Alesha Dixon

Alesha Dixon (born Alesha Anjanette Dixon, 7 October 1978, Welwyn Garden City, England) is an English singer, MC, songwriter, model and television personality. After finding fame in the all-girl trio Mis-Teeq, she is expected to release her debut solo album in 2008 after the initial UK release of the album Fired Up was cancelled. Fired Up was released in Japan in February 2008 under Victor Records. Dixon was crowned Strictly Come Dancing champion in December 2007, beating actor Matt Di Angelo in the final. Biography Dixon is one of seven children born to an English mother and Jamaican father. She has five half brothers and one half sister. She was educated at Monks Walk school, Welwyn Garden City, Herts and had planned to become a PE teacher after leaving college. After completing a diploma course, she had planned to take up a place at Loughborough University when she was approached on a train by a record producer, who asked her if she could sing, and on the way back home she was approached again by someone who asked if she was in a band. She then decided to put her degree on hold. Music career Her career began in 1999 when she met Sabrina Washington when they both joined Dance Attic (a popular hip-hop/jazz dance academy in West London), and together they formed a duo and recorded a demo titled Inspiration. During an audition, they met with Su-Elise Nash, and then together they formed a trio. They were soon signed to Telstar Records with the addition of a new member, Zena McNally, and became the popular UK garage / R&B girl band, Mis-Teeq. Mis-Teeq Mis-Teeq released their debut single "Why?" in 2000, and it was not long before McNally left the band to pursue her own solo career. The band made a decision to remain a trio. In 2001, they released their debut album Lickin' On Both Sides, featuring hits "All I Want", "One Night Stand", "B With Me" and double A-side single "Roll On/This Is How We Do It". After the success of their debut album, 2003 saw Mis-Teeq becoming the faces of JD Sports stores nationwide. In 2003, Mis-teeq released their second album Eye Candy, which included the singles "Scandalous", "Can't Get It Back" and "Style". In 2004, Mis-Teeq toured the United States and released their debut single Scandalous from their American self-titled debut, a compilation of the albums Lickin' On Both Sides and Eye Candy. They also released "One Night Stand" before coming back to Europe to start work with their third album. However, Telstar Records was shut down and the band was left with no choice but to have released a Greatest Hits compilation right under exclusive licenses with Universal Records. The last song Dixon recorded with Mis-Teeq was "Shoo Shoo Baby" for the Disney film Valiant. In March 2005, their Greatest Hits compilation was released and it was announced that they were separating to pursue solo careers. Solo career Dixon announced that she was signed with a ₤500,000 contract deal with Polydor Records. She spent an entire year preparing for her solo debut album, 'Fired Up', working with a wide range of producers including Richard X, Xenomania, Johnny Douglas, Brian Higgins, Estelle and Paul Epworth. In June 2005, she announced her first solo single to be "Superficial", however at last minute, the song "Lipstick" was chosen as the first single. "Lipstick" was released on 14 August 2006, and charted at 14 on the UK Single Charts. She released her second single "Knockdown" on 30 October 2006 which charted at 25 on the UK Download Chart. But, on the official UK Singles Charts, the single peaked at number 45, on the second week, but falling down to 68 the third week. On 6 November 2006, it was revealed that Dixon had parted company with Polydor Records. Polydor gave her full rights to her unreleased debut album, Fired Up. Her first single from the album, Lipstick, got to number 1 in Japan's international ringtone chart and number 2 in MTV Japan's hit list. Fired Up was officially released in Japan on 20 February 2008.[1] Dixon recorded a song as part of a promotional drive for the new Ford Focus, '4 U I Will', using musical instruments made from genuine car parts. The song was made available for download on 4 February 2008. Alesha signed a four-album contract with Asylum Records in 2008. [2] Alesha's new album, The Alesha Show is slated for release in the UK on 17 November 2008 and 14 November in Ireland. The official first single from the album, "The Boy Does Nothing" was released on 10 November 2008 and 7 November in Ireland. The single became her first solo UK Top 10, following a 76 spot jump from 84 to 8 on the Official UK Top 75 Singles chart on downloads alone. She will soon be supporting Enrique Iglesias on a world tour which was leaked on the BBC show Something for the Weekend on 9 November 2008. She also put a song up on her website for free download on 19 October 2008 named 'Colours of the Rainbow'. She appeared on the award winning Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio One in November 2008, and was described as being the most energetic guest in their recent history