES eccentricity and diversity
Just arrived in LAX....now off to enjoy the sun! First day of the rest of my life!
I've skated nearly every single day since Jan 2018
Started Jan '18 Pre-Bronze FS Jan '20 Silver MITF Nov '21
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