X factor news

Simon Cowell has decided to offer a new X Factor contract to Dannii Minogue, a report claims.

According to the Sunday Mirror, the show's chief considered replacing Minogue with Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton, Lily Allen or Charlotte Church, but ultimately chose to save the Aussie popstar because she kept the programme in the headlines last year.

A source told the newspaper: "He had been toying with the idea of new blood for a while, but when he looked back it became increasingly obvious that Dannii was the talking point of the last series. Simon is a very canny businessman and this is a purely business decision.

"Although sacking Dannii and getting a new judge could win viewers for the first few shows, keeping Dannii pretty much guarantees fireworks throughout the entire series."

Reports that the star was involved in a feud with fellow judge Cheryl Cole set tongues wagging last year. Minogue also cried live on air following a dispute with Louis Walsh.

The singer is currently working on Australia's Got Talent in her home country. Filming for the new X Factor series will begin in the summer.

Louis Walsh is reportedly asking for £1.3 million to work on the next series of The X Factor.

The manager and existing panel member is said to be in London this week to resolve his contract demands, The Sun reports.

It is claimed that Walsh is looking to improve on his current deal, which is valued at £800,000.

An insider said: "It may sound like a lot of money but that's how Louis sees his market value.

"He is a key reason why The X Factor has become one of Britain's most popular TV shows and he has had a lot of success in the 'real world' managing the likes of Boyzone and Westlife."

The source added that Simon Cowell is aware of the viewers' affection for Walsh and knows he will have to spend sufficiently to ensure his participation in the next series.

At the weekend, it was claimed that Dannii Minogue had been offered a new contract to continue as a judge on the talent show, despite earlier claims that she would be replaced this year.

Nice work when you can get it

ALEXANDRA BURKE has triumphed again by bagging a £3million US record deal.

Top label Epic swooped after her Christmas single Hallelujah smashed sales records.

When she finalised the contract this week, Londoner Alex told me: “I’d love to crack the US. After seeing COLDPLAY take away the awards at the Grammys I was so inspired.”

She has plenty of reason to feel optimistic about her future.

Her Stateside launch is being masterminded by the crack star-making team behind BEYONCE and RIHANNA’s successes.

And her contract with Epic is for up to an impressive five albums. Alex is flying over to the States next month to meet with X Factor boss SIMON COWELL, who will be involved in her bid to make it big.

He is determined to help her follow in 2006 winner LEONA LEWIS’ footsteps to top charts across the globe.

Alex is already on the right path. Thousands of Americans watched internet footage of her performance with Beyonce from the show finals in December.

They were so impressed that Alex’s fan website crashed due to unexpected levels of demand in the days after she beat Eoghan and JLS to the title.

And debut single Hallelujah was the fastest selling download ever, beating Leona’s debut, A Moment Like This.

Last night an industry insider said: “Epic think Alexandra can follow in Leona’s footsteps.

“The US market loves women with big voices — and Alex certainly has that. If she comes close to Leona’s success it will be a job well done.”

The label are planning a similar launch plan to the one that Sony — Epic’s parent company — used for Leona.

Her album will first come out in the UK in November and she will concentrate on promoting it here.

She will then hit the States early next year — probably after slightly tailoring the album for the US market.

But for now, Alex’s main concern is next week’s Brit Awards, where she is up for the Best Single gong.

She said: “I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the Brits. I feel so honoured to be nominated so early on. Everything is happening so fast.

“I’m going to work my socks off to make an album this year that I hope people will love and I’m really proud of.”

Cowell and the other X Factor judges must be chuffed to bits to have got the charts winner they wanted.

A job in Wal-mart would have been Eoghan’s only chance of flogging a record in the US.

Alexandra Burke has become embroiled in a rift ahead of the X Factor tour.

The series winner has been given her own backstage area for the month-long stint, allegedly infuriating the other contestants.

"Some of the finalists, including Diana Vickers and a couple of the lads from JLS, feel that Alex has distanced herself slightly from the rest of the crowd," a source told the Daily Mail.

"There has been a bit of bitching between the others, which has only been exacerbated by the upcoming tour, where Alex will have her own backstage area."

A spokesman for the 'Hallelujah' singer refuted the claims, saying that Burke's treatment was normal for the winning contestant.

"This is what happens every year. Obviously the winner gets a better deal - that’s the whole point of winning the show," the rep said.

