Review: Queen of the night Alexandra Burke is in town

And now Alexandra Burke is well and truly hitting the high notes emulating the role of her idol Whitney Houston.

The fact she is now playing Rachel Marron, the role made famous by Houston in the film The Bodyguard, is not lost on the X Factor winner.

In an interview ahead of the sparkling production, which runs in Leeds until May 21, Alexandra said she used Houston as her inspiration but didn’t want to mimic her.

And it is clear from the start that Alexandra wants to put her very own stamp on the role as diva Marron.

From an explosive entrance the audience at Leeds Grand Theatre were guaranteed to be in for an absolute treat.

But memories of the popular Hollywood film, which was the second highest-grossing film of 1992 worldwide, soon start to fade away as Alexandra works her sass on stage.

The confident production tells the story of the diva who manages to acquire a stalker (Matthew Stathers) and her team calls on the skills of bodyguard Frank Farmer (Stuart Reid) to protect her.

After a rocky start the pair soon form a mutual respect for one another as the stalker ramps up his spine-tingling campaign against Marron.

The romantic thriller stars some of Houston’s biggest hits and it’s not long before the audience is singing along to So Emotional, Greatest Love of All and Queen of the Night.

And it is soon easy to see Alexandra’s star quality shine through in the spotlight.

Rachel John who plays Marron’s sister Nicki also steals the limelight with her powerful rendition of I Run To You.

But you’ll need to show some patience for the belting I Will Always Love You, which spent 10 weeks at the top of the UK charts.

There are even points in the production when the audience feel as though they are right there in the heart of the action at the Grammy awards.

The show is pure pop at its very best.

And audiences in Leeds are in for an extra special treat when the X Factor star returns once again in August taking the lead in divine musical comedy Sister Act. Hallelujah!

If her latest star turn in The Bodyguard is anything to go by Alexandra Burke is most definitely the Queen of the Night!