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Jamelia Niela Davis (born 11 January 1981) is a British recording artist, television presenter and actress. She has released three studio albums, each of which has reached the Top 40 in the UK, which collectively have spawned eight UK top-ten singles.^[1] In addition, Jamelia has won four MOBO Awards, a Q Award and has received nine BRIT Award nominations.^[2]

Jamelia's professional music career began in 1999, when she released her debut single, 'So High', followed by a more successful single, 'I Do'. She then released her debut full-length studio album, Drama, in June 2000. Jamelia went on to release further successful singles, including 'Superstar' which charted at number three on the UK Singles Chart respectively, with 'Superstar' charting at number one in Australia and becoming platinum certified in Australia. She went on to further release another two studio albums, Thank You (2003) and Walk with Me (2006), before leaving Parlophone following a dispute with executives over the release of 'No More', the third offering from Walk with Me.

Jamelia's ten-year-successful career span has led her to becoming a judge on shows such as Move Like Michael Jackson in 2009.^[3] Her filmography also includes her own TV documentaries, including Jamelia: Whose Hair Is It Anyway (2008), her own edition of the popular Channel 4 show, The House That Made Me and in 2011, her own BBC Three documentary, Jamelia: Shame About Single Mums. In 2010 she signed a new record deal with All Around the World Productions. She was a panelist on the ITV magazine show Loose Women from 2013 until 2016.

• 2Music career

Early life[edit]

Jamelia was born in Handsworth, Birmingham to single mother Paulette Davis. Her mother is Jamaican and her father is Zimbabwean.^[4] She grew up in nearby Hockley^[5] and attended a local primary school, Brookfields Primary School and then later attended the CTC Kingshurst Academy, formerly known as the City Technology College.^[6]

Music career[edit]

1997–01: Early career and Drama[edit]

Jamelia was signed to Capitol Records at 15 after record producers heard recordings of her self-written a cappella songs that she had made on a karaoke machine.^[4] In late 1999, Jamelia recorded the single So High, a collaboration with fellow R&B vocalist Rosita Lynch. The single failed to chart in both the UK and mainland Europe, and did not appear on any of Jamelia's subsequent albums. Following the poor sales of the single, Jamelia left Capitol Records, but was quickly signed up with record company Parlophone, a branch of EMI.

Taking some time to record her début album, Drama, Jamelia returned to the music scene in 1999 with the single 'I Do', which became her first commercially successful single in the UK and mainland Europe, making the UK Top 40 and holding Top 20 positions in France and Sweden. The single's mediocre chart success, however, led to the delay of the release of Money. Jamelia's third single, 'Money' (featuring rapper Beenie Man and co-written by UK The X Factor finalist Daniel De Bourg), was released in February 2000. The single was the singer's breakthrough in the UK, peaking at number five and spending nine weeks in the UK Top 75; it later won a MOBO Award for Best Video in 2000. Despite the success of Money, Drama did not make a major chart impression in the UK, where it peaked at number 39. The third single from the album, 'Call Me', reached number 11, and the fourth single, 'Boy Next Door', peaked at number 42. Recognition for the singer's early success came in late 2000 and 2001 at the BRIT Awards. Jamelia was nominated for Best British Newcomer, Best British Video and Best British Female.^[2]

2003–05: Thank You and mainstream breakthrough[edit]

Jamelia recorded her second studio album, Thank You, in 2002 and early 2003 following the birth of her daughter Teja in 2001. The first single lifted from Thank You was the R&B-influenced 'Bout', on which she collaborated with American rap star Rah Digga; it debuted at number 37 in the UK. The second single, the much poppier 'Superstar', became Jamelia's highest peaking at the time when it peaked at number three, and earned the spot of the 26th best-selling of 2003 in the UK. It remains Jamelia's only single to receive a BPI certification.^[7] Parent album Thank You, released shortly after 'Superstar', was widely expected to replicate the single's success, but entered the UK chart at number 65. Subsequently, a number of record producers worked with Jamelia on a re-release of the album that featured new artwork and track listing, including two new songs: her collaboration with Coldplay's Chris Martin and DJ K Staveley, 'See It in a Boy's Eyes', and 'DJ'.

Promoting the re-release, title track 'Thank You' was issued shortly before. Known to be Jamelia's favourite of her releases, the song became her highest charting single to date in the UK, where it peaked at number two and received the 2004 MOBO Award for Best Single and a BRIT Award nomination in the same category. The fourth single 'See it in a Boy's Eyes' was released in mid-2004 and became Jamelia's third consecutive top five hit, winning a MOBO Award for Best Video and a Q Award for Best Single. The success of Thank You resulted in five BRIT Award nominations for Jamelia in 2004 and 2005 for Best British Female, Best British Single, Best Female Solo Act, and Best British Urban Act.^[2] The album became the 36th best-selling of 2004^[8] and was certified double platinum by the BPI in recognition of 600,000 copies shipped to retailers.^[7] Jamelia also contributed a cover version of Kool and the Gang's 'Straight Ahead' for their remix/covers album The Hits: Reloaded.

