Vocal point

WHEN Adele Adkins graduated from the Brit school in May 2006, many hoped for big things from her, but few had any idea Adele – as she became known professionally – would become one of the most successful acts of her generation.

A day after her 23rd birthday, there’s a chance to see an extended version of this week’s Later with Jools Holland, in which the Tottenham-born singer-songwriter performs tracks from her acclaimed album, 21.

Here’s the lowdown on Adele. After becoming the first recipient of the Brit Awards Critics’ Choice, she was also named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2008 in an annual BBC poll of music critics – Sound of 2008.

One day everything changed for Adele while having dinner in New York. Her manager casually mentioned that the single Chasing Pavements had gone to number two in the UK charts. “He just kind of dropped it into the conversation like it was really normal. I was so freaked out,” she recalls.

That track from debut album 19 helped boost her profile worldwide, but it was follow-up album 21 that really put her on the map.

Powerhouse track Rolling in the Deep was a number one in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland, and made the top ten in Austria, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway.

In the US alone, the song sold 1,220,000 digital copies.

While some thought that would be the high point of her 2010 album, it was Someone Like You, and her moving performance at this year’s Brit awards, that led to chart domination.

In mid-April, 21 became one of the fastest-selling releases in chart history, selling two million copies in 87 days. By April 19, the album was the joint-second fastest selling UK album ever, according to the Official Charts Company.

Adele also has another record-breaking title – the first living artist to achieve the feat of two top five hits in both the Official Singles Chart and the Official Albums Chart simultaneously since the Beatles in 1964.

Also on Later, R Kelly performs songs from Love Letter. Over the past decade, the 44-year-old’s controversial private life has eclipsed his music, so here’s his chance to remind music-lovers of what else he can do instead of making headlines.

PROPERTY experts Jonnie Irwin and Jasmine Harmon face a difficult proposition in tonight’s episode of A Place in the Sun: Home or Away in which potential purchaser Angela presents the duo with very specific tastes and demands. As with all the prospective buyers turning to them for advice, she’s unsure whether to play it safe and buy on turf nearer to where she currently calls home, or blow the budget on somewhere abroad.

While checking out properties in Abruzzo, Italy, Angela’s fretting about finding the perfect space for her six cats, three dogs and three donkeys. She’s got £260,000 to find a home with at least six acres, but is also toying with idea of relocating to north Wales.

Can Jonnie and Jasmine help her to make up her mind as to where she and her animals should settle?

YEARS working as a musician, stand-up comedian and actor have made Bill Bailey a triple threat to many celebs, and a few years ago he added TV conservationist to his list of skills with the show Wild Thing I Love You.

Many fans were expecting plenty of laughs in among the conservation issues, but they were few and far between. However, his new show – Baboons With Bill Bailey – has been rather more entertaining.

He takes a light-hearted look at three troops of the baboons, charting their varied existence.

In this week’s offering, fishermen unload their boats on the South African coast south of Cape Town, unaware the baboons of the Smitz troop are watching and waiting to mount a raid on their vehicles.

Meanwhile, deep in the Tokai forest, a rival band takes over a sports ground to let off steam in an exuberant display of baboon Olympics.