Christine Tyler

Christine Tyler (born August 4, 1985) is a dance/pop singer from London, England. Showcasing a bubbly, down to earth personality in her music, all nine of her singles have been certified at least silver and spent at least three weeks in the top 10. In August 2006 she won the inaugural Tango Challenge with her duet with Arwyn Knight, "Race Against The Clock", which helped earn her and Arwyn a Urapopstar Award and TRL Award in the category of Best Collaboration, and laid down the foundations for a co-owned record label called Wired.

In May 2007, exactly a year after the release of her debut single, she released the single "Hail To The Cheat", which became Christine's first #1 on the singles charts. Two months later its follow-up "Greener" and her second album Star Of The Sideshow reached #1 as well; in addition, she won Best Pop/Dance at Urapopstar Awards 14.

Christine's third album Attitude Adjustment was released on March 16, 2009, falling short of the peaks of her previous two albums but scoring her best first week sales to date. Its success was short-lived, however, due to the fast fall of its main single "Revolver" and the chart disappointment of its followup "Now I'm Over", which became Christine's first single to miss a certification.

On September 21, 2009, Christine released a greatest hits collection, The Greatest Hits à la Mode, along with its lead single, a cover of Naomi's 2006 #1 single "Stalk".

Early life
Born in London in 1985, Christine's passion wasn't always singing, as she wanted to grow up to be a dancer. At the age of six, her parents signed her up for ballet classes, but she couldn't get into it and decided to quit after two months. She would find her niche when friends of hers introduced her to jazz and hip-hop dancing in middle school, instantly gaining an interest and becoming an expert after years worth of lessons.

She would turn her attention to singing in her sophomore year of high school, when her school held an annual talent show and she won crowds when she put her own spin on the popular dance song "Missing" by Everything But The Girl, set to her own dance routine. The next year, she would take voice lessons to improve on her singing and train her in order for her to seek a career in singing.

Underground career and discovery
Christine was a reject from the first season of Pop Idol. Her audition song was "Can We Fix It?" by Bob the Builder.

Too young to settle down for a lesser professional singing career like singing in a band at a restaurant, Christine sought attention from the dance community. She would spend the next few years getting her music known in the dance community, and demos of three songs she wrote, "Slow Motion Promises", "Is Your Head At Where I'm At", and "Electrocute Me" all gained attention in underground dance clubs in the London area.

She quickly became many popular artists' pick to break, especially winning praise from Emma Brown and Tasha, the latter of whom took her to the studio to re-work "Electrocute Me" in mid-2005, the end result becoming a #1 underground dance hit. The three demos and the Tasha-remixed "Electrocute Me" also made waves on Internet groups, blogs, and chatlines about dance music, seriously making an impact as many new artists have been helped by Internet support, especially from MySpace.

In late December 2005, Christine's friend Alyson Hives played the songs for the first time for her father, who worked with Michael Jones Management. He fell in love with the recordings instantly, and decided to get his agency to sign her upon learning that Christine was an unsigned artist. The next day, Christine would meet with agency bosses and earn her first management deal. One of the management's big artists, Luke Ramada, headed his own label at the time, H2O Records, and she was immediately signed. Christine Tyler would finally begin her rise to stardom here.

Bizarre
Christine returned to the studio to work on her debut LP. Tasha returned to work with Christine once again in the studio, to go behind the boards on a song she wrote for her, "Bizarre". Christine was thrilled to record a song written by someone she's always looked up to, and just weeks after getting her first major management and record deals.

After H2O gave Christine a makeover, she announced that Bizarre would be her first single, due out May 8 - but the makeover only lasted for a week and then she returned to her old self. But regardless of her looks, she managed to score some big names to work with on her first album, which reached the halfway point of completion by the time Christine began promo for her single in late March. When full-time promo began, it was a month and a half since H2O went out of business. After a long, hard time making a decision on her label move, she finally decided to sign with Tigerstar Records, run by the porn-pop sensation Malena, though a month after signing Christine, she would step down and hand all duties to the3stars.

Tigerstar backed Christine's debut single with a major promotional campaign, with Christine becoming the cover girl in the May 2006 issues of the Independent and Elle, endorsing Milk and 7Up, and appearing at the Playboy Mansion, Virgin Megastore, and Dr. C's. All the hard work paid off as "Bizarre" charted at #4 in its first week, giving her management their best peak for a debut single.