In mid-2004, Jamelia collaborated with Italian singer Tiziano Ferro on 'Universal Prayer' for the 2004 Olympic Games soundtrack. It became her first Number 1 single in Italy and Spain and was added to non-UK editions of Thank You. In late 2004, Jamelia was asked to contribute to the Band Aid 20 charity single 'Do They Know It's Christmas?', on which she sang with Will Young. The single topped the UK Singles Chart and was certified platinum. Around the same time, Jamelia released the lead single from the soundtrack of the film Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, a cover of Sam Brown's 1988 single 'Stop!'; it was released as double A-side in the UK with the aforementioned 'DJ', and peaked at number nine.

On 9 November 2006, Jamelia joined Feeder on stage for the encore of Feeder's WAR Child gig at 'The Coronet' in London. They performed a cover of REM's 'Everybody Hurts' as well as 'Beware of the Dog'.

2005–07: Walk with Me and departure from Parlophone[edit]

Following the birth of her second daughter, Tiani, in 2005, Jamelia began recording her third album, Walk with Me. Its lead single, 'Something About You', was released in late 2006 and described as 'less R&B, more experimental', with Popjustice hailing it as 'an incredible pop single'.^[9] The single became Jamelia's first to enter the charts solely on download sales alone, debuting at number 28, rising to number nine almost a month later following the physical release. Walk with Me was released shortly after and drew critical praise, with many critics claiming that it marked a significant turn in the singer's career as she moved from R&B to pop/rock.

The album did not emulate the chart success of Thank You, managing to début only at number 20 on the UK Albums Chart. The second single, 'Beware of the Dog', features a sample from Depeche Mode's 1989 song 'Personal Jesus' and was heavily praised as being Jamelia's best single to date, with BBC Radio 1's 'Chart Blog' stating that it 'might just be one of the best pop songs ever made' and 'the best pop song of the year', receiving a five-star rating.^[10] The single became the second consecutive Top 10 effort from the singer's third album, reaching number 10 in the UK. The final single to be released from the album was 'No More', which samples The Stranglers' 1981 single 'Golden Brown'. It made the A-list on BBC Radio 2, but failed to garner much sales success, debuting at number 43.

Walk with Me became Jamelia's second album to receive a BPI certification. After four months of release, it sold more than 100,000 copies and was awarded a Gold disk.^[7] However, despite producing two Top 10 singles and garnering mostly positive reviews, Walk With Me had disappointing sales compared to her second album, Thank You, which went on to become certified double platinum.

In an interview with Digital Spy in December 2009, Jamelia said that she wasn't surprised that the album did not sell well. 'I probably wasn't in the right frame of mind with Walk With Me... I love all the songs individually, but I don't feel it flows very well as an album, which makes it harder to relate to. It sold well over 100,000 copies – but I want double-platinum every time!'^[11]

In late 2007, the singer released a singles collection titled Superstar - The Hits. The compilation album features 11 of her 14 releases, omitting the 1999 single 'So High', Drama singles 'I Do' and 'Boy Next Door' and the non-UK 2004 release 'Universal Prayer'. The collection, which only managed to début at number 55 on the UK Album Charts, was criticised for its hastiness, brevity and lack of new tracks or artwork.^[12] This proved to be her final album for Parlophone, which she left weeks after the collection's release amid rumours that the sales performance of Walk With Me had been a factor in the decision of the artist and label to part ways, and to release the singles collection.^[13]

In an interview with entertainment website Digital Spy in December 2009, Jamelia commented on being a rumoured replacement for Keisha Buchanan, in the girl-group Sugababes and spoke about work with her ongoing album, which was going 'absolutely amazing'. She stated that she was working with producers who have previously worked with Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, and that the album returned her sound to 2004's Thank You. She also vowed to come back with a 'really exciting' album.^[11] On 26 July 2010, Jamelia signed a record deal with an unknown label live on video streaming website Ustream.tv.^[14] On 29 July The Sun confirmed the record label to be All Around the World. Ultimately, nothing was released^[15]

TV work[edit]

In 2013 and 2014, Jamelia appeared on two series of The Voice of Ireland as a coach.^[16]

In 2013, Jamelia was part of a house band on every episode of the BBC One panel show I Love My Country. On 27 November 2013, Jamelia joined the panel of the ITV chat show Loose Women. As of 16 August 2016, she has made a total of 162 appearances. However, Jamelia was axed from the show following new contracts being drawn up on 17 August 2016, thus she has not returned for series 21.^[17]

In 2015, Jamelia took part in Bear Grylls: Mission Survive on ITV.^[18] In 2015, Jamelia participated on thirteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing.^[19] She was partnered with professional dancer Tristan MacManus. The pair of them survived four dance-offs, but they lost their fifth dance off in week 9, being voted out by 3 out of 4 judges against Peter Andre and Janette Manrara.

