Jess has answered some questions on our forum!

Hey everyone, Jess kindly came on the Jessica Robinson Fan Forum the other night and answered nearly 35 questions for us - how sweet is she?! She actually spent about 2 hours answering them all. Amazing.

You can read them on the forum in the 'Ask Jess' section but you have got to be registered to view the 'Answered Questions' section.

READ THEM ON HERE

Jx

Jessica won't give up on dream after Dorothy disappointment + Jessica on BBC 5 Live

Article taken from hartlepoolmail.co.uk

A RISING star who narrowly missed out on clinching a lead role in a West End show is determined not to give up on her dreams of taking centre stage.
Jessica Robinson, 18, may have been knocked out of BBC1 reality show Over The Rainbow at the weekend, but already she is looking to the future.

The talented young performer has her eyes firmly set on her goal to perform on the West End stage and is looking forward to taking up a place at a London stage school in September, where she will train for three years.

Jessica, who is a student at the Northern School of Music, Hartlepool, said: "I'm really proud of myself that I got to the final 10.

"I have had no professional training. I have been to dance classes all my life, but never solid, professional stage school training."

Jessica said she had already secured a scholarship at top stage school Arts Ed, in Chiswick, London, before she entered the contest.

She was one of 10 performers out of 10,000 entrants to make it through to the televised show and was eliminated in fifth place.She said: "I did not expect to get past the top 50 so it was crazy that it's ended up like this.


"I have got a few meetings lined up with casting agents, but it's nothing massive. At the minute, unless something major comes up, I will be doing my training.

"In London I will be in the right place for opportunity."

Surprisingly, Jessica, who is currently back home in Middlesbrough, said she was turned down by another London stage school before she clinched a place at Arts Ed.

She said: "My dream outcome would be to get a lead role and the fact that Andrew Lloyd Webber compares me to people, and the comments I have received from Andrew, it's so amazing to have someone with so much faith in you.

"I have been so lucky to have an opportunity that gives me experience that other girls don't have.

"I totally believe it's for me."

Also listen to Jessica on BBC 5 live Breakfast from this morning..
Here It's about 2hrs 55 minutes in.(LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE - SORRY. TRYING TO FIND IT AGAIN THOUGH)

Jx

Jessica Robinson on life after Over The Rainbow

Taken from gazettelive.co.uk




JESSICA ROBINSON is still on cloud nine after having what she describes as “the best few month of my life”. She has just returned to Teesside after staring in BBC1 show Over The Rainbow. Reporter Sophie Barley visited the talented 18-year-old at her Normanby home to relive her Rainbow experience and talk about her joy to be home.

HER family, friends, Saltburn beach and Boro parmos were what Jessica Robinson missed the most when she was away from Teesside staring in a hit BBC show.

Jessica, 18, is now coming back down to earth after her dreams became a reality when she made the final five in Over the Rainbow.

The winner of the show will win the lead role of Dorothy in the new West End show, The Wizard of Oz.

Jessica was eliminated from the competition on Sunday despite getting consistently good comments from the judges.

She is now reflecting on the last few months and said the enormity of the experience has still not hit her.


She said: “Now that I am back I can see how massive the whole thing was. When you are down there you are in a bubble. You don’t realise how many people are watching.

“It still hasn’t hit me. People are stopping me in the street and I am finding it so strange.”

Jessica went to St Gabriel’s Primary School followed by St Peter’s Secondary School, in Normanby Road. She then went on to do a performing arts course at Stockton Riverside College.

She gained her performing skills at Middlesbrough Youth Theatre for which she was a member for more than six years.

She said: “I learned everything in Middlesbrough and that’s where it all started.

“I have loved singing since I was about six. But I think the performing side came the first time I stepped out on a stage. Normally you should feel nervous when you go out on a big stage but I didn’t at all. I loved it.”

Jessica auditioned for Over the Rainbow in Manchester in January and said she only went for a laugh.


She said: “I really didn’t expect anything from it. I just thought I would give it a go. But each audition went really well. I got more nervous as it went on but I just took each stage as it came.”

She was eventually picked for the TV finals.

She said: “I always thought I would be really nervous and scared performing live on a Saturday night but you just don’t think about it when you are there. You actually forget the cameras are there and that six million people are watching.



“I loved every show. They were so much fun and as the weeks went by all the girls became really good friends.”

After Jessica performed There You’ll Be by Faith Hill, Andrew Lloyd Webber described her as a “world class performer”.

