Two years after winning the Chinese talent show Min Xing Chang Fan Tan ("I Want to Sing to the Stars"), Sheffield University student Mary-Jess Leaverland, who entered the competition during a year's stint in Nanjing as part of her Music and Chinese Studies course, attempts to translate her Far East success to her homeland with her debut album,
Shine. While this shunning of the more traditional X-Factor route to stardom may mean she's unlikely to reap the same rewards in her own country, it's an approach which has allowed the 21-year-old much more creative control than those forced to blindly follow Simon Cowell's vision. Indeed, the talented soprano has co-written seven of its 12 classical pop tracks, in addition to songs penned by
Deepest Blue's
Matt Schwartz ("Rising from the Fire"), one-hit wonder Zoe ("Everything Can Wait"), and Swedish opera singer Fredrik Kempe ("Lighthouse of Mine"), while her famously faithful rendition of the
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon theme, "Yue Guang Ai Ren" ("A Love Before Time)" is the only cover version, a far cry from the usual karaoke fare handed out to most British talent show winners. No doubt inspired by the rapturous reception she received from the seventy million Chinese viewers who witnessed her victory, Mary-Jess' crystal-clear, celestial vocals are joined by a myriad of the country's traditional instruments including the Chinese harp on the new age ballad "Beautiful Force," and the Mongolian horse-hair fiddle on the emotionally stirring "An Angel Walking," while her fluency in Mandarin is tested and she passes with flying colors on her winner's single. Ross Cullum's often bombastic production can sometimes relegate Mary-Jess to a guest star role on her own record, while the constant stream of staccato strings ensures that it sometimes feels like an
Enya tribute record. But overall,
Shine is a surprisingly ambitious debut which proves that some quick-route pop stars have the capability to do things their own way, and in style. ~ Jon O'Brien