Modelling[edit]

In spring 2004, Jamelia was signed by the prestigious agency, ICM. Just a week later she was signed as the face and legs of Pretty Polly in a high-profile advertising campaign and shortly afterwards was featured in a poster campaign for Reebok. Since pursuing work in modelling, Jamelia has also endorsed ListerineSoftmint Sensation, Jaguar Cars and BMW, was the brand ambassador for the maternity wear line Seraphine, has appeared in print advertising for Oxfam and on the front cover of magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Company, Elle and Harpers & Queen.

Other projects[edit]

In January 2007, Jamelia launched a new fragrance as part of a campaign to increase awareness of HIV and AIDS. Proceeds from the sale of every bottle of The Body Shop's Rougeberry were donated to MTV's Staying Alive Foundation. On 4 March 2007, Jamelia appeared on an episode of Top Gear, where Richard Hammond drove her to Earl's Court Exhibition Centre for a Brit Awards show in his homemade stretch limousine. On 27 May 2007, Jamelia had signed a £100,000 contract to launch a new range of products for Boots. On 31 July 2007, Jamelia, Erin O'Connor and Helena Christensen, had teamed up with hairdressing/hair product company Toni & Guy to promote Model.Me – a hair product created for women with ethnic hair. Jamelia said, 'I think it's about time that there was a haircare range specifically designed for ethnic hair available on every high street.'

On 18 September 2007, Jamelia co-hosted the MOBO Awards with Shaggy and on 20 September, she was on the catwalk in Naomi Campbell's Fashion for Relief event at the Natural History Museum in London. Jamelia appeared on ITV's Saturday Night Divas to mark the end of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. She shared the stage with Jennifer Lopez, Girls Aloud, Celine Dion and Alicia Keys, amongst others and performed a cover version of Outkast's hit single Hey Ya!. On 1 December 2007, Jamelia was invited to perform on stage for Nelson Mandela's World Aids Day concert. She performed the hit singles 'Something About You', 'See It in a Boy's Eyes' and 'Superstar'. On 19 December 2007, she played Cinderella in Channel 4's The Paul O'Grady Show's Christmas Pantomime.

In January 2008, Jamelia signed a book publishing deal with Orion. Her autobiography, Stronger has yet to be published. In February 2008, Jamelia announced in a podcast on her personal website that she had 'completed her first official acting role'.^[20] It was also mentioned that she had landed a TV presenting job. In July 2008 she appeared in a documentary about the international Hair extensions trade Jamelia: Whose Hair is it Anyway? for BBC Three travelling to India and Russia with Tatiana Karelina and guest presented a week of episodes of Big Brother's Big Mouth for E4.

On 7 September 2008, Jamelia guest presented an episode of Something for the Weekend with Tim Lovejoy. A more recent project is The Really Good School Dinner. Jamelia is supporting the initiative which will see children and young people in England pledging to have a school meal and make a donation to provide some of the world's poorest children with a nutritious meal.^[21]

Jamelia starred in an episode of Gordon Ramsay's The F Word, where she and Gordon took part in a cook off competition. She was a guest judge for BBC's Let's Dance for Comic Relief, and she has appeared on the Disney channel show Under Cover Coach, in which she coached a girl called Amy in singing. Jamelia presents The National Lottery some Wednesday evenings, which she has been doing since April 2008. Jamelia featured in a Channel 4 documentary series, produced by Nutopia, in 2010, called The House That Made Me, which took her back to her childhood home, and reintroduced her to the people she had known in her youth.

Jamelia has walked the catwalk every year since 2007 for her UK model counterpart, Naomi Campbell, and her Fashion for Relief show. Jamelia is also active in working with ActionAid, Princes Trust and the Food Aid branch of the UN, the World Food programme which has seen her visit Kenya, Uganda and India. In 2008, Jamelia earned the role of appearing alongside Helena Christensen and Erin O'Conor, fronting her own ethnic haircare range 'Model Me', in conjunction with 'Toni and Guy', and was stocked nationwide in Boots stores. 2009 saw Jamelia take on various TV roles including authoring her own documentary for BBC Three on ethical hair extensions, which saw her travel to Russia and India. Plus she was one of the judges on BBC Three's Move Like Michael Jackson. Jamelia has met Nelson Mandela and performed for him for both his 46664 concert in Johannesburg and his 90th birthday celebrations in Hyde Park.^[22] In 2012, she took part in the Preston Passion to mark Preston's 2012 Guild. The Preston Passion was a retelling of the Easter story and involved singing, dancing and three dramas, where she sang a cover version of 'You Got the Love'. She has been a frequent guest on the satirical music panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks and was a celebrity contestant on Vernon Kay's Gameshow Marathon.

