Adele-ation

I have loved Adele and her voice ever since the first time I heard Hometown Glory in 2007. There are many great singers out there but few who have that special something that makes them enigmatic and have a way with words that makes them able to connect to people on a deeper level through their own joys and heartbreaks.

Adele is gobby, effortlessly funny and incredibly talented beyond her years. Despite her billowing sail of a voice and song-writing abilities, she is a contradiction in terms displaying an unusual mix of defiant confidence and occasional self deprecation which enamours her to the public all the more. These are the reasons I love Adele…

 I believe every word that she sings

It always seems like she puts everything into her performances. She broke down after her Brit Awards 2011 performance of ‘Someone Like You’ and recently revealed that she was in tears because she imagined her ex-boyfriend laughing at her. She wrote the song about her split with her ex-boyfriend and said that while she was singing it, she pictured him revelling in the fact that he still has a hold on her. "I was really emotional by the end because I'm quite overwhelmed by everything anyway. Then I had a vision of my ex, of him watching me at home and he's going to be laughing at me because he knows I'm crying because of him, with him thinking, 'Yep, she's still wrapped around my finger.'"

She suffers from fierce stage fright and gets flustered around celebrities

…just like any of us would! I love that she doesn't see herself as a celebrity.  She was quoted as saying in Rolling Stone Magazine “I was about to meet Beyoncé and I had a full-blown anxiety attack. Then she popped in looking gorgeous, and said, 'You're amazing! When I listen to you I feel like I'm listening to God'".  Adele took inspiration from Beyonce’s on-stage alter ego ‘Sasha Fierce’ and created her own… ‘Sasha Carter’. The composite of Sasha Fierce and late country icon June Carter is apparently pulled out whenever Adele needs to give herself a shot of confidence.

She flies the flag for voluptuous women

She makes no apologies for being curvy and refuses to conform to what some industry people think she should be.  “My life is full of drama, and I won't have time to worry about something as petty as what I look like," she said. "I don't like going to the gym. I like eating fine foods and drinking nice wine." She has also said "Even if I had a really good figure, I don't think I'd get my t--- and a-- out for no one," she said. "I love seeing Lady Gaga's boobs and bum. I love seeing Katy Perry's boobs and bum. Love it. But that's not what my music is about. I don't make music for eyes. I make music for ears."  “It doesn't bother me. I'm not naive, I don't believe I need to look like that. I'm very confident. Even when I read people saying horrible stuff about my weight. Until I start not liking my own body, until it gets in the way of my health or stops me having a boyfriend then I don't care. I'm fine. Since I was a teenager I've been a size 14 or 16, sometimes 18. And it's never been an issue in any of the relationships I've had. None of my friends, girls, are obsessed with weight”.

She’s not a music snob

Adele has sited everything from the Spice Girls to Etta James as influences on her own style.  There's something refreshing about artists who listen to all genres of music regardless of whether they are deemed to be cool or not.  This usually results in an more open-minded approach to song writing and style and keeps things fresh.

"No one really mentions my songs. I think they just assume I haven't written them. I've written my whole album. I love love songs. But I love pop music as well: Girls Aloud, Kylie, the Spice Girls, East 17, Mika. I'm not that into credibilit... I mean, of course I wanna be a credible artist but you gotta have a laugh, innit? I used to be obsessed like that, I was a real indie kid, but I'd secretly go home and listen to Celine Dion. She's got proper ballads!"

I love her makeup

Whenever I see her in interviews or performances, her makeup is always immaculate and usually takes on a 60's vibe with thick black eyeliner and nude lips.  Her hair is always gorgeous too and I love the reddish, sometimes strawberry blonde colour.  This is a great tutorial by Nic at Pixiwoo on how to achieve the Adele look...

Her sense of humour

She has always struck me as the type of girl I would like to have as a friend, with her infectious cackle of a laugh and dirty sense of humour.  I always find myself smiling when I watch her in interviews because she comes across as SO down to earth.  Stories like this make me laugh:

“Over the Atlantic there was all this turbulence, the plane was shaking and I just stayed watching my film. But then the air hostesses had to put their belts on – and that’s when I started screaming. In economy. There was a five-year-old boy sitting next to me laughing at me ’cos I thought I was going to die. Very embarrassing. So the air hostess gave me wine until I passed out.” She cackles. “I hate flying anyway, that’s one thing I’m dreading doing more of. You’re not supposed to be in the f***ing air! That’s why we have gravity!”

She keeps it real

Adele has made it clear that she doesn't lead a glamourous life away from the camera and gigs.  She enjoys the simple things in life and has the same friends and team since she started out in the business.  She certainly isn't planning on becoming a diva...

“If I was walking in a straight line, people would walk round me. People fussing over me. Giving me my water in a bottle with a straw. I was like, I can do it myself. I’m not Mariah.”

She even had embarassing crushes as a teenager:

"Will Young was my first proper love. I was obsessed. The Gareth Gates fans were horrible to me and I wasn't having any of it. We had a fight and I was called into the head teacher's office and sent home. It was serious. It was so embarrassing when I met Will. I've loved him since I was 14, and the first thing that came out my mouth was, 'I voted for you 5,000 times!"

She looked and sounded amazing last night performing on Later With Jools Holland!...