OnePopz’s Top 10 X Factor UK Acts - Revisited
Back in February, we chose our top ten favourite acts from all nine seasons of The X Factor in the UK. You can see who we picked here. As you can imagine, those were pretty hard choices to make as there’s been so many amazing contestants!
Now, with this year’s X Factor bootcamp set to be filmed in London this weekend, we thought we’d take a look back at our 10 favourite acts and see what they're doing right now!
Quite a lot has changed, starting with...
10. Jedward
The crazy twins from Ireland appeared on BBC Breakfast yesterday morning.
On the show, they updated fans with news that they’re working on a new album and they spoke about their plans to continue to tour the world. The boys will be visiting various venues in the UK in September for their tour so make sure you get tickets.
A third series of their children’s TV programme ‘Jedward’s Big Adventures’ has also been commissioned so it looks like there’s still plenty of people on Planet Jedward!
9. Amelia Lily
Sticking to the dance roots heard in her first two singles, Amelia released her third track ‘Party Over' at the end of April!
We loved it here at One Popz but the single was Amelia’s lowest charting single to date and only managed to reach number 40 on its week of release. Her eagerly awaited debut album ‘Be A Fighter’ was meant to follow a few weeks later but the release date kept getting pushed back and now we have no idea when it’s even going to come out.
Fans who pre-ordered the record have been given refunds but Amelia’s said that it’ll definitely still be released at some point. Amelia explained that she chose to delay the album because she wasn’t completely happy with all of the tracks on it and she wants to make it perfect. We just hope that we actually get to hear Be A Fighter because we love Amelia!
8. Alexandra Burke
Her debut single ‘Hallelujah’ was the fastest-selling download ever in 2008 but just a few months ago, Alexandra Burke parted ways with her second record label RCA Records!
The ‘Bad Boys’ singer had huge success with her first album ‘Overcome’ but her following record ‘Heartbreak on Hold’ failed to sell half as many copies. It’s a shame because there’s no denying that Alexandra has an amazing voice.
Alexandra is now focused on trying to crack America and it’s been reported that she’s signed a deal with Def Jam. We hope the rumours are true and can’t wait to see what she does next!
7. James Arthur
It’s been just 8 months since James Arthur won The X Factor and since then, everything’s been pretty quiet on the music front!
His cover of Shontelle’s ‘Impossible’ was a massive hit and it spent two weeks at the top of the singles charts!
The big question is; when’s James Arthur’s first original single actually going to be out? We hope he doesn’t leave it too long because if he does, he’s in danger of being forgotten like lots of singers from talent shows.
At the moment, we've only heard a 23 second preview of his new music but it sounds great!
6. JLS
It's fair to say that most of us were shocked by the big JLS news announced in April. We definitely didn’t expect it when we wrote our top 10 list in February. Get your tissues at the ready, JLS will be splitting up following their final ‘Goodbye’ tour!
Despite achieving five number one singles and four top five albums, the ‘Outta This World’ boyband have decided to call it a day. They’ll release one final studio album featuring some news tracks and some of their greatest hits but then that’s it...
We just hope JLS don’t fade away completely; hopefully they all have exciting solo projects in the pipeline!
5. Little Mix
They were the first band to win The X Factor and since then, things have only gone up for Little Mix!
In May, the girls released their debut album ‘DNA’ in America and it broke a record set by the Spice Girls. The album charted at number four and became the first debut album by a British girl group to make it into the top five of the Billboard chart.
Forget ‘Spice Up Your Life’, it seems everyone wants to Little Mix up their life right now and we don’t blame them!
Perrie, Jade, Leigh-Anne and Jesy are all currently working on their second album right now and they’ve promised a single which they think has the potential to be as big as ‘Wings’.
While we wait for that, take a look at their latest single ‘How Ya Doin’?’ which features the one and only Missy Elliott!
4. Union J
Despite even having a single out, we ranked Union J at number four in our list in February and that just goes to show how much we loved them on The X Factor!
The four heartthrobs from last year’s series finally released their debut single ‘Carry You’ in June and it didn’t disappoint!
It made it to number six in the UK charts and will be followed by a second single later this year. Their currently untitled debut album is expected to drop on the 28th October and we can’t wait to grab our hands on a copy.
Jaymi, Josh, George and JJ will also be going on a tour across the UK in December and January so make sure you grab your tickets to see them while you still can! It’s your chance to see them up close!
The Union J boys also recently filmed a second video for ‘Carry You’ because one video just isn’t enough for us fans. No.. the real reason is that the track will be featured in ‘Kick-Ass 2’ and the new music video is being used to help promote the movie!
3. Olly Murs
Like Little Mix, Olly Murs has also enjoyed success in America and he has a growing fanbase across the pond!
The showman, who’s known for wearing very tight trousers (we don’t hear anyone complaining), released his first album in the United States in April and it made it to number 19 on the Billboard chart.
Olly’s had three very successful albums here in the UK so for his first American release, he decided to put together some of his most popular tracks from his latest two albums.
We think he came up with a pretty good track list but it’s a shame that none of the songs from his debut album made the cut!
Don’t worry though, Olly’s still in the UK all of the time so it’s not like we won’t see him very much! Just yesterday, we posted the official music video for his amazing new single ‘Right Place Right Time!’
2. Leona Lewis
She was the first major success story of The X Factor but it seems Leona Lewis just isn’t getting the same attention that she once did. We’re not completely sure why because she can certainly still belt out those high notes!
If we had to put it down to anything, we’d say that lack of promo is probably the main reason for Leona's recent ‘flopping’ record sales. Her most-recent single ‘Lovebird’ didn’t even make it into the top 200 of the charts and it failed to sell more than 600 copies in its first week of release!
Leona’s currently in the studio working on her fourth album which will be released this Christmas. It’ll feature covers of classic Christmas songs and some original songs are also expected to feature on the record too.
We just hope it’s not too late for Leona to turn it back around again!
1. One Direction
It’ll probably come as no surprise that our favourite X Factor act is: One Direction. Who can blame us? They’re too lovable!
Right now, the boys are on the road in America with their sold-out ‘Take Me Home’ shows and they’ll complete their final leg of the tour in Australasia this October. Don’t worry if you didn’t get a chance to seem them though, One Direction will also be playing at stadiums all across the world in 2014!
Tickets for the ‘Where We Are’ stadium tour went on sale went on sale in May and whilst most venues have already sold out on Ticketmaster, you may still have a chance of getting some tickets elsewhere if you haven’t already.
The band’s latest single ‘Best Song Ever’ has been a hit worldwide and it serves as the lead single from their next studio album whilst also promoting their forthcoming movie.
As we're sure you’re already aware, the boys’ first ever movie ‘One Direction: This Is Us’ will be released in cinemas across the world later this month. We can’t wait to see it and already have our popcorn at the ready!