Tango Challenge and Slow Motion Promises
Christine signed up for the URAPS Tango Challenge, a competition where ten duets decided from random pairings duke it out to see who can sell the most copies. Hailed as her make-or-break moment, Christine decided to take the risk because she not only wanted to experience what it was like to release a collaborative single, but also she wanted another duet on her debut CD. She was paired up with Arwyn Knight, a critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter-pianist who was underrated at the time the pairing was decided.

When the pairings for the challenge were announced at the end of June, Christine and Arwyn were far from the fan favorites, as many forecasted it would be down to AJ Hutton and Vivian, X3D and Nikki, or Alesha and Ben Parker. So Christine, who canceled a double A-side in order to take part in the challenge and would have had to promote early in the next month anyway, started promotion even though the song had not been written or recorded yet and a title had yet to be confirmed! While Arwyn was out sick and kept in little contact with Christine at the time of her illness, she did solo US promo and returned home to do HMV signings and an interview. When Arwyn recovered and met with Christine to discuss what to do with their Tango Challenge single, they thought it would be a great idea to make a song that referenced the struggles with releasing a single on such a tough week as the Tango Challenge, especially with the early-on obstacles that they had to pass through. That song was "Race Against The Clock".

Christine and Arwyn were overwhelmed by the rave reviews the single had gotten, as well as the predictions that the single could potentially be a dark horse contender to win. The pair took advantage of every possible promo opportunity and made endless promo appearances in support of the single, and it worked - "Race Against The Clock" debuted at #2 and won the Tango Challenge.

Following the challenge, Christine released her long-awaited debut album, Slow Motion Promises, which debuted at #3 and has sold about 600,000 copies.

Five Naughty Angels Tour
In late 2006, Christine went on the 5 Naughty Angels tour, her first tour as a headlining act (she had previously been an opening act on Delta Nu's Technicolour Tour), co-headlining the world tour with Vernie, Hélène Schneider, Dalisay, and Loretta Lambert. The tour started on October 25 in London and ended December 8 in Los Angeles.

Following the tour, Christine released her third single, "Lonely Nights In L.A. / Slow Motion Promises", which debuted at a disappointing #8 position, but climbed to #6 the week after.

Christine played a role in the demise of the Five Naughty Angels clique and Tigerstar Records when she decided to leave in order to start up Wired Records.

The Star Of The Sideshow era
In January 2007, Christine announced she had completed absolutely no material for her second album. Her label then grew concerned and asked her to write a new single for a mid-spring release just to keep active. The result was the second album's first single, the Van Halen-sampled "Hail To The Cheat", which was released April 30. Its film noir-influenced video was given its first play on April 11, featuring a controversial ending scene where a London lookalike was murdered. The single became her first #1 on the URAPS singles charts, and has also hit #1 on airplay, POP BOX, and TRL.

Late in the promotion for the single, she announced she had been working on-off on the upcoming second album, Star Of The Sideshow. The album was to feature three songs written by Phoenix and their PR, one of them being the second single, the pop ballad "Greener", which was released July 9 and became Christine's second #1 single. Star Of The Sideshow was released on July 16 and reached #1 on the album charts, going on to be certified diamond in April 2008.

Christine released the album's third single, the 60's influenced "Brainfreeze Shaketwist" which was partly inspired by Nikki and the Sleazy Sisters, on October 1, and despite an initially disappointing promotional campaign, Christine stepped it up in the last two weeks of promo and earned a #3 peak on the singles chart. Following the single's release, she embarked on her first tour as the sole headlining act, The Big Tent Tour, which featured Love Trash and Venus Vegas as support acts.

Christine released the fourth single from the album, "More Than A Lipstick Smile", on December 17, her first attempt at a Christmas week release. Despite some doubts, the single was a success, reaching #3 in its first week and earning a platinum certification. The single was slated to be the closing single, but Christine decided to release one more, the Carl Reeves-penned "Bring It On", to get the album to go diamond. The album was certified diamond on April 13, 2008 - a day before the single's release. Once again, Christine proved doubters wrong when the single entered the charts at #5.

