Belle Amie Explained

Belle Amie
Past Members:	Geneva Lane Rebecca Creighton Esther Campbell Sophia Wardman

Belle Amie were an English pop girl group based in London. They were formed during the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010, where they finished eleventh. The band originally consisted of Esther Campbell, Sophia Wardman, Rebecca Creighton and Geneva Lane who all auditioned to the show as soloists. Their debut single, "Girls Up", was released in August 2011. Lane had left the group in early January 2011 and Creighton left in April 2012 in order to pursue a solo career. The group split up in 2014.

History

2010: Formation and The X Factor

See main article: The X Factor (British series 7).

Belle Amie consisted of singers Esther Campbell,^[1] Sophia Wardman^[2] Rebecca Creighton^[3] and Geneva Lane.^[1] The group was formed after all members applied as soloists for the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010, but each failed to qualify for the Girls category. The judges, after a suggestion by Cowell, put them together in a band, qualifying for the Groups category.^[4] Their qualifying song, as well as their first song ever as a group, was an acoustic version of "Faith".^[5] They reached the live shows and were mentored by Simon Cowell.

In the first week of live shows, they sang "Airplanes" by B.o.B and were safe. In week 2, they sang "You Really Got Me". As a result of the public vote, they were put in bottom three and had to sing in the final showdown on 17 October, after Storm Lee polled the fewest votes and was eliminated. They sang "Big Girls Don't Cry" and were saved by judges Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole voted to save them and eliminate Diva Fever instead, without having their mentor Cowell to vote. However, the voting statistics revealed that Diva Fever received more votes than Belle Amie which meant that if the result went to deadlock, Diva Fever would've been saved.

In the third week, they sang "I'll Stand by You", in which they progressed to the fourth week, where they performed "Venus". However, they were in the bottom two for the second time with Katie Waissel, and sang "Breakaway" in the final showdown. The result went to deadlock, and Belle Amie were eliminated. A week later, the group performed at G-A-Y, along with series 5 finalist Diana Vickers.

2011–12: Lane's departure, debut album and Creighton's departure

In January 2011, it was reported Geneva Lane had left the group.^[6] Lane stated her short time with the band "was absolutely brilliant, but as time went on I realised that it wasn't what I wanted and I missed performing with a live band and songwriting."^[7]

Two months after Lane's departure, they released a snippet of their debut single "Girls Up" in March 2011.^[8] The band signed a record deal with Dodient Records and their debut single "Girls Up" was released on digital download and CD single on 28 August 2011.^[9] The music video premiered in early June 2011 and became 16th most watched video worldwide in two days on YouTube.^{[10] [11]} On 29 June 2011 the group uploaded a Mash-up of songs from 2011 to their official YouTube channel.^[12] On 1 July 2011, Perez Hilton blogged about the remix, stating it as "an awesome mash-up of some of the hits of 2011…so far!".^[13]

On 11 August 2011, they appeared on The Crush and performed a cover of Tinchy Stryder and Dappy's "Spaceship".^{[14] [15]} On 30 September 2011, they released a snippet of a new song titled, "Shine".^[16] On 2 October 2011, Esther and Rebecca revealed that the group plan to release their debut album sometime next year, after they release several new singles.^[17] In February 2012 they uploaded their second full song "Stand Up" On 13 April 2012, it was announced that Rebecca had left the group to pursue a solo career leaving original members, Esther and Sophia, with an undetermined future.^{[18] [19]}

Discography

Music videos

Members

Member		2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
	Geneva Lane (2010–2011)
	Rebecca Creighton (2010–2012)
	Esther Campbell (2010–2014)
	Sophia Wardman (2010–2014)

