RITA Ora has come from nowhere to release three number one singles and a chart-topping debut album.

The O2 Academy Bournemouth has pulled a masterstroke by booking the singer last year for an eagerly-awaited show tonight.

Given her rapid ascent to fame, Rita could easily have sold-out much larger venues across the land and no doubt will do so in the future. Bournemouth fans that have been lucky enough to nab a ticket for tonight will get a rare chance see her still perform in an intimate setting.

But it was these smaller venues that proved to be the training ground for Rita’s flamboyant live shows.

“I’d play anywhere – bars and clubs, in my dad’s pub, just to be out singing,” the 22-year-old told 24Seven.

At 18, Rita was gigging in London while studying for her A-levels and working in a trainer shop on Portobello Road in west London in order to pay musicians to play with her at gigs in the evening. Incredibly, she was discovered by US rapper Jay Z’s management company and record label Roc Nation and Mr Beyonce himself called to request a meeting in New York.

“It was a real pinch-yourself moment and the meeting we had when I met Jay-Z was just unbelievable. It was so nerve-wracking, interesting, exciting and weird all at the same time. You know when you can feel someone’s power? It was like that, you could just tell when you walked in the room that he was powerful and successful,” says the Londoner.

“It was so odd. I walked in, shook his hand and then we were suddenly having a conversation. Now it feels like we’ve known each other a long time. I get lots of advice from him.

“He’s not just a great friend, but a boss and a brother. He’s the man.”

Her stunning rise to fame began at the tail end of 2011, when Rita appeared in the video for Hot Right Now with DJ Fresh.

Before that, she’d only really been seen in a handful of online videos, but by the time of the song’s official release in February last year – it went straight to No 1 and ended up selling more than 480,000 copies – she was one of the most talked-about singers in the country.

As an introduction, it clearly worked, and Ora’s subsequent two singles, RIP with Tinie Tempah and How We Do followed Hot Right Now to No 1.

Meanwhile, her debut album Ora topped the chart, finishing the year with sales of around 240,000.

“The success of the singles, and the tour selling out within minutes of the tickets going on sale as well – all of last year was crazy.”

Fast forward to February 2013 and Rita’s hard work has been rewarded with two Brit Award nominations for Best Breakthrough and Best Single.

“I went to the Brits last year and no one even noticed I was there, no one took a photograph or anything, and a year later I’m up for some awards.”

A fortnight after her Bournemouth show, Rita has dates in Australia, and then mainland Europe. Between now and the summer she’ll record her second album, and hopes to have it released by the end of the year.

“My first album was finished when I was 19, and I'm 22 now, so I have a lot more I want to talk about and say,” she adds.

Ora’s self-titled debut featured production from the likes of Major Lazer, will.i.am, The-Dream, Stargate and Diplo, but she promises the second album will see fewer writers contributing more.

“I’m very excited about some of the people lined up, I can’t wait to work with them. But obviously I can’t say who they are yet. Pop music’s secretive.”