Shayne Ward Dropped By Simon Cowell

The 2005 X Factor champ has been axed from Cowell's SyCo label...

15:48, Tuesday, 19 April 2011

Shayne Ward has been dumped by Simon Cowell's record label, SyCo, after his last album, Obsession, failed to set the charts alight.

According to The Sun, the 26-year old, who won the 2005 series of The X Factor, had hoped to kickstart his career with a new album and a cover of Nickelback's Gotta Be Somebody, but the song dispassionately charted at No.12.

WATCH X FACTOR JUDGE SIMON COWELL'S OFFICIAL TOP 50 HERE!

Obsession failed to do much better, entering the album countdown outside the top ten, debuting at No.15 - meaning all future singles from Ward's LP were cancelled.

Cowell had tried to help Shayne by giving him the chance to perform on last year's The X Factor finals, but the gig failed to resurrect his career.

Ward has now become the fourth male winner of the show to be axed by SyCo, following in the failed footsteps of the first XF champ Steve Brookstein, Leon Jackson and more recently, 2009 winner, Joe McElderry.

2010 champion Matt Cardle is now the only male winner on SyCo's books, with a source telling the newspaper: "Shayne's a nice lad and works hard but people just don't seem to want to buy his music. He doesn't fit into the categories of stuff kids buy. He'd be better off in a boyband."

A spokesperson from SyCo told The Sun: "After five very successful years and an international career which saw him sell over 3.2 million records, Shayne's contract has come to an end."

Shayne himself has since commented after being dropped by Cowell, posting on his official Twitter page: "To all my Fans I am great! Remember Business is business! 1 door closed, A Thousand more will open."

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