Abena Bailey Features

Published work

For recent published works follow the links below

 

Doing Bali in a few days

http://www.redbrookmedia.com/magazine/bali-hearts-content/

 

Fun in Tokyo

http://www.redbrookmedia.com/magazine/tokyo-abena-bailey/

 

Italian villa holidays

http://www.redbrookmedia.com/magazine/la-dolce-vita-villa-style/

 

Must-dos in Paris

http://www.redbrookmedia.com/magazine/paris-travel/

 

Smart travel in Thailand

http://www.redbrookmedia.com/magazine/living-the-life-in-paradise/

 

Cornish retreats

http://www.redbrookmedia.com/magazine/cornish-retreats/

 

McQueen - moments of genius

http://www.redbrookmedia.com/magazine/mcqueen-moments-of-genius/

 

Celebrating Tommy Hilfiger

http://www.redbrookmedia.com/magazine/life-lessons-tommy-hilfiger/

 

Designer activewear

http://www.redbrookmedia.com/magazine/alexander-wang-designer-activewear/

 

British classics

http://www.redbrookmedia.com/magazine/we-love-a-classic/

 

News stories and features

X Factor make-up

http://www.makeupbyalex.co.uk/content/features/stylemagazine.pdf

 

Glam granny's boudoir pics! 

http://strictlyboudoir.co.uk/in-the-news-strictly-boudoir-photography-in-hemel-berkhamsted-tring-gazette.html

 

The nurse behind 'Call the Midwife'

http://begrease.rssing.com/browser.php?indx=1289487&item=983

 

Gazza's ex-wife's tell-all book

http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/more-news/sheryl-gascoigne-talks-exclusively-about-her-book-1-1207540

 

Life's hard - luxury bootcamp

http://www.tringtoday.co.uk/what-s-on/it-s-a-hard-life-shedding-pounds-in-the-lap-of-luxury-1-4177599

When I interviewed Joe McElderry I couldn't help but think what a genuinely nice man ;0)

I sounded out Joe about fame after X Factor, growing up and finding his own voice. Interview date - November 2012.

Christmas time has always been eventful for Joe McElderry. Who can forget the Rage Against the Machine campaign that stopped him from getting a Christmas number one after he won X Factor?

And then last Christmas Eve his stalker Ennis McBride was arrested outside his home in South Shields.

Yes the festive season is an emotional time and we can be pretty sure those old memories of being on X Factor will come flooding back when he sees the live shows on TV each year. 

As the X Factor contestants have been battlling it out, Joe has put out his fourth album 'Here's What I Believe' and has been zooming around the country promoting it.

For him life is super busy: "It changes every week," he said.

"Sometimes I do photo shoots, video shoots, record music, write a song and do three shows. All in one week. When I promote an album, I literally don't know where I am for three months."

One sobering date in the diary for the star this year was going to court to give evidence against McBride, who had denied a charge of harassment against Joe and his mum Eileen Joyce.

The 53-year-old  from Stockport had set up a Twitter account so that he could send insulting Tweets to Joe and had turned up at his and his mother's home on more than one occasion.

McBride was found guilty of harassment and fined £1,000 on September 11, and thankfully, he now has a restraining order against him that prevents him from contacting Joe or his mum.

Joe said: "I'm glad its all over and I'd just like to draw a line under it now."

And that is certainly what he has been doing. Not letting the stress of it all get to him, he has been seeking out and finalising venues for his tour next year and he was excited to tell us all about it.

He said: "I'm looking for the best places possible, maybe something similar to last year's concerts. I enjoy both large and intimate venues but it all depends on where we can go.

"The album is the first one that I've done song writing on. Four albums down the line and now I've really taken the creative control on this one. I'm more mature as a person."

Here's What I Believe went to number eight in the charts and made Joe the first X Factor star to have four top 20 albums and three top 10 albums.

"The days before it come out, I was a little nervous," he admitted.

"Just before an album comes out is the point I start to panic. It's the anticipation of what people are going to think of it.