In 2014, Jamelia modelled a new swimwear range for Boux Avenue. In May 2014 she appeared in a TV advertisement for Boux Avenue and sang a cover version of 'I Only Want to Be with You', with the chorus changed to 'I only want to be with Boux'.^[23]

Personal life[edit]

Jamelia revealed that she grew up without her father, due to the fact he was often in and out of prison, and he later rejected her invitation to her wedding.^[24]

Jamelia has a child, Teja (born 18 March 2001), from a previous relationship with music manager Terry Wallen, who she claims was abusive and inspired her song 'Thank You'.^[24][25]

In August 2007, Jamelia split from boyfriend Darren Byfield; the couple have a daughter Tiani (born 21 October 2005).^[26] They were reconciled a couple of months later, and in October 2007 announced their engagement.^[27] On 15 June 2008, it was reported the couple had married on the previous day in West Sussex. On 3 November 2009, it was announced that they were filing for divorce.^[28]

She participated at PETA's campaign Would Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur.^[29]

Jamelia announced via Instagram that she had given birth to her third daughter True on 13 December 2017.When Jamelia’s baby girl was four weeks old, she stopped breathing. This resulted in her having to dial 999 and Jamelia having to perform mouth-to-mouth and CPR with the help of her two older children. It was caused by a reflux problem which can occur again at any time.

In 2018, Jamelia blamed TV projects being 'taken away' from her on the coverage of her stepbrother, Tafarwa Beckford, who was convicted of a gang-related murder. ^[30]

Discography[edit]

Studio albums

• Drama (2000)
• Thank You (2003)
• Walk with Me (2006)

Filmography[edit]

• Jamelia: Whose Hair Is it Anyway? (2008) – Herself^[3]
• Crime Stories (2012) – Alice Dickson
• Death in Paradise (2013) – Aimee Fredericks

Guest appearances

• Gok's Fashion Fix^[3]
• The House That Made Me'
• Magic Boys^[3]
• Tipping Point: Lucky Stars^[34]
• The Chase Celebrity Special (2012)^[35]
• Celebrity Squares^[36]
• Celebrity Benchmark (2015)
• Loose Women (2015)
• Celebrity Haunted Hotel Live (2016)
• Don't Ask Me Ask Britain (2017)

Awards and nominations[edit]

Tours[edit]

• 2004 Thank You Tour

Jamelia has also been the opening act for artists such as Destiny's Child, Justin Timberlake and Usher as well as her own sold out tour.

References[edit]