The Attitude Adjustment era
Christine announced her third album would be different from her past two, following her rival London by introducing R&B elements in her electropop sound. Though not many details have been released regarding the album, Christine confirmed three tracks had been recorded including a duet with Ashley Esterwood, "Dance Trance Trolley", which also appears on Esterwood's A&E (Assertion & Energy).

Christine released the album's first single, "Chanel On Acid", a hard-hitting electropop anthem that responds to critics of Christine's fashion sense, on October 20. Shortly after full time promotion began, she left Wired for Saturdays Records, co-founded by Emily Henning who was the first to leave the label after Arwyn Knight disappeared from the headquarters. "Chanel On Acid" peaked at #4 and was certified gold.

On January 25, 2009, Christine confirmed the second single from her third album Attitude Adjustment would be "Revolver", written by China and produced by Indigo Peak's Andre Cassenove. "Revolver" and Attitude Adjustment were released simultaneously, on March 16, 2009; "Revolver" reached #3 on the singles chart and earned her best first-week single sales since "Hail To The Cheat", while Attitude Adjustment hit #4 on albums and gave her her best first-week album sales. The success of both releases were short-lived, as both quickly descended down the charts and sold very poorly compared to past releases. "Revolver" holds the dubious distinction of having the greatest fall within the top 40, falling from #11 to #39 in its fourth chart week.

In May 2009, Christine attempted to move on with the follow-up "Now I'm Over", written by Elice Claire, but like her past single, the association with current A-listers couldn't help the release and it became her lowest charting single to date with a #10 peak, going on to be her lowest selling and first to miss a certification.

Greatest hits era
On September 21, 2009, Christine Tyler released her greatest hits album, The Greatest Hits à la Mode. The "à la mode" in the title is a reference to Christine's neverending obsession with ice cream, which has defined her personality throughout her career. The album includes all her singles and some new tracks; one of the new songs is an Indigo Peak-produced cover of Naomi's "Stalk", released the same day as its lead single.

Although The Greatest Hits à la Mode entered at #1 and earned bigger first-week sales than her previous studio album, "Stalk" was a singles chart disappointment and charted just outside the top 10 at #12.

Personal life
Christine has an unhealthy obsession with sugar, and she eats so many sugary snacks a day that she is extremely hyperactive. She has confessed that she is an avid watch collector and has an odd fascination with instructional videos, comic books, and appearing in public wearing wigs.

Among her favorite artists are Emma Brown and Sarah Summers, and she has frequently worked with and hung out with them. She lost her virginity to Morris David Cat but alleged the sex was forced. She was also linked to flopstar Jack Hinder at one point. The last time she tried to find a date was when she went on a manhunt with Meli Kleindienst (it was just an excuse to go out for ice cream).

She often has a habit of falling out with people she once considered friends. AJ Hutton did not like that she was "stealing his personality" to further her career, and the two were very bitter towards each other since; by chance, they were joined on stage for a collaboration at Sarah Summers' farewell show, but Christine was booted off the stage by his momma. Christine feuded with Lisa Spears in November 2006, upset at the fact Lisa was releasing against her with a single remixed by Arwyn. However the two are on friendly terms now and even considered collaborating together though plans never went through due to record label politics.

Christine has been feuding on-off with London, as both acts have accused each other of being "too emo", though Christine claimed she was fighting with her because she's the bigger fan of VH1 reality TV star New York. The feud settled down for a while but their tensions reached a new high when London killed Christine's dog Oreo in December 2007.

She had also been feuding with Damned lead singer Halle York, which started as a means of sticking up for Autumn White after Halle punched her in the face. Since then Christine and Halle constantly attacked each other's singles; at one point, Christine threatened Damned's collab partner Alicia B to not go Goth or else she would be dropped from Wired. Christine is now civil towards Alicia B but Christine and Halle still hate each other's guts even though they're a lot more quiet about it now.

In early 2008, Christine had been arguing with Sandi York, expressing deep sadness when reports of her death were confirmed to be an April Fool's prank. In response to Sandi being locked in a supermarket for a month, Christine decided to live in an ice cream truck for a month to see who does better. Incidentally, Christine was kicked out of the ice cream truck for eating too much of the ice cream.

Christine was arrested on suspicion of drug possession in March 2009, but was cleared of the charges after tests showed that she was carrying Pixy Stix, not cocaine.

