Alex Parks has not had the year she'd originally planned when she won Fame Academy in 2003. The singer’s most recent single, also called ‘Honesty’, peaked at a disappointing number 56 in the charts and she has been dropped by Polydor. However on Friday 10^th February she played a live gig at Shepherds Bush Empire which had a sell out crowd of her favourite female fans. Words by Mel Jeffs and pictures by Zoe Buck.

Shepherds Bush Empire on Friday 10th February 2006 played host to the largest gathering of lesbians that you’re ever likely to see this side of Lesbos (along with a not unsubstantial number of heterosexuals as well). The reason for this unusual gathering of the Sapphicly-minded was none other than our very own Alex Parks, who shot to fame in 2003 when she won Fame Academy, the BBC’s highbrow version of Pop Idol. After her initial success (her first single reached no.3 in the charts), Ms Parks was eager to distance herself from the media hype in order to establish herself as a serious artist. She took 18 months out to write new material and with pressure mounting from her record company, Polydor, she eventually released her second album, ‘Honesty’, at the end of last year. However, it then appeared that Polydor decided to tighten the promotional purse strings and with little airplay Alex dropped off the radar. Her most recent single, also called ‘Honesty’, peaked at a disappointing number 56 in the charts. 

Unsurprisingly then, Parks and Polydor have now decided to go their separate ways, but has she still got what it takes to make it as a credible artist? On the strength of this gig the answer would be an emphatic ‘yes’. It’s taken a long time to get there but Alex seems to have finally reached her comfort zone on stage and is now a confident performer, rather than the painfully shy 19 year old that first appeared on our screens nearly 3 years ago. It seems unlikely that she will ever crave attention and fame, but she can certainly hold her own in the spotlight, even if she still clamps her eyes tightly shut throughout her performances (which only adds to her girl-next-door charm).

Alex breezed swiftly through 9 songs from her new album, ranging from the obviously radio-friendly ‘Looking for Water’ and ‘Honesty’, to the darker, brooding tracks ‘Sweeter and Sweeter’ and ‘Moment’ (both of which were made more powerful by the addition of a cellist). Her new songs were well received but it was still the tracks from the first album that brought the most reaction from the crowd, again indicating that the new album has not yet filtered its way through to the masses. Particularly well received were the up-tempo ‘Wandering Soul’ and ‘Cry’ – a track that she wrote for her mum (who was in the audience). After Parks had raced her way through 11 songs, with barely a pause, she skipped off stage, only to be cheered back on for a 2-song encore. The first of these was a folky number titled ‘So Emotional’. This was a stripped-down acoustic track, with tightly-woven emotive lyrics, demonstrating the raw potential that made the Great British Public first fall in love with Alex. In complete contrast to this, the other encore was ‘Lie’, an angry, sweeping orchestral number that wouldn’t sound out of place in a James Bond movie. “We have already played this once but I would really like to finish with this”, she told the crowd as she introduced the song, implying that people should understand the significance of her choice of song to end on. Her performance of ‘Lie’ really showcased the power and range of her voice, so perhaps it was meant as a vocal two-fingered salute to the non-believers as she showed exactly what she is capable of.

As the crowd filed out of the building, there were many mutterings about what Alex would do next. Would she still sing? Who would she sign for? Does she still have the belief in herself to do this?