1. ^'ChartArchive – The Chart Archive'. Chartstats.com. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
2. ^ ^abc'Jamelia'. Brits.co.uk. 19 February 2014. Archived from the original on 27 June 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
3. ^ ^abcd'Jamelia'. IMDb.com. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
4. ^ ^abPaton, Maureen (20 August 2011). 'Jamelia: Respect for single mothers!'. The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
5. ^'Jamelia: People think I have everything – I don't'. Mirror Online. MGN. 21 December 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
6. ^'Former CTC 'superstar' visits Kingshurst'(PDF). CTC Kingshurst Academy. July 2008. p. 1. Archived from the original(PDF) on 19 July 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
7. ^ ^abcCertified Awards Search BPI Archived 1 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine
8. ^'YATQ at 61 in best selling albums of 2004 in the UK'. Morrissey-solo Forums. 1 January 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
9. ^'100% Solid Pop Music'. Popjustice. Retrieved 30 June 2014.^{[dead link]}
10. ^'Chart Blog: Jamelia – 'Beware Of The Dog''. BBC Music. 3 December 2006. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
11. ^ ^ab'Jamelia – TV Interview'. Digital Spy. Hearst UK. 11 December 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
12. ^'iTunes Store'. Apple Music. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
13. ^Lars Brandle (23 April 2007). 'Vocalist Jamelia Parts Ways With Parlophone'. Billboard. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
14. ^Love, Ryan (26 July 2010). 'Music – News – Jamelia signs new record deal'. Digital Spy. Hearst UK. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
15. ^'Jamelia legs it back'. The Sun. News Group. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
16. ^'Jamelia joins The Voice of Ireland'. RTÉ Ten. RTÉ. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
17. ^Alex Fletcher (25 November 2013). 'Jamelia joins 'Loose Women' panel, promises 'feisty opinions''. Digital Spy. Hearst UK. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
18. ^'Bear Grylls stars in Mission Survive on ITV'. ITV.com. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
19. ^'Singer Jamelia is Strictly Come Dancing's 12th contestant'. The Telegraph. 25 August 2015.
20. ^[1]Archived 8 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
21. ^[2]Archived 19 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
22. ^JameliaOver FacebookTijdlijnOver Facebook. 'Jamelia – CV'. Facebook. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
23. ^'I only want to be with Boux'.
24. ^ ^ab'Jamelia: Respect for single mothers!'. The Guardian. 20 August 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
25. ^'Jamelia's star shines even brighter'. The Telegraph. 11 June 2004. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
26. ^'Singer Jamelia has second child'. BBC News. 21 October 2005. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
27. ^'Jamelia and Darren Byfield to divorce'. The Telegraph. 3 November 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
28. ^'Jamelia heads for divorce court'. BBC News. 3 November 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
29. ^'Heroes'. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. 24 January 2013. Archived from the original on 11 September 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
30. ^'Jamelia 'dropped' by TV bosses after coverage of murderer stepbrother Tafarwa Beckford'. Birmingham Mail. Reach. 17 December 2018.
31. ^'Jamelia: Shame about Single Mums'. BBC Three. 26 September 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
32. ^Fletcher, Harry (2 February 2015). 'Mike Tindall, Jamelia, Max George for Bear Grylls' Mission Survive'. Digital Spy. Hearst UK. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
33. ^Wightman, Catriona (25 August 2015). 'Time for a Superstar: Jamelia is confirmed for the Strictly Come Dancing lineup'. Digital Spy. Hearst UK. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
34. ^'Tipping Point: Lucky Stars Episode 7'. ITV Press Centre. 16 August 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
35. ^'The Chase - Series 6 Episode 40'. Radio Times. Immediate Media. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
36. ^'Celebrity Squares'. ITV Press Centre. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.

External links[edit]

• Jamelia at AllMusic
• Jamelia on IMDb

'Believe in Me' is a song by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler from her sixteenth studio album Rocks and Honey (2013). American songwriter Desmond Child composed the song with British songwriters Lauren Christy and Christopher Braide. It was released as the album's lead single on 13 March 2013. The song was written to 'uplift the world', and was completed by Child whilst having dinner with Tyler.

The song was recorded in the Blackbird Studios, Nashville, Tennessee. The lyrics depict Tyler telling a lover who does not believe in love or religion to just believe in her. 'Believe in Me' was selected as the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest entry for the United Kingdom. To comply with the song duration rules, the album version was cut to three minutes and three seconds for radio play and for live performance.^[1] The photograph used for the cover art was taken by Tyler's nephew, Andrew Hopkins.^[2] Following the Eurovision Song Contest, the song peaked at No. 93 in the United Kingdom, but did not chart elsewhere.

'Believe in Me' received mixed reviews from music critics, and the song was largely blamed for Tyler's mediocre final score in the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final. Despite the single's chart placing and result at Eurovision, both Tyler and the single won categories in the Eurovision Song Contest Radio Awards; the first time a UK representative has won in a category in the ESC Radio's history.

• 3Reception
• 4Eurovision Song Contest 2013

Background and release[edit]

Tyler had been working on her sixteenth studio album Rocks and Honey since 2008.^[3] She recorded the album in the Blackbird Studios, Nashville, Tennessee,^[4] and released the album on 8 March 2013 in Europe,^[5] one day after Tyler was announced as the United Kingdom's representative at the Eurovision Song Contest. The official release of 'Believe in Me' followed a week later, released on 13 March by Celtic Swan Recordings in the United Kingdom and Ireland,^[6] and 15 March in Europe.^[7] At her appearance on The One Show Tyler explained that the song had already been written before the BBC suggested it as the Eurovision entry when she sent in a demo of Rocks and Honey in to them.^[8] The song has also been added to the SingStar store as a karaoke track.^[9] A remix single of the song by Blutonium Boy & Matty Menk was released on 13 May by Celtic Swan Recordings.^[10]

The music video was published on the BBC's official YouTube channel on 6 March 2013.^[11] The video was shot in East Sussex in a beach hut and on a nearby beach.^[12] Alongside the music video film crew there was a second crew that filmed a 'making-of' video. The BBC published the film in late March.^[13]

Composition[edit]

Lauren Christy and Christopher Braide's involvement in composing 'Believe in Me' is unknown, though when it was announced that the song would represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, Bonnie Tyler told The Telegraph that Child finished composing the song at dinner.

