Tulisa - The Biography (21 page)

Tulisa was so happy in the wake of her
X Factor
commitments. The gamble had paid off and she couldn’t stop smiling. ‘When anyone asks me how I am, I go: “Apparently I’m having a breakdown.” That’s a joke,’ she said. She added: ‘I was in Tesco and saw this headline saying: T
ULISA CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE
! But here I am, strolling around the supermarket. Another story said my boyfriend was going to break up with me before Christmas. It’s all made up.’

Having been in the
X Factor
bubble for months Tulisa was thrust back to N-Dubz matters when her two
band-mates
made significant statements in the immediate aftermath of her talent show involvement coming to a close. Talking about the
Greatest Hits
album, which he described as the ‘golden jubilee’ of the band’s career, Fazer seemed to want to draw a line under the band’s history to date. ‘We’ve done three great albums but we’re bored of performing these old songs now,’ he told
Now
magazine. ‘We want new material, so we’re putting the old ones to sleep. Everything from 2012 on is a new chapter.’ Then it emerged that during a solo concert by Dappy in Manchester just hours after Tulisa’s
X Factor
victory, he had slated
The X Factor
to his audience. ‘This is what fame is, not standing for hours outside to audition for
X Factor
,’ he told the audience as he introduced the song ‘Rockstar’, which features Queen guitarist Brian May on its soundtrack. He then went one step further, shouting: ‘F*** Simon Cowell!’ His outburst drew some cheers from the audience but they were replaced with jeers when Dappy called a close to his set after scarcely 25 minutes.

The following evening Tulisa went to the
X Factor
‘wrap’ party with Fazer. The annual bash has become a key part of the
X Factor
experience. The team let their collective hair down and party into the night. In 2011 it was held at the DSTRKT club in London. She looked magnificent in her figure-hugging, one-shoulder gold dress. The sparkly outfit made the most of her superb curves. Fazer wore a black suit and arrived wearing sunglasses, despite the late hour. Tulisa got into a misunderstanding with paparazzi upon their arrival. She later Tweeted that it was not a drunken row: ‘believe me I wish I’d had more 2 drink after that!#toosober’. Someone who might have benefited from being a little more sober was the series bad boy Frankie Cocozza. Outside the bash Cocozza somehow became embroiled in an argument with a group of girls. As a photographer appeared on the scene there were unseemly scraps and squabbles. Fellow contestant Jonjo Kerr leapt into action and appeared to lash out in the direction of the photographer. Kerr, a former infantry solider, was joined in his protection of Cocozza by Nu Vibe’s Bradley Johnson. It seemed that all ended well, as Cocozza and Kerr were spotted leaving a hotel the following morning trailed by two young women.

Tulisa, meanwhile, was back home and dreaming about her forthcoming holiday. According to the
Sun
, she planned to take some friends on the trip with her. ‘Tulisa has had hardly any time to see her friends since she’s been on the show,’ said a source. ‘This is her first time off in months and she can’t wait to catch up with everyone properly.’ The headline for the
Sun’
s
story was a bit of a giggle: L
A ISLA
T
ULISA
. Not that she was about to take her foot off the gas for long. As she told
Now
magazine’s Dan Wootton: ‘I always have to be doing something or I’d get bored. If I didn’t have a career outside of being a judge, I’d be finished. I love being at home, but only for a certain period of time. I’m looking forward to getting into the studio to start my solo album.’

Tulisa’s act Little Mix had been mostly conspicuous by their absence at the
X Factor
wrap party. Only Leigh-Anne had looked in briefly. Their mentor had something a bit special lined up for them for later in the week. Together with
Glamour
magazine, she treated them to a celebratory dinner party. Tulisa looked sensational as she arrived dressed in dramatic black. Among the guests was one of the band members’ idols, former Spice Girl Emma Bunton, aka Baby Spice. Geri Halliwell, aka Ginger Spice, sent a bouquet of flowers to the girls. The event was held at the Roof Gardens venue in Kensington. After the dinner, Tulisa told her Twitter followers: ‘So lovely to see Little Mix, it’s all just starting for them! Such sweethearts!!!!’ The following morning the band sent their own message to Twitter, writing: ‘Went for dinner last nite with tulisa n glamour magazine was amazing! Also met Emma bunton wat an inspiration!’

