Adele

by Chas Newkey-Burden

  Inevitably, reports sometimes focused on her appearance. In the image-conscious 21st century, in which many pop stars are far more beautiful to look at than to listen to, Adele was a reminder of times gone by. She reminded us of the days when we cared more about the music rather than the image of artists. Speaking to the Guardian, she laid out her manifesto in regard to her weight. ‘I read a comment on YouTube that I thought would upset me,’ she says, ‘“Test pilot for pies” – but I’ve always been a size 14–16 and been fine with it. I would only lose weight if it affected my health or sex life, which it doesn’t.’ She did, though, add a qualifier to this fine statement: ‘I might lose a lot of weight if I’m pressurised.’

  As the issue kept being raised in the media, Adele came to accept that she would need to live with the fact that this was an angle that would forever be used. While some of the comments made were in no way nasty or critical, her appearance was something that was often cited. The fact she is not a super-skinny woman and that her appearance was not that of a conventional supermodel did indeed fascinate the media and provoke strong feelings. For some, it was seen as an advantage and a positive. They installed her as the poster girl for non-poster girls: a famous woman who defied the rules that normally govern female celebrities. Some other commentators and journalists were just bitchy. As for Adele, she preferred to not make a big deal of how she looked either way. ‘The press are always trying to bring it up,’ she told the Daily Telegraph, ‘but I really don’t give a toss. If I wanted to be on the cover of FHM, then of course I’d be, like, “Fuck, I need to lose weight” or “I need some fake tan” or “I need to get my teeth fixed”. But I’d rather be on the cover of Q for my music.’ Fortunately, she said, she had no inherent desire to take up extreme physical exercise, nor to ‘run up a hill’ or anything like that. ‘I’d rather weigh five tons and make an incredible album than look like Nicole Richie and make a shit one,’ she said, cigarette in hand. As a final benchmark, she added, ‘If you ever see me rail-thin, then you’ll know there’s something really wrong with me.’

  Therefore, she did her best to make light of the issue, even offering one journalist a soundbite description of how she felt she came over. ‘Being told how to look is about being a product and I don’t want to be a product,’ she said. ‘I’d say my look is shabby-chic. I just wear big jumpers over tight jeans and carry a huge bag and that’s it. I don’t want people to notice how I look. Although that’s probably not working because I’m bigger than most people doing this job, but I want people to just listen to me.’ She explained that she had always been one to keep the issue of her appearance in perspective. Adele came over as a fun-loving lady and one who would only pay attention to how she looked insofar as such thought and effort did not get in the way of her having a good time. ‘I don’t care about clothes – I’d rather spend my money on cigarettes and booze,’ she said. ‘I’ve never felt that pressure. Me and my friends will eat a bucket load of pasta if we’re hungry – we don’t care. It’s my gay friends who are more concerned with their weight. They’ll be like, “I can’t eat carbs!” It’s never been an issue for me – I don’t want to go on a diet, I don’t want to eat a Caesar salad with no dressing. Why would I do that? I ain’t got time for this, just be happy and don’t be stupid.’ It’s good, common-sense advice delivered with charismatic conviction and the public paid attention to what she said.

  Her style was something that many women were interested in – not despite her attitude, but because of it. She kept continuity in the products she used on her face and in her scents. ‘Because I wear a lot of make-up when I’m working I like to use skin food by Weleda because I feel really replenished when I do,’ she said. ‘My skin feels back to life and not caked in foundation. I’m also obsessed with lip balms and I use loads of different makes. I’ve got about ten on the go at one time. I love Chanel make-up, perfume-wise I wear Christian Dior’s Hypnotic Poison.’ Her false eyelashes were a striking part of her image. And, characteristically, Adele was jokey as she discussed her favourite sources for eyelashes. ‘Oh yes, I love Shu Uemura and MAC eyelashes,’ she said. ‘I like to look like a drag queen. I’ve never had those eyelash extensions you can get though. My mum has them and she wakes up in the morning looking like she’s hungover because they’re all bent! I can’t maintain my eyelashes myself so I need someone to do them for me and false ones work on me.’ Her icon when it comes to pulling off a great eyelash look was the singer Shakira. ‘[She] looks amazing with her big eyelashes and no other make-up, but I don’t think I could get away with that look. I like false lashes and plenty of eye make-up.’

