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.
Kitty Brucknell | |
|---|---|
 Kimberley in 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kimberley Dayle Edwards |
| Born | 15 November 1984 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Labels |
|
| Website | kittybrucknell |
Early life and education
editKimberley 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.
Career
edit2007–11: Early career
editBefore 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]
2011: The X Factor
editIn 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]
Performances
edit| 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) | |
2012–present: Glamour and Damage
edit.jpg)
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.
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]
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]
Personal life
editAs 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]
Discography
editStudio albums
edit| Album title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Glamour and Damage |
|
Live albums
edit| Album title | Album details |
|---|---|
| The Glamour and Damage 2013 Live Tour |
|
Singles
edit| 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. | |||||||||
As featured artist
edit| 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. | |||||||||
Concert tours
edit- The X Factor Live Tour (2012)
- Glamour and Damage Tour (2013)
Publications
edit- Are You On the List? A Guide on How to Become a Modern Socialite (co-author with Olivia Cox and Lewis-Duncan Weedon) (2014)
References
edit- ^ Elks, Sonia. "The X Factor 2011 final 16: Finalists revealed as Janet Devlin, Frankie Cocozza, Kitty Brucknell make the cut". Metro. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
- ^ "Young musicians perform at fundraising concert for Cheltenham Festival of Performing Arts | Gloucestershire Echo". Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
- ^ Interference(2005) at IMDb
- ^ "Interference – Short Film Goes to Cannes Directed by 20yr Old Filmmaker Kimberley Dayle Edwards". Prweb.com. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014.
- ^ "Kimberley Dayle on Radio One". YouTube. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
- ^ "X Factor's Kitty Brucknell – aka Kimberley Dayle Edwards". YouTube. 21 August 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
- ^ "Britney Spears Impersonator ~ Kimberley Dayle". YouTube. 16 November 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
- ^ "Britney Spears Saved My Life: Britney super-fans talk about how their love for the singer has made their lives worth living". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
- ^ "Kitty Brucknell warns X Factor may kill her as she collapses at boot camp | Metro News". Metro.co.uk. 26 September 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- ^ "'X Factor' 2011 voting breakdown in full". Digital Spy. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ^ Copsey, Robert (25 July 2012). "Kitty Brucknell teases debut single 'Red Shoes'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
- ^ Rainsforth, Lara. "X FACTOR'S KITTY BRUCKNELL CONFIRMS DEBUT SINGLE". UKstandUp. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
- ^ Taylor, Sam. "Interview: X Factor's Kitty Brucknell on her Glamour and Damage tour, gay marriage and 'living the dream'". Mancurianmatters. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
- ^ "Kitty Brucknell – Official Website – Biography". KittyBrucknell.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
- ^ Rollins, Claire. "Kitty Brucknell – 'Chains' (Official Video)". HitTheFloor. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
- ^ "Kitty : Glamour and Damage". Archived from the original on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (5 October 2014). "Exclusive: Kitty Brucknell In Eurovision Quest". Eurovoix. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (25 November 2014). "Switzerland: SRF Announce Their 9 Finalists". Eurovoix. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
- ^ Honciuc, Bogdan (17 January 2015). "MOLDOVA: 24 SEMI-FINALISTS SELECTED AFTER LIVE AUDITIONS". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (24 February 2015). "Moldova: O Melodie Pentru Europa Semi Final 1 Results". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
- ^ Welton, Victoria (13 November 2014). "Vote Kitty Brucknell for Eurovision". Verily Victoria Vocalises. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ "The ESC News Group". The ESC News Group. Archived from the original on 19 January 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
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'.
- ^ ago, Richard Taylor • 3 months. "Track Of The Year 2015 Winner". Eurovoix. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
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) - ^ "Rockstars Agency LLC About Us". RockstarsAgency.com. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
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.
- ^ "Rockstars Agency Instagram". Instagram. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
wearerockstarsagency @theperezhilton @perezhilton starts today at 4pm!!!! SO EXCITED!
- ^ "Kitty Brucknell on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
On Thursday, I move to LA, 2 a place that CELEBRATES eccentricity and diversity
- ^ "Kitty Brucknell on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
Just arrived in LAX....now off to enjoy the sun! First day of the rest of my life!
- ^ "Kitty Brucknell on Instagram". Instagram. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
I've skated nearly every single day since Jan 2018
- ^ "Kitty Skating on Instagram". Instagram. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
Started Jan '18 Pre-Bronze FS Jan '20 Silver MITF Nov '21
- ^ Peak positions for the featured singles in the UK:
- For "Wishing on a Star": "Chart Archive > 10 December 2011". Official Charts Company. 10 December 2011.
- ^ Peak positions for the featured singles in Ireland:
- For "Wishing on a Star": "Chart Archive > Week Ending: 1 December 2011". IRMA. 1 December 2011. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ^ Peak positions for the featured singles in Scotland:
- For "Wishing on a Star": "Chart Archive > 10 December 2011". Official Charts Company. 10 December 2011.
External links
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