X Factor - Rhydian Roberts rumoured for Phantom sequel

Rhydian Roberts is allegedly being mooted to star in a sequel to Phantom of the Opera.
Rhydian, who is probably now best known as the white-haired Welsh warbler who came second in this year's X Factor series.

He not only sang the title song of the musical on the show, but also made an entrance to an instrumental version while being introduced by his mentor Dannii Minogue.

Although casting for the sequel is yet to be confirmed, Rhydian "is being lined up" for a role in the show.

Rhydian has spoken to "Andrew Lloyd Webber and says, "I just hope that one day I can be in one of his shows.

"Nothing's set in stone yet, but my ambition is to play the Phantom 2 at the end of next year."

Many fans of Rhyd were disappointed when he lost out in the X Factor final to Leon Jackson, who went on to score the Christmas number one single, When You Believe.

Some viewers complained that they had not been able to vote for Rhydian although they phoned the correct number.

Police step up security as X Factor star opens street bash

EXTRA security has been drafted in to the stage where X Factor winner Leon Jackson will perform as he opens this year's Hogmanay street party.

Police are predicting an upsurge in revellers at the Waverley Stage as they flock to watch one of the 18-year-old's first live performances since the TV show.

More than 300 police officers and 400 fully-trained stewards will be looking after the 100,000 people expected to take part in the Princes Street celebrations.

And details of the 48 roads which will be closed to accommodate the street party are today published to help revellers plan their route into the city centre.

LEON Jacksons early festive present - by storming to the Christmas No1.

The celebrating Scotsman sent a Christmas card inviting the Bizarre crew to toast his success after selling 275,742 copies of When You Believe in less than a week. It's quite an achievement for the X Factor winner, especially as iTunes collapsed moments after the song was posted on the site. The West Lothian crooner, who is 19 on December 30, said: “It’s the best Christmas and birthday present ever. Having the Christmas No1 is an amazing ending to an amazing year. I’m thrilled. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me.” His X Factor mentor Dannii Minogue said: “It’s amazing to have been part of The Leon King’s success story.” Leon's hit is the third year in a row that an X Factor winner has got the top Christmas slot.

Leon Jackson wins 2007 X Factor

Leon Jackson. Rhydian came close second and Same difference came 3rd. Leon Jackson was the surprise winner of the reality TV show The X Factor. The 18-year old from West Lothian unexpectedly beat the Welsh baritone Rhydian Roberts, who was favourite to win the show. The Gap sales assistant, who was brought up by a single mother, was supported by the Minogue sisters. He performed a duet of Better the Devil You Know with Kylie, (Pics here) Minogue"p and was mentored on the show by her sister Dannii. Leon now receives a £1m recording contract, and bookies predict that his new single "When You Believe" will top the Christmas charts. financially.

X Factor prepares for huge final.

Each finalist will do a duet, and Leon seems to have drawn the longest straw by being matched with the sexy Kylie Minogue. Same Difference will be singing with Kylie's ex, Jason Donovan, and Rhydian will be performing with opera star Katherine Jenkins.
It's an interesting and great idea. Will it work for or against Leon to be matched with the most famous of the three stars? Will Kylie outshine the young Scot and expose his still unconquered nerves or will she make his performance the most memorable? We shall soon find out!!

X Factor's Leona goes Big in USA

X Factor winner Leona Lewis is set to Smash the American charts, after dominating the British ones. There have been thousands of pre orders for her album, Spirit in America, and it's not even being released there until next March. "Leona's Bleeding Love video on the net has had millions of views after only a month, and the comments on them are from a worldwide audience. The American interest is Massive and there's a lot of excitement surrounding Leona release out there. Americans love her clean image and big ballad vocals. There's even rumours of a duet with Whitney! In the UK, the X Factor winner's album sold more than a quarter of a million copies in its first week.

X Factor Niki rejects suicide pact with husband

X Factor reject Niki was voted off the show last night, has revealed the details of her and her husband’s bizarre suicide pact. The couple both agreed that if one dies, the other will follow suit by committing suicide. Niki, 35, has been with her husband Darren for 18 years. They have two sons, Morgan, 12, and Jonah, 11. Details of Niki’s pact comes only a week after X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne revealed she has a similar agreement with her husband Ozzy. “I had no idea Sharon had that pact, I thought it up first,” said Niki, who was booted off the TV talent contest in a shock result last night. The grim pact was made after a number of deaths in Niki and Darren’s family.

