Have you met Alexis Jordan? If you haven’t you must have been hiding under a rock as her catchy debut single Happiness was a HUGE hit. We caught up with the sassy redhead about her new album and how she reacted when Simon Cowell called her an “amazing singer”.

Your debut single Happiness was such a hit. Congratulations!

Thank you! I wanted to make a song that made other people feel happy. My mum and my aunt came up with this video concept of everything moving, a lot of colour and just generally something different. We didn’t want a boring video. We wanted a dog in it, we wanted the sidewalk to go backwards… just general craziness really. 

What makes you happy? 

My family makes me happy. I love watching comedies with my sister. She’s my best friend. We text each other all the time, even if we’re in the same room. 

You’re about to release your debut album. Can you tell us a bit about it?

I would describe the album as universal because a lot of the music is different. I wanted every track to be individual, like I didn’t want the whole album to sound like a dance album. So there’s reggae, there’s hip-hop, there’s R’n’b, there’s soul, there are ballads. The album has something for everyone. 

Your new single is called Good Girl. What’s the nicest thing you’ve ever done
for someone? 

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans I sang for some of the victims. I think that’s the nicest thing I’ve ever done. 

What about the naughtiest thing? 

One time I cheated on a test at school. I really wanted to get 100% on this test and I got away with it, but I wish I’d never done it. I felt so guilty afterwards. 

What’s the craziest thing a fan has done for you? 

One of my fans in America has seen me in concert about seven times. He comes to all my shows and actually put a picture up on Twitter of all the things that he’s collected so far, like a T-shirt that I’ve given him, a signed photo, also what he wore that day. I think that’s really sweet, not so much crazy. It’s nice to have fans like that. He’s not over-the-top but, you know, I feel like I actually know him. He even dyed his hair red to match mine. 

We hear you’re a bit of a Cheryl Cole fan…

Yes I am. I actually met her and Simon Cowell when I was on The Xtra Factor a few months ago. I met Simon once before actually, so it was nice to see him again. The contestants were cool too, really nice guys. They had some great singers on that show. 

Simon Cowell once called you an amazing singer. How did you feel when he said that? 

I nearly died of excitement. I was 14 at the time. I was crying. It’s just what all young singers want to hear, isn’t it? It meant so much to me. 

You were discovered on America’s Got Talent. What was it like being a contestant on such a popular television show? 

It was a little overwhelming because I was so young when I was on it and I had to learn so many new songs in a heartbeat because the next day I’d have to sing a new one on the show. It was a lot to take in and I was quite sad when I didn’t win because I was only 14 and it meant the world to me. But you have to grow and learn from things like that and, you know, I have grown and I’ve got tougher skin now. 

There are a lot of teen artists out there at the moment. What makes you different? 

Well, I have naturally curly big red hair! Seriously, though, my messages are in my songs. For Happiness, the message behind that is that you need to find love within yourself before you find it in someone else because, you know, when someone falls in love with someone they sometimes lose themselves and they completely forget who they are. With Good Girl the message is, yes, I’m a good girl but I’ve been bad before. I’m not perfect at all, but I can better myself. If you listen to my music hard enough you’ll hear the messages. 

What advice would you give to young aspiring singers? 

I would say keep your focus because, if you lose your focus, then you lose track of what’s important to you. Keep your focus, be confident and keep that drive because you could achieve your dream before you know it!

Good Girl is out 21 February and Alexis’ debut album Alexis Jordan follows on 28 February.

Check out www.firstnews.co.uk for videos of Alexis!