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After her 2006 debut album Fired Up went unreleased, former Mis-Teeq MC/singer Alesha Dixon looked to have joined Matt Willis, Duncan James, and Kym Marsh on the scrapheap of failed noughties pop solo careers. However, a victory on the hugely popular Strictly Come Dancing has given her an unexpected reprieve, leading to a new deal with Warner Music and a media profile bigger than she'd ever achieved in her band's heyday. The big question now is whether she can capitalize on her good fortune, with her second, and more importantly, available in-stores album, The Alesha Show? First single, the Xenomania-produced "The Boy Does Nothing," suggests solo pop stardom should be much more successful second time around. With shades of Lou Bega's 90s number one "Mambo No. 5," it's guaranteed to end up on countless party compilations thanks to its samba rhythms, surf guitars, and impossibly infectious chorus. Indeed, the seven songs produced by the team behind Girls Aloud is full of exciting, hook-laden, spiky dance-pop, such as the retro '60s pastiche "Cinderella Shoe," reminiscent of Cheryl Cole and co.'s chart-topper "The Promise," the Sade-esque cocktail bar sounds of "Italians Do It Better," and the piano-driven, jazz-pop stomper "Play Me." The other half of the album is a little more inconsistent. The string-laden "Do You Know," and "Breathe Slow," one of the few concessions to her R&B past, are perfectly competent ballads but show that Dixon's light but sometimes reedy vocals are much more suited to uptempo material than Beyonce-style slow jams. Elsewhere, the irritating high-pitched synths and flat chorus of "Let's Get Excited" nearly sinks the album before it begins, while the synth-led "Hand It Over" is a misguided attempt at reprising Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl." However, "Can I Begin" is a gorgeous acoustic midtempo which owes more than a nod to Nelly Furtado's "All Good Things," and the atmospheric, Spector-esque "Chasing Ghosts" suggest Dixon might not necessarily need the comfort zone of Brian Higgins' hit factory for her next album. Much more inventive than expected, The Alesha Show cleverly manages to appeal to both the older Strictly crowd who revitalized her fortunes, and the younger Radio 1 crowd who supported her earlier girl-band days. ~ Jon O'Brien
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