The Alesha Show is the second studio album from British recording artist Alesha Dixon, the album is her first album to be released in the United Kingdom. It was released on 24 November 2008 in the UK by Asylum Records. Dixon, an ex-member of R&B/garage girl group, Mis-Teeq, used her full name for the first time while releasing The Alesha Show. The album's Xenomania-produced track, "The Boy Does Nothing" was chosen as the lead single. A deluxe edition of the album was released on 23 November 2009, entitled The Alesha Show – Encore. The first single from the Encore edition was "To Love Again". All the singles released from the album, including the Encore edition, reached the top 15 on the UK Singles Chart. This album, along with her later album for Asylum Records The Entertainer is no longer distributed digitally, but The Boy Does Nothing, Breathe Slow and To Love Again singles, coming from this album, are still available here.
Reception
Commercial
The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number twenty-six, selling over 26,000 copies. It dropped off the top 75 chart after four weeks. The album slowly climbed up the chart and after the success of her second "Breathe Slow" it rose to a new peak of 12, giving the album its first top-twenty chart placing and has since been certified Platinum for sales of over 300,000 copies. Following the release of "Let's Get Excited", it rebounded to a new peak of 11. Following the international release of "The Boy Does Nothing", The Alesha Show has charted in various European countries, including a peak of 39 on the French Albums Chart, compiled by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
Critical
The album received generally mixed reviews from various critics. Alex Foster of the BBC started by praising Dixon on launching a well orchestrated comeback, saying "Modern celebrity is a fickle beast. After it chews you up and spits you out only a few are rewarded for their resilience with one more bite of the cherry". However, Foster continued onwards criticising Dixon's apparent genre change, stating "Is this the Britney of old? A rhymes-spitting, N.E.R.D video featuring, uniquely British R&B vixen that can ace rather than ape the Americans? The answer sadly is 'no'". However Foster did praise tracks such as "Breathe Slow" and "Hand It Over". Nick Levine of Digital Spy gave the album three stars and stated that "Dixon tries her hand at everything from 60s glitz to synthy R&B to mellow ballads, managing more often that not to pull it off Not unsurprisingly given its relentless genre-hopping, The Alesha Show does feature a few misfires. 'Ooh Baby I Like It Like That' sounds like a Dannii Minogue B-side from 2003". However, the review ended on an optimistic note, saying that "these quibbles aren't enough to sink an album that's often as lively and likable as the woman who made it".
Promotion
Singles
"The Boy Does Nothing" was released as the first single from the album. It became a worldwide hit and her best single to date. It became a top 5 hit in the United Kingdom. A top 10 hit in Australia, France, Norway, Italy, Romania, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands, Finland, Hungary, Sweden, and Switzerland. It also became at top 20 hit in Belgium, Ireland and Slovakia, as well as a top 40 hit in Austria, Denmark and Germany.
"Breathe Slow" is the second single from the album. The track is Dixon's most successful single to date in the UK, peaking at number 3. The song was nominated at the BRIT awards 2010 in the Best British single category. It also became a top 20 hit in Belgium, the Czech Republic and Ireland.
"Let's Get Excited" is the third single. It peaked at number 13 in the UK, number 14 in Finland, and number 36 in Ireland.
"To Love Again" is the lead and only single from the Encore edition of the album. The song is produced by John Shanks and was written by Gary Barlow of Take That. The song peaked at number 15 in the United Kingdom and number 23 in Scotland.
Other songs
A promotional song called "Colours of the Rainbow" was made available to download from Dixon's official website.
Tour
In summer 2009 it was announced that Dixon would tour across the UK in support of The Alesha Show. Dixon named the 17 date concert tour "The Alesha Show". The tour is due to begin on 20 October in Nottingham and finish on 19 November in Brighton. Dixon had to reschedule three shows when it was announced that she would take on the role of judge on Strictly Come Dancing.