"Your own songs come from personal experience and I wanted mine to be a fair representation of me and my music. I spent a lot of time on it."

He sounds confident yet easy-going over the phone, maybe a bit older than his 21 years.

He has had to grow up quickly since moving out of his home for the first time and settling in to the X Factor house in London three years ago.

At the age of 18 he was plunged into a fast-paced, not to mention ruthless, industry and immediately after his win he was at the centre of the Facebook campaign to get Rage Against The Machine to Christmas number one - a protest against the control X Factor had over the pop charts.

The Facebookers won and Joe had to settle with a number two spot: "I don't think I understood what was going on," he explained.

"At the time I thought it was unfair but looking back it was exciting to be part of a huge moment in music history. It was a pretty big deal but at the time I thought 'stupid Rage Against The Machine!'

After that debacle Joe attempted to quash speculation about his sexuality and came out as being gay.

"Everyone wanted to know about my personal life rather than my music so I thought if I did one interview I could put it behind me and make everything more about my music."

But 16 months after being signed to Simon Cowell's Syco label, Joe was dropped and that left him devastated.

It wasn't the end for him. His next step - going onto Popstar To Operastar - enabled him to come into his own and he won, got signed by Universal and released two hit albums - Classic and Classic Christmas.

There have been many ups and downs so far in his budding career but they have all given him vital lessons for the future.

He said: "At 18 years of age I didn't know who I was as a person. You don't at that age. It's about growing up and maturing, trying things out, working hard and learning from it."

Image by Dean Freeman

Totally unjudged, Brendan Cole’s theatre show is all about him and now that the Strictly dancer has stepped into his own could he be thinking about the patter of tiny feet? Abena Bailey had to ask.

 

 

When it comes to the BBC’s successful Saturday night show Strictly Come Dancing, the attention is all geared towards the celebrity dancers.

The professional dancers they are paired up with smile sweetly in the background but one has managed to steal a bit of the limelight for himself and has become a star in his own right.

Tall dark and handsome, Brendan Cole not only ticks all the boxes when it comes to looks but the former builder has won himself the nickname of the bad boy of Strictly.

He breaks rules to wow the audiences with some pretty impressive lifts and until he married model Zoe Hobbs in 2010 he provided plenty of entertainment for the gossip columns, which linked him to a string of beauties including Martine McCutcheon and Abi Titmuss.

So what’s on the cards for him now that he has been a married man for more than a year we wonder. A baby?

“Children are in the plan. That's definitely what the future holds,” he revealed.

“We've decided  when we're going to have them. It’s exciting. It’s all a part of life and something that is very important to both of us.”

The question really is when will there be a mini Brendan running around. This year?

He laughed and carefully said: “Quite possibly. This year could be huge.”

After first appearing on television screens in Strictly back in 2004 it was always only going to be a matter of time before the outspoken New Zealand-born dancer produced his own stage show.

In Live and Unjudged he brings the audience into his way of thinking.

He said: “It’s my show, there’s my name on the door, I write it, produce it, direct it, cast it and decide on costumes. I don’t leave anything to anyone else.

“It’s important to me to be able to bring out my creative side and what’s good about the show is it’s very intimate and includes everything I love about dance. Plus it’s not just one dance after another dance, it’s very audience interactive. There’s a moment where we get the audience up off their seats to do a salsa.

“I wanted to do something like that because people sit and watch Strictly but there’s a massive want out there for the public to be part of the dancing and I wanted to give them that opportunity when they come to see Live and Unjudged.”

 The 35-year-old has come a long way from being a six-year-old boy whose mother used to drag him ‘kicking and screaming’ to dance classes with his brother Scott.

“I hated it,” Brendan laughed.

“We used to jump out of the window and run down the street. It wasn’t until we started competing when we got hooked.”

This little memory has become one of those wonderful things that he and his mother look back on and laugh at.

He said: “Mum has been over several times to see my show and my sister came over last year.

“The fact that my family love it makes it private to me in a way. My sister is very proud of me and because she’s a dancer herself it makes me feel lucky to have been able to do it.”