'When I got to Nashville, I was looking for songs around the publishers, and got in touch with Desmond and he said 'come up for dinner tomorrow night and I'll give you some songs.' He'd already recorded some of these demos, but I said 'I really love these two songs.' And he said 'But 'Believe in Me' isn't finished yet. I tell you what, come back up for dinner tomorrow night and I'll finish writing it then,' which is what he did. I'll never forget that night, we got there and Bob Ezrin was there, the producer of The Wall for Pink Floyd. After dinner [Child] wrote the second verse.'^[14]

Welsh singer Paul Child conducted an interview with Desmond Child in Nashville in April 2013 to discuss his work with Bonnie Tyler, both with 'Believe in Me' and in the beginnings when he wrote her hit single 'If You Were a Woman' in the 1980s. Paul Child drew similarities between the lyrical and rhythmic structure of 'Believe in Me' and the Labelle song 'Lady Marmalade', specifically with the lines 'Voulez-vous coucher avec moi (ce soir)?' and '[...] and you laugh at the thought of putting your faith in stuff, like love'. Desmond stated that they (Child, Christy and Braide) wanted to write a song that would 'uplift the world, and we're so thrilled that Bonnie sang it and that it got chosen to represent the UK.'^[15]

Reception[edit]

Critical response[edit]

Upon its initial release, the song received mixed reviews from music critics.

• UKMIX described the song as 'quite blissful with a smooth vocal delivery and some pretty nice lyrics,' but despite not being able to fault the song, the reviewer was unsure that the song was the right choice for the Eurovision Song Contest and predicted that Tyler would suffer the same criticism that Engelbert Humperdinck received the previous year.^[16]
• Robert Copsey from Digital Spy gave the song two stars out of five, stating that the song is a 'polar opposite to the slew of Euro-club bangers entering this year's contest,' but applauded Tyler for entering the Eurovision Song Contest with the contrasting song.^[18]
• The Guardian held a poll on their website asking the public if they expected Tyler to be successful at Eurovision. The results were fairly even with 46% predicting that Tyler would win and 54% voting that they didn't expect Tyler to win.^[19]
• Ann Gripper from the Daily Mirror described the song as 'heartfelt,' and went on to say that Tyler 'can still sing.' She criticised the songwriters' choice of 'above' and 'stuff' as the first rhyming lyrics, but noted the line 'you never see the rainbow, you just curse the rain' as an improvement, and an opportunity to 'have some fun with the staging on finals night in Malmo.' Gripper concluded by saying that it 'doesn't get into your head like (2012 Sweden winning song) 'Euphoria',' and stated that unless the staging is 'spectacular', the song won't be remembered by voting time.^[17]

Commercial performance[edit]

Digital Spy Music Forum

Commercially, the song reached minor success on record charts. On 19 May 2013, 'Believe in Me' scored the highest Eurovision-related new entry on that week's Top 100 UK Singles Chart, despite finishing 19th in the contest.^[20] The song climbed up to No. 86 in the UK mid-week charts following its debut at No. 93, but dropped out of the Top 100 by the following weekend.^[21]

Accolades[edit]

Bonnie Tyler won Best Song (with 12.6% of the vote) and Best Female Singer (with 16.9% of the vote) at the Eurovision Song Contest Radio Awards, and became the first representative of the United Kingdom to receive an award from ESC Radio since its initiation in 2006.^[22]

Eurovision Song Contest 2013[edit]

Tyler was selected by the BBC to represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. The first rehearsal took place on 12 May,^[24] the second on 15 May^[25] and the performance in front of the jury on 17 May 2013. Tyler's final performance of 'Believe in Me' took place on 18 May during the Grand Final, with Anthony Goldsbrough (guitar and backing vocals), Michael Gazzard (guitar and backing vocals), Hayley Sanderson (guitar and backing vocals), Kristen Cummings (keyboards and backing vocals) and Grant Mugent-Kershaw (drums). The song was staged with Tyler standing by a microphone stand with her backing group before walking down the catwalk onto a rising platform.^[26]

The song finished in 19th place with points from Ireland (7), Malta (5), Spain (4), Romania (3), Switzerland (2), Sweden (1) and Slovenia (1), a total of 23 points.