X Factor hopeful duets with 'idol' Michael Buble.

X Factor semi-finalist Leon Jackson had his dream came true when he was invited to duet with his idol Michael Buble on stage to a packed Wembley Arena. The 18-year-old Scottish shop assistant, who only got into singing in 2007, performed Michael's hit Home in front of 13,000 fans on Tuesday night.

Leon said: "That's the pinnacle for me man. I'd never rehearsed it with him, I never had a sound check, I just went up and winged it and it was heaven man, a dream come true and when I came off I was very emotional at the end."

Duran Duran will be helping this weeks hopefulls.

The Best of British is upon us this weekend on The X Factor as the gang tackles favorites from The Beatles, Queen and Wham. And who better than one of Britain’s biggest bands but Duran Duran who will be giving the hopefuls some pointers.This week the contestant will perform two songs. Hope will sing We Will Rock You and 2 Become 1. Same Difference tackle Wake Me up Before You Go Go and Any Dream Will Do. Leon Jackson sings The Long and Winding Road and Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Rhydian Roberts also tackles a bit of Queen with Somebody To Love, as well as I Vow to Thee My Country-World In Union. And Niki Evans performs Fields of Gold and Total Eclipse of The Heart. Rhydian is still a hot favourite to win the competition at odds of 3-1 ON, Niki is at 7-1, Leon at 8-1, Same Difference at 9-1..

X Factor contestants angry at Hopes special treatment.

X Factor contestants believe that girl group Hope are receiving special treatment from producers. The remaining 5 finalists are unhappy that Hope have been given extra rehearsal time with Brian Friedman, the choreographer and the show's vocal coach.
It seemed as if their mentor Simon Cowell is pulling strings to try and keep them in. because there are five of them they need the extra rehearsal time which could be a possibility. Hope were in the bottom two for the third time last night. However, Beverley Trotman was voted off when the judges' vote went to deadlock and it was down to the viewer votes.

Girl group Hope annoy X Factor show with constant diva demands.

X Factor’s girl group Hope sound like they’ve turned into right little divas already and they haven’t even won the show yet.. After landing in the bottom two last week, Hope has reportedly been squabbling all week. Not only did they switch songs, from the Simon Cowell endorsed Supremes to Christina Aguilera, but they even ditched their stylist in an attempt to look more natural. Phoebe’s position as main singer has caused jealousy amongst the girls who feel their talents are being pushed to the side.

X Factor' girl band threatened by constant arguments

X Factor girl band Hope sleep in separate bedrooms following a series of rows. The five singers recently clashed in rehearsals when Charlie Mole claimed that Leah has "the wrong look for the band" A source said "Suddenly Charlie lost it, blaming Leah for ruining their chances of winning. She said she looked like the odd one out because she was fatter than the rest. Leah was on the verge of quitting the show following the confrontation, but she was eventually persuaded to stay by producers who spent hours trying to talk them down. There was a lot of shouting and tears," the insider explained. "Leah eventually agreed to stay but the situation volatile. She and Charlie no longer speak except when necessary . The producers have had to split them up so they are sleeping in different bedrooms. " The girls have also rowed on a number of other occasions. Their mentor Simon Cowell is "furious" that they are letting personal differences ruin their chances of winning the show.

X Factor's Leona lights up West End

X Factor star Leona Lewis lit up Britain's most famous shopping street when she switched on the Christmas lights. Leona, whose debut album is due for release next week, brightened up Oxford Street when she flicked the switch. Thousands of revellers enjoyed the live performances by Westlife and the cast of West End musical Mary Poppins. Lewis will be spending Christmas at home chilling out with her family. Leona said that "getting to number one was the best present ever and since then I've just been on a high"Her album, Spirit, is released next Monday.

X Factor Betting Odds: Beverley Trottman To Win. whats your views?

Beverley Trottman whose X Factor version of Feeling Good was a confident, strong and electrifying, yet completely forgettable the instant it was over. Don't ask why, it's just unexplainable. Still, as everyone is so keen on pointing out, X Factor is important to Beverley Trottman because at the moment she's 'just' a primary school teacher, but X Factor is allowing her to be the woman she's always dreamt of being a singer on a ITV talent show for eight weeks before she's inevitably voted off and goes back to being a primary school teacher. Nevertheless she is odds on to win?