 Wife Zoe is often in the audience while big brother Scott also stars in the show dancing on stage and sharing anecdotes with the audience.

Brendan said: “Having Scott in the show adds a whole different dimension. It’s more personable because he can take the mick out of me.

“Scott’s the happiest he’s ever been.

“Getting people up on their feet at the end of performance is a special feeling and the fact that my brother is a part of that and experiences it with me means we can go home, have a beer and reflect on it together.”

Kicking off in 2010, the touring show has been praised for its elegance, charm and fun. So where does our dancer go from here?

“I want to do another one but I have to see how things go because I can’t just do a show for the sake of it. I need to be inspired to create and it takes months to produce something like Live and Unjudged.”

I chat with Katie Melua

 

People were asking 'whatever happened to Katie Melua?' after she suffered a breakdown. Now the doe-eyed songstress is back touring with a new album and is making wedding plans. Abena Bailey catches up with her for a chat.

 

First things first, congratulations on your engagement to former superbike champ James Toseland! Are you looking forward to the wedding?

"Thank you. Yes I'm absolutely excited about the wedding. It's the only thing that's on my mind at the moment...that and the album of course."

 

So what kind of wedding do you want?

"I just want a small affair. It will be relaxed and chilled out with family and friends. It might be in the UK or Georgia. My family are over the moon. Being Georgian means family is important so they are excited.

 

How are the plans going?

"I've been looking for a dress and caterers. There's so much to think about but I've got a couple of girls from the office helping out. They have been great."

 

So you were off the radar for a bit when you went through a breakdown a couple of years ago. How are you now?

"I love being back on track. It's good to be at work and just doing it."

 

You were only 20 years old when you became the biggest selling female artist but the years that followed brought too much pressure for you to handle. Are you going to do things differently this time?

"Yes, definitely. I'll be dealing with things in a different way, putting things in perspective and balancing the work/life situation better. It's really about spending more time with my family and friends and just being in love."

 

Has love influenced your recent works?

"I would say so. I wouldn't be as romantic and happy if I wasn't in love."

 

What was the main inspiration for Secret Symphony?

"I did a gig a few years ago with an orchestra in Germany and it was such an amazing feeling to be on stage with an orchestra I thought about doing it for an album."

 

What is it about an orchestra that appeals to you so much?

"It's just indescribable. I can't put it into words. It's such an emotive and huge sound it really is fantastic. When you work with an orchestra you feel like you're doing something epic and subtle all at the same time."

 

So you're back working with Mike Batt - the man who discovered you at the Brit School almost 10 years ago. After three successful albums you did your fourth album, The House, with William Orbit. So why back to Batt for Secret Symphony?

"Mike is phenomenal at string arrangements so I thought it was the perfect time to work with him again."

You and Mike are a dream team when it comes to music. You went from finding it hard to get air play for Closest Thing To Crazy to the album Stop The Search going to number one. What is that works with you and Mike?

"We bring the best out of each other. It's always a joy working with him, he has such a passion for music, which we share. We don't always agree and sometimes we argue but most of the time we agree on things and he has such a good attitude and he's really inspiring to work around."

 

Which songs on the Secret Symphony did you write with Mike?

Forgetting All My Troubles, Heartstrings and Lone Wolf. Lone Wolf is really sombre. It's about being attracted to certain people that are dangerous for you. I've been intrigued by outsiders and interested in strange people and it has caused trouble."

 

What happened?

"I don't want to go into details because I want the song to speak for itself and I want the audience to attach their own stories and feelings to it."

 

Are there any other tracks on the album that you feel particularly close to?

"The single I'm really proud of is Better Than A Dream. It's a really happy, intimate and lovely song about the person you're with being better than you imagined."

 

Ah, so did you write it about your husband to be?

(Giggles) "When I sing it I think of him."

 

Katie Melua will be performing at Hampton Court Festival on Friday, 22nd June. Her new album ‘Secret Symphony’ is out now on Dramatico. Visit www.katiemelua.com

 

Rupert Pennefather

Did you know that principal ballet dancer of The Royal Opera House, Rupert Pennefather, was once the underdog of Tring Park School for Performing Arts?

