Aimee Stevens

Aimee Stevens (born 29 September 1991) is an English/Canadian singer-songwriter, dancer and model. Stevens rose to fame after finishing as the runner-up in the first series of The Uraps Factor in 2012, after being mentored by Candi. She is currently signed to Blacklight Records, due to Candi being one of the label's bosses. In October 2012, Stevens released her debut single "Heels", which charted in the top ten on the Singles Charts. Her second single "We've Got A Problem" was released in March as part of the Tango Challenge and charted at #4. Aimee's third single "Cherryade" was released on 15 July 2013. Her fourth single "Your Love Will Kill Me" and debut album "Papermade Hearts" were released on 28 October and 11 November 2013 respectively. The album debuted at #2 in the UK.

In February 2015, Aimee released the top five single "Desire" taken from the 'Fifty Shades To Grey' Film soundtrack. Since 2016, she has focused more on theatre work within the west end. To date, Aimee has sold over 1 million records in the UK alone.

The Uraps Factor (2012)
Aimee auditioned for the first series of The Uraps Factor in late 2011/early 2012. She was first seen when she had reached the final six girls in the competition, and had reached the judge's houses stage, where she had to audition in front of her mentor for the show Candi, aswell as Candi's fiance, Dante member Callum Andrews. Her performance of "Buttons" was complimented, and saw the pair pick Aimee as one of Candi's final three girls, meaning she progressed through to the live finals as one of the sixteen finalists. On Week 1 she sang "Cannonball" and was safe, avoiding the double elimination. She recieved strong compliments after her week 2 performance of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and week 3 performance of "Call Me When You're Sober". Her week 4 performance of "Lady Marmalade" once again recieved a positive reception and got her into the top ten with ease. For Week 5 she performed "Love At First Sight". Week 6 saw her have to sing a song by her mentor, Candi. Aimee covered her #1 single "PUSHIT". Once in the final 8 for Week 7, Aimee had to perform two duets with other contestants. She first performed "Dancing On My Own" with Pandora followed by a duet with Justin Thorne, covering "Love, Sex, Magic". In Week 8 Aimee covered "Can't Be Tamed". For Week 9, the final 6 had to sing two songs to avoid the double elimination. Aimee's two performances were based on a violent ex-boyfriend, with her first performance being "Release Me". The second performance was "Skyscraper" which recieved massive compliments from the audience and judges, and was even described as 'the performance of the series'. Despite this, Aimee found herself in danger for the first time, as she was in the bottom three against Jetfire and Justin Thorne, with the two with the fewest votes being eliminated. However it was revealed Aimee had recieved more votes than the other two, meaning she progressed into the final 4 as Jetfire and Justin were eliminated. In Week 10, Aimee sang "Don't Cha" and "Hold It Against Me", managing to progress into the grand final and final 3. Week 11 saw the live final, as Aimee competed to win the show. Her first performance was what she considered was her best performance of the series, therefore she sang "Lady Maramalade" again. Her second perormance was a duet with pop legend "Crystal Barker" as they sang her single "Animal". This performance managed to push Aimee even further into the competition, as she reached the final two against Pandora. Her final performance was a cover of the winner's single, "On A Mission" - however Aimee didn't manage to get as many votes as Pandora, and ended up finishing the show as the runner-up. Throughout the duration of the show, Aimee was easily the most discussed contestant by the media, however this was due to her very sexual performances on what is meant to be a "family show" and especially for her supposed backstage romance with judge Brett Clarkson, with pictures of the pair kissing even leaked to the media.

Papermade Hearts (2012 - 2014)
After coming second place The Uraps Factor, Aimee has released a statement stating she is going straight into the studio and won't release anything until her material is perfect. Her debut single is now finished and is expected to have an October 2012 release date. Aimee has confirmed her debut album is due to be released after the second single. On 16 September, Aimee confirmed her debut single was titled "Heels" and would be released on 8 October. It charted at #6 on the singles chart. It has been confirmed that Aimee will feature on the third single by fellow Uraps Factor star Calvin Hawthorne, titled "All The Same", which is due for release on 28 January 2013. However, during promotion for the single, Hawthorne died, leaving Aimee to continue promoting the single alone, in his memory. The single charted at #7. Aimee is also confirmed to be taking part in the 2013 Tango Challenge. She is partnered with Ashley! with their duet due for release on 04 March 2013. Their single, "We've Got A Problem" premiered on the Tango show on 28 January 2013 and debuted at #4 on the charts. Aimee is also a support act for the UK & Ireland leg of both the Riders of the Night Tour 2013 and Papi's Private Party Paradise. Aimee's third single "Cherryade" is due to be released on 15 July 2013, alongside her debut album, "Papermade Hearts". However due to "technical problems" the week before the albums release it was pushed back several weeks. "Cherryade" charted at a disappointing position of #11 on the singles chart, becoming Aimee's only release to miss the top ten, however in the single's second week it rose to a new peak of #09.