  Adele could be very generous to other women when it came to icons of beauty. Despite being in the public eye, she wasn’t one to be gratuitously bitchy. Those included in this hall of fame formed a varied group, and it’s notable that Adele most looked up to women whose charm was mostly natural. ‘I think Fearne Cotton always looks really beautiful and really fresh and like she hasn’t made much of an effort,’ she said. ‘She looks like she’s just rolled out of bed looking that amazing. I can’t do that – I need a lot of prep – but she’s naturally lovely. Halle Berry always looks pretty nice too and Queen Latifa has got the most amazing skin ever. She actually looks better without make-up than with it.’

  Adele herself talked of how she had developed an obsession with designer handbags. She has said that she has bought enough to turn her bankrupt. And it was true that she was rarely seen without a flash bag over her shoulder or wrist, some of them costing her thousands of pounds. One of her most expensive models was made by Chanel. A quilted, purple handbag, it set her back more than £2,000. For Adele, it was worth every penny. The same was true of the Burberry Knight handbag. The large, studded accessory cost around £1,300. Other designer handbags she has splashed out on include the Jimmy Choo Rosabel, the Louis Vuitton Monogram Canvas Galliera bag and the extravagantly named and priced Caviar Monochrome number from Chanel.

  But it wasn’t all high spending for Adele. For instance, one day she followed a visit to a Louis Vuitton store – during which she had spent a small fortune – by visiting the knockdown clothes store favourite Primark. She was a big fan. ‘Love the one-pound knickers with all the designs and the funny jokes on them,’ she said. ‘And bows. You can only wear them once ’cos they just fall apart.’ She wore acrylic nails, too. She called them her ‘ghetto nails’ and said they make her ‘feel like a woman’.

  When it came to relaxing at the end of the day, she was a well-known fan of red wine and unpretentious about which variety she drank. ‘Not really fussed, Cabernet would do,’ she said. Meanwhile, among her favourite food was the traditional Sunday roast with onions and as a snack she loved egg sandwiches and ready-salted crisps with Worcester sauce. ‘Fuckin’ amazing,’ she said. These good down-to-earth tastes counterbalanced her more expensive tastes elsewhere.

  Looking ahead to 2008, she talked about how she had to take a deep breath and steel herself for what she could already sense would be a dramatic 12 months. It was clear her level of fame and recognition would rocket. Inevitably, this would bring pressures and challenges as well as new freedoms and joys. She had a straightforward attitude to the future. ‘If I don’t like [success], I’ll walk away,’ she said. ‘You don’t have to lose your privacy. If you’re in control of your career, you won’t get followed. Just don’t go to celeb hangouts.’

  One of the first challenges to come would be managing her own reaction to the public response to her Brit award. ‘I’m really chuffed and flattered to have won the new category,’ she said. ‘It’s fantastic to have lots of people supporting me. I’ve always wanted a Brit award and I’m made up to be getting one so early on!’ The chairman of the Brits committee, Ged Doherty, described her as a ‘worthy winner’, adding, ‘Huge congratulations to Adele, I know the competition was tough.’

  But Adele soon realised that the news of her success wasn’t greeted with universal approval. As she spoke to the media, she was
already aware there was some cynicism about both the award itself and the fact she had won it. She admitted from the start that there was something slightly strange about the story. ‘I found out in December, after I did the Jonathan Ross show,’ she said. ‘But someone had told me about the award a month before, that the Brit awards were setting it up. I didn’t believe them, I was like, “Yeah, whatever”. And then my manager told me, so I went around to all my family, saying, “I’ve been nominated for this Brit award,” but my manager said, “No, you’ve won.” So it’s a bit weird. It’s a bit weird getting an award before you’ve done anything, isn’t it? Haha! But all good.’ She responded directly to the suggestion that the award had been dreamed up purely as an excuse to give her a publicity boost. ‘I don’t think it was invented for me. That would be really, really funny if it was, wouldn’t it? I mean… oh, my gosh!’ she said. ‘But, yeah, you know, I think it’s a really good award. The impression I got from the award and why they announced it in December was to bring the spotlight on the person that won it. I’m getting a lot of coverage at the moment so it’s very successful in what it set out to do. So I think they should have it every year.’

