Alexandra Burke xfactor winner and the newest pop princess. Here's Alexandra's first single Hallelujah

Alexandra Burke XFactor winner of series 5 is the newest pop princess and one of the few Xfactor winner's to have a potential global career (Leona Lewis being another xfactor winner who has gone on to truly mega stardom. Leona won series 4)

Here is Alexandra's official video for her first single Hallelujah. It's a cover of the classic by Leonard Cohen (read about the history of the song Hallelujah on wikipedia) Great video as it shows highlights from the series, from her first nervous appearance waiting in the audition room to her final crowning as champion. Hard to believe she's only 19 years old when you see her composure and unquestionable star quality shining through in this video.





Alexandra...you are a star!!!


Happy viewing....

Oh and bytheway, if you want to buy the song as an MP3, here's a purchase link to the almighty Amazon.com


Hallelujah (Original Version By 'Alexandra Burke')

X Factor UK: past winners, judges and presenters

Welcome X Factor Fanatics! This blog will give you the essential X Factor facts, news and latest celebrity gossip!


Let's take a look at the history of X Factor in Britain. At the time of writing there have been six series.

Here are the details of the winners, presenters and runner-ups for each series.

X FACTOR SERIES 1

Series 1 Winner: Steve Brookstein


Steve Brookstein backgrounder:He was born in Dulwich. His father's from South Africa. He received 6 million votes, which remains the highest vote count on X Factor.

What is Steve Brookstein doing now: Our lucky first series winner can now be seen singing in Pizza Parlours and Pubs like Pizza Express, cruise ships and anywhere he can. You can read more about Steve at his website stevebrookstein.com


The News Of The World published a slightly cruel article about Steve headlined "Steve Brookstein goes from superstardom to dough ball". Instead of playing to sell-out crowds, X Factor's first winner now performs at Pizza Express to 30-strong crowds and has a tendency to forget his lines. Let that be a lesson to the more than 200,000 hopefuls who are expected to line up for the new series' auditions. Yes X Factor might win you instant fame, but not necessary lasting success or million dollar paydays either. 

Series 1 Runner up: G4

Male four-piece vocal group. Named after the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where they all met. Guildhall 4 = G4 get it?! 



Even Simon Cowell had to admit that G4 were the real stars of X Factor Series One as they went on to sell more records that Steve Brookstein. Their rendition of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody in the semi-final (which they encored for the final) was their biggest moment. They signed a GBP1.5 million deal with Sony since Simon's record company Syco didn't pick them up. Their debut album G4 reached number 1 and they ended releasing three albums. 

Where are G4 now: They split up in 2007 saying they were having fights within the band and were tired of the constant 'boiling frustrations'.

Host: Kate Thornton. Irritating, super irritating, but bless-her-heart she was a trier. Really nervous and pretty terrible as a presenter, although she did get better as the series grew.

Judges: Simon "the chest hair" Cowell. His forehead could still move in those days, he looks surprisingly young when you watch the shows back. Sharon Osbourne, loud mouthed wife of Ozzy Osbourne and co-star with raving mad Osbourne Family of the now infamous MTV reality series "The Osbournes"., Louis Walsh: manager of Westlife, Boyzone and long time business associate of Cowell's. With his Irish charm, wink in the eye and warmth he produced the kinder Uncle figure to Simon's 'tell it like it is because it's for your own good' honesty.


X FACTOR SERIES 2

Series 2 Winner: Shayne Ward

Shayne Ward is still around as a solo artist, still releasing albums. Same haircut too. Pointless side note: my friend keeps calling him Shane Warne by mistake. And she has no idea that she's getting it wrong. The high point of his career was when his debut single "That's My Gold" sold more copies on the day of its release than ALL of the other Top 40 singles combined. Wowsers! It's said his personal wealth is around half a million pounds and globally he has sold an incredible 1 million albums. In Asia they love him (as they love Air Supply, Michael Learns To Rock and Journey)




Series 2 Runner Up: Andy Abraham. Oh my goodness, completely forgot about this guy.Andy Abraham was a dustbin man before auditioning for X Factor. He's also been a bus driver. Andy went on to represent the United Kingdom in the 2008 Eurovision Song Content and came joint last out of 25 entries an absolutely dismal 14 points. By doing so, he became only the second UK entrant to come last in Eurovision. Yes, that the Eurovision song contest...the one that features San Marino and countries that sound more like fruity beverages than hot beds of song writing and performing.  Andy lost X Factor by just 1.2% to Shayne Ward. He released four albums including a "Very Best Of Album" in 2008 (yes, the Very Best Of Andy Abraham) 

What is Andy Abraham up to now? He continues to perform. He even sang at the 21st birthday party of Arsenal winger and England's next great hope: Theo Walcott. In 20 years time, Walcott will look back at those birthday photos and think 'who?'

Host: Kate Thornton. Still irritating and still clearly nervous for the big shows. But still bless-her-little-heart for trying so very hard.