In June 2013, Aimee released her first autobiography, titled "Music, Love & God - My Life". In early July, Stevens will be supporting Isaac Bellamy on his first UK tour, Makings of a Man 2013 Summer Tour. Aimee's fourth single "Your Love Will Kill Me" was released on 20 October 2013. It preceded the album by two weeks, with "Papermade Hearts" being released on 11 November. Upon their release, "Your Love Will Kill Me" debuted at #06 on the UK singles chart, giving Stevens her fifth consecutive top ten single. It later went on to become her best selling single. "Papermade Hearts" debuted at #2 on the album chart, selling more than 110,000 copies in its first week alone.

In July 2014, Stevens released "Armour Down" as a promotional single in Canada, where it charted within the top forty.

Desire, The Uraps Factor Canada & Wicked (2014 - 2015)
Aimee has revealed she is working on her second studio album, however she has revealed it is a 'very slow process' as she is experimenting with many different genres and finding which sound to incorporate with. In December 2014, Aimee recorded a version of "One More Sleep" for the Christmas complication album "A Very URAPS Christmas 3". The cover peaked within the top twenty of the Christmas Airplay Chart, however it reached a new peak the following Christmas (2015) into the top fifteen.

Aimee has also been revealed to be a judge on the upcoming first season of 'The Uraps Factor Canada', which is due to air later in 2015.

On 31 January Aimee shocked everyone by announcing a new single. She revealed she had recorded "Desire" for the Fifty Shades of Grey Film. The song is expected to be released on 16 February 2015, two days after the release of the movie. The single debuted at #5 on the UK singles chart giving Aimee her second highest charting single in the UK to date. Throughout July 2015, Aimee will be headlining her first tour, "Desire Tour" across the United Kingdom.

In summer 2015, it was announced that Stevens would join the West End production of Wicked, in the lead role of Glinda. She began performances on 18 November 2015.

Colours (2016 - present)
On 15 August, Aimee released a statement revealing she will be returning with a new EP released on 12 September, and with a single released the week beforehand. The statement read:

"I'm back! I shall be releasing a brand new single on 5th September, with a seven track EP following the week after! The EP is a conceptual extended play, all following a theme! I have a very exciting music project coming up in 2017 and therefore this is probably my last era on my own until then. I hope you enjoy the music! The single title is yet to be announced, but the EP is called 'Colours'"

Public Image
Whilst on the first season of The Uraps Factor, Aimee was regarded as the most discussed contestant with the media. She recieved large amounts of media coverage mostly due to her over prerogative performances, featuring high levels of sexual activity, mostly aimed towards judge Brett Clarkson where she straddled him, groped him, and tore of layers of his clothes. Some deemed these actions innapropriate for a family show. Alongside this, rumours arose that Aimee was also engaging in a sexual relationship with Clarkson backstage, with an image of the pair leaking online showing them both little clothing. Despite this, neither of them has confirmed or denied the relationship. In Week 10 on the show, during her performance Stevens even went as far as to present Clarkson with a photo of his partner at the time, Charlee Brookes (who had just become the mother of his child) and ripped the photo in half as she sang "Don't Cha" referring to her being hotter than his girlfriend.

Stevens has also recieved a large amount of press due to her strong religious beliefs. Many have criticised her for being a devoted Christian whilst also using sex to sell, however since leaving The Uraps Factor she has focused less on over sexualisation. Her strong views on Christianity also are often picked up on my the media, especially when Steven's close friend (and fellow competitor on The Uraps Factor) Calvin Hawthorne survived near death in a car accident, and Stevens claimed her prayers to God had been the reason why he lived.

Discography
Main article: Aimee Stevens Discography

Albums

 * 2013: Papermade Hearts - #2