Latest news with #NatalieOkri
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
A Britain's Got Talent star reveals she 'lost control after signing up with Simon Cowel's talent agency'
A Britain's Got Talent star has revealed that she 'lost control after signing up with Simon Cowel 's talent agency. Natalie Okri, 26, who was dubbed a 'baby Beyonce ' when she audition for BGT in 2009, has now hit out at the reality of fame as a child star. Balancing, school, rehearsals, studio hours and live performances had proven tough when she was younger but it was when Natalie signed to Simon's Syco Entertainment label in 2020, that felt she lost control over her creative direction, according to the mirror. Although she was initially pleased to be signed by a label again in 2020, Natalie reportedly has feelings of regret. She told The Mirror: 'When you're so young and you have a label, so many people's hands are in it, and you don't really get that much of a say. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop 'They choose your songs, they choose your look, they choose what you wear, and they kind of tell you what your story is, rather than you having your own story. 'It's very much like [a game of] design your artist.' MailOnline has contacted Simon's representatives for a comment. In pigtails and pinafore she looked like a typical ten-year-old school girl in 2009 but Natalie transformed the moment she started singing. Her impressive performance won over the judges and led to a standing ovation from the audience. But the response from her classmates was anything but complimentary. The singer, who idolised the singer Beyonce, explained at the time how envious classmates taunted her because of her extraordinary musical ability. 'There is one girl in my class who makes fun of me because I wear ordinary clothes and she wears fashion stuff,' said Natalie, who lived with her mother and sister in a flat in South London. 'She is the gang leader and there are about six of them who make me cry. 'But I know I can win and show them all what I can do.' Natalie impressed Simon Cowell and his fellow judges with her rendition of Alicia Keys' No One. She told the judging panel she had been singing since the age of four. 'I sing at home and I sometimes even sing when I am havingmy dinner. I want to be a singer and a diva and I definitely want to belike Beyonce,' she said. Natalie quickly won over the audience with herremarkably powerful voice, while even Simon declared: 'I think you are totally and utterly adorable.' Amanda Holden described the performance: 'Just knockout brilliant,' whilePiers Morgan enthused: 'You are a very very little girl with a veryvery big voice, I loved it.' Natalie, who is estranged from her father, said she wanted to win the competition and £100,000 prize money to buy a new house for her mother and sister. Her mother Tabeth Mupondihunga confirmed at the time that the youngster had been physically and verbally abused since auditioning for the show. She said the problem had arisen because other girls wanted to audition with Natalie as a girl group, but she wanted to do it alone.
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Britain's Got Talent child star hits out after having entire image 'controlled'
Natalie Okri made it to the Britain's Got Talent semi-finals as a child, and went on to get signed by Simon Cowell's music label. Now as an adult she is still making hits but has gone in a completely different direction Natalie Okri brought the nation to tears in 2009 when, at just 10 years old, she delivered an achingly sweet rendition of Alicia Keys' No One on the Britain's Got Talent stage. Natalie's performance earned her praise from all of the BGT judges, including famously hard-to-please Simon Cowell, and she even made it to the semi-finals where she competed against heavyweights such as Diversity and Susan Boyle. Sixteen years later Natalie is still involved with the music industry, but her journey towards making music that reflects who she is inside has not been without its challenges. Shortly after BGT, Natalie was signed to Cowell's Syco Entertainment label. What seemed like a dream come true quickly became overwhelming as the girl struggled to balance time at school with her new world of rehearsals, studio hours, and live performances. "My mum was very concerned, and my dad, who's a barrister, got the contract cancelled. When I was 16, I released my first-ever song and started again. I started taking it more seriously in my third year of university when I was about 19, releasing regularly from there," she previously told Cene magazine: Although she was initially pleased to be signed by a label again in 2020, Natalie now looks back on that time with a degree of regret. In an exclusive interview with The Mirror, she admitted that she feels like she lost creative control over the music she was making and the way she was being marketed, saying: "When you're so young and you have a label, so many people's hands are in it, and you don't really get that much of a say. "They choose your songs, they choose your look, they choose what you wear, and they kind of tell you what your story is, rather than you having your own story. It's very much like [a game of] design your artist." Now, as an independent artist at 26, Natalie is reclaiming her voice. The singer has done away with the influence of record execs, deleted her old catalogue of tracks that she no longer feels reflect her values, and stopped drinking in the studio. This turning point came after her track Roll With Me, which she worked on with rappers Sneakbo and Ramz, took off on TikTok - only for her to get a shock when she heard her own lyrics quoted back to her in church. Natalie shared: "I was leading praise and worship in the choir, and these little girls that were like 12 and 13 years old came up to me and started singing my lyrics back to me. In the lyrics, I'm swearing and they sang the swear words to me. "And this is in church, and they're young and I was like, 'Whoa, don't sing those lyrics.' It dawned on me that I'm influencing these younger girls to be swearing and to be drinking alcohol and just living this lifestyle that is not even a lifestyle that I live. "I just felt like it was not a good influence on the younger generation. I would like my music to inspire, to uplift, to be positive, and to encourage and not be a bad influence." The singer has called some of the expectations label execs used to place on her "toxic", adding: "They like to see you shaking a bit of arse on the music video. They like to see you doing things that are sometimes toxic and I don't want to have to be the artist that lives up to that expectation anymore. I would rather be true to myself." She has since released R&B tracks Blessings and Hot, and made appearances on BBC Radio 1Xtra. This May she celebrated a new career milestone - performing her own music at the Liverpool Gospel Festival. Fans cheered her on after she posted a behind-the-scenes video of her rehearsals, gushing: "Beautiful cover and song. Congratulations girl." Natalie added: "I feel like we're in a time where people need something that is refreshing, they need something that can uplift, motivate. I've noticed that a lot of people have been changing their kind of music into music that is more positive, cause, yeah, it's just that time. People are actually now seeing my story and seeing me for who I am. I'm really excited to see where that's going to go."