Reaction to the Eurovision results[edit]

Several journalists and singers have made public their views on the song and the result. Irish entrant and three-time winner of Eurovision Johnny Logan complimented Tyler, but argued that the song wasn't strong enough. He continued, 'If you're going to win Eurovision, to go through some of the incredible voting I've noticed over the last few years, you have to have something that's going to stand out above everything else. Otherwise you're just going to hope to pick up 10 or 11 votes.' Similarly, Nathan Moore agreed that the song was not strong enough, but said 'It was a great idea to get Bonnie involved, there's a lot of love for Bonnie out there.'^[27] Mick Dalley (of Yahoo! News) agreed that 'although Tyler herself was on form, singing beautifully and rousing the crowd with her podiumed finale, 'Believe in Me' was simply not good enough as a song'.^[28]

1997 UK winner Katrina Leskanich (of Katrina and the Waves) stated that she was underwhelmed by Denmark's entry, and expected Tyler to have scored higher than she did. British journalist Dave Goodman acknowledged that Tyler's entry was an improvement on the previous year, though argued that it was a combination of a poor position in the running order and the song that kept the UK from scoring higher.^[27]

During promotion for Rocks and Honey in France, Bonnie Tyler spoke out against the Eurovision Song Contest's incidents. After being asked if she believes the contest is rigged, she replied, 'I think so.'^[29]

'The next day after the Eurovision, the Russians were complaining to Azerbaijan, 'why didn't you give us the ten points we paid for?' Excuse me! 'We paid for?' Is this a competition? ... I don't care about that. We [United Kingdom] haven't won for sixteen years, and I didn't expect to win. It's too bad that politics come in to it, it should be a songwriting competition, not who lives next door to you.'^[29]

The Daily Mail reported that Tyler overheard the conversation of Russians complaining to Azerbaijanis and spread the rumour,^[30] though Tyler challenged this and said that she had seen it on Sky News.^[31][32]

Performances and promotion[edit]

Tyler first performed the song in Berlin, Germany where she featured as a guest on the Rock Meets Classic Tour in February to March 2013.^[33] Tyler was still involved with the tour when it was announced that she would be representing the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest in May, and after appearing on The One Show in London, she returned to Germany to begin promoting 'Believe in Me'.^[34][35] On 19 April, she stopped off at the Cologne Cathedral and the Madame Tussauds wax museum in Berlin for a photo shoot and unveiled wax figurines of the members of ABBA.^[36] On 28 April, the Leute Heute (German TV show) film team published a video from visiting Tyler's house a few weeks before to interview her on her participation in the Eurovision Song Contest.^[37] On the same day she also underwent several interviews with media organisations including Digital Spy, The Sun, and the Daily Mail. At mid-day, Tyler was interviewed and then performed an acoustic version of the song on BBC Radio 2's Weekend Wogan with her Eurovision group.^[38] Her final television appearance in the UK was on 3 May, when she performed 'Believe in Me' on The Graham Norton Show.^[39]

After arriving in Malmö on 10 May, Tyler was received positively by the press and by the other Eurovision entrants. Particular support came from Finland's entrant Krista Siegfrids and Malta's entrant Gianluca Bezzina.^[40][41][42] Before the voting concluded, the UK received 2 more points from Switzerland and the Lithuanian spokesperson spoke 'I love you, Bonnie Tyler' despite the UK not scoring any Lithuanian votes.^[43]

Credits and personnel[edit]

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of the CD single.^[44]

Digital Spy Forums Eurovision 2016

Track listings and formats[edit]

Germany Maxi CD single^[45]

1. 'Believe in Me' (Radio edit) – 3:01
2. 'Believe in Me' (Album version) – 3:57
3. 'Stubborn' – 3:46

UK Digital download^[46]

1. 'Believe in Me' (Eurovision edit) – 3:01

Charts[edit]

