Tulisa Contostavlos Capitalfm.com Webchat Highlights
22 August 2012, 12:21 | Updated: 23 August 2012, 07:25
Watch the best moments from our exclusive webchat with the 'Young' singer right now.
Tulisa Constostavlos joined Capitalfm.com for an exclusive webchat this week where she spoke about her new single 'Live It Up, the future of N-Dubz and what fans can expect from her forthcoming autobiography.
As well as revealing her thoughts on the future of her band and the ups and downs of performing as a solo star – the 'Young' singer also revealed her greatest inspiration and a secret tattoo which no one knows about.
The X Factor judge also opened up on the new series of the talent show and gave details of her debut solo studio album.
You can watch the full highlights from the webchat in the video below, or read the transcript.
Are you going to collaborate with Jessie J?
I would like to do that. It's something that I've talked about, but unfortunately for this album, just because we're doing so much of our own thing at the moment we didn't get round to doing it. We just kinda forgot about it I guess but it's definitely something I'd love to do. Maybe for the next one [album].
What was the best video to make, 'Young' or 'Live It Up'?
I enjoyed 'Live It Up' more. Because the day all in all was quite short compared to 'Young' shoot. Even though I looks like I'm having a lot of fun on the 'Young' shoot I was knackered, it was quite draining. Sometimes we had a bit of drama getting shots and we were getting chased by paps everywhere it was all a bit mental, where as Hawaii was a lot more relaxed.
Did you feel the pressure was off then because it was the second video?
Hmmm, yeah, and a little bit of champagne always helps.
It looked very windy in Hawaii…
It was very windy, especially with the hair thing going on when you're trying to look hot on camera.
Was it fun filming it there?
Definitely fun filming in Hawaii, I think the day that we actually shot the video there was a bit of rain and the clouds had come out so that was a bit unfortunate but it was still hot so I wasn't complaining.
Do you find it lonely on tour when you're on your own?
I miss being on stage with the boys, that's where I get lonely. I actually love it in the tour bus because I'm not alone coz I just bring all my mates.
Will you be doing a solo tour?
I will be doing a solo tour, I do not have dates for it yet though, I have no idea when it's going to be because I know that in the new year at some point I'm going to go over to the States and start releasing over there and in Europe as well so it's where I can find time to balance.
Are you excited about releasing in the States?
Yeah I'm very excited, nervous, coz you only get one shot. If you go one time and you fail that's it it's all over.
Any idea what your first release will be?
It's funny because the music that I'm gonna be releasing out there some of it might be very different to the music I'm releasing here. Stuff that I wouldn't even release on the album over here will be singles in the US, because it's different markets so you've got to entertain both sides.
Who's you biggest inspiration?
My biggest inspiration would be a book author called Martina Cole. She writes about underworld, criminal world of East London gangsters but she writes it from a woman's perspective and her books are read by a lot of men and respected by men as well. It's the fact that she can write as a female writer but get into the minds of men when she's writing like a man in this book and she's just brilliant. From the first book I ever read when I was 17 I've just never stopped. I have every single book she's ever written, I've watched every show on Sky, I've even been to the theatre.
What about musical inspirations?
When I was a kid I was a was a huge fan of Michael Jackson, The Spice Girls and Eminem. As I got older I became a big fan of Prodigy and Kate Nash.
There's a rumour you're going to be doing a track with Tinie Tempah.
I haven't seen or spoken to Tinie in a long while I gotta be honest, coz he's so out and about and he's in the States a lot and all around the world at the minute so we haven't bumped heads to be able to talk about it. I love Tinie and we came from the same channel aka the Urban music scene so it will always be part of that urban family when it comes to Tinie and I'd always love to do a track with him, whenever he's ready.
Do you decide what to wear in your videos/on tour or do you have a stylist that does that for you?
I have a stylist that has to understand what I like to wear and get the stuff that I want. It's complicated, for me I'm not so much into fashion, or labels, or seasons or what's in, I don't care. I just wanna wear what I like so if I say to her, I like being glamorous but I wanna be urban so you have to make that work for me. So she'll then maybe bring in a pattern that is this season which I wouldn't know anything about but make it urban.
Do you not get to shop yourself then?
No, I never like shopping, it bores the hell out of me. I'm actually a proper bloke when it comes to shopping. I'm really good friends with an ex-boyfriend of mine and we went shopping together and I noticed that him, as a guy, was taking HOURS walking around the shop and trying things on and I was like "oh god, come on, hurry up". I was the bloke in the situation. I hate trying clothes on, I hate walking around shops for hours on end - it does my nut in. My idea of shopping is just run in and say yeah i like that, I'm done.
Why did you decide to write an autobiography?
Just because I was having so much media rubbish and no matter how much people say "Oh people don't read the papers or magazines" but they do! I remember before I got famous I used to pick up these gossip mags and I used to find them intriguing and I used to believe what they were saying and I never once stopped to think how do they know this stuff? And the truth is 90% of the time they don't know, they're just making it up. And people do read it and they do believe this stuff and I use feel like there's this whole image of me just put out to the public in a way people imagine me to be and it's just a million miles away from who I am and I don't mind being judged, I picked this career path for myself so ok, judge me, but judge me on the truth and if you really want the truth you're gonna get more gossip from my truth than you will in a gossip magazine that makes stuff up.