X Factor Emily Quits Over Happy Slap Video exposed.

Emily Nakanda, 15 withdrew from the show today after producers were alerted to the video by a national of her Emily Nakanda, 15, is seen grabbing the girl's hair and throwing her to the ground before punching and kicking her. Emily had been dropped after stills of the footage was published in The Sun. Other footage of her threatening to gouge a boy's eyes out with a knife also emerged this week."In response to the stories in the papers this week regarding Emily Nakanda, they have conducted there own investigations into the matter and they can confirm that she has chosen to withdraw herself from the competition with immediate effect.

Graham Norton has slammed the X Factor finalists?

Graham Norton has taken a swipe at this year's X Factor finalists, saying he doesn't think they are "up to much". The 44-year-old who hosted talent shows How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? said "This year's show has not been particularly great - you've got 12 people who are, basically, not up to much. I suppose it just shows how shallow the talent pool is in Britain at the moment if that's the best we can come up with." But there is one person he enjoys watching, and that's Niki Evans. he said. "She's OK, but the rest aren't exactly dazzling." Graham's next project is The Ultimate Tribute Act, which will see lookalike singers competing against each other. "I've not met any of the acts yet but I can't wait to see them," he explained. "I'm just finding out now how much I'll be allowed to take the p*** out of them."

Does X Factor's Emily have connections with violent London gangs?

It has been reported that In a YouTube clip that has since been removed form the site showing Emily terrorising a teenager and laughing as a friend wields a 6inch knife, threatening: “I will cut your eyes out! Yeah! Cut you! We’re gonna cut you!” The clip was called Shiverz Tryna Shank Trubzy and had the tag line: “Dont get her vex wen she drunk.” Lady Shiverz also has her own site where she is pictured mimicking a gun with her fingers, while Emily’s boyfriend Kizzle is said to be a member of the Coldsoldierz gang. Emily’s association with these gangs considered common knowledge to local residents. One anonymous source said “Knives are the new cool weapon and it is well known Emily associates with these people.”

Strictly Come Dancing out-rates X Factor again

Strictly Come Dancing has beaten The X Factor in viewing figures for the third week in a row. The reality show drew 7.9 million and 37 per cent of the TV audience, while The X Factor drew 7.1 million.But when Strictly Come Dancing finished viewers deserted BBC One. Robin Hood averaged 5.3 million viewers and the National Lottery show 5.9 million. All Star Family Fortunes averaged 6.8 million viewers between the two X Factor shows. Later on Saturday, BBC One's Casualty drew 6.4 million viewers, a very healthy advantage over the 4.1 million who tuned into Another Audience with the very funny Al Murray on ITV1.

Same Difference are set for X Factor boot?

Same Difference are the favourite to be kicked off X Factor for the second week in a row. They have been given odds of 3-1 that the duo will leave the show on tonight, after their second performance. Sarah and Sean Smith escaped in last week's instalment of the hit ITV1 show, despite bookies predictions, leaving 19-year old Kimberley as the first contestant to leave. Bands Hope and Futureproof are early favourites to win X Factor, closely followed by over 25 contender Niki Evans, whose performance of Nothing Compares 2 U wowed judges in the first week of the live competition. Same Difference's cheesy rendition of Tragedy last week earned scorn from the judges, but much support from viewers.

Sharon Osbourne has reportedly quit as the judge of British reality show

The 54-year-old lost her cool after two of her three acts were voted into the bottom two places. Osbourne even declined to play a part in the vote to decide between Kimberley Southwick or Alisha Bennett. The rocker stormed out after telling host Dermot O’Leary, What I did was no good and I think I’m going home now, Dermot. She even refused to appear later on the show with Fearne Cotton. Show bosses are now in crisis talks with Osbourne, and have lined up Radio 1 star Chris Moyles, as a replacement, in case she changes her mind. At this point Sharon has said she is no longer a judge on the show. They are hoping she will be able to sleep on her decision and calm down. The public rejected two of her acts and she took badly. She also blames herself for picking both girls the wrong songs. Chris Moyles has made it clear he’s on standby if Sharon or Louis Walsh walk out at short notice. Simon Cowell is likely to take him up on that offer, the insider added.