Alex Parks, "Out Of Touch" (2005)

Alex Parks wishes she could shed BBC

"I am grateful for Fame Academy, I really am," says talent contest winner Alex Parks of the second-tier reality show that brought her, well, fame [in 2003]. "There is no way I would be here if it was not for it, but now the BBC feel that they own me, and that is not the case.'' What does the 19-year-old fear most? She takes a deep breath. "I fear that I am going to go to cheesy pop world," she says, "and that I will never come back....And since Fame Academy, people always use the same words to try to label me.'' Which are? "Spiky-haired Cornish lesbian," she says.

I had the best Cornish pasties when I was in Nottingham. Without either confirming nor denying that I had that many, I can tell you that the lamb and mint one was good, as was the cheesy pop and bacon, but ultimately you just can't beat the Cornish steak version.

In other, unrelated news, this is a track from the new Alex Parks album Honesty. It's a serious album. You can tell because it has a serious title, and lyrics like "too much emotion makes me too aware" (from "Get Out"). With its emo guitary songs, it sounds like Siobhan Donaghy...were the latter a bit more soporific, and sophomoric. But I quite enjoy this track. I like the way Alex barely raises her voice above a whisper to tremulously sing, over an equally quiet shuffling drum beat, about her lover being too far away. Endearingly simple and effective.