Members

• Esther Campbell is from London, where she studied performing arts and musical theatre. For her first audition Campball sung "One Night Only", and was put through to bootcamp by all three judges. After being told she couldn't go through to judges' houses as a solo artist, she was put into Belle Amie.
• Sophia Wardman is from Scarborough, Yorkshire, where she studied music. Wardman received four yeses, and made it to bootcamp, but was eventually put into Belle Amie. Before Belle Amie, Wardman was a contestant on reality TV show . On 30 January 2013, Wardman uploaded an acoustic session of an original song written by herself on her YouTube page titled, Standing Upside Down.^[20]
• Geneva Lane is from Guildford, where she studied musical theatre. Lane previously won 2008 Spanish singing contest The WOW Factor.^[21] In the X-factor auditions she received four yeses after singing "At Last", thus making it to bootcamp, but was put into Belle Amie before judges' houses. Geneva agreed to join Belle Amie, being a member of the group all the way through their X Factor journey. In January 2011, Lane left the group. Geneva stated it wasn't the direction she wanted to take musically, and that as a solo artist she has more freedom creatively, and can express herself.^[22] After leaving the band, Lane signed a record deal with Hillbilly Records, and her debut single "Karma" was released on 25 September 2011. Lane has recorded a new song, titled "Write It Down", which is due for release sometime in 2012.
• Rebecca Creighton, is from Tallaght, Ireland. She left her job as a hairdresser to pursuit her dreams of being a singer, and auditioned for X Factor. Creighton managed to get through to bootcamp, but was put into Belle Amie, being a member of the group all the way through their X Factor journey and remaining in the group 2 years after they were eliminated from the show. In 2012 Creighton left Belle Amie to concentrate on her own interests in R&B and rap music. She sang on Irish rapper Rob Kelly's single The Real Thing.^[23] Belle Amie released a statement in April 2012 saying "We're really sorry to announce that Rebecca has decided to leave the group to pursue a solo career.... We're really upset with the decision made as the future for Belle Amie was looking bright." Creighton expressed her frustration that there was little support for Belle Amie and they had struggled to get airplay for their music.

Notes and References

1. News: The secrets behind The X Factor finalists revealed. Coventry Telegraph. Marion McMullen. 4 October 2010.
2. News: Sophia's band takes spotlight. 2 October 2010. Scarborough Evening News.
3. News: Irish X Factor hopefuls given second chance . Claire Murphy . 27 September 2010 . Evening Herald.
4. Web site: The X Factor 2010: the 12 acts who made it to the Live Shows. entertainment.stv. 3 October 2010. 15 April 2012.
5. Web site: The X Factor 2010: the 12 acts who made it to the Live Shows . . 3 October 2010.
6. Web site: Geneva Lane leaves 'X Factor' Belle Amie. Digital Spy. 26 January 2011. 15 April 2012.
7. Web site: Geneva Lane on leaving Belle Amie, her split from Zayn Malik and being a Cher Lloyd fan. 11 August 2011. 15 April 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120510193446/http://www.ok.co.uk/posts/view/38278/Geneva-Lane-on-leaving-Belle-Amie-her-split-from-Zayn-Malik. 10 May 2012. dead.
8. Web site: Belle Amie release debut single teaser. Digital Spy. 23 March 2011. 15 April 2012.
9. Web site: Girls Up (Remixes) – EP . iTunes . 15 April 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111205111704/http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/girls-up-remixes/id453427021 . 5 December 2011 .
10. Web site: Hold your Belle's up for these eX Factor beauties who are taking their careers to the next level. Flavour Magazine. 24 August 2011. 15 April 2012.
11. Web site: 'X Factor' Belle Amie premiere 'Girls Up' video. Digital Spy. 16 June 2011. 15 April 2012.
12. Web site: Belle Amie – 2011 Mashup . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/4zWP6NP6Upk . 2021-12-21 . live. YouTube. 29 June 2011. 15 April 2012.
13. Web site: Tres Belle! . PerezHilton.com. 1 July 2011. 15 April 2012.
14. Web site: Belle Amie – Spaceship (Cover) . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/DtLd10vktaw . 2021-12-21 . live. YouTube. 24 August 2011. 15 April 2012.
15. Web site: The Crush: August . 4Music. 25 July 2011. 15 April 2012.
16. Web site: Belle Amie – Shine (Exclusive Snippet). https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/K1Uc9c7fxyw . 2021-12-21 . live. YouTube. 30 September 2011. 15 April 2012.
17. Web site: X Factor Finalist – Belle Amie Interview With Amaru Don TV Part 1. 2 October 2011. 15 April 2012.
18. Web site: Miss Red: Rebecca Creighton has left Belle Amie. 7 May 2012.
19. Web site: Rebecca has left Belle Amie. Facebook. 7 May 2012. 7 May 2012.
20. Web site: Standing Upside Down Acoustic – Original Sophia Wardman. Sophia Wardman. 1 February 2013.
21. http://www.thewowfactorspain.com/contestants08.html The Wow Factor 2008 Finalists
22. Web site: Geneva Lane talks on leaving Belle Amie, Music&Boys . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/Nf6CImw7P-c . 2021-12-21 . live. Water Media Talents . 19 September 2011 . 27 June 2012.
23. News: Murphy. Claire. Rebecca quits pop to pursue her R&B roots ... and a new look. 11 August 2012. The Evening Herald (Dublin). 27 April 2012.