Is there going to be a lot of goss in your truth?
There's raw, honest truth, there's goss, there's drama, there's just my life basically in a nutshell.
Are you scared about what you say that people might be like "why are you writing about that?"
I'm not scared but I know there's going to be a backlash. There's going to be people like "oh my god, you were honest to the next level" but what do you expect if I'm going to do an autobiography.
Are you going to do a book signing for the autobiography?
I will be doing book signings yes, I'm not sure where they are but check out my Twitter and I will be letting you know where all the dates are, where and when.
Do you prefer your hair blonde or brunette?
I don't prefer it either way, I feel comfortable rocking both so it doesn't really bother me. I just get bored so even if I preferred one or the other I might prefer it then but after wearing it for four years I might want to change, I feel like I'm reinventing myself.
Which category would you most like to mentor this year (The X Factor)?
I would love to mentor the girls, but I would also love the boys this year.
Which category don't you want?
There's none that I don't want, it's a really good year, I could work with any of them.
Do you ever get tired during auditions?
Sometimes you see 40 people a day and although you only see a bit of it some of the auditions can last up to 20 minutes so they're pretty long days. But you have to remember that even though it's the end of the day and you might be feeling really tired you have to remind yourself that these people have been queuing up all day and this audition is just as important as the first one of the day when you were bright and perky. No matter how many acts you've seen, no matter how many bad acts you've seen that for everyone this is their first moment up on that stage.
Do you still stay in touch with the Little Mix girls?
I do, I've been seeing them quite a bit recently because we're at all the same spots when it comes to gigs and functions so I've got to see them a lot more than usually which has been good.
Do you think Little Mix - 'Wings' will get to number one?
I do think so, I don't like to jinx. I think they deserve to be number one and I think it's a number one record so the rest is in the hands of fate so fingers crossed.
What's the future for Tulisa and N-Dubz?
Basically we left saying that we're going to reunite. We might have weeks where have little scraps and say "oh that's it, I don't wanna talk to you ever again, you're doing my nut in" but it's never going to be the case because we're family so there will be a reunion, we just don't know when and we're just taking our time.
Do you miss the N-Dubz banter?
I miss the N-Dubz banter, I miss certain parts of it and other parts it's a lot less stressful, but I do miss it, especially when I'm on the road.
Do you still keep in touch with the boys?
It depends what you mean by stay in touch. We don't need to stay in touch like when you're a family member you might not see each other for six months and you see each other and you'll be talking like you just saw each other yesterday. That's what it is in N-Dubz. We spent everyday together from the age of 11 and I'm now 24. If we don't speak for a couple of months it's not like "oh my god you haven't been in contact" we know we're there, we see each other on each other's time lines everyday, every where we go we hear about each other but no we haven't sat down and met up, no.
What is the best part about performing as a solo artist without the boys?
The best part is doing what you want and not having to compromise with other people in the band.
How many tattoos have you got and what's your favourite?
I've got five, but one of them is a secret tattoo that you don't know what it is or where it is. Let's move on!
What was your reaction to the FHM sexiest woman crown?
Erm, cringey. I was like 'wow that's amazing' but at the same time I don't like talking about it, even just talking about it makes me cringe. My worst nightmare is being introduced as…I don't even like saying it.
Who do you think is the sexiest woman in the world, apart from you?
Stop it! Jessica Alba has always been number one hottie for me, love Jessica Alba, she's stunning.
You're the female boss, would you fire Lord Sugar after what happened on Twitter?
Yeah he'd definitely be fired. I don't need to clamp anyone else's catchphrases so…it's a no from me.
Guilty pleasures?
My favourite film of all time is Notting Hill. And sometimes, just sometimes on the rare moment when I'm feeling a little bit emotional I might just sit down on my own with a tub of ice cream and watch it and even cry at the end.
We all know you've read 50 shades…what do you think of it?
The honest truth is my make-up artist recommended it to me because obviously we have conversations about relationships or guys and girls and she said to me you have to read this book because your dream man is Mr Grey. So then I read the book and I was like 'Oh my god this is brilliant' but you know some women read it and were a bit shocked I'd already imagined all of that in my head before I read the book so it wasn't that shocking to me.
If you could have any super power what would it be and why?
I would have the ability to freeze people, like pause them. I think you could do a lot…now i'm going on a world peace tip but if you had the power to freeze people for as long as you wanted to that would be a lot of power, nobody could touch you which means you could just control the world. You could stop wars, you could start world peace.
Who would you freeze then?
I would pause Leonardo Di Caprio and go and give him a snog. Kidding, don't write it, no headlines tomorrow.
What's your favourite Christmas song?
George Michael.
Would you do a song with Little Mix?
Yes of course I would.
If you were in charge of the country what would you do to make it better?
What I don't like is they talk about global warming and they try and convince people not to drive their cars and use public transport but the prices have gone up so much for public transport that to some people it does take the mick a little bit. So I say if you want to stop global warming drop the price of public transport.
