Liverpool-based legal secretary turned sensation Rebecca Ferguson
is best known for being the runner-up in the British televised singing competition
The X Factor
, the first woman to reach that level in the show’s then seven-year run. Having been singing and writing songs since her childhood,
Ferguson
’s first reach for the spotlight was in 2004, when she first auditioned for The X Factor, but was thwarted by shyness and lack of confidence. By 2010 she was ready for another try, this time impressing X Factor judges with her
smoky
,
poignant voice
and
diverse song selections
enough to land a spot on the show that year, where with diverse song selections she wowed
Nicole Sherzinger
with her rendition of a
Corinne Bailey Rae
song at boot camp and reached the finals to duet with her idol,
Christina Aguilera
. Though she fell short to competitor
Matt Cardle
,
Ferguson
was signed to
Cowell
/Sony Music Entertainment venture Syco and began working on her debut record as 2011 began. The single "
Nothing's Real But Love
" reached the British Top Ten, and her album
Heaven
hit number three, and charted well throughout much of Europe.