Judges: same as Series 1. If it ain't broke

X FACTOR SERIES 3


Series 3 winner: Leona Lewis


By far the most successful of all the X Factor winners. Now, a bonafide global megastar...UK"s Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Mary J all in one


Runner Up Ray Quinn


Host: Kate Thornton survives but not for much longer


Judges: same but good old Paula Abdul of American Idol joins for the London auditions


X FACTOR SERIES 4


Series 4 winner: Leon Jackson


Runner Up: Rhydian Roberts. Surely the weirdest of the finalists


Host: Change of host, as the hugely popular and safe bet Dermot O'Leary joins


Judges: A NEW JUDGE joins X Factor. Dannii Minogue, sister of Kylie Minogue becomes the fourth judge. Brian Friedman joins for the London auditions.  Brian's been a judge for other Simon Cowell shows but he lacks chemistry with the other judges


X FACTOR SERIES 5

Series 5 Winner: Alexandra Burke.


The (joint?) second most successful X Factor winner after Leona Lewis and equally classy/talented until some of the others


Series 5 Runner UP: JLS


JLS are the biggest boyband in the UK right now, and slowly taking the world by storm.


Host; Dermot in the house


Judges: Brian Friedman dropped coz let's face it, he wasn't very good, Louis begged to return. Sharon leaves and big one: CHERYL COLE of UK All Girl Group GIRLS ALOUD arrives and rapidly becomes Britain's new sweetheart (and Simon's looking at the sexual chemistry) which her warm Geordie tones, beauty, fashion trends and habit of bursting into tears whenever she's wearing waterproof mascara and a fella Geordie is doing well.

X FACTOR SERIES 6

Winner: Joe McElderry. The whitest smile in England (after Cowell of course)


Runner Up: Olly Murs


HOst: Dermot O Leary, housewives' fave once again


Same judges, notice how much more close-ups Cheryl gets. Press makes noise about Dannii getting jealous, being cold shouldered etc.

X Factor UK: Auditions still open for season 2010

There is time to attend open auditions for X Factor 2010!!! Open auditions are being held at:
Birmingham – The LG Arena – 24th April
London – Excell – 1st and 2nd May
Dublin – Croke Park – 15th May
Hope to see you there!
Good luck.

X Factor UK: the most recent winner Joe

Here's the most recent winner of X Factor UK 2009. Joe, the cute geordi lad

The X Factor TV show | application, qualification, eligibility, forms etc

What's the eligibility requirements for The X Factor auditions?

Well, you need to check at The X Factor official website http://xfactor.itv.com as they can change without notice or from series to series.

Generally the qualifications for The X Factor are (but again...CHECK THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE. I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY MISSED CHANCES AT MEGASTARDOM!!):

1. You have to be a resident of the United Kingdom with a valid passport.

2. They have different age requirements, it used to be 14 years of age, but I think it's now 16. And if you're under 18 you need the signed permission of a guardian/parent. If you belong to a band/group, each parent/guardian will need to sign for each member

3. You can't be employed by ITV, Fremantle (the producers) or related companies etc

4. You have to tell the production company if you have any criminal or civil actions against you or in process or if you've been in prison or had any convictions. And generally you can't tell any porkie pies on your form.

You can either fill in an application form online or download the form and send it into them. But you can also turn up at the auditions without a form too.

As for the X Factor application form itself, it's short and sweet, just your contact details, photo, name, age, usual stuff. Plus your preferred city for the auditions (London, Birmingham etc) And then tick yes or no if you've auditioned for The X Factor before and if you're a solo artist/group. The trickiest part is filling out a couple lines "describe yourself/your group in ten words". And "why should we pick you" Pretty simple stuff, would probably take around 20 minutes to fill in...not bad for a chance at SUPER-MEGA-WHOPPER-STARDOM wouldn't you say?

(well maybe not quite guaranteed SUPER-MEGA-WHOPPER-STARDOM, read the post about what the first X Factor winner Steve Brookstein is doing now. But then again, read this post about how much big coinage that Simon Cowell whatshisname dude is earning)

As always, good luck, we are totally rootin' tootin' for ya, and just DO IT!

Simon Cowell, just who is this new media svengali and god of all reality talent shows? And what is with his hair?

X Factor UK is the brainchild of pop svengali Simon Cowell. Let's look into Simon's background: 

SIMON COWELL: AN INTRO  

Simon Cowell was born Simon Philip Cowell on the 7th October 1959, making him a Libra. (or a Boar if you're into Chinese Astrology). He's British and became famous judging the UK version of Pop Idol in 2001. 

SIMON COWELL: WHO IS THIS COCKY FELLA? 

He is a television personality. He's been the judge on Pop Idol UK, American Idol, X Factor UK, Britain's Got Talent (where Susan Boyle was discovered) and soon-to-be judge on the upcoming X Factor US which should be hitting our screens in September 2011


He is a music executive. He owns 


He is a TV producer. His production company Syco produces America's Got Talent and X Factor US, American Inventor, Grease Is The Word, Celebrity Duets and a failed dating show


He is an entrepreneur 


He is a serial monogamist (read later for more on this) 



He's a man so famous he apparently he hires someone just to wax his chest for him!

He is the owner of the most dated hair on primetime TV. Well, Donald Trump and David Hasselhoff might have something to say about that. 

