Rebecca Ferguson + Jay James Picton
Though the Theatre Royal is decorated with the stage production of the famous comedy Shrek, Tuesday the 13th of March saw the X Factor finalist Rebecca Ferguson take over from normal proceedings to showcase her debut album Heaven.
With a theatre full of dedicated Rebecca Ferguson fans long from her X Factor days, they were definitely in for a top class show as not only was the soul queen ready to perform some of her big hitters, she brought along the very talented Jay James Picton as her support act for the evening. The strong voice from the young man put shivers down the spine to every seat in the venue. Still working on his debut album, the Welsh singer has certainly got a lot in his locker to offer. Later, Jay explained to me that he didn’t have much energy for the performance. If that was a lack luster performance, then I cannot wait to see him full of intensity. Jay finished with his debut single ‘Play It By Heart’ which is out in June (you can see the acoustic version of that track with MOBO TV).
When the main act entered the stage, the roar of appreciation hit the roof. Rebecca Ferguson grabbed everyone’s attention with her pink converted dress and with a full band backing her, she capitulated everyone with that voice that made Simon Cowell pick her two years ago. Singing tracks from her debut album Heaven and also mixing it up with a few covers such as The Rolling Stone’s Gimme Shelter, Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come and Drake’s Take Care was a welcome change of pace for the gig a extended the standard of high quality tracks for another 20 minutes. Rebecca talked to the crowd on occasion with her appealing scouser accent is still a surprise to hear. After thanking the crowd for voting for her on the X Factor, one fan cried ‘You should have won’. On this performance, he perhaps had a point.
Rebecca finished with her top ten hit ‘Nothing Is Real But Love’ and it doesn’t help you wonder that the once shy legal secretary was born for stardom. There is still a long way to go but with an arena date in her hometown under her belt, there is a good shout stating this case.