Release history[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Bonnie to represent the UK at Eurovision'. 7 March 2013. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
2. ^Rocks and Honey (Album liner notes). Bonnie Tyler. Celtic Swan Recordings. 2013. 0825646456734. access-date= requires url= (help)CS1 maint: others (link)
3. ^'Bonnie Tyler warming up for comeback album in 2009'. Today's Zaman. 1 July 2008. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
4. ^Noble, Roy (2 August 2012). 'Roy Noble, 02/08/2012'. BBC Radio Wales. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
5. ^'Rocks & Honey by Bonnie Tyler'. iTunes Store. Apple, Inc. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
6. ^'Believe in Me (Eurovision Edit) – Single by Bonnie Tyler'. iTunes Store. Apple, Inc. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
7. ^'Believe in Me – Single by Bonnie Tyler'. iTunes Store. Apple, Inc. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
8. ^Jones, Alex; Baker, Matt (March 2013). 'The One Show, 19/03/2013'. The One Show. BBC.
9. ^'Believe in Me coming to SingStar soon'. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
10. ^'Believe in Me - Single by Bonnie Tyler'. iTunes Store. Apple, Inc. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
11. ^'Bonnie Tyler releases music video for Eurovision Song Contest entry 'Believe in Me''. The Daily Telegraph. 7 March 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
12. ^Good, Jo (24 April 2013). 'BBC London 94.9 – Jo Good, Bonnie Tyler'. BBC Radio. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
13. ^''Believe in Me' behind the scenes'. BBC. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
14. ^MacAuley, Fred (7 May 2013). 'Bonnie Tyler: Celebrity Interview'. BBC Radio. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
15. ^Curtis Child (15 August 2013). 'Desmond Child Special'. YouTube. Google Inc. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
16. ^ ^ab'Reviews – Bonnie Tyler – Believe in Me'. UKMIX. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
17. ^ ^abGripper, Ann (19 April 2013). 'Eurovision 2013 preview: Is UK entry by Bonnie Tyler Believe In Me a song contest winner?'. Daily Mirror. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
18. ^ ^abCopsey, Robert (17 May 2013). 'Bonnie Tyler: 'Believe In Me' – Single review'. Digital Spy. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
19. ^'Bonnie Tyler at Eurovision – will she win it for the UK?'. The Guardian. 7 March 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
20. ^Lane, Daniel (19 May 2013). 'Bonnie Tyler beats Denmark in Eurovision chart race'. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
21. ^Lane, Daniel (22 May 2013). 'Eurovision dominates this week's Official Singles Chart Update'. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
22. ^Mourinho, Daniel (1 July 2013). 'Bonnie Tyler receives ESC Radio Award trophies'. Eurovision Song Contest Radio. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
23. ^ ^abMourinho, Daniel (17 June 2013). 'ESC Radio Awards 2013 – The Winners'. Eurovision Song Contest Radio. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
24. ^Copsey, Robert (13 May 2013). 'Bonnie Tyler rehearses for Eurovision Song Contest – watch'. Digital Spy. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
25. ^'United Kingdom: Second Rehearsal'. European Broadcasting Union. 15 May 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
26. ^Roxburgh, Gordon (12 May 2013). 'Uplifting performance by Bonnie Tyler for UK'. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
27. ^ ^ab'What next for the UK in Eurovision?'. BBC News. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
28. ^Dalley, Mick (23 May 2013). 'Eurovision: What's next for the United Kingdom in 2014?'. Yahoo! News. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
29. ^ ^abMoreau, Charlotte (31 May 2013). 'Bonnie Tyler accuse l'Eurovision de tricherie'. Le Parisien. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
30. ^Glennie, Alasdair (13 September 2013). 'Has Eurovision been fixed for years? TV bosses probe claims that Azerbaijan has been offering bribes in exchange for votes'. Daily Mail. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
31. ^Bartlett, Glen (12 December 2013). 'Bonnie Tyler Interview'. Oystermouth Radio. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
32. ^Stallard, Katie (22 May 2013). 'Eurovision: Russia Angered Over Vote 'Theft''. Sky News. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
33. ^Bonnie Tyler – Believe In Me ('Rock Meets Classic' Tour in Berlin, Germany 2013) on YouTube Retrieved 7 March 2013
34. ^Bonnie Tyler to guest in HR1Archived 1 July 2013 at Archive.today. Retrieved 1 May 2013
35. ^Bonnie Tyler Eimsbuettel. Retrieved 1 May 2013
36. ^Bonnie Tyler at Madame Tussaud's, Newsday.com. Retrieved 1 May 2013
37. ^...with Bonnie Tyler in WalesArchived 7 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine, ZDF. Retrieved 1 May 2013
38. ^Bonnie Tyler – Believe In Me (Live BBC Radio 2 session – 28 April 2013) on YouTube. Retrieved 1 May 2013
39. ^Repo, Juha Tonight: Bonnie Tyler live on the Graham Norton Show, Eurovision Song Contest Today, 3 May 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013
40. ^Thomas, Hugh (16 May 2013). 'Bonnie Tyler proving a hit with Eurovision fans'. BBC News. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
41. ^Roxburgh, Gordon. 'Gianluca meets Bonnie Tyler for tea'. Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
42. ^'Krista believes in her idol Bonnie Tyler'. Viisukuppila. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
43. ^'Grand Final'. Eurovision Song Contest 2013. May 2013. European Broadcasting Union.
44. ^Believe in Me (CD singleliner notes). Bonnie Tyler. ZYX Music. 2013. access-date= requires url= (help)CS1 maint: others (link)
45. ^Believe in Me (European Maxi CD Single liner notes). Bonnie Tyler. ZYX Music. 2013. ZYX 1085-B.CS1 maint: others (link)
46. ^ ^ab'Believe In Me (Eurovision Edit) by Bonnie Tyler'. iTunes Store. Apple, Inc. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
47. ^'Official Singles Chart Top 100'. Official Charts Company.
48. ^'Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50'. Official Charts Company.
49. ^'Bonnie Tyler – Believe in Me'. ZYX Music. Retrieved 30 August 2014.