In the final analysis, the only disappointment about Tulisa’s first year as an
X Factor
judge is that she had not been a more feisty character onscreen. Asked what happened to ‘the feisty Tulisa’, she replied: ‘She’s still there.’ Perhaps if she returns to the judging panel she will feel more confident to let the feisty Tulisa out to play a bit more. Here’s hoping. The experience had certainly matured her as a person. The increase in scrutiny and criticism that all judges face had thickened her skin and broadened her perspective. ‘I can’t send a Tweet every time someone’s abusive to me,’ she said. ‘I can’t fight the world. I’m not bothered any more – I let it go over my head.’ She looked ahead to 2012, a year in which the world had long been rumoured by some doom-merchants to end. For Tulisa, it is as if her life is only just beginning. With plans for a number of projects including a possible novel, autobiography and a solo career, she has much to be excited about. The ‘Earthquake’ rapper Labrinth is among those who are queuing to work with her. ‘It’s to be confirmed. It might happen,’ he said. ‘We did have talks about working on her record, and I would love to work with her so it might just happen anyway.’

As her fame and popularity rockets, Tulisa is keen to keep perceptions of her in proportion. She is not the first celebrity to profess distaste at the level of influence and respect they have accrued. In many cases, these protestations seem more than a little insincere – the disingenuous ramblings of people who complain about how famous and respected they are merely a way of reminding us how famous and respected they are. Such utterances are made during interviews whose sole attraction for the celebrity concerned is as a vehicle for boosting ever further the fame with which, they claim with a straight face, to be uneasy. As we have seen, Tulisa is not without contradictions, as evinced by her revised feelings about
The X Factor
following her invitation to join, yet she has certainly asked for people not to overestimate her worth. ‘Just because I’m talented and I can write good music, it doesn’t mean that I should be looked at as “wow” any more than you should, because it doesn’t make a difference,’ she said in 2010. ‘Who cares? There’s so much more going on in the world. There’s kids starving in Africa and we’re sitting there glitzing up on the red carpet.’

Perhaps having worked so hard to become as famous as she is, Tulisa can take a more considered look at the nature of the beast. Those who are catapulted to fame cannot, in all honesty, enjoy or understand the ride in the same way as someone like Tulisa. The legacy of her tough childhood continues to cast a shadow over her thoughts on her success. She admits that she has regular moments of doubts over whether she deserves her success. ‘I’ll think, “I don’t belong here,”’ she said. ‘I get those moments now and again. I can be very feisty, but that’s a defence mechanism for me. I’m defensive because too many years of my life I was treated like s***.’

When she was named
Now
magazine’s ‘Woman Of The Year’ for 2011, she spoke about how her confidence has risen since becoming involved with
The X Factor
. ‘I’ve become my own woman, not “‘the N-Dubz bird”,’ she said. ‘Getting away from the band and finding out what I want to do has given me confidence. You know how I used to spend so much time stressing? Now I can enjoy life.’ However, while appreciating the confidence her new role had given her, she also explained that her experiences with N-Dubz had been useful. ‘One thing I can say about N-Dubz is that it prepared me for being an
X Factor
judge,’ she explained. ‘N-Dubz was just as stressful – there were dramas every day. So I can sleep at night and I can handle it.’

Indeed, she felt that coming from a rough-and-ready, incident-fuelled band meant she found it easier to survive in the turmoil of
The X Factor
than the 2011 head judge did. ‘I think it’s harder for Gary because he’s been a golden boy in the public and now he’s got people criticising him for who he is,’ she said. ‘I’ve had criticism all my life, so it was nothing new to me.’ Certainly Barlow had seemed to be displaying very mixed feelings about the experience. He seemed to buckle under the weight of public criticism and several times seemed upset and outraged when he was booed and heckled by the studio audience during the live shows. For Tulisa such treatment was easier to face. Compared to some of the controversy she had been flung into as a member of N-Dubz, the largely pantomime, storm-in-a-tea-cup hullabaloos of planet
X Factor
were definitely bearable.

In the final analysis, of the four judges Tulisa had thrived best. As we have seen, Barlow seemed uncomfortable at times. Also, his pronouncements that
The X Factor
was a ‘singing contest’ and that he wanted to find someone with ‘real talent’ were contradicted by his championing of the much-discussed Frankie Cocozza. Acts with undoubted superior vocal talent were dismissed by Barlow at both the judges’ houses stage and in the first week of the live shows. Also, his criticism of Walsh for championing slightly novelty acts seemed hypocritical given his own support for Cocozza.