"But this is just the way it works, it is in no way her being a diva or anything like that. If JLS have a problem with it, or want their own dressing room, then they should speak to their record label about it."

The X Factor tour kicks off in Aberdeen this weekend and concludes in London on March 25.

The ex-girlfriend of X Factor star Aston Merrygold has claimed that their relationship broke down because he is "obsessed" with actress Louisa Lytton.

Merrygold, whose band JLS were runners-up on last year's series, started dating Natalia Rush shortly after they met on a TV set in October 2007. The pair stayed together throughout the X Factor live shows in 2008 but finally hit the rocks last month.

Rush, 19, has now revealed that she became infuriated when she realised that the singer was in regular contact with his former partner Lytton, who is best known for playing Ruby Allen in EastEnders.

"All through our relationship there were three people - Aston, Louisa and I," Rush told the News Of The World. "We had a blazing row which led to me dumping him. I got back with him after he promised he wouldn't hide anything again. I could deal with Louisa being his ex but she was always there or ringing him up.

"I repeatedly told him, 'She is your weakness'. He hated me for that but he knew deep down I was right."

The teenager added that she had another row with Merrygold after discovering that he had broken his promise and continued to contact Lytton. They finally parted ways in January when the boyband star decided to end their relationship.

"I feel so used. I supported him when he was a nobody and now he has tossed me out of his life," Rush explained. "I don't want to know him any more."

JLS recently signed a record contract with the Epic label.

CHERYL Cole has thrown fellow X Factor judge Dannii Minogue a lifeline — by threatening to quit if Simon Cowell gives her the boot.
Show boss Cowell had been seeking a replacement for the Aussie singer, 37, but Cheryl put a stop to his plan by refusing to sign her new contract until Dannii gets hers.

The Girls Aloud beauty was worried she might not like the new judge. Names in the frame included Lily Allen, who she once branded a “chick with a d***”, Charlotte Church and Destiny’s Child superstar Kelly Rowland, who risked upstaging her.

A source said: “Cheryl told Simon straight — if it’s not her AND Dannii together, then he’s looking for TWO new stars. There’s no way he will let them both go.”

Cheryl, 25, replaced Sharon Osbourne on the judging panel in last year’s series. The source added: “The show was a bigger success than ever, and Simon knows a lot of that is down to Cheryl.”

The Geordie has told Cowell not to pull another “Kelly Brook”, a reference to when he fired model Kelly after three days as a Britain’s Got Talent judge. The source said: “She feels they don’t need a format change.”

wow! Good on Cheryl if this is true

Wow I mean I dont like Danni but good on her! And I do agree with the kelly brook comment, Simon tries to change things up too much

Simon Cowell's ex-girlfriend Terri Seymour has said that looking after him is a full-time job.

The TV presenter told Closer that she is still helping the X Factor judge to manage his schedule, even though the couple broke up last November after six years together.

Seymour said: "Looking after Simon's a full-time job when you go out with him - and I'm still doing it now!

"I'm still overseeing and finalising his new house. I've project-managed it all, right down to the furniture.

"Simon and I speak six times a day, and I see him all the time. We're happy as we are. We still see each other as much as when we were together."

She added that the pair parted on good terms and that she was surprised that they lasted as long as they did because both wanted different things.

Last month, it was claimed that Cowell wanted to get back together with Seymour.

I will do it if she does not want to :lol:

THE X Factor has been cleared of fixing votes in last year's competition.
More than 944 viewers complained about last year's show when they couldn't get through to cast their votes for Austin Drage and Laura White to stay in the competition on the weeks they were booted out.

Elsewhere, fans complained that the wrong number was given for Ruth Lorenzo and that Diana Vickers shouldn't have been allowed to automatically go through to the next round after taking a week off due to illness.

A spokesperson for Ofcom said: "Putting Diana through to the following week presented no possibility of material harm to viewers and as such rested entirely with the broadcaster and production team."

But the media watchdog today revealed that it had investigated all these claims - checking voting lines before, after and during each show - and could find no wrongdoing.

It was found that the incorrect phone number for Ruth Lorenzo was only on screen for five seconds - and hadn't caused any significant change in the number of votes cast for her, and that other technical problems had been flagged up and fixed in the first instance.

Ofcom said: “The data available to Ofcom did not indicate shortcomings in the series design, editorial judgment or administrative and technical arrangements such that viewers’ or callers’ interests were abused.”