The Kelly Rowland experience

A couple of weeks back, I had the pleasure of interviewing former Destiny's Child songorator Kelly Rowland for my proper job.

Afterwards, I was quite disparaging about the whole experience. Kelly managed to talk for an entire half an hour without one interesting snippet of information falling out of her mouth hole, I told my colleagues.

Yes, she was friendly, polite, engaged; but she was also duller than a broken torch in a black hole on national battery shortage day. With your eyes closed.

So I was quite surprised to listen back to the interview earlier this week and find I was completely wrong. Ms Rowland was singing, joking, and surprisingly frank about one of her new songs, "Still In Love With My Ex". I, on the other hand, was all over the place - constantly letting the conversation falter while I tried to think up my next question. It was like amateur hour at journalism summer camp.

By the grace of God, the interview was salvagable and it'll go up on the Beeb's website in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, here are a couple of 'DVD extras' that didn't make the final cut.

Q: Do you still live in Houston?
A: No, I live in Miami now. The water is beautiful – but it’s the only thing that keeps me in Miami. I really miss being at home.

Q: Is there anywhere else you'd like to live?
A: The first time I came over to London I said I wanted to buy a place over here – but my best friend would kill me and my phone bill would be astronomical. While I’m here I have crazy bills from my cell phone. It’s insane.

Q: You've acted in a couple of films like Freddy vs Jason, have you put that on hold for music now?
A: No, it's something I’d like to pursue. Romantic comedies really interest me. TV work does too. I love ugly Betty and I love Gray’s Anatomy... but I'm a bit behind on it. There’s something about that show and I have to know what that is.

Q: You've worked with a lot of the old Destiny's Child producers on your album. Is it easier to be in the studio with people you know?
A: For me, it’s comfortable. I've gone into the studio with producers I don’t know and I don’t know what their vibe is so I will leave. I feel like it messes up the creative environment.

Q: What's one of your best memories of Destiny's Child?
A: The last DC show was in Dublin and we kept chanting "ole, ole, ole". Beyonce would not stop singing it – she wouldn’t get off the stage! I was shouting "B!" and she was still out there giving it "ole, ole, ole". And finally she got us all back on stage, holding hands and shaking in circles – we had a good time. It was great.

Here is Kelly's new video, Like This, which - having listened to it seventeen times in a row - is now filed under the category "alright, I s'pose".

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