Rowland, meanwhile, started strongly but fell away the longer the series went on. Originally, her all-American patter was a breath of fresh air. She had a strong, definite personality, oodles of charisma and her glamorous looks went down a treat with male viewers. However, as the live shows progressed her persona seemed limited. She began to come across as a one-trick pony. Also, her rocky relationship with the generally admired and oft-loved Louis Walsh made her seem disrespectful to one of the show’s key figures.

The aforementioned Walsh was his usual loveable Irish self for the most part but at times there were hints that he was uncomfortable in the new panel. His long-time friend Simon Cowell had gone, Rowland and Barlow were far from respectful to him, prompting him to remind them with genuine fury that he had ‘been on the show for eight years’. Also, he was given the least promising category and did indeed lose all his acts quickly. This left him as a ‘spare judge’ while the other three continued to be contenders with acts in the competition. He looked a lost soul on the weekend of the final, often literally alone on the panel when the other three judges were tending to their acts.

As for Tulisa, she had none of the weaknesses of her fellow judges. Her approach and pronouncements were always perceived as honest and consistent. Her personality had stamina and her relationship with Walsh remained cordial throughout the series. She seemed absolutely dedicated to her acts. Indeed, her enthusiasm for all things
X Factor
came across throughout the run. Tulisa conducted herself as if she was born for
X Factor
and planned to hang around its environs for some years to come.

She had certainly endeared herself to Walsh. Their closeness was clear throughout the series and afterwards the Irishman spoke fondly of his fellow judge. His mixture of admiration and playful teasing suggested genuine warmth. ‘We 100 per cent have a genuine friendship,’ he said. He added that she is ‘rough around the edges’ and that was part of what he admired about her. ‘You go into her dressing room and they’re smoking and drinking.’ He also said that her unpredictable nature was what he loved. ‘She can be a bit of a loose cannon, but she cares,’ he said. ‘I love her honesty. What you see is what you get.’ He added that he felt that Tulisa was the person involved with
The X Factor
that he felt he knew and understood best. That said, he said that sometimes she could be a know-
it-all
. Amusingly, he claimed ignorance of her band and indeed her career prior to
X Factor
. ‘She talks about the
N-Dubz
like they’re The Beatles but I didn’t know who they were before the show,’ said Walsh. ‘I didn’t know who she was either! Not everyone loves the N-Dubz – they’re not the Black Eyed Peas. But I love her. And it’s not a put-on thing for the cameras. I just can’t do fake any more.’ Well, how brave of you, Louis.

With Little Mix’s debut single, ‘Cannonball’, going straight to No 1 in the UK charts, it seemed that Tulisa’s first year as an
X Factor
judge was going to receive a fairytale ending. She said that for her, the chance to duet with Little Mix in the final had proved a vindicating climax to the experience. She had felt a suspicion from some over her qualification to judge a singing contest. However, she felt that her superb vocal performance in the duet with Little Mix, during which she outshone Barlow and Rowland’s equivalent duets, proved her worth. ‘Performing on the show was a big deal for me and I’m glad I nailed it,’ she said. ‘I felt like throughout the series I was continually having to prove myself as a judge. I had to justify why I was there in a way, even during the final. So actually being able to sing live with the girls in the final was a massive deal for me as well as them. People finally got to see that I wasn’t just some street rat girl from
N-Dubz
who didn’t have any talent. I got to show them what I was made of.’

She reiterated her desire to return as a judge when she said: ‘I will be back if I’m asked but I haven’t heard anything either way yet. I’ve loved working with the panel. Gary very sweetly sent me a bunch of flowers as a congratulations message [after the final], which I thought was a very noble thing to do.’ The fact she had not been told whether she would be invited for the 2012 series was no surprise. Cowell and the
X Factor
producers like to keep their options open every year. They consider the fact that the judges are kept on tenterhooks keeps them fresh and keen. The uncertainty over the 2012 series went far beyond the question of Tulisa’s involvement. A number of options were being considered, including delaying the start of the new series until early 2013, to allow the show a time to rest and to permit the return of Simon Cowell, who would by then be free of
X Factor USA
commitments.