Katie Waissel Bio - Biography

Name Katie Waissel
Height
Naionality English
Date of Birth 27-January-1986
Place of Birth Harefield, Middlesex, England, UK
Famous for Singing
Katie Waissel also known by her former stage name Katie Vogel, is an English singer-songwriter who rose to fame when she finished seventh in the seventh series of The X Factor. One of the most controversial contestants in the show's history, she was initially the centre of criticism for being chosen for the live shows despite stumbling through her song at the judge's house twice, and later for her drama queen tendencies, and also for progressing in the show further than fan favorites Aiden Grimshaw and Gamu Nhengu.

After X Factor, Waissel continued her solo career for a short while and released her debut album. She is currently lead singer of rock band Red Velvet. In mid-to-late 2009, Waissel (then under her stage name Katie Vogel) starred in an interactive, online reality show Green Eyed World, officially sponsored by Sprite. Thousands of performers auditioned for the show. The show focused on her journey in the US and Europe in hopes of a record label in 14 episodes of roughly 5 minutes in length each. Although her music was positively received by viewers, Green Eyed World was criticized for its lack of direction or point, extreme compacting and video editing, and poor acting quite obviously giving away what was staged. Before auditioning for The X Factor, Waissel was working as a former receptionist, waitress and once worked at OK! Magazine. At her audition, she sang Queen's "We Are the Champions", but forgot some of the words. She then sang "At Last" by Etta James, and was put through to boot camp by Cole and Cowell. At boot camp, she sang "Make You Feel My Love" and reacted with shock when she was the first girl put through to the judges houses. She fell to pieces when performing the song "Smile" in front of Cole and will.i.am at the judges' houses stage, and had to stop to compose herself after crying, stating that "it's an emotional song for me". Despite stumbling through her song for the second time, Cole picked her as one of her final three girls. This was a very controversial decision as many viewers did not feel that Waissel deserved her place in the live shows over girls who did not forget their words or break down during their performance.

In week 1 of the live shows, she sang "We Are the Champions". She was put in the bottom three as a result of the public vote, but because Nicolo Festa polled the fewest votes, Waissel had to sing in the final showdown with F.Y.D., the other bottom three acts from week 1. She sang "Don't Let Me Down" in the final showdown and was saved from elimination by the judges by a majority vote, with only Cowell (F.Y.D.'s mentor) voting against her. In the second week of the live shows, Katie sang "I'd Rather Go Blind". She managed to avoid the bottom three this week and secured a place to the third week, where she sang "I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)".

In the fourth week she sang "Bewitched" and was in the final showdown with Belle Amie. Judges votes were deadlocked this time, but Waissel was announced as safe when it was revealed that Belle Amie had the fewest votes. She was in the final showdown again the next week after performing "Don't Speak" but was saved by a majority vote over Treyc Cohen when Cole refused to vote for either of her acts, while Cowell and Walsh voted to eliminate Cohen.

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