She said: “I didn’t know what to do when he said that. It was fantastic. To hear that from him is just amazing.

“All the judges were really nice. I liked Charlotte Church a lot. She is so down to earth.


“When she came into one of my auditions she just walked in and said “my heels are killing me” so she just took them off.

“She is great and someone I really looked up to.”

During the show Jessica said she missed home and came home several times for a reality check.

She said: “I did come home quite a bit as I really missed everyone and it was good to get away from it all for a bit.

“One of the things I missed the most were parmos. I love them. I made one of the girls one when we were in London and she loved it.”

Jessica said she was not disappointed to leave the show and will return on Saturday to watch the remaining four finalists battle it out.

She said: “I never ever expected to get as far as I did. I still can’t get over the fact that I made the final five.

“The show has given me invaluable experience in this industry.”

Throughout the show Jessica received huge support from the people of Teesside.

She said: “I want to thank everyone who supported and voted for me. It was amazing and I didn’t expect that at all.”


In September Jessica will start a three year degree at ArtsEd stage school in London after she gained a scholarship to attend.

She said: “I am really looking forward to starting the course.

“From this whole experience I now know that performing is the only thing I want to do.

“Performing in the West End is the ultimate dream.

“When I am on stage I like to make people laugh. It is the best feeling in the world.”

However even the bright lights of London could never take away Jessica’s Boro roots.

She said: “Yeah they will never go. I will always be a Boro lass.”

Jx

Jessica Robinson voted off Over The Rainbow

Article taken from gazettelive.co.uk

TEESSIDE starlet Jessica Robinson said it was “lovely to be home” today after she was voted off BBC1’s Over The Rainbow.


The 18-year-old is back on Teesside after her hope of landing the role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz ended last night.

But Andrew Lloyd Webber said Jessica, from Normanby, was a “real star in the making”.

Jessica, who made it into the top five, told the Evening Gazette: “I am feeling absolutely fine and it is lovely to be home and out of the Dorothy bubble. I wasn’t shocked to be voted out as all the other girls are fantastic. The talent was so high.

“Making the top five was always my goal so I am really pleased that I managed to do that.”

Jessica was the second contestant to lose out in the weekend’s double elimination.

Her mum Judith said: “I am so proud of her. She has done incredibly well.

“It is a major achievement and I am absolutely thrilled for her.”

Jessica was forced into a sing-off with Danielle Hope after the pair received the fewest public votes last night.

The pair sang Take That Look Off Your Face from Tell Me On A Sunday in a bid to stay in the contest.

Andrew Lloyd Webber eventually saved Danielle.

He told Jessica: “‘I say this with the heaviest heart in the entire world, Jessica you are so wonderful and quirky, you’re a real star in the making.’’

Jessica, a former pupil of St Peter’s School, in Normanby, is now looking forward to attending leading London drama school ArtsEd, where she has gained a scholarship.

She said: “I have some meetings this week in London about where I can go from here but I am really looking forward to going to ArtsEd in September.

“In the meantime, who knows? It is funny because I was saying to the girls the other day that when I leave the show I was going to try and get a job in Topshop in Middlesbrough. They all told me I was being ridiculous as I wouldn’t need to do that. But I still need some money to prepare for stage school, so who knows.”


Jx

Jessica Robinson living the dream in Over The Rainbow

Article taken from BBC TEES website.

A Middlesbrough teenager says being part of the BBC's Over the Rainbow talent search is life changing.
Eighteen-year-old Jessica Robinson is a performing arts student at Stockton Riverside College.

She was one of 10,000 contestants to apply for the TV competition and was hand picked to be in the final ten girls.
Speaking to BBC Tees on a short trip home to visit her family she said she wouldn't swap the experience.

Talent on Teesside

"Honestly I wouldn't change it for the world. Even when I'm stood on that stage and getting really tough criticism.

"So many people at home would want to be there and getting the criticism I'm getting - so I'm just taking it all in really."

The singer who lives in Normanby says she's proud of her roots and wants to prove that there is talent on Teesside, but says it is surreal working with Andrew Lloyd Webber who often pops into rehearsals.

Growing Up

Jessica's performances have won her praise from the judges in recent weeks, and she says her continued involvement in the show is helping her to grow up although she admits it's emotional seeing other contestants she's grown close to get voted off:

"We're like sisters and we've grown so close so when you see someone going it's really strange and it seems really empty in the house... at the end of the day you have to think this is the competition and I've just made friends along the way."

There is also a short audio on the website

Jx