Check out a younger Simon Cowell on his first TV judging role: Pop Idol UK. (bytheway, the auditionee is Will Young who became the eventual winner...didn't realise how bad he is at dancing...horrible!!)

Here's another clip from Pop Idol UK with the classic Simon Cowell line "Ghastly, just ghastly" SIMON COWELL'S CHILDHOOD

Cowell was born in Brighton, a pretty seaside town south of London. He grew up in Elstree , Hertfordshire which is a town famous for the Elstree Film Studios. 

Classic movies such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Shining, Superman and many more have been partly filmed at Elstree and it's currently home to the UK TV shows Dancing on Ice and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

In fact, when Cowell was a teenager he worked on the film set of the movie The Shining.

Cowell's dad was an estate agent developer and a music industry executive. Cowell got his first break in the music industry when his dad scored him a modest job at the company he worked for: EMI Music Publishing, working in the mailroom. 

Cowell's mum, Julie is a former ballet dancer.

He has one brother and two step-brothers.

Career 

Simon's dad Eric got him a job as the assistant to an A&R executive (artist and relations). Simon worked his way up but left to set up his own music company called S Music with his former boss, Ellis Rich.

The company had a handful of hit records and even had five singles in the UK Top 40 all the same time at one point.

Simon left and worked for Iain Burton who was manager of Arlene Phillips a world famous choreographer and more recently the judge of UK's Dancing With The Stars (until allegedly she was sacked for being too old. A claim the BBC has always refuted)

Simon became a partner of Iain Burton's record label Fanfare which had a bunch of pop hits. One of them "So Macho" featured Simon's girlfriend at the time, former model Sinitta.

Simon was already a millionaire by this time and living a flash life. It all came crashing down, Fanfare ran into financial difficulties, Simon went into debt and had to move back in with his parents. He had to return to being an employee, becoming an A&R consultant for BMG. There he helped to sign up Curiosity Killed The Car, Five, Westlife, Robson and Jerome and lots of TV-related and novelty records such as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Teletubbies, Siz and Zag. Everyone laughed at him but we know who had the last laugh don't we.

It was like listening to a bad cruise ship act. Ghastly, simply ghastly. 

In 2002, Simon Cowell was asked to be a judge on UK's Pop Idol which was originally a program format from New Zealand. His wit, honesty, attitude and funny putdowns were an almost instant success.

Pop Idol was brought to America a few years later and suddenly Simon Cowell was the most smug face in America.

$33 million a year and first dibs on the artists

In 2006, Cowell renewed his deal with Fox for a cool $33 million per season for five years. His deal with Fox includes his show America's Got Talent and American Inventor but he wasn't allowed to set up X Factor...a format which became so sucessful in the UK that it basically killed off the UK version of Pop Idol.

Not only that, but his music company Syco had rights to sign up the artists coming out of American Idol.

El Cheeso, sorry Il Divo and Leona Lewis


Because he's not busy enough, Simon Cowell also manages the classical music manband Il Divo and Leona Lewis winner of X Factor UK, among many others.

Simon Cowell trivia 

He was once voted #33 on the Top 100 list of Worst Britons 

Apparently he hires someone just to trim his chest hair. Yeuchh


He's engaged to make up artist Mezhgan Hussainy who did his make-up on American Idol. 


He guested on The Simpsons and gets beaten up by Homer Simpson. 


He has written an autobiography titled "I don't Mean To Be Rude, but". A cracking-good read as you would expect and it includes tips for how to become a pop star.


He uses botox regularly and is a big fan of teeth whitening.

The X Factor Auditions! Calling all bands, singers and would-be popstars!

Here is a reminder of the auditions for series 2010 of The X Factor! Be the new Joe McElderry or JLS! 

You can simply turn up to the venues on the dates specified. You don't need to have applied beforehand, just show up...what do you have to lose (...your dignity, your precious time...nevermind)

And don't think because thousands and thousands of people will be there, there's no point in your showing up. ITV say that you will get a chance to audition unless the capacity for the venue is maxed out, but since they picked huge venues, you stand every chance. No excuses now!



The London Auditions for The X Factor UK are on Saturday 1st May 2010 and Sunday 2nd May 2010. Venue: Excell

The weather forecast is cloudy with rain, so The X Factor team want to remind you to bring along your waterproof jackets, warm clothes and umbrellas since they expect large line ups.

They advise NOT to travel by car since there will be limited parking in the area. As for public transport, you can take the DLR line and get off at Prince Regent station.

The Birmingham Auditions for The X Factor UK are on Saturday 24th April 2010 at the enormous LG Arena.

For the Dublin X Factor auditions, you will have to be at Croke Park on Saturday 15th May 2010. 


Good luck to all you auditionees, we are rooting for ya and look forward to seeing you on the actual X Factor 2010 show!

For more details visit The X Factor official website: xfactor.itv.com

Happy auditioning! (or more like waiting in the rain, looking out for Dermot and wondering if you will remember the lyrics)

Welcome to X Factor UK for all your Celebrity X Factor news

Here's some X Factor UK news and gossip!! Simo Cowell, watch out!!!