I had a chat to him over the phone to find out more and the story goes that he was always struggling with academic work and lacking in confidence but determination took him to the top.

After being assessed out of White Lodge – the Royal Ballet's school for gifted dancers - and expelled from Tring Park performing arts School, in Hertfordshire, one could say his journey to the world's most famous stage was an unconventional one.

“It was just after the second year at White Lodge when things changed. I liked the training but I was very home sick; I missed my twin sister a lot and it didn't feel like it was the right time for me to be in a boarding school. I was assessed out and ended up going to a normal comprehensive school in Maidenhead. I fell back in my training because I wasn't doing it every day, like I had been at White Lodge. Twice a week at the local dance school just wasn't enough, not if you are training to be a professional ballet dancer.

“I went to my parents and told them that I needed to go to another dance school. The fact that I was a dancer at a comprehensive school wasn't going down well with some of the other students there. I wouldn't say I was bullied, it wasn't anything terrible, but there were a few incidents and some people at the school who I was best off avoiding. It was around this time when I auditioned for Tring.

Rupert was among of the school's first submissions of boys.

“On my first day everyone was friendly and welcoming. I was surrounded by dancers and we thrived on encouraging each other.”

Tring Park was very different to White Lodge. It's curriculum was triple threat – dance, drama and music. Rupert settled into dance and acting classes but it was his academic career that was causing the problems.

“I think I was disruptive in class because my heart was only for dance. I wasn't doing so well academically. I was struggling in lessons because I had dyslexia. To me the learning disorder was a big thing. I made me impatient and gave me too much energy. It wasn't a good mix, not to mention that I was an immature 14 year old.”

Despite extra support from tutors Rupert fell behind in his school work and found himself in a catch 22 situation; the more he fell behind the more he rebelled; and he became nothing but a nuisance and eventually was asked to leave during his GCSEs.

“People at Tring were very supportive. Some of the other boys had the same problems as me and some of the dance teachers understood where we were coming from.

“There was a warm atmosphere at that school. I loved it and I didn't want t leave, it wasn't my choice to leave, I would have stayed.”

Rupert's notoriety as a disruptive teen was common knowledge and his dance began to suffer. By his own admission he was 'pretty average'.

“Well, I was asked to leave White Lodge (assessed out) so if anything there was a feeling of insecurity about my dance. I worked harder because I wanted to get better.”

Rupert attended senior associate classes at The Royal ballet School, in Covent garden once every two weeks: “I was scared when I left White Lodge that I would be forgotten about. I wanted to show them that I could get there. My main goal was to get into the upper school.”

But when he failed to audition for an end of year performance at Tring Park, it was the last straw.

“I was talking and joking around and generally not giving the teachers the chance to teach the other children in lessons and in the end, the school called in my parents.

“My last day was really sad. I remember waiting in the  car while my mum and dad spoke to the head, who told them that they thought the school wasn't right for me. Looking back, it was probably the best thing to have happened because it gave me the opportunity to go into private lessons with Julie Rose, who was a soloist at The Royal ballet at the time. She gave me a lot of encouragement and made me believe in myself.”

Men's clubs and halls became Rupert's new  locations for dancing in. Julie would hire them out, clear the tables, put a barre up and prepare the floor with cola to make them sticky enough to dance on.

 A year of intense training with Julie involved daily workouts at the gym as well as ballet classes in preparation for the audition for the Royal Ballet's upper school.

“I hadn't seen the other boys from White lodge for three years by that time and I had to work as hard as I could because I didn't know what level their dancing was at,” Rupert explained.

“Maybe that was a good thing because I was imagining them to be amazing and perfect. Those  thoughts inspired me to work as hard as I did.

“When I got into the school I automatically set myself a new target, which was to get into the company.”

Rupert joined The Royal Ballet in 1999, was promoted to first artist in 2004, soloist in 2005, first soloist in 2006 and principal in 2008.