  One interviewer wondered aloud whether she had considered rejecting it out of fear that it would bring so much pressure and hype that she might not be able to cope. ‘No, I’m an opportunist! Haha! Course I’m not going to turn it down! I’ve always wanted one, as well. You know, the hype and all that, there’s not a lot I can do about it. I’m getting a bit sick of seeing myself in stuff but I haven’t actually done many interviews. It’s just people writing about it. It happens, you know!

  As she arrived at the Brits, she gave a series of interviews on the literal and metaphorical red carpet. She seemed excited about the night to come but was keeping matters in perspective. ‘I like watching it. It’s not as glamorous as it looks, you know. But it’s really fun and you get to meet lots of people and I’ve just seen some friends, which is fun.’ The Brits weren’t the only thing on her mind, as Adele had received her finished record as well. ‘I’m really excited, I got the finished thing today, with all the packaging and so on, which was really exciting.’

  She was asked what she had been up to of late and how she felt. ‘Been all right, thank you, I’ve been busy. Promoting my record and releasing my album and doing the tour.’ Pointing to the line of press at the event, she added, ‘And doing this for about five days.’ With a part in a Mark Ronson medley on the cards for her as well that evening, she seemed full of trademark Adele excitement about the prospect. ‘It’s not really a song you’d think I’d do. It’s quite mellow, quite sultry.’ Speaking of the other acts involved in the Ronson medley, she added, ‘I think, even if we’re all rubbish, it’s going to be amazing.’

  Asked who she was looking forward to seeing perform, her list went on and on until it had encapsulated nearly every act due to perform. Such an excitable woman, you had to love her. Asked if she thought the presenters, the wildcard Osbourne family, would swear on live television, she said, ‘Oh, I hope so, I hope so. That would be great.’ Then it was time for her to reveal how she built her confidence for such a daunting night. ‘Have some Dutch courage, a bit of tipple – yeah.’ She added that she was a bit nervous for her part in the Ronson medley.

  For Adele, still so new to the celebrity game, it was a strange experience to be around so many other famous faces on the night. For them, such evenings were more commonplace. Adele was still fresh to it all and, as she spoke about how she felt, her words connected with the audience at home. Like her, they could never play it cool in such surroundings. For the average viewer, following the Brits from home, there was no mystery in the nerves of a new attendee like Adele. ‘It’s been amazing but it’s been daunting,’ admitted Adele.’ I act like such an idiot around other stars. It’s really weird being in an arena. It takes like half an hour to get out of an arena. A big difference from Barfly in Camden – but it’s good!’ Asked if she got star-struck, she made a distinction between the acts who did faze her and those who did not. Pointing at the Klaxons and Kaiser Chiefs, she said, ‘Not by them lot,’ adding that she already knew them. ‘But if I see, like, Leona Lewis or Kylie I’ll probably be a bit nervous.’

  In fact, Kylie herself spoke of Adele and the impact she had on her. ‘Adele, with that breakthrough song, it’s just divine. In fact, that’s what I’ve been singing to myself all day.’

  One of Adele’s most entertaining pre-show interviews was with BBC radio star Chris Moyles and his sidekick Comedy Dave. Adele began by saying that the knowledge she was definitely the winner helped her compose herself ahead of the event proper. ‘It’s quite handy knowing already,’ she said. With the element of surprise taken away from her category, she explained that she was going to arrive from backstage to collect the gong, as opposed to do the more traditional walk to the stage from a table. This lessened the chance of the comic disaster she had been worrying about. ‘Yeah, at 8.21 I go and get it,’ she told them with notable precision. ‘But I don’t walk up, I go backstage and then I walk on. I was quite looking forward to the walk up, but I suppose this saves me falling flat on my face.’ She added that she had nothing polished and prepared to say in accepting her award. ‘I don’t know… I had a speech but I scrapped it.’ She joked about the fickle nature of awards ceremonies and the tendency of the unlucky nominees to try to conceal their disappointment. Already keenly aware of how fleeting the music game is, she said, ‘Next year, if I’m nominated and then I don’t win, I’ll have to do that fake smile, like, “Oh, I’m so pleased she won it,” which I’m not very good at.’

