Sophie Ellis-Bextor

出身自英伦流行乐团Theaudience的主唱，年仅22岁的Sophie Ellis-Bextor(苏菲)在瞬息万变的英国流行乐坛已经是具有5年演唱资历的老将了。16岁起就开始在俱乐部里演唱的Sophie Ellis-Bextor，18岁时和乐手Billy Reeves等 人组成了流行乐团theaudience。
2000年以一首英国金榜冠军曲“If This Ain’‘’‘t Love”惊艳歌坛，这首disco house舞曲与Modjo的“Lady”并列2000年两大舞厅国歌，成功建立起Sophie Ellis-Bextor Disco女伶的形象。她的嗓音被形容是带有disco风味ChrissieHynde，而她复古冷艳的美貌更媲美年轻时的Audrey Hepburn(奥黛丽赫本)。
首张单飞大碟《Read My Lips(唇语)》洋溢着轻快的节奏律动，巧妙的将80年代的灵魂乐、放克与迪斯科舞曲注入鲜活的电子流行温度。翻唱自老牌天后Cher 79年Top 8单曲的首波强打“Take Me Home”，为老歌新添加Disco元素和French-house节奏，透过Sophie Ellis-Bextor令人心醉神迷的诠释，魅力狂袭舞林，不仅空降英国金榜亚军、称霸电台点播榜冠军，更获得权威音乐杂志Q四颗星高分嘉许。清晰的弦乐与散发放克快意的吉他声响，让散发80年代的灵魂风情的“Murder On The Dancefloor”时髦活泼了起来，再度顺利攻占英国金榜亚军；碎心抒情曲“Move This Mountain”中荡漾着教堂钟声，戏剧张力十足；电音舞曲“Everything Falls Into Place”则闪烁着Sophie Ellis-Bextor歌声中俏皮的言不由衷。
天丝绒质感的嗓音、风情万种的撩人丰姿加上诱人的流行旋律节奏，《ReadMyLips》发行至今在英国已经创下突破双白金的销售佳绩、停留在英国专辑榜Top 40超过五个月，Sophie Ellis-Bextor更获得今年全英音乐奖“最佳女歌手”的提名。放眼英伦流行乐坛，最璀璨耀眼的新女声非Sophie Ellis-Bextor莫属！
by David Peter Wesolowski
Throughout the '90s the U.K. music scene was filled to the brim with nerdy cockney types sporting messy threads and even messier hair. Fresh faced Sophie Ellis-Bextor was amongst the first Brit-pop stars to break with this trend. She made it onto the stage in 1997 as the teenage vocalist behind new wave outfit Theaudience. Smartly dressed (often in black) and boasting a sexy, posh voice, she caused quite a stir on London's alternative circuit. Theaudience became known the world over as a groundbreaking pop act and even enjoyed success on the crowded U.K. singles chart with such imaginatively titled numbers as "I've Got the Wherewithal." Due to internal conflicts, however, the group split up and Ellis-Bextor went searching for success on her own. The solo thing wasn't really working out and it took her a while to re-emerge on the scene. But when she did, it was in late 2000 as a major star alongside Italian DJ/producer Spiller. The 6'9" Venetian had just put together a disco house number, titled "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)," and was looking for a female vocalist to add spice to the work. Though very popular in the clubs as an instrumental, the track started selling like mad after Ellis-Bextor strutted her stuff over its deep grooves. It was a number one hit on singles charts around the world. Spiller and Ellis-Bextor both starred in the now famous film clip to the track, in which the Londoner's eye-popping set of cheekbones vied for supremacy with the Venetian's imposing stature. A year on, Ellis-Bextor was again making waves with the pop single "Take Me Home." Thanks to that effort, she beat the likes of Five to the number one spot on the U.K. singles chart. In their ongoing search for controversy, the British press even touted her as the main competitor to enormously popular Victoria Beckham, previously known as Posh Spice. That same year, Ellis-Bextor served up another chart-topper in the ultra-cool disco tune "Murder on the Dancefloor."