From the BBC a new interview with Alex Parkes ...
'After winning Fame Academy and becoming a successful pop star, Alex Parks sees 2004 as an opportunity to shed the talent show tag for good.
The 19-year-old from Cornwall has faced a mixed reaction since triumphing on the BBC show in October, with some sniping from the music press.
But supporters have lauded her as an unusually talented prospect, which may silence her detractors yet.
The singer is softly-spoken, but talks of the coming year with steely determination and a will to suceed.
"I'm not in the Fame Academy any more. I want to climb in my career, gain experience, learn and improve," says Parks, whose debut single and album both sailed into the top five.
Her first collection, called Introduction, was released weeks after her Fame Academy win - and was attacked by critics for having too little original material.
Parks wants to spend the coming months proving her detractors wrong, saying it was too soon to release all her own work.
"I already had enough of my own songs, but it would have been a crap album. I needed a transition. The next one will be all original songs."
Winning Fame Academy landed Parks a recording deal and a year's grace to get started in the music business.
The musician is already looking ahead to the day in October when she will have to stand on her own two feet - and kiss her celebrity flat goodbye.
"I'm thinking about where I'm going to live, but I'm positive and excited about the year ahead and the new album. I think this year's going to be fun," she says.
"I've been really tired, but the things I've been doing are unbelievable - it's almost like Christmas came early."
Parks only has one predecessor's experience to draw upon, and is unconcerned about how he handled his passing year of musical infamy.
After initial chart success, David Sneddon quit frontline pop music a year after his Fame Academy win.
"I don't know anything about David and have never met him. This year it would have been very different no matter who had won," Parks says.
Parks has a musical wish-list for the coming year.
"I'd love to work with Annie Lennox, Sinead O'Connor and Annie DiFranco. I'd definitely learn loads from them," she says.
"I'd prefer to do intimate gigs, which are more rewarding for the audience. But a huge arena would be amazing - all those people coming to see just you."
"I don't know what I'd do in my show...maybe a trapeze? But touring is a more distant prospect - the next album is the priority," adds Parks.'
Taken from here.
Pleased to see that the Queen of Hype, has the right opinion of her creative talents.