Hassaan

Yeah that's what I meant re: Gary being on the judging panel in 2011. I guess it was not the first time that runners up got ahead of the winner with their first proper single but it can't have helped. I took thought there would be a lane for him somewhere. James Morrison and James Blunt aren't a million miles away from him stylistically but they've had some sustained success when it comes to shifting records.

Rebecca less so. Her album outsold his. What Matt needed on that first album (well, they all do really) was creative control. A big part of releasing "Run For Your Life" as the lead single was because Gary Barlow wrote it and he was on X Factor that year as a judge - but it didn't allow him to hit the ground running which is what he needed. He was a bit older than 1D so was probably not going for the same audience anyway but it didn't allow him to make his mark.

Fearful of what the country will look like if they get into power. It feels like we're sleepwalking into it.

I want a proper progressive party to succeed but I'm not confident that this is it.

Yeah, the industry has changed a lot since 2010-14 and he was probably able to have more "casual fans" than he does now because the industry wasn't so fragmented. Now he's got his core fans but not many outside of that.

Olly's a bloke in his 40s now and won't be considered hot property in the music industry anymore. He's of the age where he's relegated to a "legacy act" which isn't a term I'm personally keen on. I don't think a collaboration is out of the question. I think it's less likely to be someone young and "hot" where the industry is concerned. It might be someone who was also big around the same time but less so now. He's at the point in his career where he can do whatever he wants really. He's probably achieved all the things he wanted to in the industry (perhaps aside from doing something like Glastonbury).

Corbyn & Sultana are being dropped from it too. I don't know if the whole idea is completely dead, but hopefully whoever takes over doesn't waste time arguing amongst themselves.

No. 5 in the end. We also have some album totals: 1,529,875 - Right Place Right Time 1,174,265 - In Case You Didn't Know 1,047,405 - Never Been Better Total album sales of 5,592,917. Total single sales of 15,288,863, including five million-sellers.

It was both of them, really.

He's been quite open on it being more of a passion project for him rather than going for the big commercial success like he is with this one.

Yes - although it falls under the definition of being an EP more than an album as it's 24 minutes long.

I've always run on the belief that Q4 is the best time for albums cos of sales being higher in the run up to Christmas, but these days I don't know how true that is. You could say that he'd chart higher on these current numbers in Q1, but who's to say that he'd even get the same amount of sales in the first place? He's gone on record as saying that this is the album he wanted to make after X Factor, and it clearly has more of a playful vibe than he's known for which probably leaves him more open to piss-taking online. Having said that, it's surely still better than not being talked about at all? Part of the issue is that he doesn't have a very streaming heavy fanbase.

He's in his 40s now so I don't expect him to be seen as "cool" in the way he was when he was riding on the wave of success from 2010 to 2014. They say "all publicity is good publicity" though if people are just ripping into his material I'm not sure how much that would be helping.

Number 3 is good. After a string of number one albums it'd be nice if he had another one, but it's a different climate.

Delete.

Yeah the charts have effectively been a "songs chart" since 2007 when all downloads were eligible. I preferred the charts from 2007 to 2014 when it was fairly straightforward - downloads/physical sales only pretty much. I guess the early years of streaming were fine but the ACR/SCR stuff was necessary albeit hasn't rid the charts of any issues.

Interested to see how Ginge does with a solo trial.

It was in his broadcast channel too, so firmly something for his fans really. Of course it made it to the tabloids which I guess is the risk with this sort of thing. Your own fans know you're joking but those outside of it don't, and when the story is out, people don't care about the explanation.

Liking them all so far.

Interesting interview! He's not the first to find success from X Factor to feel like people in the industry don't take him seriously. James Arthur and Little Mix said similar IIRC. I think in all cases it has just encouraged them to work even harder, which is something. I'm sure there's people who didn't make it through TV that are viewed in less high regard. @BooYouWhorelock do you wish to explain what's so funny?

How have they managed to make such a mess of it?

There's I'm a Celebrity: South Africa for that, and that's coming back next year. It should be noted that of the really big reality game shows, IAC is the only one with a public vote. Most of them don't have one.

Well overdue. The same person doing five trials in a row cos the voting public want to "punish" them even when they've proved themselves to be competent at them is extremely tiresome and occasionally has an undertone of nastiness.

She announced she was leaving in July 2023. Jessica Plummer and Danielle Harold did it the same year they left, so Shona could have done it sooner. Maybe not 2023 because Danielle was on it then.

I mean, he's not going to win. Surely. But I honestly don't know anymore. A crying shame that he is the leader of the free world otherwise the BBC could just ignore him.