  She then took the conversation down ever more giggly territory. Moyles asked her if she was attracted to him, but she replied with a stinging: ‘You look like my dad’s brother.’ Not quite the response he might have hoped for. ‘This is sounding almost seedy,’ said Moyles, ‘I didn’t want it to sound seedy.’ To up the entertaining tension, she reminded him, ‘You are a lot older than me, Chris.’ Moyles, loving the banter, was back as quick as a flash, telling her, ‘Yeah, but I’m loaded.’ But in Adele he had met his match, and he had hardly finished his sentence when she retorted: ‘So am I.’

  This particular strand of repartee did not come completely out of the blue, for Adele had indeed once revealed, to a somewhat aghast nation, that she found Moyles attractive. It was during an interview with Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge. Adele said later that she did not realise the interview was live. Needless to say, Moyles made merry when he learned of the news. ‘He spent the whole week going on about how I liked him, but my type always changes,’ she said. ‘I like Chris Moyles, Colin Firth, Ryan Phillippe and Jamie Oliver.’ That is indeed a broad collection of men, from the roguish Moyles, with his fulsome physique, to the more gentlemanly Firth and foppish, pretty Phillippe. But then Adele has always had varied tastes, as we saw with her teenage crushes on Will Young and Mike Skinner. ‘I like a good back,’ she continued. ‘I like Jake Gyllenhaal’s back. In that film with Jennifer Aniston, The Good Girl, when he’s banging her, his back was so fit, even my mum was like, “Wow!” So a good back and a sense of humour. I don’t like fit boys who aren’t funny. I’d prefer an ugly boy who was really funny.’ Got it?

  She later said that, as she waited backstage to collect her Brit, she’d been thinking back to previous ceremonies she had seen. Most notably, in 2006, she had been among the audience right in front of the stage. Pupils at the BRIT School are given tickets to be in the pit right in front of the stage. Adele was there, watching, as the likes of Kaiser Chiefs, Coldplay and James Blunt won awards. She watched Paul Weller, Kelly Clarkson and Prince perform. Just 24 months later here she was, backstage, waiting to collect an award herself. What an amazing turn her life had taken. She heard Sharon Osbourne introduce her category. The famous host explained the connection between the presenter and recipient. ‘To present her with this award is a man who holds a very special place in her heart,’ said Osbourne. ‘You see, she go
t suspended from school for fighting over him. Shame, if only she knew what we all know about him. Anyway, please welcome, the gorgeous Master Will Young.’

  Master Young then arrived on the stage and launched into his announcement. ‘Good evening, everybody. Now, this is a new Brit award, and it’s given to an act that our most eminent critics believe will break through in 2008. This year’s winner has already proven the critics right, because her debut album 19 went straight to No 1 in the album charts. It looks like it will stay at the top of the charts for a good long time. It’s appropriate that the winner should have graduated from the BRIT School because… they’re all standing in front of me. Because, this event, through its trust, helps fund the BRIT School.

  ‘The BRIT School roll of honour is getting longer each year, with Amy Winehouse, Katie Melua, Kate Nash along with the members of the Kooks and the Feeling all being former pupils. And now, another hugely talented artist joins their ranks. It gives me enormous pleasure and please give a big cheer for the gorgeous Adele.’

  The audience cheered wildly as she arrived. The BRIT School pupils in particular were loud and proud with their admiration. Adele was and is an inspiration to them. She is a living embodiment of the possibility that their own dreams could come true.

  ‘Hello,’ she said nervously as she arrived at centre stage. ‘Hello, woo! It’s really nice to be here, at last, it’s been going on for, like, three months. I’m not going to talk for too long, ’cos I think speeches are really boring but I’d really like to thank some people. Erm… I’ve got my heart beating so fast. Everyone who voted for the critics’ choice award, thank you very much. My manager, Jonathan, who’s been there since day one, I love you very much. And my beautiful mum. Alison Howell, everyone at XL and Beggars, Nick Huggett who’s moved on but I still love ya. Jamie T, Jack Penate, BRIT School… and everyone for buying my album – thank you so much!’ She was already walking off-stage as she completed her speech, saying, ‘Have a good night!’