Power Power
She had made strong enemies of Power Power singers Alesha, Buffi, Shell Ruin, and Taylor Brookes. She had dared to upstage the clan at any given opportunity, but critics and fans agreed that Christine acted a little too desperate in doing so. The singers developed murderous tendencies and began to idolize Moors murderer Myra Hindley; when police found out about their plot to recreate the Moors murders, they were briefly detained before they escaped by squeezing their anorexic bodies through the cell bars, and were merely given community service for their actions.

They swore revenge on Christine and threatened to murder her, resulting in Christine being forced by her record label to pay to beef up security at the Wired Headquarters and any events where Wired artists will appear, including her own. An attempt to murder Christine when she appeared on an episode of POP BOX hosted by all four Power Power women was almost successful; Alesha paid $5 million to security if they left the premises, and when the guards left, she planted a bomb in Christine's dressing room. Christine was alerted after her interview to "ignore the ticking object in your dressing room". The bomb detonated at the very end of the show, but Christine was not in her dressing room - she left the studio early after Naomi invited her for ice cream.

With security failing to meet her needs, Christine entered the witness protection program and was given a new name and identity. She was relocated to a reclusive hotel under the alias Friday Glimmer (obviously based on Buffi's "The Ballad Of Tuesday Sparkle"). The agency suggested Christine should dress as a Goth because no one would suspect her to be one. However, word of the identity change got to Victoria Newton and she encouraged the Power Power singers to break into every hotel in the United Kingdom until they found her. The search was called off and Christine came out from hiding though it is unknown why the girls decided to give up hunting down Christine.

Christine's single, which debuted at #1, outperformed "Power Power" by eleven spots - that shockingly debuted at a low #12 position, and even more shockingly, did not climb into the top 10 in the following week.

Despite the feuding and death threats, Christine remains a fan of all four acts' music.

Wired Records
See article: Wired Records

On December 15, 2006, Christine and her roommate/former Tango Challenge partner Arwyn Knight co-founded Wired Records. The label was aimed to give acts on the dead label Lemon Records a fresh start. Despite a rocky start, Wired went on to be one of the top labels of 2007 and early 2008.

The label's breakthrough moment came in April 2007 when Christine, as an answer to demands made by Autumn White, created a holiday called Royalties Day (named accordingly because of Christine's obsession over wanting singles to do well enough for the label to gets loads of money) where all of Wired's acts got the day off. The holiday was observed on April 30, the date of the release of "Hail To The Cheat", and the day before, a huge festival featuring performances from the label's acts was held in Hyde Park.

Christine suggested that Arwyn and Stacy Hart (appointed assistant vice-president by Christine) organize another label-sponsored performance in time for Christmas. Wired's Christmas concert, which was held the day after Christmas, was hosted by Arwyn and Ryan Dawson and helped ring in the holiday season by spotlighting the label's growth since its beginnings the year before. The concert's coronation came just as the label's first compilation CD, the holiday album A Wired Winter Wonderland, entered the album charts at #11.

Stacy left the management team in January 2008 and was replaced by Ryan Dawson. Christine still owns part of the label but is no longer a part of the management team. There was speculation that the label would close in the summer of 2008 when Arwyn hadn't been seen at the label headquarters for months; Wired went bankrupt months later and a majority of the label's acts, including Christine, jumped ship and signed with Saturdays Records.

Discography
Main article: Christine Tyler discography

Albums
2006: Slow Motion Promises 2007: Star Of The Sideshow 2009: Attitude Adjustment 2009: The Greatest Hits à la Mode

Singles
2006: Bizarre 2006: Race Against The Clock 2006: Lonely Nights In L.A. / Slow Motion Promises 2007: Hail To The Cheat 2007: Greener 2007: Brainfreeze Shaketwist 2007: More Than A Lipstick Smile 2008: Bring It On 2008: Chanel On Acid 2009: Revolver 2009: Now I'm Over 2009: Stalk

Awards
2008: Urapopstar Awards 15 - Best Pop/Dance (Nominated) 2007: Urapopstar Awards 14 - Best Pop/Dance (Won) 2007: Urapopstar Awards 13 - Best Collaboration (Won) 2006: TRL Awards - Best Collaboration (Won) 2006: the3stars' Special Show Awards - Most Interesting Personality (Won)